Back home (Terengganu Trip Day 4)

Whilst everyone was asleep, we stayed up to play mahjong. The intention was to stay up the whole night so that we could catch the sunrise. Our place was ideal was watching the sunrise because just a few hundred meters away was the beach with an unobstructed view of the South China sea(east). Nothing unusual happened during mahjong. I lost, TM won. And he still gets pissed off when he wins. What is his problem I don't know, and I doubt any of the gang knows too.

At around 5am we made our way to the beach and rested there. I think this is the first sunrise I actually stayed awake to watch. On many previous attempts, I ended up falling asleep or can't even wake up in the first place. But alas, it was a disappointment. There was cloud cover in the horizon, so there was already a lot of light, but the sun was hidden by the clouds. So we satisfied ourselves by taking silly pictures.


I guess I have to wait a while more to catch a good sunrise.

Watermelon family - The couple in front of me and the kid on the left

We had brunch at a famous kopi tiam, which served a very power coffee, before heading back home. The coffee left me awake for quite a while, but finally I still managed to fall asleep. We got back to Singapore faster than I expected. I fully expected to get back at midnight, but we managed to reach back at about 7pm, so that was quite a bonus.

All in all, it was a very relaxing trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. Only drawback was the long journey there, and not being able to see turtles. I wouldn't mind going back there again.

Beautiful scenery (Terengganu Trip Day 3)

The plan today was to go to Hotel Awana to do sea sports. I was looking forward to riding the jetski. The only one time I rode a jetski was in Desaru about more than 6 years ago, and it was damn fun.

Morning was free and easy, so the 4 of us set out to look for Ramly burger. Since coming to Malaysia, we haven't been able to find a single Ramly burger stall!! All this while I had thought that Ramly burger was like one of the main highlights of Malaysian food, but it seems that it wasn't a favorite in that part of the country. We walked all over but couldn't find, so we ended up going back to have biscuits.

After lunch, we set off for Hotel Awana, but not before making a stop to see some beautiful scenery.


As it turned out, Hotel Awana was quite disappointing. There was only 1 jetski available, and its no fun going out alone. So we decided to relax while the moms went to the spa, and the kids played in the sea.

For dinner, we went to a local Chinese seafood restaurant, and we brought along a few of the squid that we caught last night. Dinner was fantastic, in particular the Tiger prawn and the Fried Squid. The way the squid was prepared was better than any calamari dish I had tried before. Over dinner, TM's uncle was telling us his previous experiences here. Terengganu is actually famous for the turtles. LeatherBacks and Green Turtles would come here to lay their eggs and return to sea. But that was some 10 years ago. He related the story when he and his wife would camp at the beach, and in the middle of the night, discovered a turtle directly outside their tent, with 3 other turtles nearby. But due to egg poachers and overall lack of protection, the turtle numbers have dwindled. Even though the turtles are now a protected species, over tourism has also chased them away. 2 years ago, they had to walk for 2 hours to find a turtle. Its such a pity. We humans often fail to see the consequences of our actions, and today, we are directly affected, as we will not be able to see any turtles.

TM's uncle then brought us to the Hotel Tanjong Jara, the most expensive hotel in the area. And it is easy to see why.

The landscaping was very good, with ponds, fountains and everything, but the best part was that the hotel was built around a bay. There was a beautiful full moon out, and the sea was calm, so the moonlight glittered off the surface.

The picture really doesn't do justice to scene that day. With the sound of the sea washing up against the sand, and basking in the pale glow of the moonlight, just being able to see this has made the trip all worthwhile. I can imagine it must have been a night like that where the Legend of Chang-er came about, because the moon seemed to be like a beautiful woman that day.

We had to go back eventually, hoping to catch an equally beautiful sunrise the next morning.

Watermelon movement chart
1 watermelon was brought out. No watermelon eaten. 1 watermelon came back. Needless to say, I'm finding Watermelon family fetish for the fruit quite irritating.

The sun, sea, stars and 2 watermelons (Terengganu Trip Day 2)

Part 1: Sunshine and Snorkelling

Starting the day all smiles
We started the day in bright sunshine. Apparently there was a very beautiful sunrise earlier, so we told ourselves that we had to catch the sunrise before we left. Today, we looked forward to spending time in the sun and the sea, and at night, sotong fishing. This entire trip was pretty much a guided tour by TM's uncle, who is also a certified dive instructor. The good thing about being on tour is that everything is planned for you, so no need to think, just follow. For example, all the mums prepared all the food, so we didn't have to worry about getting hungry. The bad thing is of course you had to follow a schedule, and the waiting for everyone to get together and stuff. And eccentricities of certain people, for example, Watermelon family's decision to lug along 2 watermelons for the trip.

It took us an hour to get to the island where we would spend the day snorkelling and diving. The boat that we took wasn't really what I had expected.

Getting roasted!
I expected a yatch or something, but it turned out a large wooden boat. Oh well, we are paying peanuts for this trip after all. We snorkelled at a deserted part of the island. It was a hell of a lot like Tioman, but it was still fun swimming around and observing the wildlife in the shallow waters. TM's uncle managed to borrow a couple of diving tanks to let the newbies try. Amongst us, only TM and Dean were qualified divers, so only they got to go down into the deep sea. I got used to breathing with the tank very quickly, and TM's uncle said that I was a natural at diving. I must take the course next time.

A number of funny incidents happened in the afternoon, which I just have to relate:

Funny conversation 1:
TM's cousin: Are we taking the same boat out?
TM's uncle: No, we are going to take the fibre-glass boat.
TM's cousin: Oh? So is the boat transparent?

Funny conversation 2:
We were trying to scare TM's cousin with the sea cucumber...
TM' cousin: No, get away its damn gross!!
TM: Don't worry, its just a vegetable...
Me and Dean: MAI SEA CUCUMBER IS A VEGETABLE LAH!!

It's a floater!!

Funny conversation 3:
Me: Wow, there are a lot of sea urchins down there.
Dean: Yeah, and they all have this colorful opening...
Me: yeah, that's the sea urchin's ass.
Dean: Is it? looks like a mouth leh...
Me: Its the ass and the mouth lah!!
(yes, sea urchins shit and eat from the same hole)

So after a day snorkelling and getting roasted in the sea, it was a quick dinner and off to onto the boat to catch sotong.

Part 2: Fishing in the moonlight

I had never gone fishing before, so I was quite looking forward to this activity. The tools for sotong fishing were pretty much the same as normal fishing - a line and bait. Unlike normal fishing however, instead of keeping still and quiet, a spotlight from the boat was directed into the sea. Sotongs are attracted to the light. We were not alone out in the sea however. Apparently sotong fishing has become quite a popular tourist activity - there were at least 15 boats out there with us. That left me wondering if there would be enough sotong for us to catch.

As it turns out, I was right initially. All of us had our lines in the water, including the boatmen, and it was a while before the first one was caught. There were 20 of us on the boat, and only 5 sotong were caught. But with those sotong, the parents prepared sotong sashimi, with wasabi and soy sauce. Never tried it before, but it was good! The boatmen decided to change spots, and moved us further away from the crowd of boats. It was better this time. Everyone was starting to catch sotong, and I caught one myself! All squid react the same way when caught - they squirt out ink at you, and you had to do your best to avoid getting "psst err"!!! And they are red initially, but left on the boat, they turn white quickly. It isn't because they are dead though. Squid have the ability to change colour to communicate and to camouflage themselves. I didn't have any luck after that though, and I had to be happy with my one catch.

Part 3: Stargazing

It must have been about 11pm when we started going back. At first I was irritated by the slow speed of the boat, but now I'm grateful for it, as it gave me a chance to stare up into the stars. Dean and I laid back on the roof of the boat the entire journey back, and being up there, looking a the brilliantly lit moon and the stars, gave me a sense of peace and contentment. Being up there on the boat felt like being in Space, because we were moving in the blackness of the open sky. It was as if time had stopped, that nothing else in the world mattered. The only comparable feeling I know is that of being in love. I know that at the point when I first fall in love, time stops. And you wish to keep feeling that way forever. Being on that boat felt almost (of course nothing beats being in love) the same way.

Earlier in the day we were talking about a life like this, whether we would be happy with leading a simple life - living simply and enjoying nature. TM's answer was no, he needed progress and technology. My answer was no, I preferred the high life, that of fine dining and luxury. But come to think of it, I would like to experience everything. I want to experience living in expensive hotels and eating fine food, yet I also enjoy taking the time off to enjoy the simple things in life. However, wealth is the key to having the high life, and only with that then you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

So in the end, we went back tired but contented.

Part 4: Watermelon movement chart

It's time now to give a summary of what happened to the 2 watermelons brought out today. Only 1 watermelon was consumed during lunch, which means that 1 watermelon had the luxury of being on tour with us,in an insulator box no less, to breakfast, on the boat, to the beach, out sotong fishing, then finally back to the fridge.

Journey to Terengganu (Terengganu Trip Day 1)

TM's uncle organized this trip, a sotong fishing cum diving trip, and we were invited. So the 3 of us, Barry, Dean, myself went along with TM's family, with 3 other families on this trip to the Malaysian heartlands.

3 vehicles were used for this trip, and the 4 of us shared a rented minivan with another family, which I dub the 'Watermelon' family, for their perchant for watermelons, as I'd find out later on the trip. The trip was a long one, and leaving at 11, we were prepared to sleep all the way there.

Lunch was at the above roadside cafe, which had the distinction of being the most housefly infested eating place I've been to. At any one time, there would be at least 10 houseflies trying to get to your food. We had to gobble it up as soon as the food arrived. Next to the cafe was a row of fruit stalls, and the families bought oranges, durians, and yes, 4 watermelons.

The rest of the journey was long and uneventful. It was 7 when we reached our dinner place. Apparently the restaurant which we had dinner was famous for stuffed crabs. They even have a website: www.stuffedcrab.com. It was really good. We finally reached the house at 10. It wasn't as big a place I had expected, and the 4 of us squeezed into a section of the living room. That was the end of the first day.