“Jam Karet”

rubber time.  Island life is slow, time elongates and expands.  Somehow the day passes both slowly and fast.  At first I thought 10 days on Tioman would be too long, but our stay there clipped along.  ABC beach on Tioman island is small, cozy and family oriented.  There is a sidewalk that runs along the beach that is just wide enough for a motorcycle with a side car and bikes (no cars on this side of the island).

Our days are simple.  We sleep with our doors to the balcony open.  The wind and ocean are loud and right there.  The breeze is glorious and with ceiling fans, it is very pleasant and remarkable bug free.  I wake early, stumble around the “chalet” which is really a wooden rustic structure with two small rooms, kitchenette and bathroom, heat water and make nescafe (the coffee of the world) and sit on the balcony, reading my book.  We set up a hammock which is also great for lounging.  Everyone wakes slowly in the next hour or so and then we make our way across the beach to the ABC restaurant for garlic toast, fried eggs and teh tarik (milky sweet tea).  This is a real Malaysia village and we are highly motivated to learn the language so that we can communicate with the locals.  We practice all the time.  Salamet Pagi, good morning!  The owners of Bamboo Chalet Tioman are the friendliest and most helpful.  Sue (from London, but a transfer to Tioman over thirty years ago when she married a local), her son Ben and daughter Juliana.  Also, Warry, a helpful friend who works at Bamboo helps us daily with language and tips for Island life.  High tide is around 11am, so we play on the beach and swim.  Then we either walk somewhere or read books, ect.  The restaurants close from 1pm until 7pm so we often go without lunch.  Excellent for the waistline.

The rhythm of our life takes shape here.  Around 5pm daily, the local kids congregate on the beach in front of our chalet (a small inlet of water from the high tide creates a shallow pool) and play a loose and lively game of baseball (with a plastic wickit bat) that has ever changing rules.  Our first evening the kids lost their ball in a tree and Jack ran down to offer his tennis ball.  Once the kids realized that Jack could hit and catch, he became a very important part of the daily match.  Jack did not miss a game (until the night before we left when he had belly trouble).  It made my heart warm when I would here “Yay Jackson” yelled when he hit well.  All the shouting and talking was in Malay, with a small amount of English interspersed to give Jack direction.  While the kids played the game, Addie played in the ocean or shallow water with other children or adults.  On the weekends large Malay families from Kuala Lumpur would come and have a beach vacation, so there was always a lot of people to talk with.  Addie has become very outgoing, making friends where ever she is, even with a significant language barrier.  The game ended around 7pm when everyone would go to dinner and I would hear the “call to prayer” over the loudspeaker.  Seeing the kids getting to know people from other cultures is exactly why we chose to travel.  Over 99% of the people we have met on this journey are not only helpful and friendly, but often go above and beyond to make sure we are ok, strangers to them.

We also went on a boat tour to coral island and many other areas to see the reef and fish.  It was a very fulfilling day!  We saw some amazing fish and coral.  Got a bit burned, but not so bad.  Swim tights come in handy!

We also went and explored the other part of the island, Juara.  The only part of the island that is developed is along the coast, and even then it is not much.  The jungle is intact, and thick and dense.  We would see long tailed macaques, large monitor lizards, see and hear colorful birds.  One traveler told us a Python went into his bathroom and actually tried to bite him!  We did see pythons, but they are quite comfortable in a tree and did not come into our chalet.  Mice were our only problem!  Which, actually a snake would fix that issue.  The beach at Juara was pristine and quiet.  There was also a Turtle nesting project that we visited.  It is overwhelming and sad to see the results of nets, plastic, oil spills—we saw plastic everywhere, tar on our feet and swim suits, and learning about the decline of these prehistoric animals just reinforced a feeling of helplessness in the face of climate change.  Travelling is only making the problem bigger for me, more overwhelming and less solvable.  The more I see, the more complicated it becomes.  It amazes me that there are still beautiful places in the world.  And we are fortunate enough to be experiencing them!

 

Addie turned double digits on our last night on Tioman.  She was already preparing herself for a very low key Birthday.  She already knew that it would be impossible to have a cake and there are no shops, so a birthday present seemed unlikely.  That morning Jack presented her with a pink bracelet he bought her in Singapore and I drew her a card, and she was over the moon.  We decided to have a nice dinner of barbecue chicken and rice at ABC, and then our plan was to walk to the small shop and buy an ice cream bar for her “special” dessert.  All in all she was pretty happy with how the day was going.

Well behind the scenes, I had arranged a cake to be baked and decorated in Tekek, the big village, and be delivered to the ABC cafe.  Juliana and Sue were intrinsic in this plan and execution.  Addie had no idea.  The whole village knew about it though.  After dinner, we were getting ready to go, and the staff of ABC came out with the cake, the lights went out and everyone sang Happy Birthday.  The cake was beautiful, chocolate, with candles and Happy Birthday Addie written on it.  Her friends came from outside and we shared cake with Juliana and her family, everyone who was there.  Addie was beyond shocked.  I also bought her an overpriced jewelry case shaped as a small dog in a fancy souvenir shop in Singapore (she poured over these at the time, choosing her favorite, but knowing that they were too expensive).  Addie declared it the best Birthday ever!

So our relaxed days at Tioman are over.  Hanging out in our chalet, playing cards, practicing our Malay, making friends and playing in the sand are passed.  But maybe we will return for Addies 11th?  Onward we go to Malacca.