Road Trip to Krabi, Thailand....(part 2)

The bus or tut tut which ever you may want to call it arrived on time at 8.30 am to pick us up to the jetty. It was a short ride to the place...when we arrived there, many people were waiting to board their boats for the island hopping trip...mostly Europeans...

When I saw at the boat taking us on the trip, I was rather happy...a wooden boat. As a diver, I prefer to ride on the wooden boat rather than on the fibre boat. Wooden boat is a lot tougher...Another thing is, the boats in Krabi do not use the usual boat engines...I think these boats are using modified car engines....

However my elderly mother (72 years old) was a bit apprehensive about how to board the boat... it was not so difficult after all...but what actually worry her most was during the boat ride....it is normal for the boat to sway a bit to the left and right when people are boarding and immediately after it started to move...I can see her reciting prayers non stop during the boat journey...she was worried because all her family was in one boat...if anything were to happen..the whole family would have perished...but I told her not to worry about anything...all of us wore life jackets...and there were many boats around..to help if anything were to happen... 

When we arrived at the first island, my heart sank...the water was murky...not crystal clear like in many dive sites that I have been to...but to the rest of the people there, they were really enjoying the place...my whole family was happy playing in the water...[what to say...they have not seen the best yet, I suppose...] On the second island where we did snorkelling, my youngest son, Luqman was the happiest...so did I...hihi...prompting a sharp remarks from my wife...anak dengan bapak sama...bila kena air masin baru hidup (in my mind...betoi tu..hihi)....however the water was not clear and not much corals and fishes to see....[In my mind at that time was should I continue with the diving plan on the next day...if this is how it look, nothing much to see underwater]. We went on to the third island to have lunch and continued with playing in the water...all of them really enjoyed the beach, sun and sea...We arrived back at around 4 pm and everyone was tired and burnt...hihi...

The next day, I continued with my plan to dive at the Krabi local islands...my wife in her usual "supportive" mood planned to go to the spa with the two girls.... at my expense!!!...haha...no free lunch maa!!!...I left early that day. The pick up from Kontiki arrived at 7.30 am and I arrived at the meeting point 10 minutes later after picking up 2 German guys at another hotel. There was another girl from Finland doing her OWD as well. I only found out that I will be diving with the dive master...Max, a young chap from Finland. The others will dive with other dive master or instructor.

As expected, nothing much to see...not much corals nor fishes...the visibility was not good, around 5 meters and the water was sort of greenish...aiks...but since I was really in the mood for diving...we continued to dive at 3 different spots...not having my usual buddies

around and with bad viz, I didn't really took the time to look for things down there...however I came across some razor fishes dancing and that reminded me of the sunset dive at Mataking...I took some video but by the time I raised my head, Max was no longer around...mesti hilang punya...the last time this happened was when I dived in Tioman...ini sebab buddy tak paham perangai saya ler...but this time around I wasn't panicking or anything...I just swam looking for bubbles or anything shining...soon I saw Max again...On the boat I chatted with the guys...Max was quite happy with my buoyancy....(betul ler!!!...buoyancy dah okay dah...hihi)...however the rest of the guys were a bit reserve thinking that I was some sort of "otai" diver...biasa ler...mat saleh nie susah sikit nak kawan...We arrived back to the mainland at around 4 pm...


One month before we went for the trip, I told my brother and brother in law that custom made clothes are cheap in Krabi. Just like in Sukhumvit area in Bangkok, there are many custom made tailors in Krabi. I have made several suits or pants in Bangkok whenever I went there...actually for the price that I am paying, it really worth every penny I paid...the quality is not bad but the service is excellent...where on earth you can get a nice suit in less than 12 hours at a very cheap price???...In fact the tailor delivers the suit to your hotel. In KL, normally it will cost me not less than RM2000 for a nice wool suit but in Bangkok you  will surely get one for around RM500-600...Just walk in any tailor shops and talk to them...normally they will test you if you know about the materials and will offer you something cheap around B3000 for a full suit...But if you know what you are looking for, just tell the tailor and he will show you all the nice materials...of course the price will double up to B5000-6000 but if you compare anywhere else...I am sure you can't get at that price...and the service is excellent!!!...Try for yourself if you don't believe me...

I advised my brothers to bring one pair of their best trousers so that the tailor can see how to measure them....My brother cut a suit each for him and his two boys, my brother in law cut a suit and two shirts ....and for myself, I cut three pairs of wool/cashmere pants...I don't need any more suits since I have many in the wardrobe...but I bought 4 pieces of cotton cloth for the shirts...I prefer Malaysian tailor to sew my shirts...I paid about RM140 each for the wool/cashmere pants which in KL would cost me around RM300 each...and for the shirt cloth, it cost me around RM60 a piece which normally would cost me RM120 in KL. Tailoring in KL would normally cost me another RM90 a shirt.

On the last day, we decided to buy breakfast from one of the gerai by the road side...(I had enough of hotel food...makan roti dengan telur saja)...I was surprised when I saw the food they sold...in fact the food is the same that I am eating in KL...I even found ketupat palas there...and the way it is wrapped is exactly the same if I were to wrap it...(wei..I can wrap ketupat palas you know) ...by now I realised that we are the same people except we live in different country... 


Halal food in fact is not a problem at all in Krabi....the village near Aonang is mostly populated by Muslim...when we drove around the village, we saw a big mosque in  the town area...Many of village people sell street food near Aonang beach...quite tasty though and the prices are reasonable...This is one of the place where food is not a problem when on holiday overseas...

Krabi is very popular with tourist mostly from Europe and Scandinavia. When I was there, t

he Scandinavian really filled up the place....may be because back home in Finland or Norway the temperature is something like -10^oC...at this time of the year...how lucky am I to live here... warm all year round...I found that people from Scandinavia usually takes long holiday...the guy I was talking to in Gili Air earlier this year told me that he and his family were on holiday for almost 2 months...travelling to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia...I am sure they can do that because their money worth a lot more here and the food is definitely moretastier here...orang putih sekarang pun dah mula makan nasi dan kari... for me...I cannot go on without my nasik kandaq and teh tarik for more than 3 days...mesti lapar dan dahaga...hihi... 

I would recommend Krabi for family holidays but for the honeymooners, the hubby kena pandai jaga mata ler...mermaids in two piece suit are everywhere on the island hopping trip...hihi...hotels are nice, halal food is not a problem and it does not cost a bomb to go there...and the service is always good...psst...and don't forget to try foot massage...tapi bini kena ikut ler...

One of the big plus point about Thai tourism is their service. I have traveled to many places but nowhere can matched Thai's level of service...theirs' is excellent...

Finally, not much to write about driving back home except it took us about 12 hours to reach Bukit Mertajam. We drove leisurely and stopped to buy some pineapple by the roadside...(mothers' wish...she kept reminding us about the pineapple on the way back)....I was quite surprised that the R&R in Trang actually serves for Muslim. There are big suraus for male and female and they serve halal food there. One of the vendor I spoke to came from Patani.... Crossing the border in Danok was easy since there was not many people left at 9 pm...Overall the trip was enjoyable and Alhamdulillah everything was according to the plan... 

May be one day I will drive again to South Thailand... but this time I will go to Koh Lanta...


Bye for now... 

[p/s - I drove there in my 8.5 year old Nissan Serena...that will be the last trip we went together in that car. The family has grown up and we don't need an MPV any more...the car was so good to us...]

Road trip to Krabi, Thailand....(part 1)

I decided to do things differently this time...going on family holiday by car....just to get different experience this time round....

I have taken my family for holidays to many places. Normally for local destinations, we go by car or fly but we fly when we go overseas... We have been to Beijing, Jakarta/Bandung, Singapore and the last one was to Turkey (I will blog something on Turkey later). We have been to Padang Besar/Hat Yai by train though but we have never drove to overseas destination. Well, this time we just want to try driving to Krabi, Thailand.

I convinced my sisters and brother to tag along on this trip and they all agreed. We quickly divide the job. My eldest sister, Suhana plans for the route, me...to look for the accommodation and my brother, Shahril... to look for activities in Krabi. None of us have been to Krabi before and we only have the internet to rely upon. The blogs by those who have been there before really helped us a lot. Some of the blogs gave explicit explanations of what to expect and; step by step guide for those who want to drive to Krabi. A lot of advice and tips are given by them. The knowledge boost our confidence and this make our planning easier.

In total there were 21 pax in our entourage. My mother, 7 siblings + spouses, my cousin and the anak-anak totalling 11 pax. We finally decided it is going to be a 4D/3N holiday, island hopping and some inland activities. Since we have saved on the transportation cost, we decided to pamper ourselves with good accommodation.  From the online photos, the hotels look beautiful and the activities look interesting for the children. I quickly booked 10 rooms at Apasari Hotel, Aonang, a 4 star hotel. [note: 2 weeks later, we found out the hotel is fully booked during that period, ...sigh... lucky... Krabi must be popular]

We decided to go for the trip from 30 Nov - 3 Dec. Just a few days before the holiday I told my friend Shaharuddin about the trip and he quickly looked at the google map.... and told me the road distance from Bukit Mertajam to Krabi is about 500 km. What???...500km...then only I learnt it is going to be a 10 hour drive or more from Bukit Mertajam to Krabi...it is almost like 900km from Kuala Lumpur to Krabi....OMG!!!...I have never drove that far before in one go....better not let my family know about this...just let them "feel" it...

My brother decided to fly to Krabi since he has office annual dinner on Friday night and will not have enough time to drive back to my mother's house in Bukit Mertajam. My eldest sister and her family together with mine drove back to Bukit Mertajam on Friday night to my my mother's place. My two younger sisters Mimi and Oya, my cousin Ridzuan and my mother will move out together by the next morning. Shahril and his family will join us in Krabi in the afternoon.

We set out early on morning 30th Nov. After a quick briefing and a short prayer, we moved out in 2 MPVs and 1 car. My brother in law, Wan Izni led the convoy. We stopped for a quick breakfast at the Gurun R&R and the next stop was in Changlun shortly before we passed the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration Complex. There were quite a few things that we have to sort out in Changlun. Firstly we have to buy insurance for the vehicles to enter into Thailand and secondly we have to convert some money. We also topped up petrol for the cars. The insurance cost us RM25/- for the MPV and RM18/- for the car. The clerks at the counter also helped us out to fill in the embarkation card for a fee of RM1/- each for every passport. This saved us time at the border.

We arrived at the Immigration Complex at around 11 am. By then, there were thousands of people already there. It looked a bit messy on the Thai side since the signage was not very clear and the people
are queuing everywhere.  However the system is not complex but because of the flow is not properly arranged, coupled with the large number of people making the place look very crowded and unmanaged. It took us about one hour to sort out the paperwork and finally we entered Thailand. Since Thai's time is one hour late...the local time was still 11 am.

We stopped at the nearby shoplot immediately after the border to buy the phone prepaid card. B50/- for the prepaid, B50/- for top up and B200/- for the unlimited data. I think it is a good deal because for RM30 we can get all the communication services needed. We continued driving...I just followed my brother in law who has been tasked to lead the convoy... tailing him from behind...sort of blindly...mana paham pun signboard tulisan Thai...hehe...




Since we spotted a mosque earlier near Hat Yai where the restaurant next to it serves halal food, we continued looking for a similar landmark. After about 2 hours of driving and all of us were getting hungry, we saw a mosque and spotted a restaurant by the roadside in Mae Khari district. True enough, the restaurant serves halal tomyam food. What amaze us, the people there can speak Malay...sort of Patani Malay....



We had a good lunch...tomyam, rice, chicken, etc...very similar food when you order in local tomyam restaurant...after lunch I ordered my usual Teh Tarik... pun ada...happy... My wife spotted a nice pisang goreng stall and decided to try the pisang goreng...the husband and wife who sell the pisang goreng can also speak Malay. The wife was studying Quran in Satun (actually, my grandfather roots originated from Satun) where people over there still converse in Malay but Malay is not widely spoken by the younger generations anymore...

Actually, we drove along the main trunk road called Phetkasem Road, route 4. The main town/city that we passed through were Hat Yai and Phatthalung before reaching Krabi. The road is in good condition and there was not much traffic like in Malaysia. At some point, the road has to pass through several towns and this slows down the speed. The only difference, we spotted there were many long trailers on the road, used for carrying farms supplies and produce. Thailand is still very much an agricultural country.

At about 6 pm, we finally arrived in Krabi...like almost 12 hours on the road...by then I have to switch on the phone road map to look for Aonang...the phone and GPS work amazingly...it really guides us to the the destination...Aonang is not a big town but since we were new there, nothing look familiar...but it was not difficult at all to look for the hotel...after a few turns...there it was...since we booked online earlier bestnyer...I took one room and the other is for my eldest sister....
and for 10 rooms, the reception staff has kindly upgraded two rooms...on the ground floor in front of the swimming pool.....

After freshened up, we went for a simple dinner...I found out there are many street vendors selling Muslim food...normal food that we eat back home...nasi goreng, koay teaw goreng, tomyam etc...and the prices are reasonable..ranging between B50-100...just like RM5-10...there were many mat sallehs also ate the food...amazing...mat sallehs eating street food...

After dinner, my brother and I went out looking for the island hopping trip for the next day activity...We decided to book one whole boat for ourselves...big family kan!!!...Finally we got a boat for B14,000...3 local islands including lunch and snorkelling...Pickup from hotel was at 8.30 am...(continue in part 2)

Dive, dive and more diving....2013 year of diving !!!

Me and Zaide...behind is Black Pearl LOB

It has been an incredible year for diving…I have now been transformed from a novice to an experienced diver…it was a very satisfying year for diving. Now I am hooked on diving and can appreciate why some divers go to many far and remote sites just looking for one special thing. Satisfaction...pure satisfaction...puas hati tengok dengan mata sendiri...Along the way I also got myself hooked in underwater photography and videography. I have captured some beautiful photos and videos and now make a point to capture as many beautiful underwater creatures and sceneries…before they are gone forever….

At Gili Air, Lombok

At the final count, I logged in 35 dives this year and to date I have logged in a total of 51 dives. Quite impressive ehh!!! Despite my hectic work schedules and family commitment, I managed to squeeze in the time for this enriching and satisfying experience. Starting in Gili Air in February, Tioman (Jun), Perhentian (Jun), Mataking/Sipadan (Oct), Sibuan (Nov) and finally in Krabi in December.  What a year!!! Along the way I met new friends whose friendship had also enriched me further as a diver. By now I have done boat dive, shore dive, giant leap and live abroad; practically all diving styles…various depths, visibility, groups etc. 

Even though I was certified as an Advanced Open Water Diver in September 2012, my diving skills only improved in 2013 after my dives in Lombok and Tioman. I managed to master the buoyancy skill....one of the most important skills in diving.  Now my buoyancy and breathing have improved so much that even my instructor Linn is very impressed with me....lega, sekarang tak payah lari dari Linn lagi...hihi. Along the way I have accumulated a complete diving gears and a set of underwater camera. I got myself an Aqualung regulator and a Zeagle BCD. 

Zeagle BCD

Even though they are not the most expensive items but they are really good especially the BCD. Thanks Man BD and Linn for your recommendation!!! I also bought a Canon G1X compact camera and the underwater housing, however the camera unfortunately cannot do macro photography but is excellent in taking photos and videos. I shot this video when I was diving in Sibuan in Nov.  A Beautiful Day In Sibuan I wanted to do macro photography but need to get a new camera...maybe this time round I have to consider something better...how about a DSLR???

Orange Divers

I also started a dive group in TM. We are called Orange Divers. With the help from Roznee, we managed to get five guys from TM to get the OWD in September 2013. Congratulations to Jamal, Bashir, Diana, Hasrie and Safuan. Next March; Asmadi, Zaidi and Hamidon will go for their certification. These guys will also be trained by the Urban Island Divers (UID) instructors. I hope more TM guys will join this group. 

Man BD and Linn are the soul of UID whilst Man Kecik, Jimi and Kamil are the ones who manage the

Frog fish in Sibuan

base…. I am very comfortable with all of them. Apart from being friendly, they really look after your safety and comfort. They are not imposing but always teach us by sharing their knowledge. That’s why I like them. I learned a lot that way…(I hate those who are very strict on the rules and always raised their voice just because they know a bit more)…

Mataking Buddies

Of all the dive sites that I have been to, Sipadan is the best followed by Gili Air, Sibuan and Mataking…the rest are okay but Krabi local islands is not recommended. What sadden me is the fact that I am seeing the corals and fishes dying due to many factors but the biggest are due to global warming and human irresponsible activities. I don’t know how long the corals will last but I want to see them with my own eyes; photograph and video the marine lives before they are gone forever.

The Baldies

On the diving trip, my usual dive buddies are Man BD, Linn, Roznee, Shahrina, Anne and Ejoi. Others are Effi, Khalili and Min. Since all of us are also certified at UID making us “click” well with each other easily. I am more relax when diving with my buddies and love to dive with them whenever possible. We look after each other during the dive … sometimes I was left behind by the group when I started shooting video (I have to focus on the camera screen maa..), but Ejoi or Shahrina will normally stay close to me… 

Divers at Sha's wedding

However the single ones are getting married one by one and soon I will have to find new buddies to dive with me. The two dive buddies that know me well underwater are Shahrina and Ejoi but Shahrina has just recently got married. I think the Mataking/Sipadan trip last October will be her last dive trip before the next one, if any. Thank you Sha for being a good buddy.

I have planned a few dive trips in 2014 beginning with Perhentian in March (check out dive for 2014) to be followed by Komodo in April. I have also promised the Orange Divers gang to dive with them in Tioman sometime in May or June. We have yet to set the date.

Till the next blog….good bye 2013…a very fulfilling, enriching and memorable year. Lastly, I would like to thank my wife for being very “supportive” on my newly acquired hobby…. Thank you darling….

Bye for now....

Scuba diving....(part 3)

[Advanced Open Water Diver (AOWD) is another level in PADI Scuba diving certification]

Dah jenuh kena racun dengan otai2...termakan jugak ler akhirnye!!!  So I decided to take up the AOWD at UiD and they told me that Man Kecik was to be my instructor. I have never met Man Kecik before because the last time (in April) I went to Perhentian, he was not around. He has to attend to some personal matters. So I was really looking forward to meet Man Kecik...my would be instructor...

We went to Perhentian again in late September 2012 as the diving season will be closing soon in October. As usual, Roznee arranged everything including buying the bus ticket and the accommodation. The divers who joined me were Roznee and her daughter Kak Long (the eldest), Lin, Man BD and his daughter Kakak. Our bus departed from Hentian Putra at 10pm and arrived early in Kuala Besut the next morning. Nothing really unusual during the journey other than chatting on whatever came to our minds. Linn told me earlier that a group of people from Iskandar Malaysia, Johor will be joining us at Kuala Besut and one of them is joining me to do AOWD. We met them at Kuala Besut and after a good breakfast we quickly left for Perhentian.

I was introduced to Man Kecik immediately after arriving at the dive centre. The description 'kecik' fits him. Not that he is small, but may be because there are too many 'Mans' around...so you have to pick up a nick name and kecik fits him well...actually he looks the same size as Man BD. I was excited to start the lessons when I found out that Man Kecik has to handle other things in the office and requested Linn to be the instructor....what!!! Linn jadi instructor??? Alah....macam mana nak belajar dengan perempuan cantik nie??? [I did not complained out loud, only in my heart ler... takut malu kalau tak boleh buat...hehe]

Without much fuss...she handed the Adventure in Diving manual to both Ayu and me and asked us to read 5 chapters....banyaknye... [1. Peak Performance Buoyancy 2. Underwater Navigator 3. Wreck diving. 4. Deep Diving and 5. Night Diving]. You have to have at least 5 of these skills before you can get the AOWD certification. Initially I thought 'bole kawtim' dengan Linn....no need to read the thick manual...just listen to her explanation cukup ler.... Oh dear!!! how wrong was I. Not only I have to read the manual chapter by chapter, but she also 'nicely requested' us to answer all the questions in every chapter and she personally autographed at the bottom of every tests... depa nie betoi2 ikut buku ler....tak kasi chance langsung...After a long struggle (because not enough sleep since I was sleeping in the bus last night....hehe...excuse... ler) I managed to complete the first chapter on Peak Performance Buoyancy. We stopped the classroom lesson and quickly gear up to learn the skill underwater....

Before boarding the boat Linn ran through the skills that she will be teaching us things like proper weight, breathing control, streamlining, visualisation and hovering....what hovering again???!!! Ini yang aku lemah nie...true enough I can do other skills as her expectation but not hovering....I have to do it many times....up...down...up...down...even trying to visualise macam jinn pun tak brapa nak jadi jugak....ini yang aku tak suka belajar dengan perempuan (cantik) nie...strict sangat!!! Either what I did was okay or dah lama sangat...she eventually let me off the hook (sebenarnya dia tak puas hati lagi...later when I dived with her in Lombok, in our first dive, the first thing she asked me to do after reaching the bottom was hovering again!!!...lemah aku...nasib baik current kuat...terlepas...hehehe).

The other skills were quite straight forward since I still remember the basic skills from the OWD training earlier and I have dived at Sugar Wreck before, so I already have the experience in wreck diving. The other skill that I still have to do is Night Diving...actually I was afraid to do night diving...takut jaws...tapi yang dok racun aku buat AOWD nie banyak otai2 perempuan...damn!!! malu ler kalau tak buat Night Diving... Ayu my course mate dia tak kisah sangat...pasal kawan dia pun ikut sama during the Night Dive...bole pegang-pegang tangan lagi during the dive...actually it was very dark underwater...the only way to see where other divers were, was by looking at the torchlights they were holding... we were afraid of hitting the stone or corals underwater....so everyone dived close to each other...takut hilang pun sama...then naturally everyone start bumping into each other...langgar sana...langgar sini...boleh dengar bunyi tank langgar...but one thing I really learned was how to identify your team mates/buddy that is by looking at one or two distinctive items that they normally wear such as fins or dive comp...at the end of the dive I realised that it was not so scary after all...tak ada jaws pun....Lega, finally I was a certified AOWD.

Now having more knowledge and experience (in total I have made 15 dives to date), I can better control my buoyancy and breathing. That allows me to stay longer underwater...no more 30 minutes thingy underwater...I can stay up to 65 minutes under water and still have 50 bars to go....hehehe... confident maa! So I decided to have one last fun dive before going back to KL...

I joined the Iskandar Malaysia guys to dive at Batu Capeng...this dive site is quite fun since you have to dive through some boulders...going up and down through the boulders...in certain area the water is calm but at some places you really have to fight the current...

Kamil was the dive master and I was right behind him all the times.... Jimi followed us at the back of the pack... It was fun showing off to the Iskandar guys because some of them were just recently certified and they were having problems controlling buoyancy (and air as well)...At one point, I was really fighting the current and was holding on to some rocks...sort of climbing up and down the rocks....as I was about to hold on to one edge of the rock when suddenly Kamil pushed my hand off. I don't quite understand why he did that but ahh... never mind lah...

Later on the boat going back to the dive centre Kamil asked me..."tadi abang nampak tak stonefish?" What??? What stonefish I asked....then he told me that stonefish is one of the venomous fish and it can really hurts....Kamil saw the stonefish and pushed my hand away...Kamil went on jokingly saying..."kalau abang pegang stonefish tadi.... boleh balik Kuala Besut free...naik ambulance...hehehe"...I am really thankful to Kamil for looking after me...

I realised that I have a lot more to learn about diving...what is safe and what is not... how to handle currents, breathing, buoyancy, weight and many more things like to identify fire corals....and lots of tips... diving with Man BD and gang make me feel safe...both Man and Linn really take care of us....and they are a fun gang to dive with as well...


Bye for now....

Scuba diving...(part 2)

Now.... I am a certified OWD....but tak ada geng nak pergi diving...problem!!!

As I told before, I don't know many people who are into scuba diving. Anyway east coast diving season has not opened yet...relax saja la...ada lesen tapi tak boleh pergi diving...rasa rugi sangat. Only a few of my office mates knew I am a diver...one of them is Bad Tarha. Bad connected me to Roznee...I didn't really know her but sebab gian sangat nak pergi diving, I asked if I can join her diving trip. Bukan semua orang nak bagi outsiders to join their group but Roznee was accommodating. She was grinning when I told her that I would like to join her group...

Diving nie pun macam driving jugak ler...walaupun dah ada lesen tapi kena ada banyak experience baru la pandai...Nak banyak experience kena banyak practice ler...tapi nak pergi diving kena ada geng...pening jugak!!!...Kalau tak ada geng....macam jalan sorang2 kat London...tempat best tapi tak syok!!!...

Once the east coast season open in March 12, Roznee quickly arranged the diving trip together with the Urbanisland Divers or UiD. We went to Perhentian in April where UiD operate its dive centre.

Roznee arranged everything for me...including buying the bus ticket from Hentian Putra to Kuala Besut (in fact she bough the tickets for the whole gang).... I first met Man BD and Nurul Azlifah of UiD at Hentian Putra. There were quite a few other divers as well which I met for the first time like Jijoe, Yusof, Lan, Shikin and Spoket. Roznee came with her daughter Mimi and the last to arrive was Sharina. It was a bit of surprise to find out that she is also into scuba diving...she doesn't look like one in the office...Amin, my friend was to join us in Kuala Besut since he has to visit his project site somewhere in Kenyir. Then, suddenly a whole big group was going for the diving trip. I knew this is going to be fun but deep inside...these are otai compared to me a newbie....baru 5 kali dives...lets see how it goes....

We arrived early morning in Kuala Besut and after breakfast we took the boat to Pantai Teluk Dalam, Pulau Perhentian Besar where UiD operates its' dive centre. We stayed at Samudra Beach Chalet for 3D/2N... and the plan was to do 5 dives....Jimi and Kamil, the dive instructors at UiD were there to receive us...

Immediately after arriving we gear up and raring to go....happy...lama tak kene air masin...hehe...After 2 dives my diving hasn't really improved...breathing, equalisation and buoyancy are still the main problem...I listened to advice and tips from other divers after each dives. Man BD was very supporting...he kept saying everyone goes through the same thing...One thing though, Man was very good at taking photos. Even though he uses a compact camera which he called "kamera tikam" but he is very artistic...I really like his photos.

I like this photo a lot - my laptop screen background

Sugar Wreck was a very interesting place...from the surface one can see a big ship lie underwater....one of the place that I will remember for a long time...immediately after descend, I started coughing and my eyes were really painful...damn!!! I didn't clean my mask before descend...I put some shampoo inside the mask earlier and forgot to clean it...Jimi saw me suffering and came to me. At first I thought I had to abort the dive and signalled to him that I want to ascend...so both of us ascended slowly.... however I began to catch my breath again...once I was comfortable again I signalled to him that I was okay and like to continue diving....so he took me down again...lega....

Sugar Wreck was a beautiful place where you can see lots of fishes...I really like this place...There are many more exciting places in Perhentian like Tokong Laut and Terumbu Tiga but the most important thing was my diving continued to improve...happy!!!...

A few advice that I still remember until today were from Lan who told me to be the first one to backroll and stay calm in the sea whilst waiting for others to gear up in the boat. This will make me calm whilst waiting for others to gear up. Sharina told me to keep my hands in the BCD pockets. I was using my hands to move underwater where one should just use the fins and control the buoyancy to move places. Easier said than done but I continued to improve...However many of them suggested that I took Advanced Open Water Diver (AOWD) license to further improve my diving....that will be in part 3 hehe...[really interesting learning from Nurul Azlifah or better known as Ipah...opps...Linn actually]

Bye for now...

Scuba diving....(part 1)

WHAT??? Scuba diving!!!

That was the first question popped out from my missus (a.k.a Home Minister) when I told her that I want to do scuba diving. I told her that I really appreciate the beautiful corals and fishes and I have to see them before they become extinct!!! [At the rate of the global warming now, not quite sure how long all these beautiful and delicate things will last] Actually I wanted to take up scuba diving much earlier but due to work and family commitment, I had to defer my dream. Despite her worries about the whole thing, I think she wasn't quite sure what type of fishes I really want to see...and 'curious' whether actually I am interested to see the two legged type or the real fish....hehehe....[Note: Home Minister is not the sun sea and beach type of person. Her skin will turn red like boiled prawn if exposed a bit too long in the sun...just my luck!]

Back then in August 2011, I didn't know a soul who was into scuba diving...so the best guide was the internet. I got a few dive centres name but when I called up no one answered except .... Tristan Low of Marine Monkees. I called my friend Amin Badawi whether he is interested to join and he said ok. Amin is a fanatic in photography...

I took my wife to see Tristan so that he can answers all the questions she might have...Tristan was a pro and very convincing and she was okay after that. I realised that there were lots of paperwork to fill up before Tristan agrees to take me and Amin as his students. The one that I cannot forget is that he insisted that we get a doctor to certify that we are fit to do scuba diving....reason...both of us are above 45. Tak guna betoi!!! apa orang tua tak boleh scuba diving ke? Anyway both of us got the doctor's okay and we started our classroom sessions immediately...Tristan really put us through the whole thing...tengok video....baca buku...jawab soalan....chapter after chapter....semua kena buat....lepas tu dia suruh buat exam pulak...passing mark like 80%. Tak guna betoi!!!...initially I thought it was all fun and easy going...tough!!!

Tapi disebabkan oleh nak dapat PADI Open Water Diver certification, semua tu kira masalah kecik...both of us got through the lessons and the tests....next... the confined water session. Interesting!!!!

Shonny Loh trained us both during the confined water session. That was the first time I assembled the diving gears, looked at the every detail of the equipments that will be my lifeline underwater....but opps...before gearing up... Shonny without mercy asked me to swim 200m in the pool...damn!!! lagi sekali terkena...mana larat nak berenang 200m...nasib baik dia bagi pakai fin...no jokes la these fellas...betoi2 ikut buku...

Semangat tengah kuat!!!...nak dapat OWD license jugak....so apa instructors cakap... ikut saja...the most difficult part was to do hovering...floating like a jinn underwater...up... down...up...down... jenuh nak control breathing...buat sampai steady....finally after 2 days of training we acquired the confined water skills....now we are ready to do the skills in the open water...now really over excited!!!...[pinjam favourite word kawan]  

We have to be quick before the season close in late Oct. We haven't got much time and quickly agreed to do our Open Water in Pulau Tenggol, Terengganu. [Earlier Tristan said it could be in Pulau Sibu somewhere off Mersing.] We drove from KL to Kuala Dungun at night and arrived there in the early morning. Tristan and Shonny and the rest of the team were already there. We had a quick breakfast in the kampong and the boat took us about 45 minutes to reach Pulau Tenggol. Once we reached Pulau Tenggol, I realised that there wasn't much to do there except diving. The only plus thing there was the food was good though....

We had to do 4 Open Water dives before we can get the certification. I had the first taste of the real thing when we did the first open water dive....1. descend wasn't that easy...I don't understand why I couldn't descend fast enough like other people...and 2. equalisation wasn't that easy for me...blowing air inside my head was not working fast enough. The right ear was really painful. I had to go up a bit, equalised before going down...bit by bit...even 1 meter difference was painful. Everything was real slow....descend and equalisation....but once I leveled up... I will be okay....The other problem was foggy mask...but I can just clear it by letting in a bit of water inside the mask and blow it out. Even though we didn't dive very deep...around 12 - 15 meters but the air ran out in less than 45 minutes [Otai can lasts more than 1.5 hours at this depth]. Lots of thing were not quite right la....one of them was hovering [another story in part 3]...

Finally, both Amin and I were certified...I was really pleased with myself that even though I started late, Alhamdulillah... finally I got to swim with the fishes and see the corals...Thanks to both Tristan and Shonny for opening a new window to the world...and my wife for her support and understanding....


Bye for now...

I started jogging again...

Hi all,

It has been quite a while since I last wrote down anything on this blog. To be exact more than one year. Of course there are lots of things happened during the last one year but somehow it doesn't ticked to write down anything then....

Now I am in the writing mood again....hihihi...don't know how long it will last though....

Well, I started jogging again today....bought myself a new running shoes....Brooks ....the young man at the Al-Ikhsan store told me that this is a good running shoes. Actually I have never heard about this brand before.... I am used to Reebok, Adidas and Nike but not.....Brooks. To my surprise it is very comfortable. Well, the shape is a bit odd but it feels very comfortable.

I stopped jogging for almost 6 months. The reason was due to my right foot was aching every morning when I took my first step. I thought the pain will go away after a few weeks, but it did not. I tried homeopathy medicine but it didn't work as well. So I stopped jogging for a bit longer.

The side effect of stopping jogging is my waist line start to increase and I started to feel lethargic. The system is not functioning well...I have to do something URGENT!!!

I picked up the courage to go see a real doctor. [I am really afraid of real doctors - twice I went to see them for simple problems but end up in the operating theatre, I will write later when I feel like it hehehe] She told me I had Plantar Fasciitis. Well, actually is is the most common condition that causes heel pain. Plantar fasciitis is due to irritation and inflammation of the right tissue that forms the arch of the foot. Common symptoms of plantar fasciitis include heel pain with prolonged walking and standing.

The panel doctor that I went to refer me to the foot and ankle specialist at the Pantai Hospital, Dr Khairul Faizi. Dr Khairul explained that this is quite a common problem and his solution is to inject steroid at the inflamed area. I asked him how he intends to inject the medication since I am scared of long needle. I thought he will use some anesthetic before injecting the steroid but he told me it is going to be painful anyway even if he injects the anesthetic first, then might as well inject both in one go....damn!!! it was painful. Tapi kena control macho ler....

But the medicine really worked. I can run again now and I am taking it slowly. After stopping for almost 6 months, I better go slow and build up and peak before Ramadhan.

I planned to do executive screening test (full medical checkup) at IJN sometime in May this year. The last time I did that was in 2011 and everything was okay then. I hope I will get the all okay again this time....so until then, I will do the regular exercise....piously.

Bye for now....