After that frustrating week I desperately needed a break and to get away from Singapore for a bit. Luckily, I was able to make plans to meet up with my friend Miah on Tioman Island for a couple of days. Tioman is a Malaysian island that is off the Southeast Coast, and relatively near Singapore. In fact, there are flights directly to Tioman from Singapore and there used to be ferry, though unfortunately they shut down that service last year. So instead I hopped on a bus at 6:40 am for the 4 hour drive to Tanjong Gemok in Malaysia to catch the ferry for the 1.5 hour boat ride. Arriving at 2:00pm, I found that the people fromthe hotel were not there to meet me at the jetty as they promised, so after waiting around for a bit I caught a water taxi out to the Panuba Inn and immediately found Miah loitering on the beach waiting for me. Tioman is the only island in Southeast Asia that I have visited outside of Thailand, and it was quite different. Less developed and a bit more ramshackle, but with lots of charm that only secluded beaches can give...

Here are some pictures from my balcony:




I love waking up to those kinds of views!! Made me wish I had more time to spend out there letting the stress just melt away... All we did was hang out on the beach, swim a bit, and take a short walk through the jungle to the neighboring beach. We were accompanied in our walks and lounging times by lots of monkeys and giant monitor lizards (I would guess around 4 feet long- these are the biggest lizards I have ever seen!)




The monkey pics are kind of fuzzy for some reason... oh well.

Here's an example of the kind of "roughing it" lifestyle I lead. No posh resorts for me!



Just kidding actually. I don't stoop quite so low these days. Not saying I wouldn't have in the past, but I am somehow feeling too old for all that now. I really do think those toilets may still be used by the odd person though, which is a rather scary thought! Probably at night in the company of giant lizards and cockroaches...

Well, all in all it was a lovely mini break. Of course, can't beat hanging out on beautiful beaches in the company of good friends!