Underwater Extremity Voyage

Thrill and excitement embraces me as the day has finally arrived, the day of our underwater voyage!

It was a serene morning of Sept. 29, 2007, right before the alarms were to set off, my eyes were wide open, getting ready for our Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus diving, and its 5:00 am, everything is set, leave all the worries behind! And off we go to the wharf.

It was 8:00 am, as the sun begins to penetrate to our skin with a very cool breeze of the sea swathes us as we depart off to the Coral Garden of the remarkable Talikod Island. I simply can’t hide our amazement and appreciation of the beauty of Mother Earth; coconut trees on the shore, electrifying blue colored sea, such graceful swimming fishes beside the boat, and visible corals beneath us, my looks simply tells my thoughts.. this is paradise..

The time was 9:00 am, big scary waves bangs our boat, but nobody gives attention as we were getting ready for our voyage 20 ft. below. By batch we submerged with our dive masters, I was one of the several people who were designated for the afternoon session. It was a boring and dull moment in the boat, we were beating the crap on eating the junk foods then suddenly our instructor allowed us to swim just in the area to keep us busy, but of course, not without any life jackets, excitement again was running through my veins and whoosh! Gradually we jumped to the big blue sea, pretty scary though, realizing that your like 30 ft. or so above water, floating.. but fun had played its role of covering up fear.

It was time for lunch and we headed for Babu Santa Island, radiance of the white sand stricken our eyes, the sounds of the big waves coming through the seashores has enlightened our minds, this is a very ideal vacation area, I said to my self. After eating lunch, time was not ideal to be spent sleeping! Which I did..(*ugh) but my classmates spent time walking on the seashore, grasping the beauty of the shells, sand, creatures found in the shore and together with this was their pictorial.

It was now 2:00 pm, time to leave this paradise and back to our voyage to the Mansud Wall and Angel’s Cove. Faces of those about to dive was extreme, some were showing scared, others were very excited, while some showed mixed emotions of gladness and nervousness, I guess I was with the 3^rd choice. It was my turn now, being the last one to dive, I was scared, and my heart pumps faster every minute and my knees were getting weak. I was putting on the fins while the dive master assisted me and wrapped this big bulky thing around me, attached with it is my source of oxygen underwater, the oxygen tank, I did check it our first just to make sure its not “shellane” *crack! I was now floating my way to the spot where we will submerged but before anything else, we had a quick recap on the briefing given to us a day before this dive, and he instructed to never forget the golden rule, “Just breathe continuously, never ever hold your breathe” and kapish! Down we go, breathing with this SCUBA made me feel like I was the villain in star wars, Dark Vader. There I was, dragged slowly, lower and lower to the sea floor, wow.. I said to myself, this is such a beautiful place, indeed it is very colorful and full of mysteries. This is absolutely a part of my life which I will always remember, to be one with their world, though in that few moments was an unforgettable experience. The biodiversity below show the amazing ecological balance of the seam while I was down there, I really explored every bit of everything that I see, I really appreciate the beauty of the underwater. Well, time is up! Time to ascend. Needless to say, when you’re submerged 30ft under, it is a different world.

This voyage has enlightened my young mind that marine life, 20ft or so below is beautiful and is diverse; this field work somehow opened my eyes to an encouraged soul to be more nature friendly and nature lover, this adventure also enhanced my awareness of the excellence found underwater and making true to the saying that the sea is one of the most unexplored places in the world, that it holds so much mysteries. Though time was fast, still this journey has successfully given us our goal, learning 30ft below is much better than in a classroom! The practice of imagination may be good but seeing the real thing is the real thing.

-kenjay- 

The truth about your security with condoms

In our epoch, the use of condoms is rampant as it gives protection over pleasure, protection from pregnancy, protection from sexually transmitted disease, but does it really protects us?

False sense of security, this is what I think condoms can give us all, having us blind on the bigger picture that as Christians and moral people, this is unethical and unbiblical. Is it enough to say that we can’t do anything as this is what our era has come to offer?  Remember that our thoughts become our actions and our actions become our habits, habits become our destiny. Not only in the moral and Christianity aspect can a condom be criticized but also by the fact that quality is a question to be asked, will you willingly rely your future in a box worth not less than P10? Is it worth it? Having you future traded for an hour of pleasure? We, specially students that don’t have work, who relies fully on their parents money should think twice as this may ruin you future and thus having you ending up pregnant and having you to have the baby aborted or worst to be a broke minor lady taking care of your kids in the house waiting in vain for your minor boyfriend hoping that he would come home bringing money or food perhaps! This is not the future that anyone of us wishes to have, but yet it is a possibility that we can’t afford to take for granted as it can happen if we don’t treat situations maturely and responsibly.

That I give you is only on the Christianity and moral views of this matter, but have you ever thought of the biological issues this immorality can confer? That if a female subsequently commits abortion, she will have a delicate pregnancy and worst, having to put her baby’s life in danger as her baby might slip from her cervix as a side effect from her past abortion.

These are only few of the many thoughts we should come to think before committing any of these acts. Well I have nothing against pleasure but is it worth risking our future? Think about it..

We students have been given the full blow of the entire correct decision making, the effect of our decisions now to our future, and all kinds of education, yet still the majority amongst us chooses to learn the hard way. But it’s not too late; we can make a difference, by starting in ourselves.

 -kenjay-