Random Musings: May 2006

Mother's Day

Grandma's just past 80 now and as she's not going to have that many more Mother's Days, I thought it was nice to invite her along for this year's Mother's Day celebrations. Afterall, she had been so understanding and compromising over the wedding.

The food at Imperial Treasures was as usual, excellent. I would recommend the steamed fish. Its pricey though but hey, this was a once in a year thing. (From left to right: Mom, Grandma, Troven and Dad)

Chrisology

For those of you who know what I'm referring to, I sent this email in semi-frustration about someone who keeps trying to fish for sympathy about being married with a loaded question "So, how's married life?":

Wonder why he sees marriage as a form of entrapment?

Personal experience?

Things just fall in place if you have the right attitude/partner with right
attitude. One naturally makes time for one's other half. Other half should
know one well enough to understand if and one can't make time for the other
occassionally.

Perhaps its still the honeymoon period. Marriage seems to have given me a
telflon coating. Few things stick :)

I look at other women, comment on them more openly... one reason cos I
don't feel like my comments threaten other women anymore now that I'm
married (and other ppl know that). Wife and I talk about other women (both
of us happen to think there's nothing beautiful about the Male, at least
not in the same way as women are). I happen to think marriage is damn
liberating!

Sigh.

And one more thing... not matter how pretty my daughter may be, I will not paste mugshot photos of her on my wall noticeboard.

I am qualitatively different.

Centennial Diver

Just received a new Suunto dive computer interface cable from www.customideas.com (a UK company). Its a smaller, much neater solution than the original Suunto serial interface that I have (but can't seem to find). Faster too. Serial ports are dying... so for GBP30 (around S$90), I thought it was worth it (the original Suunto is going for S$160). Thanks Rueben for your fast service!

Downloaded the new Suunto Dive Manager version 2.3. Nice software. Even allows you to "blog" your dive through SuuntoSports.com. Opens up a few more features on the dive com too. There's apparently a master log inside the com that I had not been able to access. And guess what...

It has logged 68 dives since I bought it in Aug 2004. Assuming I dive a conservative average of twice a year, six dives a trip, then I would have had 48 additional dives to my name since I got licensed in 2000. This does not include the fact that most of the time, we get 8 dives over 2 days in Anilao and that I was in Anilao every other month in 2003. My only regret is that I never made time to venture further than Anilao and Puerto Gallera.

Anyway, I just like to declare myself a Centennial Diver.

Evening shot as our boat, the Island Explorer approaches Mersing. I chose this as our parting shot to close the this blog of my dive trip to Aur. It was a good dive. Better than Perhentian though I enjoyed the company I had there! But divers are an odd bunch. We're friends from the moment we joined the underwater fratenity. Until next time...

Departing view of Adventure Bay Resorts... our home for the past two days.

Robin and Audris busy completing their logbooks (which I continued to take pics) :)

Michelle, Huiqing and Shan busy completing their logbooks. I've stopped logging since my 63rd dive three years ago :)

Kelvin and Michelle teasing each other again. Michelle, a nurse, taught us about the concept of "pain transferrence". After bumping her head on the bulkhead of the Island Explorer, she hit Kelvin on this head to lessen HER pain. That's one skill I hope Steph never learns! :p

Me and Michelle (note Michelle's inside out shirt?) :)

Michelle and Audris

The beach outside Adventure Bay Resort. Pity about the little bits of hard corals though. I highly recommend having your booties on.

Think this was a school of Jacks. I was surprised that the wide-angle mode could work so well for a compact digital. Proves that its not the size that matters but how you use it. ;) BTW, did I tell you I have a big Nikon F4 with 80-200mm lenses as well? :p

Odd coral :)

Caught another tiny Goby

These cute little angels were around an inch long each... would have made lovely aquarium fishes... but I quickly perished the thought.

There was a part when the landscape was filled with these corals for as far as we could see. Looked like we were on another world. :) Vis was poorer cos of the runoff caused by a heavy by thankfully short thunderstorm.

After six unsuccessful attempts at trying to catch a diver mid-air as they do their giant stride entries... I gave up :) Hey, I'm still trying to get used to his new camera ok?

Lionfish. Pity it didn't want to face me. Sigh. I've always known I wasn't attractive enough :)

Bet these fries weren't french :)

A family of fish looks suspiciously at me. I'd bet that was daddy with his broadside towards me... shielding his family from "big bad Walter" bloob blob blob blob.