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!