Papua New Guinea

Hubby managed to squeeze in a diving trip while doing time at Papua New Guinea. It was just off the coast of the capital, Port Moresby. He was taken to the coast by the dive centre operators because driving there was 'hazardous', as one had to drive through hostile areas! Thereafter, it was just a short boat ride to the diving spot.


He went for 3 day dives and reckons the place is more beautiful than Manado, but still not as gorgeous as Sipadan Island. There was an abundance of huge fish, and they amazingly did not seem wary of humans at all! This is why he could take such close-up photos of these graceful fishes.


Camoflouge fishes stay still, so it's not hard to photograph them as long as you can spot them in the first place!


Hubby and friends also visited the local market there. It is not a place you want to go unless you have a guide, or even better, some bodyguards! (His friend was almost pick-pocketed even though they were with a guide.)

Look at their wonderful natural supply of seafood! Hubby must've been drooling...

Travel, travel, travel...

*Sigh*

I'm not looking forward to the months ahead... hubby's going to be racking up the frequent flyer miles for the next two, maybe three months! So I'm going to be left behind on my own to hold up the fort!!

Yippe kai yay! (see the enthusiasm oozing out me ears?)

Hubby just got back from Singapore, and now, as we speak, he's with grandpa at the big "C" in the sky ("C" is for casino), on a quest for their much beloved adrenaline kicks.



I believe buried inside every Chinese male lies the gambler who believes he will strike it rich one day! Some are just less 'buried' than others! :) It must be genetic. Did you watch "Kung Fu Panda"? They just had to make a reference to the innate gambling trait in the Chinese, with that part where his dad tells him the noodle shop was inherited by him from his father, who inherited it in turn from his father, who inherited it in turn from his father, who inherited it in turn from his father, who won it in a game of mahjong! Typical...

So anyway, after this trip, it'll be all work. With only days in between, hubby will be off to Bintulu for about a week, then to Papua New Guinea for only God knows how long. That's the part I don't like; not knowing when he'll be back. The last time he was there, he missed Chinese New Year for the first time ever! This time, he'll definitely miss my birthday and maybe his own, plus a family trip to KL which I planned eons ago and maybe even Christmas! Let's just hope it'll be a short trip.

It doesn't help either, that the only thing I know about PNG, besides the fact that there's sea cucumbers aplenty, is that it is the world's third most dangerous city to live in, after Moscow and Johannesburg! So I'm imagining big, bad gangster street fights and muggings and drive-by shootings, you know what I mean?

Oh yes, there's also the recent health crisis, where a triple outbreak of seasonal influenza, cholera and thyphoid (was it?) is burdening their already inferior healthcare system! Throw in the risk of contracting malaria and the world-wide H1N1 epidemic, and we have ourselves a virus convention! Rest assured I'll be sending hubby off with half of my pharmacy's stock of medication and supplements!

A lot of people don't even know where Papua New Guinea is. The last time hubby was there, I called my handphone service provider's customer call centre to check the rates for calls from Malaysia to PNG and can you believe it, she's never heard of the place, let alone know where it is! I spelled it out for her and she had to call me back after checking Google Earth or her Primary 5 geography textbook or something! Oh yes and FYI, calls to PNG cost a bomb, so I'll be Skyping the next few months away...

(it's the biggest yellow bit, in case you too were sleeping in geography class...)

Anyhoo, poker chips and sea cucumbers aside, I guess I had better brace myself for a looong month or two ahead. So, if, in the next couple of months, you don't hear from me for too long, don a bullet-proof vest and come rescue me please...