My 5-a-day

If family is your staple food, then friends are definitely your five-a-day. You cannot survive solely on them but neither can you live without them. Try ignoring them from your daily life for a week or so and very soon you will realise just how bland things are. 

At my age, gone are the days of trying out new things. And neither does great taste equate to the best. When it comes to my five-a-day, I know what is best and what is useless for me on a bad day. Once in a while, I will stumble upon new stuff that does make me feel good but after a while, the side effects start showing and before long, what was initially deemed great become so sickening, the whole body just wants to be rid of it as quickly as possible. Thank God, those days do not come very often. I call that wisdom but you may call it skepticism.

When it comes to my fruits and vegetables, I will be the first to admit that I do omit them once in a while from my diet. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I forget how important they are or what kind of 'ailments' will ensue from ignoring them (Wink, wink someone!). You may be out of sight but you and your importance are never (repeat, NEVER) out of my mind.

So to all the apples, broccolis and carrots of my life (you know who you are, but if you are reading this, you are probably one), I am sorry I have to associate you with my diet. But judging from my ever increasing chin- and waistline, are you surprised? If I could, I would make you my staple food but that would mean having to blow up my stomach five times its size now and I will explode! Jokes aside, there are no simpler way of saying how important you are to me other than I will simply die without you. And to all the great tasting toxins masquerading as anti-oxidants (you know who you are too), thank God I have my tried and tested five-a-day to overcome you.

Fish in pajamas

It is true that a lot of people think of divers as some aliens who have nothing better to do or to spend their money on, who prefer to suck air out of a cylinder and to risk their life from shark attacks and drownings. Come to think of it, yes, we divers are indeed wierd. But, give diving a try and I can almost guarantee you will be hooked, if you can get over the seasickness and the sensation of breathing through your mouth.

Underwater on a healthy reef, I can guarantee you that you will indeed feel like an alien or everything around aliens to you. Gone are the images of silver dull fish that we see in the markets. Gone are the images of lifeless piece of meat covered in fried batter we see on our plates. The amount of life and colours will be the first to hit you. Upon examination of the life forms, you will start having dejavu when you feel as if you have seen some of the creatures on some cartoons or sci-fi films. To me, my ultimate thought is God is a genius! He is the real Picasso, the real Valentino.

Take for instance, this fish.

And I am talking just one species out of billions underwater. And I am just talking about the adult ones only. Who on earth would ever think of painting or dressing a fish in not one or two but three different kind of patterns. Genius! Aptly called the pajama cardinalfish, it's as if the fish has decided to adorn a pj on its hind half. 

Impressed? Bemused? Then I suggest you take up diving. This is not some fiction I come up with. It's nature on Earth. So spare us from being branded aliens. We are just humans who care enough to discover what lies beneath, the water that is!

Ps/ Pic taken on a recent trip at Raja Ampat which I can only describe as THE underwater safari! If you want an underwater aquarium, then I recommend Sipadan.

Redlob says .......

....... survival is not how long you can stay alive in the harshest of times but how much happiness you can squeeze out of it.