Wow, it has been a couple of weeks since my last update.
As I mentioned in my last post, I kinda like it here. After coming for around 5 days initially to do my Advanced Diver course I have ended up staying for over a month.
After 8 months of near solid partying I decided it would be a good idea to chill for a while before hitting Australia, where I am sure I will be partying a lot more again. I thought it would take me a couple of weeks settling in somewhere to get ready to hit the road again, but it has taken me a month.
The people around here are fantastic, with locals and other customers being really friendly. Groups have come and go as I have been here, but there has been a steady stream of people to keep me occupied. I have also become keen on a couple of girls that I have met since being here. A really nice Dutch girl and a great fun American girl (not at the same time, mind!!) So that has made the time here quite special.
To fill the time I decided to take my Rescue Diver course as well, which I completed last week. This course is all about being aware of other divers and learning how to handle an emergency situation, such as a panicked diver or a non-responsive diver. You learn how to approach them, protect yourself, bring them to the surface and get them back to safety and perform emergency first response (First Aid). It is a tough course and quite physically demanding but the best I have done yet. Just being aware of diver emergencies makes me more relaxed and comfortable as a diver myself. So if I got into an emergency situation I would like to think that I would be able to stay calm and sort myself out... and also have the ability to help other people should they need it. Very good course and my instructor, Dee, was fantastic. Cheers Dee!
I have bought myself a dive computer. Dee was buying a new one, so I have bought his old one. It's a good computer (Suunto Stinger) and since I was thinking of buying one in KL or Singapore anyway, a very good price. It even has his Tsunami profile logged where he was diving in Phi Phi when the Tsunami hit! I'll try to get a docking station for the watch so I can upload them to my computer when I get home.
I am up to about 50 dives now, I have done around 30 here on the island and am hooked. i am trying to upload some photos, but my internet provvider keeps messing up and the photos don't show up. I am working on it, and hope to have them uplaoded very soon.
Other than diving I really haven't been doing much. Just chilling on the beach all day, playing some scrabble, boggle, cards, practicing my Poi and that is about it. I haven't had any big nights out in the last couple of weeks, preferring to stay at the local Beach Bar owned by the friendly Karime, who we just found out came second in a mixologist competition (mixing cocktails) in Vegas a few years ago....he is good!!
It has become so difficult to leave here. I have totally fallen for the beach lifestyle and am thinking of coming back the season after next to do my Divemaster course and work for a season. I think I would be MUCH happier diving in the summer and snowboarding in the winter. Of course, that means giving up the well paid city job, which will be tough. I might also just be caught up in the heat of the moment, so we will see how that plan turns out after getting back to London. I might fall for the money again!
I finally have to leave here on Monday morning. If I don't leave then, I won't have time to see what I want in Malaysia before my flight to Aus. I was going to see Taman Negara, a jungle area with trecking and canopy bridges (rope bridges in the trees). I h ave been told that they are not actually that great, as it is so touristy, most of the big animals have been scared off and since we are coming into Monsoon season there is a shed load of rain and even more leeches. I'm not so keen on the Leeches, so I think I will head straight over to the Cameron Highlands to see the famous tea plantations, then head to KL (Kuala Lumpa) for a couple of days finishing with a couple of days in Singapore before flying out on the 2nd October.
So, that is about all I have to update for now. Life is just chilled and relaxed. In fact, I have never been so relaxed in my entire life. The feeling is adictive. For the first time ever I can sit in a chair and look out to sea with out doing anything or thinking about anything. It's fantastic and the exact opposite of stressfull city life. Why do we all stress so much back home about stupid little things that really, are not that important at all! Life is too fast and I know I, for one, miss the simple things in life that make it so joyfull. The one thing I have learnt this trip is how to relax and ignore the *** that surrounds us, but isn't that important.
I have started work on a small internet project that I hope I can launch while back home. If it takes off, I hope to be able to make money from it via advertising whilst spending little
time managing it myself. If I can pull it off, then it will be so much easier to leave the city life and live the dream that I feel suits me so much better than the stress of my day job.
We'll see how that turns out. I'll let you know more when it is ready to be tested, I will also be asking people to help out by adding any information they may have. More on that later :-)
It will be interesting to see how I deal with life in the big cities again!!
Hope your all well and I really will try to get my photos uploaded as soon as I can.