I Love Laughing! Do you?

Hello Fishie Fishie!

A very happy lion fish just chillin'

Here is the only one good decent picture I took from my two dives in the Maldives last week. The flash of my camera didn't always work - in fact only when I was very close to my subject; which doesn't always work depending on how effectively buoyant I am. I always thought it such a pity that we can never see the full beauty of the underwater world with our naked eye due to the seawater, sunlight etc. Imagine if we could see everything in their pure natural colours!! I hear that's what you get when night diving - but night diving doesn't quite work for (1) someone who's afraid of the dark, and (2) claustrophobic. Both of which, yours sincerely am.

A Peep into the World of Short Memories

Inspired by SneakyNiki's comment on the previous entry, here are some pictures from my dive today. The site is not great and I only had a regular camera, so pile on the imagination!

Where you going, big fella?


Who comes to disturb my slumber???

Just hanging out with the guys...

Life in the fast lane.

Oh, hello there, Master Shifu!

Sorry to disturb! Don't go!!!

A Fish Market. hurr hurr hurr.

Why do stars up above the world so high get so much attention?

What about the stars under the sea?

Looks like an office building of sorts.

This could be a waiting area for... the dentist?

These Feet Are Meant for Walking - Udhoo Rock, Maldives

Went diving today! Haven't been in the waters in about 18 months. Thought it'd be refreshing to be swimming with the fishes, and it was. No mobile phone, no emails, no social media, no talking, no listening... just swimming! The visibility wasn't great though, and aside from 2 moray eels, 1 scorpion fish, 1 large turtle and tonnes of maldivian trigger fish and the usual reef suspects, there wasn't anything earth shattering/ water splashing. I hear it's whaleshark season, but I have never been a lucky person.

That's why I think I am destined to have to work hard for my life.

Not that that bothers me though.
=)

These Feet Are Meant for Walking - Maldives

This is my third time in the Maldives, and it still does not fail to amaze me how turquoise the waters can be and how ridiculous the geography of this place is. What was Mother Nature thinking???

Got stung by jellyfish today - second time in my life; and after sharing my first jellyfish attack from 7 years ago last night!!! The coincidence!!! It first hit me on my calf. I brushed it away, and then it came back to hit my thigh. I just couldn't believe my luck, until the pain escalated. I swerved and squinted into the water, looking for the sonofagun... and there it was, with its rainbow coloured tail shining in the waters like one of those plastic battery operated child's toy. 

One upside to the experience though... i found out that the following is true: pouring pee over a jellyfish sting helps to stop the pain. 

Thou Shalt Be "Heard"... And Then Seen.

Recently, I have been exposed to the concept of "social media" alot.. through work, through random discussions and through my recent registration on Google+. Social media, probably one of the most earth-shattering revolutions inh the 21st century, is taking over the world. Or so we think. I'm not sure yet how much we really need it, but it has definitely become a quintessential part of our life and part of how companies do their business.

I am no expert on the workings of social media, but i am undoubtedly part of it. Unashamedly. I blog. I tweet. I check in on foursquare. I wrote my first tripadvisor review last week (though it wasn't published, i think it was too well written to be credible). And I have a Google+ account. 

Often, I wonder what draws people to participating so actively in social media. It seems to be a huge generational thing, and basically, it stems from a desire to be heard. Now, what is the correlation between this generation and the desire to be heard? What happened along the years to emphasize this desire? Or have humans always wanted to be heard, but never had the accessible channel? One article described ancient cave drawings as a form of social media. I can understand that, but it didn't have the speed and far-fetching consequences that social media has today. Social media has taken down governments, I'm sure it could take down a brand.

So anyway, this desire to be heard, to share stories, to read about other people's stories, to connect with strangers - where does this desire come from? Is it because the current generation has been so involved in the economic boom characteristic of the last decades, that humans have forgotten how to socialize in person? Do we feel forgotten and forsaken, to a certain extent, such that we seek to establish connection with whoever is willing to listen/read? And blogging! This scream to be heard, to be "somebody" in the cyber universe... it all makes sense to me, but seems nonsensical at the same time. If it's already challenging being heard in the normal human universe, doesn't it seem even crazier to want to create a cyber universe (thus enlarging our TOTAL universe) and attempt to establish a presence?? Very odd!!

The internet used to be a playground because everyone could be anonymous. Yes, the experts and the sneakies could still sniff out your true identity, but by and large, you could take on a handle (nickname) and take on another identity. Perhaps a "cooler" identity, perhaps more goodlooking, more eloquent, more outgoing. But these days, it's actually incredible being anonymous on the internet. Google+ came along and connected all the dots. My gmail is connected to my Google+ which has also connected by blogspot account. And through blogspot, I am connected to my twitter account and flickr account. And through my twitter account, i am connected to Facebook and Linkedin. It is no longer to be humourous on Facebook, critical on Blogspot and professional on Linkedin.

We are trapped in our own doings. The vast, endless cyber universe has us, pardon the language, "by the balls". We are out there, but no where at the same time. 

That being said, I still have this blog. So why do i participate so much in social media? Perhaps, I add value. Sometimes with my travel tips, sometimes with tales of adventure, and at one point, i hope to impart some knowledge through this blog. 

And rarely... okay, sometimes... I wonder if someone feels the way i do about certain topics, understand what I mean, agrees with what i look out for in life, or connects with me on some level. Almost sounds like i'm looking for a soulmate. Maybe that's it. The big question mark as to whether, on this earth of 6.8 billion, there are people like me. Maybe if we met, we would be really good friends.. but for some reason or another, not attributed to fate or destiny, it is not possible.

At the end of the day, we all want to feel special, no matter what our beliefs are. Some of us believe in reincarnation and that we will be around for a long time. Some of us believe that our existence is fleeting and that we are here because we are here, and there is no need to think so hard about it. 

While we seek these answers to justify why we are here, i guess we will just continue to ride this BIG social media wave to convince ourselves that we are "somebody" and that we can add value/ make a difference/ make someone's life better via a tip or two.

VERY VERY STRANGE.

The Heart Is Willing, But...

This must be the lowest point of my blogging life (fine, it hasn't been THAT long).

I have been sitting in front of my laptop the past 45 minutes, thinking about how I wanted to phrase my thoughts, what I wanted to say, where I wanted to begin, and if I should begin, if I will have the resilience to complete a blog entry.

45 minutes later, I have achieved nothing. My thoughts are not clearer than 45 minutes ago, and all I have to present after that 45 minutes of contemplating is...

... this.

I am probably better off in bed. I will try again tomorrow, from hopefully a more inspiring place with more fascinating stories, and ideally with a picture or two to make up for today's disappointing performance.

I have too many labels in my blog entries, it's not possible to classify them in a logical manner anymore. Should I go back to all the past entries and re-label them so that they make more sense?