Malaysia!!

After a long journey from Thailand we’ve settled into our new lives on a small set of islands in the South China Sea. We are on the Pulau Perhentian Islands located about 45mins via speedboat from the mainland (see the map). We stayed in a private lagoon for the past 6 days and recently moved to another small island for some change. It’s truly beautiful here. The water holds perfect clarity and dances through various blues and greens, rich and full in tone, as the sun shifts during the day. The beaches are also lovely. The sand is soft and a welcome delight to the bare foot – sticking just enough to make a light, white sandal that can only be cleaned by a swift dunk in the bucket. The climate is much different than Thailand, it is far less humid and the monsoons are just around the corner. This is important as if you do not leave before the monsoons start, you will be stuck here for about a month b/c no boat can cross the 10m swells that come during that time.
Mother Nature has offered many spectacles during our stay. We have felt wind currents so completely in control that all sound was subdued, left in silence, as the wind howled in irritation at the island’s hindrance to its ocean paths. Clouds have bellowed in the sky, dark, thunderous creatures, monstrous in their size and strength. They hover above, a maddened reflection of opposites to the tranquility and peace of the sea below. We have witnessed them collide, roaring and cracking in such vivid displays of power that one might imagine planets and stars are created in such ways. Sound has no meaningful way of describing the deafening boom that is not just heard but thoroughly felt after the lightening tears at the sky. Even the spirits of the sea are alive as we’ve seen numerous barracuda soaring briefly above the surface in hot pursuit of some little fish. On one of my dive trips, I watched one such chase involving three massive leaps before the little fish was either caught or the barracuda broke chase. The jungle, filled from earth to leaf with life, has a way of reminding us that it is indeed a beautiful and inspiring gift. It also reminds us that life has no meaning without death and that to accept one is to accept the other. We set off through the jungle and it was morbidly hot – a slight foretelling of what was to come. We came across a huge monitor lizard that had been mortally injured. We discussed thoroughly but simply cannot explain the injuries we saw and the lizards state. It was about 6ft long and weighed around 70-80lbs. We thought it dead until I examined it closer and saw that it was instead incapacitated with the jungle already infiltrating its body. Covered in ants and various other creatures that were taking its life as their own, its eyes blinked helplessly and watched us. It stirred, but was well beyond being able to move its body. I ended his misery and moved him off the trail and into the bush so he could return to the jungle. It was a hard thing to do and I was very glad Tara was with me. I realize that I am not a hunter of big things but a watcher and admirer.
Tara and I have gone snorkeling and have enjoyed playing in the water at sunset. It’s spectacularly perfect. I have been diving many times and have done my first shipwreck dive! It was quite the experience. Tomorrow we plan on doing some more snorkelling around the island and will explore one of the beaches that's just a hike away. Our food lasted a full span of meals for 7 days!! We were quite proud of that, and just today we visited the Fisherman’s market to restock for the rest of our stay.

We will also be leaving the island a bit sooner than planned b/c my Mom will be in Singapore for work. The world is so small! It’s an eleven hour bus ride from our current spot and we’ll be leaving on the morning of the 28th or 29th. After that who knows? We hope everybody is enjoying adventures of your own back home and we miss you all!
Jonathan and Tara