Remember when I told you to never look back, always look back? Well, don't look ahead either.

I just arrived in Penang following 3 amazing days in the Perhentian Islands. It was well worth the effort getting out there. Took an overnight bus, without issues this time, to Kuala Besut. Arrived at about 6am to the sound of prayers being blasted over the loudspeaker at the local mosque. Purchased my boat ticket to get me to and from the islands and then was treated to an amazing sunrise. The reddish purple sun just sprang up from the horizon as if shot out of the water. A good start to the trip. The boat ride made me feel like a contestant on Survivor. There were 2 boats of 12 going to separate islands. We were all strangers to each other anticipating island living in an area of the world where Survivor generally takes place. Anyway, I arrived on the islands earlier than I thought I would and was able to book myself on the full day snorkeling tour, which I would then do the next 2 days as well. Some of the most amazing underwater scenery. Better bang for your buck here in comparison to the Great Barrier Reef. For about 12 bucks you got buffet breakfast and 5 hours of snorkeling with gear. I saw the following aquatic life: angel fish, swordfish, barracuda, reef shark, nautilus, manta ray, clown fish, parrothead fish, sea urchin, turtles and too many other types of coral, anemones to mention. Having learned the shortcomings of my underwater cameras on the Great Barrier Reef trip, the pictures I got on this trip more than made up for whatever images I didn't get previously. It's almost impossible to put into words what I saw. Kind of something you have to experience. I did do some filming, but video upload takes forever. So you all will just have to wait until I get home to see what the pictures can't show you.

My lodging was average at best. I shared my accommodations with a gigantic cockroach and whether or not the toilet would actually flush was a 50/50 proposition. The shower was in the same place as the toilet, so you had to tread lightly on the tile floor if you had to use the bathroom following a shower. The sheets were kind of sketchy so I slept in my sleep sack. But I had an oscillating fan with AC, so it wasn't all bad. Food at the resort was above average and the lunch stop on the snorkel trip made the best banana mango smoothies, which I had 6 of during my 3 days. They also had this fried banana with chocolate dessert where they grilled the banana while still in its' peel. Delectable.

I saw some komodo dragons while I hiked around the island, so that was an unexpected surprise. The last day of snorkeling I was on the trip with 3 Dutch girls and we ended up having a pretty fun day and evening. It had been quite some time since I spent a day interacting with people, so the company was very much appreciated. 2 of the girls are med students doing an OB/GYN clinical in a Malaysian hospital. Be thankful all you mothers out there that you gave birth to your kids in America. The other is a social worker at an addiction clinic in Amsterdam. It was nice to be able to relate to them given some of the similarities in our fields of work. The night was a long night, made longer by the fact that I got lost in the jungle on the way back to my resort. Monkey juice preceding a nighttime jungle walk may not have been the best idea in retrospect, but just sitting in the sand with waves crashing, stars twinkling, and good conversation was well worth whatever pitfalls happened on my return journey. I think a 10 min journey took me 2 hours to complete. I kept ending back up where I started. By the time I got back to my resort I only got 90min of sleep because I had to get up and pack and catch the ferry back to the mainland so that I could take a 6 hour minivan ride to Penang.

Some random thoughts:

I finally figured out the answer to the question, "What part of your trip are you most looking forward to?" The answer is: TODAY. After my first day of snorkeling I thought to myself, "What in the world are you going to do for the next 2 days?" I am not a sit on the beach type of guy and there really weren't any other activities to do on the island but for snorkeling and I had just seen about everything I could see on my 1st snorkel trip. I got really angry at myself because not 24hrs earlier I couldn't wait to get out of the city to some peace and quiet. And now here I am on this beautiful island, snorkeling amongst the most beautiful aquatic life, and already having thoughts of wanting to be somewhere else. It annoyed me that I constantly find myself looking ahead to my next adventure, while failing to enjoy and fully appreciate the current adventure. I mean, what's the point of traveling if you always are looking ahead to being somewhere else than where you currently stand. It kind of devalues every other experience but for the one you are looking forward to the most. And when I gave it some additional thought, I often am the same way at home too. So hopefully I taught myself a life lesson on a remote island in Malaysia.

Follow up to the previous statement. Feel free to look ahead to the weekend or retirement or an upcoming trip. Just be sure to the make the most of each day leading up to those occasions.


Willis Carrier and Thomas Midgely Jr. These 2 men are not backpackers that I have befriended nor will I ever meet them. But they are 2 of the finest men this world has ever known. They are the inventors of the modern air conditioner and freon, respectively. How life ever existed in these parts without AC is beyond me.

Can someone please explain to me how anyone finds laying out on the beach enjoyable.

Muslim women have to wear their burkas and/or be covered from head to toe at all times, including during snorkeling and when giving birth. I don't know how they deal with the heat and humidity being covered up like that. There is no place for body heat to escape.

Note to Malaysian teksi cab drivers: Just because I am a caucasian tourist who looks out of place in these Asian lands doesn't mean I am lost and need a teksi.

Apparently, some gentleman has a very nice lady for me for the right price.

2 Asian girls came up to me at the Petronas Towers the other day and wanted to have their pictures taken with me. I thought they wanted me to take their picture in front of the towers. But they wanted a picture with me. I can only guess that they recognized me from the whynotfoto.com website and knew they were in the presence of a true American celebrity.


And now some pictures....

Batu caves

Macaque monkey at Batu caves. They swarm the tourists at the caves.

Petronas Towers

Sky Tower

National Mosque

Rawa Island

Perhentian Kecil

Unfortunately, picture download is taking forever so my underwater pics will be in a post to follow.