Malaysia

MALAYSIA

Labuan - 29 October 2007

Labuan, which is just south of Kula Lampur and north of Brunei, is on the West side of the island of Borneo (which always sounds so exotic to me as I picture cannibals with bones through their noses - must have been an old National Geographic article.

We knew when we went to bed Sunday night that our arrival in Labuan would be early the next morning but didn't expect a 6:45 wake up call to tell us that the Immigration Officer wanted to see us in the ship's office, with our passports. You all know that I'm not a morning person and don't enjoy being awakened mid-dream and expected to leap into clothes and be communicative first thing in the morning. To make matters worse, when we got to the office ten minutes later, there was no one there so we just left our passports on the desk and, since we were up anyway, went to the dining room for breakfast. The Captain came to our stateroom about 8:30 to let us know that since we were at anchor in Labuan Harbor (this port has no dock for large ships) a boat would take us ashore at 10:00 AM and bring us back in the afternoon. Since he was required to stay on the ship, he asked Doug to watch over his wife, Barbara. He gave Doug $300 Ringgits (about 3 to 1 U.S. dollar) to use to rent a car for a tour of the island and lunch. We were unable to get our passports back in time to go ashore, so left without them which always makes me a little uncomfortable, but it was no problem. The "Swedes" only had a problem when they tried to get local currency at the bank and were asked for their passports, but they worked it out.

The boat they sent for transport was smaller than we expected and the seas were a little rough so it was a bit of a challenge. The gangway was lowered over the side at a very steep angle and the boat looked even smaller as it bobbed up and down as well as back and forth below us. The Chief Engineer, Marenko, went down first and then Barbara who he helped into the boat, followed by Martha who I didn't see but she was laughing a lot so it must have been an experience for her. Sunhilde was next and I thought she was quite apprehensive because she's had two knee replacements and is very unsteady even on the ship or just walking on dry land, but our two crew members, Vincent and Jose Mitchell, encouraged her and said they'd help her aboard, so she tried it and nearly went over the side but they held on and pulled her into the little boat. Her husband, Helge, did fine and then it was my turn. For some reason, I stepped from the bottom of the gangway into the boat at just the right time and sat down without incident and Doug followed and also made it safely in. They actually had life jackets for us and we put them on just as the driver opened the throttle and we sped off pounding over the waves with the wind in our hair and the sea spray flying over us. I was able to take a few photos and the one of Martha and Barbara in the back of the boat was priceless - a little shock mixed with excitement and loving the thrill of the ride.

Doug was able to talk to a cab driver and negotiate a price to rent a van with driver to take the nine of us on a three-hour tour of the island of Labuan. It's basically a small town and not like Quala Lampur which is actually a travel destination, so the driver did her best to take us to the scenic spots, which consisted of a beautifully-manicured and maintained national war memorial and cemetary dedicated to soldiers who died on Malaysian soil when the Japanese invaded during World War II. Next stop was a place called "The Chimney" which was just that: A tall (perhaps 60 feet high brick structure located near some coal mine tunnels. There was a very modern museum building depicting the various ways in which coal was mined here but the mining ceased at least 50 years ago and no one really knows what the chimney was used for but they're still doing studies about that. While walking around the grounds, a group approached us (not sure what nationality but perhaps from Malaysia or Philippines) and asked if we would pose for a photo with them. They really seemed to want Doug and I in the photo and one young woman came over and touched my hair. I think they don't see many people with hair that is not dark like theirs. You also rarely see a man with beard and mustache and when Doug said he was Santa Claus, they loved it and wanted their little boy (about 5 years old) in the photo. They spoke some English and we had fun walking and chatting a bit with them. The little one reminded me of our grandson, Zach, when he was proud to show me he had learned to snap his fingers. I asked if he could do the left hand and he beamed and showed me he could. He hadn't yet learned to whistle but was trying and demonstrated a clicking noise he could do with his mouth. So cute! Jose had fun with him making monkey noises and walking like a monkey and he laughed and laughed.

Our driver and tour guide, Miss Eng, was happy to show us one of the nice beaches where we had hoped to get a cold beer, but the stands were all closed because it was not a weekend. So, we enjoyoed walking the beach and picking up some beautiful shells - small but perfectly formed spiral and spidery like conch shells - which some us us brought away as a reminder of this beautiful part of the world. It was not a pristine beach but more rugged with huge drift wood and large rough coral rocks scattered along the shore and so quiet and peaceful that I could have walked for hours.

Next we spent about an hour at an aviary where we saw lots of indigenous birds of every shape, color and size - from a mynah bird who we taught a few English words - to ostrich, owls, peacocks and several types of water birds.

The aquarium was small but very nicely done and we enjoyed seeing the tropical fish and reading the descriptions which we appreciated being in English as well as Malay and Mandarin. While there, a ferocious storm blew in with high winds and sideways rain pelting down. We looked out at the big waves in the harbor and our ship at anchor, realizing there was no way we could go back out there in a small boat.

As usual, our last stop was a big shopping mall where we had a late lunch and walked around looking at shops that were of little interest. There was absolutely nothing there that I was tempted to buy. For those who know me even a little, that really tells you something. We fouond an internet cafe and Martha and I checked email and I posted two blogs (though I was unable to post any photos) but I was happy to do what I did.

By the time we left the "mall" the storm had blown through and the seas were calmer. Our boat arrived a few minutes before scheduled and we all got in and donned our life jackets. The trip back to the ship was long and we pounded into the waves reaching the gangway just as it was fully lowered to the waterline. Having offloaded a lot of cargo, the ship was sitting higher in the water and the gangway ladder was a bit steeper and the bottom step angled toward the sea. One by one, and with the help of our young crew members, we each made our way out of the boat and up the ladder and safely and thankfully back aboard the ship, feeling good about our adventure.

Later that night we raised anchor and headed north through the South China Sea making our way between Viet Nam on our port and the Philippines to starboard. Prevailing winds in this area are out of the Northwest and tend to be strong. The Captain advised us to secure loose items in our cabins and we did experience 40 knot winds, more out of the North pretty much on the nose, that night and the next day but it wasn't as rough as expected. Needless to say, I was not able to paint, and sitting on deck, even with chairs set up aft of the superstructure, required having a good hold on your book. The pool had a bit of a surf rolling across the surface but at least it was warm and sunny.

A little further north we went through the Taiwan Straits with the island of Taiwan to starboard and left Hong Kong and mainland China to port, and into the East China Sea. Passing Japan and Korea to starboard (we'll stop at each of those after China) we entered the Yellow Sea and continued North to our first Chinese port - Dalian.