Ambon bon bon..

Actually I am not sure how to start writing about this trip. It all started with coffee with Nazir one day months earlier where he told me about the trip. I was intrigued but not enough to say yes ... I didn't know any of his dive buddies except Tony, and at my age, I don't feel like meeting new people (yeah.. so what?) He FB messaged me a few weeks later, during Ramadhan... and I thought.. mm... maybe.. why not? At that point in time, I already had plans to leave my job and searching for a new one.  I got myself a new job. I had to serve 3 month notice, and promised the new boss I'd start work right away. I told him about my plans to Ambon... lo and behold... he is all for vacations and getaways. And he also had a trip planned at the same time. He said, "No problem, you could always take unpaid leave" Yeay! So I told Nazir, I was going. Bought tickets to Makassar.. and persuaded Jon to join me. The rest is history!

Jon & I are ready for our new adventures!

26/11/14

I left home early in the morning to get on the  train to KLIA2. It's my first time to KLIA2, and as usual I have my travel jitters.  My flight was at 12:45 pm, but I wanted to leave early because I heard KLIA2 is big. And... I missed the train. Oopss.. Luckily I was a bit too early. Jon was already at the airport. Nazir texted me to make sure I arrive safely. How sweet. I texted Jon to make sure she's ok. She was still recovering from her knee surgery. Felt bad about taking her but would've felt worse if I had left her. And I am also glad she's around.. I love familiar faces when I travel.

As soon as I arrived at KLIA2, I checked in my bags and went to look for Nazir. He said to meet him at NZ, KLIA2 is huge! I circled the bloody airport twice to look for NZ! Then I decided to just meet Jon at the gate, and maybe have my breakfast inside or something. Found a McD and had breakfast there before I joined Jon. As soon as we saw each other, Tony and Nazir greeted us. We were joined by Dinesh and Alfred (Tony's cousin). Dinesh is quite a handsome guy... reminds me of that Turkish guy I met at Sipadan... alas, he's taken. lol! He seems lost too... so I didn't really feel alone. hehe.. Both Jon and I have been really sick before this trip. Nose block, flu, cough, fever... you name it. It's all there. It kinda added up to my usual travel jitters... #nervoustraveller.

Then a few other strangers greeted Tony and Nazir, and we found out there were about 12 of us.

Sama-sama.. gunung didaki.. sama-sama.. 

We arrived at around 4 pm. Had to wait for everyone to clear the immigration. I didn't have any problem .. alhamdulillah. Nazir has warned us about printing our return boarding pass before we left for Makassar because they have had issues before pertaining the boarding pass. Giun had problems because she did not print her outbound boarding pass. Luckily she had it on her laptop! Phewww...

While waiting for our ride to the hotel, I got us local sims... Yippeee... internet! We were to stay in Makassar for the night before leaving for the airport at 2 am for our too early flight. Huhu..

Our room.. katil yang bersepah tu katil Jon

The rooms were on the second floor and we had to bring all our bags up. I dreaded my own decision to bring my own equipment now. I was so glad I went to all my torture weight training sessions with Dhiya the entire year.. My legs were strong, my back were okay to lift all those heavy bags of mine and Jon's. Someone has to help her.

Dinner time, Jon was tired. So I went and got her some food, and went back downstairs to eat. Hung out with everyone.. some kind of orientation session for everyone.. Missing a few names still.. but was sure that by the end of the trip would have remembered everyone's names. We retired early, so we could wake up at 1:30 am and shower.

27/11/14

We left the hotel at 1:45. Our flight to Ambon was at 3:35 am. We had to leave early to beat the long lines at the airport. We managed to check in smoothly, and were not charged for any extra luggage at all. Awesome. Had some starbucks coffee before we left, and Dinesh got a new name. Jimis.

Mrs.. because the poor boy thought I was Tony's Mrs. Lol

We arrived at Ambon safely. The airport was tiny, and it has Roti Boy. They sure love their Mexican bun. Not only they have roti boy there.. they have a Roti Boy imitator next to it. hahaha..

Welcome to Ambon

We're here.. 

The "Resort"

Our ride met with us at the airport and took us to our "resort"... Patra. It's located in Laha, owned by a a local pakcik, who is damn rich by the way. He owns the land which housed the dive center we dived with too. It's humble, and had everything we needed. And the air-conditioner can be turned on 24 hours. *love*

We had lunch and Jon and I slept. We're supposed to do 2 dives after lunch, but Jon and I were sleepy. I hate diving when I don't get enough sleep.. I get cranky dizzy.

I did one dive that day... After I had taken my nap.

tinggal kenangan

Was still groggy when I dived. Luckily I brought my camera down with me during my first dive. Muck diving at Laha is awesome. Hehehe... Saya suka! If you wanna see anything.. just do a shore dive.. and you're fine. Rhinopias.. Ghost Pipefish.. colorful nudis..  love!

Rhinopias. Unfortunately I missed its yellow partner. haha bodo

The place is crawling with eels.. euww.. mak geli makk

i love these little clown frogfish.. comeyyy

my first time seeing this nudi. never thought it'd be this big!

After the dive, I was tired.. so went straight back to Patra. That night we had a small celebration for our dear daddy Tony... My task was to distract him in his room. :) Happy birthday Tony..

Haha... entah berapa kali birthday dia pakai baju kuning ni hahaha

28/11/14

The next day, we dived Aquila Wreck. OMG.. Aquila is one amazing wreck. The corals were healthy and colorful.. The view was just majestic. Awesome.. I rarely love wrecks because it's eerie.. but Aquila wreck was wonderful. #mustdive The weirdest thing happened to me while diving there.. One song was playing on my mind over and over again the moment I saw the wreck... Pusara di Lebuhraya.. Scary ain't it?

This ketam was looking for a fight with me

We went back and Jon said she's not gonna dive anymore.. Nazir pulak said that he's gonna get a driver and drive around the city with Jon. Where got like this? Hahha.. so ahkak pun ikut sama. I ditched my dive the rest of the day and went to town with them. Hehehe.. We had lunch at a restaurant before crossing over to Ambon. Banyak la pulak. Tak habis. Everything I had to try..

Ready to paint Ambon red 

Tapi kita makan dulu....

Aftermath. We were hungry

Ambon people on wheels

I thought it was funny

Cak! I love you... You love me.. I look like Barney

The city is interesting with so many things to see..The people are nice. At least those we have met.

When we drove back to Laha it was almost dark. Jimis Dinesh was entertaining the staff and the local ladies. They were amused when he said he's an Indian guy... immediately asking him to imitate Shah Rukh Khan. Lol!

29/11/14

The dive sites

Diving on the third day was fun. They took us to Pintu Kota and another dive on a nearby dive site Air Manis I think..  They said the current would be quite strong here.. and we'd be able to see some big fish having their meals. Both didn't happen... but the dive sites are beautiful. Only thing missing is the fish. Hehehe..

Pintu Kota

Surface interval

Our My last dive, we did a shore dive under the pier. We planned to ditch the dive guides and stay a wee bit longer to find stuff.. especially those tiny ones.. But we kinda ditched our plans because the water got too cold. hahaha.. However.. we did find some amazing stuff...

After the gorgeous food we had the day before, that night's dinner felt like blerghh... So most of us went and got food and jajans.. I'm sure the pakciks and makciks were so happy to have us come to Patra again. Lol!

This doesn't sound right. 

30/11/14

Tony and Joe were the only ones that dived on our last day in Laha. I was tired and lazy. Lazy was the operative word here. Nazir planned a tour of Ambon today. Yippee!! After we're done cleaning and drying the equipment, we went out to Ambon. Our first stop was Desa Larike to see and feed... and touch the famous Morea (freshwater eels). They are quite tame and allow people to touch and pet them. A bit icky though.. But I did it anyway... huhu

Luckily for Jon, ada supir2 yang bisa membantu turun tangga.. 

Geli i tell you

The tourists hehe.. :D

We're allowed to touch them.. I touched one of them too.. and like I said icky.. euww.. :(

After that we moved on to the city. On the way we had a few stops. The Batu Selayar and Batu Suanggi were beautiful rock formations on the shores of Ambon on the way to Desa Larike. We saw them on our way to see the Eels, and stopped on our way back for some photos.

Batu Selayar on far right

Batu Selayar

Dinesh being Jimis.. hahah.. 

As usual.. I jadi Mem besar. Duduk depan. The perks of being fat. :) 

Batu Suanggi is a lonely batu

Before we actually went to town, Nazir thought the guys should also try the restaurant we tried the other day. So we stopped for lunch. Everyone was burnt, and hungry.

Belanja Wefie satu. Look at our lunch!

Obviously we're piranhas.. Licin.. hahaha

Though full and sleepy, we proceeded according to plan. We went sightseeing at Ambon. Making our way through the small town of Ambon... finding souvenirs like Minyak Putih (which is famous in Ambon). I bought a few bottles, as it can be mixed with unscented massage oil to be used as of course massage oil and used on its own for flu and stuff. Smells really nice and makes really cool souvenirs. I also bought some fridge magnets for my girlfriends and some nice Ambon cookies for the office. We also stopped at the beautiful monuments of the warriors of Ambon..

Penat dan ngantuk.. sememeh nye iols.. 

hahaha.. jimis and nazir are acting in this cacat panoramic still movie

 After all that shopping and tourist attractions, we made our way to our final stop.. I have no idea where it was but we get to eat the best rojak in Ambon.

Eating rojak with this view.. nothing could beat this!

the fruits.. fresh! 

They have different scales of pedas. I think I opted for mild. Luckily!

ROjak and air kelapa.. and awesome company. 

Our awesome ride.. Hehehe.. :D 

We went back to our homestay. We were beat.. but I guess there was still energy left for some drinks and jajan.. and cup noodles.. We hung out as it was our last night there.. got shooshed by other guests who were trying to get a shut eye. Lol.. It was a fun trip and it was ending..

1/12/14

I have to thank Nazir for the invitation. I would never dreamed of diving Ambon.. I bet Jon think the same too. (tu yang gigih jugak pegi walaupun dah boleh dapat kad OKU.. LOL)  I truly had fun.. the company was cool.. the dive sites were beautiful. The rojak was so sedap I don't think I have yet found a match. I made so many new friends. And despite the fact that it has been almost a year and a half ago, I could still remember the experience. 

So I get to cross out Ambon from my world map now.. hoping to cross out more places in the future.. 

We went to Ambon as strangers.. and we came back as friends.. 

The End.