1. Coconut trees / palm trees
2. Lying in a swinging hammock under the shade of those trees
3. Deck chairs for lounging/tanning in the sun
4. Slurping fresh coconut juice and trying to get those sweet coconut flesh out
5. A beautiful batik sarong
6. Warm, inviting waters to go skinny dipping in w/o a shiver.
Those were the very bare essentials to any good day out on the beach or on an island.
Sadly, none of them seem to exist on the beaches here in the US's east coast(as far as I've seen). Everyone has to drag their own beach chairs along with parasols to protect their delicate white skin and beer bottles line the trash bags instead of coconuts. Hammocks are propped up on fancy "hammock-sticks" in their backyard/garden, w/o any view of the sea nor the luxury of being lulled to sleep with
the seabreeze gently caressing your skin and the soothing sound of lapping waves. And, not to mention, the water is shriekin' cold even on a hot summer day. Yeeouch!Gee, I miss the beaches and islands back home. Lying in a hammock is my favourite activity after a long day of diving. AND...slurping that sweet, cool coconut juice. And maybe, you can get an aromatherapy massage for a song.
Enough of reminiscing the past, we hopped into the car and zipped away to Long island over the Labour Day holidays and visited Fire Island - a 32mile stretch of beach front island parallel to Long Island.We thought we could rent a bicycle to access the whole of the island(like most islands) but we were so damn wrong. There are some "private gay communities" which are fenced off and basically armed with "Get the f*ck off my lawn" attitude. So, the only way to access the other parts is to walk on the beach, or to take a water taxi. In fact, I would say the best way to explore the island is on your catamaran or private yacht. I walked almost an hour to get to the Sunken Forest on the beach, so much so that my calves are aching in protest by the time we had to walk back to retrieve our bikes. This is the most exercise I've had in months!
Pity no one told us beforehand how inaccessible this island is, otherwise, I would have gone to Far Rockaway beach to see the thresher shark that washed up dead on the beach instead. To think that I had specifically gone diving in the Philippines, hoping to see this magnificent creature and never even caught a glimpse of its shadow at all in my entire dive trip. And now it is splashed all over TV. But dead.
There were plenty of healthy-looking, well-fed deers on the island. And they were not afraid of humans at all. Poor Robert went all the way to Africa on a safari and the only animals he saw up close were deers exactly like this ones. Not even a buffalo. 
Look at them. Totally oblivious to the crowd of humans gathering around to snap, snap, snap. But nobody dared to touch them or go too near in case they get ticks. Not a holiday present to go home with.Totally knackered by the time we got back to Ocean Beach and returned the bikes, we plopped down at Rachel's Bakery for some coffee and pastries. Damn...they make really awesome apple turnovers! A+++!!!
I wish they would open a branch near my house. Sigh...The sunset colours were mesmerizing but I didn't have a chance to get any pics cos we were rushing to catch the ferry back home. Too bad. All in all, it was a lovely day out on the beach and nature and we got home safe w/o any ticks.
And now, summer is officially over.
Funny thing is, I'm actually looking forward to autumn and some chilly weather! Oooh...give me hot chocolate or creamy egg nog latte any day while snuggling next to my fattyboo watching a movie. Besides, I really wanna wear those new warm maternity clothes I bought for the cold weather...hehe...
AND, look who has got new clothes as well!!!
Thanks, Sylvia for the cutest little outfit for my lil' baby boy - you are the first to outfit my kid(who's not even out yet)! Merci beaucoup, mon cheri! And thank you, Danielle, for the lovely stickers on the card!
*Big hugs from Aunty Jo*
1 comment:
Hey hey hey! I'm so glad you rec'd it! I was just abt to drop an email to you to see whether it had gotten lost in the mail or something! :) Glad it 'fits' the dad. Hohoho. Remember to put it on ur son. :P
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