Oh baby baby, how was I supposed to know.
First stop – King Cruiser Wreck. It’s this huge sunken passenger ferry that’s now teeming with marine life.
Second stop – Shark Point. Where we saw my first leopard shark. The colours here are breathtaking.
Third stop – Koh Doc Mai. I think lionfish are one of the most beautiful creatures ever.
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When I was young, my dad used to wake us up early every morning to run along the beach. He’d run and us kids would walk, dragging our feet and complaining about not getting to sleep in. Since this was only possible when we were on an island – Penang, usually – we didn’t have to do it too often.
At the time, the only thing we hated more than getting dragged out of bed was having to make the annual family pilgrimage to Penang in the first place, so it’s funny that I now have a special love for the beach. Not for suntanning or people-watching or whatever else you may associate with going to the beach, but for the sand and the open skies and the way the ocean’s waves lap at its edges.
I love wading into the waves, I love walking along the water’s edge and staring out to sea. There’s a certain majesty and, at the same time, a peaceful calm to the beach. You sense the ferocious strength that lurks beneath the gentle surface of the water, and the unseen powers that moulded the ocean and created the skies in the first place.
The beach gives me perspective, reminds me how small I am in the scheme and beauty of everything else, gives me the chance to quiet my heart and my mind, and turns my eyes to the Creator of it all. It rights everything inside in a way that few other things can.
Y understands that I love the beach, even though it doesn’t do for him what it does for me. But he remembers my need to go barefoot in the sand, to walk in the shallows and feel the waves, and to take a moment to breathe in the open space. It’s probably the one place Mr. Long Legs doesn’t hurry me and tell me I’m walking too slowly. Even though I am, incredibly so. See the two guys in boardshorts walking ahead in the photo? That’s Y with Mark.
Last week was the second time Y and I had visited Phuket in two years and I don’t know if anyone has ever said this, but you learn much more about a place when things aren’t going quite so well.
The most important lesson I learnt, and that I think everyone who goes to Phuket should know, is that you can’t exchange/get a refund on something as soon as you touch it.
Case in point #1:
We had dinner at this great restaurant one night. I ordered “chilled young coconut”, those are the exact words on the menu. The coconut arrives. I take a sip. And another. Then I try to scrape off some coconut flesh and discover that it’s rock hard.
I tell the waitress the “young” coconut isn’t all that youthful after all and I want to change it for another one. She tells me she can’t give me another one because I’ve already taken a sip. Apparently, the very first thing I should have done is try the flesh before taking a sip. That way, we guessed, if I reject it for whatever reason, they can bring me a new one and give mine to someone else.
Case in point #2:
We booked ourselves a fishing/snorkelling trip. As the boat heads out to sea, we discover it’s actually in terrible condition and, upon checking the brochure, that it’s not the exact boat we had been promised. Worse, when it comes time for snorkelling, we discover that the “snorkelling destination” isn’t really for snorkelling because there’s nothing to see, and the boat didn’t have any snorkelling equipment anyway.
We ask to go back immediately, cutting what was supposed to be an eight-hour outing down to four. Then we go back to the tour operator and tell him we want half our money back – not too unreasonable, we hoped, seeing as we only got to do half of what was promised in half the time originally agreed.
The manager refuses. He gives us back an eighth of what we paid and tells us that if the boat didn’t have the equipment and wasn’t the same one, we shouldn’t have gotten on in the first place. Apparently, we should have inspected the boat and grilled the crew about equipment before setting foot on it.
So now I know.
When I see something big and not-so-common for the first time, there’s always a feeling of, “Oh my God I can’t believe I’m looking at a _____.” Meet my first leopard shark. It’s only a baby but it was still pretty damn cool.
Y and I are back from our four-day trip to Phuket. It was way more eventful than we would have liked – for starters, one of us got deported from Phuket because of visa problems and another almost couldn’t come back, long stories those – but it was a great trip with fantastic company all the same. We’ll make the next one less exciting.
Pictures (definitely) and more details (maybe) to come when I can. For now, I have the sniffles to combat and work is barely allowing me time to even breathe.
(Photo taken by Neil Stretch. Thanks mostly to leopark shark up there, Y and I bought the photos from our dives.)
The last of my two-week celebrity spree. I’ve always been a far, far bigger fan of David’s voice than of his cutesy looks, but I can see why girls shriek for him and aunties want to adopt him. I don’t. I just want to hear him sing. And I was very proud to see that he’d developed some moves. In fact, the way he sometimes held the microphone reminded me of Chris Daughtry.
Imagine this times two and you have an idea of the number of people who turned up to watch David’s showcase at Sunway Amphitheatre.
David finally takes the stage. The screaming has to be heard to be believed.
Thanks to B for taking these two pics. I was too lazy to move from my vantage point among the plants.
David on the piano. I absolutely love his rendition of ‘Angels’.
The 100 Most Iconic Internet Videos
Something to digest in little bits and pieces when I need a break in between chunks of work.
Susan Boyle – the biggest surprise ever.
This morning, I sat down and counted:
… all in under two weeks.
I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy, or if I have I can’t remember, but it’s all been pretty fantastic. Now to look forward to our trip to Phuket next weekend.
Because the Internet connection has been so crappy and I’ve been too busy to blog properly, I shall let the pictures do the talking.
With Mei Ann and Weichern. It was my first time at an F1 race.
With Chad before the race.
Y wore his Ferrari shirt and cap but took them off for a bit because it was so hot!
Check out the clear skies before the race began.
Clouds started to gather just two laps into the race.
And this is what it looked like one hour later.
I was really excited to see the pits.
And even more excited to watch the pit stops live.
The end of the race. I wish they could have done more laps but as it is, they were probably already driving blind in that storm.
Another highlight of the weekend – meeting Pedro de la Rossa (and Sam, not pictured) from McLaren at the Grand Prix Gala. They were really nice and actually had time for a brief chat.
This week, I met someone who looks exactly like he does in movies and photos,
and someone who looks way better in real life than he does in movies and photos.
Jackie Chan is surprisingly approachable, considering what a massive star he is, and Daniel Wu is really down to earth. I came away liking them because ultimately, I’m a big fan of good work but I’m also a big fan of nice. And these guys were really nice. (Not that they don’t do good work.)
I also interviewed Utt on Thursday morning and he has gorgeous eyes which are almost distracting when you first meet him.
Another really nice guy who was in town to promote a safe cause. It’s been a brilliant week celeb-interview-wise.
