unlimited

The trinity of all beach holidays: sea, sand, and sun. The past few days were full of it, and full of life. Where to start, then? Well, I swam quite a bit. My trunks certainly don't see a lot of use, as I'm an infrequent swimmer. But I really do love the cool embrace of the water. I would fill my lungs and dive into the sea, as deep as I could go, and just linger at the bottom watching the ocean's denizens go along their merry way. Likewise do I relish the feel of pushing the water with my hands and the legs as I do the breaststroke, gliding through the water with aquatic ease.

Volleyball, tearing across the beach, scrambling over rocks, and frisbee on the beach with the mad dives for the disc, were equally fun. You get that amazing feel of muscles being used as they were meant to be, an exertion that reminds your entire body of the gloriousness of youth and health and life. Whee! I really ought to exercise more on a regular basis. Tennis tomorrow, at any rate =).

Another really enjoyable thing was taking in nature. I am enchanted with the beauty of the natural world, despite being perfectly comfortable in front of my com =). My personal all-time favourite is looking at the night sky, and I was not disappointed with Lang Tengah. There was one night when the rains had washed the sky clean and cloudless, allowing the faint light of the stars to be perceived. They were legion, a whole host of bright twinkling pinpricks above the sea that never sleeps. Later that night the moon came out, blotting out some of the stars. It was low and bright in the sky, its pale yellow-white light a thousand glimmers upon the sea.

Equally beautiful but less mysterious was the glimpse of Lang Tengah as we rounded the island to our snorkelling destination. Craggy rocks often took the places of beaches, and upon them grew trees and vegetation that found purchase in cracks and crevices. Snorkelling was great, even if I didn't exactly snorkel (used my own corrective goggles instead of the mask since my eyesight is that bad). Observing the underwater realm stretch far into the fathomless blue, stretching in all directions; diving in deep and peering up close at the fauna of the sea bed a few meters under the surface... incomparable. And it's not like I could see a great deal of the ocean from below, too... but a drop in bath tub's worth, I'd say. Such vastness, truly awesome.

In other news, I had some whisky (mixed with Coke), my first bit of alcohol ever. The taste wasn't particularly earthshaking, but I suppose this kind of thing grows on you. All I had was one glass, anyway. More interesting (and funny), was seeing friends gradually sink into drunkeness. Funny, and reason enough to never get seriously drunk. I'm not much of an alcohol person, anyway. Another first was playing Cho Dai Di or Big 2, or whatever else you want to call it. I won my first two games =).

And finally, hanging with my classmates was just plain fun. Terrific bunch of people that run the gamut from wild and crazy to demure and mild-mannered. I think I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, these last few days =).

Of course, it wasn't all great fun. The food wasn't that great - a notch above unedible, just about. The rooms were a little crummy (but still nothing on Outward Bound). I busted my old cam by dropping it too many times. I'm darker than I've ever been, and that's really dark, and I recover slowly from tans. Bored my friends to death with a board game I brought. And the deep personal agonies. But maybe tomorrow, yeah? I leave you with this sneak preview, this one word: Catharsis.

Still, the trip was great enough. Better than expected, and a thoroughly fantastic experience. You can probably tell by the way this post borders on being incoherently constructed =). Woooo!... and now the business of life returns, though without much responsibility. Ah, the advantages of youth. =)