The epic last dive.

 Once again, I apologize for the slowness. BUT, midterms are FINALLY over and I have a WHOLE day to myself! Sorry for the obnoxious usage of all caps, but that's how strongly I feel. Haha. This is my last post on Malaysia (and everyone goes BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!) BUT, there will be another post to kind of tie everything together and close this chapter of my summer. So stay tuned and thanks for reading!!

Tuesday proved to be an interesting day. We ended up not going diving…either b/c there wasn’t a boat going out or it was full…one of the two. I can’t remember. Thus, we went back to Tawau to get some last minute things (as if we didn’t buy enough two days earlier when we were supposed to have bought everything we needed). Baby needed to go get a facial so for the first half hour I walked around trying to find shoes and ended up stumbling upon a car accident instead. I don’t think they really knew what to do b/c there were a bunch of people gawking and looking clueless. I went back up and she still wasn’t done so I went in to see what was happening. Sitti was popping all her pimples and Baby was writhing in pain on the bed screaming, “Sakit, Kak!!!! OWWW!!!!” While I looked on and laughed at her. I’m such a supportive cousin. =) While she had the mask on, Sitti shaped my eyebrows and then told Baby she was going to pop all my pimples b/c she couldn’t stand looking at them any longer…bahaha. I don’t know why, but my face always breaks out the first two weeks I’m in Malaysia. Ugh. So pop my pimples she did. And yes, it hurt like crazy!! Then she put medicine on it (and my face is doing much better, thank goodness). We went for lunch (at this place we always have family gatherings at) with Goh-Goh Adi and then Baby went to go get her nails done (since she hadn’t been able to the other day) and I was dropped off at the shoe store we always go to. I found the pair I wanted! And then the other one I wanted, but they didn’t have my size. BOO. Oh well, I got two pairs of shoes for less than $25. Heck yes. Then Aku sent me to go find Baby and she still wasn’t done, so I went to go buy the Domo keychain she wanted and when I went to go pay for it (the cashier was the owner of the store, Chinese) she stopped, looked at me with a super confused face, and then asked me, “Chinese or Malay?” Bahahahah. I had to explain to her my whole story and then she finally understood. Then she asked me why I was so dark and then I had to explain to her that I’ve been on the pulau almost every day. Haha. Oh the joys of being in Malaysia. 

 So that night we went to a new restaurant to try out and Black and Letter joined us. I swear it was as if those boys (including Kian) hadn’t eaten for eternity or something. The rest of us were done eating and they were still going at it. I think Letter won…last man standing. Haha. So what was supposed to happen after we got done eating was that Letter was going to bring Baby and me to the airport to pick up my friends, Sam and Christina, at the airport. Sam (my VP when I was President of the Asian Club, and a fellow classmate of mine) just graduated from college and had been traveling around the world before starting medical school this fall. He was meeting up with different friends and family in different countries and since Malaysia = Keri, he naturally wanted to come dive with me. Haha. His sister Christina was joining him on this leg of the trip as well (you should ask her about Scary Mommy Keri…bahahah). 

Don't worry, they actually made it to KK and got to experience the AMAZING sunsets that occur there.

Anyway, I was going back to house really quickly to check my messages to make sure they were on schedule and that’s when we got a phone call from my uncle who said that someone had called my other cousin to say that there was flooding in Manila (where they were coming from). So I hurried back to the house to check and of course the internet had stopped working. Earlier that day, right after I had JUST finished taking a shower (thank goodness I got one in), the power went out. This is actually a normal occurrence in the town. Hah. So what do you do when the power goes out? You walk down the road to the store for funsies. Haha. Anyway, I was going to check my messages during that time, but one thing lead to another and it never happened. So go figure, the internet actually never came back on. Great. So after a few moments of panic when I still couldn’t get internet on my aunt’s phone, we jumped in the truck to go use the internet at BGS. Thankfully their internet was working just fine and I had a looooong and worried message from Sam waiting for me. Apparently they were stranded in Manila b/c of a monsoon (remember what I had been saying about the typhoons in Asia and the vis being horrible b/c of the weather? Yeah). They weren’t able to get to the airport b/c the roads were covered with at least 1.5 m of water. Rough times for them. They ended up not being able to join us for diving and flew a few days later to KK instead. This meant that there were two extra spaces available to go diving at Sipadan, one of the TOP diving places in the world. 

My beloved Sipadan Island

This is where I start my whole spiel on this matter. Jacques Cousteau called it one of the most incredible places he’d ever seen/dived (and for those of you who don’t know who he is, shame on you!). Growing up I can remember going to that island and staying there at one of the many resorts and having the best time ever. It was actually a dangerous place to go to at some point b/c the Abu Syaaf (Filipino terrorists for those of you who don’t know who they are either) kept on coming around and well, for lack of a better word, terrorizing everyone there. You can ask my cousin, Yien, about that…and Jefrey for that matter. They were there during one of the shootouts/kidnappings. Around 2004, they kicked off all the resorts and dive companies on the island b/c it was getting too polluted and messing up the coral and wildlife. As time has gone by, it has been more and more difficult to go to this island. You must now have a permit to enter/dive/snorkel the island and there are only 120 permits per day. That being said, it’s super hard to get a permit at the last minute. Most people have to book weeks or months ahead of time to go. Once you pay, that’s it. Your name gets sent in and it’s there for the record. You can’t change it. So guess who was South Korean for the day? Auntie Beth and Baby were! Haha. It was funny though b/c they wrote down that Sam was female (in the receptionist’s defense they were given their Korean names and not their English names) and that I was from South Korea as well. Hahaha. But more on that later. Anyway, so after all this was said and done (and Auntie Beth and Baby were busy trying to memorize their alias) we hung out at the dive center (I enjoy terrorizing Jefrey) till Black was done filling the tanks, then we went out for yum cha at the outdoors Seafest restaurant. The moon was brilliant and awesome over the ocean. Sigh. Ok, I’m done being all sentimental and stuff. 

The next day was SIPADAN DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have NO CLUE how excited I was. I’ve spent a huge chunk of my 125+ dives there and this was the only chance I got this trip to go. So. We all headed out early b/c it takes longer to get there…and boy, did it take us a loooooong time. The sea was super rough. The boat was like BAM!!! BAMMM!!!!!! SPPSHSHHHH!!!!!!!!! Ok, maybe not quite like that, but you get the idea. I was standing the whole time at the front of the boat (while everyone in the back was trying to not get soaked or get a bruised bum) and it was like a rollercoaster ride mixed with surfing and a rodeo, all combined in one. I went airborne every 5 mins or so. No lie. The funny thing is that I really enjoy it. Every time. Hah. I’m so weird. 

Disclaimer: I apologize for the hazy underwater pictures. The visibility was quite awful for most of our dives. So all those little specks of annoyingness will forever ruin my pictures. I guess you just have to look past them...or think of them as adding "character." 

Letter and Jef in the back utilizing their life jackets...as shields from the splashes.

Anyway, we finally got there and landed so that we could all get out and register our names. They look at the information that was given to them beforehand (name, passport no, nationality, etc) to make sure it’s all correct when you register. So whatever is on the paper, you have to write it down in the book and the security people cross check it and everything or else they kick you off the island. Haha. So guess who was South Korean for the day? We were! And then there was a China couple with us plus three DMs. I’m not really sure why we had so many, but Jefrey, Letter, and Roslee all came along for the fun of it (if you’re a registered staff it’s a lot easier to go). When I went to write my name I put down SK as my nationality and the security guy goes, “OH! South Korea!” And I smiled and walked away quickly so as to not bring attention to myself. Haha. Remember that for later. So after everyone signed in we zoomed to the back of the island to the first dive site of the day for us, Turtle Patch. I cannot describe to you how ecstatic I was to be back! It felt so good! The reef wall there is so amazing. It’s a total vertical cliff hanger and it looks like there’s no bottom b/c it drops to an insane amount down there. Half way during the dive we saw a pretty big eagle ray coming right at us…so what did Jefrey and I do? We chased it…trying to get a decent picture…but it ran away. Sad face. We took our surface break on the island and chilled out for a while. There are so many new DMs I felt lost. Usually I know at least 3-4 of them…but no, most of them were new. Le sigh. Haha. 

Our boat! Celebes 9 with a fresh coat of paint on her.

Jef looks like a lipas....hahah.

And then there was me.......

Jef spots a shark!!

Auntie Beth and Jef traded one fin. Only one.

Looking up at the vertical reef wall.

It's so peaceful. =)

Fishies!!!!! HAPPY PLACE FTW.

Anyway, our second dive was at Barracuda Point, one of my favorite dive sites! There are two super strong currents that come from different directions so it’s actually quite dangerous, but you can find awesome things there. We saw a bunch of white tip and grey reef sharks feeding and Letter and I went chasing them. Hah. =) I love chasing – errr – following sharks. They’re so cool!!!! Anyhow, we finally made it to the channel where the current really picks up. This is usually where at least one of the schools of barracuda hang out. The question is always will they be in their tornado formation or just in a straight line? More recently they haven’t been tornado-ing, unfortunately for me. The very first time I ever saw them years ago, however, they were and circled around me, which was pretty much the coolest thing ever. *Looks off into distance wistfully* *Blinks* Oh, my bad. Anyway, as we were drifting along (and I mean drifting in the fast sense possibly) towards the end of the channel, lo and behold, there they were! In a stately line-up fashion nevertheless. They’re soooo cool looking. Pretty BA if you ask me. And no, they don’t go biting people. Those are the lone barracudas you have to be careful about, and yes, I’ve seen plenty of them in my lifetime. Unfortunately, this is usually the area where the current changes and can be dangerous, so you have to cross over to the other side and up. So we said our goodbyes to the school of barracuda and made our way up and over the reef and glided by in another direction. We had a lot of fun during our super long safety stop. No play-play ah!!! I’m pretty sure we had a few wrestling matches in there at some point. Yes, all while we were underwater…*whistles while looking away*. So um, yeah. Surface interval on the island again where we had lunch and talked about where all the great places to dive and see big animals were. Apparently our guests have gone all over the world diving to see these big animals. It was quite enlightening. So um…who wants to go on the next trip?! Haha. 

Gray Reef shark looking for his dinner.

Gray Reef shark on the prowl!!

This is my "Sharks are so exciting!!!!!!" face.

Bat fish.

He's looking for something......

So this is where I WOULD HAVE put the pictures of the awesome school of barracuda...BUT, a certain Jefrey stole my camera during that time and only took one long video of it and Blogger is not cooperating with me at this time for me to upload it. Poo. So I'm terribly sorry and I will maybe get it up later. HAH. 

Pretty coral and fishies!

Sigh. SO graceful.

White-tip reef shark on the go.

Auntie Beth making her ascent.

Jef found a leaf fish!

Old man turtle.

Our third dive was between Turtle Cavern and Barracuda Point…or something like that. We were doing a really shallow dive and whatdaya know, we saw the school of jackfish and the school of bumpheads!! It was awesome! We got super close to BOTH of them. Being that close to the school of bumpheads was pretty incredible. They’re HUGE and there were more than 40 of them. Like, I’ve seen them multiple times and been pretty near to them, but we got UP CLOSE and personal with them…pretty sure I could’ve touched one if it had let me. Lol. The current was getting pretty strong so we left the bumpheads be and carried on our merry little way, drifting along. So Baby and I have this thing underwater where we’ll look at each other, mask to mask pressed against each other, and then when the first person breathes out we shake our heads really fast. Haha. We’re so weird, I know. I swear I’ve babysat her this whole summer. No lie. Well, with the exception of me being in Tonga and her being in Costa Rica. I even babysat her underwater!! They made me her buddy every time we went diving. Haha. It’s ok, though, b/c I love diving with my cousins! All in all it was a fabulous day and I couldn’t have been happier (ok, maybe if I had seen the elusive resident school of hammerheads that I’ve only seen once I would’ve been even happier…but hey, who’s keeping track, right?). Jackfish, bumpheads, eagle ray, barracuda, sharks, and turtles = my life is complete. Sam and Christina, you guys missed out. Sorry, maybe next time! Haha. Onthe way back guess who decided to come back with us b/c they’re friends with Jefrey? Yeah, the registration security guys. Go figure, right? Hahaha. We were dying of laughter and joking that Auntie Beth and Baby couldn’t talk Malay or else they’d be caught! But I’m pretty sure they knew but they didn’t say anything. The majority of us fell asleep on the way back (thankfully it wasn’t as choppy). What’s the use of a lifejacket if you can’t sleep on it? HAH. Anyway, that night after hanging out at the dive shop for a while stealing their internet since ours was down still, we went out to yum cha one last time. All the usuals came, Letter, Black, Sotong, and Frog (don’t ask me why they have such weird nicknames…haha). I’m really really really going to miss yum cha time. You can’t really do that back at home that easily. I mean, we still do it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a bit harder. Sigh. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. Thanks for chilling with us girls!!

Going against the flow.

School of jackfish.

More jackfish.

SEA TURTLE!!!

Bumphead fish and some other sort of wrasse.

They're big and ugly.

Christmas tree worms! My favorite!

GAHH!! I love sea turtles.

He's coming to eat me....yummm.

Me contemplating the fish....

It ate Letter. o_O

Well, it was worth a shot.

White-tip reef sharks perusing the area.

Soaring with the turtles!

I haven't the slightest clue what kind of fish that is...all I know is that it's pretty.

Lionfish. UGH.

We kinda failed...........

Hmmmm. So on Thursday I really wanted to dive one last time since I was flying out the next day. But, alas, I could not. There was a group of 12 from KL that were diving and they had reached capacity since Kian demanded to dive with them and refused to let me go instead of him. Butthead. Ahem, I mean. I had a nice relaxing day, thank you very much. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t dive b/c I totally went out with a bang by doing my last dive in Sipadan. Twenty-three dives in two and a half weeks? Not bad. I’m thankful I got to dive at all. =) Anyway, Baby and I hung out at the dive shop during the morning since Aku and Auntie Beth drove off to Tawau and abandoned us. So while we were waiting for Letter to come back for us, we totally kicked the receptionists out of the reception area so I could use the computer…ooops…sorry Kak. =) So Letter was taking his sweet ol’ time getting back to us so we were trying to bribe Uncle Ah Soon to take us back and just as soon as we convinced him, Letter came back. Lol. Go figure. So he ended up jumping in our car anyway and coming with us. I’m still not really sure why. We (or more like I) packed up my stuff to make sure it all fit in my two suitcases. After Baby had begged her dad nonstop for about a week, we finally were able to take out the paddleboard that a friend had stored away. Letter picked us up and we went to fetch it and he took care to tie it up really good onto the top of his truck. Lol. He took us to Tampi-Tampi, an old childhood spot of ours (well, it still kinda is our spot to go play) all the while jamming to the music. See, Tampi-Tampi is right on the water and is the perfect spot to jump in the water and swim. Back in the day (when you didn’t have to pay an entrance fee) we’d go there on any given day and have a picnic there and swim all day. It was amazing. Sigh. Good times. Anyway, we hauled the big paddleboard out there and Letter was laughing at us the whole time. I got on to try it out first – it was pretty much like the one we used in Hawaii. The only thing was that the water had more ripples and then bigger ones as the boats went by. Lol. You really need good balance for sure and we all know I don’t have the best balance. But back up a bit. Before we left, I was going to change into my swimsuit…but Baby convinced me not to b/c she wasn’t. She claimed she wasn’t getting into the water. Yeah, she totally lied to me. What did she do while I was getting onto the paddleboard? Yes, she jumped in. =.= Since I wasn’t in my swimsuit, I didn’t want to get wet. She tried to convince me multiple times to jump in and then to let her sit on the paddleboard while I paddled. =.= No can do, Baby. I knew she’d tip us over in a heartbeat if I let her do that. So I made her do it herself, but she was too scared to stand up. Lol. While I was watching her, I saw some of my friends from Black Pearl drive by on a boat…so we waved and yelled at each other….lol. I love this town. After we took turns a few more times and some people from their houses started yelling, “Bajau Laut!!” at me (lolololololol), we decided to give it a rest and call it a day. We joined Letter at the table and ordered some drinks and talked for a while. He told us all this stories of his rebel days and how he and his brothers and cousins were the most feared gang members in the area. Like. Legit. He stories were pretty cray cray, not going to lie. He’s pretty feisty. He has since turned over a new leaf and is super nice to everyone. Lol. Well, now that I know all those stories, I’m keeping him as my body guard from now on when I go back. HAH. 

Baby attempting to paddleboard....

Tampi-Tampi!!

That night, we had a PAARRRTAAAAAYYYY!!! Hahaha. Complete with close friends and family and GOOD FOOD. Steamboat and BBQ is the best! They panggang-ed some short fat bananas for me (really good!) and they tried panggang pineapples. Haha. It was a trade-off. Also, Letter made chendol for me!!!!!!! He remembered I had mentioned earlier that day that I liked it, so he made some for me and it was bomb!! After we were stuffed we all karaoked till the wee hours of the morning. Letter and I finally had our sing-off and I have to hand it to him, he’s not too shabby. Haha. Jefrey can also sing really well and it was HILARIOUS watching Jef and Letter sing together. OHMYWORD. We were all dying of laughter the whole night. It was pretty great, not to mention a few of the guys were slightly intoxicated, which made it all the more funny. At one point Jef tried to go home but we convinced him to stay b/c Uncle Ah Soon had parked him in and wasn’t about to move it…and Jef ended up on the floor a few times looking like he was about to fall asleep. Lol, I love them so much AND I miss them so much too. 

Letter is making chendol for me...IDK whether to be impressed or run. ;)

It's CHOW DOWN time!!

Auntie Beth preparing a grilled banana for me....yes!!

I love these two gila DMs beyond belief. You have no idea. Hahaha.

Told ya he tried to sleep.

When he realized he couldn't win he just started to karaoke on the floor...

We even got Dr. Naik and Uncle Ah Soon to sing!!

A little bromace going on.......LOLOL. 

Best of friends.

Words cannot express how much I love and respect this guy.

My amazing DMs. I've had so much fun with them.

Yeah....we're pretty hott.

They're best of friends too...haha.

We've had some good times, even if we all know I would totes be a better DM than him. =P

Learning from each other. Here's to the fun times and great memories!

He ended up on the floor by the end of it.... =.=

The next morning was super sad b/c we had to fly out. I think we ran around town or something in the morning and then guess who took us to the airport? Kian, Black, and Sotong. Hahahah. Those guys are pretty funny. Anyway, they kind of up and left us with tons of time to spare because they were eager to go into town and eat. =.= But of course. The airport is SUPER small so not really anything to do except get last minute souvenirs and t-shirts…and sit and be depressed. LOL. We finally got to line up and Baby was all in a frenzy b/c she was supposed to give some important document to the District Officer who was on the same plane as us and she couldn’t find him. BUT, she finally did. And we were off to KL. When we finally arrived in KL we were told at the ticket counter that our plane was delayed for seven hours. SEVEN hours. GAH. Well, it all kind of worked out b/c we were supposed to have that 7-hr layover in Istanbul, Turkey and I actually preferred it in KL b/c it was familiar territory. It was already evening by that time and I wish I could have called my good friend, Apong, to take us around. But, alas, I didn’t have his number. Sigh. So we ate, played on our computers, walked around, and took naps. I def let her sleep first and then when she woke up, I told her to stay awake and then wake me up in a few hours. Mind you, this is like already 2 or 3 AM. Yeah, def woke up by myself and found her sound asleep and we had to BOOK it to our terminal. Oh, and when we tried to do that some security check person stopped us because we had “too many” carry-ons which was pissing me off b/c I didn’t want a repeat of my Tonga fiasco. Thankfully we were able to talk to the right person who told us it was ok and THEN we really booked it to our terminal. Our flight was long and uneventful. When we arrived at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey it was like we walked into pure mayhem. There were a TON of flights that had been delayed and so the airlines had to book them on other flights and such. Baby and I just needed our ticket for our next connection flight b/c we were still able to make it with about 2 hours to spare. WELL. We stood in what we thought was the right line. BIG mistake. We stood in this line for almost an hour before someone helped us where they proceeded to tell us we were at the wrong counter, but they still managed to help us, although they gave us a hard time because they wanted to see the credit card that we had used to buy the ticket. Well, no one told us this beforehand and we didn’t have said credit card b/c our cousin had booked it for us. We finally convinced them this was the case and we weren’t lying and they FINALLY gave us our ticket. We had less than an hour to get through security and to our gate at this point. Got through security without too much problem and then it started getting hairy. We had to clear about two or three checkpoint before we got to our gate of which Baby had to show her I-20 and student visa every single time and got questioned every time as well. It wasn’t too much of a problem for me b/c I’m a US citizen and they only asked me a few questions. But they did like a mini interrogation process on her since she’s on a student visa. We FINALLY made it through all of the checkpoints albeit a bit frazzled in time for us to make our flight. Bleh, I hate airports. Well, at this point in my summer I was SO done with airports and airplanes. Haha. We embarked on our last portion our journey home and collapsed in sheer exhaustion when we finally arrived home. Or maybe we stayed up b/c of jetlag. I can’t remember. Haha. 

Anyway. It was a good run, guys. Until next time. =)

Stay tuned for a recap and summation of all my summer travels!!