I texted Cherrian Chu: "Can I come visit you in Tawau? I needed a break."
Yeah, work was draining and I just broke off from a 3 year relationship so yeah, definitely a good excuse for me to have an emergency getaway; or more accurately to "get away" from my misery in KL and have a quiet peace of mind somewhere else (at least for a few days).
My Cherrian Chu, of course, welcomed me with open hands and an open heart and planned a getaway with me to Mabul Island, which is around 45 minutes drive from her home in Tawau. She drove to the jetty and parked her car there (according to her, it's pretty safe to leave the car there for just 1 night) and we took the speedboat to Mabul Island.
It was b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. Ya-ah, no kiddin'! For those who loved the sea and the beach, you'll definitely love Mabul Island. The sea was blue and crystal clear and I regretted not having a diving license to truly enjoy the wonders of the underworld. But well, we could still snorkel. Cherrian Chu did not have a diving license anyway.
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| Now, isn't this blue or what? |
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| the water chalets |
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| Sipadan Water Village |
We checked in at the Sipadan Water Village, stayed in one of the water chalets. I think one room costs around RM300++/night (non-peak season). It was totally worth it. Trust me. The chalet was clean and spacious and we were surrounded with blue sea and blue sky from every door and every window that we opened!! Halooo?? Where can we get this kind of view in KL?? We headed straight to snorkelling after spending a good hour gushing over the view and snapping pictures in our chalet.
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| checking-in at Sipadan Water Village |
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| I wouldn't mind staying a few more nights |
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| we could practically see everything underwater |
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| us at our chalet |
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| posing |
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| and posing |
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| and some more posing |
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| the view was breathtaking |
The one night stay at Mabul Island was good enough for me. We had a good few sessions of snorkelling and oh yeah, we kayak-ed. The kayaking was pretty scary actually 'coz both of us were amateurs and we were kayaking in the big sea (without a guide)! There were countless times that the kayak refused to head the direction that we wanted and I was terrified that we would end up lost in the sea.
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| That's the diver's diving point. Too bad we don't have diving licenses yet |
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| the snorkelling point |
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| o' starfishy fishy |
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| okay, all set to start our kayak expedition |
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| off we go! |
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| hey hey, not too far! |
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| sun-setting... |
We had a good buffet lunch and a good buffet dinner. The meals were inclusive in the chalet package so couldn't complain. I supposed we should have boozed during nightfall and got wasted in our chalet given the circumstances that I was in but we didn't. We are not really drinkers anyway :P We ended up retreating back to our chalet, opened up all the windows with the breeze blowing in, applied masks on our faces and chitchatted till we fell asleep!
We got a nasty sunburn but who cares? Not me. LOL!
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| aah.. beaches must be complimented by bikinis. What the hell, no one knows us there! |
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| sunburnt! |
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| A warm goodbye by the employees of Sipadan Water Village |
Chu Chu, thank you so much for the short getaway which was great and for the warm hospitality I got during my stay at your home. I love you!
And Mabul Island, you'll definitely be expecting me again! And hopefully this time, with a diving license ;-)
