The speedboat isn't the big one, so water came splashing on us. But I kinda enjoyed this kinda ride. Haha... It took abt 30mins to reach our resort. Well, nice beautiful sea but was kinda disappointed when I saw the location of our chalet. It wasn't that idealistic but well, I had that thot in mind even before I came. For me, I love to look out to the sea and see nothing but just the sky and sea. But our resort was facing the kecil island which wasn't a great view but well, have to just mk do with it! Oh, btw, there's 2 places to stay in Perhentian. One's the Besar (big), the other's the Kecil (small). We stayed on Besar where it's famous for serenity and nice beaches with no nightlife! True enuff, no loud music, no pubs, no lounge. Just resort's restaurants... Peace~~
We checked in around 1130am and lunch was @ 12pm. As we took package, we kinda had a schedule to follow. Well, it's all arranged by the resort which they put all the resort package go-ers for meals and snorkeling together. We're kinda accompanied by this couple from KL whom always had meals at the table beside us and go snorkeling together for 3 days! 1st day of lunch was great. Asian food which we had 2 dishes, 1 soup, 2 drinks and a plate of fruits. The food tasted quite nice and we were quite satisfied. Snorkeling was @ 2pm therefore, we still had time to explore around before we go back to change into our swim attire. So we walked to Tuna Bay Resort which was just like 5mins walk away from our resort and true enuff, they're located at a nicer location!! Shrucks!!! We initially wanted to stay there, but it was always fully-booked. And most of the tourists were caucasians. Nevertheless, we took sm photos and quickly went bk to get changed.~~~~
Day 4
Was feeling much better and woke up ard the same time to go for breakfast. But as it was the last day here, we were more into packing up than anything else. The room was kinda in a mess still thou we've tried to pack quite a bit the night before.. Oh, well, that's usually what happens when u're on a holiday! :) So we went for our usual breakfast, which was still that tasty! I like the toasted bread with butter! Yummy! And we went bk for a bathe and finish our packing minutes before 11am, the check-out time! We've arranged for the boat to fetch us back to the jetty only @ 4pm, so we could spend the rest of the time, walking around the island and tk more pics! It was definitely the right choice to make cuz it was only then did we realise we haven been so relax for the past few days. Maybe becuz we gotta smhw adhere to the timing for meals and snorkeling, we weren't very free to do things @ the time we wanted.
We left our bags with the recep and set our foot to Tuna Bay Resort. Initially, we wanted to settle there for a cup of coffee but decided to do that later wen we're hotter! So we walked on, taking pics occasionally and smiled @ the friendly ppl around the beaches. One very friendly lady offered to help us take a photo! That was so sweet! :)
This time round, we ventured a bit further. We went up the Marine Park and took pics! Nice view of the Perhentian Island! And we walked on till we reached Abdul's Chalet. A very quiet resort which has the beach to it's own. Chalets dun look that great but the ambience and environment will definitely attract you to stay on. Cuz that's what happened to us. We were so glad to find such a nice place to just chill. And so we sat down for ice cream, watermelon juice and orange juice. Thirst quenching and refreshing! We din felt like moving on to elsewhere cuz it's really quiet over here. No music, no kids running ard shouting, nor adults laughing and talking loudly. Perfect place for you to just sit and stare into the space! I guess we did that most of the time.
We sat for about an hr plus and decided to get our butt off to venture further. Haha.. Great ambition but little determination. Or maybe it was juz too hot! We've only managed to walk to the end of the beach, took sm pics, sat on the swing for less than 10 seconds and decided that it was time for lunch!! ;P
Lunch was @ Abdul's again. It was cheaper and the drinks earlier on convinced us that the food will definitely be nice. So we ordered Mixed Salad (fact that we crave for vege), French Fries , Tuna Sandwich and a 1.5litre of mineral water. True enough, the food was great! We're very satisfied and just sat there all the way till 315pm before we head back to our resort. But before that, we both bought the same tee that has the pic of perhentian island! We decided to buy a tee for every place we travel to in future! Too bad we missed Phuket's one... Anyway, doesn't matter, we'll be bk there sm day! :)
Oh, and we also decide to collect the sand on the beaches. There were 3 portion collected from Abdul's Chalet, Tuna Bay Resort and New Cocohut Resort. Kinda silly, but I thot it'll be a gd souvenir which is free!
Back @ Cocohut, we collected our bags and sat in the restaurant to wait for our boat to arrive. Meanwhile, we ordered watermelon juice again. Haha.. We're very dehydrated! Abt 410pm or so, our boat arrived. We walked to the jetty over @ Tuna Bay's side and board the speed boat. Bye Perhentian Island! We'll miss this place and we'll be back!! :)
~~~~~
End
Back at the jetty, we proceed to the travel agency for our transport to Kota Bahru. It was a scary taxi ride as we had to share the taxi with 3 other people. Sharing the taxi was nt the scary part, it was the driver and one of the passenger. The driver was practically speeding all the way and was staring @ other drivers which smhw "offended" him. Scary! 2 of the passengers alight 1st and we're left with another 1 passenger. And he started asking whr we're from, whr we went, hw long, whr we're going, etc. And I saw him taking out his hp and started talking to the driver. I really thot they were going to kidnapped or rob us. The scenario was so scary. But thank god, it did nt happen, else I wun be here blogging. The cab driver drove us safely to the bus terminal and he actually asked for tips when we paid him. He knows we're from SG, tt's y he asked for tips. But Darling declined to give him tips... Luckily, he left w/o plotting to harm us! Haha...
As it was still early, we carried our backpack and walked all the way down to a shopping mall jus beside Renaissance Hotel. Well, I guess that's the only safest place that we can find food. We do nt dare to sit by the roadside as we're carrying 2 big and 1 small bag. People might juz target us anytime! So I presume a shopping mall would be safer! And so we had our food in a food court which has most stalls closed and kinda empty. Seeing that we still had a little bit of time, we walked ard the mall and I bought a 1GB sony memory stick for my hp for RM66. I hope it's cheap!!! We left the mall ard 715pm and walked back to the bus terminal. The coach left at 8pm and we're on our way back to SG! It was a much longer trip back home as there were more stops and jam throughout the journey. We only reached SG ard 9+am and reached home ard 10+am.
Tired, dirty and sun burned. But we've got loads of fun, memories and relaxation! Wonderful trip! Best snorkeling trip I've ever been to! :)
Information for interested parties
Resort Booking: Do it online only, SG travel agency dun have perhentian packages. Book from Journey Malaysia. Friendly staff and reliable website.
Bus to jerteh from Singapore: Transnasional Eskpress @ Lavender Street, opposite Singapore Casket. $70+/person for return trip.
Transport to Kuala Besut: Taxi @ RM10/person/way
Transport to Resort: Can arrange with resort. RM60/person for return trip.
Lotion to ward against jellyfish and sea lice: Brand, Safesea. Only 1 distributor in SG. Addr, Reeds (Co. name) Kaki Bukit Ave 1, Shun Li Ind. Park, #05-01. Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm. 6747-0533. Abt $24.
Snorkeling Equpiment: Can rent from resort, else, buy in SG will cost abt $30 - $70.
Underwater casing: Brand, DiCAPac. Suits different camera cuz it's a soft case, not the hard casing. Cost abt $55 if purchase online for SG ebay seller, Gift-Me-Mall. Reliable and fast! If purchase in stores, can go to one shop that sells camera @ AMK hub but it cost $68 for the same casing.
**Long long post.. But hope you enjoy reading it! Now, it's time for the photos!! Videos coming up soon!**