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| le vagabond |
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| very pissed off in front of the Golden Mountain Temple |
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| lovely creature |
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Today, after the Kek Lok Si Temple which is supposed to be the largest Buddhist complex in Southeast Asia, Daniel and Math left Pulau Penang for Kuala Lampur to do their guy thing (aka drink like there's no tomorrow). We, girls, prefer to stay another day on this fascinating island (aka very yummy food) and gradually make our way to the Cameroun Highlands, perhaps tomorrow afternoon.
Just opened a bottle of mangousteen wine to celebrate their departure ;)
Just opened a bottle of mangousteen wine to celebrate their departure ;)
Friday, May 6, 2011
In Malaysia already! Less than 2 months before my return to Montreal... Time flies so fast! Annis joined us again and our exact location is Pulau Penang. It's an island with a mixture of Chinese, Malay, Indian and British influences. The result is that food is amazing :) Just like Singapore!
Today's schedule is very loaded. We're getting out of the main city (Georgetown) and exploring the rest of the island including a tropical fruit farm, a durian farm, a giant Buddhist complex and perhaps, if we have time, the Penang National Park for the canopy walk. We'll see... Annis and Daniel are still sleeping haha
Today's schedule is very loaded. We're getting out of the main city (Georgetown) and exploring the rest of the island including a tropical fruit farm, a durian farm, a giant Buddhist complex and perhaps, if we have time, the Penang National Park for the canopy walk. We'll see... Annis and Daniel are still sleeping haha
Just spoke with my parents and it seems my parents were freaked out by my diving courses. (It's dangerous! Blood will come out of your nose) So here is yet another post about our last 4 dives :)
We spent them navigating underwater by ourselves, without the instructor. Yes, yes, we did! Actually, it was more like Math finding our way through the diving site and me following suit. But still, it was awesome to have no one in front of you and blocking the view.
I also dived twice with a CAMERA! Took a lot of fishy fishy pictures as you can in the previous post :)
See mommy, it's fun diving!
We spent them navigating underwater by ourselves, without the instructor. Yes, yes, we did! Actually, it was more like Math finding our way through the diving site and me following suit. But still, it was awesome to have no one in front of you and blocking the view.
I also dived twice with a CAMERA! Took a lot of fishy fishy pictures as you can in the previous post :)
See mommy, it's fun diving!
Monday, May 2, 2011
2nd Day: Deep Dives
Yes, another post about my diving course. To be honest, diving requires a lot of energy, physical awareness and a clear mind. Hence, even if we are in the company of our dear Mexican Daniel, we don't go out too much. The once we did, we ended up cancelling our morning dive and me puking till past noon (and Daniel waking up at 1h30pm thinking it was 9am and still got time for the dive). Koh Tao is also a diving island so the whole party scene is not much developed.
Therefore, we basically wake up early, eat breakfast, dive in the morning, eat lunch, relax in the afternoon (aircon room with tv = luxury), eat supper, chill out a bit, sleep by midnight. If we dive in the afternoon, it's the same story but we wake up later.
We only go to the same 2 restaurants: the one in our resort and the one next to it. Obviously, we have learned their menus by heart. We even know their dogs: Sandy and Army.
Seems this is the typical Koh Tao lifestyle/routine, especially if you're an instructor (plus the house on the island --> I want)
Therefore, we basically wake up early, eat breakfast, dive in the morning, eat lunch, relax in the afternoon (aircon room with tv = luxury), eat supper, chill out a bit, sleep by midnight. If we dive in the afternoon, it's the same story but we wake up later.
We only go to the same 2 restaurants: the one in our resort and the one next to it. Obviously, we have learned their menus by heart. We even know their dogs: Sandy and Army.
Seems this is the typical Koh Tao lifestyle/routine, especially if you're an instructor (plus the house on the island --> I want)
Night Dive
We are officially enrolled in the Advanced Open Water Course. Yup, what it means is that we learn to dive deeper (30 meters instead of 18 meters) and to navigate all by ourselves without a instructor. It seems a bit crazy since we didn't know how to dive at all 5 days ago.
Wow night dive...
As usual, it was scary going down. Even with our torches on. But once down there, it's not pitch black and you get used to the semi-darkness. And what a whole new world! The fish we had seen before were sleeping while other kinds of fish were awake and chasing preys (or being chased at). We've seen baracudas eating smaller fish, giant hermit crabs crawling on the ocean floor as well as loads of stingrays feasting on I-don't-know-what and the cutest porcupinefish floating here and there.
But the best part of the whole dive was when we turned off our torches, let our eyes get used to the environment and then went for a swim. I think it's called planctons. They are fluorescent and glow in the dark. And with every movement, every fin kick, every arm brass, they sway around us like green fairy dust. It was awesome! Abby (our instructor) said it was probably the same feeling as floating in the space.
And just for Nis, planctons don't bite or sting. The sting we were talking about is caused by the bite of a very small kind of sea lices. Seriously, I prefer to keep the image of planctons biting me.
Wow night dive...
As usual, it was scary going down. Even with our torches on. But once down there, it's not pitch black and you get used to the semi-darkness. And what a whole new world! The fish we had seen before were sleeping while other kinds of fish were awake and chasing preys (or being chased at). We've seen baracudas eating smaller fish, giant hermit crabs crawling on the ocean floor as well as loads of stingrays feasting on I-don't-know-what and the cutest porcupinefish floating here and there.
But the best part of the whole dive was when we turned off our torches, let our eyes get used to the environment and then went for a swim. I think it's called planctons. They are fluorescent and glow in the dark. And with every movement, every fin kick, every arm brass, they sway around us like green fairy dust. It was awesome! Abby (our instructor) said it was probably the same feeling as floating in the space.
And just for Nis, planctons don't bite or sting. The sting we were talking about is caused by the bite of a very small kind of sea lices. Seriously, I prefer to keep the image of planctons biting me.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
4th and Last Day
Today's two dives were at 18m and 16m deep. The skill I hate the most to practice is taking my mask off completely, putting it back on and blowing the water out. Scares the shit out of me. Apart from that, we saw wonderful stuff including an white-eyed murray eel, a Nemo couple, a pregnant porcupine fish, a stingray and the greatest of them all: sea cucumbers! I literally point at them and think "FOOD"!
Now that we've completed the Open Water Diving Course, we're wondering if we should go further and obtain the Advanced one. It's another chunk of money (way over Math's and my budget) but the underwater beauty is just overwhelming. It also seems we are a lucky group and see creatures which are rare or hard to see (for example we saw a sea snake). If we proceed to the next level tomorrow, we'll have the chance to swim right next to a whale shark (biggest fish in the sea) and that's a huge incitative. Especially since people haven't seen one in Koh Tao's waters for the last couple of months.
Now that we've completed the Open Water Diving Course, we're wondering if we should go further and obtain the Advanced one. It's another chunk of money (way over Math's and my budget) but the underwater beauty is just overwhelming. It also seems we are a lucky group and see creatures which are rare or hard to see (for example we saw a sea snake). If we proceed to the next level tomorrow, we'll have the chance to swim right next to a whale shark (biggest fish in the sea) and that's a huge incitative. Especially since people haven't seen one in Koh Tao's waters for the last couple of months.
Friday, April 29, 2011
3rd Day of Open Water Diving Course
6:30am
The alarm wakes up Math, Daniel and I. Time to put on our bathing suits and to head out for breakfast.
7:30am
Along with other groups and instructors, we hop on a boat which will drive us to the first diving site: Mango Bay.
We gear up and jump into the water. Damn, this is the real thing.
We start off with some basic exercices, ajusting and making sure everything is ok.
And off we went! Over the reef! At the bottom of the ocean!
How to describe? I think the scariest part is to go down. As you're descending and equalizing at the same time (so to lessen the pressure in your ears), all I'm thinking is how with every meter, I'm getting further from the surface/safety. And this comes from a girl who knows how to swim and can hold her breath underwater for quite some time. But that's exactly the problem! Rule #1: Never hold your breath while diving because it will cause lung injuries with the pressure.
But once I get used to the fact that I must breathe continuously by the mouth, a whole new world just opens up. To see the coral reefs up close and all the life surrounding them is absolutely incredible. Today's highlights were to spot a fish with giraffe prints on it, being motionless and letting a curious rainbow colored fish swim between my legs twice (I believe it liked me) and getting REAL up close to a massive school of fish. THAT, my friends, is maybe one of the top WOW moments in my life (another one would be strolling in the Djemaa el Fna market in Marrakech). Picture thousands of fish swimming in unison and you're suspended in midwater right under/next/in the middle of this fishy crowd. It's just beautiful. Really.
The alarm wakes up Math, Daniel and I. Time to put on our bathing suits and to head out for breakfast.
7:30am
Along with other groups and instructors, we hop on a boat which will drive us to the first diving site: Mango Bay.
We gear up and jump into the water. Damn, this is the real thing.
We start off with some basic exercices, ajusting and making sure everything is ok.
And off we went! Over the reef! At the bottom of the ocean!
How to describe? I think the scariest part is to go down. As you're descending and equalizing at the same time (so to lessen the pressure in your ears), all I'm thinking is how with every meter, I'm getting further from the surface/safety. And this comes from a girl who knows how to swim and can hold her breath underwater for quite some time. But that's exactly the problem! Rule #1: Never hold your breath while diving because it will cause lung injuries with the pressure.
But once I get used to the fact that I must breathe continuously by the mouth, a whole new world just opens up. To see the coral reefs up close and all the life surrounding them is absolutely incredible. Today's highlights were to spot a fish with giraffe prints on it, being motionless and letting a curious rainbow colored fish swim between my legs twice (I believe it liked me) and getting REAL up close to a massive school of fish. THAT, my friends, is maybe one of the top WOW moments in my life (another one would be strolling in the Djemaa el Fna market in Marrakech). Picture thousands of fish swimming in unison and you're suspended in midwater right under/next/in the middle of this fishy crowd. It's just beautiful. Really.
Yesterday, we had our first dive in a confined space, the pool. I got tangled with my mask and slightly panicked underwater even though I wasn't even one meter deep. Then, we moved to the deep end and swam for a while, practicing other skills. It seems Math is very lucky and doesn't need any weight when he dives (even in the ocean we'll later learn). Mainly because he has almost no fat. As for myself, I need one weight in saltwater and none in the pool. But that's probably because of my bone density and not the lack of fat ;)
In the evening, we had another theory class but this time, in the resort's restaurant right next to the beach. So it was really chilled out, nice and breezy.
In the evening, we had another theory class but this time, in the resort's restaurant right next to the beach. So it was really chilled out, nice and breezy.
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