Back from the Sun, Sand and the Sea.

Yup… I have been back for a week now. A little more tanned, with a few more mosquito bites on my legs (what’s a few “stars” to my galaxy of bites and scars) and an addiction to adventure.

F.Y.I, the diving trip was absolutely fantastic! Saw a lot of fishes (duh…), COOL species such as the Napoleon Wrasse, porcupine fish, nurse sharks, moray eels, puffer fish… I can go on and on. To think of it, since I am such a “suaku” diver, anything with gills and stays underwater will be classified as a cool specie.

And once again, I have made some new discoveries about myself:

1) I still can’t dive for nuts.
Although I do not have a problem descending and equalizing, I definitely have a problem with my breathing, my buoyancy and fining. Guess, I will have to go for more dive trips to improve on my diving skills! But first, I will need to buy some of the personal equipments first. As mentioned by my diving master, “Cannot dive, never mind… but make sure you look good!”

2) I can’t wait to travel again
I have a problem… I am bitten by the travel bug. Antidote: Get out of Singapore at least once a quarter. This is really crucial since Singapore is soooo small. But thankfully, budget airlines in Asia are slowly (but surely!) taking off, which stands for cheaper air travel! Yoohoo!

So… I am planning a backpacking trip to Vietnam in September! I can’t wait!

Check out the nurse shark and the little red fish hiding under the rock! Picture is taken at Dive Site - Temple of the Sea, Perhentian Island. Malaysia.

Scuba!

Last night, I went for a pool session - refresher diving course, in order to brush up my diving skills before hitting the open sea in East Malaysia in the coming long weekend.

Things I have learnt about myself:

1) I am not as thin as I thought.
I borrowed some diving equipments from a close girlfriend of mine, and was trying out her equipments – wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins. To my horror, I had such a hard time squeezing into her wetsuit that I thought her suit was going to burst. And all along, I though she is more “voluptuous” than me. ARGH…. I am dead wrong. Time to fast till Friday….

2) Diving is more stressful than I could remember.
I have not dived for 5 years ever since I got my license… and that’s a long time for a novice diver like me. So I have completely forgotten how to dive and last night I was running (or should I say splashing) around like a mad monkey. Checking of equipments, blowing of bubbles, getting equalized under water and maintaining of my buoyancy are all tough business! Did someone say diving is relaxing???!!!

3) Fair skin is NOT in vogue

I stuck out like a sore thumb last night. Among all the tanned, toned bikini babes… I looked sickly with my fair skin and sagging tummy. Argh…. Can’t wait to tone up and get a tan!

Yup… other than these discoveries about myself (more like disappointments actually), I had fun last night! I love the feeling of being underwater… I love the silence and of course, I can’t wait to see some fishes/sharks/turtles and try my luck to find Nemo. ;)

Can’t wait to dive in Perhentian this weekend!

Yup... Chio is wearing pink. And yup... I put my rainbow bag on my head. But this is not what you think it is... He is NOT gay!

Am I demanding or what?

Having a issue with my beloved: I am into Salsa but my beloved is not, so for the past 3 months or so, I have been going to my salsa classes alone, salsa bars alone and salsa parties alone.

In the beginning, I was very unhappy with him, in fact, more than unhappy. I was down right PISSED. How could that donkey (I meant my beloved) be so unsupportive of my passion? I have always been crazy about dancing, and this time round, I am very serious about mastering salsa, but he was totally oblivious to my pleas to come down to salsa bars and check out my sexy, groovy moves that I have learnt in class.

Now, I am (in a sense, in a certain pathetic sense) glad of this arrangement, I am pleased with the fact that I have widen my social circle and know many friends with the same passion for salsa. I am delighted with the fact that I can dance with cute guys without any disapproving glares and basically enjoy myself without Mr Grumpy Donkey (I meant my beloved again) buzzing around.

Previously, my salsa friends would asked me “hey, where’s your boyfriend?” and I’m like “Oh… he’s not interested in salsa” and people will then give me this sympathetic glare…. As if they were saying “Awww… the long suffering girlfriend, and the boyfriend does not even love her enough to learn salsa with her”

Yah, shut up. I do not need you to rub salt into my wound…

So, we have argued many times regarding to this matter and it has always boil down to him saying “I do not force you into doing anything you do not like, so why are you doing this to me now?”

Fine. I have been an idiot. No more tagging along to driving ranges to drive myself to boredom with golf. No more tagging along to wine classes and dinners, instead I should really have spent my money on salsa classes. No more mingling with his friends… especially those I have totally no interest in.

He has taken my presence for granted and I will not let that happen again.

Philippines Dried Mangoes… THE BEST!

Have been munching on some dried mangoes, brought to me by my dearest friend, Chio from the Philippines. They are sooooooo good, I can't stop eating. Yummy!

By the way, please do not get confused. My friend, Chio is a guy and he is not “chio”.

Chio (in Singapore context) – means pretty. It’s slang, usually used together with “bu”. So you have “Chiobu”, which means, “pretty girl”.

Chio (in AIESEC context) – he is a really cool trainee, whom I got to know when I was in New York.

Anyway… he visited Singapore for two days and basically we had fun hanging out (or at least I did!) together with another 2 Indonesian trainees.

What I have learnt about Singapore through my non-Singaporean friends:
1) Singapore is indeed f**king hot, how the hell can Singaporeans deal with the heat and humidity?
(We don’t… I seriously don’t think Singapore can function without air-con)

2) Singapore is indeed small, why the hell do Singaporeans need cars?
(I think it’s the heat… we need to sit in cars to blast our air-con. Although public transport is also air-conditioned in Singapore… but nothing beat having your very OWN air-con. That is why we need cars.)

3) Singaporeans lovvvveeee to eat and shop, what the hell do Singaporeans do besides eating and shopping?
(It’s too hot to do anything else in Singapore besides dinning in air-conditioned restaurants or food centers. As for shopping, well… you can’t expect us to just stand around in malls to enjoy the air-con and NOT shop. That’s just impossible.)

So, in conclusion, Singapore is too damn bloody frying hot.

p/s: I like the new ad by coke… a bunch of young people piling up ice (into a little slope) along the beach and “ice-board” down, eventually splashing into the sea. Cool huh?

p.p/s: Has anyone been to the Snow City in Singapore? I need a place to escape from the heat… …

p.p.p/s: Has anyone heard about the Eski Bar in Tanjong Pagar? The bar is supposed to be so cold… you can wear your mink coat, skiing hat and snow boots all at the same time. I need a nightspot to escape from the heat… …