Tax Time

The view from our dinner table.
After an wonderful week in Singapore, it was time to get back on the road. Actually, part of the reason why we were delayed leaving Singapore by a couple of days is that we really didn't know where we were going next. We knew we were heading to Malaysia, but should we go west or east? Sigh. The problems of being a world traveller. (Don't hate us too much, please!) I left it to Ulrik and he picked Pulau Tioman, a laid-back little island just off the east coast (I should have known).

The border crossing was incredibly straightforward, and cheap! We took the MRT to the bus station, caught an express bus to the border, hopped off to go through Singapore's immigration, hopped on to cross the Causeway to the Malaysian side of the border, hopped off to go through Malaysia's immigration, hopped back on to get to the bus terminal in Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia. All in all, it cost us about C$3 each to get from Singapore to Malaysia.

Once in JB, we quickly jumped on another bus bound for Mersing, where we would catch a ferry to the island. We left Singapore at about 9:00am and arrived on Pulau Tioman around 3:00pm. Each connection was quick and without hassle. If only it was always this easy!

We spent about five days on the island. Most of that time was spent DOING OUR TAXES!!!!!!! When I realized that we were well into April, I knew it was time to bite the bullet and get them done. Now most people would think that if they had to do their taxes, then a tropical island would be a pretty great place to do them. I thought the same until I actually had to do them on a tropical island.

Why a Tropical Island is Not a Great Place to do Your Taxes
1. It is very hot on a tropical island. Sitting doing calculations is no fun when you're sweating. (And don't even think about getting in the water to cool down.)
2. It can be a bit breezy on a tropical island. Your papers tend to fly everywhere. At one point, I couldn't figure out what I did with Federal Schedule 1, but then I found it on the ground behind me! (I hope I didn't lose anything else.)
3. It is very humid on a tropical island. The seal on the envelope kept getting stuck to my papers.
4. There are a lot more fun things to do on a tropical island. The last thing you want to be doing is your taxes!

To break up the tedium, and reward me for getting through them the first time (I always do the calculations twice), we went for a hike to the other side of the island. The walk is only about 7km, but it goes straight up and then straight down. It took us just over two hours to get to the other side. We took an hour to enjoy the beach and have a light lunch, and then we walked back. More than four hours of sweating like a pig for a bit of fried rice and a beach that looked just like ours. What were we thinking? Actually, the hike was quite enjoyable. It's good to stretch your legs after being stuck in a chair DOING YOUR TAXES!

I suppose that's one benefit to doing your taxes on a tropical island. Don't hate us too much, eh ...?

For more photos, see our Malaysia photo album.