Saturday, August 29, 2009
7:08 PM

Surrealism.

Been waiting since a year ago for this day. Perhaps the wait has been long. Everything feels surreal now that I'm finally in HK. Perhaps it takes time for reality to set in - official start date on Monday, the morning office crowd, the shoutings in the cafes and when I finally find a place to settle in.

Check out the huge metal giant.

Nice hotel, but nothing beats having a home! Can't wait to get our own!

The past few weeks have been busy meeting up w frens, thus drinking and using up my limited $. But can't have time for this for the next few years anw...

Will miss talking cock and doing crazy things w SMUX pple.

Thanks sampat gurls for the wonderful passport holder! So pretty I think of u guys and feel happy when I use it.

Thanks babe for the lovely scrapbook. Really v touched!

Will def miss the 29th outings! But everyone is all over the world now!

No one to nag me now, but no one to cook soup and remove fish bones for me! boohoo

Wednesday, August 12, 2009
6:34 PM

Sipadan Paradise!

It was a troublesome trip to dive at Sipadan as AirAsia's direct flight to Tawau starts only in September. This meant we had to take a flight to Kota Kinabalu before changing to another flight to Tawau. This all could be very smooth, except that the flights we took were from different providers, so we had to claim our baggage and check in again. Besides, the 2 terminals at KK was 10 min away by cab and costed RM30! We were in a mad rush, trying to cut the immigration queue so we could claim our baggage earlier, get a cab and head for the other terminal.

Unlike what you'd imagine Borneo to be - with lots of orang utans, rainforests and rafflesias, everywhere in KK and Tawau, roads were lined with palm trees. Of course, you'll only see the grandeur of the rainforests and Mt Kinabalu when you look down from the plane. I spotted Mt K with the help of the co-pilot who mentioned it. Anyway the peak was obviously the only one jutting way above the clouds...

Sipadan Water Village was such a paradise that even without diving, it's enjoyable!

Before we received our permit to dive at Sipadan, limited to just 120 divers a day, we had to dive around Sipadan, mainly Pulau Mabul and Kapalai, where we were on the lookout for macro marine creatures!

Teeny-weeny coral shrimp.

One of the many nudis!

More mating nudis.

Coral shrimp.

Huge lobster, estimated to be about 50 years old!

Try to spot the crocodile fish.

White leaf fish. Taken while I was breathing my last 2 bars of air!

Kapalai was void of colourful reefs due to past fish-bombing activities, but was full of interesting life! There were plenty of goldbarred jawfish, mantis shrimps that we were playing with and we even saw a huge turtle (almost a century old) that was so full of algae on its back that made it back so positive it couldn't stay low. The result: it rests upside down! Too bad our cam was down with batt by then we couldn't capture the weird scene!

I almost couldn't get to go to Sipadan because the resort was promised 20 permits, but ended up with only 17 that day. My name was the 18th. But the world hardly rewards quiet people, because Bobby, the divemaster fought for my name to be on that list because we were rather chummy with all the divemasters, and they knew I would protest if I can't get to Sipadan! August is the peak season with many Japs coming to dive, and average waiting time for the permit is 2+ dive days, and we were diving for only 3 days! Fortunately, Bobby managed to swap my name with another Jap guy, so I was on to a great dive at Sipadan despite the disappointing vis of only 15m...

Huge school of jackfish.

Amazing school of sinister-looking barracudas!

Up close and personal with the barracudas.

Cute turtles!

Saturday, August 01, 2009
12:42 AM

Alles gute zum meine Geburtstag

The Event

I'd been working on the event, doing up the registration, logistics, script and other random saikangs for the past 6 weeks. Finally the event happened last week. The period was tough, having just 3-5h of sleep on the average to make sure everything runs not just smoothly, but atas-ly. Many learning points as this had to be the most extravagant event I'd organise. Flew in speakers and reps via business class, housed them in Executive Floors and provided not just limou but also JetQuay services! The event also had the most big shots I'd ever seen besides the NDP.

The work can be slack at times and challenging at others, but at least, the time and effort was well-spent. The remuneration is definitely satisfactory, but most importantly the pple are really cool. We do wine sessions at every 100 participants we hit, complete with chips and cheese. We do dept lunch every day. They were so sweet to celebrate my bday too. The office also uses Mac, so I could dl the softwares from them!

Turning 23

Really don't feel anything in particular, but the idea of stepping into the working world and starting a new phase in life, yes. Just met an IFA today to work out some financial plans, and I feel the need and responsibility to prepare for my parents' retirement. My life's been blessed so far, but I need to rely on more certainty.

I'm really excited, but sometimes I feel scared.