Back in Bangkok (Apr. 11, 2015)

Apr. 11, 2015

Well, I arrived in Bangkok without any problems, and made it to the hostel on the public bus and Skytrain. It was kind of nice not to have to use a map or GPS, because I’d done it so many times before, that I knew where I was going. I couldn’t check into the hostel yet as it was too early, so Benjamin, the new American guy that works here now, came with me to sort out a SIM card for my phone while I’m here. 

Ian, the other guy that worked here five months ago, had left and now Benjamin, about 31 years old, Hawaiian and now living in New York, was the front man. He is really nice and needed something for his phone so happily came with me, and helped me organize my stuff. For $5, I got a SIM card and three days of data, which will work perfectly while I’m here. That way I can text and talk to Martin, use the GPS if needed, and anything else that might come along.

We went for lunch together before sorting out the phone, and he took me to a Japanese Hot Pot restaurant in the mall, close to the phone place. It was delicious, and we had a great time chatting and eating. His partner just proposed to him, and he was delighted. He was telling me of the issues they have encountered with his partner’s mother, not liking Benjamin and blaming him that her son is now gay because of him. Tough situation, but Benjamin seems to be dealing with it well. The in-laws live in Sweden, so they are far enough away, that he has time to think about how to act when he sees them.

Benjamin at lunch.
Look how yummy the food is....mmmm

Me at lunch

After that, we came back to the hostel, I checked in, took my stuff to the room, then relaxed for a while. Later on, I went with Benjamin, and two of his friends, to the Mall, to ‘make over’ one of the girls. She was a cute little Chinese girl named Nancy who also works at the hostel. She is going to Benjamin’s birthday party at the end of the month. She needed some new clothes and make up, which she had never worn before. Anyway, it was really fun, and reminded me of Peter and me shopping together, for my make over, in Montreal, one year. She got many nice things, including a designer dress that looked fantastic on her. She was glowing and so pleased with her new stuff. That’s such a great feeling.

We were to go to a night market after that, but learned just before we left, that due to a festival the city is having, the market was closed. So instead, we just came back to the hostel, but it was around 11 pm by this time. The festival is called Song Kran and I think it's the Thai New Year. Everyone sprays water on one another in the streets to celebrate this holiday, so it should be fun to experience in a day or two, just before leaving.

I opted out of going for a few drinks, thankfully, because they stayed out until the wee hours of the morning, and I’d been up since 3:30 am the day before. I went to bed, and was happy to sleep in the air conditioned room.

I am going to the weekend market with Martin and Sez, his partner, tomorrow so that will be nice. I can’t wait to hear what he’s been up to for the past half a year.

Leaving Semporna for Bangkok (Apr. 10, 2015)

Apr. 10, 2015

Today I got up early as usual, and puttered around, slowly getting my stuff ready to go. I took everything out of my suitcase, and repacked it, weighed it to be sure I wasn’t over weight, then went to find some breakfast. I went to that restaurant, Al-Nifisah, that is two doors down from the Lodge I am staying in. The young girls who work there are so cute, in there head scarves that match perfectly with whatever they are wearing. They always have big smiles to great you with and are happy to try and help you in any way they can.

I asked what a traditional breakfast might be, and they said that roti with banana and iced coffee with milk. I said that would be fantastic, and ordered it. They brought it over and I munched away, looking out at the people passing on the street in front of the restaurant. Semporna isn’t very pretty, but it’s a friendly little town. The roti at this place is so delicious, soft, and tears perfectly. I really like it. 

I finished up my breakfast, then went to the grocery store to buy some munchies for my 12 hour wait in the Kuala Lumpur Airport, for my Bangkok flight. I got some nuts, an apple, water, and two boiled eggs from the restaurant that I had breakfast at (old habits die hard, Mom...lol). Then I went back to the hostel and had a shower to be ready for my 10:30 taxi ride of 1.5 hours, into Tawau. While I was waiting after I was ready, one of the Dive Masters who I had been diving with said I should go back to the restaurant and get a 'Take Away' roti, with some curry sauce. I did that and was all ready for a long wait at KL Airport.

Well the ride to Tawau and the flight were good. Well, I had an interesting encounter on the plane. The flight wasn't super full, but I was in a middle seat between two men. When I went to the bathroom, I noticed that there were a couple of rows, with only one person, by the window, so I asked if I could take one of those aisle seats. They said it was fine, so I took one, and realized that the guy behind me was really tall, and if I tried to recline the seat, his knees would be squished. So I moved to the other vacant seat, with a short man behind, and lots of leg room. I sat down, and reclined the seat a bit, but not fully. Suddenly, I felt the seat get jammed back to a straight position, so I tried again. Then I realized it was the guy behind me, pushing the seat back up so I couldn't recline. I turned around and asked if it would be ok to recline the seat just a little, and indicated that his knees weren't being touched at all. He said no, and told me to move. I said there was no where else, and I would just put it back a little. He kept shoving it back to the upright position. So, the third time he did it, I just pushed against the floor to keep the seat slightly reclined, and kept my feet planted until he stopped trying to do that. I couldn't believe it, but finally he stopped, though he kept jamming the seat when he would get up and down. It was actually quite funny, and I felt like laughing about it as it was happening. He had tons of room and was adamant about not letting my put the seat back at all, though he was a small man with lots of room. Anyway, other than that, the flight was good and I arrived at the KL Airport without issue. 

I was not looking forward to waiting the twelve hours until my Bangkok flight, and managed to have a nice coffee with an Australian guy who was diving where I was, and was on his way home, but stopping in KL for two days. He was really nice and we sat for quite a while chatting before he had to go.

Then I decided to try and find some place to sit or lie down, until my ealry morning flight. As I was walking around the airport, I saw a sign that indicated Sleeping Capsules, so I went to find out about it. I was so happy I did, because for $30 Canadian, you can rent a bed in a kind of warehouse area of the airport, that has pass key access, showers, towels, lockers, reading light, and charging stations. It was a gift to find this, and I happily rented one for twelve hours. Oh, there is WiFi as well.....yeah.

My little capsule with
pull down privacy curtain

View of floor with capsules

Looking down to 1st capsule floor

Pass key access for entry/exit

Bathroom and shower area complete
with hair dryers

One side is female only, the other
side is male only

So, I cozied down in my little capsule bed, took out my computer, and updated some of the pics for my blog. I haven't gotten very far yet, because I have to copy one of the Memory Cards to my computer and choose the photos, but it's a start. What a lovely way to end the journey to Bangkok. Now I will get up refreshed, clean, and ready for my early flight, arriving without a sore back, and being tired. Wow, what a fantastic idea to have in an airport, and totally affordable.

More from Bangkok.

Last Dives and Day in Malaysia (Apr. 9, 2015)

Apr. 9, 2015

Well, today there weren’t enough people to go to the third and final northern island, so we went to Mabul instead. I was diving with two other people, and both of them were very experienced so our dives were long and lovely. Our Dive Master was Val, a really sweet Italian girl who was great at finding things and very funny.

We saw several things that I either hadn’t seen before, or had only seen once before. The Painted Frog Fish was one of them. This one was a bright yellow colour and was incredible. I also saw two Ghost Pipe Fish which are super interesting and look like the lacy leaves on a plant that they live near. You really have to look carefully to see them. We saw many many Crocodile Flathead Fish and some Stone Fish as well.

• pics of Frog Fish and Crocodile Fish

It was sad to say goodbye to the diving, but I have had such a great time here and have seen so many wonderful underwater sights. I have now done 92 dives. Can you believe it? Apparently, in the diving community, it is customary to do your 100th dive naked. I don’t know about that, and am happy that I don’t have to deal with that now….lol.

Tomorrow morning, I catch the taxi from the Dive Shop, along with several other people going to the airport at the same time, to catch our flights. It’s nice that there are several others because we then split the 90 Ringet fare to the airport, which is about 30 dollars Canadian. I fly to Kuala Lumpur, then have a twelve hour wait at the airport there. I catch a flight to Bangkok after my wait, and stay in Bangkok for three days, then fly to BC. I am really looking forward to visiting Jan, my second mom, and it’s a good way to return to Canada. I can handle the weather in Gibsons first, then ease my way east and hope it's gotten a bit warmer......lol.

For now, I’m just chilling out and will get up tomorrow to organize my stuff. I don’t have to get the taxi until 10:20 am, so that will be easy and not early.

More from the KL airport, I’m sure.

Bye bye Semporna and Borneo. It’s been fantastic being here and I’m a much richer person because of it!

- pics of Semporna town

Diving Mabul and Semporna (Apr. 6, 7, 8, 2015)

Apr. 6, 2015

Today I went diving to the Sipadan Barrier Reef, which was great. I won’t go into all the fish and marine life I saw, but will tell you that I was with Cinta, and Geir again, so we had a great time. Cinta and I were leaving after the third dive, to go to Semporna. Geir would meet us in Semporna the next day, as he wass going to Sipadan tomorrow, and we will already be there. 

It’s nice to dive with the same people and get to know them a bit. I found out that Geir is a banker in Norway, but I think I told you that already. I also found out that Cinta is a Tax Lawyer in Spain and is presently doing her Masters in Sociology to do Human Rights Law, hopefully for some NGO, in another part of the world, where there is good diving. I thought that was cool and applaud her for it. She calls me her little Canadian Unicorn Fish because of my funky hair do, to keep the hair out of my face, while diving. You’ve seen it, and I’ll post it again when I have good WiFi.

So after our last dive, our luggage was already down at the jetty, and we pretty much boarded the boat and left for Semporna. I had already said my goodbyes to my favourite local dive masters, and the staff that work at the resort. They were all so very sweet and made my time there incredibly memorable. 

The trip back to Semporna took about 50 minutes and I just sat on the boat contemplating the wonderful experience I just had, at the Mabul Beach Resort, and diving in Sipadan. What a fantastic time and opportunity I have had to meet such interesting people and share so many amazing underwater sights with Mother Nature. Happily, I also reflected that it’s not over yet, because I was hopeful that there would be enough people to go to some of the northern islands to dive, that are only accessed by the Semporna Dive Boats. It's still Scuba Junkie, but too far from Mabul to go to these islands on a day trip from there. 

We pulled into the harbour and took out stuff off the boat. Still in our wet diving clothes, we walked the short distance to the Scuba Junkie Lodge, which is the dorm and hotel. Yeah, air conditioning and not many people in the room. I was pleased, and so was Cinta. The first night we had four in the room, including us, then the second night, only Cinta and me. It was great.

We had an early night, as I have been doing for two straight weeks because I’m so tired at the end of each day. It was nice to eat some dinner that wasn’t the regular resort food, which after a week gets a bit tiring as they do the same thing each day of the week. We went to a local restaurant and I had a Tom Yum Soup and she had Mie Goreng which is noodles and chicken. Both were great and put a perfect end to our day.

Apr. 7, 2015

Well, luck was on my side because there were enough people to go to one of the northern islands today. An island called Mantabuan. It was untouched, and not many people have dived there so the coral is incredible and so are the fish. I was shocked at how lush the coral gardens were and how colourful. It was a great day diving with Cinta, and we saw many wonderful sights. We ate lunch on the boat, docked at the beach of this lovely island.

• Pic of Mantabuan island

On the way to the island, there were lots of uninhabited places along the way, with sandy white beaches, and crystal blue water with palm trees poking into the sky when you looked at them. Absolutely amazing and super pretty. A very different perspective than the boat rides around Mabul and Sipadan. I’m glad that I got a chance to see this. 

- pics along boat ride

There were again, lots of healthy coral gardens and lovely reefs with billions of reef fish to see. I found it so interesting that Mother Nature paints such beautiful pictures under the sea. For example, when we passed a huge coral growth that was pink, the fish that hang out there were green. Another coral was brown, and the fish hanging out there, were blue. The third one I saw was a deep red coral with purple fish hanging out in it. So beautiful and perfectly matched. There were also other fish and marine species to see, and we had no shortage of interesting sights.

After diving, Cinta and I went next door to the bar, where everyone goes after diving, to use the internet and have a drink. There were many Westerners there, and all the Dive Masters. It’s a friendly local bar, and by this time, Geir had come over from Mabul and was showering so that we could all have a last meal together.

We decided to have seafood, as this is a port town and we thought it would be fantastic. I asked Lisa, the woman at the front desk, where to go, and she told me ‘Fat Mom’s’ just overlooking the water. We walked over there and found a string of restaurants overlooking the water. However, there was only one that was packed to capacity. We had found Fat Mom’s. We got a table, but had to share it with another couple as there were many people waiting and not enough tables. That was fine, as it was a huge round table.

We ordered Sweet and Sour Prawns, Mixed Garlic Fish, and Barbecued Lamb. There was also a ginger and onion vegetable dish with seaweed, that was just fantastic. All the dishes were amazing, and we polished off everything. They include watermelon and a rice custard, for dessert, which was nice. Dinner was really fun and we all enjoyed chatting around the table on our last night together.

Geir and Cinta were catching the taxi in the morning to go to Tawau airport. They were both on the same flight back to Kuala Lumpur, and were going to share a hotel for one night before each departed to their respective destinations. Oh, I think Cinta was not going directly to Barcelona, but instead, to Koh Tao to visit her sister, who lives there. Then she was going back home.

Another early night ended this day, after I got some videos off of Geir’s Go Pro collection of several dives we all did together. He was very sweet to allow me to have them, and I was happy to go through his raw footage and choose quite a few that I wanted.

Geir and Cinta also signed my memory book before leaving for bed, as I thought we might not have time in the morning. Geir wrote his bit in Norweigan and read it to me. He was happy to have met me, and enjoyed the diving together. I am welcome in Norway anytime. Nice man.

Apr. 8, 2015

I wasn’t sure if they would have enough people to visit another of the northern islands, but as luck would have it, they did. Today we went to another island called Sibuan. I got to dive with a local guy that some of the locals had recommended to me, from Mabul. His name was Pajan, and he had eagle eyes, and a real love for diving. 

On our boat ride out to the island, we saw a huge dark cloud, with a funnel coming down from it. OK, rain, we thought, then it just teamed down, and the funnel cloud got stronger. Suddenly, we had passed it, and were out of it, though it was like a tornado, for several minutes. Truly weird and spooky, but ok, as it passed.

• pic of funnel cloud and rain storm

Again, we arrived at a beautiful, uninhabited island that we would be diving around for the day. There were many things to see, but Pajan outdid himself and found us a huge white Frog Fish, that moved, which is really cool because they rarely do. It shows off the details in their webbed feet, and how they move. This is definitely the way they got their name. Truly weird but lovely creatures. Then he found us a Ghost Pipefish, which is not very common, and usually blended in with reeds or vegetation. This one was hovering beside a rock so we could get a good look at it. Neither of these creatures I had seen before. Well, the Frog Fish, yes, but not this large, or in white. Both were really cool.

One of our dives, we saw the largest cuttlefish I have ever seen. I thought it was a diver swimming in the distance, got closer, and realized it was a cuttlefish swimming, and it was about 1 meter long, which is massive for a cuttlefish. It was really cool.

We also saw many of the regular things, but the site was so undisturbed that it was fantastic. I really enjoyed the day.

When I got back, I showered and met up with Lena, who was coming to Semporna for one overnight, on her way home. We ate dinner together with another girl, early 20’s, from Montreal, named Daria. We had the best chicken roti for dinner, which was not at all what I thought it would be, but was delicious. The three of us chatted and ate, then I walked Lena to her hotel, came back to my place, and crashed. 

Tomorrow I had hoped to do Mantaking Island, the third and final northern island, but they didn’t have enough people to go, so we are going to the Mabul area, which of course I’ve dived, but maybe we’ll go to a site I haven’t been to, or one that I really liked. It’s my last day of diving, so I don’t care where we go. One more time, then I’ll pack it in for a while. What a fantastic run of dives I’ve had. SO lucky.

Diving Around Mabul Day 9 (Apr. 5, 2015)

Apr. 5, 2015

HAPPY EASTER everybody. I miss you all and hope you are enjoying a lovely meal with your families or friends. Oh, and congratulations on your new wiggly tooth, Livi. You are getting so grown up now. Wow. You go girl……..lol.

Today I went diving at three spots around the resort, so we came back between each dive for the Surface Intervals. Lena didn’t end up diving today, though she was much better this morning when I went to get her for breakfast. She is not going to dive anymore until she gets a complete physical, so as not to challenge fate. I think that’s a good idea, and I think the people running this resort think so also. We are pretty far from a hospital if something goes wrong, so it’s better to be on the safe side. In some ways, I think she was relieved.

I did dive with Geir, the Norwegian man, and found out a bit more about him. He’s just turned 50 in January, and is a banker in Oslo. He is a great to dive with and sits with Lena and me for meals, so I’ve been asking them all kinds of stuff about Sweden and Norway. It’s really interesting and they are both happy to share their cultures, foods, and stories.

Then Cinta, the Spanish girl was with us again too, and I found out that she is from Spain. She only did the first dive, then was super exhausted, so didn’t do the next two dives. There was also a very large Australian woman, named Michelle, who is a Travel Agent, that was with us. She is easily over 6 feet tall, and probably about 250 lbs. She isn’t particularly nice, but ok to dive with. She is kind of loud, overbearing and a bit of a know it all. I think she likes to come across intimidating, but I’m not sure why. She could be the sweetest person, and still be a bit intimidating because of her size. Anyway, she had a bad stomach last night and didn’t do the first dive. So for every dive, there were only three people, and two Dive Masters, so it was a great day.

We had Kai, and Theresa, who are both local Dive Masters, and fantastic. Since we had already been to many of the sites, we were allowed to pick the sites we wanted to go to, today. Geir and I both said that the two guides should choose, as both love diving and see so much stuff. They chose three very nice sites that didn’t have much current, and were super relaxing and peaceful to dive at. We all just kind of did our own thing, looking under rocks and things, and indicating to one another when we found something cool to look at. Otherwise, we just stayed down, for well over an hour each dive, and looked for cool stuff. 

I didn’t see anything new today that I haven’t seen before, but the dives were so delightful and the sun was shining brightly so the visibility was fantastic and all lit up. I was going to do a sunset dive tonight, but decided to cancel, as I want to get myself organized as I check out tomorrow and take the boat over to Semporna. I will stay there for three days, and hopefully dive some of the North Islands that they don’t go to from here. Then I will go to the airport in Tawau, on Apr. 10th, and fly to Kuala Lumpur, to catch my flight to Bangkok. Wow, time sure has flown, but it’s not over yet. I get to dive tomorrow, and most likely, a day or more from Semporna.

Diving Siamil and Sipadan Day 7, 8 (Apr. 3, 4, 2015)

Apr. 3, 2015

Today was amazing. I went back to Siamil, that day trip to the Robinson Crusoe island. The dives were great and we saw lots of wonderful things. I’m sure you’re getting tired of hearing about what I saw, so today, I will tell you about some of the characters that I am diving with.

Lena, the Swedish woman of about 44 years old, is really nice. She is super self conscious that she uses too much air and runs out before anyone else. Then everyone has to go up early and she feels awful. It’s not really the case, though she does go through more air than I do, but it’s not to the point where she cuts the dives short. In any case, she is very nice, and super smart. She is traveling alone too, so we have been sitting together for meals, and were put together to dive, today. I went on the Sunset Dive with her as well, and she dived for 72 minutes, so she’s not that bad on air.

She is a professor at a University in Sweden, and specializes in Fascist Studies, which is really cool. She has travelled quite a lot, and has gone diving in places like Egypt and the Maldives. She told me that she was off work for the past little while due to a breakdown. She says that she “crashed”. I can sometimes see her anxiety when things change and she isn’t prepared for it. 

One time when we were diving, she had a leaky O-ring (easy, mom and J…lol) which happens often and just requires a tank change. She hadn’t planned for that, which you can’t anyway, and got really guffuffled and crusty. She started yanking at her mask, and swearing, but soon calmed down. She’s pretty easy to quell, as she has a heart of gold and just needs to know that someone is watching out for her and cares. That’s easy enough, and since she now requests me as her ‘buddy’ for diving, I have a good grip on it. She was easy to de-escalate, and we had a wonderful dive, but here and there, I can see signs of how fragile she still is.

She said that her job was super stressful and that it just came to a head, with a very machismo boss that was never happy with anything she did, or anyone else for that matter. I could certainly understand how that would weigh on a person after a time.

There was also a Norwegian guy named Geir, a bit younger than me, diving, who was super nice, and always had his old music (the kind from my childhood too) playing, so we’d always be rocking out and he’d sing in his Norwegian accent. He is a good guy and really sweet. I don’t know his story other than he had been to Sipadan last year for diving and returned this year. He’s happy go lucky and very friendly. 

There were a very young German couple (20 and 21) on the boat today as well. The girl was gorgeous in a very plain way, with a great figure. The two Malaysian Dive Masters that were with us, couldn’t keep their eyes off her, and I kept bugging them, and catching them. I don’t think her boyfriend was too pleased, but he was a good sport about it. 

There was also another woman, of Spanish descent, but I”m not sure if she is South American, or European. She is also nice and quite funny. Her name is Cinta, and she slips little sarcastic comments into the mix, but is so sweet, that she easily gets away with them, then laughs.

The last guy was a 30 something, a guy from Poland, now living in Germany. He is into IT and is taking a few months off to travel and dive. He was pretty quiet except for when he’d blurt out, well, kind of yell, answers to any questions that were asked of him. One time I was putting the Baby Shampoo onto my mask to prevent it from fogging up, and he yelled over to me, "Ah, Great, Baby Shampoo……….I try, yes?" I said ‘Sure’ and passed it over. He raved about it afterwards and kept yelling for it before every dive. I found it really funny as did everyone on the boat. I thought everyone knew the Baby Shampoo trick, but apparently not. He was so excited and kept saying that his eyes didn’t hurt because it Vuz Baby Shampoo…….no more tears......ahahahaha. He added a real spark to the gang, so I was happy to share my shampoo with him.

The three dive guides were in their twenties, but super amazing at spotting things in the sea. One of them asked me where in Toronto I lived. I looked at him strangely and asked how much he knew the city. He replied that he’d gone to Centennial College and U of T, in Toronto, two years ago. I was so surprised when he said that, and told him where I live. He knew the area, though not well because he lived in Scarborough. It was cool though.

So that was our group, and Oh, the captain. I never did know his name, but did realize that he was a speed demon, and drove the boat out to Siamil Island so fast, that it made one of the Malaysian Dive Master guides, sea sick. That was pretty funny. We had a five minute ‘rest’ once we got to the island so that Issy, could settle his stomach.

Apr. 4, 2015

Today was my second trip to Sipadan, and what a fantastic trip. Several of the characters I just described were along on this trip too. Lena was my ‘buddy’, and the Norwegian guy, and Spanish girl, were also there. In addition today, a different German couple joined us, and one Korean or Japanese woman as well. 

Simon, the retired English Police Officer was our Dive Master, and he is known for being able to spot things really well. This was an understatement, as he was fantastic. He is 49 years old, a big burly guy with a bit of a belly, but very sweet and organized. 

We left the jetty at 6:30 this morning and went to Sipadan Island. On our way there, the first great thing we saw was a school of dolphins swimming beside the boat. They were jumping right out of the water and were wonderful. Then they took off as fast as they arrived. Once we arrived to Sipadan Island, we signed in for the permits, and got ready for our first dive. This dive was at South Point, and we saw many sharks, White Tipped and Gray Reef Sharks, lots of Big Nose Unicorn Fish, playing in our bubbles to get the parasites off them, Clown Trigger Fish, a school of Napoleon Wrasse and many wonderful corals. It was a great dive, but nothing way way over the top. 

We went to the island for our Surface Interval, had breakfast which was noodles and hard boiled eggs with bread and peanut butter and jam, and got ready for our second dive. This dive was better than the first. It was at a site called White Tip Avenue, and we saw so many sharks, I couldn’t keep count. I think we saw over 30 sharks on this dive and they kept coming out from all corners. Some were really long, maybe up to 2-3 meters, and were absolutely gorgeous. I really like sharks and find them so beautiful. The other really cool thing was that we saw, perhaps 1000 Chevron Barracuda in a formation that resembled a river or tornado, flowing and swirling around. It was astounding how big they were, and how they stayed in that formation, without becoming disturbed while swimming. Some were up to .5 meters long and they had strong stripes on them. It was incredible to watch this many fish, and barracuda to boot, swim that close to you. Oh, and the most interesting part of this whole scene, was when the tornado opened, you could see a huge Trevally in the middle of them, hunting them. That’s why they kept swirling around and around to avoid him. Super cool.

Then we went to the island again for our second Surface Interval and had tea and cakes. You sure don’t lack food around here, and it’s good. Then we went for our third dive, which was the best of the day, and beat out both of the first two dives. It was at a site called Barracuda Point, but we didn’t see that many barracuda. Instead, we saw an even bigger tornado of Jack Fish, than the one we saw last dive, of the barracuda. Jack fish are fairly big, silver fish, and you are allowed to swim into their tornado. I did that, and it was so incredibly cool to see their eyes and the thousands of fish coming toward you, but not touching you, just looking at you, eye to eye. They were absolutely magical and I was so happy that I swam into them, just for the experience. They swirled around and around me, thousands of friends, and never seemed to end. Their shimmering silver bodies were so smooth in the water and had very few marks or scars on them. Just perfectly smooth skin and such a bright silver colour with bright eyes. There were some Tuna as well, but the Jack Fish were the highlight of the dive, along with over 30 sharks again, and some huge turtles and Bumphead Parrot Fish, which are humungous. They eat the rocks and have a set of teeth that look like one huge tooth across their face. You can hear them chomping off pieces of coral while you’re looking at them. It’s really weird to think that they are that big, have such large teeth, and are of no concern to you at all. Very cool and interesting to see. Once in a lifetime, I’m sure.

We ate lunch at our third Surface Interval. We had breaded coconut chicken breast, rice, noodles, and broccoli/cauliflower. We also had yellow watermelon which was delicious. Then we got ready for our last dive. It was a relaxed dive with no current. Some of the first three dives had quite a lot of current and when we went out into the blue, we had to kick hard to get through the current. It wasn’t crazy, but a bit tiring after so many dives. This one was easy and we saw neat stuff, but nothing like the second and third dives. There were many turtles and a few sharks, but the coral wall and reef on this dive are incredible. This site was called Hanging Garden and was a great way to end the dives at Sipadan. I am so happy I came here and dived Sipadan two times. It was so worth it. I will still do more diving, but just not at Sipadan.

Before dinner, I walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was gorgeous, and as the sun was going down, you could also see the moon. What a beautiful picture.

- pics of sunset at beach

Dinner was beef, curry pumpkin, green beans, pineapple, apple, and cantaloupe fruit salad, with flat breads. Vegetable soup was also part of the meal. Really good. Lena came out from her room after showering, and just before dinner, experiencing weird chest muscle pain, on her right side, blurry vision, and wobbly legs. She had experienced this the last time she was here as well, and said that she got migraines and once had a panic attack. I felt so sorry for her, and wondered if she was going to be ok to dive. I stayed with her, gave her some juice and fruit salad, and slowly her symptoms passed. She felt better by the time dinner was finished and I wonder if she might have been a bit dehydrated from the day of diving and the hot sun. Apparently, you need to drink one litre of water for every hour that you dive, just to balance out the amount of water needed to transfer the air from the tank into your lungs. We were diving for about four hours all together, and therefore, one needs at least 4 litres of water, just to be be average, then add in the exercise factor of swimming in the current, and the hot hot conditions here. I suspect she didn’t drink enough, but the best part was that she did feel better by the end of the evening and wasn’t scared to sleep alone or be on her own, anymore. I was kind of hoping that she might want company for the night, as she has two beds, and is in an air conditioned private room....lol. She was ok though, and didn't offer. I would have been glad to oblige.

I walked her to her room, made sure she had all that she needed, then went to bed myself. She is going to take tomorrow off, from diving, and have a rest. I will check on her in the morning. Before going to bed, I walked outside to look at the Full Moon. It was just lovely, and I saw it more than half covered as it was a Full Eclipse of the Moon tonight. I was too tired to stay up until it was fully covered, but it was very cool to see it more than half covered  in black. Very special moon tonight.

Diving at Sipadan Day 5, 6 (Apr. 1, 2, 2015)

Apr. 1, 2015

Well, I didn’t get to post this morning because I had a great day diving, then I got a nice surprise at the end of the day. I found out that a woman here, who had secured a Sipadan diving permit, got sick. She wasn’t able to go, and asked that I be given her spot. I still have to pay for it, but the Dive Shop here, only gets 7 permits per day, and you can’t dive there, unless you have a permit. I was on the waiting list, and apparently was next, so I got the offer, and happily took it. I felt badly that Lisa, the sick woman, wasn’t able to go, but at the same time, happy that I was able to go instead. I had one permit already, but wanted to go two times during this diving trip, if I could. This area is one of the best diving sites in the world and there is certainly good reasons why. I will tell you all about it in the next day’s post.

Today, was a great diving day, as they all are, and I did four dives today. The fourth was a sunset/night dive and was wonderful. Before that, though, I went on three dives during the day, two of them to the Sipadan Barrier Reef, and the last one to another site in Mabul. The Sipadan Barrier Reef is not the actual Sipadan area, but is lovely as well.

The first dive was at Coral Garden, and there weren’t a lot of fish to see, but the coral reef was spectacular. The coral was plentiful and super healthy, in all kinds of colours, shapes and textures. It was a really pleasure to see. I saw this super cool giant clam that when it opened, had a zebra striped inside, but when it closed, you couldn’t see it. I stayed and watched it for a long time waiting for it to open so I could see the inside. It’s truly remarkable how the colours and textures of these sea creatures can be so intricate and lovely. The visibility was great and we could see between 25-30 meters, clearly. That was a nice distance for visibility, to view the coral reef, especially. 

Our second dive was at Manta Point, though there were no Manta’s there….lol. Visibility was a little less, but still good, between 15-20 meters. I saw a Napoleon Snake Eel, a Crocodile Fish, Frog Fish, Stone Fish, a Blue Spotted Ray, and many Nudy Branch’s. We dived for 61 minutes on both the first and second dives, so that was great.

We had lunch, and did our surface interval, then went to our third site, which was called Panglima. The visibility for this site was between 25-30 meters and I saw my favourite, Flamboyant Cuttlefish. They are the ones that change colour, but when they do, it is to a fluorescent purple, and pink colour, with splashes of other fluorescent colours. They are really neat and super cool to watch. I also saw a large Needle Cuttlefish, Orangutan Crab, a Wahoo Silver Fish (yes, wahoo…..ahahaha), Squarespot Anthias, a Gorgonian Sea Fan, and a Flat Worm. All were very cool and beautiful to see.

Then I came back, had another surface interval and went for a sunset dive with the couple from Mimibia. They are both really good divers, and super nice. Silje told me they were going, and that I should join them. I decided to do just that. Then another girl, named Lena from Sweden, also joined us. It was a site called Paradise which was not too far away from the resort. We entered off the dock, walked into the water, and swam a little way, to the dive site. Night dives are so cool because there are so many things to see that you don’t see in the day. I saw a baby Blue Spot Ray that was the size of a small saucer, an Octopus, Reeftop and Banded Pipefish, Spot Face Moray Eel, White Spotted Hermit Crab, Bubble Coral Shrimp, Broad Club Cuttlefish and a giant turtle, plus several smaller ones. It was great and we dived for 72 minutes.

Then I came back, ate dinner which was a Vegetarian meal, of Vegetable Curry with lots of eggplant and zucchini, carrots, and other veggies. There was rice, and roast pumpkin along with potato wedges and cole slaw. Super yummy and just the ticket after four dives. Then the owner asked to speak to me and offered me the Sipadan spot for tomorrow, which is also four dives. I thought ‘Of course, because I did an extra dive today, I got offered the four dives at Sipadan.’ I didn’t mind though because I’m really happy to be going two times during this stay, to the Sipadan Dive Site. 

I went to bed shortly after dinner in order to get up for the early departure for Sipadan. You have to be on the jetty at 6:15 am to leave for this site. Yeah!!!!!

Apr. 2, 2015

Well, I got up, was ready and on the jetty, very excited, by 6:10 am. I dived with the same group I dived with the other day. The Australian group of 7, though today it was 6, plus me, instead of Lisa. They weren’t so bad, and I didn’t feel like a third wheel today, because they were happy that I had come to fill the spot, and Lisa had suggested that it be me to go because they kind of knew me already. Anyway, we had a great day and the diving was way over the top. Sipadan Island is a volcano that goes straight up, and has no gentle slopes to it. It is about 600 meters down to the bottom so it seems just endless and really is.

The first site we went to was called South Point. Simon, an English Dive Master who is a retired cop that works here now, is fantastic at seeing things and knows the area really well. Four of the Australians dived with him, and two others plus me, dived with Ismail, a local guy who is young, but amazing for spotting things as well. Simon had told us that this site was famous for seeing sharks so I was hopeful. As soon as we entered the water and went down, I saw about 11 sharks milling around. They were mostly White Tipped and Gray Reef Sharks and were in many sizes. They were so beautiful and perfectly contoured. I love seeing them and am not scared at all. They don’t like to eat people and are pretty small in comparison to a person. Perhaps they are about 2-4 meters long at most. They don’t really stick around long when they encounter divers, unless you stay calm, don’t move too much and just watch from a bit of a distance, which is what we did. They were so amazing as the welcoming committee to Sipadan. I was thrilled. We went down to a depth of 27 meters and swam out into the blue. This was incredible because you couldn’t see the bottom, as it was so far down, and all you saw was blue all around you. If you were upside down, it looked the same as right side up, on your side, or face down. Very interesting, but if you were easily disoriented, you could become freaked out. It was truly a new experience and just wonderful.

I saw a cloud of Chevron Barracuda’s, lots of large Groupers, Giant Trevally, a Green Turtle, Clown and Red Toothed Triggerfish, Titan Triggerfish, and many many millions of colourful reef fish swimming in schools, all around me. I thought of the song, “It’s Raining Men”, but it was fish instead. They were all around me like a soup. I was surrounded by colour and bright eyes, and not one of them touched me once. There are a lot of Triggerfish, which I am way more scared of than sharks or anything else. These Bad Boys have shiny bright white teeth and can get quite aggressive if they feel that anything is in their territory. They are known to come charging, with their trigger up on top of their head, angry, and bite off a chunk of face or ear. In Thailand there were lots of them, and once a Trigger fish bit someone's fin and took a huge piece out of it. I always swim far away from them when I see them. They freak me out, though I have never been chased by one. If you get out of their area, they stop chasing you.

Our second dive was at Hanging Garden in Sipadan which had a little bit of a current along the reef. Again, it was a super steep and deep reef that spawned life of all sorts along it’s edge. We went to a depth of 24 meters and all of our dives were 50 minutes. That’s because we do 4 dives and can’t go for longer than 50 minutes safely, and do 4 dives. I saw a Napolean Wrasse, Gray Reef Shark, White Tipped Shark, Turtles, Titan Triggerfish, Blue Fin Travally, Moris Idol Fish, Unicorn Fish, Bat Fish, and a 50 kg Grouper. The reef is so healthy and alive, and the fish are by the thousands and just everywhere around you. There is no ‘free space’ as there are always fish there. It’s just magical. I loved it.

The third site was called Barracuda Point, and we saw a huge school of quite long, Chevron Barracuda right when we went down. There were also several White Tipped and Gray Reef Sharks and a cloud of Jack Fish, running like a river. There must have been thousands of them and they’re quite big. Maybe about 30 cm’s long and fairly thick. I saw a giant Tuna, and some absolutely huge Bumphead Parrot Fish. These guys are super huge and you can hardly believe that you could see fish that big. They were in a little school, in the shallow area and were the size of a small dog. Amazing, and very colourful, like a parrot. You have to be careful though, because all they do is eat and poop, so we were warned not to go beneath them, or we’d get pooped upon. I didn’t go under them…..lol.

We ate lunch on Sipadan Island at a long picnic table, under a covered area where all the dive shops stop to eat. When we came to this place, we had to sign in for the Sipadan permit, as everyone who is diving that day, is listed and must sign in. It seemed very official, but that was about the extent of it. Lunch was yummy, and consisted of spicy breaded pieces of white chicken meat with potatoes. There was rice and green beans as well, with fresh watermelon, tea and coffee. It was great and everyone was lazy and tired after eating, but we still had one dive left.

• pics of island and area

The fourth dive was at a place called Mid Reef, and we only went down to 18 meters. There was a lot to see, and one of the first things we saw when we descended, was two turtles making love. They were huge and when we dropped down near them, they were kind of startled, and swam away from each other. I felt like a bit of an intruder, but it was cool to see. I saw more sharks, a Giant Clam, even bigger than the one before, a Napoleon Wrasse, Map Pufferfish, Millions of colourful reef fish, Blusteak Fusilier, Banana Nudy Branch, Painted Spiny Lobster, River of Jack Fish, Porcupine Fish and so much more. 

I was overwhelmed by the end of the day and felt tired, but my senses were in total overdrive. I have never seen so many wonderful fish and life, and the landscape was so dramatic and epic as well. It was so massive and deep and blue that it was hard to process. You just couldn’t believe what you were seeing and experiencing. I am so happy I went to Sipadan today. What a great experience and so much to see.

Dinner was Beef Mandura, French Fries, rice, Okra, which was delicious, Corn Soup, and fruit. I was so tired by this point, that after dinner, I went to bed, which was around 7:30....lol. A fantastic day though. The internet is still so slow, so I will add photos of some of all these species that I have named. They are wonderful to see and I do have photos of many of them, as well as videos, so you’ll have to look back. I’ll add a header when I can load the photos.