Moving forward....

After 9 months in Singapore, we made the decision to move to Stockholm. Olof has tried to find suitable employment here since we came here but to no avail. With my income alone, I will not be able to provide for him and Kaige adequately. As if to make matters worse, he has missed a good career opportunity in Stockholm that his former manager has created for him before he left for the US to further his own career. So the decision we made now is really not based on a better job for Olof or myself, but rather we have come to a tipping point where we feel it's time for us to end our nomad adventure in Singapore and establish a base for the whole family to settle down.

Life is full of ups and downs, and I have learnt one thing from our saga in Singapore: You can only plan this much. Go with the flow or what you find comfortable with, and you'll find peace within you.

kaige's first post... enjoy

Lil' Kaige writes: nnnnnnnnnnnn,7kj j sn=./"> nbhnh nh6iujhb v hnj hm9 0opokj jmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm6nju mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yimm7j x mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmd vfgn wez

My trip to Sweden

Can you imagine, it was more than a year since I was in Sweden last time?


We have lived abroad during the past 2.5 years, but I have never before (in my life) been out of the country for such a long time period. After Sam's and my visit to Sweden during Christmas and New Year 2009, we have been fully occupied with supporting Sam during pregnancy, the birth of Kaige and our re-location to Singapore.


Luckily mamma, pappa and brother Staffan, and at least one of my friends (Magnus), have been able to visit us instead. This doesn't mean that I have not missed out anything in Sweden. Sadly enough, I was not present when my farfar Olle past away on Dec 19 at the age of 88.


His funeral is in fact the reason why I travel to Sweden this time. I wish I had met him more frequently the past few years. Farfar brought so much happiness to this world and he had a heart bigger than most others. I do remember a lot of happy memories from when I was younger, not the least our camping vacation in 1989. Farfar also used to read my school work writings so carefully and praise me afterwards. That made me very happy.


It's time to finish this blog posting. I have to go to the airport. This trip to Sweden will be the longest stay away from my lovely wife and son (since Kaige was born). To be such a long trip in distance, it is still a very short trip in terms of duration (less than a week. I will make sure to spend plenty of time with my family and relatives in Sweden.

Laimun

I was immensely moved this morning by a gesture of my elder sister, Laimun. It was nothing spectacular nor complicated. It was as simple as picking a flower or taking a bus. But it moved me totally – the way she put Tiger to sleep. For those who know my family situation well know Laimun has a handicap, but it has not stopped her for one moment in caring for Tiger. She is like a second mother to Tiger. She rocked him to sleep and then gently put him down in his crib. She did not leave the room immediately. Instead, she felt around his crib for his “sleep buddy”, Kalle Kanin, while being careful not to wake him up. She then thoughtfully placed Kalle Kanin sitting up and facing Tiger. This meant that Tiger will wake up to seeing Kalle Kanin and grab it with ease to play with it. I would never have thought of doing that, but Laimun did.

our dearest grandfather Olof

Lots of love and hugs go out to our dearest grandfather Olof, who passed away peacefully on 19 Dec 2010. He will be missed dearly by us. It is a shame that Tiger never get to meet his great grandfather who was such a doting elder to his father.

Farfar Olle, may peace and calm be with you as you as finally take your leave from all earthily matters.

is it me or is it Tiger and me?

I am facing an identity crisis.

how should I begin this post...

ALOT has happened during this one month hiatus from blogging. We moved out from Joo Chiat serviced apartment to our one-year leased HDB flat, then literally moved out of it on the same day, then got entangled into a tenancy dispute, then incurred some losses on resolving the tenancy, then got entangled (again) into a property agent misconduct dispute, then has been camping at my parents' place for almost a month, then Olof got a 3-month contract (finally!!) from Ericsson, then lil' Tiger turned 5 months old yesterday. *Pant* Thank goodness I can say all that in one breathe.

The tenancy dispute was, doubtless, the most challenging and frustrating period for us since we moved to Singapore. Candidly, it was ignorance and ill-informed of the rental practices in Singapore that caused us to land in this thick mud. It's interesting to note that the rental practices between Singapore and Sweden are the exact opposite of each other; Singapore protects the landlord, Sweden protects the tenant. We have learnt alot in this entire saga, but we paid quite a hefty price for it too. Much as we incurred some losses, however, it could have been worse if not we were lucky to meet a responsible property agent who at least uphold certain moral values and exhibit professionalism in his job. Although we are now out of the problematic lease, the issue is not completely over. We are still fighting to get back the commission we paid to our irresponsible and dubious property agent who was supposed to protect our interests in the tenancy but never did. Let's hope that justice is on our side. It is long overdue that this industry and many of its practitioners need to be shaken up and disciplined to truly act like a professional property agent providing trustworthy and quality services to its customers.

We very much hope to put that tenancy issue behind us soon... we have more important things to do - securing our livelihood. Olof has started a 3-month contract at Ericsson while I still do not have any job offers in my basket yet. It's really challenging to look for jobs and care for Tiger at the same time. Fortunately, I have the help of my family to share the task of caring for Tiger. I feel the need quickly return to the working world in order not to be disconnected from it. It's unfortunate for women here that the working world is not very forgiving if you decide to take a few years to care for your little one. Rejoining it after a hiatus of, say, 2 years is extremely difficult.

It has been an uphill start for us in Singapore. But we still believe that we made the right decision to move out of Beijing. Simply being able to go out for walks with Tiger as and when we feel like it and breathe in fresh air sums up the saying "money is not everything." No doubt times are a little teeth-griting for us now, but the stamina that we will build up from this uphill climb is certainly going to propel us ahead when we eventually reach the plateau.

Motherhood vs Livelihood

Tiger is 4 months old today and thanks to help from Family Yip, I finally have time to sit down and contemplate about the past 4 months. Of course, it is also because Tiger is taking longer naps now.

I am still adjusting to the new role of parent and at many times doubt if I will ever be a good one. The first few months of motherhood had been a tough one for me, with all of my expectations of raising a baby shattered. I did not expect that my baby is a crybaby, with colic, and have difficulties sleeping. Again, I have watched too much TV. I was, at a point, really depressed and did not enjoy caring for Tiger or being a mother.

Fortunately, things have improved and are still getting better. A big credit goes to my loving husband who is always by my side whenever I need him. What's more, he is a hands-on father who takes his fair share of changing diapers (day and night), sleeptime rocking, and playing with Tiger. In fact, he is much better than me in stimulating Tiger through play. I am the practical mom who cares more about his milk intake, poop color, number of wet diapers, and clearing the dirt inside his nose and ears, than knowing how to play with him.

That was in Beijing where I did not have to worry about livelihood.

Now that we have moved to Singapore, although I am closer to family and friends and get alot of support from them, the subject of livelihood is constantly on my mind, and so does Olof. We have taken a big step, albeit a risky one, to move to Singapore with none of us having a job placement. This means zero income and living on our savings for an extended period of time. And with a new addition to our family, the pressure is even greater.

But with livelihood being uncertain has its advantages too - it pushes us to make it work. It demands that we mine for extra energy within us to work doubly hard to feed our mouths. Well, for one thing, it helps to take some stress away from motherhood, as I barely have time to dwell on the difficult side of it!

As Tiger grows by the day, it always cheers us up every morning by just watching him wake up with a smile and his bright eyes searching for our faces.

our little tiger

Singapore

Finally... we finished our move to Singapore.

Here we are in the sunny island Singapore, with unlimited access to blogs, facebook and sorts. No longer do we need to discretely fish around for VPNs to gain access to the cyberspace.

The first few days after arrival were very hectic, as anticipated. Numerous trips were made to government authorities, countless calls were made to friends, business associates, and many cold showers taken to get ourselves adapted to the tropical weather of Singapore. *Gosh, it's really warm!*

We are enjoying our stay at the serviced apartment located at Joo Chiat, which is an area with very rich Malay and Peranakan flavor. One part of the serviced apartment are shophouses from the 1930s, mostly leased out to western families. The part we are staying is relatively new and multi-storeyed. We are very blessed to be able to stay in this pleasant and nice residence while waiting to move into our permanently leased HDB flat in the mid of Oct.

Many uncertainties still lie ahead, but at least we have a roof over our heads. Actively looking for employment notwithstanding, we are also adjusting ourselves to the nits and bits of everyday life here - taking public transport is a worthy mention. We haven't done that in more than 2 years!

Now that we have access to blogs and facebook, there is one excuse less to not update our blog more often. Ha! We hope to find time too to share with you this new phase of our lives too. So, keep tuning in ya...

winter's last struggle

After more than one month of dry spell, Beijing got some snow over the weekend, which also marked the end of the 15-day Spring Festival. As expected, there was free flow of fireworks yesterday. It started already on Saturday, culminating to a climax on Sunday evening after the sun went down. Seeing the entire sky lit by fireworks was no longer a novelty for us. We instead were quite irritated by the constant hum of explosion.Of course, we understood that people were just having their last bit of fun before the Chinese New Year drew an end. Olof said this was probably one of the most liberating moment for the Chinese in an entire year - the time of the year to really have some real fun. Maybe that's why so many Chinese were willing to spend the money (the fireworks are not cheap by the way) for such a short span of thrill. Anyhow, no harm with having fun, but a neighbour living in our condominium obviously decided to take his fun one step further by challenging the no-fireworks-in-our-condo rule. He lighted fireworks just outside our block. What's worse was the security guard on duty did nothing to stop him! We ringed the property management and told them to set up on enforcing the rule, which the security guard eventually stopped the man from lighting another fireworks. We did not complain to spoil his fun on purpose but rather because he was setting off fireworks in a very populated area, which constituted a fire danger. We saw the fireworks exploded right outside our windows. It wasn't beautiful, it was hairy.

Anyhow, another "new year" has begun and it's time to turn on our engines and start charging forward. There will be many changes for us in 2010, expecting a new life into our family notwithstanding. All in all, I hope everything goes well.

Embarking on a long haul flight when you are pregnant 4 months is really a feat, especially for those who are prone to motion sickness like myself. It's ironic that although I had quite bad nausea during the 1st trimester, I never once puked, but I actually vomitted on the flights both to and from Copenhagen! The human anatomy is really strange and beyond even one's own comprehension. I puke only when the plane landed and not any other times.

And pregnant women need to eat regularly. I mean, who doesn't if you want to keep a healthy physique. But it's all the more true for pregnant women, because otherwise they will feel faint or nauseaous, like what I experienced this afternoon. We both were so jetlagged that we couldn't even haul our arses to work. Of course, the heavy snow, slippery roads and gusting cold winds helped us to make an easy decision. And so we worked from home. When the afternoon clock stroke, I pondered about the lunch issue for a minute. We have almost absolutely no food at home to make a decent lunch. So we either have to brave the challenging weather or order food in. But none of us made the first move and the fleeting lunch thought soon passed over.

Trouble started to brew when the clock turned 1.30pm. I started to feel weak and faint, then it developed into nausea. Something which I (gladly)haven't had for weeks. I had to lie down. Only then did we realise the gravity of the situation and we acted to arrest it immediately by ringing Nyonya Kitchen restaurant for home delivery. At first they said home delivery service is terminated today due to bad weather. So I had to lure them with "Ask your delivery man to take a taxi. I'll pay for it." and fortunately, it worked. They came with food about half and hour later and by then it was already close to 3pm. Amazingly, nausea did vanish after I injested some food, although I conceded that it wasn't really tasty, it was just something to fill my stomach.

And here I am now eyes half-closed as my fingers continue to punch the keyboard... jetlag is striking again. My cosy bed is beckoning me...

I have never been an avid follower of viruses and vaccines and stuff until recently when talks of the global A/H1N1 vaccination exercise became a topic as hot as pancakes that I simply have to dig it. In China, especially, it was deemed to be really quite a deadly virus that everyone should be scared of and should vaccinate oneself the soonest possible. *Perhaps this is the same in other countries too* But because these H1N1 vaccines are not freely available in China, it adds to the "panic". You know, when supply is limited, it only adds to tease demand. People perceive perhaps the vaccine to be something of rarity and grab hold of it at the slightest chance possible, without going through a thorough thought process. I almost became one of them, until I (dunno why) posted a message on a Beijing expat forum to seek advice from those who have innoculated. Wow! In came a flux of responses to my post. Many were actually as undecided as myself and have sought consultation from medical professionals, not the least the doctors at International SOS and Bejing United Family hospital. And what diverse opinions we get even from these group of so-called experts.

The doctor I spoke to at International SOS advised me AGAINST taking the vaccine, simply because there hadn't been enough tests conducted on people who are in the same situation as myself (sorry, I am speaking in rounds because only people who are closer to me are aware of my situation. in essense, I am in a delicate condition that I am in one of the high risk groups as stipulated in the "Who should take the A/H1N1 vaccination?"). Then came a reply to my forum post from "someone" working at SOS and said that contrary to what their doctor had recommended, she said SOS supports the vaccination of A/H1N1 for people in my group. She never identified herself as someone of administrative capacity or medical professional. Some posted information sources from the same high risk group in other countries who had taken the vaccination and to my surprise, quite a number of them seemed to really suffer from the undesirable effects of the vaccine. Although a direct causation relationship cannot be established, the coincidence of it cannot be ignored.

While I have decided not to vaccinate myself, Olof and I contemplated vaccinating him instead so that I will have some form of protection. Bearing in mind that this vaccine is not freely available in Beijing, Beijing United Family Hospital's announcement of free 5000 doses of A/H1N1 vaccine came as a "pleasant" surprise. We got to know of the information on Friday and were planning already to queue for the vaccine on Sat morning. But somehow my instincts told me that something is fishy about this arrangement. Free vaccination at a hospital frequently mostly by foreigners, when there are still some Chinese who have not gotten the vaccine? It just didn't feel right. And giving out only 5000 doses (again limited supply) is bound to cause chaos when people compete to be in the queue. We retracted our decision in the evening. I think it's not fair to subject my loved one to unforeseen effects that might arise from the vaccine, especially since he is not from the high risk group.

Then came along a notification some days later that BJU has halted this free vaccination exercise on supply grounds. It seemed that the Beijing Health authorities had retracted their promise on the 5000 doses. How weird, I thought! Doesn't this create even deeper the impression the rarity of this vaccine in China and making it more desirable?

At the end of the day, I realised that as a layman in this world of viruses and dividing expert advices, we are at the most disadvantage. So, do your own research, trust your own instincts, use your common sense to make up your own mind if you should innoculate yourself or not. Sometimes heeding the advice of so-called renowned health organizations (here I meant specifically WHO) or your family doctor may not necessarily lead to the wisest decision, because these are the people in the act and the heart of the scheme of things, to the point that I wonder if they should be allowed to, in my acccordance, dictate the human rights. I mean, who has? Why should one get fined for not wanting to innoculate onself the vaccine?

In any case, I recommend anyone who has doubt over this whole vaccination issue to watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0JqQyl09zQ

Of course, you can doubt her words too and suspect that she is working for another big conspiracy. But at least whatever she said made sense and could be factually traced.

First Snow In Beijing

The first snow fell on Beijing on the first day of November. What a breathtaking sight when I woke up and looked out of the windows and saw the ground, tree canopies and roof tops covered with snow. Not just a little snow, but lots of snow! Totally beautiful. I've experienced 3 Beijing winter but never had the luck to see any snow. The entire city looked so different, so much more lovely and surprisingly, "warm". Perhaps I am romanticising this too much. It reminded me little of winter in Sweden actually. It has been a long time since I left my footprints on "virgin snow" - untouched by any other living being except myself. That felt totally great. And how could I forget the fun I had throwing myself on thick layers of snow making the print of an angel. Angel of me.

I just saw some snow slipping off a tree. *grin*

Is it possible that the mere mention of a country's name reminds you so vividly of its signature cuisine that it irks you? My own experience? Yes.

There have been many advertisments about Korea or Seoul recently on the only miserable news channel, i.e. CNN, that we ever watch. They literally made my head turn. I simply can't tolerate the flashing images of the city sights and Korea's signature gourmet dishes. Olof said I was exaggerating, but why do I care? He doesn't reside in my gastronomical abode, so certainly he wouldn't understand how these images made my stomach churn. Should I count myself lucky that I have, so far, not ended up regurgitating my dinner?

You might wonder why and how do I develop such a distaste for Korea's food? I ain't no clue either. My only intellectual guess is I might have been a cabbage in my previous life and was shamefully turned into a kimchi.

A tsunami of homesickness came crashing on me recently. Not that I particularly miss my friends and family more than usual, it was the gastronomical part of me that suddenly yearn the cheap hawker eats. Ba Chor Mee, Chai Tao Kway, Yong Tau Foo... Manz, I drool like an old fat dog just at the mention of them.

Equally tormenting, however, has been my loss of appetite recently. Nothing really seems to tantalize my tastebuds anymore. Not even my once-upon-a-time all time favorite desserts! Mummy said I can quench part of my gastronomical lust by replicating the eats at home. Yeah, she is right, to a certain extent, except I do not know where I can find Tao Gee for the Yong Tau Foo! For me, at least, it is the key ingredient in making or breaking a good Yong Tau Foo.

My week-long vacation with Älskling in Seoul was lazy, relax, AND hungry! I was half-starved most of the time. Not because he was ill-treating me, but my distaste for korean food. Simply the sight of korean kimchi or BBQ meat irked me to the point of nausea. Yes, it was that bad. My break from fast-food fasting happened during the trip too. I actually took to the comfort of McNuggets, without the yummy, typically Singaporean curry dipping sauce though. Holy cow!

I was glad that my Älsking enjoyed most of the trip. If he's happy, then I am too, except that I do not think I will be stepping on the soil of this country any time soon. No way. Simply no way.

Oct 4th 2009

This is the big day! Even though it IS a big day for me, I am surprised that both China and South Korea have public holidays to celebrate my birthday. After all, I am not that famous (yet), heehe...

China started already on Oct 1st (when we took off from the airport in the morning) and celebrate for 6 consecutive days. I don't know why they talk about 60 years celebration, since I am only 30 this year, but perhaps they added Sam's and my ages together?

We arrived in Seoul in the afternoon of the Oct 1st. South Korea started to celebrate on Oct 2nd and kept going for 3 days. They call it "thanksgiving" and I am the one to say Thank you all! Hello Seoul, I love you!

On a day like this, being famous is not really the most important thing. Perhaps it is the least important of things. What really matters is to be among family and friends, to spend time with my loved ones.

I am happy to spend not just one full day, but six full days together with my lovely wife. I cannot imagine life without her. She is always so sweet and smart at the same time. It doesn't really matter what we do, as long as we spend time together. Smuacks!

My wonderful mamma and pappa and my best and only brother can unfortunately not be here today. They mean a lot to me. I have no cell phone coverage in South Korea (different mobile technology over here), but luckily I could have an IM conversation with mamma to hear that they are all well.

The older I grow, the more I appreciate every day I spend with people that are a big part of my life. Something to keep in mind for the next 30 years... As usual, I look forward to life, full of excitement and surprises. All of you out there, take care and have a good Oct 4th!

With the country's biggest birthday bash looming, the urgency to leave its borders feels all the more pressing. Even with just rehearsals and practices, people's lives have been affected. In the days leading to THE big day, traffic restrictions and other immigration controls have been heightened. For example, from 16 Sept 09 to 18 Sept 09, some roads are cordoned off for the whole day or a certain period of time during the day, subways do not stop at certain stations, etc. Commoners, like myself and my colleagues, are inevitably affected by these measures. Some companies are releasing employees earlier, shops are cutting short opening hours, and customers, predictably, will stay at home and amuse themselves with home cooking and lousy TV probably.

But getting out during this period of time proves to be an expensive affair. We were, unfortunately, too late (and too lazy) to book our tickets using mileage in advance.

"Any seats left to Tokyo?" I asked
"No," came the reply from the customer service officer.
"Fukuoka?"
"No."
"Osaka?"
"No."
"Bali?"
"No."
......

This conversation was probably the most"rejecting" I have had in my life. So what do we do now?

1. Spend the money and get our arses on a flight out
2. Be good, stay in Beijing, and try to enjoy the celebrations here

Can we take a vote from the masses, please?

Who is the person on earth you trust most, next to your wife? The doctor, I suppose. Eye doctor, family doctor, sleep disorder doctor, and many ... many other doctors.

Olof had the experience of trusting his precious eyes to a lasic surgeon to return him his perfect eyesight. Doctor, certainly not McDreamy, said after the surgery that it was a success and he should regain perfect eyesight within a few days. Then things started to go wrong. Olof began to experience "unusual" (only because we found out later that the discomfort he experienced was not supposed to be usual) discomfort in his left eye. His right eye, as it should be, began to clear up and could see perfectly well without any effort. His left one, on the other hand, not only did not clear up but continued to be very blur. Be them short or long distance objects, his eye simply couldn't focus. A couple of days later when he could finally open his eyes without irritating them too much, a closer look at his left eye revealed what seemed to be a gap in his cornea. We called the doctor and asked if this is something to be worried about. He said no, and told us to come back at the stipulated time for a follow-up check up. We obediently (now I would say stupidly) listened to him, only to find out at the check-up that the surgery indeed went wrong. The cornea was not replaced properly, resulting in a fold and hence the blurred vision. Remedy? Stretch the cornea to cover the gap.

"Don't worry," he said. "Cornea is very elastic and can be stretched a million times with no problems."

Very comforting. No apologies whatsoever was given.

After the make-up surgery, Olof's left eyesight never became perfect. But it was never that worse to warrant another surgery either. So essentially, it was left half-fxxx.

Why rake up the history, you might ask? That's because I went to a gynecologist today to do a blood pregnancy test. I have tested like what 5 times of home pregnancy tests at home and all came back negative. YET, I am experiencing some pregnancy symptoms. The gynea called me in the afternoon and told me the blood test returns negative and added I should be put on medication to induce menstruation.

People who know me know that I don't always take "no" for an answer. I trust myself more than the most sophisticated medical equipment in the world. I did my homework too, of course. Researching on the vast internet for probable cases like myself, I found so many women out there who were in the same boat as me - as in all tests return negative but were pregnant actually. Their (incompetent) doctors, too, told them to medicate and hope for the best next month.

So... time and patience will tell it all. I'll wait until Aunt Flo comes before I rule out that I am pregnant.

Rainy in Koh Samui

Today is day no. 3 in Koh Samui and the weather has not been very kind to us since we arrive on Monday afternoon. There was always an air of rain out there and the fear that any fun out in the sun would be cold blanketed by those approaching grey clouds.

We have put ourselves up at Samui Pier Resort - one is that is located in the north of the island and quite close to the airport. By my accordance and my comparatively (against Olof) expensive taste, this resort will get only an OK from me. But it has received what I would call rave reviews on tripadvisor. Not that it is lousy, but it wasn't as good as I had thought.

We booked a deluxe room at THB1,800 per night, without breakfast. The resort is radared with its own WI-FI internet so guests can literally go online anywhere within the its perimeter. Guess where I am writing this blog now? Right my room door. I dragged one of the beach chairs outside our litte hut in and only then can I get some decent connection speed. So internet connection wise, it got a point minus from me.

Room. I guess I can't expect to get lobster if I paid the price of a shrimp. The resort has most of its room on the ground and perhaps only 3 or 4 family suites which have 2 storeys. We got a squarish hut next to the kitchen. At first I was worried we will hear pots and pans clanging early in the morning, but it turned out to be ok, mostly because there are not many guests around. Our hut is furnished with a queen bed, wardrobe, TV cum writing table, mini Hitachi fridge and two beach chairs just outside the hut. Bathroom is quite spacious equipped with hot shower, although it is hard to think who would want a hot shower in this 30-degrees weather. It was certainly not a 5-star bathroom. I would perhaps give it a 2.5. For room cleaniness, I do not have too much to complain nor too much to complement, except that I do not fancy having co-guests - ants. Before you even dare say I am too pampered with the luxuries of life to withstand an ant or two, it wasn't just a handful where you can get rid off with a one-time extermination mission. There are plenty of them, even on the bed! Imagine having some creepy crawlies sleeping with you, crawling all over you while you are in dreamland? Goose bumpy huh?

The view from our room is nice. We get to see the sea and two piers. Yes, we are sandwiched between two piers. The good thing with being so close to a pier is easy access to other small islands. While the others have to be chauffered from other hotels to the pier, we just have to walk 5 mins to get there. The bad? Perhaps you already guessed it. Before the motorboats leave for their destinations with excited passengers or when they return from trips the happy and sun-drenched city elopers, the smell from burning petrol and rumbling noise of the super motors are not quite pleasurable for two guests who long for fresh air and quiet. The waters along this stretch of the beach is also not quite conducive for swimming. With very poor visibility and boats coming in and going out, I just don't have the urge to plunge in. Then we realised that Koh Samui is actually more of a hotel/resort island with nice beaches and hotels, but not so much for beach diving and snorkelling. Taking a boat out into Koh Tao, Koh Phangan or Ang Thong Marine Park is mostly the choice, if not de facto, of tourists who want to see fishes and corals.

And so we did. We signed up for a snorkelling trip yesterday to Ang Thong Marine Park. Unfortunately, I did not quite enjoy it, mostly because I got two times a mask that did not fit my face. Water came into my mask all the time and filled it up as soon as I dipped my head under water. So I was more busy clearning water from my mask all the time than having a good swim with the fishes. Plus, the snorkelling site was FULL of tourists. In China, they call it aptly "cooking dumplings". You can hardly maneuver in the water without bumping into somebody else's legs or hands or worse, you see a gay man wadding right in front of you in his white triangular, almost transparent, underwear. What was more emotional for me was to see how much destruction the marine lives have endured. The corals were nothing colorful to speak of, nor were the fishes I saw during the few brief moments when my mask was cleared of water. It was nothing quite like what I saw at Perhentian many years ago when I first dived.

It is still drizzling. Olof is off for the theory module of his open water diving course. We signed him up this morning for an open water diving course with Coral Grand Divers. They are reputed to be quite good. While I am not doing the course, I will be going for the pool dives and eventually the boat dives with him in the next 3 days. I reckon I need to refresh my rusty skills.