Sun, sand, dive! - Day 2
DAY 2 : 19-May-2006
Finally! After a day of insufficient rest, the night's sleep proved to be reinvigorating. We got up at about 7am. I noticed that the skies were kind of cloudy and it looked as if it was raining. I went out on the balcony to take a better look. OK, it was raining alright. But what amazed me is not my uncanny prediction of the weather, but this.
Over the night, the tide has receded and a good portion of the beach was exposed. As you can see here, rocks of different sizes littered the low tide beach. Alas! I did not not take a picture of how it was like when it was high tide, so, just use your imagination to visualize how it would look like with the rocks submerged.
Oh! You do get to see the two jetties, both old and new, that I mentioned earlier on. The one further in the background with the shelter at the end is the new one.
Anyway, since it was drizzling, there was really nothing we could do but to wait. The frequency of rain drops increased as the minutes passed and what was initially a drizzle now became a heavy rain. Dear grumbled, as we sat by the bed, watching the rain and waiting for it to abate, "See? I told you we should have brought an umbrella. Now we are trapped here and can't go anywhere." I retorted, "But there is not enough space in our bags for other stuff, let alone umbrellas."
Not wanting to continue the argument, she suggested that we watch "Big Momma's House 2", since we did not watch it the night before. I slipped the DVD into the player and boy! Does time fly or what? Before we knew it, it was 9.30am and the rain clouds had vanished, leaving the sun to spread its light and warmth.
We had a quick breakfast, with me having toast and black coffee, while Dear enjoyed a mixed fruits salad with cappucino. The reason why we didn't dawdle is simple - we wanted to maximize the time we spend having fun and not on necessities, e.g. eating. We take a stroll along the new jetty, where I took the shots below.
With the tide at its low point, the waters became clearer than when it was high tide, so much so that it is clearly reflected in this shot.
OK, maybe there's nothing to great about clear beaches but for someone who has never seen such a sight (definitely not in Singapore), it was breath-taking and naturally, warrants a shot.
We walked to the shelter at the end, where we saw a Caucasian couple taking a dip. OK, not so accurate. The guy was in the water but the wife/girlfriend was just standing at the top watching him. There were 2 flights of steps leading downwards into the water and we scaled down one to see if there was anything in the water.
Well, there you have it. Rocks at the bottom. But wait! There are actually fishes feeding off the algae and moss that had accumulated on the wooden beams that supported the structure. Excited by this sight, we quickly rushed back to our room to grab our swimming gear and more importantly, sunblock lotion. When we got back to the shelter, the tide had risen but fortunately, the fishes were still there.
Dipping our heads into the water, we could see the underwater world as far as our eye humanly could. There were a lot more fishes below, all feeding here and there. We even saw a school of fish, which swerved in several directions before swimming off into the cyan depths. I got up and exclaimed, "You see that? It's exactly like we're watching Discovery Channel, LIVE!" Dear agreed, saying, "Ya, ya! It's like Finding Nemo!" OK, we weren't exactly on the same frequency but the general idea is there. C'mon, which couple stays completely in-sync all the time?
For the rest of the morning, we just sat on the benches surrounding the shelter and basked in the sun. The soft morning sun combined with the occasional sea breeze made the stay there cool and comfortable. While lying on my back, I commented, "This is so nice here. It's like a paradise. I wouldn't mind if I can stay here and just relax. It's good to be far away from the hectic urban life. Too bad we gotta leave this paradise and go back to hole* so soon." Dear simply smiled and nodded.
Suddenly, a distasteful sound interrupted the tranquil setting. It was a growl emitted from my stomach. Dear immediately sat up and looked at me, as if expecting me to say something. "Alright, let's go for lunch", I muttered under my breathe, reluctant to leave the wonderful spot.
Look at this. Nice view, isn't it? Greenery and all. This taken from the sheltered end of the new jetty. It would be marvellous if I can just eat lunch there and admire the scenery. Given their excellent service attitude, I guess I could request lunch to be served to us there but that would be make me look overly demanding.
Anyway, Dear's eyes lit up after she heard what I said. She cheered, rattling about what she was going to have for lunch. On the first day when we arrived, while I was eating lunch, she saw fish & chips on the menu but wanted to have it for dinner instead. Unbeknownst to us, the lunch menu and dinner menu were different and she was left sorely disappointed. Her time has finally come.
After a quick shower, we were soon tucking in our respective lunches. Dear got her fish & chips while I wolfed down a portion of Thai green curry with white rice. It's just me to eat rice, otherwise I will feel un-full and empty.
Having satisfied our hunger, we went to hang out on the beach. Dear insisted that I piggybacked her and I relented. All went fine under I chose to step into the waters. The sand beneath the surface was not firm and instead of supporting my feet, it swallowed them up to the ankles. Although I was only knee-deep then, the instability caused me to flail my arms wildly in a blind attempt to regain balance. This, coupled with Dear clinging onto my back, worsened the situation. In all, only about 3 seconds had elapsed from the time my feet went into the sand to the time when both of us made a splashing entry into the water.
Luckily, the loose sand buckled along with my fall, thus, I narrowly escaped yet another sprained ankle. For the record, I have a history of sprained ankles - on both ankles. I guessed we must have caused quite a bit of commotion along the quiet beach with our splashes and laughters. Perhaps the ang mohs are thinking, "What a bunch of fools!" or "What do they think they are doing?" We couldn't care less, for we were enjoying ourselves and that was all that mattered.
With the sun nearly at its peak, I went back to the gangway for another shot. Though the water was not as clear (or blue) as it was in the morning, the sun gave the water a sparkling texture, which sadly, I was unable to capture fully in the picture.
As the afternoon sun grew stronger, we sought shelter under the shady coconut trees. We sat on the straw mats that were available for all to take and chit-chatted. Out of the blue, Dear had a moment of inspiration and wanted to go kayak-ing. There were 2 single-user kayaks near the front desk that was available for loan at no extra charge. All we need to do was to ask for the oars and life jackets.
I decided against it, as I had not kayak before. Despite Dear's relentless persuasions, I refused. Knowing how obstinate I can be, she went out alone, while I remained on the beach, observing her. She came back some 15mins later and exhorted me to try it out. Very sporting-ly (and unlike me), I agreed.
After donning on the life jacket and sitting on the kayak armed with the oar, there I was. For the first time in my life, I'm attempting to propel myself atop a floating plastic craft, that bears a strong resemblance to a misshapen sausage. Rowing is not a big deal but managing the balance is a little trickier. It took me a while to get the hang of it. And no; I did not capsize the kayak.
I rowed back after a few strokes, feeling a little winded from the exertions and thrill from this newly picked up activity. Dear went to get another oar and life jacket while I dragged the other kayak onto the beach. The next wave that came in brought us out on our light blue crafts and soon, we were looking at the resort from another angle. Needless to say, it was fun and the novelty had an exhilarating effect for me.
We didn't paddle much actually, for most of the time we were just sitting there and letting the current carry us along. Think it's dangerous? Think again. The current was heading towards the beach and all we had to do was to row far out enough and let the current do its job. Pretty neat, huh?
From its midday position, the sun slowly moved to its setting position, indicating that it was time for us to go ashore. As I dragged the kayaks back, Dear noticed a pleasant addition to our mat. There was a plate of dessert, specifically some kind of tapioca (either that or sweet potato; I can't recall) cake topped with coconut shavings. The day before, we were served jelly. I guess it's a " daily dessert thing". We savoured the sweet delight before returning to our room.
During our trip to Bintan 3 years ago, we brought too little food along and ended up feeling like half-fed kittens. This time round, we brought 1 bowl of instant noodles, 2 cup noodles, 1 loaf of Gardenia wholemeal bread and a can of chili tuna. Yeah, yeah, call us kiasu but I think it's better to be prepared than to be caught with your pants down. We figured that we didn't want to bring all the food back and decided to finish them as dinner, effectively saving us a trip to the restaurant and some money.
However, we did go out still. One of the bathroom lights went flickering and without a telephone in the room, we had to make our way to the front desk to tell them. Typical flourescent lighting problem; either the tube or starter needs changing. From my experience, it's more likely to be the former than latter. Not wanting to waste our trip, we took a stroll leisurely along the new jetty and enjoyed the cool evening breeze. It was not until when I realized I still had a prepared but uneaten bowl noodles waiting for me, that we went back to the room hastily.
While watching "Shanghai Knights", we managed to polish off ¾ loaf of the bread with the tuna, 1 bowl noodles and 1 cup noodles. Kudo goes to me, as I was the one who was doing the eating and Dear was the one doing the "spreading-tuna-on-bread-and-feeding-me" thingy.
While I was busy transferring components of the backpack weight (i.e. food, for those who don't get it) to my body weight, there was a gentle knock on the door. I gingerly opened it and one of the resort staff greeted me. He said he noticed that we did not go for dinner and asked if we wanted anything. I smiled and politely declined his kind offer. Pretty observant of them, huh? Come to think of it, the resort's guest are just that few people and it's not all that difficult to remember a couples' faces. I checked the time and it was 9.30pm, the closing time of the restuarant.
I intended to call it a day after "Shanghai Knights" but Dear was adamant in watching "Memoirs of a Geisha". Fair enough, I was not that sleepy and I have not watched it before, so I gave in to her. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the show but it was pretty good. Nope, no moths came flying in. We did witness lizards crawling around on the walls and ceilings though, making noises occasionally. In fact, from the calls they made, we can pinpoint their positions. Who would have known, that such small critters can make so loud a noise?
*I omitted a noun before the word "hole". I'd better not spell it out, lest it gets me into any lawsuits or similar sticky situations. All I'm going to say is that it's a 4-lettered noun and generally, but not always, carries a negative connotation.
Finally! After a day of insufficient rest, the night's sleep proved to be reinvigorating. We got up at about 7am. I noticed that the skies were kind of cloudy and it looked as if it was raining. I went out on the balcony to take a better look. OK, it was raining alright. But what amazed me is not my uncanny prediction of the weather, but this.
Over the night, the tide has receded and a good portion of the beach was exposed. As you can see here, rocks of different sizes littered the low tide beach. Alas! I did not not take a picture of how it was like when it was high tide, so, just use your imagination to visualize how it would look like with the rocks submerged.Oh! You do get to see the two jetties, both old and new, that I mentioned earlier on. The one further in the background with the shelter at the end is the new one.
Anyway, since it was drizzling, there was really nothing we could do but to wait. The frequency of rain drops increased as the minutes passed and what was initially a drizzle now became a heavy rain. Dear grumbled, as we sat by the bed, watching the rain and waiting for it to abate, "See? I told you we should have brought an umbrella. Now we are trapped here and can't go anywhere." I retorted, "But there is not enough space in our bags for other stuff, let alone umbrellas."
Not wanting to continue the argument, she suggested that we watch "Big Momma's House 2", since we did not watch it the night before. I slipped the DVD into the player and boy! Does time fly or what? Before we knew it, it was 9.30am and the rain clouds had vanished, leaving the sun to spread its light and warmth.
We had a quick breakfast, with me having toast and black coffee, while Dear enjoyed a mixed fruits salad with cappucino. The reason why we didn't dawdle is simple - we wanted to maximize the time we spend having fun and not on necessities, e.g. eating. We take a stroll along the new jetty, where I took the shots below.
With the tide at its low point, the waters became clearer than when it was high tide, so much so that it is clearly reflected in this shot.OK, maybe there's nothing to great about clear beaches but for someone who has never seen such a sight (definitely not in Singapore), it was breath-taking and naturally, warrants a shot.
We walked to the shelter at the end, where we saw a Caucasian couple taking a dip. OK, not so accurate. The guy was in the water but the wife/girlfriend was just standing at the top watching him. There were 2 flights of steps leading downwards into the water and we scaled down one to see if there was anything in the water.
Well, there you have it. Rocks at the bottom. But wait! There are actually fishes feeding off the algae and moss that had accumulated on the wooden beams that supported the structure. Excited by this sight, we quickly rushed back to our room to grab our swimming gear and more importantly, sunblock lotion. When we got back to the shelter, the tide had risen but fortunately, the fishes were still there.
Dipping our heads into the water, we could see the underwater world as far as our eye humanly could. There were a lot more fishes below, all feeding here and there. We even saw a school of fish, which swerved in several directions before swimming off into the cyan depths. I got up and exclaimed, "You see that? It's exactly like we're watching Discovery Channel, LIVE!" Dear agreed, saying, "Ya, ya! It's like Finding Nemo!" OK, we weren't exactly on the same frequency but the general idea is there. C'mon, which couple stays completely in-sync all the time?
For the rest of the morning, we just sat on the benches surrounding the shelter and basked in the sun. The soft morning sun combined with the occasional sea breeze made the stay there cool and comfortable. While lying on my back, I commented, "This is so nice here. It's like a paradise. I wouldn't mind if I can stay here and just relax. It's good to be far away from the hectic urban life. Too bad we gotta leave this paradise and go back to hole* so soon." Dear simply smiled and nodded.
Suddenly, a distasteful sound interrupted the tranquil setting. It was a growl emitted from my stomach. Dear immediately sat up and looked at me, as if expecting me to say something. "Alright, let's go for lunch", I muttered under my breathe, reluctant to leave the wonderful spot.
Look at this. Nice view, isn't it? Greenery and all. This taken from the sheltered end of the new jetty. It would be marvellous if I can just eat lunch there and admire the scenery. Given their excellent service attitude, I guess I could request lunch to be served to us there but that would be make me look overly demanding.Anyway, Dear's eyes lit up after she heard what I said. She cheered, rattling about what she was going to have for lunch. On the first day when we arrived, while I was eating lunch, she saw fish & chips on the menu but wanted to have it for dinner instead. Unbeknownst to us, the lunch menu and dinner menu were different and she was left sorely disappointed. Her time has finally come.
After a quick shower, we were soon tucking in our respective lunches. Dear got her fish & chips while I wolfed down a portion of Thai green curry with white rice. It's just me to eat rice, otherwise I will feel un-full and empty.
Having satisfied our hunger, we went to hang out on the beach. Dear insisted that I piggybacked her and I relented. All went fine under I chose to step into the waters. The sand beneath the surface was not firm and instead of supporting my feet, it swallowed them up to the ankles. Although I was only knee-deep then, the instability caused me to flail my arms wildly in a blind attempt to regain balance. This, coupled with Dear clinging onto my back, worsened the situation. In all, only about 3 seconds had elapsed from the time my feet went into the sand to the time when both of us made a splashing entry into the water.
Luckily, the loose sand buckled along with my fall, thus, I narrowly escaped yet another sprained ankle. For the record, I have a history of sprained ankles - on both ankles. I guessed we must have caused quite a bit of commotion along the quiet beach with our splashes and laughters. Perhaps the ang mohs are thinking, "What a bunch of fools!" or "What do they think they are doing?" We couldn't care less, for we were enjoying ourselves and that was all that mattered.
With the sun nearly at its peak, I went back to the gangway for another shot. Though the water was not as clear (or blue) as it was in the morning, the sun gave the water a sparkling texture, which sadly, I was unable to capture fully in the picture.As the afternoon sun grew stronger, we sought shelter under the shady coconut trees. We sat on the straw mats that were available for all to take and chit-chatted. Out of the blue, Dear had a moment of inspiration and wanted to go kayak-ing. There were 2 single-user kayaks near the front desk that was available for loan at no extra charge. All we need to do was to ask for the oars and life jackets.
I decided against it, as I had not kayak before. Despite Dear's relentless persuasions, I refused. Knowing how obstinate I can be, she went out alone, while I remained on the beach, observing her. She came back some 15mins later and exhorted me to try it out. Very sporting-ly (and unlike me), I agreed.
After donning on the life jacket and sitting on the kayak armed with the oar, there I was. For the first time in my life, I'm attempting to propel myself atop a floating plastic craft, that bears a strong resemblance to a misshapen sausage. Rowing is not a big deal but managing the balance is a little trickier. It took me a while to get the hang of it. And no; I did not capsize the kayak.
I rowed back after a few strokes, feeling a little winded from the exertions and thrill from this newly picked up activity. Dear went to get another oar and life jacket while I dragged the other kayak onto the beach. The next wave that came in brought us out on our light blue crafts and soon, we were looking at the resort from another angle. Needless to say, it was fun and the novelty had an exhilarating effect for me.
We didn't paddle much actually, for most of the time we were just sitting there and letting the current carry us along. Think it's dangerous? Think again. The current was heading towards the beach and all we had to do was to row far out enough and let the current do its job. Pretty neat, huh?
From its midday position, the sun slowly moved to its setting position, indicating that it was time for us to go ashore. As I dragged the kayaks back, Dear noticed a pleasant addition to our mat. There was a plate of dessert, specifically some kind of tapioca (either that or sweet potato; I can't recall) cake topped with coconut shavings. The day before, we were served jelly. I guess it's a " daily dessert thing". We savoured the sweet delight before returning to our room.
During our trip to Bintan 3 years ago, we brought too little food along and ended up feeling like half-fed kittens. This time round, we brought 1 bowl of instant noodles, 2 cup noodles, 1 loaf of Gardenia wholemeal bread and a can of chili tuna. Yeah, yeah, call us kiasu but I think it's better to be prepared than to be caught with your pants down. We figured that we didn't want to bring all the food back and decided to finish them as dinner, effectively saving us a trip to the restaurant and some money.
However, we did go out still. One of the bathroom lights went flickering and without a telephone in the room, we had to make our way to the front desk to tell them. Typical flourescent lighting problem; either the tube or starter needs changing. From my experience, it's more likely to be the former than latter. Not wanting to waste our trip, we took a stroll leisurely along the new jetty and enjoyed the cool evening breeze. It was not until when I realized I still had a prepared but uneaten bowl noodles waiting for me, that we went back to the room hastily.
While watching "Shanghai Knights", we managed to polish off ¾ loaf of the bread with the tuna, 1 bowl noodles and 1 cup noodles. Kudo goes to me, as I was the one who was doing the eating and Dear was the one doing the "spreading-tuna-on-bread-and-feeding-me" thingy.
While I was busy transferring components of the backpack weight (i.e. food, for those who don't get it) to my body weight, there was a gentle knock on the door. I gingerly opened it and one of the resort staff greeted me. He said he noticed that we did not go for dinner and asked if we wanted anything. I smiled and politely declined his kind offer. Pretty observant of them, huh? Come to think of it, the resort's guest are just that few people and it's not all that difficult to remember a couples' faces. I checked the time and it was 9.30pm, the closing time of the restuarant.
I intended to call it a day after "Shanghai Knights" but Dear was adamant in watching "Memoirs of a Geisha". Fair enough, I was not that sleepy and I have not watched it before, so I gave in to her. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the show but it was pretty good. Nope, no moths came flying in. We did witness lizards crawling around on the walls and ceilings though, making noises occasionally. In fact, from the calls they made, we can pinpoint their positions. Who would have known, that such small critters can make so loud a noise?
*I omitted a noun before the word "hole". I'd better not spell it out, lest it gets me into any lawsuits or similar sticky situations. All I'm going to say is that it's a 4-lettered noun and generally, but not always, carries a negative connotation.
posted by hg @ 21:55
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