on a cold rainy night...

all quiet on the home front, apart from the sound of rain together with the gurgling of the aquarium. which desperately needs a clean-up and a makeover. i think the residents are getting seriously depressed and wouldn't mind some fresh water and new playmates.

problem is, the parrotfish is seriously mentally deranged and has killed every other thing in the aquarium apart from the sucker-fish or commonly called the bandaraya fish. This is due to how they came about...

Parrotfish or Blood Parrot (the fresh-water variety), according to some quarters, are controversial and discouraged because they don't exist in nature and is a human-engineered, cross-bred species. Due to this unnatural state of being, they have plenty defects, physical AND mental... therefore they pose a great danger to the eco-system if ever let out into the wild, as it may lead to all sorts of evolutionary mix-ups. not to mention their mood problems har har ( read more here )

on the plus side, it's what we call a 'pet' fish, which means it will come over when signalled heheheh and possibly allowed to be pet. i don't remember trying this... it does have a smile though, like a dolphin's :) but ...but.. i mustn't forget that it wiped out most of its friends in the tank... no Finding Nemo kinda scenario here har har.

I'm just waiting for it to die (and i seriously mean it) so i can populate it will all manner of little cute fishies or maybe even convert it to a salt-water tank and attempt to rear some false anemone clownfish (scuba diving has given me great reason to find out about marine life like never before, and fish ID is one of the essential things to know).

oh cruel me, keeping live animals in captivity...

Sabah in December Part 1 - Feeding the addiction

So after having earned my Open Water certification, it was going to be a three-month wait before I hit the seas again. It's helluva long wait ok for those who's been hit by the diving bug. For those who've experienced it, there's a symptom I call the 'Scuba Dream' - it's a very vivid dream of going diving, the sort of experience we don't want to wake up from.

December 2009, and it is the year-end trip to Sabah for Chris and I. It's always lovely to 'balik kampung', and now there's the added incentive of going diving at the Taman Tuanku Abdul Rahman (Taman TAR) marine park. Just a 10-minute boat ride from KK, these islands ( Mamutik, Sapi, Gaya, Suulug, Manukan, et al ) provide a quick getaway for some fun in the sun, and now, provide the very convenient opportunity to do some diving near the city centre.

I must say the visibility isn't great, the marine life nothing to shout about, but it's still good enough to enable me to practice my skills and satisfy the craving for blowing bubbles...

I did get the chance to see turtles, stingrays, and all the fishies in the ocean. But what sets Tmn TAR apart is the macro life. Gobies, shrimp, feather stars, and all those little things that scutter about between the rocks and on the sand.

On the boat heading to the dive site near Pulau Sapi, damn excited to hit the sea after such a long time away.

All dressed up and ready to go. The divemaster, Judan, and I ready to do the back-roll entry in.

While in Sabah, plenty of time to do composite pictures like this    : )

No underwater camera yet so no shots below the waves.

And that was a very good day indeed.

With the diving all done on day one of the trip, we shall put up more pics and stories of my always-enjoyable trip to the Land below the Wind...

We learn to blow bubbles

After the tragedy we faced last year, I suppose we've recovered. Sufficiently. I don't think our lives will ever be the same again, and this will define how we live our lives out in the near future, at least.

On a brighter note, I did go and achieve one life-long dream - SCUBA DIVING ! This happened in August 2009, and it was GREAT fun!

 Redang is truly a beautiful place with lovely white beaches, clear water like glass, and totally relaxed - recommended for your island getaway!

Leisure Divers at Redang Reef Resort. Great place to go snorkelling right off the rocks to the left. Also, at night, one of the attractions is the bio-luminescent blue-green algae on the sands of the beach here - really unique!

Dive course - read the manuals and watch the DVD - yawnnnn.. i'm sure i nodded off once or twice during the presentation!

First time out learning all the pros and cons - the start of an adventure!

That's me in full gear. Heavy, this stuff.

And after all the 'hard' work - certified diver! This is the Project Aware version - made a contribution for marine conservation, read more about them from the link there. Hope my AUD30 went to good use.

And so, that was the month of August, 2009... have gone to other places to dive after that, will put up more pics later. 

Happy day to you all!