what colours have you seen today?

Wanderlust Chronicles 7: Pulau Danang, Malaysia June 2009

I could almost hear my loyal readers (yes, all two of you) groan that the next wanderlust was in Malaysia (Truly Asia.) But in my defense, this is a wanderlust entry in a league of its own - oh yes, definitely the most expensive one yet, and the one that gave me a peek at a totally different world. This was a trip to Pulau Danang, Malaysia - not for the surface, but for its underwater treasures which came as part of my accreditation trip for scuba diving which I signed up for with Oana. Oh yeas folks, after this trip, Aldrich is now a certified PADI Open Water Diver!

1. To Scuba or Not to Scuba - I got this SMS from Oana telling me that she has decided to take Scuba Diving lessons - pun-nily enough from this company called "Big Bubble Company." It was supposed to be this shortened, accelerated class that starts on a Monday evening and then ends with a weekend trip to Pulau Danang to get certified via an actual scuba dive. The thing was, I only decided that I can fund this trip on Tuesday, and was expecting that I couldn't join anymore. But they said that it was still possible, and so it began. I skipped the video part of the lecture and instead studied the book itself. I figured that this was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Scuba Diving is certainly one thing I've never pictured myself doing, but now wanted to do anyway. And so it was decided - to SCUBA! (which, thanks to Wikipedia, I now know means, Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus - this is now one of the useless things I'll always have at the back of my mind. haha!)

2. Learning the Basics - The total class was divided into four students to a teacher and we were grouped with James and Timothy, both Singaporean students (and older than I am) on their school break. We were assigned our own equipment, flippers etc. And we did our test dives in Outram Secondary School Pool. The thing was there were a lot of other students there. And they did not only come from our school. Imagine around 30 different students at different stages of learning using the same pool. It was more or less chaotic, but well, we had to learn scuba diving somewhere right?

3. Aldrich, the Slow Learner - At this point, I just want to reiterate that I am a slow learner (the first step is to accept that you have a problem..). Yes, I've graduated with honors, but that's usually a product of hard work and a lot of catching up towards the end of the semester. haha And learning the basics of scuba was no different. Our instructor was Singaporean, and to be honest, they're not the most patient people in this world. And their way of teaching was totally different from the Philippine way of teaching - aka encouragement with some spoonfeeding on the side. haha It came to the point that all of the exercises would just be done once by my three other classmates, while I had to them thrice before I got them right. Mga three times nga akong napagalitan kasi I wasn't paying attention daw. At this age, I still have a short attention span. haha!

4. The Science behind Scuba - I was expecting that there was obviously a science behind Scuba. After all, if God intended for humans to naturally swim the depths of the ocean, he would have given us gills. Instead, he gave us the brain power to develop concepts like water pressure, air pressure, air density, bouyancy and oxygen tanks - all of which would have made my high school physics teacher beam with pride. (Hi Ma'am Siega!) Anyway, it was like relearning several chapters of High School Physics all over again. There were calculations of Residual Nitrogen in the body after diving at a certain depth, making a safety stop before reaching the surface and equalizing (ensuring that the air pressure in your body is the same as what's outside.)

5. The Written Test - And of course, no accreditation comes without a written test. And boy, it was like taking a midterm exam after just a couple days of lecture. And I had to sneak these in on top of the work that I had to do. Oana was there, and claimed that she didn't study at all. That was a disappointment because I was expecting to copy from her in the first place. haha Anyway, James and Timothy already took the test a week back and said that though there are different sets of questions, the answers are the same since they're all multiple choice anyway. And thus, Oana and I became cheat-mates. Got to love this. And I thought I was done with all of these after graduating from college. haha! And the irony of it all is that she ended up getting the highest score in that batch. Damn smart woman. haha

6. The Trip to Pulau Danang - So after the practical tests in the pool and the written exam, we were off to go to Pulau Danang. It was a long journey, three hours to Mersing, Malaysia and then a couple of hours to wait for the ferry and then 3 hours to Pulau Danang. We left at 7 pm, and with the stops and the imigration formalities, we ended up arriving a few minutes after three AM. I usually don't feel seasick, but I had some stomach hyperacidity that time and could not wait for it all to end. Anyway, the boat finally stopped and then they gave us our room assignments. Very basic accomodation - but we weren't really there for the hotel anyway. Then they told us that we had to wake up by 8 for breakfast. oh yes folks, we only had a few hours to sleep and prepare for our first dive which was scheduled for 9 AM.

7. The Surface - Well, we weren't there for the surface, but boy was it beautiful. Its the stereotypical tropical paradise, powdery white sand, with clear blue water. We had fun eating the tropical fruits and lunch spread with the spectacular view. Yes, you can't say much about the basic accomodations that we had, but the view and the island itself was uh-mazing with a capital UH. We were taking pictures everywhere, emo moments, spectacular wallpaper-level landscapes. But we were there for a totally different reason. haha And we were raring to go underwater after our quaint breakfast. It was a fifteen minute boat ride to our first dive, but we were all busy putting our suits and tanks on. But I took a peek at the surroundings and could not help but say that God outdid himself when he made this little slice of heaven off the coast of Malaysia.

8. Meeting Bambi and the Team - Anyway, we were assigned to a scuba instructor - Bambi, who was Filipino. yay! And then we Oana and I were grouped with JT and Sim. It was a fun group all in all, and Bambi was a really encouraging (not to mention entertaining) instructor. Thank God we were not assigned to the other instructors. haha! He made us do the exercises underwater (i.e. what to do when your tank is almost empty, swimming without masks, what to do when water gets into your mask etc.) It was all just leisure diving after that. Bambi was also pretty playful underwater - pointing at stuff, making fun of the fish. haha We got to actually find Nemo, see coral formations bigger than two-storey buildings, a couple of eels, puffer fishes and the list goes on.

9. The Actual Underwater Experience For the first time, I'll let another author explain. I could not have said these better myself.

There IS life on Other Planets
I know because I've been there. This weekend I was travelling to a new planet... It was akward, I was feeling like an alien... I felt unsecure, like the unexpected can appear from nowhere, like I can't even control my own body. But it was exciting, as it was all different on this planet. Completely new, never seen before! The colours were darker than in our world, but many, so many more than on Earth! The plants there are violet, white, black, all in weird forms, small and sticked to the rocky land. The rocks are big, they make you look up to the pale white light coming from the sun. You cannot walk on this planet, you're floating exactly as I was imagining an astonaut floating in his spaceship. And there is no rule on the direction you are moving: up, down or horizontal... it's like there is no gravitation. But the life! That's really the most amazing thing ever! Proportions there are the most unexpected thing. Harmless huge worm-like animals laying on the ground, coloured porcupine-like colourful beeings looking scared in your eyes when you pick them up. The instincts are no longer trustworthy: big dark ugly things can be harmless and innocent, while the most beautiful beeings hide the biggest dangers... Everytime I was touching something, the feeling of the texture was unexpected... And something new and amazing was popping up at every look!
And then, I came back to Earth, back to the day to day work, to the daily calls back home and to counting the days till the boys will be back... But I came back richer. Richer in my mind knowing that the rules of our world can be broken on a different planet. Richer in my heart as I was not alone in this trip. And definitely feeling rich in my pocket, filled with pride for the temporary scuba diving license, my ticket back to the underwater alien planet I fell in love with.

Dedicated to my fellow crew mates (Drich, Sim and JT), and special thanks to Bambi, the crew master!
- Oana Laza

10. Aldrich, certified PADI Open Water Diver - Oh yes, that is the accreditation that I recieved after that weekend. This certification allows me to dive recreationally up to 18 friggin meters under the water. That's just friggin amazing! It's like graduating with your bachelor's degree and there are other levels of advancement for recreational divers - you can become an Advanced Open Water Diver, a Rescue Diver, or even make it a career and be an instructor. But at this point in time, I'm happy with a PADI Open Water Diver accreditation. Like what Oana said, this is my passport to a whole new world - ala the little mermaid! haha I'm soo looking forward to diving in the Philippines - supposedly one of the most beautiful diving spots in the world.

Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it was stressful as hell given that this was done on top of the work that I had to do. But it was definitely worth all the time, effort and energy I put into learning how to scuba dive. Our world is just so damn beautiful! (^_^)