The One With The Whale Shark

Apparently my blogposts are becoming more and more randomly timed. I’m not finding the time to write every Sunday, or just don’t have enough to say. Every once in a while, though, good stuff happens, like seeing a whale shark. Before I get too much into detail, let’s travel back in time a little bit.

Singapore

After a very sad goodbye to Timor, Friso and I travelled on to Singapore, where we stayed for 2 full days. On our day of arrival (we arrived in the evening), we got to our hotel and planned to go out for dinner. Result? We were both sound asleep at 9 PM without having dinner. We were just that tired.

On our first day, we had a lovely morning stroll through the botanical gardens, went out for some light shopping (our bags didn’t allow us to buy too much), and met up with Gil for lunch. Gil took us out to a “Hawker centre”, which is pretty much just a collection of foodstalls under one roof, and we had an amazing lunch. Of course we didn’t know what to get so Gil pointed us in the right direction by choosing our food for us. The second outing we did that day, was to “Mustafa”, a store that’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and sells EVERYTHING you can imagine. It was heaven! I was a little dissappointed it’s not called “Mufasa”, like Simba’s dad, but it’s a minor flaw I’m willing to accept.

That night, Friso and I went out for an amazing dinner at a Steakhouse. We shared 1.1 kg of steak, and oh my gosh, I thought I would turn into a steak after that. Look at that happy face, though. Totally worth it.

On our second day, we went to the aquarium because NO, I can’t get enough of fish. I really wish I’d see one in the wild, but for now I’ll have to take my peace with seeing a Manta Ray in the aquarium. Pretty impressive place. Nothing compared to the real thing, but worth a visit for those who don’t spend their lives diving.

Later that day, we went to “Gardens By The Bay”, or in my words: “big tree things”. I have no idea what they are or why they’re there, but they’re pretty impressive. We also had a WAAAAAY overprices cocktail on top of the Marina Bay Sands, just to get a look at the view. Pretty stunning city, if I do say so myself. Just a completely different vibe than we got in Timor.

Adam flew into Singapore that night, so Gil and I met him for some drinks. Some final drinks and hugs with my fellow volunteers and friends. We said our goodbyes as Friso and I left for Thailand the next morning.

Thailand

So, Thailand. Never been there before. Will most definitely go back. What an amazing time we had, my my! We ended up staying in Koh Samui for 5 days. It started out lovely: we got to our hotel, where they’d taken us to be a married couple. When we asked to seperate the bed into two single beds, we got very weird looks. AND, there was no door to the bathroom, so after we created one, they almost asked us if we needed couples therapy. The thought of Friso being my brother apparently never occured to them.

For those of you who know me, of course we went diving! We spent three days in the water with a Belgian intructor, Michiel, one day just looking around on our scooter, and one day cruising around to visit temples. The diving itself was okay. I’ve been so spoiled by the diving on Atauro, it’s hard to find anything that compares. BUT, Atauro didn’t have any whale sharks, so Thailand scored pretty high on my Dive list.

On our first dive, within the first five minutes, this gentle, curious giant appeared and gave us a little show. I have no words to describe how wonderful it is to see one of these incredible animals. As it turns out, the three meter long “giant” we saw, was only a baby. They can get upto 17 meters. SEVENTEEN METERS. That’s enormous. Of course, as handy as I am, I forgot to take my GoPro that day. The one day I don’t have it with me. Luckily, Michiel had a camera with him and snapped some great shots of our friend.

Pretty hard to top that, you would think. Well, on the second dive, Mr Whale Shark decided to come for a second visit. I think he heard about the mad cup of tea I can make, and decided to try some. Next to the whale shark, we saw a big school of Baracudda and we went wreckdiving. The wreck itself it really interesting: it dates from 1942 (see picture) and thus, was a Second World War ship. The visibility wasn’t great, but still, it was pretty cool to see a piece of history under water.

Like I said, we spent a day cruising around in our amazing rented, air-conditioned car. We went to “The Big Buddha”, “The Lady With 1000 Arms” and “The Mummified Monk”. Of the last one, I don’t have any pictures. It seems weird to make pictures of a dead guy, even though he’s been dead for 40 years.

Finally, on Wednesday morning, Friso and I head off. He went back home to Germany and I went on to Fiji. We spent the last hours of our trip together at Singapore airport. A big thanks goes out to that little goofball. It was great to see him and to go diving together. Thanks for coming all the way our here, Kleine. See you soon!

Fiji

YAAAY, Fiji! My trip isn’t over yet, although I can already feel the end coming closer and closer every day. I arrived in Nadi, Fiji yesterday afternoon and spent the first couple of hours in bed. After 1.5 days of travelling, I was so tired. After a long debate with myself and asking my parents if “it’s socially acceptable to go to bed at 6 PM”, I decided to make the most of it. I went out to the bar and met a couple of girls. We had some drinks and had a good time.

Today, all six of us went out to see a local Rugby game and hop around Nadi for a bit. I love it here! Too bad I have to leave tomorrow, wouldn’t mind spending a couple a days looking around the area.

Tomorrow my new project starts. Also marine conservation, also diving. I’ll try to keep you guys posted, but just like last time: no promises. I’ll be living on a tiny tropical island for the next month so I have no idea if I’ll be able to reach you. And lastly, as always:

Write you soon

Fi