Labuan Half-day Trip - 05 - 08 - 2006

Greetings from small ol' Labuan land of cheap booze, liquor, chocs and GRO's ( which i was told on the way back to Miri by some guy i met at the airport ). This article is exactly 5 days old as i have been quite "efficient" with my work that i had trouble sparing out some time to update my blog.

















The trip was a rather unexpected one. Some might refer the term as "last minute" depending on how good their English are. Anyways i was instructed by my ever understanding colleague Desmond to head out for Labuan and hand over the 3 boxes of ( no, i can't possibly be leaking out infos ) tools to some guy which his name had eluded me.

















It was an early morning flight and i went there with nothing except for a pouch carrying my important documents and other fundamental items such as my digicam and also.....some tangible stuffs. I brought along my dad's suitcase just to help my colleagues with their very troublesome heavy & fragile goods.

















I've not been doing much charitable works as of late, so why not help the colleagues back in Miri to by getting some booze back for em. So, this is the low-cost carrier to all rural areas which i'm supposed to be sitting in for the next 40 minutes to and fro. I'm confused by the fact that FAX ( FlyAseanXpress ) had no fancy vinyls on it's airplane and if one could noticed the wingtail or it's end, theres a partially peeled-off MAS sticker left on it.

















I did not anticipate that the flight over Brunei to be at such a low height. The last time i knew, i was walking on clouds . Nevertheless, it did help me to get a better view of ( possibly ) an oil refinery of BSB.

















Further towards the side was a large land probably owned by one , if not the most , richest guy in Brunei. That looks like the Empire Hotel to me from above but then, educate me those who hails from Brunei.

















It was clear that the whole renovation thing had yet to be fully completed. This time around, the ( very misleading ) duty-free shops were closed down for some intensive revamp.

















Being honest, they should not had hung up signage which says DUTY FREE out loud when the price of a bar of Cadbury Milk chocolate retails for twice the amount the local shops are willing to offer in town. On another note, probably it's a blessing in disguise should one forget the get something back home, they would treat this airport duty free shop as their last resort.

















I was dropped off in front of a cafe by my supposed taxi driver right after i finished my duty of handling over the boxes around probably 10.00AM. I apologize for not remembering the name of the cafe as the interiors obviously did not attracted my attention at all but from what i heard, this particular cafe offers good, delicious, A1 prawn noodles. I'm quite skeptical about such boastful claims. I decided to check it out...

















So without further a due, i ordered their self-claimed best prawn noodle in Labuan town. I was anticipating the dish to be of a more appetizing type with BIG HEAD PRAWNS on it DAMMIT!!! I love prawns and i was pretty disappointed when it came out without any hints of BIG PRAWN HEAD!!! The meat of the prawn are a meager 2" in size which could barely fill up a toddler's mouth. The soup tasted spicy and i shit you not, the spiciness increases the more you consume it. It was totally not what i had expected earlier on. I tried to be as polite as i can be by finishing the whole bowl, but then sometimes, you can't push certain things too far.

















A close up of the self-claimed "best" prawn mee in Labuan. Although it didn't rate as one of the best prawn mee i ever had in my entire life, it did gain a few marks with it's tender fish cake and there's a generous amount of fried onions. being fair to them and to your own money worth, i would still recommended you their fish cakes instead of their prawns.

















Something about this cafe did attracted me though with it's amusingly attractive stickers on the table. It's actually a sticker promoting "FRUIT TREE" brand drinks that has a lady having a whole tin of lychee right up her mouth... if i had to be really really honest with you, it did gave me a leap off the chairs. Such ingenious ideas should be kept under wraps at Kuching's Tanjung Rambutan.

















Even this poor little girl here refuses to sit facing the table. It was scary ..really.

















A plastic signage placed from within showing the prices of it's dishes. Surprisingly, Prawn Mee and Fried Mee's retails at the same price.

















There were a few chabos who came in the cafe like flocks of ducks and they were babbling something about ( if i am not mistaken ) why am i taking pictures of this and that. I just wonder how on earth would this people actually have the courage to hold a discussion about a person within his hearing range. Yeah, they murmured something about: Look.... that..guy.... handsome... ask..number ... very... cold cool... " . That's the best i can make out. I found their constant winking/staring/giggling extremely annoying that i actually thought about going up and sit beside them, but then something stopped me from my ...... desperate inhibitions. I realized i need to take care of my otherwise unwieldy suitcase.

















I did not stay long at the cafe due to the girl's frightening stares, i made my way up and noticed Labuan's Taman Muhibbah. I was puzzled and lost for a second, standing there staring blankly at the signs : AAN HIBBAH . What the fudge is that?? Sounds like some Arab Soccer Team. Exp: Al Ak Jaber.. Al Hillal.. AAN Ciba*.. . I firmly attest this is the doing of those irresponsible peeps.

















"ANN HIBBAH" is located somewhere at the middle of the town. It is so "green" and the surroundings were filled with various kinds of trees that i had to acclimatized myself for a while due to the fact that i had been walking around , building after building, shoplots after shoplots and suddenly to find something so serene inside the town.

















Along the way to my supposed destination - Tai Seng Duty Free Shop, i stumbled upon a big roman-liked artifact , that's a map of the townarea in Labuan sandwhiched between 2 pillars.

















Labuan's a very small place as i've discovered during my 2nd visit, but still some people with direction-challenged problem might find it hard. Just incase anyone who might get lost due to over excess consumption of alcoholic beverages ( liquor / beer ) , the map is there as a guide. Note: It does not lead you to it's special services centre - brothels though.

















Vandalism is common around Malaysia, not excluding Labuan itself. Our government had always come up with brainy themes such as "one home , one computer " or "one person , one handphone ". But have they ever think about the ones who are not-so-well-off? Worry not, the public phones are easily available at most town areas and bringing it back home seems the last option for some.

















I sauntered around Labuan's town and took few pictures of it for remembrance. I did received few odd looks from the local folks there though. It was disturbing.

















This is where i stopped for some shopping. I certainly look like impressive like some well-off young chap purchasing boxes of liquors around but then, it sucks to know that the goods are for your colleagues. I got them 2 boxes of Stanley Red Wine and 3 Packets of Milky Way Chocs, and the only thing i got back for myself is a sprained back.

















The ferry / boat express terminal is within close proximity with Tai Seng Duty Free Shop. I had to rushed across the street to prevent myself from being rammed down from the erratic driving skills the local folks display. They even had to do a 360degree drift into a packing lot right in front of me. Ok, that's some embellishment i'm talking bout.

















This is the terminal. It's considered a large building if you get closer to it. LOL. Pardon the lame joke, it was probably the Mee Soup i had earlier from the Malay Cafe. Anyways, the design of the building wasn't as impressive as their airport itself.

















Upon entering the terminal, i was greeted by throngs of people , dare i say, of all walks of life waiting for their turns to board their respective express boats. There were groups of Chinese tourists, Bruneian travellers, European hitchhikers, Australian backpackers and few occasional local pickpockets hawkers around the building awaiting their victim customers.

















Skymart serves as a hub for all passengers in and out of Labuan to purchase duty free items. I had diffitculty snaping shots inside the premises as my presence inside the shop was met by unexpected pressing of appendages from males butt, thighs and their anatomy to ladies's breasts and hips. Serious, it was that crowded.

















This is a view of the terminal and the express boat. Someday, i'm gonna sit in one.

















Before i left Labuan, i had the chance to dropped by their Pasar Tani. It surprises me that the local hawker stalls are set up during the morning whereas we had ours at night here in Miri. The hawker stalls were concentrating more to food and drinks rather than our Miri counterparts which deals in everything. I had to rushed back to the airport around 12.30PM.


Note: Bring more money to buy football shoes the next time.