A break from model making, stuffy studio drama, bed room back aches, and social media disintegration. Even for a depressed person like myself, sunshine can do a lot on the mood (and skin - and yes, I'm talking about bad over-tans).
04.
Getting a full view of the island took us up a 30 minute hike, where the peak boasted clear blue skies, and an ocean as reflective as glass. Going down flights of stairs brought us to a lagoon perfectly shallow and secluded. The waves crashed strongly, and the water tasted surprisingly pale of salt.
It was - I would say, - the highlight of the trip.
Alas, no studio trip was complete without our syllabus slicing through the fun. Took a kayak a few hundred meters off the sandy coast to the outer rims of the island.
Rocky (and devastatingly slippery) cliffs greeted us, claiming bruises and cuts upon my legs and toes as friendly souvenirs. So many secular pools carved the stones - it was a good pick, deserving back claps to the boys of my team.
The way back was less exhausting (as in, no more rowing against waves) but a lot more terrifying. Life jackets thrown aside, I had to rock climb my way back to land and salvation, burdened with a backpack full of measuring equipment, and completely barefooted.
Never thought it'd feel so nice to brace my feet on flat land again.
Last breakfast of the trip. Adieu beautiful sandy beaches, as I bid greetings to the 12 hour bus ride back to Shah Alam.
Being back home, face fixed on the laptop's blaring screen, back planted on the mattress - it brings me great regret that I must amiss my eyes from the wonderfully blue ocean skyline, of white sandy carpets, that wrap around my toes like cool blankets from the midday sun.
How sad it is to watch photographs, but no longer feel the salt stain my cheeks and lips, or the sun shimmer against my hair. The sound of waves only reminisce in my mind, an undulating pattern.
The skies here are not nearly as vast, and no matter how far I reach my hands, all I manage to feel is the distance between me and the shrouded moon.
Take me back. Because there is never a better place, than a place away.
