First vacay of 2013 - Tioman Island

Finally, my first vacay of the year 2013. And what's better - it's a dive vacay! Weee! My logged my last dive in August 2012, at Phuket - Kho Phi Phi which was to say the least - epic because of the 'shit' weather (as termed by my Japanese Divemaster) and we ended up puking more than diving. Read about shit weather diving here.

My colleague, whose dive nickname is Fox, organized this Tioman dive trip for us and we stayed at the most happening area in Tioman, called Salang. It has duty-free shops, several reknown dive centres, and of course, restaurants and pubs. People who enjoy night life prefers Salang to Air Batang or Tekek which are relatively quieter.

For the first time in my life, I flew to a dive destination. First, it was safer and economical. Second, it was less exhausting. Tioman was way too far to drive; I had experienced going on a road trip from KL to Lang Tengah and also Langkawi which I found too taxing and tiring even if I was just a passenger at the backseat. During our trip to Lang Tengah via Kuantan, one of our drivers in the convoy of cars dozed off and skidded, but nothing happened as he self-consciously slammed on the breaks. At one point, the car in front of us slammed on the emergency break because in the middle of the morning, approx. 3 am, there was a herd of cows/buffaloes crossing the village road.

When I landed on Tekek air strip (which belongs to Berjaya), I was pretty surprised to see how coffee-shop-ey the airport was. Technology was so minimal, I smiled gingerly when I saw how simplistic the baggage collection procedure was. Just take from the buggy....and go! I am not complaining, of course. I am just tamed by the fact that, many times, things can just work out perfectly and smoothly if we don't involve technology. And I thought Kerteh Airport was minimal.

This plane is smaller than the one to Kerteh

Gostan gostan gostan! 

No frills baggage handling

Jetty to Salang

Made 5 dives in this trip. The dives were so so as nothing fascinating about the fishes, except for a school of barracudas was spotted very near us as in one of the dive spots. One non-scary shark spotted. The most memorable dive was at Pulau Labas where there were several caverns in between rock-fall formation (my colleague is Ph.D. in Geology, he told us about the terms. ZzzZzZZZz). We had to swim in between those small caves which was quite interesting as this is where your buoyancy skills is put in used. Excellente!

Day 2 - Impending storm

Day 2 : Choppy waters + lightning. From our dive boat.

Rain also dive. Just do it.

Although it's the hot/dry season in Malaysia, Tioman saw thunderstorms on the second day of our dive. Lightning and thunder can be seen from our dive boats, and it was raining incessantly til nightfall. Visibility was bad in several dives which was basically contributed by the full-moon this week. Ohh well....another 'shit weather'?

Batu Malang. Supposed to be a great dive, turned our to be okay-okay only due to poor visibility

Yes, it's full moon.

I think accommodation was great for the price we paid. It's peak season, but I've got this cozy room with great air-con working and fan in place (just in case it gets too cold). But my hotel room was the hub for mahjong every night we were in Tioman. We have 4 Mahjong kakis...and they are basically Professionals/Gods/Kings in mahjong...whatever you wanna call it. I just charge them rent/tax for the use of my hotel room as gambling den.

At night activity: Dry swimming.

Third day: back to hot weather. The sun was high up and the clouds were gone. Yah, I don't get it either. Extreme weather back-to-back. Made 2 dives in some bay, but again, visibility sucked. Didn't see anything significant but some regular skunk clown fishes. Did see a shark, but it swam away swiftly after seeing us approach. Sissy shark.

Basically, a pretty laid back vacay in Tioman. I slept like 10 hours a day including naps. You must forgive me, but I haven't had evening naps for a very looong time. So, this Tioman trip gave me soo much hours of sleep and meals, I felt.....hmpphh....guilty. Busy corporate women is like dat wan...dunno how to relax/sleep/be wasteful.

This cat sleeps every time we sees it. I need this kinda good life! - Sleep Sleep Sleep

Red Snapper

Sotong bakar

Oh yah, meals!!! Seafood was soo fresh I had a spike in my cholesterol (I think!). The fish (red snapper) was soo large and fresh, I fainted in awe even before it was bbq-ed. It was grilled ngam ngam hou. And so were the prawns. The grilled sotong was done beautifully, but self-control got the better of me. I also had way too many ice-creams in this single trip alone. Two-three sticks per day, everyday in Tioman.

I finished a beautiful book which talks a bit of Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer, and why dogs listens to him and not you....bla bla bla. OH, BTW....I've got a new family member! Yes, for real. My family has gotten ourselves a cute doggyyyyyy called Pei Pei and we love her like mad.


Back to reality. Back to the city. Back to my money-making routines. Back to whitening cream on my tanned skin.

 So, Sunset, when will I be seeing you again?

(Boat) Rocking Phuket

"Sawadee ka!"

Yes, I was in the land of yummy spicy food, absolute friendliness, and vibrant culture. Also a land where no other Ronald in the world poses with both hands clapsed. I like that; it's just how the Thais and Ronald here say "Hello", You are welcome" or "Thank you".

Last time I was in Thailand was in Bangkok with my bestie, Jonie during Syawal 2005. It's also a coincidence that this Phuket trip conincided with Syawal as well. What I really like was that it was low-peak season, which means....less tourist = less crowd! I personally think that if there were a crowd, the crowd would be all focused on Bangla Road. That road never seem to be void of people, even if the night before our arrival to Phuket, there was a huge fatal fire at one of the clubs. Four dead, but people are still walking in front of the cordoned area as if it's still up for business. Spot a few police (or are they mafia?) with their notepads. I busy-bodied for a while there, as I've always wanted to know how it feels like to be in a actual CSI situation.

(Oh, in case I forgot: Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, readers!). 

A lagoon, Viking Cave. Actually our boats are hiding from the huge wave.

Viking cave, Koh Phi Phi island - near 2nd scuba dive site

The main reason for this trip was to just hang out doing nothing. I wanted a relaxing trip, but the diver-in-me wanted more than just jalan-jalan or snorkle. How can I be snorkeling at James Bond Island, when I can go deep into the blues at Koh Phi Phi. Kan? kan??! I mean, think about it: you have your diving license sitting at home rotting, and the view is said to be extraordinary....so why wait?!

                                      

I wanted just 3 dives on a one-day boat trip. When we left the jetty, our Japanese divemaster, Fumiko already warned us of the stormy weather the day before, and could probably hit us today. She also said that Asians are more prone to sea-sick compared to the bigger European divers on the same trip, and so we took seasick pills like they're vitamin tablets :P

Dive no.1 and no. 2 was absolutely brilliant. Happy with my dive log. But come evening, dive no. 3 became a big no-no for us (Asians on the boat), though a dozen of Europeans (gila babi gung-ho ke ape ni?) braved through the stormy(!!) and 2-meter wave for their 3rd dive. Divemaster Fumiko was the best when it came to safety: she said, if we don't want to take dive no.3 because of the absolutely-ridiculous-storm-and-I-would-have-died-diving-at-this-2-meter-wave-sea-couple-with-absolute-armagedonic-sky, we don't have to. Of course we don't have to!!! Gila ka?!?!  Fumiko herself called it = shit weather. I vomitted 3 times on the boat, but which I was never this happy vomiting: it's better than dying in a foreign country! I've never known or experience a more tragic weather than this. I really thought, our boat would have broken into half and I am already on Titanic2's making.

In front of noisy Hard Rock. Quiet streets...hmmphh.

The day of our arrival, we started exploring the whole Patong. If my maths don't fail me, 80% of people in Patong are either Indians, Bangladeshis, Nepali (Central Asia). Phuket even gave them their own road (read: Bangla Road). I might spend quieter times at Karon or Kata beach if I were to return to Phuket in the future.

While out Patong streets and beach are packed with stalls and shops, you can never miss JungCeylon, the biggest mall in Phuket. Being the shopaholic that I am, and at the first spot of chic coffee joints (e.g. Starbucks), I never fail to go there every day I am in Patong. 

On the first day, there was a futie tourney between kids from different schools, as well as a cheer-leading/colouring contest if you are a girl or kaki bangkus. What's cool is the commitment by the kids and their (cheering? more like screaming) mums. Literally you've got whole bunch of soccer mums being more enthusiastic than their kids, probably. And what's cool is the constant drum beating by this guy during the whole competition - that provides you a samba feel and the relevant mood to play your ball. (= dragon boat).

I LOVE PHUKET with Kenny Sin

I've never thought I would met my ex-housemate, Kenny Sin in Phuket. Out of the myriad of colours and people, Kenny spotted me whilst we were eating Phad Thai at the same shop! He called me upon hearing my ever-recognizable voice. It's like: "we've never got to meet in KL after he moved out, but here we are in Phuket after yearssss" He looks great and frequents Phuket at least twice a year. He's here on some charity thing. Well done! 

Fresh fruit juice. Chill!

This is one of the 20 over pics of my full bod on bikini. Old already, paiseh to show closer shots of myself

Now, this shot is better! :P

After chilling with some mix fruit juicy tutti stuff, we headed out to the beach to receive our 'natural' massage/spa by the huge waves and to check out the sunset. The beach was considerably errr...empty, to my delight, as I am a bit self-conscious of my current body-shape as I grow older with age, esp. when on bikini. :P  Ah well....stuffs happen when we age gracefully. I'll take it.

Sunset at Patong

To my delight, this restaurant gave us manggis as dessert. To them, it's cheap. For us, it's rare.

Complicated beauty

Patong is full of complicated wirings if you look up. This really amuses me. We've found beauty in randomness.  

One thing I didn't like about Phuket is that the whole city is NOT WIRED. Even if it is, they charge the customers. Starbucks, Subway, True Coffee, kopitiam, restaurants....NO FREE wi-fi. Bleh!

Farewell, Phuket.

I don't know if I will be back any time soon, but I have logged in many good (and scary) memories from Phuket and Koh Phi Phi. Especially when spent together with Fong.

"I LOVE PHUKET"