Thursday, December 24, 2009

Reflections

Cue background music *who is that girl I see, staring straight, back at me....*

Ok, i lost my background music cos geocities closed down the account & i dono how to get my backgrd music back.. ANyone who knows can teach me? Else it'll be silent blog forever (i don't like to research this kinda thing not my forte)

Anyway, from the title, u know it's abt reflections, abt what the past yr has achieved for me & what i have achieve for others ahahah.. Why am i writing this on Xmas eve instead of New Year eve? Cos i'm gg off for holiday on 26th night! & wun be back till 9 Jan 2010! For you curious readers out there (yes, i actually have genuine readers!!!) I'm off to a road trip from Adelaide to Melbourne via Great Ocean Road! Woo Hoo! Don't worry, i'm going with a girlfriend of mine from JC, so it's not another loner trip :)

Anyway, back to reflections. If u can remember, i posted a list of resolutions to be achieved in 2009 at the end of december 2008, so let's recap what i set & what i have achieved in relation to those goals

http://dianshan.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html (This article back in December 2008)

1. Invest more time in my love for baking.
I believe i achieved this! In fact, the 1st thing in did in Jan 2009 was to bake my famous chocolate chip cookies! On 1st Jan 2009 somemore! Afterwhich, I tried coconut cake, chilli chocolate chip cookies, banana cake, muffins, & once again my famous chocolate chip cookies (freshly baked out of the oven on 22 Dec 2009)

2. Maintain my health & fitness
Well this is a hard one. 1stly, I believe i'm more disciplined & worked harder in the gyms (training both cardio & muscular strength). However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, my knees started to give way in Nov which lead to painful knees which lead to me unable to maintain my high standards of exercising, which is in contrary to being fitness & healthy. I have to work my way back to being 100% fit & healthy. + I had my like 1st real sickiness in July this yr, which lasted for abt 2wks. So This goal, considered partial & will be an on-going goal.

3. More responsibility for my job
Yes, i believe this has been somehow achieved. I have much more responsibilities in different areas of my job, being involved in a big project which saw me being stuck in Shanghai for almost 40% of my time (tho in the process, i was upgraded to a platinum member of Starwoods Hotel Group!!) I was also involved in training for 1 small process to a small unit but nevertheless, it made me feel proud of myself. For the coming year, sure will have more to come

4. Challenge myself with 10km run

Yes i did it in 1hr 8min, not my best timing but i did it! Registered for another but due to work commitment, cldnt go for it. Now with the bloody knee problem, i can't even do running leisurely.. I hope my knee recover so tt i can continue to run!

5. Improve communication with my family
I believe slight improvements have been made. Sorta become more open & less resistant to telling them stuff & sharing. Always room for improvement

6. Pay more attention to the process of reaching the goal, rather than focusing too much on the goal itself.
This is a hard one.. I think i did, but then again sometimes i feel like i still focus more on reaching the goal

7. Learn a new skill/enhance a current one
Yes! I learnt tennis! But cos of the knee again, i had stopped for almost 3mths... I wana go back to learning again! I love tennis! I love Roger Federer!

8. Conquer the sky
Eh, no chance leh!! Hahhahaha

9. Travelling
Oh yea! Well i'm gg for a road trip soon so that counts! I went for 2 diving trips this yr! I went sight seeing on biz trip...

10. Live a simple life
Eh, i think i live quite a simple life. Except for the gym membership haha... But i don ask for much la, i don buy branded goods, i don buy expensive clothes, quite simple?? Hahhaha ok la, maybe nd to learn between needs & wants more..

So onto 2010? I think i still have some things i wana do which were not done in 2009. But not tt much different from 2009:

1) Knee to recover - This is bloody impt for me to do whatever i wish to do! I wana be active again!I wana try at 10km again & lower my timing!

2) Mt KK - Yes, it's a surprise & mystery tt someone like me have YET to conquer Mt KK!!! Was planning for 2009 but things happend & it didnt materialize. I really hope 2010 will be the yr. So hard to organize hahaha.. I have already bought the climbing shoes & socks! Cannot waste!

3) Excel in Tennis - Not in the way Roger Federer has revolutionized tennis, but in the sense that i can actually play, volley & not juz try to hit the ball fed over by the coach & nothing more. It takes alot of practice & sense to get the right timing & rhythmn.

4) Read more books! - I think i'm hooked on reading books, especially nice fantasy books that are damn thick & r at least part of a trilogy! Hahah, I'm now reading the Sword of the Truth series (total of about 11 books) & i'm now at book 7. Finished another fantasy trilogy by Fiona Mcintosh, will continue another trilogy of hers aft i finish Sword of the Truth.

Of cos, those resolutions not resolved in 2009 will continue on to 2010, hoping to be resolved...

Damn, time to do some sorting & packing.. Flying off on saturaday night.. I hate packing for leisure trips, cos nd to bring more things & consider more things... Nd to sit down n organize soon.

I'll be gone & this will be my last entry for 2009! Till 2010, Merry Xmas & Happy New Year!

When I return, I may blog abt my trip.. Hopefully I wun be too lazy to do anything...

Till Then..... Dian Shan Out!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Roger Federer Ends Yet another (5th) Year as ATP World No 1!!

I have nothing to post for this, just wanted to share the good news & Shout out 'CONGRATS!!' He is only the 2nd man after Ivan Lendl to regain world No1 ranking after losing it in 2008. Just 1 more year to go to Tie to Pete Sampras' 6 years as No1. U GO FED!!! & All the best to London World Tour Finals! Go for ur 5th title in LONDON!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Bad Things Do Not Stop at ONE

Damn, been rather unlucky these few weeks can't believe my luck!! Think I stepped on shit or sth... It all started way back in end Oct:

1) For some unknown reasons, I MAY have strained my knee & MAY hv affected the ligament. All is MAY & unknown cos that was what the docs say & no scan or anything was done. So damn angry at myself even though I totally had NO IDEA how i did tt to myself. Was exercising fine, next day felt fine, but the pain came the next day night. So sudden! Had to give up my favourite cardio exercises & tennis. Sit there & get fat..damn it! Now seems to be bter but not really completely fine. Shall see sinseh & specialist to find out more...

2) Just when I thought it cldnt get worse, I went to slice myself up 2 days after my knee problem. How Fantastic! Totally had no idea how i slipped the knife while cutting lemon & sliced my hand (between thumb & index finger). Not cut, it was sliced! Meaning, it got deep into the skin & flesh. I lost alot of blood. Even had 2 fainting spells & cold sweat.

3) Happily came back from Shanghai (yet again) to discover my luaggage was damaged (YET AGAIN). Stupid SIA Cargo or handlers, u simply cannot trust them! 2nd time! & in less than 1yr! TO be precise 11mths. The last time was in Jan 2009, now once again! What is so wrong with them that they have to target me a 2nd time? This time, they took 6 days to determine whether to repair or replace & when they decided to replace, they bought me a lousy luaggage! Not the same luaggage, but according to them, a similar priced one. BUT, truth be told, the luaggage they gave me suck! It was of a lousier quality, soft case luaggage, easily dented. Yeah, they wana give me a 3rd chance of damaging my luaggage isit! Anyway, rejected their 'kind' offer & submitted claim for insurance from SIA. They better give me a bter deal! I need to get myself a much bter luaggage. ANY Recommendations??

4) Few days after my luaggage ordeal, my CHEAP sandals from Bangkok got stolen in the gym locker room. How CHEAPO can pple be!!! My sandals were placed nicely by my locker (like everybody else) and when i came back from my shower, they were GONE!!! Mine u, these sandals are cheap. My conclusion, maybe the CHEAPO thought they were expensive cos it's silver & shining, so it may have looked exp! STupid bastard!!! There were so many other more expensive shoes out there, yet u chose to take mine!

5) Once again, not many days after (i think 2 days) my lost shoes ordeal, someone took my umbrella from my desk in the office. It has been hanging at my desk since Nov 2008, but nvr once taken away out of my sight. Now, it is stolen by some stupid person from my company! N It's a company umbrella somemore! Not some Chanel or LV umbrella but bloody cheap company umbrella that is given to EVERYONE in the office!! Pls, do u nd to steal some stupid company umbrella? How cheapo can u b!! Now i don't have an extra umbrella in the office, all tks to someone from my company who conveniently took my umbrella & disappear for GOOD!

So u can see, so many unlucky things happened to me within a span of say 3wks! Damn, how much more unlucky can I get! When can i get some good luck shine on me? I think i desperately need it!!!

Friday, November 06, 2009

Driving around The World in 365 Days

I WISH!!

Ok maybe not the ‘driving’ part. But I do want to do a travel around the world, in 365 days sounds fine! Of cos, show me the money & I’ll do it!

SO anyway, I guess some of u have heard of this guy’s attempt to do this starting 15 nov. He’ll set off from US and thr to south America, Africa SEA & back to US. He’ll be driving whenever he can, and ship his car across the ocean to reach another continent. Crazy? Well maybe he shld not consider driving, but I admire his courage & determination! He’ll leave behind his GF, his home & job (he quit his job) to fulfill his dream! I wish I have the courage & ability to do so! Anyway, u guys can follow his story from his blog (refer to the link in the right corner under ‘Transworld Expedition”). Well I’m going to be one of his avid followers of his around the world expedition! Ya n marvel at his adventures! Haha…

Anyway, looking forward to my year end trip! My trip of the year! Australia! Going to Adelaide, through Great Ocean Road & arriving at Melbourne in 12 days. Yes, sounds abit rush but no choice! At least I get to have some fun! Going with my JC fren & we’re going to drive!! Yes drive!! Hehe so looking forward to it, sounds exciting! 1st time driving long distance thr’out a trip! Look forward to more fantastic photos! Need to do more research & map out our journey!

Date of departure: 26 Dec 2009 close to midnight

N I’ll be spending my New Year in Australia!! Sounds cool rite! My 1st overseas countdown!

Friday, September 25, 2009

The Blog about Nothing

Been a while since my last blog (almost 2 months). Not been blogging due in part to laziness. I thot of blogging abt my mountain hiking trip in Seoul but then again, too lazy to write & post photos! Haha, anyway the photos are all on my facebook.

So there it is! The blog abt nothing. Yes, nothing. Don't have much to talk abt. Just wanted to update sth so that u readers know that this blog is still very much alive! Albeit alittle quiet & empty. Yes i will still write when the right time comes!

Really don't have much to update about. Hmm let me think. Went on a bizzare beauty shopping trip (or rather it was due to my biz trip to Seoul that I was allowed to do this) in Seoul. Faceshop, skinfood, laneige. You name it, I bought them! Of cos not all for myself! I had 6 other buyers to take care of. Yes, u can say that i am APAC APO (Asia Pacific, Asia Purchasing Office) I spent >SGD1k on all those products, not all my own. I think i spent abt SGD245 for myself. Hey, it's a 1 year supply so that figure is NOT as terrible as you think! I went with a 16.5kg luaggage & came back with 39.9kg, consisting of my original luaggage (10kgs heavier) + 2 duffel bags. I'm amazed by myself! If not for the limited luaggage space, i MAY have bought more things..U nvr know! I had to stop myself from shopping cos i was already loaded with those beauty products!

I got my 'dead' toenail removed at the clinic. Backgrd story is - I bruised my little nail while doing the 10KM Bay Run. It hurt on the day when i bruised it, & got blue black (it's a bruise!) Well in actual fact, it was sorta a small blood clot hence the colour. So that was like on 16 aug. Then i discovered while i was in my Seoul Hotel room, watching movie on my laptop & fiddling ard, that the bloody (ok there was NO BLOOD) toe nail was coming loose, & damn loose i tell u. I cld almost just pull it out myself! So i waited until i'm back in SG to visit the clinic. By the time, it was 1mth after the bruising event. & the doc juz pulled it out with the small plier. Yes, it was not painful, no blood 'cos the nail was basically dead! The bruised area was at the bottom of the nail where it connects to your toe. So when she pulled it was damn easy cos the bruised nail kinda softened at tt area. So now, i'm 1 toenailess! Well it doesnt make much a difference anyway...

N Yes, i'm mugging! After 5yrs of working, & no studying, i'm back to mugging for my CIA exams. Damn, now i find studying so hard!!! Gota read teh damn thick textbook (i think 300+ pgs) & sorta memorize the impt pts in the book! It ain't easy i tell ya! But i have to do it! I cannot fail paper 1!

& I've got the next wk off juz to study! All thanks to my wisdom tooth extraction! Good timing! Get my wisdom tooth extracted, 1wk MC, & spend the time to study & catch up on my sleep! Fantastic! Haha.. So guys don expect me to answer your calls next week, esp mon-tues, cos i'l hv some difficulty articulating my words!


While i'm resting at home studying, maybe i can catch up on my drama series (downloaded ones) & chill out! Cool!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Manado Diveologue Adventure Tour


Venue: Manado, Indonesia
Duration: 7-12 Aug 2009
Resort: Tasik Ria Resort

2nd Dive of the year! Yes, I didn't expect that myself, but hey, what have I got to lose! I mean it’s MANADO!! One of THE diving spots in SEA! Also ‘cos of the persuasion ‘powers’ of DX, I agreed to accompany her on the journey to the Indonesian waters! She to complete her Advanced Open water (FINALLY!!!) & I to explore the underwater world of Bunaken & Lembeh!

The planning & preparation for the trip was a MESS! For reasons known only to us 2, & selected few, it was not smooth sailing at all! But at least our ultimate aim of GOING there was materialized… All these unhappiness can be compensated by the place itself.

It all started with direct flight via Silkair to Manado (3hrs), followed by bus journey of 1hr from the airport to the resort. The resort is situated in a rather ulu part of Manado, close to the waters (beach resort), away from the bustle of the city life (BTW, there isn’t much city life in Manado anyway, but more on that later). By the time we checked in, it was close to 3pm. Checking in to our nice resort, with a pool view! Well, I say nice only ‘cos for the price u pay for the stay, I personally Don’t think it as worthwhile… Go figure.. Sipadan Kapalai resort is so so so so much bter!! But we paid a premium for that! Anyway, the resort is only nice! I think the premium we paid is for the place rather than the resort… Hahhaha.. Sorry Daniel (more on that later).

The reception area of the resort



Finally got beach! Tho it's quite a deserted beach & we didnt hv time to laze ard as well



Me with my name marked on the beach! It says 'Dian Shan @ Manado'


Remember this slogan!!!

WE had to separately check into the Dive center (Tasik Ria Dive Center). Yes, they are the same. Resort & Dive center same same, not like a lot of other places where the dive center operate as a separate entity from the resort. After lots of fussing & fumbling over form filling & communication with the dive staff, we finally got our things settled.. It was not a good start to the day, we were slightly pissed off with some of the things. E.g. we were promised a check out dive on arrival, but unfortch, seemed like the dive center had no idea abt it. Then they told us there’s NO check out dive, but at the end of the day (b4 our dinner), the lady staff came to find us & asked y we disappeared & didn't got for the check out dive. Idiot! Plenty of mis-communication!

Poolside bar!

Playing in the pool.

No i didnt drink. ANyway there's no 'Swim don't drink' rule

Anyway, we went swimming in the nice pool instead! Then head off for a hotel & dive briefing b4 our BBQ dinner commenced at 7pm.

FYI, they sorta have themed dinners on certain nights. We arrived on a Friday, & it was BBQ night, so it was held at the beach. On the saturaday, it was international buffet, on Sunday it was local buffet & then followed by Ala Carte ordering etc. We had some cultural dance performances by the local village kids as well. Dinner was so-so. Only good thing that night was the BBQ fish & only 1 type of BBQ fish was good enuff. Our 2nd helping of BBQ fish was of a different type, hence the flavour was not as good! But that night, we had a taste of the different local sauces to go with our food – Black pepper, Achar, chilli, black sweet sauce with chilli etc.. Also, that night was our 1st glimpse at the ‘popularity’ of the resort & well we were disappointed. We sorta felt the ‘coldness’ of the resort when we arrived to an almost empty place. There were about 7 (3 groups) + us 2 new guests on that day itself & we did not see any other guests during the day. Until dinner, there were like maybe 9 tables set up, and I would say only 1 table was empty throughout. Out of the 8 occupied tables, 2 were occupied by the resort owners & staff, so u can imagine how empty the resort was! Slightly disappointed by the turnout. Was kinda expecting more pple, more vibrant guests. Turned out, we were like the youngest of the bunch. Surrounded by middle-aged pple…

It was as usual an early night for us. It always happens to be early nights whenever we go diving. Yes, there was TV in the room with international channels, but it just so happen that when we head back to the room, we juz fall asleep rather quickly! Before 10pm, we were in slumberland! Come to think of it, it is actually a good habit to sleep early! Anyways, we had to get up early each morning for diving. Sorta like the time we get up for work on weekdays.

Our 1st diving day started at 745am, with the boat leaving at 8am. Good thing about these rather commercialized and more international diving places – they do everything for u! Tanks are loaded to the boats, gears are prepared and strapped for u. U just need to show up, & check. Not like in redang or perhentian where u had to carry your own eqpt to the boats, or even gear up ursef!

Our daily diving boat

Eqpt area

Me with my eqpt, which was nicely geared up for us daily

Dx with hers! All our rental was from S'pore (except our own fins, bootie & mask)

Each diving day is a full day out at sea. Boat leaves at 8am, and by the time it reaches Bunaken National Park, it’ll be ard 930am or so. 2 dives follow, each lasting abt 60mins, with 1hr resting time in between, then lunch, then 3rd dive would be back to mainland, closer to resort. By the time we unload at the resort, it’ll be close to 5pm. & it’s a big boat, like a yacht where u can either choose to remind indoors on 1st deck or up the sundeck for some sun & breeze. Of cos, we choose upstairs, with the breeze & abit of sun! It helps to keep seasickness at bay.

Me at the sundeck of the boat

The angmohs suntanning...

Pretty lady (Iris) from Germany.

Caught him red-handed peeing into the open sea!! Eeks! He thot nobody saw him...

We had the benefit and luck of being part of a commercial shooting for the resort. A senior cameraman, Chris Tan, from Scubazoo (from Borneo) was there for 2 days to shoot the activities of the resort. So he basically followed us out on the 1st day & filmed us in action. Not underwater though. He was filming us during dinner as well, basically all resort activities.

Anyway, about the waters of Manado. The wall dives at Bunaken is pretty much like Sipadan, but I feel that the visibility is better than Sipadan. No sharks this time, but we saw more of different types of fish, & micro stuff. Water there is warm, which makes it good for diving! Don’t have to shiver underwater. The diving ratio is 4-1, meaning 1 DM to at most 4 divers. Which is good! More personalized attention.

It was on this day that we met with Daniel, the in charge of the place! Nice and helpful guy! He was apparently ‘tasked’ with the job of taking care & looking after us, well according to him anyway. But he actually identified us as the girls from Singapore & DX being the one taking the adv course! Apparently, our agent from Singapore pointed it out to him. But he helped us out a lot! If not for him, we would have met with more problems with the dive center & more miscommuncation. & we called him D1 (between ourselves) cos there are 2 Daniels in the resort. We’ll get to there…

Us with CoCo (2nd day DM)

My 1st day DM Deyyti

DX with her adv course instructor Monica

2nd diving day proceeded as the 1st. But DX sat out the 3rd dive as she had a night dive on the same day. I didn't go for night dive (it’s extra charge). Dinner that night was blar, nth to talk about.. International buffet night.

3rd day, we opted for Lembeh Straits upgrade, at USD45 each. It’s actually at the other side of Manado, & took abt 2hrs to drive there. Initially, it was s’posed to be 2nd diving day but due to some miscommunication (AGAIN) we had to postpone it. But oh well, maybe it wasn't that bad!

Me at the sampan boat in Lembeh

The day started at 715am, with the van transporting only the 2 of us to Lembeh. Actually, the dive center requires at least 4 pax to upgrade, but we’ve got connections (i.e. agent in Singapore) so we got to go even though only the 2 of us! It took us 2hrs in the van to reach Lembeh, where we boarded a small sampan boat for our dives! It was a sunny & hot day as usual, but once we jumped into the water for the 1st dive, HOLY SHIT! The water was freezing cold! It was 26 degrees down there! Lucky I’m in Long wetsuit, but still u could feel the icy waters! After each dive, we were to stay on the boat, with the big waves crashing & the boat behaving like a crazed swing. FYI, if u want to dive in Lembeh, try to avoid Aug, as this is the mth of windy big waves with cold water.

All geared up ready to jump! It's act not so heavy aft a few times on ur back

DX with CoCo all geared up!

Oh yea, & I have to mention this weird crazy boat man. Part of the dive team for Lembeh Straits. He looks creepy & he is crazy! He kept taking photos of the 2 of us the moment we stepped on the boat! Us boarding the boat, Us wearing our wetsuit, us putting on our gear etc.. stupid crazy old man!

The weird man in question!!! Look, he's admiring the photos he took

Our day at Lembeh ended at 430pm, & we opted to drop off at Manado Town Square for a night of some shopping & look see. Thanks to Daniel, he helped to arrange for the driver to drop us there. Traffic is terrible in Manado! It took us ages to finally reach the hypermart! Once we entered the Shopping center, we finally acknowledged what Daniel told us earlier – There is nothing to shop about in Manado! Seriously! We were given 1hr to shop, & most of that hour was spent in the hypermart, shopping for snacks & food!

The Padang place

Everything ranging from fish, chicken, beef to eggs, organs, veges chilli etc

Look at our happy faces! Good food equals happy us!

Us with Daniel (aka D1) Thanks to him for the good food!

D1 took us out for dinner after our mini shopping for some REAL local food! Yes, we went for Padang food! It was those local street stall housed in the owners house. U don’t actually order, they will put everything on ur table & u take ur pick! If u don’t want to eat it, u can reject it the moment that dish is presented. Each plate has 2 pieces, and if during the course of ur meal, u don’t touch any of the 2 pieces, u’r not charged! If u take only 1 piece, u’r charged for that 1 piece. So meaning, u get charged only for the food u eat, not more, not less. Interesting! This DOES NOT happen here in Singapore. & we’re assuming that they ‘recycle’ the food not eaten. Hahaha… Supposedly, it’s spicy, especially the green chilli (according to D1 anyway), but for me, it was just ok. Not that spicy! Haha, he cldnt believe that we did not find it spicy enuff! FYI, the resort does not have sambal chilli!! The closet thing they have it the Achar… So sad rite! But at least it was the best meal we’ve had for the past few nites in Manado!

Lembeh straits was our last day of diving! Our 4th day was F&E adventure tour! Enuff was the sea, time to conquer the land! Thanks to our DM CoCO, he managed to get his fren Eric (who happens to be a DM as well) to bring us ard. So we paid for car rental & their services, which is so much cheaper than joining a land tour to the places we went! It was HALF PRICE!! We paid Rupiah 750K for the WHOLE day! Whereas a tour would cost us about USD 70-75 each pax juz for a 6hr tour of the volcano & lake & lunch! Hehe, guess we’ve the correct PR skills to make frens with the pple there for all these good deals!

Our day started at 8am, with an almost 2hr drive to the Tomohon village. Our 1st stop was the local market! Not very big but they sell everything! All sorts of beasts! Haha for real! Bats, snakes, dogs, rats, pork etc.. They kill it in front of u, & pple buy it home for cooking! It was a bloody scene & smelly too!

The market place. Some roasted meat with a very enthusiastic uncle!

Snake & bats!

They sell lots of fruits & veges, esp BANANAS!!! Haha it’s like banana heaven there! Plenty!!

Bananas! They come in all sizes!

Enroute to Mt Mahawu. View point of the town!

After a short stop at the market, we headed to Mt Mahawu, a s’posedly inactive volcano. Apparently, a volcano is considered dormant if it had not erupted for the past 10,000 years!! We stopped rather near to the base, & took a 10mins hike up to the top. Not a difficult hike up! There u c the entire crater! Very cooling & beautiful view! The 4 of us then took a hike around the entire crater!! It was like trekking the forest, with bushes as tall or even taller than us! Suffered some scratches & cuts from the hike! From the view point, u can see the whole Manado town & the Tomohon village! The entire trek took 1hr to complete. Slightly tiring esp for the 3 other pple but nice workout!

Our guides panting on the way up to the crater

Us at the top! HUGE crater!

Small lake at the bottom. Apparently locals climb down to carve their names!

Our guides at the top, acting cool

View of the town. Splendid!

That is Mt Lokon at the far end, an active volcano! Maybe next time can try to mount that!

Nxt stop was Lake Tomohon. It was a HUGE lake! & it was damn cooling standing by the lake! WE stopped for lunch at one of the more popular restaurant for local food. No or little English was spoken so we ordered by looking at what others were having & point! & we got e’vrything rite! Our food came & they were delicious!! The lunch came up to about Rupiah 48k, cheap!!

Settlement around Lake Tomohon

Road along Lake Tomohon

Achar! This is wicked!!

Our lunch of Ikan Goreng, Ikan P.Nike and KangKong (left to right). Place is called Tondano

After lunch we headed out, but there were road blocks here & there. Ended up, we got lost ard the Lake area, turning here n there but cldnt find the way out. After about 1hr of trial & error, we finally made our way out for Manado town! By the time we reach the Hypermart, it was already 6pm! Yes, we spent about 2-3hrs on the road from Lake TOmohon to town! & yes, hypermart again! More shopping! The ‘Hello Panda’ biscuits are damn cheap, only 60cents SGD & they have flavours like cheese, cookies & cream!

Buffalo transporting owner

DX on a swing

Apparently the town is famous for its peanuts! Nope didnt buy

Scenery along the way, trying to find our way out of Lake Tomohon


By the time we reach the resort it was past 7pm, all tired & worn out. The dinner that nite was Ala carte, & it sucked! Sorry, we think the best food from the resort was from the Local buffet nite, & those were the soto ayam soup & the beans & tofu stir fry!

This is my order of some fish cooked in coconut milk, local style. NOT NICE!

The next day was the day of departure. The end of the road for our holiday! After settling our bill with the dive center & the resort separately, we were on our way to the airport. But not b4 we stopped by a roadside stall for some Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice), as recommended by D1. Cos we complained the food not spicy enuff, so he suggested we tried this!

The auntie manning the stall

The end result - Rice, egg, potato strip, floss, meat, missing the chilli in the pict. BAGUS!!

DX, the hotel staff & the driver had theirs in the stall, while I tapao (not hungry). It was yellow rice, with fried potato strips, some pork floss, some potatos with meat & egg. & u have to eat it with the chilli!! Yes, without the chilli it doesn't taste as nice! & I must say the chilli is really really good! I admit that the chilli is spicy!! Finally sth spicy enuff! The only bummer was the 2 other pple (hotel staff & driver) basically assumed we’re paying for everything, so in the end, we had to fork out Rupiah 45K for the 4 of us. How dare they! Granted it was cheap but still…. Not too happy abt it.

p/s: DX LS when she touched down in Singapore twice! Hahaha… The effects of the nasi kuning probably. Not for me though.

Anyway, apparently towards our last 2 days, more pple started to flow into the resort! Well maybe Tasik Ria is not so empty afterall! Heard from the DM that Aug normally is less crowded. Good in the sense that u get to dive almost without crowd! Yes, true. When we dived in Bunaken, there was almost no other boats ard & most of the divers were from our boat!
& this marks the end of our dive trip! It was fun while it lasted! DX complained about the 60mins dive & 3 dives per day.. Yes, by calculation, it is actually abit over according to the dive plan. But well, I’m actually fine with it!

& we made a friend in Manado! Yes D1 keke.. Anyway nxt time, any of u interested in gg Manado for dive can let me knw! I've got lobang! Yea, & mayb u cld mention my name to D1 & get some special treatment... Hahahha... Any1 interested in buying the Oceanic Geo Dive comp?? Got lobang also...

Next up, we'll go Pulau Weh next year!! Interested party please contact me! Should be in Aug ard national day.