Friday, 8/17

Left for breakfast at 7am. This time we knew what we were doing; we wanted a good cabana with two working chaise lounge chairs that had pads (chair pads are a commodity). We were far from the 1st to stake a claim on the beach but this time we knew what we were doing & got good chairs.
After breakfast, we booted up Frank’s laptop so I could update my blog. We’ve discovered areas where we can get unauthorized wi-fi (instead of having to pay for it). The connection (free or not) is VERY slow; I’m fairly certain it is dial-up. Logging in to the blog or Shutterfly takes between 30 min to 1hr. We’ve resigned to give up on pictures until we return to KL.

Took a 2 ½ hr snorkel excursion, different from yesterday’s trip. This one is based on a boat that has 3 different stops. We learned that turtles deposited eggs on one of the beaches last night, near where we’ll be stopping; we were told to keep clear of the beach so we don’t disturb them.
Having learned from yesterday’s adventure, I requested fish food before we left. When the Activity Desk person delivered our fluorescent orange life vest & snorkel equipment, he handed me a water bottle filled with fish food, “No charge for you”.

The 1st stop was great but there weren’t as many fish (there were still a lot). Feeding the fish ROCKED! Hopefully the pictures from the underwater disposable camera come out.
Here is a new experience—not sure if anyone else has done this—seasickness from snorkeling. The waves were like the Oldsmobile dynaride—smooth but there was a definitely bumpiness. The ride to stops 2 & 3 only made the nausea worse.
Stops 2 & 3 didn’t have as many fish but the fish we saw were wonderful (and hungry). Each stop became increasingly shorter snorkels for me. Unfortunately there were no turtles to be seen on this trip.
We spent the remainder of the day relaxing in our chaise lounges and enjoying the paradise we were in. I had a massage scheduled for 3 p.m., but decided to go a bit earlier. It was billed to be a deep tissue massage; there is a slight difference in US & Malaysian massages but it did help to relieve some of my sore muscles. Meanwhile, Frank drifted between sleep and reading his book on the Appalachian Trail….perhaps a future adventure! I returned from my massage as Frank was heading to happy hour at the local watering hole. I joined him (and his beer) and had a Shirley Temple. After all, it was happy hour! After about an hour, we were happy and headed back to the room to get showered and ready for dinner.