Day 1: Yes...there are jellyfish in Malaysia

Check out the pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/krfraser5/MalaysiaTrip2008

Well, Day 1 in Malaysia started out well as it was a nice sunny day, except for the early wake-up call from the birds in the trees outside...one of the downfalls of many a tropical paradise. Here is the scene from our room in the morning...

We had our breakfast buffet, visited the local travel agent and marina next door to plan out the activities for the week. After that hard work we needed a break and went to the pool for a couple of hours and had lunch poolside. The kids then wanted to go to the small beach that is at the hotel here and build some sand castles. We got diverted doing some beachcombing as there were a number of shells and coral that had washed ashore. A few minutes later Justin came over nearly crying and holding his leg..."Mom, I was stung by a jellyfish." He was obviously in pain, but able to walk. We immediately went to the lifeguard who hopped down and put some cold liquid on the stings. He then went to sit in the shade while another of the hotel staff covered the sting with Calamine lotion. We asked about the jellyfish..."Yes, this is the bad time of the year for them, especially in the isolated coves." Great!! The other spots we are going are in more open water, but the incident served to shake us all up. Well, back to Justin...he sat for a few minutes and then went to the Kids Club since he was supposed to stay out of the sun for at least 1 hour to reduce swelling. In the end, he is doing fine and was even back beachcombing on the same beach at sunset. One hotel staff told us she was suprised how well Justin took the sting. She said, "I have seen grown men cry like babies when stung by a jellyfish." He did handle it like a champ...but can't help to wonder how he will be when we go snorkeling tomorrow on one of the nearby islands (or the rest of us for that matter!). Here are some shots of his wound...ouch! We asked him how it compared to being stung by a hornet (Justin has had two encounters with them) and he said gravely..."This was much much worse".

The kids beachcombing at sunset - it was one of the most relaxing & peaceful sunsets we have seen in awhile!!!! A good way to end a day that had almost been ruined by a jellyfish.....