The next morning we got brekkie and went to the market before a short lesson on symbiotic relationships in a marine environment, including a great impression of a sea cucumber and a silverfish by Selwyn & Khet Kat. We got lunch in KK in a bun place which was divine then packed up for our next flight to Tawau. Air Asia was reliably turbulence-y which is always fun. We got further minibuses to Semporna through plantation land then we all checked in, had a briefing with th'instructors and got our t-shirts, then got poor enough food and a litre or so of mango juice each.
Monday morning we were up at 6.50 to pack our dive bags, grab brekkie and head out to the harbour (which smelled like ____ ). Monday was so unreal rainy that errything got absolutely soaked. The diving was increds though, saw my first turtle which was like PHWOAR and did some buoyancy drills and the likes. When we got back there was a rush to the shower and then we had another marine ID lesson before DINNER which was about a trillion roti in an Indian place. We then crashed in our room but not after I'd read a little of me book, The French Lieutenant's Woman.
Imma cheat a bit now and say that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all followed in the pattern of Monday, although they got progressively sunnier and the diving got progressively better. On Tuesday we went snorkeling on our lunchbreak and saw a barracuda (the one that kills nemo's mam)a bout a metre and a half long, just chilling round the pier. On Wednesday's island we played 1 ringgit (~25c) for a whole hape of coconuts from the locals who shimmied up a tree about 10m tall and threw them down. We drank the coconut water in the toasty sea. It was legit like an advert. Nearly every night we'd get dinner in the roti place, the poor people were run off their feet but it was worth it for the beef fried noodles. Started teaching Nina Gaeilge too. Useful phrases such as "Chuaigh mé go dtí do bhríste aréir agus chuir mé mo lámh ar do phrátaí".
On Thursday my group (Oda, Laura, Nick & Arthur) went to Sipadan (one of the top 10 dive sites in the world REPRESENT). Sun were splitting the stones innit. On our first dive we saw a gazbillion turtles, a shoal of barracuda AND a shoal of jack fish. It was unrale. Sipadan was absolutely gorgeous. Twas a privelege so twas. We went to the market when we got back and got a kilo of lychees for a euro. On Thursday night we went out for dinner courtesy of Linda & Selwyn, although there was a powercut so it ended up a candlelit affair. Some of the nicest seafood I've ever eaten (apart from this one tiiiimmeee....in 'Nam...). After that we all went out for more mango juice then Halfdan and I headed back and played a kind of contrived game of pool with Kishi. We all stayed in the guys' room until the early hours when we were so high on nitrogen that we all crashed once more.
We left at lunchtime the following day, after more market crawling and continued exploitation of the roti place. We got a flight back to Kota Kinabalu, then went back to the same hostel. There was a debate on where to head for dinner and after the majority decided on Burger King and I a decided no, I j-walked Dilene around Kota Kinabalu in search of perfect cheap food. Which we found, much to our delight, in a cheap corner chinese. I got ginger and spring onion fish, never have I been so satisfied. We then disobeyed the no less than three in a group rule further and walked down to the seafront, where we spotted a market in the distance. We wandered around it for longer, buying sugary dough lumps and satay, to the heckling cries of men seemingly madly in love with us. It's a hard life. When we got back to the hostel just in time we watched Finding Nemo (as is the tradition) and went to bed, in anticipation of a 3.50am start the following morning.
I woke up to Nina saying oh...guys...it's 4...so like a shot, I packed, and teeth brushed, and dressed, then waited on the pavement outside. 4.15 came and went, and we then realised that the minibus people had misinterpreted, and were coming at 4.50. I read my book with cockroaches all around - I honestly don't think one can get used to those things. At the airport, Kishi challenged me to finish my book on the aeroplane. I fell asleep instead, and had a super weird dream. We got back to a cold and drizzly HK where we got the hour long bus back to school. Before napping or anything so civilised as that, we had to wash and clean all of our dive gear. Not, however, until Dilene and Halfdan had chucked me, fully clothed, in the freezing pool. Why do I always seem to invite this? One of the great mysteries of life. I was then locked out for the rest of the day (I should really get myself a key) so I hung out with various people and in the block 1 pc room, doing very little but playing bubble shooter. I went out with Mia to get some food in Wellcome but c'est tout. I went to Maddie's room where I found Livvie & Tiff Tiff...and played more bubble shooter.
Woke up this morning at about 9 ish, got out of bed about 10.30 ish, had a shower and went to brunch then vaguely tidied up, went to Apoopoo's room to write me some letters, watched The Boat that Rocked, got the feeling that our lives are inferior to those of the 60's, went to dindins, caught up with Awnee (waaaaaay Paddy's day next weekend) then went back to Apoorva's where I skyped SOPHIE BBZ, before chillaxing with Blendermie, James, Blendermie's couch and Blendermie's PIMPIN' speakers. They flash. Directly imported from the Thai/Burmese border. Went to check in, back to Bell's and now dans ma chambre after skyping mo mham.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH SCHOOL TOMORROW
(Photo creds to Oda & Nick as I lost my camera halfway through the week and got it back with drunken photos of the instructors on it)
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