Christmas Gifts

I.
Well not really Christmas gifts since i started buying them in early November. I have the habit of giving myself gifts whenever i can. hehehe

II.
Wrath of the Lich King: I actually borrowed money from Che to get this but since i have no plans of paying her back (ahem nine west, haha) i'm considering this a gift from her. *not the actual pic*

III.
DVD Drive: I was having problems installing the above game because of my messed up DVD Drive so i got my trusted PC a new DVD Drive.
IV.
Cordless Phone: Something i've been wanting to get for years now. Quite pointless since i rarely use the phone but then again, i still got myself one.




















V.
Skullcandy: I've been dying to get new headphones but i still had the Pioneer headphones Che got for me. But a rat ate the cable and so, i got permission to get myself a new one.I got myself the Skullcandy Hesh and i also got Skullcandy Smokin' Buds for Che. All i can is.... Skullcandy is love.
VI.
And finally, the one i'm most excited about! Mares X-Vision Liquidskin. For better looking underwater pics! hehe and it's in hard to find Mid size.***Post processing done on adobe lightroom.

Anilao December

I.
As you may have already know, we had the BUSRROC checkout a couple of weekends ago. It wasn't what i was expecting. I didn't expect to have much fun since we'll be having training dives, but then again being with my dive group, everything will always be fun.


II.
The day formally started with a couple breakdowns. Yes breakdowns. The van we rented had a flat tire in SLEX and a broken suspension part somewhere in Bauan Batangas. We we're sort of pissed that we were behind schedule and might not be able to do the dives we have been wanting to squeeze into the training.




III.
Nevertheless we managed to get to Dive7000 about an hour late. Briefing started immediately after we arrived. Room keys we're given out. Dale discussed the itineraries which had to be altered since we were behind schedule.

A. Familiarization Dive (For the night dive)
B. Navigation Dive.
C. Night Dive.
Next Day
A. Fun Dive! Twin Rocks
B. And yet another Fun DIVE! Arthur's Rock.
C. Search Dive ( Part of the Training)

I must admit that we were more than ecstatic to know that Dale managed to squeeze in a couple of fun dives for everyone. And knowing we'll be going to twin rocks for the school of jacks known to be inhabiting the site recently.

IV. The familiarization dive was done in front of Dive 7000. It was done to familiarize us with the site we'll be diving later in the evening. Everything went well except for GJ's 400 peso flash light that got flooded (hehe). And we met our first puffer fish. hehehe








V.
For the navigation dive, the group was divided into two. 1st group has Davo, GJ and Noel while the 2nd group included Me, Gene and Che. To my understanding the 1st group's navigation went without a hitch. I screwed up my navigation and a little lack of communication with my team mates led to overshooting the objective. Fortunately we had a lot of air left and Dale was willing to give us another try which we finally passed.

VI.
The night dive was the highlight of the day. We had terrible visibility at 10-20 ft. Noel and GJ got separated and Gene and Davo was stuck in the middle of planktons praying the rumored Anilao Whaleshark wouldn't appear and scare the living daylights out of them. Words can't describe being underwater at night so here's a link to the pics.







VII.
It was a great weekend so far but nothing could have prepared us for what was to come next. Diving in Twin Rocks to see the school of jacks. Fish feeding was fun although i prefer hovering behind the group and just watch the fish. Gene had a scare when a huge batfish attacked the bread in his hand. But still, nothing compares to seeing the school of jacks. It was like staring at a shiny satin curtain made of... well... fish. haha. More pics here.

During the surface interval, Dale wanted to talk to us about some plan changes. I don't like plan changes. But then again after hearing Dale's new plan, we were more than excited to cooperate. Dale decided to have the search and recovery dive at Arthur's Rock. So it wouldn't be just a fun dive. This is to give way to a trip to the cathedral. We'll be swimming from Dive7000 to the Cathedral!

VII.
Search and recovery went well. Other than the fact fact that we didn't follow our own search plan. We managed to recover 4 of the items but i lost one of them (LOL again sorry noel) and me, che and davo getting lost and ended up surfacing quite a distance from our boat. Good thing Dad (Our favorite divemaster) was there to watch over us. It was an epic failure but like i always say, not all search and recovery operations are successful. haha!






VIII.
And so it was time to navigate to The Cathedral. We were told that davo would be given the compass and would be tasked to navigate for the group. It was also our first dive without the training shirts (the white tshirts we always wear) as we were no longer in training. It was an optional dive and no one was required to come. But knowing our group, regardless of how tired we were, everyone went. Compressed air addicts. Che and i also had our first underwater kiss (cheesy but it was my idea haha).

IX.
Overall the weekend was great fun. Dale even promised to take us on a night dive to the Cathedral next time we dive. The weekend answered some of the questions that's been bothering me. Why do i dive? Why risk everything for a mere hobby? And the answer is... because i can. Diving isn't for everyone. You need to really love it to be able to really do and enjoy it. I love the water. I love the ocean. I love the creatures i see when i dive. I love the people i dive with, my group, our instructors, the diveshop the people. I love the idea that no matter how stressed and tired i am, i can always go below the surface and escape from it all even for just a few minutes or an entire weekend, because i am afterall... a diver.

Much thanks to my dive buddies Che, Gene, Davo, GJ and Noel. Our instructors and friends the Garcias. Thank you giving us more than the required training and encouraging us to be better divers. I just love these guys because you don't just dive with instructors, DMs and Rescue Divers when you dive with them, You dive with friends... family even. So again thank you Brett and Dale (instructors), Dad (Brett, Dale and Tweety's Dad who became our Dad as well and is also an accomplished Divemaster) and Tweety (The Garcia's bunso and our beloved Rescue Diver).