Sunday, July 05, 2009
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Blog post stats
Words: ~ 4760
Pictures: 140 (and counting) - 99 % of which are clickable
Videos: Three embedded
Pages in Microsoft Word, with narrow margin: 30
Times the word 'chillax' appeared: Six, including this :P
This entry clocked in three days of pure discipline and focus.
Even if you've just skimmed through the pics and vids, leave some love!
(If only I have the same kind of perseverance for my real uni work...)
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Redang, Redang, Redang.
In the past three years, I've been through
five attempts to make the trip to this beautiful island work, and they all failed miserably. Waves of disappointment made me view the island as the ultimate getaway that I could never experience; and all subsequent plans to Redang were made with apprehension and pessimism so very uncharacteristic of me.
Heck, even this trip almost failed, what with rainnie and ru pulling out in the last minute, downing our numbers to four. But emilia stuck it out, and that's how me, emmy, syen and monica ended up in Hentian Putra at 9.30pm, Monday night.
The following story is what happened after that ;)
The Journey There
First time I boarded a bus from Hentian Putra. Didn't even know its existence as was more familiar with Puduraya and Hentian Duta. It's said that buses to the North Peninsula leaves from Hentian Duta, and buses to the East leaves from Hentian Putra.
The last time I've been to East Peninsula was some ten years ago. All I remembered of the trip was the uber scary roads that Dad took through the mountains: winding, dark, and lonely.
Using the streetlamp-less Karak Highway, I found that the roads were still winding and dark, though they were anything but lonely. Saw plenty of car lights from the opposite direction as well as on our own side. Saw alot of car lights flashing! Hahaha dunno why I thought that entertaining, but was counting the number of flashes I saw. Counted to about 5 or 6 before I drifted off to sleep.
The journey was to take 5 hours and 15 mins, as stated on the ticket. But thanks to an almost one-hour long break at Bandar Baru Chendor, and the slow (and safe) driving, it took us about 7 hours before we reached Kuala Terengganu Bus Terminal.
Good thing also lah, coz then we wouldn't have to wait too long before we could leave for the jetty. Was invited to rest at Redang Pelangi's "house" just opposite the bus terminal, where we also met other tourists of the same batch.
At 7.30am, we all boarded the bus that would fetch us to Merang Jetty. I thought it was gonna be a direct route that would have taken just 45 minutes, but then the bus detoured to the airport and we only reached the jetty about 9am.
The ferries were already there waiting. I saw our resort's ferries, and also Laguna's.
Everyone boarded the ferry excitedly, not suspecting AT ALL what's in store for us for the next 30 minutes. And there was PLENTY. x______x
One word to describe the speedboat ride? Hellish.
Seriously, it was the craziest, most heart-ripping 30 minutes I've ever felt. With all the jumps and bounces and tilts and the water beads splashing on your face, it was like a prolonged roller-coaster ride; plus the life-jacket and minus the 30-foot drop (duh).
Everyone had wary smiles on their faces every time the boat rode a particularly high wave and then fell with a bump. There were minor shrieks from the girls, while the boys were pretty calm trying to keep the luggages from falling over.
Never felt so relieved at seeing the sandy shores of Redang, and wow ain't they pretty! Long stretches of white sand, breezy coconut trees, comfortable and cosy chalets greeted us as we balanced ourselves on the floating wooden walkway.
Breathed in the salty sea breeze, and sighed in contentment.
We've arrived!
Departure time from KL: 10 pm
Arrival time at Redang: 10 am
Duration of journey: 12 freakin hours, which's like, half a day!!!
Redang Pelangi
Situated at one end of Pasir Panjang, the most commercialized stretch of sand on Redang Island, Redang Pelangi is flanked by Ayu Mayang on one side, and a rather exclusive-looking Coral Redang on the other.
This map shows the relative distances of the resorts rather well
The wooden decor was warm and welcoming, and shady trees rustled ever so often in the sea breeze. We were given a briefing by the resort lady manager, who spoke in excellent Mandarin, which emmy, syen and monmon were unable to appreciate ^^"
She introduced us to the layout of the resort - where the diving centre, snorkelling centre, reception counter, cafeteria, shops, bar, and the rooms were, as well as told us the hours these places would be open. Explained about our snorkelling trips, some rules, how to use the room's safe (to keep our valuables when we're out snorkelling), etc etc.
We were then given the key to our room, and after changing into more comfortable (quote "Redang-y") clothes, we then began exploring the resort and the beach.
the beach bar in the morning
Lunch was at 12pm, and we were back just in time. The resort people actually ring a bell to notify people of food time! Syen said that it made her feel like she was in prison. ("Asrama lah, asrama", emmy comforted.)
The food we had in the cafeteria for the three days were all buffet style. Food was standard fare, like white rice, chicken, curry fish, veggies, fruits. Tea, coffee, bread and biscuits were always available and best of all, FOC =D
Chillax-ed for a while in the cafeteria, and then because it was approaching 2pm, we went back to our hotel rooms... to get ready for snorkelling!!!
My First Snorkelling Experience
Was fun and terrifying at the same time! Haha! Mon and I had to pay an additional RM10 to get power masks because our glasses needed power more than 350.
None of us Microbiology students bought alcohol swab, though we should have lah. The snorkel masks which we had to put in our mouth looked clean, but you never know >____<
our two divers
people helping each other with the lens and life jackets
look at them go!
So, the speedboat sped off to a spot some 10 mins away, in between two small islands. Once the boat stopped, people were eager to jump off boat into the cool waters below.
Okay, let me admit this straight out.
I don't know how to swim. I guess the amount of body fats one has is not directly related to one's capacity for buoyancy. You throw me into the water, I'll sink like Stitch.
The life-jacket just helped
slightly. Had to muster so much courage to just sit at the edge of the speedboat, and then to propel self into the dark waters below. *cries* Was in the waters for less than five minutes before getting self hoisted up on to the boat.
Then then then, heard one of the dark-skinned divers announcing, "Who dunno how to swim one, please take the 'taxi'", IN CHINESE.
Haha! These divers were seriously a funny bunch. I think they're all Malays, or Indonesians, or ... maybe really, really tanned Chinese. Most of them can speak a couple of Mandarin phrases, quite fluently too that emmy said they put her to shame :P
Turned out the 'taxi' was actually a tyre/pelampung that us swimming-inept 'passengers' hold on to, and the d(r)iver would lead us around the coral reefs. All we needed to do was to place both hands gently on the tyre, and looked into the water.
At one point, the diver navigating us caught a floating sea cucumber and let us touch it. SO EEKY! Black and spongy. But it hardened fast, which meant it was dying out of water and you should probably put it into the sea where it belonged ^__^
"Sea cucumbers have the interesting habit of shedding their respiratory and reproductive tract and portions of their intestines when they are annoyed."
- Unmentionable Cuisine , by Calvin W. Schabe
don't poke them!
After the taxi ride was done, wanted to join the girls but couldn't find them in the sea of floating orange people. Didn't have glasses on either, and the power mask made me dizzy if I wear it
out of water for long. So, waited on the boat as happy people squealed and splashed around me ):
Soon it was time to leave. People climbed on board, dripping wet and chattering excitedly. Found my friends, and the speedboat sped back to our resort.
Leisure Time
All four girls finished bathing about 5pm. Tea time started at 4.30pm, so we walked to the cafeteria.
Only to find that the karipap were half gone :( Took what we could have, and ate biscuits. The other three brewed coffee (satchets sponsored by syen) while I settled for the caffeine-less
er Boh tea. Chillax-ed and enjoyed the lazy afternoon. After tea-time, went exploring the whole stretch of Pasir Panjang :D
Also went shopping at the shop directly in front of our room! The four of us bought dresses with similar design but different color, and joked that we were all gonna wear it tomorrow. They were damn cheap yo: RM18 for ours, RM10 for monmon's. Good buy :D
Pics of the beach
Redang Laguna Resort
More More Tea Inn
made famous by the 2000 film "Summer Holiday" starring Sammi Cheng and Richie Ren
a very shocked-looking Davy Jones and a monmon Jack Sparrow
Redang Reef
can you see the bridge leading to the resort?
We found a small plant living in the sand!
emmy tried to pull it out, much to our horror
monmon ready to slaaaaaaap emmy
"It's not gonna survive anyway!" - emmy
"It's people with itchy hands like you who kill these poor plants! Let it live!"
the shop where we bought our dresses :D
the view outside our room
traditional wooden chalet + modern bodyglove tent :D
After Eight
Dinner was at 7.30pm. Finished and chillax-ed abit. The 8pm karaoke session was beginning, and we were mostly listening to the songs.
The resort had FOC games like cards, chess, carrom, snooker/pool to play, so we took two sets of congkak. Wanted to play them in the beach bar itself, but they told us we needed to buy drinks first in order to sit there.
So, nvm lor, we brought our congkak sets to the cafeteria and played there while being "serenaded" by karaoke singers. At one point, two little girls took over the mic and belted out Hokkien songs o___O
Guess we were really tired lah, since none of us got a good night sleep on the bus. It
had been a long day too. Went off to bed pretty early :)
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Due to the sheer number of pics and words, blogger seems to have konked out abit! It's not loading my post properly, blah.
Therefore, am splitting the Redang entry into two parts. Wait for the 2nd part!
sUzz
can you take my brand of 21:15 randomness?
Thursday, July 02, 2009
... you'd been bombarded with UV rays for three days,
swam in the deep blue sea for almost two hours straight,
thrice,
had fingers bitten by hungry fishies,
walked very, very long distances
in the sand,
ate more rice than you ever would at home because all the activities were so energy-sapping,
bathed in salty, so-called "filtered" sea water,
had your bum abused by a really, really bumpy ferry ride,
and then further tortured by sitting on a bus for
eight butt-gruelling hours,
travelled on the road a little longer than usual because the Federal Highway had a bad jam,
reached home and bathed in cool, clean water,
ate, no, gobbled dinner down as stomach was starving,
ARE experiencing a tingling, aching sensation at the vertebra column,
and SHOULD be resting on a soft bed instead of sitting on a hard marble chair,
and yet,
here you are, blogging.
Tadaima, minna-san!! For you guys who didn't manage to guess the place correctly in my previous post, yes, I was in Redang. The elusive Redang trip has finally materialized!!
And at 10.30pm last night, I wasn't searching for blue sand; instead, I was "clubbing" at the resort's beach discotheque =D
Wondering if we managed to find the blue sand that Redang is reputed to have? Stay tuned to find out.
In the meantime, just in case the girls hold true to their words.... If you guys are suddenly approached by a "Suzzane" on FB, with
my pictures in the account and a "
I love orange" in the profile, IT IS NOT ME. The girls were conspiring to create an FB account for me, using the lock combination of our room's safe as the password -_____-
So yeah! Wait for it!
The
Redang 09
post
is
coming
soon
!!!
sUzz
can you take my brand of 23:35 randomness?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
By the time you're reading this, I'm some 300 km away from home, probably scouting the beach to look for blue sand.
If you know where on Malaysia you can find blue sand, you'll know where I am.
If not, ask Le Goog ;)
Chillax people!
sUzz
can you take my brand of 22:30 randomness?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
RTM is undermining our intelligence.
RTM Will Call It 'Swine Flu' - Rais
KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) will continue to use the term 'swine flu' instead of influenza A (H1N1), said Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.
Denying that the term would cause confusion, he said 'swine flu' was easier for the people, including those in the rural areas, to digest despite the Health Ministry's stand of using the term 'influenza A (H1N1)'.
"The issue does not arise at all. What matter most, the people understand that it is swine flu and not elephant flu... if H1N1 is used (by the Health Ministry), RTM will use swine flu.
"We have discussed this matter and internationally it is known as H1N1 but in Malaysia we will use the term 'swine flu'. This is to ensure that the people understand the meaning," he said after attending the full rehearsal for the launching of 1Malaysia logo and song at Dataran Merdeka here tonight.
On the launching of the logo and song, Rais said he was satisfied with the preparation for the event that set to become the biggest assembly of participants in the history of the country.
He said the organiser had assembled 10,700 participants from various races including ethnic groups from Sabah and Sarawak, government agencies, non-government organisations, members of parliament and students.
"The 1Malaysia logo and song, which will be launched tomorrow, will herald a new era in the history of the administration and struggle of the Malaysian race.
"And for the first time, the 1Malaysia concept and practice will be a symbol that will be assimilated tomorrow," he added.
The event will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
-- BERNAMA
As if that wouldn't confuse the rural folks even more. "This is to ensure that the people understand its meaning." Meaning? What meaning? Calling it swine flu might just propagate the false notion that eating pork infects you.
The issue of terming
won't arise at all, because if people can tell that swine flu and elephant flu is different, why would you think they won't understand that swine flu and H1N1 is the same?
Oh wait, just because Kenny Sia's mom thought it's pronounced "ah-hee-nee"?
If I were a rural folk, I'd feel pretty offended when Rais implied our ability to digest words were minimal. Okaylah, if the people still insist on using "swine flu", then that's up to them. But as a proper, official organization in charge of communication, shouldn't you be more responsible in your role of dispensing accurate information, pertaining to international standards?
I mean, since WHO and the Health Ministry are using H1N1 already, why take a step backwards and call it swine flu?
Dumb people leading the nation's local-TV network. I watch Astro better. Pffft.
And I'm curious: what is "swine flu" called in BM?
sUzz
can you take my brand of 18:01 randomness?
Friday, June 26, 2009
This morning, I switched on my car engine and heard this on the radio:
"Michael Jackson has passed away."
What a way to start the day. Was in shock till I picked up syen from the LRT. Told her, and then we both got shocked together.
Hitz.fm and the sixth channel on my car radio were playing MJ the whole day. The first song I heard in the morning was Thriller, which reminded me of one of my favorite films,
13 Going On 30 :(
After all the controversies, after all the trials and tribulations, after all life has dealt him the past few years, the man's finally at peace.
Rest well, MJ.
he was getting ready for his Comeback tour too :(
So. Finals are OVERRRRRRR!!!!! Now the real homework starts.
Blog Posts I Still Owe You Guys
1. Macau
2. Zoo
3. Kampar-Penang
4. D'italiane
5. Another
zzUseful (on WWZ *smirks*)
All these to be done within TWO weeks!!! And there's one more on the way.
But first, sand, sea and the sun, here I COME!!!!!!
sUzz
can you take my brand of 18:07 randomness?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Oh, my god.
I just saw the most sickening thing in my life, and words alone cannot describe the disgust and pain and pure...
The dog is screaming again. It's been screaming for the past few nights. Horrible, high-pitched yelps. And we always thought it's because the other stray dogs were bullying it, and so didn't really give it much thought.
Until just now. The house was empty. I was studying alone when the heartwrenching yelp pierced through the night. This time, the dog sounded like it was just right outside my house, so I went to the door.
There were dogs looking at the direction of my gate, neighbours from opposite houses stood at their door too. I couldn't see anything because my walls were blocking, and so I ran upstairs to the master bedroom and peered out the window.
There were a few dogs, surrounding this big dog, and a smaller yelping one. At first I wondered why the two dogs were so close together, and then as the big dog turned around, I saw.
And stared. And stared.
The big dog had
one of its hind leg stuck right inside the body of the smaller dog, right through the anus, or worse, the vagina if the smaller dog's a female. Together, they looked like some form of monstrous, unnatural entity; like as if the bigger dog had a small dog as its fourth leg, limping.
Worse still, the "fourth leg" was yelping, screaming, in pain.
It was the single most horrifying scene I've ever seen, and yet I couldn't bring my eyes away. Transfixed, spellbound by the unnatural sight, thoughts racing:
how the heck...? And then the small dog gave an exceptionally loud yelp, and that broke the horror-induced hypnosis. I couldn't bear to watch it any longer. Fled from the window, down the stairs, and the dog was still screaming, even as I typed the first words of this post.
Now knowing the true cause of the yelping, the sounds were tormenting. Was mentally screaming myself,
stop, oh my god, stop stop stop. Was almost reduced to (anguish-stricken) tears just listening to the dog and thinking how much pain it must be in.
Which is why I have earphones jammed into my ears with the volume turned nearly full-blast. Am traumatized, both from the sight and the sound. Can't shake them both out from mind.
Carefully lifted earphones just now; everything has seemed to gone quiet. But if the screams were to return...
I don't even want to start, "imagine how it'd feel to have something stuck in you", because it's an absolutely sickening thing to imagine, and even more appalling to see. Every single movement becomes a pain beyond bearable. That's why the small dog was yelping; it was in so so much pain.
Omg I can get myself tearing just by talking about this, so I better stop. No mood to study Physio already, all the best for me tomorrow.
sUzz
P.S. Just relayed story to mom who just got back, and then cried. :'( :'(
can you take my brand of 22:01 randomness?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Haha! I helped sis get into
Typing Maniac's Top Three among her friends!
I got this score like, the fifth time I played. Could have gotten better if it wasn't for the stupid "i" tile which sometimes requires abit more pounding to function; made me type things like fre, mss, ce, aka unnecessary typos
>o<DAHHHHHHHHHH I should have resisted the temptation. Genetics is coming up, and I'm barely a quarter through the chapters. Must get good results for Grandpa Quah because we're his last batch of GEN2041 students (he's retiring) and he doesn't want to see anyone fail.
Spot me!
sUzz is now waiting for maggi mee cooked by sis bcoz i forced her to as a reward for my crazy typing speed which elevated her to 'Geek' status in FB
can you take my brand of 22:47 randomness?
