Semporna, Borneo: Dec. 21

More (and bigger) pictures from this day can be seen on my Flickr account.

The four of us got up early on Sunday and flew Air Asia to Borneo. One of the reasons Air Asia flights are so cheap is because they don’t have assigned seating. Upon boarding, you grab any available seat on the plane, with a first-come-first-serve basis. Needless to say, people line up early at the gates. Ras and I flew with Air Asia 3 times during the trip and luckily we were able to get exit row seats next to each other for all flights. You can also pay a little more when you book online and and get express boarding (boarding ahead of everyone else).

Air Asia also has $13 USD flights to India! Click on the photo to read the magazine article from the plane.

We landing at the Tawau Airport.

We arrived at Seafest Hotel to the view below, and then immediately headed out for lunch. I had a honey mutton set with two honeydew drinks for $4.40 USD at Mabul Cafe.

For the next three days, Ras, Eddie, and I planned to go diving.  After we made our scuba diving arrangements, there was nothing else to do for the rest of the day.  So, we decided to go to the hotel pool and have a few drinks.  Ras and Eddie brought out their duty free purchases and mixed them with Coke and buckets of ice from the hotel restaurant.

The pool was on the third floor and overlooked the fish market next door.

After a few hours at the pool, we decided to go back to our rooms to shower and change before dinner.  At the designated meeting point and time for dinner, Ras and I only saw Gisela waiting for us.  She told us that Eddie was inebriated from the drinks so she told him to take a nap while she showered.  When it was time for him to shower, he didn’t want to, and went back to sleep.  So, the three of us went to dinner while Eddie slept at the hotel.

The next morning at breakfast, Eddie recounted what happened to him when he finally woke up from his nap.  Hours later, he woke up hungry and ready for dinner.  By this time, Gisela was ready for bed, so he left the hotel to find food himself.  Eddie found a restaurant, ate dinner, and then proceeded to return to the hotel.  The road back to the hotel is poorly lit and at certain points, completley dark.  Not seeing a hole without its grate, he stepped right in it and cut his shin on the cement.  He was bleeding the whole night and obviously wouldn’t be able to dive with Ras and I for the following three days in Semporna.  While we went diving that day, Eddie went to get stitches at the local medical clinic.