I was delirious with excitement when I was one of the selected to get to visit Labuan since I have never visited it before… however when I told my friends I was going there for one whole week, they gave me that incredulous look and asked me if I knew Labuan was actually a pretty small island in which you probably drive around the island in like 2 hours or just abour 92sq km…
I have to confess it did get me slightly worried as to what I was going to do there myself, after hearing my friend’s exclamations…. but now that I have finished my trip there… one week is barely even enough to truly enjoy all Labuan has to offer…

AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines flies from Kuala Lumpur to Labuan.. it is also accessible from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and Miri in Sarawak…

It is a 2 and a half hour flight from KLIA to Labuan…

There are also ferry services from Brunei, Kota Kinabalu and Sarawak…

For your info, Labuan which is part of the Federal Territory, just like Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya is a pretty little island port and Malaysia’s only deep-water anchorage…

Labuan lies about 8 km off the coast of Borneo, towards the north of Brunei Bay and faces the South China Sea and is pretty close to Sabah which got some people confusing it as part of Sabah but it does no longer belong to Sabah or even Brunei or the British…

Well known as a duty-free port , Labuan is also a tourist destination for nearby Bruneians and scuba divers…

The Federal Territory of Labuan comprises Labuan Island and six smaller islands or islets… which are none other then the Pulau Burung, Pulau Daat, Pulau Kuraman, Pulau Papan, Pulau Rusukan Kecil and Pulau Rusukan Besar.

So let me share with you the various interesting places in Labuan which I visited, thanks to Gaya Travel Magazine, Labuan Corporation and of course Tourism Malaysia Labuan…

There is the charming little village of Layang-Layangan, that opens its doors to visitors, they welcome visitors to their charming village with kompang performances and yummy home cooked food..

We were treated to some cooking demonstrations of local favourite delicacies such as the Kuih Jala, Kuih Samprong (like love letters) and Ambuyat, some sticky glutinuous rice dipped into a selection of sambal or gravy and to be enjoyed just like that…

Then they do have a beautiful homestay, which we got a chance to put up a night at, called the Pilly Homestay which comes with a kitchen and bbq area outside also…

Activities includes visits to the community farm which is also a source of income for most of the villagers

…and island hopping to a little rocky outcrop island called Pulau Ular/Snake Island or Pulau Layang Layangan… it is called Pulau Ular as it is a favorite place for the sea snakes to play when the weather is cool or during the night..

We had an amazing time at the Pulau Ular taking photos, cliff jumping for the braver ones as well as snorkel…

I obviously have trust issues going into the sea as I tried to gingerly and slowly go into the water and ended up scratching my ankle on the sharp oyster shells stuck to the rocks…

However, even the sting of salt water on my wound could not stop my feelings of wonder at the underwater scenery that greeted me…

It was sheer magnificence with sea cucumbers, corals, weeds, schools of fishes .. and these all by just snorkelling!!!!

This really gave me a further push into wabting to get a diving license so that I can follow my other friends to explore the secrets of the underwater world…

From Pulau Layang Layangan we headed back to the beach and had some BBQed fish and satay at the food stalls at the beach.. they do have some pretty interesting menu here…such as the Piasau ABC and even Milo ABC… totally heavenly after being in the sun for a good portion of time..

Lunch was at a charming homestay/restaurant called the Jeliti restaurant which served us super yummy food… ny friends and I could not get enough of the tempe goreng with anchovies which was just sooooo addictive…

When lunch was over, we headed back to the beach or rather, the other side of the beach where the Peace Park and also the Surrender Point was located…

Now the symbol of peace and harmony the beautifully landscaped Peace Park is a memorial and a renunciation of war…

There is a raised mound with two half moon like arched walls, pretty gazebos and a rock with the inscription “Peace is the Best”…

Just right next door to the Peace Park is the Surrender Point which overlooks the South China Sea… a place that did give me the chills considering that this was where 37th Japanese Southern Army surrendered to the 9th division Australian Imperial Forces, marking the end of World War II in Borneo….and then the whole Japanese army performed the Harakiri there… *goosebumps*

I always find it sad.. war and fighting is just so needless.. next time if we want to wipe out part of the human population, lets try Krono’s dry leaves way….you know where the people just turn to dry leaves and disappear… hahahah (ok, ok, obviously too taken in with the Avengers Infinity War movie)..

From the Peace Park and Surrender Point, we headed to our home for the night.. the Palm Beach Resort & Spa…

This is one amazing resort I have to say since the resort is at the Batu Manikar beach where you can enjoy both sunrise and sunset!!!

We had a pretty nice dinner at the resort’s garden… and watched a traditional performance by the East Malaysians with some of our friends joining in the dances etc…. before calling it a night and heading back to our comfy rooms…

This is all for my day 1 and day 2 post in Labuan… Will continue on to day 3 and 4 in the next few days…

Thanks for dropping by to read my humble blog…but thanks to all the sponsors which are of course, the villagers of Kampung Layang Layangan, Labuan Corporation, Tourism Malaysia Labuan, Gaya Travel Magazine and Palm Beach Resort & Spa…