South By South East: The Sea
Saturday, August 25, 2007
South By South East: The Sea
Aside from the sun that greeted us an hour earlier in Bintan, we were also greeted by the soft patting of raindrops on our window sills. The clothes that were hung outside to dry were drenched all over again, but that mattered little because the sea was where we were aiming to go to for the rest of the day. Day two of the trip, and I was worn out by the lack of sleep in the previous night. It seems like I wasn't the only person with such a problem, but an invisible disease shared by E-fei and Juliana. I stumbled down to the restaurant with Joel at 9.30, local time, and found the other boys already wolfing down their breakfast. It was a great buffet breakfast, and the fact that we paid $150 for the rooms and a breakfast such as this one, made everything taste even sweeter.
Like I said before, the sea was on our list of activities today. The rain in the morning did not stop us from reconsidering that option, because the clam ocean was just too inviting for us to do anything else. After breakfast however, I climbed back into bed immediately and tried to fall asleep again. But sadly, that didn't happen because the television was too loud and Joel had no intentions of sleeping at all. So there I was in bed, pretending that I've fallen asleep, when in truth I was merely tumbling around within the sheets. It felt like the days in camp when somebody comes to the door and wakes the whole bunk up, the way Shen came to our door and told us that we should start doing something for the day. It was already midday, and all I wanted to do was to switch off and sleep the rest of the day away.
I was surprised at how much of me still possess the ability to play ping-pong. I held on against Cheryl pretty well at the table, considering the fact that she used to play for her school team. I remember the lessons my uncle gave me in Taiwan while I was back in the grade school days, and those lessons finally came into good use. At least I was finally good at something, aside from all the atrocious badminton playing in the previous day. But in my defense, we were playing outdoors with the wind blowing to our disadvantage, and it was hot as hell down at the courts. Anyway, I ate the salad in everybody's plate because nobody seems to like raw vegetables save for me. I was officially labeled as the giraffe of the group, a nickname in which I wasn't too sure about. With the dried sweat and the heat of the day, there was only one place to head to: The Sea.
The sand felt soggy between our feet because of the rain in the morning, but the sun was already peeping out from between the clouds by then, and the beach was practically empty when we arrived. We rented kayaks, and made our way down to the shores where they were. It reminded me of the past when Samuel, Krishna and I used to spend our weekends at the Sembawang Sea Sports Club, pedaling our kayaks in the Northern shores of Singapore, onto islands we were not supposed to be on. Kayaking is one of those rare outdoor activities that I am actually not against, and something I look forward to despite the fear of deep waters. We kicked off from the shores and aimed for the coconut trees at the other side of the island.
Halfway through the trip out into the horizon, E-fei began his madness. The man has something for capsizing in the middle of the sea, and wanted everybody to experience it for some reason. So there he was, rowing his kayak everywhere just to tip everybody over just for the hack of it. The funniest thing happened when he tips himself over as a form of demonstration and is unable to get himself back onto the kayak afterwards. When he finally did so, someone would take his oars and pedal away at light speed, leaving him stranded in the middle of the ocean. I hijacked Jonathan's cool turquoise boat because it was the fastest of the lot, and remained that way all the way back to shore. I spent most of the time away from the rest, as they struggled to tip each other over. It was amazing how quiet it was in the middle of the sea, how serene it felt as the sun blazed down upon our shoulders. I felt the weight of the air then, how surreal it felt in my lungs and how clear the waters were. Floating there, borne by the waves, it was the greatest feeling ever.
Like all good Singaporean, we jumped into the swimming pool to clean ourselves up. I felt bad about it, but it was the fastest way to clean yourself up with all the chlorine in the waters. There is something about the sea that can never be compared to the pool though, something about its vastness that attracts me. I suppose it is the idea of pedaling in a single direction for thousands of miles and still be obstructed by nothing at all. I like the feeling of being pulled by the waves towards the shores, or the way the sand would be disturbed with my footsteps through the waters. Perhaps it is the magnitude of the ocean, and the idea that every bit of you is attached to a greater body of water while you are in it, the idea of it is inviting I suppose. It is like being a part of this great scheme or plan, to be swimming in the bay knowing that this same body of water is connected to the South China Sea, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. The waters are much calmer here, but then the idea of being part of the menace of the ocean makes you feel so small against mother nature, and at the same time so alive.
On Bintan, it is actually illegal for you to find a cab driver, pay him a certain amount of money and have him drive you around for a certain period of time. I suppose the reason for it is that there are limited number of cab drivers on the island, but there tourists coming in and out all the time who might need the same services. Anyhow, we broken the Bintan laws by hiring a cab driver that very night after our kayaking trip to drive us down to the other end of the island and back, all for just seven dollars each. Because it was an illegal thing to do, we had to meet the driver at the back of the hotel after our showers, and we were off towards the restaurant on the other side of the island.
Like I mentioned before, there is something odd about the roads in Bintan. There are no street lamps around, which means that if you are driving at night, you only have the light from the front of the car as the guide. It was already darkening by the time we were on our way, and the driver didn't seem to take the darkness into account as he sped way over the speed limit down the expressway. Overtaking trucks, speeding and making sharp corners, the eight of us were holding on to our lives as we pretended everything was OK. Traveling down a stretch of road with no lights whatsoever around you was quite a harrowing experience, considering the fact that our fates lied in the hands of this cad driver alone. He drove to a nearby town for petrol, and the way the towns people stared at us gave us the creeps. I mean, we could have easily been shipped off to a remote part of the island to be robbed and killed. But in truth, the only dangerous thing about the driver was the way he drove. He was so close to a lamp post that stuck out in the middle of the road at one point that I actually thought we were going to crash. The car even had to trot through a dozen different terrains just to get to the restaurant. Everything from gravel road, to mud roads, to tarmac roads, to roads with a dozen potholes. At long last, we arrived at the restaurant at the other side of the world - and yes, it was empty.
It was a sea-side restaurant, with the resort glimmering all the way on the other side of the bay. We could see it from where we were, glimmering quietly into the night. We were all alone in the outdoor restaurant that sat above the waters down below. We could smell the salty sea below, and beyond the edge of the restaurant were the murky waters that sloshed against the wooden pillars below. We tried to peek through the surface, but everything was way too dark. Besides, our stomachs were growling mercilessly by then. It was probably the best seafood dinner I've had in a long time, though the crab wasn't all that fabulous. Everything else we ordered were at a good price, and incredibly good. So all the risks we took on the road to the restaurant was worth it, as we finished the food in no time.
On this side of the island, the sea became a lot more menacing. The sea retreated towards the horizon, the seabed exposed like the belly of a dragon. Shadows of the fishes waddled in the shallow waters, while the others escaped the blinding lights from the restaurant. After a beer or two, we leaned over the edge to watch the Barracudas in the waters, as well as the rest of the seabed that was bursting with life. The waters have retreated with the tide, dirty moss and other trash could be seen littered all over the place. Strangely enough, there was a light bulb sticking out of the mud in the middle of nowhere, as well as the unfortunate dead fishes. It was time for us to go back, and we bid farewell to the owners of the restaurant as well as the angriest parrot I've ever seen. With our stomachs filled to the brink and our minds satisfied, it was time to go back to our hotel.
Aside from the sun that greeted us an hour earlier in Bintan, we were also greeted by the soft patting of raindrops on our window sills. The clothes that were hung outside to dry were drenched all over again, but that mattered little because the sea was where we were aiming to go to for the rest of the day. Day two of the trip, and I was worn out by the lack of sleep in the previous night. It seems like I wasn't the only person with such a problem, but an invisible disease shared by E-fei and Juliana. I stumbled down to the restaurant with Joel at 9.30, local time, and found the other boys already wolfing down their breakfast. It was a great buffet breakfast, and the fact that we paid $150 for the rooms and a breakfast such as this one, made everything taste even sweeter.
Like I said before, the sea was on our list of activities today. The rain in the morning did not stop us from reconsidering that option, because the clam ocean was just too inviting for us to do anything else. After breakfast however, I climbed back into bed immediately and tried to fall asleep again. But sadly, that didn't happen because the television was too loud and Joel had no intentions of sleeping at all. So there I was in bed, pretending that I've fallen asleep, when in truth I was merely tumbling around within the sheets. It felt like the days in camp when somebody comes to the door and wakes the whole bunk up, the way Shen came to our door and told us that we should start doing something for the day. It was already midday, and all I wanted to do was to switch off and sleep the rest of the day away.
I was surprised at how much of me still possess the ability to play ping-pong. I held on against Cheryl pretty well at the table, considering the fact that she used to play for her school team. I remember the lessons my uncle gave me in Taiwan while I was back in the grade school days, and those lessons finally came into good use. At least I was finally good at something, aside from all the atrocious badminton playing in the previous day. But in my defense, we were playing outdoors with the wind blowing to our disadvantage, and it was hot as hell down at the courts. Anyway, I ate the salad in everybody's plate because nobody seems to like raw vegetables save for me. I was officially labeled as the giraffe of the group, a nickname in which I wasn't too sure about. With the dried sweat and the heat of the day, there was only one place to head to: The Sea.
The sand felt soggy between our feet because of the rain in the morning, but the sun was already peeping out from between the clouds by then, and the beach was practically empty when we arrived. We rented kayaks, and made our way down to the shores where they were. It reminded me of the past when Samuel, Krishna and I used to spend our weekends at the Sembawang Sea Sports Club, pedaling our kayaks in the Northern shores of Singapore, onto islands we were not supposed to be on. Kayaking is one of those rare outdoor activities that I am actually not against, and something I look forward to despite the fear of deep waters. We kicked off from the shores and aimed for the coconut trees at the other side of the island.
Halfway through the trip out into the horizon, E-fei began his madness. The man has something for capsizing in the middle of the sea, and wanted everybody to experience it for some reason. So there he was, rowing his kayak everywhere just to tip everybody over just for the hack of it. The funniest thing happened when he tips himself over as a form of demonstration and is unable to get himself back onto the kayak afterwards. When he finally did so, someone would take his oars and pedal away at light speed, leaving him stranded in the middle of the ocean. I hijacked Jonathan's cool turquoise boat because it was the fastest of the lot, and remained that way all the way back to shore. I spent most of the time away from the rest, as they struggled to tip each other over. It was amazing how quiet it was in the middle of the sea, how serene it felt as the sun blazed down upon our shoulders. I felt the weight of the air then, how surreal it felt in my lungs and how clear the waters were. Floating there, borne by the waves, it was the greatest feeling ever.
Like all good Singaporean, we jumped into the swimming pool to clean ourselves up. I felt bad about it, but it was the fastest way to clean yourself up with all the chlorine in the waters. There is something about the sea that can never be compared to the pool though, something about its vastness that attracts me. I suppose it is the idea of pedaling in a single direction for thousands of miles and still be obstructed by nothing at all. I like the feeling of being pulled by the waves towards the shores, or the way the sand would be disturbed with my footsteps through the waters. Perhaps it is the magnitude of the ocean, and the idea that every bit of you is attached to a greater body of water while you are in it, the idea of it is inviting I suppose. It is like being a part of this great scheme or plan, to be swimming in the bay knowing that this same body of water is connected to the South China Sea, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. The waters are much calmer here, but then the idea of being part of the menace of the ocean makes you feel so small against mother nature, and at the same time so alive.
On Bintan, it is actually illegal for you to find a cab driver, pay him a certain amount of money and have him drive you around for a certain period of time. I suppose the reason for it is that there are limited number of cab drivers on the island, but there tourists coming in and out all the time who might need the same services. Anyhow, we broken the Bintan laws by hiring a cab driver that very night after our kayaking trip to drive us down to the other end of the island and back, all for just seven dollars each. Because it was an illegal thing to do, we had to meet the driver at the back of the hotel after our showers, and we were off towards the restaurant on the other side of the island.
Like I mentioned before, there is something odd about the roads in Bintan. There are no street lamps around, which means that if you are driving at night, you only have the light from the front of the car as the guide. It was already darkening by the time we were on our way, and the driver didn't seem to take the darkness into account as he sped way over the speed limit down the expressway. Overtaking trucks, speeding and making sharp corners, the eight of us were holding on to our lives as we pretended everything was OK. Traveling down a stretch of road with no lights whatsoever around you was quite a harrowing experience, considering the fact that our fates lied in the hands of this cad driver alone. He drove to a nearby town for petrol, and the way the towns people stared at us gave us the creeps. I mean, we could have easily been shipped off to a remote part of the island to be robbed and killed. But in truth, the only dangerous thing about the driver was the way he drove. He was so close to a lamp post that stuck out in the middle of the road at one point that I actually thought we were going to crash. The car even had to trot through a dozen different terrains just to get to the restaurant. Everything from gravel road, to mud roads, to tarmac roads, to roads with a dozen potholes. At long last, we arrived at the restaurant at the other side of the world - and yes, it was empty.
It was a sea-side restaurant, with the resort glimmering all the way on the other side of the bay. We could see it from where we were, glimmering quietly into the night. We were all alone in the outdoor restaurant that sat above the waters down below. We could smell the salty sea below, and beyond the edge of the restaurant were the murky waters that sloshed against the wooden pillars below. We tried to peek through the surface, but everything was way too dark. Besides, our stomachs were growling mercilessly by then. It was probably the best seafood dinner I've had in a long time, though the crab wasn't all that fabulous. Everything else we ordered were at a good price, and incredibly good. So all the risks we took on the road to the restaurant was worth it, as we finished the food in no time.
On this side of the island, the sea became a lot more menacing. The sea retreated towards the horizon, the seabed exposed like the belly of a dragon. Shadows of the fishes waddled in the shallow waters, while the others escaped the blinding lights from the restaurant. After a beer or two, we leaned over the edge to watch the Barracudas in the waters, as well as the rest of the seabed that was bursting with life. The waters have retreated with the tide, dirty moss and other trash could be seen littered all over the place. Strangely enough, there was a light bulb sticking out of the mud in the middle of nowhere, as well as the unfortunate dead fishes. It was time for us to go back, and we bid farewell to the owners of the restaurant as well as the angriest parrot I've ever seen. With our stomachs filled to the brink and our minds satisfied, it was time to go back to our hotel.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, August 25, 2007 at 5:53 PM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
