Treasures from mountain high to ocean deep

For many people, what comes to mind when you mention "Borneo"? Wild men, perhaps. Deep forests swarming with monkeys and rampaging tigers, possibly. Maybe even a bit of headhunting.

But for today’s pleasure seekers, here are a few other word associations for modern-day Malaysian Borneo: five-star resorts, night golf, Balinese spa treatments and spectacular mountain climbing.

In fact, Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, has a great deal of luxury, accessibility, and enough mod cons to make it an attractive alternative to local island resorts.

Let’s start with Sutera Harbour (pronounced SOO-tra), Sabah’s new five-star resort incorporating two hotels, two beaches, a 27-hole course with night golfing, five swimming pools (including an Olympic-size one), countless leisure activities and the famous Mandara Spa, imported from Bali.

For less than the cost of, say, a domestic trip to Boracay or Palawan, one can board a Malaysian Airlines flight straight to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (less than two hours from NAIA); within 10 minutes, check into either the business traveler’s hotel (the Pacific Sutera) or book a more luxurious suite at the all-in-one resort hotel (the Magellan Sutera). With rooms available from US$55 and up per night, lovely views of the sea or manicured greens, and lively diversions to fill your stay – such as a brisk climb up nearby Mt. Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia – Sutera Harbour Resort easily dispels any backward notions about Borneo.

Day 1

Stepping into the Sutera Harbour Resort bus was the beginning of our first-class service; after we were greeted with bead necklaces and purple orchid leis at the airport, champagne was served in flutes, along with lobster and fruit on skewers. Kulintangans and drums rang out through the Pacific Sutera lobby as we took our room keys (previously handed out on the bus) and headed for our rooms.

When you enter most hotel rooms or public buildings in Sabah (population 2.6 million), you will notice a little green arrow on the ceiling with the word "Kiblat" written inside. This word means "way to prayer" or "direction of Mecca", an acknowledgment that Kota Kinabalu (or "KK") – like all of Malaysia – is mostly Muslim. But its religious and ethnic mix is truly a halo-halo: Malays, Indians and Chinese live, work and get along here with little strife. With a population of 350,000, Sabah’s capital Kota Kinabalu is the second largest province of Malaysia. KK has a low skyline with mainly contemporary buildings; the city was bombed twice in World War II, with only three buildings left standing. It’s a small and young country, where the per capita income per year is about US$4,000 (versus $38,000 in Singapore).

Malaysian Borneo is sometimes called "East Malaysia," because it’s a separate island composed of Sabah and Sarawak provinces. (Borneo is Malaysian for "Brunei," a reminder that Brunei, among other nations, historically have claimed this large island.) Curiously, "West" Malaysians need passports to touch down in Borneo, though East Malaysians don’t require one to visit Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian Borneo has the largest concentration of rain forests in the world. In fact, back in the ‘60s, Sabah could boast of the largest concentration of millionaires as well – more, even, than London, New York or Tokyo. Their fortunes were made from selling timber until the government put a stop to selling off the country’s hardwood. Now Malaysian Borneo remains 65 percent uncut forest.

At the moment, though, we were content to explore Pacific Sutera Hotel, part of the massive complex that makes up Sutera Harbour Resort, KK’s integrated resort site completed in 2001. With shops, recreation facilities and 17 restaurants, it’s so huge you need a map and shuttle to get around. The two hotels have a combined 956 rooms, with the Pacific Sutera offering lower rates for business travelers, conventions, and company bonding trips; the Magellan Sutera is the more resort-like of the two, with gorgeously designed rooms in white, wenge wood and black granite, and a more sprawling layout.

Day 2

From Sutera Harbour, we drove two and a half hours to get to Kinabalu Park, a tropical rainforest that is a protected World Heritage site. Here you’ll be able to see the Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world, or the largest pitcher plant in the world, so big it can hold three-and-a-half liters of water. Or you can climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia at 4,095.2 meters. (Not less than 150 people climb up it every day.)

Our little group’s hike in the park was considerably less ambitious. Decked out in walking shoes (a must), rain capes and walking sticks courtesy of our thoughtful and ultra-knowledgeable guide Mr. Liong Seng Fung (a former schoolteacher whom our group quickly dubbed "the Professor"), we trekked past towering bamboo groves and up a slightly muddy path to experience the Canopy Walk, a hanging bridge suspended 40 meters from the ground. We felt like Indiana Jones crossing these rope-and-wood bridges suspended between king trees, the tallest and hardiest in the forest. The canopy walk was actually three interconnected bridges (total distance: 157 meters), which only accommodated a single-file line of six people at a time. With our heads brushing the leaves on the tops of the trees, our mantra was, "Don’t look down." To do so was to feel like Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo. Once we got to the other side, though, we felt a huge sense of accomplishment, and proudly signed our names in the guest book to prove we had done it.

If you want to swim in nearby Poring Hot Springs don’t forget your bathing suit. Poring, which means "bamboo," features sulfur springs that are supposed to be good for the skin. The springs are heated by naturally hot rocks to a soothing 60-degree temperature.

There’s also a butterfly farm in Kinabalu Park, and lodging not only for climbers but also families wishing to savor the cool weather and pristine environment at this high altitude. Sutera also manages these Sanctuary Lodges, cozy wood cabins with fireplaces that reminded us of Baguio, back in the day when it was still mostly pine forests.

Day 3

This was a day for sightseeing, taking us from the five-star accommodations of Sutera Harbour to the lush nature reserve of Shangri-La’s nearby Rasa Ria resort. The folks organizing the trip wanted to make sure we visited as many resort locations as possible, to show that Sabah offers every kind of lodging you can imagine, from mountain cabin to beach bungalow. As expected, the Magellan Sutera offered deluxe pleasures, marketed as it is to families and couples. (The Pacific Sutera, targeted toward business travelers, is a bit less showy but no less comfortable.) By far the most luxurious lodgings at The Magellan are the Executive Suites and the Club Rooms where we stayed, with high ceilings, native wood interiors and beautiful décor suggesting the opulence of Amanpulo. Each suite also has a bathtub with wooden shutters that open to face the picture window, for those romantic evening soaks. The suites are massive, with enough room to hold a cricket match between you and the television set (not quite, but they’re massive). And with welcoming touches (such as the fruit and nut bowls and native baskets of dodol, a coconut-based delicacy that takes six hours to cook), it’s impossible not to feel pampered and special in a Magellan Club Room.

Along with the usual gym facilities and a wide variety of dining places (including everything from Mediterranean at Al-Fresco to superlative local fare at Spice Island), Sutera Harbour offers special treats that spread the icing thick on the cake. As Mr. Praba Menon, general manager of the Pacific Sutera hotel, put it, "I want it to be overflowing!" Yes, there’s a Graham Marsh-designed golf course with well-kept greens and wide fairways, but it’s not just 18 holes, it’s 27 holes, enough to take you right up until dinnertime to play out. (Our golfing colleagues in fact had to pause after nine holes for dinner. They said they had to do a bit of computing in their heads as the distances were measured in meters, not yards.) And there’s a spa, but not just any spa: it’s the Mandara Spa imported from Bali, famous for its heavenly indulgences involving flowers, spices and double-masseuse treatments. The many carefully designed swimming pools (including an Olympic—sized one) scattered throughout the resort more than make up for the petite beachfront, while Seaquest Adventures, located at Marina Bay, offers every aquatic sport imaginable, from banana-boat rides to parasailing sessions.

In addition, there’s a night bowling alley, a 100-seat cinema (though a bit behind in movie choices; MI2 was the feature that week) and plenty of games rooms for your enjoyment.

As if all this wasn’t enough to keep us glued to Sutera Harbour Resort, our hosts decided to show us another nearby slice of heaven, Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort with its golf and country club. With its three-kilometer white-sand beach and "hip" oceanfront restaurant called Coast (featuring California fusion cuisine), it’s a far cry from the usual beachside dining experience. The latest additions are the tented gazebos facing the sunset. With dual hammocks and beach chairs, they’re the perfect place to pop the marital question; in fact, Rasa Ria’s staff boasted a 100-percent success rate for those who do decide to get down on bended knee. (There’s even a marriage registry at the resort to make everything legal.)

The highlight of Rasa Ria, though, was surely the nature reserve that is home to many wild species, including five orangutans named Annie, Hope, Austin, Julie and, uh, Tiger Woods. After a short hike through the forest to their "feeding docks," we discovered three of the apes capering about before the 2 p.m. feeding time. They darted across the branches overhead, avoiding us to get to the feeding area, except for Annie, who clung to the park ranger’s legs like an adoring infant. We were told that "orangutan" means "wild man of the forest" and we were pleased to see that these five primates – rescued from households that had illegally attempted to raise them "domestically" – had slipped back into nature. Yes, they were fed on a daily basis by the park ranger (who literally becomes their parental figure in the wild); but these apes seemed much happier in this rehabilitated environment than any caged orangutans we’ve ever encountered.

Day 4

After a hearty breakfast at the sun-soaked Marina Club, we headed down to the docks to do a bit of island hopping. Our group boarded two high-powered speedboats headed for Sapi ("Cow") and Manukan ("Chicken") islands. The weather was sunny and warm, but we hadn’t completely forgotten about the tsunami disaster several weeks prior; every time we looked out to sea, it was with a sense of caution. As we stepped aboard, flashbacks of a certain 1960s TV show came to mind, particularly the one featuring a motley crew of tourists setting sail for "a three-hour tour… a three-hour tour..."

We didn’t have any movie stars or millionaires onboard, but we did have a few amateur golfers, a couple of karaoke-singing journalists, and a number of travel agents, who might conceivably come in handy if we ever did get stuck on some deserted island. And, of course, we had the Professor along to guide us: we felt comfortable knowing that he, of all people, would be able to manufacture a radio out of a coconut, if necessary.

At Sapi Island, we were greeted by clumps of native macaques, infant-sized monkeys that weren’t shy about asking for a handout. They parted way to allow us to inspect this shady diving cove, then it was back on the boat and off to our day’s destination, Manukan Island.

Visible from Sutera Harbour Resort, Manukan is an exceptional diving and snorkeling site just a 20-minute boat ride away from Marina Bay. Its wide beach is fronted by an inviting barbecue and picnic area, a popular spot for day-trippers. On our visit, dozens of Chinese visitors were enjoying the coral reef with its colorful angelfish, butterflyfish and wrasses. Those wishing to stay longer can settle into a room at the island’s cozy wooden chalets. Manukan also features an ecological center, where you can learn more about Borneo’s whale and turtle population.

After this day of surf and turf, it was really a treat to head back to the Mandara Spa at Magellan Sutera, where we had booked Balinese massages. Based on traditional techniques using stretching, long strokes, skin rolling and palm and thumb pressure, it aims to relieve tension, improve circulation and heal both body and mind. All we knew was that it left us in a state of bliss, and wanting more than the designated 50 minutes.

What better way to enjoy our final evening at Sutera Harbour than by watching the sun set and sink behind the edge of the infinity pool? Located at Marina Bay, this sculptured poolside offers a magnificent view of the sun’s final descent, and it is surely one of the most striking, romantic views of the South China Sea. In essence, Sutera Harbour Resort is an attractive getaway for Filipinos looking for new worlds to explore: combining affordable rates, convenience and wonders both natural and man-made, it’s a real find. And with its combination of earthly and heavenly attractions, Sabah lives up to its national tourism slogan: "From mountain high to ocean deep."

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Malaysian Airlines flies twice a week from Manila direct to Kota Kinabalu (Wed. and Sat.), and twice a week from Cebu to KK (Thurs. and Sun.), tel. 896-8763 to 65 for rates and reservations, or email malaysia@skyinet.net.

For inquiries or reservations at Sutera Harbour, contact Mary Ann Ong, general sales agent in the Philippines, at Destinations Unlimited, Rm. 2B Lydia Bldg., 39 Polaris St., Bel-Air, Makati City, tel. 896-4811.

For special packages, contact the following travel agents: Eleanor White (Swire Travel, 817-1082/817-1101), ), Elizabeth Pablico (Wintrex Travel, 454-8528/426-4492), Victoria Gonzalez (Aviatica Travel, 818-3653/818-3589), Maria Lydia Crespo (RajahTravel, 523-8801 to 07), Maria Paz Domingo or Yolanda Sanchez (Golf Holidays, 523-8581 to 87).