Tuesday, August 08, 2006
PULAU DAYANG (14) 04 AUG 06 TO 06 AUG 06
Finally I made my maiden trip to P.Dayang. The last trip was cancelled as I need to attend to some personal matters. It was a mad rush to make it for the trip as I was engaged in an outdoor shoot and an interview on Friday. ♠Vynx came to pick me at 6.30pm and we reached Mersing just before 10pm. Upon arrival at Mersing, we discovered that the Boatman has made an error in reading the sea tide table and we and the rest of the divers got stranded at Mersing for almost 6 hours. We only managed to depart at 3.30am. By the time we got to Dayang jetty was day break ... sigh!Beside doing my dives and snorkel along the beach, I ate durians and did a shoot in my diving gear for an overseas client. This was for a shoot that will be done at the end of the year. In addition, I spend some time reflecting on a write-up to solicit for sponsors as well as endorsement. One of my friend whom was from the Advertising industry has volunteered to help me engaged his clients and hopefully secured some jobs.I came back on Sunday as usual and spend time with my pet guinea pigs. I am rejuvenated and am looking forward to the week ahead. I will be attending a first aid course next weekend so will not be coming to the island anytime soon.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
PULAU DAYANG (13) 07 JUL 06 TO 09 JUL 06
Exactly a month after my last trip, I am heading back to P.Dayang, my unofficial "Home" away from home. I had sorely missed the island, its enviroment as well as the fishes that gathers around me whenever I come to feed them with "Roti". This is the only place where I can escape, relax, reflection, enjoy doing things and spending quality time with people that are meaningful to me. In short, I choose to come as I find peace here and it makes me happy.This weekend ♠Vynx had to reached P.Dayang early as he needs to service the compressors. He came over my place at 6.30am and we made our usual journey towards Mersing. The ferry departed for the island at 10am and it was to be a gruelling long 6 hours sea journey. We updated each other on our life throughout the journey as we had been busy since we last met for a walk at East Coast Parkway. This has been a routine or practice since we met last year. On top of our regular dinner or coffee session while in town, we make it a point to dive with each other at least twice a month. I have clock almost 70 dives of which more than 40 dives is with ♠Vynx. I am comfortable and feel natural to have him as my diving buddy.Arriving just before sunset, I waste no time to change myself and headed straight for the jetty. I started feeding the fishes and think they are happy to see me back here! I completed two dive and I chanced upon the same sharks at the bottom of the cave. So exciting! I thoroughly enjoyed my 3 days and 2 nights stay. All this trips will not be possible without my beloved ♠Vynx, my friend, buddy, companion and confidante. I will definately be coming back for more for many years to come !!!I arrived in Singapore around 9.30pm and headed straight for my dinner with ♠Vynx. I finally reached home just past 10pm. I headed to clear my backlogged emails and letters, had my shower before heading for my bed, all these before midnight.Dive Calender:
PULAU DAYANG (12) 09 JUN 06 TO 11 JUN 06
The trip is the ONLY trip for the month as I need to prepare for Miss Singapore International 2006 Pageants finals at the end of the month.I left for the trip as usual with ♠Vynx. He came and picked me up in the late afternoon and we headed straight for the causeway as we were catching the 9pm ferry at Mersing. As I was dead tire, I slept for the entire duration of the car and boat journey. I feel so guilty for not accompanying him along the way! Upon reaching at Mersing and while he was busy making his final arrangement, I made time for my DS.Arriving at P.Dayang in the wee hours of the morning, I headed straight for the room to unpacked and prepare myself for the snorkelling session later. I could not dive as I am not feeling too well for the trip. However, the trip was not wasted as I used the time to snorkels (feeding fishes around the jetty), do some reflection and hibernate. There was nothing spectacular happening during this trip with the exception that ♠Vynx has arranged for the TV for the world cup soccer fans as several dive centres had requested for it. In the meantime, I have cleared Princess Peach stage 8 during this trip. Hooray!We headed back as usual and arrived in Singapore around 9pm.Dive Calender:
Monday, May 22, 2006
PULAU DAYANG (11) 19 MAY 06 - 21 MAY 06
FIRST ANNIVERSARY PILGRIMAGE TO P. DAYANG
I missed Dayang! It was just 2 weeks ago that I last visited the island resort but it seems so long ago. I have to postpone my visit till this week as I was required to vote in the General Election as well as work commitment.Hey! You know what ... ♠Vynx arranged for Dennis to transport my equipment back on the first weekend as I required them for my filming last wednesday. It was a coincident that he was in town that weekend. So his brilliant plan to minimise the transfer of my equipment and gears failed haha!. He came to support my mum in her MIGHTY AGELESS MUMMY COMPETITION on Sunday and we had dinner together with my mum to celebrate Mother's Day.Last year this month, I visited P. Dayang with Jackie Dive Center "Gill's Diver". I could still remember the dates → 14 May 05 to 16 May 05 and the weather is overcast with clouds and rain cats and dogs as we left the island. How should I celebrate this day ... Should I asked ♠Vynx to prepare some special food to celebrate this occasion?The journey up to Mersing is the same as all my previous trip, routine. Left home in the evening and arrived at Mersing just before 10pm. Fortunately, there is a pub next to the jetty that makes our waiting more bearable. It's like the in Army now, hurry up and wait haha!. During the waiting time, I would order a glass of cocktail and played my NINTENDO DS accompanied by my ipod mini. All this was done while ♠Vynx busy himself doing all the trips coordinations at the jetty.It's Saturday Morning! We reached Dayang jetty and I cannot wait to get changed, wait for the dawn to break and head straight to the jetty to feed my fishes. The other more compelling reasons is that I cannot wait to use my underwater camera (I received my underwater casing last week). Cool! I went snorkelling as a starter and took some simple photographs of yoga on the famous white beach followed by underwater and deep water work out.I attempted my second dive of the season after lunch. I was highly motivated as I am armed with my canon ixus 65. I captured pre-dive, post dive yoga stretches as well as yoga underwater in preparation of the new dive course that I am working with 51 Scuba. I called this Om Dive. Together with ♠Vynx, my evergreen dive buddy and Dennis, we headed towards ..... for the dive as he felt that this dive spot is more appropriate for the Om Dive. He helped out in taking the photographs.The idea of combining yoga with Scuba Diving originated when I was practising my free dives in my previous trips. As such, I did some researched on the idea of Yoga + Scuba Diving. It was a surprised that there is a growing interest in this area and it was commonly knowned as "Yoga Diving", "Yogic Diving" or "Mind, Body Diving". The benefits was tremendouz as it helps to condition my body before attempting my free dives as well as in improved my endurance in breath-hold underwater. In addition, it reinforced and hightened my diving enjoyment of being free and close to nature (without the noise created by the regulators). The deep blue helps to relieve and release my mind from the worldly stress.I am an Occupational Therapist, a certified Aerobic, YogaFit, Deep Water Workout instructor and an PADI Open Water Rescue Diver (continuing my PADI Dive Master soon). I intend to put to good use all my skills collectively to create a specialty course. For this season, I will solicit for the recognition for this new form of aqua sports through Health Promotion Board and Singapore Sports Council. I had the advantage of being trained by SSC and also a HPB Healthy Lifestyle Ambassador 2005. I will start by introducing Om Dive through workshops with PADI Open Water Course for a nominal fee. At a later stage, I will offer courses in open waters and also Deep Water Workout sessions. For those who are interested to bring your yoga or/ and scuba diving to the next level, please do come back and visit my blogsite.I spend the evening hours conducting yoga meditation and visualisation for my circle of diver's friends. ♠Vynx was again nominated as the official photographer for the inaugural session. After the yoga session, we celebrated the anniversary of my maiden trip to P.Dayang exactly 1 year and 6 days later. It was a belated celebration as I could not make to the last trip due to my work commitment. The celebration takes in the form of a dinner and gathering of friends. Simple yet meaningful. At the end of the day, I spent about an hour capturing my thoughts and pen it into my journal before I headed to bed.Sunday, I spent the morning snorkelling at the jetty as I am not allowed to dive twenty-four hours prior to any flights. I will be heading for my first overseas assignment in Thailand on Monday. The assignment takes me to Phuket for five working days and will be back in town just in time for the Grease musical which I was invited to attend. I will try to make some time from the tight schedule to make at least a dive while in Phuket. If I did make a dive, you will be able to read it right here at this blogsite.After lunch, we headed back in reverse sequence. We managed to squeeze through the expected traffic jammed at the causeway and went for our dinner at my place. For a change, we had a simple chinese food for dinner. Upon reaching home, I wasted no time unpacking and washing my diving equipments and gears as I still had to prepare my luggage for the trip. I slept at 2am.P.S. I am turning 24 in two weeks time. All gifts are welcome hehe!.Sex on the beachA guy is walking along the beach, when he meets a girl with no legs, crying."Why are you crying?" he asks.
"I've never been hugged," she says. The guy hugs her, but she continues crying.
"Why are you crying?" he asks.
"I've never been kissed," she says. The guy kisses her, but she continues crying.
"Why are you crying?" he asks.
"I've never been screwed," she says. The guy picks her up and throws her into the water. "There," he says. "Now you're screwed."Dive Calender:
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
PULAU DAYANG (10) 28 APR 06 - 01 MAY 06
This will be another perfect opportunity to getaway from Singapore! I looked forward to the 4 days and 3 nights escapades that I will spend over at the Island Resort. After this trip, It will be another three (3) weeks before I can visit Dayang. I have make a resolution that I will try to visit the island at least twice a month Smile! I departed ≈ 4pm from home this week, a change from the early trip up to Mersing which means I will reached the jetty around 9.30pm ±. ♠Vynx, my driver cum porter, companion and mentor came to fetch me. Next stop! Lot 1 for early dinner and some last minute shopping as he needs to buy some grocery. We cross the Malaysian custom at 6.30pm. During the car journey towards the custom, he showed me the pictures that he took with his camera on our last trip. Wah! So chio! ... Unlike most previous trips where I accompanied him by chatting away on the car journey, I slept on this one. We waited at the usual place next to the jetty. While waiting for the rest of the dive groups to arrive, I played Super Princess Peach and managed to clear Stage 4, haha! We finally make our way for Dayang the next morning just before 1am + four (4) hours boat ride = 5am reached Dayang. Guess what! ... my menses came just as I was heading for this trip. knn! I had the opportunity to have a good heart to heart talk with ♠Vynx while on the way to Dayang and was surprise to learnt from his personal perspectives about some issues close to our hearts nodz. Anyway, I had ordered my an underwater casing for my Canon Ixus 65 (the cost ≥ SGD300.00) and it will only arrive after this trip. Sob :(
MERSING, JOHOR:
PULAU DAYANG JETTY:
Staying in Dayang Island is another world with its charms, rustic accomodation, tranquil surrounding, beautiful white beaches, plenty of greenery, enchanting sunset, lots of sites for diving (amatuer to experience) and shallow waters for snorkelling. Dayang Island Resort possessed a back to basic feel and is ideal for me to just unwind and just chill out. This week, I will share with you the natural view of Dayang Island through my eyes. I spend a large bulk of my time doing people watching during this trip. I have also capture the essence of the sun, the sea and the sand ...
MY TYPICAL DAY IN DAYANG:
I have a lot of fun just watching the people over the weekendscratch head. About 100 ± Germans' made their way from the Singapore community spend their long weekend at Dayang. They are a group of fun loving people and made Dayang Rock! over the weekend. Together with the rest of the divers, they engaged in fun and games as well as cheering their teams on during the Saturday game between Chelsea and Manchester United (over ASTRO channel). Well, no dive for me this week for obvious reasons ... However, I did snorkelled and did my weekly duty of feeding the fishes at the jetty, continued to write my journal and of course, played my DS! I managed to complete Stage 6, a great feat for me!! Instructors and regulars alike are already giving me names ... Ya Kun Roti Gal, The Writer and the Game Gal etc. Looks like I am already making a name for myself. This trip I left my equipment at Dayang Island Resort as ♠Vynx felt that since I come to the island so often, I must as well leave the equipment there, as the chore of lugging the equipment up and down did not make sense at all!
MERSING, JOHOR:
Today there was a huge jam on the way back to Singapore. I reached home around 10.30pm ± after taking my dinner at IMM with ♠Vynx. Hey, the food sucks!! BTW, I have reached level 7 of Super Princess Peach. Tomorrow I have to wake up early to make a trip to Mediacorp to submit an application for my mummy for her beauty pageant. The finals is on 7th May 06 (Sunday). After that I will be heading to office to clear all the outstanding emails and make appointments for the rest of the weekwinkz.
Objectives:
Confucius: By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
I have recognise that journaling is one of the best reflection tools. I make use of my weekly visit to Dayang to have personal time to do my journaling without distraction (by phone calls as they are no reception from any TELCO one (1) hour beyond Mersing). Although it is ideal to allow for a ten to fifteen minute period every day to journal; preferably at the end of the day or during/after a debrief, I find that journaling away from work or home is more effective for me. Regardless of the time allotted, I write whatever comes to mind, and to not worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Journaling entails a commitment to confidentiality, that nobody will ever have to share what I have written unless I want to. Journaling methods include free writing, writing letters and guided imagery. The many benefits to reflection including creating a sense of accomplishment, improving service, closure, and personal and team development. All this is recorded in my "Precious Moments" Book.
Francis Bacon: We think according to nature. We speak according to rules. We act according to custom.
This week is turbulent yet enlightening as I discovered something about myself. This difficult times has brought me back to Christianity. I ask for him to make me strong, a direction in life, my senses opened it's door and I felt it. I did some deep thinking as to how can I best managed the impression set to others as I always fail to understand why I am misunderstood. In addition, I realised that my thoughts and act could not be coordinated which affects how I express myself. Observations from a close friend of mine also suggested that I worked on my feminine side and learned to be more womanly ... but how? what's a woman and how to be feminine? I have the opportunity to meet an interesting couple whom had been happily married for 20 years. They shared with me some of their personal life experience and what a relationship mean to them and how they had complemented each other. I was impressed that though she is a independent career woman, she is able to play the role of a pillar to her other half as well as making time for her family. Is this what defines a "Singapore Women" of today? In the next three (3) months, I wanted to developed myself, career, relationship and family life! In essence, to create time for everything and everyone that comes into my path. These were the things I have reflected on this trip.
Snorkelling, Free Diving, Scuba Diving & Yoga:Yes! Through continuous practise, my breathhold (apenea) skills + ability to perform free dive has improved significantly. Minus the silly blocked ears, of course. Really! I was able to acheive these through diligent practise which results in increased in confidence level in areas such as skills (breathing, finning, body movements,etc) and being at "ONE" with nature below the sea level.
Rebecca, my vocal teacher for Miss Singapore Universe 2006 Pageant has impressed upon me that correct breathing is necessary to good speaking. She taught us about the support breathing ..."Ahhh...UUUUuuu...MMMMmmm...." (yogis should know this... hmmm). Yeah, I kind of forgot how it was like to BREATHE! Wow...this is amazing as I realised how Yoga can be applied in my daily life. Being able to breathe CORRECTLY, gives me a new lease of life! =) Fire! Passion!Lou Holtz: Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.♠Vnyx is my mentor in free diving. He showed me the techniques of taking in breath, the entry, the process and the exit... He shared that free diving is like 'meditation' underwater... yeah, I tried and can quickly relate to his teaching. It was surreal! =)As some of you may have known, I am an avid diver and a Certified Line Dance, Aerobics, Deep Water Workout & YogaFit Instructor. Pranayama are the yoga techniques for correct breathing. By learning to breathe properly, our energy levels will increase. Free Diving requires divers to reach great depths unassisted by any breathing apparatus. By applying the art of breathing from yoga combined with my passion for diving, I have learned to enjoy the aquatic sports in another level.
Through Visualisation and meditation techniques, it helped me to focus on how I feel in the water, and how I can achieved perfect buoyancy control and become part of the marine environment. I realised that I was automatically using yoga practices to improve my own dive skills and to enhance my enjoyment of the dive. I have come to imagine diving as a form of meditation and find myself enjoying the tranquil world under water, hovering effortlessly, mind, body and soul. Scuba Diving has allows me to meditate in a world where it's hard to find a minute's peace and quiet.I have noticed that there are a growing interest in other part of the world in the merging of Diving and Yoga. This new form is aka "Yoga Diving". Is there opportunities for me here? I have enjoyed scuba diving as a passion and teaching Yoga as an alternate income for the last seven (7) years. Having personally benefitted from Yoga, I was contemplating whether to discussed the possibilities of offering yoga lessons in Dayang Island Resort. If there are enough interest group, maybe I could turn this passion into a business for myself. At the sametime, I hope that yoga will become more and more widely accepted among scuba divers in the near futureCough!...
Alright, back to apenea... I have improved as I could stay down underwater longer! From the usual 30-40sec (staying still) to a full 1 min! When I fin underwater, I discovered that the timing, with exertion + energy, will shorten by about half. Ah...Which means, now I can fin actively + performing stunts underwater for an effective 30sec. I hope to hit two (2) minutes of breathhold. The difficulties that I encounter are:
Snorkelling Gears:
- Mask and snorkel
- Wetsuit
- Long booties
- Mares fins
- Scubapro Gloves
- BREAD TO FEED THE FISH!!!!!!! Wahaha!
Where I snorkel:
DAYANG MARINE LIFE AT JETTY:
Marine Life Sighted during snorkelling: Ok... sometimes I think it is wierd. I think diving allows me to spot and identify more sea creatures. But! I encountered bigger and more sea creatures up close and personal than the divers at 30 metres and below through snorkelling. Some of the varieties that I have chanced upon were:
10 Reasons why Diving is better than sex:
N.B. For all the highly motivated diver(s), any form of procreation while scuba diving is not recommended as the open water poses a safety and health issues to the girls. There are just too many bacteria in our waters! Visit Scuba Diving Sex for more information.
Diver's Joke:
Three instructors and their students are on board a dive boat in the middle of the ocean. There is a NAUI instructor, a PADI instructor, and an SSI instructor. Everything is going fine until the boat springs a leak and starts to sink. The SSI instructor says to his students, "Okay, we're in the middle of the ocean, so we might as well do our deep dive." The NAUI instructor says to his students, "Okay, we might as well do our navigation dive, so let's get our compasses out and swim towards shore." The PADI instructor says to his students, "Okay, for $25 extra you guys get to do a wreck dive!"
Dive Calender:
Diver's Link:
