Finding and Eating Nemo

Activities director Montana and our hotel receptionists really know how to fill up a day! It started with a 7:30 alarm, off to breakfast, then rushing back to our room to stuff ourselves into dive suits. It's enough of a challenge when one is dry...with wet, sticky skin, it's a workout!!!

Our boat driver was waiting when we arrived at the reception area, and it was a repeat of two days ago, but this time we knew what to expect. When he disappeared, we knew which little alleyway to duck into. Boat entry was easier this time through an opening in the side of the boat...don't know why we didn't go that way before. We knew where to stow our things & were heading to the Blue Lagoon in very short order. It takes about a half hour to get there and Montana weathered the trip with no problem. She jumped in as soon as she could and never had a problem today.

The boat driver gave us directions again and said he would meet us down current where he would anchor his boat. Everything went well. It didn't take long to see that this area was worlds apart from where we went the first day...we were wondering why they even bother with "the island"--maybe that area is OK for diving. There was some good coral and lots of different fishes...enough to keep us making discoveries for 2.5 hours. It will take quite awhile to identify what we saw. Many LuRue remembers from previous trips to the Pacific, but it's like a foreign language...you forget if you don't use it. Some of the most memorable sightings were a very large eel swimming beneath us, a small school of squid, and a large Butterflyfish-type, but huge...about 15 inches in diameter. Montana managed to get a couple of quick photos.  We are really eager to spend some time with the fish book to see if we can figure it out.

Montana can dive down and hover about 12 to 15 feet deep, so is able to get some really good photos. LuRue's photos are strictly point-and-shoot, but with cropping a small fraction of the photo, it is often good enough to ID a fish, so good enough.

Toward the end of our snorkeling pass, LuRue called out to Montana that she had found Nemo. Montana swam quickly over and we watched for several minutes as a large group of Clownfish swam in and over a beautiful sea anemone.

We quit a little earlier than we needed to, but for a first day, it was enough. This time we landed on the beach and there was a lot of help getting our things off the boat. A good day!!

We still had enough time before our afternoon activity to swim for an hour or so in the pool (and, of course, run down for a quick gelato!)

The driver for our cooking class picked us up, drove a few hundred feet, and pulled into the same place that we go for snorkeling! A very nice beachside restaurant that we'll go to, one of these days. We were escorted to a table to have a "welcome drink" of some kind of fruit juice. Then a man came up to us and introduced himself as Chef Dewa. He led us around the walkways of the hotel, pointing out different plants that are used in cooking. Apparently, most things can be obtained there on the grounds. Then we went to the beach, right next to where we catch our snorkeling boat, and saw the cooking area set up in a covered section next to the base of the restaurant (one story overhead). There were places prepared, including chopping boards, deep fryer, steamer, blender, and sink for washing. The chef helped us into aprons and headscarves (with our names) as the driver, who had picked us up, followed us around like paparazzi, recording everything with a very nice digital camera.

We first made spring rolls, then sat at a beach table under a tree to eat them after being photographed with the finished dish and with the chef. And so it went for three dishes for our main course, followed by dessert. The main course was a trio of steamed chicken dish with spices in a banana leaf (Tum Be Siap), a rice dish with peanuts (Gado Gado), and fish kebobs (poor Nemo!). Actually that one was Sate Lilit (minced fish wrapped around skewer, which in this case was a stalk of lemongrass). Dessert was Pisang Goreng (Fried banana)...banana chunks dipped in a pancake batter, then deep-fried.

There goes Nemo

Appetizer

Dinner

Dessert

We lingered through sunset as the assistants created personalized Certificates and a CD of photos. The sunset sky was quite spectacular and we even had a little excitement as the lantern hanging in the tree behind Montana's head at first didn't come on, then some unusual lighting above the lantern turned out to be the faulty wiring on fire. We called the troops over, they turned out those lights, and the fire burned itself out.

When we got home, it dawned on us that we don't have a way to access the CD with photos, so are very glad that Montana was also taking pictures. The guy at reception (night watchman?) was very happy to take our leftovers!

Tomorrow we have to be ready for an 8:00am departure, so that means a 6:30 alarm. Ugh!!