Labour Day Weekend

David's sitting next to me at the moment listening to music on his Ipod on our bus ride home from the airport.  It's 8 p.m. which means that so far we've traveled for 8 hours.  The sun is setting, and the overhead light doesn't work, but I will still write a bit in my little blue notebook so that when I get back home I can type it up on our reliable computer. 

We have complained quite a bit this weekend about our short 3 day trip to Pulau Perhentian. It started with having to fight to catch a boat ride to the island and when we got there our room was on the back side of the resort with a terrible view, the room smelt like sewage, plus the electricity went out 5 times on us.  Each time this happened we had to ask the person at the front desk to have someone fix it, which took at least an hour. What topped it was the buffet. The resort was packed with people, including the constant screams of children. People pushing each other to grab their food.  Now, that's all I'm going to say. I don't think we over reacted. This was supposed to be a four star resort.  With that said, our time spent on the Island was mostly outside viewing or hearing distance of the resort.  Did I mention that on our way home a tom cat decided to mark his territory on my backpack while we were eating lunch at a restaurant? That was very nice. David laughed at me, saying that would only happen to me! hmmm..

But, I have to say, it wasn't all that bad.  When traveling you have to expect these things to happen and move on!  Some positive sides about our trip to the Perhentian Islands:

#1 Discover Scuba Dive

 In KL I decided that I would try a sample of scuba diving before paying the big bucks for the entire Open Water Course.  I'm really glad I did this, because my first dive was with David, (just in case he needed to rescue me.) Thankfully I survived the dive and had a GREAT experience. I'm actually pretty proud that I pushed myself to do this!  An Open Water Dive Course is on my list of things to accomplish next! 

#2  Snorkling 

A shark behind glass is nothing compared to calmly snorkeling in the ocean and looking up,

and to your surprise you see a shark!  Wahh!  I pointed out the large fish to David and he looked pretty calm.  I guess it's okay not to freak out? Then another one, and another one!  I think we saw a total of four of them. Yikes! In the end David said they weren't dangerous and don't attack people.  Now isn't that nice!  My parents must worry so much about me at times.. 

#3 Jungle Trekking to Government Beach 

Our scuba instructor told us about a trail you can take up a steep hill and then down again which would lead you to Government Beach. We ended up snorkeling, swimming and soaking up the sun on a nice secluded beach for the entire afternoon. Absolutely Wonderful. 

Some other fun moments were:

#4  Meeting Jim the bartender at our resort. We gave him tips on how to improve his bar. Plus fireworks at night

#5  A beaver walking around on the beach. What on earth is that animal doing here?

#6  Finishing yet another book 

#7  Watching three Chinese girl try to jump over an area of water, with one losing her shoe during the process. 

#8 Front row view of a lightning storm with Tiger beer in hand.