Saturday, May 1, 2010

Sojourn in Labuan (2)

Last night (1st May)I attended the Pesta Air concert at the International Marine Sports Complex.Yes it was well attended (see pics). It's


always so according to a friend for Labuanites love to see shows and hawkers and petty traders love the business they bring.Big screen were planted all over the place which helped to disperse the crowd.

Last night presented performances by local artists, dances and fashion show. A very interesting aspect was that the artists represented various villages like Kampung Sungai Berdaun, Kampung Layang-layang etc. They were good. One of them was the Village Head himself. One Latin American dance number was performed on the road in the midst of the crowd, the spot being kept secret. Everyone started looking around, searching, as the music and dance heated up. I could only manage to see the dancers' heads bopping up and down and some hefty boops in the crowd dancing along. (Sorry no pics recorded. Too dangerous).

Some officers from the Ministry of Tourism were concerned about chairs stacked up at the back of the observers deck (see pic)and not neatly lined up for the guests.



The fans were also not switched on. It had rained a little in the evening and as the number of guests kept swelling up under the covered observers deck, the heat became discomforting. People began to move away onto the roads and open ground.

The next morning began with a fashion show or contest of some kind among XXL ladies, organized by PUSPANITA Labuan. That must be more for the XXL ladies to show that their extra endowment need not be a liability but can be turned into a great asset. I passed that one and went to the IMSC plaza to witness the landing of big fishes from the open sea around Pulau Layang-layang.(see pic)








Yes, it's a real spectacle and, for the first time in my life, I felt afraid of eating fish.(see pics)
Naa...once cooked I would not have any fear of them.


Guess that's enough for today. Need to laze around and enjoy the view from the balcony. Down there I could see a couple enjoying themselves in the swimming pool, trying to catch something on themselves...While driving back to the hotel I forgot that I promised some shots of the the modern buildings in Labuan. Here are the Grand Dorsett and the Ujana Kewangan buildings.

4 comments:

Si Yoyop Bah... said...

Adui...Lamanya tak ke Labuan. Pernah sekali je pg, itu pun masa masih blajar kat UMS dulu...

norzah said...

Kenapa tak datang-datang kemari, Yy,
kan tidak jauh! Mungkin kerana tiada tempat paragliding, ya? Parasailing kan boleh? Esok pagi aku dan pegawai-pegawai Kementerian Pelancongan sudah mau balik ke KL.
Sayang tak sempat lewat KK. Aku sudah lama tak ke sana.

kaykuala said...

Sdr Norzah,
Certainly a lot is going for Labuan. Being an off-shore financial centre (Cayman Islands and such like) helps. Being made a Fed Territory moved it faster.

Apparently Datuk Harris Salleh owned almost all of the island before its conversion. Good foresight, lucky guy!

It was almost a similar situation for Langkawi. 50% of Langkawi belonged to a chettiar when PM Mahathir decided to have it developed.

I wonder if both 'stories' were true. 2 lucky guys!

norzah said...

Labuan became a Fed. Territory and the Federal Government took over all aspects of administration. I don't think Harris Salleh has much say anymore but he certainly has a lot of properties on the island. In Langkawi Boon Siew was the towkay and still owns much of it. No one knows much about the compensations and previleges accorded to these lucky guys. That goes to show how open and transparent govt transactions are. Look at the new facts that emerged about the giving away of 2 rich oilfields to Brunei. What's done cannot be undone.