Malaysia - Sipadan & New Years Eve

On the last dive day of our trip, I had the opportunity of diving at Sipadan. This meant an early wake up call, but it was so worth it. Sipadan is constantly on lists of the greatest places to dive in the world, so I feel pretty fortunate to have been able to dive there. Not to mention it was one of the reasons I wanted to go back to Malaysia!

I spent the day with Simon and Eman who were knowledgeable about the area, a family from the UK and another lovely lady who ended up being my dive buddy for the day. We did four dives, resting in between with snacks, coffee and lunch. The best part of this day was swimming with devil rays, grey reef sharks and white tip reef sharks. Amazing. Sorry again for my lack in ability with underwater photography but here are some shots.

This was the last night on the island for Yvonne and I and since I didn't get the chance to walk around the island back in July, Mel and I took the opportunity to do so before dinner. Noelia's birthday was Christmas Day so we surprised her by decorating the cabin. 

Rainbow!

This last night did not go as I thought it would, at all, and it got to a point where I wished I was just back in my apartment in Korea but it ended so perfectly. The four of us started the night with drinks and played some card games. Yvonne went to bed and we were later joined by Michael, whom Noelia and Mel met on their boat ride over. Mel eventually went to bed early as she was going to be up early for her Sipadan adventure and Noelia followed still trying to rest as much as she could for her rash to heal. That left Michael and I chatting away about diving, another person with a wealth of information and good conversation. Awhile later we both decided to call it a night. I grabbed my things and then was called over to join the locals who had been playing guitar and singing in the lounge all night. Slightly reluctantly I sat down but ended up having the best night with them singing along as they played guitar. I can not describe it any more than saying it was just so simple but so perfect. 

The next morning meant it was New Years Eve, so we packed up and waited until 10:30 for the boat to take us back to Semporna, to then catch the bus back to the aiport to fly back to KL for what would be my last night of the trip. I spent the morning sitting on the jetty soaking up the sun and views. Noelia's rash cleared up enough so she could start her open water course too! 

Back in Semporna

By the time we got back to Reggae Mansion it was only a few hours before the countdown, so Yvonne and I got refreshed and had a meal in the restaurant that is part of Reggae Mansion. The food there is soo good! We met some people in our hostel room so the four of us headed up to the rooftop together. It ended up being a bit anticlimactic though. Apparently there was supposed to be fireworks off the Petronas Towers, which conveniently you could see from the rooftop. As midnight approached, everyone gravitated to that side and all eyes were on the tower. 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... and nothing! Absolutely nothing happened at midnight! I don't want to say that I was disappointed because I wasn't, but I suppose I was surprised. We didn't stay up too much later as I would be up at 3am to get to the airport to head back to Korea. 

One of our friends for the night

 Our other friend of the night, awkward selfie of the three of us

Yvonne ended up being awake before I headed out so we got to say goodbye and then I left "taking the first taxi of the year" according to the guy who runs the hostel. Unfortunately I had to work the next day (Friday) but Yvonne stayed for one more day and got to explore a bit. Mel and Noelia met her that night and sent her off the next morning. Such sweet friends of mine. 

Happy New Year <3

Malaysia - Yvonne's Discover Scuba Dive

If it didn't occur to you already, I have fallen in love with scuba diving. So when my sister decided to join me for my Christmas vacation, I knew I had to take her on a discover scuba dive. I was hoping that she too would enjoy it, but I also wanted her to experience the thing that has stolen my passion and shifted my life (more on this in a different post ... some other time!)

While she wasn't super excited, I'm sure partly due to me continually asking if she was nervous and partly because she wanted Mark, her boyfriend to be there to experience it with her, I think she still enjoyed it. I rented an underwater camera for the day so I could document her first scuba dive! This was the first time I have ever used an underwater camera, and used one while diving, so it was a learning experience for me. This is also another skill I can work towards to add to my diving profile. Although, I'm not sure I'll ever be really any good at taking pictures.

I must note that Yvonne bought us matching bikinis, so I made her wear it with me on this day. In Korea couple clothing is super popular (couples wear the same outfit), so I figured we had to show off our couple bikinis! I don't think she was too into it as she changed in the afternoon, but we still managed to capture it!

I was super happy that Deano was also her instructor for this as he took me on my first scuba dive and I knew she could trust and feel comfortable with him.

After going over some important things about diving...

 we set up our equipment...

suited up...

and got into the water!

After practicing some skills, we went on a dive to see some turtles! 

Deano and Yvonne with the Green Turtle

Yvonne's favourite - Nemo!

My favourite - Cuttlefish!

We were supposed to do three dives, but Yvonne was feeling tired after the first one. So after lunch, Deano and I went on the second dive together. I was jealous about not getting a picture with the turtle (or for getting pictures of me diving for that matter) so Deano took some shots which made me happier than I can describe. 

Dive #2 - All of these photos were taken by Deano, a much better photographer 

We found Mel underwater so we got to get a picture together!! <3

We did a boat dive for the third dive which meant Yvonne got to do her first backwards roll off the boat. The current was a bit stronger on this dive so we just drifted along.

While we were on this dive, we found Deano's favourite fish, the harlequin sweetlips (juvenile) so Yvonne and Deano wiggled just like it!

This was a great day of diving! I went to bed early that night as I had to be on the jetty at 630am to go diving at one of the number one spots in the world, Sipadan! <3