Rescue diving course at Tioman

Took my rescue diving course at Tioman this June holiday :-)

A rainy ubin trip

An Ubin trip on a rainy day, armed with waterproof camera and mobile phone ( it's a sony!). You can always trusts the Japanese to come out with some useful devices suitable for rugged adventure. Here are some photos taken:

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The waterproof camera is a Nikon - it's a Japanese product too! ... Though I doubt it's made in Japan.

Manado

A nice diving trip at Manado. The nature reserve is called Bunaken. Below is the signature pic of the mini bunaken hill with clouds at its peak. Somehow, the cloud is always there all day long.

Pristine waters. Even at 20 metres deep. The water surface can be visible. 

And yeah, I saw dolphin and pilot whale on the way to the dive site!

It is a pity not much pictures are taken underwater. My friends underwater housing is spoilt. But the dive guide is kind enough to bring his own camera in some of the dives. 

I must say the pictures here do not give Bunaken the justice it deserves. There are plenty more not captured.  Below is a huge fan coral.  I must say the coral diversity is among the most diverse and rich I have seen. 

A flounder! 

This place famous for its tiny creatures; and those creatures that are masters in mimicry and camouflage. This trip really makes me want to re-read certain chapters of The Ancestors Tale again. My only regret is not bringing a magnifying glass there!

A cute little shark

It has a little buddy - a puffer fish :-)

Nice authentic indonesian lunch.

Tioman

Splendid to dive again! This time it is a Live-on-Board (LOB) trip to Tioman

Seen somethings that I have not seen before: squid and nurse shark.

The advantage of going on an LOB is that we can go to dive sites farther away from the main island. The site which we spotted nurse shark was actually the site we dropped by our way back to main land.

Took the pictures below when we pop by a small island to buy some stuff.

I did not carry any underwater camera. So as usual the pictures below are 'stolen' from friends.

Deploying a dive sausage to notify boatmen we are ascending to the surface. This is especially important when the traffic at the sea is high. 

Spot the cuttlefish. The cuttlefish I saw was surprising un-shy. Follow them a little while and was trying to 'provoke' them to change colours. And they change colours with amazing speed!

Jellyfish

Jellyfish with artificial lighting. We shone a torch into the jellyfish.

nemo in anemone. 

Sea urchin. Common in Tioman.

Pulau Dayang

I have been so busy. 

This simple diving trip is much needed.

Simple joys of life:

Beautiful : sun, sea, sand.

and of course, a wonderful company.

( I actually 'stole' this pic from a friend's facebook. hee hee)

I have dived at Dayang a number of times, but it never fails to rejuvenate my tired body and mind.

Kayaking at Sembawang

First time going to Sembawang Water Venture. Rented a kayak with some friends and just explore around the area. The place is rather 'ulu'. Took MRT to Sembawang station, transfer to a bus 882, then walk, walk walk ...

on the way there ...

Setting off, saw some SAF people training, under blazing sun.

Hugging the coast ...

More military stuff .... 

Reach Pulau Seletar. If you zoom out, you can see it on the map above

Some attempts on artistic shots. By the way, I am using Nikon AW100 to take the pictures here. It is waterproof and shockproof. Perfect for rugged kayaking trip.

Eerie looking banyan tree.

Cranes!

It was a short trip. So, by the time we finished packing and washing up, there are people still having kayaking courses. Tankers ( ? I think) are busying moving about.

Kallang

Manage to get a few hours to practice some kayaking skills at Kallang Basin.

Looking a National Stadium.  It is supposedly closed, but I understand that it will be reopen for a while for a match between Brazil vs Singapore soccer match.

Coffee time again! 

Pulau Ubin - Chek Jawa

I have mentioned in my posts that I would take some photos of the boardwalk at Chek Jawa at Pulau Ubin when opportunity rises.   I take the opportunity of this school holiday (Youth Day) to visit there.  So here goes:

This is the tower where you can have a bird's eye view of the place.

Chek Jawa at relativity low tide

This plant has its natural defenses against animals:

Hmm . . .  Attap seed.  Honestly speaking, I couldn't really identify it in the first place.  Thought it was some sort of oil palm or something.

The mangrove - at low tide

Yeap, that's the mangrove.

On the way to the beach . . . 

Naughty naughty ... don't think the plastic buoy is biodegradable

Yeah, you are not wrong.  That's a scottish hut.  What's it doing here?

Frog Island.  That's actually a stone ,which looks like a frog, popping out from the sea.  You have to kayak there to see that.

Lunch near the jetty, and it's the durian season.  Didn't buy any though.

People who visit Ubin ( not sure about others, but myself definitely) yearn for some calm tranquillity.  This is a view of one of the quarry in Ubin. 

I'm rather pampered with the luxury of modern life and its technology.  Ended the trip with a nice machine-made coffee in the air-con place.  Where else but The Coffee Connoisseur .