I know I haven’t been blogging but do you know? You can request to follow me on Twitter (not a public account by the way, so it’s still up to me to decide who should follow me HAHAHA but don’t worry, if your intention is clear I would allow without hesitation) because I update there most of the time. And honestly, I kindda lost the urge to blog but guess whuttttt??

THE QUEEN IS BACK!! For good ‘coz I haven’t found a weekday job to keep myself occupied and I think I won’t be working since I’m interning soon. I think I deserve a break so..

I shall blog! Let me first blog about my long awaited trip to Desaru! Believe it or not it was my first trip in more than 10 years! I shall unabashedly announce that I only renewed my passport (expired in 1999) this year. Go ahead and laugh all you want.. I find it funny too. Anyway Desaru would also be my virgin trip with baby in celebration of our first year anniversary! Yep, first year already. 🙂

It took me a very long time to persuade my parents to allow me to go away during the Hungry Ghost Festival. To calm them down I promised to bring along every amulet they gave me 😛 If my memory hasn’t failed me, I think I went there with baby and two other friends (baby’s colleagues Wendy and Wesley. For convenience sake I shall call them WW since they’re a lovely couple too) on 15 August. It was a Sunday and we went there by CAR straight after work. Adventurous hor? And of course since it was my first getaway in MANY years, I was very excited and even went online to learn more about my destination..

Comments online were MOSTLY negative (i.e. many lizards, mosquitoes, bad service etc.). My mood was dampened a bit but I realised I would enjoy more if I went there with a lower expectation. And baby’s explanation makes sense too.. People only make the effort to give negative feedback but the good ones are always kept silent. So travelers, do take online comments with a pinch of salt..

So I got into the car at about 6.30 pm and arrived at Pulai Desaru Beach Resort at about 9.30 pm. The car ride there was pretty scary because you know, the street lights along Malaysian roads are SO dim! Some roads didn’t even have street lights and we had to rely plainly on reflective signs (so cheapo lor). If I said I wasn’t a single bit worried about my safety I would be lying. But thank God that was the only negative experience I had in Desaru 🙂

First day was just checking into our resort rooms, ordering of room service, playing Monopoly Deal and planning of activities for subsequent days. Nothing much.. I just knew we were entitled to breakfast buffet for the 3 days of our stay there. Thankfully for baby and I, our room was BIG, well-furnished and clean. Hehe!

Baby and I woke up pretty late the next morning so we only had like, 30 minutes left for breakfast buffet? It was still the fasting period for Muslims so I half expected the food to be a bit blant.. cos you know, muslim chefs couldn’t taste the food and make them right.. BUT surprise surprise! Food was SPLENDID although it was only buffet! Their croissants would be one of the things on top of their scramble eggs that would make me visit Desaru again. You had to toast them yourself and trust me, the CRISP of the croissant was just awesome. I felt like a Queen having breakfast there lah and we practically had it facing the beach. Aww man, life was damn good I swear!! We had the same food (NOT SICK OF IT DEFINITELY!!) for two days. Amongst the good breakfast food we had were baked beans, chicken sausage and some other stuff which I’ve forgotten.

After our first meal we headed to the crocodile farm by car! We were the only visitors there and had to pay RM10 on top of our admission fee (forgot how much) for a guided tour. The farm.. honestly, had nothing much except if you’re a huge fan of crocodiles. It’s an eye-opener for me because I could hold a baby croc with my BARE HANDS! Awesome or what? Teehee.. The skin was so smooth and soft and.. You get the idea!!

We also learned that the crocodiles there consume humans skinned chickens probably left over from the wet markets. Some were even too lazy to move and eat. No wonder they looked so FAT. Hahaa, but cute nonetheless. The oldest crocodile there was over 100 years old! I was also given a crocodile egg (hatched already obviously) from the minders as a souvenir! 🙂 It’s now seated nicely on my dressing table.

Right after crocodile farm was fruit farm! We wanted to try go-kart but it was pouring on our way there so plans changed. Unfortunately for us, it wasn’t the “right” season to visit the fruit farm because durians have ripe and eaten up! What’s left on the durian trees are some miserable-looking under-ripe durians 😦 Sigh! Maybe baby and I will go on a durian trip at Malaysia again! Tour guide was informative and helpful too. Thumbs up! But what made me miss the fruit farm was however, NOT the fruits but the mini zoo in there. Haha I kindda neglected the animals there for the goats! Awww I’ve never touched and fed so many goats in my life 🙂 But you have to pay a meagre sum to feed those poor things.. RM1.00 for a stalk of grass. I think the caretaker noticed that I enjoyed feeding them so much that he gave me a free stalk on my next purchase! SO NICE OF HIM!! Therefore RM2 for 3 stalks altogether. Yay, happy girl was me. 🙂

We had trouble finding places to eat though partly because it was still fasting period and many coffeeshops were closed and also because Desaru was kindda deserted! But it was OK, ‘coz we eventually found a decent place to dine at. For the first time, too, in my life, I broke fast with the muslims. Hahaha so dinner for DAY 2 was a mini buffet at this independent looking coffeeshop. RM10 per head. Then, we headed back to our hotel/resort and waited for the bus to bring us to the FIREFIES!! Initially I wasn’t that excited ‘coz I’d seen fireflies before during my P5 camp. But then again, Desaru surprised me..

We had to be on a ship to watch the fireflies because those pretty little things were hidden among the bushes surrounded by the waters. So our tour guides had to literally alarm those flies by splashing water towards the bushes. Within a second, the bushes lit up like Christmas trees! Sparkle sparkle, so nice!! And the best part was, they even captured some flies with their hands and GAVE THEM TO US! That night, I held so many blinking flies with my bare hands! It felt like a fairytale and it was a wonderful experience that P5 camp never gave me 🙂 The outing lasted for about 30 minutes? Well spent! It was a pity they didn’t provide us bottles to catch the flies (I know it’s a cruel thought but they are TOO PRETTY to resist!!). That would make an AWESOME souvenir. Hahaha But I think by the time we reach our resort, it would be dead. 😦

Day 3 was.. more or less shopping at Johore (City Square mall) thanks to WW’s willingless to accommodate to my shopping request (paiseh). Shopping malls were SUPER far (felt like we were going to Woodlands checkpoint) from Desaru so I think ah, we must had used up a lot of petrol during the journey. The items were priced ALMOST the same as Singapore’s so don’t be fooled. Hahaha.. But some were definitely a bargain. Baby and I ate so much there including some Italian ice cream. 🙂

At night was the BEST part. We had dinner at this restaurant (weird that we couldn’t locate it on our second day using GPRS) which was owned by these Malaysians whom we felt were Singaporeans. Hahaha.. They had this claim on their signboard that they were voted BEST FOOD by Singaporeans.. so ah, cannot doubt their standard right? We had a SUMPTUOUS meal there which included CRABS! Woohoo, life was so good!! AHHHHH

And finally, we had to bid Desaru farewell on day 4! Wesley had to work at 9 am so we got to leave by 6 am to avoid the traffic jam! It was a rush but still I managed to find time to snap some last shots. I knew I was gonna MISS Desaru so much!! So if any friends plan to go Desaru again, DO LET ME KNOW OK?? 🙂

Oh yeah being Singaporean, I bought DAMN LOT of chewing and bubble gums back. HAHAHA.

More pictures shortly! Roll mouse over for description 🙂 Apparently nothing appears 😦 Don’t worry I’ll get it fixed pronto. Meanwhile just enjoy the visuals. More pics on my FB album 🙂

Desaru would be one of my first getaways definitely! I’m on a lookout for a more affordable destination to spend my holiday at.. Probably the next place would be at Thailand? And gradually we’ll explore Europe, I hope! I shall prepare a list of countries I’d like to visit in awhile!! ^_^

More entries comin’ riiiiiight up!