Day: August 23, 2007

*Warning: Longest post ever in history of Narcissism is Necessary*

I’ve been an absolute procrastinator, especially when it comes to posts on the trips I’ve made. There are the follow-ups to my Tokyo trip, Perhentian Trip and Phuket Trip. I want to write on Tokyo first, since it’s the most delayed one, but the memory is kind of sketchy now so I will just write about Perhentian Island first.

The first part is here, if you would like to refresh your memory.

Picking up from where I left off, on the second day, we woke up around 9am. I had breathtaking seaview, roti canai and milo for breakfast.

Roti canai and milo kosong.

After breakfast, we took a walk at the beach, just chilling and taking pictures. It was really nice and relaxing.

The beach.

I love this picture.

Bad hair day.

Enjoying a coconut during a hot, sunny day.

With the Boo.

I also had some really poser-isque pictures taken.

Looks familiar? Check this post out.

Before we knew it, it was already dusks and we had dinner at the same chinese/thai restaurant. Right after dinner, just like the previous night, rain came early. So, we turned in fairly early again. We slept like babies.

We woke up pretty early on the third day. I had padthai for breakfast, again at the same chinese/thai (you notice how much like I like that place?)

Pad thai.

We decided to explore Perhentian Islands a bit and enrolled on a sight-seeing/snorkelling tour. The water was a little choppy but it only added to the fun. There were 3 snorkelling spots and the water was crystal clear. Not many pictures taken during this time as it was inconvenient.

At the last snorkelling spot around the lone lighthouse, our tour guide decided to get crazy and jumped off the bloody lighthouse! Check out the video I took of the jump.

Crazy man!

Check out the video of the jump.

On the boat. Walaneh, I look like crap again.

After returning from the tour, we showered and headed out for dinner at the same chinese/thai place. This time, we ate a little more luxuriously considering it was our last night in Perhentian Island. We ordered loads of food, the super fabulous grilled squid was a must-have. After dinner, Boo and I hung out at our chalet patio till late at night….just chatting, drinking and smoking (for a bit of a high).

On the last day of our vacation, I have pad thai for breakfast again. It was good! We checked out from the resort and wandered around taking pictures while waiting for our boat to come.

Camwhoring at breakfast.

The boat came at around 5pm. It was really late and we were told that the boat was late due to the choppy seas. I was slightly worried but thought nothing of it. I only wanted to get back to mainland (quite sick of the sun and beach by then =P). ”

The sea was FUCKING CHOPPY. Every time the boat slammed onto the waves, every girl in the boat screamed horror. Honestly, I thought I was going to die. I had tears welling in my eyes and I kept hoping that in the case that we fell off, we would stay afloat in the sea and that whatever random sea creature won’t make us their dinner. And that there’d be rescue team immediately.

After what seemed like an eternity, the boat captain told us that we had to turn back. All of us instantly agreed. Thought he would never ask. It was equally choppy on the way back but it was a shorter journey compared to the journey to mainland. We docked at Tuna Bay Resort. The captain said we would wait out the storm and resume our journey when the weather’s better. Well, the weather never got better and we were forced to spend one more night at the island.

Some of those on the same boat as us were insistent on leaving for the mainland. Got work lah this lah that lah. I don’t know, they were probably vying for the Darwin awards. Few times I felt like telling them, “There’s a fucking storm and our bathtub motorboat will not take such violent waves. You want to DIE ah!?”.

I got a room at Tuna Bay Resort (RM200 a pop) but before I managed to pay, our boat captain approached me and told me he could get us accommodation for only RM30 a night and it’s only next door. So I apologised to the Tuna Bay’s receptionist and made way to the cheap nearby resort.

The place was, INTERESTING.

The bed, with suspicious stains.

The window that doesn’t open and a dressing mirror!

Our picture for aesthetic, framed with duct tape. Awwww…

Security is of utmost importance.

Terms and conditions.

A fan for you and I.

The toilet. With a one hole shower head. Who needs raindrops shower when a stream of water will do just the job?

We hung out till late at night, finishing our reading, smoking some keretek and snacking on tandoori chicken flavoured Twisties outside our room. It was not bad actually, except for the lack of clean towels (we didn’t bring any) and the suspicious stains on the bed.

We woke up really early for a ride back to the mainlands. It was smooth journey all the way, thank goodness.

Our journey back to KL was fun. It was about 7 hours of drive including the stops we making for phototaking and food. We stopped in Kerteh for a lovely lunch of rice and lauk-pauk at a malay restaurant. There were so many Petronas staff.

We headed towards Kemaman when we passed by a row of Lemang stalls. This is apparently a famous lemang area. Well, if I had known then, I would have bought so many more lemang and rendang coz the stuff was DAMN GOOD.

Lemang is a traditional Malay food cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick. Usually prepared for festivities such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji, lemang is made of glutinous rice and coconut milk, with salt added for taste. Some lemang recipes add corn. Lemang is usually eaten with rendang.

Rendang is made from beef (or occasionally chicken, mutton, water buffalo meat, duck or vegetables like jackfruit or cassava) slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, leaving the meat coated in the spicy condiments. The cooking process changes from boiling to frying as the liquid evaporates. The spices may include ginger, galangal, turmeric leaf, lemon grass and chillies. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender.

Source: Wikipedia and Wikipedia.

It was nothing like the lemang we find in KL. The rice was soft and gooey and creamy and just slightly crispy on the outside. The rendang was just the perfect stuff to eat with the rice.

The long row of lemang stalls.

The sinfully delicious lemang and rendang.

I regretted that I didn’t buy more! I was still craving for more lemang after we’ve finished the ones we bought. So as we passed by Gombak toll and saw a few lemang stalls, I was elated. We stopped to buy more lemang and as soon as we bit into the rice, we spat them out. It was tough and dense and bland. Nothing like the Kemaman lemang =(

And that’s the end of my travelogue. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this because it took me more than 2 hours to finish this!

Final word: Perhentian Island is a must go. Compared to Redang Island, they have better snorkelling areas. The conservation efforts also seemed better as only tiny bathtub boats were allowed near the shores. I thoroughly enjoyed my vacation there. I’d suggest you to drive up too, because it will be a very interesting experience. I’ve never seen real oil refinery till then and certainly have not tasted authentic kampung food. Oh the lemang…the lemang were to die for!

For other posts on my trips, go here.