Stars In Bubbly Eyes

There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on all the world’s beaches. – Dr Gerry Goeden   

Wow!

Last night was just the best; exceptional in fact.

 

I had a light dinner of tempura prawns at the beach bar and a perfect glass of bubbly champagne. I took my time as the sun sank into the sea and the trees came alive with gliding Colugos and singing Cicadas.

Talk about black! Once the last bits of orange had leaked out of the sky the ocean was an almost invisible carpet of velvet softly breathing along the sandy shore.

Can’t see a damn thing; sounds like a perfect time for a walk on the beach.

I kicked my shoes up against the nearest tree, gulped the last swig of bubbles, and strolled out onto the sand. I was totally blind---and then slowly, another world began to open its door and invite me in. As my eyes adjusted to the star light I could see everything!

The rippling waves were throwing bands of blue light against the sand. Bioluminescence I think it’s called as a zillion little creatures flash their lights at the agitation. This is cool! Tiny little blue dots everywhere. And if I put my fingers in the water (can sharks get this close to shore?), they lit up like a Christmas tree.

Then I looked up and saw a sky like I had never seen before. This was it! This was the Mother of all skies; the most and brightest stars ever; everything flying about in the Universe had come together over Datai Bay.

I felt so small and humbled and I felt so big and connected to the Universe. Was it the wine or this incredible night? Must experiment – stars with champagne and stars without champagne.

What I discovered is that the most magical moments can’t be bought; they are free and there for the taking.

And bare feet are optional of course!

The Barefoot blogger and the Princess

Dr Gerry Goeden: “An actress once said that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to meet a prince and I guess you need to write a lot of blogs to meet a princess”.

How absolutely cool!!

One of the people Gerry works with at the Andaman said that the invitations had arrived. The UKM was opening their new Langkawi Laboratory PPL to the public. We were being driven there in one of the resort limos and would be part of a discussion group.

The limo slid up to the entrance and we all hopped out. Gerry was in his trusty work shorts and a tee shirt (what else) and I was looking pretty special in a brand new pair of mini-denim shorts and a smart little button up top.

Goodness, aren’t the people here dressed well!! Suits and traditional baju kurong  for an open day for school kids? Didn’t make sense. Oh well.

Inside the reception area the story started to change from one that looked like fun to more of a nightmare.

Lots of chairs draped in royal colors, potted palms (always a bad sign), and even more of those traditional baju kurong. Where was I? Where were the school kids? What about the free chicken satay?

A friend looked at us in dismay. Cover your knees! Cover your knees! I understood this reaction—Gerry’s knees are a bit worse for wear but mine are great. What was his problem?

We all stood on queue and mumbled words to the state song. And there she was dressed in gold.  Incredibly elegant and thankfully not looking at our knees. The Princess of Kedah was officiating at the grand and official opening of the Research Center.

Gerry and I sat as soon as possible and tried to shrink into the seats. The Princess’s eyes scanned the crowd (was she looking for knees?) and then began her official speech.

Langkawi was declared a UNESCO Geopark in 2007, thanks to the efforts of UKM geologists and now this Center would follow on with geology, marine science, and herpetology (reptiles and amphibians). That’s why we were here. Gerry will be supervising graduate students working toward their Ph.D.’s.

I’ll be tagging along---barefoot----in my smart little shorts. Not sure what the Princess will be wearing but I can tell her where I got mine.

HOPPING, HOPPING, AND MORE ISLAND HOPPING!

“When I walk to the beach I have to choose; right or left

today? Both are fine because I live on an island and I always end up where I started.” – Dr Gerry Goeden

I’m writing this blog to let you follow my adventures as my life weaves from one new experience to another. You will agree with me that I am earning impeccable credentials as an island hopper.

I started my life in a small “tongue wagging” town on the island of Borneo. Well, Borneo is pretty big but my life was pretty small. I didn’t get much of a chance to travel and never got the idea of what being on an island was all about until---I moved to another island. Much smaller and water all around.

It all began with an invitation from a Science Guy to visit …   dreams, as many of us know, do come true sometimes. I jumped at the chance.

Penang is an incredible island with Georgetown as its heart. The whole place is declared World Heritage but Penang is really all about food—glorious food. The average distance between hawker’s stalls (local cuisine), restaurants (anything goes), and coffee shops is only about 100m. Even dragging yourself along the ground with a rock tied to your foot you wouldn’t miss a meal. Yet, I haven’t tried the famous Penang laksa … go figure??

So from Penang I hopped again and went off to Langkawi. Talk about a change! From a busy city to the quiet of an ancient (10 million years!) rainforest. I’m lucky enough to be able to visit the Andaman Resort located on the Northwest tip of the island and the shores of Datai Bay. Life is tough here with a beautiful swimming pool, National Geographic’s 9^th best beach in the world, and of course even more glorious food.

My first night was something special. Gerry and I decided on a Malay cuisine at Tepian Laut (meaning seaside, I guess). A wood deck under the rainforest trees, Colugos gliding overhead, the sound of waves only a dozen metres away and…….the biggest moon I have ever seen. Trust me; it’s bigger there. Money back guaranteed!

After dinner an entirely new experience and one I’m embarrassed to talk about. That’s right. It happened right there on the beach---no not that! I took my shoes off and walked barefoot in the sand for the first time. Can’t believe it you say? Well it’s true! Decades of life on islands and never walked barefoot in the sand. Now I can’t stop.

I’m hooked. Addicted. Trapped. My life has changed from the quiet little-town girl to that of the “Barefoot Blogger”, shoeless, wind in the hair, washed in moonlight, and holding a glass of bubbly!

Check out the photos for now. Next time I’ll tell the story of the Barefoot Blogger and the Princess.  If you think the shoes thing is a laugh you won’t want to miss the next one.

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