Perhentian - Day 2

Got up at about 10am. It's nice that we do not have to wake up to follow the schedule. It's all free and easy. Found out that I have red spots on the hands and legs. Must be those damned jelly fish. Went to look for sister while Bryan's still in bed. Had a coffee, read, and sandwich while waiting for Bryan to wake up. By the time Bryan was up and had breakfast, it was almost 12pm. So we decided to just chill for a bit by the beach until 2pm for the snorkelling trip. I was under the palm tree reading and not after long, dozed off until Bryan came to me and it was almost 2 already.

We quicky went for lunch because the snorkeling trip is about 4 hours and we can't afford to be hungry half way through. A Scottish couple was joining us for the trip. They are Craig and Marie.

The first location being the Shark Point and we didn't see any sharks and the fishes or corals were not fantastic. I was a little disapointed and was hoping that the next location better be good.

After some time at the Shark Point, we went to the Turtle Bay. As we were arriving, a couple was in the water swimming as though there were chasing something. So, we thought it could be turtle. Indeed. They were so excited when they came to the surface and shouted "turtle!". Then we were all excited. But not even half excited as Marie and Craig. Then the boat man told us to quickly get into the water for the turtle. Bryan got into the water and waited for me while I was getting my mask on. But I told him to go ahead without me as I know I'll slow him down and he might miss the turtle totally. So, I was taking my own sweet time in the water looking/or not for the turtle, just around the boat. Then the pakcik told me to hold on to the boat while he'll go chasing for the turtle by boat. I was a little scared and did so and it was ok. Then at one stop, he told me to turn around and I saw a turtle. Not a big one, but surely is my first. (Orh yea, on our first day of snorkelling on our own, we saw this huge fish. Really big but we did not pursue or go nearer. Just the two of us, so better not get into any trouble. Then later I found out that those are like the "flower horn" fish but much much much bigger).

So, I saw my first live turtle that day. After a while, hubby came to join me near the boat and wanted to get on the boat because he was tired chasing the turtle. The pakcik refused to let us go up without telling us to go chase for the turtle somemore. Haha. What a cute pakcik.

The next stop was some coral place with a lot of fishes. We brought some bread along to feed the fish. The moment you throw the bread into the water, you can see a pool of fishes rushing for it. It was quite a nice experience. Then we all 4 went into the water again and the pakcik kept throwing bread to us so the fishes come to us. Some of the fish bite but not enough to injure someone but still can feel the pain. By now, we were quite tired and pakcik brought us to the island jetty for some tea. We went up for a drink, had some keropok lekor, pisang and keledek goreng.

Before we went back, the pakcik stopped us at the light house for some more snorkelling. It's known for the coral but I just thought it's alright. Nothing fantastic. Current was rather strong I have trouble just swimming back to the boat.

Craig and Marie was rather unsatisfied because the haven't seen the shark yet. So, we told the pak cik to stop us at where Bryan saw the shark. But he brought us to elsewhere which is known for shark sightings too. I've decided not to go into the water as the there's no nice coral or fishes. I'll definitely be too slow to chase the shark if there's any . However, I swam for abit around the boat. Then I felt the stinging feeling again and quickly went back onto the boat. By this time, Bryan was on the boat with me while Marie, Craig and pakcik were still in the water. After awhile, Marie and Craig went onto the boat but pakcik was no where to be seen. We waited for awhile and saw him on the water surface approaching the boat.

He got some clam like thingy with him. A huge one. That's why he went missing. Digging for the clam. He got onto the boat with the clam and starting to poke the clam with a knife. He was trying to kill the giant clam. Which is shocking to all of us. It's quite a rare thing, and huge, and he was killing it. The clam is likely to be over 10 years. I find it difficult to believe that he's actually killing the clam. After the pakcik killed the clam, he threw the shell right back into the sea and the flesh is to be used as fish bait.

That wraps up our snorkelling trip for the day. Walked to Long Beach again to try the famous pizza. Was sweating from the walk, and the weather. Was so surprised that the restaurant is away from the beach and it was so damn warm. When we were seated, ready to order, we were told that the pizza is all sold out. No good pizza, no breeze but sweat! We decided to have dinner by the beach which is much much more comfortable than the restaurant.

Dinner at Alan's stall. Went party at Palm Tree. Watch a little fire work. Met a few locals who are friends of Alan and Hy then went back to sleep after midnight. Gotta jungle track to get back...