Perhentian Island (Big Island)

Assalamualaikum

Today’s post is about my trip to Perhentian Island (Big Island) with my friends. It was my first time going to an island so of course I felt so excited!

We were all four, Una, Malin, Ainun & me. The trip was booked by Malin which cost RM195/pax for 2 days 1 night. This package included return boat, hotel & snorkeling.

We went to Terengganu from Kuala Lumpur on 27^th of April, right after we back from work. It was really tiring plus the traffic jammed in KL took so long. I slept for most of the time along the journey & my friends were like, “Arinaaaaa, how can you sleep for so longggg, aren’t you excited oh my God…” Well, I should use this opportunity of not having to drive, I turned on my hibernating mode. I just woke up when we stopped at RnR to eat. Eat & sleep, that is so me.

We arrived at Kuala Terengganu around 11.30 pm, we stayed at Ainun’s house until the next morning.

We departed to Besut around 10.30 am after having our breakfast (big thanks to Ainun’s mum for preparing us food) & arrived the jetty around 11.30 am. We then waited until 12.30 pm for the boat. The journey took around 1 hour to arrive Perhentian Island.

Sadly Piya (Ainun's niece) was upset that she couldn't follow us. Sorry Piya.

Piya

As we arrived, I was so amazed to see how beautiful the island was though the weather was extremely hot for me that luckily I wore my sunscreen. Girl will always be girl.

We checked in Coral View Resort. We booked for 2 rooms because there was no more big room for us four. So Malin partnered with Una while Ainun with me.

We were scheduled to go snorkelling at 2 pm. We just managed to be prepared right after checked in the hotel room without having enough time to have lunch. I had no idea that this was where something bad happened...to me.

I just managed to snorkelled at 2 checkpoints, then a wave of nausea engulfed me. I held it in very hard. I decided not to join them to the other checkpoints & just stayed in the boat. I felt terrible enough, because I snorkelled with an empty stomach which I shouldn't.

My friends be like, "Hold on, Arina. Hold on. We will make you food later when we arrived." As we arrived, I sat at the jetty because I felt like fainting. So extremely dizzy. Malin came & massaged me just so I could feel a little bit better.

Feeling a little bit okay, few minutes after, my friends & I felt excited when we saw a shoal of fish! We gave them pieces of bread & took some photos.

We went back to our rooms right after that, clean ourselves & gathered to eat!

We just eat instant noodles while waiting to eat proper food (lol) after Maghrib. 

Oh ya, here you need to order for hot water from the reception counter because there is no electric jug kettle in the room. The hot water is free of charge.

After Maghrib, we went to the resort's restaurant. This was unplanned because we already expected how pricey the food could be but we need rice!!! Our stomachs couldn't handle this emptiness anymore.

You have no idea how we confused ourselves by thinking,

"Ish takpe ke ni membazir makan mahal?"

"Ah bedal la kita bercuti kot ni!"

"Ish tapi tak rasa bersalah ke?"

"Peduli apa aku, lapar dah ni!"

So yeah, here we were, ordering Tomyam (RM19++), Pattaya Fried Rice (RM16), USA Fried Rice (RM16), canned drinks (RM4 each). We ate by the beach, windy with the sound of waves. So calm.

Then, we went near the beach, lying on the sand, watching the stars. Like seriously the sky was so incredibly beautiful that night! Full of stars!

We kept on silent, more to layan perasaan time. I felt quite sad, because there was actually something I needed to let go, to move on from. I pray to Allah that it would be easier. Alhamdulillah, my heart was broken but Allah gave me strength. 

After that, we all gathered at our (Ainun & me) room & we had fun conversation with snacks on our bed! 

We slept around 12 am, I slept later than that, tak sedar diri esok kena drive.

The next morning, we prepared ourselves trying to look so elegant kononnya because that was our last day! That day was quite unexpected because I bumped into Aida, my batchmate during my studies at IPB. How small the world could be... (Thank you for running towards me & hugged me!)

& also got a moment when we were all panicked just because we thought the boat already left. Luckily not...

We left the island around 12.30 pm, drove back to Ainun's house, having lunch (thank you again Ainun's family!) & straight went back to KL with me driving 150km/h (please don't do this).

I couldn't forget when we gave Una a chance to drive after years of not driving. Big thank you to Ainun for teaching her so calmly I almost slept at the back.

Alhamdulillah we went home safely.

Our final expenses, RM195 (package) + RM67.70 (petrol + tolls) = RM262.70 per person. Hope this helps!

& here our photos, till next time!

Oh ya, I managed to play with Piya before going back, she told me, "Kakak nanti datang sini lagi tau."

In Shaa Allah cutie!