Turns out I not only SURVIVED the wedding in Tawau, I even ENJOYED it!!  Even though the food was served cold and tasteless, even though we had a blackout in the middle of the wedding and had to wait about half an hour before the lights and airconditioning came back on, even though I had to get up at 4am to catch a cab to the airport and didn't get a chance to nap in the afternoon, even though I stressed for a week about what dress to pack and wear ... I had a BLAST!

 

 

It was great to be among friends.

 

 

 

 

For the 100th time, NO, I am not on Twitter.  And NO, I will never be.  For the same reasons I am NOT on Facebook either.  I could launch into a whole tirade about why I'm not on either - but all I'm going to say is that there are more efficient and effective ways of keeping in touch with your friends - ways that are more personal and edifying than general comments about what you are doing every half hour or thereabouts.  I don't think people need to know that at 10pm last night, you were bathing your dog - and that at midnight, you were suffering from a bout of insomnia - and so had to log on and share that with the general public.

 

But that's just me.  Some people are happy to buy - and be bought - online cosmopolitans and tequilas and what nots - for one another.  Or throw - be thrown - sheep / cows / snowmen.  Me?  I say, if you want to buy me a drink, buy me a REAL one.  And if you want to throw a sheep at me ... well, just don't ...!

 

Am off to Tawau tomorrow for a dear friend's wedding ... and yes, they ARE dear friends, because I detest weddings with a vengeance, and now I'm flying interstate to attend one!

 

Also, am anal enough to be stressing out about what dress to pack because it's a (relatively) small town wedding, and I don't want to be either over dressed or under dressed.  It's a girl thing.  Or maybe it's a Lynette thing.

 

But in any case, will be able to catch up with my extended Sabah family, so am looking forward to that.

 

 

 

 

That's how long I was at the pool today ... eight hours straight, with a 20 minute break for a quick lunch.  We had open water students, then I had a Rescue class with Albert and Doreen.  I had a blast, but I think they were pretty knackered by the end of it, as I sent them an sms when I got home at about 6-ish, and they didn't reply - so me figures I exhausted them totally and they are fast asleep ... heh!

 

In any case, have not been in the sun for so many hours in a long time, and it was great, even if I am a little sunburnt.  Oh okay, a LOT sunburnt. 

 

What a FUN day!

 

 

 

 

Have you heard of Phiten?  Neither had I, until a few days ago.  Was walking past this shop in 1 Utama, and the words 'Sports Enhancement' caught my eye.  So I was reading this chart they had stuck on their window display, and this very friendly lady came out and invited me inside. 

 

There was a paper bag with two 1.5 liter water bottles in it.  Filled.  She told me to lift up the paper bag, as if I were lifting weights.  I did.  Then she asked me to do it again.  Then again.  And yet again.  Just as I was feeling the pull on my muscles, she wrapped what looked like a piece of elastic cord around my wrist.  I felt instant relief.  I kid you not.

 

Then she went into some spiel about the technology behind that piece of elastic cord.  Something about 'phild processing' and 'aqua titanium' and 'bio-electric current' ... of course she totally lost me in the explanation - but I couldn't deny the results.

 

Told her I would think about it.

 

Came back and read a little bit more about it on the internet.  I was more interested in what people who have used the products have to say about it, rather than what the website or brochures said.

 

I was convinced.

 

Went back today and bought what they term a "sports necklace" - which is what the elastic cord thing was - except that I told the lady I wanted one that could be constantly soaked in water, seeing as my main intention was to use it when I'm diving.  So instead of one made with the elastomer material, I got one made of silicon.  You can wear it around your neck, or you can wrap it around your hand and wear it like a bracelet, or you can wrap it around your ankle and use it there.

 

So this is the thing ... I have flat feet - when I walk around for hours at a time, after about an hour or so, the soles of my feet start to really ache.  If I walk long enough, my lower back starts to hurt too.  This has been confirmed by a chiropracter - that my feet and lower back will hurt if I stand or walk around too long - because of my flat feet.  But after so many years of it aching, I just deal with it.

 

I had the necklace on today, and I was on my feet from 10am to 2pm - and nothing hurt.

 

Pretty amazing, huh?

 

 

 

 

There's been all this fuss going on over the internet, and in the newspapers about Susan Boyle - the more-than-plain 47-year-old lady from some obscure village in the UK who surprised everyone with an amazing voice in the British reality competition 'Britains Got Talent'.  The lesson was that we should not judge a book by its cover - and just because she is frumpy looking and seems slightly less than intelligent, does not mean she has nothing to share with the rest of the world.

 

In any case, I had my own wake up call today.

 

I have been searching for a book for some time now, and have not been able to find it in most of the major bookstores.  I walked into MPH at the Curve today, and went up to the information counter.  There was a young lady behind the counter, and I approached her and asked her if she could tell me if they had the book in stock. 

 

Now normally, when I go up to the information counter and request for a particular book, the person behind the counter will pass me a slip of paper, and ask me to write the title of the book, as well as the author - which she will then key into the computer (sometimes spelling the title or the author's name wrongly, even after I have written it down) - and then will tell me whether they have the book in their store or not.

 

This was what I expected this time around.

 

Instead, the following conversation took place:

 

Girl (smiling):  Can I help you, ma'am?

Me:  Yes please, can I please find out if you have a book in stock?

Girl (without passing me a piece of paper):  What is the title of the book, ma'am?

Me (raising my eyebrows):  The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle. 

 

I was quite sure she would pass me a piece of paper and ask me to write it down.  However, without even missing a beat, nor checking her computer, she said, "Oh yes, we have one more copy, but it's the paperback version."

 

She motions for me to follow her, then leads me STRAIGHT to the correct shelf, pulls the book out, and hands it to me.

 

To say I was VERY impressed is putting it mildly.

 

And yes, I was surprised.  So yes, I admit I was wrong to have assumed she would not even know how to spell 'Edgar Sawtelle', much less be familiar with the book.  In light of the recent fiasco with Air Asia, such efficiency was extremely refreshing.

 

So to make up for being all judgmental and arrogant, I took down her name and came home, and wrote a nice complimentary email to MPH headquarters.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Guess what sms we received today?

 

URGENT!  Air Asia flight AK432 from LCCT KUL to Manado MDC on 31st May 2009 has been cancel (note the grammatical error) and changed to 2nd June 2009.  We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

 

Four days after we changed our flights, we get informed.

 

So all things considered, I guess me accidentally finding out that our "confirmed" flights are now non-existent was a blessing in disguise, as we managed to get our flights changed before the other passengers got wind of it.  Can you imagine trying to call Air Asia now?!  Think jammed phone lines and long hold-the-lines-please as you and another 250 irate passengers scream curses at Air Asia's frontline staff.

 

Not to mention they've only highlighted the cancellation of the KL-Manado flight - if you recall from my previous blog, the return flights from Manado to KL have all been changed too.  You would think they'd lump all the changes together so that they only have to placate their customers once.

 

Oh well.  Some people are just masochistic.

 

 

 

 

I have decided to take a deep breath and be zen about the whole Air Asia / change of Manado trip dates / sorting things out with the resort crap.

 

As my parting shot, read what Doreen has to say about the same issue in her open letter to Air Asia and Tony Fernandes.  See??  It's not just me who's frustrated, but all FIFTEEN of us.  It's just that not everyone is as vocal as Doreen and I are.

 

On a separate note, Mel was looking at her fighting fish swimming around in its bowl, and then she turned to me and said, "Mom, if you can't keep two fighting fish together because they'll try and kill each other, how do they mate?"

 

Well, Mel ... hmmmmmmmmm.

 

I dug deep into my vast resource of general knowledge garnered from years of reading and watching National Geographic, and I replied with an answer I knew for sure was 100% correct ... I said ... "Google it".

 

--------------------------

 

PS:  She did.  Turns out if you have a large enough tank with enough rocks and stones and crevices and plants where they can hide and form their individual territories, you can actually keep more than one fighting fish in one tank.  Whaddaya know ...

 

 

 

 

I have spent the ENTIRE day trying to get information, and make arrangements, and sort things out with people SO disorganized and SO inefficient and SO plain stupid that my blood pressure has shot sky high.  Hell, it's so high, it's probably gone beyond our solar system.

 

I blame Air Asia for changing my flight schedule and causing me such agony.

 

But I don't hold Air Asia responsible for the idiocy and stupidity of others.

 

I think that if you are stupid, you should be institutionalized, so that the rest of us normal folks don't have to deal with you on a daily basis.  Because it's just downright painful to have to talk to you.

 

 

 

 

So this is the thing. 

 

Two of my divers spent a couple of hours on the phone each with Air Asia yesterday, trying to get our flight dates changed.  Apparently, they acknowledge that the return flight originally scheduled for June 5th is no longer available, and has been changed to June 4th.  No problems there.

 

But when you try and change the KL-Manado flight from May 31st to May 30th, they insist that the May 31st flight is still on as scheduled.  IT IS NOT!!

 

After much insistence on our part, and much probing on theirs, they finally discovered that we were correct, and that the May 31st flight no longer exists.

 

It turns out that we discovered the flight change - which was purely by chance - BEFORE even the call center staff - and that although the flight has been changed, it has NOT YET been entered into their computer system!!  How embarrassing is it to have your customers inform you that your flights have been changed??  That's like a student diver informing me of the latest in dive industry standards.  It's just not cool.

 

We did manage to get our flights changed eventually - but like Doreen says, and I quote, "I'm thinking that closer to the date, I will just call to confirm again.  I don't want to miss the flight!"

 

 

 

 

This is my gripe.

 

A month or so ago, a group of us decided to go to Manado toward the end of May / early June.  Air Asia flies to Manado three times a week.  We make the booking - all 14 of us - departing KL on Sunday, the 31st of May, and returning to KL on Friday, the 5th of June.  That means the majority of folks had to take a whopping FIVE days off work.

 

Two days ago, someone else called me and enquired if there was still room availability on the trip.  I checked with the resort in Manado, and yes, there was.  So I gave the guy our flight details and told him the first thing he would need to do was to go to the Air Asia website and book his flight.  Half an hour later, he calls me back, and he goes, "There's no flight to and from Manado on the dates that you have given me" .... I replied with a condescending, "Of course there is, 14 of us have booked the flight!!" - thinking, but not saying - you imbecile.

 

Since I was online at that time, I immediately logged on to the Air Asia website, and whaddaya know - NO SUCH FLIGHTS.  After a hasty but sincere apology to the poor chap, I made some phone calls.

 

Since my booking was done by Doreen when she booked hers, I called her and asked her if she had heard from Air Asia.  No, she hadn't.  No sms, no emails, no phone calls.  I explained the situation to her, she logged onto the website, keyed in our booking number, and AIR ASIA HAD CHANGED OUR RETURN FLIGHT to Saturday, the 6th of June WITHOUT INFORMING US.

 

She called up Air Asia - and was told that yes, we had the option of either staying an extra day in Manado or returning a day earlier.  But - Air Asia went on to assure her - our departure from KL had not changed.

 

I had my doubts, of course, seeing as the flight was non-existent on their website.  But since it came from the horse's mouth, so be it.

 

The next day, I get a phone call from Doreen.  Apparently there IS NO FLIGHT departing KL on our original date, as suspected by us.  Now BOTH our departure dates and return dates have been changed.

 

I checked with another diver, and SHE hadn't heard a peep from Air Asia either.

 

Can you imagine if we had just gone about happily assuming that there would be no changes, and just showed up at the airport on the 31st of May - to find that we had MISSED OUR FLIGHT?!?

 

I have always been an advocate of Air Asia.  Bookings are easily made, simply by logging on.  It allows us to fly for a fraction of the price offered by other airlines.  Sure we've experienced delays, anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.  Sure it's no fun hanging around in the airport departure hall for hours.  It's frustrating, it's annoying.  But I can live with it.

 

But changing our flights without informing any of us, and then trying to pass the blame on to us - the Air Asia customer service (and I use the word loosely) representative actually had the gall to tell Doreen that the reason she wasn't informed was because she keyed in her mobile number wrongly - which wasn't the case, as Doreen had the original printout with the information on it.  It was a stupid thing to say - we have 14 people on the trip - and I doubt all 14 of us would have keyed in the wrong mobile numbers.  Not to mention email addresses.

 

As you know, I am not on Facebook.  I heard though that Tony Fernandez is.  So can someone please send him a message on his Facebook profile, give him the link to this blog entry, and we'll see if Air Asia apologizes to us for their terrible, irresponsible oversight.

 

I am not pissed because Air Asia changed our flight schedule.  I am sure they have valid, reasonable reasons to do so.  But I AM majorly pissed that they did not have the decency to let any of us know.  Not to mention that I now have to rearrange everything with the resort, as not only the flight dates have changed, but so has the flight times.

 

This is the price we pay for el-cheapo flights.

 

 

 

 

There is a new air freshener that our building management has put into our apartment elevators.  Everytime I step into the lifts, I get taken back to my past because the smell reminds me of something that happened when I was younger.

 

I can't place the smell, and I can't recall the memory - but getting a whiff of it evokes very positive feelings in me - so it must have triggered my subconscious to remember something that happened that was obviously good and pleasant.  I hope one day the memory will rise to the level of my consciousness, but for now, it makes me feel cheerful and sanguine, even without the actual recollection of past events.

 

Nice kan?

 

 

 

 

The amount of fun girls have on a dive trip together is directly proportional to their ability to be completely bitchy ...

 

 

Thanks for a great trip, girls!!

 

 

 

 

Also ... I wasn't kidding about how beautiful and scenic and colorful it was underwater ...

 

Look at these pictures taken by Bee Yong of seafans galore ...

 

 

And hard corals ...

 

 

They all look like flowering plants ...

 

 

So so SO breathtaking!

 

 

 

 

As promised, here is the voyeuristic picture we took of the two budding lovebirds sharing a private moment ...

 

 

 

And here they are when they realized the moment wasn't as private as they thought it was ...

 

 

Heh ...

 

 

 

 

I'm back from Tioman!  During the trip, I was observing happenings around me - mentally taking notes - thinking about the angle I should take when writing this blog.  All my dive blogs are about how wonderful my trip was, the marine life we saw, yada, yada, yada ... I was really hoping for a different approach - and then out of the blue, a situation presented itself.  The title of this entry should give you a clue.

 

But before I go into that, let me just say that the time our ferry departed Mersing was INSANE.  2:30am goes way beyond ridiculous.  We arrived in Mersing the day before we were due to leave for Tioman, went straight to pick up our tickets, had dinner, went to bed at 9pm - and just as I was about to fall into a deep sleep, the alarm rang ... at half past one in the morning !!

 

Got to the jetty and it was chockablock ... crowded for such a crazy hour of the morning.  We got into Tioman at 5:30am ... surprisingly, the transport van was waiting for us as we arrived.  I had booked it, but I was half expecting it not to be there.  I had also made arrangements for our room keys at the resort to be placed on the counter, as I didn't think anyone would be up at that time.  Again - surprisingly - the keys were there.

 

We got into our rooms and went straight to sleep.  Up at 9am for some breakfast, and off to the dive center.  The viz at the house reef was HORRID.  Had some issues with insufficient weights and dropped weight belts - so ten minutes into our dive, and we had to return to the dive center.  Took a half hour break, and then off we went again - this time, properly weighted and secure.  The viz was slightly better this time around, but still below average.  Infact, all the dives we did on the first day had below average visibility, which was a tad disappointing for me, seeing as it was my first time into the water after my illness.

 

However, the dives went from zero to hero on the second day.  We went out to the outer islands, and had some awesome dives.  The viz was fabulous - the sun was shining and lighting up the scenes underwater - it was like swimming in a huge aquarium.  There were seafans - soft corals - hard corals - all in myriads of colors.  Schools and schools of reef fish all over the place ... it was really stunning.  Absolutely beautiful.

 

AND ... this brings me to L-U-R-V-E ... apparently, one of our divers attracted the attention of another German diver - and they ended up getting along rather well ... even sharing pee space in the vast ocean.  (Will post a picture of that soon!!)  Said German - named Jan (pronounced Yann .. which rather sounds like Yang ... which happens to be short for Sayang ... which - you get my drift!!) - was so smitten by her that he even invited himself for dinner with us - and walked the lady back to her room at night after a long romantic stroll to Berjaya ...

 

Of course this lady diver might have a different version of the story ... but I'm sticking by my version anyways ... !

 

All in all, it was a really fun trip - despite the ridiculous ferry hours (we had to be up at 4:30am today because our ferry left Tioman at 6am!) - and I was certainly glad to be out of KL and back onto the island again, where I belong.

 

How refreshing.