Si Amil- Sea Snakes

Charming island, about 45 mins boat ride from Mabul....great place to dive....

Lots of macro life (adults and juveniles)...calm waters, great visibility, shallow dive spot, real isolated and peaceful.

The beach is clean, blessed with really beautiful fine golden sands..something which Malaysians take for granted.

Being so near to our neighbouring country where the fishermen folks still practise method of fishing using dynamites.... if not for the army camp located physically nearby, would Si Amil remain how & what it is.....I wonder?

But for now it was pure heaven to dive at Si Amil.

And to enable us to spent the whole entire day just diving here at Si Amil....the boatmen brought us lunch...and then they promptly disappeared ...supposedly to go buy some cigarettes & groceries..

Anyone interested to take guesses what / where they went to/ why they only came back after more than 2 hours ?

No, we just too glad to see them come back for us and know that we would have a ride back to our resort at MABUL!!!

SIPADAN -dawn dive with BUMPHEADS and TURTLES

To experience this, you have to wake up at 5am.....brrrr.

I really really love to sleep....and waking up at 5am is never on my agenda!!! But once one gets to Sipadan, this is like a "MUST Do " dive....so, probably I'll do it again. Heh heh.

Is it worth it? You be the judge.... after you watch the video...let me know ok. ;-)

SIPADAN -reef sharks...it wont get any better than this.

We have been diving at Sipadan every year for the last 5 years.....

This video was taken early 2008, 2 years after the gorgeous coral reef at Sipadan's "Drop off Point" were destroyed by barges ....hence we didnt even include footage of Sipadan Island itself....in my opinion, that incident was a terrible disaster of international proportions !!

Sipadan should have been protected as a natural heritage as one of the world's wonders.

The underwater visability is still ok, as divers we still get great footage of the beautiful blue beneath but compared to 5 years ago....the sharks were fewer, the schools of barracudas and jacks we see are smaller and the turtles were not many.

From our recent trip to Sempoerna , Dec 2008 and listening to the locals gripe about conditions of governance at Sipadan...it leaves me sad...

Everyone seems fearful that once the mammoth oceanarium project gets implemented at Mabul....we can all kiss the wonderful memories of good diving in Sipadan/Mabul goodbye....

So this video like the title above implies....who knows....not too far in the future...will the splendour of Sipadan exist only in our minds?

sigh.....sure hope not...sigh.

Location aside , what makes up the other half of the fun of diving for Eddie & I are the company of great dive buddies.

Therefore , notwithstanding the sad state of political affairs at Sipadan/Mabul... this video of the fantastic moments spent with good friends is priceless and much treasured.

This is a rehashed video using Mac Leopard OS powered by sound effects from i-movie's music library....

Apple technology is really great for editing movies.....a breeze.

Viewing our footage of Sipadan Highlights 2008 brings back great joy.

To our dive buddies, may it bring forth chuckles from you and wide smiles to your faces too.

Major Mike, special thanks for making all the nice arrangements for great times at SMART resort...hope you will be able to continue to do so come 2009 and beyond.

Bali Diving - Ballads of the catfish and the lionfish

I love the mesmerizing moves of the lionfish, I never tire of photographing
them ....
To me, they are the most elegant & graceful predators....
They always seem to be dancing a ballet and their fluid dances are like a poem....a love song....a ballad. Sighs blissfully.

And at Tulamben...the lionfish that are found in different colors...all of them are equally skilled ballerinas underwater....smile.

Being the predators they are...well the lionfish is never shy....they will pose, they will dance and they will continue to do whatever they want to do irregardless of how many cameras are shoved into their faces , confident that divers are not stupid enough to touch them because of their toxic spines.

Except , I did hear of one almost fatal accidental mishap of one unfortunate lionfish and one diver's long pointer device....I heard la! Hahahahaa

So with the mutual respect on both sides, filming the lionfish is almost always satisfying with good results for the photographers and videographers who showed patience ;D

Quite excitedly also for my first time , I saw a real tiny juvenile lionfish at Tulamben....it was perched on a coral reef and with its soft pectorals swaying in the drift of the currents, I initially mistook it for a nudibranch,,,....until I edited the video....mmmm it's quite cute lei :-)

The fine black volcanic sandy bottoms of Tulamben really enhances the contrasts of colors for photos and videos...

The frantic moves of the striped catfish juveniles in a school as tightly packed individuals moving in unision and between short spurts of dispersal, coming together, dispersal ....wow, captured on video...it is my personal opinion that the catfish juveniles look fantastic with their ballad , double wow!!!

As a conclusion to our videos of Bali diving, here I think it is appropriate that I jot down some personal house rules below, both to remind myself and tips for anyone new to diving at Tulamben :

1. NEVER ever change lenses underwater because Tulamben's fine grains of black volcanic sandy bottoms full of lava ash sediments which may be so nice for photography , alas which I found out too late however ,
can cause damages to the grooves on the lens holder as one takes out one lens and tightens another e.g during changing lens from wide angle mode to macro mode ) !!! eeeeyer, celaka nya!!!!

It is imperative to decide on what mode to shoot and stick to using same lens until the end of each dive .
For me, at Seraya Beach for example, I should just use the macro lens and
only consider the wide angle for the Liberty Wreck divesite!!! *****

2. Double clean, or better still triple clean and check all equipment after each dive at Tulemban i.e mask, fins, straps , velcro parts of dive suits & gloves ,
most especially the camera's underwater housing's openings and edges of the "o" rings (most important double emphasis ) .
Dont forget to check and rinse the regulator and octopus mouth pieces!!! If u forget ...then u will go like me, pssflk pstflk psstflk when u put yr mouth piece into your mouth!!!!! LOL~

SERIOUSLY the fine volcanic sands STICKS everywhere and anywhere u can think of !!! *&^%$#@!

3. Last but not least...take off all kinds of jewelry !
Most especially magnetic jewelry when underwater at Tulamben is a
NO NO NO
because the black fine grains of lava ash will actually stick on rings, bracelets, necklace and it can make tiny cuts all over upon contact with the skin !!! Yeeeesh.

Like they say, belum kena belum tahu...;-{

But these are all inconsequential inconveniences ...as I review our photos and videos taken at Tulamben....
I will go aaaaah, Tulamben's definitely worth an annual dive visit if not more trips per year...smile.
So dive buddies, we have a date with Major Mike Goh come September 2009?

Bali Diving - Macro life

Seraya Beach @ Tulamben is truly the "mecca" for uwphotographers crazy about macro and supermacro shots .

no further words are required when videos can tell the story so well....

Bali Diving - Mola Mola

As I finished editing the video clips from our Bali Diving Trip , Part 1....it brought back nostalgic memories and I decided to post a blog on what happened that day .

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I swore after I got sea sick at Manta Point that I will never ever dive at Nusa Penida again...after struggling with icy cold waters, suffocation from wearing 3 layers of divesuits, suffering leg cramps, nausea underwater from being swept to &fro by the strong undertow currents..... I decided enough was enough and broke surface after less than 15 minutes of diving. Our own dive boats were nowhere to be seen and I was really miserable, getting sicker by the seconds until another kind boatman signaled that we could board his boat instead to rest first. He probably took pity after seeing my poor pathethic green "pucat" face and I promptly thanked him by vomiting on his boat....sorry lo.

I knew poor hubby was damn frustrated about not being able to film the giant manta rays. And Kenneth surfacing with his fantastic tale of being circled by 3 gentle giants didnt improve anyone's moods. I was not confident that I wouldnt get sick again during the 2nd dive when everyone sought to swim with the sunfish aka mola mola around Crystal Bay .

I looked at the choppy seas and decided to opt out .

The boatman dropped me off with a lunch box and towels......brrrrrrr I had to wade to the beach in icy cold waters again!!

At the beach that was fronting a temple, I spent the next one hour talking to some Balinese kids aged ranging from 8-12 years. One boy who was holding 3 strands of necklaces made from tiny seashells made it clear he was trying to hawk them to me. I told them I will have no money until the boat come to pick me more than 1 hour later and this same boy with doleful dark eyes solemnly nodded his head, went a short distance to squat behind me....presumably to make sure he will be able to close his sale when the boat arrived. wow, I remembered thinking that the boy will grow up to be a supreme salesman one day in future!!!! The rest of the gang dispersed behind the temple walls, I assumed to go home for lunch as it was nearing noon then.

I opened my lunch box and gestured for the boy to share it with me....it was nothing fancy, just simple Balinese fried rice with 2-3 small local dishes....but it was divinely delicious to my taste buds. I thought the boy would be interested in the rice.....no, to my surprise he only fancied my small green apple . There we were, one older and one younger....2 strangers sitting contently side by side sharing a simple meal....I have to admit I have never met anyone who could wolfed down plain mineral water straight from the bottle and made it seemed so heavenly tasty. I remembered too how I thought my sons should see this and then maybe they'll better appreciate their charmed life in urban KL where anything is readily available everywhere.

Somehow with many hand gestures between us , the boy & I cemented our sales agreement where I consented to take his 3 strands of shell necklace off his hands (oh I cant remember now for how many rupiahs....I just wanted to help the boy anyhow). Imagine how aghast I was to see the other children scrambling out from behind coconut trees and pillars ...all running towards me with outstretched hands holding unlimited loads of more necklaces!!!. Aiyoh, how did they know that I was finally agreeing to buy? And where did all the unlimited merchandise suddenly came from? Previously they were all empty handed, only this young boy had the 3 strands for sale. Hahahaha, I realized I was about to be "scam" by small kids!!! Hahahaha. This is getting highly entertaining I thought!

Well, I managed to appease everyone by agreeing to buy a final maximum number of 20 strands necklaces!!!

As I prepared to board the boat when it came to pick me up....I asked the children my final question as to where did the shells come from. They pointed to the black volcanic sands that were being churned up and down by the waves. OMG, the sands were actually made up of millions, trillions of broken shells. It made me smile then and now again as I recalled that day....it was indeed a most pleasant morning spent with locals whom I would otherwise never have encountered if not for my sea sickness earlier in the morning.

As the tide was higher when my dive boat came, it posed a minor problem for the small kids who would'nt be able to board the boat without getting wet ..I told them I would swim back with the money but there was no need at all for even this. Suddenly one adult appeared , smilingly introduced himself as the father of the whole gang.....proceeded to roll up his trousers and promptly boarded the boat with me to collect the money for the children. I hoped the children got their fair share's worth of the money. It was really a most fascinating and resourceful gang of beach vendors...smile.

Did my dive buddies succeed in their pursuit to catch glimpses of the mola mola? Definitely. They oohed and aahed, goo goo gaa gaaed and happy like sotong expressed their joy of successfully catching glimpses of and even swimming very near to the gentle beasts....the mola molas who came up annually from their natural habitats otherwise inaccessible to divers because it was thousands of feet deep down below. The mola molas are in season here because of the colder temperatures in the seas around 16-18 degrees celsius. The mola molas came to sunbathe and for the cleaning stations to get rid of their skin parasites. It is supposedly very rare and there's no guarantee divers will fulfill their wish of diving with mola molas, some stories were told of divers who were unsuccessful even after 3 successive years of coming to Bali.

The boatman therefore expressed his deep felt sympathies for my unfortunate miss of such a wonderful opportunity.

Truth be told, I'd rather be sitting there with the children.
Come next year, when we plan another trip to Bali and my hubby wants to dive with the mola mola again.....hmmmmm, I'm not so sure if I'll join him...maybe I may prefer to meet the gang of children on the beach once again, who knows? smile.

After all, thanks to my hubby's superb videography skills...I'm kinda diving with the mola molas vicariously while editing his video clips. I've enjoyed it tremendously...to those of you who dived and saw the mola molas with Eddie....may this video bring back fantastic memories of your dives. For those of you who have not seen mola molas ,,,,,,sit back and enjoy the next 3 minutes too.

5 days of living the charmed life at Pompong Island, Sempoerna Dec 9th-13th, 2008

This is paradise....languid moments of indescribable peaceful days doing nothing but diving, uw photographing and videoing ...exploring the underwater gardens around Pompong, Mataking.

The sunsets were breathakingly beautiful, larger than life. 

I only wished that my sons were with us ...