Final Update

I know this has been too long in the process of updates, but in a sense it's a different story now. I'm no longer in Malaysia, no longer working as a divemaster...

I should make one all encompassing blog, but maybe next trip...

But an overall idea is that I left the island, moved to KL while I hung out with friends and found a cheap flight to Australia, where I spent 3 weeks hanging out with old friends. Then I went back to KL, worked my way up to Chiang Mai, Thailand and am now slowly moving south back to KL for my flight out of Asia on the 4th of November.

The Malaysian Flag and I, Kuala Lumpur

Flinders St. Station, Melbourne, Australia

On the 4th of November I fly indo London, England, and spend 3-4 weeks hanging out there. Then I fly to New York City for another 10 days visiting friends and finally fly into SFO on the 10th. I'll spend a couple days in SF and then return to SJ for a much anticipated Christmas 2010 and New Years.

That's all I got for an update, not the best, I know, but it's better than nothing!

The sinking wall around the Old City, Chiang Mai, Thailand

The familiar skyline of Bangkok, Thailand

The last 6 weeks

Well, i'll make this a really short update.

I'm diving. Everyday: diving, diving diving...

Not sure when I'll move on, maybe beginning of september, maybe beginning of october? who knows. then to where? I don't know! Travel Asia, travel England, travel the States...

sorry I don't update this anymore, guess I don't think much has happened...

I had a relaxing birthday here, one dive (which was phenomenal) to the shipwreck, and then dinner with some friends (i only have 3) and an early night. i'm old, and i think i'm starting to realize that the best gift i can give myself is a good nights sleep :)

i'll party when i'm around different friends, and can wake up in an air conditioned room at noon, not sweating in my sauna hotbox at 7 am when the fan turns off... :)

thanks all i got for now, sorry i'm so lame!

Update

Well, not much has happened in a while. The biggest news is that I'm finally FINISHED with my Dive Master Training, and am officially a DM!! I am still waiting for all the paperwork to go through and get my certification number. I have already taken out dives on my own, fully responsible for anything that will happen. I've shown people turtles and sharks, fishes and other fishes... it's been really fun.

I still have a lot to learn though, because I'm far from being a good dive master. I hope to start an intensive self-study program to get my fish identification up, especially on the smaller stuff. I want to model myself after Daniel, the dive master who is here now, because I think he's really good, and gets excited by the tiny little things. I want to be able to show people big and small, so I need to keep practicing.

Recently it was Daniel's birthday, so we went out and got wasted, stumbled home at 5 am (after eating cookies, of course) and had dives at noon. This was the first time I'd experienced diving like many people do, after a long night. Not my style. No one wants to be nauseous underwater :)

I'm still waiting for confirmation of employment from my boss, but nothing can happen until Daniel leaves, so I'm still here waiting, trying not to spend all my money... Hopefully by the 22nd we'll know for sure!

We tried to get him to quit... but he's too far gone

The Calm After The Storm

Everything has been reletively calm since the parental units left... and now I'm biding my time until one of our DM's leaves in a week or so to try to get his job at the shop. We'll see what happens!

In the meantime, we've all been hanging out, it's a little slow so not too hectic, and relaxing in the shop. Here are a few pictures!

The Nance and Ralphinator visit in June

It’s been a long month. Let’s start from the beginning.

My friend Kevin had been staying with me for about 3 weeks, starting in the beginning of June. He taught with me in Indonesia and Thailand, and needed a place to chill out a couple weeks before heading to Ireland. He came to my glorious hut only days after I had another friend (from Indo and Thailand), Ian visit for a couple days. We quickly convinced Kevin to dive, and within the time here he was practically working at the dive shop. It was great having a friend around, watching him learn to dive, and have someone to go out with.

Dive training is still going strong, and I’ve finished all of my theory tests, most of my water stamina, and started working on my skills and diving leadership.

I also had my parents come to visit me (finally!) it’s only been 2.5 years since I moved to asia, but I guess it’s better late than never! Since only 3 people read this, two of which are my parents, the other, Grandma, I assume Nancy has already told you everything about everything…

With Nancy and Ralph we went to Kuala Lumpur for a couple days, Borneo for a couple more days seeing orangutans, and river cruises in hunts for other monkeys, and then to the perhentian islands for some sun, scuba and milkshakes. It was nice to finally be able to show them where I live, how I live, and why I love it here…

But now the month is over, I’m closer to finishing my course, and ready to head off into the working world again. Well, head off means stay right here, and working means… diving J

Not a bad gig overall.

I’ll try to add more information as it comes, but now it’s

Wake up. Dive. Rest. Dive. Eat. Dive. Eat. Sleep.

Repeat.

Some Photos

Nemo

Pufferfish

Batfish

"Ok!"

Daily Life

Alarm: 7 am. Snooze. Kick out my feet from the blanket, it’s not as cold as it used to be.

Alarm: 7:10 am. Throw blanket off of me, it’s getting too warm in the room. Snooze.

Alarm: 7:20 am. Snooze. Roll on side to allow trapped heat under me to escape, cooling my back.

Alarm: 7:30 am. Look up through the hole in the roof to try to determine if it’s raining, so I can sleep in. Snooze.

Alarm: 7:40 am… The first of many morning rituals here on the island. It starts with the joyous feeling of being cold. Somewhere in the 5-6 am time frame, I turn over, cover my feet and use my little blanket to stay warm. Then, at about 7:00am, the power goes off, and the alarm turns on.

Once I have realized its too warm to continue sleeping, I drag myself out of bed and to the bathroom across the lawn for the morning release and brushing my teeth. Then I go up, find the least smelly shirt, throw it on and tie up my board shorts. I’m already sweating, too tired to face the direct sunlight and hungry. I cross the lawn, cross the little bridge over what used to be flooded, but now is a swamp and to the shop. Up the wooden steps and then I step in the cool buckets of water to wash your feet free of sand before entering the shop. I’m one of 2-3 people here, one of the first. The shop is still locked, which means no coffee. No biscuits… Task one: sweep the floor. It’s a slightly ridiculous task, sweeping off sand from the shop, since it’s on the beach so there is no way to control the sand. It simply falls beneath the cracks.

Once someone with the key comes, we open up, boil some water and get the biscuits and coffee out. It’s what fuels the early morning dives. Bring out some merchandise, and open the gear room. If you have a dive that day, you set up the equipment, if you’re assisting, you get it ready, but leave it for the students to set up. Then you set your equipment up, check the board to see who is going where and when, then make a coffee, grab some cookies, and zone out while everyone else slowly arrives.
We have an amazing view, yet always decide to shut the screen because the morning sun is too hot. Dripping with sweat by 8:30 am isn’t as fun as you might think. We lounge around until divers are here, dropping eyes and big smiles, excited to check out the waters. It’s not a bad place to work, since most customers know diving is all about the conditions, and luck. Most are just happy to be in the water.

We work through the day doing different tasks. Being a DMT (Dive Master Trainee) I am at the bottom, scrubbing bins, picking up trash, cleaning equipment, getting everything ready, grading tests, getting students set up, discussing different topics about diving and theory to the students, cleaning, sweeping, and studying.
As a DMT I am a third student, a third shop employee and a third servant. It’s part of the territory. Today some people are going to Temple. Sunrise dive, luckily I didn’t have to wake up for that. In the afternoon is T3, a nice boulder playground with lots of swim-throughs. The afternoon rounds off with D’Lagoon, a nice hard coral reef with sandy outskirts, home to some nice fish. Not a bad day…

Sunset from Long Beach