After
Pangkor Laut Resort and Gaya Island Resort, the next resort on my list would
naturally be Tanjong Jara Resort. After much consideration, I decided to book a
room there for 10-12 February 2017, mistakenly thinking Thaipusam fell on
Friday. I had booked and even bought bus tickets to Dungun (I did consider
flying to Kuala Terengganu but I would need to take a cab to town and then wait
for the next bus to Dungun whenever that would be so ditched that plan) when I
realised that Thaipusam would fall on Friday and not Thursday -which meant I
had to apply for leave of course. I did consider changing my check-in and
check-out dates but the resort was filling up and prices had gone up too for a
few weekends that I checked. So in the end I decided to stick to my plan.
Friday,
10 February 2017
The
bus was supposed to depart at 09:30 but we only left after 10:00 and had to
stop to fill up barely five minutes into the journey. I was expecting a stop at
Temerloh R&R but we continued on. We only stopped after a toll plaza to use
the facilities and shortly after at Warung D’Nie for a lunch break that was
supposed to be only 30 minutes. Well, we only continued our journey 50 minutes
after we stopped.
I
had booked seat 1C to sit all by myself and across the aisle from me were two
men from mainland China who kept on talking ever so loudly. So uncultured and
uncouth!
I
asked if the driver could let me down by the road near CB Wee Restaurant and he
obliged. I got down near a bus stop and walked in to the resort. It took only
five minutes to get to the resort entrance and it was a fine day (it was
initially forecasted to rain). Terengganu was still in the grip of the monsoon
season then and some areas were still experiencing floods.
The
guard checked off my name and I continued on to the reception. Somehow the
staff were alerted to my arrival for one of them hit the gong. I laughed,
pleasantly surprised at this gesture. Check-in was a breeze and I was given a
cool scented towel followed by a glass of refreshing Roselle drink and a
miserable piece of kuih cara. I asked if I could have a late lunch and at first
was told that they stopped serving lunch at 5 p.m. I pointedly looked at my
watch and said it wasn’t 5 yet and after checking, they decided to let me have
a late lunch. So I had mine at Teratai Terrace. While waiting for the food, I
walked around taking pictures and even ventured to the beach. My, the sea was
very rough. Well, at least it was windy. I find it strange that many beaches
are hot and breezeless.
After
a satisfying lunch, I was shown to my unit. I was lucky that my room on the
upper floor (Bumbung Room) had a good view of both the garden and sea as some
Bumbung Rooms don’t get a view of the sea at all. Alhamdulillah.
After
performing prayers, I went for a walk around the resort. I bumped into some
couples and was told at the reception that they just arrived in their Porsches
and Ferraris (I then saw the cars just outside the reception). I also borrowed
a book from the mini library and gave them the book I finished during the bus
trip. I returned to my room just after dusk and ironed my clothes before
sinking into the tub.
I
had booked to have dinner at 20:30 but arrived at 20:43. I asked the chef for
recommendation and had prawns cooked in butter and mixed vegetables with white
rice. For starter, I had a small bowl of tom yam soup and a pau. I must say,
the prawns were simply divine! Alhamdulillah I don’t have gout, otherwise I
wouldn’t have been able to enjoy them. I could feel myself gaining some weight
after that. I finished off with a mixed fruits platter. Well, I was coughing
and sadly couldn’t have either the lava cake, banana fritters or ice cream.
I
returned to my room, read a bit and then called it a day.
Saturday,
11 February 2017
I
went for morning walk after morning prayers around the resort but mainly at the
beach. The sea was very angry today with its pounding waves. The wind was
strong too but I didn’t mind it nor did I mind the dark threatening clouds
overhead. I walked to the rocks and a wooden platform and sat perched there
watching the sea. It somehow had a strange calming effect as the sea always
does. I’m a Cancerian but I don’t much like beaches. I can stay for a maximum
of three days before I start getting restless. I’m not one to laze in the hot
sun but the sea would always calm me down.
I
left the beach and went to wash my feet at the bathroom before joining in the
Sucimurni Exercise near the reception before having a long and leisurely
breakfast. I then returned to the room to shower and rest. Despite the dark
clouds, it only drizzled a bit. Nothing near a torrential rain at all.
After
afternoon prayers, I went for a late lunch at Nelayan Restaurant. The
restaurant overlooks the swimming pool and the sea. There were a lot of people
by the pool, sunbathing, swimming or keeping an eye on their children. I had
salad and burger for lunch then returned to my room to continue reading.
I
was told at the reception that a taxi to the bus station would cost a whooping
RM30 (add a bit more and you could ride a bus all the way to KL!) so spent part
of the afternoon googling for taxi contacts. It was a fruitless task. I even
installed Grab apps but it couldn’t locate my location (?!) so I deleted it off
with glee after that. All these delayed me from the Kampung Sucimurni Lifestyle
activity which is held every Saturday from 5 to 6 p.m. It was held at the Beachfront
Anjung Gardens not far from my room and I came to a scene of a few men playing
sepak takraw, a monkey and his minder bringing down coconuts from a coconut
tree, two little goats, some girls beating the kompang and playing traditional
games like congkak. I had a shoulder massage and then went to help myself to
some fish sausage and then had a whole coconut to drink all by myself. I stayed
for a while more before returning to my room.
I
had earlier thought of having steamboat for dinner but was advised that steamboat
would only be fun if you are with your family or friends. In short, it’s not
fun to be cooking your own dinner all by yourself. So I cancelled my steamboat
plan and went to Di Atas Sungei restaurant for dinner. This time, I had Chef
Ann advise me and it proved excellent. Too good actually that I told I had to ‘surrender’
and not finish the dishes, as good as they were.
I
returned to the room and watched a bit of the Arsenal-Hull City match with an
eye on my book.
Sunday,
12 February 2017
I
woke up early, finished packing and continued reading – I had to finish the
book before checking out as it was the resort’s! I went for breakfast then
returned to the room for one last time before heading to the reception. The cabbie
came early so I had to take photos of the few pages of the book that I didn’t
manage to finish before returning it to the reception and rushing to the cab. This
time, one of the staff hit the gong three times. I thanked them all and entered
the cab. It took all of 7 minutes to reach the bus station. I realised
belatedly that there’s a market near the bus station and if I had left earlier,
I could have gone to the market to buy some food to bring back. Oh well. I finished
the last few pages of the book while waiting for the bus. It was punctual to my
pleasant surprise.
We
took the coastal road, Jalan Pantai Sura, for a few km before joining route
127. The sea was still very rough this morning.
We
stopped at Kuala Kemaman to pick up passengers before continuing on and stopped
again at Warung D’Nie just before noon for lunch break. I found the bathroom
this time. The bathroom and small prayer room were in dilapidated state. Ugh,
disgusting.
We
reached Terminal Bersepadu Selatan at almost 5 p.m. And so that was my trip to
Tanjong Jara Resort.
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