Over the sea and far away

I’m finally done with the first semester of my sophomore year! I swear to God that I will not be a greedy ass in the next semester because taking 7 papers in 16 days is totally not funny at all. I nearly died! However, since I’ve cleared the hurdle I’m happy to announce that I’ve made my last year in university a little leaner. Wheee.

So long for not having a photo update! I’ve got a massive backlog of photos to clear – one dating 6 months (the road trip with my aunt, her friend and my brother along the Eastern coastline of Malaysia), the many other of small little events that I barely had enough breath to blog about during the exam time. Now they’re back with a vengeance! So now, let’s start off with some infrared photos I’ve taken during my trip to a pair of tropical islands located off the Eastern coast of Malaysia, known as the Perhentian Islands.

Do view the photos in their larger resolutions because I didn’t know that they could look so good – I only realized that after I started posting my IR shots in a local photography forum.

By the cove.

The resort we stayed in is called Bubbles – what an adorable name! It is operated by a distant relative but she wasn’t around the tiny little resort to welcome us because she had to bring her toddler for vaccination on mainland. One thing I absolutely adore about Bubbles is their effort in protecting the environment – unlike other glitzy resorts which chopped away trees to offer patrons an unobstructed, panoramic view of the sea, a thick layer of foliage separates the spartan huts from the beach for one reason – to allow turtles to feel safe enough to hatch. Plus, the huts were all very simple and have only the very basic amenities. Afterall, we’re there to enjoy nature and not to enjoy luxuries that we can afford back in town, right?

The beach, sea and corals were almost virgin and untouched. The sea glowed a tantalizing shade of sapphire blue. The sand is pearl coloured – not exactly soft to the feet but after a walk, exfoliates your skin perfectly :)

A swing by the sea

One of the most popular hangout spots at the tiny little resort. The little white blobs floating on the sea are somewhat similar to the indicator lights of a landing strip – incoming and outgoing boats have to follow a certain trajectory so that they won’t bang into scuba divers and snorklers alike. Back to the swing – you can sit on it all day long and watch people from the resort leave and then welcome new visitors from the Malaysian peninsula. Shortly after I left another person took over this sweet little spot.

The resort's canteen and common gathering area

The entire resort is covered with thick foliage – to filter out any lights at night so that the turtles can lay eggs at peace. The beach is actually to my right but it is obscured by a thick separating layer of trees. In the smack middle of the photo is the canteen and the common gathering area – there’s a turtle awareness briefing being held every night for new visitors and we were given instructions on how should we help them with their turtle conservation programme. No torchlights, no camera flashes. Keep quiet when the turtle is on the beach and never dig up their eggs.

The food served wasn’t half bad too, although it’s a little pricey to begin with. I wouldn’t blame them because it takes time to transport food stuff from the Malaysian peninsula itself. They have volunteers working on an ad-hoc basis so we have different cooks every other day. Teehee!

Another view of the dive resort

On the left is a raw of A-frame huts, costing around MYR100 a night (or around USD33). The hut that my brother and I bunked in are a lot smaller and costs half the price of the A-frame ones – it was very small and could barely fit a queen sized bed and a doorless toilet :P haha! The entire resort is also heavily wooded to provide shade and protection. Really love it!

The Bubbles boat and the other side of the cove

They have a few boats of their own and they used it to ferry visitors from the mainland to the island directly. What you see in the background (not very clear though) is a natural stream emptying into the sea. When we were snorkeling past the area that day, the sea water suddenly turned really cold and we thought it was going to rain, only to realize that we swam right into the discharge from the river. The water is so clean and clear that we actually drank from it when we got thirsty (because it’s too far away from the resort and we were lazy to walk/swim back for water).

That’s all! :) I’ll update you again about my post examination celebrations in a little while, heh. Have a great week ahead!