Diving Kapalai Day 4 (Mar. 31, 2015)

Mar. 31, 2015

I dived today, in Kapalai, and Mabul again. Though I’d been to the areas before, they took us to different sites within those areas. First I had breakfast which was fried eggs, chicken weiners, French Toast, two types of bread, and fruit. Oh, also baked beans, coffee, tea and juice. It was delicious as usual. 

Then I made my way down to the jetty to catch my boat. I was in yet another group today, composed of people I hadn’t met. There were a lot of people on the boat with a lot of photographers. It was ok, though, I dived with only two other people. Megan, an American girl teaching in Indonesia, in her early thirties, and Tim, in his late twenties. He lives in Australia, but is originally American. Both were nice. Our Dive Master was kind of lame though. He didn’t really keep track of our group, and on the first dive, Megan got a bit far behind, had a bad headache, was trying to attract his attention, but he was too far ahead, and didn’t hear her. I saw her trying to get him to notice her, and swam over to her to ask if she was ok. She indicated she wasn’t, so I had to swim like a banshee to get the Dive Master. Megan ended up going to the surface to go back to the boat.

Then, Tim, the Rescue Diver, ran out of air, and had to go to the boat, so it was just me left with the Dive Master, for a good half of the dive. It was really weird. I still came up with a lot of air left over at the end, in any case.

The Dive Site was called Little Okinawa, Kapalai, and was really interesting geographically. It was a long, slow and gentle sloping reef that was quite deep. We went down to 26 meters and had to swim quite a long way, in the blue, to the other side of the sandy divide, to get to the other side of the reef. There we puttered along the reef, having a look to see what there was. I saw a turtle, Lionfish, Crocodile Fish, but not too much else. There wasn’t a lot to see, but the landscape was so interesting and diverse, that I totally got lost in this, and didn’t mind whether I saw a lot of fish, or not.

We came back to the resort for our surface interval, had tea and cakes, then met again on the jetty to take off for our second dive. This dive was at Azam’s Reef in Mabul. We saw a lot of things at this site, and it was really nice. There was not current to speak of, and we stayed fairly shallow at 18.8 meters. I saw Coronet Fish, which were bright yellow, Trumpet Fish, White Spotted Hermit Crab, Banded Coral Shrimp, Harlequin Sweetlips, Squat Shrimp and a Trigger Fish. There was a lot of really nice coral at this site, which was thriving, and healthy. A lovely site to see.

Then we returned for lunch, which was Spaghetti Bolengese, with meat sauce, that was delicious. There was also stir fried Chinese Cabbage, salad, and fruit. It was a great lunch. I sat with one of the women I dived with before, named Silje. She and her husband live in Mimibia, but she is Norweigan. She met her husband there when she went there to write her thesis. I like her and her husband a lot, and will go for a sunset dive with them tomorrow.

Our third dive was Artificial Reef, in Mabul, which I have been to before, but really liked. Others on the boat had not been there, but I had, and didn’t mind returning. We saw a lot of life on this dive. The highlight was a storm of Jack Fish, by the thousands, swirling around above us, creating a dark cloud because they were so thick. It was incredible. I also saw a Stick Pipefish, a huge Angelfish, and a really large Gray Drummer Fish. We were looking for the Flamboyant Cuttlefish, as it is known to be around that site, but we didn’t find it. I hope to see another one before I leave. It is really beautiful and very cool.

I showered and filled in my Log Book with Megan, before dinner. Then we ate a great meal of tender beef chunks, with a spicy seasoning, rice, potatoes in a nice spice, sautéed spinach that was to die for, homemade bread with raisins, and cucumber salad with a light dressing. There was also a Winter Melon Soup, but I was full and didn’t try it. Everyone said that it was really good though. The meals here have been fantastic.

Writing up my blog, and going to bed early, were the rest of my night. I look forward to diving again tomorrow. I feel really good, and have seemed to adjust pretty well to the daily diving. 

More tomorrow. I go to the Sipidan Barrier Reef to dive, so that should be nice. I like going somewhere new.

Diving Siamil Day 3 (Mar. 30, 2015)

Mar. 30, 2015

Today was another fantastic day. I think I am getting used to the location and so many daily dives. The past couple of days, I came up with a bit of a headache, that subsided within an hour or so, but today I didn't have any headaches. I think it was the pressure and depths, and perhaps that I had flown, been around sick Yulia, and hadn’t slept well for a couple of days while traveling. In any case, today I felt great, and enjoyed all three dives, without any headaches or other issues, body wise. Yeah!

Breakfast was scrambled eggs, weiners, noodles, potato wedges, toast of two kinds, and the wonderful fresh fruit. I said watermelon and guava, but I actually meant papaya. It is the sweetest, most tender papaya I have ever tasted, and ate that, with a few scrambled eggs. It was the perfect start to the day, and I didn’t feel full for diving. The past couple of days, I’ve overdone it, so today I decided to go a little lighter and felt a lot better. 

The dives today were far enough away, that we didn’t come back for any of the intervals. We went to Siamil Island, which is a real paradise. When I load the photos, you will see how magical and perfect this island is. Not many people live there except military people, so it is super quiet and untouched. 

• pic of Siamel Island beach

Our first dive site was called Monkey Pocket, and is a deep dive, down to 29 meters, with lots to see. The visibility wasn’t too good today, but it didn’t seem to matter, because we saw a lot anyway. Just after we descended, our guide, Kai, who is a local and fantastic at finding things, pointed out a two meter Marbled Ray, which I’d never seen before. It was lovely and swam around a couple of times so we could see it, then took off. It was mottled brown and black, just like a Cat’s Eye Marble, and was beautiful. We also saw a Frog Fish, a Crocodile Fish, and a small Cow Fish….(hmmm, seems like the animal fish day), an Orangutan Crab, and a Barramundy Cod, which I’d never seen before. So it was a good dive even though the vis was only about 8 meters. We stayed down for 52 minutes, as when you are deep, you cannot remain down as long for safety reasons.

Then  we went back to the beach at Siamil Island, got off the boat and had tea and cake on the beach. This looked truly like a paradise, deserted island from a magazine. Not a bad place to do your surface interval. Once our hour was done, we got back onto the boat to go for our second dive. This was at a site called Meditation Wall, and it was exactly that. A long, sloping wall covered in marine life, coral and beautiful things. It is quite steep with big jutting rocks and overhangs here and there along the wall. There is so much life on this long wall, that you get carried away, just looking at everything. I think they named it perfectly. This dive was 61 minutes to a depth of only 21 meters. The visibility was really poor, at 5 meters, but it didn’t matter, as you were close to the wall and could see things well. You just had to keep your eyes on the Dive Master and your buddy, because if they ventured away, you couldn’t see them quickly. 

This site gifted me with my first sighting of a Flamboyant Cuttlefish, which I had never seen before and really wanted to. This is an animal that looks like your regular Cuttlefish, but when it changes colour, it becomes fluorescent pinks, purples and greens, and looks like a psychedelic light. It is incredibly cool and I was so happy to have seen it. One guy was filming it, professionally and had a fancy camera with a bright light, so I found a spot just beside him, but out of the way, and watched for a long time. It was fantastic.

I looked under a rock and saw a Blue Spotted Ray, lying on top of a Pufferfish, which was the most curious couple I could think of. Anyway, they seemed to be cool together so it was nice to watch. There were also Lionfish and many different coloured Reef Fish to see. A stunning dive.

After this, we went back to the island for lunch. It was again, a most pleasant place to eat, and chill out for our surface interval and food. We had cashew chicken, with glass noodles, and a mixture of coconut broccoli and cauliflower mixed together. It was delicious. There was also the fresh fruit, and the rest of the homemade cake to eat. Again, I went light, so I felt much better. Maybe the headaches were related to being too full. Who knows.

- pics of lunch, group and the beach at Siamil while we did surface interval

After that, we went to our last site, which was called Smuggler’s Cove. The dive lasted for 61 minutes and was a Muck Dive. I like these kind of dives, because you don’t go very deep, we didn’t go deeper than 12 meters, and you are located on a sandy, weedy bottom where there is sometimes a lot of garbage, but along with this garbage, there are many many things to see. We saw Peacock Manta Shrimp which is super colourful, Sea Moth, Painted Frog Fish, Reef Scorpion Fish, three types of Lion fish, a Spotfin, a Zebra, and a Dwarf. There was a Banded Sea Snake, Pharaoh Cuttlefish, Cow Fish, Blackfin Snake Eel, Stick Pipefish and many more colourful reef fish. It was a haven for life and I enjoyed it very much. 

We returned around 4 pm, and I showered, had a drink waited for dinner. Dinner was Pineapple Chicken, stir fried cabbage, bok choi, rice and noodles. Fresh fruit including pineapple today, was the dessert. After dinner, I got Adam, that friend I dived with, to copy me his 6 days worth of diving photos here, including the dives I did with him. It was really nice of him to do so, and now I have all the photos I could ever want, from Mabul and Sipidan.

Later, we all went down to the beach where there was a fire, music and everyone just chilling. There were a lot of locals with kids there too, which was really fun. I talked to a nice retired (39 yr old) guy from Australia who was in the Military and made many investments. He was nice and super interesting.

Then I headed for my bed, happy and nicely tired from my day.

Diving in Kapalai Day 2 (Mar. 29, 2015)

Mar. 29, 2015

Before going to bed last night, I played Cribbage with the group I told you about yesterday. We had a great time playing teams, and laughed a lot during the game. Ted (30?) from Montreal is really funny and the French girl, Audrey (38), not Arlene, is great too. The Swiss woman, Lina (44) is really smart and very funny. I think we will probably play again tonight. 

This morning I got up and ready, went to eat breakfast which was yummy. A choice of Pork and Beans, French Toast, regular bread of two kinds, for toast, peanut butter, jam and syrup, cut up weiners, fruit, and potato wedges, oh, and hard boiled eggs. There is always coffee and tea available anytime of day as well. It’s really quite good and you can eat as much as you want.

Then I went to the jetty, which is the wharf where you catch the boat to go to the dive sites. I met up with my group, which was different than yesterday's, and so were the Dive Masters. I had Ahfat, a local guy who was very good. I had heard about him already from my Dive Master yesterday, and was happy to have been put in his group. There was only me, and Jessica, a German girl, in the group, so it was great. All of our dives were an hour or a bit more.

We went out to Kapalai Island, which is about a forty minute boat ride from here. The site was called Black Ray Channel and we saw some nice stuff. Visibility was great, at 20 meters or more, and the conditions easy, and calm. No current to speak of, just relaxed diving. We saw a Painted Spiny Lobster, some Blue Spotted Rays, Puffer Fish, Lion Fish, Stone Fish, Spotted Garden Eel, Bumphead Parrot Fish, and T-bar Nudy Branchs. It was a lovely dive with lots of nice coral and scenery.

For our surface interval, we didn’t go back to the Resort as we did yesterday. I presume it’s because the site is further away than all the ones yesterday, and it didn’t make sense to go and come back. So, they pulled out a huge coffee dispenser full of tea, and some home made cake, for our interval snacks. Both were lovely, you’re always so thirsty when you come up and need to drink a lot so as not to become dehydrated. I always chug a lot of water or tea.

Our second dive was a totally different site. It was another Artificial Reef, similar to yesterdays, only in a different spot, and much better. We saw some gigantic fish in the structures there, including some huge Angelfish, and Grouper. The site was called House Reef. We saw Rooftop Pipefish, a 100 kg Grouper, Painted Frogfish, Leaf Scorpion Fish, a powder pink, Batangas Nudy Branch, Manta Shrimp and a sleeping turtle. The highlight, or most unexpected thing, was a huge explosive sound underwater, that was actually people, far away, dynamite fishing, which is illegal. I had heard of this, and was warned not to be scared if I heard the blasts, but I don’t think that really prepares you for the sound that it makes. It was pretty weird, but not scary, and very far away. Water sure carries sound so it is loud, but you can tell it’s far away.

Then we came back for lunch, which was Sweet and Sour Chicken, stir fried veggies, cabbage salad, glass noodles and lots of fresh fruit, including Honey Dew Melon to die for, and Red and Yellow Watermelon. Sometimes we have Guava as well. 

The third dive was at a site called Eel Garden and was a lovely dive. This one had a brisk current that carried you along for a nice Drift Dive. The only problem with Drift Dives is that if you want to stop to see something, you have to get your legs around so that you can kick against the current in order to stay stationary. It’s a bit tricky, but you can still do it. We saw the cutest Baby Sweet Lips, a Ribbon Eel, two huge turtles about 2 meters across, Manta Shrimp, a Crocodile Flathead Fish, Squat Shrimp, Spotted and White Eyed Moray Eels, Devil Scorpionfish and a Redfish. All were gorgeous, and the coral was spectacular at this site. Alongside the coral, there is a long sandy stretch that just goes out into the deep blue, so it’s cool to swim along the edge and look left to the coral and many fish, or right to the far blue, without interruption. It’s a nice contrast to say the least. 

Supper was spaghetti and meatballs, green beans, cole slaw, fruit and garlic bread. Really yummy, with some veggies as well. After supper, I played crib with my new friends, then went to bed. I made friends with that big guy, Adam, that I dived with the first day. He is a great photographer, and today I asked him if I might take or buy his photos from this trip. He agreed to just let me put them onto an SD Card, which I have lots of. So, when I am near a connection that works, I can load some incredible photos of what I have seen, for you.

Tomorrow I will go to Siamil to dive. Apparently it is lovely and a fantastic day out.

Diving Mabul Day 1 (Mar. 28, 2015)

Mar. 28, 2015

I am so happy that I chose to end my travels here! I love the Dive Resort, have met some really nice people, have great food here, and now a bottom bunk in the dorm, with towel included. What else could I want? 

My plane to Malaysia

First view of Mabul Resort

Walking up to resort

Main Hall and Reception

Upstairs bar and lounge

I got up slowly after a really nice sleep last night, put my stuff together, and went to the main hall for breakfast. There are two nice women and a nice man in my dorm. I ate breakfast with Simona, a French girl, Anuka, an Indian British girl, Lina, a Swiss woman and Ted, a Canadian guy from Montreal, living and teaching in Bali. They are all really nice and totally different, but we all love to dive. 

After breakfast, we went down to the wharf to get our equipment and board the boat for our first dive. At this resort, they take you out, you have your dive, then they come back and your surface interval is spent at the resort. That’s nice because you can use the bathroom, get anything you need from your room, have a nap, or whatever. There were a lot of people on the boat, and it was really crowded. I feared that maybe this would be the way of this operation, and that there would be too many people in a group, and short dives because of it. Anyway, I prepped myself to just enjoy and accept whatever came around, so that was fine. There was one big huge guy of 6 feet 2 inches and 130 Kgs, that was on the boat to dive with us. I thought for sure this fellow would use up his air really fast, as most big guys are quite poor on air consumption because of their size. I hoped that they wouldn’t put us in the same group, but they did. I was with him, Adam from Australia, who is in his thirties, and Silje, from Norway who now lives in Africa with her husband. Then the Dive Master, Val, who is from Salt Spring Island in BC.  I was a little disappointed, but thought at least there are only three of us in the group, plus Val. Well, did I ever change my tune after the first dive. It was a site called The Wall, and was a sheer drop of reef that seemed to go down into the depths forever. It was a very sharp drop, and was more than 50 meters, for sure. I never did see the bottom of the reef.

We descended downward, into quite a strong current. It wasn’t as bad as that crazy dive I did in Komodo, so I wasn’t scared, but had to focus, so as not to get whisked away by the current. We did a fast Drift Dive for a while, looking at this fantastic reef. We got down to about 22 meters, at the deepest, and the visibility was great. Over 20 meters vis, and when we were down at the farthest depth, I looked up the sheer wall, and saw 2, one meter long barracuda swimming along the surface, 22 meters above me. They were as clear as day, and with the sheer reef as the backdrop, the picture was incredible and truly epic.

The dive was great, and we stayed down, winding our way around the reef, ascending slowly as we did. There were lots of cool things to see, like a Scorpion Fish, Moray Eel, Nudy Branchs of many colours, and all really large, Manta Shrimp, and many many fish in large schools. Not too long after we started the dive, the current subsided and we lazily swam along the reef with no resistance, looking at whatever interested us. It was a relaxing and lovely dive.


When we got up, I was one of the ones with the least amount of air, though I still had 50 bar. Adam had 50, Silje had 60 and Val, the Dive Master, had 100. That was incredible. Anyway, I was thrilled to find out that Adam was so good on air consumption and then found out that he and Silje are both Dive Masters. A fantastic first day and first group to be put into.

The next two dives were shallower dives and we looked at structures in the water, with lots of marine life on them. One was called Paradise and the other, Artificial Reef. Both had lots of neat things to see and I saw my first Sea Moth, which basically looks like a tiny black blob with fins. It was cool though. There were many other fish, and a turtle to watch as well. 

We ate lunch after the second dive and the food was great. Salad, fresh fruit, noodles, stir fried veggies, and peppered chicken. It was great.

After the third dive I was pleasantly tired, but happy. I showered, had a drink with Adam and looked at his photos from the dives. Maybe I will download some to show you. He is a great photographer so I’m sure there will be some great shots.

Supper will be at 6:30 and I will go to bed early I’m sure. Up again tomorrow for 9 am on the wharf to start all over again. Sorry about no photos, but the Wifi is so slow here, that I have to wait forever for it to open my blog, just to post the text. I will add photos when I can. Most of these days will be a written account only, in any case. 

More tomorrow from your super happy, diving friend, sister, daughter, step daughter, cousin, niece, aunt, Sue.

Getting to Mabul, Borneo (Mar. 26, 27, 2015)

Mar. 26, 2015

Today I spent the day organizing and chilling out before jumping into my taksi as it’s spelled in Denpasar, to go to the airport. It was weird thinking that this time I was leaving Bali for good, and moving onto another country. I’ve been in Bali and Indonesia for two months, and have gotten quite fond and familiar with it. I had one last Nasi Campur dinner before going. I got take out, and went back to Reza’s place to eat it. I had the chicken livers and friends, lots of spinach type veggies, rice, and lots of sembal. That’s the hot sauce. It was delicious and a great last supper to say goodbye to Bali. Reza and Enya left early this morning to take a whole whack of Reza’s guests to Bedugal, the area that Yulia and I went to earlier this month. It’s a fair drive, and they wouldn’t be back before I left for the airport, so we said goodbye on the phone, while they were en route. I will miss Reza and Yulia and hope to keep in touch with them.

I caught my flight from Denpasar without any issue, except the waiting part. I arrived in Kuala Lumpur just before 1 am, and waited until I could check in for my early, 7 am, flight to Tawau. The check in is open three hours before departure, so I checked my suitcase, then waited to board the plane for Tawau.

Mar. 27, 2015

This morning I arrived in Tawau around 10:30 am. The driver was waiting for me outside the airport just as planned, and there were two other people as well, so we shared the car ride cost. 

• pics of airport/scenery

It took about an hour to get to Semporna, which is a sketchy little fishing town, on a wharf. Not very beautiful, and kind of smelly. There are a lot of dive centers around the town, including Scuba Junkie, and it’s dorm. We went to the office, checked in and paid, then waited for the transfer to Mabul, the island that the Dive Resort is located on, to come and take us over. It finally did, and took about 45 minutes. It was a beautiful ride, though by this time, I was pretty tired from traveling and was happy that I would be settled in a lovely place for a while.

We got to the pier of the Resort and I was not disappointed. Mabul is a small island that has a lot of resorts on it, but also a great number of poor villagers throughout the area, in between the resorts and chalet’s. It is kind of weird, but nice at the same time.

• pics of resort 

I checked in, dropped off my stuff and took a walk around the area, and through the little village next door. Here are some of the sights.

• pics of area

I met an English and a French girl who are staying in my dorm. We sat outside the room chatting for a while before dinner was served. They seem really nice, and also love to dive. They both got here yesterday, so have already dived today. I was excited to hear about it, as I can’t wait to dive tomorrow.

Dinner was buffet style, all you could eat, and kind of reminded me of camp. The big dining hall area was filled with long tables that everyone sat at, to eat. The food was good, including a nice salad, fruit, roast potatoes, rice, chicken, and tempura vegetables. Nothing over the top, but simple and tasty. I ate to my fill, then went to the room to shower and drop this blog before turning in. I haven’t slept much in the last 24 hours and want to be fresh for tomorrow.

Just wanted you to know that I am safe on Mabul Island, Borneo, Malaysia, at Scuba Junkie Dive Resort. I will be here for the next ten days, so you don’t have to worry. The WiFi is ok, but it’s a small island so I”m not expecting much. Don’t know if the photos will load.

Diving Amed, Bali (March 24, 25, 2015)

Mar. 24, 2015

Last night, Yulia slept over at Reza’s and we got up at 4:30 am to leave for our drive to Amed, Bali, departure at 5:00 am. An early start, but a lovely sunrise and nice drive. It is about a two and a half hour drive, not because it’s that far, but for the fact that it is a small, windy road that often has trucks on it, slowing everyone down. There is only one lane each way, so it’s tricky to pass the trucks, between the snaky road, and the one lane each way. In any case, there wasn’t too much traffic so we made it there in about two hours. The scenery along the way is just gorgeous and I took lots of ‘on the run’ photos before arriving to Amed.

Once we were there, Fabien, the owner, wasn’t there yet. So we drove to the end of the little street he is located on, to look at the beach. It was beautiful and as I turned around, I could see the mountain or volcano, whichever it was. As well, we saw a woman and her son, raking huge bags of raw peanuts out, onto large tarps, to dry in the sun. It was only about 7:00 am, and they had already gone to pick these, brought them to this place, dumped the many bags, and raked them to dry. Their day must have started earlier than mine! The woman offered us some fresh peanuts to try. They were almost like legumes as they were still raw, and moist. Quite delicious, but different than anything I’ve ever tried before.

Yulia and me at the beach

Woman with her fresh peanuts 

Mountainvolcano view from beach

Fresh raked out peanuts

It was getting really hot by then, so we ventured back to see if Fabien had reached his dive shop yet. He had, and we met, got ready and jumped into his car and drove to the dive site which was about 15 minutes away in a place called Kubu. I should describe Fabien to you first. He’s a French guy, about 30 something with a really funny personality, very bright, and quite sarcastic. He is an excellent Dive Instructor and offered me many interesting experiences under the water. He also knew exactly where to find marine life and you could tell that he was very very experienced and competent. In addition to Fabien, we also had a really nice woman from the Netherlands, another Dive Instructor that works with Fabien, named Anita. I think she was in her thirties as well, and was super friendly and kind. I felt very safe, diving with two Dive Instructors, and Yulia, who has her Rescue Diver Certification. A fantastic group, going out to dive a site that is fairly new, and has few divers visiting it. My perfect scenario. 

We geared up and took off to see the Japanese Wreck. We went down to about 33 meters and worked our way through the ship. We swam down the stair areas, to the lower deck where it was dark and interesting. We saw an Angel Fish swimming upside down, there, something I had never seen before, nor had Fabien. It was really strange, but the fish just putted along, inverted, and didn’t seem to mind.

There is an old army jeep that was on the ship when it sunk, so you can see that, as well as some buddha statues that were placed there for marine life to grow upon, at a later date. The ship was really cool and Fabien just took me through it, without question, even though I hadn’t before been through, in and out of such tight and dark spaces. It was really cool and I liked it a lot. 

We dived for over 65 minutes and saw many wonderful things. Today, one of those things, were a huge school of large barracuda. There were probably over 100 of them and they just kept circling and swimming together, right above our heads. They were amazing. This is the dive that Fabien found a huge Sea Anemone. That’s the kind of plant/animal that the Nemo Fish live in. Fabien carefully lifted it up, to expose the slimy, viscous outer skin. He invited me to feel it, which I had never done. I was always told NEVER to touch anything below, so I respect that. Fabien later told me that since we were a small group, of experienced divers, that he wanted me to have that experience. It was incredible. The sensation was soft and smooth, like velvet. Apparently, the Anemone Fish rub against this, getting the slimy covering on themselves, which then protects them from getting stung by the anemone. Super cool, and the tactile experience was amazing. I was so happy that he allowed me to touch it. I have never felt anything quite like it before. I felt it to be such a gift, and another miracle of Mother Nature.

We had a surface interval of over an hour, where we had some lunch and tea. Then we got geared up again, and went to our second dive site. It was close to the wreck, but in the other direction. The site was a huge reef area, with lots of large outcrops of rocks, where marine life thrived. We saw several huge Moray Eels, a Cuttlefish, and I spotted an Octopus. Anita took a lot of video footage of these animals and got a really great film of a Jellyfish that Fabien found, stuck under a rock. He freed the Jellyfish, and then Anita filmed it while it swam off. It was really great to watch.

This dive was a 75 minute dive which was awesome. We dived to 30 meters, and the conditions were great. Warm water, no current and good visibility. I loved it. Yulia wasn’t feeling too well, and had a runny nose from last night. I think she was getting the flu, because half way through the second dive, she was super tired, and not very active during the dive at all. 

Once we were finished and went back to the dive shop, Yulia slept for a couple of hours before heading home. She had rented a car, and had to have it back before 8 pm, so we couldn’t stay at Fabien’s dorm/resort. I think it is a really long day to do on a day trip, but Yulia had not wanted to go for two days. I’m not sure why, but in any case, she only wanted to do one day.

We watched the videos, had a coffee and shower, and Yulia, her nap, before paying Fabien and heading home. Yulia was still not feeling well, and in fact was worse. She had to stop on the way home to throw up, and had a fever. I felt so sorry for her, and at the same time, hoped I wouldn’t get it. I leave on the 26th to go to Malaysia for diving and it wouldn’t work well to go if I had a cold or the flu. 

Fab Dive Shop

Dorm area with toilets and kitchenette

Garden area

View from terrace of shop

Yulia, Fabien and me

Anyway, we made it home, and Yulia slept over because she didn’t feel much like driving home. The guy who rented the car, came to pick it up at Reza’s so we didn’t have to pay more for keeping it longer. 

Mar. 25, 2015

Today I got up early, did yoga, and had a coffee with Reza before he had to leave to pick up visitors from the airport. Yulia was still not feeling well, had a fever, and was super tired. She slept while I did my laundry, got the mirror for the motorbike, had it washed, and sorted out my stuff. Reza’s ex-girlfriend, Enya, decided to come and visit him to ‘talk’ as he says. I rented a suite in Reza’s apartment complex for tonight. I wanted to be far away while they sorted through their stuff. Reza didn’t know if she was coming to get back together, to fight, to pick up her stuff, or what. I think he was kind of stressed about it, and so busy right now with work, that he really didn’t have the mental energy to deal with it. I felt sorry for him that it had to be right now, as for the past two months, he had pulled it together, from her breaking it off with him. He was really hurt and sad for quite a while. Now, here it is again, and he has so much else on his plate. The new Indonesian president has made it very difficult for foreigners to get working Visa’s and Reza has been denied his working Visa as a result. His visa runs out April 6th, and he doesn’t know what he’s going to do, and if he can even stay here. So, the visit comes at a really difficult time for him. Anyway, I’m happy to have my own space tonight, and to be moving to my last destination, diving, tomorrow. 

I am laying low today, just fixing the bike, getting some items at the store I needed for my trip, and organizing my suitcase. I will also just hang out tomorrow, and take it easy. I don’t feel sick, but have had a headache all day, and my nose it a bit tingly, but not yet runny or plugged. I hope to sleep, take the Vitamin C, and Ec that mom left me, and beat anything that may have attached itself to me from Yulia.

More tomorrow, or from Kuala Lumpur. I fly tomorrow evening from here to KL. Then I stay in the airport from 1 am, until 6:45 am, when I catch my flight to Tawau, which is on the island of Sabah, Malaysia. Then the Scuba Junkie Dive Shop will pick me up at that airport, and take me to Mabul, to the Dive Resort, where I will start my ten days of diving around the Sipadan and surrounding areas. I am super excited and looking forward to it. I’ll let you know when I arrive, or maybe even drop you a line from the KL airport if I get WiFi and I’m bored.

Running Around Day (Mar. 23, 2015)

Mar. 23, 2015

Today I got up and did yoga, then FT’d with family and friends. It was great to catch a few people before they went to bed. It’s always a nice way to start my day. Then I had a number of little errands to run so I got ready and left to take care of them.

First I went to the Central Kuta Money Exchanger to get Euro for the diving tomorrow. Yulia’s friend who runs the dive shop in Ahmed, likes to paid in Euro and it’s a lot better rate from the Central Money Exchanger than it is from other, smaller ones in the dive shop area. So I got the location from Yulia yesterday, and GPS’d my way there. I got a little bit lost, but nothing serious and by checking my map and asking some kind people, I made my way there. I got the Euro, and then asked if they charged to exchange the money. There is no commission there, but they charge a tiny bit more than is listed on the XE Currency website. When I say a little, it’s not even 1% more, which is great. So I got the Euro, and then thought it might be a good idea to get some Malaysian Ringet before leaving Bali. I’m sure they have ATM’s at the airport, but it’s always a great idea to arrive in a new country with some of their currency. Even if it’s late at night, and you just want to buy a coffee while waiting in the airport, it’s handy. So I went to get some money from a nearby ATM, then went back and got some Ringet. 

I went to the Apotek, which is the name for a pharmacy here, to get some antihistamines to take with me to Borneo, in case I get bug bites or Fire Coral burns again. It is incredibly itchy and only allowed me to sleep when I doused it with an antihistamine. I have enough now to get me through, as well as Ibuprofen and Paracetamol as it’s called here. I made sure I have enough sunscreen and bug spray, though I have found that the best repellant is my Tiger Balm. 

After those errands, I decided to go to the Post Office to get some stamps and send some cards, but they were out of stamps so I will have to go back another day. It’s not that far, so it will be nice easy errand the day before I leave. I dropped by the Air Asia office on my way to the Money Exchanger because I drove right by it on route. No news about the fixing of the error regarding my credit and applying it to my ticket to Bangkok. Oh well, perhaps it will get fixed before I leave. I sure hope so.

Then I went to Mall Bali Galleria, to buy some items to make a potato salad, buy some water and munchies for our drive tomorrow, and find a little gift and card for Reza and Yulia. They have both been so sweet while I have been here and made my visit so comfy. I ended up finding two nice cards, and bought Yulia a loaded card for the TimeZone Game place we went to the other day. She and Reza love to go there, so I thought that would be a nice gift for her. For Reza, I think I will just write him a poem, and leave some money for him to use for a massage, or some scuba item that he needs. I think he could use the money more than anything, though I tried really hard to think of a ‘thing’ for him. Anyway, I know he’ll appreciate it, as much as I have appreciated his generosity and kindness regarding his place, and all the things he’s arranged for me while I visited Bali. He really did go out of his way to make me feel welcome and appreciated.

Then I came back, made the potato salad and popped some popcorn for our trip tomorrow. I am all packed and ready to go. Yulia will come over tonight once the rental car is delivered to her place. She will sleep here so that we can get an early start and return in good time tomorrow. We will do two dives in Ahmed and then come back. I am excited to go diving and I think she is too. It’s been a really long time since she has gone diving and she wants to do it before she starts another new job at the beginning of April. Reza can’t join us as he’s crazy busy with many guests that he is organizing tours, hotels and trips for, not to mention airport pick ups. It’s a very busy season for him this month, so he’s kind of tied up though happy because it means he's making some money.

While I was making the potato salad, my cell rang. It was the nice woman from Air Asia, calling to tell me that Head Office had fixed the refund and that all I had to do was to go onto the site, pay the little bit that wasn’t covered by the credit, and I would have the situation solved and the flight to Bangkok confirmed. I did that, without issue, and now have all my flights arranged and was able to apply the refund for the last ticket, to the new one, with only $3 above the cost, to pay. I was so happy to have this resolved as now I can rest easily that I won’t have to run around near to my departure, wondering if I will get it sorted before leaving. Yeah! I’m so lucky.

So now I am just waiting for Yulia to come over, then we’ll probably go to bed early and get up early to be on our way diving. I haven’t got a clue when Reza will return, as he’s got many things on the go today. I hope he had a good day.

Talk to you tomorrow or the next day, to tell you about diving.

Nyepi days (Mar. 21, 22, 2015)

Mar. 21, 2015

This morning I got up slowly, did my yoga on the balcony, had a shower, and sat outside to drink my coffee. Reza slept until about 11:00 as he has been working a lot lately and hasn’t been sleeping very well at night. Last night, he had a few beers, and we watched a couple of movies. He fell asleep, and seemed to stay heavily asleep until this morning. It was good that he was able to get some needed rest.

It is Nyepi today, and there is absolutely no movement around the city. All the motorbikes and cars are parked, no one is on the streets and all you can hear from the balcony is the wind in the trees and the birds. It’s really quite a cool experience. No one goes out today, and are at home without electricity, eating, and work. They will eat after sundown today, as this Hindu tradition indicates. I think I got it wrong about when they burn the huge demon statues. Perhaps they do it tomorrow or after prayers tonight. I’m not sure, but would like to see that.

The rest of the day was spent watching movies, eating, and colouring my hair. I tried to find a hair salon that did colour, other than black or dark brown, but no one here seems to like any other colours. So, I went to the supermarket and found a Chestnut Mahogany Dark Blonde colour, and did my hair today. It turned out surprisingly well, and I was happy with the result. 

New colour and cut

Closer view 

We went to bed around midnight and had a really great, silent day. During the evening, we had to put up cardboard over the windows, because no one is supposed to have lights on. There were many other houses around here that did the same, as many are not of the Hindu Religion but must observe the ‘no going out’ rule and low lights, for the sake of those who are.

The stars were incredible as I looked out over the black balcony. There were no street lamps or city lights and the stars could be seen so clearly. It was quite incredible to see. I think it’s a really interesting experience to have been through. There is nothing quite like this in Canada, where everyone observes the same rules and use of lights and electricity. They are very serious here about Nyepi. Only Bali is this serious because it consists of mostly Hindu’s. Other places in Indonesia are primarily Muslim, so they don’t have this custom.

Mar. 22, 2015

This morning Reza had to go out to work, very early. I had the place to myself and got ready to go out and get a hair cut, with my new coloured hair, do some errands and prepare myself for diving on the 23rd to Ahmed, with Yulia, and my departure from Bali, on the evening of the 26th.

I had to go to Air Asia to see about the credit they were giving me for the cancelled flight to Bangkok. This got rectified after two visits, but when we tried to apply the credit to my new flight to Bangkok, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it miscalculated the amount and wouldn’t allow the credit to work. Thankfully, I was at the Air Asia office when I did this, so they took screen shots of the mistake, and sent it to Head Office for review. I hope they can get it resolved before I leave on the 26th, as it’s the last flight I need to book, in order to use the credit. I think it will work out, but I have to go there again tomorrow when they call me, to see if it is fixed. What a pain, but hopefully worth it.

In the afternoon, I came back to Reza’s place and relaxed for a while. It was really hot out, and I got caught in a sudden down pour, so was hot, wet and tired by the time I returned. After resting for a while, I watched some movies, and cooked some noodles and vegetables. Reza didn’t return until after 10 pm, so I was happily entertaining myself for the whole day. I had a great day.

Tomorrow, Yulia and I will leave early to drive to the eastern coast of Bali, about 1-2 hours drive, to go to Ahmed, for diving. We will do two dives and then drive back to Denpasar. I am excited to be going diving, as you can imagine…..lol.

More tomorrow.

Back to Denpasar, Bali (Mar. 18-20, 2015)

Mar. 18, 2015

Today I got up in good time, packed my bag, and met Sara to catch our flight back to Denpasar, Bali. It was sad to say goodbye to Labuan Bajo, but taking lovely memories with us, to ponder, at our next destinations. Sara will stay in Bali for two days, then take a flight to India to meet up with friends for a couple of weeks. She will then return home and is happy to be seeing her family, but not that excited to see her travel time come to an end. 

I leave Bajo with a happy feeling from my diving, and think that I will try to continue it before leaving SE Asia for Canada. I am happy to be going back to Denpasar and to be meeting up with Yulia and Reza, who seem excited and happy to be meeting up again. It’s a weird group of friends, but we have really bonded and enjoy one another’s company.

My flight landed without any issue, at the airport, and I found my motorbike, still intact, in the parking lot. Well, it was missing one mirror, but other than that, no major issues. It even started and ran like a charm, which was great. No flat tires, or damaged body, other than the missing mirror. Reza said that this is very cheap to fix and that he had never had this happen before when he left the bike there. Oh well, I suppose it wasn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Apparently, it is only $5 to buy a new mirror, so that’s not bad. I found my way back to Reza’s place, where I was met by an excited Reza and Yulia.

They had gone shopping and Reza was making us lunch. He had saved some Iranian food that his last guests had brought to him, for me to try. It was delicious and consisted of a crispy saffron rice, salad, a bitter bean mixture and tuna from Iran. It was so sweet of them to wait for me to try it, and the three of us hung out for the rest of the day, going to the mall to play some games in the Game Zone, and watching movies in the evening, at Reza’s place. 

Welcome back lunch

Close up of lunch

Three friends playing Uno

Yulia brought her stuff and stayed overnight. We played Uno during the evening, after getting back from the mall, which was so much fun. Yulia has a rule that the loser of each round, gets a stripe of eyeshadow, somewhere on their face, at the discretion of the other players. Yulia and Reza got stripes, and luckily, I won a lot, and was makeup free. It was a lot of fun.

Mar. 19, 2015

We all got up together in the morning and ate together, before Reza had to go to work. He had saved this can of traditional Iranian food that people there eat for breakfast. He saved it for the whole time I was gone, which was so sweet. It was sheep parts. Brain, face, eyes, meat and feet. It was delicious and the broth that it was in was rich and delicious. He gave us Iranian flat bread that kind of resembled a flat pita. There was also Iranian cheese, very much like salty Feta, and fresh walnuts that you put with the cheese and lime, on the bread. The whole thing was fantastic, but super rich and filling. 

Reza left for work soon after we ate, and Yulia and I set off on the motorbike to do some errands. Most of them were for me, but she was happy to hang out and buzz around on the bike doing stuff. I had lost my prescription sunglasses, in Labuan Bajo, just before leaving………yes, the Senior moments have set in. I have now lost two pairs of prescription glasses since coming to Indonesia. Anyway, one of the errands was to get me another pair of sunglasses. We did indeed do that, and found a pair, that ended up costing me $45 total, and were made within the same day. In addition, we went to the Telkomsel place to find out about why the credit wasn’t showing on my phone, and to Air Asia to trade in my ticket to Bangkok. They had sent me an email saying that the flight I had booked to Bangkok for Mar. 26th, was cancelled and now was scheduled for Mar. 27th. This wasn’t a big deal, but I didn’t want to go to Bangkok that early, any longer, and had decided that going to Malaysia, an island in the east, was more appealing, to do some more World Class diving. One of the options was to get a credit for the flight and rebook, so that’s what I did. I will go to the east of Sabah, Malaysia, for a couple of weeks, go diving in Sipadan, Mabul, and surrounding area, then fly to Bangkok closer to my Canada departure time. That way I can experience one more of the top dive places in the world, before going back.

We went shopping for some items to have for the Silent Day, which is March 21st. Everything is closed on that day, and you can’t go out of the house. You’re not even supposed to use electricity and are to meditate, fast, and pray on this day. If you go out and are caught, you can be put in jail for the day, then fined a lot of money. It is a Hindu Day of Observation called Nyepi. It is very interesting, but all the shops are packed the few days before, with everyone stocking up for this day when all the shops are closed.

We tried to find a salon to colour my hair, but none of them seemed to have the colours I needed. No one here likes to colour their hair any shades of lighter brown, or red. All the options are very dark, either black or dark brown. So, I bought a L’Oreal hair colour in the supermarket to put on my hair during the Silent Day, when I can’t go anywhere. I hope it will be ok, as I am not very skilled at doing my own colour. Julia, I hope you can fix it if it is horrible…….lol. Anyway, I will give it a try and see what happens.

After that, I drove Yulia home, which is fairly far away. We stopped at McDonald’s for an ice cream, played Uno for a while, then I returned to Reza’s place and went to bed. He was still out, collecting guests that had arrived to Bali, from the airport.

Mar. 20, 2015

Today I spent the day, in a kind of lazy, way. Well, I researched where I want to go diving, and booked my ticket online. That was great because Air Asia’s website is often very sketchy and doesn’t work well. So, that is done, I have my ticket booked to Kuala Lumpur, for Mar. 26th in the evening. Then I will probably stay in the airport, and take another flight to Tawau, which is the closest place that you can fly to, close to Sempora. I contacted Scuba Junkie to get some prices for dive packages, and am just waiting for them to reply with what is available. I am really happy to be going to one more spectacular dive spot before leaving. I couldn’t really think of what I would do in Bangkok again, or more than two weeks. 

Other than that, I did yoga, caught up with loading the many photos that I couldn’t load onto the blog before, bought a few more things before Nyepi, and basically just chilled. Reza was working for most of the day, so I had the place to myself, Face Timed with family, tried a couple of friends and missed them, and did some laundry. 

Oh, before I came in for the evening, I rode around on the motorbike and took photos of the giant sculptures that people made for Nyepi. They must work on these all year. They are huge and very detailed. They are devils that they burn on the eve of Nyepi to start a clean year, without all the old demons. They are quite explicit and many seem to have boobs and other genitalia. I took many photos, and then was able to see this whole mob of people in white, walking down the main street, on their way to temple to burn the demons. No traffic could pass, and the cars had to stop and wait until they were past. It was really cool.

Reza came home just before sundown and we chatted, had a cold drink and will just hang out, watching movies, and eating for the rest of the night. Tomorrow we can’t go out, and will block the windows so the very observant neighbours don’t see any light, and will cook, and play cards. I will try to do my hair colour tomorrow as well. That should be interesting.

More later.