Memories of Marang

On rather short notice, I was asked to go to Marang to issue a permit for site work. I agreed but had to leave on a Sunday. OK la, nevermindla.

I was so kelam kabut that I only remembered that I left my PPE in the office when I was about to reach home on Thursday. Luckily my colleague who was going with me to site was still in the office and she grabbed it for me.

The last I was in Marang was in 2005 when I went there from JB with the JB group of athletes for the annual Kapas-Marang Swimathon. And I didn’t think that this trip, I’d be going anywhere near where I was then.

However, when we were looking for hotels or more precisely Seri Malaysia Hotel, we ended up the same spot the bus dropped us off for breakfast and then on to the ferry to Pulau Kapas. Ahh, it brought back sweet memories. The thought of waking up blurry from the bus being told we were at our destination already and told to go grab breakfast and the journey after to Pulau Kapas.

Flash back to the days which led to the event, which looking back I wondered how on earth I actually agreed to go for it and how I did it. A 6.5km swim through the open sea from Pulau Kapas to Marang. Oh goodness I still remembered there were stages where I felt like after many strokes, I didn’t even move. The strong current was horrible. Looking at the waves yesterday and this morning, it reminded me of THAT very day. But the waves today were worse. Sea was really choppy but the wind was really nice.

Anyway, the days which led to the swimathon were filled with endless swims. Imagine 130laps of swim in the pool….most of the time by lap 40 or 50, I’d have lost count. By that time, I’d resort to time to check my distance. It was pure monotony and it the beginning it was almost torturous. What could you do when you were in the pool? If I was on the treadmill, at least can watch TV, read a book or listen to some songs to keep myself entertained. But in the pool? It was terrible, trying to come up with something to keep myself sane.
After a while I became a familiar face at the Tmn U pool in Skudai. Larkin, though my favourite, wasn’t favourable to me after dark because on one end of the pool, it wasn’t properly lit. Hence, it was kind of scary. So Tmn U it was though slightly more expensive, but nearer and I felt better.

Marang today was viewed differently. We had a superb and really cheap dinner last night amidst strong winds in a sea-fronting restaurant. If the winds were not so strong, we’d have sat outside. But it was so strong that I think if food was served, it’d be blown away almost instantly. Breakfast was also very cheap but funny, Rhu Rendang, about 2km from Marang, where the site exactly was, seems like it has quite strange cooking style. Everything seemed to have ginger added to it. My colleague’s fried rice and kueh teow had ginger, breakfast which included some weird kuih which had green bean and coconut fillings also had ginger and to top it all, currypuff also had ginger. Yes, the regular potato curry in the curry puff had ginger in it. Weird.

Neways, that was Marang....and I wonder when will be my next Kapas-Marang Swim. It was my first so-called cross the open sea swim. Desaru swim, although in the open sea, it was just 2 rounds of a short 750m into the sea. You don't get the 'effects' of open sea or the feeling at certain points when you're all alone 'floating/swimming' in the vast ocean. It is scary but also fun at the same time :)

Now with baby in tow, I may think twice before plunging in the the deep waters of the ocean.....