April 1, 2013-
It snowed in Malaysia!!!!!
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No, really! It did snow.
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Why don't you believe me???
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All right. You got me.
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April Fool's Day!
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By the way: we did pass by several signs on our drive from the Kota Bharu airport and boat transfer place that said "Snow Wash". ??? I assume it's the name they give the foaming agent for car washing. Funny, right?
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Let's go check out the breakfast buffet and get some coffee. I could use some coffee. Yes, coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Do you think I need some coffee?
Blech.
That definitely won't go down as the best tasting coffee we've had at a hotel/resort. At least the omelet-cooked-to-order is good. And waffles! We've got some happy campers now as they've got waffles! There are three kinds of fruit (pineapple, watermelon and honeydew melon), one kind of juice, toast, two kinds of cereal, one type of muffin and a few hot items (baked beans for the Brits, hash browns, sausages). Kind of a meager breakfast buffet. Not bad but most of the hotels we've been at (including the Chinese run Garden Hotel in Datong) all had more sumptuous breakfast buffets and good coffee.
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Today we've got one plan: to swim and snorkel. All. Day. Long.
Suit up! Slather sunscreen on!
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Ready for some snorkeling???
Mark and Annika snorkeling.
Ava the purple and pink snorkeler! Her snorkel set was part of her birthday gift which we got for her in New Zealand.
Check out these gorgeous pics that Mark took:
Can you see what they are?
Clownfish! Mark spotted three different species of clownfish living in the anemones. However, the species didn't mix (one kind of clownfish for one anemone). Cool!
All you need to do is just stick your head in the water and you'll be amazed at all the fish swimming around!
I think these are called Christmas tree worms… as soon as you wave your hand close to them they'd suck into their holes and disappear.
We saw lots of table corals. They really do look like tables. Usually saw lots of fish floating on top of the tables.
We saw lots of different kinds giant clams.
This coral is called staghorn coral (any guesses why???). It seemed to be the dominant species in this small coral reef.
Not bad for being *right* off our beach, eh? Okay, we didn't get a lot of photos of the really colorful fish. They always seemed to vanish when you tried photographing them!
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All that swimming, splashing, snorkeling, playing has turned us into hungry monsters. We're ready for lunch!
Ummm….can we get a menu? Please? Can anyone please help us? It sure seems like there are lots of wait staff but they aren't super interested in helping their customers. What a weird place. Now I can definitely agree with the mixed reviews this place got on trip advisor (this place was recommended to us by a friend but she did add some caveats).
Thank goodness they finally noticed us….I was starting to wonder whether or not we were invisible. I think I'll have a pineapple lassi (that's kind of like a smoothy made with fruit and yogurt). Mmmm!!! And we ordered some Asian noodle dishes. Don't ask me for the name as I couldn't even pronounce it BUT I can say that they're good. The girls wanted fish & chips and we ordered Chinese spring rolls. Funny, in all our traveling in China we have yet to find spring rolls like these. I'd love to know where in China these specialties come from.
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The food and drinks were fantastic!
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Interesting colors from Mark's iPad 3:
Let's go sign up for a snorkeling tour. There are three tours listed on the resort pamphlet (you have to pay extra for). Okay, we're signed up for the small island (Perhentian Kecil) tour starting at 10:00am tomorrow. Apparently we'll see some sea turtles on this tour.
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Now let's go check out the few shops that are right next to the resort. Uh…I guess make that ONE shop. The rest of these places are diving places (you can learn how to SCUBA dive here).
We bought the girls some inflatable rafts at the shop….can you hear their squeals of delight????
We also bought a can of soda called 100 Plus (it's sort of like a carbonated Pocari Sweat for those of you that know that drink).
All kinds of chips or crisps for sale:
I also found some post cards and stamps. Maybe I'll remember to post them before we leave! The lady running the shop kept complaining about the heat! Funny, don't you think a local would be used to it by now?
A view out the back of store:
View out the front of the store:
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Mark signed himself up for a one-day class. He won't be open water certified but it'll give him a taste of what diving is like. Diving is definitely not my thing. I feel claustrophobic just going snorkeling….so I can't even imagine what it would feel like to depend on a tank for air. Nope. Not for me but I'm happy if Mark wants to try!
Why don't we go back to the room and take a little nap?
Ahhhh….feeling refreshed? We certainly do! Now, how about some swimming? The girls are dying to use their new inflatable rafts.
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Hours and hours of swimming and snorkeling and playing. And happy kids!!!
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Dinner time! Oooo!!!! I smell a BBQ grill going! Let's see what sorts of yummy treats they have tonight. And I'd love to get a tropical drink for dessert. Doesn't that sound like a nice way to end the day?
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Mmm….all sorts of fish and prawns and even lobster (pretty pricey) are on the menu. Mark chose the whole red snapper grilled in a banana leaf, the girls chose red snapper fillets and I chose the tandoori-style king fish (in honor of our recent trip to NZ where we tried to catch these buggers!). Service seems to have picked up….a tiny bit.
Mark's WHOLE fish…at least they removed the eyes!!!
and of course here's Annika:
Dinner was delicious! I do love king fish!
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Now, how about a drink??? What the heck??? The bar is closed? The waitress just told us that the bartender went home for the week and the bar will be closed. #$@bleeeeeeeeep!$%#@&% What kind of tropical resort is this? Do they only have one person that can serve alcohol? What about the mocktails on the drinks menu? Nope. Can't make any of those either. Well, bleeeeeeep.
Fine. I won't have a drink. And for some reason they don't have fresh coconuts to drink either. (PS. I do understand cultural differences and I do understand that in some cultures that alcohol isn't permitted. However, this resort caters to foreigners and it DOES have a fully functional bar. All it's missing is the person tending it!)
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Okay, rant over!!!!
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I guess we'll make this a non-alcohol, healthy vacation. The Tiger beer is pretty wimpy too….so why bother drinking the extra calories?
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Let's take a stroll up the beach…. Oh wow! Check out the thunderhead clouds over there on the mainland of Malaysia! They're lighting up but not frequently enough for me to try and capture it on "film". Awesome! Now the stars out. I see Orion's belt! I sure wish there wasn't so much residual ground light but I'm just so happy to see all these stars. Just beautiful!!!
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We're heading back to our room.
I'd like to take a shower and wash off all that sunscreen. Come on shower! Why won't you turn on for me? Apparently the shower doesn't like me….but thank goodness it works for Mark. Grrr….
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Oh NOOOOO!!!
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Even though we *thought* we applied and reapplied sunscreen at regular intervals- it clearly wasn't enough. My shoulders and backs of my thighs are bright red. Annika's body- or at least the parts that weren't covered by her sunscreen shirt and swimming shorts – are bright red. Ouch. Fortunately, Ava has some red on her arms and Mark nearly escaped it altogether (just slightly pink). Ouch, ouch, ouch! I think we need to do better tomorrow!
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Good night!
Get some rest as tomorrow morning we're heading out on a snorkeling tour of the small island. Don't worry if you don't have snorkeling gear with you. Apparently the tour will provide us with it.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……
Nighty night!