Last Day in Malaysia

So this is my last day in Malaysia. The first day was horrible with the humidity and no showering and everything, but in the end, it was pretty nice. The great times on Tioman island, scuba diving, the good food, great people, the near death experiences with the buses, crazy street vendors, and finally the last day with its bed bugs. They itch like crazy. I hope Indonesia will be just as fun, if not more fun. I don't know if I'll even come back to Malaysa, once is maybe enough, but as for now, goodbye Malaysia!

Malaysian Random Observations

• "Pulau" means island
• Malaysian English sounds a lot like Filipino English
• Lots of Malaysian men have beautiful silky long hair
• I don't find Malaysian women particularly attractive
• Malaysians are very aggressive with their businesses
• A lot of the Malaysian businesses that I dealt with don't point out the fine print
• You don't have to worry so much about theft on Tioman Island
• Muslim women swim, jog, and ride motorcycles with their hijab on


• There are a lot of bugs that I've never seen before
• I think Naomi would never leave Salang Village because there are so many cats there


• Malaysian food isn't as spicy as I thought (but I'm in a touristy place)
• A "20-minute walk" in Japan means 10 minutes, but in Malaysia, it means 30
• Many people look like Brian Cariaga, Nicole Kojima, or Nick Madrid out here
• Seeing a Malay boy riding a motorbike with his two sisters in the wooden box side car is funny
• Children on Tioman never seem to go to school
• You run into every foreigner at least 2 times on Tioman
• A bratty Malay kid is just as annoying as a bratty American, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Chinese, Black kid
• The fastest thing in Malaysia is a bus. The next fastest thing is an oil tanker truck
• I bet any Malay bus driver who watched Sandra Bullock drive that bus in Speed doesn't understand why it's an action movie
• Malay bus drivers are crazier than Taiwanese ones

Malaysia Pictures

Here are some of the pictures I've uploaded so far ... no scuba diving yet though ... that's coming soon

Malaysia

Malaysia Food

Restoran Yusoof - Kuala Lumpur - $1.50
• Garlic Naan - not bad
• Chicken tandoori - not bad
• Chicken Masala - not bad



McDonalds - Kuala Lumpur - $1.00
• Mango peach sundae - great on such a hot day



De' Arabelle's - Salang - $3.50
• Nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice) - great
• Freshly squeezed orange juice - sweet and best I've ever had




Salang Complex - Salang - $3.50
• Nasi goreng (fried rice) - pretty good, but lots of flies



Salang Indah Restoran - Salang - $1.50
• Butter jam toast - toast with butter and jam - trying to be safe before the dive
• Iced coffee - very sweet



Salang dreams - Salang - $4.50
• Kari - tastes just like Japanese Curry Udon
• Mee Hoon - thin noodle chow mein



Salang Pusaka - Salang - $8.00
• BBQ tuna - delicious with their spicy sauce
• BBQ eggplant - huge! About 18 inches (45cm)
• plain rice - tastes very clean, like Rice at Kiyoko's house



Sunset Cafe - ABC - $3.00
• Mee goreng - shrimp, squid, sausage, chicken chow mein. Very good
• Cold Tea mamak - local tea with milk. Tastes like boba tea



Sunset Cafe - ABC - $2.00
• Mee goreng - tastes like pad thai
• Hot Tea mamak - the sugary slime at the bottom was great!

Zinza's Cafe - ABC - $1.25
• Fried noodles - looks like jia jiang mien, tasted like every other noodle dish we had ... Delicious



Chinese Food Stall - KL Golden Triangle - $0.80
• Black Pepper Sausage Bun - it was my first meal in 24 hours so it was VERY good



Chicken Rice - KL Suria Mall Food Court - $2.00
• BBQ chcken rice - teriyaki chicken bowl



Chinese Food Stall - KL Golden Triangle - $0.80
• Dried Meat Bun - amazingly good



Shady Restaurant - Chow Kit Market - $1.60
• Mee Ayam - fried chicken soup - looked like crap, I was hungry



White Coffee House - China Town Central Central Market - $3.00
• Kaya Butter Toast - still can't taste the coconut
• Old Town White Coffee

Malaysian Accommodations

Nora's Chalet - Salang, Malaysia - $6
Good points
• cheap rate for AC
• Nora was a cute old lady

Bad points
• no flushing toilet
• lots of holes in the mosquito net
• when you call to reserve, Nora only takes half your information


Mokhtar's Place - ABC, Malaysia - $8
Good points
• 30 seconds from the beach
• Internet available for a fee
• Mosquito net and decent fan
• $2.50 snorkel rental for 2 hours
• Mokhtar's wife is very friendly and helpful

Bad points
• lots of mosquitos
• sandfly nest in the wall on the outside
• lots of loud motor bikes, helicopters, and planes passing by


Pujangga's Homestay - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - $12
Good points
• Huge lock on the front gate, felt safe
• The staff were pretty helpful with stuff
• Free breakfast service (Toast and cereal)
• Free Wi-fi
• Cheap drinks (1.5L Water for 60 cents)
• Cheap internet (1 hour for $2.50)
• Air Conditioning

Bad points
• Air Conditioning broke so we couldn't turn it off
• On the last night, we had bed bugs
• Some people were loud at night (I'm an old man)

Scuba Diving Pictures

Here are some of the scuba diving pictures ... I'll add more when Josie sends them to me...

Scuba Diving

Scuba Diving side effects

So I've been having some really bad toothaches te past couple of days and initially, I though cavity? Bit I've been brushing everyday so I ruled that out. Also, this morning it didn't hurt. I remember my instructors saying that your air pockets in your body could hurt after; sinuses, ears, and surprisingly, sometimes teeth. After looking up on the internet, I found similar cases. Some people said it would naturally go away. This other guy said he went divng again, and the pressure fixed it. As he surfaced, he heard a pop, spit out some blood, and he was fine. I hope I'm similar to the first guy.

...

This morning, my tooth hurt a lot more. While we were on the bus to the Batu Caves, it wad almost unbearable pain. I found that if I slightly tilty head to the right and open my jaw a bit, my sinuses would let out some pressure and I'd feel better. So all day, I looked like an idiot, but it felt good ... I'm not sure how many days I have to do it, but if it doesn't let up, maybe I'll go see a doctor ...

...

Last night was horrible. I had to sleep most of the night because of the pressure, but I'm actually feeling fine this morning. I knowmost of you are saying that I shouldn't have dived with a cold, because that might have been the reason. I know, and next time I won't.

Batu Caves

We started off this morning with a 45-minute bus ride to the Batu Caves, which are some 4 million-year old caves decorated with Hindu statues all over. The initial 272-step climb wasn't as bad as I thought. We saw lots of moneys along the way. One money was drinking water out if a puddle and when I started taking pictures of it, he got pissed, started hissing, then chasing me. I ran off with him chasing me for a little bit. The caves were very beautiful. They were very deep and had greenery along the opening and water trickling down. We spent most of the time taking pictures of monkies eating coconuts and chasing each other (and me). I think it was worth the $2.00 roundtrip bus ticket.






We got off the bus at Chow Kit to do some shopping, but the stores sucked, so we got back on the bus to go to Central Market. But the bus we got on wasn't one of the major bus companies so they waited about 10 minutes until they filled it with customers. But it was 10 minutes of AC so it was okay.

Petronas Towers

The Petronas Towers are the tallest buildings in Malaysia and the 4th tallest man-made structure in the world. It held the title for tallest until 2003. But it's pretty boring. We left the hostel at 7:30 this morning and lined up for 2 hours to get tickets. We don't even get to go to the top. Only about halfway up to the bridge joining the two buildings. Also, I think I got tired of seeing these city views after Taipei 101. I wasn't impressed and was actually a little bored. The buildings are pretty though, with it's silvery, shiny exterior. We're going back tonight to see it lit up. Perhaps it'll be better?


... 6 hours later ...

We went back to the Petronas Towers before sunset to take some night pictures. We got there about 45 minutes before the sun set and stayed there until it did. It was pretty nice. As the sun set, the lights on the tower started to light up and really started to look pretty with its silvery shimmer. City views from the top (or middle with the Petronas Towers) are not so interesting anymore, but views OF the building are still nice. We were situated in a park about a quarter-mile away. I'd rank the Petronas Towers as the prettiest building I've seen so far (but don't expect a list any time soon ... or ever). Nightview is much much better than day view.

Malaysian Bargaining

I was walking around KL last night in search of some food and I came across this Infian guy selling wallets. I haven't had the chance to really hear these hawk stalls trying to get my money so I decided to give it a shot. First off, he was very kind and telling me what he had. Then I asked how much, but he wouldn't tell me. He showed me the fake Louis Vuitton to prove how real the real LV was. "Smell. See ... Real leather." He even put up a flame next to the "real" one to show me it was real. I kept telling him that I was hungry and that I was going to go eat. He said, "I'm hungry too. You buy wallet and I go eat. You are from America, this price is nothing for you eh? Master! Master, what do say? I give you best price." He eventually went from about $50 to $8, but I can't eat a wallet so I left and got a black pepper sausage from the Chinese lady.

Walking down the streets of Kuala Lumpur, there are so many people trying to get you to buy stuff ... wallets, sunglasses, massages, "massages," taxi rides, durian. It's overwhelming and I'd rather buy a black pepper sausage bun from the very slow Chinese Malay lady who doesn't hassle me. I have to find some T-shirts for Kaho and Shoutarou so I'll see what I can do with my haggling.

Mersing to Kuala Lumpur (6 hours)

The bus between Kuala Lumpur and Mersing is a 5 hour stretch of road through a bast jungle with an occassional town or shop along the way. Going from Kuala Lumpur to Mersing was fine. I slept the whole time. The ride back, however ... It's a two lane road the whole way, but the bus spends more time in the the middle of both lanes than the one he's supposed to be in. Whenever there is a car in front if him, if he has a chance to pass it, he'll pass it. Even when it's damn near impossible, he'll still pass it. If there are 3 cars, a motorbike, and a truck in front of us, he'll pass them all just barely missing oncoming traffic. The bus we're in is the fastest thing on the road. If you drive slow, you'll know because EVERYONE will pass you. There's no waiting on the road.

At one point, I did manage to fall asleep, but I woke up to a near accident. All I felt was the driver suddenly hit the brakes. When I opened my eyes, I saw us almost smash the small, little, white car in front of us. The driver had to veer off to the side of the road to avoid it.

I'm also starving because I don't want any bowel problems during a 5 hour bus ride.

Right now, we're at a rest stop which looks like Boca del Rio, about double in size. If you're reading this entry, I didn't die ...

... it's been about 2 hours snce we took our break and it started raining really hard. I'm sitting right next to the roof emergency hatch and it's leaking water. Oh, also ... WE ALMOST DIED!!! The driver wasn't paying attention and all the cars were stopped ahead of him so he slammed on the breaks, everone lurched forward, and then he swerved across two lanes, and barely made into the shoulder before he almost hit a car. Josie said in her head I was screaming like a little girl. Everyone on the bus got mad and some of them started yelling at the driver.

We're drivng again, but he's still diving like an &?$@ing maniac! I honestly may die today ...

... nope, didn't die

Last Day on Tioman

I'm leaving Tioman with lots of good memories and a few shades darker. Mokhtar and his wife were very helpful and friendly. I'm glad we stayed at his place. Our neighbors were also very nice. Osama and Miriam would laugh at every attempt I made at trying to be funny and would always give me a friendly comment when they passed by. The view was great, the food was great, the weather was great most of the time. Falling asleep and waking to the sound of the ocean was very nice.

Something that was a little strange on ABC that I didn't notice on Salang was that everything would close between 5 and 7 in the afternoon and all the locals would migrate toward the Jetty to make sand castles. We noticed that when we tried to get dinner the first day and couldn't.

I don't think I'd ever do the trip from KL to here again (although we have to go back the same way tomorrow), but a quick boat ride or plane will get you here from Singapore. THAT, I wouldn't mind doing.

Tomorrow, it'a a 2 hour ferry, then a 5 hour bus back to 95 degrees and stormy KL. We're going toward all the lightning storms we saw across the horizon from here ... good luck to us.

..... morning addition .....

When I left Salang, I didn't have time to wash my underwear so I just brought it to ABC and ended up using it to wipe down the floor of the chalet. Then I just hung it on the porch the whole time ... The last day, we said goodbye to our neighbors across from us, I think perhaps a middle-aged German couple. We stopped at the next shop to buy some ice cream and the German lady went running past us ... holding my underwear!! I graciously took it and then threw it away at the next trash can.

Traveller's diarrhea

WARNING: only you guys with strong stomachs read on, otherwise, skip

So I heard a lot about getting diarrhea on these kinds of trips ...
• don't drink tap water
• don't rinse your mouth with shower water
• take セイロガン above all things

Well I don't know what I ate or drank, but it hit me the first day on Tioman. It really sucks because you know that if you eat something else, it'll happen all over again until your stomach gets used to it and it did.

I thought it might have been that orange juice the first day, but I rules that out. Jay from the die shop told us that our stomach hasn't produced the necessary bacteria to digest a new area's food, so out it comes. I think after 5 days of it, my stomach's finally settled down, but in 3 days, it's off to Indonesia. I hope I don't get it on a long haul bus ...

I wonder when we start meeting aliens from other planets, traveller's diarrhea will be a problem.

Islam

I'm reading the Intro to Islam pamphlets that I got from the mosque in KL. It makes me think a lot about religion and the methods they use to prove them. I'm not making fun if Islam, just the pamphlets that one mosque chooses to give out. This blog entry also gives a brief sumary of my brief study of Islam. Its not all bad, there are many good and interesting things in these pamphlets, but the extreme things
are very extreme! It's a long blog entry so skip it if you're not really intersted...

The first pamphlet is called "Prayer in Islam" and the questions on the first page are very anti-catholic.
• "No pictures, no idols, no symbols, then what do Muslims pray to?
• "No priests, then who guides the Muslims in prayer?
• "No chairs in Mosques, then where do Muslims sit when they pray?
• "Wouldn't it be better for me to get into a relaxed position and really speak from my heart?

There's another pamphlet, "Jihad," which starts off talking about what a Jihad is not. Honestly, I didn't know what a Jihad is.
• A jihad is "conveying the message of the one true god."
• Armed jihad is permitted only in self-defense.
• When others commit murders, their religion is never mentioned. But when Muslims resort to violence, Islam is pit on trial

"Too late for tears" is a poem about an angel coming to take away man's soul, but the man begs for a year or two to repent, and the angel ends with "there is no time for you to repent, I'll take your soul for which I am sent."

This one kinda puts the fear of Allah in a person's soul, but it's pretty similar to that story in the Bible where people are being taken away to heaven and someone asks to go back to warn his brother or something and the angel replies with "of he hasn't repented until now, he won't even if you tell him.

I suppose if someone I knew told me that they saw an angel and that they would be taken away and that I should repent because God or Allah is real, if that person were to disappear, I'd take it seriously.

A friend of mine at Mt. SAC told me that Muslims recite the Qur'an in Arabic. The more you can recite, the more you are rewarded in heaven. I never really fully grasped this, but in the "Reciting the Qur'an" pamphlet, it says "Recite the Qur'an to listen to Allah's words." That makes sense.


Other pamphlets ...
•Be upfront with others when you perform your Islamic duties by saying for example, "Excuse me for a few minutes, I need to pray to my Creator."
• Do not delay your marriage by waiting for the perfect person for you as there is no such person and only Allah is Perfect!
• By accepting Muhammad as the final Messenger of Gid, Christians embracing Islam are also accepting Jesus as a Messenger, and not "Son" of God.
• The Qur'an states that Allah The Exalted "is far above the need of having a son." It commands, "stop saying three" for "Allah is only One God."
• The belief that there are multiple gods is a firm if ignorance. The facts of life and mature do not support
• "just about everything that feminists in the West strived for in th 70's was already available to Muslim women 1400 years ago. Things like sexual needs met by her husband, a marriage contract, divorce, refuse a marriage proposal, and maintain her name when entering a marriage." I hadn't realized that Westerners couldn't refuse marriage proposals 50 years ago. Thanks for enlightening me Dr. Marican!
• The Bible requires women to "cover their head." [1 Corinthians 11:3-13]. Last time I read the Bible, 11 verses were more than 4 words.
• Critics of women's rights in Islam expose their hypocrisy by their silence toward the multi-billion dollar porn industry ($57 billion in 2006 in USA) that treats women like filth.

These pamphlets have a sorta anti-western culture twist to it, but the polygamy pamphlets ends with, "Extramarital affairs, free sex, prostitution, and humiliating women by describing them as sex workers - these are forbidden in Islam but are either legalized or tolerated in the pseudo-monogamy of the West!" Doesn't get more blatant than that.

Recently, Southpark retouched on their Allah episode and how Allah's image can't be shown. It pissed off a lot of Muslim groups to see Allah in a bear mascot outfit ... I thought it was funny. The pamphlets say "Allah is beyond the grasp of human vision. He is unlike anything that the human mind can imagine.".

In "Where is Allah" it says that "Allah does not resemble His creations.". I thought they used the Old Testament where it says that God created man in his image.

The pamphlet, "Sex in Islam," is an interesting one ...
• Either spouse should not refuse the other's request for sex except for special reasons such as menstruation, sickness, or fasting
• One who does anal sex has disbelieved in Islam
• The Qur'an permits all positions of vaginal intercourse
• Both spouses have a responsibility to groom themselves to remain attractive to each other throughout their married lives
• Islam emphasizes foreplay and advises husbands to be sensitive to the feelings oftheir wives by saying, "Let none of you fall upon his wife like a donkey falls upon a she donkey."
• In Islam, sexual inability is a legitimate ground for divorce

So that's it ... I spent the last 3 hours reading about Islam to the sounds of waves breaking on the shore and in conclusion, I think Dr. Y Mansoor Marican, Ph.D doesn't like America

Hike to Juara

So I got Josie sick and she's almost dying. I decided to hike to the Juara waterfall by myself. I read in my guidebook that there was a 7-eleven on the way and only one road that leads to Juara so what do I do, I figured I didn't need it and I left my guidebook back at the chalet. Stupid!

I got up at 5:30 and walked 25 minutes from from ABC to Tekek. From Tekek, its 2 hours to Juara, which has a scenic beach, and only 1 hour to the waterfall. I figured I could get to the waterfall and back before 9:00. I saw one road leading toward the eastern part of the island, but I saw another road about a quarter mile (400m) further down, then another one. I took the biggest road and walked about 10
minutes only to find an enclosed construction site. Also, I didn't see a 7- eleven.

By now, the sun was coming up and I though it would get hot, so I decided to give up and go back to ABC.

When I got back, I looked at my guidebook and saw that if I walked about 10 minutes further down the big road, I would have found the 7-eleven and THAT'S where I should have turned east. Oh well ... Next time.

Malaysian Business

Malays are very friendly, but some are friendly because they are trying to rip you off ...

• 5/1 - KL - We exchanged money in Kuala Lumpur at some counter. We confirmed the exchange rate, but when we got our money, we were short. The guy said after that the rate for bills under $100 were a lower rate.
(RIPPED OFF 1 cent)

• 5/5 - Salang - We ate at Salang Pusaka. My bill should 19.50 ringgits, but was charged 20.
(RIPPED OFF 18 cents)

• 5/1 - Mersing - Bought a roundtrip boat ticket on the mainland from Mersing to Tioman Island. 4 days after getting to Tioman, we find out that if we leave on Saturday, May 5th, we have to reserve a seat because it's a holiday ... Now we have to pay a booking fee to ensure a seat.
(RIPPED OFF $2.00)

5/1 - Mersing - got off the night bus and bought a ferry ticket. Went to the jetty and another seller asked us if we had a ticket to which we replied yes. Then we asked him when the first ferry was. He snapped, "I DON'T KNOW. YOU ALREADY BOUGHT A TICKET FROM SOMEONE ELSE." ... Wasn't ripped off, but he was a dick so he goes in this section.

• 5/6 - ABC - Asked the guy at "YP Chalets" if 30 ringgits (about $10) was for an AC room. He replied, "You think 30 ringgits can get you AC?" ... Dick! I think YP is short for mala YP rick.

• 5/7 - ABC - The restaurant next to our place is called "My Friend's Place.". He tried to sell me a 1.5L bottle of water for 8.50 ringgits, but I know that's too much, so I walked down about 5 minutes to the another store and got the same for 3.50 ringgits. That first guy needs to change the name to "My Friend's Place ... but he's a dick"
(SAVED $2.00)

• 5/8 - Mersing - We bought our bus ticket back to Kuala Lumpur. We paid 30 ringgits and after looking at the ticket, it was 29.80 ringgits.
(RIPPED OFF 8 cents)

Air Batang (ABC)

ABC is only about 5 miles (8km) south of Salang, but it's so different. I only saw 1 cat here. It's not as busy and it's much more spread out. I like Salang much better.

I gave Josie my cold, so she spent the first 3 hours sleeping in the chalet, Mokhtar's place. I slept too, but on the beach ... gotta get rid of that farmer's tan. This time around, we don't have AC so it's pretty hot, but the wind's strong here so it's manageable. There's also a sandfly nest in the wall on the outside.

I woke up, then went snorkeling. A mask, snorkel, and fin rental is only $2.50 for 2 hours. Josie key me use her camera so I went and took about 1 gig of pictures and videos. The coral here wasn't nearly as good as Fam Canyon from yesterday's dive, but for $2.50, it was fine.


There were plenty of fish though. Hundreds of fish in schools. One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. There were some fish that came right up to me and actually followed me for a while. I wasn't sure if they were harmless or not so I got out of there. Then I began thinking. We dived down to 60 feet (30m) yesterday and there weren't any signs of danger. So fish only 10 feet (3m) below me probably aren't going to eat me, so I went back and lo and behold, there they were. But they just hung out with until I finished my dive.


There is this couple staying not too far from us. Two foreign exchange students going to university near KL. Osama is from Yemin studying engineering. I passed up all oppotunities to take a stab at his name cuz I'm sure he's heard it all before. And his girlfriend Miriam from Germany is studying Economics. They met in Malaysia and are vacationing on Tioman for the week. They're a very nice couple. They went snorkeling together and she went out in just her bra and panties ... but for some reason, I don't know why, it seems very German to me.

Josie and I went to dinner at the sunset cafe and saw a nice sunset, as well as a brewing lightning storm off shore. I hope that doesn't mess up our plans for tomorrow or they day after.

The Not-So-Modern Toilet

If Malaysia made a toilet themed restaurant like Taiwan did, it would be complete shit! In our place in Salang, Nora's Chalet, the toilet flusher wouldn't work, but there was a big bucket next to the faucet. So after you finished your duty, you'd have to fill the bucket and pour it into the bowl to simulate a flush.

I only knew about this because I had read it on a website two weeks ago ...

http://www.talesofasia.com/toilets.htm




Our place in ABC, Mokhtar's place, has an actual flushing toilet. The sound of the toilet flush is like music to my ears.

Last Day in Salang

Our last day in Salang village was today and I have nothing but good things to say about the place. The water was clear and blue, the food was delicious, and the people were some of the friendliest people I had ever met. Alfian, Mazlan, and Jay at Fisherman's Divers were awesome. We hung out at their shop for 4 days like it was our home. We met their friends Penyu and Baby, who came along with us on the dive. They gave us their numbers and told us to call them when we get back to KL.

Penyu had some really great stories about the pranks he and his friends would pull while diving. Him and his friends would go around and turn off each other's air supplies and wait for them to run out of air and try desperately with their eyes bulging, gasping for air, to twist it back on. Each scuba unit has two air sources, one is an extra in case your buddy runs out of air. It supposed to be clamped to your suit so when Penyu sees a friend who forgot to strap it, he'd go and steal air until they run out. They have to resurface and he still has a full tank of air.

(Alfian, Josie, Me, Penyu)

Him and his girlfriend, baby, gave us lots of recommendations for places to go in KL. That was good because so far, we didn't like it.

Pequi was great to meet too. He told us lots of stories about his travels and gave us advice on Indonesia. I also shared a couple beers with him of course. On the boat dive, we met a few people too.

Leigh, who's been traveling for the past 14 monthes, told me about diving in Koh Tao in Thailand and how it's marketed as the cheapest place to dive in the world ... so you'll probably see and entry in a couple weeks from there.

I was sad to leave Salang, but we're going to head a little bit south on the Island to Air Batang and then hike to Juara the next day.

Scuba 3rd day

We met at 9:00, packed up our gear, and got on a speed boat. It was Mazlan and Jay from the dive shop, their friends Penyu and Baby, Pequi, Josie, and me, and 3 other divers out for a fun dive. The first site, Chebeh Island, was about 15 minutes out and it was as blue as a Japanese green traffic light (very blue).


We jumped in and did our 5 point descent ... WOW!!! Water filters out certain colors, so everything looks a bit dull, but even with that, it was amazing. It feels like flying, only very slowly. Hovering over huge coral reefs with thousands of fish is breath-taking ... Good thing I had a regulator to breathe.

There were schools of hundreds of fish circling overhead, multicolored fish like the intro to Saved By The Bell, sea slugs again, etc. Mazlan let me take some pictures, which were pretty difficult. I'd see a bunch of Nemos in an anemone and get up close to take a photo. Then before I could take it, I'd breath in and start floating away ... but I think I got a few good shots. What do you guys think?



We spent about 50 minutes on the first dive and then had lunch on a lagoon that would put Gilligan's island to shame.

Our second dive was just as amazing. It was a place called Fan Canyon. This place had such beautiful coral formations. Walls of coral with enormous drop offs and rises. When you take a flash photo of the dull colors underwater, the vibrant, brilliant, spectacularness comes out.



At one point, the instructors got everone's attention (they tap a metal pointer against their tank) to show us something. We all gathered around, but all I saw was sand and rocks. Even when they got up close and started taking pictures in a space no bigger than two feet, I still didn't know what they were looking at. Even when I saw the pictures on the camera after we got on the boat, I still couldn't see anything. Only after we got back to the dove shop and Mazlan showed us a book of fish, did I sorta make out the fish. It was called a scorpionfish and it looks just like a rock.

(Can you make out the scorpion fish?)

It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done and would definitely do it again. Everyone, go and get your PADI open water scuba diving certification because I need some dive buddies.