Diving in Pulau Aur

Last weekend, I went diving again after being absent from diving for six years! A friend of mine invited me for the dive and I reluctantly agreed because I have an equalizing problem. I couldn’t equalize myself during the decent into the deep blue and I will get a painful eardrum when I surfaced. Nevertheless, I agreed to go, to have fun and to take a break from my usual routine and to take an important photo for this group of friends of mine!

This group of friends was from NCHS and they have known each other for 24 years! They found out that most of them have learned diving yet they have never been on a dive trip together. This was how this dive trip was formulated and to commemorate their 24 years of friendship together, a banner was made so they could have a picture taken underwater with the banner. This is where I came into the picture, to help take the photos underwater!

The journey had a rocky start! During the planning stage, there were lots of argument as to where to go, who to book and co-ordinates and what date to set off. On the day of departure, our hired bus broke down and we have to take a bus to Johor Bahru to transfer onto a Mersing bounced bus. During the transfer of transportations, our banner was left on the bus that sent us to Johor and we have to make a stop along the journey to wait for the bus to bring back our banner. When we reached the Mersing jetty, we were about an hour late and the ferry to Pulau Aur has left without us because the low tide was setting in. We were put on a speedboat to catch up with the ferry in deeper water.

Upon boarding, we found out that the bunk area was fully occupied and we were forced to make bed on the roof of the ferry! Luckily during our stay at Pulau Aur, there wasn’t any issue, except my equalizing problem. Then came the ferry ride back to Mersing, we were caught in a sudden storm, there were surging tides and strong winds that rocked our boat from side to side and I thought we could never make it back to land again! Thankfully, our captain managed to steer us through the stormy sea and back to Mersing jetty safely!

Despite all the troubles, we managed to enjoy ourselves and made the most out of each situation. For instance, when we were caught in the jam at the causeway, we managed to crack jokes and chat about old times to entertain ourselves. Again when we were camping out on the roof of the ferry, we got to sleep under a night sky filled with glittering stars. We could also cuddle up together to keep warm when the cold wind was blowing against us as the ferry sped through the night.

In Pulau Aur, we enjoyed sitting around to have some food and sharing the sightings in the water after each dive and sitting on the balcony of our resort, basking in the warm afternoon sun and taking in the breath-taking sea view that stretches out in front of our bunker. Then watching the sky turned from golden dusk into dark night. Even though, I’m not a good drinker, I enjoyed the number games and having to bottoms up some red wine when I guessed the “right” numbers. Although, I felt really bad, ganging up with the rest to make HK drink, I should say that was really the heightening event of the whole trip! It was non-stop drinking and laughing until we finished all 3 bottles of red wine and retired to bed dead tired!

I really enjoyed myself in those two days and I really envy this group of friends for being able to maintain their friendship for 24 years! In the beginning, they were like a little tiny star out in the Milky Way. 24 years ago, due to some cosmic forces, they ended up in the same secondary and a strong friendship was formed. Over the years, despite their individuals and families commitments, they are still willing to make an effort to meet up and go on a trip together. Through all the ups and downs, this group of friends managed to keep each other companied and sail through the stormy sea together and their friendship grew stronger with each passing day.

We could never predict what the future holds for each of us, but I believed my friends will have a wonderful life knowing that they have each other to rely on when times are bad and good times are abound in each other company! Maybe in another 24 years time, they would embark on another trip as grandpas and grandmas!

Finally, I would like to thanks Janson and Bryan (our dive masters) for making all the necessary arrangement, ensuring our safety during each dive and making this a pleasant dive trip for us!

祝我的朋友 ：友谊万岁！