Weekend Holiday ~ Part 3

Nice and special scenes at the resort :


My dear ole pair of booties that had walked with me through many land and oceans...

Kayak... another sport that I have not been doing for years...

Flat faced chubby cats... my favourite. Not a common scene in Singapore now and some are selling by the thousands. Aww... I love that intensity in their stares too. Yeap.. it goes well with my nature.

Renggis Island from land... used to be our first dive spot for any dive trips in Tioman. How my heart ache when I saw the dive boats anchoring near without me...

Weekend Holiday ~ Part 2

2 hr plus ferry ride to Tioman was definitely not for parents that can't get their kids to sit that long without TVs. We had to resort to biscuits, sweets and lotsa hugs and chatting to bear thru the time they had to be restraint at their seat area. We were exceptionally thankful for a window seat that helped to distract the kiddoes every now and then.
Tioman's infrastruture improved a lot over the past few years.. even the previous fisherman kind of Tekek Jetty now has a remote resemblance of a mini Venice.

Berjaya Tioman Resort... one of the 4 star hotel in Tioman. Indeed it's one of the most relaxing place I stayed in this marine island. And it sure have a better environment for kids. My 2 Js spent their time playing on the beach and splashing in the pool while we parents took turns to snorkel. When night time arrived, there are choices of arcades or simply laughing together in the room, watching black and white pink panther show on cartoon network.

At the end of the trip.. we had a fulfilling time enjoying the ocean we knew and bonds with the people we loved. And oh yes... we went back to Mersing Seafood Restaurant on our way back for a 2nd round.

More photos at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157616192604775/

Weekend Holiday ~ Part 1

We drove up to Mersing on Friday after Jerome's class with no bookings and only what we want to eat in mind.

Mersing.. a quiet town Mark and I used to frequent for diving and stargazing during our single days. But that was 5 to 6 years back... All left in our memories are hazy sketches of the town and the last report of thunderstorms in that region for the next few days. However, the need to getaway for a while simply pulled us along.

The town was packed with divers and backpackers from various countries, Singapore inclusive. Most probably the budget hotels were full as i came across a few backpackers resting at bus stops, something I used to do but can't imagine doing it now with the kids in tow. We were truly thankful that the hotel we were targeting still had room available tho the time we reached was almost 7pm. Guess it's becos Timotel is one of the 'expensive' place to stay in Mersing... we paid 128 ringgits for the room.

After leaving our luggage, we went in search of Mersing Seafood Restaurant. God's hand must be on us that we noticed a travelling agency still open while crossing the road. We wanted to try out Paya Beach Resort but it was fully booked.. not a surprise, afterall the dive season just opened. So we settled for Berjaya Tioman instead, the next Kids Friendly resort in Tioman. It was deemed an expensive place to us, afterall... we were used to staying at cheaper rooms near the dive centres. Imagine our pleasure when we were told it's 300ringgits per night :)

I must show you the food we had at Mersing Seafood Restaurant... I nearly cried the moment I bit into the prawns. It seems such a long time since I had prawns nicely done, sweet and succulent!! Something's just not right with the recent prawns imported into Singapore... it just don't have the same oomph. And the squid with salted egg yolk was fantastic!! It's nicely crisped yet remain juicy and tender inside...

After good food and a night sleep.. woke up to catch some dawn scenes...

Back to Tioman

We took this picture in 2003 on our boat ride to Tioman. That was about 6 years ago and we were dive buddies. Back then we share the joy of chasing the fishes and enjoying the beauty of nudibranches..

Over the weekend, we took a similar picture on our ride to Tioman... this time round, as husband and wife with our shared joy of our 2 Js.

Love you husband! Hope that we will have more beautiful moments coming our ways...