It’s still a mystery to me how 30 snuck up on us so fast. I will continue to bask in my twenties for the next month, but poor Jake officially entered the next decade on April 30. To help ease him into it, we decided to get away (yes, even further than Hong Kong) to celebrate. Our destination of choice was Borneo.
Where, you ask?!! As a geographically challenged American, I too was a bit stumped where this Borneo was and why it has so many names. Borneo, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah – we used all these names interchangeably (and probably incorrectly) when describing where we were going. Anyway, I do know this: We flew direct to Kota Kinabalu airport in Malaysia, found ourselves on a boat and were whisked away to a small island called Gaya, just 15 minutes from the city.
Our home away from home for three nights. ‘Pumped.’
Now, since our pitiful attempt at diving in Bali and our newfound appreciation for the much more tame alternative – snorkeling – we had been looking forward to some quality time with our fish friends. Snorkeling (with our new equipment, care of the Fuller Christmas!!) was a must-do while in Borneo. We expected to hop in the water outside our room and snorkel to our hearts’ content. Nuh uhhhh, no.
First off, there were creatures like this big, crazy-fast dragon slithering about. Second, the tide near our was funny (red, even?), so conditions were not ideal in terms of visibility. Disappointing. But, my favorite saying (I think I even had this one as my quote in our HS yearbook?!) rang true. That would be ‘everything happens for a reason.’ Dragons and bacteria in our water meant heading over to the sister resort for the day.
Jake: “Why didn’t we stay here, again?” :/
Snorkeling and paddleboarding, check!
Jake was good too. Payback for his little comment above, hehe! Anyway, hot tequila in a water bottle, check!
Found Nemo. And guesses as to what the thing on the right is… A fish! The eyeball is on the right side there, the fin is near the bottom. (Full disclosure – this was taken at the eco-center ….. not in the ocean.)
The night of Jake’s 30th and our last on Gaya. Onwards (or really, back to) Kota Kinabalu!
We had two nights at another resort in the city. Sunsets were the highlight of our stay. That and 400 bucks in hotel rewards to spend solely on food within those two days. We made up for all those HK dinners of salad and grilled cheese!
Happy birthday to my pig! xo
