Swimming with the Fishes

Hey ya'll

A couple of things I realised with Ray's absence these past few days... the first is how I've reverted back to my lifestyle from before I knew him - that is to say clock in the office in the morning, clock out in the evening, straight back home to a life of downloaded Futurama and facebooking to the wee hours of the morning - and how much that lifestyle sucks... and the second thing is how although I may be able to live without him, I'm no longer sure how to function anymore. I guess there IS a part of me that really needs to be told to do things... like to pick up after myself, wash my hands right after I've eaten... to take my medicine (which I keep forgetting to do!)... just routine things like that which make so much difference in one's life and if Ray is reading this right now I want you to know that I NEED YOU HOME NOW!!! Anyway... what better way to cope with things than to reminisce about our first vacation together!!! All in all pretty amazing, especially since we both invested in an underwater lomography camera to take photos under the waves...but unfortunately one of the film rolls turned out blank (possibly due to a faulty camera) so I've only got the pictures from the first roll... which you will soon see here.

That's us on the beach. We rented only one snorkeling gear the first day so Ray and I had to take it in turns to go.

And this is me... helping him put it on...

..and him, taking it off!!!

and attempting to swim without them... he got a lot of saltwater in his nose, I'm afraid... but enough with the people shots already I suppose. I mean we did get an UNDERWATER camera after all... so here are some classic "underwater poses"

That's me... looking like a total cross-eyed retard under the surf

And Ray...who manages to look more cool somehow ... boo him :P

I don't know if he's photogenic or if I'm the good photographer... but in any case, photographs always seem to come out nicer when he's in them....

Compare, for example... with my ungainly attempts at mimicking a mermaid... rather, a merman ~ Speaking of mermen... now check out some of the photographed denizens of the deep...

Schools of what looks like "Ikan bilis"

Really aggressive black and white fish that will come bite you when you least expect it...

Giant clams!!!!

Coral bed...

...and MORE coral bed, some of which are poisonous and extremely painful when accidentally stepped on... I think the trick is to lay flat on your belly and let the ocean keep you afloat... the reef stays undamaged and one's feet stay unpunctured!!!

Unfortunately the pictures from the second day (overall more sunny so the pics would've turned out beautifully) featuring parrotfish, swordfish, clownfish and more of Ray and I didn't turn out... possibly because of a fault in the camera... but oh well... this already IS the longest picture post I've done... EVER!!! Anyway these pictures are as much for your viewing pleasure as they are for the rest of the group who've yet to see them... and before I start to sound like an old lady regaling her vacation, showing slides of them to people she hardly knows, I shall finish by stating that it was on the second day that I began to fall deathly ill. What started out as nausea and vomiting soon escalated to a fever beyond epic proportions, muscle spasms, convulsions, and limb paralysis. Whether a spider bite or something poisonous I contracted from the ocean, we will never know. The lesson though is to be careful I suppose when doing these things. People still joke that I nearly pulled a Steve Irwin on them... but in all humor I will like to thank the people we went with, specifically Caryn, Alhamdu, and of course my darling Ray for nursing me back to health. Only God knows where I'd be if it weren't for you guys carrying me (literally!) off to the 24 hour clinic at 3am in the morning!

DOMO ARIGATO!!!!

And finally (I promise, this is the last!!!) before I go... because I failed so much as a merman underwater...

I think I perform so much better on land :P