speak out! speak LOUD!: pulau REDANG day 1

I've spent the past weekend on a class trip to Pulau Redang. It was so much fun as I haven't been to the beach since last December during Philip and Pam's trip to Kota Kinabalu. :)

We took the train to PWTC to reach the Putra Bus Station. Here's a LRT 1st-timer - Yee Fen (in red).

It actually took us quite long to find the bus station. Thank God we found it before 12 midnight. I slept soon after we took off. The rest were chattering away and we were quite excited for what the next few days have in store for us. :D

Did I mention that I went with a bunch of girls? All my classmates are girls. Not many guys study classical music. Clockwise from girl in red - Yee Fen, Elaine Toon, Mellisa, Lai Yee, Peck Yin and Wen Chin. Elaine Low was supposed to join us but she had some matters to take care. :(

Here we are, halfway there, halfway through the night, having the usual break during long distance bus trips. Some of us had Milo while Yee Fen decided to go for orange juice!

We finally reached Kuala Terengganu in the early hours on Friday.

Pictures of the bus station that was so noisy due to lots and lots of crows.

And some of our photographers. :)

Since we had much time to spare, our breakfast heros - Elaine Toon and Peck Yin, set off to find breakfast for us. Little did they know there was a shop just in front of us and it took them 15 minutes to make a 'big circle' to find it. Elaine, coming from Kuantan, recommended us all sorts of local specialties. I decided to play it safe and ate 'telur setengah masak' (half-boiled eggs) and 'roti bakar' (toasted bread with kaya and butter), that went well together with my 'teh tarik' (pulled tea).

We're finally on the road again. A van took us to the 'port'. So much traveling and not a glimpse of the sandy beaches yet! By the way, there's this guy sitting at the back row with Wen Chin, he'll play a BIG part in the story of our trip.

At the port. More waiting. The boredom begins to show.

So Peck Yin decided to entertain us with a magic show (I thought the boat was supposed to disappear?).

The resort's name - Kalong, or 'longkang' (drain) as pronounced by Yee Fen.

Some group photos. Spot the guy that was sitting besides Wen Chin in the van.

Who says specs don't look good on you? ;)

Boarding the boat now. Aren't we a happy bunch!

Leaving mainland into the big, wide ocean.

Pulau Redang at last!

Our snorkeling starts after lunch so we rested awhile after such a long journey. We were greeted by a lady, still in her teens, and I wish I had something good to talk about her, but sadly, there isn't. ;)

And yes, the timetables are the same everyday. Eat, snorkel, eat, snorkel, eat again!

Our 'lovely' rooms and its not like we paid cheap money for the stay. Instead of naming it Kalong Resort, Kalong Hostel sounds nicer, right Yee Fen?

The youngest in our group, Peck Yin, being naughty as usual. Mr You Know Who, do you know what you're getting into? :P

Too bad I don't own a Seacam or something that I can take photos with underwater. Well, after our 1st snorkeling trip we were all so exhausted that no one cared to wake up for our BBQ dinner!

Sleepy faces.

Well, in the end we did wake up for dinner which included fried chicken and grilled lamb. As quoted from Peck Yin, "the only good thing this resort has is a good cook!"

I stuffed myself full during dinner and rejected a chance to go to Laguna Resort (the nicer resort, made famous by a movie 'Xia Re Mo Mo Cha'.) Actually it was Peck Yin and Elaine who captured a diver's attention and he offered to bring them there. In the end they decided no to go and we spent the rest of the night having a good chat in our room. 3 years does bring much change to a person!