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BALI DELIGHTS |
Bali is an eclectic ensemble of religion, rice paddies, ocean vistas, big fish, small fish and weird and wonderful underwater creatures. It reminds me of their daily staple, nasi goring - fried rice tossed with whatever is available from the kitchen and served topped with an egg. The basic ingredients of a nasi goreng usually include a protein such as chicken or pork and it is spiced with onion, garlic, ginger, chillie, soy sauce with bok choy added for colour. The ‘rice' in this case, is the Balinese faith in Hinduism which forms the very foundation of their lifestyle and thus represents the chief ingredient of a nasi goreng.
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FINTASTIC |
Humans have legs - fish
have fins. Some have
short and fat ones; some
have long and slender
ones. There are those
that sport the athletic
type and there are the
lazy types. Of course
there are the attractive
and the sexy ones but
they all follow the same
principle of providing
movement in some way or
other, be it fast or
slow. The functions of
fins however, are far
greater than that of
mere propulsion. Fins
are capable of being
weapons, oars, brakes,
paddles or hydroplanes,
propulsion and
communication devices,
sex symbols and are even
used for just plain
sailing. |
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KAVIENG - WHERE CURRENTS COLLIDE |
Crash, bang, rattle thud! I woke up from a deep sleep as the winch ground into action and the anchor chain was laboriously winched from the depths of the Bismarck Sea. It was still dark outside. "The curse of economy class cabins", I thought to myself. I was sleeping in the forward cabin of Paradise Sport. Here there is no escaping any activity on the bow of the boat. I understand that anchors are all a necessary part of boating, but does it have to be at 5am in the morning? Leaving our safe anchorage for the night the boat slowly motored to get to the first dive site of the day by sunrise. I rolled over and let the rocking of the boat lull me back to sleep. |
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CREATURES
OF THE NIGHT |
It’s rush hour underwater. Daylight is
fading and night is
creeping in. Traffic is
building up as nocturnal
fish are slow to wake
and venture away from
the sanctity of the
reef. Diurnal fish are
desperately looking for
safe parking space for
the night but the
parking lots are still
occupied. Adding to the
chaos and causing
multiple accidents are
the voracious feeders
that attack the homeless
fish. Each attack
scatters the queuing
fish, causing many to
crash into the reef
barriers as they attempt
to flee from the chaos.
The wounded limp into
crevices to recuperate
only to find the
hospital staff are off
duty for the night. The
hustle and bustle of a
coral reef can be
likened to a giant
underwater city with
many different
buildings, apartment
blocks, tunnels, alleys,
freeways and parks - all
in a cosmopolitan
atmosphere. |
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AQUAFRESH |
The annual visit to the
dentist is not one I
choose to remember.
Lying on a narrow couch
with a mouth full of
instruments and latexed
fingers is not my idea
of fun. Inevitably at
some awkward moment,
when nothing more can
fit in my mouth, the
dentist will ask a
question. Which finger
or instrument do I spit
out in order to reply?
“Ah huh, your teeth are
fine but you need to see
the oral hygienist”. Is
this a money making
racket or a polite way
of saying – ‘I can see
what you had for lunch?’ |
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MANTA
MAMBO |
Imagine an invitation to
a ballet where the
theatre is in the open,
the seats unreserved,
neither a sound man nor
wardrobe mistress were
hired, the choreographer
is one of the cast, the
lighting is au natural
and the show is neither
rehearsed nor repeated.
The show has no producer
and the makeup artists
only sanitize scars or
manicure wounds. Yet the
show is mesmerizing with
no interval and no
curtain call. In fact,
the human audiences are
the only ones to leave
early and that is done
unwillingly when,
literally, their breath
has been taken away and
they have run out of
air. The show is never
advertised as the cast
members perform when
they feel the conditions
are right yet.. |
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SHAPE
UP OR SHIP OUT |
Does size matter? Well
that depends on who is
asking and of course -
who is answering. But
the burning question is
- does shape matter?
Shape must have some
implications otherwise
the ‘weight loss remedy’
wouldn’t be worth the
billion dollar industry
that it is, not to
mention the recent
upsurge of sports
nutrition products. Both
industries challenge one
to change body shape to
achieve a certain
effect. Being a certain
shape or size can
certainly have its
advantages... |
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All Copyright 2019 Peter Pinnock. Unauthorized use prohibited. |
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