Farewell time Source: PufferGal Cam

And so, the day to leave was soon upon us, much too soon I might add but who am I to complain right? I spent a lovely 10 days in Sabah, 4 nights in the ultra efficient Sipadan Water Village and another 4 nights in the ever so lovely (and DELICIOUS) Reef Resort on Mataking. That made it all the more harder to leave. Ever the "pleasing" resort, upon checking out, we both got a little hand made vase with the resort's name carved carefully in it. This was a pleasant surprise... totally unexpected and definitely a welcome gift, a memento of our wonderful time at the resort. The staff gave us a royal farewell, complete with little hand held drums, which naturally, made it harder for us to leave too *sigh*.

Of course, I wouldn't be me without some sort of drama right? We both took separate flights back... him on Air Asia (a direct flight) and me on the MAS one, with one scheduled transit stop at Kota Kinabalu (KK). Everything went fine. We got to the airport on time. No one has immigration issues. I got onto my flight on schedule. I got off at KK, went through the "how-on-earth-did-I-miss-the-immigration-counter" counter, got the relevant stamp and then waited to board my next flight. I double and triple checked my boarding pass (am a little anal about this) and seeing that there really isn't much to do in the KK airport, sat and read my book by the terminal gate which was CONVENIENTLY located DIRECTLY in front of Famous Amos, that chocolate chip cookie place. Now, it isn't possible for a person to sit there and breathe in that heavenly aroma without succumbing to it I can tell you. After wrestling with my conscience, off I went in search of 100g of chocolate chip with Macadamia nuts. I'd have it for desert I thought. So, when they announced my flight, there I was, cookies in hand and everything. I got on the flight and settled down for a little read. Now, as soon as the flight was airborne, the chief steward welcomed us on board and said that our expected flight time to Miri was 40 minutes. That's when I woke up. MIRI?? I was supposed to go to Kuala Lumpur. No one told me about MIRI! The boarding counter at the airport only stated the flight number, not the flight destination. Panic set it... then I find out from the stewart that the flight was on transit to Miri, enroute to KL and that lunch would NOT be served (thank gawd for Famous Amos).

The BF (who made my flight booking for me) didn't know that I had to stop in Miri. I, who got on board the plane and had one of my worst nightmares realised did not know I had to stop at Miri. So stop in Miri airport I did (which btw, sells Japanese porn magazines, right out in the open... surprising considering that Malaysia is a Muslim country), sent the BF a text message saying that I was in Miri and would be arriving late. Naturally, he thought that I got on the wrong flight *sigh*. Of course, as things would turn out, upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, they lost our luggage. About 10 of us had to wait for it to come out... impressed I was not. Luckily, they found it and it was time to go find the BF who has unfortunately been waiting for over two hours for me. Impressed he was not.

Well, I had a great time traveling with the BF. My diving skills have been honed somewhat... am not THAT afraid of the water anymore... we shall see the next time I go diving (next month in August... am off to Bali hehehehe). I learnt about Decompression Sickness and I learnt how NOT to exceed my no decompression limit. This unfortunately I learnt this the hard way when my dive computer (on "loan" from the BF) started acting weird underwater... showed it to the BF and he made me go up to shallower water *sigh*. Had to spend the rest of the dive up in 5 meters of water. I was NOT impressed as there were some exciting things down below. Got a lecture as soon as he took his regulator out of his mouth too . Apparently, there is a limit on the time one can spend at a certain depth and if that time is exceeded, you are past your no decompression limit. I neglected to pay attention to the limits my dive computer was spitting out... but I avoided Decompression Sickness so that is good. I learnt new things about the BF and about MAS (ALWAYS ask them if the flight you are on is going to transit anywhere as it isn't clearly spelt out for you), I've seen the effects of fish bombing, met some truly wonderful people, ate THE best creme caramel in the universe, I planted my coral, helped clean up some coral reefs, actually managed to log some 20 dives on this trip (bringing my grand total to 55 dives) and the best part of it all, I saw a HAMMERHEAD shark!! I've got to be the luckiest gal in the world.

PufferGal, Diver Extraordinaire

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