Funny title I got there for this post. Intentional, but unintentional all the same.
We were assigned room 2011 in the East Wing in the resort. Initially this holiday was suppose to be on a budget, hence the thought to purchase the cheapest room available (even the cheapest is EXPENSIVE!) which is the Standard Room. During the fair, unfortunately all the Standard Rooms were fully booked on the dates which we wanted to travel on. Was offered the Superior Room (the last one!) on the date which we wanted but it was slightly more pricey. Decided to go for it, which is now a blessing in disguise for us when we reached the resort.
Describing one part of the resort: As it is located on hilly terrain, the reception and dining area is located on the mezzanine floor whereas the Superior rooms are located below facing the swimming pool. On the 1st floor above the reception/dining area is the Standard rooms. Found out that these rooms are equipped with basic amenities and comes with individual attached bathrooms. Our Superior room is the one at the end of the block beside the Dive Center and is 15 steps away from the beach/sea. It comes with an attached bathroom/toilet, mini bar (minus items inside), coffee/tea making facilities and a view of the sea and the swimming pool.
We checked in around 10:30am and was given our room keys within 10 minutes. That was when our room woes began.
When the Boyfriend opened the room’s sliding door (our access to the room is a 2-piece sliding door) to find that there are sounds coming from the bathroom, as though someone was taking a shower. Well, he called out, but no one replied. We put in all our luggage and he went to check out what (or who) was in the bathroom. He opened the bathroom door and poked his head into the bathroom to be greeted by a big spray of water! 
Seems one of the piping in the bathroom was leaking and the water was spraying out of the leak into the whole bathroom. Poor Boyfriend was drenched (face, shirt, part of his pants).
The woes didn’t end there. I tried turning on the air-conditioning and found that the air-con’s wall switch was giving off a loud buzzing sound. That freaked the both of us a little as we do not want to come into the room and accidentally electrocute ourselves on the switch later on.
Since we were already firm on going back to the reception to complain about the 2 ‘flaws’ to this room, we were on a roll to detect any other flaws in the room. Well, found that the mini bar was not working even though it was plugged in. So with 3 flaws, the Boyfriend stomped off to reception to request for someone to look into all this or to get a room change. 
Candy, the person-in-charge at the reception, came over to see the extent of the complains we made, and quickly got her staff to follow up on our complaint. So a few minutes later we have one of the staff coming to our room to get the piping fixed (he got super drenched fixing that), the air con main switch looked into, and another staff bringing in another mini bar to replace our stalled one.
By the time everything was in working order, it was lunch time so after lunch was free and easy before the first snorkeling trip of the day at 4:00pm. No pictures were taken during the snorkeling trip, unfortunately, as we both wanted to go hands-free and not carry anything with us except our room keys and the snorkeling equipment.
My maiden snorkeling trip was quite an adventure in itself as well. We were asked to gather, barefooted, at the Dive Center before making our way to the jetty. Our group was quite big – approximately 40 person. There was 2 small speedboats to transport us in batches of 10 persons to a bigger boat which can carry 20 persons. So 2 big boats was waiting for us out in deeper water for the transfers to commence around 4:10pm. Somehow the waves and current near the beach was very strong and the first trip of 20 persons that the 2 small boat carried could not moor to the big boat for the transfer to take place. All the boats sailed off to the beach on the other side at the West Wing to try again but also failed. They moved on further to the beachfront of another resort along the island and managed to complete the transfer on the 3rd try.
Because of this, the remaining 20 person were requested to walk through the jungle to the West Wing beachfront to be transferred to the big boats. Unfortunately, the Boyfriend and I was in this group. Some of the others in the group quickly ran back to their rooms to grab their slippers, the Boyfriend and I included. We have to lug our snorkeling gear all the way through the slightly hilly terrain and the uneven and rocky ground surface proved challenging, especially to those who bravely proceeded on barefoot. We were quickly loaded onto the small boats there and transferred to the bigger boats waiting for us.
Once all aboard, we were taken to another part of the island for our first snorkeling experience. The 2 boats dropped anchor at Batu Bulan, a rocky cliff facing the sea. Everyone put on their masks and one by one dropped into the water. There was a ladder by the side of the boat for those who decide to slowly descend instead of plunging feet-first into the sea. Told the Boyfriend to go ahead so he can ‘catch’ me when I fall into the water. 
I was soooooo nervous when it was my turn. There were a few instructors onboard to help the first-timers learn the basics of snorkeling. I descended from the ladder, but refused to let go as my last step into the water didn’t touch the bottom. Horrors! The feeling of nothingness below me was terrifying, and the instructor almost screamed at me to let go of the ladder. The Boyfriend also coaxed and pulled on me to let go but I was clinging on to the ladder, refusing to budge. Somehow, the 2 of them pried me off the ladder and I dropped into the water, only to have my safety vest bringing me to the surface as I floated along. Had to readjust my vest as it was so loose it almost came off me. Then I slowly learnt how NOT to breathe in with my nose since I need to use the snorkel to breathe from my mouth. And I need to overcome my fear of the water as I will need to put my head down INTO the water to look inside. Putting aside all my feelings (everything was so overwhelming), I just followed instructions given to me. Well, the reward for following instructions is the ability to look below the surface of the water into the depth of the sea. The fishes weren’t too happy with the crowd of bobbing orange dangling things terrorizing their space and only the braver ones came to check us out. Overwhelming. Everything was overwhelming at that point, and I dare say that the fear of water that I have had all these years since I was a toddler somehow slowly dissipated with the sea bubbles I was creating while I breathe underwater with my snorkel. Those fears may not have totally gone away, but I am braver now, braver to swim (with a life vest, though) and play in the sea. 
After about half an hour of snorkeling, our trip was cut short due to the stronger current. It was almost sunset and the boats were not able to send us back to the resort’s waterfront. Instead they drop us off at the stone jetty that was built by the Kuala Terengganu state government for the island. And after that it was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong walk back to our room. Passed 2 other resorts on the way back, then the West Wing, and then only to our resort and room. Took the opportunity to walk on the beach near the waterline and feel the waves wash onto the shore and move the fine sand beneath each step we took.
Oh, we made friends with the other couple that was in the van with us on the way to the jetty earlier. F and her boyfriend T, from KL, was also taking advantage of the public holiday and will be staying for the same duration of time at the resort with the Boyfriend and I. So we decided that it will be more fun to have 2 pairs going for activities and meals together. Making friends is good, no?
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