Pulau Hantu, Singapore (25th May 2013)

It's been a long time since I've dived in Singapore waters. The last time was while helping a friend in his dive company, more than a decade ago, when I was still a secondary school student. It's one of the few places you can dive in Singapore waters though most definitely not on the wishlists of any avid divers in the world. One of the main reasons would be visibility. If you're lucky, visibility might be 4-5 meters. On a bad day, you might not even be able to see your hands clearly if you'd extended your arms out. Diving in Singapore waters, if you want to see anything at all, requires some planning. Checking the tide tables to ensure minimal current is imperative. There are a few groups who dive regularly. Alternatively, you could simply charter your own boat and arrange rental equipment. I was fortunate to be invited to join a private charter. As I already had my own equipment, the total cost was a fraction compared to going on a weekend trip in Malaysia ( P. Tioman, P. Aur or P. Dayang). We just split the cost of the boat charter and paid for our individual equipment requirements. Despite the poor visibility and its small size, Singapore does have a biologically diverse reef system.

After meeting bright and early at a jetty on the west coast of Singapore, we headed out on our chartered boat towards P. Hantu, approximately 45 mins sailing time away. We would have 2 dives over the course of half a day. During this trip visibility wasn't at its optimum in fact during the first dive, where i was in a group of 3, we kept lost our 3rd person twice. After descending to the bottom, we decided on a heading and set of, upon turning back after less than 10m, the third diver was gone. We circled for 2-3 mins then ascended. Found the 3rd person on the surface and descended together again only to have the scenario repeat itself.

Most of the photography which would be carried out would be macro as the poor visibility prevents any decent shots to be taken at a distance. Out of the many shots I took, only 2 seemed worth sharing!

Blue-lined flatworm (Pseudoceros sp.)

Nudibranch (Glossodoris atromarginata)

Mumbai, India (1-3 June 2013)

Filler post. Not much text, just photos. Took this trip on the spur of the moment and really paid a premium on it. My flight to Mumbai on SQ was SGD1.3K and my domestic flight on Go-Air from Mumbai to Ladakh was another 1.3K.

This was a trip which i had not intended to go on. I'd been asked by Elizabeth a couple of months back but had declined. Sometimes the need to escape from ugly things drive you to do financially silly things like buying tickets 2 days before flying. Anyway the trip was planned  from the 3rd til the 9th of June. Since I was in a silly mood, I agreed to go and decided that I should spend a few days in Mumbai as well. Liz had kindly agreed to let me stay in her spare room at her apartment. As the first of June was a Saturday as well, I'd also have someone to show me around the streets of Mumbai!



Day 1: Mumbai ( Gateway, Bazaar, Victoria Terminus)

Day 2: Elephanta caves. Ferry took a while so it was pretty much a whole day trip. I was reminded of Petra (Jordan) which I had visited the same year. Just much hotter and more humid as well. Ended the day with some of the local sweets and of course a kingfisher beer!

Day 3: Not much photos at all as it was raining the whole day and all I did was walk out to the nearby mall for Macdonalds :( The same night we head to Ladakh too! I was on a different flight from the other folks though, but we'd all be transiting in Delhi and taking the same plane from Delhi to Leh Airport.