Sunday, July 08, 2007
Wishing it could start over again ..
Back from my holiday, which felt like it was a really short-lived dream. Ever woke from sleep in the middle of a nice, warm dream, and wishing you could fall right back to sleep and into that same dream again? And for once, I didn't complain about not having internet access. =p
The bus trip was pretty disgusting, although it was bearable. First thing we did when we arrived was to just soak up the pretty room, unpack, and wonder what to do next. Eventually, we discovered a 5-hour snorkelling trip and signed up for it - best decision ever!
First sight that greeted us - swarms of ikan bilis (I think)
The room - not exactly "seaview", but close enough, and right next to the beach!
Inside the room
At 5pm, we were at the beach when we suddenly decided to buy our own snorkelling gear - once again, the perfect thing to do, as it turned out. About knee-deep into the sea, there were nice rainbow-coloured fishes and some striped damselfish that seriously looked like clownfish. It was getting dark, and the sea sloped off into an eerie, deep blue expanse, so we freaked out and headed back instead of venturing any further. Just spent the rest of the evening chilling at the beach. We seriously got hooked onto snorkelling that evening, and decided to spend the entire time there doing nothing but snorkelling! Haha .. not really, but it was seriously good fun.
We walked out of the resort to grab some tom yam for dinner - waited like almost half an hour before the food arrived, but my! It was seriously worth the wait.
Got up early the next morning to look for my watch - I lost it the previous day before dinner, probably at the swimming pool/jacuzzi. Was seriously upset - it wasn't an awfully expensive one, but still, it was a gift and I hate losing things that people give me. We eventually gave up the search and went off for the day-long snorkeling trip. For some mysterious reason, we hit off pretty well with the boss, Wasabi (yes, I know!) who arranged an almost-private trip. There were some 20 people in total, but Yx and I got to go in this small boat with only 4 people in it. Unfortunately, the sun was horrid that day - i.e. no sun at all, so the sea was choppy and before we even reached Renggis Island, Yx was totally soaked from spray. We were seriously blown away by the corals on the island! Seriously. I was so awed, inspired and humbled all at the same time, to see those magnificent table Acropora in their native habitat. What's more, we were so lucky!! Managed to see a sea turtle, muahahaha. Our guide tried to dive in to catch the guy, but obviously the turtle made a getaway - it had 4 fins, while the guide only had a pair. We spent almost 2 hours on that island, going deeper and deeper till it got scary, actually.
Before we went for the holiday, Yx and I travelled all the way to AMK to get this little camera pouch that is waterproof for 5 metres - it's called Dicapak, and at $70, it's a fraction of the cost of professional marine cases, and works well too! Only problem is, the plastic in front of the camera lens causes a lot of distortion, so my pics of the turtle didn't turn out well at all. =( We only managed to get the hang of it later on.
Next stop was the marine park, which was the part I enjoyed the least. Too deep to see the bottom, and tonnes - TONNES - of fish. We tried feeding them bread from our hands, but later decided otherwise as the silly things were actually attacking us.
Finally, we got to this tiny isle right off our hotel. You seriously wouldn't have suspected what lay beneath such a boring-looking island. It was yet another very scary experience - we swam round the entire island, and there was one part of it that was unprotected sea. Horribly strong currents, and I was barely able to swim - the currents just sort of got hold of us and pushed us around. And the part where it was calm, it was SWARMING with sea urchins. Not a good idea at all. We spotted these strange, bright-blue bulbs on the sea bed though, and later realised that those were the bases of sea anemones.
At the end of it, we still had a 30-minute snorkel trip that came with the hotel package. That, we traded off for a 1-hour bicycle rental, and cycled to Tekek village instead.
Hmmm ... was desperate for a better tan, so Yx managed to convince me to buy (and wear) a singlet. Seriously, it felt oddly naked to be in one. Saw some variegated tapioca, and ate roadside chendol!
On our way back, something amusing happened. I was just saying a minute ago that we should have rented a motorcycle instead of pushing our bikes up those steep slopes, when 2 caucasian guys zoomed past us on the hill, promptly lost power and started sliding backwards on the motorcycle! They too ended up pushing their (much heavier) bikes, but eventually managed to ride on it and zoom off again.
Once again, another beautiful sunset, with a yacht in the distance. To our horror, both Yx and I got tipsy on a single can of Heineken that evening - now I'm convinced that beer isn't good on empty stomachs!
For the last day, the sun came out in its full glory. We leapt into the water as soon as we were done with breakfast. We swam all the way out, about 40-50 metres from shore, and what greeted us was totally unimaginable - we never knew a reef like that existed so near to us!
The reef was STREWN with giant clams - about 8-10 per square metre at some places, both Tridacna crocea and T.maxima. We managed to dig a couple out from the rocks:
Yx with a nudibranch. Loads of sea cucumbers too, and some ugly starfish, but those were really too creepy to be picked up.
The house reef, just off the shore near our room
Staghorn-type Acropora, which were very popular with all sorts of fish which hid amongst the branches.
Pink table Acropora - this one was about the size of a dinner table.
Mystery of the hiding starsI was all set for taking beautiful night-time shots of the sky, away from the light pollution. Froggy, tripod, everything. On day 1, the stars were strewn all over the skies, familiar constellations, and some totally new. But on the way back to the room to get my stuff out to shoot them, heck, every single damn one disappeared!! The EXACT same thing happened again on our second night. Was slightly pissed off. Did a 30-second exposure anyway, hoping to catch stray light - but no. It was just way too cloudy at night. Another time, perhaps!
Yx's honour rollYx was seriously at her best this time - she beat me umpteen times at spotting the most interesting stuff! Here's some of the prize-winning discoveries:
1. Shy-faced crab - how she managed to find one in the sand, I'll never know
2. Eel - as I was playing with the giant clams, she found a hole with an eel sticking out of it! Didn't manage to get any clear shots though, alas!
3. Blue encrusting Montipora - a brilliant sky blue
4. Spider conch!!
Pics of the crab and conch to come soon!
Will definitely love to be back there again. Wish that I had a time turner. Having a nasty case of the blues now.
Wenky
11:46 PM
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