Ho Chi Minh, here I come!

It’s confirmed! We’re going to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!

Air tickets: Booked
Tiger Airways
SIN-HCM: 19 Nov @ 0745
HCM-SIN: 22 Nov @ 1340

All-in airfare for 2 person: SGD340.00 (there was a promotion for free check-in luggage, so we get to check-in two luggage for free!)

Accommodation: Booked
Lan Lan Hotel 2
46 Thu Khoa Huan Street, District 1
3 nights for SGD189.88 (through Agoda)

Total cost: SGD529.88

And now, we shall wait for 19 November!

I have yet to come up with the itinerary, although I feel that it is okay to do without one. We should just go with the flow. I hope to venture into those less touristy places though. But it is not safe at all from the reviews. Sigh. Which means no chance.
I hope we have a great time, and also take lots of great photos that I can share here.

I had four days of classes this week and it’s time to really relax this long weekend. My brain is battered. And my brain cells are killed at an astonishing speed.

I have difficulty breathing, and I keep thinking of the notes I should read, and which should I read first.

For now, I need my sleep. Good night.

Sabah [090810 - 170810] Part 2

11 August 2010

0630 at Semporna. Beautiful weather.

After breakfast (it sucks though. Only a set of toast with coffee/tea), we waited for the speedboat to Mabul island.

The guys. Where’s the other one though?

I had to rush back to take this.
Cause I thought I might not have the chance to come here again. See the faint shape behind the boats?
Looks just like someone is sleeping and opening the mouth! Mother Nature is so amazing sometimes.

Waiting to board the speedboat to Mabul island!

The journey to Mabul island takes around 45 minutes. It was damn thrilling whenever there is a huge wave. Speedboat felt like a roller coaster. More like a log ride rather since we got wet by all the splashing.
Uncle Chang’s dive lodge!

For the price we paid for the diving and accommodation (RM1000 per person), we didn’t really expect much. The RM1k is all-in by the way. 3 meals + tea break and unlimited tea/coffee and bread daily, 2 nights’ accommodation with fan (no hot shower), 7 dives and return transfer from Tawau to Semporna.
We had a “visitor” in the middle of the night in the toilet and the next day, our toothpaste had a hole in it. And it is almost impossible to stay inside the room in the mid-afternoon since the fan will only start operating in the evening.

After checking in, we started preparing for our first dive!

Woots!

The first dive was hell. We dived right in the middle of the sea (dive site was named Lobster Wall) and the water was damn choppy. One fellow dive member gave up the next dive after he ascend from this.

The cafeteria

Lunch time after the first dive.
An absolutely amazing place to have you meals at. If only it was not so hot and humid. It was very sunny that day and as usual right after diving, I was shivering so I wanted to eat under the sun.

Amazing view

I didn’t take photos at night. But the guys usually just chill at the dining area, drinking (bought beers at Semporna!) and chatting. No wi-fi for me to do some internet-surfing which was such a boo-boo.

12 August 2010

This day is the highlight of our trip. Diving at Sipadan island!

On the dive boat.

Since 2002, Sipadan was closed to all resorts in order to preserve the environment and they have to move out to the nearby islands of Mabul and Kapalai. Only a limited number of people are allowed to dive here daily by way of issuing permits. You have to apply the permits through dive operators.

This is a good move by the tourism board for protecting the dive sites from overcrowding and helped maintain Sipadan as one of the top diving spots in the world.

Entrance to the island

Registering ourselves

Unspoilt island

Army/police post

Guns!

I wonder whether they are real? Usable even?

Divemaster Sanna and us! Pretty yeah?

Group photo! Overexposed though. I don’t know why? We didn’t do any adjustment to the exposure.

Heading towards our next dive site.

LOLS!!! I thought this is rather cute.

Videographer Walter preparing for our video shoot.

Cheeky!

Our boatman

Lunchtime at Sipadan island!

The lunch was provided for by Uncle Chang’s and had to be brought over to Sipadan.

As I said, don’t expect much from the lunch. The spread is normal. Rice, noodle, veggies, meat and fruits (?). Tea, coffee and drinking water.

Diving at Sipadan is really world-class.
We didn’t get to see the tornado-formation of barracudas though. The visibility is not that good (judging by Sipadan’s standard). But there are plenty of turtles, fishes and white-tip reef sharks!

I will certainly be back for more since there are still so many dive sites we have yet to explore.

We took a rest back at our rooms after the diving before waking up at around evening to tour around Mabul island.

The bridge that link the dive lodge to the island

Sun was tooooooooo bright

There is a door at the dive lodge which will close at a certain timing.

And this is the living condition of the island.

All the houses are built on stilts and by wooden planks.

Kids in the village playing. I guess these are their everyday lives. But I have not seen aany schools on the island. So I wonder whether they are schooling?

The oil rig is actually a dive operator/lodge named Seaventures.

You can see Sleeping Beauty from here!

Evening is sucha good timing to take photos…

Imitating some yoga moves

Beach boys with their coconuts!

Such a simple life

Villagers setting up stalls and selling hand-made stuffs out of shells.

Reached this atas resort. We decided to stroll in.

Seems like a luxury staying here. Should I try staying here next time?

Here is the contrast between the luxury and simple life.

Our last night here at Mabul. As usual, sitting at the dining area, drinking, eating tidbits and chatting.

Sabah [090810 - 170810] Part 1

This draft post has been lying around for the longest time and today is the day I finally get to publish it. Please pardon all my grammatical/spelling/sentence structure errors. I was in a rush to publish this post.

We took the AirAsia flight to Kota Kinabalu and have B’s ex-colleague, to come and fetch us. It was an evening flight so when we reached KK, it’s dinner time. We were all famished and settled down at this rather popular bak kut teh shop.

I didn’t managed to take what we had ordered (too hungry perhaps?). But it was rather delicious. Herbal soup base like the other bak kut teh in Malaysia. I didn’t tried the pork ribs and the organ parts – I don’t quite like pork.

Enjoying!

I managed to take a photo of this shop after we had our meal.

Syarikat Yu Kee (佑记茶室)
end of Gaya Street

It is just opposite the Jesselton Hotel. You might be interested to know that Kota Kinabalu was once called Jesselton before it was renamed to KK. How so angmo-ish.

After our satisfying meal, we went for a walk at the Waterfront.
It is a must-go place when you’re at KK even though there is nothing fanciful. There is a Philippines Market (which I presume is owned by the Filipinos and sell all things Filipinos), and a Pasar Malam. There is also a stretch of restaurants, pubs and bars along the beach.

I think this is a permanent feature. It’s just like your normal pasar malam in West Malaysia, except they sell more dried goods such as ikan bilis. Of course there are the usual food and beverages and clothes…etc.

Restaurants of every cuisines and pubs are lined up along the Waterfront. Ambience is pretty good with dimly-lit lights. There is even a foot reflexology right at the centre of this stretch! We wanted to chill somewhere but I guess it’s not pocket-friendly enough to make us stay.

Apologies for the poorly-taken photo. I still had the cranky Fuji compact camera (which could not take good photos at night) then.

After that, we went to chill at this place called Upperstar instead.

Apparently, this is one of frequent hang-out place for the KK-ians. It’s crowded even though it’s already 2340! They serve cheap beers, and pretty decent finger food (although I find the portion really small – not worth it). They also have free wifi, which keeps me occupied with my internet surfing while the guys are chatting.
Just like any fast-food joints, you can find Upperstar in other places in KK as well.

We went to the friend’s place to stay for the night. And this is what he got us for dessert:

This fruit – Talap, is only found in East Malaysia. I thought it taste like jackfruit and looks like a durian, except the shell is soft.

TThe fruit itself

10 August 2010

We went for breakfast before heading to KK airport for our flight to Tawau.

I had konlo mee (干捞面) with tom yam soup base.

The mee was all right. But not the soup. It has a gas-y taste to it and… it’s weird! Big no for me.
It is a Chinese restaurant but on the wall of this shop, “No pork no lard” is hung all over. And you might be surprise that even our Muslim counterparts eat here.

With some time to spare before heading to the airport, we went to Tanjong Aru.

It’s just a beach with nothing much (or it’s more lively at night? I don’t know).

We took some photos for memory’s sake.

When we reached Tawau airport, the rest of the diving gang were already there, having depart from Singapore a day earlier than us. We took the minivan Uncle Chang provided for us and went straight for Semporna. It’s a good two hours drive from Tawau to Semporna and worse, we met with a traffic congestion on the way. Worse of all, it’s a one-lane road. Our driver is “local” enough to take us through a rocky shortcut, after which all of us cheered.

The dive operators’ offices

The speedboat to Uncle Chang’s dive centre in Mabul island is only the next day, so we have to spend a night in Semporna.

Since this is a typical itinerary for the tourists, they have a “resort” just beside this stretch of dive operators’ offices.

Some views of S.O.T.C

We stayed at 龙门客栈！
Water terrace house – these are all the rooms

Mascot of S.O.T.C

Reception area

For RM110 (triple-sharing), our room is pretty much comfortable. With the basic stuffs such as towels, soap, TV and an open-concept toilet.

After checking-in, we decided to tour around Semporna before meeting up with the rest of the guys for dinner.

As you can see from the Guardian plastic bag, we bought some mineral water and tidbits. Don’t ask my why we had to go there to buy when we could get them at any provision shops because I forgot.

And this was dinner at a restaurant owned by a Chinese. This is one of the few Chinese restaurants we could find.

I could only managed to take half-eaten dishes. The guys were all to fast (evidence: see the hands reaching out for the veggie?)

This is 螳螂虾 cooked with butter and chilli. We had to give credits for this as this is really well-cooked.

And we retreated back to our rooms for the night after the meal…