The Woods

Song of the day: Lothlorien - Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)

Why hello there, my dear humanlings. No, I haven't mutated into a hybrid life form yet, my wounds are healing at a reasonable pace. In fact, my right foot is almost completely healed. The left one, though, will still take a couple of days, but today it's definitely less painful than yesterday - when I would be at the threshold of sobbing with every step I'd take.

Sadly (and boringly) I haven't been able to do much for the past three days. No diving, of course, and as walking is still inconvenient and there aren't great attractions around here, I haven't been exploring. I've spent my days migrating from the internet cafe to any of the restaurants at the sea front, back to the hotel lobby, and all around once again.

Because of this, I find myself in a difficult situation. I intend to make this an enjoyable blog, one you can read and relax and let your imagination fly. But how can I do so, if I have no adventurous tales to tell you?

There is a way. Should I dare?
I'll give it a try. But, dear readers, please consider one thing: this is absolutely spontaneous. If you are to continue reading, make sure you can afford a few minutes of dreaming, for the journey doesn't end where the writing halts.

He instinctively brought his hand to his sword's pommel. He had developed this healthy habit through his numerous travels crossing the woods - every cracking leaf could reveal a mortal threat. Ninthalas stopped, watching the dark forest around him. Rather than fearful, he felt vexed. He couldn't afford any more distractions, after the incident at the Inn of the Drunken Bard. His quest required him to be swift as the elusive white bucks of the Eastern Lands. Though staying alert, he began to stride over the tangling roots. 

Soon after the minstrel convoy arrived at the settlement, he was summoned by the Town Watch's foreman.  He had only been given a sealed envelope and a safe-conduct to traverse the Bear's Pass, and from the uneasy tone of the foreman it was clear that this was a mission of the utmost importance. The promised reward didn't meet his general standards, but Harth lied upon his route anyways, and he intended to earn a reputation around those lands, so he accepted the task.

It consisted only on bringing the intact, sealed envelope to the frontier town, but Foreman Thrandur insisted on the necessity of haste. He refused to give any explanation.

A Hero's Wounds

Song of the day: You're Gonna Go Far Kid - The Offspring (Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace)

The day started in a very usual manner. Woke up, had my chicken roti and tea Madras (I've stopped going to the place I had banana roti and ice Milo, they never smile at you and it was getting to my nerves), then went to help loading the tanks on the boats. Damn, those things really are heavy, and there's lots of them.


Anyways, once in the dive shop, there was a bit of a chaos in the management. After being told I was going to three different islands performing two different jobs, I ended up being sent to Mataking one more time. What's the news, then?

Well, I was the Supreme Authority on the boat.

Thou shall bow before me!

No instructor came on the boat: it was just me leading, and Sara, with less experience than me, under my command. Hence I did all the briefings (and the customers loved me!), though for the first dive we went in two separate groups, that eventually came together in the water. The first thing I saw upon descent were two lionfish under a coral shelf:

Never touch one of these: their venom could kill you in minute

 

 

Yup, that's a fish. A crocodile fish. Ain't it cool? 

Yeah, I saw several of those crocodile fish, also known as flatheads. They blend in with the rubble in the bottom, but a well trained eye can easily spot them.

Unfortunately I am still not fully recovered from the cold and I couldn't equalize my sinuses (little spaces of air behind your eyebrows) when coming back up. Equalizing means adding or removing air from air spaces in your body to match the external pressure - PV = nRT, for those physicists out there. So it hurts like a motherfocker, because there's no way to remove air intentionally - normally it just happens naturally, but with every airway blocked it's much harder. After a while at the surface the pain decreased as the air would slowly find its way out. However, I wasn't feeling very well by then, so I decided to skip the second dive, and I took a pill to be able to go on the third dive.

But then, Fate happened.

Mataking Island.

We had left a couple of Chinese non-divers on the beach you can see in the distance on the above photograph, but by the time we came to pick them up the tide was too low and the boat could to get to the beach, because the water was too shallow where there were corals. Not a real problem, you barely have to swim four or five metres to reach average standing level.

But the lady couldn't swim.


Obviously I couldn't let her alone, so I jumped off the boat to give her a life vest, with the bad fortune of miscalculating the depth (these clear waters are tricky) and hitting a coral with my right foot. It only hurt a little and for a moment, and I didn't find any wound, so that was fine. I swam towards the sand and gave her the vest with a comforting smile on my face.

But then, as I was swimming and dragging her to the boat, I kicked a coral I couldn't see - that one did hurt. I've awfully scratched the area where my toes join my foot. And later on, I found a cut and another scratch on the other foot, from the jump.

Apart from huge pain, what worries me about these wounds is the risk of infection in this filthy town. Of course I've washed them and bandaged them, and I am now wearing socks and shoes. And I can't go diving for a couple of days, until they are reasonable healed.

But I got these wounds from being a hero. Or something like that. What if there had been a tiger trying to reach the lady? Then I'd have saved her from certain death. So there. I'm a hero.


The bards will sing my tales.

Somebody help me out, I've lost count of the episodes. BUT I'M BACK ON THE TRACK!!

Technically I should share several songs to make up for the lost days, but in an effort to save you from going through such tedium I'll only share one. For now.

Song of the day: Watch Over You - Alter Bridge (Blackbird)

Why hello there, my dear readers. Once again, please accept my apologies for having this blog abandoned for some time. As you should already know, my dearly beloved MacBook crashed with a broken motherboard. I still haven't been able to fix it - after having it sent to a nearby city and receiving the diagnostic, I contacted the only authorized Apple Reseller in Borneo to have them fix it, but they still haven't replied to my email, and I probably don't have enough time anyways: I'm leaving in two and a half weeks. Instead, my always helpful parents are sending me a small PC that will at least provide me with the basic uses of a computer, essentially Skyping and writing documents.


Many things have happened since I last posted on Dark Water & Stars. Let's start from the rightful beginning.

My biryani was not that good. In fact, that was no biryani. Not at all like the one in blessed Bangladesh - you guys do know how to make it good. My new life goal is to become a jury in biryani cooking competitions.

'Nyways. The same night my computer crashed, a new Divemaster student arrived, Steve. We had dinner together and all, he's an alright guy. Canadian, 29, and a ladies' man. Next morning we met another Divemaster student, Andrew, with whom I've developed a nice friendship. He's from Oregon and only 19 years old, and a very cool dude.

So that day we went diving at Mantabuan, and on the very first dive, Steve descended too fast and, forcing his ears, got a perforated eardrum. Which means he can't dive for three months. So he's not doing his course, obviously, but has stayed around Semporna like a wandering soul for the past few days - I don't know if he has left yet.

Apart from not founding much of a friendship with Steve, there's another Divemaster Trainee: Sara, from the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. She's cool, and the three of us together (including Andrew) have started our Divemaster Training doing several skills both underwater and on the surface.

A couple of days ago I was given the opportunity to go to Sipadan island, covering for a customer who hadn't come. I only had to sign with his Russian name on arrival, and I was immediately diving in one of the best spots in the world! Visibility was not the best, but on the first dive I could spot several sharks and turtles:

White-tip Reef Shark

Green turtle in front of a school of jackfish

The following dives were even better, with more sharks, more turtles, and a couple breath-taking additions:

Each single one of these bumphead parrotifsh measures over one and a half armlengths (of mine) in length, and although they feed in coral, the sight of their faces is in extreme macabre.

 

 

 

 

 

Swimming amongst a school of jackfish becomes an irreal, fairy-tale experience, when they surround you and block the sun rays from entering the water.

Special training is required to enter the 200 meter long cavern known as Turtle Tomb, named after the many skeletons found from turtles who drowned while trying to find an exit.

I really do not want to leave this place without paying a visit to the inside of the cave. We only visited the entrance, but an irrational impulse, the willingness to explore the unexplored, kept dragging my attention to the interior corridors where turtle bones lay. Similarly, every time I dive along a wall I feel the urge of diving deeper and deeper. From these feelings I've concluded that I must sometime take the Technical Diver and Cave Diver courses.


More about me will be coming in the next posts. Until then, get delighted with those pictures!

Song of the day #2: Professor Satchafunkilus - Joe Satriani (Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock)

BrrZZZhhhhKKSHSSSHHHHHHHH [Sound of Static]

BHJJJSHSJFFFFGGGG .... Someone .... BSSHHHJGGGJJJJ ... send a technician!... BHGHHHHHHHHHDJSSAASSSHSHSGSGSGS

Ladies and gentlemen,

My computer... has died. Despite the First Aid and CPR I performed on it, I have not been able to bring it back from the other side.

Now I really am finding myself alone.

You'd say, "Well, at least you have your eBook". And I'd reply, "Well, you see, the issue is that... I CAN ONLY CHARGE IT THROUGH MY COMPUTER."

Dave has offered to charge it from his, but that means I'll have to give it to him for the evening every now and then, which leaves me without anything to do.

I'm getting a bit scared now.

Furthermore, I haven't had electricity in my room for 4 days now.

On another note, I'm now a certified Rescue Diver (YAY), and today being Friday, Insha'Allah, I'll be having biryani and chai for dinner.

I gotta go now. Mostly because I'm getting tired of standing here in front of this awful computer typing in this terrible keyboard. 

Wish me luck, and, if you are religious, dedicate a couple prayers to my computer.

I won't be able to update the blog much unless I find a solution to my technological problems. Apologies for that.

Farewell, my people.

Layla - Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton (Live at Lincoln Center)

Episode X - The Rescuer

Canción del día: Contigo - Joaquín Sabina (Yo, Mi, Me, Contigo)

With all due honesty, I'm only writing this post as an excuse to share the previous song. I could very comfortably wait until tomorrow to be able to provide a more complete and interesting story, but I'll do what I can.

Actually, I barely have anything to tell. But let's get it done.


In spite of the cold I've been suffering from, I decided to take the risk and get on the boat. I knew anyways that today I was going to practice rescuing skills, which occur mostly on the surface. Indeed, I have learned how to surface, provide rescue breaths and carry an unresponsive diver out of the water, following all the right steps. It's just a bit tricky, but after a couple scenarios I could perform it without a mistake.

We needed to descend at least three meters for some skills, and so Dave taught me an interesting technique to clear out my ear and sine conducts: snorting salt water. It works wonders, and it burns pleasantly.

So now I'm almost out of that cold. We did another exploration dive, this time going West from The Shire. While geographically inaccurate, in my inside I named the new site Rohan, for its sandy plains and golden coral hills. There was even a forest of acropora, which deliciously corresponds to Fangorn.

A forest of acropora.

And so, this is what today's dive was all about. Sadly, I didn't find any new marine life worth mentioning, but hopefully tomorrow there'll be more.

Back in Semporna, we (the instructors and I) had dinner together - probably the tastiest burger I've ever had. Or perhaps it's just that I haven't eaten any beef in the past two weeks. But, let me say, it was great. 

AND I GOT 38 MOVIES!

All coming from Dave's hard drive - I'm glad I'll have some entertainment, because I've already finished four books in a week and a half, which is a bit of an unsustainable rate.

Otra canción para vuestras mercedes: 19 Días y 500 Noches - Joaquín Sabina (19 Días y 500 Noches)

You all should already know about my nostalgia for my country, so please forgive these short episodes of Spanish music. Soon I'll be back with more international music, but meanwhile, if you really wish to know my soul, give a listen to this, and perhaps try to find a translation for the lyrics. Sabina, more than a musician, is a poet, and a very cunning one. He has found the formula to distill the spirit of my España and shape it into music.

Ave, sailors of life. That's all from me. Keep your homes in your hearts and your aims in your sight.

Episode IX - El capitán resfriado

Canción del día: A mis Cuarenta y Diez - Joaquín Sabina (19 Días y 500 Noches)

Although I am desperately tempted to write this post using my beloved Spanish language, I shall abide the rules of political correctness and employ Shakespeare's speech. 

This young man, captain of no army, has no great news. Suffering of a mild cold, I could not afford to spend this day diving, so I have stayed and reviewed all the theory for my Rescue Diver Course. Needless to say it is a tiresome quarrel, and extensively tedious, but it concerns important knowledge. Now you are safe to come diving with me: nobody will drown on my watch. 

A sun cycle ago we went diving at Sibuan island again. This time was definitely the best. 

As good Christians, on Sunday morning we went to Church Reef. Dave brought a bag of crisps with us, to show the effect of pressure at 25 meters depth. Interestingly, the air becomes totally compressed, and the bag wrinkly. Then we opened it and tried eating them chips, but they were buoyant and would float up very quickly - I wasted half of my air tank struggling to catch some while laughing my ass off. Apart from that, we found some nice creatures both there and around Frogfish Corner - just another dive site.

There were four of these together.
One of them gave a few runs around my hand!

Very adequately, this one's named
Orangutan Crab.

It's not a squid! It's a cuttlefish  

Yes, that is a fish. Two frogfish, actually.

The one in the video is a juvenile harlequin sweetlips. They are born with natural buoyancy, so they have to swim frantically to avoid shooting up to the surface!

Our next dive would be a new challenge: we ventured into the sea, and dropped at an unexplored spot. As we finned through the reef's valleys and hills, admiring its virginal beauty, I though of a name to give it. Later, when I presented it to the rest of the group, it was unanimously decided: we'd call this dive site The Shire.

But unfortunately, there is no Eastfarthing Pipe Weed around these parts to alleviate my sickness, so I've had to give up diving for today, as you already know. And the rest is history.

May your dreams be placid and warm. I shall go and get lost in an oneiric world of guitars, fish and sunny islands.

PS: My most sincere congratulations to a very brave woman who, after six long years of fighting and struggling, is now enjoying a new-found freedom!

PSS: ¡Y una ferviente felicitación a todos mis compatriotas españoles, por habernos librado de una de las arpías más insolentes de nuestro decadente Gobierno!

Episode VIII - The Healer

Song of the day: Saturday Night Blues - Kenny Burrell (Midnight Blue)

My dearest ladies and gentlemen, let me present before you my deepest apologies. For not adding the usual hyperlink to today's song, which is due to the absolute impossibility of accessing YouTube with this @#$%& connection; and for not having updated this blog for three days, which has occurred for three reasons: nothing worth mentioning happened on the first day of the loss of communication lines, the second night was Friday, Holy Day in this Muslim Semporna and time for "partying" (more on that later), and tonight's late time update can be attributed to the Internet access. 

For reasons that may be familiar to you, I won't be posting any images on this entry - I'm afraid I shall be obliged to transmit my story with my writing only.

Three days back on this foul adventure ---- actually, not foul at all ---- I earned, with sweat and blood, the first title that certifies me as a Field Medic, nowadays referred to as a First Aider. Such licence is a requirement for the forthcoming Rescue Diver Certification, on which I am working at the moment. As a reminder of the awesomeness of my instructor I shall introduce you with the last test he imposed on me. 

It is happening. Some call it Armageddon, few Ragnarok, many Apocalypse, but mostly, the Rise of the Zombies. 

On an unexpected turn of events, my companion, Annie, falls victim of an unknown succession of acts. All I'm aware of is that, as I cautiously walked into the living room of our headquarters, she is laying on the floor, flat on her back, with a butcher knife in her hand and a blood-spurting wound on her chest. It is my duty, as a Resistance Army Field Medic and companion, to ensure Annie's survival until heavily equipped doctors arrive.

And so my abilities and skills on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillator and oxygen supply provision were tested, paired with serious bleeding management and, of course, personal survival from the army of zombies rapidly approaching from a breach in our walls.

I should write a book.

Gift song: Sexy Sadie - The Beatles (The White Album)

Yesterday I was again destined to Sibuan Island as a Divemaster, as I have been today - to Mataking Island though. The diving is, well, just as it always is. Beautiful. Countless turtles (seriously, 10+ in 45 minutes), and many other beings I shall introduce when I get access to images.

In the evening I met with two awesomely chill German guitar players, a hippie Australian and a Spanish Physics/Engineering student, being my compatriot the only female. Had dinner and beer at Arthur Bar, our Coral Monitoring Team chilling spot - the friendly sir serving his amazing seafood barbecue is still there several nights a week. As a Friday night, there should have been live music in Scuba Junkie, but they were on Mabul Island and will be playing here tomorrow instead. I'll come and introduce myself - hopefully they'll welcome another guitar player, even if just for some jamming. 

Today's pack consisted on four Malaysian young women in appearance, teenagers in spirit. God knows they wouldn't shut their mouths until forced to breath from the regulator or drowned in the Sea of the Celebes. Despite the exhaustion of dealing with them - a bunch of chickens atop a boat - they were friendly and lively, injecting some of their good mood into the rest of us, our semblants shaded by the cold, cloudy weather. One of them was trying too hard to get my attention - a hopeless enterprise I must say. Still, she made more than one smile arise on that boat. She still reminds me of one of the lovely people I met through my travels - Sunheira Fuad, native of Dhaka, capital of the beautiful Bangladesh.

Now I'm, once again, sitting as a hermit on this open air lounge. In less than a week I have finished three and a half books. Tomorrow Dave shall bring his computer and provide me with games, TV shows and movies. Entertainment is crucial to withstand this lonely existence. 

May your hearts be delighted with this, the last song I offer on this day. 

Pride (In The Name Of Love) - Soweto Gospel Choir (In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2)

May the Stars shine your way, and the Winds blow from your back.

Episode VII - The Padawan becomes a Master

Song of the day: Tangled Up In You - Staind (Illusion of Progress)

Internet. What a great invention. If only it would work a little bit better in this forsaken town. It's frustrating to an extreme to try to keep a normal conversation through Skype chat, or check Facebook, having to wait minutes for any change to appear on your screen. I venture it took me some five straight minutes to get into Blogger and start typing this in. 

Apart from this excruciating delay in my daily Interwebz surfing, it's been a nice, though tiring, day. This here youth ye all can see, he's got some responsibility on his shoulders on this very day. As I commented yesterday, a bunch of people have just arrived. They've swarmed us, overrun us. So us, the Resistance, had to use every card in our deck. And so, I was destined to guide a patrol of no less than four people through the depths of our seas, spotting for the invader forces.

Well, it was not exactly that epic, but still flippin' awesome. I got my first Divemaster experience today, because we hadn't enough instructors for all the people that came, and so I was assigned a role as pack leader. Not that we really use such expression, but I like it.

Fuck you too, internet. I'm trying to find a cool image to amenize this post, and this is how I'm rewarded for my good intentions, it takes damned ages. This is it. Goodbye, open air lounge. I'm going downstairs.

It's not any better here. At least the aircon chills my boiling blood down a little.

Finally, the picture. I'm the dun one,
making sure my lands are safe for my pack.

Sorry about that. So where was I? Oh yes, I guided four people through the dive sites around Mataking island. That calls for another image.

What's this place? Where do I go? North-West? Mmmkay.

But it all worked fine. Despite the currents, we managed to successfully see four green turtles, a lobster, a couple sea slugs, a strange shrimp thingy (I still need to figure out its name) and a Garden of Eden made of coral. I need to get an underwater camera, seriously.

Yes, that thing is an animal!

I was invited to a night dive with the instructors as well, but I was just too tired to join them. Next time, perhaps, but for now I'd rather not stretch myself too much. 

Amados hispanohablantes, recomiendo fervientemente la lectura de la saga Aventuras del Capitán Alatriste. Muy ameno, pero invadido de poesía y lírica con un lenguaje adecuado para la España Imperial, muy bien escrito en todos los sentidos. Se acaba cada volumen con una sensación de quiero más, y alimenta la imaginación de manera muy agradable.

That was a book recommendation. It's kind of exclusive, sorry 'bout that. (I don't think the book's translated into English). That book has fueled my imagination once again.

Goodnight, dear family.

A white rose, bathed in moonlight.

Episode VI - The Beginning

Song of the day: Fuerteventura - Russian Red (Fuerteventura)

Last night I couldn't get around to write the pertinent post, so this one will serve for both days. Yesterday was meant to be a theory study day, and so I watched the whole First Aid DVD - only a couple of hours, but a bit boring, especially having already read the book. Anyway, we got a DVD player from the hotel reception and came to an outdoor lounge/balcony, where I have decided to settle and establish a base for my incursions into the Interwebz for its warm temperature, fast connection and power availability. 

Right after watching we were headed to the dive centre, to start the practical lessons, when Dave (my instructor, remember?) got an emergency call - he had to go to Tawau, some shipping company had a problem with a boat and needed a professional scuba diver, so he left at around 1pm - and as he told me today, didn't get back until 2am. I feel sorry for him, we spent the whole day on a boat today when he had barely slept!

So I had a day off, and took it easy. Spent the rest of the day studying a little, playing the guitar and reading.

... I felt like an actually healthy person with healthy habits. I even had a salad for dinner.

Mabul Café, a nice balcony restaurant where they serve
MASSIVE jugs of mango juice - right, Coral Monitors?

This morning I woke up to La Grange (ZZ Top) ready for some diving. People keep arriving everyday, today we had two Brits doing their Open Water course. [...] I should be having beers with them right now, instead of writing this blog. It was them who asked me to hang out!

It was their first time diving, so we did some skill development in confined waters - actually, at chest depth waters on the beach. The two following dives, although also including skills development, included some sight-seeing, but I still participated as an instructor assistant, to gain some experience. Not very entertaining I must admit, although I appreciate its value. 

On the third dive (last of the day) the seabed was at a too shallow depth, and we nearly got ran over by a speedboat - we all heard it coming and descended as fast as we could, and even though I was looking up I didn't manage to see the boat - I only noticed the track it left right above us! After that, Dave asked me to stay on the surface, in order to alert any other boats until we could find the drop-off and dive safely. No big deal.

This coral is called Acropora, and I must admit it's my
absolute favourite.

There and back again, I'm back at the lounge. But running out of things to talk about, which ain't cool. 

I confess the feeling of loneliness is slowly decreasing, not because I've supplied it, but because I'm getting accustomed to it. Books and The Sea are working wonders upon me. 

Oh, by the way, you know you can leave me a comment or something, don't you? ;)

Episode V - The Lookout

Song of the day: Riding with the King - Eric Clapton & B.B. King (Riding with the King)

Apparently I said I was going to start my training today? Well, NOPE. But it wasn't Chuck Testa. Dave (my instructor) is just too cool to do two things at a time, but still a very smart man. So, instead of training on rescue techniques and the like, he decided it was time to train my spotter's eyes. Thereby, he gave me directions on how to find the following little creatures:

Bubble Coral Shrimp. As its name indicates, it dwells within the shelter of bubble coral, these friendly guys may hop on board and perform a manicure if you offer them a hand!

Hairy Squat Lobster. Unfortunately, they're too tiny to be noticed in this detail underwater, but still cool! They inhabit the grooves of great barrel sea sponges, and feed on zooplankton.

Commensal Shrimp - I found a whole colony of these! They live in anemones, just as clownfish, and won't mind coming up to check you out.

Apart from these, I also spotted some very tiny nudibranches (less than a centimeter!), two morays and a sea snake, all in just three dives.  Absolutely amazing!

However, the panorama was not so good above the water - the sea was getting pretty rough, and the wind and rain shed no mercy. Truly, we were freezing, when the previous day we had all got sunburnt!
The Gods in Malaysia don't keep their rage to themselves.

We got back home quite early (we barely rested between dives, it was too cold!), so we each went our way. Nonetheless, I arranged with a Swiss guy to have dinner together - he's here alone too, though only for ten days. After the pertinent washing of the gear and debriefing, and enjoying a shower with too little water pressure, I went on to buy a mattress - it had become clear I needed something soft to put between my bones and the wooden plank. It's just a travel mattress and it's not the best either, but it plays its role. 

When we went out for dinner we found the not-so-friendly instructor, Sam. She's a strange person.  She's not open at all - I identify her with a stone wall. She's not unfriendly, neither mean, nor cold. But it's still hard to deal with her, she's the kind of person that doesn't seem to care about anything. Such behavior seems to me like a defense barrier, erected to hide weaknesses, but actually showing they exist. Perhaps it's just me. What becomes clear is that I shouldn't put too much effort on building a friendship with her, as it just won't work.

Anyways, after dinner the Swiss guy (we didn't even ask for each other's name) invited me to his room in view that I didn't really have a comfortable place to go and he has a TV, but as we were both exhausted, I simply went out to Skype Mum and Dad and told him he could go to sleep. It was a bit of an awkward situation, but that's what loneliness makes us do. 

Episode IV - A New Hope

Song of the day: The Golden Room - Joe Satriani (Black Swans & Wormhole Wizards)

Today has been the first day of diving of the term. Only fun diving, as Dave had an Open Water student, but still nice. Our guide was Samantha, another instructor whom I still need to get to know better - although she hasn't been as welcoming as Dave. Still, she's been kind of friendly.

We went to Sibuan Island, where we dive three times. Our best finds include several frogfish, lionfish, crocodile flatheads, banded shrimps, and an octopus. And of course, lots and lots of beautiful coral.

But this blog is not just about diving. It's about my experiences.

After the de-briefing at the center, the instructors were going to grab some food (dinner) and Dave (who else) told to me to join them. Gladly I did, for I was frightened of the solitude of a lonesome dinner! They're quite a cool group - I still need to get to know all of them better, but they're quite playful. I didn't feel that they were trying to include me in the conversation, but neither was I, and we were all tired from a day of diving, so I don't blame anybody. Anyways, it was a nice dinner (Nasi Goreng Kampung!), and I got to know them a little. The experience has fueled my hope for a better future.

Tomorrow, although the Open Water under Dave's instruction hasn't finished hers, I'm starting my course. So Dave will have to do twice the work - I'll try to make it easy for him. 

After dinner and shower, I went to a big supermarket they showed me. I've bought a bath towel, new bedsheets, and pens and a notebook. I've also seen a travel mattress which I may buy to improve my nest, but it didn't indicate the price, so I'll check tomorrow. I already had too many things in my hands to carry it anyways. I've also forgotten to buy an outlet multiplier, as I only have one socket in the room and at least two devices that need frequent charging plus the fan.

I'm writing this post from the hotel reception, which serves a quite fast WiFi, but I can't get any socket nearby so I'm just working on battery. Plus, there's air conditioning - a real luxury around these parts. I plan to read some more of my Rescue Diver's book and learn the guitar for today's song before going to bed.

And so, this post is done. My dear readers, enjoy your beds, your showers, your canteens or kitchens, and most of all, the people around you that look after you. 

Episode III - First Day at Semporna

Song of the day: Last Night on Earth - Green Day (21st Century Breakdown)

Today's been split in two parts. I decided not to dive, to be able to recover from jet lag for a day. Anyways, I spent the morning at the dive center, on my computer, not feeling very well. Maybe it was the previous night's Tiger, perhaps the banana roti I had for breakfast didn't fall on a strong stomach, or it could just be pure nostalgia clinging on to my soul.

I'd like to dedicate this space to Sadnam and Bita. Chatting with them was a warm soothing for my lonely heart. As the day advanced I started feeling better. 

Anyways, I was supposed to be directed by Jerry, the Supreme Authority of the dive agency, whom I had been exchanging e-mails with. But, he was in Tawau (he still is), and I could only find myself alone and without a direction. I had been told he'd arrive on Saturday, so I would just wait for him to come and give me some advice.

However, after a few hours of surfing the net, I saw my new friends (Marcos and Barbara) coming out of the hotel, and we made plans to have lunch together. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with them, and I believe they saved me that day with their company. They are now gone to a former oil-extracting platform near Mabul Island. 

At some point we passed by the dive center and I asked a lady what was the plan for me, as I was supposed to dive the next day. She referred me to Dave, who was having dinner with two more instructors at a restaurant around the corner. He's the nicest and most welcoming person I've met so far. The only one, actually. Cool that he's going to be my instructor.

So, having met him, I knew what time I'd have to be ready for diving, and he gave me my First Aid and Rescue Dive books which I'd glance through before going to bed. But first coming to the hotel reception to ask to borrow some bedsheets and a pillow - they haven't given me anything to cover myself with, but at least I don't sleep on the bare mattress.

And that was the day. The sensation of loneliness got quite covered, but reappeared at night, although weaker than the previous one. Fortunately, the fan makes even more noise than the restaurant downstairs.

Episode II - The Arrival

Song of the day: So Lonely - The Police (Every Breath You Take)

Arrival was, to say the least, hard. Not so much getting to Semporna - got on a van with a Spanish man, Marcos and who seemed to be his girlfriend, Barbara, from the South of Switzerland, the Italian-speaking area. They live together in Zurich, but she speaks fluent Spanish, so that's the language we used to communicate. We spent the whole ride just talking about diving and traveling.

Once in Semporna I was taken to my room in the dive center's staff quarters. Photos shall soon be published. Quite tiny, the only furniture is a "shelf", a locker/wardrobe, a small window with a curtain, a standing fan and something distantly similar to a bed. The bed frame's quite right, but the bed is three centimeters of foam on top of a wooden plank. Quite hard, yep. The room was crazily hot, it's right on top of a restaurant, from which noise comes in until 1am.
You say you want a bathroom? Yes, well, sorry, it's not ready yet in here, there's no water nor shower. Well, you see, there's this toilet here. With a bucket and a hose. Not too bad, if only it were cleaner. Anyway, if you need a better bathroom, you can just go to the dorm you stayed at with your friends in March '11. Ooff, at least I know those are quite clean and provide toilet paper. In fact they're quite fine. It's just uncomfortable that I have to go down the stairs and across a street dark as obsidian to reach it.

The perspective of staying in such a shithole was quite disheartening. Not so much because of the lack of comfort - I've been through that, I can stand it. The problem is going through it alone. Spending three months on my absolute own, without anyone in a similar situation. No friends, no one within a range of 20 ± 3 years. To get internet, I have to walk a couple of minutes to the closest bar and, of course, order a drink. But there's a lot of noise and not much light.

So, loneliness was growing into my heart with ice-cold roots. Never have I been through such a painful feeling. And I was scared, scared as hell. Not so much scared about the place itself, but about being able to adapt to it. How am I going to manage is something I have just started to catch a glimpse of.

Episode I - The Flights

Song of the day: Slow Cheetah - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stadium Arcadium)

No special remarks, flying is as tiring as always, in spite of the excitement to reach my destination. I am writing this on an AirAsia plane from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau - previously I've flown with Iberia (Sevilla - Madrid) and Qatar Airways (Madrid - Doha - Kuala Lumpur). Quite a nice service on all of them, but I still have the impression that FlyEmirates was better than QAir. Maybe it's just because of the mood in which I'm traveling, who knows. 

I saw this beautiful girl in Madrid, remarkable for her tanned skin but hair of the color of wheat, and sky blue eyes. As the young man I am I started to wonder about how nice it'd be to just have some fun flirting with her, but I couldn't really bother. So, later on in Doha, I was trying to figure out which damned gate I was supposed to go to, concerned because I was in a hurry. It turns out that she was coming in the same flight, so at the gate she asked me if I knew anything about it. Apparently there were two different flights assigned to that gate, plus the time of the flight was different from the one on our boarding passes. Anyways, it was the right gate, and we had started a conversation, so why not keep it going.

To all my fellow 9gaggers out there, the following made me feel like the Socially Awkward Penguin. We were just chatting, I was asking about her and why'd she be going to Kuala Lumpur, when she tells me she's going to visit her boyfriend. I realized the best strategy then was to keep the flirty tone of my conversation just to not make it even more obvious. Yes, once again, I was flirting with a blondie with a boyfriend. 

Anyways, she gave me some nice company for the waiting times at the airports, although her conversation was not the most intellectual, nor engaging. But I would have felt the void of human interaction otherwise. 

At KL we parted, each looking for our most beloved possession: her boyfriend, and my guitar. 

So I'm in KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), but my next flight departs in 6 hours from LCCT (Low Cost Company Terminal), so I decided to stay for a while and find a power outlet to use the amazing WiFi available. Thanks to Taha for keeping me awake with a conversation with significance. 

After watching a couple episodes of Friends I took the bus to LCCT, and now we're back on the plane, for which I had to pay extra 75 ringgit. Damned weight limitations. 

I can't see anything through the windows, but I'd say we're at some point above Western Borneo. I guess. I can't stop thinking about the Sun and the Sea and the Coral that's awaiting me. 

That's all for now. As I get the hang of writing I'll try to make it all more interesting, and better structured, this blog entry is rather messy. But I don't know how many hours I've slept in the past how many days, and I haven't done my English homework lately. 

Au revoir, mes amis!