Scuba Diving : Choose the RIGHT school for yourself

Miss "Scuba" have heard about all the fun and thrill of scuba diving from her colleague who have just completed her dive training and keen to give it a try. She went to check-out the diving outlets in her area, collecting information as well as consulting other friends who are qualified scuba divers. Unfortunately, she ended-up more confused than before she started on her quest for information. The technical information that she received including some conflicting opinions was overwhelming.

Above is a common scenario of diver-to-be in choosing the right diving school. The common diving schools found in Malaysia are (but not limited to) PADI, NAUI, SSI, BSAC etc. Each of them have their own strength and have produced lots of qualified divers over the years.

Read on for some Do's and Don'ts in deciding the right school for yourself.

Do

• ask about the syllabus/content of the course for comparison - more important than the course fee!
  
• realise that BOTH theory and practical are equally important.
• you think learning theory by watching video/slide pack is sufficient for you or you require conventional classroom teaching where instructor will teach and explain in a lot more details.
• ensure that you go to the doctor (preferably doctor who is familiar with diving related illness) for check-up and ensure that you are fit to dive.
• invite friend(s) to join together- good for encouragement and more fun too!
• take lesson from a qualified instructor (ask for evidence of certification) - dive leaders hierachy vary among the diving organisations. Learn about the scope of their authority, e.g a Dive Master/Marshall (DM) are specifically trained to guide divers and not to teach like an Instructor.
  

Don't

• just pick the school that offer the cheapest deal without considering other important factor s as mentioned in the "Do"- we are talking about your own SAFETY and possibly others here!
  
• accept if someone tell you to skip the theory (probably they will say theory is not important/necessary) and go straight into practical (pool, pond or beach).
• let you ego get over your head and ignore the "rules/guidelines" in diving - these are provided to make recreational diving safe for you. Just like driving a car, you are putting yourself into much greater risk when you exceeded the speed limit assigned.
  
• get misleaded that scuba diving is just a matter of putting on the gears and jump into the water - there are quite a number of important and fun things you need to learn and know before you can enjoy the beauty of underwater SAFELY.

NOTE : these are just some general sharing. Please refer to your local instructor for more details. A good and responsible Instructor will share with you not only the fun parts but the safety awareness aspects as well.

Happy bubbling!

Million dollars tools (Rig vs Platform)

the above title suddenly striked my mind so I decided to put down a few words about it.

quite a number of folks out there cannot differentiate between the two types of million dollars tool, oil rig and platform. while both share some similarities, they are actually quite different (depend who you talk to). the following are some general comparisons for your info.

Oil Rig

- structure used for drilling (drill new well) and workover ("renovation" work on existing well)
- mobile (can be moved to different locations)
- temporary basis



4 leg Jackup Rig
*Photo courtesy of www.midwestoilgas.com




Oil (or gas/condensate) Platform
- structure constructed for production phase
- can have storage facilities as well
- permanent except floating production sytem (FPSO)

I remember there was (or still is) a section at the Old Sarawak Muzium dedicated to hydrocarbon Exploration & Production. (have not been there for quite some years now so unsure of the latest updates). anyway, I am referring to the model at the section which I believe is a "platform" rather than "rig".

Hobby to Business

Back in Kuching for Christmas break recently and followed my dad to his playground - a fruit orchard.

started initially as his hobby and later went into sales (local fruit supplier) when the harvest proved to be too much for own consumption

stumbled into some interesting stuffs while walking around the orchard. Enjoy the pictures!















variety of fruit trees...banana, pineapple, dragonfruit, sugarcane, jackfruit (nangka), durian, rambutan, papaya, coconut etc.




















"mutated" nenas sawit




















little fella on the ground...














bet many of you have never seen this before...















wild fungus...

Holiday - source of inspiration to Wealth

This is the time of the year where I wish it can happen to me on daily basis. Relaxing and quietly thinking or should I say "daydreaming" of new idea/opportunity to create wealth. Just the other day while talking to my brother, it really hit me hard that there is endless list of opportunity available for us to explore. We always striked great ideas yet most of the time it didn't get far. We tend to give ourselves list of excuses and reasoning (good as well as lame) on why it is not possible or suitable to us. Quite interesting to the see someone hit it BIG time using the same idea later. :-( Similar feeling as well? :-) Happy New Year!