So, as I said, the smoke last weekend made us decide we needed to get away from Kuching for a while, and Kota Kinabalu seemed like an ideal destination.

Of course, as soon as we'd clicked the button to buy the non-refundable plane fare, the air in Kuching started to improve rapidly... (Watch for it to deteriorate again when we go back next week...)

Never mind. It's 10 years since we've been to Kota Kinabalu, and that was a very brief stay, so we're well overdue a return visit.

Now that we live in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, it's hard not to make comparisons with KK, the capital of Malaysia's other Bornean state, Sabah.

It think that even the unbiased would agree that Kuching is all-round prettier. And there's a laid-back quality to our home city that isn't quite so detectable here.

Nevertheless, KK is very impressive. The airport serves a number of international destinations. The malls and supermarkets seem to be bigger. It's on the sea, which is always a good thing. And it has this huge big slab of forested hill right in the middle of town. The traffic is a bit irritating, but where is it not?

We're staying at the Hotel Deleeton, which has a great location, and offers really good value for money. There's a food court round the corner that does the most amazing pan mee...

Below some pics from our first day, post-pan mee: