The warmer the clime, the slower the time. Lying on the beach, I stared at the brilliant turquoise for some time.  I felt mesmerized, but it was not the glittering water that mesmerized me but the fact that I had nothing more important to do than simply stared at it. That was the only way to get around in Redang Island: Leisurely. No more pressing calls, no more endless demands. For this moment, I could relax and simply be Me. Generally speaking, I don’t have much to complain about my life, but still sometimes I need to be something else other than a mother, a wife or an employee. Like now I could read as I want, and if I felt restless it was easy to find fun. For example, burying a person alive was a brilliant idea, don’t you think?

Strolling by the beach, I enjoyed the sensation of soft sand sinking under the feet.

It's where the famous movie Summer More More Tea  are filmed. To be honest, even this movie was played on the resort’s TV on and on---literally 24 hours a day, I never watched it thoroughly. Strangely, romantic novels could draw me on endlessly, but comes to Movies, I prefers something more exciting, like detective or adventurer. Still, I couldn’t help but admiring the director’s keen eye for beauty. With or without a good storyline, I was enveloped in the atmosphere of romantic already.

We went to Marine Park that afternoon---the most important snorkeling trip included in the package. Awesome, was exact the word springing into my mind when I set my eyes beneath the bewitchingly blue sea. Swimming in the warm, hypnotic waters of the Gulf, I felt like a lost mermaid looking for the palace hidden behind the colorful coral reefs. The local government took some iron measures to protect this treasure land. Never take corals, sea fans, shells or the like (living or dead) out of Marine Park or you would be fined heavily.

After sunset, when the night brought a light breeze to cool down our heated skin, we sat together around a table in one of beach bars. It was the time for gossip. Obviously there were many versions about my early exit of the previous day, and the most popular one was I was kidnapped by a ghost ship---I was really speechless at my dear colleague’s wild imaginations. I guess that’s one of the advantages to travel with your co-workers. You definitely would be fed with enough juicy gossips after the trip was over. An hour’s later, I already caught up with the latest affairs happened around---like who is seeing whom, who is breaking up with whom. Not-so-surprisingly, L, known for her undisguised attempt at hooking up a foreigner, was crowned as the drama queen in office. Honestly, I never like L, but still I was a little stunned by the cruelty behind my colleagues’ words when they talked about her. Again I realized that in a company, you have to earn your stay with your efforts, intelligence and most of all----your dignity.  

My trip to Redang Island ended nicely about a month ago. Call it an escape or a sunny-seeker dream, no matter what I miss that place: the beach, the sunshine, and the slowness of time.