Tioman island Marine Park

Need any intro to that?

There you go...

It's just a few mins drive away from the main town of Tekek and Berjaya resort.

Our gear wasn't quite complete. In fact, those masks that I bought for them for the Phuket trip last year had shrunk (well, not exactly. Actually, they have grown out of it) and were not quite suitable for their use anymore. I've got to buy some proper ones for them for our next island holiday.

Who wants these snorkeling masks?? Going, going....

Fortunately, my friend had a float for us to use as their dotter wasn't feeling very well and didn't want to go into the water.

I was very worried about the 2 boys swimming to the platform from the shore with just a baby float. And is hub really a reliable person to make sure they are ok? (prayed and kept fingers crossed only)

They spent quite a long time there. The girls and ladies, meanwhile, hang around looking after all the bags by the beach. Later, we felt bored and decided to carry all the stuffs and go to the pier to see the fish closer.

Don't they look delicious? mmmm.....

After awhile, meimei asked to go into the water and I had hub to escort her over.

Another while later, I myself couldn't tahan anymore and went into the water too. It was just simply thrilling to be swimming around with those fish. Love it! Need I say more?

When we were back to KL, boy oh boy, I can hardly look at myself in the mirror. To say I gained a few shades darker is SO understated. It was such a pain to see my reflection! That's the price to pay for all the fun we had. Sigh!!!!!

Short detour at the waterfalls.

The driver for our land tour was very agitated somehow. We had assumed the driver was specifically OUR driver alone, as promised by the tour operator but as I had said before, service is damn poor. They promise one thing, and deliver another. Get your act together already!

So back to this driver. I guess he was furious with us for lingering too long at Juara beach and sabotage all his other plans to ferry other customers around. When we eventually reach the waterfall, he told us to be back in the car by 1pm (or something like that) which was slightly less than 30 mins from that drop off time. He marah-marah threatened if he couldn't see us at that time, he would drive away to pick other customers and then we would have to wait until 2 hours later for him.

All of us FUMED!

Anyway, we took off to the waterfall. Which was about 5 mins walk downhill. And greeted by this sight.

Lovely. Set our mind away from the angry driver for awhile. But still, how dared he!

Waterfalls make me reminisce the good old days where I hang out with different group of friends, getting wet and having fun. I used to have LOTS of fun on a waterfall trip. And we did make lots of those trips. Ipoh has many of those waterfalls, surprisingly.

In fact, my brothers and I grew up playing almost every other day at the small waterfall on the stream running from Kledang Hill. We just love that place! We imagined ourselves in different place at the same waterfall and truly, it was our playground. My heart is so warmed just thinking what a simply carefree and great childhood we had.

The water was ICY cold. But they can't resist a war here! 4 boys vs 1 man. Fun just looking at them.
What a pity we could only spend a short time here.

But we heard there's another waterfall which could only be reached after a 30 mins hike. Not sure which one is better, but I think we were shortchanged from the whole package we paid. All of us think the land tour was a ripoff.

YO! Don't splash unto me, I can't afford to spoil my camera!

2 family pictures for remembrance sake. How far we come to now, splendid! 20 years to be exact.

Lazy morning at Juara beach

On a brand new day of our Tioman holiday, the tour operator that we engaged took us cross-island to another lonely deserted beach on the east side (I think)

There was nothing much to do, the kids just jumped around in the sea, splash around, play with sand and just get tanned.


I took cover under the shade as you can imagined from the picture I took above.

My couple friend went off to check out the place whilst doing some "naughty" stuffs, I suppose.

Their daughter wasn't feeling very well and sat on the beach chair together with me.

The kids just enjoyed themselves silly, I guess it was better having more company around to splash water around with. Then again, most of the times, I see them playing on their own as well. Equally happy.

Just love her chubby succulent little fingers, better chomp on them before they disappeared into thin slender ones. :)

Soon, meimei was doing cartwheels on the beach. Too cute!

Korkor just loves to cry for HELP on the sand whenever he's on a beach. Hmm...

Later, my couple friend came back with a brief report on their findings. They suggest to get some snacks and drink from just the nearby eatery as we should be having our lunch there from the itinerary.

While they hang on at that place, my hub and I went off to do our "thing" too....

Bought a burger which costs 4 bucks, but hub had 3.90 only with him and was hoping he would get 10 cents discount, but the guy took his 100 bucks and went off to get it changed for him. Sucker!

We came by some chalets and hub talked to one of the guy who was staying there. He said they were here for a fishing trip and chalet cost very cheap, I forgot how much it was. They chatted for awhile and I looked around, looking bored and just wanna go back to the beach chair and close my eyes. Boy! Am I anti social or what! But I just couldn't bring myself to join in the chat with a stranger old man with his nipples staring back at me! Yucks! Why do men NOT wear a singlet at least??!! I find it so distasteful.

Saw "Wilson", probably his cousin. (Castaway's Wilson? Watched that movie before?)

Lingered around for quite sometime at Juara while didi and the other boy had their long poo break, ate some food, played some games, drank some fresh coconut juice, face massaged by the awful comfy wind and that was it!

Snorkeling in Coral Island and more

One of the most interesting and enjoyable activity during an island holiday is going for snorkeling and island hopping in real boats, out to the open sea. Scary, yet exciting.

We asked around and get different quotations for the packages we could get. Basically the locals there would tempt you with a whole package of a day out to the islands, and another day land tour which includes exclusivity of boat and 4WD trips. Before paying for the downpayment, whatever we asked for, they sure say boleh, boleh. Everything! But when it comes to the real thing, sorry la, boss, ini rosak, itu tak pakai.

Really! If service is first class, I'm sure the tourist business would flourish more because it has so MUCH potential.

The boat ride to our first stop that day is a 10 min very bumpy ride out in the open sea to the nearby biggest islet (I think) called Coral Island.

The 2 boys in front who had the bumpiest ride! And no fret for them, they just let themselves hang loose. And enjoyed it so much!

But didi was hanging on tight for dear life! Perhaps seated backwards made it worse for him, but nothing we said could convince him to let go and relax himself. He was so worried, the worry on his face made us all worry for him.

Truth be told, I was very worried myself too. I was so afraid of being thrown into the sea. But I tried to relax all my body muscles and it did work! It's so important to just go with the flow when riding in choppy waters!

When we arrived at Coral Island, oh wow! I just felt the sensational ride was just so worth it. The island is a paradise! Awesome fine sand and crystal clear turquoise blue water and gazing into the sea, SO MANY colorful fishes swimming around!

I was so excited to go into the water right there!

Truth be told again, I have a fear with snorkeling gears. Somehow I am not very comfortable breathing into the mouthpiece and so afraid of inhaling water into my poor lungs! Furthermore, meimei was clinging to me like glue and I had to make sure she feels comfortable and secured. It wasn't easy. But then, yeah, I had fun, we had fun.

There's really nothing like swimming with the fishes and everytime I do, it just amaze me.

Whilst I was swimming, oohing aahing at the beautiful and cute fishes, I regretted not getting a disposable underwater camera to capture the scene I saw right before my eyes. I thought well, there should be tons of pro pictures all over the internet as well, but really, there's nothing than looking at your own pictures which you take somehow.

Picture shamelessly taken from the internet... shhh!!!!

That would have been about it though I remember seeing more colors of fishes than that. Gee, I wouldn't want to leave that island, had it not been 5 other stops to complete the whole league.

We went to the 2nd stop near to another tiny islet but no beaches. We were supposed to just jump into the sea from the boat and swim/ snorkel around. But the waves were way too huge and we couldn't manage to see and swim together. The guys said the coral around there looks great, but they can't handle the waves as well, what's more with our kids clinging to us or us holding to them for fear of being washed away by the waves. So, we made a brief stop and told the skipper to move on to the next spot.

He took us back to another part of the main island for lunch break. Lunch wasn't great, but good enough to fill our tummies.

Then we went to the Marine Park where the fish looked like those we could steam with shredded ginger with soya sauce and sink our teeth into. They look pretty big and dangerous as well, and we were all scared for a moment to swim with them. Well, we as in meimei and I lah, I think. The guys wasted no time though. There was a floating platform in the middle and it was great for snorkelers to take a breather or two. More pictures of those later.

We then moved on to the last league of our island hop adventure. This little islet seen from the beach in Berjaya, I forgot its name, is a popular spot for divers. Hearsay, the corals are stunning there, but I didn't see much.

The boat stopped right there where I took that picture above, and soon, everyone were in the water doing their own thing. Korkor and didi followed hub while meimei stayed with me. In just a short while, she was trembling and told me she felt cold. So I had this plan in mind to take her back to the boat, wrapped her up in towel and I would just swim around nearby to snorkel on my own for awhile. I asked her if she's ok with that and she agreed.

So I swam back to the boat.... which was like.... so freaking tough! The current just kept washing us away to the opposite direction and I was so exhausted!

As I made it back, I thought I would just stay around in the water near the boat. But really, the current was very strong and in no time, I was like so far away from her! As I kept my eyes on the boat and meimei, I felt very uneasy with the idea of leaving her alone with a stranger just like that. I asked myself if I am way too paranoid, but really, I think I wouldn't do that if given another chance.

I swam back to her quickly, which took a heave big effort again, and asked her if she wanna come with me into the water again. She said yes and I do feel relieved she was back by my side again, even though I wouldn't be able to see much of whats going on under the water. That, I decided, is of lower priority, compared to having her safe beside me and her having fun just swimming around in the open sea. Nothing else matters that much, eh? My little baby, I have goosebumps just thinking if something bad happens to her and I had been the negligent mom.

Well.

Suddenly, I saw the skipper putting on his flips and swam to the direction of the rest of our group. I think he was getting annoyed we were eating up in his working hours and he wanted to clock out already! Or perhaps he thought that the men were in dangerous water what with the strong current and he would be the hero to save them from harm. Either way, coz that was when he pulled hub and the boys back to the boat with an annoyed black long face. We didn't ask why, but that, I heard is a norm and the service that you will get from Tioman Island. Such a sore thumb from their counterpart, Redang.

Nevertheless, everyone had a great day. When we reached the resort, I suggested them to go to the pool and the kids jumped with joy. I myself stayed in the room to clean up all the stuffs and had a nice good shower myself, without the noise and fuss. So bliss. In perfect silence for just awhile.

Sleepovers a hit with kids these days

During the school holidays, korkor went over to his classmate's home for a sleepover. His FIRST sleepover.

Eek! I almost can't sleep that night!

But that little fella friend of his is ever so polite, asking me in a manja tone liddat, "auntieeee, can justin bibber (my son) come over to my house to sleep over tonight?" How to say NO to him?

Today, we reciprocate by asking him over this time, as he called and asked him to go to his house to play again.

We went for a splash at the pool, ate in and made him eat his vegetables which he hated, and I made them all watched movie at home together instead of playing Wii and computer games. Halfway through, they were complaining about boredom when we had to go out to fetch KT's cousin home from work. We took a joyride together, buying some roti canai back as supper.

Throughout his stay with us, I got to know their class teacher has about 5 favorite students and korkor falls into the list.

He's a very sweet fler too, always accommodating to didi and meimei's wishes, when each of them keeps pestering him to go and play with them.

It's always nice to know our kids' friends they make in school, isn't it? I do hope korkor and him can be friends for a long time as I really do like him, so polite and charming. Just like justin bibber. :)

Didi's 8th birthday picture

Celebrating him turning 8th this year in a very small scale.

But it took half a year for his birthday gift to arrive - his bicycle, with 2 training wheels STILL!

Korkor wants a bike too for his coming 11th birthday, and I said, "look, didi waited for almost 6 months for his, so all you need to do now is to be patient and wait" heh!

My winning bag

I hardly won anything in my life, and today I won a 4l bottle of motor oil without much effort.

Crazy.

All I had to do was to compete with 4 other ladies in a very crowded popular mall to be the first to form a line from the things in my bag or whatever on me. I didn't intend to participate but was sorta pushed into it after taking a picture with didi and meimei from a big tv screen showing a monster trying to eat us up but in futile as we were "protected" from this marketed product in my hands. Pretty awesome marketing ads we have nowadays, eh?

I was carrying my much loved bag and inside were 1 of the winning items - my scarf! Muahaha!! That was the winning streak I had! The emcee commented "wahh.. sure win la, liddat!". BUT the lady next to me was even crazier! She whipped out a jumping rope from her bag! WHY on earth she carries a jump rope in her bag around a mall?? Tell me!!!

Anyway, I WON! With all the other tissue papers I just nonchalantly tucked into my bag after eating out at Teppanyaki. Weird, because usually it would be papa doing all these silai stuff, but I really have no idea why I did today! I think somehow, it was pure luck, really pure good luck today.

SO there! A gift for my hub on Father's Day. He was beaming with delight more than me, while I hurriedly shoo-ed them away to go home, wishing noone I know saw me there! How un-ladylike it must had been, though I was very conscious not to lari cahaya wearing a lowcut dress. Yikes!

Berjaya Tioman Resort

Berjaya resorts had always been in my good books. That was after the experiences we had from Redang and Langkawi so far.

As for Tioman's, I shall say, it was quite a little bit of a disappointment since the standard was set so high and so had our expectations. Nevertheless, it was still a comfortable resort, though service could have been better than this.


My friend, CK, booked 2 connecting deluxe chalets for us all. We were checked in to our first floor.

One of the room has a king size bed and the other has 2 single beds. CK just chose without knowing which is which, and we got the 2 single beds' room. Hub called for a babycot each for meimei and the other family, even though they are waaaaaay bigger to be sleeping in a babycot already.

My first visit to Tioman was when korkor still in tummy, rather big that time too! Hub went for scuba diving at a nearby islet by himself, as I insisted to stay put in the room. He was crazy, pestering me to go with him at that time! Apart from that, I can hardly remember what we did on that short break we had, some 11 years ago.

This time, I told myself to really drink in the sights and sound of Tioman, but really, is there much difference from other island holidays we had?

To the kids, I think they feel it's all the same. Beach, pool are what they all care about, most importantly.

I noticed that the sandy beach is not as good as Redang though. The sand is not as fine and the waves are not as exciting. Seawater is crystal clear though. Nice.

While my couple friend stayed guard at the pool area, my hub and I lazed around by the beach. At one time, I gave him a massage and that gweiloh beside us jokingly asked "How much?". We had a pretty good laugh and a relaxing good time, even managed with a short nap. I enjoyed the breeze blowing on my face while listening to the soothing sound of the waves SO MUCH!

Our meals were mainly outside the resort, going for local kampung food. Hub treated us all to a buffet dinner one of the nights, but it was really a big disappointment with its spread. Certainly not as sumptuous as what we would have for the price we paid in other resorts.

The kids were upset to find the so called "Games room" was nothing to shout about, finding all the vending machines and everything else are all chargeable. But with 6 kids in tow, you think they will feel bored? They would just make endless noise regardless where they were, even in the room.

As for me, I didn't have the body scrub and massage I was so longing for. :(

And the plain iced water served free without being asked, like when I was in Phuket, at the poolside. *pout*

Boy! I think we are truly pampered lot that without these simple pleasures and luxuries, the trip didn't feel like 100% perfect.

Roadtrip KL - P.Tioman - KL

There are several ways going to P.Tioman. Surely by air would be the least hassle and fastest way of travelling. But when the pocket doesn't quite warrant it the best option given 4 adults and 6 kids in total, just console ourselves making it a roadtrip together would be more fun.

We woke up at an ungodly hour of 6am on the first day of school holidays to get ready for this trip. Darn! Even earlier than usual schooldays!

By the time we reached our friend's home to pick them up, it was almost 8+. Shoved all our luggage in, (a picture will come later to show how many bags we had) and decided to have our breakfast in Seremban since it's not usual we do on normal days.

The men discussed about the various routes to take and we had Papago to guide us. CK said they had used the Plus highway before, all the way to Kluang and exit to cross to the east side to Mersing. There's supposedly another route that would take us straight to the east apparently, exiting from the Plus at Seremban, toll free and double lane, taking an equal amount of travelling time up to Tg. Gemuk and from there on, head down to Mersing.

We had not much time to waste for we had to ensure we do not miss the boat, and the boats don't really operate frequently and all day.

But we still can't resist the temptation of durians by the roadside.

Mmmm..... yummy durians! Satisfied our craving and continued our journey, braving for the durian burps in the car soon.

The kids behaved rather well that day, and soon the 4 at the back were sleeping on each other.

One of the kiddo had carsickness and threw up couple of times. Lucky his mom was well prepared and there was no mess or smell in the car. Else, everyone would follow suit, I think. The route wasn't very winding, just about a little from a certain juncture, and then it was straight on for almost the rest of the trip.

Hubs was the one driving all the way, bless him. The rest of us took some catnaps as we slept little the night before. When we were not sleeping, it was, so to speak, pretty fun chatting all the way and the roadtrip was not as long as it seemed.

We reached Tg. Gemuk at about 1+. It was also a port for boats to Tioman too, but not as popular as Mersing. There wasn't any boat departing for the rest of the day so we had no choice but we could buy the ferry tickets from there. The ferry was for 4.30pm so there was ample time for toilet breaks and lunch.

Went to this chinese eatery, just in time when the sky decided to pour on us really really big buckets of water.

Everything else ran smoothly there on. We reached the jetty of P.Tioman, whisked to a bus waiting for the holiday makers from Berjaya Resort that took us to the resort itself in no time at all. By the time we checked in, it was like about 7+pm, almost 12 hours from the time we left our doorsteps!

That's the luggage we had squeezed into the car with us. Not much, you say?

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And few nights later, it was time to go home. Hub decided to try the highway for his own curiosity.

Jalan Mersing is a very winding and bumpy road, I'm telling you. The journey that took us from Mersing to Kluang was like about 2 hours.

I suggested to drop by for Kluang coffee as I read about the review from the internet before.

All of us do not know how to get there, but no fret, Papago is a life saver!

Look at the price listed! It's like back to the olden days!

Anyhow, I wasn't very critical about the coffee, but CK told me it's good. Hearing that from a fussy person of anything edible or drinkable, I trust that it's really good. However, I myself felt, isn't coffee supposed to be that way? Maybe I'm so used to drinking coffee that tasted like that since young from my own hometown, Menglembu. So Menglembu or Ipoh must have served the best coffee ever and I didn't even realize that!

The place looks authentic though and it was quite a nice little romantic time getting back in touch with things so old and familiar again somehow.

Even the old railway station looks interesting. But the kids don't seem to appreciate it. Sigh, that only means 1 thing, we are getting OLD!

We hit on to the Plus highway from Kluang, came to a traffic halt at some point and saw what remained from a drastic accident that caused the massive jam. Reached Seremban by about 7pm, had our dinner at the Seremban Pau city next to the highway, which was good, and reached home by about 9pm.

There! 2 full days of travelling to and fro, KL - P. Tioman. Tiring. Don't want to do that again. Till we forget about the tiring journey.

Back from a good break

We spent 5 days away from home, from that day school holiday began and what can I say, it was FABULOUS AWESOME!

The road trip took almost the entire day itself to reach there and another day to come back home. We were all cramped in ONE car, all 10 of us plus all our luggage, like about 20 pieces of them? But we had lots of fun. Kept on stopping along the way having our meals and toilet breaks and tidbits, even for curing a durian crave by the roadside.

The kids had fun all day, while my hub and I had some pak-tor time, walking hand in hand. I shall say, this had been good. Yes, breaks are good for renewing relationship, I believe.

Now the time has come for me to re-organize my days as it would be turned topsy turvy with drastic changes in our schedule. Have to admit, I have this hangover holiday blues and just don't feel like working at all.

ohhh... and the washing machine seemed to be acting up again. oh dear!