Labuan Revisited Part 2 - Labuan In Pictures

A long lost friend was recently found after he read my blog about my schooldays. When he saw the email of one of us he recognized he began writing email to him. On my side I saw his email address when he commented on my blogsite. Now we are connected again though we have yet to meet since we last parted ways 40 years ago after we finished schooling in Sultan Ibrahim School Pasir Mas, Kelantan in 1968. Now my friend resides in London and is a national of the United Kingdom.

When he was an auditor with Petronas he frequently came to Labuan where he stayed in what used to be Hotel Labuan, the top hotel in Labuan then.Due to some reasons Hotel Labuan was closed some ten years ago. To Suhaimi Jaafar of London I dedicate to you this blog.

Today I finally managed to explore the town of Labuan which is 16 km from Taman Mutiara in Kampung Bedaun where I am staying with mw son in law Lokman. Balqis will be taken care of by a neighbour who ultimately will be looking after her when I leave for home on the 2nd July 2008.

I had the option of using any of his Hondas. One is a 1.7 litre Honda Civic and the other is a 100 cc Honda Ex 5 Class 1. He asked me to make the choice. So what do you think? I opted for the 100 cc Honda Cub which was more frugal on petrol and required only RM8.00 to fill up.. Being unfamiliar with the ways around Labuan, it would be cheaper for me to lose my way and backtrack as often as I want on a motorbike than in a car. It proved to be the correct choice as the use of a two wheeler was easier to stop and park whenever I need to take pictures.My first stop was of course at the Petronas Petrol Station to fill up the tank. That done I then proceeded on to the town center.

The 'bas mini' filling up behind my bike is another convenient transportation around Labuan. Fares from Taman Mutiara to Labuan town a distance of 16 km used to cost RM0.60 one way before the price of fuel shot up. I guess the fare remains for now.

On the way to town I saw this beautiful building which turned out to be the Syariah Court.

Next to it is the Mesjid Jameq Annur. A beautiful piece of architecture.

Mesjid Jameq Annur.

Many spots in the town are landscaped with colorful flowers (flower names to be supplied later) making the roadside very colorful and beautiful. The plants are regularly replaced and thus always look fresh.

The next stop was the Labuan International Ferry terminal as from my earlier visit I know there was a bookshop there and I need a map of Labuan. The stall owner told me that she doesnt sell any map of Labuan and pointed to me to the brochure racks where Tourism Development Corporation placed some brochures and phamplets. I picked up a few including one on Labuan which contains a basic map of the island indicating the places of interest.

Seeing the address of the TIC on the phamplet. I then proceeded to look for it. On the way to there I saw this fountain at a roundabout. It turned out to be the only fountain that is switched on to save cost. Others maybe too expensived to operate daily.

The Harrison's Trading building in the back ground must have been an off shoot of Harrison & Crossfield Company a British trading giant involved in plantation and suppleir of building materials. Beside it I could see this colorful building belonging to Kastam dan Eksais Di Raja.

Moving on towards the Tourist Information Center I could see the back of entrance to the Labuan Square with the unique chimney shaped pillars holding the a circular contraption above a stage.
Going through this entrance I saw this beautifully landscaped planter box with colorful flowers at the base of the flagpoles flying the Malaysian flag and the various state flags making up Malaysia.

Right across the road to Labuan Square is the former Hotel Labuan stood. Due to some reasons this hotel ceased operation some ten years ago. It once belonged to Datok Haris Salleh, the former Chief Minister of Sabah. Soon the hotel will be renovated and refurbished to provide much needed rooms to the visitors to Labuan. Suhaimi Jaafar hopefully you will come back to Labuan one day. This was where you met our junior in school by the name of Sharifah Hamizah while she was working for the hotel during those time.

Hotel Labuan was the Hotel back then. It is yet to be decided as to who will refurbish and manage the hotel.

Across the expanse of green grass of there stands the Grand Dorsett Hotel. It was called Labuan Sheraton before and there must have been a change of ownwership and thus the change of name. In some brochures it is still called Labuan Sheraton though so please be aware of the name change.

Close to the Grand Dorsett stands the Komplek Ujana Kewangan.

Komplex Ujana Kewangan with the Beta Service Apartment beside it (Brown building).
Komplek Ujana Kewangan is a shopping complex with most of the government offices within it.

The Post Office with The TIC/ Tourism Malaysia office beside it.

Entering the Labuan Tourist Information Centre I was surprised to know that Gay Leona Peter E is still the manager as I have met Leona once at a Tourism Fair in Kuching Sarawak some two years ago. I was then the outgoing manager of Kesedar Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd. I was outgoing because of my impnding retirement and a replacement manager was already appointed.

The TIC Manager of Labuan.

After a brief introduction and recollection of the fair that happened two years ago, I informed Leona of what I am doing lately emphasising on blogging as my main activity.

According to her there are about 70,000 people living on the island and many residents come to work here. So just like its sister city of KL, the population of Labuan fluctuates immensely when these workers return home for the festivals.

According to their pamphlets Labuan is made up of Labuan Island and six other islets of Rusukan Kechil, Rusukan Besar, Kuraman, Daat, Papan and Burung. 15 places of interest on the island are listed on the pamphlet.Labuan town was once known as Victoria.

According to my blogger friend Nightwing you can drive around the island within an hour. That must be without seeing any of the places of interest. But yet he has never done that before.

Leona told me about a trip to Pulau Papan some ten minutes boat ride from the ferry terminal which is being organized by Perbadanan Labuan who manages the resort island of Pulau Papan. The island belongs to The mInistry of Fedarl Territory and has some accomodation facilities which was recently refurbished.The trip was planned for the next day and she suggested that I tag along if I am free. Never passing off such a an opportuinity, I promised to call her up later to confirm if I can get Lokman to nanny Balqis on Saturday while I visit Pulau Papan. (I did go to Pulau Papan that Saturday and will blog about it soon).

Upon leaving Leona's office I saw the museum directly in front of her office. To know and understand more about a place you must first visit their museum if there is one around.

I went over to have a look. The entrance is free. And it is open from 9.00 AM to 5 PM everyday and is only closed on Hari Raya.

Now I know the Europeans who sttled here in 1775 were the survivors of the British East India Company who took refuge here. Do you know that Labuan once belonged to Brunei? It was ceded to the British by the Sultan of Brunei in 1846. Japan invaded Labuan on 1st January 1942. Liberation of Labuan by the Allied forces was accomplished on 10th Jan 1945. Many soldiers perished during the war and the World War II Memorial and the Surrender Points are two of the places of interest to be visited which are related to the War.

Labuan became independent in 1963 by joining Malaysia and proclaimed as Federal Territory on 16th April 1984. On 1st October 1990 Labuan was declared as an International Offshore Financial Centre. Labuan Development Authority was formed. Labuan Corporation was formed on 1st July 2001 with a Chief Executive Officer heading it. That is a bit of Labuan's history for you and me.

Perbadanan Labuan Building also houses the Public Library.

Leaving the museum I walked around looking for a place to have lunch. Surprise of surprise I saw this reataurant. It was here that I had meals with my wife when we visited Labuan ten years ago. The reason being the eating place was located right behind our hotel and the food then was OK.

Below is what I had for lunch:

I had rice with lots of vegetables for lunch and a piece of tenggiri curry. It cost me RM7.50 with a glass of sirap bandung.

These girls saw me photographing my lunch and they asked me to take photograph of themselves too, which I obliged.

Upon finishing lunch I walked over to the front of the building near the restaurant. This building was where The Federal Hotel was before.

The Federal Hotel that I stayed in before is no more there now. With the change of ownership, the hotel was refurbished and now is called Klasik Hotel and it is one of the three hotels in the stable of Ambassador Hotels. The others are named Ambassador Hotel 1 and Ambassador Hotel 2. The hotel now it is totally refurbished and fitted with a lift. I remember lugging my suitcase up the stairs to the second floor room ten years ago.

The town of Labuan is clean. The streets have trees that provide cooling shades. Seats are also provided to rest those tired legs after walking around.


The above picture shows a former cinema being converted to a billiard parlour.

Victoria hotel is another old hotel and another old landmark of Labuan. Remember the old name for Labuan was Victoria and if you were to use Google Earth, Victoria is clearly indicated on it.

This is the bus stand in town. Only minibus plies the roads in Labuan. Taxis are available too.

You will see many people wearing coverall in Labuan. These are provided by their employers. Most are made of Fire Retarding Compound material for their safety especially for those involved in the oil and gas industry.

Hotel Pulau Labuan is another chain of hotels in Labuan. Below is another of their new hotel being built.

I will have to continue my rediscovery of Labuan another time as I had promised Lokman that I would be home early to go to Layang Layangan to enjoy the delicious satey there.

It had rained earlier so there were not many patrons. We managed to get our order soon after we placed it.

Here are some pictures of Lokman, Balqis and me enjoying ourselves at the Layang Layangan satey joint.

The satey man and his helpers.

We ordered 15 sticks and I ended up eating 10 of them and Lokman had to order chicken wings to make up for the imbalance to his share of the satey.

A piece of chicken wing cost RM1.60 inclusive of all the cholesterol.

Balqis was ecstatic when I fed her with the flesh of a young coconut. Even young Balqis knows when something is good to eat.

I will kiss her cheek for Daphne Ling after I have cleaned up the remnants of the cocnut flesh on her cheek.

OK folks, we will see more of Labuan in the next post.