Cast away on Tioman [Tioman 7 - 9 Aug 2010]

What better way to spend the last 3 days of freedom than to crash at one of the most beautiful places on Earth? But last year's Batam trip had created an inevitable sphere of doubt in the quality of this trip, and we were so afraid that we'll be disappointed once again.

Well, let's just say Batam was, perhaps, an exception.

Thanks to the double Gs, we've learnt to become extremely critical travellers, especially when it comes to establishing standards for our vacation spots. So it came naturally to us to feel pissed when we had to keep waiting and waiting throughout the trip, either to clear the customs or waiting for impossibly idiotic T****s in our group to board the tour bus.

And don't ever expect food to be cheap on the island, because the restaurant operators there have got you isolated from the rest of the peninsula, so be prepared to pay Singaporean prices for Tioman-standard food and expect to wait a blardy long time for your food. The only cheap thing on the island is booze.

And Jack hatched the idea of moving to Tioman should we strike it rich someday, thanks to the prestine beaches and excellent scuba sites there. The water was clear (up to 23m visibility), the weather was perfect for water activities, and the reef life there is proliferating after some laws were put in place to conserve nature sites. I have to be honest here - I'm not a huge fan of snorkelling/scuba/diving, but Tioman impressed me with all it offered. For a RM80-per-pax package offered by a private operator there, we visited 5 beautiful snorkelling locations and were provided snorkelling gear, which I considered pretty reasonable. It was a memorable first snorkelling experience for me, wrapped up beautifully with a swim and a Grasshopper at the resort pool. Oh, and thanks to Gordon and Gerlynn for their supply of boardgames on the trip.





And thanks to the brilliant sunshine we got during the trip, I currently sleep facing down to air my sunburnt shoulderblades and calves. Speak about souvenirs.

And with this trip, we end our 3-month long vacation with a bang. It's time to head back into the books and fire up those turbo engines for the next 4 months. Then I'll deem myself worthy of more snorkelling, perhaps during the next hols. :)