Desaru

Desaru ~ 12-13 Apr '08

Invited by Rufeah to join her on her company trip for some "cycling at Desaru'. I agreed on the spot.

It's something I've always dreamt of doing. My uncle took pride in telling me how interesting it is to cycle there. He always cycle to the ferry terminal from his home at Pasir Ris and continue to cycle at least another 10 km when he's there.

Needless to say, I was intrigued.

The people who went on the trip were a great bunch. Seeing that their organisation is very big (SPH), there were people from various depts. and they get to know each other from trips like this, which are organised by the Sports & Leisure Dept.

Kudos to Steven & Huat Chye (Syafeeq) for making this trip happen. You guys are good, man! Esp. Huat Chye who kept everyone in high spirits with the chaos he created with everytime he open his mouth.

Truth to be told, I've never known a guy who can talk so much, non-stop. So much for being 'under-the-weather'. His voice definitely betray that with everytime he had a banter with us all.

The cycling was rad! I had worn a long-sleeved tee to protect myself from the hot sun. It eventually come in handy to protect me from the cold instead, as the dark clouds came over, along with chilly winds followed by some slight drizzle.

That plus the breath-taking views... PRICELESS! Sorry no pics. I'd hate to stop just to take pics and break my momentum.

Oh, I gotta mention this!

I got lost! Haha! And I didn't know it!

I had tried to wait for Rufeah, who had trouble keeping up because she had a bad fall the day before and it affected her cycling (doesn't help that the bikes kinda' sucked) so we sort of lag behind the others.

I eventually came upon Huat Chye and the M'sian guy in charge of our safety, who stood by the car parked at the roadside, looking out for speeding cars. They told us to 'go ahead' while they wait for her.

By the time I moved on after the brief stop, I didn't notice that the others had turned right into the kampung road ahead.

While I did the most obvious thing... Cycle straight ahead.

Funny thing is, there were other cyclists some 100m behind me and Huat Chye was a mere 30m from the road where they turned in at. And NO ONE noticed I went the wrong way!

So I happily cycled straight ahead for 1/2 hour?? or so. Without realising I had strayed. It did cross my mind, though. The fact that there were no other cyclists in front. Or even behind. I had thought, "Was I cycling sooo slowly that I can't catch up?"

Then I received a call from Rufeah's hp. "Bayya, you didn't turn just now, isit?"

"Yeap. I cycled straight ahead."

"Oh, ok. Stay where you are. The marshal will come and get you."

Then it dawned upon me... *slaps forehead* I went the wrong way??! Erk...?!

The marshal went back & forth like 4x but kept saying he can't find me. Turned out, he didn't expect me to go SO far ahead. I told them I just passed the signboard of a certain resort and gave the name to be "Tanjung or Telok B... something2x."

After almost 20mins of waiting and more calls later, they eventually ask, "Is it Sungai Kapal Resort?" Ahaha... So that's the resort's name, huh?

Funny thing is, my instincts did tell me to take note of landmarks. And I did! Somehow my memory did what my instincts didn't...

...Fail on me. Wah Lau! 'Tanjong/Telok B....' and 'Sungai Kapal'. How different is that?

The marshall came after ard 5mins. First thing he said, "Wah you go so far, ah you?" He thought I was chinese. So when I replied in Malay, he was taken aback.

"Dah berapa jauh saya pergi?" (how far have I gone?)

"Nak 2km dah nie.." WHAT??! Almost 2km and I didn't know I went the wrong way??! Silly thing is, I didn't take a single pic when I got bored waiting for the marshal to arrive! Pfft!

Luckily I was at the main road and it turned out to be the eventual route cos' the others soon caught up. First thing I heard from Steven, "Wah, not bad ah you. Desaru solo cycling trip!"

So my getting lost became the butt of jokes till our departure.... Geez!





We proceed to the resort next.

Stayed at Desaru Holiday Chalet. The place has a nice concept. Resort by the beach. Spacious chalets. Adventure games within the premise....









If only they maintained the whole bloody place! Bits of things are falling apart, some switches dun work, lights w/o bulbs, rooms w/o lights, malfunctioned water heater. Air-cons that off on it's own, tv in some chalet and none in others, bad flushing and the list go on...


I'm amazed that I can still cross that dilapidated bridge leading to the beach. I thought it's gonna collapse!

Luckily the chalets are kept clean. And the food's good!

Our meals were only 1 lunch, BBQ dinner and breakfast. But since we'll be checking out late, the management throw in a free lunch before departing!

Went shopping at Kota Tinggi after lunch. Was disappointed to see that 'mini Kelantan' was already demolished and a new one was still under construction. Was more disappointed that there was no A&W in sight and had to settle for Marrybrown...

Then it's the BBQ dinner, followed by a Firefly Tour down the Johor River. At the jetty, we saw only sampans and there were more than 20 of us. We all thought that we'll being going in almost 10 sampans for the tour.








Then we got on a wooden deck and were told to sit on the neatly arranged plastic chairs. I then thought that we have to take turns going on a small boat so we'll be waiting there.

Then the 'deck' moved. Oh, so that deck was actually a barge! Geez! The darkness that we were engulfed in makes for better viewing of the fireflies. Also for a superb star-gazing experience.

Back from the tour, Ruf and I got so tired we slept early. The others either went karaoke-ing, drinking or play cards.

I spent early next morning snapping photos. Just too bad the sun didn't rise from where we were located. Would have taken some nice sunrise shots.

Breakfast was nasi lemak. Sedaap! I was was apprehensive at first because the sambal was a tad spicy and we had some activities directly after breakfast. So I avoided all dairy products that morning. From the cornflakes with milk to the teh tarik (darn!).

I managed to drag Ruf to follow me to the beach right after breakfast. It'll be such a waste to stay by the beach and not step onto it.

We were divided into 2 groups for our following activities. All partners were separated into different groups. Ruf's group did the go-kart 1st while mine did archery.

Archery was done in the same field used for horse-riding. Not surprisingly, there were horse dung all over the field. Hah! They dun stink that much, though.

First time doing archery... And I sucked. Dun ask how many points I got. I got poor marksmanship. Period.

Go-Kart was a blast! The machines may look old but boy! They sure go fast! And it's cheap too! RM15 for 5 rounds. Though we were given discount and can go 7 rounds for the same amount.

Huat Chye went a step further and declared that RM15 was for EIGHT rounds. The proprietor reluctantly agreed. That guy's good, man!

I innocently went an extra round. What?? I tot' he told me, "Last Round." I didn't know he meant, "Ok, stop."

Packed up after the activities. Walked on the beach en route to the chalet. Gonna miss it!

Has our fantastic free lunch of chicken rice. Imagine chicken rice as a buffet spread! Power!

Stopped by the Desaru Fruit Farm shop before heading to Tj. Belukor Ferry Terminal.

Then it's back home.

Pretty tiring trip. But a very satisfying one, too!

**click on pics to get to album**