Sunday, May 31, 2026

Getaway to DIVE

Alfred needed a break from work

Alvin needed a break before his reservice

my in-charge allowed me to reschedule thursday's & friday's painting lessons  

flying was out of the question given the last minute (3 days advance) booking and ridiculous fuel charges 

then Alfred asked, "Have you dived @ batu ampar before?'

NEVER!!! 

but our getaway just became a Dive trip in Batam!!!



certified more than 20 years ago and my last dive was more than 18 years ago!!! i needed a refresher course while the two chua brothers signed up for Open Water!!!!


Excited Chuas arrived in Batam @ 10.30am


and checked into our teeny tiny studio room @ Pollux Apartment

first meal @ HDL... was surprised that the bill came up to S$130... we got order so much meh??? 😅😅😅


packaging for the winter melon drink is so cute!!!


the start of buying One-Piece cards and when it was out-of-stock, they bought League of Legends cards to play ... 

dont understand their joy but still joined in their fun at opening a few packs... 

dinner @ Love Seafood Restaurant then bought J.CO donuts as tummy fillers for the next few days... 😅😅😅


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yummy brunch @ BestStockPick Cafe and before this, Alfred ate 3 doughnuts!!! 



Gerry from Max's Dive Centre came to pick us for our

< 1st day of (re) Learning to Dive >


the cleanliness and condition of the pool was above my expectation... i Like!!!  


i also like that each of us was allocated a set of clean & well-maintained gears according to our height & weight and that everything was labelled for easy identification... 😍😍😍


warm up was 4 laps + 5 minutes of floating... 

Alfred had so much food that he puked most of what he had for brunch shortly after the swim!!! 😅😅😅


SO FUN doing all the drills!!! Gerry is a very thorough and patient instructor... i like!!! 👍👍👍

and i mega like that he took so many pics & videos of us and for us... 😍😍😍


Yummy Dinner!!! 

then went to buy more cards to rip open!!! 
the card-ing continued!!! 😅😅😅

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< 1st day of sea dive in Batam >

dark clouds when we arrived at the jetty after a 75 minutes car-ride.. 



Gerry pointing to the island which we were supposed to visit... 'invisible" liao cos totally engulfed by fog & rain clouds?!?!?!? 😅😅😅



surprised to be given a dive watch to use... very useful > auto detected the 5m ascent point and would start the 3 minute safety count-down on its own !!! will show the depth attempted and the duration of the dive too!!! 


sea was rough due to the drizzles & wind... we were splashed right left up down everywhere!!! haven enter the water for our 1st sea dive already whole head and torso wet.... 😅😅😅


survived our first dive attempt!!! successful anot is another story... 😅😅😅



stopped by here for lunch and to use their toilet...




simple yummy lunch prepared by Gerry's wife... 😍😍😍

followed by our second dive attempt!!! 



thankful to be provided booties... feet stayed warm, clean and safe but got wrinkly toes... 😂😂😂


peaceful sampan ride back!!! tired but very very happy!!! 终于又有人陪我 dive 了... doesnt matter that the visibility this round is !@#$%^&*... 😅😅😅



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< 2nd & final day of dive >






sea was so much calmer and visibility in the water was a little better... but still not good enough that one of the experienced leisure divers got lost shortly after descend... 😅😅😅





yummy lunch @ the beach prepped by Gerry's wife... regretted giving my drumstick to Alfred cos i didnt wanna dirty my fingers...both of us totally forgot that one shouldnt eat too full before a dive... he puked it out shortly after... 😅😅😅




the guys were chit chatting under the hot hot sun while i was selfie-ing under the shade... 😂😂


slapped on alot of sunblock but am still one to two shades darker!!! 

luv the colours of our masks and fins!!!

The equipment are really all pretty, clean, & well-maintained!!! 

WooHoo!!! 毕业咯!!! 

1 Instructor + 1 Refresher + 3 Open Water + 4 Fun Divers




finale of this trip!!! 
dinner @ the Food Fest just 15 minutes car-ride away from our apartment... 😍😍 

Alfred had CASH!!! 



狂买狂吃... 站着吃 cos couldnt find any seats... damn shiok!!!... anyhow anyhow this one buy, that one buy also super yummy!!! 😍😍😍

then they sent me back, made sure i was safe in the room before heading out again for a drink with fellow open water diver, Sabarish... 

came back 2 hours+ later and in record time of a minute +/-, both boys striped and change into PJ, switched off the light and jumped into bed... i was stunned speechless.... 我的灯就这样被关掉了?!?!?!? 

😂😂😂


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hearty breakfast at Anchor Cafe & Roastery, relaxing massage @ GO! Massage, final shopping of crackers & kueh lapis then took at 5.20pm ferry home after TWO amendments!!! 

we survived the trip & survived each other once more!!! 

to more diving & snorkeling trips together!!!  😍😍😍

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