Michael & Yuhui – Our Life Journey

Dive #4 at White Tip Avenue, Sipadan

We’re heading to Sipadan! After the low key dives of the first day, all of us were eager to finally get to dive at Sipadan. Our dive master would still be Niger taking us to White Tip Avenue where the visibility was definitely a lot better than Day 1.

This white-tip shark swam about 2m away from me and I was holding my breath (first time up close to a shark does that to you) when I took a few quick snaps. Luckily this shot came out quite well.

The puffer fish below probably surprised me the most since i always thought it would be a diminutive creature and not the giant that you see below.
 

Zh enjoying the suspension in mid-water.

Dive #3 at House Reef, Kapalai Island

A quick break and we’re off to Kapalai Island’s house reef. There were some pretty nice sights like the clown fish in torch coral below. Vis was at 5m (becoming a common occurrence) and max depth around 20m.

Pipefish above is almost invisible and cuttlefish below also doing a good join blending in. So far I’m pretty happy with the G11 since it’s able to react fast enough for my needs.

Good end to the first day, the moon was full and lit up the night sky.

Dive #2 at Ribbon Valley 1, Mabul

After a rather hearty lunch at the resort restaurant, we had some time to laze about before our next dive. I managed to grab this panorama of the area (created using my netbook on Windows Live Photo Gallery). Personally think it really captures the beauty of the place and the wonderfully kept corals.

The sea water was ultra-clear with the sun illuminating the sea bed for perfect photo taking opportunities.

Dive #2 was also quite low on vis (5m) which was unfortunate since there was a great many sea creatures to spot. This beautiful orange plate (Thanks Julian for identifying) really stood out from it’s surrounding. If Niger hadn’t pointed out the incredibly well camouflaged frog fish, I would definitely have missed it!

Checkout Dive #1 at Paradise, Mabul

What a great way to start 2010, it was finally time to dive! Our first dive would be at Paradise, Mabul to get familiar with the basics for some of us who haven’t dived in awhile. After such a long absence, I actually had to get used to descending and took a couple of attempts before I managed to hit bottom. It’s definitely beneficial to dive regularly!

While the dive master, Niger, gave everyone the usual practice rounds of clearing masks, I decided to take the opportunity to test out the new Canon Powershot G11 with it’s underwater case which I just purchased specially for the trip (the Canon A90 was getting real old and a new upgraded was in order).

Caught sight of this curious sight where the fishes? hung around in a circle and just floated with the current.

Rather uneventful dive with murky visibility (approx 5m) even though the weather was perfect. The water was comfortable (would apply throughout the trip) and I had no issues in a 5mm full skinsuit.

Diving again at Sipadan

Looking back, it’s hard to believe it took me 2.5 years to get back into diving. The trip was planned on a suggestion from J and the destination, Sipadan. We (J, Zh and myself) would be staying at Sipadan Water Vaillage Resort, Mabul Island, Borneo booked through Gill Divers.

After a rather long bus ride from Tawau Airport to Semporna (About 1.5 hours), we hopped on a speedboat for Mabul Island where we would stay for the duration of the trip. Divers are actually not allowed to stay on Sipadan itself and there is also a limit on the visitors per day.

Stepping off the speedboat, you’re immediately greeted by the friendly staff at the resort and also the huge huts built right on the beach of Mabul.  A quick briefing on the dive times and usual indemnity form signing later, we were introduced to our lodgings which were pretty nice for a dive resort.

The three islands Mabul, Kapalai and Sipadan would be our playground for the upcoming week.

Off to Sipadan!

Posted via web from Michael’s view

The Proposal, Moon and Time Traveler’s Wife in one weekend

We contributed nicely to the weekend movie ticket sales (not often but we try) for three shows over last Saturday/Sunday. Starting the movie mayhem was “The Proposal” starring Sandra Bullock and some young dude. Simple premise with the threat of deportation causing Sandra to propose to her assistant and thus giving us a many laughs throughout the show. Favorite scene : naked wet couple running into each other *grin*.

Sunday morning, we caught “Moon” @ The Picturehouse (The Cathay). This movie caught my attention #1 for being a sci-fi film, #2 being shot on the (set of the) Moon (week before we also had the debunking of the moon landing if you can believe that)! The lack of good science fiction is getting on my nerves so I’m glad for directorial debuts in  “Moon” and “District 9“. The subject matter of cloning isn’t new but the very process of discovery about the cloning deceit and great visuals (I miss the look and feel of good old models) made for an entertaining viewing even if it has a very limited screening here. As we left the cinema, we also caught the trailer of a very funny Israeli movie,”A Matter of Size“, about sumo wrestling but unfortunately, all four screenings have been sold out!

“Time Traveler’s Wife” from my short review on Bookjetty of the book (2nd read) while Yh is on her 2nd read also.

Bought this book while taking a flight up to Bangkok to pass the time.
Got quite absorbed in the fascinating narration that I had trouble
putting it down during the trip. Might not be the best book for some if
you find yourself having trouble with time travel stories. I love it
though.

Both of us agreed that while the attempt at making the film was admirable, it would be too difficult to achieve the emotion and pace of the book so it was a slight letdown (especially after second reads of the book).

Zhi Cha gets featured! 煮炒来咯 or Sizzling Woks every Wednesday 8pm

Sizzling Woks (煮炒来咯) just started airing today on Channel U and we were able to catch the first episode. I forgot to record the show on the media center and missed out on the first stall’s address (thanks to bobafett81’s forum post for additional info). This week’s episode featured two stalls in Ang Mo Kio. With delicious food like crayfish and pumpkin prawn balls, we must go try it out (or get one of the dishes for upcoming potluck dinner)!

地点 ： 宏茂桥 (Ang Mo Kio)

豪乡海鲜小厨
BLK 158 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4
1． 双味鱼 / 2 Taste Fish S$25 (Crispy Fried Fish with special oyster sauce, and Water Boiled Fish with Assa sauce)
2． 金沙虾婆 / Golden Sands Crayfish S$18 (made with goat milk powder)
3． 沙皮鸡 / Sha Pi Chicken S$16 (each day only has 20 Sha Pi Chicken for sale)

甘家庄
BLK 202, Ang Mo Kio Ave 3
1． 东坡肉 / Dong Po Meat S$12 (pork cooked for 3 hours with special sauce and spring onion and ginger)
2． 金瓜奶王虾球 / Golden Pumkin Crispy Prawn Balls S$14 (Pumpkin sauce made with Mashed Pumpkin which has been steamed for 3 hours, butter, evaporated milk and curry leaves)
3． 金针菇豆腐 / Mushrooms with Tofu S$8.

Sources:
http://www.makansutra.com/forums/singapore/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17075&p=268941
http://8.mediacorptv.sg/programmesdetail.aspx?iid=MDC090903-0000007

Short stay at Sentosa

Sentosa is quickly becoming our weekend getaway choice. We’re back again at Rasa Sentosa (2nd stay) and just having a quick lunch at Silver Shell Cafe.

Planning to catch Up 3d in awhile and a walk via Imbiah’s 11th new attraction (after last week’s botanic garden visit, we’re in the nature mood!).

Rainforest Walk at Singapore Botanic Gardens

It’s not often that we decide to be “tourists” in Singapore and so when Yh suggested the Botanic Garden’s as a place to visit for the weekend, we decided to do it instead of the usual movie and meal in Orchard. Unfortunately, my body clock decided to play havoc and meant I was up at 4am! (3 hours before we were due to get up and set off for Singapore Botanic Gardens).

After a quick cab ride down towards Chuny road we were just in time to get breakfast and sign up for the Rainforest tour (held every 2nd saturday of the month).

Our guide for the day would be a school teacher who had an excellent knowledge about the various trees and plants dotting the boardwalk. It felt almost like a geography lesson with some rather knowledgeable participants chipping in little notes of interest about Australia and India. We also learnt that the patch we were walking through was a primary rainforest (i.e. one which had not been cleared before and thus was much more bare than a secondary forest which would be thicker).

How to spot an ailing rainforest?

• big patches of sunlight seeping through (the one we were in blocked up to 80% sunlight while a healthy one blocked up to 90+%)
• little or no fungi (we spotted some white fungus but it was only just starting)

There was small efforts being done to repair the damage to the rainforest like replanting trees along a path that was damaged by visitors when the boardwalk was not fenced and sprinkler systems to aid in the hydration. We also learned that the banana tree was in fact incorrectly categorized as it was actually a herb.

There was also an “Ah Beng” of the rainforest that had been imported but was thriving the expense of the native plants. There’s many more useful information that would definitely benefit folks who are interested in nature. We’re already planning to join the next tours that will focus on the Ginger and Orchid Garden as well as the Evolution trail.

After the hour tour, we ventured off on our own to the Ginger Garden where we caught sight of the ginger (Etlingera elatior – Torch Ginger) used in our much loved Singaporean Rojak.

Couroupita guianensis – Cannonball Tree was also fascinating due to the huge fruit it bore which resembled its namesake. The flowers were brightly colored and I wasted no time getting some very interesting macro shots of them (bugs included).

The Orchid Garden was next (SGD $5 adult admission fee) and there we spent lots of time walking around and snapping up photos of the various orchids in the well designed garden. Also noticed the frangipani flower above just resting on a bed of leaves just along the path.

Over at the Mist House, there was some rather well maintained varieties that really caught our eyes. The textured colors and bright purples was a delightful subject to photograph.

The Cool House also showed off the types of orchids that will suit a wetter and cooler climate with a refreshing waterfall and mist that surrounded us as we enjoyed the respite from the heat.

There was so many varieties of orchids that I’ve just highlight some of our favorites. Feel free to enjoy more of the photos over at the album. We’re already looking forward to the next visit back to the Botanic Gardens!