Hi everyone! I can't believe it's been more than a month since we have retrieved pictures from the camera, but time has really flown. In fact, we are just about at the 4-month mark, meaning we are 1/3 of the way through our big family adventure living in Singapore.
Over a month ago, we looked at the calendar and saw a 3-day weekend approaching so we decided to plan another trip to the beach. We thought about trying out other places and did some research, but we kept thinking about how much fun we had a Sea Gypsy in Malaysia, how fun and easy it was. We could step out of our cabin and right onto a beautiful, pristine beach. All of the delicious meals were prepared for us. The place has a laid-back vibe. What's not to love? So we decided to return.
Before we left, we celebrated Zoe's birthday which happened to fall on a special day here called Children's Day. The kids had celebrations at school and dressed up in fancy clothes. They had performances and were sent home with presents and candy. Eleanor had only a half-day of school which meant she was home early enough for us to enjoy a family swim, pizza poolside, and then cake and presents in the apartment. When we woke up the next morning, we headed to Malaysia! We wanted to beat the traffic crossing the Johor Causeway so we left early and then stopped at a waterfall in Kota Tinggi on the way. We thought it would be sort of a natural place where we could stop, enjoy a freshwater swim, and have a picnic. Well, it is a bit more built up than we thought. It has been turned into a sort of water park. We were not permitted to take food in, but it was very pretty.
The kids wanted to get in the water right away because it was exciting and because the sun was outrageously hot. I wanted to swim, too but the other women there were completely covered and only spectators. This area is pretty strictly Muslim and our trip happened to occur when all the protests were happening at American embassies, so I thought I would act as photographer instead. I'm sure it would have been fine if I had swum, but I didn't want to offend anyone, and to be honest, I would have felt uncomfortable being the only woman in a swim suit.
Anyway, the kids loved the water, but were nervous about scaling the very slippery rocks and steps. With good reason. We saw an older woman walking who slipped and fell near the rapids and all these people had to jump in and drag her out so she wouldn't slide on down the smaller waterfalls and rocks. The area where the kids were was much safer. The rocks were just as slippery but there were no rapids around.
For a couple of bucks we rented a tube for the waterslide. All the kids said they wanted to do it until Ted actually had the tube. Then, only Eleanor was ready. Here they go!
Wyatt kept his life-jacket on and stayed in the calm water.
We couldn't bring our own food in, but needed a small snack so we bought some chips and drinks, eating under an umbrella to protect us from the seriously brutal sun.
This is kind of weird to post I suppose, but you would not believe the size of the ants at this place. They were like something out of a movie, prehistoric giants. I was brave enough to get one picture with my foot for perspective, but I really didn't want to get close to these guys they were that big!
They are like the size of my second toe! Unbelievable!
The sad part about this otherwise gorgeous spot is the strip-mining going on next to it. So much of this part of Malaysia, this beautiful rainforested area, is leveled for mines or big tree plantations for the manufacture of palm oil.
This is the town of Kota Tinggi. I thought the planters on the main drag were very cool.
We made it to the jetty and took our speedboat to Pulau Sibu. There were so many folks heading there for the long weekend, we filled two boats! Once we arrived, we discovered we were back in the same cabin we had for our last trip. Our cabin is only the second one from the beach, but they are all close really I guess. It was good to be back!
Ted woke up with the kids both mornings (thank you, Ted!) and took them on sunrise hikes. I slept in!
Around these cliffs, there are some sea caves that they all wanted to explore. Ted had checked them out alone on the last trip and the kids had heard all about them.
A sea dog joined them.
Then, we would all meet for breakfast. After eating, there was a lot of Connect Four going on.
and soccer too.
But of course, most of our time was spent on the beach. We didn't take many pictures here this time though, just decided to all get in and enjoy it.
The hike on the second morning involved blankets and loveys.
The cabins for 2, near the bar/restaurant.
Pretty view to another island.
And before we knew it, it was time to go back again. Goodbye Sibu, we hope to see you again!
No comments:
Post a Comment