Friday, 28 August 2009 07:50 Last Updated on Sunday, 20 September 2009 07:25
Thi
s is a true story, but I have switched the tale and written it from my wife’s point of view, as I felt this may appeal more to female readers. As it is written from a woman's angle I use a nom de plume, Anya Kidd, which derives from both my wife’s family name and a friend I haven't seen for a while from Germany.
Floating into a new destination on an Air Malaysia Boeing 737, especially a resort promising white sands, tropical heat, a rainless week, clear blue seas and a seafront villa will always make the heart skip a beat. A holiday on Pulau Kapas (Kapas Island), on the East coast of the Malaysian peninsula, was the reward for an unfortunate and tiring three months of disagreement and futile toiling at work. My husband, Mark, had secretly planned the holiday; the destination was kept secret until the day before we left. Naked optimism often becomes the Mother of misfortune but it’s a rare occasion when it can be said that nothing went right on a holiday! We’ve all had the odd misfortune on vacation and occasionally several, but my old man and Pulau Kapas didn’t really ever come to grips with each other.