back to reality...

i'm back... too bad the “ ‘live’ moblog updating” mission failed once we crossed the 2nd link… the auto roaming GPRS function was not available.... same goes with MMS… duno why.. maybe its some mis-configuration.... but i was able too last time (who don’t... hah!).... lousy orange... but anyway... the trip was both tiring & fun... make some new friends....tiring part was the traveling... 4 of us are doing our adv certification, while the other 4 in our group went for leisure.... i would say the adv is nothing as compare to getting the open water certification... open water certification was much much more ‘siong’.... for us taking adv.... this is as good as a leisure trip =)... am still having the wobbling sensation now... well... anyway.. here’s a "brief" accounts on the trip...

9.30pm – it was a long wait… we board a mini van which will bring us to Mersing… where we will stay overnight @ Hotel Timotel... according to the dive operator.... its the finest hotel.... or motel u can find in Mersing town... Ah hui & Jason were going for leisure, bought some “cha kuay” to ‘bribes’ dive masters & instructors so they could go for night dive with their open water certification .. hahah..

10pm+ - made one stop over at petrol kiosk... bought some snakes and drinks... and we are on our way again....

12.30mn+ - reached Hotel Timotel....it was raining... couldn’t get any sleep during the bumpy ride... unloaded our barang barang... got our keys... head straight to our rm… a bit of wash-up.. and we are all in bed....

6.30am+ - morning call... feels damn sleepy still... wash-up and had our breakfast... breakfast was very simple... fried rice, fried be hoon, eggs, baked beans, toasts, coffee, tea....finished, load-up... chop chop...

7.45am+ - Mersing port was just around the corner... a few mins ride from the hotel.... we wait for a while and board a 30 seater small speed boat... and we are on our way to tioman!

10.30am+ – reached tioman... we are staying at Sarang Beach Resort... which is about 5-10mins walk from the jetty... very simple accommodation.... 4beds, air-con and fan... but no hot water... very rustic looks and feels... i like =) we hang around for a while.... unload our stuff.... changed to our swimming trunks, and we head back to the jetty.

11.30am+ - we board the diving boat... 5 of us (another guy also taking ad joined us) was briefed by our instructor on what drills we will be doing during the dive... while the rest get themselves prepared themselves and brief by the dive master, which will bringing them jalan jalan under then water... there are about 8-10 from the same dive shop doing their open water... the boat was quite pack.

12.05pm – first dive.... at soyak... we descend to the dept of 12.5m... where we practice our peak performance bouncy... aka, hover in the water while maintaining at the same dept by controling our breathing... the exercise was completed in around 20mins... the rest of the bottom time we went jalan jalan... visibility was great! around 20m... we saw a mid-sized school of baby barracudas... a blue spotted ray... hiding under the corals.... i spotted a dark brown moral eel.. tried to alert the others.. by waving and pointing... but sigh* everybody was busy looking here and there... well.. too bad! haha... my dive buddy, garfield was fining super fast... i was having a hard time keeping up with her... hahaha

(*** wow! that is quite a feat you have reach this far.... hahah ***)

12.50pm – headed back to land…had our lunch... lunch was good… nothing fancy... its was those ‘zi cha’ type of food... we talk cock and shared our experience... ah hui prepared his underwater enclosure for his camera...

4.00pm – 2nd dive... at telok kador... prepared some food and water... not heading back land after this.... we will be staying on the boat for our next dive... same as before.. briefed by instructor... and into the water we go... this time is practicing underwater navigation... how to use our finnings and watch to determine the distance we covered... how to use compass to swim in a square shape and end in the same spot as we started... my buddy got kinda confused when she did the square exercise... i was beside her... she signal me... but i can’t help her much.... it was fun... we spotted quite a big sized puffer fish like sort of fish (i forgot the name...) lion fish... and a mid sized kiss lip fish.... water sipped into ah hui’s underwater camera enclosure... he has to abandon his dive.... by the time he reached surface... it was already too late...

6.05pm – 3rd dive... fang canyon... hard some biscuit on board and off we go... this dive is a leisure dive... as there is no drift... so no drift lesson for us... nothing much to see... didn’t see anything interesting...visibility was not good .. around...around 8m?... the dive was short... around 30min... cause our surface interval was only around 1hr from the last dive... just to be safe... head back to land after that.

8.10pm – night dive...salong bay... just beside the jetty... excited... we practiced navigation again.... to let us have a feel of total darkness and using the torch... visibility was terrible.... the bottom was sandy and everyone is kicking up a mini sandstorm in the water... hahaha.... my dive buddy...garfield, got confused again...same thing.. i can’t help her.... as for me i overshot... ah hui and the rest of the divers managed to go for a night dive too...after that...its dinner and OTOT...there are a number of shops along the coast... we went shopping for more food and drinks...eat & eat & eat...haha

7.30am – morning... din sleep well... woke up a few time...had a simple breakfast… eggs, toast, sausage... and off we go…our last 2 dive…we won’t be coming back land till noon...

(*** that was impressive! do u think u can still go on? ***)

9.20am – 4th dive...chebay...going to do a deep dive today...at 28m...a long dive at this dept or more… diver might sometime get nitrogen narcosis….where divers will start to do funny things sometime...dangerous things like removing their mask...anyway...we were shown 2 simple question…to write our name in reverse order... and do a simple multiplying... i got both wrong... i think i didn’t see the question correctly… and end up writing all the people names in the right order after they have written theirs... hahah.. and for multiplying... i got it wrong at the start... 1 x 5 = 6…. must be some vision problem… i was think right u know... haha... i think no ones got the multiplying test correct.. haha…. this dive was to let us get a feel the effect... we tent to think slow and retarded... spotted some batfish... caro was having some difficuties asending becasue of her ear equalising problem... but eventually managed to surface safely... :)

11.00am – 5th dive... soyah... our last dive... this time will be doing search and recovery… we were taught 2 methods... the horizontal combing and the spiral type.. (i dun know the correct name... can’t remember..).. me and my dive buddy did the spiral type... where i hold a retractable rope and pivot on a spot... while my buddy hold the other end and swim out in a spiral circle... the rope got entangled to the coral one time because it was too lose... while my buddy con’t finning around... aiyo... hahaha... the rest performed the horizontal combing method... spotted some interesting sea slugs... more batfishes.... and that was the end... surfaced and back to land for lunch and be ready to leave by 3pm

3.00pm – packed our stuff... board the speed boat to mersing... damn sway... the speed boat ran out of patrol when we about to reach mersing.... we wait for another speed boat to transfer some people over... while the rest (we) waited in the small swaying boat... in the open sea for another 20min for them to bring more petrol... luckily the weather was fine and we are very near to mersing jetty... i almost puked.

5.30pm – bought some rambly burgers and we are on our way back to Singapore!

(*** yes that’s the end.... thank god! haha ***)