Friday, July 2, 2010

Redang

A holiday in the Tan family means an escape to some ulu, godforsaken village in the middle of nowhere. Usually, that involves a winding journey up the hills to Cameron highlands or Frasers hill. But this time, dad decided to shake things up a bit and take us to Redang Island.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me give you a 101 on "how not to pee". You see, getting to Redang involves a 7 hour bus ride to the bus station, an hour transfer from station to jetty, and another half hour from the jetty to the island. That combined with all the waiting in between transfers calls for an awesome 12 hour journey from house to resort.

And let me let you in on a secret: I don't like public toilets. Loath them. Avoid them at all costs. End of story. So here's the 101 on "how not to pee". Drink next to nothing, and eat lots of high sodium junk food. The overdose of sodium in your body will cause your kidneys to retain more water to ensure that the electrochemical balance in your body does not go haywire. Therefore, whatever liquid you consume will not make in down into your bladder. Hence, the urge to pee is suppressed. I like it when I get to apply what I learn in everyday crisis.

Really, the theory about eating sponge cake to absorb your pee is not valid.

So we got to Redang, and the island is pretty much everything it is reported to be - beautiful. Clear waters, white beaches, corals galore and crazy fish that eat out of your hand.

I mean, I even dragged my lazy butt out of bed to catch the sunrise, and that's saying a lot.

Sure the resort wasn't 5*'s, and the beaches were rather overcrowded. Neither I do not appreciate karaoke-ers taking turns to blah into the mike through out the night. And yes, after 4 snorkeling trips, you end up seeing (I quote some random youth) "the same d@*& fish and the same d@*& corals". But somehow, beauty is beauty, and ME likes pretty white beaches.

Dad on the other hand, likes water. Water is his friend.

Mum, not so much. Water and mum no mix.

As for me, me likes sleep. And hammock and me became best-ies. And me also likes how dad unwittingly censored my butt from the picture. Thank you dad.

So after 4 days, we took the same crazy bus trip back to KL. And I repeated the same high sodium low salt diet, making it back home in one piece. Albeit slightly sun burnt.

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