Guess who's a certified diver now? :D

Yessss...

I am FINALLY  a certified diver!! Woohoo!! Another item ticked off my list!!

*TADDAHHHH*  

Open Water Diver!

And we got limited edition card because this year happens to be PADI 50 years anniversary!! :D How lucky are we! Only for this year ok!! Other years wont have this design d!! Hehe

I have always wanted to get my diving license since seeing everyone getting it one by one, and all of them telling me how awesome diving is, and how you will never ever go back to snorkeling after you have tried diving.

And because I love snorkeling and the open sea so much, I decided to give it a try.

My first diving experience was in Koh Lipe last year during my birthday trip. I joined the 'Discovery Dive' to just have a feel on diving and to see whether I would like it or not before deciding on whether to splurge on my license.

We had 2 dives at that time. First dive was horrible, I had no confidence at all, was damn afraid and totally couldn't equalize the pressure in my ears, and at that time, we only went to a maximum of 9 metres i think. On the 2nd dive, I finally got the hang of it, started to enjoy myself, being able to enjoy what's around me and most importantly, being able to breathe naturally through the regulator without being so focus on just trying to breathe!!

Our first ever dive selfie. With the instructor behind

 Because this was discovery dive, we weren't allowed to control our going up and down ourselves, so our instructor will be forever behind us doing that for us.

It wasn't really a good experience because of 2 reasons, I couldn't equalize my ears properly and it was hurting me like mad, and I got seasick and puke after going back up to the surface.


But after many doubts and thoughts. I decided to go ahead with getting my license for real. Screw this, you only live once right? :D


First was finding the right instructor. I didn't want to simply go to any dive centre and have any instructor to have my open water course with. Haha yeah I know so pattern, but I thought if I'm gonna be doing this, I want the best instructor.

So after asking around my friends, I finally decided on my most loved instructor now, KJ. I love her LIKE MAD SERIOUSLY. She is the most fun, cheerful instructor ever but also strict when she needs to be :)

After finding the right instructor, it was time to find a gang of friends to accompany me on this new adventure. And I did find a group of 5 :D

Thanks guys! You guys were awesome!!! Glad none of you regretted this decision to join me on this dive journey :D

The trip was fully planned by our instructor, KJ. Told you she's awesome. The total cost for the trip came up close to rm2k, including flight tickets, hotel and makan.


First we had to sit through 2 hours of theory classes and pass the theory exam, which I scored full marks *proud face* HAHA. KJ said I'm the 3rd person in her 3 years of teaching that scored full! Pro leh me! More like kiasu :P

Then it was confined water training, in a pool at PJ. We were there from 10am till 3pm. when we finally finished the pool session. It was good. I never felt so excited and happy for such a long time, and was definitely looking forward to our open sea diving :D

Haha but I had one bout of panic attack in the pool, when I felt I couldn't breathe at all and water just kept gushing into my throat through my regulator with each breath I took , and so i just stood up to the surface =/ Bad experience, still remember how that felt, but I'm glad nothing like this happened when we were at the open sea, if not I would probably have died already la.

Must always remind myself to calm down. dont panic and just breathe :)


Next was our trip to Perhentian Island! It was a 3d2n trip. Short, but sweet and memorable :)

2hours of sleep, 6am plane ride, puffy eyes, water retention faces haha

Touched down at Kota Bahru airport, had some breakfast at the jetty and took a speedboat to Perhentian Island :)

All on board with our excited faces! And our beloved instructor on the far right side with the black shirt ;D Coolest instructor ever!!




























Reached the island, checked into our room and our first dive was in 3 hours time. We had enough time to just freshen up, have some light lunch and head back down to the dive centre for our first briefing! :D

Always my partner in crime! Excited for our first open water dive! 

It was then time for setting up of gears (I hate this part the most!!) and testing of all our equipment to ensure that all is working perfectly well. Hate hate hate this part the most!! Lol most of our gas tanks or regulator (the thing that helps you breathe) were leaking gas lor!

At first I was gancheong, but after that I realized aiya leak so little, wont habis so fast one la.



Our very FIRST open water dive!

Location: Perhentian Shark Point.

How did I do? Failed miserably. I was so EMO. Why? Because I had not enough weights on me and so I couldn't sink down!! In conclusion, for the first dive, I was totally snorkeling on the surface with my tank HA HA -.-

Each time I tried to go down, in 5 minutes, I will shoot back up to the surface without even realizing, and its uncontrollable ok!! Every time you breathe in, your lungs expands, you become lighter and byebye you float up. That was exactly what happened for the whole 45 minutes.

It was scary at first, when I shot up the first time, because I could see everyone down there but I couldnt control, no matter how hard I tried to exhale ALL the air in my lungs so that I can sink, I continued floating up and up and I thought I would lost the group and die off in the open sea where no one can find me haha. That was seriously my first thoughts k.

But thank god, once I reached the surface, one of the instructor, Sam, came after me. I was SO GLAD to see him man. My life saver!! And then he will try to bring me back down, even manually PULL my hands down because its impossible to descend even with my empty BCD vest. Then at last he told me to dive head down, which worked for awhile but in less than 10 minutes, I will shoot back up to the surface FML.

After awhile, I got used to leaving the group behind and floating up to the surface that I wasn't afraid anymore. Because I know Sam will come after me, every single time, without fail. Haha I was so chillex that I will even inflate my BCD fully to allow me to float on the surface while waiting for Sam :P Personal bodyguard to the rescue :P I even said hi to the boatman multiple times because its always only me at the surface while everyone else were obviously diving below at 9 metres.

Yeap 9.6 metres, that was our maximum depth for the first dive.

Had to pass some test for this dive, clearing of mask half filled with water, and removing the whole mask underwater and then wearing it back then clearing all the water again. I sucked so bad at it but somehow managed to do it. Also removing and putting on our weight belts while in the water and removing our BCD and putting it back in the water too. Oh and also tired diver tow. And also buddy share air! Passed all ! :D

End of our first dive and we were done for the day.

The next day will be the torturing 3 dives in a day. Haha we headed out for dinner and knocked out by 10pm. Was dead tired!!


Day 2

Had to be up early as our 2nd dive briefing starts at 8 am sharp. Had light breakfast then we were back at the dive centre, setting up gears again (URGH). Takes at least 15 minutes to set up everything one lor after each dives!! So mafan!! I would pay money and hire someone to do it for me la!!

*Group picture before heading out!*

So many people! We had 4 instructors and 2 groups, one doing the open water dive which is us and the other gang doing their advanced, plus a few fun divers! It was a really fun group! Really glad to have met each and every one of them!

SECOND open water dive.

Location: Tokong Laut

It was a 40 minutes speedboat ride from our island. When we reached the place, I was shocked to see the place full of boats and divers ready to get down omg. Cause it was a saturday. They called it a pasar malam underwater, and its true! Not exaggerating!


'Mask on, regulators on, down we go descend.'

All I see was bubbles and bubbles and BUBBLES. No joke. All the divers punya bubbles ok. I couldnt see the bottom, it was SOOO DEEP, and I was fucking scared at this point. Suddenly felt no confidence at all. Felt like panicking but I know I couldn't cause it was soooo deep. Was having problems with my regulator too suddenly, water just kept coming into my regulator with each 2nd breath that I take and I had to keep blowing the water out. So I was feeling a little uncomfortable  =/

Maximum depth we went: 16 metres. No wonder it was soo scary to me!

Almost double the depth of what we went on our first dive.

But, I know I chose this, I have to stay strong, mentally especially, and after about 10 minutes, I calmed down and started enjoying myself. Good job Mun Li! haha

This time I could finally stay down. Stay until my bottom keep hitting the base of the ocean and corals sumore. Why? Cause I added another 1.5kg of weights to my weight belt because the instructor said I was too light the day before. I was so happy to be down there diving finally ok, instead of snorkeling at the surface and saying hi to my boatman -.-

But I think I was a little too heavy with the added weights, so it was quite hard to control, I think I killed many corals on that dive haha. Sorry corals :( Keep hitting the bottom of the ocean and unable to float back up even after putting ALOT of air into my BCD.


Tests we had to do. Surface water navigation with a compass. Basically just follow the direction of the compass and move lol. So simple. Passed!

Back to the island after that and we had just enough time to have a quick lunch, go pee and then it was back to the dive centre to change our tanks and setting up of gears again. 3rd briefing done and we were out to sea again for our 3rd dive!.

As usual, another picture before our 3rd dive. Haha our instructor love taking pictures thats why! ;P

THIRD open water dive.

Location: D' Lagoon

Maximum depth: 14metres 

This was the BEST dive of all!! Visibility underwater was good, I finally got the hang of everything and finally able to really really enjoy myself. Eventhough my regulator was still having problems and I had to remove the water every few seconds, urghh but I got used to it haha and stopped being gan cheong when it happened cause I know how to handle it already.

And the most important part was, I finally FOUND MY TURTLE OMG. I was so soooo sooo excited when I saw it, I immediately chased after it. I was sooo close to it. My life is complete man. The main reason I wanted to dive at Perhentian was so that I could swim with the turtle, and I was giving up hope of meeting it already then it suddenly appeared. Thank you turtle :)

*This is my turtle!! :D*

This was the dive that we took many many group pictures too! Because we were all finally getting the hang of diving, and feeling alot more relaxed and happy and cheerful compared to the first 2 dives :P

From here onwards, I'm gonna spam diving pictures only haha. Cause I love all of it!

*First solo picture underwater!*

 

 *And one with Hou! Haha I was busy trying to clear the water in my regulator so forgive me and my bubbles la!*

*Clearer picture of us!*

Hor Hou why u keep holding the inflator/deflator hose! I tell KJ!! She say cannot always touch it!

14 metres underwater photo :P

*Probably all hanging around chilling during our safety stop (5 metres for 3 minutes) before resurfacing to remove any excess nitrogen in our bloodstream*

*Group photos!*

With one fella stuck up there because he was unable to come down. Haha you think easy to go down ah when your tank is getting lighter and lighter! lol need alot of skills to control buoyancy and I'm still trying to improve on this skill!!.

*Superman pose also come out liao lol*

The underwater world, so amazing, so beautiful :) Say no to snorkeling ever again. Diving is so much better. And diving is addictive!!!

After all the playing around and taking pictures, we had to do our tests again. :(

Underwater navigation, which was the same like surface navigation just that we are doing it deep down beneath with a compass. 

The most challenging of all the tests, was the CESA (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent), which was our final test before passing and getting our license. Basically this skills means that, in case we run out of air, we have to make an emergency ascent up, with the last breath of air we have, just keep releasing the air bit by bit and when reach the surface, orally inflate our BCD vest to stay afloat.

We had to do 9 metres depth, one breath all the way up to the surface, while releasing bubbles slowly and we cannot ascend faster than our bubbles, cause that would be too fast and our lungs would burst! And we ALL passed it in one try! Hehe. I heard of friends failing it and needing to repeat it 3 times!! Pro leh we all!!

I was so gancheong la, like I was almost out of breath already but still I couldnt see the surface, so I had to release my air slower and slower, then when I reached the surface, I had no more air and strength left to orally inflate my BCD and I kept drowning and going back down. I had to jump up, blow air once, fall back underwater and keep repeating. Seriously wanted to give up d one lor then i heard my friend cheering me and so I finally did it. PASSED. No more man please!!

Finally pass all the tests and we headed back to the island.

*Happy divers on board after passing all our tests! hehe just waiting for our last open water dive before we can officially be called open water divers!* No more skill tests after this!

Reached back, changed tanks and we had one hour to chill around before heading out for our final dive for the trip :D

This time, it was just a fun dive. No more skills and no more tests cause we already passed it all :)


FORTH open water dive

Location: Perhentian Shark Point (again, yes)

Because it was starting to rain, and we were supposed to head to Terumbu Tiga, but as we were heading there, the current was getting stronger and stronger and our instructor did not want to risk anything so she decided to change location, not once but at least 3 times before deciding on Shark Point again.

Maximum depth: 9.7 metres only. Haha sap sap sui la

I think we all felt most comfortable during this last dive. Also, the fun divers decided to join us on this trip so it was a whole boat full of divers hehe, FUN ! Just dive around underwater, took more pictures, and thats it.

Oh and during this last dive, my instructor told me to remove the extra 1.5kg weights that I added on earlier in the day because she could see that I kept sinking to the bottom. And guess what, with the original amount of weights on me that I had when I did my first dive and was impossible for me to sink down, this time, I did it, without any difficulties! Didn't even shoot up to the surface, not even once !! Haha so proud of myself! I finally understood the skill of how to breathe properly to control my buoyancy, thats the most important k. No keeping air in lungs!! Exhale fully!!! :P

*Us, casually hanging around in the water doing our 3 minutes safety stop. I no like safety stops, its too boring :(*

*Le noob bf and me! :D*

 *After we resurfaced, casually hanging out on the surface, chatting away lol*

 

We completed our last dive in 36 minutes. Actually I still had half of my tank left la. Wasted haha!! Got back up the boat and thats it for the trip! End of our last dive :( Was feeling kinda sad cause I was just starting to get the 'feel' on diving then thats the end d.

But anyway it was already 6pm, and we are not allowed to dive 18 hours before our flight (to avoid nitrogen buildup in the blood), so for the rest of the time, it was just free and easy, taking more pictures on land and drinking at the bar till late night :D

It was a fun fun night!

Headed back to the room, bathed and we went for dinner. Practically the whole 25 of us were eating at the same restaurant so it was very 'happening' and noisy lol.

*Our gang ;D 5 newly certified open water divers and the other 2 are expert fun divers la*

Keep laughing and bullying us cause we all so noob compared to them haha.

After dinner, we had a debriefing with our instructors, and some feedback sessions before receiving our certificates! :D Wheeeee

*TADAHHH open water divers finally! *wipes sweat and blood* haha 

Not easy ok ! :P

Love you many many KJ. Never ever regretting having you as my instructor :)

*The people who I persuaded to join me on this journey. Thanks guys, you guys were amazing! It would never be the same without all of you! Here's to many more dive trips in the future :)*

 And also, thanks so much KJ, for making me fall in love with diving !! One sentence that captured my attention that she said was 'If you have trust in us, we will make you dive like us' :)

 *And everyone else just wanted to come into our picture haha* 

AND MORE. This is basically all of us who was present for this trip. SUPER FUN GROUP. Glad of all the new friends that we made :) Hopefully we will meet again in future dive trips ! :D

Two important rules to remember: (quote from KJ)
1. Never ever hold your breathe when diving.
2. Do not ever embarrass your instructor.

Haha ok boss, we will try our best not to embarrass you when we're diving outside :P

Ended the night having drinks at one of the pub, laughed our asses off and then called it a night at 2am haha.


Next morning, had breakfast together and after that we just hanged around waiting for our boat ride back to the jetty.

*Last selfie before leaving! I missed every single thing about the trip nowww :(*

Had a mini tour around Kota Bahru, non stop eating before heading to the airport to catch our flight back to KL.

And thats all for the trip.


When will be our next dive trip? At least one more before we end the year ok? ;D

-mun-

Koh Lipe 25th Birthday Trip

Hello!

I said I would be back to blog about my birthday trip which happened like 2 months ago. Lol so sorry that it took so long because I was so busy with errr, definitely not work. haha I guess busy holiday-ing? I've been taking so many off days that I think in a month I only work like half a month? HAHA life in a clinic. Life is good. Work is good. I am happy :D

Ok so back to Koh Lipe.

I think half a year ago when I was still working in Ipoh Hospital, we actually planned to go to Koh Lipe before but because I had troubles applying for leave, at the last minute, we had to cancel it and we went Pulau Sibu instead.

But I told Hou that I definitely wanna go there one day, and it must be SOON.

So we decided to plan ahead and make a trip there to celebrate my 25th birthday ;D

It was a 5d4n kinda thing. First night was spent in Langkawi and the remaining 3 nights in Koh Lipe.


We flew off on a Friday night, right after I was done with work and arrived at Langkawi airport around 11pm. Booked the nearest hotel we could find which is One Helang hotel, located right beside the airport and it was within walking distance. Really best choice since we were arriving late and didn't want to take a taxi to somewhere far.

We dropped our bags and then headed out for dinner at some Malay shop which serves quite good food. Then went back to our room and slept straight. Was soo sooo tired because I worked the whole day then drove back all the way straight to the airport.


Day 1 of our Koh Lipe journey.

Woke up super early because our ferry to Koh Lipe will be leaving at 9am. Took a cab to the Telaga Harbour which was a 20minutes ride away from the airport.

Reached the harbour and got our tickets and after that was just hanging around waiting and waiting for further instructions. The harbour was really pretty though, so we took pictures hehe. Typical me right LOL

*Ready with our passports and boarding passes!!*

Just hanging around at the harbour while waiting for our turn to pass immigration.

Quite nice hor the view

Finally it was our turn at the immigration, had our passport chopped and waited to board the ferry. The ferry was not too bad. Air conditioned, okay seats and cause I already ate my pills, I slept even before the ferry started moving.

I can't stand closed up ferries la. Like I mean not open air type. I need the kind where I can feel the wind blowing in my face and feel the breeze, if not sure very pening. Thats why I love speedboats like mad haha!

Arrived 90minutes later at a floating jetty in the middle of the sea to change to a longtail boat which will bring us to the shores of Koh Lipe.

Almost there.....Approaching paradiseee

Unbelievably CLEAR BLUE SEA. 

Nowonder its called the Maldives of Asia :D

Too pretty that I just stood there and stare out at the view in front of me OMG

Havent even explore the island and I was already declaring that I LOVE THAILAND TO BITS. 

Spent some time at the immigration checkpoint to get our passports chopped and after all those were done, we went searching for our hotel, with a map in hand.

Found it without any hassle, and I was glad we made the right choice in choosing this hotel.

The Breeze Lipe

Why I said it was a good choice?

Firstly because its quite a new hotel so it was very clean.

At first we had our doubts bout this place because it wasnt a beachfront hotel, so we were afraid that we need to walk damn far to reach the beach la. I mean come for holiday sure want to be near the beach right. But after checking out so many beachfront hotels, we came to a conclusion that its either the super budget cheap ones that I will never stay OR  the super luxurious type which we obviously cant afford. So we went for this anyway. It wasnt cheap also lor, about rm400 a night. But its like 2 minutes walking distance to Pattaya beach (which is the most happening beach in Koh Lipe). So it was in a good location!

And thirdly, the staffs were all so nice to us! Haha

This marks the start of our 4d3n :D 

Thank god for the cold welcome drink. I swear I was gonna die from the heat la.

Since we took the first ferry out to Koh Lipe, and reached like 10am, our room wasnt ready yet. So we dropped all  our luggage and headed back out to Pattaya beach to walk walk see see.

Ended up at a massage centre on the beach, overlooking the blue sea. How to resist. I fking love thai massage okay. And all their massage was like damn damn cheap. Like 300baht for an hour.

When we were there, we went for massage at least once a day, sometimes even up to twice a day haha.

I super love this place that we went to, its just right beside the immigration centre, double storey one. Be sure to check it out with you're heading to Lipe ok! But Cher doesn't like it la haha. Personal preference.

Done with an hour of massage and we were served with hot tea to enjoy at the balcony. THIS IS LIFE MAN SERIOUSLY. BRING ME BACK THERE NOW

 Our view. Too perfect.

Just sat there sipping our hot tea, staring out at the ocean and closing my eyes and listening to the sound of the waves. It felt so perfect I wished time would just stop and freeze me at that moment forever.

Another picture of the beach wahahahahha

Next stop was food hunting. Theres only ONE street in Koh Lipe, which is called the Walking Street and thats the street where you can find all the makan makan and shopping stuffs and massages.

Walking street during the day time.

Its much much more happening at night la. Haha I dont recommend coming during the day cause its fking hot. And also not much of the shops will be open during the day. So just come at night when everything is bustling with life :D

Heard alot about this Madame Yoohoo and her pancakes before coming here. Very easy to spot her because she will keep saying 'YOOHOO YOOHOO' haha which is quite cute. So  when  I sat there waiting for my pancakes I helped her scream YOOHOO coz she was busy cooking my pancakes lol.

Our pancakes. The verdict: SO SO only lor.
The best ones I've eaten so far is still the small little stall in Krabi at the end of the street. Really nothing beat that la. Bring me back to Krabi also pleaseeeeee.

Also ordered a Mango Smoothie because the weather was seriously killing me. 

The weather was so hot that we had to make multiple pitstops at 7-11 just to enjoy the aircond haha. And also their 7-11 damn ons one la. All the LAYS we bought lol. 

Cause it was still so early, I decided to kill some time by going for a manicure. 

Then we walked over to the diving school and booked our diving slot with them on the 3rd day. Super excited for our first diving experience but also damn super expensive la. Cost us about rm300 for 2 dives.

Finally headed back to our hotel and got our room keys. Also booked our snorkeling trip for the next day.

Fairly decent room, though it was a little small BUT at least it was super clean and the bed was super comfy!

Even had a large balcony with garden for us. Hehe my favourite spot to hangout and drink coke :P

We were super exhausted and tired from all the traveling so first thing we did, blast the aircond full speed and died on the bed. Haha I know right so dirty cause we sweat damn alot just now but aiya who cares damn tired and hot la okay.

Woke up an hour later and the weather was just nice to head out to the beach! Not too hot already. I think it was about 5pm.

So I got changed into my bikini and off we went to the beach! I seriously can hang out in the beach the whole damn day la. No point for me in trying to avoid the sun and be fair because I love beaches too much that I think I'm destined to be dark forever.

Its like right, after my beach holiday I will be damn super tan, then when I finally become abit fairer, its time for my next beach vacation again haha. So screw it la no point anymore LOL.

Best weather to swim in the sea

Hehe but SS pictures first la knowing me. After all that picture taking, we went swimming in the sea. But there were so many dead corals at the shallow part so it was quite hard to swim la. And painful also when u step on it.

Tried going further out but not much fishes also. Still Redang wins hands down if wanna talk about snorkeling by the beach. We gave up after awhile then started playing with the underwater camera, Xiaoyi. Thanks so much YY, for always giving me whatever that I want :)


We spent about an hour there then headed back to our hotel to bath. Got changed and headed out again just in time for our first sunset in Koh Lipe :)

Sunset @ Pattaya Beach, Koh Lipe

The end of the sunset when everything turns dark. Goodnight Koh Lipe.

After that, we went searching for our dinner place. I wanted to go over to Sunrise beach for dinner at a restaurant which I totally forgot the name haha sorry.

Wasn't easy locating the restaurant. Took us an hour maybe? Cause we got lost and it was so dark until we had to use the lights on our phones. And also asked for directions from random people, but we finally made it there la. Hungry and tired.

*Thai Curry*

*Pineapple fried rice*

*Phad Thai*

*Stir fry chicken with Cashew nuts*

Food was good, maybe because we were very hungry haha. But if you ask me to walk there like that everyday to makan, I wouldn't lor. Not worth the long walk. Our beach there also got plenty of good food to makan, noneed to walk until this beach so far.

After dinner, we headed back to Walking Street and did some shopping around and also more makan makan.


 Walking Street at night, when all the bars come to life :D

And their street food is damn awesome la. We bought this BBQ pork meat and it was the bomb!! Went there a few more times to buy more haha.

After all the walking and shopping, Hou asked whether we wanna stop by any bars to have drinks or not, but I decided I was too tired for that so we bought a few bottles of alcohol and decided to drink in the room.

Walked back to our room and ended the night watching stupid comedy TV show while lazing on the bed.

Then when I decided I wanted to go sleep already, I went to the toilet and thats when the surprise came. Seriously Hou you win liao lo, I really didnt expect anything, didn't even knew he had something up his sleeves.

So I was in the toilet when suddenly the toilet lights went off, and I even shouted to Hou saying 'EH wat happened??!' Then in 3 seconds it came back on. I thought the electricity tripped or something so I continue doing my business inside. Then 10 seconds later everything went dark again. Even the outside.

Hou shouted 'Eh Mun I think no electricity la!'. I was like 'WTF YOU KIDDING ME??!'.

I immediately open the toilet door and there he was, standing in the dark, with my birthday cake lit up nicely already.

Awwwww *heart melts* Totally got me this time. Cause I seriously wasn't expecting any kind of surprise lor.

Thanks dearie :)

*So touched* haha

And surprisingly the cake was quite good lor!  Got a little mermaid decoration somemore okay lol lol

So I asked him again., since when u bought the cake?? Cause the whole time, he was with me and he didn't even leave me not even for a second so theres no way he could get the cake.

I thought he got the cake while I was using the toilet just now but impossible so fast can go out buy cake lor haha.

As usual he ask the hotel staffs to gaotim for him la. He paid them to buy the cake, and when we were leaving to the beach for the sunset earlier, he told them to leave the cake in the fridge in our room with candles and lighter all ready for him. Awwww

This fella always pay money make the hotel people do this kinda stuffs for him one. Cheh chehhhh

Anyway thanks dear for the surprise. I give u 10points for effort. Eventhough it wasn't you who went out and get the cake lol.

 Ate my cake that night and we went to bed early cause it was gonna be a long day tomorrow snorkeling.


Day 2


It was our snorkeling day! So basically theres only two programs available for snorkeling in Koh Lipe, and the prices are fixed everywhere so it saved us the trouble of looking everywhere and bargaining.

Program 1 cost 550 baht and its basically the nearer islands while Program 2 cost 660 baht and they will bring us to different islands further away.

I decided to go with the Program 1 because I wanted to visit Koh Hin Ngam, also known as the Black Stones island haha which I will show what is it about later. Yeah Program 2 doesnt have this in their trip so screw it LOL.

We booked our snorkeling trip with our hotel and so we had to be up early in the morning. Had breakfast at the hotel first, which was included together when we booked our room.

*Our big breakfast. Macam not bad one lor*

hehe we saved some bread for our fishes later on AS USUAL. Every single island vacation, our bread goes to the fishes. Haha be lucky fishes, we sacrifice food for u all.

Then when we were done, the hotel staffs already prepared dry towels for us to bring during our trip. So thoughtful of them man! They took us to the waiting area with their tuk tuk where we were told to wait with a another huge bunch of people.

We were then separated into different longtail boats and headed out to sea! Wheee favorite part of all my beach vacation!!

Totally ready for my snorkeling adventure!

 Off we go, Blue blue sea and sky!! Always love boat rides !!

Ok so basically, snorkeling at Koh Lipe was kinda disappointing. Because it was known as the 'Maldives of Asia', i practically had super high expectations and obviously I was disappointed.

Don't know what to say la, but definitely Phi Phi Island wins it all la. I think I have to plan another trip back to Krabi.

We were brought to many snorkeling spots and not even one had me going 'wow' lol. Probably cause I've been to so many places that I've seen soo much better stuffs. Well I guess, diving next probably? Time to retire from snorkeling HAHA. Yes we are so getting our diving license this year man!!!


And the rest of the pictures were taken with YY's Xiaoyi camera :)

We totally had so much fun with it hahaa.

See the small boy at the top of the boat. Hehe he is damn cute, plus a super good swimmer. We call him our 'captain'! Haha at the end of the trip, both me and him were challenging who can jump better into the water from the boat. Lol 

Come eat my bread, fishiesssss haha. Can even pose with peace sign ok me :P

Basically in all the snorkeling spots, its only this stripey fishes la. Nothing else. So boring. Diving is so much more fun haha.

And then I decided I do not need the life jacket to snorkel anymore. Cause right, that jacket is actually damn annoying one. Its like I wanna go down deeper to take a closer look at the corals but the jacket keep making me float. So I got fed up and just took it off. Felt so much more freedom swimming in the ocean without it. From today onwards, I declare I wont wear a life jacket to snorkel anymore haha.
I only leave it nearby me at the surface so when I get so tired of trying to float, I just cling on to it lol.

Nah all the fishes and dead corals. Like that only, nothing else to see one.

The bf became expert in taking underwater selfie. Haha we had so much fun with it!!

Feeding the fishes still LOL 

Me trying to dive all the way down to see the corals.

Lol and this is how I 'rest' in the middle of snorkeling when the boat is too far away. Just hang on to my life jacket and float. Notice how clear the water is??! Yes its like transparent one lor!

Next stop was the famous Black Stones island.

Theres a legend saying that if you stack up 12 of these stones, you will have good luck for a year, one stone representing one month. And if u take home any of these stones, something bad will happen to you, like kena curse or something la.

At first I thought, chehh stack only is it, so simple.

Haha but I was wrong. DAMN WRONG. Its fking hard ok!! NOT EASY AT ALL.

*Me at full concentration at the beginning*

Almost there.......

 And the waves were so kind to wash it all down. All into the water. See the annoyed look on my face LOL.

I tried and tried and tried so hard. But guess what, I gave up. I decided to help Hou instead, so that at least one would be completed rather than both of us failing right. Somemore we were running out of time d. We were given about 30 minutes only on this island.

*The bf busy at work*

And and finally!!!!!! Our hardwork and we made it!!!

 Really not easy ok. Need to find the correct shape and size for each and every stone. See the top smallest one? Hehe.

 YEAH BABEH, WE SUCCEEDED!

Left after that and off we went to another island for lunch.

*Our little captain hehe*

Cute right this boy hahaha

The island where we stopped to have lunch. There were many other boats there too. Seems like a pitstop for everyone to sit and enjoy their lunch, which was provided together with the package too.

 Me and Hou found a shady spot and sat there eating our lunch box. Haha food wasn't good la I remember. I was just hungry so I just gobble it up.

Then after lunch, we headed to the other side of the beach to have a dip in the water again. Cant get enough of the crystal clear water lar! No wonder I'm a black chicken!! haha cant stay out of the sun..

Told you the bf became expert in selfie-ing

After all the swimming and fooling around, I was damn damn super tired already so we went back to where our boat was, but because not everyone was back yet, so we had to wait for another half an hour for the rest and so I found a hammock and just lie there and chill.

Haha the hammock is actually not comfy one ok. Its quite sharp and poke-y. LOL but aiya I was too tired so I didnt bother.

*This is exactly how you enjoy life! Haha*

After everyone was back, we got back up the boat and it was time to head back to Koh Lipe island.

By the time we reached back, I think I had enough energy again and so yeah we went swimming by the beach again. HAHA I practically go into the water multiple times a day. From wet become dry then wet again then dry again. Can just walk around in bikini the whole day lol. Noneed to bring so many clothes for beach vacations next time already.

Love this shot taken by Hou haha. See my tattoo? Its fake la but I'm seriously considering getting a real tattoo soon!!!

Swam for just awhile then we decided to head back to the room to bath and get dressed up for my 'birthday dinner' later in the evening.

All dressed up for dinner! 

Haha Hou had to wear sunglasses cause he had freaking bad sunburn on his face and it made him look stupid. Like really the only part which is not red are his eyes area so he looks like someone with invisible glasses LOL.

Our hotel got us a tuk tuk to send us to Sunset beach which was damn far away and impossible to walk by foot. The restaurant is in a hotel called Serendipity, which is one of the most expensive and luxurious hotel in that island. And they even have private villas with swimming pools. Damn freaking nice ok!!

And our hotel staffs who sent us there was so nice! Cause the tuk tuk can only reach until certain place then we have to start walking and they escorted us and walked us up until the resort doorstep leh! We didn't even asked them lor, they just did it. So touched.

Haha so I told Hou to tip all of them on our last day, which he did :)  Happy us, happy staffs, everyone gets a tip! LOL

Had dinner at their restaurant, On The Rocks. The view was awesome!! We were like sitting on top of rocks and surrounded by blue ocean.

Nah like this but it looks way more awesome in real life!

 *Ordered a cocktail to share*

Food was honestly, disappointing. Not nice plus so expensive. But oh well, pay for the view lor hor. We were running out of cash so dear took out his credit card and start swiping it anywhere that accepts card d lol. Overspend la we all!!

Dont underestimate this island. Its seriously a very expensive island la! Everything also so expensive haha.

*Thanks dear for dinner!*

Done with dinner and we told the restaurant to call us a tuk tuk to bring us back to Walking Street.

And because we weren't satisfied with dinner just now, we went searching for more food at the Walking Street.

Really how to not get fat you tell me?! But seriously their street food is the bomb wei! Damn gooood la. And damn cheap sumore haha. Shudn't waste money on that Serendipity LOL.

*Our favorite BBQ pork meat omg yums like mad*

And then we discovered this place that sells super awesome coconut ice cream. Really, after trying this, Sangkaya can close shop d. And we ate this 2 days in a row lol. I'm missing it so badly now!!

 

 Then had more Thai food.

 *Favorite Phad Thai!*

 

 *And not forgetting my most loved mango sticky rice!*

Now you see why I love Thailand?! I freaking love their Thai Massages and their food. Oh god I feel like I should just migrate to Thailand and live there happily ever after lol.


Called it a day after that and we headed back to our room and washed up and got ready the stuffs for our diving trip the next day. Haha charged the xiaoyi and slept dead till next morning.


Day 3

Woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel and off we went to our diving school. First lesson was theory classes where they taught us the basic equipment and  how to use it and safety issues.

Haha I was excited but at the same thing scared because she told me 'you have to keep breathing, dont hold your breath at all because if you do, the difference in pressure is gonna make your lungs burst like a balloon.'

Wah scared die me. haha we had some lessons on pressure etc. The theory class was like 30minutes, then we had to complete a test then only can pass.

After we were done, and all the other divers were ready, we headed out to sea, in a super big dive boat. Complete with kitchen and like sofa kind of seats and toilet sumore.

All the others were already licensed divers, while me and Hou were like the noobie. haha its ok I will be a certified diver soon!! In June I hope!!


The point of this picture is not Hou, spot the hot chick haha

 We had this super hot diving instructor on the boat dat day. Omg when she reached the boat, she just walked around with her bikini and her body was like omg wtf so hawt one. Haha even I couldn't stop staring at her lar!!

Kla give him one picture hahaa

Super comfy seats on the top deck of the boat

And off we go! Woohoo!

The journey to one of the dive site took like 45 minutes. So we were just chilling around and enjoying the ride. Then half way through, our dive instructor came and did another briefing for us just before we reached the dive site. 

Briefed us again on what to do later, and how to get down into the water. 

She told us, 'I don't want you to hesitate more than 5 seconds later. When I ask you to jump, I want you to hold your goggles, put the regulator in your mouth and breathe, look straight ahead, take one step out and into the water straight. So I was like okok. No hesitating'.

We were the last to go down, after all the other divers. To wear all the equipment itself is already very tedious and tiring ok. First must put on the wet suit, then have to wear some weights on our waist if not we cant sink later haha, then put on our BCD vest, then the tank, and finally the fins right before going in.

I tell you, the tank plus the weights are damn damn heavy ok!! After I was done putting everything on, I could barely walk!! So heavy to walk all the way to the edge of the boat to take my one big step out.

My first step, I was nervous but yeah I didn't hesitate la cause I'm not afraid of water one la. And I tell you, that feeling was so awesome. The minute you drop into the water, you feel all the weight you're carrying just disappear and feels so relieved! HAHA.

Seriously I like that one big step down into the water part the most. So fun :P 

Then we swam to the shallow area to practice first. I definitely had some problems breathing with the regulator because I do not trust that thing somehow. I was taking in so deep breaths that I feel my lungs were gonna burst d but to me it feels like I still have not enough air lol. Nervous like shit la.

But that was the beginning only la. After awhile I got used to it and learned to trust it just A LITTLE BIT more. 

Our instructor taught us some basic skills like, how to clean the goggles underwater if water entered, and how to remove and place back the regulator in our mouth underwater, and how to clear the air from the regulator. I damn fail one la, Hou was like damn pro lidat. 

I was seriously damn damn afraid ok. But I was determined to learn it. I couldn't stand staying underwater for so long so I kept standing up and going to the surface so I was thinking to myself, 'shit lor later if dive so deep down, where can simply resurface when the surface is so far away.'

Then after like 30minutes, the instructor said 'ok lets swim further and go dive deeper down slowly ok?'

And I was like 'no no I dont want! I'm not ready yet!I cannot breathe properly!!' *starts deep breathing again cause gan cheong d*

But she encouraged me and said its ok we take it slow. So ok lor pay money d ma, takkan really dont try meh.

So I calmed myself down, told myself to just breathe, munli breathe. 

And we started our journey. In the beginning, I was too focus on trying to breathe and trying to equalize the pressure in my ears that I couldnt really enjoy the dive. Like I didn't even focus on looking at whats around me, all I did was look straight, swim and breathe and clear the ears haha.

We had to stop many times because I couldn't equalize the pressure correctly and so my ears were damn painful and it felt like my eardrums were gonna burst. Haha kesian Hou he was so bored cause he had to wait for me while I settle my ear problem underwater before we could continue our dive.

We stayed under for 45 minutes okay! So proud of myself! I didn't even resurface! Hehe during the last 15 minutes, I finally got the hang of it and can finally enjoy the beauty of the underwater world. 

Saw super huge lobsters, needlefish.. alot of weird stuffs. Seriously what they said was true, diving brings you to a totally different world, its so amazing. Totally different from what you get to see at the surface when snorkeling. 

Went back up the boat after that to get our tanks refilled and headed to the next dive site where we will be doing our 2nd dive.

 This time I was so much more confident already. And really could enjoy alot more. Hehe and also it was during our 2nd dive that we were allowed to bring our xiaoyi down with us. Cause on the first dive, the instructor say better not, coz she wants us to focus on the basic skills and not take pictures LOL.

Here I present to you, our first dive selfie :D

Thanks dear, for accompanying me on this dive adventure, for always accompanying me to do whatever I wanna do, and for never saying no to any new experience and adventures together :)

 Hopefully, we will be certified divers in a few months time :D

 Bf macam very cool and chill only while I was busy pressing my nose to equalize the pressure in my ears haha. I really needa learn how to equalize properly la. I think thats my only problem now. If I manage to overcome that, I think I will love diving!

Anyway, we were down for another 45 minutes and this time I was totally enjoying myself already. So sad when she told me time was up and we had to go back up :( Haven't had enough of diving lor.

Back to the boat, and I was feeling damn super unwell d. Maybe cause the current was very strong that day so I felt damn seasick d la. And also I started having red spots all over my hands and legs and body, I think its due to some allergy reaction to the seawater la!! So damn itchy!! 

So me and Hou just sat outside on the deck and enjoyed the wind and slept there till we reached back Koh Lipe. Reached back at around 1pm.

The few of us left the big diving boat to get back to the island while the rest of the divers continued to another dive site. Went back to the diving school and we had a small recap on what we saw just now.

I love my instructor super much. She was so patient with me even when I was being so difficult and nervous and she always made sure we were okay underwater. Would definitely recommend this diving school if anyone is keen on getting their license. Its called Koh Lipe Diving. 

Then after the recap, we walked back to our hotel and guess what, totally died on the bed. Seriously diving totally drained out all my energy, was so soooooo tired and exhausted la.

Woke up like 2 hours later then we bathe and headed out to watch the sunset.

Perfect spot to chill and watch the sunset

 *This is life man!!*

Ordered some snacks and drinks, then we just sat there chilling by the beach, enjoying the sunset, chatting away. Love evenings like these :)

Perfect way to end our day :)

Dinner later that day was a random thai restaurant by the beach, and the food turned out to be damn good. 

Super love dinner on the beach! :D

*Our grilled fish. Super fresh fish cause they just caught it one!*

And other typical thai dishes. Hehe and my favourite Thai Iced Tea. I think I drank more than 5 cups when I was there LOL.

And as usual, after dinner, our usual hangout place would be Walking Street. Did some last minute shopping for souvenirs and also ofcourse more makan makan. And also another round of massage session. Then raided their 7-11 again for snacks before heading back to our room to chill and just laze around watching tv.

Called it a night after that and off we went to bed.

Day 4

Our final day in Koh Lipe. Woke up feeling so so sad :(( Happy times always have to pass so fast one :(

Had breakfast then we just hang around by the beach, taking pictures and also another round of massage. haha yeah I totally spam the massage there 99 la. I damn love thai massages one lor!!

Did nothing much cause we had to be at the immigration by noon, so we just free and easy lo. Walk walk snap snap eat eat.

K i'm just gonna spam blue blue pictures of the beach hahaha.

Damn nice right?! Seriously waiting patiently for my next beach holiday. #3moremonths #3monthsandcounting #yestobeach #notowork 

Found pooh bar! Wheeee

And this is the entrance to walking street. Very dead place during the day.

Settled down for lunch at Nee Papaya. Our last meal in Koh Lipe, so saddddd :(((((

Had typical Thai Food. Curry chicken, Phad Thai and some squid.
Food was okok only lor.

Then the weather was soooo damn hot so when we passed by this stall selling coconut, just couldnt resist it! So so refreshing!! :D

Empty bars during the day

After that I think it was time for us to head back to the immigration place. Took our bags from the hotel, which the hotel staffs so nicely helped us to carry our luggage all the way from the hotel to the immigration there. They really went all out to give us their best service! Haha maybe cause they were happy after getting tipped by us. So need to work extra la to make us happy lol :P

Then at the immigration, it was so packed. Handed in our passports and the waiting began. Waited and waited and waited and finally it was our turn to get up the longtail boat and onto the ferry.

Our journey back to Langkawi was another 90minutes and I slept so soundly throughout the journey. 

Reached back and had to queue at the Malaysia immigration. Finally all was done, we took a cab to the airport.

When we reached there, only we found out that all flights since 1pm were stranded until now. And that time was like 6pm already omg. Imagine how many flights were delayed.

Omg seriously, thank god we had access to the Plaza Premium Lounge lor. Orelse dont know what to do also. 

I think our flight got delayed like 3 hours? We were the last ones in the lounge cause the previous flights that got delayed got to fly off one by one first, so haha we just sat at the lounge, makan all their food and just stone.

Finally it was our turn to fly, and 45 minutes later, touched down at KL. 

So thats the end of my birthday trip.

For now, time to work hard, save more money for my diving trip in June.

Till next time,

Mun