Mabul & Sandakan : Part 1 - Overnight in Capsule Hotel

I have missed travelling so much. And at the same time, I am fearful of flights. Once upon a time, stepping into an airport brings joy to me. I call it my second home. Now, I walked into an airport with anxiety. But I want to travel. I have to face my fear, and live life. It is not easy. But I have to take the first step to keep moving. 

20.01.2015 - Today, my first travel of the year starts local. I am going to Mabul Island! It is a diving package for 4 days, and I continue on to Sandakan for another 2.5 days where I intend to see some adorable monkeys. I bought my tickets to Tawau 6 months ago when a friend suggested to go diving in Mabul Island. Mabul is located in Sabah which is in East Malaysia. I have always heard Mabul as one of the best places to dive, and I am lucky this is located in Malaysia. Well, actually, Sipadan Island is the best diving spot in the world. But because it costs about RM800 to buy the permit, I decided to forgo Sipadan for now. Sipadan is just a boat ride away from Mabul. So close yet so far. 

I bought my flight ticket to Tawau for RM96, and the return flight from Sandakan for RM133.70. No check in luggage. No purchased meal. The flight is a morning flight at 7.15am. As I planned to take a taxi to the airport, I decided to go the night before. Yes, it is possible to go early morning too but I will be paying the surcharge midnight fees. I reached the airport about 10.30pm. I had plans to sleep on the floor with the crowd. I did it before when I went to Guilin in 2012. That was in LCCT Airport. Now, in this new KLIA2 airport, it has a Capsule Hotel. It was my first time in the airport and it is so huge. There is a shopping mall before entering the airport. One could even go to the shopping mall for a weekend shop. It could be expensive. 

Back to Capsule Hotel. I googled it, and found out they have 3-hour, 6-hour and 12-hour rates. I wanted to try this capsule concept. The hotel is located near the taxi counter which I think it is on the 1st floor. I was walking in circles before I found the place. I decided to opt for the 6-hour rate which costs RM70. Unfortunately, I did not book online but instead I decided to do a walk in which cost me extra RM5. Darn. I got a towel, and a locker key to put my stuff. But since I could put my stuff in the capsule, I forgo the locker. 

The hotel is safe as one can only enter with the room card. One scanned the card and enter. The capsule is separated into both female and male sections. The bathroom is clean too. There is 3 (I think) shower cubicles and 3 (I think) toilet cubicles.

 

The capsule is just nice for my length at 166cm. One pulls down the blind and switches off the light and people know that the place is occupied. I could sleep for about 3 hours only because I was awaken by the noise of the other occupants who woke up. There were mosquitoes too. Oh well. I did manage some sleep, though. But the next time around, I will sleep on the floor with other passengers.