Day4 (last day) :: Labuan - Muzium Labuan, Labuan Square, the Chimney

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013

Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Last day in Labuan. Since my flight was in the evening, I still had time to  continue exploring the island. Quick stop to the nearby morning market at Labuan Walk for breakfast. Luckily this market is just across the street from the hotel. 

Honestly, I was expecting some kuih or nasi lemak or fried mee there but no no no.. There was no such thing. If I remember correctly, they had cakes, drinks and more cakes. Very odd.. No choice, I ended up with milo and cheese cake for breakfast hahahaha.

Muzium Labuan & Labuan Square

From Labuan Walk, if u walk towards the opposite direction from the hotel, u will reach a roundabout and a big field named Labuan Square.

I guess this is where official big functions like marching for Merdeka celebration and such are celebrated. One side of the field is a small garden for people to laze around. Easy said, it looks like Merdeka Square in KL.

Across the street from the garden is Labuan Muzium. Front of the museum is very serene with big old trees and some monuments.

Bazar Labuan

Since I don’t have any bags to check in, souvenir of choice for this trip is just fridge market. Best place to find all those are here in Bazar Labuan. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed due to Chinese New Year holiday. But in short, u can find magnets, pearls, clothing and few tailors as well.

Nearby is the daily market. The market mostly sells seaweeds and some local snacks. As for seaweeds, there are few types and u can buy either readily packed or ask the aunties to pack as per requested weight. RM14 for 1kg of seaweed.

Patau-patau Water Village & Lunch at Kina Benuwa Mangrove

Nasi lalapan for lunch. I’m not a big fan of sambal belacan but the sambal belancan here was superb; balanced mixed of belacan and chillies.

The Chimney

Deemed as a mystery structure due to unidentified background for bulding such structure is the Chimney. In the compound u can find the information center, historical complex and the chimney itself. 

“This chimney was built in the year of 80's and the usage of it is still a mystery. It is stated that there is no traces of smoke and whatsoever that indicate that it works like any normal chimney. However, the locals believe that it was used as a ventilation shaft. Still, there are many people that have other thought. Some say that it is just an unfinished mansion built in those days while others claim that it is a light house to be. Until today, no one knows the right purpose of this chimney and this is why it is such mysterious.”

Labuan War Memorial

“Labuan War Cemetery is a Commonwealth World War II graveyard. Many of the personnel buried in this cemetery, including Indian and Australian troops, were killed during the Japanese invasion of Borneo or the Borneo campaign of 1945. Others were prisoners of war in the region. This graveyard was erected by Commonwealth War Graves Commission.” - Wikipedia

Tanjung Purun Beach

One of the non-famous beach in Labuan.

All in all. It was worth a trip considering I have never set foot in Labuan before. The town is pretty quiet and driving around the island would probably take less than 3hours.

However, I will definitely be back for wreck-diving, another famous activity here in Labuan :)

Day 3:: Labuan - Surrender Point & Anjung Ketam

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013
Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Woke up late today since I had to wait for my friend to finish work in the afternoon before going out around Labuan Island. Don't feel like going out alone anyway. Destinations for the day were mostly on the other side of the island.

Surrender Point Memorial

Located at the West side of the island, near Pantai Layang-layangan. Pantai laying-layangan is a 2008 UN Beach. In other words, it was awarded to its cleanliness and view. Surrender Point is the location where the Japanese surrender North Borneo to the Australian at the end of WWII

Nearby is the Peace Park, a Japanese garden. The garden is quite big and a great place to take a stroll or jog.

Sunset view

This side of the island is the best point to see the sunset. We purposely chosen the time so that we would be able to see the sunset. There are a lot of places to view them along the way, either at the beach or at the wave breakers along the beaches. I had my view at Pantai Batu Manikar.

 Anjung Ketam

Being in Labuan won’t be completed without eating seafood. This time our dinner is located at Anjung Ketam, Tg Aru. There are few other restaurants along the road but I think this place is one of the most popular one.

Ordering is typical at other seafood restaurant. U choose ur sea creatures and they’ll cook for u. I ate my favorite food – tempura squid, chili crab and some veggies. Pretty simple but very filling. Compared to the place I ate at Labuan town, the taste is almost similar. But take note, there are minimum weight when ordering. E.g crab has to be at least 1kg, squid has to be at least 250grams.

By the time we're done, it's almost 10pm. Being in Borneo, 10pm here is practically more like 11pm so it's straight to the bed.

Day 2:: Brunei – Royal Regalia & Back to Labuan

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013
Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Royal Regalia

Built for the 1992 Silver Jubilee of Sultan of Brunei ascension, this is where the collection of ceremonial regalia and gifts to the Sultan is kept and displayed for public to see. 


Entrance fee was free and the building is opened daily. You are not allowed to bring a camera in (leave at the reception) but once you’re done with the main gallery, ure allowed to take photos at the front gallery. The main item here is the royal coronation carriage surrounded by the regalia from the royal crowning ceremony in which the current crowned sultan was pulled through the streets of the city.

The Regalia is my final visiting place when I was in Brunei. We’re done on time close to 4pm and went directly to the ferry terminal. Luckily the ticket counter was opened so I managed to get my ticket back to Labuan.

All in all, I really had an express tour! Around Bandar Seri Begawan in 2hours hehehe. Before departing, Uncle Saiful and Aunt Alina invited me again for a visit, next time I could drive around myself. I definitely need to come back someday to go around Brunei thoroughly.

Ferry departed on time at 4.30pm and i reached Labuan shore at 6pm.

Day 2 :: Labuan to Brunei

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013 
Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Location: Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Weather: Sunny

Transportation: Ferry

Woke up early to make sure I would be able to get the earliest ferry to Brunei. Reached the ferry counter around 7.30am and there were 2 ticket counters opened where 1 is for domestic and 1 for international. Well, domestic is for Menumbok, Kota Kinabalu(KK) etc and International is Brunei. Queue for domestic was very long and I heard the ticket to KK that day already sold out (don’t know why a lot of people going to KK during Chinese New Year). One way ticket to Brunei costs RM35. There are 2 class and this is for 2^nd class. I saw in the ferry that 1^st class has bigger individual chair (like in a 3-seater bus) and more private space. Anyway, you cannot buy return ticket at the counter. Return ticket from Brunei to Labuan has to be bought at Brunei’s Ferry terminal itself.

Since it’s still early, I went for breakfast at the mamak shop across the street. There were quite a lot of people. The food price here was not as expensive as I thought, almost similar to KL.

Journey to Brunei took 1.5hrs and as I suspected, the ferry was empty hahaha! I got the whole row to myself. The aircond wasn’t that cold either and there’s a movie played but I can’t remember what it was.

Custom clearance was smooth as there’re not many people around. Upon arrival outside, I straight went to the ticket counter which is located to the left of the arrival hall. To be exact, it is located directly in front of departure hall. Don’t fret, the ferry terminal is very small. U won’t get lost. Unfortunately for me, all of the counters were closed. I (and a lot of others there) waited for an hour when I finally gave Uncle Saiful a call. Uncle Saiful is my friend’s uncle who is living in Brunei. Coincidentally  we met earlier when I went to my friends’ brothers’ house in Shah Alam. He’s returning from Malaysia the same day as my arrival. Since it’s already 11.30am, I thought he must have arrived.

11.50am, Uncle Saiful and his wife, Aunt Alina picked me up and brought me to their house. We had a chat and after lunch, we started our tour. Well, they’re asking me to just spend the night there since the time will be very tight if I were to return with the 4.30pm ferry on the very day. Basically, I will only hv 2hours in Brunei. They insisted that I stay since I hvn’t bought the return ticket but I had to decline as if I stay, I won’t have time to go around Labuan.

Around 2pm, we departed from the house- me, Uncle Saiful, Aunt Alina and their 2 youngest kids, Insyiraah and Amsyar; and the journey began!

Day 1 :: PM – KUL – Labuan

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013

Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Day 1

Location: LCCT, KL - Labuan

Weather: Fine

Transportation: Air Asia

PM

Due to the fact that this was a last minute trip, the biggest expense was of course on the plane ticket. Bought less than a week prior to the trip, it costs me around RM480 for a return trip (no check-in luggage).

I had already checked in for return few days before, so this was my 1^st trip without luggage. Figuring that since this would be a short trip, I packed my 30L bagpack for 4 days. FYI, 30L does fit the size for carry in luggage. Then, came a big problem. I had to bring my laptop due to I have to work between the days and believe me when I say, my 15-inch LENOVO is HEAVY. But don't fret! Convertible laptop bag (bagpack/sling bag) to the rescue!~

At home, I weighted my bagpack. It was around 4kgs but my laptop itself weighted close to 5kgs. There goes my 7kgs! I was really worried. Worries that I might need to checked in my luggage. That would be a big hassle.

Anyway, me and my dad ended up people watching a bit at the airport. Well, not really people watching, but AA staff watching. There was this particular staff randomly weighting passengers’ bag before the queue for ticket and identification check. So I basically sneaked into the line while he’s busy checking other people’s bags hahahaha!

So, the flight departed on time and I reached Labuan arrival around 5.30pm. Pretty fast since I don’t have to wait for my luggage. So how did I go to Labuan town? It’s easy. Just u get out of the arrival hall, go straight ahead u can see a taxi counter. Buy a prepaid ticket from there and wait outside near the “Taxi” post. When a taxi arrived, just hand the driver the tic and tell him where exactly u want to go. For my case, Pulau Labuan Apartment. Well, as everybody knows; no cheap things in the airport. So a 3-km ride cost me RM13.

Honestly, I don’t know what to expect of the hotel. I reached there around 6 and the uncle stopped the taxi right in front of the door hehehe. After all the checking in etc etc, I’m finally in the room. Unfortunately, no photos here. Do take note that only the name is “apartment”. The room looked like a hotel room. Not so big and not so small, for me at least. As long as the bed is comfy and the shower is great, I’m satisfied. A room with a queen-bed, with fridge, hot shower, TV, huge dresser (not sure what u want to put there) and it’s smacked in the middle of the town.

Across the street are Fratini’s and Hotel Ambassador 2. Ferry terminal is just a 5min walk.  Do ask for the total of ur stay when u call to book (oh ya, for some reason I couldn’t find any online reservation for affordable hotels in Labuan. So it’s all Google and phone calls). On the web, it’s stated there RM128++ /night for the room but somehow I ended up with RM450 for 3nights..

To cut short, dinner was near the jetty. After a quick detour to the Ferry Terminal to check on for my Brunei's ticket (unfortunately the ticket counter closes at 5.30pm!), we walked down further a bit. Ferry Terminal here is referring to the terminal for long distance ferry e.g Labuan, KK, Menumbok etc. I can't recall the name of the restaurant but it's right after the local water taxi jetty; "something-something-Seafood". Since we're there right after Maghrib, there were not many people around. We chose Sotong Masak Telur Masin (seriously sedappp), kailan goreng and sup sayur with tonnesss of ingredients. Yes, just these 3. Cheap and surprisingly delicious. Total of RM13 per pax. Again, no photo since we're starving.

Finished dinner around 9pm but it strangely felt like it was already 10+.. Already tired and sleepy, so it's straight back to hotel to doze off... bagusss... lepas mkn jd ular sawa...

Note: I just knew that if there is NO check-in luggage, u can just check which gate ure boarding at and straightaway go to the departure hall. No need to queue at the counter.  If ure not sure, u can double confirm ur document at the Document Check Counter near the departure hall of LCCT.