Advance dive and a little more

Before I go into a picture galore of my advance diving trip. I shall try to educate my dive buddy. In response to Ping's long entry....there is no fish, its a nudibranch! See the red circle in the first picture! And those corals are called tabletop corals.
So I decided to take my advance diving certification along with some leisure dives. That should give me enough diving to last me till end of the year. Diving is darn expensive, but worth a try. This time I took the bus/ferry route. Oh my, 4 hours in a van and 4 hours on a ferry to the island is no joke. It really tested my conviction to continue diving. We even had to give a welcome 'gift' to the Malaysia Policemen who stopped us for no apparent reason. Perhaps there is a rule that a 8 seater van can only have 6 people?

We stepped onto island at 5am, dragged ourselves to the room to get some proper rest. The only good part of it all, the rooms are much better than the Live onboard.

Welcome Pulau Dayang, hello sunshine and sea! We had some time to play beach volleyball. I think it was JC since I last played this game? We could have won the game, but I had a "STAR PLAYER" in my team, who also happens to be my dive buddy.

Here are some pictures of the world underwater. Did not take the pictures, stole them from lyn - First time underwater photographer.

This shell thingy was moving slowly while we were doing our night dive.

See the black fishes....they were TINY!!! Some where even about half a centimeter.
I think that is a goat fish. It sure looks like it has a goatee
This is a nudibranch I see pretty often that it is no longer a novelty. There thosands of different spieces and more are being discovered. Fact:They are carnivorous! Fact:They are often molested by ping.
Lobster....
Clown fish aka Nemo. They are everywhere, but you don't often get two looking straight into the camera. Say CHEESE!!!Here is the best shot taken by a new Underwater photographer. It was during the night dive and clever use of the torch to hightlight the starfish.


Below are underwater photos I took from alvin. He is a serious underwater photographer. He has a big stobe with a very good digital camera. Coupled with lots of diving experience, you can see the difference in picture quality.

Yellow-tailed barracudas. I saw a big school of it went I was doing my safety stop at Rayner's Rock. Pretty surreal!
Flabellina looks a little like dragon. I saw a couple of these during my dives. Lovely!
White-eyed Moray eel. I even got a chanve to take pictures of it, but my instructor has not sent me what I took. The eel I saw was up a huge coral formation. So I had to float in the middle of nowhere to get the pictures. Why was I so stable? Cause Ping was so excited she literally grab me and force me to take pictures of it. Scorpion fish...saw a few of these too. Very well hidden critter!

Nudibranch, the exact same kind that ping tormented during our basic open water course!
This has got to be my favourite finds during this trip. Saw the juvenile yellowbox fish twice durin g the trip. It is abt 2cm only. Scuttering around here and there. It is very hard to get a clear look at it! Everytime I see this photo, I feel like squishing it! haha!
Hermit crab also known at junction 8 as HAHA crabs. They are actually selling hermit crabs for $40. I think I should catch some back and start my own! And the hermit crabs I see in the water a HUGE compared to those at j8!
Barred moray eel. I saw this fellow too. Well hidden under a flat rock with only a small opening. Just so happen I decided to peek into that hole and VIOLA! But it was pretty shy, did not shoot out like the picture below!
Here is the whole group, bunch of leisure divers, open water students, 4 advance students, Dive master trainee and instructors. Very fun group, filled with snacks, drinks, vollyball, chats and jokes.

The guy in white is my instructor. 4 of us took the advance open water course. The jap girl is sleeping I guess. She has this ability to sleep anywhere. She will just plonk herself somewhere and knockout, even better than me! I must say that Jap girl is very interesting. She had already bagpacked central USA, Australia and decided to stay in Singapore after a short trip over here.

Ypu must be wondering if Ping poked, molested anymore critters this time round. The below picture says it all.
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Ping is a little more careful now since she got bitten the last time round which led to 50 antibiotics and a jab. Without a pointer and gloves, she resorted to using her Fins to "lightly" touch the creatures (lightly is what she use to justify her actions). During night dives, she will use her torchlight as the pointer. Jabbing anything that interests her. She was so excited when she saw a turtle, she practically almost hung onto its shell! *smacks forehead*

All in all, it was a lovely trip other than getting drifted away from my instructor who was tending to the jap girl. I still don't agree with my instructor's way of handling the situation. But that is another story for another time. (Dammn tired already)

Here is a poem I saw on the forum. Condolences to the family of the guy who passed away while diving a Sipada

Carson Ray (1989)

If I should die beneath the sea

Whatever the circumstance may be

I only ask that you not cry

For such a lucky one was I.

But rather weep for those alive

Who know not what it is to dive

Into the planet's liquid heart

And of God's ocean be a part.

For even Christ must envy all

Who dive along the ocean's wall

Though the wind and sea His will obeys

He only walked along the waves.

And may I ask for one thing more?

A simple cross beside the shore

Below my name inscribe for me

Lost to the earth but found at sea.