SDC14053
Originally uploaded by uculer

I really have no heart to talk about my latest retreat to Pulau Perhentian. Its not that I hate it, I think I may have left something there and there’s no way for me to get it back. Well, at least not just yet.

We went on a bus although it would be really nice if we could have other means of transportation. The about 8 hours journey was better buried somewhere at the very back of my mind. It was like going on a rodeo; never mind that I’ve never experienced it ever in my whole life. But sitting at the very back of the bus, going through the streets in the East Coast was nightmare while I was still very much aware of what was going on.

The trip started with a movie called Cliffhanger, which was truly a cliffhanger because the bus operator didn’t show the rest of the movie. Yes, my mood was already not that good and leaving me hanging on what was going to happen on Slyvester Stallone was not good.

For the remainder of the night (we departed from KL at about 10pm), sleep didn’t come easy. A few winks but when we arrived in Kelantan, I had trouble closing my eyes. It has been nearly a decade since I’ve been there so I was really excited although of course, there not much to see, being awake at about 5am. And was not able to determine whether anyone was snoring or not.

Once we arrived in Kuala Besut, the paint at my joints and of course because of sitting down for too long kind of vanished. The place looked a bit like Kuala Selangor but I especially like the place that we had breakfast. To heck with toothpaste and toothbrush, nasi dagang here we come!

The boat ride was fun, I can never ride a rollercoaster but boat rides I can do. I was so glad that nobody was seasick; I think we are too excited to think what was waiting on the island.

The moment I stepped down on the beach, I fell in love with the island. For a start, the water was so clear and blue. There were not so many seagulls but still the waves brought music to my ears.

We milled around while taking pictures here and there and of course, there were no people in the pictures. I was too engrossed with taking the pictures of the environment.

From then on, I was focused on snorkelling. Although we can opt for special goggles for short sighted people like me, I still put on my lenses. I was stingy because the special goggles cost RM 20 per day.

I was so lucky that I was able to snorkel. The biggest concern was not about drowning but getting salt water into my eyes. We were so lucky that our guides were very helpful. They brought clown fishes and helped us to look at all the interesting things in the sea. We even spotted turtles during the snorkelling session.

Snorkeling does not require one to necessarily able to swim but it can be of absolute advantage. The one thing that you do not want to do is to laugh in the sea (which happened to me a few times) so swim away as far as you can from the clowns.

For me, everything was worth it. Losing one of the lenses, experiencing dehydration and getting sick were all worth it. I especially loved the laid back nature on the island. The only regret was I was unable to take pictures during sunsets and sunrises. I was also unable to get down at the shark points.

So, it is suffice to say that I will go back and will now resort to counting the coins in my tabung. Heh.