Sunday, July 10, 2005
Trip to Tioman
Planning trips are never fun. There are people who just can’t make up their minds, people who cancel their place with fuckingly stupid excuses just five minutes before I buy the tickets… and being the planner, you have to make sure everyone will have fun, especially when the group is divided into 2: S-es and NS. Scuba divers and non-scuba divers.
By God’s grace, all turned out fine and we met at Vista B guardhouse at 9.45… eager to get on with it. We were to travel light and light it was. Most of them only had their backpacks. That was what I call light. We had rambutans and snacks and we were like a bunch of school kids when we boarded the LRT.
CK: Your camera’s very light, Jeremy.
Jer: Of course, it’s a Panasonic.
He opens up the battery compartment and realized that he forgotten to bring the battery!
We arrived with like one minute to spare, the bus driver was screaming at us. But we got on just nicely and that was when I discovered I myself forgot to bring the battery for MY camera! Shit!!
And Jeremy forgot to bring earphones for his discman too. Damn… both of us go well with each other, eh?
The bus ride was fairly okay… I sat beside Michelle and started singing “I’m so lonely, I’m Mr lonely, I have nobody, I’m on my own…” Cos I look to my right, I see Sheena and CK, I look diagonal and I see Grace and Collin… sigh…
But spent nearly the whole trip asleep. Couldn't help but reminisence on my first trip to Mersing with Nadia and the 3 guys: Big Xiao, Desmond and Shi Ching. I remembered how Shi Ching sat beside this undergraduate girl and how Des and Xiao tried to push them together, it was so damn hilarious.
During this trip... everyone was pairing off and conversing among themselves. Not that I can complain, but I missed fellowship... sigh...
Arrived at Mersing so damn early in the morning. Went for breakfast, got the tickets, and finally not long after that, we were on the boat to Tioman. I was apprehensive at first about the boat ride becos my first experience was bad. I could still remember how the first boat ride was so traumatic, with all the bobbing up and down and head banging shit. But remarkably, the boat trip now was so smooth and I could actually fall asleep with the wind and sun in my face. It was that nice!
Arrived in Tioman, checked into this super nice room and then off we went to dive. This was when the segragation happened. S-ses planned to do the advanced course and so we did, while the NS lingered about in Berjaya.
As for me, I'm a diver and I had the luxury of just sitting under casuarinas and hearing the breakers among the shore. Julian was as funny as ever. If anyone wants to take up diving courses, go to Tioman Dive Centre and get him to be your instructor... he really makes diving fun, and at the same time, he is very responsible under water.
And I could still remember all the moments of frustration he had with me... looks like that did not change much, as he still gets frustrated with me. Hehe... I play a fool under water, I refuse to follow him around, hell, I am just my typical rebellious self... it exasperates him. Yup EXASPERATE, the exact word he uses on me all the time.
And his all famous underwater signal:
Anyone can guess? I'll give the first person to guess correctly a virtual cookie. (Julian's students are not allowed to guess).
I, Jeremy and Grace (the 3 students) were busying reviewing our past skills so Juls will not get mad with us. We have like totally forgotten even the most basic stuffs. We went for a test DIVE before we started the course, and we were busy trying to make sure we learn how to put on the BCDs, the tank, our buoyancy, getting off the boat and things like that.
Different new dives we did:
Wreck Dive - I cut myself all over the place trying to get thru the wrecks. And I kept banging my tank against the wrecks. The resounding GONG doesn't feel safe at all. It feels strange swimming among sunken ships. They were sunk on purpose, but it felt like pirate ships of ancient age. It’s a whole new different world, like you are discovering something that has been kept secret the the world above. You see eels and strange fishes swimming around you... and barracudas... big huge with TEETH, GIANT TEETH!!!
Deep Dive - 30 meters descent, the pressure is just too overwhelming. And nitrogen narcosis was hilarious. We did maths sums on the surface, the usual 4x3+2-10=? sums, simple and easy. Took me 2 seconds to do it on the surface, took me 7 seconds to do underwater. Sad!!! But Deep Dive is scary... imagine 30 meters of water above you, you have to rush 30 meters up if you run out of air, and the immense pressure... tin cans were crushed just like that... scary!!
Night Dive - super cool dive... you barely see anything, not your buddy, not your instructor... You are just alone in this world of vast blackness, not knowing where is up and down, just you and this tiny round circle of light thrown by your torch. And when you off even that light... the world suddenly lights up with these tiny lights of bio-luminance. They are just planktons, but there is just something so magical about just watching them floating around you with that green tiny lights... it feels like you are somewhere else. And then you resurface and above you is the black sky filled with stars... you can just float there, watching the stars around you...Beautiful.
Multilevel Dives - Normal dive, but once again, descended all the way down to 30meters. Saw this forest of corals that looked like lalang and had to swim above it to avoid barging into it. Saw more barracudas, and this turtle which I chased after and Julian had to drag me back to join the group.
Navigational Dive - The most confusing dive... can't find my way with that dumb compass, and with a current to boot. Difficult, but fun.
Diving is fun... just you and the water and corals... and this feeling of flying with no gravitational pull around you. Can't wait to go diving again. And now with an Advanced license, hopefully I can go to Sabah and try out Sipadan soon. Yay!!!
Elena: Can I go to Sipadan now?
Julian: Never in your life.
But when you are not diving, when you are just waiting for your turn, we get to sit around at the dive centre. The dive centre is better than most dive centres I visited in Tioman. It is just a wooden shack, well-equiped tho, but the ambience is just right... with wooden benches, a platform on a tree, swings and hammocks.
And relaxation... of having no worries and no rush through the day. We just hang around, sleeping and relaxing in the shade, with the sea breeze in your hair, the sun on your skin and the sound of breakers upon the shore... it was a quiet paradise. And when it suit our fancy, we will just head down to the beach, play in the warm water or just sit on the warm sand, trying to get a tan.
You guys should try it… just lie in a hammock, listen to the birds crying, with the rhythmic crash of the waves on the shore. It is just so lulling, and when you are exhausted after a dive, nothing better than to just bask in the warm sun and listen to your friends chatter and your instructor scolding you. Haha.
But somehow I can’t give it a full 10/10, maybe 6.5. Bcos of the rush!!! We actually planned to leave Tioman on Sunday, giving us ample time to do our stuff, but becos there was no more bus tickets left, we had to leave on Saturday, one full day ahead. It was disastrous! Stayed at Berjaya Tioman for free, but barely used the facilities there. The swimming pool was cool, but had no chance to jump into it… sigh.
But even when I did not have the fun that I wish I had, guess the rest had fun, and that’s all that matter for the day. At least I had a chance to get my Advance Diver license, woo hoo!!! So ain’t complaining much.
And while the S-ses were diving, what did the NS do?
They went fishing! Here on one hand, the divers are trying to enjoy the fishes, the non-divers are gearing up to go a-killing the fishes. Actually, not really. They went deep sea fishing and caught 2.5kg worth of fish in 1 hour.
Julian: 2.5kg only? I could have caught more
And we had those fishes for dinner. Slurp. Delicious. And I bet the NS must have enjoyed it tremendously, eating something that you have sweated to get.
S-ses and NS is coined by the non-divers. They like calling us S-ses.
We retaliated by calling them: URNS
The funniest conversation I heard would be the one between Sheena and Julian. I was telling Julian how Sheena hated sea cucumbers.
Julian: Why?
Sheena: They are slimy, subtly evil in all tenderness.
Then they started arguing about the exploitation of oil by Shell. It was interesting the way they argue. In my heart, I was eager to listen to how Julian could out-argue Sheena, well on the other hand, it would be fun to listen to how Julian gets beaten at his own game.
Sheena: “Without Oil, you will not be able to use the boats to go out to dive?
Julian: Well… Shell exploit me, I will exploit my customers.
Which Sheena just promptly declare: You are a sea cucumber.
To say Julian was taken aback was an understatement: You mean I’m slimy.
Sheena: And subtly evil in all tenderness.
Those two are just so cute together.
That night, the divers were the first to sleep off like logs, especially Jeremy. Without bathing, and still in his sweating shirt, he fell asleep on the bed and slept through the night, despite the other two guys trying to wake him up to at least go bath. But in the end, the two remaining guys had to push their bed away from the smelly Jemy and go to sleep. It was hilarious, cos the girls are all comfy and clean when they went to bed.
I would have stayed up that night… I PLANNED to stay up… but everyone seemed to just disappeared. I went to the beach, saw nothing but the open sky (which was so beautiful. Regretfully, no camera to take the picture of it. Sigh…) and I went searching for people to kacau. It ended with me walking through the whole Berjaya Resort ALONE. Lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely, I have nobody, all on my own…
Diving continued through the next day while the NS went snorkeling. Sheena jumped off the boat without any life jacket, swam a distance away, tired out and shouted for CK to come save her.
CK: Dumb, go back to the boat and get your life jacket.
At the end of the day… sitting in that uncomfortable bus, trying to fall asleep, I could say… no regrets to the trip. Not much fellowship between the S and NS, but still… it had been fun while it lasted.
And no more trip-planning for me. Too much responsibility, too much stress!!! Just not for me. I’ll let someone else do it for me.
I have written a descriptive composition on a holiday to an Island back in Form 3... and it is filled with what I would call a perfect holiday. It may be a bit childish... back then I'm in Form 5, can't blame me for my childishness, haha. Actually, that hadnot change at all, but it is a story for another day. I've decided to post it up (taking liberty to change the names to those of M2/03) and for those not interested, this is the end of the post.
Holiday on Island Resort
I yawned and glanced at my fishing rod. It hadn’t moved since I last looked at it. "It’s such a slow day." It was really peaceful and quiet, the silence only broken by the lapping of the waves against the pier, the screams of the seagulls and the crashing of the breakers at a distant cove.
Isle of Laguna, the Fisherman’s Horizon…My first opinion about this place was a small fishing village, secluded and peaceful. My small group of friends had decided to spend a week at the small island, away from civilization and the busy life of the city. We took a plane to Timber to charter a small boat to take the ten of us there. As we flew over the island, I had my first aerial view of the island. Surrounded by a ring of dark water that indicated flourishing corals, the island looked like a huge pudding a top an enormous plate. The southeastern part of the island gave me the impression that someone had taken a big knife and cut away a quarter of the island. The southeastern part of the island was a sheer drop from the top of a very high cliff.
The boat that took us over to the island was a fishing boat. The old fisherman told us about the legends and myths that surrounded the island. He himself was a fisherman staying on the island. Not many people knew about the island because of its isolation and seclusion. The small island retreat has only a small town and a few villas for rent. Only fishermen used the island as a stopover before heading out to bigger seas, hence its seclusion. Since it was not a popular tourist spot, the wild life was abundant and the corals thriving. We silently cheered with anticipation.
As the small fishing boat knifed through the crystal clear water, I sat at the bow with Richard to look at the horizon. The island was just a dot at the horizon, but it grew bigger as we drew closer. The crystal blue water shimmered in the warm sunlight as we neared the island from its northwestern coast. An excited shout from Grace pointed out a shoal of dolphins welcoming us as they sped by the sides of the boat.
The first thing that greeted us was the soft soothing singing of a lark. An old lady hastened us into her shop. The shop was cool and shady, a relief from the hot afternoon sun. CK brought each of us a cone of ice cream. Mine, a chocolate chip ice cream was thick and creamy, unlike those we get in the city which tasted raw when compared to the one we got on the island. Not even Haagen Daaz could versus this.
Renting ten bicycles, we followed the path to the other corner of the island where a small chalet greeted us. A middle-aged man handed us the keys of a villa and a boat. A young native girl led us down the path towards the beach. Our shelter for the next seven days was a cozy villa situated just at the point before high tide, a wooden house on stilts under the shade of two casuarinas and three coconut trees. The main entrance led to a living room that over-looked the beach, facing west towards the setting sun. The 4-room villa had two toilets and a well-equipped kitchen. It had all the necessities we would need for the next two weeks, including two generators for electricity. There was a small shed that kept two kayaks and a compressor with several tanks. A boathouse housed a small boat enough for ten passengers.
Comfort, peace, good food, good life… maybe it’s not so bad staying on the island forever. But all of us were too tired to say anything at that moment. After dumping our luggage aside, we dragged eight deck chairs to the balcony and fell asleep with the sun in our face, the wind in our hair and the cries of seagulls in our ears.
We woke up as the sun was about to sink at the horizon. We unpacked our dinner which consisted of ham sandwiches and an apple pudding, and finished off with a bottle of red wine. We sat at the balcony, basking in the last rays of the sun, watching the sky turning from red to violet. It was quiet, a soft breeze playfully ruffling up our hair as we sat there, enjoying Mother Nature’s colorful art.
The next morning before the sun was even awakened yet, we set out to watch one of the most amazing phenomenon we had ever seen. Richard, Collin, Grace and I kayaked towards the southeastern part of the island while the rest used the speedboat, and reached the area just as the sun was just about to smile, painting the sky with hues of pink and yellow. As we ate our breakfast, we watched the cliffs reflecting the rays of the sun. The cliffs were shimmered with different colors and we could hardly breathe as we witnessed the hands of Mother Nature at work.
For the rest of the day, we dived and swam in the small shady lagoon. The sea was very calm, a mirror reflecting the beauty of the sky. We went snorkeling and scuba diving. The underwater world, the unexplored frontier was so different from the world we live in. It was calm, all living beings drifting in their own worlds. Though it was never silent, it was still quiet, in a sort of funny way.
We saw corals, astonishingly beautiful; fishes of multitudes colors. We played among the turtles, teased the tiny fishes and swam carefully around the sharks. An untouched, unpolluted world lay before us to explore. And explore we did.
We surfaced for lunch, quickly devouring the lunch basket our landlady had kindly packed for us, and continued diving again.
After the whole day of swimming and exploring the caverns that were around the cliffs, we returned to the villa, a pack of hungry and exhausted teenagers. We had a heavy dinner, trudged off to bed and promptly fell asleep.
The days that followed were filled with fun and pure relaxation. We went on camping trips to the inner sanctuary of the island, scaling the peak of the island to watch the sun rise at the distant horizon. We went fishing at the deep sea, feeling the triumph of catching our own meals. We sunbathed and enjoyed ourselves soaking up the warmth and goodness of the day as the sun brilliantly shone down on us. We were free to do whatever we want, free without a care in the world.
At night, beneath the countless stars that lit the dark cloak of night, we would sing and dance while listening to the breakers upon the shore. We celebrated life together, drinking to everlasting joy and fun. We would exchange opinions and secrets, visions and dreams, hope and love. The past few days had opened our hearts to each other’s feelings and many new things. We threw all sense of proprieties to the wind as we explored an unknown frontier in each other’s heart, body and mind, forgetting everything but the moment where we were nothing, but a speck in a universe of one.
As the week proceeded, most of us found solitude in pairing off to spend time together or just being alone to fritter the day away. Richard and I would take walks along the beach or into the woods, enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes we would swim and surf, or just bask in the sun. Sometimes when it took us fancy, we would scuba dive and find ourselves a secluded cove where we made hot passionate love. Sometimes we would just lie in the shade, sprawled uncaringly over each other in deep sleep and dreaming. As night approached, we would snuggle against each other watching the moon cast her beam on the sea to form a shimmering path towards the horizon. Occasionally at dusk, we would be enchanted by the rare sight of whales and dolphins breaching, their cries filling the solitude of the night.
~~~
"Hey Elena!"
I turned around and saw Richard approaching me. I sighed and stretched myself. Tomorrow will be day we leave Laguna Isle. I did not want to leave. I had grown to love this island as my home, its peaceful atmosphere, its lovely nature surroundings, everything from the leaves in the woods to the grains of sand on the beach. I gazed towards the villa and saw Grace and Collin on the balcony engaged in a game of chess. Shi Ching and Sien Hui were riding the waves on their surfboards while CK and Sheena were building a sandcastle together. Ken Rhee and Evelyn were walking along the beach, deep in conversation.
I took hold of Richard’s rough hands and pulled myself up. The sun was setting, bathing the whole scene in a mixture of red and orange. A school of whales were breaching at the horizon, calling out to each other. A tear found its way out of me as I watched the sun sink at the horizon for the last time. As I looked back to the past one week, those seven days had taught me much about life and the tranquil and peaceful side of it. When we return to the hectic part of life, we will all remember that life is not always as bad as it seems. There would its ups and downs, making life interesting for all. It may be tiring but there will be times when we’ll find it bearable, maybe fun and enjoyable.
But now as I glanced back at those times spent on the island, my heart was filled with regret that all those times would be gone, only memories etched in the depth of our minds. All secrets shared and all relationships built would be forgotten through time. As we all gathered together to bid farewell to the last ray of the day, our silhouette will remain an everlasting picture frozen in our memories for all.
By:
© Elena How Pei Ling
5 Sc 2001
Kyow! I did it! I did the big big churansformation!
- Chu-Chu, Xenogears
<< Home