New Species?

From Asia 2010

When P was reviewing my photos and saw this tiny "thing," he jokingly mentioned that I might have discovered a new species. I'm gullible and an optimist. So, I spent a good bit of time reviewing the Fish ID book hoping the creature wasn't in the book. Alas, it's a blackspotted triplefin.

Not much of an artistic photo, but the creature was about 2-3 cm and blended in with the background. I had to look off the eyepiece a few times to make sure I was aiming the camera at the right place.

Day 3 of Diving

From Asia 2010

I got the SLR again today and tried P's advice. It's amazing how one photo can make my day.

I spent a lot of the first two dives of the day frustrated with my buoyancy and too afraid to take shots. Lots of negative thoughts ran through my head during the dives:

• I have too much or too little weight
• There's too much coral in the way so I can't get into position
• I'm cold
• There's too much current
• I'm never going to take good shots like P.

When I had these, I'd look away from the camera eyepiece and at the reef itself. The fish highways (a school of fish all swimming in the same direction) or the sheer number of fish reminded me that I'm pretty lucky to dive here. I finally calmed down during the last dive on the house reef, and I got my best shots there. The house reef (reef where the resort is located) is the best I've seen.

From Asia 2010

From Asia 2010

Day 2 of Diving

From Asia 2010

We traded cameras today, so I had the Canon S90 while P has the SLR. His pictures are amazing - he's really good with lighting and developing. I'll upload both sets of photos and share them when we have more bandwidth (the resort only has access via satellite, and I didn't want to hog the bandwidth uploading massive pictures).

Speaking of the resort - the service and logistics are amazing. For approximately 50 guests, there is a staff of 140+. We have constant electricity thanks to two generators and fresh water through a desalinization system. There are folks to feed us, clean after us, fill our tanks, do maintenance and generally take care of us during and after dives. Everything has worked so seamlessly that we didn't realize what went into running such a remote operation until we took a tour of the resort.

From Asia 2010

As far as the diving goes, I'm still blown away by the healthy coral (massive corals on each dive), abundance of fish (thanks to conservation efforts of the resort and the local population) and the clear water.

From Asia 2010

Hot Spots

From Asia 2010

From Asia 2010

Wow - the lushness of underwater life here at Wakatobi is amazing. Great biodiversity, tons of fish, and vibrant coral. It was absolutely worth the long journey here.

We got a new 100mm macro lens for the SLR, and today was my first day using it. At first, it felt unfair since I could get more detail further away from the subject. I no longer scare the fish since I don't have to be as close. It's a mixed blessing in that I can't shoot anything bigger than a fist, and with SLRs, you're committed to the lens when you jump in the water.

That being said, it's not the gear - it's the user. I've forgotten how to use a strobe, so all my pictures have hot spots.

From Asia 2010

Getting to Wakatobi

From Asia 2010

I didn't realize how remote Wakatobi was until today. (Geography is not my strong suit.) It was two hours in a turbo prob, a stop to refuel (too much luggage from all the divers), and then another two hours. When we landed, we got into minivans and drove through the neighboring island to a ferry that took us to Wakatobi. When we drove through the island, we heard tons of kids eagerly wave "ah-lo" to us. It reminded me of the kids in Vietnam.

We spent the rest of the day setting up gear (mainly the cameras) and relaxing. It's amazing how quickly I decompress out here.

In Transit

The flight from Dallas to Japan was long. So long, I started writing a morbid entry about experiments simulating jet lag on rats that didn't end well for the rats. On the other hand, I was really glad to have P's company. It's nice to be able to share your thoughts as they occur. The cross-pond flights get pretty lonely, and I just sleep/work through them.

I'm still digesting my thoughts of what I've seen in Japan. Aside from the tasty food (even from the convenience store in the hotel), I'm most impressed that everything works - everything in the airport to our inexpensive transit hotel. Nothing was broken. At home, there are usually little things that break or are in need of repair. Perhaps we'll see more broken things when we return to Tokyo on the way back.

Back to the long transit. We're going to the wakatobi Dive Resort, on a remote part of Indonesia. Our journey consists of a flight to Narita (with an overnight), then Bali (with another overnight) and finally a turbo-prop to Sulawesi. I call out the turbo-prop since I hate small planes with a vengeance. I may fly a lot on jet planes, but small planes just make me nervous. I've been dreading the 4 hours on the turbo-prop more than the long haul to Japan.

Speaking of long haul flights, I just had the best experience on one. Garuda Airlines has immigration on the flight from Tokyo to Bali. Instead of waiting in a long line once you arrive to get the passport stamp - immigration officers are on board to review your passport and papers while you're sitting around on the long flight. It's such a distinctive offering that it creates a preference for Garuda Airlines over other carriers to Indonesia. (Also, they gave us ice cream before landing!)

***

Arrived at the hotel in Bali. The rest of the group doesn't sleep on planes, so they crashed. I'm still jetlagged, so I'm wide awake. Went to the gym (which probably didn't help), ran a few miles (I really need to get back into running!), and now I'm trying to figure out what else I can do.

One strange thing that I noticed - the hallways here at the hotel (a swank Holiday Inn) smell just like the hallways of the EQ (Equatorial) in Penang. It's something combined with the ocean air and the 95% humidity - it's a smell you don't get in the Caribbean though.

Thoughts on Kuala Lumpur

From Plain-Jane's Travels

Some quick thoughts before I head out again.

Malaysian culture is a mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian. There are distinct benefits to being ethnically Malay, such as well-paying positions in public services and preferences in college entrance. As defined by their constitution, you must be Muslim to be Malay - but the converse isn't necessarily true. You're marked as Malay on your driver license - the police can raid a bar, see that you're Muslim, and arrest you. You're also Muslim for life - you can't convert! (Very strange coming from the US with its freedom of religion.) To marry a Muslim in Malaysia, you must convert to Islam. Interestingly enough, folks go to Singapore to get married to circumvent this law.

KL is a city obsessed with shopping and eating. Malls lead to other malls to other malls - with tons of food options around. I finally tried geoduck and mantis prawn. Fresh-out-of-the-tank geoduck was gross/fishy as sashimi and alright in a hotpot. The mantis prawn, while also gross looking, was delicious - similar to crab in texture and taste. I even got over my disgust of the "mantis" part and ate the meat in both claws. It would have been a shame to let it go to waste.

The Vietnamese food there was bleah. It's 2 hours away from Vietnam, but it's is way better in Houston!