From this time forth, I shall be blogging from http://flyingpenyu.blogspot.com.

For this trip to Redang, I have so much to thank God for.

Where do I start?

For one, I don't think we could have asked for better weather conditions: sunshine on our shoulders and relatively calm seas…although the first day's sea conditions were choppy and made "yours truly" truly seasick. And on one of the dives, we had some strong drift underwater. But it made for a good drift dive across the reef :)

God knows I love turtles, pelagics and the big ones, and I had encounters with them during this trip. On three separate dives, we spotted three separate turtles. It's a magnificent feeling swimming with these creatures. They're so graceful in flight underwater.

Interestingly though, my buddy, Twink, is more of a macro person, and a huge nudi fan who was armed with a camera. So there she was spending 5-10 minutes at one time at one spot, taking macro shots of nudis, anemonefishes, etc…while "yours truly" can't wait to go roam freely around the reef. :) Having said that, she was a good buddy. I must mention, I had interesting times hanging around and waiting for her to take her macro shots. Thing is, when you perch yourself long enough in one position with minimal movements, the fishes actually come to you to "check you out". What an interesting experience to have all these fishes swimming slowly and closely around you! :)

Thanks Twink, for teaching me to stop and smell the flowers. *two thumbs up*

Bamboo sharks, Lionfishes, stonefishes, decorated crabs, assortment of groupers & parrotfishes, and pufferfishes…on one night dive, we also came up close & personal with a puffed up pufferfish! Cute lil' fella :)

I particularly enjoyed my dive at Terumbu Kili and the two night dives at Batu Isa and Mak Cantik. At Terumbu Kili, the school of huge bumphead parrotfish took my breath away…not 5 or 6 of them, I counted 13 of them! The night dive at Batu Isa really ended with a bang. Not only did I come face-to-face with a turtle (literally), we surfaced to a sky FULL of stars! The word "beautiful" really doesn't do enough justice. Our last dive for this trip was the night dive at Mak Cantik, signed off with a fantastic sighting of a 4-foot lone barracuda :) *ecstacy*

Photos? Let's wait for Twink to upload them :)

"From the ends of the earth,

From the depths of the sea,

From the heights of the heavens,

Your name be praised…"

Lord Most High by Don Harris & Gary Sadler (1991 Integrity's Hosanna! Music)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...

...God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good...

...And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures..."…So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems…And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas..."

~Genesis 1:1, 10, 20-22 (NIV)~

Water - a transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid, a compound of hydrogen and oxygen, H₂O, freezing at 32°F or 0°C and boiling at 212°F or 100°C, that in a more or less impure state constitutes rain, oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. It contains 11.188 percent hydrogen and 88.812 percent oxygen, by weight.

(www.dictionary.com)

Water has always been a special part of my life.

When I was in primary school, I almost drowned while playing at a waterfall during Chinese New Year. Thank God my uncle spotted me, and I live to tell the story today.

I was a bad asthmatic. The swimming pool first opened in my hometown when I was 10 years old. My parents jumped at the opportunity for me to learn swimming. Swimming is good for asthmatics. It helps strengthen the lungs & breathing, but it's important to keep warm.

I remember the first time I entered the pool. Unlike other kids who jumped in with a splash, I entered slowly using the ladders. Haha, and the pool was only 1 meter deep :P Ripples of my near-drowning at the waterfall? I can't be sure…hmmm…

Long story short, my asthma cleared up, thank God. And I ended up doing competitive swimming until I finished school. My involvement in competitive swimming played a role in me receiving good and free tertiary education.

Going into college, I was quite sick of the water, having spent hours in a day, everyday, training in chlorinated water. In spite of that, I still went back into the pool every few months just to make a few splashes.

University days, I got back into doing a proper regime when I went swimming once a week. It, of course, was to serve a different purpose. Rather than training for competition, it was just for exercise, keeping fit & healthy, and getting that sense of fulfilment (yes, I have this weird feeling of freedom when I'm in activity, especially in water). Hence, the mileage I put in is only an eighth of what I used to clock in during competitive training days. I've kept to this once-a-week swimming to this day.

As much as possible, I jump at every opportunity to go to the beach, sea, island, etc. Love places like these.

I've recently started scuba diving, and I love every second of it. The anticipation of my next dive makes my heart race. The teeming, colourful marine life that exists down there…so much colour, so much variety, so many different shapes & sizes, it's crazy & just beyond me…the ecstasy of drifting with the current over a reef full of anemones…the thrill of currents blowing at you & shaking your regulator & mask as you cling onto a rock while observing little fish scrambling in the drift…the smell of sea water blowing in your face as you take the boat out to dive…the buddy concept where nobody dives alone & the strong bond that builds because we always watch out for each other…the stories, jokes & laughter after each dive…heck, even gearing up gives me a kick :P

So yes, water :)

Over the weekend, I was back in my hometown, and had the privilege of watching the live telecast of the Indonesian Open badminton tournament (my parents have Astro, I don't....anyway, they were showing it on TV1 as well). The semis were played on Saturday, and the finals on Sunday.

The singles final match-up was between Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and China's Bao Chun Lai. To be honest, I didn't have much hope that Chong Wei could triumph over a very polished Bao. I watched the Bao-Taufik Hidayat semifinal a day earlier, and Bao was, as usual, consistently in his element.

How I was proven wrong! (and I'm glad!) He was on fire yesterday! He controlled the match all through-out, and never gave a chance to Bao to get into his game. World No. 2 Bao was beaten 21-15, 21-16.

Chong Wei's game was well-mixed, and that was a bummer for Bao because with such a variety of play from Chong Wei, Bao couldn't settle into an ideal rhythm of play. Chong Wei's smashes, drops, defence, baseline placing, etc....all were well executed. Sure, he had some mistakes and bad judgment calls littered every now and then, but he kept composed throughout.

And he was super-agressive! (kudos too to his fitness....the level of aggression that he fired out at Bao required a very high standard of fitness). I was especially impressed with Chong Wei's cross-court smashes....left me gaping in awe.

Congratulations Lee Chong Wei! You played a fantastic game, and you deserve the title. Hopefully, this can be kept up for times to come.

The Star newspaper reported that "Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif failed to make it a double when they went down fighting 17-21, 20-22 to world's number one pair of Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China in an exciting men's doubles final."

And fight they did. It was indeed an exciting match, with the Malaysians really giving their all. Unfortunately, it was pretty obvious that they were the less experienced of the two pairs. The Chinese pair were too good in yesterday's match....they matched the Malaysian pair’s speed at the net and across the net, and they forced the Malaysian pair to lift the shuttle back at them very often. When you play against Cai-Fu, lifting the shuttle to them is a last resort. It’s a desperate measure, when you are out of options of the kind of shots to play back to them. Cause they can really smack the feathered cock right back at you. Note: Fu Haifeng holds the world record for the fastest smash ever recorded....332kph.
(See http://english.people.com.cn/200505/14/eng20050514_184991.html)

Kudos to Fairuz-Zakry for a job well done. They are still young, and there is much opportunity for improvement. The same goes for the other young Malaysian pairs (including Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong). If they can keep up the rate of improvement, Malaysia should have world-class doubles pairs sticking around for a while.

Note to all Malaysians: let's support our players both in good and bad times. We complain about our players being inconsistent, but what about our support? The down times are when they need our support the most. So stand firm beside our fellow comrades, and let's cheer them on with a "Malaysia Boleh" spirit.

Then here's something to occupy your time with....

The 80s Cartoon Personality Test
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=18172384946510130384

My results read:
"You're Thundercats!! Okay, Thundercats were great, but they were a little silly. I mean, c'mon. Admit it. Thunder...THUNDER...THUNDERCATS! Hehe...okay, so, you don't take yourself too seriously, you're a little pushy, but people just love you. I bet you watched this show. Admit it. You loved it."