My name is Eddie

Twenty four hours of travelling and the brown shoes smell.  They're still brown, and have only gone down in my estimation.  I find myself sitting in Harrod's (albeit the pop-up version at Kuala Lumpur International Airport), sipping a cup of tea and  hoping that nobody gets too close.  KLIA is an impressive airport, complete with its own rainforest.  Seriously.  A circular satellite terminal with a rainforest in the middle that has a canopy walk and wildlife.  Mr Shoe gets lost in the Cigar Store for sometime, enjoying both the ambient temperature of the walk-in humidor and the expansive collection of Cubans.  I restrain myself and refuse to purchase anything (don't want to peak to soon).  Five hours at KLIA and we're back on our way for a quick three hour flight to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah state of East Malaysia, over the South China Sea on the island of Borneo.

This is my first time travelling with Malaysian Airlines, and I can't say I'm a huge fan.  My kiwi sized need for personal space was not supported in the 'economy' zone, and the very limited range of movies did not include the new James Bond flick as I had hoped.  However, the staff were lovely and delivered chicken sandwiches at 4am.  

Our arrival into Kota Kinabalu is encouraging - from the air, looking down at the city and surrounds it would appear that my brown shoes will match the landscape.  We are greeted by Eddie, a smiling and cheerful chap who embraces me in the Arrivals Hall like a long lost cousin, and quickly escorts us outside into the 30 deg Celsius afternoon - asking us to wait kerbside while he collects the vehicle.   Oh the anticipation!  It is our Honeymoon after all, and we had made our Travel Agent promise she would advise all our tour and accommodation providers that were in love and deserving of free upgrades.  I'm not sure if the beat-up 4WD van that Eddie drove was the luxury vehicle in the fleet or not.  However, what it lacked in seatbelts and suspension, it made up for in air-conditioning and leg room.  

Our resort was on the far side of the city area, and Eddie spent the 45 minute drive telling us the basics about KK.  A city of around 500,000, KK is the main visitor gateway into Sabah.  The roads are bumpy, and indicators appear optional.  As does changing gear - it might be a 5 speed manual gearbox, but Eddie chooses to be selective and we go from 'fast gear' to 'slow gear' in rapid succession.  A bit of off-road driving occurs to bypass the traffic jams and we soon realise that holding on and not looking at the oncoming traffic are essential passenger survival tactics.  

Driving through the CBD, we notice a lot of construction projects and query Eddie on the obvious growth and development activity.  He's quick to share his views, and in particular his dismay that illegal immigrant labour is being used to build government housing projects.  [The primarily Indonesian or Filipino labour works for 700RM a month (NZ$275), whereas the average wage for the Malaysian workforce is 1500-2000RM a month (NZ$600-800).] The National Transformation Policy is aiming to reduce poverty and improve the living conditions for residents.  We drive past slums with houses on stilts slowly slipping into the murky brown mud, and alongside see the newer multi-storey apartment blocks housing hundreds of families.  Still surrounded by mud, the new tenements have electricity and running water unlike their wonky neighbours.  Eddie explains that sadly, as soon as the slums were emptied and the families had moved into the new housing, other families scrambled to move into the slums.  It seems a never-ending cycle of poverty.  

 (Above the old, and below the new - excuse the raindrops)

We eventually arrive at Rasa Ria Resort, part of the Shangri-La chain, and immediately relax in 5-star comfort.  Iced tea and refreshing lemongrass infused towels at check-in, rose petals on the bed, wine in the fridge and views to die for.  Oh this place is going to be awful...