I Found Nemo!

Would you believe I found Nemo?!?!!! And I haven't even seen the film yet! HAHAHA!Ü Seriously!

My friend Assunta has been prodding me for the longest time to try scuba diving, and finally, one Sunday last April, her prodding emerged victorious! Armed with nothing but a brave heart and a clear mindset, my friends and I hied to Anilao, Batangas hoping to Find Nemo...meet the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...and see Sebastian and Flounder dance to the tune of Under The Sea.Ü

Rex, Eunice, and I were to have our intro dive at Pier Uno Resort in Anilao, Batangas, while the rest (those who already had their certification) took a boat and went scuba diving at a different location than us. Since we were just going for an intro dive, the three of us had to wait for our turn to dive with the dive master. But before heading out to the beach, we had to have a some sort of lecture with Albert, a Malaysian national, who was to be our dive master for the day.

He first taught us the basics, such as:

• He'll be staying at our left side the whole time and that he'll be doing all the work which basically boils down to one thing: pulling us around so we don't even have to swim. All we really had to do was to remember to breath through the regulator and enjoy the sights under the sea.


• The hand gestures to remember when under water because obviously, we can't speak underwater, and all conversations should be done via hand gestures. The most important ones are:
  (1) OK - touch the tip of the thumb to that of the forefinger, with the rest of the fingers spread wide
  (2) STOP - do the thing that Diana Ross does when she sings "Stop In The Name of Love" Ü
  (3) GOING UP - like the thumbs up sign with the knuckles of your hand facing outward
  (4) GOING DOWN - opposite of 'going up,' with your knuckles facing you
  (5) GOING LEFT - similar to (3), only point to the left
  (6) GOING RIGHT - similar to (3), only point to the right
  (7) SLOW DOWN - similar to the FIRST hand movement one does when dancing "Pearly Shells"...but with only one hand (the one with palms facing down)
  (8) NOT OK - like a 'so-so' sign; palm open, facing down with fingers spread wide, then rotate your wrist a little less than halfway to the left then to the right repeatedly


• What SCUBA actually means (it's Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus)


• A lecture on the compressed air inside the tank (and how it got in there)


• And a lot more that I can no longer remember.Ü

We were given a choice to go one-by-one or a maximum of two in one dive (which means the other will go solo). The pros of the former is that he can take our pictures and videos underwater, while with the latter, he won't be able to do as such. Guess what we chose? Of course we opted to go solo and have pictures and videos to remember this experience by!Ü

The intro dive is supposed to last for only half an hour. But my-oh-my, mine lasted for almost an hour! Why, you may ask? Because I had a hard time relaxing and breathing underwater. I actually find it weird seeing as I've snorkled a lot of times before so you'd think I've mastered breathing in and out of an apparatus. But golly wow, NO! The dive master had to take me back to the shore 3 TIMES just so I can regroup and try to relax a little! Alas, when I suggested that the mask I was wearing be tightened, only then was I able to relax a bit and complete my intro dive (finally!). I guess the reason why I wasn't able to relax the first few times was because of the feeling that water might enter my nose because (I felt like) the mask wasn't tight enough (FYI: the mask protects & covers not just the eyes but the nose as well). After adjusting the mask, I was finally able to start and finish my intro dive (Thank you, my lucky stars!Ü).

One thing I'll remember about this experience though is this: SUPER BIGAT NG TANK! Such that I had a hard time walking the distance from where I was seated (at the resort) to the beach. I was afraid I'd fall backwards and bump my head into something hard...then blood will start squirting out of my head...then in no time, a pool of blood would've poured out on the floor...teka, mejo morbid na 'to. Basta, I was just scared that I might fall and bump my head, then I won't be the same Candy you once knew who sings and dances even when there's no music in the background. HAHA!Ü

Kidding aside, I'm not sure if I will be scuba diving anytime soon. I enjoyed the experience but I've seen more and nicer fishes when I snorkled at a different place in Anilao before. And I didn't have to pay P3,300 for that! I just had to pay for the boat ride back and forth to where we were staying, and I assure you, the fee won't reach P3,300 per person. However, I am not at all considering the experience not worthit. At least now I can say that I've tried scuba diving and it was a fun experience. I'll think twice though if I would go ahead with the certification like my friends did. But with the video that our dive master showed us when he went diving at Palau, you'll definitely be awed and would want to get a certification...just so you'll experience diving with the reef sharks, the manta rays, giant turtles (or are those tortoises?), and different schools of fishes. And THAT, you won't see by just snorkeling...although in the video, one girl there was skin diving (she was just wearing her swimsuit and a mask-snorkel set), which sounds fun just as long as there are no jellyfishes around. WINK!Ü

Bye for now! 'Til next month's blog!

For pictures and videos, check these links:
Pictures
Videos

Thanks to the following sites for helping me out in this month's blog:
http://scuba.about.com/od/divemedicine/a/handsignals.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_7452_communicate-underwater-scuba.html