A View from the Top

This a photo of downtown KK taken from Signal Hill Observatory Platform, which overlooks it, the islands and sea. You will notice that there are not too many tall buildings around. No, we are not in an earthquake prone area. It is more actually for the single reason that airplanes when landing at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, actually fly over the city. So, no tall buildings. The tall ones are probably only 14 to 15 stories high.

Another limitation for the downtown area is Signal Hill itself. Actual land between the hill itself and the sea was limited. Try finding old photos of the cities (pre-1970’s), you can see this. So, to expand the land area, the only way was to tear down the hill. No, just kidding. The town planners used the sea, instead. So, today half of downtown area is on reclaimed land. The blue bill board in the middle of photo is the mark where the seashore once was. Lastly, if you are visiting KK, Signal Hill is a must especially if you have access to a car as walking uphill can take a while.