Bukit Kokol @ Kasih Sayang Health Resort

Part of this year's mission was to keep exploring Sabah. I was so engrossed with going international before this that I keep forgetting that I'm actually staying on one of earth's most mysterious and breathtaking island. Sabah, Borneo.

This will be a small step in pursuit of my mission. What was supposed to be a "destressing trip" with Ying Ying turned out to be a romantic affair between me and my mum to Bukit Kokol. Situated among the hills of Sabah's crocker range, Bukit Kokol is around 2000 feet above sea level, with unobstructed view of Kota Kinabalu city, temperature meddling around 20degrees, and just about 30 minutes drive from the city, making it perfect for those who wants a quick fix getaway.

As you can see from this map by Sabah Matthew Paul as well, Bukit Kokol should be situated around the red-highlighted area, up hill.

Getting there is the easiest. From the three way junction, between Indah Permai (One Borneo/ Menggatal), Inanam and Tebobon, head to Inanam and keep left. A few minutes later you will see a signboard that says 'Kasih Sayang Health Resort'. Turn in to Jln. Kokol @ Poring and just drive uphill. You are on the right track if you keep seeing 'Kasih Sayang Health Resort' every ten minutes :) Or you can follow the simple map below.

Office: +6 088 246 404
Resort: +6 088 470 866
Resort Mobile: +6 016 8333 3856
Fax: +6 088 246 011
Email: ksreservation@yahoo.com

Kasih Sayang is a health centre. About 30 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu Airport, it consists of 16 rooms, with the capacity to accomodate about 40 or more people. It has a spacious restaurant, with a huge deck overlooking the KK City and can serve about 80 guests at one time. There's also a function room with karaoke facilities and a mini spa for massages, herbal steam and foot massages. Besides it just being a place to rest and relax, most corporate companies conduct their seminars there as well. (Kasih Sayang Resort)

How to get there? There are no public buses going up the hill, so I suggest you could rent a car (better 4WD, but anything will do cause I did it with my Gen2) among your friends for a night or two or something. If that is too costly for you, opt to take a cab and share it with each other. But coming down would be tricky so you might want to arrange with the cab driver for pickup.

The view driving uphill got immaculate every few minutes. Amazing new sights catch our roaming eyes every now and then, it was a like a feast to the eyes and soul. Everything was just so beautiful. 

And this particular view was the most spectacular to me. 

This is church St. Joseph, the small building next to it is a community Basil church. We wanted to attend the first mass (8.00am) at St. Joseph just to check out how the locals nearby celebrate masses, unfortunately, the mass was postponed to a later time so we skipped it :( 

One might not believe that this was taken in Menggatal, Sabah. Probably "mistaken" it by Rio's world class statue of Jesus Christ, I can only say allow me to slowly experience what this mysterious island has to offer and slowly unveil the hidden gems to you. I envied the lives of some of the kids here, they could just laze around or hang out by the cliff to chill. They have drinks and books with them, and even the animals are taking it real slow. 

When we reached Kasih Sayang, we were greeted by this fella who refused to budge, so we left him there basking the sun :) 

This is one part of the view. Towards the end of this stretch as you can see is a small kampung, must be the residents of some of the staff at the resort. Most of these forests are virgin forests, untouched and untempered. 

There were a few families at the resort at that time - kids running around, parents doing their own share of romantic catchups. It's a perfect family place for a weekend getaway. Other activites including walking down this trail in the picture below and walk around where the greens take you. 

Mum brought papers, I brought a sketchbook and books. Such a serene environment, I fell asleep while reading.

We stayed at the Standard Room (two singles), with THE MOST AMAZING VIEW. Front view of the resort would be the regal Mt. Kinabalu, and behind us is the KK City View. Forget TV, naturally detailed view like this is simply THE way to go..... 

Bukit Kokol's view is amazing. I get all defensive when people say that all sunsets, and all sunrises are the same. Of course... it's not. That feeling of being there at that time and place in the midst of everything else that's happening in your life; can never be replaced by another. Everything is as different as it gets, simply by associations (not only physically) but based on our relations to the situations at that time. "This is where I met xxx, or this is where xxx and I had steamed crabs" No two place is the same. 

As for me, I was high on the feeling "blessed" to have the privilege to experience it :) 

There were chirpings of birds, nibbling of insects. We should constantly remind ourselves how beautiful and calming nature is. Especially while we still can. All these might just disappear in time. 

Mum is the cutest thing when she whips out her camera. She would extend her arms about a metre long, and starts squinting over the LCD Screen. But believe it or not, despite her cartoonish ways of doing so - she takes some really mean pictures. 

Shower Room

We had dinner at the resort's restaurant with the picture perfect KK City as our view. 

I 'm glad the food wasn't expensive - in fact, some were even cheaper. Mum loved the broth, while I had some carbonara to chomp it all down.  

Nothing was hiked up so dramatically, and they have these amazing healthy drinks that tasted so delicious and supposedly to be good for you :) 

Before I dozed off, I sketched something that I thought was the most beautiful scene of the day. My drawing is fugly, but the scene and my memory of it isn't :) So I insisted. I was busy colouring it, drawing all the lines like I was Picasso or something. 

This was what I tried to drew; My adorable mum looking out on the sunset, simply living in the moment. Love, love. 

With the beeping of night creatures to lullaby us to sleep; I slept like a log that night after the sketch.

And then, there was the sunrise. 

The gorgeous sunrise. The rays that creep upwards the sky for a newer day and newer promises. 

The buffet breakfast was adequately done up. There were the usual coffees, teas, eggs, hotdogs, meehuns and toasts - all the right things to make a good breakfast :)

After breakfast we decided to head to the St. Joseph church to take more photos and extend our exploration. 

The ever so beautiful St. Joseph church of Bukit Kokol. From this point, you could also see the whole city of KK, Pulau Gaya and other islands. 

This place is beautiful and is just so welcoming. I could almost just sit and stare at the static sight of absolute perfection all over me, all day long, but then I won't be able to share with you any of these and let the pictures do the talking :) 

Love,

Jacqueline Rowena @ Jacqkie.