Phuket, Thailand

Day 1: (Wednesday) After my two classes I hurried home to meet up with the roommates. The flight was for around 8:30 so I quickly packed the last minute items and we were off. We took the MRT to the airport which is a straight shot from our stop at Commonwealth (and takes about an hour). We were flying Jet Star which is a budget airline that is pretty cheap as long as your are traveling light. The security was somewhat different in that everyone was screened at each individual gate, not one large line for all of the terminal. The flight was about an hour and because of the time change we actually arrived before we left. Thailand doesn't require a visa, which is very convenient for last minute traveling. We met a guy on the flight that lives in Thailand and works in Singapore that briefed us on the arrival card (required when traveling internationally). He told us that they never look at it so we played around with the occupations a bit. Mike (the roommate) declared that he was a farmer and I was a teacher. No questions were asked and we were on our way. After clearing customs we were berated by individuals peddling tours, taxi rides, etc. from little stands. We grabbed a taxi and headed to our hostel in Phuket Town. The hostel was nice and very modern for Thailand. We checked in, consulted the desk, and got directions to the nearest drinking establishment. After failing to find the place we stumbled into a pretty cool place that had live music. Mike treated himself to a Singapore Sling (although this time it was pretty cheap). The music (all in Thai) was very entertaining but because we were diving very early the next morning we called it a night around 1am.

Day 2: We had to wake up around 9:00am to meet our driver (who was already there) so he could bring us to Calypso Diver's (name of the school). Boon (pictured) picked us up and dropped us off every day using the truck that was modified to hold passengers. This is very common in Asia, especially Phuket. We did all the necessary paperwork but before we were allowed to go into the water we had to watch instructional videos. They were incredibly boring and intentionally cheesy. The one take away we took was to constantly high five one another (a practice that we continued to do throughout the trip, much to the confusion of our diving instructors). After the videos we headed to a pool designed specifically for diving. We grabbed lunch and then it was time to go over some of the basics. The biggest hurtle was getting comfortable breathing in and out of your mouth under water. We swam around for a bit to get acclimated and then it was time for some of the safety skills. Everything was very simple and came pretty easily so we actually had time to finish all of the pool dives in one day. The long day at the pool was somewhat exhausting so we decided that the night would be more low key. We went to the local market to pick up a snack before dinner. One of the stands offered almost any type of meat on a stick. Samm, Mike, and I selected the beef satay (or so we thought). The first bite tasted pretty good but it was apparent almost immediately that the texture of the beef was much more like that of an organ. After the second bite it was clear we weren't eating beef so we gave up on the satay. Down the street was an Italian place that we had heard had good pizza. The reviews were very accurate (although it was no Tower, it did offer a more traditional Italian Pizza). Next we went to a place called Mike's Bar for a couple of drinks. All of the tables had little games like Connect Four, Jenga, etc. We played for awhile but eventually Mike and Samm gave up because they could not beat me. Another early day was in store, but this time it was actually going to be a dive in the ocean.

Day 3: We had to watch two more videos and then it was time to head down to the beach for the first official Scuba dive. It was quite a site with hundreds of people enjoying the beach and a few people in full wetsuits and gear walking slowly towards the water. After about a 150m swim out we dove down to the reef. My first thoughts were right out of Finding Nemo (complete with clown fish and all). We got to swim around the reef and explore for most of the dive. We also had to do various skills that would happen in an emergency like losing your regulator or water getting into your mask. We headed back to shore to talk about the first dive and go over some of the skills for the next dive. The second dive of the day was more skills based but we also got to go a bit deeper (10m). After a long day of diving we headed back and grabbed food at one of the local restaurants. The class isn't all fun and did require that we take some quizzes. We went over the book and took the quizzes (which were actually insanely easy). Wanting to get all of the class work out of the way we requested that we take the 40 MC test then and there to get it out of the way for the next day. Naturally we all passed quite easily. Knowing that all that stood in our way to passing the course was two beach dives the next day we decided that we were going to celebrate tonight. The popular tourist attraction Patong (about 20 minutes away) was the local version of Bourbon with bars, clubs, and tacky shops. Also present was a large population of "lady boys" a much more accepted and common profession for men. The day of diving made us hungry so we set out for dinner first which followed by a bit of shopping and eventually drinking. Patong's version of the hand grenade (the bucket) is quite simply a clear pale filled with mixed drinks. At 3 for 10 it was hard to resist. Its also very common for owners to throw in extra shots and such to keep customers from leaving. They also had a ton of bar games like those at Mike's bar but also a very simple game that involved using a small hammer to strike a nail into a stump. The first to do so was the winner. I was challenged by one of the bartenders to a game of Jenga, only this game was slightly different. We played for awhile before I eventually succeeded. The bar was family run and all of the employees were the children or friends of the family. We were content staying there and they were content giving us free drinks because we were drawing a lot of other people into the bar. By the end of the night we were making our own drinks behind the bar.

Day 4: I was feeling fine the next morning but that wasn't the same for the roommates who were obviously moving a little slow the next morning. The second day of diving brought us back to the same beach and reef but we were content exploring different areas of the coral. Also much of these dives were to master the more difficult skills that are necessary to master like completely taking one's mask off or ascending to the service using a buddy's spare regulator. Not too much else happened. I was very tired so decided to stay in for the night but Mike and Samm went out with one of our instructors for drinks. They had a great time but ended up spending a lot trying to bet shots vs. some of the bar girls in many of the silly games. We officially completed the course and were given free t-shirts and our temporary PADI licenses.

Day 5: (Sunday) Because diving changes the amount of Nitrogen in the blood stream you cannot fly 18 hours after diving. Knowing this we spent this day at some of the local markets and exploring some of the city that we had yet to see during the day. The heat all week was incredibly but this day was especially hot because we weren't in the water. Other than a bit of shopping and watching a movie the day was simply a day of rest before we could head home early the next morning with just enough time to make it back for classes.