The Divers' Lodge on Pulau Aur... a beautiful holiday residence.

Okay, it really isn't about personal pride...

But, I never really thought that I'd actually put on a SCUBA suit and go underwater... not after I've heard so many horror stories about it.

However, since so many of my friends were going and it WAS at a special discount, I thought, "...hmm ...why not?"

And a couple of weeks later, I found myself on Pulau Aur, strapping on a wetsuit having the time of my life...

After the first dive, everyone was just so pleased with themselves... 

It was really quite thrilling, as you drift in zero gravity with the fishes and other forms of aquatic lives glide pass you. You quite quite help but grinned helplessly with your dive buddy.

... we were so excited, we decided we MUST take a photograph of ourselves after that...

A memory shot after our very FIRST dive.

Night shot over at the beach. Watchout for sea cucumbers!!

A feast of barbecue food after the day's dive was certainly warmly welcomed....

As the flame from the pit licked the air while the chef teased it with his fan, we were busy soaking up the cool evening air while downing the delectably tantalising food. But what really occupied most of our table activity was recounting the day's experience within the warm and clear waters of Pulau Aur.

Since the night was still young, we ventured off to the beach... and found sea cucumbers!!

 The second day we woke up at 6 a.m. It was then off to sea for our first open water dive as...

Licensed divers!! At last, we really passed our 'test' and scored real well. So we can now venture into the open waters. The sights there were much more thrilling... it was also much deeper... the schools of fishes there were extraordinary!!

We were behaving like kids holding the key to the house for the first time... the 'house' being the waters...

The bunch of us... excited and raring to go for the first time as licensed divers.

Here I am with Christine, my dive buddy from Thailand.

 It is essential that we dive with a partner all the time - a  'dive buddy'... to make the trip safer and more enjoyable...

My dive buddy was from Thailand and basically buddies give each other a final check on the equipment before going the depths. Having a buddy also makes the trip more enjoyable, since you can share the sights and you drift along the ocean.

So don't plan a diving excursion without a 'buddy'!!

 The diving sites that we went to on that day had the most beautiful of names...

The most memorable one that we went to was "The Secret Garden". It was truly beautiful with all its colourful corals and boulders and aquatic lives. It certainly lived up to its name!!

We really didn't want to get on board the dive boat, 'cos that meant it was time to go home...

Here we are before diving at a spot called "The Secret Garden" just of the main island of Pulau Aur.

Cheese!! And a Home Sweet Home away we go!!

 But we had to...

So after a nice shower and clearing up of our rooms, we met up at the diners for our last meal on the island before we finally set off on our journey back to Singapore. However, the bunch of us did promise to get together again some time later for another trip down to the bottom... but now it's...

...HOME SWEET HOME!!