Fantastic company + Yummilicious food + Fabulous weather + Not too bad diving + Great resort and hotel = 😀

4 September 2009

Made our way to Mersing to stay over for the night before hopping over to Tioman the following morning. Charlie gave me a nudge when my instructor announced that I was rooming with him, our DM and another technical diver. I gave Charlie the ‘glare’.

5 September 2009

Alynna and myself were both feeling anxious about the dives and drills. Fortunately, the weather was bright and sunny, so the water temperature was comfortable at 29 degrees!

First dive at Roger’s Reef, Tioman

True to my fears, I did not manage to descend and had to pull the descend line to get myself down to 10 metres deep. My buddy had to hold me down to enable me to kneel and perform drills on the sea bed. We did not realise it but I sustained some deep cuts from being dragged along the sea bed. As newbies, we constantly silt up the sea bed and created sandstorms especially on descent! It was the first time I saw red sea cucumbers and they were found all over the sea bed!! The ones we normally see on our dining tables are brown/grey! heehee

Bakau Bay, Tioman

Added more weights on myself and I’m finally able to descend properly – feet down in a vertical position. Told myself to relax and release all air in my lungs to aid in descent and I did it!! We concentrated on performing drills at the second dive site and I could hear my instructor telling the rest when I was performing my CESA and orally inflating BCD drill: “Hey look here look here, she’s gonna bounce up very high again!” Oh well, at least I managed to orally inflate my BCD within the first try!! haha

Malang Rock, Tioman

The topside scenary at Malang Rock is of a few lone boulders set against the blue ocean and clear skies and you wonder how did these boulder pop up in the middle of the sea? The dive site is also teeming with a wide array of fishes though there were many which we are not able to ID yet! We did a swim through for the last dive of the day and spotted a turtle and schools of barrcudas! Charlie was feeling hungry at the amount of seafood available!! hahaha

6 September 2009

We awoke to cloudy skies with a chance of rain. While gulping down our breakfast, it started raining! The rain decided to stop after half an hour and we boarded the boat. Huge waves, towering swells, rocking boat. Not a good sign!

Marine Park, Tioman

We travelled for half an hour to the Marine Park and by this time, most of us were feeling sick. We geared up speedily and entered the water to meet our instructor at the end of the descend line. I was having difficulty equalizing my ears as the pressure increased. Was down to about 16 metres when I felt my ears getting a ‘blocked’ feeling. Did not think that’s gonna pose a problem and I descended to 18 metres. We explored two wrecks in the marine park and did an ascent after half an hour when Charlie signalled low on air.

The crashing waves made entry onto the boat almost next to impossible for us newbies! We had to grab on to the ladder to remove our fins before pulling ourselves onto the boat. The rocking motion flung us around the ladder and boat, while we were trying to remove our fins with one hand and holding on for our dear lives with the other. It was an uphill task which took a painfully long time and our arm acted as a pivot for the waves to slam our bodies against the ladder. After I successfully removed my fins and was about to pull myself up the ladder, a huge swell came along and carried me away from the boat without my fins! However, I remained calm and tried swimming back to the boat. Then, I felt someone push me forward from behind and it turned out to be my instructor.

4 of us performed the merlion once we stripped ourselves of our gear and all our breakfast went to the fishes! There goes the yummy curry puffs and toasted tuna sandwiches! hahaha all of us had scores of battle scars from the 4th dive, ranging from cuts from barnacles on the descend line and cuts and bruises while trying to get up the boat in the crashing waves!

Renggis, Tioman

Felt instantly better after throwing everything up and all ready for the last dive of the trip! This time, I discovered a new way of equalising my ears by swallowing and pushing my tongue against my teeth, which proved more effective for me than the usual “pinch nose and blow” method! It was during this dive that we spotted two turtles kissing in the water!!

At the end of the course, my instructor commented that I made the greatest improvement in the whole group! Most of the guys were already pretty proficient so there’s not much to improve on but my pool sessions were horrendous enough to warrant many areas for improvement and I’m really happy that I’m now a certified diver!! Not forgetting that I made some great friends on this trip!!

However, I did suffer from slight barotrauma on the ears due to inadequate equalising during my 18 metres dive and I realise I’m lucky that my eardrums did not rupture! *Gulp* My guess is that due to my sinus problem, I need to use a dosage of nasal spray for each diving day! It’s definitely not stopping me from diving and the sotong’s going for Advance Open Water (AOW) pool lessons tonite!! Wheee~

My Open Water Diver Course at Tioman

31 August 2009

Arrived early (actually on time) for my theory class and asked my instructor who my dive buddy will be out of curiosity.  He informed me that my dive buddy will be coming in later for the exams coz he’s retaking the exams! *Faint* Calmed myself down and rationalised “oh comeon, he may not be proficient in theory but may be like a fish in the water and drills!” When the door was flung open after our theory lessons, *MAJOR FAINTZ*!!

1 September 2009

Not looking forward to pool session at Outram Secondary School anymore! Plus, it was pouring right up to 5pm and it’s gonna be freezing in the water! Met Alynna in the changing room at the pool and she emphatised with my situation greatly. Her exact words: ” I know how you feel man!! I would be totally sianz if I were you!!” And the sweet gal “forced” one of her friends to be my dive buddy!!! Hahaha she’s a true life saviour!!

With the shorty wetsuit, most of us were shivering in the water and our teeth were chattering! Besides, the masks were leaky no matter how tightly we tried to adjust them to fit our faces and they were fogging up badly! Through a blurred view, I could vaguely make out what my instructor was doing in the pool as we had not been taught mask clearing drills yet. I would observe how my buddy does his drills and follow him. Water was always getting into the snorkle and causing me to choke whenever we were told to practice swimming with the snorkle.

To top it off, I simply keep floating and in diving, you need to sink! To say I’m like a floatation device is an understatement!! When I manage to sink down on my knees to kneel on the bottom of the pool, I will get lifted by an invisble force and float off! My buddy and friends beside me will always have to hold me down. The shorty wetsuit was also ill fitting and there were large air pockets in it when I’m submerged in the water.

3 September 2009

Most of us went to buy our own masks and snorkles before the next pool session and scrubbed it hard with a toothbrush and toothpaste to remove the protective film to prevent fogging! Tried on a smaller wetsuit but felt so restrictive that I switched back to the original one. Great effort was spent removing and donning back my Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) in water and orally inflating the BCD was so challenging that I thought I was going to drown!! My friends whispered to me: “Hey instructor gone, quick use the inflator hose!!”

While practising finning, my fins nearly fell off and it proved to be an enormous challenge in directional control, plus the fact that I was still FLOATING! HELP!! While performing the ascent drill, my floaty feet propelled me backwards instead of upwards and I crashed into another group! My instructor was nowhere to be found and the other group’s instructor had to ask me if I was ok and gave me a push in the right direction! How I wish there was a hole for me to hide at that moment…..

Felt downright miserable (and it happened to be my birthday!) and it occurred to me if I had no aptitude in diving at all. That’s a depressing thought as diving has always been something I wanted to take up! Was feeling more stressed than excited about the upcoming Tioman open water dives and I already had quite a few blue blacks on my knees, coupled with the fact that my instructor commented that I’m an odd size!!

Two installments of F1 later and it’s time to bid adieu to the friends and colleagues who have left imprints in my life. It has been an exciting and memorable journey, coupled with thrills and spills and the usual scandals (oops) and gossip at work. This time round, it just feels different. After 2 stints at ultra crappy and horrid environments, it just feels good to be appreciated for a job well done. I picked up many soft skills and it is heartening to finally work with people of considerable EQ! Bleah~There were no teary goodbyes, only word of thanks and exchange of emails, fb and msn contacts! 🙂

Now, I have discovered a new love – exploring the underwater world!! It has been something which I was yearning to do since University but it received the disapproval rating from my parents. Being the ever-obedient child, I put it off till after graduation. My hall friends went for their Open Water (OW) Diver course but I could not join them as I was making my way to the UK for a holiday. Years passed and everyone around me is already a certified diver!! 😦

The recent snorkling trip in KK rekindled my love for the underwater world and it made me all the more determined to take up the sport! I booked my OW course 2 days before it was due to start and ate and dreamt about the textbook that very weekend. Passed the theory exams, went for 2 pool sessions and embarked on the certification dives the same week! Haha true to my beliefs, I love diving and the forage into the underwater world leaves me feeling very liberated and free! For me, a plunge into the blue ocean is likened to entering a fascinating realm of underwater discovery.

My close friends broke out in peals of laughter when I told them I’m getting the wetsuit for the love of the sport! Damn it…haha they do not believe that this is a sustainable interest and it’s just a new diver getting enthusiastic about buying new gear. We’ll see if the interest runs out or the funds run out first! heehee I’m heading for my Advance Open Water course next week, so wish me luck, as I will need lots of motion sickness remedies on the liveaboard!! ;p

Spotted turtles kissing underwater at Renggis, Pulau Tioman on our 5th dive

While brushing the dirt and grime off my trekking shoes earlier today, it set me thinking if I would ever climb again or will this be the first and last time my Salomon shoes would make their appearance? Though I did not manage to reach 4095.2 metres, my trusty trekking shoes served its purpose well and provided me with tremendous support and traction for the whole trek! It’s akin to trekking with great friends who have been my pillars of support during the gruelling and exhaustive climb! So, if you ask me if I will ever climb again? The answer is YES if it’s with good friends and it has been a truely memorable trip! 🙂

Finally received my first ever touch screen phone on Saturday and was happily twiddling with the phone and downloading the free apps that came with it!

iPhones have been known to be highly customisable….but provided that you jailbreak your phone to have access to tons n tons of free apps by a 3rd party developer! I was hesitant about JB’ing my phone since it might be unstable and the warranty might be void! BUT…after I chanced upon the theme below…I knew I had to have it!!! hahaha so this is how my iPhone Springboard looks like now after JB! hehehe

Useful guides were aplenty on the web and tutorials are not that difficult to follow although there’s some apprehension when I first started the JB process! JB allows you to install Cydia, the most popular underground Applications (Apps) store within the iPhone community. With Cydia, your phone will be transformed from an ordinary one to a simply amazing entertainment machine!!!

To customise your phone with themes like the Super Mario one that I’m currently using, search for the theme in Cydia, download Winterboard to load it onto your Springboard and lalallala you have your own unique personalised iPhone!!

Those who are interested can refer to this super duper useful tutorial for JB newbies!

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2009/07/stepbystep-guide-to-jailbreak-iphone-3gs-running-iphone-os-30-using-redsn0w-windows.html

Note that this JB guide is accurate as of today for iPhone 3GS with firmware 3.0.1 update…do check the site for the latest updates! One tip is not to install Cydia together with Icy as it causes my Cydia to keep having error msgs :S

Proceed with care as nobody can guarantee that things will turn out fine…but if u follow the tutorials closely and do your research well…there shouldn’t be much of a problem~

Craving for chocolatey stuff and saw this blog post about the history of chocolate chip cookies! Really interesting hahaha check out~

http://www.cakespy.com/2009/07/look-to-cookie-chocolate-chip-cookie.html

Some interesting recipes to try out but remember to reduce the sugar as the American recipes are heavily laden with sugar! :p

I received an urgent email requesting my assistance.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a staff of one of the leading banks in South Africa I am writing
asking for your indulgence in re-profiling funds, which we want to
keep under your supervision.

The Funds totaling ($14,700,000) I am only contacting you as a
foreigner because this fund cannot be approved to a local Bank here in
South Africa, because the funds are in US Dollars and the owner of
this account is Mr. Morris Thompson from America, and he died since
2000 in an air crash along with his wife & Daughter on 31/01/2000 in
an Alaska Airlines Flight 261 with other passengers on board.

Please, I am proposing 30% for you for your assistance while my
colleagues and I receive 60% and 10% earmarked for purposes of
taxation in your country and mine. Please if you are interested kindly
forward to me the following informations stated below:

(1) Your direct telephone number
(2) Your direct fax number
(3) Your Full Names
(4) Your age
(5) Your Country of Origin
(6) Your Residential Address

All that is require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us
see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed
under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of
the law.

Your reply should indicate your willingness in assisting us. And I
will send you all the detailed informations and documents that you
will need to process an application for the claims of the funds.

I look forward towards a good business relationship with you

you can also call me on my direct number +27 73 225 5053.

Regards.

Mr. Peter Cole

=================================================

After reading through the email, it sounded like what would happen in a movie. So, being very eager to be part of this secretive and lucrative heist, I responded enthusiastically to Mr Peter Cole. And I would love to do a good Samaritan act and render assistance where needed!

Dear Mr Cole!
 
I am truly excited by the opportunity to be part of your grand plans in re-profiling funds!
 
It is indeed tragic that Mr Thompson and his family perished in the air crash and understandably, the fortune he left behind should not go to waste.
 
This is my first time partaking in such a huge involvement and I can’t contain my excitement!!! Please tell me how do I go about in assisting you in this cause!

====================================================

However, I haven’t gotten a response to my email. Guess my enthusiasm doesn’t sound convincing enough and I can see the US$14 million sprouting wings and flying away! There goes my chance of visiting South Africa where many bank employees seem to be able to gain access to huge amounts of inheritance! Darn…Mr Peter Cole, can you reply to my email please so that I might be able to hunt for some raw diamonds while I’m in your country?

Just received a call from my friend recounting her experience with the immensely overbearing boss.

After an event last night which ended close to midnight, the boss immediately went up to her and asked:

Boss: So you are going to write this the minute you get home right?

Friend: No, I’m going to sleep the minute I get home.

My straight talking friend has not a care in the world and I couldn’t stop laughing when I imagine the look on the boss’s face. Thanks for making my day! heehee

When Cacy first sounded me out on my interest to watch this ‘play’, I wasn’t keen as I feel that plays are often two dimensional, neither offering the visual effects of movies nor able to titillate the auditory senasations of a musical. After checking out the official web pages, I was surprised to learn that it’s a musical helmed by Hong Kong’s entertainment bigwig, playwright Raymond To. Even more surprising was that they played to rave reviews during the Singapore premiere in August 2007! All that prompted me to say yes to watching a chinese musical for the first time!

Our group entrusted ZY with the task of buying tickets and we began to realise that something was amiss when we kept being shown the way ‘up’. It was our maiden experience of having seats in Circle 2 and we had to keep propping ourselves on the railings throughout the show until our backs couldn’t bear it anymore! Haha although it was a back breaking 2 hrs and 30 mins, the stellar performance from the cast made us forget our discomfort momentarily.

Warnings were made to warn audience of mature content in the show and it was pretty hilarious when someone in the audience screamed when the two 阿强s hugged! Hahaha the musical addressed simple issues with very aptly chosen songs, tugging at your heartstrings as each and every nostalgic 新谣 was belted out!

It is a simple and yet moving story about love, about chasing your dreams and about the choices you make in life. More information about the musical:

实践剧场联合了本地音乐巨匠梁文福和香港编剧大师杜国威（《我和春天有个约会》、《人间有情》、《如果。爱》等），为大家讲述一个感人至深，激动人心的励志爱情故事《天冷就回来》。

当爱人已逝，是该沉醉于心中的感情，还是该敞开胸怀，重新生活?
当理想受挫，是该向残酷的命运低头，还是该风雨兼程，抬头挺胸?
当真爱来临，是该犹犹豫豫不知所措，还是该勇直前，大胆追求?

“这里只有天气，没有季节，但这里有爱﹑有情……”

《天冷就回来》曲目如下：

第一场
1。 某某人住在很那个的小镇
2。 写一首给你
3。 细水长流
4。 担心
5。 爱的名字
6。 秋心赋
7。 一步一步来
8。 如果你不小心想起我
9。 恋之憩
10。Summer Time
11。红豆词2000
12。House of Rising Sun
13。阿祖的大福饼
14。我们的歌在哪里
15。麻雀街竹枝
16。喜欢你
17。久久才见到你的好
18。羞答答的玫瑰静悄悄地开
19。你酷
20。用我的歌带你去旅行
21。让夜轻轻落下
22。从你回眸那天开始

第二场
1。 天冷就回来
2。 历史考试前夕
3。 摇摇民谣
4。 水的话
5。 说时依旧
6。 最后还是会
7。 排排坐
8。 深拥
9。 你的倒影
10。给你一些不给你一些
11。戒情人
12。从你回眸那天开始
13。久久才见到你的好
14。陪我看日出
15。新加坡派
16。天冷就回来

Soaring temperatures the past few days were the talk of town when the thermometer hit 37 degrees! But guess what? It poured after we finished watching 天冷就回来…so 天转凉了哦!! Haha I discovered that 石欣卉’s stage name is called Sing Chew and the first thing that came to mind was Sing Chew Bee Hoon…