Our Romantic Evening Stroll...

It has been a very long day at sea, but being the adventurous and energetic duo, the couzy and I decided to have a quick shower and then off we went for an evening stroll. We went to the end of the beach until there was no way to go anymore. 

Chasing after the sunset...

We had to pass by Perhentian Besar Hotel Chalet... arrrggghhh... I can't remember what... resort, I think. It was using solar power for each chalet. And most chalets around the island were in the form of a village. I like staying in old places, not some kind of luxury hotel. Whenever I'm in a luxurious place, I'll feel so out of place and awkward. Never like to do things the prim and proper way. I'm more towards the ruffian and boisterous style.

The chalet...

We went to a huge rock then climbed onto the rock and had a good sunset view. No such good view but then we were playing with the camera. I brought my phone along as the batteries of the camera went totally flat. You know you're getting older when your legs wobbled while climbing a not-so-huge rock. And you were practically on all your fours to prevent yourself from falling off the rock. And the only thing you have in mind was the consequence if you ever fall off the rock. And you're undecided whether to wear the slippers while climbing the rock or leave your slippers behind. 

On a rock... see it wasn't high at all...

When I was in my teenage years, I walked on a tight rope across the river with sharp stones on the river bed. There was no safety harness or netting to cushion the fall yet I managed to run across the rope, to and fro, countless times, being very sure that my agility would bring me to the other side safely. 

We were having some good time together but right until now, I couldn't remember what our conversation was about. I bet the couzy couldn't remember a single word that we've talked about and laughed about.

Me... 

Then, when the sun has finally gone off to sleep, we decided that it's time to walk towards our resort, which was at the other end of the beach. I was waiting to capture the lightning in the sky, and lo-and-behold, the couzy disappeared into somewhere, looking for the toilet. I was left there and she went without a phone on her, and I didn't know what to do and where to find her. That's my couzy alright, she's brilliant with her disappearing act.

with the couzy...

Out of nowhere, she reappeared. It was getting really dark and there wasn't even a street lamp. What was I expecting? I don't know... and we walked towards the bridge that would bring us to the other side. Sad to say, I couldn't even recognize the walkway. We were both panicking away when out of the sudden, a Malay couple walked right in front of us, turned around and asked us whether we were going to the Coral View Island Resort. Then, the couple asked us to follow them... God is good, all the time.

...with our flip flops...

You see, now we're sure we're getting old. A couple of years back, we hiked down from the Youth Park there when it was totally dark and we couldn't even see our own hands, yet we managed without fear. Then, when I was younger, I went for midnight hike with just a useless torchlight that couldn't even shine my path properly. Actually, I don't know how to use a torchlight, same as I don't know how to use a compass as it's forever pointing towards the North even if I turned 360-degree and I don't know how to use an umbrella - no matter how I hold it, I ended up completely drenched in rain water, so whenever it's raining, I don't bother to even hold an umbrella, and there's no umbrella in my car, and I don't even run in the rain as you'll get wet no matter how fast you can run. 

#8 Snorkel: Lang Tengah... No Man's Isle...

No man's island...

It's our third snorkeling place of the day and I think we were all pretty tired already. I've seen more than enough colourful corals for the day. But you see, whenever I thought I have enough for the day, I was being shown something different. 

So far deep... more than 18 metres?

A city on it's own...

God's playground...

Somehow or other, whenever I dropped myself into the water and started looking around down under, the corals in different settings never cease to amaze me. The sea bed was so different. Each landscape has its own uniqueness that I can "Ooohhh" and "Aaahhh" about it just that I can't speak a word at all to express myself or I would be choked with the salt water.

Us... looking around...

Notice the light blue corals?

I became the first to jump into the sea and have a good look. From the surface, there wasn't much to see but when you place your face downwards, you would be transported into a totally different world altogether. It was just so different and unique that it seemed to be like a city on its own down there. 

Nice blue fishy...

FREEZE~! Kindly identify yourself...

I'm lost of words to describe the beauty of God's creation. But... can we go back now? Tired already... no more energy.. and no more battery for the camera... thank God Gracie brought her camera along...

#7: Remnants of a Shipwreck...

The 'rock'... kind obvious now it was something else...

There was something bobbing out there. Oh, don't bother... just some huge rocks. That's what we thought it was until the guide called to us from the beach. *sigh* I have to take a slow swim back to the beach just to see what the guide was hollering about. It was one slow one as the corals were so near I could touch them or accidentally kicked on them and injure myself. Anyway, I need to change my battery for my camera. Remind me to bring 10 batteries and 10 chargers next time. Storage space in the memory card was no longer a problem as my storage card can store up to 11 000 photos.

From the inside... the middle of the ship...

The guide was asking us to swim towards the jutting out 'rock'. I was asking him why bother to swim so far out and the 'rock' was right at the snorkeling perimeter. He said it was a remnant of a shipwreck. Hah.... hah... but he warned us against the strong current that was building up by the hour since it was already noon. 

The front of the ship...

The view from the side, out of the perimeter floats...

Being adventurous, of course we swam towards the 'rock'. From our side, since we dared not swim to the other side of the perimeter, we could only see the head of the ship. It was not such a large ship I guess. I have no knowledge of ship at all. Can't even differentiate how big or small they were. According to the guide, the ship sailed too near the coast until it hit the corals and now, after so many decades, corals were growing all over the remnants of the ship. 

Standing on the shipwreck...

Beautiful right... corals growing on the ship...

Since there wasn't much to see, we swam back and went swimming within our perimeter. Then, the guide was so kind, instead of sitting around like other guides, he joined us in the water, making all sort of tricks to attract fishes by the swarm. Our guide was really one fantastic guy but I don't know what's wrong with me, I didn't ask him his name. Come to think about it, that's really terrible of me. After snorkeling around the Redang Island, our guide asked us to the shipwreck again. 

Was that a staircase?

He took us to the other side of the perimeter floats. Then, wow... it's amazing. We could see the inside of the ship and then we were standing on the ship itself... Hah... we were then holding on to the sinking ship. The guide dived down with my camera just to snap our photos... Fantastic was he... 

Us... holding on to the remnants of the ship...

Our guide was down in the sea and he was busy snapping photos for us. When he resurfaced, I was asking him what was he doing up so soon when we were not done yet. He said he needed to breathe... Ooopppsss... sorry... I've totally forgotten that he was holding his breath for so long just to be our temporary photographer. Then he went down again after taking a deep breath... sorry... and thanks a million...

Me with friends' legs... of course....

I salute to him. He gave us time to fool around before leaving. Most guides would just give a few minutes... seriously, we came across some who came later than us but left after 30 minutes... we were there for hours...

#6 Snorkel: Pulau Redang...

I totally have no idea the distance that we have covered just by snorkeling. The bay at the Redang that's be designated for snorkeling activities was quite shallow. But of course it wasn't as shallow as compared to Coral Bay. There were lots of fishes swimming around. The corals were... well... corals... after looking at corals in different areas for hours, I think I got numb of it. Some of them still got me excited but then... it's just another coral, same colour, same type but different place...

Ahhh... more fishy... more corals... more fishy... Okay, I have to admit, I got kinda bored already. No squid? Or any other aquatic organisms? But of course, the fishes got me excited when they came swimming by a large number... a swarm of fishes?

The fish seemed to have a leader leading them. Where are they all going anyway?

A school of fish

There's a huge stone with colourful.... mussels? I don't know what they are... told ya my vocabulary to describe aquatic animals almost come to zero.

Welcome to Pulau Redang...

Yes, we did island hopping this time round. We were in Redang Island, arrived by a twin engine speedboat with the best guide ever~! God reserved the best for us, that I have to say... all glory goes to my Lord. The jetty in Redang island was slightly different. The walkway was made of rubber floats and since the sun was shining brightly, it was an afternoon sun, so we couldn't walk barefooted. I always prefer to be barefooted.

We had our simple lunch at the beach. Had a great time but Juju and I couldn't wait to get ourselves back into the water. The guide asked us to rest for awhile first after the earlier snorkel at Long Island. Hahahaha... he didn't know us... we're both made of steel when it comes to playing. Aahhh... look at that small little island formed. The whole place was and is awesomely beautiful. How do you explain how beautiful a place is? I think I was speechless looking at the blue sky and blue sea and everything blue. 

There's a squirrel running around. I didn't take the photos because at that time, Juju and I plus my nephew, we were all in the water already, doing our little exploration. Gracie and Judz were having a relaxing time at the beach before going down again. 

Hey, we did some crazy stuff there, snapping photos but the camera was not really in the right position. So it came out, not so nice... but the people in the photos are fantastic people... muahahhahaa... Wanna see more photos? Go to Redang to experience it for yourself. But please don't go alone... you'll go nuts being all alone... you must go with wacko people... then'll you'll be absolutely normal among the wackos.