Scuba diving

? My last dive was like what, a couple of months ago I think. So obviously I was super2 excited about the living on board trip that I went for recently. And boy, how awesome the trip was!

I was out stationed for almost a week, as a couple of days before the LOB thingy we had fieldwork at pulau Tinggi. The fieldwork itself was cool even with only a couple of dives, imagine LOB, diving all day long!

Fieldwork took 2 days, and it was a practical thing we had to apply from classes back in UKM, regarding the Survey Methods subject. We learned how to place transects on Sea grass and coral reef areas, and learned how to assess them. With the coral reefs, it was pretty easy. Even though my buoyancy (this is crucial to be known) sucked ass, I could still manage to hover above the corals without breaking them. But seagrasses, damn.. They're pretty hard. I couldn't stay properly buoyant, not even for a few seconds. And it's hard if you keep falling to the ground because the floor of the area consists of super fine substrate particles that would cloud the waters if you had them suspended with your awkward movements (this happens when you try too hard to stay buoyant, as buoyancy should come as natural as possible). And when the water gets cloudy, no work can be done until it settles down again. And mind you, that would take quite sometime. Beginner divers like us can only spend like what, an hour underwater, tops. We needed to take about 10 clear photos, and if each photo was distrupted by 10mins of cloudiness, I don't think there would be enough time for things to be done. And that would suck , because we get assessed by our ability to do stuff underwater.
Diving while LOB on the other hand, was of no pressure. It was all leisure, and the fact that we weren't being seriously watched made me control my buoyancy much much better. Lol looks like I am not as tough as I think I am, since I suck being under pressure! Oh I forgot to mention, in pulau Tinggi, I thought the water is as clear as it gets, but man was I wrong.. Around the Tioman Island, it is ten times better! Imagine, being able to see the sea bed 40m below from the surface! Initially looking down from the boat I thought that it is shallow, but then our instructor told us how deep it actually is and I went like, fuyooh ! Hahaha. Jakun kan, lama lakk tak dive.

The only problem I had during the dives was that I would bleed a bit ascending. One of my dive masters said that it is common for descends so mine is like a different thing. But my instructor said it's normal if I've got sinus problems so it din worry me. It hurt real bad though, like someone smacked me in the head with an iron cast pan. And that kinda ruined my mood sometimes...although I am thankful it hurts above water. If it was underwater, I bet I wouldn't be enjoying my dives one bit! Alhamdullillah ;)

The other-instructor was all about spearing fish, same goes to the boat owner. Everytime they went down they'd come up with creatures in their hands. On one of the nights they were telling stories about how the owner of the boat used to dive down 70m deep on a single tank, just to collect sand for a paid request. How he used to be so fast, no one could catch up with him, how he used to be able to catch a load of fish and that now he can only carry one or two, and all his legendary acts came to rest with just a 5 meter dive.. (his lungs almost burst upon ascending). I was in awe. I look up to people like him, so skillful!

Oh and I had another problem, apparently this one has been since forever. I couldn't shit anything out. It gets stressful when my stomach starts to ache, but nothing comes out even when I push so fucking hard. Usually I could last to about a week not shitting, but this time I ate a little bit too much so 2days was max. Last day on the boat I practically fasted so yeah I made it home safe with the load lol.

I couldn't post pictures of me diving because I did not wear any head scarf or hood for the whole trip. Maybe next time I shall get a proper outfit for future trips then only can I post photos of the whole thing. Plus, I think the blogger app on Android does not allow the arranging of photos so it would be messy if I uploaded anything thru it. Nevertheless, you guys who have never dived should definitely try out diving for the wonderful experience it gives :)

I know I would never give up diving even if my skin goes crisp black from the sun!