Sunday, April 27, 2008

dIvINg : mUsaNdAm, oMan

man! our first dive to Oman waters.excited na ang lahat.we've heard a lot of diving experiences in musandam, and all of them are telling the same stories...panalo mag dive sa musandam..dahil sa super excited ang lolo nyo, kahit na may konting sipon, cge go lng.sayang nman ang opportunity and besides first dive un sa Oman..

the DIVERS
apol & bing - first check out dive for Open water
jabe & xandz - fun dive
and the rest of FSDC members and officers....we where about 20 divers..wow masaya,madami!..

the JOURNEY

never ending hintayan sa meeting place..we came late, pero may mas na-late pa samin ng dating...then the journey begins..nakarating kami sa Dibba Port past 8am na...soooo late!..
walang katapusang kalsada..haba ng byahe,pero infairness hinde nakatulog si apol...=)

sobrang tagal sa paghihintay sa mga kasama,plus sa hintay ng tanks plus sa paghintay ng fud..we jumped off Dibba port past 10 am na ata..e dapat ung 10am first dive na, to add pa sa pagka-asar ko we have to travel 1.5 to 2 hrs para makarating sa oman waters dun sa dive spot na pupuntahan namin.imagine??? at eto pa, right after ng first dive namin nawala ko ung mask ko..it was like, 5 dives old na mask and snorkel..damn!..kainis noh?well sabi nga nila, a bad diving day is better than a good day at the office..i got my rewards nman infairness and ito yun...

i saw this fish under a huge rock.it was so dark underneath kaya mejo i-adjusted the contrast and brightness pra makita nyo ung image..the fish is about 1 meter long and 1.5 meters wide..i based it from the gap between the rocks..nakakatakot ng konti,dahil bka biglang may kumagat sa ulo ko if i would go further inside..i think kasama sya sa family ng napoleon fish or angel fish..awesome GOD!naisip nya pa yan..grabe..panalo.!

this two shots made my day..saktong sakto para sa photography ko..its so amazing to see sceneries like this..truly amazing GOD!everything paid off..ung pagod sa byahe,ung gutom sa pagaantay,ung mawalan ka ng mask..sulit na dahil sa nakita ko...

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

whAt a fReAkiN' dAy!?

its so freakin' crazy saying few words and receiving hundreds in return full with question marks whatever you call it and whatnots...all i can do is just ask myself, what the freak was that all about?

and the end, empty doritos chips with dip...hahaha = )




fREAkiN wOrLd! gotta be cool in all aspects dawg!

Monday, April 21, 2008

kItE bOaRdInG

while i'm writing about sweatin' out, my colleague(Austrian) came to my office(yes i'm at work blogging) and told me about his kite boarding weekend.he told a lot of things,the way to do it, the feeling, the equipment and the experience. and again, i am interested. yup, you heard me right. definitely this one will be on my list of things to do.
by the way, this Austrian fellow is also my dive buddy =)

pHotOgRaphY

next week we'll be having a Mussandam dive and next month will be my Palawan dive so i decided to buy a camera that i can use underwater. im searching for a camera with manual settings, where in, i can practice the manual modes in preparation for my DSLR camera(when can i buy it??) and to practice my framing as well. and the winner is....

the A720IS powershot from Canon


with WP-DC16 underwater casing


last friday my kuya kasmot and i went to Al Nasr Square in Naif area to look for a nice DSLR for our photography. we checked the new release from Canon the Eos 450d and compared it to the previous DSLR cameras that we saw in Mall of the Emirates.since im tight of budget i decided to buy A720IS for a start.besides this camera can do a bit of professional pics but limited. so i did some exploration of my camera's capability and some experimentation.

my first macro shot.
shutterspeed : 13"
aperture: 2.8
iso:80
white balance : auto

my first PP using Electronic Dark Room (photoshop courtesy of Wendz)



title : Left Behind
shutter : 1/10
aperture : 4.0
iso : 200
white balance : auto
PP:contrast leveling & photofilter

im happy on the results.need to take for photos, practice,practice and more practice.

sWeAtiN' oUt

2 weeks ago,kuya loves and ate loves ask me to sign up for fitness first membership.im not sure if this is the right time to go for it since i still have a lot of activities on the line(dami ko kasi gusto gawin eh), anyway i joined. first few days was really painful and hard. i hope it will pay off.

i came across to some website that are giving free weight training program.took the list of things to do and followed every bit of it last night..to my surprise,its easier said (or read) than done.but im happy 'bout it.you should be disciplined enough to follow the routines. wish me luck!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

DIVING : My First Boat Dive Experience.!

since i was away and lost by few months, i was'nt able to publish this on my blog..so here it goes..

january 11,2008....0500hrs was the time set for us to meet with the group in EPPCO gas station Al Qusais.We arrived at 0545hrs(whats new?)lagi kami late ni kuya jabe mapa jumeirah or outside UAE dive late pa din kami. And our destination?Khorfakkan Port Fujairah UAE.exciting ang first ever boat dive..in our previous dives,mejo may kaba pa ako..pero that day was different,it was like at last we can enjoy the view underwater and not just doing any underwater skills for our lessons.

ETA 0800hrs we will be at Khorfakkan Port..

The gang - lu , myla, pekto,joel(our instructor),precious,arnee(scuba dubai), jabe,emil & des.
i was behind the camera.

after the photo sessions, we immediately proceed with our equipment assembly then pre-dive briefing,jump on the boat and off we go....

First Stop - Inchcape wreck 1
depth: 22.3 m
temp: 20 degrees
visibility : 8m (not bad)
time : 0930hrs

we stopped on the anchor line,put on our equipments and did the back roll entry.we experienced a strong current until 5 m then descended smoothly.i was having problem descending because of the current and i don't have enough weights. we descended on the anchor line and upon reaching the bottom, i was fascinated by the scenery, a tug boat sunked 8 yrs ago was there in front of me. we hoover and swim around the wreck. i saw a group of yellow snappers, angel fish, cuttlefish,trumphet fish,puffer fish, sea weeds on the wreck. it was amazing.am i dreaming? I'm actually swimming with these sea creatures and watching their normal habitat.months of scuba training and money spent actually paid-off on that experience.

the gang:
kuya jabe - he had a nice time.since water sport is his interest, he enjoyed every minute at the bottom

joel(instructor) - busy checking his students,had a great time as well.

emil & pekto - emil was checking on pekto. since pekto was having vertigo(dizziness),he actually blow underwater and feed the fishes(his full breakfast)..hahaha = )

myla & lu - myla was a bit ahead on diving experience since she went previously to a dive trip in mussandam(oman). she is actually baby sitting her buddy lu who doesn't have any fear of going inside the wreck(big NO! NO! if your are not trained for it)

arnee & precious - arnee was busy spear fishing(oooppss. sorry 'bout that.divers should be the ambassador for environmental protection and rehabilitation and not catching the creatures as meal =) . precious spent most of her time taking snaps.

and oh i almost forgot mr.hareb- an emarati police officer that owns the dive house and dive boat was with us on the dive.

everyone was satisfied on the dive,though not much creatures was present we had a nice dive.

While waiting for our surface interval(time to spend on surface before doing another dive), we went snorkeling.

Next Stop : Shark Island

everyone is a bit hungry,so joel introduced to us his specialty "Diver's Delight". before our actual dive he was discussing to us the cuisine that he specially prepared for our dive and taadaahh! "Hard Boiled Egg".after enjoying a delightful meal ,we grab our masks,snorkels and fins for snorkeling. we saw parrot fish,yellow tail clown fish on the sea anemone,puffer fish, and others which I'm not familiar with plus 3 white tip sharks. these sharks are young white tip that you can usually find in reef areas.they were lovely,swimming and roaming around the rocks.


Joel called our attention and told us that it was time for our second dive.


we went and descend 17 m. maximum depth but the current was so strong though the visibility was not bad 8m-10m, we had a hard time swimming against the current.in short, it was a bad second dive.everyone was disappointed on that dive,we were off by around 200m on our drop-off point.should we anchored and descend somewhere near the island,it could have been easier and we could have enjoyed our dive more.but definitely we will come back for another one.as the divers saying " IT IS BETTER TO HAVE A BAD DAY DIVING, THAN A GOOD DAY WORKING" = )

Thursday, April 17, 2008

aIrsOft - dIvInG - mUsIc - pHoToGrAphY

these are the things that im up to right now, where i spend most of my freetime.

AIRSOFT - a warlike re-enactment or simulation using a replica of real guns powered by electric motors and batteries(AEG-Automatic Electric Gun). The bullets fired are 0.15mm -0.20mm diameter spherical plastic that are subjected to air compression inside the gun chamber to an average speed of 375fps(feet per sec).


my new babies

@the battlefield

the equipments are a bit expensive, considering that you should be in full battle gear before you can actually play the game. uniforms,vest,safety goggles,helmet,face protection,boots,AEG's..$ aaaahhh...but the fun is priceless!

team picture with our sponsor models


every friday (usual day off in UAE) ,airsoft players from different emirate gather together and play the game.it is one of our way to release stress by squeezing the trigger and pointing to your enemies, though there are restrictions and rules of engagement to follow, everyone is enjoying their weekend.i can release my own tensions and sentiments while enjoying and meeting new friends.

Im back!! =)

whew!? it's quite a while since i last posted here on my blog. i just went for, i could say "overhaul" on the past few months. did some patching up a little,a bit of adjustment and a lot of courage,wisdom and FAITH.
and now im back on-track and ready to go. I have a lot of things to share from my new life. new adventures, new friends, new crowd, new things, new ideas, new interests, new hobbies, new me!...i'll be back soon,just gathering the infos to post it here nicely...