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October 31 SiamilSiamil and Denawan are two islands about 45 minutes away from Mabul. Because they are relatively new dive sites, the corals there are amazingly intact - beautiful, colorful, rich, healthy. There is also a vast variety of marine life there. Schools of up to 30 devil rays have been seen at Siamil. We weren't that lucky though!
Siamil is always a half day trip. We do two dives, then have a picnic lunch on the island with food they bring from the resort, as well as grilled fresh fish that you can catch yourself if you wish. It's always fun and very back-to-nature-ish.
The morning that we were to go to Siamil was a wet, gloomy, cloudy day. The boat ride over was awful. Mel braved the lashing winds, torrents of raindrops pelting down on us and cascades of salt water as our boat cut through the waves, without one murmur of complaint.
Her only comment upon arrival at Siamil was ... mom, I feel like I've just been swimming. I was very proud of my kiddo!!
The weather made it extremely cold to dive. I was shivering throughout the dive, and after the dive. But we did see loads of stuff!
We saw nudibranchs galore, two pygmys on one seafan (one spotted by Mel!!), loads of eels - one of my favorite marine creatures, the frogfish ...
A sea spider on a huge sponge ...
A leaf fish ...
A starfish and tube sponges ... you must admit that Mother Nature has a really good sense of humour to come up with arrangements like this!! I LOVE this shot!
But because the weather was so unaccommodating, and I was so cold, I decided to opt out of the second dive. So while Mel went off for the second dive quite confidently with Alex, I stayed on the boat, wrapped myself up in a huge towel, and went to sleep. I was dozing on and off, quite happily, thinking about the stuff I had seen, and looking forward to going back to the resort so I could dive Paradise 1 again (what can I say, I REALLY love the SWV house reef!) - when the boatman started the engine and told me that both Mel and Alex were up from the dive.
So I sat up, and Mel was grinning away, and the first words out of her mouth was ... Mom, I saw a blue ring octopus!!
(Picture of blue ring octopus courtesy of Alex)
My reply was ... That's fantastic, Mel!! - but what I actually meant was "Shit Shit Shit, I should have braved the cold and gone for the dive!" - and my inner voice added ... "you stupid imbecilic wimp!!" ... My inner voice tells me off sometimes and doesn't mince her words.
Sigh ... so I missed the blue ring octopus. And in all my years of diving, I've only ever seen it ONCE.
Lucky lucky Mel!
Living It Up!Mel and I did two dives at the legendary Barracuda Point in Sipadan - and Mel was super lucky as she saw everything that Barracuda Point is renowned for on her first dive ever at Sipadan.
As soon as we descended, it was right smack into a school of swirling jacks.
I mean - we literally just dropped right into the middle of it ...
And so we were hanging out with them for a bit, and before we were even done with them, a school of bumphead parrotfish approached ...
And just sort of glided slowly by ...
And the currents kinda pushed Mel and me right up by them ...
It was way cool as they didn't give a crap about us being so close to them. Mel was a little freaked out by their teeth though!
So after the bumpheads went on their merry way, we went to see some sharks, which Mel really wanted to see. We saw heaps!
The currents really started to pick up by this point and we were fighting it for a while.
But then all of a sudden, we seemed to be approaching a storm cloud of sorts. A school of barracudas! A THICK school of barracudas! Doing the swirly vortex tornado thingy. (I'm sure there's a more scientific name for it, but I like to call it a 'swirly vortex tornado thingy', okay?!)
So with Mel riding on the back of Alex, off they went right into the middle of it ...
And I mean RIGHT in the middle ...
I took this picture from the outside of the swirly vortex thingy ...
And then went to join Mel in the middle ...
And we were just hanging there, surrounded totally by a wall of barracuda on all sides ...
Indescribable, and I'm SO glad Mel got to experience this!
Paradise 1When you first dive Paradise 1, all you see is sand. No colorful corals, no sea fans - just sand and some seagrass as far as the eye can see. But oh, the treasure it contains! The trick is to go slow. Observe. Don't stir up the sand. Wait. Let your eyes adjust and a myriad of marine life pops up at you.
Just under the jetty, for example, there are batfish ...
And a huge school of snappers ...
Turtles ...
(Kindly forgive the blue tinge to all my pictures - my strobe sensor died out on me on my second day of diving, and I had to photograph sans my lighting on all the other days. That was extremely frustrating for me, but cest la vive ... )
There are eels ...
Here's a juvenile lionfish, almost transparent ...
A baby cuttlefish ...
And then, of course, there is my seahorse. Not the thorny one from my May trip, but the common seahorse. And she's a beauty! We went to see her three or four times, and always, she's stalking the tiny shrimp and lunging out and sucking them up her snout. I took a video of her eating - if you wanna see it, buy me coffee and I'll bring my laptop and show it to ya .. !
But anyway, here she is ...
It was LOVE at first sight for me. She is full of character, almost impish even. Constantly on the move, never staying still. Hard to shoot with a camera, but really fun to watch. I caught myself grinning more than once just watching her antics, and at times, I could even swear she was grinning back at me.
She's tiny though ... see how she measures up against Mel's thumb?
On an aside, you know how to tell a male seahorse from a female seahorse? You see where the tail meets the body? If there is an almost ninety degree slant from the belly of the seahorse to where the tail begins, it's female. If it's a nice smooth curve, it's male.
But anyway, here's Mel having a close encounter with a snake eel ...
If you move fast and make sudden movements, it pops back down into it's hole. But if you breathe really slowly and approach it really gently, you can actually stroke it's head ...
These moments of acceptance by a marine creature are so precious.
And so you're diving and looking down at the sand, and a tiny pebble-sized thing moves. And you think .. hang on .. why is that pebble moving?? And so you bring your face SO close to the sand that your nose is touching it, and you squint your eyes, and the image registers, and you go ... oh my WORD ... !!
Hang on ... let's zoom in some more ...
It's a baby dragonet!!!!!!
And I wasn't exaggerating when I said it was tiny. This is it measured against my second finger ...
And this is it measured against Mel's pinkie ...
Never underestimate the abundance of marine life on sand. Paradise 1 is a treasure trove of wonders and miracles.
Diving at SeaventuresWhen I took Mel on her first trip to SWV last year, we only dived at the SWV house reef. Which, in my opinion, is the best dive site in Mabul. But the reason we did that was because Mel was only a Junior Scuba Diver at that point, and her depth was limited to 12m. This year, we managed to venture a bit further, diving sites in and around Mabul, as well as Sipadan.
More on Sipadan later, but first - Seaventures. Mel asked me what good sites there are around Mabul, and after the house reef of Paradise 1 and 2, my next favorite site is Seaventures. Seaventures is an old retired oil rig that they pulled in and turned into a resort. I don't know about staying there, as I think it would be fairly claustrophobic - but the diving under that rig is awesome.
Infact, Mel liked it so much that we dived it twice. What can I say, that girl has TASTE!!
We saw loads of different nudibranches ...
We saw a ribbon eel ...
Tons of crocodilefish, stonefishes and scorpionfish - of which I didn't take a single picture, and am now trying to figure out why!
The highlight, of course, is the pygmy seahorse ... Here's Mel trying to see it with a magnifying glass ...
Can you spot it?
How about now??
What if I zoom in REA-LLY close?
What if it's staring STRAIGHT at you???
Ok ... how about if I crop the picture??
Super cute.
Words Don't Do It JusticeThis is the 7th draft I am writing about my holiday in SWV with Mel, and no matter how descriptive I try and make it, nothing seems to do it justice! I keep writing and re-writing, and still I'm not happy with it. So I've just decided that I will post this entry, no matter how much I feel it doesn't capture the essence of what this trip meant to me. Maybe the pictures will speak for themselves.
I tried to write about this trip from various angles. First, I thought I would do a day-by-day account, much like what I did with my Bali trip. That somehow didn't pan out. Then I thought I'd do one blog entry per dive site. But somehow that didn't quite work out either. Then I thought I'd feature different species and write about that. Again, no ... that didn't turn out the way I imagined it would.
So now i've decided that I will just write about what impressed me the most, even if they come in no logical order whatsoever. Leave aside for now how wonderful it felt to be back there again, how great it was to see and spend some time with my Sabah family, how refreshing for the spirit it was to be in such tranquil surroundings - let's talk about the diving!
After the first couple of dives, I noticed a pattern beginning to emerge. I noticed that because I didn't have a group with me and that I didn't have anyone to watch over, that I could really take my time and observe marine life. And observe I did. And I noticed and learnt certain behavior patterns. And because I was so tuned in to the subtle nuances and signals that marine creatures give out, I was able to experience a few thoroughly amazing moments.
I managed to capture only three such events with my camera:
One, was a snowflake moray hunting and feeding ...
First, it swam out from under the staghorn coral where it was waiting ...
Then it darted under another piece of coral ...
Then it emerged with a fish in it's mouth ...
Then it curled itself around the fish, much like a boa constrictor would around it's prey ...
Over and over ...
And then it bit into it ...
And transported it ...
And had what I assume would have been quite a substantial meal, based on the smile on it's face when it was done ...
Tell me that wasn't amazing!!
The second event was staying at a cleaning station for a good 45 minutes and watching fish after fish after eel being cleaned by shrimp. There was some serious waiting to be done before I could capture the shots, but damn, it was worth it!
This is the totally unassuming, boring-looking cleaning station ...
This is Mel looking into it ...
And this is what we saw. First, a moray being cleaned ...
See the shrimp??
There are some on the sand, and some on the rock, and if you enlarge the picture, there's one on the head of the moray, just above the eye.
But that wasn't all. A grouper came swimming by, stopped and looked at us, decided we weren't going to harm it, and went right on in ...
The next series of photos are self-explanatory. The grouper opened up it's gills and it's mouth for the shrimp to enter and give it a good clean-up.
Did you see the shrimp in the gills and inside the mouth??
And one on the head too ..
Amazing to watch, I tell ya ...
The third event was a red coral trout hunting ...
So here it is, lying in wait for an unsuspecting fish to swim by ...
It finds a prey, watches, sticks it's head out a bit more ...
Then it lunges forward, mouth open! Talk about kickass action!!
Unfortunately, in this case, it missed ... lucky fish, hungry trout ... so it settles in to wait and to try again ...
My air was down to 60 bar by this time and I had quite some ways to swim to get back to the dive center, so I don't know if he got to have lunch or not. But my bet is yes, he did ... !
And just for your info, all three of the above events I captured on the house reef of SWV aptly named Paradise 1 and 2. The max depth of the dives was only about 16m, and my dives were all over an hour and a half in length - mostly spent waiting and watching at one spot - but man, it was SO worth it.
Will leave you with this for now, and write more later.
October 23 See Ya!Well, the cab is booked for 4:30am (horror!) tomorrow morning - I have a boxful of instant noodles and ground coffee beans and mask lenses and rash guards and chocolate and other food stuff and things that I've been asked to "please bring over for us if possible" - my camera and housing and strobes are packed - Mel and mom have enough clothes and toiletries to last a month - I've packed light, as usual. I always pack just enough clothes to last me for the duration of the trip, and always just assume that I will not spill anything on them, or that I will not get rained on, or that a bird will not fly past and drop a shitload of .. well .. shit on me (though I had a close call in Mataking - the crap just missed me by a few inches and landed instead on Doreen, haha!).
On an aside, I had lunch with an ex-schoolmate of mine from secondary school days yesterday - and it was great fun to catch up with some gossip - who's up to what now - reminiscing about ex-teachers - catching up on life in general. She has a darling of a daughter - VERY prococious, VERY chatty, VERY intelligent, VERY cheeky, VERY dramatic. Reminded me of Mel when Mel was her age.
At one point, my friend kept getting these phone calls from family members as she is embroiled in some family drama of sorts (which one of us isn't!?!) - and her 5-year old looked at me with her bright sparkling round eyes, and with a mouthful of cheeseburger said, "I always tell my mommy that if she gets a phone call that will make her angry, then just ignore it" .. and I looked right back at her and said, "And you, sweetheart, are absolutely RIGHT" ... and I was rewarded with her dimpled grin.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - out of the mouth of babes!
So we're off tomorrow, Mel, mom and me .. finally, I might add! Back with updates and loads of photos at the end of the month. Thanks to everyone who's called or emailed or text-ed to wish us a safe trip!
October 21 TV AdI am a big fan of Yasmin Ahmad's work, and this is her new Petronas ad for the upcoming Deepavali festival ...
How moving is this??
Not only does she always manage to capture the multi-racial and multi-cultural expressions that make us unique as a nation, she also always manages to convey the basic essence of humanity that is within us all, regardless of race, culture and religion.
Even if you disregard her string of awards and accolades, both local and international, Ms Ahmad still makes me proud to be Malaysian!
October 20 Follow UpMy entry entitled Hard Lessons early this month prompted a lot of email responses, probably the most I have received from a blog entry, except perhaps for my entries on Bali, which was mostly from people going .. ughhh, I hate you!! Heh ..
Apparently, I started a "Conflict Resolution Revolution" - as one of my friends so succinctly put it.
But the thing is - in my own life, and within my own extended family, I have not been able to resolve anything. This too I have learnt the hard way. That it doesn't always pay to be brutally honest. That sometimes we can become so comfortable in our relationship with others that we over-estimate the strength of that relationship. And sometimes when shit hits the fan, the relationship is not strong enough to withstand the onslaught.
Within my own family, we have always had openness and honesty in our communications with each other. This is based on the knowledge that the foundation of our relationships - between my parents, between them and my sister and me, between us siblings, and now with the next generation of Mel, the Prince and the Princeling - is and has always been unfailing love. Love that is constant and unchanging, and not reliant on what we do or do not do, on the way we act, on what we say - but there because - as Mel puts it - we're FAMILY.
My idealistic nature assumed that this love naturally included the extended family as well, but I guess I was wrong. Not with the whole family - but with certain individuals.
This has really been bugging me, even though my other cousins and aunts and uncles have told me to let it go.
Conflict resolution is a two-way thing. All we can do is to offer the olive branch. But if the other party is not willing to accept it, or to acknowledge it - then the ball is in their court and out of your hands. And as much as that stinks, there's really nothing more one can do.
So now we have estranged individuals who were at some point close to the rest of us. And we can't do anything to resolve the issue.
That sucks.
Countdown ContinuesI can use the fingers on ONE hand now to countdown till we leave for SWV ... and I don't even need all the fingers on that one hand!!
October 18 Bruno'sLunch today was some kind of awesome! Mel decided she wanted to eat pork ribs at Bruno's in Jaya 33, so off we trooped.
Ooooh, funky menu and everything ...
The herb bread came ... in smaller chunks than I would have liked, but just nice to pop into your mouth, I guess - plus it was warm - along with an olive dip ...
For starters, we ordered the ... check out the fancy Spanish name ... Ensalada de Citricos con Jamon Iberico.
Basically, it is pieces of orange, grapefruit and lemon mixed with lettuce and rocket leaves, and tossed in a citrusy olive oil dressing ... topped with yummy Iberian ham.
See the ham??
I don't normally like anything citrus, but this was a top notch salad!
And we had the Barbeque Iberian Ribs Platter, which was basically oven-roasted pork ribs, served with baby potatoes, vege and a salad.
The baby potatoes were roasted to perfection - marinated slightly with black pepper and herbs ...
The veges, consisting of peppers, zuchinni, cauliflower, brocolli, snow peas and beans, were roasted and tossed in some garlic sauce.
And they also gave us a small bowl of salad - not smothered in dressing, which was great - but just a light drizzle of something tangy.
But the ribs ... mmmmm ... slightly crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside - melt in your mouth softness - perfect blend of sauces - finger-licking, bone-sucking GOOD!
See??
THIS is the way pork ribs should be!
And their dessert was mind-blowing ... PROPER tiramisu - light, not too sweet - layers of mascarpone cheese - and smothered in Amaretto liquor.
We also had the creme brulee ... again, not too sweet, just creamy enough, and none of that strong vanilla essence that you can sometimes get with creme brulees. The caramelized top layer was perfect - singed without being burnt.
What a gastronomical delight - simply orgasmic!!
Counting DownSIX more days to this ...
and this ...
and this ...
and views like this ...
And that's just topside! I haven't even begun to think about all the treasures that are waiting for me under the surface of the water!
I am going HOME.
October 16 You KnowYou know your daughter has been over-exposed to Starbucks when she can look at the way the trainee employee fits the cover onto the take-away cup and immediately discern that he's put it on the wrong way because the logo doesn't face the outside when you're sipping it from the hole in the cover.
You know you've had it with KL when every little thing about being in the city starts to bug you - the stifling heat in the mornings, the thunderstorms in the evenings, the traffic lights that take forever to change, the ceaseless crowds everywhere you go, inefficient bank tellers, people who don't understand that the 'less than 10 items' express lane is for those of us who actually have less than 10 items.
You know you shouldn't have procrastinated when you spend three full days sorting out backdated paperwork and getting frustrated because the bank balance doesn't add up.
But also ...
You know you have a lot to be thankful for when you can come home from a long, frustrating day at work to a home cooked meal and warm smiles from loved ones who are genuinely glad to see grumpy ol' you.
You know you're blessed to be able to actually get away for a week to somewhere that's like a slice of heaven on earth, when there are others just as sick and tired of the city and work and life in general, who can't escape like you can.
You know that your strong network of true blue friends will always give you the support you need, the laughs you crave, the sense that they are always there for you to reach out to.
..................
So all things considered - I guess I can't complain.
October 14 Mom's B'day DinnerToday is mom's birthday, as is evident from this ...
Handmade birthday cards from her grandchildren!! Awwwwwww ....
We took her to The Ming Room in Bangsar Shopping Centre for her b'day dinner. We have never been disappointed by the food there, and today was no exception.
We ordered the set menu for 4 pax (how thoughtful is that? To have a set menu for 4 pax, instead of the usual 10?!) ...
So we started with their soft shell crab wrapped in a pita type bread - one of our favorite appetizers for sure. The crab is always fried to perfection - light with a melt-in-your-mouth texture - just the right amount of sauce to give it flavor without soaking it and ruining the crispiness.
Of course, being divers and environmentally conscious, as well as politically correct - we changed the sharks fin soup to suckling Babe.
Mel was like ... mom, I can't eat it if you're going to keep calling it Babe!! So what does mom do? Keep calling it Babe, of course ... sometimes I live to annoy Mel ...
Then we had a fish with mushrooms, foo chook, water chestnuts and garlic in a claypot ...
And we had poached chinese lettuce ... This was funny because Mel kept insisting she didn't like this particular vege, while holding her plate out and asking for seconds!!
The last dish was hor fun with sang har ... the soup looked spicy, but the orange colour was caused by the prawn roe - superbly rich and flavorful!!
And look at the size of that prawn!!
For dessert, we had cold aloe vera with longan and sea coconut - not too sweet and very refreshing ...
And because my folks are such regulars there, they gave us an additional dessert on the house - sesame seed chewy thingamajigs. I'm sure they have a name for it, though I can't for the life of me think of what it is now. That's what happens when you overeat. Your brain zones out because it has to concentrate on digesting the excess.
I was too stuffed to try it, but everyone else had two each, and they all said it was yummy.
Happy Birthday to the BEST mom ever!!
October 12 Simple PleasuresI have just come out of the shower. I suddenly realised that it is extremely pleasurable to be standing under a hot shower after a long day at work, and just enjoying the feel of the warm water running all over me. I love how clean I feel after I wash off the day's muck. Shower time is my time.
A nice grande latte - that's what I had for lunch today - and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the first sip of foam and coffee - and the feel as it glides down your throat - that's pleasureable too.
Counting down the days to my dive holiday with Mel. We've been planning this for months, and now I can count down to our departure date using my fingers on both hands. All diving is good diving.
I love opening my email inbox and seeing mail from friends. I had quite a few today, and just seeing them sitting there made me smile. Friendship is a blessing.
I love the smell of fresh lilies. They are my favorite flower.
Having a conversation with the Prince ranks as my all time most pleasureable activity. Thinking about our conversations always make me chuckle.
Lying down in bed and letting my body relax at the end of the day. When I feel my muscles go all soft and I sink into the mattress .. ahhhhh .. nice ..
Hope this gets you thinking about the simple pleasures in your life too!
October 06 Hard LessonsI learnt a few things recently.
I learnt that there is nothing uglier, nastier and more appalling than someone who is consumed with rage, especially when it is unjustified. When every word out of your mouth is a vicious attack. When spiteful accusations are flung around. When a grown-up adult person displays a full-fledged temper tantrum, complete with shouting and screaming and ranting and raving. It is an ugly, vulgar, shocking sight.
I learnt that having your confidences revealed by a family member, and the betrayal one feels, is ten times worse than if it was done by a non-blood related individual.
I learnt that some human beings have an amazing capacity to adapt and to give in to those around them for the sake of peace.
I also learnt that that is not always the best option. That sometimes giving in to someone does not help them. That sometimes love has to be tough. That compromise is not always the answer. That sometimes, we need to address the issues and to deal with them. That avoidance of conflict is not a solution - it merely sweeps everything under the carpet - so when you pull back that carpet, there are mountains of emotional junk. That sometimes, if you wait too long to deal with shit, it becomes too late.
I learnt that no matter what religion you profess to believe in - no matter how pious you claim to be - that if you harbor hatred, anger, unforgiveness - the person you damage the most is yourself. And that no matter where you go, and how far you run, that you will always leave behind a trail of emotional destruction.
I learnt - so help me God - that the best thing my cousins and I can do is to learn from the mistakes of the previous generation and to avoid making the same ones.
October 05 B'day Lunch at SantiniDecided to give myself an off day from work today since my students cancelled on me at the last minute - so got together with Shen, Doreen & Albert for lunch. We went to Santini at Jaya One ... a quaint, funky little Italian restaurant ...
We ate SO MUCH - a salad appetizer, consisting of rocket leaves, shaved parmesan cheese, walnuts and chinese pears, drizzled with a kind of sesame seed oil ...
Shrimp risotto - a bit like italian wan-tan ...
Angel hair pasta with scallop and sundried tomatoes ... yummmm, I LURVE sundried tomatoes ...
Two kinds of pizza ...
And dessert, of course ... the tiramisu, which was only so-so as far as tiramisus go ...
A cinnamon creme brulee ...
And gelati ...
We polished off just about everything, except one slice of pizza ...
Thanks so much, guys, it was awesome!!
And oh - I also received MORE Starbucks vouchers PLUS a Starbucks mug from Doreen & Albert as a b'day pressie ... yay!!
October 04 Thoughtful GiftGot a text from Chris today saying something about him having to drop his mom off at Atria to run some errands, and if he could just drop by the shop for a while. So I met him at Lotus. Turns out his mom din't hafta do nuthin' ... it was just an excuse to pass me my b'day pressie ...
He pushed this unsuspecting brown paper bag across the table ..
Immediately, my eyes focused on the familiar logo ...
Looking inside, I found two gift certificate booklets ...
With gift vouchers inside that could get me almost a year's supply of grande lattes if I keep the vouchers just for me!!
This is probably one of the most well-thought gifts I have received this year!
Thanks, Chris & Kim!!
Lack of CompassionI was moaning to a friend of mine about Bali, and this was his email response ...
If you lived in Bali after a few months you'd start longing for all the wonderful things that can only be found in big, dirty cities. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I doubt there is a Chilis, Ikea, Jusco, etc there (though I'll bet they have a McDonald's and KFC...just about anyplace on the planet has those these days). Then there's the issue of the occasional terroristic bombing and the fondness for the removal of ethnic christian chinese heads from the less important remainder of the anatomy. While air pollution and heavy traffic can be hazardous to your health...there are things that can kill you a lot quicker. In a month or two your fickle nature will take hold and you'll be longing for some new paradise you went diving to. Since KL seems to be pretty much surrounded by ideal tropical locations the rest of the planet is paying big bucks to travel to. So get over Bali and start planning your next visit to the next Eden.
Hmmpphhhh ... no compassion whatsoever ...
 He also responds to the near drowning incident we had at Bali ...
You really shouldn't try and save people....it messes with the natural order of things. Who knows what evil deeds the person you save will go on to perform...and it will all be YOUR fault. If you had been watching Heroes instead of House you'd understand these things. They keep running around saving people all the time in that series and mucking up the future of humanity. House runs around saving people in a grim, rude way but he still does save them. Most of them turn out to be pretty nasty people not worth the effort.
And then he offers unsolicited advice for my screwed up knee ...
Since the monsoon season is almost upon you you really should get your knee worked on. Your occupation (and your life) somewhat depends upon the effective use of your body and a bum knee can put a crimp on that. I put off my abdominal surgery far too long (twice) and paid the price. You should learn from my experience. Plus when you get surgery people are nice to you, give you good drugs, and even an occasional present. Just tell them you want candy in the hospital...you can't eat flowers! And it's ok to pig out when you're sick.
You see the kind of friends I have?? And the scary thing is, he's one of my most favorite people too ...
But I did get my own back.
I replied his email by starting off with Dear Abdominal Surgery Survivor (or ASS for short) ... and signing off as Balinese Impersonating True Chinese Hedonist (or BITCH).
October 02 WithdrawalThis is the 4th night in a row that I am at home, alone in my room, moping about being thrust from the exotic, charming, spiritual place that is Bali back into the chaotic, vulgar modernity that is KL city. Ughh.
And in my state of total denial, I am trying to recreate some semblance of what it was like by burning Frangipani scented oil ...
Instead of using tealight candles, I'm using a Jasmine scented candle ...
Because those were the two distinct flower smells that were all around - even seeping into my room!
Every now and then, though, I have to blow out my candle just to get the smoke smell to simulate incense burning.
No, I'm kidding ... although to show you how pathetic and desperate I am, I actually gave it serious consideration.
But I can't simulate the sea breeze and the smell of the ocean ...
I know I'm going to Sipadan in about 3 weeks (incidentally, they found the seahorse again on the house reef!) - and I'm really looking forward to that - but it just goes to show how extraordinary Bali was ... IS ...
I am so suffering withdrawal symptoms, it's not even funny.
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