Diving at Tioman

Back from my diving trip in Tioman. And now, finally, I'm a certified Open water diver liao.. Whee!!! departed on friday night on a coach, where we took a 4hrs bus ride to mersing, to transfer to a boat. The boat ride was actually quite horrible.. rocking like mad.. dear couldn't take it, vomitted all the way.. *sayang.* Reached Tioman island ard 3.10am. Immediately check-in to our chalet and concused.

On our way there in the coach..

At the phrata place. They sell really nice phrata ( how they spell it ). Especially the banana Prata. Thumbs up.


Begun our morning shore dive at 9.30am. cos still new, we did our little trial run at the near by house reefs. Did all the 5 major skills before we did a swim ard the area. That's when trouble strike. I ran out of air.. wonderful.. at a depth of 7metres, I was absolutely out of air. 0 bar left.. read from the manual, it's almost impossible to run out of air.. and well done... I did it during my first dive.. *claps* the feeling of being breatheles is terrible. Thought that my regulator was faulty, how come so fast no air, tried the alternate regulator, and it was empty too. Looked ard, found nobody near me, cos all had descended to the seabed together with the instructor. Had to make a decision fast. Either to swim down to share air or swim up. To descent another 2m to find them is a bit taxing for my out of oxy body, so Decided to just swim up and hope overexpansion doesn't happen to me. Did an emergency ascent, and was relieved that I could surface. Phew!! what an ordeal.. Lesson learnt, ALWAYS check my SPG. Cos I use air too fast liao. even got the nickname air monster. Perhaps cos I move too much in the water le. Need to be extra careful when diving again. Air consumption rate is too high.. so little time underwater.. Sadz..

Just before our first Dive.. with our instructor and DM Yento.

In water.. Dear and Me...

Our Underwater Grp Shot.

Just before we descent at Renggis Island

The shoal of fish that swam past us..


Anyway, The reef there wasn't exactly fantastic. the quality have dropped, even from the last time I went there, it was clearer and more fishes were there. That was when I was just snorkeling k. just from the surface and I could see more. Seriously think that the weekly trips there is a little too damaging to the reefs. Well well..

Nevertheless, I guess it was an eye opener for most of them. First time see up close to many of the sea creatures. A particular nice part of it that I remb is the super up-close encounter with the sea anemone, with clown fish swimming in and out of it.. managed to gently feel the unknownging clown fish.

After our last dive.. Everybody was happy with the dives.. =) Enjoyable

Taking the Theory Test.. stress.. still got one lady who join us for the test. Irritated by her. Keep asking us for ans..

On the boat ride back

Nice Breeze..

Simply Scuba


It all ended well, and just like that 2days of diving was over. All in all, Diving was defintely a new experience, and it has equip me with skills that I can only further improve. Goind on my Maiden trip with Dear was defintely an exceptional thing. Never thought that it would happen so soon.. I'm glad we had fun out of it. Of cos, the company that I went with added much joy to it as well. Daniel and Meng always creating hilarious situations which lighten up the mood. And ya, perhaps this could be counted as part of our 10yr friendship diving trip. HAhaha...

Minor in Environmental Biology

Des just informed me abt the possibility of taking Environmental Biology as a minor, part of a joint programme with University of Toronto. It raises my attention, as it gives me the possibility of studying 1yr there. Coverin my yr 3 in canada, before comign back to finish up the honours yr is a totally different way of completing the uni life. Though, the cost is definitely an issue here. Not really sure if it is feasible. The first thing i need to settle is 5 LSM mod for next sem. Which is erm.. a bit madness.. memory UBER intensive it'll be. Am I taking a risk to cui for all of it by packign like it? or would I benefit from the stay in Toronto? No idea..

Life is all about gambling. Every choice you make is a gamble.

Lappie is at the acer service centre. and it would take 5-10 working days for it to be ready. Reason : They don't have the piece of motherboard that has the integrated graphics card X7300 on it. So need to wait for the shipment.. Rawr.. still promise it's customers service within 2 hrs. make me go all the way down to Jurong East, hoping to get it back immediately. Nvm.. Since I'm super busy this few days, the impact of a com-less period shouldn't be that badly felt. So many things on hand to do and finish. Plus all the diving theory lessons starting today, there's more things to read up and revise le.. Oh man. I'm going diving this weekend le.. Wahaha.. That's really fast.

This week is VERY hectic. cos of the timing for the theory lessons and pool sessions at night, I've not cancelled any tuition. So that means I've squeeze every lesson into the late afternoons. still the same. no. of lessons in the week. Didn't want to leave my kids hanging down there simply cos i want to go for hols. oh well... But i sacrifice my bridge training. I'm not being there last week, plus this week, it'll be the second time in a row. Seldom do I do that... But times, priority needs to be set, and sacrifices been made.

There are no problems. There are only challenges.

Anyway, tracking a few days back, on SAT, went out with the Sk gang to celebrate my bdae. They gave me a treat at MOF. and the food there seriously doesn't justify the price paid. The services isn't good either. I doubt I will want to go there and pay for such food again. Then, went to play pool with the chaps.. 3.5hrs straight, my cue-ing still alright. just positioning a bit off le. Lynal suggested eating Bak Kut teh at balestier, and off we went to eat it. 8 of us, Lynal, Teck, Ed, ZP, ZC, huat and gf. 1am in the morning, eating pigs trotter and bak kut teh with you tiao.. lolz. Thereafter, they all simply don't want to go back. Teck still suggested playing cards or poker at some place. Randomly call Jieyu and immediately got a place to hang ard. HAha.. Played cards for the whole night till 7am, before eating Prata at RK house. Normally I won't hang ard for the whole night one. But since that day i was the pig's leg. must be game enough to play ard with them. long long time one time still okay ba..

went to watch red cliff with dear at Lido, part of a Charity show that has been screened. $40 a tix. My uncle who bought it gave it to us, and guess what? He bought 40 tix, and that means, I was watchign the movie with 38 other relatives in the same cinema.. wahaha.. Never have I thought that I would be watching it with so many relative lar.. lolx.. anyway, nice show... though it defers from the actual "romance of the 3 kingdom" a bit, the main idea and characters were still there. jUst that some of the conversation were too comical le. A sequel to the show will be out. Quite sure I'll be catching it to complete the battle..

Singapore falls short on rights: lawyers' group

SINGAPORE (AFP) - - Despite its impressive economic development, Singapore fails to meet international standards for political and human rights and there are concerns about the independence of its judiciary, an association of lawyers said.

The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute identified a number of areas in which Singapore fell far short of international norms, said the association's executive director Mark Ellis.

"In particular, democratic debate and media comment are extremely restricted and government officials have initiated numerous successful defamation suits against both political and media critics," he said in a statement released late Tuesday in London.

The rights institute also issued 18 recommendations, which it said Singapore's government should implement urgently.

The group has published a 72-page report on the issue, several months after the IBA held its annual convention in Singapore. The association represents 30,000 lawyers globally.

"Singapore cannot continue to claim that civil and political rights must take a back seat to economic rights, as its economic development is now of the highest order," the report said, calling human rights universal and indivisible.

The IBA's rights institute "strongly encourages Singapore to engage with the international community in a more constructive manner, and to take steps to implement international standards of human rights throughout Singapore."

It called for Singapore to take its place as a regional leader on human rights, democracy and rule of law, as well as in business and economic development.

Singapore holds the rotating chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose new charter calls for establishment of a regional human rights body.

The IBA report said the cases of opposition politicians J.B. Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan illustrate concerns over the use of defamation laws to stifle political opposition and expression.

J.B. Jeyaretnam, 82, a lawyer, was disbarred when declared bankrupt in 2001 after failing to pay libel damages to members of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), including a former prime minister.

Bankrupts are not allowed to run for political office, but last year he cleared his bankruptcy, and has since announced his involvement with a new political party.

Chee, secretary general of the Singapore Democratic Party, was declared bankrupt after failing to pay libel damages to Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew and another former prime minister over remarks made in 2001.

Chee and his party are awaiting a judge's decision on damages against them in a separate defamation case, filed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, Lee Kuan Yew.

"It certainly appears that Dr Chee has been made a target by the Singapore government, and that their criticism of him has gone far beyond a reasonable standard," the IBA wrote.

It said the Singapore judiciary had a good international reputation when adjudicating commercial cases that did not involve the interests of PAP members or their associates.

"However, in cases involving PAP litigants or PAP interests, there are concerns about an actual or apparent lack of impartiality and/or independence," it said.

The report expressed concern about "limitations on free assembly" in the city-state, and said the Law Society was not fulfilling its mandate to speak out on law reform issues.

Law Society president Michael Hwang told AFP his group could not yet comment because it had only just received the IBA report.

Government spokesmen were also not immediately able to react.

At the IBA convention last October, Lee Kuan Yew responded to allegations that his country ranked low in matters of press freedom, saying Singaporeans were free to read whatever they wanted.

He also said Singapore was built on the rule of law and did not tolerate corruption. This meant defamation action may be taken against those who impute dishonesty to government officials, in order to clear any doubts, he said.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080709/tap-singapore-politics-rights-justice-ib-06f3cb7.html


The sequel to the response singapore MP gave is at this link...

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080710/tap-singapore-politics-justice-rights-ib-06f3cb7.html

Dmg laptop.

Sigh.. My Laptop has crashed.. hmm. perhaps not crashed, but the video card has spoilt. Kind of sudden. Now I can't even see anything on the screen. Will be sending it for repair later. Hopefully the warranty covers the hardware component. if not... chui...

Pleasant surprise

What a pleasant surprise that dear sprung on me.. Really didn't expect it. I did expect something, but this was out of my expectations, and it was really nice. Kind of touched.. Thanks dear.. Thanks for planning all these despite your busy schedule.. =)

Okay, it all begun from asking me not to go for bridge last week. Cos usually I won't skip training for no apparent reason. It was planned for me not to go for bridge, so that I can have dinner with my family and dear can surprise me. Then right after my dinner, my sis was already talking to me, trying to distract me, while dear is coming up. After some time, She called to ask me what am I doing and stuff... sounded a bit too quiet and suspicious. just a moment later, my mum ask me out to do something. and tada.. a cake was prepared, and dear sprung out. Lolx.. Really surprise..

Nice Chocholatey Heart shape Cake..

My sweet darling..

My Family..

My dear sis who was in cahoots too..

The little monkey that dear got for me. Didn't expect this to appear.. Why is it of significance? Shh..

Trip to CJ on bdae.

Woke up really early today.. Cos I wanted to go to Chek Jawa as a OJT. ( On Job Trainee ).To prepare myself for a possible future Check Jawa volunteer guide. 7.30am, I was already at Ubin, looking ard, hoping to see some familiar faces, but there was none. Went there alone just to explore. Well, it was not too bad.. Had a few interesting discovery.. =) pleasant surprise.

First time going down to the mud flats, and I'm straight to doing some hunting. They were actually amazed that for my first time, I could identify many of the residential species. Bleah.. Hunting was fun. I just enjoy the thrill of spotting something out of the blue.. (erm.. not exactly blue, okay.. muddy water.. lolx ) There were several groups there today. A family grp from Taiwan, who was so resourceful that they book it online. A grp of 6 from NUS, Studying the same course as me, yr 2 though. A grp from MINDS, special Sch. All comes from various background, but with an interest in knowing what the nature has.

Today's haul wasn't exactly fantastic. The few noticeable ones are the Knobby Sea stars.. ( ops.. didn't take photo ) It is endangered le, but still present in Singapore waters. The nudibranch, Which is so hard and small to spot. And the Bristle worm.

Horseshoe Crab Mating.. Quite a big one..

Sea Cucumber..

Sand Dollar.. It's everywhere lor..

Bristle worm and a flat worm entangling ard a mollusca.

Sea anemone

Pistol Shrimp.. very lucky to see it..

Sea Coconut

Flower Crab

Peacock Anemone.. Beautiful colours..

Erm.. Dont' know call what crab..

Oyster.

One Lump of Mussels

Window Panel Seashell

Sea Cucumber.

The white thing is the Moon Snail. The round thing in the middle is the sand collar, made by the moon snail with the secretion of mucus.

Sea star

Nudibranch.. The small thing in the middle. With blue tentacles.. Very Pretty.. =)Too bad I don't have macro function. Cannot take close up shots. =(

Hermit crab.. residing in a noble volute.

Pulau Ubin's Local Ixora.

Don't know what name..


It's kinda sad to see all the little creatures slowly disappearing. Honestly, I think the frequent walk to Chek Jawa is damaging to the animals there. Many of them are so not carfeul when walking around. But to Singapore, a land with no educational purpose is hard to be preserved. Some use must come out of the land. No choice then..

Oh ya.. I'm 21yr and 12mths old le.. Thanks to all that remembered my bdae and sent me bdae greetings. Really nice to receive the bdae wishes.. =)

Had a simple dinner with my family at Swensens just now. nothing much.. Just a simple family dinner..

Lamb Chop

Fish & Chips

Rodeo Wings

Cheese Sticks

Black pepper seafood pasta

And yes.. my small little ice-cream (Fire House) that represents my bdae cake.. =)