I just got back from a 2 days 1 night trip to Pangkor Island in Perak. The trip was organised especially for the non-teaching staff meaning all the teachers weren't invited. But I doubt they will miss this trip because I can see most of them holidaying at some exotic location around South East Asia. The bus departed around 6:15 in the morning but I had to wake up much earlier at 4:45 am so that I wouldn't be late. There were altogether 3 buses to carry all of the non-teaching staff from the primary and secondary campuses. Two third of the participants was from the primary campus and another one third from the secondary campus. I don't know why some of the staff chose to skip the trip. I guess they have something better or more exciting things to do.
At first they played some horrible Tamil music on the bus. Fortunately our bus leader leapt into action and asked the driver to play a movie instead. So we watched Fast 6 all the way to Lumut. My initial plan was to sleep peacefully until we reach the jetty. I can kiss that plan goodbye cause I barely got a wink since the speaker is blaring on top of my head.
We took a private boat to Pangkor Island Beach Resort. It's the first time I went to Pangkor and the first time I took a ferry other than the one in Penang. I love the resort, the food, the amenities and our room. I especially love the food. I had a marvelous lunch, dinner and breakfast at the resort.
Ever since I could remember I was never lucky with lucky draws. Unless the lucky draw is where everyone gets something, chances are I won't get anything. Yesterday night was no different. I got a couple of Jusco vouchers worth 50 ringgit on top of the 10 ringgit voucher that I won for winning the treasure hunt with my team. We had an al-fresco style dinner by the beach. The was hardly any wind blowing despite sitting next to the sea. The weather was good until about halfway through dinner and the lucky draw. I've already collected my voucher so when it rained I took the opportunity to split to my room and get a good night sleep.
The next morning I found out some of my colleague won an LCD tv, Samsung Note 3 and an iPad among others for the grand prize of the lucky draw. I know I shouldn't hate them for being lucky but I can't help but feel a bit envious for those lucky bastards. In a way I felt it's a bit unfair that a few people get to go home with those marvellous stuff while I'm left with some lousy vouchers. Should I just count my blessing and deal with it? After all 60 ringgit worth of vouchers are better than nothing at all.
My Mom asked me to buy some blue-eyed anchovies while in Pangkor. I saw some being sold in Lumut but I thought I'd get one in Pangkor since my Mom specifically asked me to get it from there. So on the second day I decided to go out to Pangkor town to buy some anchovies. Since the boys were late to breakfast that morning, I missed the van that took many of us to Pangkor town. In the end I had to ride a van all by myself. You know what that means. I had to pay for the entire van for myself. The 14 kilometers round trip from our resort to Pangkor town cost me a cool 40 ringgit which is clearly daylight robbery. But on the way back from Pangkor town I took a private motorcycle (without any helmet mind you) which cost only RM13 (after much haggling) to save myself some money. The sad thing is when I gave the anchovies to my Mom she said she wanted a smaller kind of blue-eyed anchovies instead of the medium-sized one that I bought. Imagine my feeling after going through so much trouble the get her those anchovies. If she wasn't my Mom, I wouldn't even bother.
Then there was the incident on the bus on the way back. I was hoping for some peace and quiet after a tiring day at the beach. Imagine my outrage when the driver started playing some hindustan music on the PA system on top volume for much of the trip back. It didn't help at all when some of my Indian colleagues decided to start disco-dancing along the isle. I understand they'd like to enjoy some entertainment but for fuck's sake please be considerate and respect other people. I'm sure I speak for the silent minority who hated those inconsiderate morons as much as I do. If the driver didn't stop the music at the Behrang R&R I'm pretty there will be trouble on the bus. Some of the passengers at the back were ready for a mutiny yesterday.
Apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Pangkor. I wish I could bring my wife and family along. The kids would have enjoyed themselves tremendously at the resort. Too bad this trip is strictly staff only. Perhaps next time.
