ESL Blogs

This is the second entry of my Northern Adventures. Writing this blog in a sense is a therapy for me. It allows me to look back at my holiday after being melancholy for a little bit.

Day One

Day Two

On day two, our day started very early. After having our breakfast, we went to Tanjung Malai to board our boat for the islands hopping adventure. I was a bit apprehensive at first to eat anything, just in case I would feel queasy on the boat. But since food and I cannot be separated, I ended up enjoying my breakfast to the fullest. 

We reached the small jetty point for our scheduled islands hopping at no time at all. We were one of the first groups that arrived at the place. After waiting for a few minutes, our boatman arrived. After putting and fastening our life jackets, we were on our way to a new adventure.

The boat was very fast and loud. But I didn't mind all that because the view was breathtaking. Suddenly, the boatman slowed down his boat. He asked us to turn to our left, and point out in between two islands, nestled an island that resembled a pregnant lady who is lying on her back. It's the famous Pulau Dayang Bunting, the Pregnant Maiden Island. 

Out of the blue, the heaven opened up, and it started to rain. It's getting cold, but didn't dampened our spirits. Even the toddlers were behaving themselves. After a few minutes looking over the Dayang Bunting Island, we continued our journey. 

After roughly about 30 - 40 minutes of boat rides, we reached the Dayang Bunting Island itself. Here, our boat was moored so that we can go to the Dayang Bunting lake. According to the local myth, anyone who wants to have a kid, a lady can either swims in the lake or drinks the water from the lake. Even though it was raining, I chose to hike the small distance to the lake. It was a bit slow because of it's getting slippery. 

When I reached the lake, nearly everyone was trying to find a little bit of non-existence shelter from the rain. Most of us were shivering, and standing underneath a small hut which was selling some souvenirs and rental of paddling boat. Some brave souls were brave enough to jump and swim in the lake, and some people chose to rent the paddling boat. I was not a brave soul so I decided to go back to the beach, and stayed with my brother who decided to leave behind with his son at one the resting huts.

As suddenly as it came, the rain stopped. The sun was peeking again from the clouds. After 30 minutes, our boatman came to fetch us and to bring us to the next destination. When we boarded our boat at the jetty, we noticed our boatman brought along a small plastic bag with him. We didn't ask what it was, but when we reached our next destination, Pulau Singa Besar or the Big Lion Island, he opened up the plastic bag and thrown some of the contents to the sea. 

The plastic bag was apparently fulled with chicken's skin. It's being used to feed the eagle at the Pulau Singa Besar. The view was awesome especially when one by one the eagles would scoop up the chicken skin. It was like a feast of chicken's skin. We were told that only boatmen were allowed to feed the eagles. I don't mind. I was just felt so blessed to watch such magnificent animals from closed up.

After spending about 15 minutes just watching those eagles, we moved to our next destination. It was Pulau Beras Basah or literally can be translated as Wet Rice Island. Over here, we were given one hour to swim and do anything we want on the beach. The beach was magnificent, however, we had to be very careful of our food because those wild monkeys from the island loved to steal them.

We came back to our hotel tired but happy. After some freshening up, we went out again to have very late lunch and then went to Pantai Kok, to try its cable car. Though I am a bit acrophobia, I don't want to miss the chance to ride in the cable car. 

Most of the time, I just look at the yonder. I was a bit afraid to look down. I don't know how long it was for the cable car to reach from the base station to the first station, but it seemed forever. We were alighted at the first station, also known as the Middle Station, and enjoyed the view from the viewing platform. Though the day was a bit cloudy, we were able to enjoy magnificent view of Machincang Mountain Range and the sea.

Though I was still not too sure of my wobbly feet, we took the next gondola and went to the next station, the Top Station. The view from this station was similar to the Middle Station except that we it was covering more area. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you want to look at it, the Skybridge, the suspended bridge on top of the Machincang Mountain from the Top Station was closed for repair works. Thus, I don't have to take a deep breath and walk through the swinging bridge, (I was told it may swing when the wind was strong), with my still wobbly leg.

Descending from the Top Station to the Base Station was more harrowing experience for me. It seemed the cable car was faster than when we were ascending. I took the decision to sit at the seat looking back rather than looking forward. LOL. I know, I was a wuss. 

We ended the day with hopping from one beach to another and eating from one food stall to another. 

~~~~~ To be continued on Day Three ~~~~~