Pulau Perhentian

The past four days were great. It's always great when you know that you're going to come back to a place. Pulau Perhentian are a couple of islands nudging the northeastern coast of Malaysia. I don't need to go through the histrionics of 'how great it was, omigod, it was like paradise n' shit cowabunga dude!'. I think that would cause too much pain to the folks in the corner offices back home.

The water was transparent. It was like an aquarium (with barracudas and turtles and sharks) underwater. There were breezes. And a really warm sun. And white sands. And.. yeah, that's the general idea (sorry, I had to describe it just a little).

What I did enjoy was the vibe. The shop-owners, guesthouse guys, waiters, travelers – everyone on the island was friendly. And if they weren't friendly, then at least they were chill enough where it didn't matter. I'd wave, they nodded, grunted, and turned over to get more sun. Really laid back. How can you not be laid back, when your days are spent:

a) turning over, back-to-belly and back again on white sands
b) splashing, diving, floating, bubbling, et al. in the turquoise water,
c) reading,
d) playing pick up volleyball with strangers, soon to be dinner buddies, and
e) dozing off after a dinner on the beach, waiting for the next day where options

f) scuba diving,
g) jungle trekking,
h) water skiing,
i) sleep on the beach, or
j) whatever the hell you want to do on a freakin' island

awaited? And all of this for the price of a good night out at a lounge in NY? Impossible it seems – but in Southeast Asia, where cheap is king and good times are high on the list of priorities, it happens. It happened.

The list of names have eluded me. After a while the Charlies and Davids and Toms melt together. So do the stories. I think it was the Australian guy who lost his shorts in the jungle rapids and the British couple who had diarrhea in Cambodia... I did meet some cool guys on the road, in particular a S. African ex-geologist, ex-Accenture consultant who psyched me up for Burma and India, and a Californian casino dealer who taught me the game of 'hearts' (wow -- how American am I, to right away identify people by their professions).

And the best part? Since alcohol is expensive in a Muslim state, the only time my face ever got red was from the sun.

It's sickening, just sickening. Why must you rub it in to the poor folks working away, making the world turn??? And here, you pretend like you're not, say you won't, then preceed to do so. I'm not even working, haven't been for a year, but I'm disheartened by your charades. Shame on you sir.

Posted by: Yuppie Nomad | May 24, 2006 at 06:42 AM

Thanks for that. Now I don't feel so bad for going up to Pulau Weh (Sabang) every few weeks to snorkel and going on vacation every 6 weeks. =) Off to Cambodia next week!

Posted by: Sharon | May 24, 2006 at 08:17 AM

aw man! i wanna swim with turtles (adn barracudas, maybe tho idont' know what they look like)... i used to want to swim with dolphins till i heard they will sometimes try to gang rape you.. they circle and siphon you off from the crowd.. then make weird noises i guess as their method of foreplay bc i hear dolphins and humans are the only mammals that do foreplay)... either way. yah. after i heard that i don't want to swim with dolphins anymore, but swimming with turtles.. now taht sounds delightful! :)

Posted by: jojo | May 24, 2006 at 08:50 AM

twas sweet. sharon - i'm jealous already. the island vibe lasted only when i was on it.

jojo, you'll think i'm a goober, but i've swam with dolphins before and they're great. 'spose it depends on the types of dolphins though, but the ones i swam with were just too darn fast for foreplay. they'd swim laps around me before i'd have the chance to exhale and then they were off, laughing their asses (blowholes?) off.

Posted by: j.fisher | May 25, 2006 at 03:32 AM