I always love the beach. To me, it simply takes my breath away and gives me a sense of serenity and timelessness. And not forgetting about the rhythmic sound as the waves crashes upon the sand and yes, it's amazing. As I stepped down on the Salang Jetty, Pulau Tioman on the 22nd of October 2006, I knew wonderful moments were awaiting me, and more wonderful and beautiful ones as my Special was there with me.
Day 1
After one and a half hour ride of ferry from Mersing to Salang, we finally reached our destination. We’re led to our chalet and after we placed our belongings, we headed down to the restaurant that overlooked the sea. It’s a simple kampong-style restaurant and I think it’s nice as it suited the ambience and surrounding perfectly. Anyways, we had a quick lunch and the next thing I knew, our activities for the day was to snorkel (as a part of practice session) and my heart nearly dropped as I hadn’t snorkel before. I began to feel nervous but deep down, I was mixed with emotions as excitement took over me. After a short briefing and Q&A, I was convinced and had enough courage to get to the sea to snorkel. :)
And the moment finally arrived. After I put on the snorkeling gear, I was all set to go, and so was my Special. The tour guide’s assistant was with us to assist and guide us. Eventually, nervousness began to creep up on me as we moved a few meters away from the beach. I just couldn’t stop thinking what if I was swept away to another side, but heck, I managed to get through and I began to ease myself and enjoyed the beautiful view of the underwater. There were so many fishes and corals, and one moment that I could remember vividly was, a school of fish came swimming around me and oh boy, I felt so ticklish. Well, thanks to my Special for throwing breadcrumbs at me to attract them :P. And how could I forget about the corals. They looked so nice, yet, sharp and dangerous. :( We’re cut by the corals but thank goodness they were just minor cuts and scrapes, but since then, I think I developed a little phobia for the corals. Well, if I had to choose between corals and fishes, definitely, I’d choose the latter although I did fear of them in the very first place. Oh well, after all, it’s my first time and I think I did pretty cool, at least, I did not freak myself completely in the sea, tee-hee! :p
Later in the evening, we had dinner and had our pictures taken together around the island. It was great and most of the night view was beautiful, despite not one cluster of stars at the skies. Oh yeah, I love the stars, too bad, none of them appeared. Nevertheless, nothing mattered as my Special was with me, and I could see the dark sea, some boats floating, and listened to the sound of crashing waves. Truly nice. And how could I forget about the candles that my Special brought. Although he couldn’t place them on the sand at the beach (due to strong wind), he placed it below the stairs of our chalet and voila, candles that were aranged in a heart-shaped, burning prettily in the night. Aww..he truly made me melt! ♥
Day 2
More snorkelling activities. Yes, it's the day that I got to snorkel in the middle of the sea and in other words, for real. After breakfast, we're told to get ready and in an hour or so, we took off. We reached an island after several minutes and it's wonderful. The water was blue and I could see fishes swimming around from the boat. Despite that, I was hesistant to descend into the water (in fear) but as time went by, my nervousness began to diminish. After all, the water and the living things in the sea were too nice and I just couldn't afford to sit in the boat and watch. The next thing I knew, I was in the cool water and I began to adapt myself to the surrounding. With my life jacket, I floated at ease and with my Special and I holding hands, we snorkelled and enjoyed the beautiful view of the underwater.
After for a short while, it's time to head to Malang Rock. This time, I was pretty reluctant to snorkel as I was pretty tired and I didn't feel too good in the sea. My dive master was like "C'mon, it's very nice down here. You'll regret if you stay in the boat." I sat there thinking and after for a minute, I was like "Ok". And there I went, I jumped into the water and snorkelled with my Special by my side. And of course, how could I forget about the scary big boulder rock that had only about one metre opening. Nevertheless, we continued to swim and snorkel with gladness.
And last but not least, our last stop was at the Tulai Island, which is also known as the Coral Island. As we reached there, the beautiful view took my breath away and I was truly amazed. The island was simply beautiful. The sands were white and powdery soft. The water was blue--green in colour and it's so clear, and enticing enough that I couldn't help but to dip into the water. Of course, my Special and I spent almost a couple of hours there, taking pictures, and frolicking by the sea. And speaking about hermit crabs, we spotted two and they were so tiny and cute, and it's so sweet of my Special to name one of them after me, tee-hee! :P And how could I forget about the big, big heart shaped on the sand that my Special did (using his foot prints) and boy, I melted deep inside. Oh yes, my Sugar Rush, he is! Ahh... ♥
By the time we got back to our chalet, it's already in the evening and after rested for a short while, we headed to the restaurant to have BBQ dinner. The dinner was great and I gotta say the food was finger-licking good and yes, very delicious! And it's more wonderful as I dined with my Special, overlooked the sea and could hear the soothing crashing waves upon the sand. :D After having dinner, we walked around, had our pictures taken together, and not forgetting that we also went to a mini-bar and got to meet some new people.
Day 3
It's our last day at Salang, Tioman Island. After breakfast, we packed our belongings and while waiting for the speedboat to transfer us to Mersing, we took a few pictures with our tour guide for remembrance. We actually decided to extend our stay but since we'd already had our bus tickets (+ schedule clashed), we had to leave. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves very much during the 3 days / 2 nights stay and I gotta say it's simply wonderful.
While I was at Tioman Island, I realized it's great to try new things, and to learn new things in life. Although I hadn't snorkel before, although I fear in the very first place, it didn't stop me for moving forward, and one of the things that I accomplished is snorkelling and I think I begin to have a passion for it.
And the most important is, I got to travel with my Special. It's so beautiful, lovely and wonderful travelling with him and I love every single moment that we spent and shared together.
*To my Special,Sun, sea, sand and view
But the best moment is
Spending time with you!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
