Fish & Star-Chips

Stargazing would ensue for the whole night till dawn. This being the final night, few were vowing to stay awake till dawn. They brought out the guitar and were soon on karaoke-high. Others were playing cards by the moonlight. As always, a dose of ghost stories too.. (Apparently, Rooms 13, 14, 15, 16.. have had night visitations a-knocking on their doors.) Soon, a set of mind-games kept everyone awake and guessing. By 4am, only a handful of us were left on the jetty: 3-5 September 2001 (Tioman, Malaysia)

1 September 2001, Saturday. It had been one of those *happening* weekends starting Saturday 01 September. A couple of us pitched out in Pasir Ris park in the full moon, scanning the early evening skies with a C 8. It was a good night. Mars was hovering between the tip of Sagittarius and the tail of Scorpius. We logged in a few of the regular clusters and binary stars despite the full moonlight. (These same clusters would be seen again later.) This mixed with a lot of food and chatter and impromptu games.

We walked a good stretch of Pasir Ris, exploring the nearby night scene at the Fisherman's Village. We later made our way to a nearby 7-Eleven for a 3am food party. A couple of us eventually ended up in another recreational park. The morning air was crisp. Saturn and Jupiter had long risen with Aldebaran & the Hyades cluster in Taurus. Orion was stirring in the distance as the world was waking up to their morning walks around this little park. Sirius was burning somewhere behind the buildings which obstructed the city horizon. By some quirk of imagination, I designed a new constellation using Orion as the body and wings of a damselfly with its tail lit by Sirius.

We watched as Castor & Pollux in Gemini rose over the nearby high-rise buildings. One by one, the sleepy windows of the apartments flickered on to a lazy Sunday dawn. MacDonald's for breakfast, (this group didn't sleep a wink) and a round of morning jokes from Jermyn.

2 September 2001,  Sunday. A busy day indeed. 4 hours later, I was out at East Coast canoeing along the eastern shore lines with my cousin, Mary-Anne. The sun on our backs. The waters look so dull; Dead organic matter completed the seascape. Would Tioman island be any better? I'd find out for myself in 24 hours anyway. I skimmed off the thought and set out on a speed chase after Mary-Anne.

Dinner, home, there was some NUS pageant /retro party at Grease that would've been fun, but I ain't even packed yet.

Fish & Star-Chips (Tioman, Malaysia)
DAY 1 - 03 September, Monday.

5.30am.. I'd barely managed another 3 hours of sleep. I awoke to a shrieking clock that would've gotten the boot and hammer from me had it not belonged to my brother. I've never had a healthy relationship with shrill alarm clocks. I had to assemble at NTU in 2 hours. For the first time since primary school days, my brother and I sat down to a real breakfast. Himself barely clearing 2 hours of sleep after the party at Grease. His friend won the pageant, I heard. :)

7.30am.. Arrived at the Chinese Heritage Centre carpark. The handful who had already arrived didn't look like they amounted to 88 participants. I'd joined the trip knowing only one person: Ban Chon. My brother had this incredulous look on his face when he heard my reply to his question of where-are-your-friends.

We settled down by the edge of the road. Both of us idly scanning the carpark as more people trickled in. Morning faces in want of sleep but negated by the thrill of an impending trip. Everyone was in a chatty mood.. Getting to know people will have to wait, I need sleep..

(Note: Then-strangers, now-friends.. here are my accounts of the who, when, where.. enjoy. :)

(Dave & Ricky) To our left were two guys with tripods and camera bags. Manfotto, I noted. Nikon, as one of them (Rick) held one lens to the light. Photographers on the prowl. Cool. They should be having fun. The Manfotto tripod design was so visually captivating to me. Somehow, I knew I was gonna encounter these guys soon enough.

My brother elbowed my attention to the girl sitting to my right. "Oy. Talk to her leh." Oh.. ok.. ;) "Harlow, are you here by yourself?" "No. I'm waiting for two other friends." "Ok, I'm Lin." "Bernardee." Shook hands. "Bernadee, my brother, Gin. Gin, Bernadee." "Hi." "Hello." I should choke on my own mischief. (Now you know, Bernadee.. ;) Bernadee's friends arrived, Poh Ling (I'd heard Pauline at first) and Huishan. We got to a little chatter and I accepted their offer to bunk in with them.

More people arrived, together with Ban Chon, at which point my brother left for home. The committee bunch, for sure, looking at the amount of things they were carrying. There was a group of girls who looked like they were getting ready for a party night out in Orchard, than island-adventuring. But hey, if they can tackle this trip in platform shoes, that's remarkable enough.

Boarded the bus by 8.45am.. for a moment it felt strange, then I realised why. Everyone around me was talking in Mandarin.. not the way Singaporeans spoke it, but actual Chinese Mandarin (non-Taiwan version). That was when I figured half the bus were Chinese nationals. This should be interesting. We hit the customs by 9.30am, possibly clearing both sides by 10.30am. There was some delay. Apparently one of the participants had not cleared her visa, and was to be deported back to Singapore.

Bus transfer. Roll-call. We were on our way by 11am. I'd pretty much drifted to minimum consciousness by the time I found a seat on the new bus. I didn't even hear the roll-call by this nice chap (Willie) who seemed to have spent the past 3 hours running around looking for participants. Once the bus got on its way, the Zzzs fell in. When next I awoke, we had stopped for a break and were an hour away from Mersing. Roll-call again. Zzz. Mersing town. 2pm. Cloudy, a typical signature of all good astro trips here, I recollected.

Lunch break, 20 minutes. I darted down to town to get some provisions. Bad move. Thunderclouds moved in and rain pelted to the ground. I had 5 minutes to make my way back to the group. Heck, it's only water, and I was perfectly soaked upon reaching the group. Oh what joy. Hadn't played in the rain for some time. A change of T-shirts and we were off to the jetty. The rain had ceased to a few drops. Getting onto the boat wasn't too bad. The after-rain-storm-waves were rocking it moderately. Nice comfy boat though.

I made my way up to the second deck and stayed up there for the rest of the 2-hour voyage. The sea was still rather choppy, which was fun by my definition. A few of the girls got seasick though. The waves that crashed against the boat, sent intermittent salty sprays raining onto the second deck. I can't tell if the others are howling in horror or delight, but I was immensely enjoying the sea, sprays et al.. Cool.. :) It was up here that I got to know Helen and Hanting.

The sun was already blazing through a patchy hole in the sky. We saw 3 jellyfish float by as the boat sped on. A sliver fish skimming between air and water in the near distance brought many excited fingers tracing its trejectory. Hanting persistently promising the sea that he would jump right in the moment he hit shore. :)

4.30pm.. Arrival at Tioman, Mukut. The waves were slamming the boat against the concrete steps of the jetty. Crossing over to land is going to require a little help. It was a regular jetty which led right up to the resort.

Roll-call again as we assembled at the main reception-dining area that was wholly constructed out of bamboo that showed part of the clear sea below, peeking through the slits of the bamboo. A utilitarian design since all the food that dropped through fed the fish swimming underneath, yet still in keeping with the character of a rustic sea village. An orange soup bowl was wedged between some rocks below.

Room-assignment; Room 6 with Bernardee, Poh Ling and Huishan. A nice pathway weaved between the ten 2-room chalets on stilts that stood individually amidst the coconut trees and small boulders. Room-check: Air-conditioned, double beds, hot shower (that didn't work), half & full flush toilet system, yet minus toilet paper.. I like it.

6.30pm.. Dinner by Chef Ah Foo (whoever that is..), rice, tom yam soup, steamed fish, vegetables, chicken, tofu.. and our table-mates were: Dave, Ricky, Dexing and Shihao. Introductions and conversation ensued with food. The moon was beginning to rise from the east just behind the jetty.. beautiful..

Dave and Rick finished Round 1 of dinner and scampered off to take in the moonlit scene. Tempted I was to join them yet lazy I also was to return to the room to get my camera. The moon glided higher between the coconut trees. Ok, photo urge.. I got my camera and tripod out.

Briefing on tomorrow's snorkel-trip. Absorbed in my own moonlit world, I barely heeded a single word. Group up, I think they said. Ok, I'm with whichever group that has the extra room: Group C.. the committee group. (The start of a long day of fun.)

9pm.. Stargazing that night (and the night after) was at the jetty which had totally unobstructed viewing on the east-south-west horizons. Behind us, hills rose to a 20-degree view obstruction. Mars, Sagittarius and Scorpius were sinking towards the southwest. Patchy clouds came and went throughout the night. Telescopes ready, off a-hunting we go.

C 5, C 6, C 8, and a couple of binoculars. Here are the starlogs for both nights of observation:
Mars
At 100x, it was little more than a dull orange disc. I wasn't sure if the dust storm had passed. Details are barely hinted at tonight.
Scorpius - 30x
M4 globular cluster: Faintly glowing, possibly dimmed out by the moon but it's there. The C 8 has a better light grasp on it.
M6 Butterfly cluster: As lovely as ever. Though I seem to be visualizing a dragonfly outline. A faintly yellowish star in the group that could only be BM Scorpii.
M7 open cluster: Naked-eye visible. A deformed butterfly pattern then, for I seem to forever have some difficulty distinguishing this from M6. The cluster is more open with 5 more dominant stars in a cross-like pattern.
In the vicinity of h4889, Mu1 & Mu2 Scorpii, a wide double easily separated in the 6x finder.
Travelling down south towards Zeta1 & Zeta2 Scorpii, a small open cluster NGC 6242. Can't really see where the orange colour is purported to be. Scattered stars throughout the eyepiece. A loose grouping, possibly Collinder 316. A nice open cluster NGC 6231, near three beautiful Zeta gems of pale blue, orange and white.
Sagittarius - 30x
M8 Lagoon nebula: A wispy nebula in the 6x finder. At 40x, the cluster of stars showed within. At higher magnification, nebula detail faltered.
The visible milky way was washed out though sweeping along binocularly, the star fields were rich.
Cygnus - 30x
Omicron1, Omicron2 - Contrasting double-double: Near 30 Cygni a pair of light blue, yellow-orange set. At 50x, they looked more like white stars tinged with blue and yellow.. Atmosphere appears fiercely twinkly. Did not manage to split the double's double.
M29 open cluster: A nice asterism of about 8 bright stars. From Gamma Cygni (Sadr) in the direction of Beta Cygni (Albireo). Another rich patch of stars along this line.
NGC 6888 was a small group of scattered stars, no nebulosity seen.
Albireo Beta Cygni: One more blue-gold pair. Much more saturated colours than the earlier pairs.
Lyra - 30x
And what's the night with a donut from M57 - Ring nebula: The C 8 resolves it most elegantly with a circle of smoke at 100x. Maybe I should imagine a dead star in its center, but I couldn't see one.
Taurus - 30x
M45 - Pleiades open cluster: Still an all-time favourite and a crowd-pleaser. These is one stellar group that can never go out of fashion.
Orion - 30x
M42 - Orion nebula: A pretty one that's just as popular. The trapezium of stars were clearly visible.. (oh, wait, I cannot remember if I saw this in Tioman as well but we sure saw it at Pasir Ris..)
Saturn - 30x - 100x
with rings.. :)

The full moon waning, an accompaniment to the night. Crystal waters sparkling under the moonlight.. I could see the pebbles right at the bottom. Moon-gazing was inevitable. The group tried this way and that to get a glimpse of an almost blinding orb. They finally projected the image onto a piece of paper and has a good time clicking film to that.

The first night we packed up at 3am, knowing that we'd have to be up again at 8am to catch a boat out to sea. I wondered what was for breakfast.. "Big breakfast, MacDonald-style.." someone replied. Yeah, rite..

Fish & Star-Chips (Tioman, Malaysia)
DAY 2 - 04 September, Tuesday.

Day 1 didn't feel right for photography, if only because I was trying to figure out how receptive to the camera, the human subjects would be. The moment I got to know them better, the clicking came naturally. :)

8 am. Breakfast, no kidding.. almost Mac.. with toast, egg, jam, butter, sausage, and baked beans.

Bright and sunny would describe the entire day. We checked out our life-jackets and snorkel-gear. Four boats would bring us up north of Tioman to the Marine Park.

The wind on our backs.. also created huge waves which gave some of us huge yelps of sea-coasting fun (and others huge gulps of sea-sickness..).

I'd forgotten how much I miss the sea. It'd been quite a while since I last rode the waves. I stood up on deck, both hands locked on a wooden column in the bow, as huge waves collided head-on with the puny but steadfast boat. It leapt skywards a couple of feet, the momentum carrying all of us along for the ride in the air before it smashed against the watery surface. Everyone was jolted, concerned ones yelling with the roar of the waves for me to stay down. So sweet of them.. :) I complied though it was less fun.

I sighed. A true moment of content and absolute peace despite the oceanic rock and roll. I lay my head down and closed my eyes, destined for a little nap.. which also got a concerned P.K. wondering if I was sea-sick.. *lol!* No, I replied.. I'm gonna fall asleep.. :)

Some of the other guys picked up on the sea-surfing bit, and had their hands locked to the wooden column. It was too crowded up front so I moved to the back, bent on getting some more sleep. I was surprised to discover more people at the stern; Dave and Rick had been quietly enjoying their piece of the boat. Dave's life-jacket sure made for a good pillow. Zzz..

We'd docked at another jetty. I wasn't sure how long it'd been. I remember feeling the sun burn. Berjaya Beach Resort. A wonderful stretch of beach, many tourists. We'd stopped here for an hour of touring, I guess.

I'd parked myself on one of its beach-side lounge chairs. More sighs.. This is *life*.. The wind rustling the leaves of strategically planted coconut trees, the waves lapping up the sands. I wasn't sure where everyone else had headed. I'd lost them after a while. (They had apparently gone swimming a little further up the beach.)

After a bit of lazing, I wandered off and found Bernardee, Huishan and Poh Ling.. rather, they found me. There was a playground I hadn't notice. The lonesome pair Rick and Dave on the swings. They turned around for a photo. Dexing and Shyh Haur appeared from somewhere and took on the see-saw trying to outbalance each other. I saw this other contraption that I could only identify as similar to those wheelbarrels that people make hamsters run on. Not easy stuff, mind you! (Yes, I tried.) I gravitated to the slide where Bernardee and Poh Ling had just finished a round of photos at.

12.45pm.. Regroup. Two photo opportunities caught my eye: by the coastline, and on the jetty. After much dallying, we were *all* finally on the jetty. The boatmen-in-charge had to shoo us off it into our respective boats.

The second leg of the journey towards the Marine Park. We were all ready, I was prepping my goggles with spit.

At the jetty, one of the guides gave a 5-minute crash course on snorkeling. I heard a small part of his lecture in Mandarin, "Keep a serious face.."

Ok, that was all I heard (I did say "a small part") before I headed for the water.. a chorus of laughter from the ones who finished hearing his sentence.

As some of the guys "Jerominoed!!" off the top into the deep end, I chose to use the ladder down. I wouldn't care to injure any fish that might be swimming pass the deep end.

The water was refreshingly cool, and was immediately greeted by a curious school of small fish hanging out by the ladder. I floated my way towards the plastic island buoy in the middle. Oh boy, *big* fish. The area was cordoned off with nets and buoys further out at sea. Good idea. The species within the net grounds were friendly enough. It would seem they were harboured here for tourists to feed and get fat.. (probably sold to the markets later..) The biggest fish was just over a foot-long.

For a couple of minutes, the few of us who got into the waters first had encountered a couple of schools. I'm no fish expert but I think most were of the edible species. After everyone got into the area, the fish seemed to disappear for a while. Not a moment later, they seemed to be in a frenzy. Ohh.. lunchtime for the fish. Slices of bread crust were liberally thrown in by someone on the top of the jetty. Fish, human and breadcrumbs mixed in a strange sea soup.

I plucked a few pieces of bread from the surface and fed the fish by hand. Most seem to be debating between hunger and fear of us. They would dart in to take quick nips of what they can and speed off again. Oh man, that was cool.. I didn't know fish ate bread with such gusto. I tried to touch those that were nipping food off my hands. Cold and slippery. Some in their feeding frenzy were nipping at my fingers but it would seem they have no teeth.. I let out a grin.. *Bad move.*

Seawater gushed into my goggles. I choked as the salt-concentrated liquid seeped into my nasal passage. Hot DANG! The salt stung; I couldn't breathe and was too far away from the buoy. I floundered a bit and scared off the fish. I made my way to the buoy and got the guys on deck to hoist me up. More concerned looks as I coughed out the salty stuff. "I was smiling at the fish.." I think it was Hanting who amusedly clucked, "Didn't you hear what that guy said? Don't smile at the fish, keep a serious face.. or you'll get water in."

Oh.. heck.. I turned away and spat out the rest of my chagrined ignorance. Dang! the salt so leaves the nasal passage smarting. I've snorkelled before, but never had such a fun time with the fish to smile at them...

Tough lesson learnt: I will never smile at a pretty fish again underwater.

Hanging out on the island buoy with a couple of others, peeling pieces of wet bread, and skimming them across the water surface brought the fish up for food. (By the way, the bread crust was really fragrant.) I saw some really pretty rainbow fish. They really were an artistic riot of green, lavender, pink, magenta, cyan, yellow. And the only thing I could think of was, no camera to take them fish. :(

A final dive and we were off to another coral area. We hosed off the salt with fresh water and got onto the boats. Lunchtime for humans. Nasi lemak with chicken, sausage, egg.. There was an extra packet of food on our boat. It was then that I first noticed we had a boat captain of sorts. His name: Ah Foo.. (I only found out much later that he was the chef.)

He offered the extra packet around, gave the chicken out, and when nobody wanted the rest, he simply dumped it, fried egg and all into the sea.. (minus the polystyrene box, of course..) and the fish came after the food with equal gusto, nipping at the floating egg. Those fish will be headed for a major artery clog.

The next dive site was barricaded only by a nearby rock formation that buffeted the bigger waves from the open sea. The schools here were smaller, the coral features look more extensive. I passed up the opportunity on this dive, staying on board for some casual photography of the others snorkelling.

A day of content and contents. I could get used to a life at sea. On our way back, the sea was much calmer, the ride smoother. Some fell asleep, others shared jokes at the boat's bow. Dave, Rick, and Ein hanging out at the stern. I stood at the bow for a good part of our journey back to the resort, mesmerized by the swirling emerald waters as the boat forged ahead. Occasionally, I took a few shots. A Malay boy of no more than 13 years piloted the boat while his elder brother napped.

A commercial light plane landed on the main island's hidden runway. A military copter dived in low above our boats. A huge red jellyfish of perhaps 2 feet in diameter floated by starboard side.

5pm.. Arrival. Already, they had a volleyball match in tow at 5.30pm.. Poh Ling and Huishan joined in while Bernardee and I opted for sleep. Bernardee was substantially sunburnt. Dinner at 8pm. It was a personal struggle to decide between more sleep and food. Finally, I straggled out with everyone else at 8.30pm.. Dinner was already in progress..

9.30pm.. Bernardee, Poh Ling, Huishan and I started on the cards, too lazy to return to our room after dinner. For the first time in 2 days, we got acquainted with Raymond at the resort, who was quite possibly a champion at "Tai Di". Hey, the man had strategies for winning.. we common-card-folk just want to get rid of our cards.

Stargazing would ensue for the whole night till dawn. This being the final night, few were vowing to stay awake till dawn. They brought out the guitar and were soon on karaoke-high. Others were playing cards by the moonlight. As always, a dose of ghost stories too.. (Apparently, Rooms 13, 14, 15, 16.. have had night visitations a-knocking on their doors.) Soon, a set of mind-games kept everyone awake and guessing.

By 4am, only a handful of us were left on the jetty: Willie, Dexing, Kumar, Poh Ling, Sabrina, Huiling, and myself.

5am.. We had gravitated to the balcony at the main reception as the night cooled. They were still binocular-hunting as Taurus and Orion drew higher. Saturn, Jupiter, Venus. I drew a chair right up front of the balcony, the front row audience.

"What's that bright star over there by the edge of the coconut tree?" Willie pointed excitedly as everyone else checked maps and aimed binoculars. "Capella.." I replied..

In the few seconds of silence that ensued, I watched as the sky slowly lightened blue. This was one of the most enthusiastic groups ever. After a long day of activities, they were still awake. "It's so nice out here, so beautiful, y'think?" I thought out loud. Silence. I thought they were all in silent awe. I turned back to look at them. Only Dexing looked at me and grinned.. the rest were fast asleep in their chairs. I grinned. Oh well.. they did survive till dawn.. and they well deserved their sleep.

Fish & Star-Chips (Tioman, Malaysia)
DAY 3 - 05 September, Wednesday. 

The last day.. I so couldn't wake up..

We checked out by 11am. A couple of parting shots from the balcony. The journey home was even more fun than the journey there, if only because, I now know a number of them. :)

7pm.. Singapore.. Group dinner at Jurong Point. Home was not too far away..Thanks, everyone! I can't wait for the next island hop.



By Lin . 7th September 2001, Friday.

Morning Coffee & the Planets

Five planets in one night.. I'm missing four more to complete the Solar System collection. With the KK Wide Scan II 30mm eyepiece, the stars never looked better. July 2001 : ..and the exhibition's public tour continues to the schools. Mars' perigee has come and gone. A dust storm is brewing on the red planet's surface. A partial lunar eclipse this month (July 05, umbral eclipse starts 9.35pm- Maximum eclipse at 10.55pm - umbral eclipse ends 12.15am Singapore time) and a fading comet Linear in Cetus-Pisces region. 21-22 July 2001 (Johor, Malaysia)

A weekend trip out with friends. The morning march of four planets has been a topic for a while. The slogan should have been: "Get a natural high. See stars and planets. (No caffeine added.)"

Using the WYO FluoroStar100 f/8 with KK Wide Scan Type II 30mm, a 2-inch eyepiece with an 84-degrees field of view.

A crystal view of the universe and I have never been this up close and personal with the stars. One look through the Wide Scan II and you'll fall in love with the stars all over again.

Higher magnifications with a 2x barlow and 5mm eyepiece. The rough observation report is:
Mars
Surface details were fuzzy at best with the barest smattering of dark markings. A thick mass of rain clouds sweeping in from the west side; It barely skimmed past with lightning hints of what it could bring..
clouds,
Mars again,
clouds again,
distant lightning,
more clouds,
Mars,
Zzzzzzz......
ohh!! Stars!!
Hyades, Aldebaran in Taurus, and Saturn
Is it turning our way? because it looks as if we're gonna be able to see the other side of the rings behind the planet.. bands striped across its surface.. Cassini divisions visible..
M45 Pleiades, Taurus
Swell little cluster.. it never fails to look good.. :) stars filled from edge to edge.. I don't see distortion, I don't see coma and colour rendition with the Wide Scan II eyepiece is just *so* fine! my gosh, the view is absolutely stunning.. you get the whole view of the Pleiades cluster inside this babe. You know how some people describe the Pleiades as a group of blue fireflies.. I never knew what that meant till now.
M31 Andromeda galaxy, Andromeda
This is a real beauty.. central core brightness with the glow of diffusing arms gently swirled around it. Dang.. I forgot to take note of M32, M110..
M33 Pinwheel galaxy, Triangulum
Somewhat fainter than M31, more round and the central core was relatively bright.. it was only 2/3 the size of M31.
Venus
Bright waxing gibbous phase.. slightly more than half. I don't see any clouds on the atmosphere.. I hear about them, I don't see them. Dang planet's just too bright. :)
Jupiter
Major band lines across the body, no GRS visible.. 4 satellites as per usual serving.. :)
Mercury
Ahh! Finally.. it was almost the same distance from Jupiter as Venus is. It was nervy trying to figure if it was ever going to rise before the sun did. The sky was lightening up considerably. Finally, my friend's hawk eyes caught something that had almost the same magnitude as Saturn just above the distant trees. That was exciting. A look at Mercury showed half phase.. wow indeed.
Comet Linear
Tried to hunt for comet Linear, but gave up craning to see through the finder. It was directly overhead.

Binocular-wise, I swept through the clusters of the Milky Way through Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus. I caught sight of some familiar pieces like the Perseus double cluster. As for the others I got too lazy to check in with an atlas. It was just an appreciation session.

I could recognize the square of Pegasus, the star of Alpheratz that joined Andromeda to it. The Summer Triangle constellations of Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila to the Northwest. Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Perseus to the North. Taurus and Orion rising.

I mused out loud my wonderings about what other constellations flew to the South above us. I never was much of a Southern Sky-smart person beyond Crux and Centaurus. Vincent threw me a mock look of shock and horror, "You don't know?! How can you not know?!" *lol!*

I figured that if I didn't memorize all the constellations or DSOs, it'll be more fun searching it out on the field. Sure it makes for a little work, but that's the fun part. To see half the known universe as an astronomer would; To see the other unknown half as a new initiate to the stars will. Somehow this balance strikes a perfect chord with me. I don't mind not knowing everything in the universe. :)

Vincent sighed that I was undermining my full potential as an astronomer. I think I'm just too laidback mentally. (Turns out to be Pisces, Aquarius, Capricornus, Piscis Austrinus, Cetus, Grus.)

Orion was rising with the sun, too late to see much. Now if I could have caught this planetary moment with a waning moon, the scene would be perfect. Well, can't have everything in the universe. (I got a new moon.)

By Lin . 22nd July 2001, Sunday.

AstroBash!VII : Dear Jacksen

"At this point in time, I have absolutely devoted all of my available time to Astronomy 2001 Singapore. I have precious little time to observe the transition of the planets and constellations, solar and lunar, much less to photograph them for now. The solar spots have been a storm; Mars has been growing too. Soon, soon.. I'm glad to even get a few days off to go stargazing." 25 to 27 May 2001 (Gunung Ledang, Malaysia)

Dear Jacksen,

Gunung Ledang Resort's probably one of the most comfy places AstroBash was ever held at. There's a swimming pool, an air-conditioned in-house café which has local dishes like Nasi Goreng to Fish'n'Chips. A huge helicopter landing area / carpark, which served as our observation grounds at night. A few steps away, a nature trail and waterfalls.

Day 1 was the usual ice-breakers though I must say the Organizing Committee has gotten *very* creative this time.. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun breaking anything. In particular was this weird treasure hunt of sorts. They wanted stuff like 2 slugs, 2 dead-or-alive mosquitoes, 7 bites per group, and the darnest thing was, I couldn't find a single mosquito carcass.

The food was excellent, the servings were most generous.. I should be raving about the service.. I haven't been to an AB party where in the middle of an observation at 10.30pm, I could just stroll out a few steps to the café and order a nice cup of hot chocolate.. *sigh!*

The first night was pleasant. After a buffet dinner, we saw Alpha and Beta Centauri in Centaurus with Crux, twinkling merrily towards the south-west side. A hint of things to come. It was still a little wispy with clouds, but the skies cleared up an hour later. The Comm brought out the C 5 and C 8 scopes and we were soon ferreting the night sky.

Constellation-wise, Sagittarius and Scorpius were overhead by midnight. The Big Dipper (Ursa Major) to the north. Near Antares in Scorpius, the planet Mars. A little further out north, two other brighter stars, Arcturus in Bootes and Spica in Virgo; Leo sliding down to sleep in the west. The summer triangle of stars Altair in Aquila, Vega in Lyra, and Deneb in Cygnus, were beginning to rise. The water signs of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces followed alongside.

There was a little debate going on about "who" was redder. Apparently, we had 3 persons in the group with e-mails or ICQ nicknames related to Mars, Arcturus and Antares. Heck, they all looked about the same to me, Arcturus a little fainter than the orangey Antares, but Mars wins without contest.

The first object to find was Mars. The C 8's collimation was a little off, so the image was slightly blurred. I could still see some dark markings on Mars with a slight touch of white caps at the polar regions. We managed a glimpse at the Omega Centauri cluster before it set. A delectable glob of stars, one of the finest in the sky. The open clusters M6 & M7 in Scorpius, oh.. and we saw M17's Swan nebula.

With the groundsheets out, we took a couple of pillows from the room and simply relaxed under the stars. The helicopter pad was a clean concrete area, and best of all, insect-free! The resort manager kindly turned out all the lights after 12. A few shooting stars threw themselves randomly across the night.

Most of the group had retired by 2am in anticipation of the next day's climb up Mt. Ophir. For those who had stayed up the whole of the first night, Jeannie, Qihui, Peiying, Caiping, Juncai and myself (from Room 106), Choon Guan and 2 others, we got the see the Milky Way from Scorpius to Cygnus.. the most beautiful stretch of stars forming the summer Milky Way.

The rest of us cleared out at 5am.. which also meant we could barely wake up at 9am to set out for the climb. We would soon find ourselves in the midst of an adventure because of this. The first group had set out by 9.30am.. Qihui, Juncai and Jeannie were keen on the climb but decided on breakfast prior. Peiying, Caiping and I joined them for a short hike up to the first set of waterfalls before we parted ways. The 3 of us returned to the resort whilst the 3 of them continued their climb.

Day 2 was mainly hanging out by the nearby stream, and playing ball with Serena, her 2 friends, Caiping, and Celeste, in the pool till evening when the next batch of folks who would take the van up Mt. Ophir and meet the first group there with packets of dinner. Two of us remained, and I jumped right back into the pool.

We went out for dinner and returned by 9pm, which was the beginning of a huge drama. Jeannie, Qihui, and Juncai, never did rendezvoused with the first group. With all the wild speculations that flew around about their getting lost, starving, falling off some cliff, in all a lot of worries and concerns.

There was simply no news of them, and the park rangers would not conduct a search and rescue until morning light, assuming they had gotten lost on the wrong side of the trail which they claimed was a treacherous one.

Another trekker overheard and apparently encountered them on the right trail which brought some sighs of relief. From now, it was a waiting game of when Jeannie would use her mobile to call me, since none of us could get a signal to her phone. I tell you, only Singaporeans would think to trek forests carrying such technology.

The second night continued in uncertain spirit.. many were now too tired to stay up and returned to sleep by 2am. I hung out with Vincent till maybe 3am whereupon a shower of rain sent me back to the room.

6am, my phone rang.. Jeannie!! Everyone was fine, they had survived the night and even made it to the top of Mt. Ophir. A happy group finally relaxed as we sent a van to collect them and their jungle escapade back to the resort. They arrived safe, sound, full of high spirits, scuffed and lots of dirt.

Guess you can get the full story from one of them. Too bad you couldn't make this trip. You'd have enjoyed it. I think there's a videotape somewhere on this AB.

:) Later,, Lin

By Lin . 30th May 2001, Wednesday.
For NUSAS Étoile publication Sept 2001.

the Batu Layar account

"Against the contrasting light-coloured sand, I vaguely discerned two dark figures approaching our camp. Military men. *Uh oh.* "10 September 1999 (Desaru, Malaysia)

Remus and I embarked from Changi jetty at 3.30pm in the face of an impending thunderstorm. Moving the equipment down AND across the rocking bumboats was no small feat but there were all these kind souls who were so keen to lend a helping hand. Most got an instinctual shock when they realized that the bags were MUCH heavier than they looked. (Especially the humble-looking plastic bag containing the two Losmandy counterweights.) Size can be so deceiving in such matters. The equipment had barely warmed their spots when out burst a heavy downpour. The sea became choppy and the brave little boat pushed onwards, determined to ride the waves that were half its total height. Motion sickness tormented the eight of us on board for the next hour. Thankfully by the time we reached Tanjung Pengelih, the storm had past and the overcast sky was breaking over the east side. Sixty kilogrammes of equipment posed quite a challenge on horizontal land. We now had to lift all the equipment onto the Pengelih jetty which was about two metres up from bumboat level.

We made it through the Malaysian customs albeit the curious questions and looks from the customs officials. They thought we might be Japanese tourists. Apparently, a group of them had been there not too long ago for the very same reasons. The rest of the trip was a breeze after we loaded into a waiting cab. We hit our site at about 5pm and began setting up camp on the sandy beach some twenty metres away from the sea. The sky wasn't promising but we weren't about to delay any moments for astrophotography once the clouds break for a second. By 7.30pm, we were ready for a good night ahead.

In the semi-darkness of Batu Layar, it was rather difficult to see much beyond fifty metres. Against the contrasting light-coloured sand, I vaguely discerned two dark figures approaching our camp. Military men. *Uh oh.* The two of us and one Losmandy G11 coupled with a scope aren't exactly their version of a "typical camper". We had encountered the military on our previous trips there. However, in previous trips there were more than two of us. A powerful beam of light shone our way, temporarily blinding us, scanning the camp perimeter, and finally finding a grip on the G-11.

The two men spoke in Malay, We played dumb in that we did not understand any language other than English. It was risky business to speak in their tongue. Something I learnt from my travel experiences. Safer to act like the confused tourist. They demanded passports, and began their round of interrogation. While I reasoned with myself that this should be a routine thing (should be??), I was getting edgy. This spot on the beach was still considered public area where most people camped during the weekends. I was starting to feel like an illegal alien. Remus fielded most of their questions.

It wasn't long before four more black figures surrounded us. It still freaks me out a little, the way they move around you without the slightest sound. I envy their night vision. They see things before they even appear. Eerie yet professional. Questions poured in. We kinda lied that we were on a university project to photograph the stars and that our equipment was on loan from the university. Any questions regarding cost of equipment were either highly distorted (We got a hundred-dollar Contax camera with Zeiss Sonnar lens from the night market..) or shrugged off and deflected to the university clause. As the military milled around our camp, the clouds chose this opportune moment to break and flash the whole stretch of Milky Way from Scorpius to Cygnus at us. DANG! And the sky remained clear for as long as the military was there.

When they decided to move off in search of other targets, we smashed world record to get into photographic mode. The haze was coming in, so we took a chance at shooting whatever was clear for the few moments. (Out of the ten shots, only two pictures barely survived being affected by the hazy conditions.) I was pretty sure astrophotography might be over for the rest of the night. We still had high hopes for prime focus later at about 3am. We were also hoping it would be patrol rest time by then. Clouds, rain, patrols, biting insects, and now we had another concern: The tide was steadily moving inland. Backup plan: Take as many more shots as we can and then shift camp when the tide became too close for comfort. The sea was now some five metres away from the G-11.

Occasionally, the military would pass our campsite as they continued on their patrol. One of them was curious enough to hang around. He is Lance Corporal Azhari who has been in the military for the past nine years. Through him, we learnt more about their patrol rounds. They were on the lookout for illegal immigrants coming in via the South China Sea. The patrol units move around the many states in Malaysia every two months. I was beginning to understand why we were always in the military's suspicions: They never stayed long enough to get use to the sight of us astronomers in their patrol areas. Throughout, Azhari was rather accommodating. He also assured us that the tide was about to recede for the night.

He was in the middle of recounting part of his earlier life in Singapore when suddenly, he halted in mid-sentence. His body went from relaxed to tensed for action. His senses had picked up something from the bush area behind our camp. I kept still as I followed his line of sight. Remus was in the tent preparing for prime focus photography I think. I'm not sure if he caught whiff of the impending situation. I saw nothing but darkness, bushes and trees. In the split-second that my attention was diverted from Azhari to the trees, he had deftly and oh-so-quietly moved several metres away from the exposed beach to behind the tent. I found myself stunned by his nimble agility and silent moves. There and then, two powerful beams lashed out at us. Seven silent dark figures were headed our way. From the way, Azhari moved I was almost sure we were about to be set upon by enemy forces. (This is beginning to sound too exciting to be a "normal" night out to see the stars.)

I ventured a cautious "Hello?". I had hoped that maybe if they heard a different accent, they would be friendlier? *Sheesh* I heaved such a sigh of relief when Azhari stood up to greet the newcomers. It turned out to be his commanding officer and his private squadron. More questions ensued although Azhari tried to sum the general picture for his boss. My heart skipped a beat when the officer asked to see our legal documents to camp here. My patience was beginning to wear thin but I held fast at the thought of possibly spending the weekend in the local jail. I firmly but politely corrected him that since this was a public area for holiday-makers to camp, so why would we need legal documents. He replied that only Malaysians were allowed to camp there. Now, I was really beginning to get irritated by the apparent harassment. I caught Azhari's words to his officer in Malay about leaving us alone, as there were some other campers some 200 metres further down. That was about when the officer asked us in a smattering of gruff English tones if he was disturbing us. "Oh, no, no! It's okay." Remus and I chorused. (I have never been more harassed in my life. Although I heard of a previous encounter when the military did body searches.) Satisfied with what he saw, the officer and his men left.

1am, and being on constant lookout for haze, aeroplane light pollution and dark figures was draining. I was taking down notes for our tenth astro shot when I caught sight of a red prick of laser light dancing around me and the tent. "Huh? Red light?" My eyes trailed the errant red point. "Who's playing with a laser pointer, man?" I blurted out. It was at that point that I realized that Remus had froze his position and was deathly still. I mirrored his actions not daring to breathe. "What?! What?!!" I whispered harshly. "Shit!" came Remus' reply as I watch his eyes furtively scan the area behind me. "Shit!! It's a laser from a rifle!"

O-h--m-y--g-o-d.

Remus had gone through two years of army training so I figured he probably knew what he was talking about. I only know rifle means I could be getting closer to heaven than I am currently prepared for. I watched the menacing red light as it trailed a path on the tent, along the G-11, onto Remus and back again. In between the times I could not see the red light, I had a pretty good feeling it was trained somewhere on the back of my head and along my spine. The seconds seem to stretch and neither of us moved. "Where is it coming from?!" A pretty stupid question, but I would still like to know, especially since I'm not even facing my potential Grim Reaper. "You can't trace the light path of a laser point." Remus reminded me. I admired his perchance for logical explanations in the face of impending death. When the light was gone, I figured I have enough material to write an account when I get home which I was so looking forward to right there and then.

The rest of the night, I kept lying low in the tent. We took turns to keep watch but it was getting exhausting. Azhari returned and offered to keep watch while we rested. (I don't think we're about trust him.) Sleep was intermittent as at any moment of consciousness we scanned the sky and the ground for "stars". ("Star" became an impromptu code between Remus and I to alert each other to the presence of the dark ones.) It seemed like such a long time to daybreak, but it finally dawned as the clouds parted to reveal clear blue skies. A huge relief to me. We packed up and the hired taxi arrived at 6.45am to fetch us to the jetty. So ends another normal trip out to see the stars. We survived. This could be my most traumatizing trip ever to Batu Layar. Personally, I don't think I'll be returning to this place again to stargaze unless I'm in BIG group.

A true account by Lin .13th September 1999, Monday.

AstroBASH!III : the NUSAS Star Party

"This was our third star party and first overland trip to Tanjung Sedili - a rustic getaway lazing on the east coast of Malaysia. 21 amateur astronomers, amateur *city* astronomers, most of whom are about to be initiated into the physical world which inspired the mappers of the URANOMETRIA. With open skies to North and East, and little city glare, the chances of having good stargazing settings were high." 14-16 June 1999  (Sedili, Malaysia)

It was everything I had hoped for.. except for the black sand, which wasn't really "black sand" but pristine sand which had been polluted by I-have-no-idea-what. Pity. There were subtle hints that the place could have been a really beautiful white beach. But that's not what this article is about.

It's suppose to be about dark nights, great skies, many suns, zero Moon, and the only cloud-like thing that won't be cursed at is the Milky Way. Of course, no significant details shall be mentioned about insects. The fireflies were lovely. I think they were the only ones that flew around and DIDN'T bite.

In fact, I'll say the whole trip was great. Two glorious starry nights are worth the zombie-fied state that followed the time after dawn.

[14th / 15th night]

It was still heavily overcast at dinnertime and hopes of prospecting for stars that first night appeared bleak. A picture-perfect sunset awashed with a thousand hues appeared with the sea mirroring in kind. The clouds eventually dispersed at 8pm. Other than the occasional cirrocumulus, the night was otherwise excellent. The Big Dipper, just above the eastern sea, was the first constellation to greet the observation site that was located on a bay. Attention was given to Mizar, a visible double star system in Ursa Major. To the west, Leo was readily visible with Regulus twinkling brightly. Draco, Aquila, Cygnus, Lyra, Pisces, Aquarius, among other constellations, slowly made their way across the east side.

The Milky Way, which many mistook for a wisp of cloud, became clearer as the night wore on. Conditions improved greatly at around 3am when the hazy band stretched across the zenith. It poured out from Sagittarius' teapot, with Scorpius' tail dipping in, and Cygnus careening over its surface. Scorpius was strutting around gloriously. Antares, the heart of Scorpius, and the red rival to Mars (which was close to Spica in Virgo), was bloody brilliant. The M7 open cluster and NGC 6231 were discernible. M7 looked good through a pair of 7x50 binoculars. The hunt continued for star clusters and distant galaxies.

As the stars saturated the night, they overwhelmed the novices who had a challenging time figuring out the various constellations and asterisms. Someone in his stellar confusion, thought he had seen Orion, oblivious to the fact that Orion was on his personal June vacation from the night. Light sabres cut through the night as bright and focused torchlights were used to help these budding stargazers scan the myriad of stars and guide them around the star-speckled neighbourhood. Human ingenuity never fails in confusion. Soon, one of them discovered that myopic stargazers could simply remove the glasses they are wearing. A pair of unaided myopic eyes acts as a crude filter that allows only objects brighter than magnitude 0.0 to be visible. Known unofficially as "Kelvin's Zero Magnitude Filter", it proved to be a big help to many novice stargazers. (Kelvin was our cameraman for the trip.)

Other miscellaneous objects in the night sky included artificial satellites and meteors. The brighter satellites observed that evening numbered around four. While many were delighted to see these man-made shooting star wonders, meteors drew an even warmer response when spotted. At around 5am, The stars looked even brighter and many other stars that were previously too dim now appeared. By this time, Jupiter and Saturn have risen. It was a good chance to observe Saturn as the light polluted skies of Singapore mars most planetary details. Through a 6" Schmidt-Cassegrain, Saturn looked like (quote) "a yellow squashed hamburger", an apt description which many identified with. Over at Jupiter's, two of the Galilean moons were visible, together with the two brown bands on Jupiter.

The sun rose from behind the hills at around 6.30am. It showed itself bit by bit, against a background of orange, yellow and red formed by the clouds. The sun first revealed a little edge, then a bigger fragment, which grew into a semicircle. Eventually, the sun was totally visible. The clouds became a kaleidoscope of colours, changing with each moment as Helios awoke and continued on his path across the sky. Those who were patient enough to delay bedtime by an hour to catch the sunrise were justly rewarded. By this time, the sea had receded about 500 metres from shore, and one could literally walk across the seabed.

[15th / 16th night]

The second night was dedicated to astrophotography. The southern skies looked better this evening, with Crux and Ursa Major vying for attention. Unlike Singapore skies where only Alpha and Beta Centauri are visible, the whole shape of Chiron the Centaur could be made out clearly. Through a pair of binoculars, the Jewel Box in Crux enchanted many. The Ring, Swan and Dumbbell nebulae were also observed through the telescopes, much to the delight of many who saw them for the first time. The Ring nebula was a fuzzy patch with a pinhole-like opening which require the viewer to be visually gifted in order to glimpse it. Most could not quite see the pinhole in the nebulae. The Swan nebula was even more demanding on one's imagination to visualise a bird out of a fuzzy patch. The Dumbbell nebula looked more like an apple eaten to its core, than a gym apparatus.

Just when everyone thought the second night was better then the first, dark clouds suddenly marched across the sky, snuffing out all celestial bodies in its wake. All equipment was swiftly moved into shelter for fear of rain. For most, the second stargazing session had ended. Some of the more enthusiastic ones remained under the sky, hoping that it would clear. Though shorter than the first, the second session was still quite an eyeful.

By Lin . 25th June 1999, Friday.