In recent years Growball Cinemax in Centrepoint neglected their facilities, equipment and customers. But competitor cinemas have forced Growball to take action.

Dropping the Ball

The start of 2010 was a low for Growball. Customers were complaining, new cinemas were popping up and Kota Kinabalu got its first 3D Cinema, courtesy of GSC.

Growball, with their low prices, previously enjoyed loyal patronage from Kota Kinabalu’s budget conscious movie goers. But with the newly opened GSC Suria offering a high quality experience and a 3D Cinema, and Mega Long Cinemas offering quality in Donggongon, Growball’s customers were soon whittled down to the hardcore budget hunters willing to tolerate the old seats, hearing the next-door karaoke through the cinema walls, and the poor quality audio visuals in some of the theaters.

After a series of particularly bad experiences, SabahBah, and many others, finally had enough and stopped going to Growball. Growball, more than likely, noticed the increase in complaints and the decrease in customers.

Getting Back on the Ball

Fast forward 8 months and we found ourselves back at Growball to watch a movie that only showed there.

Much to our surprise we noticed that Growball had undergone extensive renovations. For one, the stairwell leading up from the 6th to the 8th floor have been carpeted and padded, immediately lending a quality feel to Growball’s foyer.

So far we’ve watch movies in cinemas 5 and 7 and both cinemas are like new (others might also be, but we can’t confirm). The bare cement floors have been carpet, the walls have been neatly padded with acoustic materials, all the seats are newly upholstered, solid and comfortable, and the sound quality has significantly improved.

24 Oct 2010: SabahBah saw Buried in the notorious Cinema 3 and unfortunately no renovations have touched this cinema. Not sure if the sound has been fixed, but it was certainly not 100%, the floors are still bare cement and, because the movie was relatively quiet, the next-door karaoke was annoyingly audible through most of the movie.

Growball’s partial response to their customers have been noted, and in doing a little bit, have probably saved their business from certain demise. Growball can once again offer a wide selection of movies at the most competitive prices in Kota Kinabalu – and in quality in the cinemas that have been renovated.

3D Coming Too

The restaurant/function area opposite the entrance to cinema 8 has closed down and is currently being converted into a 3D cinema. With this edition Growball might actually give GSC a run for their money (assuming all theaters will be renovated).

We won’t be holding our breathe, but will keep a keen eye on Groball Cinemax in Centrepoint.

Last month I lamented the demise of the Firefly Burger from their new menu. The LA Burger replaced it, but the secret lies in all the trimmings.

After encountering Firefly’s new menu last month, I couldn’t help but notice that the much beloved Firefly Beef Burger had been replaced by a Firefly Chicken Burger – I stopped reading that one’s description after “crumbed” and “deep fried”. Sacrilege!

The only beef burger alternative on the menu was the LA Burger, but the standard, bland LA Burger was a big disappointment, especial after I enjoyed what was possibly Kota Kinabalu’s best burger, the Firefly Beef Burger, so much.

Last night the carnivore in me was alive and well and somehow we ended up at Firefly again. Foodie Bah had the Firefly Salad with chicken (#win) and, craving a beef burger, I went for the LA Burger again, this time willing to pay the extra RM1.50 each for the extra egg, pork bacon and Swiss & Cheddar cheese.

Best RM4.50 extra I ever spent, because those additions made the LA Burger one of the best hamburgers I’ve had in Kota Kinabalu.

The LA Burger took on a whole new personality with the egg, bacon and generous helping of cheese elevating the burger to awesomeness. The juicy, peppery flavours of the meaty beef patty was accentuated by eggy sweetness, contrasted by the smoky taste of the bacon and outlined by the sharpness of the two cheeses. Delicious beef burger bliss tied together by soft, sesame bread buns not too thick, and of a bake that didn’t get soggy under the load of the burger.

The only 2 detractors form this heavenly hamburger experience was the price, which with all the trimming brought the price to RM19.50 (before ++), and the Curly Fries which always look re-fried and soaked in oil.

Those two little niggly points aside though, the LA Burger (with all the trimmings) gets a big thumbs up, and is a certain contender for the title of Best Beef Burger in Kota Kinabalu.

Climb as much as you like is an attractive offer, especially when it only costs RM12. But SabahBah.com discovers that at the Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre as much as you like might be more than as much as you can.

Face The Challenge

I’ve always fancied myself a bit of a mountain goat. Mountain paths, rock faces, boulders, walls, roofs, you name it – as a kid I enjoyed climbing it all.

Then I read about Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre’s ‘climbing as much as you like‘ offer. So I made plans and imagined the entire day spent just climbing up and down the various grades of wall. Possible, I thought, because I do running-type sports 3 times a week and I’m fairly fit.

Turns out though, wall climbing is not about running, in fact, it’s not even about cardio. Nope, wall climbing is about strength. Strength in your upper body, strength in your arms, and strength in your legs. I might be able to run, but apparently I’m not that strong.

Preparation is the Key

After getting a pair of hard, gum-soled shoes that fit my big feet from the Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre guys, I was up on a medium grade part of the wall strutting my stuff. It all went well too, until I got up to about 4m, 1m short of the top of the wall. My fingers started cramping.

Now there’s not a lot of muscle in fingers, so it didn’t hurt that much, but it cramped so hard I couldn’t release my grip from the wall. There I was, stuck; legs and arms in precarious positions, tiring quickly.

After a few failed attempts I eventually managed to pry my cramped fingers from the hold, but in the process also lost my balance and, hanging by the right hand, which was still cramped shut around the wall, proceeded to lose my footing.

Like Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2 I hang there, back to the wall, gasps coming from below where other climbers had been watching. Tom, unlike me, didn’t have a safety rope that would prevent him falling to the ground below though, so I knew I was safe.

I managed to swing myself around, regain my footing and pry my hand loose. But I was exhausted and couldn’t make it to the top. My belayer gently lowered me to the ground where I recovered.

Although I felt very energetic, my legs and arms felt weak and I realised my climbing session won’t be as long as I hand intended. Although I managed to shake the cramps from my fingers, I only managed 2 more climbs up easier parts of the wall.

Easy? It is and isn’t

“3 or 4 climbs are about standard”, said my belayer. “When you do it often then you can do more”, he continued, “but it takes some practice.”

Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre hasn’t been open that long, but they’ve already gained a loyal following of climbers who are at the wall quite frequently. At RM10 per session during the week and RM12 over the weekends, it’s a very affordable sport.

You can rent all the equipment you need at the the centre itself, although basic essentials are just shoes and a harness. Ropes, chalk and even a climbing buddy / belayer, are provided and the walls cater to beginners and more experienced climbers.

For more information, visit our Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre page.

October sees the return of the IRB Borneo Sevens Rugby Tournament to the shores of Sabah, much to the delight of rugby fans here in Kota Kinabalu.

Jointly organised by the International Rugby Board and the Asian Rugby Football Union, the IRB Borneo Sevens Rugby Tournament is the 4th leg of the Asian Rugby Series and comes to Kota Kinabalu after Shanghai, Subic in the Philippines and Brunei.

Rugby’s Quickest

Not for the unfit and slow, Rugby Sevens is a version of what the big boys in Rugby Union play. With 7 aside as opposed to the 15 aside of Rugby Union, Rugby Sevens is a high speed affair with lots of running and, understandably, shorter games.

Played on a standard sized rugby field, Rugby Sevens feature 2x 7-minutes halves with a 1 minute break in between. In the final game of a competition, these times are bumped up to 10-minute halves with a 2 minute break.

Scoring is pretty much the same as Rugby Union, where 5 points are awarded for a try, 2 for a conversion following a try, and 3 for a field goal.

Illustrating the gain in popularity it has made in recent years, Rugby Sevens was declared an Olympic Sport in 2009 and will feature in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Rugby Fans Facilities

The IRB Borneo Sevens Rugby Tournament was well attended last year where it was hosted at the Likas Stadium not far from the city centre.

Once again the location for this years IRB Borneo 7s Rugby Tournament, the Likas Stadium is a suitable venue with ample parking and seating.

Although the main pavilion is shaded for most of the day, it does get a bit hot during the day and punters are advised to apply sunblock liberally, even while watching rugby in the shade.

Last year the turnout was perhaps a bit more than expected, especially in light of the relatively covert marketing efforts of the event. This year, hopefully, there will be more vendors with a wider variety of food and drinks on offer as compared to last year’s limited choices.

Come Watch the Rugby Sevens Action

So whether or not you’re a rugby fan, support your team, bring your friends and introduce them to the game, or come out for a great weekend of sporting spirit at the Likas Stadium and watch the IRB Borneo Sevens Rugby Tournament.

Firefly Bar & Grill in KK Times Square on the fringe of Kota Kinabalu, has a new menu and we at SabahBah.com have mixed emotions about it.

The bad news is, the the Classic Firefly Beef Burger we so much loved is not on the menu any more. Not in it’s classic form at least.

The good news is… well, we haven’t discovered the good news yet.

In stead of the Classic Firefly Beef Burger, there is a Firefly Chicken Burger, but we just couldn’t get ourselves to try it, afraid we would spoil the juicy memories of the beef version we still covet.

Instead, we tried the LA Burger. It’s a large beef patty, which, yes, on it’s own is not too bad. But it’s pretty much alone on the burger bun, save for a few slices of what seemed to be pickles underneath. The description on the menu wasn’t quite what we had on our plate.

A light point was the Firefly Salad with extra Pepper Roasted Chicken added. An interesting looking salad, which tasted pretty decent too. At RM15 it’s OK value for money.

Firefly also seemed to have had a bit of staff turn over, and our server Zeck (according to the bill), seemed a bit inexperienced tonight, in fact, he seemed a bit afraid of our table, so much so that he hardly said a word and never actually asked us if we wanted anything to drink.

Maybe it was just an off night. The new menu looks interesting and is definitely queued for further exploration.