I am getting really addicted to diving. Just got back from Tioman not long ago and I am already itching for another go. Someone please print money for me. x_X
The last time I been here was with my family and we stayed at Berjaya’s resort. This time around, KY and I stayed at Salang Beach Resort under the B&J Dive package. I must say I love the atmosphere here. The stretch of beach has everything you need, from mini marts to resorts and to a Batik painting hut.
The view and visibility of the water is spectacular too!
One of the things that you will see here is cats. Lots and lots of cats. Every 2 meters, there is a cat or a kitten. They are cute and they are everywhere, sleeping .. running around and occasionally posing for a curious tourist.
If you are a diver, then this is where you want to go. There are other stretches of beach like Paya Beach and Genting which are further south. They are more catered for the regular beach enthusiasts. Where else this stretch in Salang is right at the north and has the most dive centers.
I am very pleased with our dive center, B & J. They are super conservative about safety and gives really thorough briefing before and after dives. The dive sites here are really shallow but plenty of underwater life to marvel at.
The photo you see above was taken at the boat and the impressive tattoo belongs to a French typography artist.
Recently, I was looking for inspirations in combining paintings and videography. During the search, I stumbled upon a video about an iOs app called Paper. I must say that this is the best sketching application I have used. I have tried many of them but most of them are too heavy, complicated and the finger gestures are not mapped properly.
With Paper, I could actually sketch in my iPad, which was an impossible feat before in other apps since I am always focusing on trying to zoom or getting the digital stroke to behave like how I want it to.
Dive @ Renggis Island
The convenience of this app made my dive logging easier. After each dive I would sketch all the pictures of the sea life I saw. My handwriting is rubbish though, since I have to sit on a rocking boat and jot down the notes with a fat rubber stylus.
View from boat
I could also do quick sketches of what I see, I may prove to frequent this app alot more from now on. 
Dive @ Labas
During the second dive, there were alot of swim throughs.. a first time for me.. I had fun though I banged my tank on one of the rock above me. I also started to experiment with less weights and try to find an optimum weight for myself. Heh, met an aggressive trigger fish looming in my face and I was like, wtf.
Nowadays, I got over my fear of fishes.. and is merely giving them a ‘meh.’ look most of the time.
Dive @ Tiger Reef
There are many types of Clownfishes. The Nemo ones are called false clownfish, as if there are clownfishes that are genuine and original. Once the white stripes changes shape or position, it is another species entirely. For example, there are clownfishes with a white stripe along the top of the fin, called Skunk Clownfish.
Dive @ Sayok
Then there are HUGE clownfish that are black in colour with red fins. They live in red anemone. The name? Tomato clownfish.
The epic long jetty greets every tourist and bids every traveller goodbye.
KY and I went back to Tenggol island recently for a few diving sessions. Things have changed at Tenggol.
We stayed at a different resort this time because the resort that we used to stay in got demolished already. The beach is a sore sight now with the high tide bringing in corals and rubbish from the sea.
Light up at Tenggol
Our resort were lit up by these lights and at night, the resort looks like a festival right in a native’s village. It did give that sort of atmosphere to me.
Dive Center
Every dive, we hike down to the dive center. My slippers broke and I was wearing flats, damn that thing. It keeps slipping off and it is full of sand once we were on the island.
Our habitat for the stay is a wooden chalet with a forest view. The forest is abundant with plants and squirrels that looked like sugar gliders. One of our fellow divers claimed that one rodent bit his toe the night before and rummaged in his bin looking for food. Hearing that, I panicked and placed a Mickey Mouse cake (I saved that up in case of hunger) right next to our bin.
The natural forest is full of textures and interesting colors that showed up very well in my new macro lens. I am slowly beginning to regain back my confidence as a photographer after my abstinence from my Nikon D70s.
I would definitely recommend my new camera, Sony Nex F3 to anyone. A lot of reviewers have deemed it feminine due to the 180 degrees swivel LCD screen that is convenient for camwhoring. It comes with a large selection of color processing filters that really enhances your photos. These 2 traits have made this camera really easy to capture beautiful images, hence the reputation of being a ‘female camera’.
However, what I love about this camera is the built in flash. Gone were the days where the flash is straight on the face, fluorescent blue and harsh direct lighting. I love to angle up the flash to bounce the light back into the subject, creating a soft fill light that is flattering and professional.
I bought the macro lens for portrait photography, because it can focus real close to my face. It may sound funny but I used to crop all the shots of my eye from a full face shot. Now the camera gets closer and details are sharper as well. Also, the short distance focusing is essential for successful self photography compared to a telephoto lens.
The lens strongest point is probably the color rendition of its output. Vibrant and strong, in post-processing all I have to do is just adjust the exposure. Omg, why did this post become a camera review??
Anyway, Despite the beach looking miserably unkempt, the waters of Tenggol are still clear and blue as the sky. In fact, it is cyan right at the sandy beach, turning blue as it goes deeper. So beautiful.
That’s KY chilling with his phone. One would have thought he is taking a photo of me, but no. He is reading and surfing the net. That is the basis of our relationship.
I have no idea why I look so androgynous in this photo above.
My favorite photo of the lot.
The sky in Tenggol is unforgettable and shockingly mesmerizing every time I see it. I can’t capture the feeling in the photo, it looks like a photo of space instead. You have to be there to see it for yourselves!
After my dad’s funeral, I went for a much needed vacation with KY (WAS STILL SINGLE THEN OK!!) to Tenggol. On the way there my head was flooded with my past, felt so heavy with the pain of watching 2 families broke – was so bad that I couldn’t get excited or happy about the trip at all. Read this
