Last Sunday was the day when I went independent. Remember how you feel when you first leave home and step into the world? That was how I felt when I finally decided to ditch my "mother" ship and join the "big boys".
Now when my instructor, Edward, organises diving trip, he usually takes people enough for one boat. A big one could take a rough figure of twenty people. But on this particular day, he suddenly decided to take two boats of people instead of one. One he duped the beginner/leisure boat, and the other, the hunting boat!!!
When Edward was arranging the names for both boats, I told him that I wanted the join the other boat (i.e. the hunting boat), without realising at that time that it was a hunter's group. When I actually met these "hunters" in person, I realised that this could be another huge step of growing up for me as a diver.
Tough, was the only impression I could have about them. No longer was there our "daddy" (i.e. Edward, instructor) or "mummy" (i.e. Kim, the assistant) to watch over us, or in this case, ME!!! I was the most inexperience of them all, though not the youngest yet. The youngest was a petite little lady with dark skin and a butter-melting voice. She was married (too bad, guys) with a one-year-old. Her husband came with her, weighing approximately 105kg??
Fourteen of us went on board the "hunting" boat, and it took us out to Talang Besar. My buddy was a centimetre-182 guy with a dragon tattoo circling halfway around his belly button. I was staring at his dragon at one point (so very un-lady-like of me!!) and I asked him if he had that tattoo made in a way that it actually stood out in 3-D? They laughed at me!!! Guessed it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Sheesh...
Two dives that day. Each one lasted about 60 min in average. Now, I was finally able to organize myself to get my gear onto my back and put on everything (i.e. fins, mask) without another's help. When you are on a "babysit-ted" boat, you would get people to carry your tank and fins for you so it would be easier to put everything on. But not anymore, I am a big girl now. I didn't need "daddy" or "mummy" to carry my things for me. Dad!!! I know how to tie my fins around my booties!!! Oh, I'm so proud of myself!!! (Contented sigh...)
We did not dive too deep. The depth was less that 10 metres, and at one point I was so near the surface, I had a "runaway ascent" (i.e. ascending involuntarily and going too fast, which is extremely dangerous). But due to the fact that I was not too far from the surface when the ascend took place, I am still alive today (literally speaking). I struggled for a few seconds to get back down, but gave up after a while. I decided to just watch my buddy dragon-boy trying to catch a lobster underneath the rock. The water was too shallow, no point getting down there again and get yourself sick with decompression.
And I was the luckiest girl in Talang-Talang that day. Who gets to see a sea-horse? Me!!! Second dive. Free descent to the bottom, and there it was, all white and red, floating just beside its coral habitat. Smaller than an ear-ring's hook, it took off in a swish when I tried to come nearer. Hey, I was just trying to be friends!!! Don't go running away from me!!!
The current was strong at the end of the dive. Two of us got swept away so far that no amount of emergency whistling or waving could get the people onboard to take notice. The lucky thing was, the waves were not high that day, and somehow, someone spotted them, and took the boat nearer so we could pick them up. People, if you ever go diving, don't forget to always be extra careful with your orientation and navigation.
Now when my instructor, Edward, organises diving trip, he usually takes people enough for one boat. A big one could take a rough figure of twenty people. But on this particular day, he suddenly decided to take two boats of people instead of one. One he duped the beginner/leisure boat, and the other, the hunting boat!!!
When Edward was arranging the names for both boats, I told him that I wanted the join the other boat (i.e. the hunting boat), without realising at that time that it was a hunter's group. When I actually met these "hunters" in person, I realised that this could be another huge step of growing up for me as a diver.
Tough, was the only impression I could have about them. No longer was there our "daddy" (i.e. Edward, instructor) or "mummy" (i.e. Kim, the assistant) to watch over us, or in this case, ME!!! I was the most inexperience of them all, though not the youngest yet. The youngest was a petite little lady with dark skin and a butter-melting voice. She was married (too bad, guys) with a one-year-old. Her husband came with her, weighing approximately 105kg??
Fourteen of us went on board the "hunting" boat, and it took us out to Talang Besar. My buddy was a centimetre-182 guy with a dragon tattoo circling halfway around his belly button. I was staring at his dragon at one point (so very un-lady-like of me!!) and I asked him if he had that tattoo made in a way that it actually stood out in 3-D? They laughed at me!!! Guessed it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Sheesh...
Two dives that day. Each one lasted about 60 min in average. Now, I was finally able to organize myself to get my gear onto my back and put on everything (i.e. fins, mask) without another's help. When you are on a "babysit-ted" boat, you would get people to carry your tank and fins for you so it would be easier to put everything on. But not anymore, I am a big girl now. I didn't need "daddy" or "mummy" to carry my things for me. Dad!!! I know how to tie my fins around my booties!!! Oh, I'm so proud of myself!!! (Contented sigh...)
We did not dive too deep. The depth was less that 10 metres, and at one point I was so near the surface, I had a "runaway ascent" (i.e. ascending involuntarily and going too fast, which is extremely dangerous). But due to the fact that I was not too far from the surface when the ascend took place, I am still alive today (literally speaking). I struggled for a few seconds to get back down, but gave up after a while. I decided to just watch my buddy dragon-boy trying to catch a lobster underneath the rock. The water was too shallow, no point getting down there again and get yourself sick with decompression.
And I was the luckiest girl in Talang-Talang that day. Who gets to see a sea-horse? Me!!! Second dive. Free descent to the bottom, and there it was, all white and red, floating just beside its coral habitat. Smaller than an ear-ring's hook, it took off in a swish when I tried to come nearer. Hey, I was just trying to be friends!!! Don't go running away from me!!!
The current was strong at the end of the dive. Two of us got swept away so far that no amount of emergency whistling or waving could get the people onboard to take notice. The lucky thing was, the waves were not high that day, and somehow, someone spotted them, and took the boat nearer so we could pick them up. People, if you ever go diving, don't forget to always be extra careful with your orientation and navigation.
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