Celebrate good times... come on!

Last Friday was Deepavali - the Hindu Festival of Lights where they celebrate goodness in their lives.  It was also a public holiday and we took advantage and took a trip to the east coast of Malaysia.

We began our trip with knapsacks on our backs in a queue (always a queue here, never a line-up) at the Singapore bus terminal.  About 300 people were in front of us.  We decided to get a taxi.  It was less than $5 to the immigration point... why were people lined up??  So we passed through immigration on the Singapore end quickly - yay!  But the queue outside to get the bus across to Malaysia was another 2 hour wait.  We waited.  And waited.  And when we got a bus we got seats!  Yippee!  We're on our way after a long, hot wait.  When we reached Malaysia immigration, the queue was another couple of hours.  Yes, seriously.  And we queued.

When we finally made it through immigration, we were in a crowded shopping mall.  People were going to Malaysia to shop for the day.  Why you would spend 4+ hours lining up to shop when there's so much shopping at your fingertips in Singapore escapes me, but it was what most of the people were doing.  Maybe there was a sale.

Anyway, off we went in search of our car!  Yes!  We rented a car!!  We found it after some traipsing around Johor Bahru (JB)... on foot... with knapsacks on our backs.  JB was busy and somewhat run down with a few new buildings standing out.  I've read that JB wants to be a shopping destination, so I believe it has invested in some fixing up.

By the time we started our road trip, it was 5pm - we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us.  It rained - a lot.  But the ride was still fun.  We had a car!  We all sensed a longing for the convenience of a car (and this morning when we could not get a taxi because it was raining and too busy, we wished we had one!).

Our non-backpacker accommodations were in Cherating.  This town is quiet and full of backpacker and surfer types.  It has many accommodations and a decent beach.  Its laissez faire atmosphere reminded me of home a little.  Service providers were helpful and friendly and nothing was timed.  If you wanted to surf... well, you waited to see if there were waves and if not, you come back later to see.  Later in the night, we went to a laid back restaurant where Bob Marley played.  It had the best pizza!  My daugther loved the environment - a future backpacker for sure.

Saturday was sunny.  We met Hafiz, who took us on a mangrove tour.  He was incredibly knowledgeable.  We saw four snakes, three lizards, bright blue crabs, two Kingfishers (birds), and a wack of jungle.  Hafiz also conducted firefly tours, which only happened at night if it didn't rain.  Lucky for us, it rained... it poured... but it stopped just before the tour time!  And Hafiz educated us on fireflies and brought us on a tour down the river.  I had never seen a firefly... let alone thousands of them!  They twinkled in the trees and flew over to our boat.  My daughter caught at least two and I caught one.  They were teensy.  It's amazing how bright they shine.  It was the festival of lights, alright.  Hafiz was a wonderful guide, too, and we chatted with he and his wife about how they are saving to someday go to Mecca.  He was also excited to share with me a few things he knows about meditating - they asked about my 'om' necklace and it started a conversation about yoga and meditation.

In between our two tours, we went driving.  There were no waves for surfing so we decided to see some of the country... and I drove... on the left side of the road... in some pretty busy traffic.  I have to admit that I was totally pumped to do this.  And stressed after an hour of it.  Thanks to Terry's exploratory nature, though, we found the most amazing beach with a wild wind and fierce ocean waves.  The beach was sandy and long and nobody was on it.  Probably because it's monsoon season and the water was dangerous.  Our beach in Cherating was safe, though, and I was successful is persuading Terry (not my daughter however) to swim in the rain.  I now have flybites all over my feet and bottoms of my legs - I'm thinking sand flies from that lovely swim.

It rained again on Sunday and we made our way back to Singapore - this time getting a taxi to cross the border and it took only 15 minutes!!!

Our three day trip entailed two days of driving, lots of rain, line-ups, no waves for surfing, and a really great time.  It really is what you make of it.

Today is my daughter's 17th birthday.  She is without friends.  She missed dance class this morning because the taxis were fully booked due to the rain.  Her hair didn't cooperate.  And we're celebrating another beautiful year this evening with presents and dinner (I'm cooking!!!!  Eeek!) and cake.  The dining room is already adorned with flowers and balloons - thanks to Terry.