It's been nearly 6 weeks since me and Bb had a break in KL. That treat was surprisingly fun, most probably due to the overnight sleeper train trip. I started work in my new job and life was slowly getting normal. Life as an executive stays pretty routine. Thoughts of wandering around in Bermudas and beers (lots of beers) temporarily took reserve status. Thoughts of progressing up the social ladder, buying a car and networking parties took center stage. Scary and dangerous thoughts indeed. Thinking of being a yuppie is really exciting. A little bit too exciting.

My cousins were cornering me into going on a trip. Many thanks for them who offered to do so much, 1) leaving a seat for Bb 2) accommodating us in terms of the schedule 3) offering to drive. We wanted to go Malacca initially, to climb Gundung Datuk, but due to the happenings in Fraser's Hill, we decided to change location to Pulau Tioman instead. I have to say that it is a damn corny decision, but then again, the perk is there is DUTY FREE beer in Tioman. Though not a lot of people will know about this.

We started out on the morning of 18th, which me and Bb slept for only 3 hours. From Johor Bahru, we drove on my cousin's Proton Wira up on Route No. 3 (east route) that will bring us all the way to Kota Bahru (in Kelantan). We didn't go there as that will take days and we stopped at Mersing (2 hours). Not much towns along the way, unlike route No. 5 that will take us to Pontain.

Upon reaching Mersing, we got ourselves ferry tickets and headed straight for the ferry. We listened to Lonely Planet and headed for Kampong Salang. Plan was to go to Kampong Tekek to get duty free beer, then to our guesthouse in Kampong Salang.

We headed for the duty free beer immediately upon reaching Kampong Tekek. God knows why the Malaysian government granted duty free status to Tioman without telling the whole world about it. Who cares? We got 2 cartons and drank ourselves silly.