Heroin in a Half Shell
There are so many things to tell that happened from June-July but I guess the highlight would be getting the chance to runaway from your life temporarily and exploring Malaysia and getting re-acquainted with Mother Nature.
My first road trip brought me to Cherating, Pahang. 
It was literally a pack-up-and-leave holiday, without any prior planning of what to do when we arrived. Our objective was to ’shut down’ the outside world and just…have fun. 
Something that is hard for me, is to not have a plan. I guess I was trained to plan since young.
Not planning worked our way as we stumbled upon a turtle sanctuary. We played with baby turtles, which were 2 days old, and to be released that night.
More interestingly, we were present to observe a leatherback turtle lay her eggs, bury it, and make her way to the ocean. 
It was a sight to behold. Something that was fresh from National Geographic. The weather and scenery was spectacular that the whole experiece seemed rather magical.
The only thing that lacked was that the rangers and turtle sanctuary staff gave little commentaries to educate the public on what was going on. We were there for 1.5 hours, and if I didn’t speak Bahasa, I wouldn’t have gained a little bit more on the leatherback turtle. Sign boards should also be put to warn tourists or turtle watchers to switch off their handphones, torch lights, to take no pictures, and to remain silent. Reason being is to allow the turtle to remember where she layed her eggs so she can return later to do the same. Just a suggestion. Heck, if I have time I’ll write to the turtle sanctuary, NGOs, appropriate ministries (need to check this one out).
Returning to the turtle nesting, I found it cute that the leatherback chose a spot a few meters in front of Club Med, on a night when Club Med was blasting music so loud you’d think Gwen Stefani arrived early for her concert.
Another point my friends and I noted was how much work she put in to make sure her eggs were safe from predators. There were times when she just lay motionless from exhaustion. This reminded us of our mothers and their sacrifices (dads too!hehehe). Gosh, for a moment, we became quite sentimental.
Finally, after hiding her eggs (took a whole hour!), she made her way back to the ocean. It was beautiful. My friends and I held hands and just watched her go. Leaving her offspring to fend for themselves. Not ever having the chance to see them grow. Having faith that out of the hatchlings, 2-3 will survive to continue the leatherback legacy.
Wowser indeed. Watching God’s work in motion.
Below are just some pics on our detour to Lake Chini (the road home). We managed to see an eagle, black and white squirrels, a big sneaky lizard, and of course, lotuses (we were told it is lotus season):
Boat view of Lake Chini:
Spotting a wild lotus:
Swan and I:
Me, Wati and Swan:
