Wandering

I find myself idling a little lately, and it's not because of a lack of things to do. If I were my own therapist, which I usually am, my diagnosis is that I'm failing to keep myself properly occupied.

The whole problem with having idle time is that my mind starts to wander. I'm somewhat incapable of just shutting down and stoning... I bet most of you are very much the same.

Don't get me wrong, I know some of the most brilliant thoughts ever, sprout when we idle (some people call it meditation, I call it idling). However, when I'm left idling, the thoughts which pop into my head tend to lack positivity these days. That tends to result in a sudden mood swing which leaves me feeling depressed and lacking energy and motivation after.

Chocolates help, for a while. Sex helps, for a while. Working out helps too, for a while. So far I haven't found any lasting remedies to the repeated state of depression. However, I believe if I improve on my routine, I can prevent myself from even going there. As they say - prevention is better than cure.

There are 3 states I tend to find myself in:-

1. Productively occupied
2. Unoccupied
3. Unproductively occupied

While number 2 is bad, I think number 3 is the worst - "No future"! Especially when we're in denial and keep trying to convince ourselves that what we're doing is entirely necessary. Such a sad and sorry state. I'm only judging myself here - do not take offense.

Right now, I just have to focus on handing myself productive tasks, and then completing them one by one to the best of my ability. The rest should fall in place.

New Phone

Today I went to work with my usual Sony Ericsson Z610 in my pocket. I returned home with my Sony Ericsson Z610 plus a brand new Samsung M610.
It's a simple phone without all the fancy nonsense I used to pay so much good money for. However, it does have just about everything I require to use as a secondary phone, housing my new company Digi corporate line. The phone came free from Digi.

Like I said, it ain't much, but it does look pretty neat. Much like my old Samsung SGH-D500, and later on SGH-D600 which is now in the hands of my brother.

I came home this evening proudly with new phone in hand and guess what I find?
My dad's boss gave him a brand new iPhone 16GB. Killjoy doesn't even begin to describe it!

Tioman Underwater Pics

Hey ho! Soon Yean's underwater pictures are now available on Facebook. If you're not able to view them in Facebook, here are a few to tickle your fancy.

That's me holding on to my surface marker during our 3 minutes safety stop.

Terra batfish

Devilfish

Some crab playing hide-n-seek

Salang's resident moray under the jetty

Peeping hermit

Nudibranch orgy

Another nudibranch... nice colors.

Nudibranch with eggs

Another moray

Nemo!

Mr Turtle

Got to admit that Soon Yean's photography is starting to look really good. Very soon we'll be looking at his photos being published in magazines!

More Diving

It's only been a week since we got back from diving. And here we're already almost done planning our next dive trip - Merdeka weekend at Redang. It's going to be super duper crowded at Pasir Panjang, but I think we'll have a blast if there's a beach party to count down to Merdeka.

To-do list before next trip:
- Tusa Passage due for service.
- Atomic Aquatics B2 due for annual check.
- Suunto Mosquito 3 bars battery left and quite unstable - buy battery replacement just in case.
- Lubricate wheels and zips for bag.
- Clean & lubricate torchlight o-rings.
- Buy motion sickness pills.
- Buy metal rod.
- Check new Atomic subframe ARC mask for fogging, bring extra toothpaste if necessary.

And slightly over a month after Merdeka dive, we're off to dive at Mabul, Kapalai & Sipadan! Can't wait can't wait!

Salang @ Tioman - 1-3 May 2009

This trip was a long wait since my last dive in August last year. The trip to Tioman was for 4 Open Water Diver students and 3 Advanced Open Water Diver students to get certified... and also 3 leisure divers to get themselves wet. :) I logged dive# 29-33 over the weekend.

It was quite a bargain as we managed to squeeze 10 people into 2 rooms, each person only paying about RM66 for the 2 nights. There was also the RM70 return ferry transfer from Tanjung Gemuk. Normally ferries to Tioman depart from Mersing. But the holiday rush prompted some operators to have additional ferry services go between Tg Gemuk - Tioman.

We dived with Fisherman Dive Centre, located right next to Salang Indah Resort. Leisure divers paid RM80/dive, assuming we had our own equipment. It was RM90/dive inclusive of full set of rental equipment.

The staff at Fisherman were generally friendly towards us. Affian, their resident divemaster was very accommodating and helpful. But I heard from the students that their instructors were very strict and fierce with them in the water. I guess they take their work quite seriously. No fault there.

Overall, diving was good. The poor visibility on most dives didn't deter us much even though Soon Yean and I lost the group twice on the same dive. I even got lost on my own on one of the dives. Training as well as instinct led me to search underwater for a minute and then surface to see if maybe my buddy or divemaster surfaced to look for me. They didn't. I also couldn't spot their bubble trail so I swam back to the boat where the boatman suggested that instead of wasting the rest of the dive, I should dive near the boat for another 20mins or so.

That was a fair recommendation so I went down again solo, keeping to the shallower reefs and circling the boat. Diving alone is very leisurely. There was no need to rush just to keep up with the group so I could actually just take my time to scour the reef for interesting marine life. It was there which I spotted a small yellow eel swimming between some staghorn coral, a blue spotted ray, and some other stuff we'd usually miss while trying to keep with a large group. I see why some people prefer diving in small groups, or with just their buddy.

I know I promised pictures but I forgot to bring my camera with me to Tioman. Waiting for Soon Yean to touch up the pictures we took underwater, then I'll post some here.

Atomic Aquatics

I just bought myself a brand-spanking-new mask & snorkel from Atomic Aquatics. I'm not exactly sure why though. For kicks I guess... I don't know.

Upon arriving home and going through my gear, I realize that I've actually got quite a number of items from Atomic Aquatics.

When I first started diving, right down to my first pool session, I've been diving with the Red/Black Subframe mask. An awesome mask from every aspect, except that it fogs up quite easily when I neglect to apply antifog.

At the very same time, I also invested in a pair of Atomic Aquatics Splitfins, red in color of course. Very hefty investment, but worth every sen paid because the performace is nothing short of impressive.

When I finally saved up enough to get myself a regulator, reading various reviews around just naturally pointed me to the brand of choice for my regulator. Choosing between their titanium (T2) and brass (B2) versions was difficult but in the end I settled for the more economical one - the B2.

At the same time, the local Atomic Aquatics dealer was throwing a promotion for the regulator, offering a hefty discount on it. If that wasn't already enough of a reason to make the purchase, they even threw in the safe seconds (SS1) unit as part of the package. What a bargain I tell you!

Today, I came home with what I'd like to think of as an upgrade. Their Subframe mask with Anti Reflective Coating (ARC)...

Paired with their SV1 snorkel.

My snorkel is actually clear & black in color, but I couldn't find a picture available online.

Got admit, it didn't come cheap even after a generous discount from my regular dive centre.

All in all, Atomic Aquatics has lined up a very nice range diving equipment. They look good and perform well beyond expectations. Though their pricing is almost always higher, the premium quality you get from these guys just makes it all worth while.

Any Updates?

Just got a comment asking for updates. Didn't realize there are still people coming here. I'm sorry if you've been coming back time and time again hoping that an update will miraculously appear. It was never my intention to disappoint.

Anyway, I'm off to Tioman to dive this weekend. Promise you some updates when I get back. Pictures will be included... cross my heart!