KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA (2/27/2007)

From: Sherman Rootberg (biggiroot)
Date: Feb 27, 2007 7:37 AM
Subject: Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA

We had been here last year. At that time we took a tour around the island. It is another country on the island of Borneo. It is also another dictatorship. On this one they tell you everyone is happy. Anyone who wants to work can have a job. If you don’t want to work, you can just go live out in the jungle and pick fruit and bananas off the trees. That is really what the government guide told us last year. This place does not have oil money and most are very poor. There were shacks for houses on stilts in rivers with the same sanitation as mentioned yesterday. There were not nearly as many nice houses. In fact, very few.

Today we got in very early, about six or seven in the morning. The train ride we took last year was closed for repair. We had already seen everything of any worth a year ago. We were only here for short time so we had no time to see the orangutans. They are far away. There was not much to do so we took a shuttle to the downtown area. It was only a couple of miles from the dock. They dropped us off at a building of stores. Not like our shopping malls back home, but there were plenty of stores. All the people we met, both times when here, were very friendly. We were warned to stop and exchange money because no one would take US currency. WRONG! We found no one who would not take US. They all had no change though. Of course I made another great find we will never use.

Bobbi bought more small presents and I bought one big one that worked in the store but will not in the room. It says it works on 110 or 220 electric but will only work at +/- 10%. I am hoping it is just the ships electric.

After about an hour we got back on the shuttle and went back to the ship. After putting our shopping wonders in the room, we went out to the tents that had been set up on the dock. Bobbi bought more junk and we went in to have lunch. The ship left at about 2:00 PM.

Yesterday I talked about the slippery floors of shiny marble at the mosque. I had good shoes on and I found them slippery. When wet they were worse then ice. One poor lady from the ship fell and broke a leg, we were told. Skip the mosques if you have to take off your shoes.