Bercuti di Mabul-tips & overall view on the journey

I went to Sabah last week with my family. Memang jarang sekali saya menulis tentang pengalaman bercuti/melancong saya tetapi kali ini saya rasa saya perlu menulis tentangnya sebelum saya terlupa.

Went there for only 3 days 2 nights, but the experience was halfway horrendous.

Kami sekeluarga, 8 dewasa, 4 kanak2 (termasuk 1 infant) pergi in Apr 14 which I think is the suitable time to go to the sea, the current and the waves are calming. Tiket kapal terbang Air Asia dah dibeli my sis since early 2013, so return ticket each person is approx. MYR90++ which is of course-cheap. Tiket tu dari KL-Tawau.

Before we went to Mabul, I already made a survey on the accommodation and transportation (boat & land transport) di sana nanti. Lebih kurang sebulan jugak nak deal benda ni sbb as far as I know, resort2 di Mabul ni tak bleh deal direct dgn pihak resort, kena deal ngan agent2 yang dilantik mereka ni. So rate-rate resort kat sana berbeza2 walaupun resort yang sama. Sebab tu la saya makan masa jugak untuk survey the best resort. Rupanya perjalanan nak sampai ke Mabul island ni bukan macam kita nak gi Pangkor or Langkawi where banyak boat/feri yg dedicated utk ke pulau2 tu dari jeti….perjalanannya adalah seperti berikut. Tawau Airport -> Samporna (45minits) -> Mabul (30-45minits). Jauhkan?!

In here, I will be writing about things that are CRUCIAL dan sangatlah penting untuk dititik beratkan kalau nak ke Mabul/Kapalai/Sipadan Island ni.

1)    Accomodation/Hotel/Resort

Rate di sekitar resort kat Mabul ni mmg la mahal rata-ratanya. Tak macam resort2 di tempat2 establish macam Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Pangkor or PD. Mungkin sbb resort yg ada di Mabul ni limited, so sbb tu la ratenya agak mahal. Normal deluxe/superior room per night PER PERSON is almost RM300++. Diorang tak kira per room ,tapi diorang kira per person. Jadi, kalau dua hari sorang dah spend approx. Rm400 (ni paling kurang ye) untuk accommodation sahaja, so you can imagine other cost here. So masa survey mmg saya dapat a few best affordable/recommended chalet under Scuba Junkie, Scuba Jeff, Uncle Chang, tetapi MALANGNYA, masa saya call diorang in Feb 14 diorang kata bilik2 dah occupied. So? The last option was to contact agents2 yang saya just boleh google je. Agent2 ni pulak ada limited bilik diberikan kat dorang ni oleh resort. Macam ada quota la. So lastly saya deal ngan RAHA Legacy which I think website nye sangatlah proper dan user-friendly. Bandingan rate2 bilik from RAHA ni is cheaper than other agencies. PLUS orang2 kat RAHA Agency ni sgtlah friendly, helpful dan memahami. Dorang akan reply SMS/Whatsapp and even call you during the weekends for the booking arrangement. Nak jadikan cerita, memula no of pax family kami yg pergi was 11 adults, 4 kids, tapi 3 tarik diri last minit. Masa nak buat booking ngan RAHA tu, saya pun booking la couple/family satu bilik sekeluarga dan yang single/datang tanpa spouse utk duk kat dorm je. So available dorm masa tu can cater to 10 pax. So I booked 3 deluxe rooms dan 1 dorm utk remaining family members. I booked for Mabul Beach Resort yg I think is the most affordable compare to SMART, water village,bungalow & resort2 yang lebih exclusive. Utk 2 malam dapat rate rm760 per pax dan yang duk dorm dapat RM590 per pax. Mahal gak sebenarnya macam saya cakap kalau nak dibandingkan dengan pulau2 Malaysia yang lain. Im sure even if we go to countries like Indonesia or Thailand the rates will be much cheaper. We almost had a deal when RAHA rep called me and bagitahu yang the dorm will be filled by others kalau dorm tu masih ada katil yang vacant! Oh no no! tak mungkin kami nak share dengan outsider dorm kami tu. Walhal bilik tu dah hampir 8 pax kami penuhkan, diorang still nak penuhkan quota bilik tu. :’( jadi deal saya dengan RAHA terpaksa dibatalkan! Mmg very disappointing sebab deal dengan mereka hampir 2 weeks! So nak cari mana lagi kan sebab dah banyak resort/chalet yang dah penuh (walaupun tarikh kami pergi tu Khamis-Jumaat-Sabtu dan bukan cuti sekolah!). So nak tak nak terpaksa amik accommodation kat Samporna je sbb tak mampu sekeluarga nak duk resort mahal2 unless gi in a small group or gi ngan kawan2 yang sama mampu hehehe. Cari di Agoda dan Booking.com memang diorang suggest Hotel Seafest kira terbaik la kat Samporna. Tapi hotel ni just basic je..rate pun dia kira by room (as usual) not by person. So dalam bilik 2 orang RM190 per night boleh bahagi dua, dah jimat di situ. Kira mampu la sikit satu family nak selesa. Cuma yang kurangnye adalah makanan sbb hotel just prepare breakfast je sbb makanan limited kat pekan Samporna tu…kalau amik resort2 dorang dah sediakan breakfast up to dinner.

2)    Transportation

Ini adalah bab yang paling irritating. Cost transportation seorang sahaja is approx. RM180 utk 3 hari dua malam tu! Nasib la saya awal2 contact agent utk fetch kami di airport tawau. Dia cas satu van Rm200 dan satu kereta MyVi Rm100. Untuk sight seing (dalam 1 jam 30m) naik boat pergi melawat tempat orang jual ikan2, ambil2 pic sekejap dah cas RM20 seorang. Hari kedua pergi Mabul naik boat dicaj RM75 sorang tak termasuk equipment rental utk snorkeling or diving. Dan harus diingat, perjalanan ke Mabul tu takes about 30-45mins tak ada kipas or aircond and pukul 10am tu matahari dah tegak dah kat situ and we can imagine how super hot it was. Kesian kat kanak2 yang naik boat la sbb tak tahan panas dan x selesa sebab boat pun kecik. Dan kena pandai la cari orang yang bawak boat tu sbb malang sekali pakcik yg bawak boat kami tu tak tahu bawak kami ke tempat yang banyak ikan/hidupan laut. Dia just bawak kami ke tempat untuk snorkeling, air jernih semata tanpa ada ikan. Tu yang paling frust rasanya sebab dapat tengok ikan just kat deep sea je. And pakcik tu pun x menyediakan proper equipment for rental. So only few of us dare to use the improper safety jacket to snorkel. Balik pulak naik the same van/car tp kalau nak singgah bandar Tawau kena bayar additional RM15 seorang pulak. Haish….walhal from Bandar Tawau to airport only takes 20-30mins je. :/ tsk tsk

3)    Cleanliness

Perkara yang paling menyedihkan adalah kebersihan di bandar Samporna ni. Terlalu teruk sampai ada article2 yang saya baca menyatakan Samporna ni bandar sampah, city of garbage, and ada juga feedback dalam trip advisor.com kata Malaysia ni the dirtiest place on earth…terus dilabelkan satu Malaysia ni kotor. Bayangkan kat jeti tempat kami amik boat dah penuh sampah berlambakan macam duduk dalam tempat pembuangan sampah. Kakak saya sempat interview orang2 yang jual2 ikan di pasar Samporna tu, penjual itu dengan selamba kata memang dah tabiat orang sini suka membuang sampah. :( Quoting what my sister said, “cuba cik fikir, dalam masa 10 tahun macam mana keadaan tempat ni..ada ke lagi orang nak datang untuk berekreasi, apa akan jadi dengan tempat nii?” I cant imagine.

4)    Kids of Mabul

Sampai je boat kami di pulau Mabul, kami dikerumuni sekumpulan kanak-kanak…I would call these kids as “Orang Pulau” because they are people who lived in the island, who reside at the kampong in the island. So I thought at first they were just simply being friendly or welcoming. But I was tad wrong. They were there to beg for foods/money/anything that we can give to them. I was surprised they acted that way because I didn’t know they were that desperate? Roti anak buah saya yang separuh dah makan pun mereka tak kisah nak makan. Hmm.. kasihan. I didn’t know about this before I came here. So it will be good if people who are planning to go to these islands to bring some used clothes bagi kat budak2 ni sbb pakaian mereka pun sangat daif…tengok keadaan mereka pun tahu mereka ni susah. Dan mereka ni tak memaksa untuk disedekah, diorang meminta dengan muka manis and polite way. Kalau kita tak nak bagi, mereka just diri di tepi je.

5)    Others – food, price, shops

Well like I said, theres not so much of option for foods & restaurant if we choose to live in Semporna. Its such a small bandar that you only have a few restaurant. Overall food we ate for the 2 days are lacking of taste, and surprisingly the seafoods also were not that impressive. Foods and drinks in the islands are of course much expensive. Pergi Mabul, beli air di resort berdekatan, air mineral botol besar RM7. Air tin such as coke is RM5. Luckily sebelum sampai Mabul kami dah beli barang2 picnic malam sebelumnya kat Giant. So we don’t have to buy any food while spending the whole day in the island. Again, shops are limited, the only ‘grand’ fast food restaurant is KFC which is around 20 mins walking distance. Nak dapat kereta sapu agak susah waktu malam so we decided to walk in a group instead. Dan tempat shopping yang paling ok is of course Giant supermarket. Most kedai di Samporna tutup pukul 8pm.

Well after I went there, and came back, there are many questions asked by my friends if going to Mabul is recommended. Well, i gotta say, kalau ada budget yang lebih, better book duduk di Pulau rather than duduk di Samporna. If ada duit lebih, better hire agent utk buat all the arrangement including transportation dari airport sampai la ke arrangement boat dan makanan. But I told them, make sure buat survey bebetul sebab it took me over 2 weeks to find a good affordable agent yang memang bukan hanya untuk ambil duit kita semata. Reaching to the beach, the island is heaven, but you gotta go through a slight hellish experience before getting there though. :D

Here's some pics taken from my FB:-

Change and a barrier of change.

Its been a while-again. No access to a laptop limits my writing craving. Im hanging onto my iphone only and that’s the only cling I can hold on to be connected, via the internet of course.

 I have been through lots of shi*s in the year 2013. Things I shouldn’t have done, things I should have done. All the things I have never imagined I would do.

I have been forgiving the people I love the most in my life. Forgiving mistakes done repeatedly, mistakes done intentionally, and mistakes done without a regret. See, when I forgave people for their wrongs, I do not see myself as weak. I see myself as a normal human being and doesn’t play God. Heck even God forgives. Even Muhammad forgives. Who am I not to? Yes most people around me said Im dumb. For always looking at things in a positive manner, literally everything. But that’s how I heal my heart. That’s how I sooth this tiny broken pieces back to its form. The form it should be. When I forgive people, it means I still have hope for the person to mend his wrongs and do the right thing later. And I do pray to Allah for me to be patient. Cause change don’t just happen in a day or two. Depending on that changing, and depending on a particular person, that act of change may require years to happen. And I did pray and be patient, as that’s what He wants his ummah to be. Pray-be patient-give hope-and work for the change. The least I could do are those things. 

If a person isn’t strong enough to mend the wrongs, that’s where we are to give the support and be there for them. And I guess I did for the past few years. I did. And eventually it didn’t work out because that person doesn’t want to be assisted nor ever wanted to mend the wrongs. And to realize that, I stop trying and I walked away. For good. An act I have never been proud of. An act I have always thought should be as a last resort for an almost sunken hope. 

See, people can say don’t give up. Well walking away doesn’t show an act of giving up. At least for me, it could be the way to help another person that we walked away off. I see the person woke up now and be a better person that I used to know before. And realizing that im one of the major reason that held that person’s act to change before. And by walking away I have actually moved the barrier that kept him in a dungeon of doom. By walking away that person had finally found the light to crawl out of his near death cliff. 

O’ Allah, I pray for that person to be blessed and loved by your for eternity till the hereafter as so I pray for mine too.