Well, the 2 M’s, K and I finally managed to lug our bodies out of KL this weekend, despite a minor hitch in the proceedings. Originally K & I had planned to take Fri & Mon off and go off with the boys to Pulau Tioman, for 4 days of rest and relaxation. But, on Tuesday our boss suddenly informed us that he’d taken up an unexpected offer to go to China the next day (!), so now he needs someone in the office on Fri and Mon! After some doubts as to our destination for the weekend, we decided to continue with our original plan, with K following us a day later and me going home one day earlier.
Anyway, the 3 of us boarded a bus on Thursday evening after nearly collapsing from carbon monoxide poisoning – they make the passengers wait down in the garage for the bus and although there are some environmentalists out there, most locals remain unconvinced by their campaigns and fimly believe that if you turn off the motor you risk that the engine will die on the spot! Well, judging from the state of the busses, I would tend to agree with them.
So, we started our 5 hour trip down to Mersing (East Coast) and after 5 minutes we started to get out towells, clothes, anything to protect us from the actic cold gushing out of the aircon above us. Shivering we arrived at 5.30 am, were welcomed by a tout who sold us our tickets and recommended a beach on Tioman in about 5 minutes. Desperately trying to stay awake and not caring where we would land, we made our way to the newly opened food stall and braved the local delicacies of fried rice and hot noodle soup at 6 am. Yummy.
3 hours later we were proud holders of two aircon chalets (complete luxury) and 7 hours later I had laughed myself silly over the first “shopaholic” book (something along the lines of Bridget Jones Diary), had snorkelled around our fantastic beach (Tioman is known for its diving and snorkelling) and was burt to a crisp as I had forgotten to put sunscreen!!! My whole body could rival a lobster, that’s how bad it is. Especially my legs, sitting is almost agony!
Well, as the day drew to the end we come to a part of island-life I I love: dinner! Usually the fishermen bring in their booty and you wander from beachside “restaurant” (shack is more like it) to the next, deciding which fish you’d like. We chose a huge parrot fish on the first night and then a jet fish on the second. Nothing beats eating fresh fish grilled in banana leaves, watching the sun set on clear blue sea and knowing that a pullover would cost more then that experience!
We befriended a Singaporean Malay group, who were real drinkers! (Most Malays are Muslim and alcohol is forbidden) Everybody got together in the evening, a guitar was produced, as was ample alcohol, and then the singing and merry making began. They really do like singing / karaoke here. Doesn’t mean they’ve all got good voices though (on that night alcohol mainly improved the confidence of those without an ear for music).
On Sunday I took the first ferry back to Mersing. The ferry stops at every beach to pick up passengers on their way back to the mainland, so we gaily turned the corner to the next beach and I was just thinking “hmm, I’m actually really enjoying myself”, when my eyes lit upon grey / black spots and to my horror I counted 18 huge (and I really do mean huge) army ships slowly gliding into the bay! Whilst the new passengers boarded, more and more ships appeared on the horizon and as we left for the next beach I counted 22 ships. 2 of them actually had a flat helicopter landing area! It was like a scene out of a war movie.
Army seemed to be the order of the day, because as I rode back to KL my neighbour turned out to be a military officer, in charge of making bombs! Well, I guess it’s a job too!