A Dive Blog of a Different Kind

Over the weekend, I completed my Padi Open Water Diver Certification with four amazing open water dives. As my course mates quickly filled up their dive logs with all of the aquatic life they encountered, I was limited by my knowledge of the underwater world.

Anyway, here is my account.

The White Charly

The White Charly, as its name suggests, is a pale-coloured docile species that can grow up to 158cm long. It moves relatively slowly but is fluid in its movement.

The species is passive and does not pose any threat to smaller specimens although its large size means it can easily, accidentally harm corals while navigating the shoreline. They are generally amiable and pleasant to swim up to.

The Mo-Ni-Kah

Another docile species spotted was the Mo-Ni-Kah. The Mo-Ni-Kahs are tiny little thumb size fishes that float and hover around weightlessly. They are generally shy and try to avoid divers. Although the one I saw, kept on perching itself in front of me.

Once acclimatized to a familiar surrounding, the Mo-Ni-Kah is known to have interacted with divers. Although reported to be a highly intelligent species, the Mo-Ni-Kah is not known to recognise a diver in distress.

Benthos

As its name suggest, the Benthos is a bottom swimmer. As with the Flatfish and Stingray and other bottom swimmers, the Benthos is capable of concealing itself under the sand. Sometimes, if not careful, the Benthos is capable of burying others as well.

The Benthos also has a mechanism to expel ben-thane gas. Little is known of the purpose of this low-frequency sound burst that cannot be heard by the human ear. Some divers have reported to have spotted the flatulence by a steam of rising bubbles. 

Local divers are studying the possibility of fishes suffering from heartburn

The Maeah

A number of divers reported seeing a bizarre fish off the southern reef on Sunday morning. Although I did not witness it for myself, returning divers spoke of an adorable high fore-headed fish with tiny human hand-like fins on either side of its body.

The divers described it to be moving in a sequence of springs and bounces, landing and launching from the sea bed. The locals have named the species the Maeah. Although it is said to be harmless, even friendly, the Maeah’s haphazard spurts across the sea bed was said to have damaged much corals.

The Marcellian

Since they are known to have originated from Swiss lakes and crossed many a seas, I was lucky to have spotted the Marcellian on Saturday evening's boat dive . Marcellians are a picture of grace, looming gently along the reefs.

In a single season they can be spotted all around Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia. Those wanting to dive with the Marcellians are encourage to go to Philippines this weekend.

Ceerils

Ceerils are extremely friendly and playful creatures of the underwater world with immense ability to socialize.  The Ceeril I spotted immediately established a bond with me, helping me descend and pointing the way.

It was able to grunt to communicate, flap its fins and display certain expressions understood by humans. Diving with Ceerils are extremely comforting and reassuring.

Mer-wendee

Although largely believed to be mythological, an encounter with a Mer-wendee was reported by a fellow diver. True to folklore, the diver spoke of the mischievous creature sneaking up and over from behind to steal air.  

It has not been agreed if the Mer-wendee should be feared but locals all agree that whether tame or wild, the Mer-wendee is mostly led by curiosity.

The Sum Of It All

The past seven days in Bali will be forever branded in my memory as a place I never thought I would visit, of things I never knew I could do and the people I had never expected to meet ─ all on my own.

Man should not travel by sight alone. So the real treat, of course, was the pleasure of being able to put each opportunity, experience and outcome in words.

I will be back in Kuala Lumpur by this time tomorrow clutching on tightly to hopeful possibilities that I might do this all again soon.  

Of Curiosities and Ironies

We go to great lengths to explore the world, so to speak. We spend hard-earned money and get away from the lives we know so well to find that one special destination to bring us that one unique experience.

The reality is that most parts of the world have become just another generic global city of cultural homogenization. A few weeks ago, I was having lunch at a Balinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, relishing thoughts of a true Balinese experience. Here I am in Bali settling for the comfort of a Quarter Pounder. A distant band drones to the tune of Hotel California and local cafés display posters of recent Hollywood movies.

While we seek to expand our horizons, the world is fast shrinking.  Unless we are willing to go off the beaten track and take uncharted courses, we can forget about "meeting the locals”, "experiencing their culture” or "becoming part of their daily lives”.

And yet, we continue to do what we do – going to great lengths to “explore the world”. We will ourselves to believe that crossing oceans, continents and time zones will take us there. Sometimes, where we are, where we have been and where we are headed to is all but a state of mind. We just like to get there in a jet plane.

Money Can Buy You A Pair Of Wings

Bernard and I finally met. He congratulated me for my enthusiasm despite the poor weather and promised me aerial shots from his specially mounted camera. I have been planning this paragliding experience for more than a week and had to postpone twice, due to strong winds.

It is still windy today so Bernard said he would fly me himself on the tandem paraglider. He is a fully qualified pilot with 25 years of paragliding experience, so I felt safe in his hands. I went through a quick on-ground instructional briefing and a massive blue canopy was hauled out of a backpack attached to a bundle of Kevlar lines. I was fastened into a harness and the safety clips were inspected by two other men, followed by Bernard himself. Then, Bernard tapped my helmet and said that we were ready to go.

The launch was easier than I had expected. No jumping off rocks or jogging downhill. We simply lifted off and glided away from the cliff. With my feet off the ground, my harness allowed me to settle into a very comfortable sitting position.

The view was breathtaking. The flight zone at Timbis convinced me that I had the best seat in town. We launched off the rugged cliffs to soar over immaculate pristine beaches and blue seas with a bird’s eye view of the waves breaking over the beach and coral reefs below.

I get queasy at heights but there was no fear of falling and the ride was extremely smooth. It was very peaceful but not at all quiet, with the sound of wind whipping in my ears.

During the flight, Bernard explained his control over the glider. He checked if I was doing alright but I don’t think he waited for an answer. Soon, we were whirling and spiraling; plummeting and rising more than I had fancied. My body was being pulled by the wind while my stomach and other internal body parts following only seconds later.

We stayed aloft for almost an hour. I am not sure how high we were elevated but we hugged the coast line throughout.

Eventually, it was time to land and the landing was slow and gentle. The tandem flight was an exhilarating paragliding experience. It was good fun but most of all, it was fulfilling to have experienced man’s greatest fantasy of free flight.  

That Gangly Monkey At Uluwatu

Dear Charles,

I spent some hours visiting the Pura Luhur Uluwatu Temple today. The temple was built from coral rock and set high on the edge of a cliff with a 250-foot drop to the rolling, thundering waves of the Indian Ocean. With the sunset casting hues of crimson, red and orange, the view was really spectacular. Remember that moment at the top of the Cape of Good Hope when my jaw dropped? Well, this was almost close.

Yet, it was the monkeys that stole the show! They are rather cute, if you ask me.  There were masses of them all around the temple grounds and I am telling you, they were something else! They were really sharp and mischievously intelligent. Anyway, I am sure you do not need to be accustomed with monkey behaviour since you live with one.

The thing is, what I wanted to say was, I am sorry. The monkey has your camera.

Yours lovingly,

Wifey.

 

A Sizzling, Technicolour Performance

In Gianyar, just off the center of the island of Bali, the evil mythological god Rangda deployed his most exquisite pair of servants to hunt down Dewi Kunti . Their pursuit is beguiling and enticing.

Dewi Kunti had promised to sacrifice her son, Sadewa to Rangda but now seeks the support of Patih to help Sadewa to flee deep into the forest.

However, Patih is possessed by an evil spirit.

He binds Sadewa to a tree to prevent his escape and as an offering to the evil god. Sadewa’s cries erupted up to a shrill that is heard by Siva, the righteous god. Unknown to Rangda, Siva appears and bestows immortality upon Sadewa.

 When Rangda emerges to receive the sacrifice, he realises that Sadewa cannot be defeated. Instead, Sadewa conquers Rangda.

Kalika, a faithful servant of Rangda is devastated at the loss of her master and challenges Sadewa to battle. She manisfested herself as a boar and leaped and twirled all over Sadewa.

Still, Sadewa is stronger and almost overcomes Kalika, the boar when she transformed into a bird stretching out her vast wings in attack and assault.

Sadewa was still prevailing over the bird but soon the bird took on the form of Rangda, the evil god and Rangda proves to be too powerful for Sadewa. Sadewa then takes the form of a Barong.

 The battle is in full swing  and rages on until the followers of Barong emerges. They are killed by Rangda who flees shortly after. The Barong breathed life into his faithful followers who erupted with cries and howls of revival.

(The Barong Dance is a mesmerizing, technicolour performance about the eternal fight between good and evil. Played on a tiny stage back dropped by a Balinese temple, the tale is chronicled in the Mahabhrata. As it was danced out for me, I was completely transfixed, as my own lyrical version of the dance began to unfold, word for word.)

My Father is Retired

There are some days when you should never reveal your father’s livelihood. Today was one of those days.

North bound to Kintamani, the local guide pulled off to Tampaksiring and decided that I should visit a family-owned coffee plantation.  Nyoman, the youngest of three siblings represented his household to introduce me to the family’s pride – the Abian Sari Coffee Plantation.

"Ma’am, do you know the difference between a female and male coffee bean?”

"Err, no.”

"So, look around, can you tell me which bean is ripe?”

"Err, nope.” (Am I supposed to be seeing beans?)

"Do you go to coffee plantation before?”

"Err, no.”

After showing me around for a bit more, Nyoman led me to their makeshift outdoor kitchen to sample the different types of coffee, tea and cocoa. Here, I met the rest of the family.

"Ma’am, here we also roast coffee. First, we clean beans before roasting and then we grind beans. Have you seen coffee roasting before?”

"Err, no.”

"We also have vanilla, rosella, cocoa, ginseng, cinnamon and passion fruit”, he said in one breath while pointing at several directions. I wasn’t even sure I was looking at the right thing and secretly hoped he did not notice.

"Ma’am, your father own business too in Malaysia?”

"My father is retired.”

Thank you Nyoman, for suffering fools like me.

So, now I know.

These are NOT ripe.

(Dad, if you are reading this and just so you know, I already know what you are about to say.)