Kwee Yap came back from Yellow Mountain/Shanghai trip on 26 May 2011 night. The following day both of us took a day off to collect kids report cards.
That night we planned to start our journey to Perhentian at 4am as we estimated the travelling time to be around 7 hours though I heard that the journey could be as short as 4 hours. At around 6am, I was awoken by the newspaper man’s bike engine and only after that realized that the alarm did not go off as Kwee Yap had accidentally set it at 4 pm. We quickly packed and got ready to start our journey. Kids woke up and got ready very fast as they were looking forward to the trip since we confirmed it just a few days earlier. Even Tong was awaken by then, haha, guess she was also as excited as the brothers.
We managed to leave home by 6.22am and did not take too many toilet breaks along the way. Fortunately we bought 2 loafs of bread from Sweetly, kaya and red bean flavours saving us precious breakfast stop. Reminder for myself, to stock up more bread for local trip as kids just seems to love it. I have to kick myself for not buying bahulu for the trip. Haha, in no time the bread were all finished. We travelled thru Kuala Lipis, Machang, Gua Musang to reach Kuala Besut. It sure sounded simpler now but the drive then sure looked almost endless to us. Sean behaved like a big brother to the younger 2 siblings, tending to Tong;s needs from supply of water to bread as well as provided her stories and feedback from time to time. He also spent endless hours talking to Ye. It is heartening to see the close bond kids share during the journey.
What a relief to us when we finally see Kuala Besut sign. Upon reaching Kuala Besut, a man on motorbike showed us the way to New Cocohut office. Kwee Yap parked his car behind the office and we were guided to the jetty after a short toilet break. Journey from jetty to the island took us 30 minutes and kids had great fun with the ride. Every time a wave came, the boat will surged forward…it can surely match any one of Genting rides.
By the time we reached New Cocohut, everyone was already famished and we had lunch before checking in our chalet. Since we were already late for first day snorkeling, we settled down at chalet and walked around the beach area. Kids played sand and swam at the beach nearby. Unfortunately the hammock was not so comfortable. Tong made herself very much at home, she was barefooted most time and kept washing her feet at a tap nearby.
Dinner and the next day breakfast was at same restaurant. The second day, we went for snorkeling trip at Pulau Rawa, Susu Dara and another spot nearby. The boys and Kwee Yap swam quite a distance to snorkel while Tong and I stayed on the boat and island. While at the boat, we fed the countless fishes with bread. Tong and I did not join the boys for second trip to turtle island. Sean said the trip was sure worthwhile as they could see turtles. The boys really seemed to enjoy themselves and soon they would just dive into the sea without any hesitation …of course with life jacket on.
At night we walked around and saw a nicer chalet “Tuna Beach Chalet” and decided to give that a try our next visit. If time permits, we feel that we should extend our stay and let the boys try out diving. Trip home was longer at more than 8 hours as we stopped at Raub for dinner. Tong was sick the second day but she behaved well, hardly complained. Its sure a worthwhile trip and we never regret our decision to bring Tong along with us. Sean has been a great brother, taking care of his sister with great understanding. Ye being his cheeky self was a fun loving guy and seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself. We were so proud of the 3 kids .
