Since this was the second time I visited Kota Kinabalu, I didn’t have any plan to explore the city. I met a kind couple on Christmas Eve who drove me back to hotel (because I couldn’t catch any taxi), and they introduced their cousin, who is a licenced tour guide to me.
He called me out for dinner on Christmas night. As I have just finished dinner at that time, I proposed to meet on 26th. He brought me out to dinner and drove me around to see the city at night. He also paid for the "vodka with craneberry juice" we had in the hotel lounge (because he is a VIP!).
As I would be checking out on the 27th noon time, I would have a free day to tour around. He introduced another tour guide to me. Julian brought me to the Monsopiad Cultural Village. This is the preservation of Kadazan (original head hunting tribe) cultural village. In addition to the house and skulls (!!!), they also showed how to make rice wine (taste really good!), and traditional dance performance. Quite a nice place to visit.
I thought the fee covers that much and he would brought me back to hotel. Surprisingly he didn’t stop there. Because he knew my flight schedule, he continued to bring me to other places. He asked if I wanted to try the local food. He brought me to a local market (and paid for my lunch!!! albeit it was cheap, but I didn’t expect the fee would cover that, you know). Quite interesting that while I was buying some peanut candies, I realized that the staller spoke cantonese. My tour guide doesn’t, and he was just looking at me asking the staller ”呢個好唔好味?幾錢?".
He then brought me to the Kinabalu beach, and tried the coconut juice (the coconuts was as big as watermelon!) and satay. And we were back to hotel just-in-time for the airport pick up.
Of course he was just doing his job, but what he has done was far exceeded my expectation. He recommended, if I have more time next time, I could also try the steam-powered train (quite original), visit the local market and Philippines market (fresh food and fruits), and museums.
A private tour guide can give you a very tailor-made itinery which suits your budget. You can see the very local things. Honestly the transportation in KK is not very convenient, so a tour guide may be a good choice. Most importantly the people in KK are very friendly.