A New Friend

Hello all Mark here. Liza has stayed back for this one. After a terrifying flight and long stop over in Jakarta airport, We are in Malaysian Borneo. Land of the Orangutang, Proboscis Monkey and some of the best scuba diving in the world. Arrived in our guest house, found the staff to be very kind and accommodating, but the place wasn't what we were looking for. Kota Kinabalu is a big city but there is little to do there... other than shop. And so shop we did. We spent a whole day walking around the shopping malls. It seems as though out of a hundred stores 90 were electronics stores, mostly selling cell phones and computers. We also saw arcades where a couple of girls where going nuts on the Dance Dance Revolution, and a guy in a suit was belting his heart out in a Karaoke booth. Liza got herself an I Touch. She is very happy with it. She is now all caught up on her stories. And now we can check out the Internet for free anywhere there is free WI FI. Which is almost anywhere. I was going to get myself a Lap Top but decided to wait till we get home.

Later on that night we took a night bus to Semporna. The people on this bus were so rude. Liza and I were about to flip our lids. The two young guys beside us where cranking really crappy asian music. At one point I thought it was going to be some hard metal but it turned out to be crap as well. At about 12:30 am I had to ask the kid to turn it down... which he did a little. It was then that we noticed thateveryone was yelling on the cell phone, or playing there own music, and singing along. When we arrived at about 3:30 am (about an hour earlier than anticipated) tired and angry, we were greeted by some of the shadiest cab drivers ever. The town itself was one of the ugliest we have ever seen. All bars and gates over all the doors, stray dogs that rule the town, children running around at all hours, and the smell of rotting garbage sum the place up quite well. We ignored the cab drivers and played cards with the street kids giving them the deck when we were done.

We then walked to our accommodation, hoping that they would be open. They were not. We sat on the curb and waited till they opened up watching packs of stray dogs roam, and occasionally get close enough for us to have to stand up and move. Once the place (Scuba Junkies) opened we were greeted by a kind desk clerk who allowed us to rest on the lobby couch, use the Internet and offered us breakfast, even though we weren't really entitled to it till we woke up the following morning. Needless to say I was STOKED. He also put a rush on our room. We quickly realised during breakfast that we might be out of place. Every one was young (early 20's) hip and hung over. It seems that this place is not only a popular scuba diving outfit but a party scene too.

After breakfast we set up our dives. (Steve we tried to book a night dive at the other island and one here but it seems to be the wrong time of year here. We are hoping to settle the dare in Thailand) We came to go to Pulao Sipidan which is apparently one of the top 10 dive spots on earth. We were sadly unable to get a permit so we settled on Sibuan. Sibuan is a cliche island. White Sand, warm turquoise waters, and little children who live on the island will sell you a coconut (about 2 RM and very tasty). Very beautiful and exactly what we were looking for. The dives started out rather uncomfortably. The equipment was shabbier than we were used to, and the dive masters didn't seem very patient or helpful. It is too bad that such negative energy was around because the sea life was wonderful. The second dive included some ship off the coast setting off dynamite (yes it's illegal) and scared the hell out of us. I thought my tank had exploded. At the end of the third dive we were swimming in the water. When Liza climbed aboard the captain suggested that I swim to the island. as he was moving the boat. I thought he was going to dock the boat on the island and that this was a wonderful idea. When I got to the island it appeared that the captain had forgotten about me. The boat took off and I was stranded on a very tiny island in the Celebes sea. Eventually the boat did turn around for me, as I new it would(eventually) but I didn't want Liza to have to create a scene and have everyone thinking that I delayed them. Apparently they came back because some young Yank girl wanted to get a picture of her with her dive master fling. Very cute. Needless to say we couldn't have been happier to get out of there.

We took a day bus to Sandakan the next day. This is where you go to see the Uran utang sanctuary and do a river cruise. We checked in to a place called the May Fair hotel. This place looks like a downtown Toronto hotel that you book by the hour. Mr. Lum (as the Lonely Planet says) is very gruff, but he is very nice if you can see through his tough exterior. We have A/C and a Flat screen TV and DVD player. There is also a library of hundreds of DVDs downstairs. This is fantastic as it's been pouring everyday. There is also a Dim Sum restaurant down the street where we are fast becoming regulars. This town is quite ugly too but the people seem friendlier. We have decided to stay here until it is time for us to go to the airport on the 17th and head to the mainland.

Hope you are all well, lots of love

Mark