Coolcat's Jottings

Aieeee, I've been surrounded by divers these past couple of days. These people seem to love being underwater more than they do on land. The investment is a hefty one especially if you are into underwater photography. Check out the pic below of an Olympus underwater camera gear.



Still, it has been a very interesting two days for me, learning about the marine treasures that Miri has to offer. It's amazing to note that this one town has over 20 superb dive sites teeming with beautiful corals and marine life. Almost makes me wish that I could dive.

Oh well, we'll see about that. First and foremost, I have to be rid of my phobia of having my face submerged in water. Not sure if that fear can ever be overcome. Hmmm.

Today when the barge stopped to let down the divers, I experienced a wave of sea sickness. The motion sickness pills courtesy of a ship mate did help but it knocked me out for six. I slept like a baby in the air-conditioned cabin on the bunk bed while the rest of the divers went underwater to clean the reef.

This is the result of putting a Coolcat in a comfy hotel room in somewhere outstation with broadband access, a laptop and a baby dslr.



Hee!

Came across this person who manages his company with tightly clenched tentacles (not mine!). No one under him dares to make any decisions big or small without going through him. It's quite sad for everyone there because he can't be everywhere all at once and most of everything is on hold.

And he has the gall to loudly complain to outsiders that this and that project got delayed because of the laziness of the project manager. My only thought was, if only he could see that he was the bottleneck to the efficiency of the company. Trampling the self-worth and dignity of your staff by blaming them when things go wrong is not the solution.

But he's not the only one who is practicing this poor leadership model (if you can even call it leadership). It's appalling. We need better role models.

While I'm enjoying my job like I never did before, it comes at a price. I hardly get to see my friends these days - face to face, that is. This weekend I'll be off again. This time to East Malaysia. I'll meet a whole bunch of new people again especially of the media kind. They are mostly a friendly lot but I do miss my friends.

And today, a dear friend made the effort to seek me out and bring me out for bah kut teh near my office. It was great that she lived nearby my workplace. We made plans to do this more often. One of her closest friends just migrated overseas. I so know how that feels. It was great to be able to pig out on pork meat and chat under the stars dark clouds and laugh at the experiences that we've been through.

I am generally the laughing type and quite a number of things amuse me. Still, there is a marked difference between laughing with newly made acquaintances and laughing with a good friend. When you laugh for any reason at all with a good friend, your soul is rejuvenated and the joys are shared, the sorrows halved. God knows I needed this. Life can't all be a holiday, can't it? Hehe.

On the home front yesterday, I handed my mom the copy of my company's magazine where my first batch of articles and even my photo was featured. She held it reverently and dug into it. After reading my first article, she shook her head in wonderment. "I never thought that one of my children would be a writer. How did you learn to write so well?"

Again I explained to her with a smile - that it has been a childhood passion that never faded away. She never thought that my little hobby would turn out to be my livelihood one day. Despite the fact that I was trained and graduated in a totally different field. Despite the long road it had taken and the challenges that came about, passion still gets it way in the end. And for that I'm ever grateful to my all-knowing Provider.

It was four days of bliss intermingled with torture. If I had a choice between spending my time fending off hordes of hungry leeches (yes, there were huge groups of them the first day we went forest trekking!), trekking endlessly in the dense virgin rainforest or going shopping or be pampered in a spa, I'd choose the latter - hands down.


You can see the Thailand mountains from the Belum forest reserve

But I was glad that I went there because of a work assignment. Duty soon became pure joy. How could it not? Daily we were greeted with the calm turquoise waters of the lake, the lush greenery of the jungle, fresh footprints of wildlife and frequent sightings of the eagles, storks and hornbills. The fresh air filled our lungs whisking away all vestiges of the polluted city air that we have inhaled all these while. The delicious kampung food gave us the much-needed energy to trudge through the forest. The gummy smiles and ancient song of welcome of the aborigine folks from the Negrito tribe warmed our hearts.


An aborigine girl in her village

Previously, all the wildlife that I've seen were courtesy of the zoos. To encroach into their natural habitat is both an exciting and thrilling experience. You never know when you'll see a tiger sprinting behind the bushes towards the waterfall for its daily bath. Or elephants playing in their playground. Some of us did witness that in this trip - unfortunately, not yours truly

I did however see my first Rafflesia. The feeling when I could finally glimpse the largest flower in the world is indescribable. It made the arduous journey of getting to that elusive flower worth the while.


Rafflesia Cantleyi - a flower that takes 9 months to bloom and about 4 days to wither

I learned a lot in this trip. How to battle my fear of heights and the deep depths of water. How to set up a tent. How to prevent leeches (Nope, salt just doesn't cut it. Tobacco water and tiger balm does the trick. Baygon/Ridsect, too although some people went overboard and sprayed it on their socks AND legs directly. Not a pretty sight to see the rashes developing on their legs and definitely not recommended!). Most of all, I learned how to give and take and live with the strengths and weaknesses of my media team members.

I learned how logging threatens and steals the homes of these wildlife, and how much I want my children and my children's children to see what I saw. To be able to experience what I experienced. Not to view wildlife only in the zoo.

This is what I brought back with me. A bunch of life changing memories. And I wouldn't trade this for all the spa sessions in the world.


My Crocs-wannabe at Belum Rainforest Resort

* Pics taken with my dad's point and shoot. Was afraid that baby might be too heavy for this trip.