Malaysia for the Weekend

So we are just catching up...last weekend we went to Malaysia. After I forgot a form to go with my passport to get through customs on the Singapore side of the border we were hung up for almost an hour while the problem was sorted out. As a result, we missed our bus to Kuantan (our initial destination) so we improvised and bought bus tickets to Mersing. Since the next bus was going to be leaving Johor Bahru at 7:30pm, we would have arrived in Kuantan after midnight which was just not going to work for us. At only 2.5 hours from JB, Mersing was a much better option. We stayed the night in Mersing and caught the first ferry over to Tekek, Tioman Island the next morning.







The island mostly lush jungle circled by beaches and dotted with little villages. Our hotel was right on the beach which was perfect because that's where we spent our entire weekend.

Right off the beach was some nice snorkeling where I tested out our new waterproof video camera around a reef. It works great.

One night, we were walking home from dinner in the dark and noticed what we at first thought were birds, were actually tons and tons of bats, swooping around and catching bugs. Then, in the morning, we found them all sleeping in trees right off the road. There was so many, the branches were completely filled.




I bought a Rubik's cube for the bus home. I can almost finish without any help, except for the very last move.

Speaking of the bus ride home, there was a handful of times where our insane bus drive put our lives in the hands of the drivers of the oncoming cars. Which is to say that his driving skills were on par with the rest of the Malay drivers. There was many times where, after tailgating to within inches of the little car in front of us, he would start to pass (obviously without enough time to do so) and then honk at the little car to get out of the way because the oncoming cars would be swerving into their shoulder to go around us. See the second video below for one I caught on tape.

All in all, a successful first trip away from Singapore. Although we probably wouldn't try to go to the island for only two days again, because it ended up that we were only there for 24 hrs. Next time will be main land Malaysia.