Raffish Ramblings

I opened the newspapers this morning, flipped through the first few pages of political news - which, incidentally, bore me senseless - and this ad jumped out at me.  I had to log on and share this with you immediately.

Starbucks' Toffee Nut Latte is BACK!!



It is one of the yummiest beverages I have ever come across.  It is rich and buttery and tastes of espresso and warm milk and toasted nuts.  It's velvety and smooth and hits the spot like you would not believe.

Of course it has something like 210 calories.  But you can burn off 210 calories by running 14.4km for 15 minutes, or by swimming briskly for 20 minutes.

It's worth it, I reckon!!  Starbucks anyone?

This is the Scott's Emulsion tv ad we assisted with, remember??  Here's something to jog your memory.

We assisted in all the underwater scenes, obviously, providing the kids (yes, there were two, though the ad would have you believe it was just one kid!) with training, air, and just keeping them safe.

Love the final outcome!!

 

I started writing the blog on my recent Lembeh trip yesterday, but it sounded so disjointed, probably because that's the way I was feeling.  Our flight back was delayed, but of course, so by the time my cabbie dropped the various people back and sent me home - and by the time I had my shower, etc, it was slightly after 3am.  Suffice to say, I was a bit out of it yesterday.  I did, however, manage to post up the pictures from the trip, which should be self explanatory, really.

Well, this trip started out almost as eventful as the last trip. 

We got to the airport and then one of my guys realized that he had left his passport at home.  He said it so calmly, and without any sense of urgency or panic, that we initially thought he was kidding.  So we laughed it off, and headed to the check-in counter.  When it finally dawned on us that he was serious, we rushed him into a cab and told the driver to FLY.

Two hours later, and a lot of frantic text messages in between, he made it to the check-in counter with his passport - and with 3 minutes to spare before the counter closed.  I am too old for this kind of stress, honestly!

Then we proceeded to the departure lounge and made it through security checkpoint without too much fuss.  Normally I get stopped because the handle for my camera underwater housing where I attach my strobe resembles that of a screwdriver / hammer / weapon of mass destruction.

We boarded the plane on time, settled down into our seats, and ten minutes later came this voice over the loudspeaker announcing that the plane had a flat tyre and that we would  have to disembark and return to the departure hall so they could change it.  They didn't exactly SAY it like that - but I'm sure that's what they meant.  So off we trooped again, back into the airport.

Since they had told us it was going to take 45 minutes to get a new tyre on, we went into this cafe and ordered coffee and pastries to wait it out.  About 20 minutes into our bonus snack time, the loudspeaker boomed again and said "flight AK432 to Manado is now ready for boarding at gate T3".  So we had to gobble down the airport-priced pastries and wash that down with piping hot coffee - since, obviously, there's nothing we enjoy more than scalding our throats and getting indigestion prior to a 4 hour flight.

A bit of confusion at the gates.  Gate T2 had a huge signboard with the flight to Macau on it, and gate T3 had a huge signboard with the flight to Manado on it.  But then apparently gate T3 was for folks going to Macau and gate T2 was for us.  So everyone was queueing on the wrong lanes, and the Air Asia staff were there yelling "T2 MANADO!  T3 MACAU!" and herding us like cattle to the slaughter - and I'm not even sure why, seeing as the gates were side by side anyways.

Back across the tarmac.  Back onto the airplane.  Back into our seats.  I repeat - I am TOO OLD for this kind of excitement.

But we made it into Manado, and then into Lembeh.  By the time we had dinner, checked into our rooms, showered, set up my camera for the next day and tumbled into bed, it was 2am. 

Less than 5 hours later and we were up for breakfast.

The dives were out of this world and Lembeh has confidently reinforced its position as my Numero Uno place to dive.

Everything in Lembeh is spectacular - but a few stood out as exceptionally spectacular, if there's even such a thing - this trip.  Among which are the
yellow rhinopias - or weedy scorpionfish ...



The hairy frogfish ...



The blue ring octopus ...



And the wonderpus ...



And just when you think Lembeh is all about black sand diving and tiny critters, they take you to a dive site like Angel's Window - where it's corals galore - and the color and formations and abundance just blow you away.

What stands out about Angel's Window, besides the surprise that it's vastly different from the rest of Lembeh diving - is that it has two swim throughs - one beginning at about 18m and exiting at 20m, and the other beginning at about 22m and exiting at 26m. 

So you go in here ...



And after a slight twist and turn, you exit here ....



Then you swim down a little and enter another little cave, and you see this exit ...



No prizes for guessing where the name Angel's Window comes from.

It is a beautiful, beautiful place. 

Lembeh diving is DA BOMB ... so excuse me while I go and withdraw from the highs of my trip.