Step up to inner space

My previous post may suggest that I'm in a boring setting of an internship program. Considering the no satelite TV, no proper working internet and missing the english premier league. Actually on the contrary, I'm having a whale of a time putting up in ganuland.

To be honest, I'll pass up those things for this any day of the week. For the past month or so I've experience lots of new things ranging from traditional boatmaking, plumbing, gardening and all the way to housekeeper, assiatant chef and bartender. Not forgetting driving a boat in open sea. But, my latest new experience stands out from the rest, and it is one of the greatest thrill in my life so far. Up there with bungee jumping, which I did last raya.

I've just completed my PADI open water diving course last week, and it was awesome! All my life, I had always wanted to do scuba diving but considering that it is quite pricy and I don't like the idea squeezing the money from my parents' pockets I had to put it on hold and at one point forgot about it. It was when I am here in Terengganu and in particular working in Capt's Longhouse I got the opportunity to do just that. There is a dive shop just next door to the Longhouse and all I need to do is show up with the dosh and the desire. I had bit of money in the bank and desire aplenty and also some encouragement from the Capt. As I am 21 now, I can decide for myself and my parents are quite supportive but the worry is visible. Well, any parents will. So off I
go.

The equipments minus the tank

It was the 26th of July and I started going to school again, not any school, DIVING school. It started with some briefing with introduction to the equipment, hand signal and of course the Golden Rule, breathe..... The theory lasted barely 15mins and off we go. My classmates were 2 dutch brothers and sister, Walter, thomas and Milos( not sure of the spelling..hehe). We started with confined water, breathing practice and movement. I tried breathing through the regulator underwater, I exhaled, BrRRRRRRR...too much bubble, I thought something is wrong so I tried inhaling again and of course was out of breath..Panicked ( a wee bit).. Then the divemaster Zamri told me, mestilah ade buih! Relax!... So I try again, Inhale....Exhaleeee.. inhaleeee..exhaleeee.. BrrrrBrrruupppp... Success. From that point on, there was no turning back, the heavy equipment felt weightless..the diving mask is now a negligible entity..I felt freedom..Welcome to inner space.

Preparations..

That very morning we went for our first open water dive..the place was coral garden in Kapas, about 2 mins boat ride from the dive shop. It was about 14m deep. I spent most of the time practicing buoyancy control and swimming with fins on. It was quite awkward at first, but it became natural after a while. Though there are some technical terms to be considered but I can't be arsed typing it here. Hehe. The 1st dive was good, but the 2nd is better, in the afternoon we went to southern tip and everything went well, visibility, technique, crowd and weather. It was the first time I feel at ease and really enjoyed the freedom. Probably becasue I adapted and improved. I saw fishes that are huge and the lobster is unbelievable. Yummm..

Nervous walk to the boat

The open water dive course took 4 days to complete and there were exams and tutorials. Ah well, we discussed all the way to the final exam. easy peasy. But I did pay attention in particular to the safety steps in diving. Damn, diving can be scary at times, in fact it is always scary and it is most scary when you are on the boat to the dive site. There you will have this nagging feeling of how the equipment might not work, what if things go wrong?decompression sickness, nitrogen narcosis, unable to equalize etc..etc...then you will start being a little paranoid, check the equipment, gas on, jacket inflated, hand signal review..etc..etc..then nausea kicks in, feel like pulling out..but MAN UP!..the nervousness is good, teaches you to be cautious and not over confident..with good practice and principles everything is fine.

I remembered in one of the dives..at 18m deep octopus reef, one peek down I saw nothing but murky water. Imagine if you have to sink in that sort of situation. I easily got panicked and needed a few second to gather my thoughts and start my descend. It was OK when I saw the bottom and able to set my orientation.

One for the ladies :p - after the dive

We had 2 more open water dives and one more confined water dive. In each dive we improved in our technique and confidence. Better buoyancy control, better breathing pattern, more relaxed posture and best of all, we were able to really enjoy the freedom. The feel of weightlessness and appreciate the colours of god's creation in inner space. 70% of eath is water, and we still know so little about it. The view down there is just amazing.

Classmates- I'm the wee one duhhh


We graduated from dive school wednesday afternoon and dived as a certified diver on thursday. A fun dive, on the house.Brilliant chaps the instructor and master divers are. Even the boatman and the crew as well. Very open to banters and always ready to share knowledge and lunch and breakfast..hehe..I can never pass up on food..

I am now an open water diver, graduated from aqua-sports Pulau Kapas under the tutelage of Azam, Salina and Zamri. I like this feeling, and here's hoping for more!