Labuan

Yo peeps..

Just got back from Labuan. An extremely boring place. Thank God it is just for a week. The past week is just nothing but meeting, meeting and more meeting which translate to me as listening, listening and more listening. From this Labuan work trip, I found that I actually have a vry short attention span, when a subject is repeated.. immediately my eyes will roll and my mind will be automatically be switched on to DREAM mode.

The discussion with the users were done fairly well.. we know what they want just sometimes i just think my boss is sooo long winded. Boring. Extremely boring. Also to add.. he likes to tell me stuff that I dont like to hear or have no interest in. Haiz.....

The worst part of Labuan is the internet. Although the service apartment that we were staying provides free Wifi for internet but during the evening, the line will go slower than a turtle, so it's basically like having no internet at all. If i were to go to Labuan again, i must get myself the maxis mobile broadband package. This week thanks to my trusty phone with 3g, i can still entertain myself via some mobile chat and facebook! Else i'll go crazy.. :P

Another thing abt the service apartment is that it is extremely OLD and not well kept. It is rather dusty too. The floor is not swept clean at all. I guess perhaps it is due to the low occupancy but then on Friday we found that there are actually quite a number of people staying around too.. most of them appears to be in the oil & gas industry, like Shell, Scomi, Sclumberger etc.. if I remember correctly, I think I have an ex classmate that told me he is in Labuan too. He's some drilling engineer or something ?

Basically Labuan's main business is the offshore industry... from banks to businesses. Somewhat a money laundering prone area too.. haha... if you know what I mean. Being tax free and all. But then due to that too I did get myself some japanese plum wine that is selling rather cheap compared to those in the peninsular.

This trip to Labuan is a tiring one. On the 1st day itself I had to wake up at 4.30am just to take a cab to the airport. Then it's the long long queue as there's only 1 and only 1 flight in and out of Labuan per day. Then the delay as usual with Air Asia. However due to sheer luck i did get myself some good seat. Air Asia no longer practice free seating. Seat is randomly assigned when checking in and if anyone wish to change then a fee of RM5 to 25 is charged. DAMN! i'm a bit worried for my HK trip.. sitting with strangers rather than my friends the entire trip..is sooo not fun.

On the bright side however, there's no need to rush anymore... AA really know how to do make money.

In Labuan is there's nothing much goin on. You can hardly find a decent supermarket around. The area that we stayed is called the Financial Park of Labuan. The name sounds super and it actually houses all offshore banking instituition. Both the offices and the apartment have superb view of the waterfront. I just love being at one of the Bank offices that faces the sea.. really a peaceful and breathtaking view seeing ferries or tankers passing by slowly..so calm. But... other than the offices.. the rest of the things is just plain. The mall tat connects the offices and our apartment is rather empty and only houses a small Parkson & Giant combined together.

The funniest thing is.., we actually enjoy strolling in Giant to scout for something to buy like snacks etc after dinner. Why? There is actually nothing better to do! Pathetic hor ?

If everything goes as plan, perhaps in the next few months i'll have to return. Hopefully at that time, we can figure out something to do around there and if and only if we have time for it. Else it's back to rotting again. But till then that's all for Labuan.

Ciaoz.