I woke up at about 9.30 a.m., just in time for breakfast and going for BBQ supplies in Dungun town. Azura & Anaz also went to town separately looking for sunblock. Azam, Metesh and Bet went kayaking and Wong sambung tido. Farih arrived by bus from Kelantan at 12.30 pm. I arrived back a few minutes later, as did the rest. We had lunch, then rested until 4.00 pm when we convened to start the beach cleanup.
All of us trooped onto the raft and crossed the river to the beach. Then, each took a gunny sack and started collecting the rubbish. This time, we only segregated glass items and mixed the rest. The first section was relatively clean, having been cleared by the March volunteers. But everyone got a shock to see the back portion - it was full of miscellanous trash carried by the waves during the last monsoon and deposited on the beach. THAT was what they came for lah... We worked until about six when everyone had had enough. A few of us swam, then we got back to the mainland for a shower and rest. I went to the kitchen, but everything was well under control and i happily went off to shower and change.
Bet came to the dining area around seven to start barbequeing. By eight, everyone was in the dining area to help cook, taste or serve. We had a special guest that night, Dato' Yusof, who is an ex-ambassador and owns another resort about 20 minutes away. We told him how we met and about Projek Tekad during dinner. He was so impressed with our group (I'm not very sure why...) that he invited us to view his place the next day!! Lan, Aizan and Norma arrived just after 9.30, due to Lan's work commitments and delayed flight. After he left, we turned up the karaoke and belted away our favourite tunes. Bet's was Ada Apa Denganmu. Then we took out the cake for Anaz & Azam who will both be celebrating their birthdays in May. Aizan supplied the glam factor in the shape of a bubble blowing frog, and a whole bunch of people went to get ice-cream to top it all off. In between, we played Taboo until we covered all the cards.
All slept on the beach that night. Heard people chatting until very late, I dozed off almost immediately. Got up in the morning, went kayaking with Aizan, Norma, Wong and Farih; came back for breakfast and back to the beach to finish work. Half of us transported the stuff collected the previous day to the mainland, while the rest, esp the latecomers finished up work on the beach. We completed everything by 11.00 a.m.; Bet & me went for a dip in the sea; then went back to freshen up.
All in all, we collected 41 bags of rubbish, 10 less than the previous group, but with only half the manpower. Good job, guys!
By noon, a few went to look for souvenirs. Metesh helped to collect payment and I settled the bill with En Razali. Because so many had pulled out, the final figure wasn't much. Thankfully, quite a number of people felt guilty enjoying a free holiday that they forked out extra to give En Razali. A lesson learnt for me - collect payment in advance and set a deadline for cancellation so that no one is affected by the shortfall. We left about 2.30 to visit Dato' Yusof's place - Duta Retreat. He took us to see his house and rumah kampung which were very nice. Lan, Aizan, Bet & Norma stayed on another night while the rest headed home, stopping only briefly in Kerteh to meet Yuz and in Kemaman to buy "food souvenirs". All arrived safely in KL around 11.00 the same night.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to Azura who sponsored the cake, Metesh for helping with the collection and all the rest for being your wonderful, wonderful selves. I hardly had to organise anything, you all organised yourselves beautifully. Thank you for making the last weekend special, TEKADTLES.
Over and out,
Oza
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