A Pictorial Guide to Paradise

Like I said earlier, I am tired of writing. Not that I don’t like to write. I love to write actually. I find it therapeutic. Better to let out my angst here than to shout at patients or relatives of
patients and get a multi-million ringgit suit right? So, it’s going to be just pictures for a while.

We had to wait for our boat to take us to Redang at the jetty.

We boarded our speed boat and dutifully put on our life jacket. Wouln’t want to be found floating in the south china sea would we? I am sitting next to Sash.

After 45 minutes of heart thumping, gut wrenching, butt bumping ride on the speed boat, we arrived! The ride was real fun. Totally enjoyed it. None of us threw up or had a heart attack. There was a minor scare though midway when a very nauseated house lizard crept behind one of us along the ledge of the boat. The person (which shall remain unnamed) jumped up and dropped her handphone…..onto the boat. Phew! Thank God it didn’t land the other way into the sea! Nearly crushed the poor lizard in the process. I don’t think the poor critter vomited but it sure had a strange color!

If you can see the bottom of the a boat floating on the sea, you know it’s going to be great!!! I don’t think I have seen such clear sea water anywhere else in Malaysia (definitely not in Port Dickson!)

From the jetty it’s a 10 minute walk to the Redang Beach Resort. We had to walk across the Laguna Beach Resort (LBR) to get to our hotel next to it. The next 3 pics are of the beach in front of the Laguna. Will show the Laguna hotel building next time (not in my thumb drive la! Darn!)

And then, like entering another world, we reached the beach front of the Redang Beach Hotel. The atmosphere became low key, laid back and lazy. Hammocks greeted us, swaying gently in the tropical breeze…

By the way, the tractor was used to transport our bags. An ingenious way of mass transportation. We, of course had to to walk on the soft white sand. We go snorkeling on those boats you see above.

You can see the Laguna in the distant.

The sign boards can be very confusing for the uninitiated….

I think I will stop here. The wifi is taking forever to upload one lousy pic! Sigh! I just weighed myself just now after the last chest patient has left my room. My weight is now 71.2 kg! Aarrgh! I have gained….200 gm! in Redang. I am going to hit the pool now, haven’t swam in ages. Snorkeling doesn’t count. Strangely, my pants feel lose, so I am really hoping the extra flab has gone to more desirable spots on my anatomy rather than my ‘love handle’…. Chuckle…!

Redang Beach Resort – continued

Some of my colleagues complained about the ‘lack’ of facilities in this resort. Some of them made arrangements to be ‘relocated’ to the Laguna next door, a “proper”hotel. Me? I don’t really care. I am just thankful that I could be at Redang and also to attend the MEMS.

The RBR grows on you. True, it does lack certain facilities; but I believe the resort was established to cater to a different kind of tourists. The Laguna is more suited for conferences and people with families tagging along. The RBR caters for the more ‘adventurous type’ and I suppose the younger lot who wouldn’t mind roughing out, people who went just for the fun, sun and plenty of snorkeling and partying and only use the room as a place to rest their heads when the merry-making is done.

While the ambience at the Laguna was rather formal, at the RBR, it was rather relaxed, laid back and even bohemian. There’s an air of nice lazy slumber. The beach front is dotted liberally with hammocks hanging from every available palm trees. It’s just heavenly to lie in one and make it sway a little as you soak in the tropical sun and read a good book (in my case, I was reading Man and Boy by Tony Parsons, of whichI wrote about earlier). Ah, the bliss!

I would have loved to get one of those hammocks hung up in my garden at home but I think there wouldn’t be any space left for anything else, since my garden is the size of a toilet.

I think I am done writing. If and when I find a decent wireless connection, I am going to just upload tons of pics and write like 1%. Afterall, a picture tells a thousand words.

3rd day post Redang today. And it’s chest clinic day. Ugh! I am slowly assimilating back into the urban jungle, just as slowly as my tan is fading away. Sigh…