Thursday, May 25, 2006
i've found my island paradise...
the salt on my skin, the wind in my hair, a song on my lips.that basically sums up my life for the past week. i'd add more details, but words fail me. and some memories are best kept close to be cherished (alright so i'm selfish).
but it was a great trip, and totally worth the money! great company (great dive buddy?), much merriment and laughter, and a total neglect of responsibilities, work and the mundanity of everyday life. not to mention all the rubbish and crap we came up with, like the saga of the hermit crab (and how the innocent diver ends up in danger), or the sighting of the white banded angelfish, or my personal favourite, the tale of the brown marbled grouper and the titan triggerfish hovering nearby. *grin*
the bus ride was awful, i must admit in all candour. 10 hours trying to nap and doze and sleep, halfway i woke to find my nose frozen (i bet i slept more in the last week than i have in the past month). but eventually we ended up on perhentian for our first 9 dives. flora bay, 5 star PADI resort, great facilities, excellent food, the accommodation was good (aircon, comfy beds, good enough for sleeping), and the dive sites were wonderful! only qualms i had were with the low visibility underwater (but that always makes for a more exciting dive) and the fact that i had to rig up on land and lug my equipment to the speedboat (but on another note, speedboat diving is damn cool! especially when it takes mere minutes to get to the dive site).
Dive centre at Perhentian
Me with dive buddy
Puffed up pufferfishie
One of the few nudibranchs I saw in Perhentian
School of small squid(sorry the photo's so small and blurry, they swim faster than me)
Dog-faced puffer
Yellow boxfish!(my new love, at least until I can get a decent frontal shot of the tiny ones)
School of razorfish(yeah they swim upside down)
Titan triggerfish(this is one mother annoying fish. unfriendly, ugly, and stupid)
Unicorn fish (see the 4 spikes on its tail?)(though why it's called unicorn when the spikes are on the tail is beyond me...)
Spotted boxfish(it deserves an honorary mention since trying to snap a shot of it caused me to lose my buddy. and resulted in my first black tip shark sighting in perhentian!)
Jenkin's whiptail stingray hiding under a rock(this ray is huge. but while the camera was mine, the shot was taken by my dive guide, Craig, who knew where it was, unlike me. nice shot though, isn't it?)
Nurse shark! This site had sharks crawling in every crevice!!(personal favourite dive site in Perhentian, Tokong Laut, i.e. Temple of the Sea)
Filefish/Leatherjacket(apparently so named for its tough skin)
Flutemouth (trumpetfish)
Shy hermit crab(yes, i know i could've turned it around, but isn't it cuter this way?)
The cuttlefish in Perhentian really know how to camouflage...
And the obligatory group photo underwater(good photographer, but bad vis...and in case you were wondering, i wasn't the photographer)
I LOVE THIS SHOT!!!Hermit crab popped its head out to pose for the photo just as I flashed.
Here's a shot of the dining area at night(yes, i was trying to make it look nice and failing completely...)
Zamzieba shrimp!(aka the very small green shrimp on the seaweed)
These saddleback anemone clownfish were out in the middle of nowhere, fighting the current and 3 avid photographers' attention. poor things.
I wasn't just taking a random shot, this is actually a fish ok....
Zeng my crab! Oh, this is a xenon crab.(just like the shrimp, tiny thing on the seaweed. dive guide VERY protective of it. his baobei)
I was bored. so I took a random clam shot.
Been there, done that. If you've visited this blog before you'll know what this is.
I was trying for a decent clownfish shot.I will try harder in future.
And here's proof I saw a turtle, although this turtle swims faster than me.(I saw reef sharks too, but they swim a lot faster than the turtle)
Another shot of a different zamzieba shrimp(Practising my macro shots!)
I forgot what this shrimp is. Some random coral shrimp. I just happened to see it while snapping at a giant moray. And thought it looked worlds cuter than the eel.
Such pretty colours! Blue ringed angelfish.(different from the white banded angelfish...)
These are common batfish.
This, however, is a Moorish Idol (remember the scarred fish in Finding Nemo?)See the difference?
And the lionfish just keep ignoring me. Couldn't exactly pick them up and turn them around, seeing as their spines are poisonous. But what pretty colours!
Yet another failed attempt at artistry...
Stonefish, this is. I think. Or I could be just kidding and it's merely a rock.
I can explain this. Really I can. See, the dive guide had this REALLY BEAUTIFUL sunburst shot. So I tried to imitate his masterpiece with my rubbish skill and fell dreadfully short(that and my dive buddy didn't know what the hell i was doing...uncooperative)
Giant ray hiding in rocks. I'd have gone closer, but it's never wise to approach a ray from the back. After all, there's a reason why they're called STINGrays.
Ooh...this stonefish is cute. Called a demon stinger, it crawls on the sand. Like a bug. Only it can sting. Hard.
Remember the razorfish from earlier? I got a clearer picture of a pair in Redang.
Now to show the relative size of the zamzieba shrimp.
Guess what this is? It's also from Finding Nemo.
This friendly group of spadefish kept playing with us, even when we tried to catch them for lunch. But they really swim in lovely formation, just not in this shot...
and so our adventures end....for now.P.S. The photographer apologises for his inadequate skill at underwater photography. All photos are minimised for easy loading, but otherwise unedited. Stay tuned for future postings with better pictures (if he ever gets off his lazy ass to learn to use Photoshop effectively)
wen was dreaming at 3:35 AM
Saturday, May 13, 2006
lifehouse rocks
i heard this song the other day (don't ask where). if i remember correctly, i loved it. because i saved a snippet of the lyrics, and it took me forever to find it online. if anyone has the song, please do send it to me!Good Enough
it seems the more we talk
the less i have to say
let's put our differences aside
wanted to make your proud
but i just got in your way
i found a place that i can hide
now everything is changing
but i still feel the same
we're running out of time
i tried to find myself
looking inside your eyes
you're all that i wanted to be
there must be something else
behind all the lies
that you wanted me to believe
now everyone is saying
that i should find a way
to leave it all behind
what do i have to do
to try to make you see
that this is who i am
and it's all that i can be
what do i have to do
to try to make you see
trying to be like you
isn't good enough for me
and i won't let you go
and i won't let you down
i won't give you up
don't you give up on me now
wen was dreaming at 11:57 PM
Friday, May 12, 2006
back from tioman
well, the title's self explanatory. so i'll just add a few notables and let the photos speak for themselves.2 512mb sd cards are not enough for a 3day holiday with 4 girls. a camera with underwater housing is as effective a guy magnet as a puppy/kitten is a girl magnet. pool bars and charging to room accounts are the greatest things in life. duty free alcohol is also a great invention. kittens are cute. cats which want food can be even cuter. sunbathing is addictive (according to studies shown on CNN). i LOVE my new camera! oh...and i also learnt it's possible to tie a cherry stem into a knot with your tongue. seriously it is. though i can't for the life of me figure out how. i need practice man. yeah, that should be it for now....more photos to follow once i get them from the other cameras.
all sleepy before setting off
arrival at tioman berjaya
peek-a-boo
staircase shot!
the other side now...
our house for the next 3 days!the girls had the two linked rooms upstairs
and the guys got the ground floor
(cos we're lazy and they needed the exercise)
testing out the underwater camera
beach babes (okay, pool babes to be exact)
lavan & his fanclub!a.k.a.
chillin' with the wine and ladies
see the poolside bar?
group shot at the poolside
walking on water, posing in style
4 flowers in their haira.k.a
pretty hawaiian ladies
my obligatory sunset shot!
and again, sunshine through the clouds
becky says cheese!
the 'couple' fish (we kept seeing them around)
pufferfishie?
school of fishies (ok. i think they're pikefish)
huiqing and shu-wen
getting ready to get wet
and always ready to pose for a shot
feeding frenzy!
feeding the fishies! (or poking them)
becky & jackie
and the girls found nemo!(sorry i was lazy to hold my breath and dive down for a closer shot)
and huiqing pauses to pose for a shot
underwater flash on shu-wen
two freezing girls sharing a pitiful piece of bread
while the other two merrily frolic in the warm sea
and there the snorkelling adventure ends
post snorkelling pose with the fanclub
on the ride back after snorkelling...
the rain and chill air was rather freezing.
a pause, a glance, acting coy
guess what we're spelling!
how about this?(ok i wouldn't know if i wasn't there, honestly)
and this will henceforth forever be known as the obligatory SMU shot.
we're not sleeping! (ok i was)we're not suntanning! (yeah i was too)
we're not dead! (no suicide pact)
we're supposed to be a starfish! (unbelievable huh)
okay this starfish is more believable...
suntanning beach babes...
who look like half-drowned survivors coming to shore
on the slide, lavan enters with a sliding splash
while becky sits on the water and enters gracefully
and shu-wen changes her mind midway.
drinks, alcohol, mocktails, happiness!
on the way to our 'secret suntanning spot'
suntanning at our spot
this shot looks like some pageantthe height should've been progressive, but someone went up a step...
all wrapped up after suntanning...
and posing for one final shot
the cats there were really friendly!
and the seafood, excellent! this cost us 120RM
post-dinner group shot
and we found time in between tanning to pick seashells!p.s. these are but a mere fraction of the total sum of shots to whet your appetites. and i was too lazy to edit or sieve out the others. once i upload them somewhere, i'll post a link here.
wen was dreaming at 4:49 AM