Vacation in Semporna

I think Mabul and Sipadan have much more to offer than what I saw and experienced, but I think I got a taste of it and therefore will be trying other great dive spots next instead of going back.
Back in Semporna I had to unpack all my stuff to dry all my dive gear overnight as I would be heading out already next morning. Or at least I thought so, because when I got internet access again and checked the dates, it turned out that there was 7 days in a week and so I had to stay 2 nights at the hotel. That came as a surprise to me, so much that I fell asleep in the afternoon and woke up at 23 when there was nothing to eat anywhere. Crap. I went back to sleep instead and woke up early in the morning again with the worst back pain, almost had a cramp in the back. The mattress was so old and worn that you could feel the metal springs through the sheet and it wasn’t supportive at all.
Malaysia is a Muslim country and you can see that most places. People have no pork on the menu and there are a lot of people entering and exiting the mosque in the city. Where the area around the Mosque looks quite nice and ok, the rest of the city is a dump. Sorry to describe it like that, but if they had the choice of renovating the city or building a new one, I'd go for the newer one. The amount of money needed to fix up this city to something slightly acceptable, would be outrageous. Not sure if there is anything in Lonely Planet about Semporna, but it can't be much good if any.

I had no money for food so if I had been hungry the day before I would not have helped much. I went to exchange money in the bank and after standing in line with the other people for 20 min, the guy followed me outside where there was a separate currency exchange booth next to the bank. I had come from the other direction and so had not noticed it. Live and learn.
Checked out the local supermarket and was surprised to find Tulip products on the shelves here, made in Randers, ha, had not seen those cans for decades I think. There was a fish market where local fishermen would come and sell their daily catch, whether it had been caught in nets or by using explosives. Yes, big boom explosives, the easier form of fishing using in Malaysia. You can basically find anything you see in the ocean for sale here. Everything

I got back to the hotel and just remembered I needed a bus ticket. I should get one today already the lady told me, to be sure to get a seat on the bus. Hey, maybe a good idea. I had to cross the entire city once again, I should have asked earlier before going to the bank, but then again I didn’t have so many other plans this day.

I didn’t do too much this day, had a beer or two in the restaurant and some food, which actually was a little expensive I thought. In the bar a lot of people were following the election results from the US, that was kind of surprising that so many people there were interested in that too, it must have an effect on them somehow, directly or indirectly.

I went to the room to take another nap, getting a habit these days. Again I woke up late in the evening, but wasn’t going to skip dinner tonight and went out to find some local food. The first place I found was just down the street and they were still serving food. I asked for some chicken fried rice and a soda, after the food I had another soda and paid only $6 for food and two sodas. Cheap and good food