Drama Raya Seberang : Episod 1 – Karim cari pasal?

“Huh, Karim dah beli tiket? Apsal tak bagitau?” Rodiah berteriak pada Hamid, takut rancangan asal tidak menjadi.

Hamid terpinga lantas menalipon ummi, dengan khabar yang tak boleh diterima akal. Bukan apa, sudah berjanji, perginya bersama, kembalinya baru tak sama. Ummi memberitahu pada walid. Bagi walid, mudah saja. Ikut sahaja tarikhnya. Nak lari kemana lagi.

Hamid diberi tugas mencari tiket kapal laut serta tempat penginapan. Namun, hanya tiket pergi sahaja yang baru di cekau. Tak balik kah? Belum beli katanya, mahal. Asalnya mahu ke kampung halaman Sapora di Ambua, Papua New Guinea, tapi dek kerana tiket yang mahal, terpaksa melencong ke Madang.

Seminggu sebelum berlepas, Sapora ada mengutus surat pada Hamid. Cemburu Rodiah tidak terkira sampai nak koyak surat tersebut. Kata Sapora, sudah menjadi tanggungjawab mereka untuk menyediakan segala bagi perjalanan kali ini. Hamid menghela nafas lega. Tak perlu lah dia mencari tempat penginapan serta kereta segala.

Hari yang ditunggu telah tiba. Hamid dan Rodiah dari rumah, walid dan ummi serta Jaafar dari Pantai Timur, manakala Sapora, Karim, Didit dan Rufi menginap di hotel berdekatan. Semuanya bakal ketemu di pelabuhan. Rodiah tidak banyak berkata-kata. Malas nak beria. Didit seperti biasa, tampak kurang kasih sayang dari kedua ibu bapa, seringkali datang kepada Rodiah dan Hamid. Walid dan ummi, tak perlu nak cakap lagi. Cucu emas sediakala.

Setibanya di pelabuhan Ambua, abang dan adik Sapora menunggu. Dijanjikan dua kereta lembu, tapi hanya satu yang tiba. Rodiah dan ummi elok memasang muka. Dah la panas. A/C dipasang sepanjang perjalanan. Jauh jugak, makan 2 jam lah! Sakit bontot! Dalam perjalanan, perut berkeroncong. Disebut-sebut “nasi bebuk”, makanan tradisi Papua. Rodiah dah jangka, tak sabar nak tengok apa penerimaan ummi. Ya lah, kat Pantai Timur pun dipilih kasih kedai makannya. Seperti yang dijangka, ummi dan walid geleng kepala. Ternampak kepala ayam terkulai dalam pinggan. Semut pula, buat highway. Kensel! Walaupun restoran itu paling besar dikawasan itu.

Kedengaran bunyi telepon. Sapora mengangkat. Cakap Papua bersama ibunya. Sumpah tak paham sampai semua diam. Katanya, ibunya dah masak! Muka ummi mencuka. Yang tersurat, tak mahu menyusahkan orang. Yang tersirat, nak ke makan di rumah orang? Ummi tu betul-betul pembersih. Akhirnya termakan juga hasutan Rodiah, berhenti makan di kedai besar “nasi bebuk”. Boleh la. Walid yang bayarkan semua.

Hampir petang, hotel yang di cari, tiba-tiba ditukar ganti. Ummi sekali lagi mencuka. Hotel di Madang, tengah pekan, sibuk, jem, rimas. Tambahan pula, letih berada dalam kereta lembu yang sesak seramai 8 dewasa dan 2 budak. Rodiah dan Hamid diam. Dibiarkan saja. Maklumlah, orang Papua ada bersama. Ha, silalah.

Malam menjelma. Sapora gigih pujuk ummi singgah ke teratak ibunya nun jauh di kaki Gunung Hagen. Redha semua orang. Gelap gelita kampungnya. Kesan-kesan sulfur masih bersepah di serata kampung. Rumah ibunya Sapora dibina hasil dari batu keras sulfur. Sejuk juga. Maklumlah, berlantaikan tanah. Terkejut Rodiah melihat kakinya kotor melintasi dapur.

Keluarga Sapora kata, satu kampung sedia menunggu kehadiran mereka. Tapi semua dah pulang. Ayahnya senyum, tidak berkata. Bahasanya kurang difahami barangkali. Tapi ibunya, masyaAllah, ramah serta kuat ketawa. Satu perkataa, sepuluh kali ketawa. Macam kena ganja. Tapi Rodiah suka. Maklumlah, Rodiah pandai membawa diri. Ibunya Sapora pun suka sama Rodiah.

Hotel yang dipilih, mengalahkan istana. Agak terkesima, dalam hutan begini, punya hotel gempak gila? Ya. Cantik dan mewah, segalanya ada. Tiga bilik disewa. Walid bayar lagi. Yang pasti, Sapora dan Karim, tidur dirumah ibunya. Rodiah suka. Didit? Menangis tak terkira.

“Esok makan dirumah ibu Sapora ya, ummi?” Ummi tersentak.

-Drama raya ini adalah drama hiasan. Tiada kaitan dengan yang dah mati.-
-Siaran ulangan drama raya musim lalu ada di sini.-

Relaxing Redang @ Redang Kalong : The Party Ended

Again, I woke up a bit late due to “lepak” session last night. Two days before, it was up till 2am. Last night, it was up to 3pm! Crazy!

Since there was no more snorkeling for final day, we were forced to take bath before we had our breakfast. The mood changed in view of the fact that we will be going back to KL and face the cruel world. Clearly seen, the weather was gloomy and depressing, as if it was unbearable to let us went away from the island. 

The vinegar thingy had helped hubby a lot. The swell went away and left no mark at all. Thank god. Hubby then can walk and run without any pain to bear. So we walked to the jetty and snapped few pictures with hubby and Suci as the subject.

The rain started to drizzle. The hotel owner, AB Lee, advised us to rush into the boat, before it started raining heavily, and before the wave got wilder. This time, all bags were under the roof.

While riding on the bumpiness boat, we did twice of Mexican wave. It was cute to see it captured in Dan’s video. (Click link at the end of the post.)

The rain stopped once we reached the Merang jetty. While waiting for another minibus/van, some of us went for quick shopping. Dan, Byya, Fatt, and I, bought ourselves Redang/Dive t-shirts, while Kak Anash went crazy and bought ALL turtle keychains! Hahaha!

Once the van arrived, I quickly dealt with the abang driver, to get us to Pasar Payang, ICT (“ikan celop tepong”), and the best “losong” stall. Instead of free land transfer straight to bus station/airport, we agreed to pay RM50 to that abang, to bring us to these places.

On the way to Redang Kalong office, the Chinese uncle (driver) then drove to one “keropok lekor” stall. He told us that this stall “do business not for untung one”. Hahaha! Ya right! That makcik should have loved us very much, since we bought all her “losong”.

We then stopped at Redang Kalong office and left our bags. We squeezed 11 of us in a van, while Kak Anash called a ride from her local office, to drive another 3 of us. The driver left us at Pasar Payang and we quickly had window shopping. Well, those batik, pelikat, sampin, were too expensive lah! So we ended up having light lunch at one of the foodcourt.

We were told to get back to Redang Kalong office by 3pm. So by 2.30pm, we gathered and walked back to the designated place. IN HOT WEATHER! EVEN HOTTER THAN SNORKELING TIME! Argh! 

ICT was located just before the airport, so we took our sweet time to eat. All seafoods were placed in a plate, according to its price. I grabbed two plates with one crab on it, and I was pretty darn sure that I heard that kakak said, it was RM5 per plate. Wow, its affordable! WHO KNOWS, when I paid for my food, the total was RM25!! Pfft!! Fine…I paid.

We bye-bye Kak Anash, MasZuber, Dan, and Skin’s family, as we headed to the airport. Aside Skin’s family who drove back to KL, Kak Anash and Dan flew back via Firefly, while MasZuber and her sisters took a bus ride.

After quick jamak, we went into the departure hall, where Fatt’s souvenir (from Danny/John) was detained. A pair of steel chopstick from Korea! Like…huh? Was that a weapon to you? Okay, I rephrased. Was Fatt’s face look like terrorist? Hahaha!

The delayed flight, again, delayed even longer. Pfft! To cut the story short, we arrived at LCCT and everyone went back home, safely, with gratified smile on each and everyone’s face. We had fun, I can ensure that. We had blast, I can ensure that. We had true friendship, I can ensure that. We want another trip together? I DEFINITELY CAN ENSURE THAT!

To #TravelholicAwesome, BIG THANKS for the memorable trip, guys! USS was our first, Taiping was our second, Redang was our third. More to come? YUP! So don't stop counting!

Note : Watch #TravelholicAwesome memorable video by Dan Ariff, here. 
Check out these moment:
0:33 second, where I played American Darth Vader
0:47 second, where I had a jumping somersault
2:45 second, where we had Mexican wave

2:47 second, where Danny/John enter-frame with Janggel dancing on the right!

Relaxing Redang @ Redang Kalong : The Party Revealed

I woke up a bit late due to TT session last night. It was so good to wake up and find that you are at the beach, slothful around, forget whatever you have back in the office. Heaven!

We went down and met the rest at the canteen, again, the long table was ours that no one can deny. Looking at everyone’s face, none of us had taken morning shower, maklumlah, we gonna snorkel again later kan.

Beforehand, hubby and I played ping pong for 3 sets. Sadly, he won! Cis! It was a closeeeee fight! We then changed to swimming attire, applied sun block, walked to the jetty, and hopped into the boat. De javu? Yeah, we did it yesterday. The same routine that everyone should undergo while in Redang Kalong.

“Where’s the Marine Park ticket?” Hubby asked me. “In the waterproof bag.”

“Mas, we are going to Marine Park, aite?” I asked MasZuber, our group leader.

“No…they gonna take us to somewhere else. Marine Park will be in the afternoon.” She explained.

There were 9 of us who wish to do a discovery scuba diving but Redang Kalong can only guide 3-4 divers at a time. So we had to pass the amazing diving session since we wanted to have it in a group. Gile, tanak berpisah kan hahaha!

As usual, the boat transfer was done 200 meters away from the jetty and off we went to an island called Ekor Tebu. Gosh, I swear, they have funny names for surrounding islands. Some were called, Pasir Mak Kepit, Pasir Mak Simpan, Pulau Kerengga Besar, Pulau Susu Dara, but the winner goes to Pasir Macham Ayam! HAHAHAHA! You are cursing someone or what? Macham Hayam!

Before the boat driver came, I acted being one. Looking at the boat driver, it reminded me of my dad. Having a dad (Pak Ein) who crazy with sea, boat, fishing, and sleep with his fishing rods, I am used to sea and beaches since I was a kid. (I know how to fish, trust me! And I used to catch sembilang, pari, and kerapu you knowww…) Almost every year, our vacation should have beaches or boats. I bet, my dad will go crazy if he sees these Yamaha 250 twin engines!

Once reached, Anuar asked everyone to jump into the sea, for him to show around. I quickly asked Dan to jump with style. But he did it differently by “walking” on the air and jump off! Hahaha! Followed by Danny/John and few others, with normal jumps. Anuar then asked me to jump, so I decided, to have semi somersault like what my bro and I used to do. IT WAS FUN! Until my back hit the water! Hahahaha! Sakit jugak woi! (But this was not the photo where I did the somersault berpusing. It's in the video.)

The snorkel guide, Anuar, then swam further and asked us to follow. He dived and showed us the anemone, Nemo’s habitatation. He also dived down to collect another sea cucumber, this time, it’s purely black and slimy! Ewww!

“Who wants to see black furry fish?” He hollered. “Nakkk! Nakkkk!” I swear, everyone answered.

“Ok, when I say one two three, all of you, submerge and see. Ok?” He instructed.

“OKAY!” Wah, beria!

“One, two, three!” And all of us, hold our breath, and submerged.

I can CLEARLY see…his HAIRY legs, waving to us! “HAHAHAHAHAHA BENGONGGGG! That was a good one, Anuar!”

The current was quite strong and we were called to swim towards one small beachside. While swimming, we saw couple of small jellyfishes, boucing up and down.

“RUNNNNNNNNN!” We shouted and swam even faster towards the beach! One of the snorkel guides kicked on top of the jellyfish, pressing it down under. Our hero! Hahaha! Eh no, Kak Anash’s hero! (Well, she got special treatment from this Chinese guy, who brought her around the boat, and she got to see baby shark! Why she was treated that way? Coz she’s a TAN SRI!)

Once arrived at the beachside, we gathered and faced the boat. From the boat, Kak Anash snapped few pics of us and she had to zoom coz we were quite far from the boat. “Man…we swam that far?? How do we go back??” We were forced to! Else, we will ended up in Survivor! (And eat each other…well, MasMZ looks yummeh!)

On the boat, for the third time, MasZuber puked. I don’t really get it. She loves beach, but she’s seasick. Eh? And she totally puked out everything that she ate during breakfast! I guess, it was a feast for the fish! Hahaha! “Puk-a-licious!”

We arrived and everyone back to their room, except for hubby and I, who loosened up at the beach bench, right in front of Skin’s room. I called Sami and asked him to play sand castle with me. He tried few times but failed, so I asked him to water the sand, as it would be easier for him to mould the castle. And he succeeded! Yeay!

Later, MasMZ, Fatt, Byya, and Lily joined us and grabbed Sami’s toys, and went crazy! I doubt, when the said they had never played this during early days. Sure or not?? Hahaha! I thought we had better, cooking rice with sand, cooking veges with leaves, and preparing tea with soil, playing “kawin-kawin”? Hahaha! (Gambar neelopak ni lagi!)

We then changed into dry clothes and had buffet lunch. Each and everyone had suntanned face now. Hahaha! (I had the worst!) But being in Redang, under the blue sky, looking at the blue sea, with #TravelholicAwesome with me, priceless! After a long chit chat like we’ve never met before, we went back to the room and performed what necessary. Again, we changed back to our swim attire and got ready for Marine Park visit. Fiuh! Snorkeling again?! I LOIKE!

This time, the distance was quite close. Despite the close journey, MasZuber still puked! Hahaha! It was funny though I know she suffered much to empty her stomach. Sorry dear, but I still wonder.

Those are fishes! Kid you not!

Marine Park was as expected, with toilets, vendors, and what not. We gathered at the right side of the beach where we left all our things to Ely’s family, since Suci had a quick baby nap. We then started to get crazy and had fun with group jumping photo session. It wasn’t easy to fit everyone in the frame but hell yeah, we did it! Winners were Byya and Fatt, who had the highest jump in ALL pics! Crazy…practice make perfect, so they said.

Anuar then called everyone and we followed him, swam underneath the jetty. He told us that he’s going to show us some good photo of eel! We waited for him while he dived with our rented underwater camera, which later turned foggy. Demyuh! Luckily, Anuar managed to snap three pics of the yellow dotted 8-footed eel! GOSH!

“Where’s hubby?” I looked around. Bini tak ingat laki, camni la.

There I saw, he was waiting and accompanying Tan Sri, at one of the jetty poles. Hahaha! Kind-hearted guy, he was. (Mati la puji laki sendiri. Dia slalu cakap aku tak puji dia.)

We then swam further up towards the shipwreck, where our group stopped at the floating barrels. Only few of us continued to explore the outer part of the beautiful shipwreck that is now, became the habitats of underwater creatures. (Scary gak tengok lama-lama dalam air tu!) We tried to have a group foot photo (like what we had on the beach) by clang to each other but we failed. Hahaha!

After an hour of exploring, we swam back to the beach, where hubby and I had double pedaling, assuming that it would be faster. Hahaha! We then back to the boat and headed back to the transfer area. Since there was only one boat came, 5 of us need to ride the small boat back to Redang Kalong.

Had enough with snorkeling? Neah! The beach boy was sporting enough to bring us, Na, Danny/John, MasZuber, Dan, MasMZ, and I, to see Nemo! It wasn’t far from the jetty and can you believe that that’s the only place (at the area) where you can see a family of Nemo? Right IN FRONT of Redang Kalong!

The beach boy taught us how to get close to Nemo, where we were needed to put our hands off, but just the face. He experimented to us, and guess what, Nemo came out and bit his mask! Hahaha! Cute! Danny/John and Dan tried but with MasZuber around, we had lots of fun! She kept on TOUCHING the anemone several times, despite of yelling/shouting at her to keep her hands away! Hahaha! I laughed while snorkeled and Dan can hear my laugh straight from the snorkeling set! Can you do that??

We then went back and asked the rest to get us some keropok lekor, since we had wet clothes. Yummeh! We spent the evening with chit-chating, laughing, before we changed for dinner. 

Right before dinner, hubby suddenly came to me and said “I got stung by bee!” 

I was freaked out!

I yelled at him “Where did you get this?” and he answered “I stepped on it. I didn’t see it coming.”

I asked him to sit down at the canteen steps, where I saw he already put some oil on it. His left foot started swelling. Lily and Na was there to help, when suddenly, Na suggested to put vinegar on it.

“Vinegar? Then we cook?”

“Hahaha! Cawan got stung before and…” All the funny stories came out. Lily ran to get the vinegar, tissue, and hansaplast, and I wiped it on several times. It was swelling up! Please, don’t panic! I am panic! I don’t want him to fell sick, what happen to our Redang trip?! Wah sayang laki!

He then back to the room and took a rest, while I continued “lepaking” with few of us, watching the garbage collector, walking and towing the small boat (due to low tide), while waiting for MasZuber’s sister and friends came back.

When the dinner time came, I called hubby up and he came with swelling foot. Pity him. The swell didn’t reduce yet. We ate like crazy since it was BBQ buffet. Yummeh!

The moment that we were waiting for has arrived. The gift-exchange session! We were told that whoever picked a person’s name, need to guess before we opened the gift. Everyone was thrilled coz no one knows what others have prepared! We didn’t put any price limit, but I told them, if it was a pen, I will poke the person’s face! Hahaha!

Started with Danny/John as the president, he launched the session with a short speech. He was the first one to pick, and he got Cawan’s gift, the one that everyone was trying to get for! AND IT WAS A SPONGEBOB PUZZLE! Drama has started when Sami grabbed the gift and carried it along, thinking that it was his! Hahaha! (Which he finally got it since her mom did a barter system with Danny/John!)

Whoever name that was picked by the first person, need to be the second picker. So the list went on and on. As I could remember, these would be the list (in random order).

Janggel – bath accessories by Hasrul

Fatt –  Wonders of the world book by Na

Byya – moneybank camera by me

Skin – south and north island NZ’s FM by Fatt

Me – travel pillow by MasMZ

MasZuber – varieties of country FMs by Dan

Paie – Holland wooden shoes by Shahrul

Na – Sri Lanka t-shirt by Lily

Shahrul – Wales cloth piece by Anash

Cawan – bath accessories by Skin

Lily – AA flight model by MasZuber

Anash – handmade clutch by Paie

MasMZ – blanket by Janggel
Dan - varieties of country FMs by Danny/John
Hasrul - sumpah tak ingat dah!!!

I was told that Danny/John was so shocked and jealous when he thought that Byya got a REAL camera from me. Hahaha! And one funny thing had happened. Earlier on, I was called as “mak esah”. To add the superstitious, I got MasMZ’s gift, where she wrapped it with red and yellow scarfs! Once I held the gift, suddenly the wind blew my hair, exactly like what we saw in ghost story! SCARY but yet FUNNY! Kan?

We continued the night with a game called Charade, where we were divided into two groups, according to FM colors by Kak Anash. Skin became the jury, where she gave the movie and song title for each group. The fun began when MasMZ tried to virtualize a ghost, with “toncet” kat kepala! Teletubbies?! Hahaha! It was Hantu Bonceng, for god sake!

I then, got Pusara Di Lebuhraya, and tell me, how am I supposed to do a highway?! I quickly sat down and cried at batu nesan, fine, Dan got it right, from kubur he changed to pusara. Highway…? Ok, I quickly drive a car, open the window, pay the toll, and came out from the car, be in the toll post, and receive the money! Hell yeah! Dan and MasMZ managed to answer it! Hahahaha! Crazy!

We lost when MasZuber didn’t give a clear clue on Smooth Criminal. She just swayed to left and right, smiling, like drunken master! Hahaha! That’s what you called smooth dear? You should have shown your smooth skin la sayang. And criminal? I saw she kicked and punched here and there. Was that a criminal to me? No. Hahaha! Cute little monster, she was! Especially when Dan was around. Lalalala... 

Note : Watch #TravelholicAwesome memorable video by Dan Ariff, here. 

Check out these moment:
0:33 second, where I played American Darth Vader
0:47 second, where I had a jumping somersault
2:45 second, where we had Mexican wave

2:47 second, where Danny/John enter-frame with Janggel dancing on the right!

Relaxing Redang @ Redang Kalong : The Party Started

Team Bus Adik Beradik - 9.30pm from Putrajaya Sentral

Biqque, Shahrul, Fatt, Janggel, MasMZ, Anash

Team Bus Transnasional - 10.00pm from Hentian Duta

Chawana, Danny/John, Lily, MasZuber, Byya, Dan, Ana (Adik MasZuber), Raja (Kawan Adik MasZuber) 

Team Happy Family - Morning from Kuala Terengganu

Elly, Hasrul, Sami, Suci

Guest - Morning from JB

Paie

As far as I can remember, Redang trip was originally initiated by Fatt, a year ago, which later, was fully taken over by MasZuber as the organizer, since she knew pretty well on the island, particularly Redang Kalong. The beauty of this group trip started when the whole gang members of TravelholicAwesome agreed to be part of this event, except for Dr. Shahrule who was called to save people’s life.

The whole idea was to get together and have fun. Period. That was where we came out with a new Blackout Day with a tagline “Santai Bersama Retis” since we thought we are one. The fun added when our Mr.President Danny/John “killing us softly” in his crazy theme where we are needed to be in red, white, and navy blue attire. And so we agreed.

It was a 3days 2night getaway at Redang Kalong, a worthy package that MasZuber grabbed during Matta Fair where we booked 3 couple rooms (RM345 per pax) and 2 sharing rooms for boys and girls (RM318 per pax). We departed on the same day (Thursday) but we took separate buses due to our locations. Both Na and I decided to get a comfy bus for each group with 1+2 seats in a row, but I proudly declared that my bus, Adik Beradik, was far better, faster, and comfortable, due to its new condition, technology, system, and what not.

It has been 15 years since I rode my last express bus ride, and being “brain-contaminated” with countless fatal bus accident over the news, my phobia on taking bus ride has piled up. I forced myself to get the front seat, right behind the bus driver, just to ensure that the bus driver won’t fall asleep. I told hubby that I don’t mind singing or jumping the whole way up to Kuala Terengganu, just to keep the bus driver wide awake.

But with this improved German breaking scheme and improved drive-line system, the bus moved super confident, smooth and perfect! The mammoth-sized leather seat, wide armrest, spacious leg-room with support system, seat belt for first-row passengers, smooth engine (ideal for gossip session), everything was voila!

One thing that I couldn’t tolerate was the “everest-cold” air condition! I cannot tahan! Morever, looking at Fatt who was totally covered up in batik sarong, Janggel in pelikat sarong, when I had nothing to show off, I quickly took out my telekung and wrapped my whole body like pocong! (Tanak kalah!) Hahaha!

I constantly texting Na while Janggel texting Danny/John to update our gossip/location. Clearly our Adik Beradik bus was merrier/ahead of their’s. We then stopped at RnR Temerloh for quick refreshment, changed driver, and continued our journey.

We arrived at Kuala Terengganu Bus Station at 5.00am and ate “nasik lemak cop biru” while waiting for other group to arrive. They reached the bus station at 6.00am and finally, TravelholicAwesome united as one, with an additional of guest blogger, Paie, that was invited by Lily in the replacement of Wahidah, who earlier replacing Fatt’s friend.

After performed Subuh prayer, we waited for Redang Kalong’s van that was arranged to pick us up. While return boat transfer was included in the package, return land transfer was chargeable for RM30 per pax, regardless from/to bus station or airport. We were divided into two vans, which later we found that the other van went to Chinatown for photo sessions (thanks to Uncle Cina driver), while the other van got into BIG drama with the Malay driver! My group ended up waiting for the other group at Merang Jetty, for almost an hour!

Thanks to street vendors. I had no choice but to get myself a pair of beach pants and beach hat (recommended and chose by Fatt), while Fatt get herself couples of fridge magnets and thongs.

When everyone was there (at Merang Jetty), we met the owner of Redang Kalong and had a quick introduction while his boys loaded in our bags on the boat. On the boat? Exactly! All big bags were arranged nicely (without been tied up) on the boat, which we thought can be bounced out into the sea any time soon!

Our prediction mishit when no bags fell into the sea, though the boat bounced hundred times. Kudos to “pakcik driver” who seemed so effortless in steering the boat. Well, he didn’t drive the boat yesterday right? “Islanders” know island very well, said my dad.

We couldn’t stop “ohhh” and “ahhh” along the way, especially when there was a color changed of the water. From blue to turquoise to green, we couldn’t guess what made the water turned out that way. Not until we snorkled!

It was a sunny bright day and each of us started to get crazy coz we wanted to swim so badly. I looked at myself and sighed…I haven’t swim yet, and I already had a welcome suntanned. Great!

Since Redang Kalong offered a free-flow drinks, we lepak at the canteen while they prepared our rooms. 

Once ready, we went into our rooms and changed to our theme attire for group photo session. We chose the sea-side and did funny pose, almost all the time, and I swear, we were blessed with each others! From virtual to reality, with hiccups here and there, we still unite as one AWESOME travelholics. 

We laughed like hell during the photoshoot when some of us tried to steal the limelight, overshadowed, and what not (who else…?) The coolest guy, Dan, then set tripod and we had a full blast of group photo.

And I swear, the color that we chose were superb! (I was THE flag pole, Miss Amareka, Mr. Potato, and last but not least, Darth Vader?)

 

We then had buffet lunch at the longest table ever and I was pretty sure that, we were quite outstanding compared to other visitors. Even the beach boys like us! They were very sociable and friendly, especially Anuar, a big fat diver who loved to listen to gossip! Haha!

After performed “jamak” on the bed (I felt like gymnast who tried to balance on two feet while standing up…hahaha!), we went down in our swim attire. The good thing about Redang Kalong is, they will notify the guess by shouting “snorkelinggggg snorkelinggggg”. It was fun you know! And they knock the pole like “ting ting ting” for lunch. Macam asrama kan? Kihkih!

Almost everyone rented snorkeling set with life jacket, except for hubby and I (only life jacket), for we brought our own goggle. We applied sunblock while waiting for the rest, before we hopped in the transit boat. For about 100 meters, we were transferred to another big fisherman’s boat, headed to the designated snorkeling area called Pasir Akar, part of Pulau Pinang (not Penang ya.)

(I have limited underwater pictures since we have yet to share pictures. See snorkeling pictures at MasMZ and Anash.)

The water was crystal clear! We can clearly see sergeant fish, trigger, dory, parrot fish, right beneath us. So many of them! Anuar (our dedicated snorkeling guide) showed us some sea cucumber and starfish. After 2 hours of swimming, drinking salty sea water, laughing, we went back to Redang Kalong, for tea. But before that, we had to change to dry clothes coz they disallowed any water dripping on the floor. Cool!

Tea was fun, again, at the longest table that officially owned by us. We continued to explore the other side of the island, by walking by the beach, straight into the bush where we had to pass by one abandoned hotels. Scary! We finally reached Laguna Redang and enjoy the view. Guess what, sands were whiter, waves were higher, guests were sexier. Hahaha!

Half of us went back earlier since Ely was having Sami and Suci with us (it was nearly Maghrib). The other half followed 30 minutes later, where we met at the same long table for buffet dinner. The food was good and we ended the day with travel stories, funny stories, but to top it all, we had a super happening karaoke time! We conquered the room, though the song selections were super outdated! Like I said, the range stopped at 1980s! Hahaha! But we had to agree with the “mat saleh” that our voice was melodious. Well, he said so! Hubby and I did play pool for a set, before I sneaked in the karaoke room again. I can’t help it!

Note : Watch #TravelholicAwesome memorable video by Dan Ariff, here. 
Check out these moment:
0:33 second, where I played American Darth Vader
0:47 second, where I had a jumping somersault
2:45 second, where we had Mexican wave
2:47 second, where Danny/John enter-frame with Janggel dancing on the right!