Island Escapade

It's only 3.30am when the alarm went off. Blardy early and I've had just a few hours of sleep. But I woke up feeling excited. It's been a while since my last relaxing trip by the beach.
And so we departed to LCCT, which is by the way blardy crowded at 5.30am. We had our usual McD breakfast. And I still don't like the taste of their coffee.

After a 45-minutes smooth plane ride, we touched down at Kuala Terengganu's airport which is quite deserted. Our driver is waiting to send us to Merang Jetty. I was expecting a bustling jetty but what greeted us was practically a few pathetic-looking souvenir shops. And there's only ONE stall selling nasi lemak and some drinks. It's going to be a long 2-hour wait.

We sat down at that ONLY stall to eat a plate of nasi lemak and shared one cup of coffee and waited and waited for the boat ride to our island. We saw a small lizard ambushing a crab and swallowing it whole, legs and all.

And then, came one of the scariest moment of my life. We boarded a 8-person boat happily, not knowing what's waiting for us. I still managed to snap a photo at the beginning and then the driver stopped the boat and handed us big black garbage bags. I thought it's for anyone who feels like throwing up, but instead he asked us to put our bags in. I asked the driver, is it normal for the sea to be so rough and he said it's because the end of the monsoon season.

The waves was huge and the water was so choppy. I was holding so tight to the rail and water kept splashing at us. Few times, I feel like the boat is going to capsize. In my mind, I was thinking all sorts of nonsense. Whether I'll make it alive or not, I don't want to die like this. Haha...silly me, right? But it was one of the scariest moment for me. Not knowing how to swim is not helping and the safety jacket is not offering me much comfort.
After a 40-minutes grueling, butt-pain ride, we reached the island.

Was it worth it? Definitely yes! We were greeted with crystal clear water that can see through the rocks at the bottom. There are only less than 15 people in the resort and we had some quiet time.

There's no TV, no computer, no WIFI. Just the sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean that greeted us every day. Meals were served on time and it was not too bad.

We just lazed on the beach most of the time. We trekked about 30 minutes to another side of the island. The sight there took my breath away. There's no beach, only rocks but when we looked down, the water is so clear. I can sit there all day but the sun is not showing any mercy.

The manager told us that there are no animals on the island except for squirrels and monitor lizards, LOTS OF THEM. Daily, we can see them walking about behind our room. Not those tiny winy lizards, these are as a human body. I kid you not. But they won't disturb us unless provoked.

We saw some black, soft, spongy thingy and I guess it's a sea cucumber? Looks like shit though...

It was a very relaxing trip. We slept full 8-9 hours and did some trekking to burn off the food we ate.

Before we flew back to KL, we spent half a day in KT town. Visited the state musuem, apparently the biggest in Malaysia. The driver brought us to a 'crystal' mosque and it was not what I've expected.

We went to explore a market-Pasar Payang and the chinatown, which is only a street with some chinese shops.

The next time I'm going to any of the island there, it's going to be during the calm season. Or else, I will just fly Berjaya Air direct to Redang. No more rocky boat rides for me, no thank you.