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..
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