My 32nd birthday

Ohh so old!

Sadly, I couldn't take leave on my birthday as my leave this year was very very limited since K was warded last April.

I had to work as usual, it was the first week of semester.

Went to lab and I received a call. Shortly after..

Received a bouquet of flower from my aunt. Awww...

After lab, had a lunch date with my favourite girls.

While having my lunch, this BFG came to surprise me with a box of KLduck in Olive Green. I have always wanted KLduck, specifically in Olive Green. My fourth duck, yay!! (2 out of 4 from Love) But it's not the Duck that really matters, it is the fact that he came all the way from work for lunch to meet me!

Had dinner with my beloved back at home. Had too much of fancy food, I told my mom I just wanted a comfort food this time around, Tomyam from my favourite Mamak. Sorry guys. (They were expecting some steaks from steak house, hehe)

I am 32, Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah for my excellent health and my wealth (my family and friends). Thank you for giving me a husband who still shower me with surprises and spoil me with gifts. I pray you will give me an idea on how do I surprise him back during his birthday next month, Ameen.

Stranded in Tioman

Day 1: Pantai Air Papan

For our family trip this year, we traveled 4 hours to Mersing and stayed in Cakemania Homestay that we booked via AirBnB.

The view from our homestay's window

The location is just right, at the heart of Mersing city and about 15 minutes drive to Pantai Air Papan.

The view of Pantai Air Papan was soooo breathtaking, it has been a while since I have been to clean white sand beach, we spent hours there on our first day.

Day 2: Tioman

Morning of Day 2, we started our morning early at Mersing jetty and off to Tioman. The ferry schedule depends on the tide, we booked earlier via https://tiomanferryticket.com. The ferry ride took around 2 hours via big air conditioned ferry.

We arrived at Genting jetty, Tioman just before 1pm. Water is clearer here compared to Pantai Air Papan, but the sand in Mersing is so much whiter. Not much restaurant available in Tioman, nonetheless the price is considered affordable. One decent dish costs around RM10.

From Genting jetty to our chalet took around 10 minutes walk. We did not see any cars in Tioman, mode of transportation is motorcycle. The village ambiance makes Tioman a very peaceful place to stay, but beach-wise, I prefer Mersing. Beach in Tioman is filled with corals, so need to be very careful not to step on it, plus it is soooo much hotter in Tioman. Nonetheless, snorkelling here is a must. Goodness so cantik all the corals and fishes!

We stayed at Aguna Resort that I booked via Agoda, it was a nice place to stay and I recommend both Cakemania and Aguna.

Day 3: Stranded in Tioman

Our ferry back to Tioman was supposed to be at 830am that Sunday morning, but we needed to be there an hour earlier. Guess what time did the ferry arrive? 2.30pm. We were stranded for 6 hours there :( At least they could have informed us via SMS/Whatsapp right?

As you could see in the pictures, there were two toddlers, on pregnant lady (not me) and both my parents, stranded 6 hours at jetty, imagine the heat.

But that was the only beginning. They sent speedboats rather than ferry to pick us up andddd.. our ferry ran out of fuel. We were again stranded for 1.5 hours in the middle of the ocean.

A small ferry picked us up, but the water was too shallow by then. The ferry could not get to Mersing jetty, hence we were transferred to a smaller boat.

But water was too shallow, the boat hit some corals and water started getting inside the boat. The boys needed to push the boat so it could get to Mersing jetty while I tried to scoop the water out of the boat, what a drama.

All our luggage and us were wet. I couldn't care less, I just wanted my girls to arrive at Mersing safely. Some part of me thought we could never make it to land, Nauzubillah. Alhamdulillah at 6pm, we landed at Mersing jetty safely.

Day 4: Unexpected extension of our trip

We needed another night to stay as all of us were too tired to drive back to KL due to the unexpected incident.

Drop by one last time at Pantai Air Papan, wouldn't miss Tioman at all. But definitely will come back to Mersing just for this view.

Moral of the story: Do not go to Tioman during peak hour with toddlers. It was public holiday on Friday when we went there.