Return to Balihai

It feels like a long time has passed since I last stepped foot on the island of Tioman but really, it has been only 4 months. Well, it was a long time for me but I finally made it there again not once but twice in a span of 1 week. Crazy huh?

Balihai's Dive Boat at Panuba Jetty:


Panuba Resort with crystal waters and nice quiet surroundings:



Underwater critters just meters off the beach. A starfish 'standing' up:



One of Ladyhawk's fave; 'Electric-Blue' Damsels


A shoal of fishes feeding. They seem to move and feed together.



This parrotfish was kinda camera shy.


Baby cuttlefish in the shallows!! A marvelous encounter.


Same cuttlefish with its rapid colour change camouflage. Seems a bit confused here as to what colour that could blend with the hand underneath it.


New cleaner shrimp just off Panuba Jetty. Bigger than the other cleaner shrimps found near the tyre but just one or two of these.


Not sure if this is a sole or flounder or whatever.


Cat shark found just 50 meters from the shoreline at a depth of 2 1/2 meters. Unsual for it to be out in the daytime. Although we could not see any sign of physical injury, there was definitely something wrong with it. Made us feel happy and sad at the same time.

Merambong Island

On the south-south-west tip of Johor, there lies an island named Merambong. It is not very big. Maybe the size of small football stadium? Despite its size and its proximity to a very busy port, the island holds many surprises. The surrounding areas are rich in marine life! How long this will remain depends on the political powers that be. Conservation efforts and awareness are but a small voice in the gale forces of 'money talks'.

We made a weekend journey down south and these are some of the images captured:

Merambong and its surroundings at low tide. It was difficult to walk without stepping on something that could be a marine lifeform.




Another use for a discarded truck tire. It is now the base for seagrass and other smaller marine creatures to shelter. Further back of the photo you would be able to make out the 2nd Link Bridge from Johor into Singapore.



A Peacock Anemone in the shallow water.



Here's another view from beneath the water surface.




Walk slowly and you will chance upon many interesting creatures. Can you spot the crab in the picture?



Its not that big, but rather brave. Stood up against a monstrous lens that might have 'sucked' its lifeforce away!



Walking in the shallow waters, there are many flower crabs that you can see. There's not one, but two in this picture!



It was defending its mate. All these while, the mate in front never moved the tiniest bit! The one at the back would do its best, even running off to try to draw attention away then zooming back to its defense position.



This was another interesting crab. I was about to take some shots of it underwater but it scooted away before I could get into position. While I was tracking to see where it might have gone to .....



.... this came into my view. WOW! Forget the crab! I've got a more interesting subject now. Maybe it was the crab's ploy to get away... hahaha!



A Hippocampus Kuda - Seahorse



Gorgeous! That itself would have made the whole trip worthwhile.




How the underwater pics of the seahorse were taken:

Wide Angle Takes

Here's some experimental shots using wide angle lens. Practising with some low angled perspective. Comments and suggestions welcomed.

From the angle of ants:



Left behind... if I had fallen down, this would be my view:


Perhaps this instead?:

Mangrove Garden (Lumut)

One of our crazy weekends and a run up to the North of the country. Stopped over at a Mangrove Swamp Park. A raised walkway had been constructed to allow visitors to enter the mangrove and not get their feet wet and muddy.



Information signboard on the importance of mangrove forest/swamp.




Always on the lookout for these colourful fiddler crabs down the mud below.







Hmmm... under-developed claw?




This is how you get closeups of the fiddler crabs from the walkway. Hold on to something, lean over the edge as far as you can and try not to fall down!




Another use of the mangrove tree ....




A Charcoal Kiln .... that will be another story...

End of a hot, hot day...

Many a time we take things for granted. For example this beautiful sunset. We would get so caught up with things that this would go almost unnoticed even if it were staring at us.

This is one of my favourite moments at the end of a hot, hot day. Hot weather is usually taken for granted. I was a a conference today and one of the speakers from overseas told us when he left Maine (US) 2 days ago, his hands were blue when he left the airport. No wonder there's so many Mat Sallehs (local slang for Caucasian) enjoying the hot sunny weather here. Only problem with that is most don't realize the sun here gets extremely hot. Forget the sun tan oil... even with sunblock you could get a sunburn.

Over the Buaya Sangkut Waterfalls

Buaya Sangkut (local language meaning Stuck Crocodile) is one of the attractions of the Endau-Rompin National Park. Consists of five steps or tiers, this is one of the largest waterfalls in Malaysia.

I have visited this waterfall way back in 1995 and it was a hard 3-4 hour trek to reach from Kuala Jasin.









This is Kuala Jasin, where the Jasin river flows into the Endau river.







We made an emergency landing after low clouds rolled in fast just after we had left Kampung Peta. Had the low-cloud condition persists, we would have to spend the night here.

Sunday Drive...

Its been some time since going for a photo-shoot. Decided to take a drive to one of those roads that offered a scenic view of the city. Been here once or twice but during the night. The last time we passed, we noticed a place called Lookout Point but it was closed for some renovation or something like that. This time it was opened. There were 4 restaurants there, an observation tower and a gorgeous view of the city!




Beautiful clump of Staghorn ferns high atop one of the trees there.




Left the place in search of a waterfall but got sidetracked to a riverside. There was a snack shop with the operators closing up for the day. The makcik was burning some leaves and the smoke presented a nice photo-opportunity.




The enticing river on a hot day. We were not prepared to get wet so not even our toes touched the water.




The pakcik at the food stall told there was a ikan-bakar (BBQ fish) restaurant run by his brother just round the corner (literally). Supposedly famous though we've never heard about it. We decided to give it a try.




At first the setting look like it was pretty small although we were informed it could hold 300 ppl.




Then as we walked in further, we begin to see all the dining areas. By the lakeside...



... amongst the trees...




... and even elevated! We chose this one ;-)




There were little booths set up around the area to give the diners some nice cosy, private (somewhat) atmosphere. We did wonder how the diners were going to call the waiter/waitress since the booths were spread over a large area. Perhaps just wait until one happens to pass by or someone has to walk over to the cashier if they want something.

This was how the fishes were BBQ'd. The 2 we ordered are on the left of the picture.
Sorry we forgot to take a picture of our orders before we gobbled it down. Was OK, nothing to shout about really but the setting was kinda unique.



That's it folks!