just a note left on the stairs CTs suck. hateful things. my heart did time in siberia, was waiting for the lie to come true. 'cos it's all so dark and mysterious when the one u want doesn't want u too i have no idea wat to expect for lit tmr. i just realized tt we've been wasting our time during booth's lessons cos we've not done any practice other than the 'great expectations' essay. bleh. seriously bored. i shld start saving up for when i fail chem. yay tmr's the last day of CTs!
i miss Tioman n the hols! i wanna go back n get away frm this whole stack of yet-to-be-read notes tt's rotting away somewhere in my room. [[[if u haven't alr done so, read the prev entry first. it's longer.]]] Tioman was great (ref. prev entry dated yesterday). all sun n sea - except for the one nite when it stormed n the house we were living in rattled n shook and thunder seemed to come from everywhere. i luv not having to go by any strict dress code on the island - ppl mostly wore bikinis n sarongs n slippers (or barefoot) over there. i luv being able to be late for anything cos everyone's so relaxed there. i luv not having to hear the annoying sounds of cars n vans n trucks. n the ppl there were so much more friendly - the locals smiled n greeted everyone mainly cos they haf to do it to boost tourism, n the backpackers were also v friendly to everyone cos they were mostly americans or europeans n were more open n warm than sgp-reans. i luv being able to just walk out of the house n arrive on the beach, n to just go for a swim or go snorkeling whenever one fancies. no need to take the bus to the club to swim in tt tiny pool (tiny compared to the sea, of course. n i'm talking abt myself cos i dun live in a house wif a private pool so naturally i need to take the bus). can anyone sense tt i'm totally EAGER n EXCITED to start studying? cos i can't - not even a smidgeon of eagerness.
I'm BACK! luved Tioman. i wanna be back there now, n i just returned yesterday nite... Day 1 taxi up to mersing. took speedboat from Mersing. arrived at ABC (actually the village is called Ayer Batang but somehow it became ABC) late afternoon. at the jetty, i looked down n cld actually see coral n fish! the water was wonderfully clear n blue, just like in picture postcards, only this was real. many sea urchins too. dangerous if stepped on. settled down in our 'hotel' room at Nazri's Place. the beach was just several metres from the chalets. we left our luggage n went for a quick swim. the water was so clear n shallow, i was only knee-deep in water before i reached a whole bed of coral. after dinner, went for a walk along the entire length of ABC, which took abt 45 min. most of the accomodation on ABC are small wooden huts called 'chalets' which cost less than 100RM, some even as little as 20RM. most huts are just small rooms with one bed, one bathroom n one porch. pretty cool. not a single proper hotel on the entire village. the nite sky was beautiful - cld spot many constellations like the big dipper n the cross, unlike in S'pore when u can hardly see any stars cos of the lights n traffic. on ABC the onli modes of transport are bicycles, motorbikes n boats. no cars or vans. below - the beach directly outside our accomodations during the first few days on ABC. beautiful, ain't it?  n this photo was taken by me on the first day we arrived. the two heads bobbing in the water (left of photo) are yy2 n my dad):  Day 2 went on a hike across Tioman to the village on the opposite side of the island, Kampung Juara. the hike was up a mountain which had no proper steps or roads (unlike Bukit Timah Hill) n took 3 hours. very tiring but interesting to climb up rocks n over fallen trees:  had lunch at Juara, then took a four-wheel drive back to Tekek, which is the village neighbouring ABC. from tekek we walked back to ABC as cars cannot reach ABC. tt evening we just strolled ard on the beach, went snorkelling, had dinner. very relaxing. Day 3 my dad hired a boat n got a Malay fisherman to bring us out fishing. my dad loves fishing. anyway we got out into the open sea, where the waves were wonderfully rough. once the engine was off the boat started pitching like crazy, sorta like when one's surfing on the waves. my mom n Lyn got seasick, yy2 felt slightly queasy, but my dad and i enjoyed every bit of it. caught 2 relatively large fish, which we barbequed tt nite for dinner. (they were delicious n fresh) Day 4 my dad had to go back to work so he left late morning. we moved out of Nazri's place n moved to Nazri 2, where we booked a wooden hut tt cost onli 80RM a nite (at Nazri's Place it was 160RM a nite for a room, not a chalet). the hut had a bed, a bathroom, some chairs n a porch. very cool. tt's me studying for a quiz on buoyancy n equipment:  first day of the Open Water Diving course. yy2 n I watched some videos, took a quiz, then did 3 confined water dives in the pool at the diving centre. leant basics like buoyancy control, ascents n descents etc. quite fun. below - yy2 n i filling up some forms for the course. tt bk on the table - we had to study it for the quizzes n exam:  our instructor was Sarah, a Canadian who's lived on Tioman for 2 yrs n previously worked in Japan for a yr teaching diving. she's getting married to a Malay guy, a local. according to the village gossip (an old man who stays rite next to the jetty) the statistics so far are : approx 20 than 20 ang moh women haf married Tioman men n either stayed on the island or returned with their husbands. 5 or 6 Jap women haf done the same. n 1 ang moh guy has also settled down on Tioman with a local woman. interesting, don't u think? Day 5 2nd day of our 4-day course. did confined water dives 4 n 5, learnt more skills like hovering n fin pivot, etc. afternoon, went out to sea for Open water dive 1. had to carry approx 18 kg of gear (12kg oxygen tank, 3kg weights, plus BCD, mask, fins, regulator etc) on my back frm the dive centre out to the beach n into the water. very heavy. went abt 12metres in depth, saw lots of fish n coral. sea urchins too. cool experience, since it was my first time diving in the sea:  tt afternoon we walked to Tekek n had dinner there. Day 6 took the final exam for our course. then did open water dive no.2, this time using 2.5kg weights n not 3kg, so it was better and easier to achieve buoyancy. not so overweighted. did some of the skills we'd learnt at the sea bed. then afternoon, my mom got some locals to take us out to the waterfall at the southernmost tip of Tioman. took a boat there, then walked several minutes to the waterfall. the water was terribly cold, but very fun to swim in cos we dint noe how deep the water actually was. yy2 n 1 climbed almost to the top of the waterfall n sat underneath the rushing water - free massage!  then we took the boat to visit a kampung. then went snorkeling at Renggis island, where i saw 2 stingray! first close-up other than in Underwater World, Sentosa. below - me on the boat to the waterfall:  Day 7 last day of the course! went boat diving this time, not just walking out to sea. first went to Chebeh Island, where we went 18m, the max depth for Open water divers. saw a hawksbill turtle, which was very cool. lots of soft coral, n we even touched one n it was so soft, i cld hardly feel it! then had lunch on the boat, followed by second dive at Renggis Island. saw 3 black-tip reef sharks!!! one came real close (partly cos we sorta swam after it to get a better look, n it swam towards us too) n it was totally fab to get such a close encounter with it. they were abt 1m long n very cute looking! they realli swim like sharks do in movies - looking sorta lost. also saw another hawksbill turtle. below - getting the boat ready:  then evening, walked to Tekek again. visited Berjaya resort, which is one of the very few proper hotel resorts on Tioman. the rms there cost minimum 400RM (compared to the 80RM we were staying in) but dint look tt gr8. i prefer staying in a wooden hut with our own 'space' outside n the beach just metres away. village life is so much more peaceful than staying in a resort wif noisy children n tourists all over the place. Last day - Saturday, 18 June 2005 took 8am ferry (but it came late, which was expected cos the Tioman villagers are very laid-back abt everything. no worries at all, not even abt punctuality) back to Mersing:  took a cab to JB where we watched Mr. n Mrs. Smith (much cheaper to watch movies in JB!) then took the nite train back to S'pore. i'm definitely going back to Tioman to take the Advanced Open Water Dive course! i miss hearing the sound of the waves, which is much more preferable to the traffic noises i can hear rite now. village life is v enjoyable... saw many of these monitor lizards on the island (n snakes too - tree snake n a python). 
dint do much today 'cept study n go to library for a short while. then rushed thru some idiotic pw stuff, which i think was totally time-wasting n meaningless. the whole pw thing, not just wat i did. i wanna watch mr. n mrs. smith, which is coming out tmr n which i haf no time to watch. sighz. otherwise nth to report. looking forward to taking a break frm studying.
yesterday afternoon: went to orchard to meet xxx. walked ard wisma atria to help her choose a bikini. borrowed $70 frm me to pay. so ex. then she left & i wandered ard orchard mrt, hung abt in popular n CD-rama. then went to wait for Wj n PN. finaly called Wj to find out her whereabouts. she said she was at the mrt station, and so was i! then she said she was opposite wisma so i walked all the way out of the station to wisma but still dint see her n i almost reached taka before turning round back to the station. WJ said she was still at the steps in the station so i went there but dint see her. asked her wat she was wearing so i cld spot her easily. i then approached a person who was wearing light blue n talking on the phone, cos i thot it was Wj but it turned out to be a guy! so funni! i was laughing into the phone. then i took the escalator down into the station itself n finally saw her. such a waste of my energy. lol. so we headed for orchard boulevard where PN said she was. she was at the busstop n just then our bus arrived so we raced toward it. PN was still in her HC uniform cos she had remedial, poor thing. they even had GP remedial! thank God we dint. can u imagine? went to Great World City, ate at Jack's Place. PN's mom n 7-yr-old sis turned up n her mom paid for our meal! so nice. cldn't finish tho cos it was v filling, altho only $6.50 (main course + soup + garlic bread + coffee/tea + icecream). PN's sis is taller than Lyn, who's 1 yr older than her! my sis needs to do smth abt her height. n it's not as if PN is extremely tall (same height as me) n her mom isn't tall either. then we started teasing PN's sis abt the fact tt she used to take ballet cos she's quite plump n doesn't look like a dancer at all. but she took the teasing lightly, dint burst into tears or anyth. then PN's mom took her sis home n we went to WJ's hostel which is at acs barker. the rooms are tiny! n the rules are terribly demanding. very strict. we had to sneak into the hostel cos visitors are actually not allowed into the rooms. the matron is apparently smone to be feared, judging frm the way WJ was sneaking ard. i'm glad i dun stay in a hostel. hmmm. Lyn's packing for Tioman alr. she's so excited. n she refuses to listen to me, who's sorta shouting at her to finish her homework. shld just ignore her.
went to the PC show at Expo yesterday. so crowded! ppl pushing one another to get anywhere. lots of stuff to see. the Creative booth had one extremely long queue n many sales girls wearing miniskirts n knee-high boots. which cld be why the queue was made up of mostly men... hahaz. anyway dint buy anything. the others all at church rite now. nth can persuade me to go to church... i will still hate you in the morning clarification to those who were confused by prev entry: by Paris, i meant Paris in Troy, who's a guy. not Paris Hilton, altho i wouldn't mind if she died too. haha pool cleaning must be such a horrible job. i mean, imagine having to face swimming pools all day and not be able to actually swim in them. eeurgh. peroxisomes. microfilaments. ribosomes. tonoplasts. what am i reading? i wanna watch a movie. the sad thing is some ppl i noe either still haf sch, or wld rather mug than go out for just one day. so dead. those ppl haf no social life at all.
yep i'm back again. watched Troy just now. tried to drag my sis to watch with me since her all-time fave orlando bloom is in it, and there's eric bana and brad pitt innit too, both of whom she somewhat likes. but she kept on complaining tt it is a terrible movie cos its so sad. which is actually sorta true, altho i dun think it's so much sad as it is unfair. it was stupid tt the idiotic coward Paris got away wif his life while he led indirectly to his bro's death as well as tt of Achilles. how stupid issit to die for love? i so totally do not agree with king priam who said tt men have died for countries, for glory etc, why not for love? if so, paris shld haf been the one to die, not anyone else. anyway i had to watch it wif headphones on cos my sis dint wanna listen to the movie. the fighting parts were so gory! so much blood and death! neck-slicing and stomach-spearing! knee-buckling! shield-bashing! fire arrows! but i pity the horses tt died (in the movie, tt is). poor innocent things. hahaz. Lyn's gone for her flute lesson. everyone else is out except me n my other sis. i'm dead bored n cant think of a thing to do online or off. byee!
A Lamborghini. Tuscany. Megane. Jaguar. Chrysler. SPC carpark. the place to be (for car thieves). yupz. went for early-morning swim again. 9th day in a row. my upper lip is bleeding. happy slapping! wat used to be World Trade Centre is now very much improved. no more useless exhibition places n empty space. i feel like going to sentosa. hand-carved soap. australian currency. i wanna go to australia again! preferably Perth, even Melbourne. Or, even better, the Gold Coast! since i've never been there. or down south to Tasmania. anywhere in good-old Down Under wld be gd, actually. why is a mouse called a mouse? (i'm talking abt the computer kind) a real mouse does not have its tail sticking out of its mouth, does it? a real mouse wld not spend most of its life moving to and fro, backwards (if the tail is in its rite place). random thots. can't wait to go diving.
started on maths and bio today. like, finally. i think 3-D trigo must be the easiest part of trigo. i mean, there're no formulae to rmb and all u need to do is visualize stuff. no brainwork. watched 'analyze this'. some funny parts, but i dint think it wld be so easy for a mafia don to quit. not entirely realistic at all. i think i shall watch the godfather some time. the book was gd reading. lots of merciless killing n all tt. yay will finally meet up wif WJ n PN most likely next wk. not seen them since O level results. i rmb tt morning we went out and just hung ard dreading going back to SC to get our results. we timed our departure for SC so tt we cld arrive late cos we dint wanna haf to listen to Ms. Heng going on n on abt our cohort disappointing her blablabla. n yeah, we did arrive very late, i think we were the only ones who dint arrive in SC way earlier in anticipation or smth. but i did see PN not long ago cos she wanted me to buy her some live fish, but tt dint count. cant wait to see WJ's new haircut. non-stop hits. that's the end of non-stop hits. okok i'm off. the first cut is the deepest |
|
mirrors
me answers to:: yy lived since:: '88 cradle:: HK living in:: AUS lives for:: nitrogen
wishlist
$$$$ dive Europe backpacking learn surfing learn sailing own a yacht
talk away
blogs
S03S - 1S03S - - elsie - - ivan - - jw - - mango - - samuel - - siqi - - tina - - xinling - - xy - - yy2 - - 480144 - - mei - - jerry -
archives
April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008
credits
- designed by YY - - powered by blogger -
|
|
photos
...
|
|
time since last dive
|
