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....