Saying goodbye to Sharif Kedah

OK. When we first arrived at the island of Labuan Wednesday evening one of the first place we visited was the tomb of Sharif Kedah, a saintly religious master who was laid to rest at a cemetery not far from Labuan town.

On Thursday afternoon after having completed a trip round the island, we visited the tomb again to say goodbye.

Oh. We reached this place at around 1:30. Two hours later we're scheduled to return to Brunei by ferry. So I took the opportunity to recite the holyQuran's opening verses of Al-Fatihah followed by Surah Ya Sin in name of this saint and every holy person. May Allah almighty bless us upon the honour of His lovers. Amen...

The beach called Pantai Batu Manikar

From Tanjung Kubong we entered a road on to a beach called Pantai Batu Manikar.

From that direction it is the first beach to head directly to the open and vast South China Sea.

Next we moved slightly further down.

I don't know if this is also part of Pantai Batu Manikar or is it already the start of another beach.

But it is still part of the same stretch of beaches...

And this stretch only ends at the cape seen in the background.

A closer look at the cape.

Visiting the Chimney at Tanjung Kubong

Continued from The cape called Tanjung Batu...

If Tanjung Batu is the eastern-most tip of Labuan island then a place called Tanjung Kubong is almost the northern-most tip.

From here one could also get a good look at mainland Sabah albeit a few kilometres further.



However the main feature of Tanjung Kubong is a building called the Chimney.

It is a remnant of a time when this parts of Labuan used to be important for coal-mining and there's a museum to commemorate it.

Inside is a map showing the coal-mines all around the island.

There's even a replica of the tunnels inside a coal-mine.

The cape called Tanjung Batu

After more than a week of silence let us continue with the supporting stories on the trip to Brunei made before the fasting month of Ramadhan. Continuing from the article An early look at the town of Labuan.

Thurday 5th August 2010. After spending the night at a hotel in Labuan town it's time to go around the island. Here is a cape called Tanjung Batu. I believe it is situated at the eastern-most tip of Labuan island.

Looking at the maps and if I got my perspective right, we should be looking at the northern parts of Sarawak across the waters. From Labuan this is a look south-east...

Time to change position for another angle...


A look to the east and you should see an island with parts of the state of Sabah behind.

A look slightly to the north-east and it is apparent Sabah is much much closer to Labuan than Sarawak. That should explain why Labuan used to be part of Sabah before being made a federal territory of Malaysia. Then again both Sabah and Sarawak used to be parts of the kingdom of Brunei...