once we touched down on the Kuala Terengganu airport, we could immediately felt the slow pace life in this little town. we were both astonished that it was so vastly different lifestyle in the same country itself. but of course that was exactly what we were looking forward to, a slow pace and easy going breakaway vacation.
after few hours of waiting and transiting (plane, cab & boat), we finally reached our resort, DCoconut Lagoon Resort. we were greeted by the friendly staffs and also a very refreshing welcome drink. everything looks fine to us until the moment we stepped in our room and realized there was no tv. that was the moment when we were so lost that I even said “oh my god, really no tv... can it be possibly hidden in the wardrobe???” and could you believe it that Sharon really did open the wardrobe to check whether it was really hidden in it hahaha...(proven we are both typical city gals that rely very much on technologies nowadays). after we found out there was absolutely no tv, we agreed to go down to the lobby to ask if we can upgrade to a room with a tv set and the staff informed us that they only got tv room at each wings but not tv in the room... (it’s actually the concept of the resort sort of like those Club Med concept). ok fine, we finally gave up and settled to know that at least they have a tv room. we took a short nap as we were both very tired from the previous days work and traveling. after the lunch, we decided to change to our swimsuits and explore the whole resort. we stayed in the east wing, so we walked all the way to the west wing that was connected by a forest trek to check out what’s happening there. no doubt the west wing has a longer stretch clean beach and we noticed that we can actually walk across to the next resort. half way to the next resort, we heard some leaves rustling sound then the next second, we saw 2 huge monitor lizards were chasing each other. we were totally stunned and dare not move at all although it was like 100m away. it was definitely our first time to come across this wild creature so up close. since we both were quite scared and dare not take the risk, we decided to turn back to our resort. we wanted to laze by the pool but the west wing pool was crowded by European families so we walked back to east wing. there was an European guy walking in front of us while heading back and out of a sudden, he stopped. our heart pounded so fast and was wondering why he suddenly stopped. we stood quietly and looking around us to see anything strange then we saw another bigger monitor lizard (we suspect it was pregnant as it has a very huge tummy) was slowly crossing over the trek. after it had finally crossed over, we ran so fast as we worried it may turn back. phewww... safely passed the danger zone and finally we can rest by the pool. we did not want to do anything as we were really very tired and all we wanted to do was just laze and sleep. that was exactly what we did until the dinner was ready.
after having dinner and a hot shower (although the water has strong rusty smell), we head down to the tv room. we realized only their staffs were in the room but we still stayed there to watch coz there was really nothing else to do. we were actually worried that we couldn’t survive the lifestyle there for the next 3 days (we think it was too bored and nothing to do). those staffs told us that their guests are mostly Europeans and Europeans are never engaged to tv especially when they are on holidays. oh ok, so now I understand why they don’t even bother to have tv in the room... it was only 11pm and we ended our day and snooze till the next morning.
it was 9am on the second morning but it was drizzling outside and no sunshine at all. after the breakfast, we had nowhere to head as it was still cloudy and strong wind. we just hang around at the alfresco café and had many many cups of coffee while chatting until a staff came and say “hello gals, the sun is here… why didn’t go out??” hahaha... ok then we finally head back to the room and change to our swimsuits. I wanted to sunbathe at the west wing beach so we composed our courage to walk as fast as possible. we spent whole day by the beach and then the pool with our books and mp3 and nintendo on our hands. without realizing, the sun is slowly setting down. we moved to the beach and climb on top to the highest rock to enjoy the sunset. it was magnificent! watching sunset by the beautiful beach on top of the rocks with the sounds of wind and wave surrounding us...
time passed so fast for the day and it was dinner time again. by then unconsciously, we had actually adjusted our lifestyle. we were both very happy that we enjoyed every single second doing nothing. but again, the pain was the nite time. we can’t be possibly hanging around by the beach or the pool, so we ended up at the tv room again with beers and nuts and chips on our hand watching tv together with the local guys. By then we were so close to all the local guys that they even nicknamed us the “tv gals” hahaha... we didn’t expect that we will be popular there... one of the guy, Zaki, said that we both look so alike sisters having some troubles with our family and runaway to this island and that was why we both looked so depressed and didn’t want to do anything at all. funny enough that Sharon played along and made up a story saying that we are really both sisters and was actually got pregnant by the same guy and do not know how to confront our family so we escape to this island... hahahaha... but at last we did disclose our real personality. they were all so happy that we both actually entertained them and another guy, Don, said he will bring us out to snorkeling tomorrow and explore the island at night. after the beer and crapping session, we headed back to get our beauty sleep for the next day adventure.
on the third day morning after having breakfast, I wanted to try kayaking but the wave was quite strong and Sharon advised not to try on a strong wave since I’m a first timer. so we both ended up lazing by the beach again until Zaki came up to us saying that he wanted to make his way to the other side of the island and wonder if we were interested to follow. after 2 full days of rest & relax, we were both full of energy so we decided to be a tad bit more adventurous today.
we jungle trekked all the way to the other side of the island and finally reached a newly built jetty. there were a lot of fishes hiding under the jetty and also some men trying his luck to catch some fishes. we also saw some wild birds trying to prey those fishes as well. we were so amazed by the amount of fishes there… it was so many many many many of it…. enjoyed the scenery for a while then it was time to head back for lunch. after that, we laze by the beach and pool again while waiting for Don to bring us out snorkeling. guess what... I finally did it, I snorkeled! the first spot (I forgot the name of that place) was nothing much, it was actually near to the new jetty that we went in the morning. some of the snorkellers said they saw baby sharks but Sharon and I couldn’t see any sharks at all... sad... then we moved to the next spot called the blue coral. this spot was much much more deeper and I was quite afraid so I tagged along Don. this spot is beautiful… I saw so many gorgeous colourful fishes and corals (not to mention the blue coral was the main attraction). it really awed me. I was so engrossed with the magnificent underwater world that I didn’t realize I had swam so far away until Don asked me to come up and look how far I had gone. after I saw our boat was so far away, I panicked abit and the professional diver, Don, told me to breathe easy then we slowly swim back to the boat. after the snorkeling trip, we dipped into the pool again until the sky turned dark and wind blowing strongly.
then we headed back to take the hot rusty smell shower again before feasting on dinner. after dinner, we waited in the tv room for Don and Zaki to finish their work before they could bring us to explore the island in the dark. it was 10pm after finished laughing our heart out while watching scary movie 4, we started our nite adventure. Don told us that he will bring us to the west wing then walk further up to the next resort to see stars and blue sand then only followed by the turtle bay hoping to see if any turtle will turn up to the beach to lay eggs. while strolling along the super low tide beach, Don pointed up to the sky. we both looked up and our jaws dropped. the sky was full of galaxies of stars…millions, billions and gazillions of stars. it looked so surreal and exactly like what we saw in the fantasy movies like starwars & star trek... we both have never seen such an awesome sight of stars. totally amazing! while we were both still awing the breathtaking galaxies of stars, Don said “look... there are treasures under your feet too...” then we both looked at our feet. oh my god... there was trails of blue blinking sand following us... it looked exactly like blue fireflies but just that it was on the sand. Don said it was actually some kind of plankton that was washed up to the beach while the sea is going low tide. the blue sand will only ‘activate’ when you stepped on it and it will only last for a while. with beautiful stars above our head and bizarre blue sand under our feet, I couldn’t say anything more... it was simply marvelous! still strolling along the beach with a low intensity torch light while both me and Sharon being amazed by the creations of God, Don suddenly shouted “Gals, faster come here... ”. when we got closer with fear (coz we scared it may be another monitor lizard), we saw a trail leading from the sea to the beach nearing to the forest. then only we realize it was actually a turtle trail.
we followed the trail until we saw a mama turtle was digging a hole. we were so lucky that we didn’t even have to walk all the way to turtle bay to see turtle laying eggs. after watching and waiting for the mama turtle to finish her mission, I helped Don and Zaki to clean the turtle trail so that those turtle egg thiefs could not find those eggs. I finally did a small part to help save the world in extinction of turtle. so proud of myself hehehe... silly me that I even greeted bye bye to the mama turtle.
so that was it, an awesome nite that got me so up close and personal to the nature and I really said my blessing to God for allowing me to be alive to witness all these beautiful things...
after a good nite sleep, it was already our final day in Lang Tengah Island. we were both very happy and satisfied and fully energized. Don and Zaki sent us to our departure and I personally thanked them for making this a memorable trip.
usually after a trip, I will however still feel tired and sad to be back to reality. but this time, we were both very happy and satisfied that we really did relax and rejuvenate ourselves. I hope to have more of this kind of vacations :)