We left our rooms at 5.30am and reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the peak of Panorama Hill in 5 to 10 minutes? It's super nearby because this town in very small. We started climbing up these high steps and by the fifth step, I was starting to pant a little. My body was so out of shape. The climb up was rather challenging as some of the steps were not maintained and thus, broken so we had to be very careful. No pictures because :
a. I don't wanna risk dying just to take pictures because it's dangerous
b. It was too dark to take clear pictures
c. I don't wanna risk finding an extra person in my pictures
So up we climbed carefully and at a consistent pace, because there are other climbers ahead and behind us. Some uncles are very kind to shine torchlights to help us see the road. I would advise you guys to use a small and invaluable torchlight and not your phones because you don't want to risk dropping your phones right?
When we reach the top and end of the stairs, there were no signboards around to indicate where the sun will be coming from and we couldn't see or hear the climbers who were ahead of us. There was quite and small paths and to make matters worst, it was still dark. So just we took a chance and walked ahead (can't remember which path we took, sorry!) until we finally saw more and more people. Thank god
Some professional photographers had already set up their tripods there and was waiting for the sun to rise. I think we even saw the same few people from the day before when we went up to the Rainbow Waterfall.
The view at 6.30 am
In love with these pastel hues <3
Slight setting changes in the camera produced this lighter photo
Mum and dad :D
Break of dawn! Tho we didn't get to see the round yellow yoke of the sun due to the clouds :(
But the sun is still beautiful nevertheless right? :D
My honey and me (credits to dinosaur parents for the unfocused picture)
My typical Asian dad who takes picture liddis (he was helping a stranger take a picture)
Jump shot kaki having fun and who's the awesome person behind the lens?
Modeling 101 : Find the light!
Mum and me. I think we look rather alike in this picture :)
Happiness and bliss and delight and and!
OOTM
Natural cotton candy! :D
Nah, they're just the early morning mist
Going downhill. This is no easier than climbing up :(
Trying to take a picture that shows the steepness of the slope but this picture doesn't do it justice ><
This picture does? A little? Bf risked his life squatting down while carrying a backpack and while having a camera bag slung over his shoulders.
So this is the old railing where as you can see, isn't connected anymore, and some steps are broken :'( watch where you're going! And this is why a torchlight is important on the way up... that is if you're aiming to catch the sunrise.
New railings!
So after we slowly make our way downhill, we rested for a while before we continue our adventure! P.S. we didn't do much research before coming, so we just asked around, saw banners, brochures and signboards pointing to this Crystal House and here we are!
It really is in a house. Part of me was expecting a clear crystal dome/igloo house lol
Donation/Entrance Fee is RM2 for adults and RM1 for kids
Donation/Entrance Fee is RM2 for adults and RM1 for kids
At first glance, it looks like a normal house which normal people live in...
But then you see...
.... all of these and you now know that this house is no where near normal!
And these aren't all! :O
Excuse me, for this is the closest I can be under a disco ball
And then we came to this unique mud house within the compound, which uncle says he dug it himself
Going into a man-made cave!
No idea why uncle stick coins onto the walls. So that it's more concrete? Hahaha idk, I can't remember. And the walls are quite damp and soft, the interior is really cooling too! :D
You can spot a few statues among the coins within the walls too!
Uncle also collects a lot of other things besides crystals
Oh look! Corals! :D
And granite stones?
These 3 stones are about the same size, but soooo different in weight! Can't remember why because it was so long ago (uncle did explain to us), but I think it's because of different compositions in the rock...
Admiring the holessssss isn't it fascinating? :D
Uncle's wall of fame
Idk what the words say, but yay?!!!
Uncle also has posters of touristy places of Sungai Lembing. I didn't notice them when we were there earlier >.<
Ishhh looks so nice but the colours looks wayyy photoshopped! Humphhhh
The end of the Crystal House tour! We spent about 30 mins walking around and listening to uncle's stories about how this Crystal House came to be. I would say that it might be boring for people who don't see the beauty in these rocks, not for teens but it could be interesting for little kids and the older generations?
Then, we went back to town for snacks! :D
We came to this nameless shop (opposite the food court in the town centre)
Nata de Coco! :D
My parents were excited over this big tree idkw maybe it's because you rarely get to see trees grow to this size before they're being chopped off :(
Hahaha his default pose
Our incomplete family... tree... hahaha my lame joke wtf
Yeeeaapppp. This is pretty much the small little town of Sungai Lembing and our adventures here! Oh, but we didn't go to the famous mining museum which you will definitely pass by otw to the Time Capsule Retreat (dad went while we were at the Crystal House tho...)
And then, we made our way to Kemaman for the next main reason for our trip - to see turtles! We checked into our hotel, Home2Hotel and then went to Kemaman's famous coffee shop, Sukiyang Coffee. It was previously known as Haipeng Kopitiam and they relocated to a new place.
*ahem* due to fatigue, I wasn't in my blogger mode at that time and so this will not be a coffee shop review. But here's a nice picture of my roti bakar :D
And a picture of my... umm... chocolate mocha... ummmm drink... which I can't remember the name of it and I also can't comment on the taste because I honestly can't remember hahah but presentation wise, okay la right? ;)
Then!!!! We went to the Turtle Sanctuary in Pantai Teluk Mak Nik!!! aka Monica Bay or Chendor Beach. Idkw this place has so many names. Or even if they mean the same place or not.
We were there to release baby turtles and the strange thing is that the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary closes at 4.30pm but the releasing baby turtles event is at 6pm -_- and because we reached Kemaman at around 3ish 4pm, we couldn't make it in time to see the gallery. Oh, this place is super easy to find. We used Waze to get there, but I think there are sufficient signboards to guide you there without any GPS.
The mural at the back of the gallery T_T
They wouldn't let us go inside :'( but but but! I saw other blogs/blogger who were able to go inside and take pictures and hold baby turtles and help them count! *cries a river*
Oh wells, at least there's coconut trees *attempts to comfort self*
Ooohhhh and a swing! Hahaha le bf trying to make friends with this little boy
Momma and mua
Jia Wei and Michelle
Sitting on a swing,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
Just kidding! Hahaha
See this excited little kid
Prior to our trip there, I called them to book the baby turtles to release. It was RM5 for each turtle and they called it donation. And since there will be 10 of us, it was 10 baby turtles at RM50.
Cherating Turtle Sanctuary
+6 09 581 9087
And I had to call them a few times, at different timing and occasions. Sometimes no one picks up (during office hours) and when I got them, sometimes the line is really bad with a lot of static >.< urghhhh
But look at this! This is definitely wayyy more than 10! :D this sight is certainly worth all the trouble researching and calling!
Holding it carefully so that we don't squeeze them!
Put me down human! Put me down! Right this instant!
*posted a similar picture on Instagram 41 65 weeks earlier with the extra caption
look out for my blog update sometime soon... Soon as in next week or probably next month
Hahaha! I over- or is it underestimated myself?!!
Baby turtles are smart! Even if you put them facing the wrong direction, they know! And will go to the correct direction, which is towards the waters.
And, you should always release baby turtles on the beach and not in the waters. This is for them to recognise the beach as their home because female turtles will return to the very same beach that they came from to lay their eggs.
Sex of the eggs are affected by the temperature of the nests. So naturally, the mother turtle determines the sexes of her babies by nesting at different spots. Eggs laid closer to the beach (cooler) will be males whereas nests in higher grounds will produce female baby turtles.
These babies are wriggly and their flippers are always flipping about and my granduncle here was actually afraid of them hahah! I thought he was just excited and happy.
Baby face and cute face runs in the family yo *peace*
Group photo of all of us! :D
Oh and, did you know that only 1 out of a thousand baby turtles will survive to adulthood because they're at risk even from the day they hatch. Well technically, even before they're born.
1. Artificial lighting
At night when it is naturally dark, lights from stalls and hotels scares mummy turtle and she will think it's unsafe to lay her eggs here (turtles will only feel safe when it's dark and quiet so shhhhhh)
2. Climate change
Global warming > polar ice caps melt > sea levels rise > beaches disappear (size of nesting beaches decrease) > mummy turtles have no place to lay her eggs
3. Egg poachers
Sadly, as we know that in some cultures and areas, turtle eggs are considered a local delicacy or tradition like how in Japan they have the whale mass killing culture *cruel people around the world*. And obviously, when there is demand for these eggs, there will be supply.
4. Size
When a baby turtle swims into the waters for the first time, their tiny size makes them an easy prey to gulls, larger fishes, octopus, sharks and other marine creatures.
5. Pollution - trash, water and oil.
Do I need to say more? We know how plastics make their way to the ocean and turtles mistaken them for jellyfish and eats them. Plastics make them feel full, but then they slowly die of starvation or they choke to death trying to eat them.
We've all heard of stories that turtles die because they get trapped and drown in fishing nets. Because they try to struggle out from the nets and spoils them, some evil people kill the turtles :(
Goodbye and best wishes to all you baby turtles! Come back safely after 10-30 years to lay eggs okay? :)
So after sending the baby turtles off, we went to the famous stuffed crab place for dinner! My granduncle is a happens to be a foodie and is willing to drive for hours in the name of having good food and brought us to Restoran Tong Juan for good Chinese food here in Chukai, Kemaman. FYI, this place don't serve pork, but don't be too disappointed okay? There's so much more for you to choose from! :D
Uncle Kevin and Michelle. Heh yeap. 2 Michelles in the group cause Michelles are awesome!
My young grandaunt and granduncle
Us! :D
Fast forward to about 20 minutes later, our food are being served!
Ze famous stuffed crab!
Speak peak into the contents - there's quite a lot of things in there... I can't remember what tho, but it's delicious! :D
And cake! Because granduncle's birthday was around the corner :D
Everyone except the 90's kids. Oh, and that's Uncle Alvin and Denise on the left :)
Heh. So sweet <3 #lifegoals
The bill of 7 dishes added up to about RM300 for 10 of us.
After that, we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit while waiting for the agent to call us... for turtle watching! At about 8.30ish 9pm, we received the call to get into the car and to the beach to wait for the mummy turtles! We had to walk along the dark and quiet beach under the moonlight for quite a distance, away from the commercial and public beach to a more natural and secluded area. What I noticed during our walk on the beach is that at some parts, the sand was very fine and soft, very enjoyable to walk on while at certain areas, it was course and it hurts :'( and sometimes you tend to sink in them while sometimes you can walk normally. We walked and walked until we reach an open area where when you face the waters, behind you is sort of like a forest? With big boulders or rocks. Hahaha sorry, that was a very noob-ish explanation, but bear with me okay?
So after walking in darkness for a while, we came to a place where we saw quite a number of people and we saw this...
Turtle tracks! :D
The turtle nesting season is from April to August, with the peak season during June and July
Mummy turtle is already here but she still hasn't lay her eggs yet
All ze peoplez there who are waiting to see the mummy turtle lay her eggs. At this point of life, I hated the naughty kids there who were making a lot of noise, screaming and running about! The guide already warned everyone to stay quiet and not to on any lights or flashes because mummy turtles will feel threaten if the environment is noisy and bright and she will think that the area is unsafe and she won't lay her eggs! Humphhh and their parents who are also irresponsible! Some grown adults were also speaking really loudly and one particular idiot was crushing a plastic bottle which makes so much noise! Gahhhh I wanted to strangle everyone! >:(
But on the other hand, I have no idea how le boyfriend manage to capture this bright picture - without flash some more wehy! :D
Because this is what our eyes register... I think... Hahaha it's been so long, I can't remember what's what anymore
Baby turtles! Yeap, we get to release baby turtles again! Heheh I persuaded my mum to go release baby turtles earlier in the evening because I already anticipated this, where we can't take good pictures of baby turtles when it's pitch black.
Again, I have no idea how we can get such a bright picture without flash! :O is the camera just awesome or is it skills?
During all that pictures taking, we could hear her flipping her flippers, digging her nest.
But anyways, mummy turtle decided to stay and lay her eggs! And we were divided into about 3 groups to take turns to watch the eggs pop out! :D I was lucky to be in the front of my group and I got to see it really up close and take a few pictures before I voluntary move to the back so that others can see it too. Yes, please, if a kid like me can think and do that, you can too. Be considerate please.
This mini torchlight is alright because it's behind the turtle, and she can't see the light, and this won't scare her
Now that I look back at this photo and think about it, this is pretty bad! Mummy turtle must be very scared :'( I'm so sorryyyy
Our particular turtle is a tagged turtle!!! :D MY7766
Do you guys know anything about turtles being tagged to monitor a turtle's progress and to provide a historical record of it's route? Well, nothing to worry about since it doesn't harm the turtle and usually rangers will measure the size of the turtles. It's actually quite interesting because it collects data as to where that particular turtle has been to, how much distance it has covered, over which oceans and such. This helps in turtle conservation, to track their migration patterns, estimate the number of turtles currently living, which ones are nesting and such.
They're digging out the eggs to count them before transferring it to the turtle sanctuary where they're much safer, at least from poachers
71 eggs!!! Each time, a mummy turtle can lay up to about 80 to 120 eggs. Turtle eggs have an incubation period of 2 months before hatchings will hatch and emerge from the nests
They're as round as ping pong balls!
The eggs are counted and collected to be brought into the turtle sanctuary where they will be incubated and protected (from poachers), controlled so that there's even amounts of both sexes before they hatch and are released into the ocean again! :D
Imagine being tired after having dug a deep hole to lay your eggs and to have so many weird species (humans) around you and you see that they dug up your precious babies and put it next to you... I think they should've let mummy turtle finish laying her eggs, bury them and go back to the sea before collecting the eggs to be protected in the sanctuary.
Part of the big audience witnessing mummy turtle giving birth
T.T mianhaeeeee
After that we left mummy turtle to make her own way back to the waters and we got to release baby turtles again! :D
Now that I look back at these photos, it shouldn't be so brightly lighted :O
Hatchlings use the natural light horizon which is usually over the ocean to reach the waters. So shining some light towards the water will help guide the turtles to the waters but what I learned later on is that it's better to use red lights so that other sea creatures won't be attracted by these lights and also because white lights are a little too harsh for these baby turtle's sensitive eyes. Imagine having someone shine direct light in your face in the middle of the night! On this matter, light sources such as beachfront lighting, street lights, light from cars, campfires etc can lead hatchlings in the wrong direction. So turn off your lights people!
It is more favourable to release these hatchlings at night because they are less likely to be spotted (and then eaten) by predators or overheat and die of dehydration.
Reaching the waters!!! Another step... and another...!
Finally there! :') swim off and stay alive baby <3
Further away from all the releasing hatchlings commotion, mummy turtle is making her way back to the ocean
Didn't want to get too near to mummy turtle >.< don't want to scare her and disturb her
All this kidssss T.T sigghhh I can only hope that they didn't put too much pressure on her :'(
More kidsss and the couple on the right are ze evil people! >:(
With mummy turtle! :( took quite a few shots because she was constantly trying to move forward and we didn't want to stop her. So we duck-waddled with her for a bit >.<
All these people didn't want to let her go until the very end :'( >:(
Wanted to get a shot of mummy turtle returning to sea on her own but these pests just kept lingering around :(
But all in all, it was a great experience to witness many many births, never got to see human birth but this itself is amazing as life can get! :D
A picture with our very knowledgable guide, of which most of his understanding of turtles has passed through my ear and brain a wee too quickly >.<
We were very tired after this third day because that day was as long as this blog post is. We woke up really early to see the sunrise, which we didn't :( and then explored a small part of Sungai Lembing town, drove to Kemaman to release baby turtles, had a satisfying dinner and witnessed a turtle laying eggs. One tick of my bucket list! :D it was truly a phenomenal experience watching a slow and humongous creature laying eggs and slowly going back to the sea. I would encourage everyone to experience this at least once in your life, but please, don't make the same mistakes as I did.
For this turtle watching experience, we sought services from Costa Victoria Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd who suggested and recommended us to our accommodation at Home 2 Hotel (it was a pleasant stay, with clean white sheets, classy but simple decorations, warm shower, wifi etc) which was only 15 minutes away from the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary and ___ minutes away from ____(what beach) where we watch the turtle lay eggs. The whole package that they offered us (accommodation + turtle watching) is RM78 per person. Our accommodation was a deluxe double room which was 2 king-sized beds within a room. Pretty worth it for the experience me thinks! :D if you would prefer another type of room, you can discuss it with the agent.
And I'm not sure if you can just show up at the beach and watch the turtles lay eggs or not or if anyone will collect fees from you. But this is very inconvenient because you don't know when a turtle might lay her eggs and you wouldn't know where is the nesting spot. Might as well chill in your comfy hotel room while waiting for mummy turtle to dig her nest and you will reach in time to watch her start laying eggs :D
Costa Victoria Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd
Annie - 016 206 4799
But I have to warn you guys that this package is non-refundable in the event that the turtle decides not to lay eggs or if there are no turtles coming up to shore to lay her eggs. This experience is a luck or chance thing, and that's why it's so special to me <3 cause we were so lucky that mummy turtle eventually decided to lay her eggs despite showing signs of wanting to go back to the sea without laying any eggs at all. Hallelujah
It was only earlier this year (February) in uni when I attended a talk on turtle conservation that I realised how I broke so many no-nos when it comes to contact with turtles. I was superly, utterly and deeply ashamed of myself.
There are plenty of pictures around, you don't have to take one yourself. Save that shot, save turtles
So this post serves as a warning to the rest of you, so that you don't do the same. Or maybe I should take down all the pictures so that others won't imitate my wrong doings? :/
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