Final day of diving was spent at Padang Bai. And it’s on one of those fishing boats that I have seen so often but never got the chance to ride on. It’s a really narrow boat with enough space to fit a single file of “not too oversized” people.

Visiblity was pretty bad with strong underwater surges due to the full moon as was told. It seems like there’s alot happening when it comes to full moon here. Saw some interesting critters and also a small school of squids. They look really “spacey” in those cloudy waters, moving in perfect unison. Calamari will never look the same again on my dinner table.

Not wanting to spend too much on hotel stay this time round, I put up at Kelapa Mas at Candidasa at a discounted rate given to me by the dive operator. It was a clean, no frills cottage along the main street of Candidasa, right in front of the beach and breakwater. I was recommended to this Restaurant Rendevous by the money changer. It’s a really cosy restaurant right by the beach with a spectacular view of the waves breaking lit by the full moon. From there, I could see the waves crashing onto the breakwater right outside my hotel. It’s like a symphony of waves, looks something like a digital equalizer on the radio. I stood there for a good 5-10mins, mesmerized by the combined work of man and nature. If only it’s bright enough for images… too bad, it’s not and it’s kinda dangerous (not worried about dying, more worried about getting wet and having to take a shower again) too.

The following day, I took a fishing trip out to sea before checking out of the hotel. Minutes after we left the shore, a huge 5kg red snapper got hooked and I was thrilled!! But watching the fish die after that wasn’t that great a feeling. I had to decline lunch with that fish on the menu offered by the fisherman. I was kinda glad it was the only catch of the trip. Now I have to figure out how I’m going to handle the spear fishing trip.

Some images for the two days.

Agung and beyond

The classic photographer’s self portrait. Tried to kill my shadow by putting it in the middle of the road. Didn’t quite work.

The cute little bugger. Still trying to ID it. We had fun playing hide and seek… for awhile.

Trumpet fish (me thinks)

“We come in peace… please don’t put us in the deep fryer!” Don’t they look like alien spacecrafts? How different when deep fried… better alive than dead really.

And they decided to come into my “photo booth”.

School of yellowtails (I think… based on visuals) fighting the current. I was swept all over the place. It was nature’s rollercoaster ride. One word, FUN!

The breakwater in front of the hotel. A few hours after this was taken, the crashing waves went up like 5 meters when they hit the breakwater. Amazing amazing sight! (ok, maybe I come from land of swaku, but you get the idea…)

Hope: the name of the fishing boat. Not the one I went out with though:P

Made (pronounced as Mar-day, means 2nd child of the family) with his 5kg red snapper!

The Kuta dog. This time, a rottweiler. These so called “dangerous dogs” (in Singapore) roam freely on their crowded beaches. Maybe maybe if you walk them enough everyday, they aren’t that dangerous. Geddit?

My favourite ship. Where are you sailing today? Gets more dramatic everytime I see it.

Sharks: a type of fish usually seen on the dinner tables at chinese weddings.

I couldn’t hide my excitement when I saw them about 30m at Coral garden on my 2nd dive. The first one was playing with the remoras when we spotted them. I was told they were the resident Black Tip sharks at the Drop Off (even though I’ve never seen them there). I was in a happy daze after that… floating around till my tank went empty. And I meant 0 bar.

Earlier in the day, Ziggy and Powell, both whom I met at the dive at Nusa Penida arrived at Tulamben after taking a day off diving at Kuta. Ziggy have been sharing alot about diving in Bali since he has 10 years experience diving on this island. Two days ago, he told me the deepest he went to was 102m. I asked, “so what did you see at 102m?”. “My dive comp.” was his reply. Very honest and very funny.

The tide was very high as we approached full moon. Ziggy and Powell had left for a village to watch the full moon celebrations. I know I’m having a date with Z monster after all that diving. Nitrogen makes one sleep I think. As I sat at the restaurant, I can’t help but wonder, when will I be back again. Strange feeling since this is the 3rd time this year that I’ve been here. Soon I hope.

Here are some images from the day.

When I stepped out of my room, half asleep, clad in my sleeping clothes and lugging the camera along… I thought I was in jail. Beautiful lighting nonetheless:)

Sunrise at the Drop Off. Fishing boats out for their early catch.

I felt it, so I took it.

The resident barracuda staking outside the wreck. Visibility was pretty bad, good thing I didn’t run into it. It won’t be pretty.

I was taking the picture of the cleaner shrimp (below) and when I turned around, I saw this fella watching me. I pointed the camera at it and it flared it’s fins before swimming away while eyeballing me.

The cleaner shrimp doing it’s work at the cleaning station. It’s quite interesting to watch them work.

Red or Blue? The two Harlequin shrimps fighting over a piece of starfish. Red one won the fight.

The resident black tip shark at the Drop Off. They swam past the Coral Garden… lucky bump there!:D

I am now sitting in front of the beachside restaurant of Paradise Resort with my laptop and a cup of hot honey ginger lemon tea. The horizon is still visible at this hour as we are approaching full moon on a cloudless night. If I haven’t had a good 2 hour nap earlier, I’d have fallen asleep right here with the cool sea breeze. Just about more than a month ago, I was in this same spot. Not a bad spot to be in really:)

The trip had been rather nice so far. Sure, there were some screw ups here and there, but nothing mood dampening. There’s no internet, so I am forced to enjoy the cool sea breeze out there instead of facebooking in the hotel room. I’m not here with anyone else, so I am forced to talk to other people and found out interesting experiences that they went through. I was bored to tears on my long journeys to the dive sites so I managed to put in some thoughts on my photography. So far, the flip sides have been rather good, at least the way I see them.

On the 3 hour ride to Seraya, I spoke to Steve, an aussie who’s heading for Tulamben for a day dive.He used to be a dive instructor for quite a number of years around the world before moving on to something else. He shared the same enthusiasm as me about diving when we started. At that point, it wasn’t the fishes nor the colorful reefs that got us hooked. It was just the sensation of being weightless, freedom in another dimension. It’s an indescribable feeling to a non-diver. Alot of my diver friends would agree to that feeling. He gave up on expanding the career in the industry when his wife got pregnant. Same old story. The world revolves around the family, the Mafia knows best. I don’t need to remind myself how many times I heard “it’s a life changing experience”.

The dive at Seraya was good. Saw two Harlequin shrimps towards the end of the dive. It seems there are some people that kept moving them around and building “houses” for them. The dive guide would usually consult the locals who will tell them their “last location” (eg. Today it’s at 9m near the rope). According to my diveguide, some dive operators move them so they will have the exclusitivity of their locations. Can’t imagine moving houses every other day. Even moving between hotels is a pain, let alone a house.

2nd dive was at Coral garden at Tulamben. Nice little gem situated between the more famous sites (USS Liberty wreck and Drop Off). Saw a couple of ribbon eels, coral crabs, shrimps, the usual suspects.

Here are some images for the day.

Double #1: The ornamental Harlequin shrimps.

Double #2: Anemone shrimp with baby

Double #3: Nudibranchs

Moray eel living within a huge colony of shrimps.

Blue ribbon eel.

“stargazing”

“one voice”

Had a rather good night’s sleep at Mutiara Villas at Nusa Lembongan. The entire restaurant had only one set of cutleries prepared on the table, which convinced me that I am indeed the only guest in the house! I very much prefer Tanis Villas which I stayed in the last time round.

The day’s dives were alright, nothing quite worth the photography effort as both were drift dives. First at Pat, second at SD. Nothing quite as fast as Lembongan point which we did yesterday, but still an effortless drift through the reefs.

Checked back at Kuta because of some logistics mix up on the dive center’s part. It’s ok, as long I get my internet access. Tomorrow, I’ll be heading Seraya and Coral garden at Tulamben after some recommendation by a fellow diver. Let’s hope we get something good tomorrow.

Here are some images I got today.

A lone surfer catching the morning waves at Nusa Lembongan against the backdrop of Mount Agung.

That’s approxmately 40m worth of bubbles.

The night’s sleep wasn’t too good. Dozed off in front of my computer before waking at at 3am in the morning to have my stuff packed and got my gears ready. Managed to nap another 2 more hours before the day began. I took a little time off to take some pictures of the resort villa again under the much softer morning light. That way, I was able to get a proper reflection off the pool.

The guys from Pro Dive Bali picked me up and together with a group of spanish divers, we headed towards Nusa Penida. Water conditions were good, nothing like that rogue waves we encountered the last time round.

The trip there was pretty quiet for me as I literally concussed at the back of the boat from the lack of sleep. Once on site, we wasted no time to get into the water, only to find ourselves immersed in murky green water. Visibility was at best 5 meters.

The thing about low visibility was thaat everything seem to happen very quickly. The huge manta rays literally appear out of nowhere right in front of me, often catching me by surprise. Nonetheless, it was still a good dive.

After lunch, we headed towards Lembongan point for some kickass drift diving. The current was nice, fast and predictable. There was hardly any way I could stop to take any pictures, so I did some videos instead. Looks like fast and furious underwater. I will have to wait till I get back to Singapore before I can post them up. It’s quite an amazing dive I thought.. .

By the time I reached the resort, I was totally spent. Took a shower, had a quick snack and napped for a good 3 hours before waking up for dinner again. And I seem to be the only occupant in the entire resort. No kidding. I wonder why.

Here are some images from the day.

Reflection of the villa.

The small cottage that I actually booked, but 2 of them were being renovated and were not updated on the website.

I really love the cottage by the pool. But I’m not complaining about the upgrade:)

The only pair of mantas on this trip. They seem to be larger than the ones I’ve seen the last time round.

They appeared right before me from nowhere, crossing my path as I struggled to get both in frame and in focus.

At times, they’ll come straight at the divers.

Snorklers hovering on top of the cleaning station. I wonder how’s the view up there.

The white stripe of bubbles were formed by the waves which crashed against the cliff.

To my dear clients and friends. I am currently in Bali for visiting (Mantas, mozzies and a few others). Please drop me an email and I will reply you as soon I get internet access like now. Thank you for your patience and watch this space:)

If you are folllowing me on twitter or on my facebook, you probably know the mad rush I was in before leaving for this trip. Only packed 30mins before I left home. Dive gears, cameras, clothing, chargers, laptop… etc. The only thing I forgot was an extra bag to carry my camera around. But that’s not a big deal since I don’t think I’ll be doing much walking around except probably the last day or so.

The flight was a breeze. Slept most of the time and woke up only to find the plane appoaching the runway at unusually fast speed. I really thought there was something wrong. My heart dropped a little, the rest of the body was intact. lol. Everything seem to go well this time round, immigration, taxis, etc.

Took a short taxi ride to Villa Seminyak Estate and Spa which I booked 2 hours before leaving home (talk about being last minute). The guy at the reception asked me if I was with friends, I said no, I’m alone. He looked shocked. I thought… “what the hell… can’t come alone is it?”. Then he explained that the small hut by the pool I booked was under renovation and wasn’t updated on the website, so they “upgraded” me to a villa. Actually, I wasn’t too happy because I really wanted to stay by the pool. When he opened the door to the villa, it was my turn to get a shock. I counted 50 steps to reach my room. The best part about the villa… free wireless internet access (ok, it’s not starhub nor singtel, but at least it gets me online). I know it’s very lame, but I know I’m going to be deprived of internet for the next 5 days, let me just have a little bit more. Here are some images of the villa (you can check out their website at www.villaseminyak.net).

Ordered some late night nasi goreng while filling the bathtub in the humongous bathroom (it’s about the same size as my bedroom in Singapore, although it’s quite empty). A good start for the trip I hope.

Woke up really late the next day. Only in time for a morning dip at the pool before heading for breakfast right before closing. I have to say the villa is not for people who have to sleep in complete darkness. Because of the light from the top windows, the place will be brightly lit riht after sunrise, which in Bali, is abot 6am. Fortunately, I have no such problems. I can sleep under spotlights.

Met Edward from Launch 2002 wakeboard school for lunch. I always thought I was alone in Bali island. Kinda crazy to meet people I know here. Then I had coffee with Hannah from Heaven’s Gift and her designer. They were here on a business trip. Booked my dive trip and back to hotel again. Checked my dive equipments and mucked around in the pool. It was fun, very fun. As tradition goes… a self portrait at the beginning of every trip:D my nose was like a leaking tap after the shoot.

It’s been two crazy weeks since I returned from Bali. Granted, I had a little fun in Batam, but it was still crazy. Now that the dust has sort of settled (into a huge pile of images), the image making machine begins to warm up.

Besides diving in Bali and trying out some underwater shots, we did a Pre-Wedding for James and Melissa as well. Shooting underwater requires so much logistics it’s not even funny to list them down. One of the major pre-requisites is the models themselves. It was physically taxing on both parties. But end of it all, it was fun and we found out tricks and all to make things easier. Can’t wait to try it again though:)

After my “epic” dive with the jacks at Tulamben, I met James and Melissa the day after and stayed at the beautiful Karma Kandara Resort with Melissa’s brother and CJ. The shoot was scheduled for the next day and we headed out to Uluwatu, then to Dreamland (where we were made to pay “fees” to access the beach) before moving out to Tanah Lot in the evening.

And… let’s just say that… I wanna go out now and I’ll leave the images to speak for themselves?

The fifth trip to Bali has officially ended. Easily, my best trip there yet. There was no rush, no pressure, no obligations, no fear that things will turn out wrong. Perhaps because, there were no expectations. I allowed the flow of things to take over. I was overwhelmed by calmness. Sometimes, I wonder how I do it. In the words of the fat-barrel; kan cheong is not an option.

Out of this entire trip, my favourite moment would be the one where I was swimming with the jacks. It’s the first time I have spent such a long time on a subject. The experience was so surreal. I wish I could do more of such dives. When I travel, I always believe in spending enough time at a place to appreciate it. But I have never imagine that to happen underwater as most of times, we will be grouped and it’s a little like guided tours where you touch and go. Finally, I got what I wanted and I will definitely be planning my dives like this. That said, I’m planning more trips soon and very likely, a nitrox course as well. Let’s see how it all pans out once I get my schedule sorted out.

It’s almost exactly 6 years since that dive that broke my eardrum. That was pretty much a turning point in my life. The event that led me to the world of photography. Because of that accident, I picked up my first DSLR and somehow, got started in wedding photography and had never looked back since. The money that was used to buy that DSLR was actually for an underwater camera that I have been saving up for months after I got addicted to underwater world. Being able to do this all over again is like redemption to me. And yes, it was worth the wait.

Here’s a slideshow I put up for the Bali trip.

Click to view slideshow

The last two days of my slightly longer than usual work trip. On day twelve, the boys stayed villa-ed, while the girls went diving at Nusa Penida again. I wished I could go, but I have to detox before the flight next day. And that proved to be a bad bad bad (not like I have a choice) decision. After they left, we went to Ubud to have lunch and did some hopeless shopping. I’m not sure about the others, but my head was still spinning like crazy from that horrible ride to Nusa Penida two days ago.

Right after lunch, we received an sms from the girls. They saw a huge school or mantas at Manta Point and are heading for Crystal bay to try their luck on the Molas. Sea condition was bad and they are just going to try anyway. An hour later, we got another message, they found the Molas. Not one, but TWO!!! And the best part, only 2 divers, 1 diveguide and 2 molas. It was unbelievable!! If I hadn’t seen the video after that, I would never have believed it.

This was their story. The details are pretty accurate since they repeated the story the whole night after they came back:P *lol* Right after they made their descent at Crystal Bay, the diveguide signaled them to move down the slope. According to them, they’ve never seen the diveguide so excited. They followed and spotted a baby mola, probably about 2 foot in diameter. The shy baby mola swam away as soon they approached. Wayan, the diveguide, took Michelle’s camera and started video-ing the other big mola. That one is probably 4-5foot in diameter. It was an amazing 4 minute documentary of the mola-mola! And at a depth of 50m!! Too bad I can’t link the video here since it’s not loaded on public site yet.

Though worn out from the extremely rough boat ride, the girls were smiling from ear to ear and watching the videos over and over again the entire night till they ran out of energy. I was in dreamland, wondering, why didn’t I extend another day. Damnit, now I have to wait another year to catch them again (if I’m luck enough). I was happy though, that they managed to catch it. At least it’s not a wasted trip.

On the last day, we woke up early and headed for the resort’s private beach. We did some shooting and headed up to the pool for a swim. Had a crazy time before it was time for me to pack up. Damn I wished I could’ve stayed another day. What a fantastic trip, fantastic company. Never a dull moment.

Here are some snippets from that morning’s shoot.

I told James to sit at the rock while the waves were crashing in. It looks pretty mild for awhile…

…then a HUGE one crashed right into him. I manage to avoid it somehow and… laughed my ass off:P That was so funny!!

The travel party at the infinity pool…

…going for the infinity…

…FACEPLANT!!

Happy people, all around. The photographer too, was happy behind the camera:D

The hunt for the molas started early in the morning. The mood was filled with excitement and apprehension. Upon hearing news of molas hiding in deep, dark and cold waters beyond 30m out at sea, we started worrying that we might not even catch a glimpse of them. After collecting our gear from the dive shop, we boarded the dive boat at Sanur.

Once we were out of the safety of the harbour, the horizon seemed to disappear periodically. That was when I realized, our 1 hour rollercoaster ride had begun. The boat captain, trying his best to outmanoeuvre the crashing waves, could only do so much to prevent sea sickness for some of those onboard. When the boat rose to the peak of the waves, we could see the extent of the height of the waves. Looking down, it looked as if we were on top of a small hill. At one point, the waves crashed right into our boat, raining seawater on us for a good 5-10 seconds. It was a relief when we finally reached the dive site.

First dive was more like a check out dive at the north of Nusa Penida. Visibility was incredibly poor. Some divers caught sight of Pygmy seahorses and turtles amidst the drift. We surfaced for lunch before heading for Crystal Bay, the famous sanctuary for the Mola Molas. The choppy waters rocked the boat side to side as we quickly rigged up and jumped into the water before anyone got seasick again. In the cold waters, we drifted effortlessly towards one of the cleaning stations where the Molas were known to visit. Saw some really huge pipefishes and a large school of yellow fishes (I can’t name them again though).

At that point, the guides signalled for us to turn back. I cursed through my mouthpiece as I struggled against the strong current. The needle on my pressure gauge raced towards the red zone in record speed. At that time, I questioned the reasoning to turn back. I was angry. No Molas and a throbbing headache from that workout. When we surfaced, the waves were so high it was difficult to reach the boat. The dive guides made sure all of us were up on the boat before climbing up themselves. Everyone looked dead and no one spoke. I went up to the sundeck and crashed, praying the boat would move out fast.

Once they secured the equipment, the two diveguides went up to the sundeck and crashed as well. As I closed my eyes with a towel over my face (I don’t need a peeling face for the weddings over this weekend), I calmed down and thought about what they did. I guess, water conditions might have been worse if we had drifted out and boarding the boat would then have been an even more impossible task. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

When we thought the worst was over, another piece of drama unfolded just before we reached the harbour. Our boat had slowed down as we were negotiating some waves before entering the harbour. Just then, another boat raced towards us and it didn’t seem like it was slowing down. Moments later, it crashed right into one of the outboard motors and damaged it. Without stopping, the boat then sped away. The lone driver onboard the boat had a rather fierce expression. It was so surreal, almost like a pirate attack! There was some confusion onboard, but the staff looked pretty calm. I have this feeling, they might know one another.

Everyone came back with some story to tell. Seasickness, gigantic waves boat collision, etc. None of Molas actually, there is. But it’s a private joke:P We aborted the next day’s dive as none of us felt like even touching the water. There’s always a better day to dive.

The following day was spent mostly lazing around and having some detox-ing massages in town. My head was floaty most of the time. I was just glad I didn’t have to dive that day. During the massage, waves of memories over the past few days flooded my mind. Vivid, beautifully toned memories. I couldn’t ask for more, really. Rest, rest and more rest. I’ll need the energy for the weddings ahead. Counting down, 2 more days and I’d see sunny Singapore again.

That’s a pretty long breakfast post:) It’s drizzling out there with moments of sunshine bliss. Here are the images:) I’ve not downloaded those taken underwater (not many anyway).

Special thanks to Sharon for that spelling and grammar correction:D haha!:D

On day eleven, we headed to Kudeta to watch the sunset after an excellent 2 hour long massage at Bodyworks (Seminyak). Sunsets in Bali is almost always beautiful. Reflection against the black volcanic sands on the beach of Seminyak.

My favourite flying boat on the beach. This time, with a more dramatic backdrop. I’ve always wondered, how they make that thing fly. It’s just amazing.

As the waves receded, I noticed the black sand had formed the shape of a heart on the beach. I was taking pictures of this when a Japanese girl approached me and asked what I was taking. I showed her the heart and she looked impressed and you might think it sounded like a romantic start. I asked “are you here alone?”, which I thought sounded like a crappy pick up line. And it went downhill from there she didn’t see the waves coming in during the conversation and I ran up the beach leaving her on the beach where the seawater flooded her. Best part I laughed so hard. Then I said, “nice meeting you, enjoy your stay.”.

Kudeta… and the world of colorful lanterns:)

That’s what you’ll see if you had a few more Bintangs. Gotta love Bali:D

The pre and post shooting days. I took a day’s break after all that diving before the Pre-Wedding shoot. Checked into a mozzie infested hotel room in Kuta the night before and fond myself slapping myself silly throughout the night. I managed to count four kills. The day was spent sorting out some admin stuff and just lazying around. I met up with the couple after a whirlwind ride to the extremely secluded resort.

Upon reaching the resort, I was so happy to find that there’s FREE WIFI!!! Finally! We set up a “business center” at the dining table. The next few days at the resort were spent either in the infinity pool with a sea “facing” view or the business center. It was funny how we joked about the “Sea view”. True enough, our pool was facing the sea, but the view was kinda blocked by some trees and nice looking villas.

The shoot went well on the 2nd day. It was a really good experience. Did a early morning shoot, break in the afternoon. Managed to get a good rest and dip in the pool before heading out for the evening shoot. Love it. And I love the nasi padang we had for lunch. Cheap and nice! By the end of the day, my energy level was in negative levels. Those chaps still had time to dip in the pool. I am amazed. I was completely knocked out in the living room.

The post-shooting day was spent recuperating. It was nice just to laze around and explore the resort. And we found the private beach freaking awesome. White sandy beach with a killer view. The huge waves crashing against the sandbar during the rising tide. Then we adjourned back to our pool for some bintang by the poolside. Therapeutic.

Not quite satisfied with the view, we went to the main infinity pool at the restaurant. The sunset is pretty damn awesome. I was almost hyperventilating when I saw the changing light. The reflection off the water is absolutely beautiful. I wished I had better time to set up my camera. I hope the sunsets for the next few days will be good as well.

Here are some images from the sunset.

 

Norman and Amy arrived the night before, just in time for late dinner together. It feels really good having dinner by the sea with the cool breeze and listening to the waves crashing into the rocks. We chatted till late before heading for bed in preparation for a long day ahead.

 The day started slow while we waited for our DM, Kadek, to come from Kuta. Before that, we decided to do some underwater shots at a calmer spot near our resort. It was crazily difficult, both for the models and the photographer. We spent a good 2 hours sorting out problems and trying out stuff. It was fun, but tiring too. I realized not everyone sinks like a rock like me.

As Norman hasn’t dived for years. We took it easy and went down the wreck again while Amy was “watched over us” while snorkeling. This time round, I replaced my macro port with a dome port for the wide angle stuff. There are still plenty of creatures to see, but with a dome port, the photo opportunity is limited for a place known for it’s macro stuff. Still, I love the wide angle for a change.

We spent the later part of the afternoon perfecting some underwater shots of Norman and Amy. My head was swirling from the underwater surges. I have to say they were as eager to get the shots as I do. But the level of difficulty in doing things underwater is nowhere close to what we do on the surface. We kept trying till our bodies decided, it’s time to rest. Had an extremely heavy dinner and for the first time in more than a week, I had 7 hours of sleep.

We did exactly the same dives as the previously 2 days. Liberty -> Drop Off -> Liberty (dawn) -> Seraya. This is what I love about staying at a place for a long time when I travel. Same place, different time, different things.

The dawn dive was especially rewarding. We managed to set off before 7am, which was an extremely good move as we didn’t see many divers there. Before the dive, I told Kadek that I would love to photograph the school of jacks, which I’ve always seen from a distance. 5 mins into the dive, she pointed them out to me and I signaled to her that I will be up there for the rest of the dive. Depth, 3-5m. I spent an hour swimming with the jacks with minimal visual on other divers. Even if they passed, they didn’t seem interested with the jacks. To me, one jack is nothing, a school of them makes them interesting. That was one of my favourite dive. We all surfaced happy with the dives. Norman got to see the Pygmy seahorsea among other stuff. I hope my dives in future will be like this, spending more time with the animals, so I can watch them rather than “touch and go” or “shoot and go”.

2^nd dive at Seraya was equally good to complete a day of fantastic diving. Before the dive, a couple from Hongkong spotted the elusive and prized Harlequin Shrimp and told us a rough location. And that was good enough. After about 20mins of searching, an excited Kadek signaled that she found something. I knew it’s going to be something good as she rarely got that excited. As I approach, I kept telling myself, go slow and not kick up a storm. And there it was, the beautiful Harlequin shrimp. It was tiny, about a centimeter or less. I spent a good 10mins photographing it. And that’s when I realized, why people take underwater photographs. With your naked eyes, you can hardly make out the details on these beautiful but tiny creatures. When we surfaced, Kadek told me it’s the first time she saw a Harlequin shrimp, which explains why she was so excited. I guess, everyone got something out of that dive.

We packed up and left tulamben. That’s where I realized I haven’t booked a hotel for the night’s stay in town. Luckily the dive center helped me booked one that’s right in the middle of Kuta. I said, “internet availability” is utmost priority. The dive is over, at least the shore dives. Looking forward to the shoot and then diving with the Mola Molas and Mantas again. May the luck be with us, like it has always been.

 Enough talking, here are the images.

I haven’t had enough sleep for the past few days because of work, travel and my obsession with my new laptop. Gadgets, they keep you up all night:D And that’s the reason why you are seeing pictures on the blog now.

 I was told that the pick up to Tulamben will be at 7am. Not the best time really. I dread snoozing the alarm over 30 times. In no time, I was on my way to Tulamben, fast dozing off on the ride, missing out on the sights along the way. I woke up just in time to view the magnificent Mount Agung with the trail of destruction following the 1963 eruption. I love it so much that I visited it the next day, walking through the landscape formed by volcanic rocks.

 At the beach resort at Tulamben, a burly man called out to me as I was walking to my room, “hey! I know you!” It was Ketuk, a DM with the dive shop that I met during my last trip. I remember him because he asked me alot of questions about photography and he too, is very interested in it. Also, he shared alot about what to see at the dive sites. He offered to lead the dive which I happily accepted, knowing that I’ll be in good hands.

 I was grouped with 6 divers from Malaysia. Really nice and funny people. Some of them were into underwater photography too, which created a common topic for that two days we were together. As usual, first dive was at USS Liberty wreck followed by the Drop Off and a chilling night dive at the wreck again. Pygmy seahorse, box shrimps, octopuses, nudis, among other stuff. Overall, a very satisfying first day.

 The 2^nd day started with a “relatively late” dawn dive. But it was still good enough for some good “catches” and avoiding the day trip divers that usually arrive around 10am. That was followed by a little muck diving at Seraya. Lots of interesting looking nudis, ghost pipefish, anemone crab and shrimps, garden eels, seahorse, the great barracuda and lots more. Some were way too small that I could hardly make out with naked eyes, not to mention through that tiny viewfinder. Awesome day.

 Here are some images for that two days. More will be posted when I’m back in Singapore:)

I still can’t figure out why I couldn’t sleep last night. After completing my “cloning” activities, I went on to have supper at the hotel restaurant at about 2am. I knew I was in trouble when I went to bed at 4am. 830Am was the time I told the Polos, the driver to wait for me at the lobby. I woke at at 910am. Eh, not too bad.

We planned our itinerary over breakfast and very soon, we were out of the hotel and heading for potential spots for the Pre-Wedding shoot next week. The hour long rides seem to be over quickly as we were engrossed in our conversations, exchanging information about our countries.

 This is the season for creamation in Bali. From what I understand, it is a ceremony to cremate the departed. Some temples were filled with people as they took part in the ceremony. Bodies or remains (dug from graves) are placed in decorated “coffins” and cremated in temples. The ashes are then scattered to both the sea and the mountains.

 Here are some images from my trip tday.