March 31, 2013-
Happy Easter!!!
Time to get up and eat breakfast. We selected the Big American Breakfast from the menu at Jawadene. Mmmm!!! Scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage and toast. Such a lovely yummy treat for us!
Annika and Mark enjoying their big American breakfast.
Silly Ava!
Gorgeous, beautifully kept pool and grounds outside Jawadene.
Turns out that Walter (the B&B owner) is originally from Washington D.C. and he's lived in SEVEN countries!!! He suggests that we need to leave a little bit after 8:30am to make it back to the airport. He said he'd drive us back to the train station.
This has definitely been a nice place to stay for our brief time here. Thanks, Jawadene!
Again, not exactly sure which train to take. Here's hoping this is the right one!
Hey! We made it back to the airport! Now it's time to find the Malaysia Airlines counter and get checked in.
Oh my goodness! Chaos. Chaos!!!
We've got no clue where to go! What the heck??? This is place is crazy busy and there seems to be no method to the madness. Where is the "may I help you" booth? Where is the airport directory? We've asked several people where to go and get pointed to in the vague direction. Okay, the self service kiosk worked (after about four tries). We've finally got our boarding passes. Now, where the heck do we go to drop off our luggage? Do you see that long line next to us? If we wait in that we'll never get done in time for our flight! Although we left with lots of time to spare we've wasted so much time just figuring out where to go in this airport! Thank goodness there is a "special needs" counter that families with children under 12 can use. Very few people in that line. Hooray for our two under-twelve-years of age children!
I'm practicing deep breathing skills. How about you?
Okay, we're done. Our two suitcases are on their way to Kota Bharu. Where???? Well, that's the name of the airport we need to fly in to in order to pick up our boat transfer to the Perhentian Islands.
We're through the check-point and security. Again, painless. Are you as interested in the women wearing Hijab (Muslim head scarf) as I am? I am astounded that they can wear the veils, long pants and some even long-sleeved shirts. It's so incredibly hot here! Perhaps it's something you get used to????
Our flight is boarding. Oh. My! This has got to be the most polite boarding of a flight I've seen in ages. Nobody is crowding around attempting to get on first. No pushing. No shoving. Is such a thing possible? One of the airport personnel have just come up and asked us to board. Okay, I think we will!
That was an itty bitty one-hour flight!
Our luggage came…always a good sign! The resort said someone would be at the airport to pick us up and transfer us to wherever the heck we need to be. Yep… I see our last name on a sign. That's us! Let's go!
The Malaysian countryside is quite different from the USA or China but it does look very similar to the parts of Thailand we've seen. Lots of road-side stands selling various fruits (coconuts, watermelons, cantaloupe) and food stands. Mmm! The buildings are so colorful! I see bright yellows, turquoise, purple, pink, lime green buildings everywhere! FYI- they drive on the LEFT side of the road here. So glad we're not doing the driving! Man…. is it just me or is this a long car ride? I kind of expected it to be a short ride (for no particular reason) but this just keeps going and going.
And of course as soon as I said that we're here.
Where????
We're at the mainland office for Tuna Bay Island Resort. We need to get signed in and get our boat passes.
All done. Signed in and everything. We've got a few minutes to kill so let's walk around in what looks like a town to find something either to eat or drink. Hey! I see a stall that makes coconut shakes. Mmmm!!! Want one? We do! I think I like anything coconut!
road-side coconut drink stand
Mmmm! Coconutty:
She cracked open a coconut using a machete- she's going to make our shake with the milk and a bit of the flesh. Mmm!!!
It's time to head out to our boat. They're taking our luggage for us but we'd better not forget our backpacks!
Waiting for our boat
It looks like another family with kids will be traveling with us.
Ah, I do love these boat rides! The humming sound of the noisy engine, the fresh air and the bright sun all act as sleep-inducing agents. After forty-five minutes we're FINALLY at our end destination – Tuna Bay Island Resort. I cannot believe the color of the water! It's clear and very bright turquoise colored. So many fish! And there's a coral reef right off the beach. Snorkeling Heaven!
Hmm….this is interesting (okay, to me anyway)….no shoes, no sand and no wet clothes are allowed in the reception/restaurant building. Huh.
Hey, just to let you know, we're getting the Garden View chalet. What that translates to is that someone (that would be me) wasn't fast enough in securing a beach view chalet. Rats. Oh well. Actually we're only a few steps away from the ocean as it is!
We're in our Garden View Room (not sure if that place in front of our building qualifies as a garden but I'll go with it). Time to pull on the swimsuits and head out to the ocean! See you out there!!!
This will do, don't you think???
Gorgeous! The lighter blue/turquoise water has a sandy bottom and the darker colored water is a coral reef (= snorkeling heaven).
Looking back at the beach at Tuna Bay from the water. Sadly you can't see our "chalet" from here.
Ava and Mark playing in the water. PS. Rash guards are a dream- at least parts of our body won't get sunburned like crazy!
It's only a little after 5pm but we're ready to eat. We didn't get any lunch and some people in our party are getting pretty darn cranky. Let's head to the restaurant (PS. breakfast is included with our room but the other meals are not). Umm….I'm really trying very hard not to become irate but the service here is not what I'd classify as stellar. Or even good for that matter. Ugh. Can someone please take our order????
Finally! We managed to flag down a waiter and order food. Not sure what we ordered but hope it's good. Hmph. Service still hasn't picked up. It's a good thing we don't need anything else 'cuz it doesn't seem like we'd get help.
I think we ordered a clay pot of prawns, some sort of unpronounceable Asian noodles, chicken satay, fresh pressed juice and beer. Mmmm!!! This IS yummy.
How about a walk down the beach to work off the big meal we just ate?
Do you see that pathway by the rocks? I wonder where that goes. Shall we go see???
We've made it up on to the path:
I wonder why this place looks abandoned:
Here's the next beach:
Well, it looks like we could keep going but we're running out of steam….I think it's best we head back to the resort:
Let's go see the sunset!
Ahhhhhh….now that was lovely, wasn't it? Mark and the girls decided to go back into that giant swimming pool (you would call it the ocean). It's after dark now and it's interesting to see several Malay families splashing about in the water. Two boys keep calling Mark "uncle". Interesting. They brought some bread with them that they're tossing to the fish…and the fish are loving it!
Anybody up for ice cream and tropical drinks???? Banana splits- here we come!
Mark and Annika are sharing a banana split. They also had a contest who could tie the maraschino cherry into a knot with only their tongues. Mark won…but Annika is catching up to him! 🙂
And Ava is sharing one with me:
I think Ava might LOVE maraschino-style cherries!
Do you notice something weird on the menu? No coconut juice! Why the heck not???? We've been dreaming of having fresh coconut juice to drink and there isn't any of the menu. Darn! Double darn! What's wrong with this picture? I got a Singapore Sling and Mark just got a Pina colada. What silly tropical drink did you get? They have a few on the menu.. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to try another one!
Wow! It's been forever since we've seen stars like that! Sure wish the surrounding lights would go away so we could see them better.
I guess it's bed time. I bet you're tired too! It's been a really long day and I think we could use a rest. After all, tomorrow we'll swim, snorkel and play at the beach. All. Day. Long!