Bali: Going Down.. and Loving it :)

YEAY! after donkey years, I did it and I'm glad + happy. Nasib baik a friend of mine was persistently pujuk me to do this. As always, I'm reluctant and hesistate to dive. I don't think i can do it anymore. For me, I had already say goodbye to diving.

That morning, we woke up late. We thought Bali is one hour behind as per pilot announcement in the plane. When I woke up, I realised the room alarm clock is 6.40 am as per my watch. Hah! there is no time difference lah. Secepat kilat mandi and packed my stuff. Sempat breakfast and met the driver at 7.30 am.

I was like not wanting think of anything. Just go with the flow. Signed the release liability form, make payment and heading to the gear centre for equipment.

Our dive master, Ketut Sila seems okay. Cool and patience. We go through briefing, searching for the smallest size for BCD and fin available and then hop on to the boat. I felt such relief seeing only us on the boat. All our equipment has been transffered to the boat (inclusive the heavy tank and weight). All we need to do is to carry ourselves :D

Before

Ketut gives short briefing on the eqipment and about 10 minutes, we arrived. Gear up ourselves, put on the regulator and finally back roll entry to the water. Perhaps 3 weights are to heavy or maybe I deflate too fast, I decend in few seconds... haha.. I felt more okay inside the water. Nasib baik boleh equalise eventhough my nose was stuffy and blocked due to flu.

Visibility not too good but  we saw alot of stuff. Ketut was like looking here and there. He's good and both of us behave. Trying to control our breathe and not panicking. We saw lion fish, clown fish, puffer fish, boxer fish, star fish and many other interesting fishes that I dont know the name. There is one fish that camouflage himself well with the sand but Ketut was able to spot it. The usual yellow blue stripe fish and the loooong blue colour fish.

After .. see the side effect on my face :)

When my air almost to 100, I was like... bila nak naik ni. Dah terasa lama. Hehe.. I'm not obssed with diving, only for fun weh. Somehow, few minutes after that Ketut signal we are going up. OOOh... I had a great time. I'm happy. Gives extra tips to Ketut so that he is happy too :) On the boat heading back, Ketut told me diving is like cycling. You will never forget how. Hmm...but I don't know how to cycle :)

Done with diving, rest a bit and heading to Levender Spa for massage. Two hours seems so fast. The flower bath was the highlight. Nice :)

Halal food was easy eventhough 95% of bali is Hindu. Nasi Padang was our favourite. Hari-hari makan nasi padang tanpa jemu.

Decided to see Kechak dance again. This time indoor style at Uluwattu. Ok la... but I fall asleep few times actually heh. At the art market, I bought few painting. They're too good not to buy. You will never get this cheap and super many choices other than Bali. They're art people. They paint, they carve the stone and wood, they design the silver and they canting batik. Hebat.

I bought the pink tulip painting

On the other note, 

Perhaps, diving is like love. You will never forget how to love someone. You just need the right person to carry you through.

Thank you Bali, I may come back again :)

Bali: Watching the Sun Up and Down

4 to 6 July 2013

Sunrise @ Sanur Beach

I was like berlari lari from the hotel to take the photos, almost missed it :)  The boat added some character to the images. Interesting kan.. Bali boats.

I lef the boats :)

Spot the many tanks for divers

our beach front hotel, nice

Giant Chess

Sunset @ Kuta Beach

Before heading to the airport, took some time to Kuta beach. Love watching the sunset with all sorts of strangers all over the world. Kuta Beach is overrated, I think.

BTW, these days, I took all photos using camera phone. Me lazy to carry the real camera. My Notes II good enough to save the memories. Its like having digital album on my phone. All my travel photos has its own album. I carry every day :)

Panoramic View of Kuta Beach

Me watching You

Good Bye Kuta, till we meet again.

Solo Trip : Aceh, a meaningful journey

14 to 16 Dec 2012

A short trip to Aceh before 2012 end. I cant help to feel nervous,  knowing that I need to trust strangers. I'm on my own. Solo.

Earlier, I planned to try something new by staying at the homestay. But then, somehow I sense that the owner wants to charge me extra. Plus, I have to depends on the owner transportation to move around. Kind of leceh. So ended up I booked with Agoda, Oasis Atjeh Hotel for 2 nights including return airport transfer.

Day One

Parked my car at RM 16/ day parking and off I go @ 10.35am flight. Ada dua pasukan bola dlm flight - Kelantan dan Selangor. Katanya lawan persahabatan. After satu setengah jam, sampai di Aceh.

Maybe its me. I find some comfort if I know that someone will be waiting at the airport to pick me up. Unfortunately, the hotel driver was late. Terpinga-pinga saya sebentar dengan ulat-ulat teksi yang byk, yg tak henti menyapa saya. I dress consrvatively, tried to blend in with local. Tapi gagal nampaknya.

Sampai hotel, rest sebentar. Kemudian meminta hotel carikan saya becak. Mahu ke pantai Lumpuuk untuk sunset. Saya berdebar-debar juga. Bolehkah saya percaya pembawa becak ni. Namanya Iwan. Saya rasa dia dua puluhan. Tapi air wajahnya menceritakan kesukaran kehidupannya.

Macam-macam rasa naik becak bermotor. Seram pun ada jugak. Jauh juga. Hampir sejam. Layan.

Sawah Padi

sekarang ni musim durian 

Singgah di Longkha Beach terlebih dahulu

Quiet beach it is

Then -  Lampuuk Beach. Minum air kelapa while waiting for sunset. Tapi cuaca nak hujan. Tak muncul pun sun nya :(

Lampuuk beach

Pulang sedikit hampa. Hujan sudah rintik rintik. Sebelum pulang ke Masjid Baiturrahman. Ketika Tsunami dahulu, masjid ini tidak apa-apa. Mejadi tempat lindungan.

Day

and night

A bit of struggle to take photos as its raining. Lepas Maghrib terus minta dihantar pulang. Sudah capek. Bilang sama Iwan untuk ambil saya jam 1.30 pm esok. Mahu putar putar tempat tsunami. Saya rasa selesa dengannya. Tidak begitu ramah, cakap yang perlu dan sopan. Jika dapat yang pakcik pakcik yg bawa becak, sukar juga.

Day Two

Saya bangun lewat. Sakit kepala pulak. Mungkin kerana hujan.  Layan HBO sampai terlambat nak turun breakfast.

Destinasi pertama untuk hari ini Museum Tsunami. Baru lebih kurang setahun dibuka. Masa mula melangkah masuk ada seakan terowong gelap. Bila melaluinya, ada sedikit titisan air bersama bacaan Quran. Bagus idea itu. Bagi feel sikit.

Segala informasi tentang tsunami ada disini. Pejam celik sudah lapan tahun sudah.

Gambaran situasi semasa Tsunami

Kapal nelayan yg terdampar di desa Lampulo menyelamatkan 59 org penumpangnya

Masjid Lampisang, satu-satunya bangunan di daerah Lampuuk Yang selamat dari terjangan Tsunami

Lukisan - Tsunami dimata Perupa Aceh

Rasa menyayat hati yang melampau. Saya tanya kan iwan dimana dia ketika tsunami? Katanya dia dipasar. Tapi sempat lari menyelamatkan diri. Ketika bercerita, tiada riak sedih dimukanya. Mungkin kerna sudah lama. Sudah tersimpan jauh semua rasa-rasa itu.

Next - Kapal Elektrik PLTD Apung yang hanyut hampir 10km dari pantai.

Masjid Baiturrahim, yang gah berdiri ketika tsunami

Nice view otw to Ulee Lheue beach

Next - Ulee Lheue beach

Di kawasan pantai, terlalu ramai yang jual jagung bakar. Kenapa jual yg sama ya? Di sini lebih meriah, lebih ramai orang

My jagung bakar in the making

Next - Kapal nelayan di atas rumah

Next - ke Pasar Aceh

Canggih cara bawa durian

The one and only mall - Harmes Palace mall

Lepas membeli sedikit barang, saya sudah mahu pulang. Capek. Memberi tips dan bayaran buat iwan. He has been good. Makes my experience here pleasant and safe. Mana tidaknya, dia ikut sahaja saya ke mana mana. Macam bodyguard pun ada. Padahal dia tak perlu ikut saya. Boleh tunggu di becak. Terima kasih ya.

Sampai hotel, kunci kamar pula tak jumpa. Hmmm.. esok sajalah saya berurusan dengan reception. Hari ini internet connection sangat bagus. Tak seperti semalam. Berjaya saya update my travelogue before sampai kl. Caya lah.

Aceh telah bangun semula selepas tsunami. Saya kira pembangunannya juga agak cepat. Bangunan sekitar kotanya sudah banyak. Tidak terasa bahawa lapan tahun sudah semua ini tiada. Kosong dan musnah. Bangunnya kota Aceh itu sudah sama maju dengan bandar Ho Chi Minh.

Esok pesawat jam 11.30 am. Terima kasih Aceh. Good learning and meaningful trip it is. I feel grateful with what I have now. Selamat malam. Jumpa esok KL.

Update

I did get my room key back. Someone from the security at Tsunami Museum returned it back to the hotel. Whoa. Alhamdulillah. Seeeeeee, have faith in people. Terima kasih banyak. Budi baik di kenang jua. Beside lesson learned from Tsunami tragedy, I guess kindness of Iwan and security man will also be remembered :)