Dive trip @ Moalboal and Oslob, Philippines

I'm so excited I couldn't contain myself any longer!

 

Just came back from Phillipines. This is my second dive trip to this beautiful country.

Located at the coral triangle, Philippines offers nearly 600 different species of

reef-building corals in their 7101 islands!

 

This time around we went to Moalboal, Cebu for a 5-night stay.

And the main attraction for this trip is our short getaway down to

Oslob for whale watching - and when there's divers, there ain't gonna be just watching!

There's just so many things to see and a 6D5N trip is definitely insufficient for us.

 

The trip has been documented in Cecil's video and plenty of photos from

the professional photographer who are holding the big guns and

vain female divers who tried to capture everyone and everything at every moment possible.

 

This is our trip... and you get to see it all! Enjoy!

 

 

 

One of our most anticipated dive site is at Ludo which famous for sardine storm!

What's a sardine storm?

It's like a giant ball of sardines swarming in the ocean and diving it in feels like the

clear sky above you suddenly turned dark by large clouds covering the entire sky!

 

 

Suit up and instantly looked like a pro!

 

Our first dive trip with Dolphin Lee Aquatics. Such a fun group to be with!






It's a holiday and I lost track of time...

 

"Hi Mr. Turtle... wait for me..."

All the 3 dives on the first day is nothing but amazing.

Plenty to see and go WOW underwater.

During the surface interval, we had more fun on the boat.

Climbing up to an island, snorkeling, doing backflips into the water etc.

We climbed up to Pescador Island and that's where I got a deep cut on my right foot.



 

"HUAKKKKKK!!!!!!"

 

Ryu's "ABUGETTTT!!!!!"



Group photo courtery of Bo Mancao



Photo by Bo Mancao



Photo by Bo Mancao




Photo by Dolphin Lee

 When the night comes, no matter how exhausted we were, we put an effort

to explore the village, neighbouring shops, and diners! We had scumptous meal

at Chilli Bar for three consecutive nights! They serve really good food but the

downside is that we had to wait at least one-hour for our food to be served.

My dinner! Delicious baby pork ribs at Chilli Bar, Moalboal

More dives for the next few days and I fell sick due to the unbearable cold room at night.



Skipped a dive at the airplane wreck but couldn't stop myself for the second dive when

I found out that my BCD is in the boat! Jumped into the water with my bikini right after.

 

With Ruel, the dive master who took less than 3-minutes to search
for the mask which I've dropped into the sea 24-hrs before



"Feel the sea, smell the sky. Let your spirit and soul fly"

And the day everyone been waiting for - trip to Oslob!

This dignity of this place has been actively discussed among divers

and animal right associations etc.

 

Oslob Tan-Awan is a place that everyone would go for a lifetime experience

to interact with the whale shark. We were told that there's a 99.99% chances

to encounter a whale shark. Why? Because the fishermen have been feeding the whale sharks for decades and the whale sharks come back everyday for their scheduled feeding.

 

It remains very controversial if we should support the whale shark watching

because some says the feeding is creating a negative impact on their

natural migrating habits and some said they would have been long gone by villagers

who could capture the whale shark and feed their family for a month with it!

 

We have arrived at this amazing place!

Amazing shot by Bo Mancao



Certain precautions needed in order for us to preserve the

existance of this incredible creature.

 

Whale shark is the largest living fish in the world and to dive with them

is an opportunity, but not to be too excited and should not be taken lightly.

 

We are constantly reminded to...

1) Not touch or approach the whale sharks

2) Maintain an estimated 5ft distance around them
 3) Stay away from the tail to avoid injury from the strong wag
 4) Avoid feeding the sharks
 5) No littering
 5) Not to use flash photography
 6) Not to use sunblock as it will contaminate the water





Joyce vs the Big Guy - my first encounter with the whale shark



Dived for 1-hr with the whale shark and my DC alarmed me "DIVE TOO LONG"



After an amazing experience at Oslob, we went for sightseeing at Tumalog.

 



At the Tumalog Waterfalls - famous blue waterfall!



Now this is BLUE!



 A 3-hour drive back to Moalboal from Oslob and

it's time to pack our gears to fly back the next day.

 



Amazing night view at the Dolphin House



My friends and dive buddies for this trip. And please give me back my Bunny!



Goodbye Love Resort, Moalboal



Back to work and till I can keep calm and blow bubbles again... adios Philippines!



 

Read More

Kin Tick Orchard Village @ Bentong, Pahang

29th December 2012

This is a long pending post.

I might as well get it done since I have my office laptop with me.

-----------------------------------

The Yap (my family), Sam (sis in law and her family) and Chua (brother in law and his family)

has combined to be a very BIG family

who decided to end the year 2012 with a BIG BANG by

spending the weekend at Kin Tick Orchard Village.

Upon arriving, my first impression is WOW, this is just what I needed!

A place to relax and rejuvenate.

Its concept of getting close to the nature may be the same as Sekeping Serendah,

but this a more modern and advanced version of a nature retreat.

To start off, there is telephone reception and wifi available.

And there's roof in the bathroom.

And walls covering all four sides of our unit.

*tee-heee*

To have better insight of the place,

please enjoy the below photos taken using my Canon EOS 1100D

---------------------------------------

Once arrived, there will be a pick up truck to load your belongings.

There is no access for cars to enter the village due to a small river

that goes in between the village and parking lot.

Any attempt in going thru the river with your own car,

will be at your own risk.

In less than 3 minutes of having fun standing on the truck,

we arrived at a huge hall where all the

makan-makan, karaoke, and other activities take place.

Cindy staying at the Bali House with her in-laws and families.

It's quite impressive to see such a big house all made up of bamboo poles,

woven bamboo, coconut wood and husk (i think),

and the place gives you sense of serenity.

This is the building where all the Stone House is.

And obviously it is made of stones.

There are no air-con in the room but it's cooling throughout day and night.

Parents room, the standard stone house with 2 beds and breakfast for 4 person.

Weekend rate at RM 330.00

The below is the dormitory room that consist of 4 beds.

Including breakfast for 8 person, this room is at RM 590.00 on weekends.

Realized that the below photos shows that
I'm skinnier than I actually am.
But fitter right? ... right???

Random snapshots

At the ladies

We had tropical fruit feast provided at Kin Tick.

Type of fruits served depends on the season.

Would advise to go during durian season as that's the time where you get to enjoy most fruits.

The cooling shed to enjoy our tea time fruit fest..

Sweet mangoesteen

Duku langsat I assume?

The hairy one.. very sweet rambutan!

King of all fruits.. Durian!

Pitiful monkey who lost an arm from a dog bite.

Experimenting the night shot functions but I prefer the function

where I get to adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO manually.

These are some of the best few shots I've taken..

I didn't know that cactus flowers opened only at night.

It is beaautifuuulll~~~

(wiping tears like Russell Peters when he talked about how "zero" was originated)

Motion shots at night - FAILED.

But this is funny.. you can actually see the starting point of them jumping.

They said I look like a Japanese lady with the hat.

So I give them the pleasure of seeing real Japanese lady with their tiny lips.

After a few trial of Yap family portrait and with them giving me the boring and serious mood,
I finally ask them to SAY CHEEZEE!!!
Look at their smile and you know the cheeze is yuhmieee!!!

Some sepia and black & white shots for the old buildings...

Read More