Insights into a Bimbo's Mind

Size does Matter

Monday, November 07, 2005

It is confirmed. The Malaysian waters are void of ANY big sea creatures and is instead turning into a huge oceanic nudibranch wonderland. For those who are unaware, nudibranches according to Wikipedia are sea slugs or jelly bodied snails about the size of 4mm. Yes, mini life forms in the big ocean.



You see, Narrrling and i, we went diving again last weekend, and this time, in paradise itself, namely the beautiful Sipadan islands off Borneo. Being the shallow and kiasu divers that we are, we are still harping on and on about this “Size Does Matter” concept, constantly day dreaming about seeing big things underwater. Us, who have been fed with too much national geographic documentaries about the giant octopus and the great whites, we had high hopes that Sipadan was the answer to these fantasies. Days before we left for our trip, I was day-dreaming about swimming with barracudas the size of my bar stool and sharks the size of my car… Nudibranches? Hey, get real.. they didn’t even cross our minds. What do you want to do with some 4mm sea slug when a huge manta ray comes swinging gracefully your way under the big blue?

You know, they say those who reject certain things will end up getting most of it in the end. Just like me who use to tell everyone I will never date a white guy and will marry a gorgeous looking film star, ended up being the queen of SPG when I married a gweilo with no sign of film star looks(although Narrrling would like to think he somewhat has a striking resemblance to Mike Delfino of Desperate Housewives). So in our trip, it was no suprise that Sipadan became our very own nudibranch warehouse. Every corner we turned, every time we made a stop, there was a nudibranch peeping up at us. I mean, no offence, they’re cute little things. But we were looking for the mantas and the whale sharks.. We were big time divers who wanted to see BIG things.So what happened to the vivid fantasy where we, donned in our cool dive gears, bravely gave chase into a dark cave 30 meters under the sea after sighting a giant squid?

The strangest thing is, other divers love these little nudibranches. They crowd around them, oogling and taking pictures of them for a looong time before they move to the next nudibranch stop for more pictures. None of them seem to mind at all not seeing a single big shark throughout the entire dive trip. Narrrling and I, sometimes I feel, are like the uncultured divers. It’s like walking through the Louvre demanding to see the big paintings with most colors and strokes while dismissing the small masterpieces. Yet we both know the problem lies with ourselves but we still spent a tremendous amount of time poking fun at other divers for reading books like “1001 nudibranches”. By the end of the dive trip, we were both so sour that we were discussing about 1001 ways of battered deep frying and cooking these darn nudibranches.

But I must say that all in all, big sharks or none, nudibranches and all, it was a trip to paradise and back. Sipadan is truly a place in heaven with water so blue and green it matches the colors of heaven.. Its captivating beauty makes one remember that life indeed has a lot more to offer and paradise is never too far away ..



The view from our window

posted by Miki-C @ 1:44 PM