Memories
- by Nirshantini
Bukit Mertajam High School,
Bukit Mertajam, Penang
Last December, my family and I went to Pulau Tioman for our holidays. We stayed there for three days.
On the first day, we left our house at six in the morning in my father's car and headed for the jetty. As we arrived quite early at the jetty, we decided to have our breakfast at one of the famous mamak stalls while waiting for the ferry to arrive. I wolfed down two roti canais as I was very hungry and the food was really delicious. The ferry arrived at around nine. It was really crowded as it was the school-holiday period.
The ferry ride from Mersing to Pulau Tioman took about two hours. It was a thrilling ride. We did not miss the opportunity to take some photos of the islands seen along the way and the blue sea looked amazing with the golden rays shining on it. The scenery was simply breathtaking. A few dolphins accompanied us till Tioman Island. They were a joy to watch and that was the first time I saw real live ones.
When we arrived at Tioman Island, we checked into a luxurious hotel which my father booked two rooms earlier. The rooms were really comfortable as they were air-conditioned. My parents shared a room while I shared a room with my sister, Cheng. After a short nap, a tour guide brought us to the beach. The blue sea looked inviting and my father started swimming after changing into his swimming trunks. While my sister was collecting a variety of colourful seashells and placing them in a bottle, I was building a sandcastle on the soft golden-yellow sand. We had a great time at the beach. During sunset, many holidaymakers came to the beach to watch the enchanting scenery. When we went back to the hotel, we had our baths before heading for the hotel restaurant for a sumptuous traditional buffet dinner. We had a lot of fun on the first day although it was quite tiring.
The next day, I remember waking up to the sun's rays shining on my still-shut eyelids through the blinds. It was already late by the time we woke up so we had to rush or else the tour guide would have to wait for us. He took us to an island, where we went snorkelling, on a small boat. I was amazed by the multi-coloured fishes which were swimming about happily in the water. It was a really great experience snorkelling around the unspoilt coral reefs. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we did not realise two hours had passed. We were advised to return to our boat. Then, we headed back to our hotel. After showering in our rooms, we watched a cultural show in the evening. It was performed by school students and also members of a few non-governmental organisations. Among the performances were wayang kulit, tarian zapin as well as some local songs. The performances were really entertaining.
After breakfast on the last day, we went shopping. We bought quite a few souvenirs and traditional handicrafts which were sold at reasonable prices. I particularly liked the fine handcrafted wooden horse that I found in a shop. It was a real bargain. When we had had our lunch, we returned to the hotel where we packed our belongings, checked out and left the island for home.
The trip is filled with sweet memories and we certainly look forward to having another holiday on the island some time in the future.
