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...