i've completed my open water course! actually it's completed last wk, but it's just that i didn't have time, or rather, the internet doesn't really allow me to update.

the course can be completed over 4 days.

day 1 - theory lesson
day 2 - practice session in the swimming pool

day 3 - 1st day at sea with 2 dives
it was kinda exciting. cos it's the very first time diving in the sea. many of us got sea sick. i was still quite alright then. the waves were huge. of cos, it's alot better when we get under the water. lots of marine life! colorful fish swimming around. we were practicing our skills while kneeling on some corals. soon, oxygen was running low, time to go back to the surface. it was crazy up there. while waiting for my turn to get back on the boat, the waves just kept covering me. as i was breathing through the regulator (the mouthpiece for oxygen), i realized i was getting lesser and lesser air out of it! luckily i was pretty near the boat then. i signal to the instructor that i was out of air, and he jumped into the water to help me. omg. that was crazy man.

on the 2nd dive, i kept a close watch on my air pressure. making sure i have enough to make it back. HA! anyway, again, we practice some other skills. this time, we had visitors. first, was a polka-dot shark lying lazily on the corals. so many of us didn't see it and we almost landed on it!! luckily it's not a fierce one. and just as we were about done, and going for a swim around, we saw a shark fading out from the corner of my eye. in just a few secs, i see it swimming towards us! it got a little too near for comfort. and bloody hell! it's huge! and i really mean HUGE!! in my mind, i totally freaked out. i could feel my heartbeat increase like crazy and my breathing become very irregular. i had to hold on to my regulator cos i thought my jaws were dropping. HA! i was really worried that the shark would come for me, cos i was having my period (using tampon), but the instructor says it's ok to dive when having a period. anyway, i guess it's just me watching too much movies. cos the shark just swam away. lol!

day 2 - last day of course, 2 dives at sea
while we were travelling out to sea, i was getting kinda worried cos of the saga yesterday. anyway, the instructors on board were really good at calming me down. when we got into the water, the instructors are always keeping a lookout, asking if we're ok. that gave me alot of assurance. we saw sharks, but this time alot further.

on the 1st dive of the day, i was holding onto the rope at the bottom of the sea while waiting for the rest to catch the rope. so i was just slacking, let the current "swing" me left and right. and right in front of my eyes, a large school of fish was doing exactly the same thing! they're just "swinging", not swimming. probably resting or something. alright. that's not the impt part. the impt thing is they're just right in front of me, and it's as if they're staring at me. really awesome! i guess it's cos i wasn't moving much, so they didn't thought much abt me and got close. hohooo!!

had a really good buddy this time. we're always looking out for each other.


cos so many of us were sea-sick, no pics were taken, but today, we took a few. but there were only 6 of us today, while there were 9 yesterday. well, we can choose when we wanna go for the sea dives. it's just me that wanna complete asap. ha!

from norway. there're many more from norway, but their dive was on another day. too bad.


from france