Rawa Isand, Malaysia Trip (Day 2)

27th August 2016, Saturday

First Staircase to climb

Sun covered by Haze

Today, we woke up and sad to see the island was surrounded with haze...deadly and hateful haze. We can't even see the surrounding islands. It was sooo weird to wash our teeth with the salty water as the water was too salty. So we just took our mineral water to brush our teeth. After that, we walked out to the beach. As breakfast was not ready yet, we went for a short hiking up the part of the mountains behind the resort. There was a long staircase to climb up and after that, it was just rocks path to climb to the top. However, the haze had covered the sun and it was just red in colour. Got tired of the hiking, legs got too wobby when going down the stairs. My activity for the day had been completed...hahahaa...

School of Fishes

Corals in the sea

Unfriendly Sun

After that, we went back down to have our breakfast. It was also a buffet-styled, having nasi lemark, cereals, coffee and tea. We also ordered eggs which we can choose the cooking style (sunny side up or scrambled). After breakfast, two of my friends went to play their game. Then they went to change to their swimming attires and prepare for their swim. As for me, i went to the jetty and see the school of fishes swimming near the water slides and the jetty. I walked along the shore to pass my time while i watched my friends swimming out in the sea...However, there was not much wind today due to the heavy haze. So i went back to lie in the hammock to just relax there. There were also big bats hanging on the trees up on the trees in the mountains. I can even hear them screeching sound too.

Billiard Tables

Lunch

I walked to the other side to explore on the other chalet. There was free wifi at their lobby and there was a small shop with aircon. On the 2nd floor, there were pool and billiard tables (which were very dirty). After that, i walked back to our resort house and saw two of my friends came back from their swim. So i sat with them outside the house. My friend lent me her ipad to watch video as to pass time while they went back to swim again. We saw the speedboats bringing more people onto the island. Finally came lunch time, the resort manager will call out to everyone and announced that lunch is ready. Then everyone will just make their way to have lunch. We just ate at our own free time and after that, 2 of my friends hit the water again and went kayaking. My friend took some slices of breads, saying going to feed the fishes. However, i ate one while passing the time...hahhaa...

TV area

Another friend of mine and I then walked to the jetty and fed the fishes. It was fun to see the school of fishes dashed to the bread pieces we threw. The bread pieces were all gone very quickly too. After that, my friend went down to try kayaking. So i walked and stayed in the other resort (at least got ceiling fan to blow).  When i walked back to our resort, my friends were back from their swim. I then brought them to the new resort after they asked me where i went. There was a TV area where the TV was turned on with one person watching. So i told my friends i will just stay there to watch TV while they went back for their water activities.

BBQ Seafood (with my friend's iPhone)

Buffet Dinner

Eventually i watched TV until 7 plus, when my friend called me to go back for shower and get ready for dinner.....hehehee....Then i went back to the resort, where i saw my friends sitting on the beach waiting for dinner. All of them had finished their shower, the resort staffs were doing bbq for our dinner tonight. It was a feast..we had some buffet dishes, fish, bbq chicken, prawns and sotongs. Tables were also placed outside too with a candle as light source. Basically, we had our dinner under the dark sky. Pity, there were no stars tonight. The staff informed that there will be a party till 3 am after dinner too. Some people went for a dance after dinner when the music started. We went off and played fire sprinkles. But we did have problems lighting the matchstick as the wind keeps blowing off the fire. A couple of my friends went to buy drinks and party while the rest of us just lazed on the bench. After some time, my friends and me went back to the room to rest for the day.

Resort Stayed: Alang's Rawa Resort

Rawa Isand, Malaysia Trip (Day 1)

26th August 2016, Friday

Today we were going to an island named Rawa, which is located in Mersing Distinct, Johor. My friend had came across this island when browsing the net for our group trip. After reading from a few blogs, we decided to go to the island for a short getaway. We bought a package from one of the resorts (There are only two resorts on the island), which costs SGD$275.55 for each person. The package includes the fetty transport, lodging and meals for our 3 days 2 nights stay. However, all drinks are not included. We also booked a private car to pick us up from Singapore and will bring us to Mersing jetty (both ways) for $88 per person. From other blogs, we also came to know that there will not be fresh water for showers and no aircon. Instead, alkaline water is used (This is not really nice to know....lol).

We all got up and prepared for our trip. Our transport went to pick up a couple of my friends first, followed by me and lastly another couple of friends. After that, it is a long way to the Customs. After we crossed the Customs, it was a 1 hour drive to Mersing. It was quite a bumpy drive, the road wasn't smooth too. We reached at around noon time, we all alighted and went to buy data card and have our lunch....at KFC...kekeke....There was even a notice pasting on the KFC's door, saying that there was a water ration going on... -_-"...After we had our lunch, we went to a RM2 shop to buy mineral water (which is a must to do if you are going there...1 bottle of 1.5 litre mineral water costs RM$8 on the island). The resort guy somehow keeps calling us to ask us whether we are near the jetty. After which, we walked to the resort office but there was no one around. We gave the guy a call again and he said he will come pick us up. We went to a cafe, planning to take a rest but the guy came over and called us to leave.

Resort Transport

Say 'Hi' to Daisy

We followed him to get on the boat, oh my, it was a speedboat...hahaha....and everyone boarded the boat. We were given life jackets each and told to wear it. And we are off to the island. The ride was quite okay overall but still bumpy. It took us 20 mins to reach the island and when we reached the island, there was no jetty for us to get down. The speedboats are just parked at the coast and everyone had to jump off the boat to get to shore. The resort manager greeted us and guided us to their small little hut, where she told us that this will be our eating place during our stay. Every group was assigned to a table. She briefed us on our room and told us that our room will be ready by 2pm. So we were just stuck on the beach.

Rawa Island

Water Slides

Our Room

Hanging Swing

The island was very beautiful and quiet, with only small numbers of people around. There was a big group of teenagers playing volleyball. Everyone was just barefooted on the bench and the sand was super fine. The seawater was also super clear and you can see the tiny fishes swimming near the shore. There were also a lot of dead corals on the shore. There was also a fat dog walking around, which they named it Daisy. It is a resident there on the island and it will make itself comfortable around tourists. There is another resort on the other side of the island. It does have a jetty, where tourists checking in their resort are allowed to alight and board the boats. They also have two slides, where it is only allowed for the resort's customers. The resort is also looked like a hotel stay there. When our room is ready, we went in to take a peek and put our bags. It was a just a room with five beds and one common toilet. The beds were also like just bunk beds and there was ceiling fans in the room. There was a swing hanging just outside our room too.

Clear Seawater

Our Resort Houses

Board game to pass time

After putting our bags, we all got changed to our swimming attires and get prepared to get into the water. Unfortunately, i am not able to get into the water for the weekend. There was a hut where you can deposit a RM$50 to rent beach equipment during your stay. So we rented a volleyball to play together. After that, my friends went to walk and swim in the beach whereas i just lie in one of the hammock tied under the coconut trees. After that, my friends went and rent snorkelling googles and went for a swim again. My friends came back, saying that they saw many fishes under the sea.
Then after that, we went to the eating hut and ordered some snacks to pass time. After that, we played volleyball again (Really....lazing around the whole day). Then we had to wait until 8pm for dinner.  My friend even buried the friendly dog in the sand. The dog just stayed still and let my friend push all the sand on it...hahhaa...

Fruits

We all took turns to take shower and the shower water is really salt water. Finally, dinner time came. It was a buffet style with some simple dishes. The food was quite okay and drinks were not included. After the dinner, we sat on the beach looking up in the sky and there were a lot of stars. We were just relaxing and the group of teenagers came by and also sat around us. They had their own chat and was playing some music. After which, we went in our room and went to bed. Throughout the night, i can hear that the electricity got cut off and then on back again. We can also hear people walking on the top room.

Resort Stayed: Alang's Rawa Resort