SABAH PROVINCE, BORNEO ISLAND

We had to get up at 4am to catch a bus to the airport for 7:20 AirAsia flight to Tawau on Borneo island. For the amount of money that you pay for AirAsia airplane tickets, the airplanes themselves and service is quite good. You do have to buy everything on-board, including water, but that's a small inconvenience compared with the price you pay. If you buy a ticket well in advance, you can fly for as little as $30. But be careful, the tickets are non-refundable and you can't change the destinations. You can only change dates, but that will cost you about $50 fine, which will be sometimes more than the price of a ticket.
We stayed in KL near Chinatown and 3 minutes walk to the Puduraya bus terminal, and when we checked the bus schedule, we were told that the bus leaves every hour sharp from platform 23. We were lucky that we decided to be at the platform 23 half past four, otherwise we could've missed the bus, because it actually left quarter to 5 and not from the platform 23, but from outside the bus station on the main road. So, if you're ever in KL keep this in mind.
The 2and a half hour flight went well. and at around 10 am we touched down at the Tawau airport, very tiny one, just like Rotorua's, maybe a little bit bigger. There we were met by a van from the Scuba Junkie, a place where we will get the PADI diver's certificate in 2 days now... ha~
Scuba Junkie is actually located in Semporna, a tiny town about 1 hour drive from Tawau, and the main gateway to Sipadan island and many others around. It's so small that you can walk everywhere within 15 minutes. I was very relieved when I saw our room: with WINDOWS and air conditioner. The view outside is not that pretty if you look down, but pretty enough if you look straightforward and up.. then you can see beautiful skies and trees.
Today in the morning I was brushing my teeth and suddenly heard a noise outside, I peeked out and saw a giant lizard walking in our backyard. It was at least 1.5 meters long from head to tail. At first I thought it was a pet lizard, but then we could see that it can get out of the backyard easily. Later on, when we were passing the garbage dumpster we saw 2 big lizards eating whatever food was in there...
The bad thing about Semporna is even though it's got sea right there, there're no beaches and water here is quite dirty and oily, and has all sorts of plastic garbage in it. So, there's really nothing to do here, unless you're diving all day. So, we will be moving to the island Mabul tomorrow. Now Mabul has beautiful beaches..
Today we did our first day of PADI Open Water course. It was all theory and we had to take 5 tests or quizes. Although It's not that difficult, we still cheated a little bit during tests peeking in the book for answers. But we passed it all, and tomorrow the fun stage will begin. Just an hour ago we got our wet suits, masks and fins.
Semporna at dusk. Those huts are not our accomodation. I wish they were, but they are too expensive for us.. ha~ You can see them in day light and at dusk...

Katy and I are learning theory in the bar. Perfect classroom, heh?. Also, a shot of the Scuba Junkie diving shop.

Our room. If you're wondering, NO, Katy and I didn't have a fight and that's why we have the twins room. The only available rooms here are twin..

When we were having a breakfast this little girl was passing by and stopped to look at us. She was pointing at my tatoo, and then I signaled her if I could take a picture, and she nodded. Cute... She's looking through the aquarium which was going along the glass wall.

The lizard in the backyard, I told you about, which I saw when I was brushing my teeth...

And that's the mama-doggy, which was barking at the lizard in the dumpster.

Below italics about the dogs is Katy's input (it's not that I suddenly became a native speaker ^^):

The dogs of Semporna are like a gang of homeless old men. They scratch their balls, squabble with each other over scraps of food and hang around in doorways with their tongues lolling until a local boy kicks them out of the way. They are flea-ridden, with sores all over their body, rubbed raw where they have sat on their haunches. But apart from that they look mighty healthy, and saunter about as if they own the place. No ribs showing either, and they're strong enough to fend off attacks from large vehicles, and even giant lizards! Speaking of which, the lizards aren't much scared of the dogs either. The dog in the second photo coveted the seafood scraps the lizard was eating and barked furiously in its face to scare it away. But the lizard merely kept eating and ignored the bared teeth inches from it's nose. It seemed more scared of me with the camera...