Fireflies, waterfall and more!

Waking up at 6am on a public holiday was a torture. Especially when my nose is running and my airway is itching like mad. Why did I even agreed to go on this Kota Tingi trip with my labbies (excluding Mimi and Lulu)?! I must be crazy! For all I was cursing myself, I still climbed out of bed, for no reason other than the payment already made! Haha.. $$$ *Bleah

The trip was worth the torture. The company was great. Even Mr Ice-cream came along, closing his shop on labour's day, to accompany his gf (How sweet!). Jingjing was not there, much to Zhang Sheng and Xujia's disappointment. Shengbao was part of the group too, enjoying the last of his bachelorhood.

Our group of 10 are all punctual people, thus we reached Malaysia even before the shopping malls were opened, which was the first thing in our itinery. So the tour guide (Belinda is her name, I think) brought us to Danga Bay to waste some time. It was all kampong style wooden houses and each house has its own theme. There was this house that showed the equipments needed to tap latex and process them into rubber sheets. Although these houses were interesting, I was not that keen. I just can't wait for the shopping expedition to start!

Finally! It was shopping time! All the girls (Karen, Huili, Dongmei, Chenwei and me!) went crazy! We were practically running since we only have 1.5h at the gigantic shopping mall, which I have no idea what its name was, nevermind. Lucky me, I managed to rein my impulses in before I made any mistakes. I have to save $$ for Beijing and HK (Yippee!! Can't wait!) So in the end, I only did a pedicure which only cost RM23. Though it was only cheaper than one in S'pore for a few bucks, it felt good to pamper myself!

Afterwhich we went to the Desaru Fruit Farm. This was an eye opener! Never knew coffee beans were initially green! Sorta learned about the different types of leaves that different plants have; but I seemed to have forgotten now.. Oops.. But anyway, Zhang Sheng was the best- it seems as though his PhD in chem is not enough, he wants another PhD in agriculture! This is one inquisitive grad student!

Lunch was late but gratifying, since all of us were hungry. It was my first time eating lobster 'tempura'. Although it was nice, I would prefer daddy's lobster with his homemade sauces anytime!

The waterfall was impressive to the mountain turtle like me. It was not massive, but still managed to win 'wahs' and 'woos' from us. What was hilarious and a bit turn off was the image of pple washing their hair with shampoo at the base of the waterfall.. No comments..

Dinner was at 7pm, but with our stomach still filled from the late lunch, we did not enjoy it as much although it was more sumptuous than lunch. We were all looking forward to the highlight of the night- fireflies gazing! All the necessary preparative work was done before getting into the boat which will ferry us to the fireflies. Some people spraying on insect repellent while others trying to find the best life jacket that will save their precious lives in the event of a capsize... Cute to hear the squabbling about the best life jacket..

The moon was round and bright, with many stars twinkling beside it. This made seeing the fireflies a little harder.. The anticipation was rewarded when the boatman maneuvered nearer to the mangrove trees and the fireflies. Synchronised flickering of the many fireflies! Nice!

We were told that the fireflies survive by sucking the sap of certain mangrove trees, thus they are found in this particular spot of Kota Tingi. And according to Belinda, the male fireflies are brighter and flick faster than the females and they are eaten up by the females after mating! Linking to the knowledge of male flowers dying after they pollinate the female flowers(we learned this earlier the day at the fruit farm), we all concluded that females are more important in nature. Since humans are also part of nature, that should be the case too, right? Haha..

Well, the short trip ended with the fireflies and we were finally on our way home. As much as I enjoyed myself, I looked forward to home sweet home to nurse my nose and my throat. Too bad Mimi and Lulu were not there, if not it would have been much more fun! Maybe we should do something like this again someday!