Author archive
18 July 2017
We Ubered to the airport a little after 1000. It was a few minutes before bag-drop opened for our flight when we got there. Once Kim had offloaded his suitcase, we went to the lounge where we waited until our on-time departure to Kuala Lumpur. It was about 1600 by the time we collected Kim’s […]
13 July 2017
We woke before 0700. None of us were hungry so we skipped the muesli which we had brought. Rosli took us back to the mainland Kuching at 0800. I had a few bites from the night. Some turned into huge hemi-spherical blisters. I never respond well to sandfly bites; my last exposure to them in […]
12 July 2017
A relative had organised for us to visit one of two turtle hatcheries accessible to Kuching. We are going to Pulau Satang Besar, as opposed to Talang-Talang (which is expensive and available to those doing a 4 day volunteering). We set off at 0830, grabbed some breakfast before driving to Telaga Air to meet […]
9 July 2017
It was a lazy morning with a late breakfast or brunch until our check-out at 1200. We shared transport with a fellow diver from China. The seat-in-coach arrangement was RM20pp and only a fraction of what the hotel charges! We got to the airport about 2h before departure for Kota Kinabalu and killed some time […]
8 July 2017
We found out yesterday afternoon that we had been given an extra day of Sipadan (because we asked). So this morning, we paid for the additional permit fee of RM53 pp before we set off at 0830. I missed the name of the first dive. There were some turtles, a white tip reef shark, a […]
7 July 2017
Today, our second day of three days, was at Sipadan. It is the highlight for any diver as it is amongst the best dive sites in the world. Some rate it as #1. We left at 0830 like yesterday but the boat had trouble with one engine. We pulled into the village area for a […]
6 July 2017
Above: Docked at Mataking briefly. Today is the first day of three days diving with Sipadan Scuba (officially North Borneo Scuba), an operator I’ve used twice before over a period of eight years. They’re very reliable in terms of guaranteeing Sipadan quota slots once booking has been made and paid for online (non-refundable though). Our […]
5 July 2017
Picture above courtesy of Tony Li. Arriving in Kuala Lumpur for our Transit We were advised to go to the Transfer Desk to find out about our connections. But I had retrieved our booking online and knew that we were on the 0650 to Tawau (a day later than booked). The queue at the Transfer […]
4 July 2017
Following our emergency landing at Brisbane, immigration was fairly orderly and I received the luggage around 0040, just over an hour after landing.  Considering we landed at an airport which the airline didn’t operate into (and didn’t have their own or contracted staff), things went quite smoothly. Ground staff directed us to wait at Coffee Club […]
3 July 2017
We arrive into Gold Coast about 10 minutes behind schedule. The transit was uneventful and thankfully my duty free gin from Auckland made it through security without being confiscated (met all the requirements of tamper-proof transparent bag with receipt inside). A new crew welcomed us aboard. Â The purser started his announcement but then realised he […]