Feel like you have seen it all

If you haven't been to Kota Kinabalu, then the answer is "not yet."

Imagine being in the middle of nature's showpiece of a garden. Soak in the healing balm of a magic spring as colorful butterflies flutter around you. Stand on the highest summit of Southeast Asia as daybreak reveals Sabah's splendors in an explosion of colors. Reflect on the magnificence of sunrise in this part of the world, gazing up close at centuries-old wonders or simply admiring the world's largest flower at your feet.

It's all in Kota Kinabalu. Ever since the first travelers to Borneo, mostly European explorers, brought back to their home countries the treasures of this tropical island, it has been the ultimate destination of adventure and leisure seekers. The place was even featured in a number of TV shows, including Sports Unlimited and the reality-based Survivor.

On your way there onboard Malaysian Airlines, you'll see the majestic mountain that is Mount Kinabalu shrouded in mist.

Other notable landmarks, which arriving visitors see from the air, are the emerald green islands and beautiful world-class seaside resorts like Shangri-La and the 150-hectare Sutera Harbor Resort and Spa. As the plane touches down, you'll realize you have just seen the tip of the iceberg.

Here are just some of the sights in Sabah also known as The Land Below the Wind.

SUTERA HARBOR RESORT

Sutera Harbor Resort

Guests can either choose to stay at the Pacific Sutera Hotel, which is perfect for businessmen who like comfort and luxury, or the Magellan Sutera Hotel, which is best suited for those who want to experience the exotic.

Those who love the greens will simply be mesmerized by the resort's 27-hole championship golf course, where they can tee off all day and night.

Adventure seekers are in for a thrilling ride via speedboats to nearby Sapi and Manukan islands. Sapi, which means "cow," has different resort cottages where a couple or the whole family can stay.

Manukan, which means chicken (almost a translation of poultry), prides itself with a spread of various corals housing different schools of tropical fish.

Some of the guests even bring loaves of bread to feed them. One need not go far to the shore to see these underwater treasures.

MALAYSIA'S FIRST WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Kinabalu National Park

The name "Kinabalu" is derived from the Kadazandusun words Aki Nabalu.

Coined from the words aki (ancestor) and inabalu (mountain), it means the sacred resting place of ancestral spirits. Legends of the Kadazandusun, one of the ethnic tribes of Sabah, have told of the supreme deities' creation of the world and the majestic Mount Kinabalu, the focal point of the park.

Such is the importance of this mountain to Sabah that the capital was renamed Kota Kinabalu (Kinabalu Fort) in 1964.

The highest mountain in Southeast Asia, this magnificent granite massif stands at 13,435 feet tall.

Covering a staggering area of 754 square kilometers, Kinabalu Park is bigger than the whole of Singapore. Established as a state park in 1964, this botanical paradise is blessed with an astonishing variety of flora and fauna that range over four climate zones. While the focus of the park is the mountain, about 80 percent of the visitors don't climb all the way to the peak, but come simply to enjoy the serenity of this place.

The gateway to the summit of Borneo is the Kinabalu Park Headquarters, situated on the southern boundary, at an elevation of 5,000 feet. Most of the park's modern facilities are located here, from visitors' accommodation, restaurants and exhibit centers, to the park's offices, where overnight visitors and climbers must register.

PORING

Poring hotsprings

Well known for its hot springs, it's the perfect place to visit after your climb up Mount Kinabalu.

Soak away the sores and aches of muscles in the hot sulfuric minerals of this spring, which is claimed to have curative powers.Poring also has a butterfly farm and an orchid conservation center, which houses the largest live collection of the Sabah orchid.