Other pictures of critters I saw in Lembeh(2009)

Blenny hides in bottle

Snake Eel

Flying Gurnard

Lembeh 09 - Diving Trip

For our 2009 Christmas Holiday, we are going to Lembeh AGAIN, but this time, with my granny!!! Me and my sister were happy when our parents told us. I think, Lembeh is the BEST diving place I've ever been to. Why? Because Lembeh keeps the starnge and unique critters!

Since I'm a JOW diver now, I can explore the critters at 12m deep!!! :)

I was really excited to dive in Lembeh, again, and this time, I'm diving up to 12m :) YAY

For this holiday, we are not staying at Two Fish Diver again, because it's full. Instead,we're going to KBR (Kungkungan Bay Resort). I have to say, this resort was the best one I've ever been to. I'm going to start my diving(13/12/09) after the day I came to KBR.

My sister can dive up to 21m and she doesn't want to stay at 12m. So she's diving with my mum(with a guide), and I'm diving with my dad(with a guide too).

Day 1 Dive 1-Makawide 2

In Makawide 2, me and my dad saw a lot of stuff. First of all, we

saw tons of BCF (Bangai Cardinal Fish). Then, we saw 1 or 2 Flounder, and I think it's a Peacock Flounder. We also saw Nudis, different kinds. Not just that, we found 1 or 2 of juv. Catfish, they are cute, but they also have spiky 'whiskers'. On the way, we saw this fish that looks like either Scorpionfish, or Stonefish. And at the end of our dive, we saw this really cute Cuttlefish!

I saw a lot more critters, but they are common ones(excluding Clownfish). Also I think I saw an eel.

Dive 2-Tandu Rusa

This is a really cool dive site, because there is like so many critters. Me and my dad saw BCF (very common in Lembeh), Pufferfish, Snake Eel, but only the head popped out, Porcelain Crab, Clown Fish, Mantis Shrimp, a few Nudis, 2 tiny Emperor Shrimps on Sea Cucumber, Scorpion fish, Pipe fish, and loads more!!! Awesome dive :)

Dive 3-Nudi Falls

Favourite of all. Best dive ever. Guess why? Because we saw groups BCF, 1 or 2 Flounders,

Scorpion fish, Clown fish, Porcupine fish, a few Wasp fish, a few Sexy Shrimp(this shrimp wiggles

its butt), a Sea Cucumber, this shrimp that camouflage it self on a greenish black Feather Star, 2 PIGMY SEA HORSE & an ELECTRIC CLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was crazy when I saw both of

the creatures.

And I was really amazed by how AWESOME it was. How lucky was I? HUH? :)

Day 2 Dive 1-Nudi Retreat

Nudi Falls and Nudi Retreat are two of my favourite dive sites!

That's because it's all about Nudis, and I love Nudis! But it doesn't mean there's nothing else(apart from corals). We saw Clown Fish, Flabellina, BCF, wiggly wobbly juv Sweetlip, Scorpion fish, Puffer fish, Pipe fish, Leaf Scorpion fish, Mantis Shrimp and tons more!

Dive 2-Hair Ball 2

At this dive site, I saw BCF, 1 or 2 Flounder, a few Nudis, Frog fish, Lion fish, Scorpion fish, this really HUGE shell, Clark's Anemone fish, and it's egg, and loads more!

About the Anemone fish eggs, I thought they were these round

and red corals, and I was going to find out by poking it, a bit. I

never knew that it was eggs, and the fishes are trying to guard it

and I thought that they were just little mean fishes. So when I lightly poked it, one of the big anemone fish, bit me on my hand!!!

Ouch! Never underestimate these little fish, just because they have little teeth, doesn't mean that it won't hurt if you get bitten, you know. Luckily it wasn't bleeding, PHEW!

Dive 3-Jahir 2

This was an interesting dive. We saw Nudis, BCF, Clown fish, a

Mantis Shrimp, quite a lot of Porcupine fish, Lion fish and this beautiful Flying Gurnard. Not just that, we saw this GIANT yellow Frog fish, and guess what it did, it extended it's mouth, which was so cool! We also saw either a female or juv Eel, that was fed by the

guide with live Anchovies I think. He fed the Eel by making the little fish go near to the Eel, then SWOOP! The Eel took one of the fish into its hole, with its mouth.

Day 3 Dive 1-California Dreaming

From KBR to this dive site, using a boat, took 12 mins. People say

this is a beautiful dive site, and I hope they are right. And they were. The corals here was healthy, although there was a little bit of current, but it was gorgeous. We saw lots of BCF, a Mantis Shrimp, Nudi Eggs, tons of Nudis, juv Eel, Porcelain Crab, groups of Cat

fish, Clown fish, a few little crabs and a dozen more. I have to say, this was a 'colourful' dive! :)

Dive 2-Jahir 1

We didn't see much unique critters on this dive, but it was still fab!

:) Like usual, we saw BCF, 1 or 2 Wasp fish, groups of Cat fish, a Porcelain Crab that was bitten (no marks) by a Clark's Anemone

fish, Cow fish and more!

Dive 3-Tanjung Kubur

Kubur means grave and there is a grave yard next to this dive site. When there's a grave yard next to something, it doesn't mean it'll be all scary, maybe a bit, but not near a dive site, because this site just hit the spot! I saw BCF(of course), Mantis Shrimp, 2 Scorpion fish, I think, an Eel, Clown fish, and guess what we saw under these dead corals stacked up??? A Mandarin fish!!!!!!!! I screamed when I saw it, because it's my first time seeing a Mandarin fish. Even though it just stopped for a second and then it dashed away, it was still AWESOME!!!

Dive 4-Mandarin Dive - Tanjung Kusu-Kusu

This is the first time for me, to dive 4 times in a day. And the fourth dive is a Mandarin dive,

which is evening!!!! At the Mandarin dive, apart from the obvious, we saw BCF, 1 or 2 Nudis, 2 Ghost Pipefish, this weird Cardinal fish and other common fish.

There is 2 big corals, and inside it is the Mandarin fish, sleeping. We have to wait patiently until it is the right time. It was awesome. We saw some of the Mandarin fish fighting and marrying,

that's when they go together up until the right moment, then SWOOP, they zoom down! :)

Day 4 Dive 1- Kapal Indah

This is suppose to be a wreck dive, but the wreck is at 21m and

that's too deep for me, so I just stayed at 12-15m. At that area, we saw BCF, Mantis Shrimp, Nudis,Crocodile fish, which I found, 1 or 2 Scorpion fish, an Eel(I think) and just at the end of the dive, near a Feather Star, the guide found a Ghost Pipe fish!!!

Dive 2-Magic Crack

We were suppose to go to Nudi Retreat 2, but there's already 10 people diving. So we went to Magic Crack. This place sounds good, and it was good. When we're under, we saw BCF, this really cute fish in a bottle(!!!), Goby and Shrimp, groups of Cat fish, Lion fish, Scorpion fish, these little Shrimp on a Cushion Star, Flounder, a

few Nudis and other common fish.

Dive 3-Hair Ball 2

I have no clue why this site is called Hair Ball, but let me tell you, I

haven't seen any hair balls in the ocean, EVER, especially when I'm diving. But I did see loads of groups of BCF, a few Puffer fish and Porcupine fish, an awesome Octopus, a family of Sexy Shrimps on Anemones, with Clown fish(of course), 1 or 2 groups of juv Cat fish and Flounder, Nudis, 2 Mantis Shrimps and other common fish.

Day 5

I can't believe it's already the last day:( Everytime I'm enjoying something, it somehow feels like it finished so quickly:( It's really

annoying. But luckily, today was an AWESOME day!

Dive 1-Batu Merah

Batu means stone, merah means red then Batu Merah means Red Stone, but I didn't see any. Although, I think people call this site Batu Merah, because the soil of the cliff next to the dive site, is red.

In Batu Merah, we saw BCF, Mantis Shrimp, Nudis, pink Nudi Eggs, X-mas Tree Worms, Giant Boring Clam, a curled up Thorn Sea Star, Sexy Shrimp, Clown fish and other common fish.

Dive 2-Batu Kapal(Makawide)

This place seems interesting, and it was. In Batu Kapal, me and my dad, saw BCF, this really cute Fish, in a bottle, Flounders, Nudis, Sexy Shrimp on Anemone with Clown fish, Lion fish, Snake Eel, Wasp fish and Banded Sea Snake, which was swimming around. W e also saw this Eel with a reddish pinkish white-ish yellow head,

and I searched in this fish book, and I think it might be the Reptilian Snake Eel. We also saw tiny shrimps on Star fish.

Dive 3-T.K.3

Last day, last dive:( Although, I was 100% sure that the last dive would be the best, maybe

without Pigmy Sea Horse, and critters like that, but the only dive I really, really enjoyed.

In this dive we saw a lot of critters! More than the other dives:) We saw a Peacock Flounder, Leaf Scorpion fish, BCF, 2 File fish, Nudis, Ambon Scorpion fish, other types of Scorpion fish,a Crab that's carrying something-that looks like a coral, 2 Orang-Utan Crabs, Puffer fish, Mantis Shrimp, Hump-Back Scorpion fish, cute

fish in a bottle, Black Saddle Snake Eel, big Hernit Crab and a gazillion more!!!

See what I mean-the best always comes last:(

But nevermind about that now. I can't change anything. It was a good dive, and that's what I need!:)

At the end of some of the dives, I tried to make bubble donuts(!!!) , it was fun :), but most bubbles didn't turned out like a donut!

Lembeh 09 - Flight Delayed

We were suppose to go back to Singapore, on Saturday and go back to Brunei on Sunday. But unfortunately, it was raining, and no flights can land except one, Merpati. That wasn't our flight though, it was Silk Air. Anyway, we had to stay in Manado for one more night. And guess where we're staying? The same hotel as yesterday, Quality Hotel! Me and my family were laughing when we heard where we were staying. At least it's free!!!

Tomorrow, Our flight to Singapore was suppose to be at 2 o'clock, but there wasn't any Silk Air flight on Sunday, so we had to spend one more night in Manado. Instead of sleeping around in the room and watch TV, we explored the island and had a great time! So the following are the places of where we went on Sunday:

Danau Tondano (danau means lake in Indonesia)

Tomohon-Flower City

Kawang Koan-Peanut Farm

Lahendong-Power Plant

Desa Pulutan(desa means village in Indonesia)

Danau Linow

Bukit Kasih(bukit means hill in Indonesia)

What we saw:

Mt. Lokon - Active

Mt. Klabat

Sulphur-Heat from underground that goes through special rocks, which makes smelly smoke.

Tomohon-Flower City

This is a beautiful place. It's up a mountain and

there are loads of gorgeous flowers. There was an amphitheater(but we didn't go there) and a church. We didn't stayed there too long though. But it was really cool. It was like heaven of flowers (except that they need to grow a lot more flowers). But still, it was amazing!

After going to this place, we were hungry, so we went to a lake called Danau Tondano...

Desa Pulutan-Danau Tondano

This is a lake. There is a restaurant just at the

side. We had lunch there, and it was delicious! Me and my sister ate LOADS of fried fresh water crayfish, the other type of crayfish-like shrimps. We also ate fried fresh water fish. It was good too. After we finished eating the fresh water crayfish, we stacked the skin and made a mountain of

crayfish skin!!! It was funny! :)

We were full, and it started to rain, again, so we continued exploring this island.

Next, wer're going to Danau Linow.

Danau Linow

Danau Linow is known to be colourful. Not colourful like a rainbow, but it is said that the colour of the lake changes from blue to green and vice versa. But it didn't really change much. But it's stillcool though:) Near Danau Linow, there was sulpher and it was super-duper STINKY!!!

We didn't stay too long in Danau Linow, because the park was closed. And it was muddy!!!

BLECH :(

After going to Danau Linow, we are going to Bukit Kasih. On the way to Bukit Kasih, we passed

through a village called Desa Pulutan(desa-village), and we passed a Peanut Farm called Kawang Koang, and my mum bought these delicious nuts!

Bukit Kasih

Bukit means hill and kasih means love, which means this place is

called Love Hill. This hill has a very weird name, but on it, is this tall statue thing that represents the religions.

Me and my sister needed the toilet, and since it was raining, we had to rent an umbrella. When we rent one, our parents said that we're allowed to go anywhere, as long as it's close by. After going to the toilet, we went to the statue thing and read what ever it said on the statue thing. After that we went to see this smoke thing, which was sulphur. It was quite cold outside, so we went over the sulphur to get warmer, but unfortunately, it was STINKY!!!!!!!! We couldn't stand much of the smell so we left that area. Me and my sister were hungry and we bought each a really, really warm corn! It tasted fresh and delicious! :)

After Going to Bukit Kasih, unfortunately we are going back to our hotel:( On the way back, we passed through Lahendong, which was a geothermal power station! Awesome right!

This journey begun because of rain and no flight :)

.

Junior Open Water Course-Bali-Tulamben

I'm 10 now, and I'm really excited to get my Junior OW Course. I have been waiting for around 2 years now, since my first bubble maker in the sea (Dec 2007).

I was really nervous on the first day of my pool session. I thought that I would fail, but I've done so many dives for my age (even though it was only around 2m), I can't let my parents get disappointed. So now I'm ready take the challenge....

It wasn't only me who was taking the OW Course, there was Jen, Dudley and Martina(adults). It was really fun having this course with them.

Day 1

Today, the first thing Idid was going to Ricardo's (my instructor) place (resort), with my mum, walking. When we reached there, Ricardo explained a few stuff about the Junior/ OW course. After that, we watched a video. An OW course video. It was aro

und 35-45 mins.

When the video finished, Ricardo said that he and the others will meet me and my mum at our resort. Because we're going to do our first pool session (not my mum, she's already an OW diver).

Ricardo doesn't have a pool at his resort. At my resort, the pool is too small. So we had to walk to this other resort nearby.

Pool Session

This is going to be the first session, and I'm exited and nervous!!!!

In this session, we just did the basic stuff like; putting our BCD (buoyancy control device), tank and regulator together, getting used to breathing underwater, mask clearing and stuff like that.

While we were doing the course, my mum was diving below us doing her own thing.

When we finished, Ricardo said, later that day, we're going to have a fun dive at the USAT Liberty Shipwreck!!!! YAY!

USAT Liberty Shipwreck

This is my first time diving near a shipwreck, I hope it's going to

be fun(it was fun!)!!! We saw the ruins of the ship, which was TOTALLY AwEsOmE(!!!), corals- soft and hard and tons of fishes!!!! Unfortunately, there wasn't any 'fascinating' ones. Although, there were big Sweetlips.

My family says that in the night, the Sweetlips and Parrot fishes are a lot BIGGER! (I wish I can go night diving!).

If you want to know which kind of fishes I saw, just go to my other stories. But not all of the fishes, in my other stories, are exactly what I saw.

Day 2

It was a fun day yesterday, but I hope today is better!!!

Like yesterday

, me and my mum went to Ricardo's place, first thing in the morning. We watched the OW course video (like yesterday) and the

n me and my mum went back to our resort, to get ready for my 2nd pool session.

Pool Session

Today we did buoyancy. It wasn't that easy. One of the drill that we did was, laying down on your tummy and estimating how much air you need in your BCD. If you got it right, when you inhale, you'll go up and if you exhale, you'll go down. There were other drills that we did, but it's hard for me to explain.

Coral Garden

That afternoon, we had another fun dive. This time, it's in Coral Garden!

Down in this dive site, we saw this little aeroplane made out wires. Basically It's just the shape of an aeroplane. This 'aeroplane' is made and put there so more corals can grow, which means more fishes! It was really cool! There, we also saw an eel.We didn't stay at the area because or else we'll get bored, so we went around Coral Garden.

Like the other fun dive, we didn't see any 'fascinating' stuff, apart from the eel, but it was still a fun dive comparing to the pool session.

On the 3rd and 4th day, I didn't feel so well, so I stayed in the room. Although, on the morning of the 3rd day, I did go to Ricardo's place and watch the OW course video.

I missed 2 days, which means I missed 2 pool sessions :(

Day 4-Drop Off

That day, I felt a lot better. But I didn't watch the OW Course video and I missed the pool session :( My mum said to rest in the morning, just to make sure I'll be fit to do the afternoon/fun dive.
I did my afternoon/fun dive at the Drop Off, which means we're using a boat to go to that dive site. It was really fun. Although the boat was really small.
We saw lots of things in this area. It was awesome. When we were diving there was a current. It was fairly strong. But I did, see quite a few intresting stuff. In the beginning, the others did the drill (underwater), from this morning, while I was swimming around them. After that, the exploring begins! Right in the beginning of us exploring, a current came. While drift diving, I saw Nudi Eggs*, a baby Lion Fish and others!!! Just before we went up, we saw this HUGE fish*. I can't remember what it was, but what I can tell you is that, it was TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

Day 5

Ok! Today, my dad wants me to finish my course. And luckily, I only have 1 more Pool Session!!! But the others has already finished their course, so I'm doing this last session by myself (including Ricardo).

Pool Session

For this pool session, I did it at where I'm staying- at Joe's (the resort).

The hardest drill that I did was hovering. You have to sit at the bottom of the pool, cross-legged. Fill your BCD with air/water, until about enough. If you got it right, when you inhale you'll go up. It was hard for me, because I kept on losing my balance. I did other drills, but it's hard for me to explain it.

USAT Liberty Ship Wreck

No more pool session, YAY!!! But in this dive I did some drills first. Also, I learned how to use

and underwater compass.

In the beginning, as I wrote above, I did some drills first.Basically, I did everything I learned this morning. That includes taking off my mask and putting them on again!!! I was so scared when I did this, even at the pool session. In the sea, I had to go up, with my mask off, because I was scared, and I felt really, really nervous. But in the end, I did it!

When I was using the compass(going straight and back), in the middle of the 'course', I accidentally tou

ched the sand, and I saw something moved!!! Guess what it was; Yep, it was a Flounder, and I went crazy when I saw it, because it was my first time seeing a Flounder! However I didn't swim after the fish, and I continued what I was doing.

My mum went along too, she also used the compass, but instead of going straight and back, my mum was going in a square. It sure would have been much harder. After all I'm only taking my open water course at the moment, she's taking her advanced open water.

After this dive, I'm going to have the test! Yikes!!! I was really, really nervous. The test goes like this: there is a booklet(which has all of the 50-ish questions) and there is a sheet for ticking which answer is the one I think is right. To pass, the maximum number of incorrect questions I can get is 14.

And guess what??? I only got 7 incorrect!!!! Which means I PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY :) I was so happy when I saw the results!!!

So now, I'm a Junior Open Water Diver!!!!

After this, I can choose if I want to dive with my dad and my sister, or with my mum and Ricardo. My mum is having a course, so I'll have to wait for a bit if I join her. And also, she's going to the Drop-off and I've been there before. On the other side, my dad and my sister is going to Seraya Secret, and I haven't been there. So I chose to join my dad and my sister.

Seraya Secret

Seraya Secret is far from the resort, so we used a mini bus to get there, also because quite a number of people from the resort wanted to dive at Seraya Secret too.

When we reached thereI was excited. I'm a JOW Diver and now I can dive up to 12m!

In Seraya Secret, I saw more 'unique' stuff. There was this big semi-circular (3-D & made out of wire, i think) and around it, I saw Nudis*, either Stonefish or Scorpion fish, Lionfish and a few more! Also, I saw these little crabs on a Feather Star, and it was COOL! So far, that was the best dive in this holiday.

Day 6 -Last Day

I can't believe it's all ready the last day:( Never mind, as long as I have a wonderful day, which I did, I don't mind (OK, maybe a bit). Also, that day, it was my first time diving 3 times!!! :)

USAT Liberty Ship Wreck

This dive was with Ricardo and my whole family! Yay, at last, I went diving with my mum, dad & sister.

Somehow, I think diving with my family brings most of the good stuff out!!! Because, we saw a humongous group of Jack Fish and another Flounder!!! Not only that, there was a Barracuda, and I got quite close to it, well the closest I've ever went!! While going around, guess what I saw, a coral shaped like a heart, and surprisingly, it was pink! Now this is the best dive so far! :)

Coral Garden

This dive, my mum, my sister and the guide, are going a little bit deeper, so they can go to the cleaning station :( The cleaning station, is where fishes and other 'normal' sized creatures are cleaned, by either cleaner shrimps, or cleaner fish. Not just that, humans can be cleaned too!!! But that's only on the teeth and/or face by cleaner shrimps! I can't go there because it's around 18-21m. :( But I didn't care much really(but maybe a bit).

While me and my dad was waiting, we went around and saw quite a few Nudis, 1 or 2 Eels*, shrimps and a lot more!

When my mum, my sister and the guide showed up, we swam, while looking around, to the man-made aeroplane. There, we saw 3 Leaf Scorpion Fish*, a few Nudis*, Lionfish and A LOT more!

Cafe Garam

No way! It's the last dive now :( I hope me and my family have a wonderful time at this dive site!

Cafe Garam is a resort. This resort makes salt(garam-in Indonesian), from the sea. It's really interesting how they make it. But unfortunately, I only saw them MAKING it.

I love this site because on the beach, it's sand, and not rocks, unlike sites around Coral Garden. Not just sand makes me love that place, but what's under the water...

Cafe Garam, actually grows their own coral. Well not exactly, but what I mean is that they put stuff(not man-made wire sculpture), like rubbish, in the water, and let corals grow. It was amazing. These 'stuff' they put in, was one of their projects.

Like in Coral Garden, my mum, my sister and the guide, went a little deeper for a while.

Diving with my dad only wasn't bad, in fact it was wonderful. We saw LOTS of Lion fish, those little crabs on Feather Stars, and a lot of Nudis*, but most of them are the same kind! We were looking around and just near a Feather Star, I found a Ghost Pipe fish*! I was so happy when I saw it! I've always wanted to see a Ghost Pipe fish. And when my mum, my sister and the guide showed up, the guide found another Ghost Pipe fish. Just when we went up, we saw a White-Eyed Moray Eel*! Awesome right? And then the dive ends :(

Luckily, this was a really good dive, so I wasn't that upset when we finished.

'Keys' *-something awesome(to me)

De Best Day/s of moi's LIFE!!!

Tennis

This 'particular' day is my fave 'cause I have won 2 big trophies (champion for singles and doubles) and a racket (the racket is from the door prize).

For singles, it was my first time in the finals, and I won it!!! YAY!!! :)

For doubles, my partner was Nicole Tay.

It wasn't my first time to win in the doubles though. Before I have won once and my partner was Jasmine (she's really good). We won because both of us are good.

With Nicole, we won by teamwork. Before the tournament, we already practised our tack-tics. It was really fun being her partner.

I was really, really happy when I won both of the trophies!!! And then surprised when my name was called for the door prize!

But this tournament was only for the Panaga Club members. That means, I need to work a lot harder if I want to win the Schlumberger Open (Panaga).

My Instructors

*Photos taken by my dad/sister*

I have had such a great experience, diving in Aceh with Rhi as my instructor.

Rhi is very nice, very kind, very helpful, very thoughtful & most of all, very gentle.

Thank You Rhi, for making these past dives to be one of the greatest moments of my life.

Rhi is now moving to Koh Lanta in Thailand, I wish her the best of luck!
till we meet again.....

Aceh dive trip

Another diving journey with my family. This time it’s in……

Pulau Weh/Weh Island

INDONESIA

We rode on a ferr y from Banda Aceh to Weh Island on Sunday, 19/7/09. I was really excited that day. My dad says its going to be a 45 minute ride so he's going to buy VIP tickets for him & my family for the ferry journey.In the VIP section of the ferry, there was AC, a TV so everyone can watch, with a drink and a type of snack for each person. When we reached Weh Island, we met this guy. He said that he was the driver to take my family to the resort we're staying.The resort where we're going to stay till Saturday, was called Lumba Lumba. Lumba-lumba means dolphin so the resort actually means Dolphin. When we arrived at Lumba Lumba we sorted everything out and got ready for a walk on the beach.After a walk on the beach we went to have dinner. We have to wait for quite a long time before the food come out but I didn't really care. The next day I woke up and got breakfast. Lumba Lumba doesn't have a restaurant so we have to go to the restaurant next door. After breakfast, my family & I got ready for our first dive in 6 months.Today, I met my instructor. Her name is Rhi Dobbie. I have a feeling we're going to have a wonderful time together, & we did. Let's start at....

Fun Fun, First day of diving in P. Weh

Day 1-Rubiah Sea Garden (RSG) SOUTH 20/7/09 -45 mins
Dive no. 1

We went to RSG by boat. While we were going to RSG, Rhi said that I'm going to do a back flip/back roll to get in the water, instead of doing a giant strike. Back flip is, when you sit at the edge of the boat with your equipment on, then, one hand holds your mask and regulator while your other hand holds your weight belt & then, in count of 3 you flip back. It might sound quite scary, but it's actually fun! When we reached RSG, my dad, my mum, my sister & some other people went in first.When it was mine & Rhi's turn, Rhi said that I should go in first. So here I go, doing a back flip, WHOOSH!!! In the water, I saw a Blackspotted Puffer, some Oriental Sweetlips, lots of Feather Starfish, quite a few Cleaner Wrasse & a few Moorish Idol. We also saw some of my favourite fish, there was the Longnose Butterflyfish, the Palette Surgeonfish/Dory, the Black Pyramid Butterflyfish & the False Clown Anemonefish. Rhi & I also saw Red Tooth Triggerfish & quite big Titan Triggerfish! There were also some Sea Stars, they were the Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star & some common Sea Stars.

Did you know that you have to watch out for Titan Triggerfish because they're more firce than the other Triggerfish?


Day 1-Gapang Beach LEFT 20/7/09 -49 mins
Dive no. 2

Phew! What a lunch! I hope I won't sink for this dive :) For this dive, Rhi & I are going to the beach infront of Lumba Lumba. Since there are 4 sides of the beach (left, middle, right & far right), Rhi & I are going to try the left side first. On the left side, we saw some Blackspotted Puffer, a Black-Blotched Porcupinefish, a few Oriental Sweetlips, lots of Feather Stars, lots of different kinds of Cleaner Wrasse, Trumpetfish & quite a few gruops of Razorfish. There was also some Clownfish; they were the False-Clownfish, Skunk Anemonefish & Clark's Anemonefish. This time, we saw some Orange-Lined Triggerfish instead of the other. When I saw the Orange-Lined Triggerfish, I was amazed by the colours, especially if you compared them with other Triggerfish. Rhi & I also saw lots of Clams, a VERY cute juv. Yellow Boxfish, another Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, more common Starfish & this fish, the Black-Saddled Toby which was adorable. At first, I thought the Black-Saddled Toby was a Puffer, but when I point at the fish, Rhi wrote on her waterproof board saying that it was a Toby!

juv.-juvenile

2nd Day in P. Weh

Day 2-Gapang Beach MIDDLE 21/7/09 -49 mins
Dive no. 1

Today, Rhi & I are going for a turtle hunt!!!!Yay! I've never seen a turtle before so I'm really excited today. I really do hope we WILL find a turtle or two. While we were turtle hunting, we saw, a juv. Yellow Boxfish, quite a few Powder-Blue Surgeonfish, Long Nose Butterflyfish, lots of Bird Wrasse, Crescent Wrasse, a juv. Dotted Sweetlips, juv. Black Snapper, Lion Fish & this weird named fish called the Blue Blanquillo. After a while, Rhi bruoght me to the sand area for a bit. Before the dive, Rhi also said that we might find some rays, so I think that's why we're going in the sandy area. A few minutes later, I saw the corals again. Colours...Woohoo! While we were swimming around the corals again, we saw Yellow Snappers, Red Tooth Triggerfish, Bristly Hermit Crab, a juv. Bicolor Parrotfish & Clark's Anemonefish. Unfortunately, today we can't find any ray:( , but there's still a lot of dive sites that I haven't done. So I didn't really mind that much. After that, we went back to shore. While we went back, we saw baby Triggerfish hiding in rocks, they were the baby Red Tooth Triggerfish, Yellowtail Triggerfish & the Picasso Triggerfish.

Day 2-Selako Drift 21/7/09 -55 mins
Dive no. 2

Before this dive, Rhi told me that she can't be my instructor for the 2nd dive for today. Instead, someone else will take her place. The someone else will be Will Brown. He will be my instructor for this dive only, so I hope I will have a great time with him. Will & I did a drift dive in Selako Drift. A drift dive is when you follow/carried away by the current. While we were doing the drift dive, we saw a few Red Tooth Triggerfish, a Cushion Star ( I tried to draw it on Will's board but it turned out more like a squashed puffed star), a Painted Rock Lobster which was uder a coral, 1 or 2 Hermit Crabs, some Yellowstripe Snappers, Clark's Anemonefish, Maldives Anemonefish, some common Butterflyfish, some awesome Black-Backed Butterflyfish, 1 or 2 Emperor Angelfish, a few Striped Surgeonfish, a Moray Eel, Lined Butterflyfish, Threadfin Butterflyfish Orange-Lined Surgeonfish, lots of Cleaner Wrasse, a few Puffers & some other common fishes.

Day 3- RSG NORTH 22/7/09 -55 mins
Dive no. 1

Today Rhi is back to be my instructor. We are going to dive on the north side of RSG this time & I think it's gonna be great!!! On the north side of RSG, we saw some Anemonefishes, Singular Bannerfish, common Butterflyfishes, the Blue Blanquillo, Powder-Blue Surgeonfish, Trumpetfish, Bird Wrasse, a Blotched Porcupinefish, lots of Lizardfish, Goatfish, 1 or 2 Cushion Star, a coral crab- which was the Oshima's Porcelain Crab, some other common fishes & Triggerfishes; they were the Orange-Lined Triggerfish, Red Tooth Triggerfish & the Indian Triggerfish. When we were just going to the surface, guess what we saw??? Nudi Eggs!!! At first, I thought it was a pink tissue, but when I pointed it to Rhi, she wrote on her board & it said Nudi Eggs. I was so amazed that Nudi Eggs are beutiful.


Day 3- Gapang Beach RIGHT 22/7/09 -55 mins
Dive no. 2

Since Rhi & I haven't seen a ray or a turtle in the past few days, for this dive, we're going on a turtle & ray hunt! Yay! While we were on a turtle & ray hunt, we saw a Marbled Snake Eel, some Triggerfishes; they were the Orange-Lined Triggerfish, Picasso Triggerfish, the Red Tooth Triggerfish & the Indian Triggerfish, ther was the Lizardfish, Spotted Hawkfish, Bird Wrasse, Spotted Garden Eel, I also found a Mantis Shrimp (which was hiding under a coral), 1 or 2 Khul's Stingray (AWESOME) & an Anemone Crab. When we went back to shore, we also saw my sister (Mayang) doing her diving course with some other people & 1 or 2 Lion Fish.

Day 4 of Diving

Day 4- RSG NORTH 23/7/09 -56 mins Dive no.1

Today, Rhi & I are going to the north of RSG again because we loved it.
Here, at RSG (again) we saw, a Giant Sweetlip, Freckled Hawkfish, Blackeye Thicklip, Bird Wrasse, Tassled Scorpionfish, Longnose Butterflyfish (my fav), the White Collar Butterflyfish, Singular Bannerfish, Meyer's Butterflyfish, Dory, Longnose Tang, Honeycomb Rabbitfish, Chocolate Grouper (YUM :) , Peacock Grouper (Ooo), Blacktip Grouper (Aaaa...), Bridled Monocle Bream, Puffers, Slingjaw Wrasse, Black-Saddled Tobies, Lizardfish, Speckled SandPerch,Clarks Anemonefish, Varacose Wart Slug, Skunk Anemonefish & some other common fishes.


Day 4- Gapang Beach FAR RIGHT 23/7/09 -61 mins
Dive no.2

Rhi told me that usually she see's turtle infront of her longhouse, which is near a little point of this island. She says that we have a greater chance to find a turtle there, so that's where we're diving this afternoon.
While we were turtle hunting (again), we saw, a juv. Bicolor Parrotfish, Freckled Hawkfish, Bird Wrasse, some common Butterflyfish, Singular Bannerfish, Longnose Tang, Chocolate Grouper, Crescent-Tail Bigeye, Black-Saddled Toby, Lizardfish, 2 Khul's Stingray, adult Boxfish, Puffers, Pink Damselfish, Yellow Margin Moray, a school of juv. Catfish (about 30 of them), Spotted Garden Eel, Network Pipefish, some other common fishes & guess what??? We also saw a Sea Moth, a Slender Sea Moth!!!!!!!!!!!! Rhi told me that they're usually at 15+ metres below. At first I thought it was a juv. fish, I asked Rhi what it was & she wrote on her board saying that it was a Sea Moth (which really looked like a tiny squashed bird).

Last Diving Day in P. Weh

Last Day of Diving-Gapang Beach RIGHT 24/7/09 -58 mins
Dive no.1

Unfortunately, divers can't go on boats on Friday mornings. That's because of the fishermen's tradition : ( But at least we saw a few cool stuff. As of course, they're everything! They were the Emperor Angelfish, Crocodile Needlefish, Khul's Stingray, White Colar Butterflyfish, Immaculate Puffer, juv. Black Snapper, Semi-Adult Midnight Snapper, Picasso Triggerfish, Blackpatch Triggerfish, Titan Triggerfish, Indian Triggerfish, Razorfish, Peacock Grouper, Hexagon type Groupers, Goatfishes, Hermitcrabs, Crescent-Tail Bigeye, Tobies, Clark's Anemonefish, Red Tooth Triggerfish, some other common fishes & guess what? I found this Snake Eel swimming right under me. I pointed it at Rhi & she says that we're going to look in the fish book.
When we tried to find it in the book, there was nothing like the Snake Eel we saw, but Rhi thought that it was the Spotted Snake Eel, so I went with that.

Rubia Sea Garden North Point

Last Day, Last Dive-RSG NORTH POINT -*62 mins* !!record!!

:( It's the last dive for this year at Lumba Lumba. Doesn't time goes soooo fast when you're actually enjoying your self? Nevermind about that, lets continue with what I saw.
Rhi & I saw, a few Moorish Idols, Nudi Eggs (the pink tissue type ones), Powder-Blue Surgeonfish, Trumpetfish, White Collar Butterflyfish, Black-Blotched Porcupinefish, juv. Black Snapper, Semi-Adult Midnight Snapper, Picasso Triggerfish, Blackpatch Triggerfish, Titan Triggerfish, Black Triggerfish, Indian Triggerfish, Razorfish, Peacock Grouper, Hexagon type Groupers, Goatfishes, Hermitcrabs, Crescent-Tail Bigeye, Tobies, Three-Spot Angelfish, Butterflyfishes, Clark's Anemonefish, Orange Anemonefish & Red Tooth Triggerfish.

My First Diving Experience in The Ocean with Marcia

On December 2007, my family and I went to Phuket to dive. This was my first time diving/bubble making in the ocean and I am really excited!

When we were arrived at the airport, a lady named Marcia Fisk came to pick us up. She is suppose to be my instructor. Marcia Fisk was really nice and she was really helpful too.

After we arrived in the hotel, me and my family had to get ready because after this we are going to Marcia’s house so I could practice bubble making in the her pool first, before I could go in the ocean. When we got there, I was amazed because her house was beautiful, in fact it’s PERFECT! Her garden was like a jungle without harmful animals (of course). She even has a pond with a little bridge and with fishes in it! Just in front of the pond was the medium sized pool. It was pretty deep.

In the pool, we practiced how to clear our mask. After that we swam around the pool.

The next day, I was terribly excited!
When we were at the diving place, Marcia said that we should start at the sandy part first, so I can learn my buoyancy (so I won’t sink and I won’t keep on going up and down). Marcia taught me by doing it in a really fun way; by throwing and catching a torpedo, by passing and receiving a flying saucer and last but not least, by going through hoops! It was really fun! After playing with the torpedo, the flying saucer and the hoops, Marcia and I started to swim to the colourful corals. We saw lots and lots of different kind of fish. The most common one is the Moorish Idol. Marcia brought this water proof card with her, which shows different kind of fish. She showed me on the card some of the fish that we saw.

When we finished diving, Marcia gave me a log book so every time I finished diving, I could write what I saw. This way, I could learn different kind of creatures that lives in the ocean which always makes me happy!

Every single day before I could see the corals and the fishes, Marcia and I always go to sandy part first and play with the torpedo, the flying saucer and the hoops to practice my buoyancy and it was always fun!

This had been a very memorable dive as I learn lots of things in a way which I really enjoyed, thanks to Marcia!

Fascinating Lembeh

Continuing my dive stories in Manado, this time I went diving in Lembeh....

We stayed in Two Fish Divers again, but this one is in Lembeh! Me and my family's room was really cool! It was like a hut, but maybe a little bit bigger. There was dogs and a cat too. The dogs doesn't really bother me as much as the dogs in Bunaken but they're fine. This tortoise shell like cat was really adorable. She is very, very brave. Braver than Macan I think! Sometimes when I call her, she comes to me and sit near me (how brave)! Rebecca came to Lembeh too with Tina and Ingrid!

Day 4, 2nd Dive, Muka (Lembeh)

We arrived in Lembeh at lunch time, so we had lunch while waiting for our room. When our room was ready, we quickly unpacked our suitcases and then we got ready for more fun! We started by swimming out from the beach. First Tina and I saw sand, and then came big groups of Sea Urchins near some dirty sea grass. A few minutes later, the corals had shown itself. They were beautiful! Lots of Humbug, a little bit of Neon Damsel and a few Bangai Cardinal Fish welcomed us, when we swam a little bit further we saw, a Red-Banded Wrasse, a String Worm and a few groups of Rigid Shrimpfish.

Then there was several of Pipefish hiding (not together) on some rocks, and then we saw some Spinecheek Anemone fish in this anemone (of course). About one minute later I found this strange looking stuff so I asked Tina what it is, and then she said that the strange looking thing is actually a Jellyfish! It was an Upside-Down Jellyfish! Tina showed this red and white crab in this little coral, it was sort of cute.

When we swam back to the shore Tina and I saw baby Butterfly fish. Then, when we nearly came out, we saw a Ringed Pipefish which was quite amazing! Near the Pipefish there was some sea grass. On one of the sea grass I think I saw a green Nudibranch which camouflaged itself very good! Too bad Tina didn’t see it, so I don’t really know what kind of type the Nudibranch was.

Day 5, 1st Dive, 18/12/08, Nudifalls

Today I’m diving with Tina and a Dive Master. Her name is Ingrid. I think she is very nice, very helpful and I think she’s very funny too. We are going to Nudifalls for this dive. People said that it has a lot of Nudibranch, so I am hoping to see splendid ones. There was this Dwarf-Spotted Grouper that was a little bit far away from us and then, there was quite a lot of Cleaner Shrimp and Rock Lobsters hiding inside some holes. We saw groups of Rigid Shrimpfish and there was a lot of Wart Slugs. There was about two or three Flabellina that Ingrid, Tina and I saw, they were splendid like what I’ve said before. Lots of Moorish Idol was everywhere. We even saw Striped Catfish! A Black-Spotted Puffer was swimming by itself near the corals. When we were sort of under the boat, we saw some False Clown anemone fish, some Skunk Anemone fish, a few

Ringed Pipefish, a Cushion Starfish and guess what? We saw a Barred Moray having a fishes head for breakfast!!! First I thought the Moray’s head was stuck, so I felt a little bit scared. Then, when its head came out, I realized that it was actually eating a fish’s head! It was INCREDIBLE!

Day 5, 2nd Dive, Nudiretreat

Before we had lunch, I had another dive with Tina and Ingrid. It only took about four or five minutes to Nudiretreat. Ingrid is gonna help us look for interesting stuff like, another Nudibranch maybe or any other stuffs. We saw lots of Wart Slugs on the corals beside us, we saw a purple Flabellina looking thing and we saw a lot of Ascidians. There was a Hermit Crab too on the sand (I think), a few Tubeworms and there was some Indian Bannerfish that was swimming on the opposite side of us. Lots of corals were beautiful, there was some Sea Grapes, some Broccoli Corals and we saw this Fire-flower looking Soft Coral. It was sort of fun scaring the Reef Lizardfish that was on some rocks, some corals and on the sands. On the corals beside and under us, we saw a Crested Nembrotha and a Dusky Nembrotha. A Parrotfish was swimming on the big space looking good. When we were 1.5m away from under the boat, we saw some Pink Anemonefish, it was so cute! Before we said goodbye to the fishes, we saw two Thorny Filefish separated which was quite weirdly cool.

Day 5, 3rd Dive, Aer Perang

Drop those lunches and it’s time for one more dive for this day!
We are going to Aer Perang after lunch, but my mum is not going because she only wants to do the third dive. Plus, I’m not diving with Ingrid although; she’s still coming with us.
Sand was the first thing we saw. Then we saw a Blackbarred Sandperch and then we saw this cool sea cucumber called the Burrowing Sea Cucumber, Ingrid call it the ‘Scary Tree’ and I like it! A Fingered Dragonet was on some rocks and on the sand too. Some Sweetlips’ were swimming quite far from us, I always wonder why Sweetlips are called Sweetlips although its lips are not sweet at all? There were groups of Rigid Shrimpfish around, we also saw some Wart Slugs on the corals. We saw a pretty blue Ribbon Eel’s head was out of its hole, it is quite cute. We saw Moray Eel hiding in this sort of hole sleeping (I think). We were also lucky because we saw two juv. (juvenile) Batfish, it was my first time seeing one and I was so amazed! The juv. Batfish looks a lot prettier than I saw in some fish books. Not much of the Moorish Idol in this dive, it was like as if they were in some kind of vacation (like me)! We saw some Orange-Dashed Gobies, and then saw some Banded Gobies and we even saw a Yellowtail Barracuda! A Pin-Cushion Starfish was lying on the seabed near the corals. Pennant Bannerfish were swimming in groups when we saw them. Two or three Smooth Flutemouths were swimming side by side, like a little fishy gang. An Orange-Lined Triggerfish was swimming across us and it looks cool! Well it wasn’t the last fish we saw, it was a Rounded Pufferfish and it looks soo round (of course).

Day 6, 1st Dive, 19/12/08, Magic Rock

Last day, second dive from the last, MUST ENJOY it! Beautiful and cute Banggai Cardinalfish was swimming around and near some little corals, with some Humbug Dascyllus in it. We saw a Klunzinger’s Wrasse and Redbreasted Wrasse quite far away. Moorish Idols were sort of everywhere once again! I think we saw a group of Striped Catfish that was actually across us. We saw a Humpback Stonefish which was near a rock, we saw a yellow Trumpetfish, groups of Rigid Shrimpfish and we saw one or two Hexagon Grouper. There was some Spot-Banded Butterflyfish around us, and there was a lot of anemone fish; there was the Tomato Anemonefish, the Pink Anemonefish and there was Clark’s Anemonefish. Some Variegated Lizardfish were trying to hide by camouflaging itself, but they weren’t that good so it was easy to very easy to surprise them! Just before we waved and said goodbye to the fishes, we saw a Spotted Porcupinefish, it was quite deep so I didn’t see it quite clear.

Day 6, 2nd Dive, Pantai Parigi

Just a few minutes ride to our last dive for this holidayL! But it was TOTALLY AWESOME! Lots and lots of Moorish Idols were everywhere! There was a lot of Black-Back Butterflyfish, but there wasn’t as much as the Moorish Idols, a lot Humbug Dascyllus was hiding on the little corals and some were hiding in the big corals too. There was also some Decorated Goby and some Seagrapes came to my sight and the rest came to Tina’s sight (I guess?)! Then we saw a few more of Klunzinger’s Wrasse, a few more groups of Rigid Shrimpfish and a few more of Hexagon Groupers! One or two Trapezia Crab was hiding in this coral, a few Wart Slugs was on some corals too, we saw this Flabellina looking thing and we saw a Sealface Pufferfish! We saw this juv. Many-Spotted Sweetlips which Tina and I call it the Cha-Cha fish! We even saw a Demon Stinger near this rock. At first I thought it was just one medium sized rock, but then, Tina told me to stay where I am, she dived a little bit deeper and then with her metal stick, she showed me that half of the rock was actually a fish! We saw two or three juv. Teira Batfish and it was great! Just before I said goodbye for the last time, we saw this VERY black Crocodilefish! Tina told me to stay at where we was (so she can point it to me), just like the Demon Stinger! It was a really AWESOME dive and I enjoyed it a lot! I hope Tina, Lucy and Ingrid enjoyed diving with me as much as I enjoyed diving with them!

I can't wait for December 2009, bacause I'm gonna be 10 on that month which means I could get my Junior Open Diver course! YAY! I'm planning to go to Lembeh or Bunaken to get my course, so maybe I could get the course with Tina or Lucy:)!