Hotel Review: Hotel Sixty3 in Kota Kinabalu

We've all had our share of "nightmare hotels" and we here at quarter-life vices are no exception (to our friends who were with us at Hundred Islands, 2006, you know what I mean).  So as we continue to travel, we slowly begin to be more discriminating on the hotels/ inns we will be staying in.  After a day of walking, hiking, swimming, snorkeling and shopping, it would be good to come to a nice place with no roaches or gross bathroom to welcome you.  Before you say that we sound very picky, we say you probably haven't experienced being at the room at the back of the kitchen with no space to walk on and ta-da! with a very gross bathroom (that hotel in Pangasinan, I'm looking at you).  It is one thing to be aware and have knowledge that you'll be getting very modest accommodations but it is certainly unacceptable to get startled at the striking contrast of your real room with what's in the promotional photos. Can you say, false advertising?  We are all for budget hotels, places where you get value for money for sure but most times it is hard to reconcile your budget with your expectations.  Sometimes, though we get lucky and we find a hotel that is almost perfect, we want to cry (or it is probably just that time of the month).  That's just what happened to us when we stayed at Hotel Sixty3 in Kota Kinabalu.

Eating for the Weekend in Kota Kinabalu

Disclaimer:  I would like to say that the photos didn't do those yummy foods any justice.  I am not a food photographer and really, we are more of unable to control ourselves to devour food once the server lays them on our table.  So a quick snap here and there then ready, set, go... So we here at Quarter-life Vices apologize for that and for our next entries involving food.  Do not expect them to look appetizing but be assured that their sometimes already-eaten shots validates their worthiness on our blog. :)

 
Any trip to far-flung places merits at least a taste of the good food it has to offer.  You have to agree that it is indeed a waste if you just spend every day on a foreign country eating McDonald's. And when you are in a place like Kota Kinabalu, you cannot disregard the fact that delicious food surround you, yes you've read it right-- food surrounds you in KK as in the smell of bread being baked next door envelopes you or the thoughts of mee and dimsum at the eatery across the street can haunt you forever if you never give in.  Despite the food being generally pork-free because of the Muslim culture, we would like to tell you that hunger will not be your problem in Kota Kinabalu (maybe crossing the streets is, but that's another story).

Gone for the Weekend in Kota Kinabalu

I will admit, when P told me that we will go to Kota Kinabalu with our friend T, my initial reply was this: What's in Kota Kinabalu?  Aside from getting to see Mt. Kinabalu, it seemed like a trip there wouldn't be that exciting.  For sure, we initially thought of Singapore and all its shopping and gustatory delights but trying to get a cheap flight there on December is like trying to get George Clooney to settle down and get married (read: not gonna happen).  So the cheapest flights of them all is Kota Kinabalu and since all the three of us are itching to make a quick getaway, it seemed at that time that any foreign land will do.  Normally, making a haste decision like that will result badly but we were surprised that KK, as it is lovingly called, gave us one of our most memorable weekends ever.