If you listen closely, you can hear the waves singing.
No room for emotions now.
Hold them in. Stop the drama and control your feelings. You’re supposed to be a master of this. The time and distance apart will do you good. Focus on that. Focus on the essentials and the priorities. Do not fall.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Urbandub | First of Summer
Nakakatamad sobra bumangon sa kama.
Advanced Open Water Diving
Pictures c/o Relyn Tan
Last weekend’s diving experience was completely superb. We arranged the logistics of our dive, unlike before when we would just tag along with Dive Republic. We used to leave Manila around 5:00 a.m. to reach Anilao in time for 2 dives before lunch, but this time, we decided to travel Friday afternoon so we can still get some rest before our morning dives. It was a good decision actually. We were able to settle down and relax after the road trip, and of course, enjoyed the good company of friends.
We woke up at around 6:30 a.m. the next day for our first dive, which included deep, wreck and peak buoyancy dives. It was fun going in and out of the metallic structure at around 30 meters underwater. It was supposed to resemble an actual shipwreck, but it was not enclosed so it was less creepy than I expected it to be. Our second dive was the drift dive, which made me a little nervous because of our past experience of underwater current. The surface current that time was a bit strong at first, but eventually subsided after we relocated to another spot. I had some trouble with the weights too, and I couldn’t control my buoyancy because of that. Nevertheless, it was a good experience, and the sights were just beautiful. We headed back to the resort for lunch and learned the basics of using a water compass. Our third dive was meant to teach us how to navigate underwater, and it was so fun! We first had to measure our kick cycles and use that value to estimate our distances. We then traveled in a square shape without any other assistance except our buddies and compass. We made it back to the origin with just a few feet away from the actual. I have to admit, we were pretty accurate with our measurements. We played some tricks after by going in and out of circles formed by the other buddies and even swimming underneath their legs. This game was termed by Patrick as “the circus” because he said these were obstacle courses, which were just in fact used to test our other skills. Our fourth dive was the best, for me. It was the most challenging because we did a night dive and it was so freaky at first because we were used to diving during the daytime, when everything is simply visible because of the sun. This time, we only had our flashlights as the source of light. I kept on imagining things that happen in movies, but I eventually learned that those things were so exaggerated and farfetched. The night dive experience was completely magical. Everything underwater became fluorescent and so many marine flora and fauna that weren’t visible during the day appeared. The bioluminescence was marvelous, and it was such a waste that we did not have any underwater camera to document this dive. All our fears and anxieties of doing this dive immediately disappeared, and I gained a different perspective about the ocean. Believe it or not, I felt like it was so familiar more than any other place I’ve been to (except Manila, of course). I am completely aware of the stereotype that diving is an extremely dangerous sport, but what Patrick said is true. Most dive accidents that do occur are because of human error, and this sport is really just pure common sense and state of mind. After the night dive, I realized that there is really no reason to fear the dark seas. We headed back to the resort after to wash up and get some dinner. Because we were tight on budget, we decided to head out to look for cheaper food, but instead, we ended up in Bauan, which was 30 minutes away from the resort. We were all so hungry and most of the restaurants we wanted to buy food from were already closed because it was late. We didn’t give up though, and were rewarded enough when we saw the sign of Andok’s. We went back to the resort, ate our dinner and even had some red wine. We were all too tired to stay up as late as the first night, so we slept right away, and greeted the next day again with 2 other morning dives, which were for fun and recreation.
We were all certified after having completed 6 dives. This is probably one of the accomplishments that I would forever be proud of, not only because diving is a unique sport, but also because of the lessons I gained. I somehow realized that I enjoy discovering and experiencing things on my own. Maybe I’m really a one-woman show as of today. Despite the many places I’ve been to and the many things I’ve already tried doing, there’s just still so many experiences to unravel. When I was underwater, I kept thinking that this life has so much to offer, and I really don’t want to miss out on the things I love and enjoy doing. When we were riding the boat, I kept looking out into the sea and the vastness of it made me feel like there’s really just an immense world out there. I don’t want to be tied down just yet and settle for what is already here at present. This probably answers why I felt shitty every time we headed back to the resort, most especially after the sixth dive. Again, I’ve never gone past disliking endings.
The irony of blissful states is that they always have to be short-lived, and this is one of my greatest frustrations. It really sucks when you get to experience something so perfect, and yet, only have glimpses of it. I wish we stayed longer beside the ocean. I didn’t even have to wait for Monday for reality to rush back in. I had to finish my paper right after reaching my house on Sunday, and work just came flooding in. A while ago, I had a low moment when I just wanted to cry again because I missed just about everything I had during the weekend. I felt so depressed and maybe frustrated because certain things and people always restrict me, and I couldn’t really change anything about that. How sad it is to only have memories of one of the best experiences I have ever had in my life.
Going solo.
Last weekend made me realize how much I want to be on my own. There’s just never enough freedom at this point in time.
