Tawau-Semporna-Mabul Island (29 Sept - 2 Oct 2006)

October 2006 was supposed to be the month we go Beijing. Unfortunately, as much as we wanted to go, we had to postpone it to next year due to personal reasons - lack of money, lack of leave, just changed job, etc.

Our flight to Tawau was on early Friday morning. Dragging ourselves out of bed in the wee hours of morning is never an easy task especially when we have been having 4 hours of sleep in the last few days. We reached LCCT exactly one hour before departure and managed to check-in on time, had a light breakfast and boarded the 2 hour 45 minute-flight. Tawau airport was only 30 minutes away from the Tawau town. The six of us checked into Dynasty-Monaco Hotel for one night.

After lunch, we departed to visit the Madai caves (1.5 hours away from Tawau), famous for bird's nests. For those of you who are not completely sure what bird's nest is, allow be to elaborate. Bird's nest is an authentic delicacy taken from a swiftlet's nest, it is not made out of twigs and straw, mind you. The nest is made of the bird's hardened gummy saliva, apparently wonderfully yummy to those with an acquired taste for it. It is expensive. We were offered RM5,000 for 1 kg of uncleaned bird's nest and I was told that it was cheap. Anyway, the caves left me with a mark of experience for I have to admit, being some sort of a city-girl, I have never been into any caves, except Batu Caves :-) Indeed it also gave us some interesting shots of photography.

We proceeded to a waterfall in Kunak but it closed by the time we got there. Disappointed, we headed back to Tawau and feasted on a sumptuous array of seafood - crabs, fish, crayfish, tiger prawns, jellyfish. I would say definitely much better than a whole kg of bird's nests. Bernard, you should have been there to take photos of all the food. Later, Kwan brought us to a yacht club, where we sat by the deck, drinking and admiring Kwan and Cheah's collection of photographs. Life is good....


After breakfast the next day, we took a 1 hour and 45 minute-ride by van to Semporna. Our speed boat was already waiting for us when we reached and it took us 30 minutes to get there. It was love at first sight the moment we docked Mabul Island. Whatever I described now would hardly do justice to this place. I have never seen such clear sea water, one can just see right through to the corals and fishes beneath. It's almost heaven! The only thing missing in the next few days were blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The haze came as an uninvited guest.

We took our time walking around the Mabul Sipadan Water Village and explored a nearby Bajau village. When it became too hot and we got a little sunburned, we headed back to the chalet to enjoy the view there. We had lunch followed by siesta before heading out again to catch some evening shots.
It wasn't a easy task trying to find a good spot for sunset and when we did find one, it was the haze that did the damage again. Barbecue dinner was considerably good but it was the ambience that was fantastic. Plus we were also graced upon by the Raja Muda of Perlis and his super VIPs who stayed there the same night. The island was well guarded by the police, military and marine, safety wasn't an issue.

A thunderstorm came at 2:00 am. It was a little scary as our chalet faced the open sea. We felt the chalet shook each time lightning struck and thunder rumbled along with strong winds and heavy downpour. Quite an experience, I would say. We woke up slightly before 5:00 am to try our luck on sunrise, hoping the rain would clear the haze and bring back blue skies. Tough luck, the weather was worse than the day before. After breakfast, we took a walk to the resort next door, the Mabul Water Bungalow resort which was just as beautiful, with a spa of its own. We gave up our cameras and went for a dip by the beach. And then it was time to pack up and leave.

We arrived at Semporna and checked into the Seafest Hotel. That afternoon, we chartered a speed boat for a little sea adventure. We were like on a quest to look for the Sea Bajau people. Of course our boatman was very familiar with the surrounding islands and he knew where to take us. To get to Maiga island, we had to pass through certain areas of the sea which was just 3 feet deep. Really interesting, because we could see the deep blue sea in front and at the back of us and here we are, with just 3 feet of water, rocks, corals and lots of starfish. One could of course get down and walk just to experience what it's like to walk in the middle of the ocean but no one wanted to get themselves wet.

The Sea Bajau people were originally from southern Philippines who moved to these islands because of a separatist movement. The island was like a lost paradise, lined with endless rows of tall coconut trees, sand and clear emerald water. There were 2 settlements on the island, one closer to land and the other further out into the shallow waters of the sea. Their huts were made of wood and built on stilts as high as 5 feet. Harvesting seaweed seemed to be their source of income.

Time did not permit us to visit another island so we had to return to Semporna. The next day, we decided to cancel our boat trip to explore other islands. The weather was turning on us and the haze had worsened. We went to the jetty instead and took shots of fishermen turning in their catch for the day. We had an early lunch and departed for Tawau in a hired van. Our flight was only at night, so we had a whole afternoon to kill. We walked around the Tawau town and found a place to eat, drink and hand around. The place served many varieties of "Pan" mee and I had a plate of fried "pan" mee (this is not found in KL) which was really tasty. Kwan and Cheah took us for a hearty dinner and we had the pleasure of meeting with Louis Pang, who joined us for dinner. Kwan and Cheah also drove us to the airport after dinner.

To Kwan and Cheah, thank you so very much for taking the time to bring us around and helping us with all the arrangements for this trip. Overall, we were a little disappointed with the weather but the whole experience made up for it. We will return some day for better photographs.