We escape work just after 6pm (on Thursday 2 March), in typical fashion the lifts took forever to arrive! We are clearly not the only ones leaving work on time. We are flying Air Asia so no in-town check in for us which means we can't be running down the escalators to get the train as we have our suitcases.
Of course it's an 8 minute wait to the next train, when you are running late things never seem to go as smoothly as they could.
It's an easy walk to terminal 2, by far the quieter terminal! No line at check-in, nor immigration - this is nice and easy!
On exiting security we have a quick stop a shop before moving onto duty free. The lady kindly told us not to look in anymore shops and to head to the gate immediately. Ok right oh then to the gate we go. She says it will be 30 minutes to get there - doubtful but who are we to question.
Two trains later and numerous escalators we finally arrive at the satellite terminal! And what do you know, boarding hasn't started yet. We are literally about to sit down when one of the staff comes over to ask us to start to line up - umm no thanks, we'll be fine here just waiting to the boarding starts. I do a quick download of news on my iPad then move to Netflix and manage to download two episodes of the show I'm watching - brilliant! Well that's if it will hurry up and download.
We depart HK 10 minutes earlier than scheduled, nice! We both review the magazines in the seat back in front of us and realize very quickly there is no alcohol on this flight.....a new situation for us both! I of course "blame" Lauren as it was her choice to fly Air Asia :) yes it's much cheaper than Cathay and yes the flight time’s work out but.....
The flight passes by quickly (helps when you watch Netflix).
On landing into KK it's a bit of a maze to find immigration - there are lots of people around but no one seems to be going in the same direction as us. When we finally arrive we gasp as the line is crazy long! Please please please let there be an APEC line - a few seconds later when we walk off the escalator it's there right in front of us. Result!!
The immigration officer lady seems in no rush and after what seems like ages she gets out of her booth and goes to the next one.....NO come back! We have one other person in line in front of us so thankfully we see light at the end of the tunnel but her disappearing doesn't help with the light. When it's our turn we walk up and she tells us only one at a time, then proceeds to say she won't serve Lauren without an APEC card. Ooh please no. I try everything but she won't budge. Thankfully Lauren manages to switch over to the Malaysian passport only line (which is right next door) and is served within minutes. Phew!!! Now for the luggage.
Before exiting the passenger only part of the terminal we need to scan our bags - the officer lady is super kind and helpful. Makes up for the not so pleasant woman at immigration!! We are out in the big wide world of Kota Kinabalu.
Taxi voucher purchased (again we encounter a very friendly and helpful individual) - now to leave the airport building.
It's a quick 15 minute drive to the hotel - KK seems to have changed a lot since I was last here (hmm thinking it's been at least 3.5 years, if not more, since I was last here). As we get closer to the hotel I start to recognize a few places.
Check-in is very easy, bags collected and we are off to our room. We are both calling out for sleep - it's been a long, crazy week!
Friday 3 March I wake at 8.30am, very much a sleep in for me but given it was close to 12.30am when I turned my light out not exactly an extra-long sleep. Aah our first day of holiday!
We had considered going across to Sandakan to see the orangutan's today but hadn't had any luck with finding a half day tour, as I lay here I'm very pleased as we would have been there now for an hour.
Lauren is still sleeping - off to the gym I go. It's nice and warm (and humid) but the view makes up for it.
We arrive at breakfast 8 minutes before the buffet ends, no issue at all as we want a la carte. After lots of questions we both order - on arrival it's not exactly what we thought. Hey Ho we aren't in Kansas City anymore Dorothy.
I head out to get soda water (for our vodka of course!) while Lauren goes to the gym. The kind lady from breakfast had given me instructions to find a mall so off I head. On entering I'm thinking this mall is all about technology.....I keep wandering though. Bingo store that sells drinks! But of course no soda water. The lady informs me there is a supermarket downstairs that may have it - thank you and goodbye. Soda water purchased I head back to the hotel collect our bags then check out.
It's a short 10 minute ride to the ferry pier. Money is exchanged, bags collected out of boot - off we head. It's just past 11.50am and our boat leaves at 12noon. We end up going to a few different places before back tracking to we see the sign for Gaya Island Resort. We are in!
We are of course now on Malaysian time - 12 noon comes and goes and we are still sitting here waiting. Lauren asks when we are leaving and is told we're on the second boat. Ok. Within seconds though the decision is reversed and we are off.
As we walking onto the pier we are handed a life jacket which needs to be put on before getting onto the boat. Aah let the holiday begin!
It’s a short 10 ish minute ride to the resort, so nice being out on the water again.
The first thing I notice getting off the boat is how clear the water is, following very quickly by - wow look at all the fishes. We have arrived in paradise. Check-in is all over the place and takes forever!! We do occupy the time by making dinner reservations (seems crazy making for tomorrow and Sunday nights!) and trying to decide if we'll do the meal deal or not.
We are finally told check-in is at 3pm (a good 2.5 hours away).....fine but we need our bags to get our togs before then! For now we go on a tour of the resort then head to pool bar for lunch.
I head to reception to enquire if our room is ready because if not we'll just get out togs out. En-route I run into Charlie who informs me our room is ready - great! Off we go.
Our room is surrounded by greenery, with the noise of the sea. Bliss. 
We are both ready to eat our arms off, time to drag ourselves away from the amazing pink sky and head for dinner.
We return to our room and sit on the balcony to enjoy the sea noise as well as the stars. A lovely end to the day!
Saturday 4 March after an awful night’s sleep, I thought you were supposed to sleep well when on holiday??!, I wake at 7am feeling terrible! Let's hope the sea water sorts me out!
We had arranged to go diving today, after breakfast we head to the meeting point. 9am comes and goes. Definitely on island time here!!!
There are 9 of us on the boat (plus the staff) - with 3 of us diving. It's a beautiful day on the water!!
We have two dives in the morning, both at different sites. I had expected the visibility to be similar to the Philippines but it's nowhere near as good, thankfully though it's better than when we learnt to dive in HK! Both dives I exit the water with 70-80 bar, very happy for once it's not me running low on air / out of air that puts an end to the dive.
Both dives I practised not using my arms as my turn left / right or reserving! I’ve been told you save your air if you don’t use your arms.
Over the two dives we say yellow snapper, travelly, yellow tail barracuda, lion fish, puffer fish, longfin bannerfrish, angel fish, spotted box fish, anemone fish, black coral (which is actually green in colour!), sear horse, blue star fish, slipper coral, boring clam and many many more!
For lunch we get off the boat onto a small island where we had dropped the snorkelers earlier. We had been told earlier the area was famous for wild boars; on walking to the bathroom I come across one – so close! Thankfully it was on a mission so didn’t disturb me.
Dive 3 of the day was the 3 of us and Basir (our dive master) again. Nice to be in a small group! Another great dive seeing lots of fish! Highlight was the bright blue snail and many many orange fish.
On arrival back at the resort we find a seat at the beach then head back to our room to get our books and vodka - which is very much deserved!
After what seems like 10 minutes it's 6pm already - I collect some ice then head back to the room. I'm not far on the boardwalk when I notice a monkey running down the tree then along to keep up with me. Heart rate increases - eeks! There is a special BBQ night on tonight so I quickly go there to ask what I should be doing with the monkey. Just keep walking and if it gets close kick it. Ummm not exactly encouraging There is a staff member walking by, I encourage him to walk me to our villa (or at least close!) to ensure the monkey doesn't get close! Thankfully I get back in one piece and with everything I started with.
We had booked the Japanese restaurant tonight for dinner when we checked in - feeling clean we headed off on search of it.
This resort definitely isn’t small! A good walk to build up an appetite. Dinner is amazing! We are seated at the end of a L shaped bar where we can watch the chefs prepare everything. Sake ordered we settle in for the evening. 
Sunday 5 March I'm awake far too early and before the sun! It's relaxing laying here listening to the sounds of the Forrest though as it begins to wake-up.
We learnt our lesson yesterday morning (arriving early for diving) so today we rock up a couple of minutes before 9am.....and still wait before we are taken to the boat. Today there are 8 of us, and all divers.
Today we (Lauren and I) are diving with Basir again – nice that it’s just the 3 of us. Dive 1 had us seeng stingray, sea horse, school of yellow snapper, blowfish and trumpet fish to name a few.
Our 2nd dive is amazing!! We saw 2 turtles, 1 small one which was swimming away - the other very big just chilling out watching the world go by. Sooo cool! The other cool thing we saw was 2 broadclub cuttlefish swimming around, we followed them for a while. It was also our longer dive yet - 51 minutes. Woo hoo!!
For lunch we headed to another island - beautiful clear water with white sandy beach. This really is the life!
Lauren decided not to do dive 3, our dive master then decided not to go so I was put with another dive master (Jason) and 2 others. Was feeling nervous as it's the first dive I've done without knowing anyone! If our dive master had gone I would have been fine but alas no.
The visibility was poor!! Actually scary, thankfully Jason thought the same and took us further up. Aah now we can see things!! It was also very cold.....didn't help that we were going very slowly. Great to be able to see things but not good to keep warm. The high light was the razor fish, seeing a sting ray (while praying it didn't come near me!!) and touching the bubble coral. Totally not the feeling I thought. I also discovered you can't laugh and breathe underwater! Hmmm I wonder where and when I'll next dive?
We arrived back to the hotel at 4pm - with the sun still shining it’s straight to the beach we head, followed quickly by a swim in the pool. It's so nice and peaceful listening to the sounds of the waves.
I start to get attacked by mozzies of some kind - thanks but no thanks, but to the room we head!!
We had pre-booked one of the restaurants for dinner when we checked in, with Lauren not well we postpone to tomorrow night. Going instead to the buffet. We're lucky and get the closest table to the sea, the sounds of the sea and the light breeze is awesome!
Monday 6 March after a sleep in, result!, we head for a leisurely breakfast before heading to the beach for a day of relaxing, reading and swimming.
Just before 5pm we drag ourselves away and head to the spa for our massage (part of the room booking). Heavenly is an understatement - awesome end to the day!
Thankfully on the walk back to the room there are no monkeys in site!
Our last meal is at the seafood restaurant overlooking the harbour – such a lovely end to an amazing trip.
Tuesday 7 March it's another early wake-up for me, our last day :( It's all about maximizing the sun for our last hours here so after breakfast it's straight to the beach we head.
The 15 minute boat trip back to the main land (island) goes smoothly; we would both prefer not to be here though! It's nice and easy to get a taxi - after purchasing the voucher one of the Gaya Island resort staff members helps us, attentive to the end!!
It's a short 20 minute ride to the airport, definitely easy! We are here a good 3.5 hours before our flight, fingers crossed there's something to entertain us here.
We end up going through the wrong security line to check-in, would have helped if there was a staff member around to assist. At least we have time!
We had already checked in online and got our boarding passes, it's all about dropping off the bags. Again nice and easy!
Lauren had found information and was told there is a priority pass lounge here - perfect, off we go! Great to pass the time.
We land into HK 10 minutes late - it's a cold 19 degrees. A vast difference to the 32 degrees we have been having.
I'm returning to reality feeling like I've been away for more than 5 days which is always lovely. Next holiday in 2.5 weeks......to the land of the long white cloud! Between now and then I'll be researching diving holidays!
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