Snorkeling @ Tioman 23rdMay2011

Ean's first time on a speed boat.

It was high tide as we left the jetty and the little boat had to go against choppy waves. It was a bumpy ride and we were drenched in minutes. Fai and JY were screaming through out the journey to Coral Island. Surprisingly, the boat man stayed dry.

Coral Island. White sandy beach but we were attacked by sandflies. We found out that sand fly bites loses its itch after a soak in the sea.

Stopped for lunch at Salang Beach

Coral fishes that the boatman encouraged to feed with stale bread. I read up later that this practice is inadvisable as it made the fishes associate humans with food and would peck at them. That did happen and their sharp bites did hurt.

Han didn't like putting on the snorkel but insisted on joining me in the water, happy to float by my side as I marvelled at the corals and fishes at Renggis Island - the best spot to snorkel in Tioman.

This trip made us resolve to do our part for conservation. We were sad to see dead corals, witness the boatman throw his anchor onto living corals, sewage and waste water from restaurants flowing straight into the sea.
What we have is so beautiful but it won't be here for long if we allow this practices continue.

Pool @ Tioman May2011

The pool was lovely at Berjaya Tioman and we spent most of our time there.

Han threw off his slippers, ran up the steps and slid down the waterslide with a big splash. He loves the water.

He can now swim like a dolphin, do divebombs, float on his back...all this he learnt on his own.

Animals @ Tioman May2011

On the 1st day, we met a champion fighter. He had sustained lots of injuries.

On the way back to our room after dinner on the 2nd night, the kids came across 2 kittens and a mother cat. The energetic kittens playfully pounced and ran circles around the kids. The boys would tease the kittens with long blades of grass while JY was happy to tickle the mother's chin till it purred.

It was easy to pry the kids from Cartoon Network with the kittens waiting to play with them downstairs.

Tioman Day2 22ndMay2011

JY's turtle pendant from the turtle sanctuary in Kampung Juara

JY, Fai and Han were very eager to try out snorkelling. JY and Fai could easily learn how to breathe through the snorkel. Han on the other hand was not comfortable with the device and was happy to float next to me, keeping me company.

JY said it was like swimming in an aquarium and was ecstatic swimming amongst the colourful fishes.

On our 2nd day in Tioman, we took a 5-in-1 round the island tour - waterfalls, turtle sanctuary and lunch at Kampung Juara, Marine Park and lastly, duty free shopping.
It was a steep and very thrilling 9km ride in the pickup truck to Kg Juara which was possibly the highlight of the day.

Kg Juara was on the opposite side of the island which meant we hide to drive over the island's rather mountainous central region.

Han clinging on for dear life. The kids had a wild time at the back of the pickup truck.

A short trek to the waterfalls

Nice cool refreshing pool. Dive right in to revive your senses.

DH took an underwater video of a barb and the camera refused to work thereafter.

From the waterfalls we headed for the turtle sanctuary at Kg Juara. We had just missed the release of turtle hatchlings.

We met Jo, the blind turtle . She was a hatchling in the sanctuary and born blind about 5 years ago. Her rescuers were puzzled as to why she just stayed put whereas the other little turtles raced to the sea. When they examined her they noticed that she didn't have any eyeballs.

Jo was simply beautiful. The kids were allowed to touch her and she responded by swimming as close to them as possible. We were told that there had been attempts to 'rescue' Jo from her

enclosure but she could not fend for herself in the open sea and days later a canoeist found her hungry and disorientated.

The kids had their first experience in snorkeling in the Marine Park - a safe lagoon with a pontoon by the jetty. We spotted a group of cuttlefish and lots of colourful coral fishes. No corals though.

Journey to Tioman 21stMay2011

The misty road from Kluang to Mersing as we drove past oil palm plantations at 8am.

We departed PD at 4.30am, headed towards Melaka and made our way to the North-South highway. This route was a mistake as we lost precious time looking for the highway.

On our return trip, we drove towards Kuantan using the coastal road, turned off after Kuala Rompin, headed towards Kuala Pilah and onwards to Seremban. Not only was the journey much shorter, it was toll-free!
And we discovered an alternative route to Temerloh without having to drive through the winding, steep Genting-Karak highway. As an added bonus, we got to drive through the very picturesque sleepy town of Kuala Pilah and found out how near Endau Rompin was to Seremban. Now that we are in PD, it is time to discover the south of Peninsular Malaysia.

The ferry from Mersing to Tioman Island. The journey takes 2hours. JY experienced Malay karaoke for the first time.

Han and Ean enjoying the view from the ferry.

The ferry made 3 stops in Tioman - Genting, Paya and the our stop Tekek jetty.

Tekek jetty

Our ride to the resort - a white mini bus.

DH and I recounted out days of taking the mini bus and hanging on for dear life as we clung on to the bars on the steps.

The beach. Lovely cool, clear water but devoid of corals and fishes. We were told we had to go to the smaller islands to see the corals.