After years/months/weeks/days of planning, we - me, Ernest, Yng Jiun, Mun Yee, Yen Lin, Bee Kee and Ken Sheng proceeded with our plan to conquer Pulau Redang from 15 August to 17 August. Our middle people were from Ocean Island who helped us to book a family room and settled our food and mode of transport to the island.
Our ride to the Merang jetty was a van sapu (it's a term given to the van-sized school buses which commute not only school children to and from school, but also UMT students campus<-->hostel or campus<-->rented houses etc, cheaper than taking the transport provided by the resort itself). Pak Uda was a familiar face to us, since he was responsible in being our mode of transportation to campus, until one day, a better form of transportation came.
=P
We left our place at 8.30am although initially we were told by Pak Uda that he was going to pick us up 15 minutes later. During the ride, he even offered to stop by anywhere we want to have some breakfast just in case we get hungry. However, we had to decline and reach the Merang jetty after a half an hour journey.
Redang Bay Resort's jetty looks like a shack. It's hidden somewhere behind AND between stalls selling souveniers and it's made of wood which will make you feel that you have a baby elephant's weight. After registering with a person-in-charge there, we were give passes to board the ferry, which I don't see any use of them since we were just going to give them before we board the ferry. Like, wth?
I expected to be boarded onto a ferry. However, what we had to board with another 3 couples was a... boat? A boat (notla until like sampan, maybe bigger a bit than a sampan, with shades) which is meant to transport only 12 people and there were like.. 7+3(2)+around 6 people AND there were no freaking lifejackets for us dammit!=O
What to do? It's not like there were any other ferries around. Besides, open air + out in the South China Sea = awesomeness beyond awesome!
The sky was blue, the sea was blue and it was a great sunny weather! Thanks goodness none of our minds were blue! =P
Halfway through the journey, one of the boat attendants was nice enough to distribute dragonfruits around, and the others reckoned that they were really sweet! I'm not a fan of dragonfruits (IhateIhateIhatetheseeds), therefore I couldn't tell any difference.
It took us an hour to reach our resort, since we had to stop near the Marine Park to look for another boat so that they could get us some lifejackets. The fine for not wearing a lifejacket per person (which is beared by the boat attendants) is a whoOping RM300! =O
After reaching the small, make-shift jetty of the resort, I was really amazed by how white the sand is. It was so pure and white and.. *speechless* I can't remember when was the last time I saw very white and smooth beaches!
After checking in, we were given a key to an air-conditioned family room number 61. It was great since we did not have to share any beds (3 single beds+ 2 double deckered beds). However, the only thing that disappointed me was the toilet/bathroom. One freaking toilet/bathroom for 7 freaking people??! And there's 5 girls somemore! Goodness.. Luckily they had a water heater as compensation.. In addition, there's a tap outside every room, which is quite convenient since no one likes to enter their room all sandy and sticky, so it was a good thing. The only bad part about it that all the taps are connected to a same pipe, so the water pressure tends to become low when everyone wants to use the ones outside their rooms simultaneously.
The meals are provided 4 times daily; breakfast, lunch, teatime and dinner at the canteen. There were no worries over food shortage since each group of guests are allocated with their own food. There are free flow of rice, fruits, and hot drinks and orange juices! And I must tell you, the food, although they were your typical everyday food, they were still well-prepared. For lunch and dinners, there are 5 types of dishes, usually, chicken, fish and veggies and tofus and soup!
I guess that's all for now. Will be continuing the second part of day 1. Soon. =)
P/S
I finished my Final Year Project presentation today and received some comments on my research being to darn simple. A lecturer, a felo-academician and EC gave good suggestions to add somemore things into my researh, and I'm still deciding on what to do. Good thing that the presentation actually made me realized that I am actually very interested in my study. Hopefully everything goes well! =)
wee nee,
ReplyDeletejeles nye pegi redang! huhu.
p.s - linking ur blog to mine :)