Berhenti di Perhentian

Although it has been 3 days since my trip back from Perhentian Island, but the vivid memories engraved deeply in my mind. We departed UM at 10pm on the 22nd June and reached Kuala Besut jeti at 7am the next day. At 9am, we set sail on a speedboat to Perhentian Island. Seeing the excited faces of all my ship mates (some happy while some are fearful), I too had butterflies in my stomach.

At a distant I saw a hill in which I assumed it was Perhentian Island. In my mind, this island is gonna be huge. It took us almost an hour to reach the island at full speed. Oh, did I say full speed? Haha, this is one hell of a joy ride. It was wet, adrenaline-packed, scream-filled journey. I bet it's more exciting than roller coaster rides.

When we were about to reach the shores, from a distance, we can clearly see the white sandy beach, and not to mention, the clear serene water that is as clear as crystal. It is not a lie when I say I can see everything underwater without even delving into the water. When the boat docked at the "jeti", I hopped out of the boat immediately to make myself believe that there is such a place on Earth, not to mention in Malaysia, that the water is that clear. The sand was fine, walking on it is as though we are walking on sponge.

We checked in to our chalet which is a small but pleasant room. Though only meant for two, but due to budgeting, 3 had to bunk in to one room that only has a small cupboard, a Queen size bed, a mirror table and a toilet. The administrators requested for a single fold-able bed, in which I slept on.... and got a butt ache cuz the mattress was thin at the butt area.

Mostly we went snorkeling around the Island on the first day. We went to coral reefs where we were given the rarest opportunity to see a diverse species of animals. Let me describe what I felt went I first saw the masterpiece of the world.

I donned the goggles given and dipped my head into the water. The first view I had was magnificent corals grown on rocksides, fish with wide array of colours swimming pass my very own eyes just a few inches away. The sunlight shined through the water surface and hit directly on the seafloor and walls of giant rocks. Silver fishes the size of anchovies swimming in group, like darts zapping in and out, reflecting the sunlight like a thousand mirror fragments. I have always thought that the sea creature would be dull and boring, but this sight changed my very thoughts that instant. To paint a scene of such would require a master of arts in a thousand years.

We went to several different locations to witness certain special animals living in that particular area. We went to a slightly deeper side to see turtles. The tour guide told us it will be hard to see them as their numbers had dwindle down due to human's actions towards the environment this pass 2 millennial. If that is the case, then I would consider that I am blessed to be able to see a sole turtle swimming at the sea floor as it waddles through at it's own leisure pace, chomping food particles, giving a cute photographic memory in my head. When it sensed our presence, it just sped into the darkness beyond and never to be seen again.

Finally, we went to a shallow area of a coral reef. This time we were told that there are sharks in the vicinity. Unfortunately this time I am not so blessed to see the sharks. Instead I got cut from the sharp corals around. In my mind, I was not thinking of my injuries but rather the corals. This is because I have just destroyed a few as I touched them. In the frantic moment, some of my friends saw a couple of sharks swimming between the visible and non-visible "boundaries". The water was not blue, rather bluish-green. The colour of the shark blended perfectly into its surrounding and with a swoosh from its' tail, there it goes.

And for the last place for that day, we went to a secluded beach where there's spring water. The sea water is warm, however the water flowing down the hill is freakin' cold. Although it may be cold, but we all braved the extreme differences to get one hell out of experience. And it could be that maybe I drank the water, that's why I had a cough the next day. Hmm... it's still a mistery... XD

To be continued...