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Sunrise. That morning, I decided to wake up a wee bit earlier than others. Sun rises about 545am. Walked out into the cold waters and stayed there for about an hour. It’s probably the only morning I woke up that early.
Haven’t been doing panoramic stitching for a long long time:) This one’s decent:D
Finally, the images for the trip. This has to be one of the best trips ever. My first dive trip after almost 3 years. It’s also a confirmation trip for my recontstructed eardrum. Not forgetting, the very nice people at Two Fish Divers who gave me a little birthday surprise (complete with a delicious chocolate which Tina, the owner, baked herself). Traveling alone sucks, but celebrating my birthday with a whole bunch of strangers rox!:D
The trip was split into two parts, one at Bunaken marine park and the other at Lembeh Straits. Bunaken has some of the best wall diving in the world. One can walk through waist deep water for about 300m and suddenly drop a few hundred meters into the the blue ocean. Wall diving at it’s best. The current also provide some really good drift diving. Photography was a challenge tho.
After 3 days at Bunaken, I headed for Lembeh for some serious muck diving. The creatures underwater look somewhat odd and scary. Alot of them walk and hop rather than swim. As my housemate put it, “it’s a dumping ground for god’s creations gone wrong…” And it’s a paradise for underwater photographers.
Here are the photos. The land photos were taken with a Canon 20D and 17-40mm lens. Underwater photos were taken with an Olympus C5060.
click photograph to view slideshow
Sometimes, things can get really messed up in other languages. I don’t want to know what’s printed on the cement mixers.
Ok folks, I’m back:) Turned out to be a little later than expected after Silkair decided to give me 5 extra hours exploring the airport. I’ve brieftly read the emails. Will be replying them tomorrow. And yes, the trip was fantabulous! Made new friends, both in and out of water. Lovely people, lovely creatures. Here’s one to start the ball rolling… a little spikey though:D
Pufferfish during a night dive at Bunaken.
It’s almost 2 months since I last visited the swamps of Punggol for some wakeboarding. Last week, Lou asked if I’d be interested in a wakeboarding trip to Sebana in Malaysia. I agreed immediately.
The night before I had to part with Tammy as her owners are back in town. We had dinner at Botak Jones in Toa Payoh and had abit of chat after that at our place. Didn’t get too much sleep after that, anxiety or perhaps just missing Tammy. Next morning, we assembled at Punggol at 730am. After some quick admin procedures, we’re on Suter’s boat on our way to Sebana. On the boat was Suter, me, Lou, C and W.
The trip to Sebana is somewhat interesting. First, we’ll head towards the east side of the Straits of Johor, passing familiar places like Changi point, Changi beach and the Changi Exhibition Center, where we manage to catch a glimpse of the A380 (which was there for the Singapore Airshow). At the boundary of the country’s border, we waited for our turn to approach the mobile immigration boat. It’s interesting how we put all out passports into a waterproof bag and a guy on the boat will use a net to pick it up from us.
It was another 20-30mins more of boat ride before we reached Sebana. We alighted at a small Kelong where we met the owner Jimmy and his ever so hyperactive dog, Rocky. I was told that we’ll be having lunch over at the Kelong, while Jimmy told us, “wild boar today… fresh”. After a brief stay (read: toilet breaks), we headed into river channels of Sebana. The water is as they have described to me, silky and buttery smooth. I was the last of the 4 riders and it’s well worth the wait.
We only had one break, which was lunch and break is was… superb! Jimmy cooked up a storm, we had mussels, omelette (heard that’s a specialty, it didn’t disappoint), crabs, fish and wild boar. Now, that reminds me of diving at Dayang, only with better food:)
I think I did a total of 3 runs (or was it 4?) in total, can’t really remember, it just kept going and going. On board the boat, we brought some food, tidbits and even alcohol. I didn’t even remember that I only had an hour sleep the last night. By the middle of the last run, I decided to call it quits. My body wasn’t responding to what I wanted it to do. By last light, we left Sebana. While I drifted into dreamland, the images of those silky smooth water kept playing over and over again.
I’m looking forward to another trip there. For now, the local waters.
[tags]Sebana, Wakeboarding, Kelong[/tags]
nice memories need not be sharp all the time.
[tags]Photography, Landscapes[/tags]
The rocks, getting their daily dose of dry air as the tide recedes. The thin layer of sand left behind by the sea reminds me of snow capped rocks. It’s about time, I make plans to spend more time outdoors.
[tags]Photography, Landscapes, Changi[/tags]
