Scuba diving in Raja Ampat, Irian Jaya, Indonesia

A report email to some friends of my trip to Raja Ampat in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. The trip was from 15th December 2007 to 24th December 2007. Enjoy.

“Our journey getting to Raja Ampat was quite long. A SilkAir flight to Manado, an overnight stay, and a drive to the airport at some ungodly hour to catch a Merpati flight to Sorong. It was great to get onto the beautiful, new and spacious boat, and finally in the water.

The first two days of diving was in beautiful reefs with plenty of fish and marine life. The first time I’ve seen a juvenile Midnight Snapper, and the Wobbegong Shark which were nice treat.

But we did not get out of the water satisfied. I think, as a group, we are getting quite blase about what we see underwater, and is starting to take beautiful perfect reefs for granted. Sipadan, Manado and Komodo have all spoiled us. We can only get our fix in non-stop tank banging action and endless new species. More than a few of us were starting to wonder whether we’re getting our money’s worth coming all this way just to see picture perfect reefs and marine life.

In reflection, I realised that we needed to have a mindset change. All those people who go on to enjoy diving throughout their lives must have had this change. From being satisifed only with new experiences and seeing new species, to one that appreciates each living coral and fish as a gift. If we do not make this change, we will come to a point where we are not satisfied by any dive. Not for their lack of life and interesting critters, but for the fact that we have seen them before.

The mood improved at Manta Point, where we had the most relaxing dive to watch huge Manta Ray at a cleaning station. An easy 15m dive with no currents and decent visibility. What made the dive memorable were the huge sizes of the Manta, some clearly 4m wide, easily dwarving the divers around them.

Then the boat turned back to Mansuar island, and we started diving at The Passage. A wealth of nudibranch, and a great variety of shrimp goby kept the photographers busy. A picturesque little cavern we surfaced into with a wonder skylight brought smiles and laughter.

And then it happened, Papuan divemaster Noak darted forward and banged his tank urgently. You learn to tell the urgency of tank banging of your dive guide after a while. Noak gives a curt single bang and a brief point of his finger to show us nudibranch. This bang was incessant and his finger was locked to the water surface. I did not need much more urging to give chase, and what a reward.

A school of small eagle rays, at least thirty of them, was flying through the water at great speed. Their diamond shaped bodies formed a diamond shaped formation as they cruised at my maximum finning speed. They decided to turn around and so the rest of my dive group got a glimpse of them too.

It was a rollercoaster ride of a dive trip from then on. The next dive, we rode the drift at The Passage, an adrenalin pumping drift in the shallow channel between Mansuar and Waigeo, over an alien terrain of short sea grass. I got lost from the group, surfaced and climbed onto the dinghy, and was lucky to find their bubbles and rejoin them again. A great unique dive indeed.

This was followed by a night dive full of critters large and small, and the following day we discovered Cape Kri. Marine biologist Dr. Gerald R. Allen described the dive site as having more fish than any other site he has seen in his thirty years of diving. While I am a mere pup compared to his experience, I wholeheartedly agree.

There was no fish at the site I have not seen before, but I have never seen them in such incredible numbers. I bet you did not know that the common Sweetlips and Longtail Bannerfish school in their hundreds upon hundreds, forming a curtain of yellow and black that surrounded the reef. No photograph, or even video, could do the sight justice. Add to that fusiliers and trevally that totally blocked out the sun, and you begin to understand what Dr. Gerald R. Allen was on about. Sipadan and Manado, eat your heart out.

Top that off with a sighting of seven Devil Rays in a school up near the surface. Again Noak banged his tank, and again I gave chase. This time, only Fabian and myself managed to catch a glimpse of that rare sight.

The trip was capped by a wreck dive of an intact and well preserved P-47D Thunderbolt aircraft from World War II. A stark reminder that we were heading back to reality and the world of humans. The crew at MV Raja Ampat Explorer have kept the best for last. Giving us a mere glimpse of the wonder of Raja Ampat in the first few days, and topping it off with a grand finale that is Cape Kri.

A great and comfortable boat, a great crew of 13 serving the 14 of us, and great easy diving that nevertheless made our hearts skip several beats. So much for changing mindset, we will worry about that some other time perhaps.”

Goh Siang’s Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/GS9826

Phua’s Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phuaboonwah

Phil’s Photos:
http://cluelesswfi.multiply.com/photos/album/1/Raja_Ampat_15-24_Dec_2007

Jovin’s Photos:
http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Beneath-MV-Raja-Ampat?page=1

Yan’s Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12665939@N07/sets/72157603664710880

Eve’s Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65692100@N00/sets/72157603559142831 

Story of the ditching of the P-47D
http://www.pbyrescue.com/Stories/p47_story.htm

Scuba diving in Komodo, Indonesia

Another post-dive email that I sent my fellow diver friends, dated 8 January 2007. None of them have dived in Komodo before, so I had to tell them what a great time I had. It has been edited for the blog.

You can see photos that my dive buddy took from Komodo here.

“What a way to start the trip. Fighting 2 knots+ currents right next to Giant Trevally, Spanish Mackerel, and Blue Fin Tuna. When fishes get tossed around like they were in a tornado, you know why it is called a “Washing Machine”.

Not the harshest currents I’ve encountered (had worse in Sangihe), but it was great to be in the middle of all that fish.

Photographers might want to leave their cameras on the boat for some of the dives, Komodo’s dives are better experienced but hard to photograph. The currents and the visibility makes it hard to take good pictures.

Having said that, the night dives yield many great creatures. Never miss a night dive at “Torpedo”. With electric rays, and octopuses, various squids and gigantic pufferfish on offer. Definitely among my favourite night dives.

“Current City” is also a must-dive site. We did two there. Its a pinnacle wall with both extreme ends inaccessible because of crazy currents. Currents that can you down to 40m, and spitting you back out at 5m just as suddenly. You can already feel the fierce tug of the currents when you approach it. It well deserves its name bacause it has taken casualties before. The latest being in 2004.

But between those fierce currents, is an oasis of amazing diving. The sort of site that you wish all dive sites were like. Luscious corals, schools of fish in diversity and size you’ll seldom see elsewhere, and add in a dash of white-tipped reef sharks, hawksbill turtles and manta rays.

Oh yes. Manta rays. We saw them on 5 dives out of a total 22 dives. Perhaps Komodo is not trumpetted as a destination where you will definitely see manta rays, only because of all the other sights it offers.

Two of our dives were totally dedicated to manta ray sighting. To a point, where I decide enough is enough, its time to go up, even though there’s still air in my tank. How often can you say that you are sick of seeing Manta!

On one dive, myself and another diver spent a whole 40 minutes playing with them at 2m. Four of them played with us, with two particularly friendly. Passing us really closely, and letting us touch them. I nicknamed them “2 dot”, and “W” for the markings on their bellies between their gills. We surfaced occasionally to talk about this unbelievable experience, but our smiles are always visible even behind our regulators.

I think seeing at least 12 seperate manta ray individuals counts as a pretty damn good trip.

The food sucked, and the bunks were not great, but it was made up for by the great company and the awesome diving. All in all, I think it’s a step above Sipadan and Manado, because of the fishlife and corals. Heart pumping diving all the way.”

El Cheapo’s Guide to Guild Wars

No one can dispute that the best ways to make gold in Guild Wars is to solo farm Hard Mode or Elite dungeons, sell runs, and be a merchant. But if you have not got the skills or inclination to do those things, you can still save and earn quite a bit of gold.

Here’s a list that I posted in a forum some time ago.

1. Never buy keys or lockpicks.
   
2. Do not use your free lockpicks in Eye of the North. Use them in Factions and Nightfall Hard mode instead.
3. Do not get a taste for Sweets or Alcohol.
4. Equip your heroes with collector, imperfect, or common skinned weapons.
   
5. Use Factions and Nightfall tokens to exchange for Identify and Salvage kits.
   
6. Identify all coloured armour. Useful runes will stack up.
7. Identify max damage White weapons to increase their sale price.
8. Use the cheapest runes for your Heroes, even if it is a Major rune.
   
9. Manage your storage space so you can pick up everything, including Whites. Sell everything.
10. Have one set of Superior Salvage, Normal Salvage and Superior Identify in your Xunlai Chest to share between all your characters. This saves you 3 slots per character.
    
11. Make full use of Heroes as storage. Every hero wielding two-handed weapons can carry an off-hand item. Use Heroes to store runes.
    
12. Do Factions, Nightfall and Eye of the North quests. Prophesies quests do not give much gold.
    
13. Do every single Prophesies skill quest for all six core professions, do not spend unnecessary gold on hero skills.
    
14. Use Balthazar Factions from doing PvP to unlock more skills for heroes, instead of buying skills.
15. Use Hero Skill Points to get skills for yourself and your heroes.
    
16. Buy and use cheap normal Tomes where possible.
    
17. Capture Elites instead of using Elite Tomes where possible.
    
18. Play through the game instead of being run.
    
19. Hitch a ride on free trial runs when possible. I have gotten free trial runs to LA from Beacon, Sanctum Cay from ToA, full S. Shiverspeak tour (Marhan Grotto too), half Desert tour.
    
20. Use collector armour until you get to the max armour town.
    
21. Dislike the look of 15k armour so you never need to get them.
    
22. Dislike the look of rare skin weapons so you never need to get them.
    
23. Never say no to free sub-optimal Greens and imperfect Golds. Heroes cannot complain.
    
24. Play random quiz games in the major cities for prize gold. I won 2k once.
25. Exchange 10 Kournan Pendants for 400gold Exp. scrolls and sell them.
26. Keep all useful collector drops, even if you don’t have the number you need now.
27. Do not salvage unless you need the materials.

$20 per page to reprint bank statements.

I recently decided to monitor my deposit patterns over the last few years, I decided to ask my bank, United Overseas Bank in Singapore, for print-outs of my previous statements. The bank sends me statements every month, but like everyone else, I shred them after a few months.

I was quite surprised to learn that the bank would charge me $20 a page for the statement reprints. I cannot believe they had the audacity to charge me so much for simply clicking Print on a computer. If I am to pay $20 per page, I expect it handwritten by Mr. Wee Cho Yaw (UOB Chairman) himself.

I did not argue with the branch staff, and sent an email to their customer service.

“Hi, I have an I-account with UOB, and I asked a bank teller at the Parkway Parade branch whether I can requests a copy for my statements from 2006 and 2007. The bank staff informed me that each page would be chargeable at $20.

I would like to know whether this $20 per page is administrative costs, punitive charges or deterrence from making such requests.

I cannot believe that printing out a piece of paper would cost your organisation $20 per page, and hence it cannot just be administrative costs. If deterrence is the reason, is $20 per request more targeted?

I only require a summary of my deposits for the years 2006 and 2007. I do not actually require statements of all of my transactions, and am not willing to pay over $1000 for them.

Is it possible for me to request for a summary statement only for deposits for the years 2006 and 2007? I can understand that administrative costs would be incurred, but not $20 per page. That is just unreasonable.

Thank you.”

This is the email I received a few days after, basically not telling me anything new at all.

“Dear Mr, Thank you for your email.

We wish to explain that the bank does send monthly statement to customers for their I-accounts.

In the event that you require a duplicate copy to be sent to you, the following statement retrieval charges would apply:

Current and previous month: Free
For statements which are between 2 – 6 months ago: S$10 per page
For statements which are more than 6 months ago: S$20 per page (includes service charge of S$10 per page + retrieval cost of S$10 per page)

We have checked with the branch concerned that we are unable to provide summary of your deposits in year 2006 and year 2007 and statement retrieval would be required.

Hence, we seek your kind understanding that a letter of request (duly signed as per bank’s records) from you has to be furnished to your account holding branch for the requested statements at:

UOB Parkway Parade Branch
80 Marine Parade Road
#01-13 Parkway Parade
Singapore 449269

Thank you for banking with UOB.

Should you have any questions, please contact our 24-hour Call Centre on 1800 22 22 121 or +65 622 22 121 (if you are calling from overseas). We will be happy to assist you.

Yours sincerely

Assistant Manager
Call Centre

United Overseas Bank Limited

Singapore Company Reg No. 193500026Z

Note: As your account information, username/password, access code/PIN are confidential, please do not disclose them in your email.”

This was followed a day later with a phone call. They bank has agreed to compile a summary of my deposits, but would still charge me $20 a page for that.

This situation troubles me at several levels.

Firstly, can we as a society, accept the bank charging us $20/page to reprint our statements? I can hardly accept that lawyers would charge such princely sums for photocopies, and certainly not the bank. The amount charged does not relate to the work that needs to be done. When did bank back room staff become Prima Donnas?

Next, is the fact that the bank is now fronted with sales staff that cannot make decisions for the sake of the company’s customer relations. If the teller had decided to take this into her own hands and explore whether it was possible for my request to be granted in a reasonable manner, that would have been good service.

I do not know if I had good service from the branch staff. Sure, she knew exactly how much to charge me for reprinting statements at her fingertips, but she offered no solutions for my problem.

Another thing is the inflexibility of their system. Is it too much to ask that a software be able to seperate statements into deposits and withdrawals? To be able to automatically compile the monthly totals into a summary? Who knows?

Road hazards for cyclists

I have mentioned plenty of potential hazards for cyclists at junctions, but the majority of a cyclists travel time is spent on the normal stretches of road. While the list of things to look out for is endless, I have found certain situations where I need to be extra alert.

Roadside shops When cycling pass roads with shops lining the sides, always be alert for vehicles suddenly stopping to drop off or pick up passenges or goods. These areas also tend to have more pedestrian jaywalking. Another danger is that a bicycle can become less visible with all the distractions on the roadside.

Roadside parking There are several hazards when cycling past roadside parking. The most obvious are opening doors, and car passengers stepping out. Pedestrians may also cross the road between cars and remain blocked from view until too late.

Always watch out for cars that may exit the parking lot without due care. Keep an eye on the driver, their signal lights, as well as the angle of the front wheel. They should give you clues to whether the driver intends to drive out.

Another dangerous situation is when a car intends to park in one of the lots. Cyclists should avoid trying to squeeze through in the blindspot of the parking car. Be sure about the driver’s intention before passing.

Merging lanes A similar hazard to lane width changing, as I had mentioned before. Always look to ensure that cars behind are aware of you when approaching a merging lane.

Huge junctions Occasionally, you will encounter huge junctions, especially when they lead to the expressway. Be extra careful at these junctions for errant drivers. These junctions are more prone to accidents.

Traffic turning right Smaller roads might have right turns without junctions. In this case, cars will slow down and stop in order to turn right. They pose no hazard to the cyclist, but drivers coming in behind those right turning cars might be impatient and careless when trying to overtake the turning car on the left.

Taxis and Buses These vehicles, as well as slower goods vehicles tend to always use the left lane. The hazards of taxis is that they may suddenly stop in order to pick up or drop off a passenger. Taxi drivers spend their whole day on the road, so fatigue and carelessness makes them a danger to cyclists. Always cycle and drive carefully behind a taxi.

Buses pose a different hazard. They stop at predictable parts of the road, but their danger comes from their width and length. When buses are forced to overtake your bicycle, they may cut back into the left lane too quickly, with their rear end giving your bicycle too little space.

I am convinced that some bus drivers do this on purpose. Especially if they have been forced to drive slowly behind your bicycle for an extended stretch because of the traffic condition. I have had to apply hard braking in this situation several times.

The difference in speed between bicycles and cars usually mean that we encounter the same car just once during a trip, except if there is slow traffic. As buses make frequent stops, cyclists might find themselves playing leapfrog with the same bus. If a bus driver is impatient with a cyclist, they may make their presence felt repeatedly.

Another hazard that I have encountered with buses is that they may have unsecured panels on the side. These panels are covers for accessing parts of the bus engine, but due to poor maintenance, the panels may not be secured, and pose the same risk as an opening door to a cyclist, except that it happens on the move.

Goods vehicles Goods vehicles pose multiple hazards. They tend to have a wider blindspot than most other vehicles, so try not to stay within that zone. Their width and length pose similar hazards as buses, and they have an added danger of falling cargo. They may be poorly maintained and have dangling bits like harnesses and hooks.

Once, when I was driving, a drawer from a cupboard on the lorry directly in front of me fell out. I could not take evasive action and had to drive right over the drawer. If I was a motorcyclists, that would have been very dangerous.

Fast cars If you hear loud revving, be extra alert. Often, impatient drivers are careless. Arrogant drivers of fancy sports cars may also be reckless. Cyclists cannot beat them at their game. Do not try

Motorcycles The most similar road user to the cyclists is the motorcyclists. We use the same space on the road, but the motorcycle is faster and usually wider. There may be times that you are trying to squeeze into the same space as a motorcycle. Another danger is that while you might be sure a road situation is safe from cars, it might not be safe from another bicycle or motorcycle.