Travel Tips

Finally, the first Intro-Dive Meet pushed through.

This was arranged through the goodness of Aimees' (moonlighting) heart and pushed through via sheer persistence.

Meeting time was 8pm, I arranged to meet up with Monina (monina_c) at Robinson's Galleria then we'd stop by Greenhills mall to meet Aida (asianbelle) before going to Scubaworld. Fate had other plans.

I was at a meeting near the airport, fully intending to rush to the venue in Greenhills with time to spare.
Lo and behold, what should i hear? Thunder and pounding rain, thats what! Yikes! The timing! The timing! I was getting scared i may have to swim to the meet, not swim during the meet, hehe.

Luckily the rain stopped before my meeting ended.
Unluckily, my meeting went on and on way past my personal deadline. Uggh!

I had to tell monina, aimees and aida I was going to be late.
EDSA was at a gridlock, thankfully my service offered to take me straight to Greenhills AND he was wise enough to take a shortcut through Mandaluyong straight to Wilson St. and before i knew it... I am in Scubaworld! Yey!!!

Who should i see in full diving splendor? Monina and Aida, that's who. Penn (Boljakool) was their diligent instructor. The other diving duo, Aileen (absolut_7) and cheng were instructed by Jojo, our divemaster. As punishment for being late, I would be on the second batch. (*sniff*)

And who should come knocking on the gate? Aleli with her baked choco goody!!!! It was pure chocolate yumminess!!! Thanks Aleli :) She lives a stones-throw away from the venue so she was kind enough to drop by and bring supplies (am i seeing a complete VT picnic meet in the near future? hmmmmm!!!!). We were able to talk and bond with Aimees while the others went underwater and did their thing.

Before i knew it, it was MY TURN!!!! The first scuba suit i tried on was way too tight for me, i looked like "suman", i had to change into another. Soon i was in the water and learning the parts and whatnots of the gear and the tank, learning how to breathe through the thingamajig and other cool stuff. It was scary and exhilirating at the same time. Then Jojo deemed it time for me to try the deep abyss (translation: the 15 feet depth).

He would ask me to equalize by exhaling through my pinched nose. Then we would go down a little way further. I was loath to let go of the rope (sabi ni Jojo after, ayaw ko raw bumitaw, hahaha). Hey, better rope burns than death by drowning, right? ;)

Soon i was on the pool floor, almost unseen by a casual spectator from poolside. We went around for a few rounds, generally exploring the tiles of that netherworld while breathing down through the hose. I was diving!!!! Yehey! Slow claps for me! (in dry land, everyone was enjoying themselves in conversation, btw, completely oblivious to my feat, hehe).

My trip to Dyesebeland had to end sooner than expected however, as i started to feel the beginning of a cramp on my left leg. So i had to make the "not ok" sign and the "lets go up" sign. So i surfaced with Jojo, thrilled and excited at the beginning of a new skill.

Later, i felt a slight buzz on my head, yay i didn't equalize enough i think. But no matter, the experience was worth it.

Will there be a repeat? I wanna! I wanna!
But the Ninoys in my wallet will ultimately have the last say... Abangan!