tioman, malaysia: tranquil island

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: Tioman Island: It's the most famous island in eastern Malaysia known for its peaceful and beautiful beaches. We took a 30-minute flight from Singapore to the Malay island on a small aircraft that seated about 20 people. One airline company has a monopoly on flights coming in and going out that tickets were the most expensive part of the trip. We stayed at the Berjaya Beach Resort, the main resort in that area. The beach was very tranquil and the water crystal clear.

Jellyfish: While on the beach, we noticed that there were tons of tennis-ball size jellyfish around us. Andrew jumped out of the water like a little bitch only to find out that they don’t even sting. With the good news, Andrew then decided to torture the little fellas. He stacked them up like Tetris pieces and even played baseball with them, using a stick as a bat and the jellyfish as the ball. Smack!

We left the next afternoon to head back to Singapore but since all flights were sold out, we took alternative modes of transportation, 5 to be exact. What was a ½ hour flight to Malaysia ended up being a 9-hour ordeal back to Singapore. We started our morning at the ferry station waiting 2 hours for our “speed ferry” to pick us up and then we suffered through a 2-hour ride that would’ve had anyone hurl off the side of the ship. Next we needed to catch a bus to the Singapore border. We couldn’t believe that the next bus out was another 2-hour wait. We were tired, hungry and irritated. The next thing we know, we hitched a ride with this Malaysian guy to a bus station about mid-way to where we needed to go. We met him after a vendor told us he was heading in our direction and we could accompany him on his 1.5 hour car ride and we would get to Singapore faster. It was a win-win situation right? We were so tired at this point that we just jumped into his car without much thought. How did we know that we weren’t gonna get hacked into pieces? We didn’t. Fortunately our ride was filled with great one-way conversation as he got to practice his English while we sat in the back going “uh huh, uh huh” since we had such a hard time understanding him. All I remember was him saying: "You like Mariah Carey-lah? Verrry verryyy sexy-lah" (they say 'lah' at the end of words). But this guy even went so far to make sure we got on the correct bus. What a nice guy to help 2 travelers make it to their destination. We caught a bus for another 1.5 hours, then hopped on a train for another 2 hours and finally cabbed it back into Singapore. What a day.

When you travel internationally, it’s required to fill out an arrival card upon entering a country. One of the questions that every card asks is “What is your occupation?” On our way to Malaysia, the only choices I had were: student, business, government, unemployed, housewife. Can you believe it? How sexist is that…housewife? Well, I had to check that box. Andrew giggled as I put my X on the spot…that is until I gave him my Alameda gangsta look. But hey it’s true, I’m officially labeled as a housewife. Since then, Andrew’s been calling me “The REAL desperate housewife of the OC.” I am a housewife…and loving every minute of it. Now get back to work Andrew…while I file my nails.

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