Rawa Isand, Malaysia Trip (Day 3)

28th August 2016, Sunday

Today was the last day on the beach, we got up and went outside. We saw 3 baby sharks swimming in the sea from a distance (was able to see the shadows). As we got up quite early, the staffs were still preparing the breakfast. While waiting, we saw a black cat around the benches, so i played with it. Funny thing was the beach dog, Daisy also came to our side. And when the cat saw the dog, it got naughty and 'slapped' the dog on its face. It made Daisy jumped and wanted to get back at the cat. Even the cat was ready to fight too. But in the end, Daisy just walked away. After that, the kitten started to annoy my friend's hubby by trying to grab his toes on the bench...hohoho...

Daisy

After that, breakfast was ready and the staff told us to check out at 12 pm and we can leave our bags outside the restaurant hut while waiting for the boat to pick us up. After breakfast, they went for their last swim in the sea, Me and my friend just walked near the shore to pass time. They still went for snorkelling for the last time. After that, they all went for shower to get ready for lunch. As the time was still early, we just sat around at the restaurant hut and waited. We had some drinks and snacks before lunch. By 12 pm, lunch was ready and we all ate our last meal on the beach.

Dark clouds coming

While waiting for the boat, the weather suddenly turned to strong winds and dark clouds. We can see that a storm was coming. By 2 plus, there were 3 boats coming towards to the shore and there were new guests coming to the beach. Most of the people who stayed on the same period us took the same timing boats as us. The staff told us to board the second boat, however, she told us we had boarded the wrong boat. So we had to shift to the boat next to it. As there were people on the boat, and the boatman was getting prepared to leave, he didn't bother to help us to pack our bags inside their plastic bags to protect from the water. Raindrops started to fall from the sky and it was super super heavy. Then we were off....back to mainland.....

The boat ride was like roller coaster, on the sea. Because of the rain and strong waves, the boat was bumping all the way. It went up and then bumped back down to the water....we were all drenched, it was like having shower with our clothes on and the water was kept pouring inside the boat. The rain was also hitting on our faces. After the long ride, we finally reached the jetty. Everyone was soooo drenched (can squeeze water out from our clothes) and my butt hurts from all the bumping after the ride. All the bags were wet too, even those kept inside the trash bags. When we saw the people from the other boats, they were not as wet as us. We had to go to the nearby hawker centre to find toilets so that we can change to some dry clothes.

When we got the toilet at the hawker centre, the toilet lady was telling everyone that there was a  water going on and the water had not arrived, therefore there was no water. Had to go the min shop outside to buy water to use. We went to buy a bottle and went to change our clothes. Oh man, my whole bag was wet. My dry clothes become wet clothes and i was only able to change my bottom as i had put some inside a plastic bag. After we all got changed, we wanted to have some drinks before our car driver picks us up. However, he arrived early at the jetty so we all left on a long ride back to Singapore. Think all of us were tired, the ride back was quite quiet...hahahaa...We reached the customs at around 6.20 pm. There was a jam around city square area, we managed to reach back in Singapore at 7 pm plus. Then the driver dropped us off one by one.

And this ends my Rawa Island adventure.

Resort Stayed: Alang's Rawa Resort

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

LegoLand Trip

Legoland

Finally, i get to travel out of Singapore again. This time, me and my friends went to Legoland which we had been saying since it is out. We managed to get everyone agreed and went for it. We had bought the coach tixs from WTS Travel for $20 (2-way) for each pax. And we got the legoland tixs from its main website for RM$105 per pax.

We gathered at the Singapore Flyer at 9.00 am, and went to the WTS agency to do our 'check-in'. It was a super small shop and there was already a super long queue of people trying to collect their tixs.
After we had collected our tixs, we went to have our breakfast. By 9.45am, we went to find our coach. We boarded the bus and waited until 10am for the bus to leave. It was quite annoying when some people is not considerate enough to settle in the coach and let the coach leave on time. There was a Japanese mother and son who were the last to board the coach. Then the mother went down to toliet, leaving the son alone in the bus and he was like only 4 or 5 years old. And he was crying for his mother after 2 mins later. Then there was another group of Philippinese, who also went down to get some drinks. So we had to wait for about 15 mins for them to return to the bus. Finally they came back, and suddenly there was a couple who went down to go to the toliets just after everyone was back. Ahh..why they can't just go earlier? Then we had to wait for another 15 mins for the couple to come back. The bus driver quickly told his colleagues that he better start driving before another says want to go toliet again. lol....

So we finally got to start our journey at around 10.30 am..and we reached Singapore customs at around 11 am. There we had to wait for the Japanese mother and son again, as they were caught in the customs. 2 coaches had left before us, and they came later than us! Then we continued our journey to JB. Finally we reached Legoland at 12 pm. We alighted and walked a distance to Legoland entrance. There were alot of people at the main entrance trying to take photo with the lego entrance. I can't even take a clear photo with no one near it. Anyway, we went and start our day inside the Legoland.

StoryBook made of Lego

All the rides we saw were at least 120 mins of waiting time. So we just walked down from the entrance to the Kingdom area and saw 2 dragons roller coasters side by side. 1 for kids and 1 for adults. My friend was targeting the bigger dragon roller coaster...hohoho..but we got hungry. So we bought some food at the kingdom area and we decided to take the dragon roller coaster as the 1st ride after meal. After meal, we went and queued for the roller coaster. We waited for at least 1 hr before our turn. It was fun and the ride was just like 1 or 2 mins. My friend was laughing all the way throughout the whole ride.hohohoo...After the ride, we shopped around at the souvenirs shop. My hands were shaking after the ride and were shaking even when i tried to pay for my wizard lego keychain..lol...


After that, we walked down to Imagination. Along the way, there are some game stalls that you can pay to play the games to win big stuffed toys. We played a fishing game that requires to add up all the numbers and a certain number will get you a different size stuffed toy. We paid for 4 picks which cost RM$25 and it added up to 8 which got us a lion stuffed toy. It was cute... :)

Lego Towers

Then we went to queue for the lego towers, which requires to pull yourself up and let yourself down. We queued for half an hour for this. Then we walked down to the next area, which is the land of adventure. Then my friend went and buy popcorn, it was too sweet...then we went to find another ride to play, Lost Kingdom Adventure. We didn't know what the ride was but we just went to queue for it. The queue was super long and it was another half an hour queue. Until we reached the entrance, we know what the ride is. It was a ride with laser shooting,my friend got disappointed when she saw that it was not a roller coaster ride. kekeke.....

After the ride, it was almost 4 plus. So we walked down to Miniland, to see the mini buidings made of lego. We walked around it, it was a good place for photography. There were some professional photographers going around to help you take photos. We then went to the lego shop to shop shop. All the stuffs are not cheap, so we only buy 1 or 2 items. The lego mascot also came out for a walk and alot of people went up to queue to take photo with the mascot. There were also some lego displays around the whole legoland, which you can take photos with.

We then left legoland and made our way down to JPO for shopping. We took a cab down to JPO, which caused us RM$60 from legoland to JPO. Expensive ride. It started to rain heavily on the way there, it was still raining when we reached. Then we went to the food court there to eat dinner, there was a few people around..After that, we went to walk around the shops. There were nothing interested to buy too. My friend bought a coach sling bag for her hubby. Then we went to the bus stop to wait for the bus. Finally the bus came and we boarded to go to City Square. It was long journey ride, we took a nap on the bus. Then we reached City Square, my friend went and bought breads. I saw some snacks stalls..i bought chicken wings...it was nice and yummy!! Next time i will go eat again. :)

Then we made our way down to Woodlands Custom and made our way back to Singapore. That ended our day trip to Legoland. There are so many rides we didn't manage to take. Will be going back again!! :p