Summer Reading

My mission is to read books as many as I can during this summer holiday. This is the list of books I set to be read during this summer.

Starting with light reading which is of course my favourite genre, chick lit and a book that I've finished reading.

Done

1. Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella
Started reading while waiting for my flight in Charlotte Airport and I'm half way through by the time I realized I might missed my flight to KL. It used the usual Kinsella theme where the heroine would be happy at first then issues arise and finally issues resolved. Witty and funny as usual but I think I prefer 'Can You Keep a Secret' beside her Shopaholic series.






2. Austenland by Shannon Hale
Started reading in the flight from Newark to KL. The story is too predictable. The writer seems to copy the storyline of Elizabeth Bennet's love interest from Pride and Prejudice and applied it in modern world. A so-so storyline.









3. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
This book is a graduation gift from my department to all graduates. Since I volunteered, I received one too (find out it cost RM89.90 at Borders! Thank God I got it free). Wrote by ex-PhD Duke student who is a professor at MIT now and also a visiting professor at Duke. Even though some of the human behaviour that influence decision we made mentioned are already known, he made experiments to prove it which is very interesting. He even made an experiment that involved Duke basketball obsession. Hehe. This is highly recommended book to read. I like it.

Oh, and 2 PADI open water diver manuals. Hehe


In Progress

4. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner










Coming soon

5. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Just bought it last weekend. Might read it after Zainal finish it first.








6. The Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne










If I managed to finish all of these, might read Emotional Intelligence since Mak has it but we'll see how fast I can finish all these (if I cut down my time Facebooking and playing Bejeweled at FB).

I thought I want to read the book that I got in the workshops but I felt that since I already went to the workshop, the content might be the same right. Hehe.

Licensed to dive

I told him few years ago after Perhentian that I'm not going to any island after this for just snorkeling. I want to dive. I want to see the fishes face to face not back of their body.

So 2 weeks ago I fulfilled my promise. In order to really enjoy being deep inside the ocean, I need a license. And I've obtained it. Not 1 but 2. PADI Open Water and PADI Advanced Open Water. Now I have the license to dive as deep as 40 metres and also at night.

The road to that both license was not easy. If people think that the whole week was all play and no work are wrong big time. Days were spent in the water whether confined or open water, skills were thought and tested with few breaks for lunch and tea. Nights were filled with theory parts, knowledge reviews, quizzes and exam (Though it was a fun exam, haha). By Tuesday, all I wanted to do was go home. My legs were aching. Yoko Yoko stopped working on the second day.

But all the hard work was worth it. Every skill learned was going to be used while in the water. I never thought that mask clearing would be so useful. And knowing what to do when your buddy having a leg cramp in the water was very useful especially when you have Zainal as your buddy (Hehe.. but I love you no matter what sayang).

To tell the truth, it's not about physical strength only, it's mentally challenged too. How many times I almost gave up and finished the dive after 5 minutes in to the water. I've experienced from nausea of breathing from mouth (I've learned to deal with it), unable to equalize my ears that feel like exploding everytime I descended deeper during the deep dive and water kept coming into my mask during the night dive that spoilt the whole night experience. But I kept on pushing myself and before I realized, it's time to ascend. Surprisingly I wanted it more.

After 6 dives, I finally felt comfortable in water. I can find the my neutral bouyancy and glide calmly while mesmerizing the beauty of God's creation. I saw green turtle twice, angelfish, starfish, butterflyfish, friendly batfish and wrase fish, different species of soft and hard corals and of course the infamous eel. But no shark this time. Maybe next time.

Dayang Island is a marvellous island that only few know about. The water was crystal clear blue which served as our classroom. It has only one resort which is the one that we stayed on. Electricity only available from 7pm to 7am. I love the simple life we lived. Imagine 6 days without internet, newspaper, TV and all that matter was diving. And of course the food was delicious.

The whole experience would not be wonderful without the people who join the trip. Sporting instructors, helpful divemasters, crazy divers and of course my lovely husband who patiently reserved my favourite toilet cubicle while I getting my toiletries and my buddy underwater and lifetime.

Me and my buddy for life

Thanks to the group that came together whether for Open & Advanced, Rescue Diver or just for leisure dives, the whole experience was priceless.

Dive logged: 9 dives

Dive areas: Teluran (Pulau Aur), Pulau Lang, Rayner's Rock (Pulau Dayang), Teluk Jawa (Pulau Dayang), Dayang Channel (Pulau Dayang) and Dayang Jetty (Pulau Dayang).

Favourite spot: Rayner's Rock
Deepest depth: 21.6 m
Average diving time: 43.3 mins


P/s: Pictures are in my Facebook. Too many to choose and all are my favourites.