I reckon PD is one of those places where you need good travelling company, much like Fraser's or Pangkor. There isn't much to do in what was formerly Malaysia's most visited beach. The sands have long turned a dirty brown, the water a murky grey. Swimming in the PD waters is really a lottery to some; I won't be surprised if prolonged exposure to the seawater there, heavily laced with toxins, causes genetic mutations or hormonal imbalances. I recall, painfully, many years back when I was sitting on what seemed like the cleanest patch of beach sand and enjoying the sights and sights. I remember gently scratching my back, and then really getting into it. It was the longest itch, lasting close to a month. Some of my amigos were worse off; one guy had what seemed like smallpox on his back for almost three months. Apparently the perpetrators were sand mites, something most of us have never heard off, let alone experienced.
But anyways, I spend too much time indulging in nostalgia. After K-Fat did a number on us, we decided to go regardless. We booked PD Marina Resort, and it was bloody cheap. RM 100 for a two-bedroom apartment. What a steal! Until we approached the resort. We felt robbed all of a sudden. Run down, dirty and unkempt; we kept hoping we were mistaken about the place and that the actual place was located along the road. No such luck. I drove past, and kept driving. We decided to check out other options; true to proceedings ten years ago. Enter Ancasa Suites. A decent enough place. Ok, decent is a bit unfair, it was pleasant. It had the expensive look to it, and the ambience was more than satisfactory. I let the two heroes do the talking; they managed to sweet talk the girl at the reception into giving us weekday, off peak rates. The unit was most impressive; the room-keeping less so. Slow and constrained within the box. But complain I shall not, for the view more than made up for the service. The Straits lay open, with it's deceptively emerald appearance dazzling in the sun. Nothing like taking in the view, with a cigarette and whiskey in hand. At 1 in the afternoon.
The rest of the day pretty much went according to plan. Food at the pasar malam was bloody cheap. We pigged out, unashamedly. I felt the cholesterol levels skyrocket as I dipped the yummy lemang into the rendang, before shoving it into my mouth. The satay was meaty, the putu piring sweet, while the kuey teow sucked big time. All washed down with Jim and ale. Supper, which occurred after the Merseyside derby, comprised ayam percik and more lemang. Stuffed piglets, that's how we felt like. The next day, we heroically tried to burn off all the calories by walking up to the Tanjung Tuan lighthouse. I personally died about 15 times before we crawled up to the cliff, drank the view and headed down. But the scenery was amazing, and I'm not one for ooh-ing and aah-ing over panoramic phenomena. Spending only 5 minutes at the lighthouse still makes me wonder if it was worth the 30 minute walk up, through the forest reserve. It was. Will I do it again? No, thank you.
I must say, it was quite an enjoyable trip. Slow and relaxing, without any concrete plans. We were next to the beach, we had a swimming pool in the apartment premises, yet the only time we got wet was when we sweated bucket loads trekking. We didn't come home hungover; which allowed us to ronda-ronda more, I guess. We definitely have to address the lack of female participants, something which hopefully will not repeat during the next 'adventure'.
Hopefully.
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