As we quietly, but obviously, flip the switch on Sabahbah.com’s new look, it gives us a great deal of pleasure to see all the hard work, that will make our visitors’ lives much easier, go live.

The blog format with which Sabahbah.com came to life exactly 2 years ago, has reached its capacity to be useful, requiring the overhaul that you are experiencing now.

Sabahbah.com now utilises some of WordPress’s more powerful abilities to present the information that you want about Sabah in a way that puts it right at your fingertip, right now.

No more scrolling down through 2 years worth of posts to get what you want (although the info is still there, so that’s still an option).

Instead, we’ve categorised the info in a logical way and made it accessible to you, our gentle reader, through an intuitive, user-friendly interface.

Of course, changing the look was the (relatively) easy part – the hard part is fleshing out the new look with new content. So do bare with us while we gather fresh info all about Kota Kinabalu and Sabah.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or insults you want to direct at us, do contact us anyway you like and get cracking on planning your visit to Kota Kinabalu and Sabah.

Downbelow Dive Centre will facilitate a free Project AWARE beach and reef clean-up on 20 September, co-sponsored by Sabah Parks.

Downbelow Dive Centre will provide the speedboat transfers to their dive station on Gaya island, also the location of the Sabah Park Headquarters for the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park.

The clean-up operation will be based here and will entail rubbish collection from the beach and river mouth, as well as from the reefs in the immediate vicinity.  An open-water dive qualification is required for the latter activity.

Downbelow Dive Centre has made their diving infrastructure available for this event, and Sabah Parks has agreed to waive the park entry and jetty fees, which means this Project AWARE sponsored event is completely free for participants.

As a result divers cleaning the reefs will have equipment available at no cost to them and for everybody, the boat transfers, lunch, park fees and jetty fees will also be free of charge.

In summary:

Date: Saturday, 20 September 2008
Time: 10:30am – 4:00pm
Location: Depart from Sabah Parks Jetty in front of Hyatt Regency Kinabalu
Event Location: Gaya Island, Tunku Adbul Rahman Marine Park
Cost: As many bags of rubbish as you can collect.
Included: Return transfers, lunch, equipment rental, party entry fees, jetty fees

Remember, you’ll be out in the sun all day, so bring along at least sunscreen and a hat.

We only had space for 30 participants at this particular event, and we’ve already filled the quota.  In future more such events are planned, so join the KK Dive Club and make sure you’re in the loop next time.

Air Supply is to visit KK in their From the Heart World Tour 2008.

To be fair, Kota Kinabalu and Sabah doesn’t see its fair share of international artist. But the landscape is changing and with KK’s permanent population and temporary tourist population growing year on year, that might all be changing.

Air Supply, as some of us may remember and the rest of probably have read, is the core of Gramah Russel and Russel Hitchcock. They’ve been together ever since 1975 when Air Supply was formed after they met in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Ever since they’ve been together in some or form and have produced hits and karaoke legends such
All out of Love, Making love out of nothing at all and Lost in Love. These three often-sung karaoke hits are also prime examples of exactly why a world tour of a band most popular during the 70′s and early 80′s can still be successful in Asia in 2008.

Presented by concert organisers HTC, Air Supply will be performing to the people of KK when they appear at The Magellan Sutera later this month. The Magellan Grand Ballroom at Sutera Harbour Resort is Kota Kinabalu and Sabah’s biggest indoor conference and hosting space and was thus the logical choice as venue for a concert of this magnitude.

Tickets for the Air Supply concert are available through Star Planet and Ticket Pro, or through a selected few outlets in Kota Kinabalu. Phone Sutera Harbour Resort on +60 88 318 888 for more information about where to obtain tickets for the show.

There are three categories of tickets for the Air Supply concert in KK, namely Platinum, Gold & Silver. The costs of each is advertised as RM260, RM180 and RM120 respectively.

Quality acts like Air Supply breezes through Kota Kinabalu and Sabah only once in a while, so take this opportunity and book your ticket for the Kota Kinabalu leg of Air Supply From the Heart World Tour 2008.

Transferring to Kinabalu Park, the start of the climb to Laban Rata and the peak of Mt Kinabalu, Mesilau Nature Resort and Poring Hot Spring just gained an additional option.

Updated not too long ago, Sutera Sanctuary Lodges released, via their website, an improved schedule for shuttle transfers to the Sutera Sanctuary Lodges properties located at the foot of Mt Kinabalu.

Previously, with a late start of 9am from Kota Kinabalu, it wasn’t possible to use Sutera Sanctuary Lodges transport for a day trip, or even just as a transfer for climbing the mountain, because the bus would only arrive at Mt Kinabalu at 11am, making it a very late start for the climb.

However, the new departure time from Kota Kinabalu is 7am, making it not only possible to do a day trip using Sutera Sanctuary Lodges shuttle bus, but also to make a timely transfer for climbing the mountain.

This is good news for those wanting to visit Kinabalu Park, Mesilau Nature Resort or Poring Hot Spring, because now an inexpensive, comfortable return journey is possible without having to over-night. For those who are climbing Mt Kinabalu, it also means that an early start is possible with pickups from Sutera Harbour Resort and the SSL offices in Wisma Merdeka in the city centre.

The shuttle returns again from Kinabalu Park HQ at 15:30 and arrives back in KK at the decent time of 17:30.

A single journey from Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu Park at the foot of Mt Kinabalu will cost RM40 per person, RM20 from Kinabalu Park HQ to Poring Hot Spring in Ranau, and RM20 from Kinabalu Park to Mesilau Nature Resort. The Sutera Sanctuary Lodges shuttle is a comfortable and new medium sized tour bus, ensuring air-conditioned comfort with great views on the spectacular journey into the interior.

Transfers to Kinabalu Park with Sutera Sanctuary Lodges’ shuttle bus service is available to those with bookings made directly with Sutera Sanctuary Lodges.

For a full schedule and terms and conditions, please refer to the Shuttle Bus page on Sutera Sanctuary Lodges’ web site.

The 3000th Airbus off the assembly line at Airbus Industries flew straight into AirAsia’s arms and started commercial operations from its permanent base, Kota Kinabalu, today.

Low Cost Carrier AirAsia’s first Airbus destined for their East Malaysian hub, is the first of four planned for Kota Kinabalu and is the 32nd addition to AirAsia’s growing fleet of Airbus aircraft, scheduled to replace all Boeings by mid 2009.

By the end of 2008, Kota Kinabalu will serve its 3 international and 7 domestic AirAsia destinations with more comfortable, cost efficient Airbus aircraft only.

Airbus Benefits

The Airbus spells big savings for AirAsia, and by extension their passengers, because not only is it more economical to operate, but it also seats 20% more passengers than the current Boeings. With a potential arrival count of 180 passengers per flight, AirAsia’s new Airbus additionally promises a tourism injection for Kota Kinabalu.

Three routes will benefit from the new plane, namely Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu to Macau. Operating on a rotation basis, the aircraft is scheduled for 3 return flights daily, starting with a return flight to KL, followed with a return to Kuching, and ending the day with a return to Macau.

Airbus Comfort

Taking no-frills to a new level of comfort, AirAsia’s new Airbus A320 is fitted with 180, plush leather seats, configured in two rows of 3.

The front half of the plane features seating slightly more spacious than currently on the Boeings, with a 30-inch seat-pitch, whilst the aft half of the plane features seats with a pitch equal to those of the Boeings, at 29-inches. Although half the seats have the same pitch as on AirAsia’s current Boeings, the space may appear more, thanks to the slightly wider leather seats.

In addition, the Airbus’s seats do not recline. However, from a space point of view, this is in fact a benefit, as it means that you will not end up with somebody’s head in your lap during the flight. You can therefore rest assured that the space you have when you sit down, is the space you’ll have throughout the entire flight.

With a current 11 flights daily from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur, be sure to catch Kota Kinabalu’s permanent resident, the AirAsia Airbus 320, on your next flight out.