Down South for the Weekend

I'm now in a bus, heading down south to Johor Bahru for a short 2 days job. One thing's for sure, this bus is way more comfortable than the ones I've been taking to go around the peninsular.

Anyways, it wasn't a great week for me; reshoot an entire episode, came across an idiot rapidkl bus driver, juggling with editing time, Macx (my MacBookPro) is in Apple service centre...

*Fingers crossed* Everything will be alright!

Diving in Tioman: Shots of Me!

Most of the time, I am busy taking photos of my fellow dive buddies and the views of the underwater world...but this time around, I have my photos taken! I had a very relaxing and great dive around Tioman Island with Sealantis. My Dive Master, Fareed and the Dive Master Trainee, Faisal both had their cameras and there were photos taken of the fellow divers and here are some shots of me!

...taken at Sawadee Wreck as we were ascending slowly after the 30m wreck dive...

...love the freedom to move around in the water...

...taken at Tomok; an amazing tunnel dive...

-will be posting up the sceneries of these dive sites as soon as I get them developed-

*photos courtesy of Fareed and Faisal*

In the Underwater World

...photo courtesy of Faisal, my dive buddy in Tioman...

Yes! Finally a picture of me in the underwater world. Most of the time, I take photos of my fellow divers but not myself. So, this time around in Tioman, my Dive Master Fareed and dive buddy Faisal brought cameras with them and they took photographs of me.

More photos will be uploaded in Facebook!

The Finale!

Date: 15th April 2011

Venue: Stutong

It was the final night of talks by the opposition parties before the election on the 16th April...and to everyone's surprise, the crowd went to about 35,000 people that night. I arrived in KIA at 10.45pm and metup with Tiffany and drove to Stutong, intending to at least hear the last speaker and we made it. Though I missed so many nights of talks but it was worth the effort to go there that night to feel the spirit of the people who wants change!

...photos taken that night...

UBAH!

...UBAH, the Hornbill that made the change...

The 10th Sarawak State Election is finally over. With Barisan National (BN) winning 55 out of 71 seats, they are still governing the state. It seemed that there are a turn of votes to the opposition especially in the city areas such as Kuching and Miri where Democratic Action Party (DAP) wins all their contesting seats; Padungan, Pending, Kota Sentosa, Batu Kawah, Piasau and Pujut. DAP won 12 out of 15 seats and it is definitely a CHANGE! Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) wins 3 seats in Ba'Kelalan, Batu Lintang and Krian whereas an Independent candidate won the Pelagus seat.

Though Pakatan Rakyat (PR) did not deny BN 2/3 majority, but it was a GREAT SUCCESS in winning 16 seats in the state election.

No worries! The General Election is coming up soon...another chance to make more changes.

UBAH!

My Diving Set...to be purchased by July 2011

I've been contemplating on whether to buy my own diving equipments. One very good reason to buy my own set is so that I won't be spending additional cost on renting the equipments whenever I dive (which is roughly about another 50% more of my dives). I went through many websites and emails to dive shops around KL area and had a rough estimation on how much the whole set will cost.

As for now, I own a pair of fins and booties, a wetsuit and rashguard, a prescribe mask, a snorkel and a mesh bag. So next in line to get are:

Mares F-light BCD

Mares Prestige 12S Regulator

Mares Octopus Rover

Mares Mission 1 Console

Mares Puck Wrist

To purchase this set, I will need to save up to a total of RM3000 - RM3500 by July 2011 so that I can purchase them on MIDE Expo (may get a little bit more discount from there). So as for now, it's time to put some money into my piggy bank.

*excited*

Can't wait to get my own gears!

An Easter Movie!

One Easter Movie not to be missed!

After having lunch with Lynn at the Nyonya House and a short meetup with Aileen in the office, I drove myself to Tropicana City Mall and was just in time for the next movie lineup in GSC. Paid RM7 and rushed into the hall and as I sat down, the movie started...so technically, I didn't miss a single frame of the show!

It was a cartoon in a movie show and honestly, it was amazing~! A show not to be missed especially with the family celebrating Easter this coming week.

Though I was rather annoyed by two kids talking and singing behind me while the parents ignored them, I had my fun watching the show with some laughter.

1Malaysia?

After reading lots of articles about the upcoming Sarawak State Election and more utter nonsenses by irresponsible and uneducated politicians, I just can't keep in silence anymore about some of the very sensitive issues that are happening in Malaysia.

This article tells about the failure of 1Malaysia concept by our Prime Minister. Seriously....a big failure! What nonsense is this? Nowadays, it has become an issue between the Malays and the other races in Malaysia.

"They are not the majority of the country," he stressed.

What is that suppose to mean? Just because we are not the majority of the country doesn't mean we are to be oppressed and bullied by the majority...and by the way, if we were to stand up as one (Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli, Dayaks) we are the majority!

"...we (Malays) have been far too giving."

Really? This refers to the usage of Bahasa MELAYU (here I stressed...not Bahasa Malaysia) as the national language of Malaysia. So by all means, any races in Malaysia are allow to use this language freely. If given the option, I think most Malaysians would prefer English as our national language. Why is it a problem now for other races to use the national language in our religion, culture, etc. Is Bahasa Malaysia an Islamic Language instead?

"How many Malays are Christians?"

Er...in Malaysia (as far as I know) if you are a Malay, you automatically becomes a Muslim...no choice! So what utter nonsense is this fellow saying about how many Malays are Christians? NONE! Does not mean that there are no Malays who are Christians, we cannot have Bahasa Malaysia Bible!

I think the more I read the more my anger rises to such idiots who are claiming to be politicians. They are not keeping unity in this country but rather making a mess. Are they trying to re-create May 13 again???

Keep in mind, dear Malaysians (especially the non-Malays)...we pray that one day, our voices will be heard in our country. We pray that we will have our full freedom to practice our own belief. We pray that peace will be restored in our country and we pray that we will live in unity with one another. Let us all pray!

Basic Wall Course

Date: 10th April 2011

Venue: Camp 5, One Utama

Finally, the day to take up the Basic Wall Course came. Met Angie and Sok Peng at Camp 5 just before 10am this morning to start the 4 hours course with Instructor Noel and 2 other students. It was a very thorough start with introductions to the climbing equipments and we moved to practical skills needed for climbs such as tying the knots, 5 steps of belaying, buddy checks and more.

It was about 12pm that we went off for lunch at Esquire Kitchen and later to continue the next session of the course...CLIMBING! There were a couple of terms that we had to use when doing the climbs and Noor (my buddy) and I continued climbing and climbing and climbing, one after another. It was such a good workout!

We were later thought how to climb the boulder and it was fun! We had a de-brief session before being given our certificate.

Anyone interested in wall climbing, call me!

AWESOME Tioman Holiday!

It was a weekend that I have been longing for... TIOMAN!

After much research on which village I should go to for a weekend stay and a weekend dive, I made my reservations and awaited for the journey to the island. The bus was 11.30pm, departing from Terminal Berserpadu Selatan in Bandar Tasik Selatan. It was a very looooooooong journey from Kuala Lumpur to Mersing and though I was drained tired, I wasn't able to get sleep as the lady sitting behind me was busy talking loudly over the phone for hours!

...the new ticketing system with our names on it...

...the departure area that looks like an airport...

...on our way in the bus...

It was 4.30am in Mersing Bus Station. Lynn and I were contemplating whether we should take the walk to the terminal in the dark but just before we started our walk, the bus driver called us for RM5 to send us to the terminal. We boarded the bus again and we arrived at the terminal in less than 5 minutes instead of a 20 minutes walk! We waited until 6.00am to meet up with the tour agent to pick up our ferry tickets and boarded the ferry at 6.30am to reach Paya Village at 8.45am.

...the jetty terminal in Mersing...

Day 1 was all about diving! Meet up with Fareed, Dive Instructor in Sealantis and decided on the sites that day. Buddied with Jimmy, we went off to Sawadee Wreck for our first dive and later to Renggis for our second dive. It was 12.00pm that we went back to Paya Village for our lunch of Chicken Rice and Diet Coke and not forgetting a bottle of RM6 Hoergaarden. After a good meal, we departed for another dive in Tomok. The evening was later spent on the beach, watching the sunset before a good dinner in the resort.

...Paya Village beach...

...starry starry night in the island...

Day 2 was much more relaxing with 2 snorkeling trips to Renggis and Marine Park in a wooden boat. We had breakfast early that morning and boarded the boat at 9.00am for a morning of sightseeing under the hot sun. I was amazed that we saw a Morey Eel and 2 stingrays swimming underneath us.

...leaving Paya Village jetty for snorkeling...

We went back to the village for lunch in the resort and decided to spend the afternoon on the beach before a short snorkel out to the rocks in front of the beach. Funny that after such a long swim, we could still stand up on the our feet with the water just barely above our knee.

...the bright sunny afternoon on the beach...

...the wooden wall in our room...

...butter prawn for dinner...

...beers for supper with a game of uno...

Our last day on the island was well spent with a boat ride out for dives. So far, this particular boat trip is one that I will never forget. We left Paya Village for a 20 minutes speedboat to Tiger Reef and half way through, a plastic bag caught on the propeller of the boat. The engine overheated and we spent 1/2 hour getting the alarm off and another 1/2 hour drifted away to the dive site. Upon reaching the site, we geared up and made the plunged but the next thing I knew, I was swept away by the strong current. PANICKED! So I aborted the dive *sweats*

I managed to do the 2nd dive after some moments of sea sick due to drinking too much salt water. We reached the village at 2.00pm where I ran all the way back to the room to get a quick shower and rushed back to the dive centre to settle the payment and my dive log and bought one bottle of Hoergaarden and boarded the ferry at 2.30pm.

Upon reaching Mersing, we realized that there weren't any buses down to Kuala Lumpur. The only one left was to Kluang and transit another bus to Kuala Lumpur. So we bought the tickets and got our way down.

...the tickets to Kluang and to KL...

Though there were a bit of rush here and there, it was an AWESOME WEEKEND!

The dive sites were amazing! The resort was clean. The food was delicious. The beer was cheap. The people were friendly...and overall it was just AWESOME!

DEFINITELY PLANNING ANOTHER TRIP TO PAYA VILLAGE, TIOMAN SOON!

Diving in Tioman

It was the weekend and a great planned was executed. I went for a 3 days 2 nights trip to Tioman Island especially for diving purposes. After much research, I've decided to stay in Tioman Paya Resort, Paya Village and dive with Sealantis. There were no delays...so upon reaching the island early that morning, it was DIVING TIME!

Dive Site No.1: Sawadee Wreck

It was a 30m deep site with only a ship wreck in it. As we were descending with the descent line, it was like diving into somewhere unknown. But, as we reached the depth, it was beautiful. The fishes swimming around the spooky wreck were just amazing. It was such a healthy site and we circled around the wreck, looking for nudibranches. There were so much to see. Finally, I had a good wreck dive......

Dive Site No.2: Renggis

This site is what they call, Reef-Check Dive. All first time divers in Tioman will be brought to this site to see how beautiful Tioman reefs are. It was a shallow site but the corals were so colourful and alive, not to mention the schools of fishes swimming around us. There was a small 'playground' where we could even swim up and down, through the metal bars.

Dive Site No.3: Tomok

This is was just walking distance away from the village but we took a boat and drop off at the buoy. We did a drift dive as the undersea current was quite strong. Overall, it was such an easy dive with not much of energy needed to swim. There was even a car wreck underneath and we spotted 4-5 species of nudibraches there. It was another wonderful dive that day!

Dive Site No.4: Labas

I was suppose to do 2 dives that morning, but I failed to descend on my first dive as the surface current was so strong that it swept me away the moment I entered the water. It took so much energy to just swim to the buoy but I failed to do so. My Divemaster came to my rescue and we tried to descend another time but FAILED! So, I stayed on the boat and waited for the next dive. I was told that it was a tunnel dive...so excited! So, I plunged into the sea and we started the dive looking at so many big rocks around us. There was a Batfish swimming with us for quite some time. It was a moment later that we started entering the tunnels. In awe, there were so many tiny fishes swimming in the tunnel with us. There was even a stingray swimming with us. It was just AWESOME!

So, I completed 4 out of 5 dives in Tioman this time. I will definitely go back to Tioman one day to do more dives.

A big thanks and hug to the friends in Sealantis for such a wonderful weekend!

See you again!

How To Protect Your Vote From Being Traced: THE BLOOPERS!

...after some serious matters for the video, comes some fun and laughters...