The City Mosque Of Kota Kinabalu

There's a grand State mosque and also a grand City mosque in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. If you're meeting someone at the big mosque, make sure to be specific.

The City mosque, Masjid Bandaraya, opened in 2000 and its main feature is a man made lagoon surrounding most of the building. The nickname, of course, is the floating mosque.

Grand.

(Holy) house rules. Inside at the front entrance, religious knick knacks, topi hats and a massage.

The columned central interior.

Ladies in waiting. Muslim girls and Chinese tourists, eager to wear the Islamic coverup and have their picture taken. Go figure.

The reflected night glow.

Che Sui Khor Moral Uplifting Society

Wow, a religious mouthful. Come one, come all creeds and join in divine celebration at this Kota Kinabalu, Borneo institution. The society embraces all faiths and cherry picks what it deems the highlights of Islam, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity. Despite the wide inclusion of religions, aesthetically, the complex leans Chinese temple tropes.

The highlight, a 12-story pagoda.

Inside the main hall, it's business as usual, stuffing packages of prayer offerings. Some light reading on the rack.

The memorial hall. Golden.

A couple of details: Sparkly Buddha and an elaborate, exotic downspout sort of flower sculpture on a retaining wall.

Buddha to infinity.

At The Resort In Malaysia

Malaysia is a tropical country, full of beaches, islands, dive sites, sunshine. And resorts. Time to take a visit.

Paradise.

The lobby. The pool.

Utility room behind some pool slides.

Nature, curated. Flowers on a greeting desk outside a meeting room.

Banquet chairs storage.

The night pool lights. Cot in a hallway.

Resort warning.

Public Sculpture in Kota Kinabalu

The town has a handful of prominent sculptures, placed in roundabouts, positioned for maximum Instagram efficiency.

At the seaside promenade, a little emotional suggestion.

The big fish, a Marlin welcoming you into downtown.

Another roundabout, this time reserved for a pair of egrets.

War memorial, placed by the British to honor those people lost during WWI. Australians were added after WWII.

Back to the promenade, a stone dolphin at sunset.

The Water Village Of Kota Kinabalu

There's a traditional stilt house community holding on against modern development in Kota Kinabalu. The neighborhood is a poor, ramshackle place. Still, traditions die hard and many families have lived there for generations, many ancestors arriving from the Philippines to fish the fertile waters of their new country. Unfortunately, their way of life is disappearing.

Typical house.

A house stilt foundation. At the time this photograph was taken, it's the dry season and the water is low. Longtime resident and his grandchild.

House interior. The ghost of Walker Evans hovers.

Serious kid, silly friends. A local store, selling staples in single portions.

Man of the house.

Modern development is looming and their neighborhood won't be around much longer. Quite the dichotomy of existence.

High fashion, down to the flips.

Flora And Fauna At The Sabah State Museum

The highlight at the Sabah State museum are the classic dioramas of animals and their jungle environments. Bringing wild Borneo to the masses.

Earnest rhino.

Setting the scene. Bloody cobra, scared squirrel.

Crocodile and brave birds. We especially like how the background image comes to 3D life for the high bird branch.

Eager eagle. A bunch of bamboo, mind the outlets.

Adorable white mongoose.

Something For Everyone At The Sabah State Museum

Kota Kinabalu has a nice museum with a variety of cultural artifacts. A peek at nature. Old cars. A train set. Kind of like if the Smithsonian museums were crammed into one building.

The main atrium, dominated by a giant whale skeleton. Good choice!

Local custom of costume. Big Buddha in a small train set.

Rice cultivation demonstration.

TV studio re-creation, equipment just a bit older than when James started in the business. Scary. Speaking of scary, a moody bust of Malaysia's first leader, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

A cave diorama. Borneo is famous for amazing caves, maybe best to seek out the real things.