Meme from Daniel (Part 2)

Five places you would love to revisit

1. JapaMala Resort, Tioman Island. I remember this beautiful, rustic little resort with much fondness; my time there with F was almost like a dream: looking out to the ocean from the tiny balcony of our elevated wooden chalet feeling the warm breeze, swimming in turquoise waters, having cup noodle breakfasts with almond coffee on the verandah, exploring huge boulders on the beach, taking an evening walk after dinner right to the end of the charming wooden jetty with its uneven planks to watch huge schools of little silver fish congregating frenziedly there, attracted by the floodlights. Just lovely.

2. Alnön island off the coast of Sundsvall, Sweden. Was there with F and his mom and half-brothers to bathe in the sea. On the way to the secluded beach we had to go through a little foresty area infested with huge mosquitoes, and trees dying slowly due to parasitic insects that left the branches bare and covered with a fine net/weblike substance, giving them the ghostly appearance of trees in an enchanted forest. Mosquito bites and all, it was worth it.. there were few people at the beach, because apparently not many knew of it. The beach was clean, and the water was chilly, with undercurrents that were alternately very cold and delightfully warm... and hardly salty at all (this fascinates me for some reason). I also saw ponies and their riders swimming in the sea for the first time in my life (the ponies left turds, but oh well..). It was a very fine day, the air was nippy but it was very sunny. I began to understand why Europeans love the sun so much, and started to appreciate it too..

3. (This isn't a place per se..) It's amazing to finally meet someone you know very well online but haven't met in the flesh. It doesn't matter where we have it, but I'd like to have another gathering with my friends of and from Cymmeria, the kingdom in which I was a member in the online text-based game, Utopia. Everyone was so familiar, the different personalities that we knew online just came to life, and all these people who'd never met before got along like a house on fire.

4. If I could go back in time, I'd tell the teenage me to take up bellydancing (or some other form of dance) and tailoring, and to ignore the demons in my head and the bitches around me.

5. Following a cultural and food trail in Penang (wrote about before, here). At the hottest time of the year, F and I spent 3 days going from place to place eating traditional Penang food, checking out old buildings and temples and trying out new things. Power-touristing, as F would call it. I rather like it, though it can be exhausting. :P

P/S: Apparently I'm as long-winded as you, Daniel, hehe ;)