Tioman Celebrations

We had gone to Tioman a Spring Break ago. It was March then and there were just four of us. This time around it was 11 of us. The four in our nuclear family, Tia and Avi and TTmouz, as well as Emilia, Ine and, of course, Adri and Luca. Getting to Tioman required us to take over three taxis and practically half the airplane but it was seamless none-the-less. This time, unlike the last, we went a bit further south to a small hotel by the beach. It was a quiet place owned by an Irish brother-sister and was largely run by foreign staff (from the US, UK and India). 

Largely this was a chance to see things. Irini wore her mask and, with Avi and TTmouz and Daddy, swam around the high tide rocks looking for little fish. TTmouz would also join either Laurence or Luca to venture further to the reef, over there (about 100m away) to see the larger fish too. Or they would stay on the beach, which shrank and widened with the movement of the tide, and play games and swing on the lone swing attached to the big tree that stood in front of our rooms. 

At night the sky was cloudless. The stars shone and as the kids slept in their rooms, the adults would walk the six meters to the beach, sit down and watch the stars as they chatted back and forth: The conversations of family. Every once in a while the conversation would be stopped as there was a group "wooooowww" or "ouaaauu" as we saw shooting stars cross the painting of a sky in front of us. One particular star was slow moving and extremely bright. It made it easy for us to watch, follow and enjoy it in all its splendor. '' Ouuuaaaauuuu" said the brownies. "Wooooowww" said Luca. "Ggooouuuuaaaooouuu" said Laurence. :-)

The nighttime experience was made even better on the last night. A few tables were set up on the beach, candles lit and champagne was serves in honor of Luca and Adri's first anniversary. Love, smiles, cheers and congratulations replaced the traditional Malaysian fireworks for such events. The lack of noise allowed the kids to slowly fade into a slumber lasting till morning. The adults lost themselves in conversation and in enjoying moments with family on a tropical island paradise. Colombia. Greece. Italy. Malaysia. The world coming together in celebration.