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Pulau Perhentian trip -- Part 1



A bunch of 40 of us joined the MBC Pulau Perhentian 3 day trip from 27 – 30 June. Majority arrived earlier than the said time of 9.30pm. I guess all of us are so exited about the trip. We boarded the bus at 10pm. It is bed time but some of us are happily chatting and playing in the bus. Some of the people play cards throughout the night. Can you believe it? Haha! I tried to sleep but the bus is very bumpy and it is very hard to fall asleep. The floor of the bus is vibrating but I do not want 9 hours of foot massage.

Next morning at 7am, we stopped by a malay coffee shop to have breakfast. Then we continued our journey to Kuala Besut jetty. Morning is very peaceful at Besut. There’s not much activities going on, unlike the life back at KL or Sunway. We waited for the speed boat to arrive. The boat ride is really kickass! The way to the island is against the current. The boat keeps jumping up when it hits the wave. It is so fun and thrilling for me. I hope others have fun too. I don’t know if there’s anyone experienced boat sickness. And when we reached the shore, everyone has got a new hairstyle, well blown hair.

Waits.....

At the jetty... Max and Eugene

There are a lot of cats in Besut and the island!

All aboard...

Leaving the jetty...

Peace. Ready for the kickass boat ride.

After the ride...

"Look at your hair.... Hahaha...."

Whoa! MY HAIR?!?! @#$%&

The journalist and her BFF

The boat stopped right in front of our chalet, located at Teluk Dalam Beach of Pulau Perhentian Besar. And that was where everyone has their first touch of the land of Pulau Perhentian. The view is just great! The sand is white and fine. The sea water is so clear. And the weather is perfect! Then, Vic gathered everyone and we arranged for check-in. The chalet that we stayed is Everfresh Chalet. At first glance, it is a very nice place, small sized, very cozy. The downside (for us city kids) is there are many insects and animals around us. Some one found a big lizard in his room. One of the rooms even had a bat living in it! But of course, we manage to exchange it for another room. It was only about 11am, we just hang around that place and settle down.

Whoa.... Check this out!

Vic: "Hear ye.. Hear ye.."

This is exactly where we landed.

I was among the first few to taste the sea water of Pulau Perhentian. My friends coaxed me to go down to the beach. And I ended up soaking my clothes wet. We swam a bit in the cool sea. Then I get up to change into dry clothes. I waited for lunch while chatting with friends. Alas, lunch is served after 20 minutes delay. We had rice, chicken, mixed vegetables and iced Ribena. After lunch, it’s free time. Most of us went out to the sun to have fun with friends. At 5pm in the evening, we had a friendly match of beach volleyball. Some who stayed outdoors whole day got sun burnt a little.

Afternoon at Perhentian Island ~

After the match, we showered and waited for dinner. Everyone is so hungry that the food prepared is not enough, we had to request for a second round of cooking. For dinner we had tom yam sotong, rendang chicken and iced orange juice. There was not much activities going on after dinner as all of us need to catch up on some sleep.

Dinner.

The next morning, we gathered for breakfast at 8am. We had bread, sausages and fried meehoon and tea. While we were having breakfast, it rained! There was a slight drizzle and all of us are a little disappointed as it was our snorkeling trip that day! Everyone prayed hard enough that the rain stopped. Haha. At 9am, everyone couldn’t wait to get on the speed boat.

The ECs

High tide in the morning...

First, we are driven to Long Beach at Pulau Perhentian Kecil to have a “snorkeling practice session”. Within a blink of an eye, many had already swam far out into the sea, when it wasn’t the real snorkeling site yet. I guess they were too excited. Most of us are first-timers, including me. There are no instructors or anyone to teach us how to snorkel, so we teach each other instead! I saw that all are doing good except me -________-v Although I know how to swim but I am always afraid of water, so it took me a lot of guts to dip my face into the sea water. I was struggling on the gear and have to cope with my fear and at the same time trying my very best not to breathe with my nose. I choked on the sea water a few times. I looked at the rest of them, they were swimming so happily. Of course, I did not give up (and never will) so I kept attempting to look into the sea.

After warming up, we then depart to our first snorkeling site to see the corals! The corals are really pretty! But there are some dead corals too. Eeeww. Unfortunately I did not get to snorkel PROPERLY. I was so nervous as this is my first snorkeling experience!

Next, we are brought to see the sea turtle. There is one or two sea turtles on that beach. I did not go down the water this time. Felt tired from the forceful breathing using only my mouth. It was kind of funny because there are 40 people chasing one turtle. Hahaha. I wonder how the turtle feels actually.

After watching the turtle, we then go to see the baby shark. I was so excited about it so I went down to the water this time but I did not see any sharks! However, there are thousands of little colourful fishes in the sea! I felt a sudden gush of happiness flowing into my heart. I felt so happy that I did not realise the state that I was in and I started talking. I just can’t keep my mouth shut even under water. The fishes are so small like those you see in house aquariums. I was trying to catch a fish with my palms but I had too much movement and I scared the shit out of the fishes. All of a sudden the view is empty and blank. Then I turned around, “there you areeee……!” How childish.

Snorkelling was really fun. It is so enjoyable to swim with the fishes and to see the corals 3 metres away from you, in 3-dimension. LOL. We reached back to our chalet at 12.40pm. That day’s weather was perfect for snorkeling! Not sunny, not cloudy. Perfect! I’m sure no one gets any sun burn! Hehe...

*to be continued...*