9JAN-MABUL ISLAND

the second day, after filling our bag with tons of sunblocks, we headed to Semporna. The weather is lovely and sunny as we're on our way to Mabul-island situated only about 15 minutes by speedboat from Sipadan. From nic's itinary , I supposed we're able to hop to Sipadan, however, driver told me Sipadan is CONTROLLED; as in they only allow 100+ people enter it per day *sob*.

Mabul Island has historically played a supporting role its famous neighbour in Sabah, Sipadan Island. Since Mabul is considerably larger, and Pulau Sipadan is now protected from overnight stays, its profile has greatly increased and resort owners have been able to construct a much higher standard of accommodation, albeit within the constraints of a remote getaway.

The island is covered in palm trees and fringed with fine beaches. Villagers live next door to the resorts and guests are free to stroll around the island, mingling with the locals. From Mabul Island, guests are taken the 25 to 30 minutes to Sipadan every day for diving. In addition they can dive the macro-world of Mabul, normally once a day.

from Sabah Travel guide

Still, i felt that Mabul is one of the world's best "muck-diving" sites, its rich with exotic small marine life.

We were given these plastic walking shoes to walk on beach. There were so many bright orange-coloured starfish that we practically watched our EVERY step in order not to step on them. Flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus, mimic octopus, gobies and frogfishes are everywhere, as are moray, snake eels and practically the whole scorpionfish family. There's no doubt about it, Mabul is a magical macro site!


Clear water with white beaches, Mabul remains pristine and untainted by mass tourism. Friendly aunt who offered us her lunch(nasi +ikan) she brings her food around in a kuali, while she fishing!

Nic-chan yeu-wan ye-mine-jian liang

music background " under the sea~~~"
Uncle Changs floating resort was where we had our lunch on Mabul Island. Surprisingly, we had vege and fried chicken for lunch, hmm, and i thought their main source of food would be fish! The band (guitarist with a sun-beaten guitar+ locals ) sang their "Sipadan song" whenever people arrived. Amazing. The people here were mainly travellers who wanted to go diving.
The environment is relax and cheerful.The floorboards had water reflecting through the cracks illuminating the rooms ceiling. Oh it was a super place to stay!! So
so i sat there, looking at the glorious sea, listen to the sound of lapping waves.

http://blogs.bootsnall.com/theisen/borneo-fisherman.jpgfrom http://blogs.bootsnall.com/theisen/borneo-fisherman.jpg





By the way, DIGI is not the widest coverage provider.Guess what they sell at uncle chang;s lodge? postcards, batteries, camera films and HOTLINK PREPAID CARDS!



Pei yi dozing off in a lazy afternoon.....

She had this theory. Noticing all cats that live in fishing village(from her experience and detailed observation) is black-white coloured, she concluded that they maybe from the same ancestor. It happened that this breed(with a higher level of intelligence) somehow decided that its better to live near the sea, where fish is plentiful. Maybe, perhaps, if you throw them into the sea, these cat can swim and DIVE for fish?
But we're too kind-hearted to carry out the "experiment"........the cat (in photo) seems to be relatively bigger than average stray cat.


At night, it was LAY KEI'S 20TH BIRTHDAY!

Nicholas suddenly disappeared after chating with his friend, we thought he went off to do naughty things with his friend, in fact, he went to get this!





HAPPY BIRTHDAY!