Perhentian Islands [5 ~ 10 October 2002]

Hello, there!

Even though I was back from my recent trip to Perhentian Islands, but I've not fully recovered from the lovesick with these islands. This is the first trip that I went alone. It was really another wonderful trip I ever had this year. As compared to Redang Island, where I went two months ago, Perhentian Islands have the most beautiful marine life with lots of fish and corals (more that those you can find in Redang Marine Park), crystal clear water and snow white fine sands, the hottest sun (for those who like sun bathing at the beach), and many lovely activities and nightlife (especially on Long Beach at Perhentian Kecil).

I was quite nervous initially as I had to travel alone; I was so afraid of any bad things happened to me along the journey. On 5 Oct.'s night, I was rushing for my bus and I had only RM60.00 in my pocket. I though I could withdraw some money along the way to Putra Bus Station. Unfortunately, it was on long queue and I could not wait for any longer. I had to catch my bus. The 9 o'clock bus was already waiting at the platform; it was a new bus and decorated with royal colour. I was so glad to have a seat in such a lovely bus but I regretted later on; the bus was speeding all the way to Jerteh and the annoying speed alarm was on for the whole night! The person who sat beside me had to be educated on how one should sleep properly on a chair. I did not have a good sleep on the bus journey that night.

After 7 1/2 hours later, I reached Jerteh Bus Station; there was only one comfort stop along the way. It was 4:30am, while I was waiting for the driver to pick me up, I saw quite a number of "kereta sapu" (non-commercial private car) waiting at the bus station and the drivers were asking around to offer a ride. Those cars were in terrible conditions, the driver charged RM10.00 per person for a transfer to Kuala Besut. But, this price will gradually decreased when the ordinary bus running to Kuala Besut started operating in the early morning. There were more and more express buses arriving as time passed, I was shocked seeing those "kereta sapu" chasing the buses from the back and stopped right beside / behind the buses; in order to get the customers fast, they drove like F1 drivers following one and others. Amazing!

I was waited for quite some times, then I made a phone call to check for my pick up. The driver was then showed up after a while; he had waited for me at the other express buses drop-off point nearby (usually is for Transnasional Express Buses). I was glad that I was given a van (bigger and newer vehicle that those of "kereta sapu") and I was the only passenger in the vehicle! The driver, Azmin was really friendly. The journey to Kuala Besut was about 20 minutes. According to Azmin, the roads to Kuala Besut usually will be flooded during Monsoon Seasons; transportation will be definitely heavily affected during the seasons.

At about 6:15am, I reached Bubu Inn at Kuala Besut. After washing up, while I was about going out for breakfast, there was raining outside. I had to wait for a while. Ten minutes before 7 o'clock, the rain stopped. I went over the Besut's bridge and looked for the restaurant (which is nearby my colleague's house) that she strongly recommended the best "nasi berlauk" in town. The food was really tasty and the fish was really fresh! However, I was overpriced, as I believed they knew I'm not the local.

The sunrise over the Besut Town was beautiful. The scenery of the Besut River and the surrounding was also very interesting. From the mainland, one could easily see the Perhentian Islands on the east. I even saw a fishing boat was stranded on the sandbank in the middle of the river; the locals were trying their level best to pull the boat back to the river.

Guess what, the town do not even has a bank! I have no way to withdraw even a single cent!

Bubu Inn has a total of 14 rooms, which consisted of 5 air-cond/seaview rooms and 9 fan/town view rooms, and a shared/common washroom each for male and female. I was sitting at the rest area till the time to catch my boat leaving at 9:00am. Together with a couple that drove all the way here, we were transferred to the new jetty for our boat journey to Perhentian Islands. The speedboat was comfortable and the journey was about half an hour.

En-route a passenger getting down at the Fisherman Village on Perhentian Kecil that gave me a closer look at this village. There was a concreted building of 3-storey school and many wooden houses. According to the boatman, they were building a road linked from this village to Long Beach. Therefore, in future, besides traveling by boat, the villagers could travel by land to Long Beach at a shorter way (currently they had to walk thru the jungle for 2 hours/way).

I was almost unable to control myself jumping into the water while our boat was approaching the Long Beach at Perhentian Kecil; oh, my God, I saw crystal clear water and the fish was swimming in it!

There was no jetty at Long Beach; therefore all passengers have to land on water before reaching the beach. I was so excited and rushed to the reception for check in. Unfortunately, they had a big group staying in-house last night; my room was not ready yet and had to wait. After about 15 minutes, I got my room. I was given the best seaview room located on the highest floor (3rd floor). My room number was 311. After taking the shower, without any waste of time, I took my camera and ran down to the beach and started to kill my films!

Bubu Long Beach Resort was situated at the northern end of Long Beach and it was the only deluxe resort on this island. There were several more budget chalets at the southern part of the beach, which were about 200m away. I had walked from one end to the other.

Guess what I saw? Topless lady laying on the beach for sun bathing! Not one, but few of them!

The buffet lunch was started from 12:30pm and the cooking was Chinese style. Be frank, the food was not really tasty. Right after the lunch I was too tired and took a nap. The first snorkeling trip was at 3:00pm. I had to pay the rental of snorkeling equipment of RM20.00 for 3D/2N package and RM30.00 deposit. They didn't have credit card facilities and therefore I had to pay cash. Guess how much money left in my pocket? RM10.00 only!

We had to swim to the nearby coral area that located about 200m away from the beachfront. Again, I had a big problem here: I don't know how to swim! Luckily, I had a very good guide who accompanying me the whole trip; he teach me how to float/stand on the water with the help of my life jacket, also on how to balance myself in the water and basic swimming skill. He even helped me to build my self-confidence in the water. I was really enjoying the trip. The guide even helped me snapping some photos on the fish and corals.

We went back to the resort at 4:30pm for tea break. I was sitting underneath a shelter enjoying the sea breeze and beautiful scenery till the time for dinner at 7:30pm. I heard there were many interesting pubs & restaurants down the beach near those budget chalets; one of them where guests had to be sit on the ground and you may dance with the disco music on. I wish I could have happy hours at those pubs but I only had RM10.00 in my pocket!

I went back to my room and read a book before falling asleep. Anyway, I still had to sleep earlier so that I could wake up earlier next morning to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy. I went back to sleep till the breakfast time at 7:30am.

The second snorkeling trip was at 10:30am. This time we were going to shark point and then turtle point by speedboat. I did not see any shark as they said it depend on your luck. However, I saw big turtles at the turtle point (about 200m in front of Perhentian Island Resort, Perhentian Besar). Again, the guide helped me snapping close-up photos on those turtles.

At 12:30pm, we were back to resort for lunch. Due to low occupancy, they served set lunch. Since I was alone, I did not mind to join the staff for lunch; in fact I enjoyed having meals with them. I went to snap photos again after lunch till the next snorkeling trip at 2:30pm.

This time we went to another point to see baby shark (near to Coral View Island Resort, Perhentian Besar). There were a lot of rocks at that area, the boatman did advise us not to get close to the current. I did see many fish and corals there but not baby shark. I was following the guide and the group snorkeling around that area. Without knowing, I was pulling by the current towards the rocks and hard corals; I noticed that no matter how hard I tried to move forward but yet I felt I was pulling backwards. When I turned back and I saw I was getting closer and closer to the big rocks and hard corals. I was really afraid as I was alone and I knew I would be injured if I smashed into any of the rocks or hard corals. I tried my best to calm down and moved forward harder and harder; I could not shout for help, as the current was too strong for me to do anything but kept on moving forwards. At one time, while I was struggling, my left leg kicked into one of the hard corals; I was too close to the rocks and hard corals, I knew I was in danger then. Luckily, my hero, the guide came to rescue me. He was holding my hand and pulling me out of the current; we had moved very hard in order to get back to the boat. I was really exhausted and could only hanging at the side of the boat.

While resting at the side of the boat, I saw many fish swimming around me, various in colours, sizes and types; I was really enjoying myself then. Suddenly, I saw a jellyfish, white colour with a big blue dot in the middle, about 3m away from me. Oh, my God! I quickly climbed up the ladder and jumped into the boat. Wow, that was close!

Next, we went to another snorkeling point near D'Lagoon Chalets, Perhentian Kecil. I was too tired then and I decided not to go into the water, furthermore I had a cut in my left leg. I sat at the front portion of the boat where I could do sun bathing there. From there, I could easily see fish swimming in the water and people happily enjoying their snorkeling and playing with the water. I saw a group of divers doing their training course there too; I wish one day I could be one of them, but first I have to learn swimming!

At 4:40pm, we were on the way back to resort for tea break. I liked the way that sea breeze blowing to my face while I was sitting inside the speedboat moving on high speed. I could not explain how I felt that moment; I knew I was really happy and enjoyed it!

At 5:30pm, I decided to walk over the jungle to the other side of the island for sunset view. I had to put on my sport shoes as I had a cut in my leg. Together with a torchlight, camera and tripod inside my sling bag, I moved on alone. The entrance of the jungle walk was at the side of the entrance to Mohsin Chalets, it was a narrow path (width of one person could passing thru) into the thick jungle. At first I was afraid too, as I walked alone and there was uncertainty laid in front; I would not know I had chosen the right way. I was moving quite fast in the jungle and based on my intuition this jungle is safe. Usually the journey would take about 10 – 15 minutes, but it only took me (the first timer) 7 minutes to reach the other side; I prefer the jungle, hill & mountain than the sea.

It was totally a different beach as compared to Long Beach; According to the book, this beach, Coral Bay (or Aur Bay) has the most beautiful sunset view. The beach was short and narrow, laid with a layer of shells and dead corals. Rocky at the both end but beautiful for photo snapping. The water was not so clear as compared to Long Beach. Life here was much simple and would be very quiet at night.

While I was waiting for the sunset, I sat on a wooden bench in front a mini store and enjoying the sea breeze and the peaceful and lazy late afternoon there. Remember that I did not have enough money to buy myself a drink, otherwise I would have sitting inside one of the restaurant and/or chatting with the beautiful "Mat Salleh" ladies while waiting for the sunset. At 6:40pm, I had to leave the beach as a layer of cloud blocked the sun, there wouldn't be a nice sunset then. A little bit of disappointed, but yet I still enjoyed the waiting moment there.

I had BBQ dinner that night; I loved the seafood, as it was really fresh and big in size! I drunk a lot of water during meals time, the reason being was a bottle of mineral water (1.5 litre) cost about RM3.50 there and the restaurant would not allow guest to refill their bottle of mineral water free of charge. That was the way on how I saved my money.

I slept earlier that night, as I was tuckered out.

On 8 Oct.'s morning, I woke up at 6:00am. The sky was quite clear, I knew I could snap beautiful sunrise then. I set up my tripod and camera, sitting on a chair at the balcony waiting for the sky turning brighter. I saw the colour changed from time to time; I was attracted and amazed at the wonders of the nature.

I had decided to go for sun bathing for the whole day; I was under the sun for 4 hours (started from 8:40am) in the morning and 3 hours (started from 2:40pm) in the afternoon. I enjoyed more under the morning sun than the one in afternoon; I could take a nap / reading a book on the sundeck in the morning, but I had to go into the sea several times to cool my body down in the afternoon. I had to say the sun was the hottest that I ever had on the beach. It liked microwave to burn your skin; without knowing your skin turned into red / tan and hot! Anyway, I really enjoyed it!

As all of you knew, I don't know how to swim; I could only playing the water at the shallow water. The beauty of the beach was even you had walked about 100m away from the beach and yet the water level was still at your chest level. At this level, one could easily see a lot of fish swimming around you, they didn't afraid of human being! It was really fun! I even heard Mat Salleh ladies and children shouting and laughing while seeing the fish swimming around them.

At night, after dinner, I was sitting beside the staff and few guests at the bar watching the video show. After the show, few staff and I sitting and chatting underneath the shelter on the beach. It was really low seasons, that night they had only 6 rooms occupied (they had total of 39 rooms). The night was quiet, but I liked it; a little bit of sadness, because it would be my last night here.

On 9 Oct., the last day I stayed on the island. After breakfast, I followed two staff to go for mango plucking in the jungle. It was a cloudy morning with little rain. The waves were quite rough and the beach was very quiet. After packing my staff and walked down to the restaurant waiting for my boat back to Kuala Besut leaving at 12:00 noon, some of the staff who knew me well were wondering it was my last day here. They were suggesting me to stay on one more night but I couldn't even though I really loved to. One of the staff even bought me lunch at the nearby restaurant (Palm Tree Restaurant) right before I leaving. At last, I got to leave with a heavy heart. I was on the water taxi (motorboat) and kept on looking back; I really missed this place, very much.

For those need to onboard the slow boat (fisherman boat) or bigger speedboat has to take the water taxi from the beach (cost RM2.00 per person per way). The water traffic here was really fun! The speedboat that I took had to pick up passenger at the shore near Coral View Island Resort before going back to mainland. I was speechless all the way back and looking at the island I told myself, I shall return one day!

At about 1:00pm, I was back to Bubu Inn. The staff there gave me a room to rest. The fan/town view room has two double-deckers. I could only take a nap as the room was facing west where get the heat from the sun in the afternoon, and it was next to a bus/taxi station where on and off there were motor vehicles passing by caused the noise. I rather sat at the rest area down stair where I could get sea breeze. At 6:00pm, the driver sent me to the R&R Jerteh for my bus back to Kuala Lumpur leaving at 9:00pm. I was quite bored the whole afternoon waiting for the time passed; I had no mood to walk around the town or to the beach, cause I had the lovesick with the island!

The way back to Kuala Lumpur was a nightmare; it was an old bus and only carried 6 passengers and I was freezing cold cause I did not bring a jacket! As usual, the annoying speed alarm was on the whole night! I would strongly recommend not taking Transnasional as they have too many old buses, chances to get into one is very high. Try other buses like Mutiara or even better, e-Budaya 1st Class (where their buses are all VIP seating).

I reached Putra Bus Station Kuala Lumpur at 5:00am. I sat at the bus station till 6:00am to take the first LRT at PWTC Station back home. While waiting at the bus station, I enjoyed seeing people getting down from the buses and unloading their luggage from the compartment. I saw many bleary-eyed, washed-out faces passing by me and I also saw how people turned down the taxi driver who asking around to offer a ride.

At last I was back at home and continued sleeping on my own lovely bed. Guess what, I heard the sound of waves during my sleep!

Yoke Ming
13 Oct 2002

[View Perhentian Islands Photos]

Redang Island [11 ~ 15 August 2002]

Hello there, guess where I've been last week? Surprisingly, I was giving an assignment to join a 3D/2N inspection trip to Redang Island hosted by Redang Beach Resort. I was only informed three days before the departure date, quite rush but I was so excited – at least a break from the routine, busy and boring works in the office.

We, my colleague and I, traveled by express bus from Putra Station on 11 August 2002, Sunday night at 10.00pm. About 7 hours later, we reached Kuala Terengganu Express Bus Station (Tanjung Station) where the sky was still dark. Luckily we bought business class ticket for the bus journey, otherwise that would be a nightmare traveling such a long journey. We had to wait till 6.30am to meet our driver. While waiting for the transfer, I was enjoying the sea breeze.

We were transferred to their restaurant for breakfast / rest before depart to Merang Jetty at 8.00am. The design of the restaurant was rather simple but comfortable to suit Asian taste. We had set breakfast at the restaurant and at the same time, I learnt what are those local foods i.e. nasi dagang, nasi kunyik and nasi kuning. I even learnt how to differential them thru how the way the banana leaves fold and how to open the leaves to serve. The fish paste served with the rice was really fresh and taste marvelous! I had a simple but yet wonderful breakfast!


After about one hour drive from Kuala Terengganu, we reached Merang Jetty. A simple wooden jetty surrounded by souvenirs, food stalls and resort representatives. There was a car park charged at RM5.00/day and a public toilet (looked like a bungalow) charged at 30 cents for toilet or changing clothes and 50 cents for bathing.

The speedboat left jetty at 9.45am and reached Redang Island after about one hour. The boat journey was quite comfortable. Upon arrival, all passengers had to step on water before reaching the beach cause the boat could not be landed on the sands. Therefore, we had to change our long pants to shorts before onboard.

We were then given a room at their new chalet which is a concrete double-storey building consists of 8 rooms in each units. Our room number was B13, second block on ground floor. After unpacked, we quickly proceeded to see other resorts before the lunch time at 1.00pm. We managed to inspect Coral Redang Island Resort that has the potential for our overseas market.

The buffet lunch at Redang Beach Resort was rather simple and very Chinese style cooking. I felt like it was feeding time for animals, and we, the tourist were the animals lining up for foods. Very funny! After finishing the foods, we have to bring our plates and whatever foods uneaten to respective containers for the staff to collect them for washing or disposal. I felt myself like a kindergarten student rather than a guest in their resort.

At 2.00pm, we inspected Redang Beach Resort's old chalet rooms, which will be demolished end of this year. They were currently building the new restaurant, reception, dive center and bungalows. By next year, the whole resort will have a new look for visitors.

At 2.45pm, we gathered in front of the snorkeling equipment rental counter for our first afternoon snorkeling trip. There was a briefing for new comers about the snorkeling trip. Then, we had to walk into the water all the way to the boat. The water level can be above chest level. It was the first challenge for me, as I don’t know swimming and I afraid of water too.

The first snorkeling trip was at the coral area near Pulau Lima, an island not far from Redang Island. The boat stopped at a depth of about 4 meters. All passengers had to go down to the water for snorkeling at this depth. I was the last person leaving the boat. I had fastened the life jacket but yet I was too afraid to let go the ladder. The boatman gave me a tube. I was on double protection but yet I was still fear cause my feet could not touch the land! I was thinking whether to go down to the water or climb up back to boat. Luckily, my colleague really took good care of me. He encouraged and dragged me all the way to see the coral and fish in the water and back to boat.

There were people asking me how many times that I swallowed the salt water, I answered back that I did not swallowed the water but I did drink the water thru my nose. It was due to the leaking in my mask had caused the water went into my nose without knowing.

At about 5.30pm, we returned to the resort for tea break. Later, we proceeded to the shore near the resort for snorkeling. I was only at the shallow water where I can stand up if I need to. Whereas, my colleague went farther to see the baby sharks. There were 3 baby sharks there, about 2 feet in length each.

At night, we had dinner with the General Manager of Redang Beach Resort. During the dinner, suddenly came the strong wind and right after we finished our meals, heavy rain fallen. We were stranded and together with other travel agents representatives at the restaurant enjoying our coffee/tea. There was free flow of coffee/tea for the guests almost 24 hours but you have to do it yourself. The rain didn't stop till midnight.


Actually I planned to wake up earlier to see the sunrise, but unfortunately I could not wake up on time. Anyway, I did not missed anything cause that morning the sky was very cloudy. I was than standing in front of the beach, enjoying the sea breeze and fresh cool air. It would be a wonderful place for a holiday, and I were sure that it would be great if I do not have the assignment but just a holiday here!

The breakfast served at 7.30am and the morning snorkeling trip to Redang Marine Park would start at 10.00am. Visitors have to pay RM5.00 for the Marine Park Conservation Fee. The first impression that I had when I saw the snorkeling area at the jetty of the Marine Park was a huge swimming pool with lots of people in it. I wondered the people there would more than the fish in the water. Again, my colleague had to dragged me to the deep water to see the fish and coral. Sad to say the coral was not so interesting but the amount of the fish was great! We went to feed those fish with bread and it seemed that the fish was not afraid of people and rushed for the bread holding in your hands. It was really fun to see these fish right in front of your eyes! It was so many of them! Some even as big as 1 feet in length!

At one time, I was floating on the shallow water alone. There was a big group of smaller fish about 4-5 inches in length, near to hundreds of them; they surrounded me. All their eyes were looking at me, friendly but from a distance. I really enjoy that moment, like looking at the stars on the sky in the night.

After lunch, we went to another resort for inspection, i.e. Redang Holiday Beach Villa, which is situated on the rocks at the end of the beach. From there, they have a beautiful view of the beachfront. People enjoys sunrise from here.

Afternoon, we did not join the snorkeling trip to Pulau Paku as the corals and fish would not much different from those in Pulau Lima, as according to the person-in-charge of our trip. We decided to go back to the shore nearby the resort to feed the fish. The ware was strong and the water was not so clear. I was a little bored and tired, I then return to the beach and enjoyed the sunshine. My colleague later joined me after finishing the bread feeding the fish, both of us lying on the beach under the sun till tea break.

My colleague was really tired and took a nap after the shower. Whereas, I just did not like to waste the beautiful time passed sleeping on the bed. I took my book and went out to the beach, found a sundeck underneath the tree, started my reading. It was a wonderful time where you could enjoy the sea breeze and the music from the sea at this peaceful late afternoon. I did later walk alone along the beach to see how people spent their time. It was a wonderful feeling where one hand holding a book, another holding the sandals and walked on the water barefooted. I could see little fish swimming at the shallow water of about 2 inches in depth.

That night, the resort served BBQ dinner. We hanged around at the pub area having a can of beer, enjoying the music from the pub and a relaxing evening. At night, we walked around the beach to look at the nightlife of other resorts. Besides the open-air disco at Redang Beach Resort, there was another one at Redang Pelangi Resort. The later has a powerful sound effect. I wondered visitors who stayed at that resort or near to it could have a sweet dream that night. The disco would operate till midnight.

That night, I did not tell my colleague who sharing the same room with me. While I was brushing my teeth, I had a very strange feeling and it was very scary that I felt something was in the bathroom and it was around me somewhere but I could not see. I was trying very hard that not to think of it and rushed to finish my washing up. I even did chanting in my heart (Buddhism practice) in order to calm me down. I could feel the pressure from somewhere in the air. It made me felt very uncomfortable. I walked to my bed and covered myself with the blanket and tried to chat with my colleague in order to chase away the fear. I still felt there was something in the air; the pressure was still around. Luckily, it was not a harmful one but very soon I fallen asleep, like I was injected some kind of medicine. I really wondered as how could I fall asleep that fast under that kind of pressure. I could not explain it.

Next morning, after breakfast, we walked around the beach to shoot some personal photos. The check-out time at 9.30am. We had to wait for the boat leaving for Merang Jetty at 11.00am. While waiting, we just did not like to waste the treasure moment, both of us lying on the sundecks to enjoy the sunshine. It was really a sunny day, cause for the passed two days it was quite cloudy and hardly see the sun.

Time passed very fast. It comes and goes without our control; I wish I could stay longer or if there was no assignment. But, sometime things came not in the form that we wanted it to be, we just have to accept it and appreciate it.

Both of us were slept on the boat journey to Merang Jetty and the bus journey to Kuala Terengganu cause we were too tired. Upon arriving at Kuala Terengganu, we had our lunch at the restaurant where we were there for our breakfast the first day in Kuala Terengganu. The restaurant situated above the resort office at mezzanine floor. We had arranged with the driver of the resort to send us to the State Museum for a visit. Of course, it was on our own account.

The State Museum was really huge. I was not surprised that it was called the largest museum in Malaysia. It was a palace long time ago. I really enjoyed the walk inside the museum cause outside was very hot and sunny, inside was cooling and the lights were dim, very comfortable. It would be a romantic moment if you walk with your love one here. I like this place. In order to cover the whole place, I'm afraid one has to spend more than two hours or even half a day here. Unfortunately, we did not have the time and we had to rush.

We were back to the resort office after the short visit at State Museum cause I had to drop by Ping Anchorage, which is just next-door to play a visit to their Managing Director. It was really a nice experience to meet this young and enthusiastic entrepreneur.

After a long talk, we then proceeded to Chinatown for our dinner. We had a simple dinner at a hawker center next to Chinatown. It was about 8.00pm at night, most of the shops at that area were closed; there was nothing much to see. We then decided to go back to the resort office and had a snack nearby. I wondered where would all the people gone at night, as there was nowhere to go. Maybe just stay at home watching TV programs, I presumed. The whole city turned quiet at night.

We were then transferred to the express bus station to catch our bus back to Kuala Lumpur. Upon arrival at the bus station, I was shocked that there was crowded with people; the bus station had the most people in the city compared to elsewhere. We were wondering during weekdays there were still so many people traveling outstation; don't they need to work or something like that?

The bus departed at about 10.00pm and the journey was rather tiring. We reached Putra Bus Station Kuala Lumpur at about 6.15am. Later in the morning, we had to go back to our office and work. What a nightmare!

I regret that I did not buy any souvenir, not even a postcard! But, I brought back a very tiny small seashell found on the beach. I was attracted by its colour and pattern. It was a very normal one with orange and cream-colour. I just like it even though my colleague said it looked like a "gigi palsu" (denture).

Here, I really want to thank my colleague for thousand times, thank for his helps during the snorkeling trips. Without him, I would not be able to enjoy the treasure moments with the corals and fish at Redang Island. He was also a very good travel partner to me. Thank you, CK! I hope I can travel with you some other time. Thanks again!

That's all to share with you for the time being. I wish I really could have a real vacation on an island without the hassle of any site inspection and report writing back to office. Bye!

Yoke Ming
18 Aug 2002

[View Redang Photos]

Taman Negara National Park [28 ~ 30 April 2002]

Hi, there!

I'm back from Taman Negara. The 3 days / 2 nights trip was rather too short. However, for an eye-opener to the oldest rainforest and a break from the office routine, it would be just enough.

We were gathered at the side entrance of Hotel Istana on 28/04/02 Sunday morning at 7.45am. I presumed there were royal families having function at the hotel and a lot of drivers and bodyguards stand-by at the lower lobby. We were not allowed to wait at the lobby but the roadside instead. There were two coaches leaving to Taman Negara on that morning. Both were running by Desinyo Travel. Two of our group members were having difficulties getting taxi on Sunday early morning from the places they stay; one arrived just before our coach left Hotel Istana at 8.00am and another was late, she has to rush to the next pick up point i.e. Mutiara Kuala Lumpur by 8.30am. The tour guide did not seem like helpful, as according to her, they usually pick up guests from Hotel Istana only. Instead, she warned us that the coach has to leave at 8.30am. Luckily, our last member finally made it at 8.20am, then the coach left immediately. Obviously, five of us were the only locals among the passengers on the coach. Right after the coach left, the tour guide explained to us on what should we do when we arrived at Kuala Tembeling and upon arrival at Mutiara Taman Negara Resort.

The journey to Kuala Tembeling took approximately 4 hours. En route, we have a comfort stop (for 20 minutes) at Taman Chatin Recreational Park, Mentakab at 10.30am. There were a public washroom (charge 30 cent for toilet and 50 cent for taking bath) and a row of covered food stalls (about 5 stalls) serving mostly Malay foods. We have light refreshment before continuing our journey.

At 12.15pm, we arrived at Kuala Tembeling Jetty. The registration counters were situated on a hill, as well as the washrooms, sad to say we have to climb the staircases. We registered our names, age, nationality, occupation, length of stay and place to stay at Counter One with the Wildlife Department for the entrance permit (charge RM1 per person) and also the camera permit (charge RM5 per camera). They only need one IC Number or Passport Number for the group/family (no need proof of document). Therefore, is o.k. for only one person to register for the rest of the group/family members.

Then, we proceeded to Counter Two to reconfirm our accommodation and boat transfer with Mutiara Taman Negara Resort. Our booking was under my name, obviously that was the only Chinese name on their list and I was easily recognized without telling them my name. The boat will leave Kuala Tembeling Jetty at 2.00pm. We had our lunch at one of the local restaurants there (i.e. three Malay restaurants in total). There was nothing else to see besides the jetty, restaurants and the registration counters. We had no choice to sit and wait at the restaurant till 2.00pm.

At about 2.00pm, we walked down to the jetty and waited my name to be called. The weather was sunny and hot; the wooden jetty was quite stuffy then. My name was the first to be called; I assumed that Chinese name was rather easy to be pronounced than the Westerners. Our luggage was then loaded onto the front portion of the boat. We have the front seats and the first boat to leave the jetty.

However, not even five minutes away from the jetty. God knows what happened, we have to change boat in the middle of the river, what an experience! We were then no longer the first boat but the third instead. The boat ride then continued for about 3 hours. It was a sunny day at first; suddenly it rained heavily! We were wondering as what we can do as the rain falling on us. Even though the long boat was covered by zinc, however, for those who sit in the front will still get wet when it rains. The boatman assistant came over to the front and covered the luggage with the plastic layer. My colleague and I who sat the first row were lucky to have the plastic layer to cover us. Whereas, the second row and onwards will still get the rain! Luckily, the rain stopped after about 10 minutes. The sky was cloudy.

We found that the boat journey was rather too long and uncomfortable. But I still unable to understand that foreigners enjoyed it!

Upon arrival at the Kuala Tahan Jetty, where lead to Mutiara Taman Negara Resort, we had to climb up a series of staircases before we reached the reception. It was really tired to climb up those staircases with our own luggage. The rain started again when we checking-in. We then proceeded to hostel where we will be putting up two nights here. There were 4 sets of double-deckers, a hanging-cupboard for each person, mosquito net for each bed, a fan and an air-cond in a unit of hostel. The staff at KL sales office informed me that there wouldn’t be any blanket so we have to bring our own or rent it from them. Guest what! They have blanket! We should not have brought ours so that we have lesser luggage.

After we unpacked our luggage and took our bath, we went over to the other side of the river to have our dinner on one of the floating restaurants. By crossing the river, we had to pay 50 cent each person per way for the boat transfer. The foods on those restaurants were "kampung" style. The foods were priced similar with those at KL.

After the dinner, we crossed the river back to the resort’s reception to look for our guide for the night jungle walk. There was a miscommunication between the staff that they couldn't find our record; the booking was received by the front office but somehow it was not passed to the staff who in charge of the activities arrangement. However, this was sorted out without any delay. According to their record, we were on a FAM trip by our company, in fact it was not true, we actually paid for the trip. We finally got our guide, Rosli for the night jungle walk and fullday usage for next day.

Due to the rain, the jungle was wet. It was not many insects could be seen in this kind of condition. We have a short walk in the jungle then we decided to go to the nearest observation hide. We sat in the hide, no lights; which was raised above the ground. We could see the salt lake and the surrounding with the helps from the moonlight; it was a full moon. But, we couldn’t see any wild animals. The reason was because there were far too many tourists at this place; it scared the animals. Otherwise we have to walk far deep inside the jungle. We could actually enjoyed listening the natural orchestra played by the insects while sitting in the hide. Guest what! I heard telephone ringing tone! I wondered why there was no one answered the phone! It made me felt uneasy! Actually, it was the sound made by one of the insects. There was also a sound like a bird singing, it was actually sound made by the insects too. Amazing right?

The next day morning, we had our breakfast at the newly renovated Seri Mutiara Restaurant, formerly known as Tahan Restaurant. Another restaurant (i.e. Teresek Restaurant) was closed. We supposed to have set breakfast which was inclusive in the hostel rates, due to a big group staying there (i.e. over 30 Dutch tourists), we were lucky that we had the buffet breakfast! Wow, eat all you can!

We met our guide again at the reception; we then proceeded to Bukit Teresek and Canopy Walk. The jungle trekking to Bukit Teresek was not easy as what we thought. We were lack of exercise and we found that the trekking was really suffered. We should have done some exercise before the trip. The view from the Bukit Teresek was not so impressive; maybe it was the reason because I have climbed Mt Kinabalu and mountain trekking in Nepal, the views there were more interesting.

The canopy walk was a new experience to me; in fact, it was really scary, because I afraid of height. It was the longest canopy in the world (500m). Some parts of the canopy walk were really scary as you could see the deep valley and passing over all the big and high trees. The visitors had to keep a distance (about 5m to 10m) from each other while walking on the canopy. I was alone while walking on the canopy; there was no one to encourage me when I was afraid. I had to talk to myself in order to chase the fears away. I told myself: "Don't look down, there is nothing to see down there. Look up! You will see monkeys, birds, and some other things. Remember, every step you make, is an effort to move forward. Just keep on going! You have been doing very well, is just a very easy job! The platform is very near, few more steps, keep on going! Don't look down!" I have been repeating saying this to myself and it worked!

The trekking took about 4 hours. When we returned to reception, the Assistant Front Office Manager who supposed to meet us for site inspection was out for lunch. We then proceeded to the floating restaurants for our own lunch. You may notice that the same person, who served you meals on the floating restaurants, can be the guide for jungle trekking and also the boatman for boat transfer! They were all multi-skilled!

The staff at the reception was still unable to contact the Assistant Front Office Manager when we returned from lunch. Outside was raining. Our clothes were dirty, sticky and smelly. We left a message for the manager to look for us at the hostel. We took our shower and rested in our room. Some of us were actually fall asleep when someone knocked on our door at 3.40pm. There was another Assistant Front Office Manager. We were rushing for the site inspection as we had booked the guide for a tour to visit the Orang Asli Settlement and Rapid Shooting at 4.30pm. This was the first time I did the site inspection under the rain! I felt sorry for the staff that has to clear up the rooms again after we saw the rooms. We then met with the Executive Assistant Manager at Seri Mutiara Restaurant. We had a short meeting there.

We were late for the tour in the evening. We started our tour at about 5.00pm. The boat ride was quite interesting as whenever we passed thru the rapids, water splashed on us. We saw people floating on the river enjoying river rafting. We stopped at one of the Orang Asli Settlement. These people were practicing nomadic lifestyle. There was blowpipe demonstration, raise fire from the stone, etc.

At the end of the tour, we stopped at the floating restaurant again for our dinner. We did have a short walk at the Kampung Kuala Tahan. There was nothing much to see, only small restaurants, stores, and family run guesthouses. I would recommend Lia Restaurant, one of the floating restaurants. They have variety of foods (i.e. locals and Westerners) with reasonable pricing. Every night the restaurant was crowded by foreigners.

The resort has a Mini Market right after the Seri Mutiara Restaurant. Some of the goods were tagged with a sticker that saying if you return the trash of the goods, you would get a refund of RM1. It was really a good idea to discourage the guests to throw the rubbish everywhere. However, I was disappointed as there was not much souvenir selling there. There were only 6 types of postcards, most of the T-shirts has the Mutiara Resort’s logo, not many of variety of goods, etc.

Finally, we met our roommate who checked-in that morning. Her name was Ms Janet, an old Australia woman, working in Singapore since last 2 years. She was traveling to Taman Negara alone. She said she hated Singapore as the parents were cruel to their children; the city was too clean that no bird flying in the sky, etc. She was a little bit of cuckoo. She taught the common toilet equipped with toilet paper, therefore she did not bring one and also the antiseptic cream for insect bites.

Guest what! We found out that our common washroom had more insects than in the jungle! The lights in the washroom had attracted those insects. It was like a live insect museum!

At the middle of night, while we were sleeping, a group of Japanese came back from the jungle and occupying the next door. At first, I taught they were thief! The hostel door was not locked if there were guests occupying the room. We have to be aware if there was anybody entered our room. They were talking and the footsteps were really a disturbance to us, even though we were not sharing the same room. Or maybe I was too careful.

Next day morning, which was also our departure day, we rushed for checking-out and our breakfast before the boat leave at 9.00am. We were sharing the same boat with a group of youngsters who just came back from climbing the Mt Tahan. As usual, Asian was very noisy. They were making hell lots of noise along the boat journey. We arrived at Kuala Tembeling Jetty at about 11.30am. We sat at the restaurant, which located near to the riverbank, to wait for the coach that, leave for KL at 1.00pm. We also had our lunch there.

The coach left punctually and the driver was crazy. Luckily, our journey back to KL was smooth and safe. At the comfort stop at Taman Chatin Recreation Park, Mentakab, the first thing that everybody did was checking the handphone’s network reception; then, started making call and checking messages.

During the journey back, the youngsters did not make so much of noise, thank God, they were falling asleep. In fact, all of us were tired and falling asleep. The only disturbance was from a man who kept on calling people over his handphone. I could not understand those people that have not even reached home from a holiday, have started their business. Luckily, there was no network reception for handphones in Taman Negara; otherwise, I would wonder if he would keep on calling people while doing the jungle trekking!

Overall, the trip was quite interesting and at least I have seen Taman Negara! I will return for climbing the Mt Tahan in future. That would be another adventure story, I believe.

Yoke Ming
1 May 2002

[View Taman Negara Photos]

Bangkok [10 ~ 17 February 2002]

Sawadee Krap!

I'm back now! In fact I reached KL yesterday evening. Sorry for not sending any messages back from Bangkok as promised. Please forgive me, there are too many places for me to discover and yet time is really short! I have no time for e-mail.

I have not yet unpacked all my things and all the information gathered during the trip is still in the mess. Overall, the trip was very rush and tired, but very interesting! Weather in Bangkok was really hot, hotter than in KL. At night was like in the oven! Luckily, our room had air-cond!

For those who expecting for some souvenir from me, I really have to say very very very sorry! I have really on tight budget and time for shopping was rather short! Some have passed me the shopping list; I'm really regretted that I have disappointed you again!

On 10 Feb night, we took Transnational Express Bus from Hentian Jalan Duta. Our bus supposed to leave at 12 might-night, however, it became first come first serve basis, my friend and I were then put on an earlier bus leaving at 11:30pm. Seat numbers were not followed. Guess what! We reached Butterworth at about 3:30am! We have no choice to take a nap at the temporary bus station near the train station at Butterworth. Time passed very slowly, it was really a nightmare spending few hours there to wait till sun rose. We left our bags at the "Gudang" near train station before crossing over to Penang Island via ferry at about 8am.

The train left Butterworth punctually at 1420hrs. It was Thai Coaches. The journey to Bangkok was not boring as we have friends sitting beside us who have been travelling to Bangkok many many times! We have gathered quite some useful information! The 22 hours of train journey was not really bad as imagined. In fact, I really enjoy myself on the train! Everything were new to me, I was so excited! From Hat Yai onwards, the coaches joined with the rest of coaches; from three coaches now became more than 13 coaches! There was a canteen in the middle of the train. On and off, whenever the train stopped at smaller towns, there were food/fruit/drink sellers coming up and down the train. Things were reasonable priced and cheaper than those sell at canteen.

At night our seats turned to beds. We slept all night long till morning. By 12 Feb noon, we reached Haulamphong Train Station, a very busy station. We were really lucky that we managed to buy the train tickets to Hat Yai on our return journey; the train to Butterworth was fully sold out!

We then proceeded to Siam Square area to look for accommodation. We approached White Lodge, a guesthouse recommended by my colleagues. They were only having one room left! We immediately took the room and unpacked our luggage. Guess what! Eventually I could take my bath after about 40 hours (travelling from KL to Bangkok)!

We then visited the nearest place of interest, which is located on the next Soi (Lorong) - Jim Thompson's House. It was a good one, traditional Thai house with free tour guide to explain everything about the owner and the house.

We also visit Mahboonkrung Shopping Mall, which is about 3 times bigger than our Sungai Wang in Kuala Lumpur. This shopping centre is just only 5 minutes walking distance from our guesthouse. We then walked to World Trade Centre and ended at Pratunam Market. Then, walked back to Mahboonkrung for our dinner. The journey is about 3km.

We managed to see those locals on how they take the buses, canal boats, taking their meals at the roadside stalls, etc. There were many people walking on the street. Of course, the traffic was really really terrible!

There is a lot of variety of food at the 5th floor of Mahboonkrung. We had Tom Yam Kung for dinner with fried rice.

It's time for bed. I should continue the story maybe tomorrow.

Yoke Ming
17 Feb 2002
[View Bangkok Photos]



Sawadee Krap!

The story continue...

I had experienced diarrhea problem during my mountain trekking and hailstone disaster at the national park during my trip to Nepal last year. Guess what happened to me during this trip?

On 13 Feb early morning, we rushed to Southern Bus Terminal to catch the bus to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. We did have problem talking to the driver who is an old man. Luckily, he eventually understood where we are going. At the terminal, we were standing in the middle of all the counters selling tickets to different destination and majority of them written in Thai. We were really lost as which counter to approach. A lady staff came to approach us and leaded us to the correct counter. The bus left punctually at 6:40am. The journey would take about 2 hours. On the bus, beside the local people and us, there were 4 Taiwanese and 2 American. After dropping local people at the small town, the bus continues took us to a boat operator, which was not the usual stop that we found out later. Two gentlemen came to approach us and offer boat trip of one hour to all those floating markets there, 150B per person. We were dropped at the middle of nowhere. After long argument, we finally decided to take the boat trip but at the half price quoted. We shared the boat with the 2 American, and the 4 Taiwanese took the other boat. Luckily, the boat trip to those floating market was really fun. People selling foods, fruits, drinks, handicrafts, clothes, necessities, etc. by small boats. However, due to peak season, there were far too many tourists around.

We were dropped at the place where we picked up for the boat trip. We had to walk all the way back to the small town to take the bus back to Bangkok City. Everything was really smooth, the bus left the small town 15 minutes after we boarded. After about 2 hours, we were back to Southern Bus Terminal. We took our lunch at the nearby shop lot. Then, we boarded a taxi to Rose Garden Cultural Village. The journey took about 45 minutes. We really enjoyed the Cultural Show that took about 1 1/2 hour. The place was crowded with tourists. On our way back, we could not catch those taxi passing by. This place is really quite far from town. Only those taxis parted at the entrance waiting for tourists. True enough they charged high price for the transfer back to Bangkok City. However, we insisted to use the meter. The driver tried to offer us some other places of interest nearby. We refused. We said we have friends waiting for us to meet at our guesthouse, then only he stopped offering.

On the way back at the Expressway, suddenly a small lorry drove crazily and tried to create an accident. Our taxi driver tried to avoid the lorry but the lorry driver still following us very closely. We did ask as whether our taxi driver knew the other driver on the lorry. I just hope they were playing around. However, the situation was really scary and dangerous. The lorry driver was chasing us and our taxi driver was trying to avoid. Both drivers were driving very fast on the highway in the middle of nowhere! I was really scared and prayed inside my heart. I knew there was incident where these people tried to create an accident and robbed the tourist in the middle of nowhere! I just hope this won't happen to us. Thank God, I was in the City of Angels, those angels were really protecting us. Our taxi driver made a sudden turn to left into another lane which leaving from the highway. Luckily, the lorry driver missed the turn and unable to follow us anymore. We then using the normal road back to the city.

It was really like a nightmare! We were speechless all the way back to city.

Due to heavy traffic jam, our taxi driver suggested us to cross the bride over the river of Chao Phraya and take the skytrain at the station end of the bridge. Walking on the bridge over the river was really a wonderful experience. It was so high that I can see the river from the top and the buildings on both side of the river. But, I could not stand longer because I afraid of height. The skytrain was really new; it was only 2 years old.

At night, we went to Patpong area. It was like our Petaling Street. Crowded with people. The only different is that there is many pubs on the both side of the street offer shows for adults. I could see from outside the door that beautiful ladies wearing bikini standing / dancing on the bar table. I'm sure that there are more shows upstairs or at the back. The waiters and waitresses were standing outside the door to look for customers. I did not get in any of these pubs. I was really tired after the day trip and the scary incident happened in the afternoon. I don't want to have any more trouble.

On 14 Feb, we visited the National Museum in the morning. There were free tour guides to tour around the museum and explain everything about Thailand history, architectural, religions, etc. It was a wonderful 2 hours guided tour. Then, we rushed to Wat Mahathat. There was nothing to see there. Suddenly, a man came and leaded us inside a temple. In front of few Buddha statues, he asked us to sit and wait for him to come back. There was nobody there beside us. I was really scared. Once the man left, we quickly run!

Next, we had our lunch somewhere near to Grand Palace. The lunch was really expensive. The visit to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew was really a wonderful experience too. This is the number one must see. You should not miss this place! I had snapped a lot of photos of this place. The architectural of all those building was amazing!

Due to time constraint, we had to rush from one place to another in order to cover as many places as possible in one day. We proceeded to Wat Pho, to see the reclining Buddha. Then, we took taxi and rushed to Vimanmek Teak Mansion. From there, we took a walk down to Banglamphu area where most western backpackers staying in this area. We walked about an hour and finally reached Santichaiprakan Park. The locals and foreigners were taking rest at the park. We were sitting there to wait for the sunset over the river of Chao Phraya.

In the evening, we wandered around Banglamphu Market and Khao San Road. For those who like to friend with "Mak Salleh", I strongly recommend you to stay in this area. Rooms here are cheap and you have no problem to look for foods and shopping. However, I found the foods here are more westernized. If you really want to try out real Thai foods, go to down town.

Next day morning, on 15 Feb, at about 10:00am, we left our guesthouse. We took taxi to Hualamphong Train Station. Our train left at 12:25pm and reached Hat Yai at 6:40am next day.

Upon arrival Hat Yai, after having our breakfast at one of the Chinese restaurant, we walked around to look for any travel agents to buy bus tickets back to KL. We managed to find one however, due to peak season, there were only limited seats available and over priced! We have no other choice but to buy these tickets. The bus journey started at 9:00am and took about 8 hours to reach KL.

Unfortunately, when the bus reached one of the R&R after Ipoh, the air-cond broke down. We were suffered more than 2 hours in the bus. However, what we really concerned was the safety of our journey back to our home. Overall, the traffic was smooth and we reached home safely.

My trip to Bangkok was really rushed and short of time. Some places were not able to visit. Due to hot weather, we get tired easily. Anyway, I did have a wonderful time there and unforgettable experiences.

That's all about my story. I will share with you if I have another trip in future.

Yoke Ming
18 Feb 2002