yesterday we got back from a three day-two night trip to the thousand islands, or Pulau Seribu… it was beautiful! the beaches here are pretty much unbeatable, in my opinion. the moment you get off the boat and onto the pier, you can see through the crystal clear waters, to the swimming schools of little fishes and the beautiful corals. the sand is always white, too. paradise… however, a rather big downfall for us were the accommodations… it’s not quite up to par, and i wonder if it’s because there is a decreasing interest here in going to the islands… after all, everyone’s concerned with getting dark and i suppose it’s not exactly the cheapest form of recreation, though it is still affordable for most people.
in any caaase! what made this trip so amazing was getting to scuba dive for the first time! usually i’ve only gone snorkeling, and i’ve never been brave enough to free-dive, but when opportunity knocks… so me and k went through an introductory course for scuba diving where we learned how to use the breathing masks, gas tanks, vests, and how to talk underwater. we swam through beautiful coral reefs… it felt like being inside a tropical aquarium… whenever i looked up, i could see several schools of little fishes, backlit by the sunlight that came streaming through… saw lots of sea urchins but we were careful not to touch them… (though later on, i got the chance to see them cracked open and taste them raw! better yet… i ate their eggs raw! they were surprisingly… good… but very fishy.) we dove 11 meters deep the first time (36 feet deep), and 12 meters deep (39.4 feet) the second time we went, which was on our last day, right after breakfast. the second time we went, we got to see more things since we didn’t have to spend too much time learning skills… we swam beneath a broken pier where lots of corals grew, threw a sandy desert-like area, and to even more beautiful corals! they loomed above me, some were orange, some looked like brains, some looked like fields of flowers. i played with clownfish this time, saw angelfish, got stung by baby jellyfish, saw large clams about a foot wide… it was such a great experience =) i loveddd it.
the second day we were fortunate to find a local fisherman who happily lent us his boat and led us to an atoll, a shallow area in the middle of deep sea. gorgeous. we brought bread crumbs and when we threw them, dozens of little fishes swarmed around us. they were brave enough to eat the breads straight from our fingertips! we swam around the atoll and the fishermen taught me and k how to free-dive with our snorkels! hehe what fun! the only thing about free diving is you have to know how well you can hold your breath as well as how to adjust to the changing water pressure, which affects your ears. there’s also a feeling of either freedom or fear, depending on how you see it, in having nothing attached to you – no safety vests, no air tanks, no full bodysuits. saw dolphins on the way back =) the fisherman said they come on clear days like this.
i was sad coming back from the islands on the boat, and even sadder when i saw the ocean changing color as we grew closer and closer to the mainland. changing color! it was a pure turquoise shade that became a grayish-blue like tar. every once in a while, a piece of trash would come floating beside our boat. what with all the talk i hear about making the world a greener place to live in, it’s sad to see it’s not really affecting people on this side of the world. but how can they think of the wildlife when they don’t even think of the people? … and sometimes i feel bad making all these complaints, but then again, there’s not really much i can do in my position either. it’s not like in america where people can take initiative and actually hope for some change to be made. i remember in senior year when our govt class made us write bills to propose, and i wrote one about conserving the swamplands. swamplands! i’d rather conserve these islands… =’( i only hope people realize this before it’s too late. kinda reminds me of wall-e! =O uh ohs.
