[Nawooz.Com.My]

Sorry to all for the super super delayed post. I knew I was supposed to blog about the Redang experience, but I had a tidal wave of work coming at me after the vacation. In the words of www.eddyhan.com, can so freaking totally die dot com!!!11

Anywho, my wife has taken the liberty to upload most of the non X-rated Redang pics. Below is the link: http://www.mywedding.com/nawcath/galleries.html

So a little bit about the trip. We flew courtesy of the beloved low cost carrier, Air Asia. Thanks to Datuk Tony Fernandez, now everyone can fry…I mean fly. We were at the LCCT in Sepang at a bright-eyed 5-ish AM. What to do…budget vacation mah. As usual, had breakfast at the McDoos there. The crowd never ceases to amaze me. Most of them just lounging around and not really eating. Their baggages acting as landmines hindering people from waltzing in the outlet. Plane was slightly delayed again. Not unusual for Air Asia. When the call came for boarding, you can bet the kiasu people were shoving and cutting queue. It’s inbred genes, it is. When there’s a queue, they are programmed to cut in or pretend to slowly inch in through the sides. The army, could benefit a little stealth training from these people. It’s an art form okay. Lots and lots of practice to perfect it, but alas, they don’t go past my fricckin laser beam eyes. I stare at them and sometimes they do shrink, as though my laser eyes melted them. *Zap Zap* Die you queue cutter. Ahem, sorry. Got carried away. Where was I? Ah yes. We boarded the plane with a lot of shoving and cussing under the breath. The flight took around 45 mins without much drama and we touched down at the Terengganu airport. So small sia, but not to worry. There is a new one being built right next to it.

We were greeted by the chartered van waiting for us. It was another 30 mins drive to the Merang Jetty, where we were supposed to catch a ferry to the beautiful island of Redang. Lots of waiting around before we finally embarked on the sea voyage. Thanks to the flight, my body adjusted to the seasickness. At long last, we were finally in Redang. Our crib…the Laguna Redang Resort. Due to the MATTA Fair, we got the package for a reasonable price, I would say. For more info, head on to their website: http://www.lagunaredang.com.my/. It was the location, where the Chinese movie, More More Tea was shot. Starring Richie Ren, Sammi Cheng, Guang Liang and our own Ah Niu. So scenic I tell youuuuu. The sea was azure blue with white sands. Felt like stripping in the hotel lobby there and then for a swim. Laguna has a very good check-in system. You leave your baggage with them coz the check-in is only at 1pm. You have your buffet lunch and then after that, proceed to check-in. One thing I have to say during our entire stay, the buffet spread for 3 meals are awesome!!!! The food is actually not bad.

After we checked-in, we lazed around whilst waiting for our first sea activity at 2.30pm, snorkelling in the blue blue sea. Thankfully I brought my own snorkel set. I hate sharing stuff, which involves eating other people’s saliva. Still have to rent the lifevest for RM10. Snorkel set was also RM10 for the entire duration of your stay. Then there was another RM5 for the Marine Park entrance fee the following day. Bread for feeding the fishes were RM5 per bag!!! Even Gardenia also not that expensive. Note to readers, PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN MINERAL WATER TO LAST YOUR STAY. They don’t provide drinking water in the rooms and it’s RM2 for a bottle of 500ml. Killer dot com. They do have an electric kettle to boil water, but trust me, you won’t like the rusted heating coils in there. However, unlimited drinking water is available during the meals. However, they don’t allow you to refill your empty bottles here. So gulp as much as you can if you don’t wanna pay RM2 mkayyy. This travelling tip was brought to you courtesy of Nawooz.Com.My.

The snorkelling experience was so-so only. Too many uncles and aunties. All afraid to go into the water and crowding up the dive section from the boat. Grrr! Fishes were aplenty, but be prepared to see Sergeant Majors and Parrot Fishes most of the time. No Nemo spotted during my entire trip. Felt kinda conned in all their snorkelling trips. Even the Marine Park was so-so, except for the dolphin pods spotted from the jetty. Too far away to really catch a good look, but you could see them swimming. Never got to see the huge grouper fish there as well. We left at around 5.30pm to head back to the resort and wash up for dinner. Did I mention already that the food is good. ^__^ After makan we strolled around the beach taking pictures and being a nuisance in general. Really nice place for a group of friends or a couple. The day ended with a nice warm shower and snuggling up to my wifey for some ZZzees.

Breakfast starts at 7am, but who gets up at such an ungodly hour on a vacation right. So most of the time it’s 8am onwards. Rushed through breakfast a bit as the Marine Park trip was at 9.30am. As I said earlier, no big huha came out of it. Did see the turtle hatchery with some cute lil fellas swimming in a fibreglass tank. One appeared dead. So pitiful. We headed back to the resort for lunch after that and then waited for the 2.30pm snorkelling trip. The whole trip was snorkel, snorkel and more snorkelling I tell you. So we decided against this trip and chose to lounge in the pool instead. Not many uncles and aunties around since they went for the snorkelling trip. Nice! I proudly can say, that I haven’t lost my waterbaby skills. Still managed to cover the entire length of the pool underwater. Thanks to my snorkelling trips in PD every weekend during my secondary school years.

Sadly, we were leaving the next day. So sad. Wish I could stay there forever and ever and ever and everrr. (T_T) Not wasting anymore time, we camwhored again that night and then played pool. Lovely. The next morning, we prepared for the long trip home. Due to stormy seas, I got seasick. Was having coldsweats throughout the boat ride. Then it was the van trip to the Laguna resthouse on the Mainland, as our plane was scheduled for 7pm. We waited there for 5 hours. Siao! Finally touched down in LCCT at around 9pm-ish. The pilot this time must have been a rookie. The touchdown was stomach churning. Landed with an awful bump. Luckily, there were no incidents.

So there. Redang in a nutshell. We’re planning another trip in the not so distant future. I wanna do my PADI Open Water diving license there. It’s cheap at around RM800-RM1000 compared to other places. Very long post this time and before I leave, here are some pics to tingle those optical nerves.

Sunset behind the Laguna Beach Resort

View of the Laguna Bay

The awesome blue blue sea!

Movie Fame: More More Tea Shop

Nawruz and Cat Redang 2007