Desaru 2009

OK. Today I am going to write something after a long silence. This evening I went off quite early as Monday syndrome won’t allow me to be in the office till night. Still have a lot of works to be issued but my immediate superior was not around today, so I spent most of the time leisurely in the office today. For the past few days, I went out from the office around 5pm as I need to pick up my sister who’s in the middle of internship, somewhere at Jalan Semarak. Today, she was waiting for me a little bit early. Good for me. Reason being, I need to reach home, atleast, at 6.30pm for my scheduled riding. But, it was too bad, when I reached home, the sky turns darker with a light rain falling constantly without a sign to stop. Hmmm.

Actually, last weekend I went back to JB to meet my wife as there was a family day organized unofficially by my wife’s officemates. The event took place at the Desaru beach for 2D1N. On the Saturday morning, I and my wife went out and directly headed to Al-Kauzar restaurant. Had a light breakfast before we moved to the Shell petrol station next to the JJ Tebrau – The gathering point. We supposed to be there at 8.30am before started the journey. Reached there nearly 8.30am. There were few people waiting at the corner eagerly waiting for the others to arrive. My eyes started looking around when I came out from the car. They all looked very energetic in reds! Frankly, the color was not to my taste. Nothing really wrong with it except I don’t really fancy red. Anyway, I need to wear it though. Then, after few minutes, everyone has arrived. A few photography sessions took place and finally around 9am, the journey begun.

The journey took about 2 hours. The traffic was really smooth with some over-takes to keep the journey in the group. Upon reaching the Desaru, everyone lowered down the speed and enjoyed the nature beauty along the road with coconut trees within the area seems welcoming us there. Also, my view was caught by a group of wild monkeys playing on the tree and the street showing their naughty faces ignoring the cars passed thru them.

There was some confusion in finding the right junction to the chalet and after two turn-backs, finally at 10am we reached there. After parked the cars along the chalets, we headed to the assembly area, I would say a medium size hall with a stage, few round tables and chairs. We have been served with a light snack (cucur udang) and a hot drink. Then, a short briefing took place to outlines the itinerary, meeting points, rooms availability, and self-introduction session especially to those who bring their spouses and families. Before we went off to the chalet, we have been given a souvenir (a cup and a mineral water) and a group photo shot took place later. Well done to the organizers!

After washing up for refreshment and changed to my sport apparel (red color, of course), we later gathered at the spacious area adorned with multi-colored flags along the border which dedicated for our activity. It was only few meters away from my chalet. OK, two thumbs up for the chalet (some claim that theirs are not good). The chalet, in my point of view has applied a tropical contemporary theme. Reason being, most of the parts were made off by wood with some modern arrangements been applied moderately. The room is big and gives high comfort for two persons with an air-conditioned and isolated with a wooden sliding door from the hall area. The toilet is located in the room with a shower and a water heater facility. The sofa and TV are nicely placed in the hall area equipped with a ceiling fan. As far as I remembered, there are a water kettle, a microwave and a refrigerator in the kitchen as well as a small table like a bar with two long chairs. Above all, the most excellent part is the chalet located next to the beach!

The first activity was around 12pm - Volleyball. The weather was really good at the time. Hmm. The game that I know and play best. For the game, no strict rules been applied. It means, the teams were not balanced in number, the net was loosen down till I can hold the top, the line was not in place and the ball was over-pumped!

At first, I want to ask the organizer to change the ball, or to reduce the pressure of the ball, but, when I looked around, everyone was really happy with the ball, so I just forget about it. I can’t remember all the details, but what I was really sure, when my wife played the game while I was standing outside of the so-called court snapping some great moments, suddenly I heard a big bang. A sound that really familiar with a tyre break. The sound was followed with a big laugh and everyone staring at my wife. She broke the ball with her hand! Huhu. Luckily, she was fine. Then, I heard some make jokes to me for being a good husband and be careful with her. Hehe.

The activity continued at the beach. At first, all the guys planned to play beach soccer but after few minutes later, the sun burning activity which dominated only by the guys earlier on the beach changed over. The girls also wanted to join after the long wait of hidden and sheltered under the coconut tree. Then, the organizer planned to create a new game – sort of netball played with a rugby ball and there was no net to aim, but a human-target that can move around to capture the ball! Trust me, it’s true yet fun!

After the activity, the lunch was served and the activity will be resumed back at 3pm. OK. After the break, the next activity was in charged by the chalet representative - a big friendly and funny guy. We have been grouped equally to four teams namely – Afiga, Bravo, No Name and Ahmad Albab. I was in Bravo team while my wife was in No Name.

Here I list out the games involved:
Jalan King Kong, Lari Kaki 3 (backwards!), Fish Ball Games, Pelari Mabuk (damn funny!), mummy (we were given three rolls of toilet tissue to wrap up a team mate all over his body!), Pancing Lada, Kerusi Irama, and Sambut Telur. The games finished almost 5.30pm and the winner goes to Afiga followed by Bravo, No Name and Ahmad Albab. Well done guys!

The activity continued with volleyball game and spent a relaxing time at the beach till sunset. Around 8.30pm, we had a BBQ dinner followed by a game specially dedicated to the married couple – a husband has to make-up his wife cosmetically and the points will be given based on the style and well order. The 5 minutes given were used imaginatively with full of fun. Everyone was really enjoyed. After that, a game called, win, lose or draw took place played by the four groups mentioned earlier. The scope of subject has been narrowed down to the name of Malay movie or simpulan bahasa. Good game but too time consuming. Finally, the closing ceremony was a guitar and song performance.

I am too lazy to remember and write in detail about what happened after that, all I could remember was that night I slept very tight after long hours of activities. The following day, we grouped all together to record some memories at the chalet vicinity area. Well done for the photographers for their continuous effort and attempt in capturing the sweet moments between us. Looking back, it was a very enjoyable family trip. Nice and friendly people that I got to know during the trip. Well organized except for some complaints concerning the water supply cut for few minutes.

Overall – Exciting, enjoyable and most importantly FULL OF FUN!