Perhentian Islands

Wednesday
After leaving the internet cafe, we got a taxi to the Kinta City Mall (as there was nothing else to do that didnt involove us dropping dead in the heat carrying our backpacks all day). In fact, there wasnt really anything to do even if we didnt have our backpacks. We decided on a price with the taxi man (who ended up being crazy) before we got in the car so he didnt rip us off like we had been told so many cab drivers do to foreigners. The driver was really nice but talked way to fast for us to understand his malay english accent and went on and on about something about gangs and shooting in new york when he went over 20 years ago. Once we got to the mall, we were starving and Pizza hut was there right when we walked though the doors with a special on a personal pan supreme pizza with double stuffed crust. We couldnt resist! After lunch, we walked around for about an hour then read in the middle of the mall with our backpacks on looking like super tourists. We then decided we would watch a movie since we still had so much time to kill. We wanted to watch the new fast and furious but it was completely sold out and the only other movie in English was Thor so we watched that (sorry Brad... Blake didnt want to watch it because he told you he would wait but I begged because we didnt have many/any other options). While we were waiting for the movie to start we had dessert. Blake had peanut butter chocolate ice cream and I had the most amazing oreo cheesecake ever!! The movie finally started and easily met our high expectations. By the time the movie got out it was around 8pm so we decided to start heading back to the bus station for our 10pm bus being that we had nothing else to do. The local bus had already stopped running so we were about to get a cab when this nice man overheard us trying to get a cab and offered to drive us FOR FREE!! It was great... probably saved us a good 20 or 30 ringgits! We got to the bus station way faster than we thought we would since we didnt have to try to get a cab or take a bus or anything so we ended up sitting and reading for a good hour and a half before we got on the bus. Around 10pm, the bus FINALLY came and we got on. It was too dark to read so we pretty much slept the whole time.

Thursday
We got to our stop around 3:45 AM!! They woke us up and kicked us off the bus. We were obviously tired and a little out of it but they had taxis ready to take us to the port where we would wait for the speed boat to take us to the island. We split a taxi with two guys from Australia also going to the island. Once we got to the port, we bought our boat tickets to and from the island and then slept in some chairs outside the office until around 7:30am! The gates opened at 8am and we were allowed to get on a boat to take us to the island. The weather, temperature wise, was perfectt! It felt amazing out but it was not as sunny as we would have hoped. The waves were big though so the ride over was really fun!! Once we got the island, we walked across to the beach opposite of where we got dropped off then found a place to stay. We dropped off our stuff and out on our bathing suits and went to explore. The island is BEAUTIFUL!! We rented some masks and snorkels and then went snorkeling right around from where we are staying. There was soooo much to see!! The coral was gorgous and we saw soo many fish (including these beautiful rainbow ones)! We also saw a huge turtle and a smaller shark just swimming around underneath us. It was crazy! After about an hour or two in the water, we got out and put on some dry clothes and then bought a mat thing to lay on on the beach. We ended up falling asleep on the beach for over an hour without much sunscreen on because it was so overcast and, ofcourse, got a little on the burnt side. I was wearing a tank top rolled up so only HALF my stomach got burnt and I ended up with the craziest tan lines ever! When we woke up, we decided to put our bathing suits back on and go explore the beach on the otherside of the small island. It was equally beautiful but we only rented the masks till 6 so we didnt have long to swim. We returned the masks and then walked around in the windy (prestorm) wheather before deciding to eat dinner. We shared a "BBQ speacial" which isnt really BBQ but because they grill it thats what it is called. We got chicken with garlic sauce and it came with potatoes, vegetable salad, watermelon, banana bread, and a "welcome" drink (different fruit juice everynight). Dinner was great! Then we called home and called it a night!

Friday
Today was AMAZING!! We woke up around 9:30, got dressed, and then went to the restaurant at our place for breakfast. We booked a snorkeling tour at 10:30 that took us to 5 places plus lunch in the fishermans village. most of the places the tour went were around the big island so it was nice getting to see that while also snorkeling. The first place we went was Turtle Beach. We didnt see any turtles but it was by far the most beautiful and colorful place we visited all day. The coral was amazing and there were SOO many fish. We also saw the most colorful stingray weve ever seen. I didnt even know they had colors! After that, we went to turtle bay where we saw around 4 turtles. It was funny though because we were in deep (crystal clear) water with only sand at the bottom so we would drive until we saw a turtle, jump in, follow it until it swam away, then get back on the boat, find another turtle, and do it all again. It was fun though! Blake and I liked seeing how far down we could go. My ears hurt to bad to touch the bottom but it was still fun! Then we got some lunch in the fishermans village. the whole tour group ate together, which was cool i guess, but the restaurant was too slow for that many people. It took forever to get our food! Blake and I shared sweet and sour beef with rice and roti canai. After lunch, we went to shark point! It was VERY exciting! We saw at least four (usually all at once swimming very nearby us). The coral and fish were also very pretty and Blake and I saw another turtle that we got so close to we could touch. Continuing on with our tour, we went to the lighthouse. The snorkeling was not very good here but it was known for people jumping off of it! We jumped off the first floor first and it was fun but then Blake decided to jump off the second. It was VERY high up and I was not about to do it! Blake survived though and somehow him, along with others, talked me into it. It was definitely the scariest thing Ive done on this trip. On my way up, i almost backed down at least three times but once I was up high enough climbing down was just as scary as jumping. Once we got to the top (Blake decided to jump with me), I freaked out! Poor Blake had to listen to me go through the whole spectrum of emotions. First nervous, then scared out of my mind, then pissed he talked me into going up so high (sorry Blake), then anxious to get down, then sad/ wanting to cry because I was so freaked, then, finally, happy AFTER I jumped and faced my fear. It took me a good 10 minutes to jump once I was up there and a whole lot of clapping and cheering and convincing/begging because the boat was ready to leave to get me to do it but Im glad i did. First words after jumping though... "NEVER again!" haha After the light house, we went to romantic beach. Which was pretty nice but after being in the sun and water all day we were tired. I think we are going to sw3im back there tomorrow and explore it more. We got back around 5:30 and got dressed to go watch the sunset. It was absolutely breath taking. We took lots of pictures before, during , and after! We then feasted. We each got a BBQ special (with all the same stuff as the night before), but Blake got lobster and i got chicken with peanut suace and we split the meat. Delicious!! Now Blake is reading and I am typing up this blog that took me WAY to long to do! O yea!! CONGRATULATIONS to Ryan for graduating!! Take lots of pictures for me! Im sorry Im not there :( We love you!!