Koh Samui, Thailand

14th November 2007
I & mom took the 11.15 AirAsia flight to Penang. Thinking that flight delay would be possible, I book for the 11.15 am trip instead of 2.15 pm trip. With that, we have to wait at Penang airport for 4 hours before boarding on Firefly flight to Koh Samui at 4 pm. I did think of lazing at Batu Feringgi since we had an ample of time but I was kinda shocked when the trip to Batu Feringgi from airport would be RM60 per way. Bloody hell..that is expensive enough. Damn bored waiting, and doing nothing at all. Time was ticking slowly but finally, we checked-in and lepak2 at Nando's, until the boarding time.
The journey to Koh Samui from Penang took 1 hr and 20 minutes by Firefly. Well, I dunno whether it's my nasal problem or not but the cabin smells funny. Tried to ignore the unpleasant smell and enjoy the trip. I was worried with the weather because at this point of time, Koh Samui is facing the monsoon season which I really hate it. Not to say I didn't do the study about Koh Samui, it's just that the information in the internet were deceiving, unlike the information given about East-Coast of Malaysia which is very clear about the weather. I only knew that Koh Samui is in monsoon a few days before departure, and that was told by a friend from Malaysianunderwater.com.
When we arrived Samui airport, rain fell heavily but just for a few minutes. No sun at all and this had ruined my mood. We took a cab to Centara Villa Samui, which is located at Tambon Maret, southern part of Samui, and that took around 30 minutes. This resort is located at a very secluded area. Generally, Samui has such a narrow road system, and that was why it took some time to get to the resort. Believe it or not, Samui was declared as disaster due to flood a few days before we arrive. There were still remaining of the stagnant water from the flashflood. We arrived around 5.30 local time. The resort was just superb but the problem was, since I came with my mom, there were a lot of stair cases.The staff were really friendly. We were treated with a welcome drink...delicious yummy young coconut with some pandan flavor. We got in to our room and relax. At night, we had dinner at Reef Restaurant. The choices of food are very limited so I just had toasted breads with tomato soup. While mom had grilled Barracuda and tomato soup. If the next time I met with Barracudas, I would say to them ' Ur flesh sucks!!'. Really, Barracuda flesh is not delicious at all...yuckksssss...mackerel & tuna are 10 times better. And the price...well..2 tomato soups, 1 grilled barracuda, 1 mango juice and 1 pineapple juice, cost us 850 Baht..around RM86...bloody expensive.
15 November 2007
Woke-up earlier hoping that I can go diving, or at least snorkeling at the nearby island, Koh Matsun or Angthong Marine Park. I went to the resort sports centre and it was not opened yet. It was too hot after it was raining heavily in the morning. Nothing much to do so I just stroll along the beach. Out of nowhere, 2 stray dogs came & I got panic. Bloody dogs!!! My mom remind me not to run, or else they would run after me. So I simply went into the water, and my pario got wet. I thought one of the dog would never follow me into the water but it just approached me. I lift my hand, and the dog ran away...Agaknye anjing2 ni x pernah nampak org pakai tudung kot...huhu...sebab tu laa dia jakun..pathetic!!! And as for my mom, the 2 dogs followed her until she got lost in the resort itself.Wakakakaka....I told her to chase the dog but then, dia buat toye jerr!! One of the dogs were bloody and wounds everywhere..very disgussing!!
I was so disappointed because the dive centre in the resort was in renovation, or maybe no longer in operation. Then we got to the resort reception to get some information. At the end, we went to the butterfly garden opposite the resort. Butterfly park in Kuala Lumpur is 100 times better with more butterflies and variety is colors and sizes. Half an hour later, we went to Lamai, to have our lunch..of course at the Muslim restaurant. We got there by the resort cab (Toyota Wish..huhu..) and we paid 550 Baht per way. Bloody expensive for 10-15 minutes journey from the resort. We had our lunch and as I expected, Thai Muslims (refering to the cooks) never fail to serve us with good, delicious and halal food. The foods are cheap as compared to the resort. I even tapau fried rice so that I wouldn't feel hungry while isolating in the room. What a boring day!! After lunch, we got back to the resort. Mom wanna buy some fruits so we stop a few minutes at the town. She managed to get mangoes and she complained they are very expensive.
There is one village at Koh Samui, i.e Hua Thanon village, where the residents are mainly Muslims. It's quite near to the resort and there is a big mosque...the only mosque in Samui perhaps.
I did nothing during the day so I just stay in the room and mom went to the SPA. She really enjoyed the trip..i guess!!
16 November 2007
Nothing much to do..nothing much to see..I just waited for the departure back to Malaysia. It was really a terrible trip for me..no diving...no snorkeling...no tours...4.40 pm, fly back to Malaysia. Well, I would come back some other time to witness the true beauty Koh Samui at the right time, and not during monsoon.

Pulau Payar, Kedah, Malaysia

A day trip to Pulau Payar is really worth going and it is fun too. This place is the only place in Malaysia where it has platform, meant for diving preparation and snorkeling. And there is no chalet or resorts, thus nobody is allowed to stay overnight on this island. By 6 pm everyday, visitors have to leave the island. I went to Pulau Payar by taking a midnight bus to Butterworth. Bus fare is around RM24.10.
The journey took around 4.5 hours. I have nothing to do at all since it is too early in the morning, and there is barely any building at the bus station. A bit worried since I’m alone. Just ensure that I sit at places with a number of ‘can be trusted people’. How I wish he was with me during the trip. I forgot to bring any books for reading and I just sat there doing nothing. Around 5.15 am, I went to the jetty to take the earliest ferry to Penang. I just love to experience this situation. No place, except Penang, with a huge ferry services that can even transport vehicles to the other side of land. It took around 10 minutes only to get to Penang from Butterworth by the ferry. So around 5.30, again I just wondering around, and sat at the bus stop hoping that time would run faster.
The next destination is to get to Swetenham jetty, which is less than 1 km distance from the Penang jetty. I was thinking of going there at the moment I arrived Penang, but the street is bloody dark and I don’t want to take the risk of getting kidnapped, robbed or snatched. Huhu…remain at bus stop until 6.45 am. I walked and stopped whenever I feel like to do so until I reached Swetenham jetty. I just love Penang. It is a unique place and no wonder why tourists/foreigners love to go there.
Waited for Feer, and yayyy…finally my new diver friends arrived Azura, Casey & Lena. It’s good to know people and make new friends. We boarded on the 8.30 ferry to Langkawi, which it would stop over at Pulau Payar to drop passengers. It took around 1 hr 30 minutes to get to Pulau Payar. We rest at the deck instead of in the cabin, just to feel the seabreeze and fresh air (though traces of smoke were present). Around 10 am, we arrived Pulau Payar, embarked at the platform and secured a table for us. Mr. Rahim, the host of Pulau Payar, gave some introduction and reminders to all visitors. He is damn hilarious.
Then, we gear up and did the snorkeling to warm up. Casey was instructing Zura so the divers for this day were me, Lena & Feer. There is a 1 meter long Barracuda wandering nearby the platform. The only Barracuda there…alone….lonely…huhu…kesian plak tgk Barracuda tu. I thought all Barracudas are silver in color but this one…gold. Very nice and very big…old enough. At first, I was worried that it might attack me..hehe…Barracudaphobic., but it just stayed there, not moving much…. still, didn’t dare enough to approach it. Other attractions, presence of Moorish Idol…haha…a type of fish I really love to look at…a lot in Pulau Payar, but not at other islands. Larytail wrasse, Sargeant Majors… everywhere. I don’t know how to describe in words. You wanna see it, you gotta go there. Lovely..
1st diving was at Coral Garden and Japanese Garden. The initial plan was to descend at Coral Garden, and ascend at Japanese Garden. But since the was bloody strong current, we couldn’t proceed to Japanese Garden. Visibility was so-so but I felt like crying because there are a lot of beauties that really impressed me. Fishes, of course pelagic, move in flocks and I think more than 300 fishes per flock. Corals…subhanallah.. Purple and white soft-corals grow undisturbed. A big grouper…called ‘kerapu panau’ was also seen. Ahh…forgot to mention our divemaster, Shah. Haha.. there was a panic time…and funny too. We (I & Lena) got panic because we got trapped in the strong current where we thought that Shah would unable to find us. And the funny thing is that, we were at the same place, didn’t go any further and stayed together just above him while we saw he dived deeper, further from us. Maka terkapai2lah kami melihat divemaster kami menyelam ke sane ke mari mencari dua ikan duyung yang comel…wakakaka. If he just looked at the surface direction, he would have seen us earlier without getting tired finding us here and there. A lesson to be learnt, never leave your buddy behind and always stay together when got stucked in current. Don’t panic!! First time diving with Lena, we managed to establish a good buddy co-operation. I will always remember ‘I hold u, u hold me’. When our divemaster found us, he totally held us together and didn’t let us dive away from him. Thanks a lot to him for being our rescuer. That current occurs at the interchange of Coral Garden and Japanese Garden. I wonder what are the things present at Japanese Garden. Well, past is past…I will surely visit these sites again, hopefully with milder current and much2 better visibility.
After the 1st dive, we got back to the platform, detach the gear from the emptied tank and re-attach with a filled tank. Then, I had lunch and the food…marvelous. Worth paying RM280 because all I can eat. Sounds great but who on earth wants to eat until bloated prior to next diving? Throw up..that’s for sure..
2nd divesite was at Kaca, a site where sharks (Black Tip) are present. We found 2-3 Black Tip sharks but damn f*** because I couldn’t snap any photos of those sharks. Not because my digicam was damaged, but I was suddenly ascended unintentionally & didn’t realize. Deflated my BCD a.s.a.p but damn, I couldn’t get down. I was pulled downward and when that happened, was unstable. And added with the ‘Sharkophobic’ (huahuahua…pandai2 je buat term sendirik!!!), I forgot to change my digicam mode. It was a catastrophy I guess…really frustrated. The sharks circled us several times and I should have taken the chances to snap several pictures of sharks. Besides sharks, we should have visited a wreck but since the visibility was bad, it’s not worth going there. Like Coral Garden, Kaca also has numerous fishes moving in big groups and smaller fishes were seen surrounding the corals. Looked for nudibranches too. Well, there is 1 or 2 nudes, typically the genus Phyllidiella sp.
Finally, got back to the platform and it’s time to pack things up. Feer and Lena went for another snorkeling. I just relaxed and looked at all the shots taken during the dives. Changed attire and visited the underwater chamber present at the platform. Here I could see the Barracuda clearly with all fishes inhabiting around the platform. Nice!! At 3.30 pm, jumped in to the ferry and that’s it. A bit tired but satisfying enough though a short trip. Hoping that I will have the chance to go there again. Insya Allah….Arrived Swetenham jetty, naik kereta Feer ngan Zura n kereta Feer plak naik ferry…hehe.. g Butterworth to send me to the bus station. Got the 7 pm ticket to KL…and chow!! Thanks to all … gonna miss u all..