Desaru Dreamin'

It is now in the early hours of Sunday, 18 June 2006 as I am writing this.

That means in about 2 full days later, I will be transported to a laid-back world of nothing more than sun, sand and the sea.

Humble Desaru, here I come!

Many questioned my choice of destination.

Well, let's just say that my friend and I have made the most out of what little we have in our banks.

There really are not many beach resorts out of Singapore and Sentosa and Pulau Ubin that can allow us to veg out for 5D4N at a very reasonable $312 per person. And we are taking the Premier Room too, hahaha.

And then there is the journey.

Destinations like Redang, Perhentian and Tioman involve too much logistic issues.

We need a vacation to relax and recharge our fast-dying batteries...not grapple with endless hours of trying hard not to puke on the bus or wondering why we ever agree to suffer like this in the first place.

No, we are not snobs, as you can tell from our final choice of destination. We simply want something simple and straightforward, that's all.

And Desaru is as good as it can get.

I took a trip there once back in 2002, and the journey was short and very much enjoyable.

We boarded a ferry that looked more like a yatch at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, and proceeded to climb to the open-air top deck to take in the wind, sun and lovely view, where we ended up staying for the rest of the 45-minute journey.

Upon reaching the immigration and customs house at the jetty, a quiet and old-world charm greeted us. From there, a bus journey of about an hour or less later, we arrived at our resort.

We spent our days strolling along the near deserted white sand beach while accompanied by the huge expanse of equally deserted sea, disturbing the lalas that kept popping up from the sand, and crafting 3D sexy bikini babes out of the sand.

At night, we gobbled down the Nissin Instant Cup noodles we brought with us in the comfort our room (I was even poorer then), which is kinda like room service. I am a master of positive-thinking, as you can see.

Writing about the trip now makes me wish that it is Tuesday tomorrow, which will signify the start of my beach vacation!

But I have not started packing yet...a 5D4N trip away from home will entail a fair amount of packing, even if it is just humble Desaru that I am going to!

And I have not gotten all the essentials like shampoo, shower cream, sun block (I am so so so over my sun-tanning phase after 3 horribly scary bad sunburnts in my life), Po Chai Pills (I always get stomach upset after hotel breakfast from the amount of warm and cold rubbish I consume), insect repellent, slippers, etc etc etc.

Time to hit the bed, anyway!