How you can take your current Digital camera 40meters underwater :D

This blog is to explain how we underwater hobbist take our digital pictures underwater.

The thing is chances are, the digital camera you have been using all these time on dry land could indeed be converted into an Underwater Photographing camera. Heres how.

Bring your digital camera along with you next time you go to the SuperMalls like Mid Valley or 1Utama.

If you happen to be near a Camera Retail Store, just walk in and ask about Underwater Camera Casings.

Show the shop assistant your camera and he or she might be able to find compatiable cases for you.

Heres a picture of what an Underwater Camera Case would look like…



As you can see I have modified it a little with a blue colored Spring cord. Thats to make sure my camera does not slip out of my hands and float up to the surface of the ocean hehehe…. like a doggie lash :P

Take note the Bright Orange band you see circling the whole Underwater Camera Case. Thats one of the Most important part as its a rubbery O ring that when applied with silicon grease, effectly forms an oily barrier between the 2 parts of the Case to stop air from getting in or out. That is effectively acting as the water seal for the case.



From the above picture you can clearly see the Orang O Ring again. Take note it is a very important part of the Underwater Camera Case. It is major part that effectly forms a seal between the 2 parts of the casing. That seal keeps water out and keeps air in the casing.

On the right side you will see the general shape of the camera. Thats why you put the camera in and close the 2 parts together. The O ring is important as its made of some kind of rubber and we will apply silicon grease on it so as to form an oily barrier to air and water.

Take special note that the O ring must be kept clean of sand and dirt at all times. The thing is even when it seems alright from normal dry land to 5 meters down the water. The increasing deep of your dives and the pressure from the water above and around you could be enough to push through the gaps formed by the sand or dirt. That would make the Casing flood up with sea water as the air is been pushed out of the case pass the dirty O ring.

Another important point could be even the Hair from your head if caught between the O ring and the 2 parts of the casing can mean the same thing at deeper levels of the dive. To make sure the O ring rubber and the Camera case working at good condition, here are some points.

Dont leave it out in the direct sunlight or a heat source. You will cause heat pressure built up within the sealed casing. Next dont drop it on the ground or knock it around too when diving.. this could compromise the casings condition allowing a poorer seal to happen.

Thats about all I have to write about it now. Hope it would be useful information. Once last thing, if you never too sure if the casing is deep worthy when you first get it, try to take it down 1 or 2 dives without the camera inside.

That way if it does flood , at least the digital camera is not in it :D

Take care now and thanks for reading my blog. If you have any questions please leave your comments or send emails to me, I will try my best to answer them.

To be afloat or not to float that is the question :P

Well this is my 1st article on the BC. I not attempting to write which is better or give a technical writeup of its functions. I am just going to give a no nonsense review of my BC.

Here is a picture of it...


Here is the back of it...

Still please take note that my BC is uncommon among Malaysian divers…. maybe you will see similar types when you dive with Singaporeans :D for now we can call it a backplate + wing BC…

From the 1st picture you can see that there is a lightweight metal plate which is attached by a harness or straps

From the 2nd picture you can see that there is the 2 CAM Bands that is use to wrap around the Scuba Air Tank and keep it from floating up to the surface when you are at the bottom of the sea hehehe.

This is a major part of your Scuba equipment. The ones you see at the Shop eg. in Mid Valley near the GSC cinema would be selling the Jacket Type BC. The reason they are called that cos they look like huge vest or jackets that you wear .

As you can see from the 1st picture, there the blue pockets.. thats not standard as I did some motifications to the original. Its purpose is to hold my Weights.

Yes you heard right, we are usually not heavy enough to sink on our own, this is because we got our lungs to thank for… so we need to add a specific amount of extra weights to help us to be able to sink hehehe scary eh?

Now I am about 79 KG so I usually sink very well with 4 KG of weights, thats like 5% give or take. But the thing is some guys are light but need more weights then me to sink. Its all down to your specific body type, that you can learn alot when you practicing in normal diving pool.

Note is that in the pool its not salty like the sea water, reason is Sea water with its salt content makes us even lighter in water. So generally we need 1KG more when we go diving in Salt water.



This above picture is showing the Low pressure Inflator Hose … the main job of this part is to connect to a device that has a air hose that hooks on to the shiny tip there beside the button. This is what you control to inflate your BC and deflate it.. Why?

It helps to control how much you float underwater :) Why do we need to bother with that is simple… as you move down the levels of water… the water you passed behind you will push its weight on you. Your air in and around your body like in the equipments will be compressed by the weight of the water… so what air you have on upper levels will begin to be less in volume.

This means you wont float as much. So in order not to sink anymore and maintain a certain deep , we need to allow air from our Scuba Air Tank into the BC. When you do that its counters the down ward force of the water above you and makes you neither float too much or float too little.. we call it Neutral Buoyancy..

This is learned from the fact most fishes have their own BC naturally built in.. thats how the fish seems to float in the water like a bee and not sink and crash into the corals or sand hehe…



Thats a picture of a Dump Valve… its uses is simple, pull the Orange Cord and it will let you dump the air inside your BC very very fast… I wont discuss in detail how to use this … but there usually are 2 Dump Valves on a BC… Mine has another one located near my left shoulder Straps infront. Just take note of the location of these Dump Valves is all .

So now you have the basic idea what this equipment is for :D. If you want to know more detail and more technical information you can sent emails to me or comments, I will try my best to answer them.. if you are working in the same Gym as me, I could bring this equipment and help you understand more about it.

Thanks for reading this blog, the next blog would be followed with other basic reviews of the Scuba Equipments we use to go diving…

Underwater Photography made easy.

Although not everyone wants to take up underwater photography when they are divers but come on ! we are tourists and whats a tourists without cameras ! Besides the animals love the camera dude ! well at least the kawaii ( cute ) Nemos ( clown fishes ) love it !

Learning Underwater Photography is like building up a skill in a fantasy role playing game ( for the uninitiated, fantasy role play games is a popular type of entertainment where by you create your own avatar within the rules and world of the game and live through that avatar the adventures within that game world.) Why do I say so ? well we all know that as a Newbie , you got low stats when you start off with no class specialization. Therefore to become a hobbyist underwater photographer, you will need to LEVEL UP.

First rent a underwater camera to begin with, yes ! you can rent those from the local dive operators or dive centers. Next practice on easy subjects 1st, much like taking on rats and snakes as a Newbie in the role playing game. I would suggest Corals , Anemones and yes ! NEMOS ( clown fishes )

Just make sure you got the MACRO option on ( for those who do not know whats that just make sure on your camera display has a FLOWER icon on ! ) For starters make sure the Flash is on all the time. Now just point , steady and click away. Its digital anyways so please take as many shots as you like , as long as you got enough air left in your scuba for the trip back up !

Finally after you gotten better then you move on to moving targets like small animals. Its not hard at all really, trouble is where to locate them ! Once you find them ( of cos the local dive master or dive tour leader has found them for you ) just point and click away.

Thats how I learned of cause. I am still renting my cameras and those shots I have made are with normal digital cameras with their underwater casings.

Enjoy Flashing away then

Diving is not for the extreme only.

I started diving by accident while on company paid holiday in Tioman Islands summer of 2006. I always love to snorkel and love to go to island holidays.

Myth Busters :

I need to know how to swim before diving. ( No you do not , ironically you need to know how to sink ! )

I need to be like superman to dive ( Reasonable state of health and most importantly a sound mind )

I need lots of money to learn how to dive ( Well if you are living in Malaysia then your lucky ! RM 1000 and you get a license )

I need lots of time to get a Open Water License ( nope I did mine over easy a span of 4 months with only 1 weekend day practice of 3 hours each.)

I need to buy my own equipment which is very expensive ( nah you could rent those easy at the dive centers on the island for less then RM 100 per days ! )

Write to me at nimamok@hotmail.com if you interested to take the first step to underwater adventure.

Now the myths have been busted, ( if you have more just comments and I will reply ) lets see how I started.

I was holidaying on Tioman Island and was introduced to diving when I took a discovery dive tour package.

Basically they give you a crash course for 1 time only diving trip near the beaches. I was hooked !

After 5 months back in Kuala Lumpur , I finally took my open book exam and island dives and I was certified.

Thats how easy it is. Yes ! its that simple. Below is my advice to would be divers.

1. Respect your equipment and let them tell you how to dive.

2. Respect the environment you are diving in because you will always be a guest !

3. Respect the animals and plants in that environment and they will take care of you.

4. Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing behind but bubbles.

Happy Diving my friends !

Potato Casserole

Today I cooked myself an easy dinner. No brainer , seriously anyone can do this..
What you need : for 4 servings




4 nice 200g potatos

5 nice 50g potatos

200g of Mozeralla Cheese ( spell check ;D )

100g of your choice of bacon ( salted would be nice )

black pepper seasoning ( ready of the shelf )

table salt

Extra virgin olive oil ( you could ask the olives if they were actually virgins )

4 table spoon of full flavor butter ( seriously I feel food is food so none of those low fat stuff )

Now the fun begins ! you just need to skin the 200g potatos and chop large chunks of it into a boiling pot.

After all the 200g potatos are in there put in 1 teaspoon of table salt and boil for 30 mins

After that drained the boil potatos for 10 mins and then mashed them up with all the 4 table spoon of butter.

As you mashed add only black pepper seasoning as you see fit.

Once well mashed just leave it aside

Next hit up the shallow pan with 2 table spoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil with 1 teaspoon of table salt added in.

Chop the bacon into strips but dont mince them. Add black pepper to marinate for 10 mins

After 10 mins add the bacon strips into the shallow pan. Slowly cook the bacon till crispy brown. ( do not dispose the lad and oil after you have fried the bacon strips, set it aside )

While you are frying the bacon, move to washing the 100g potatos and cut them up into slices with the skin.

Once the bacons are done and removed from the shallow pan, continue to use the lad and oil mixture to fry the potato slices.

The potato slices should not be well done, just fry them for 5 mins and take them out for cooling.

Now get a deep earthen baking bowl ( any bowl thats made for baking should be fine but should be at least 8 inches deep )

First put all the mashed potatos into the bowl, level the mash and then add some bacon strips or chips on top.

Add in as much Mozzy Cheese on top of the bacon and mash. then begin to layer the potato chips on top

Next more Mozzy Cheese on top of the Potato Chips and more bacon chips or strips.

Finally preheat the oven at 180 degrees celcius for 10 mins

Once the oven is ready, put the pot of casserole into the oven and bake for 25 mins

Now first 15 mins both top and bottom oven heaters are on.

Latter 10 mins only the bottom oven heaters are on.

Congratulations you have just made your first Potato Casserole for 4 peeps hehehe.