MIDE '09 Coverage: The City, The Show and More
By Matt J. Weiss, September 7, 2009 @ 05:24 PM (EST)
Kuala Lumpur-The Eclectic City
Twenty-six hours on a plane will take a lot out of you. This one was no different. I was drowsy, oblivious and impatient as an air-conditioned van took me from the airport past endless stretches of palm plantations to the hotel. Though I was still out of it, I dropped my luggage with the bellman and headed out into the streets of KL. Sitting in my hotel room was not going to help me snap back into reality, but I knew what would.
I took the 10-minute walk to Petron cafe. With the sounds of the traffic and the first bites of my roti telur (A flat bread pancake type breakfast food with egg) and sips of teh tarik (Malaysian tea with condensed milk) the daze of the trip wore off. After a years absence, Kuala Lumpur (KL) was easing back into focus.
Twenty-six hours on a plane will take a lot out of you. This one was no different. I was drowsy, oblivious and impatient as an air-conditioned van took me from the airport past endless stretches of palm plantations to the hotel. Though I was still out of it, I dropped my luggage with the bellman and headed out into the streets of KL. Sitting in my hotel room was not going to help me snap back into reality, but I knew what would.
I took the 10-minute walk to Petron cafe. With the sounds of the traffic and the first bites of my roti telur (A flat bread pancake type breakfast food with egg) and sips of teh tarik (Malaysian tea with condensed milk) the daze of the trip wore off. After a years absence, Kuala Lumpur (KL) was easing back into focus.
Approximately 150 years ago, KL was jungle. No concrete, no mega malls, just straight up wilderness. Among the forested areas, it was suspected that there might be an abundance of tin. 87 Chinese prospectors were brought in to scope it out. Although 69 of them died in the jungle, their work forged the way for a successful tin mining industry whose base was located where two rivers, the Gombak and Klang, converge. The convergence of muddy rivers is translated as Kuala Lumpur in Malaysian and, well, a city was born.
Here is the actual convergence of the Gombak and Klang rivers. The birthplace of KL.
The Chinese were brought in to develop the tin mining industry, and as the city was built, more immigrated to help with the development . Indians followed to work in tin and railroad industries, which continued to grow. As a result of these waves of immigrations, KL is eclectic in its style and culture. It’s a city made up of contrasting old colonial buildings and glitzy metal towers. A city where you can see women wearing a niqab walking besides a young Chinese girl wearing tight trendy shirt and short shorts. A place where you can visit giant hindu statues, muslim mosques and Buddhist temples.
If the juxtaposition of eras and cultures doesn’t do it for you, then the food will. If nothing else, KL is a foodies paradise. While upscale restaurants exist in abundance in KL, it’s the street food that is worthy of 5 Michelin stars. Somosas in Little India, nasi goring (fried rice) in China Town, or chicken satays at plenty of unsuspecting corners, follow your nose on the streets and you will be happy.
Few things are better than eating a feast of spicy noodles and stir fried deliciousness to the sounds of car horns, sizzling oil and bootleggers yelling in your face in 100 degree heat on what may be my favorite street in the world, Jalan Alor. I went to KL for the first time three years ago and fell in love. I knew I needed to go back. Any excuse would do, any at all.
Few things are better than eating a feast of spicy noodles and stir fried deliciousness to the sounds of car horns, sizzling oil and bootleggers yelling in your face in 100 degree heat on what may be my favorite street in the world, Jalan Alor. I went to KL for the first time three years ago and fell in love. I knew I needed to go back. Any excuse would do, any at all.
The Batu Caves are limestone caves in which Hindu temples were built. They are only 20 minutes outside of the city.
A man prayers at the Batu Caves
A monkey in the cave finds a coconut
Also not far from downtown KL is Putrajaya. Known for its unique architecture, the area is the official government city. Here is the convention center. Malaysian flags our found everywhere, reminding you of the countries strong sense of patriotism.
Right in the heart of the city is the KL Tower where you can sit and eat in a revolving restaurant. If you time it right, you will eat with views of the amazing Petronas Towers.
MIDE 09’-Back At It Again
For the last two years my “excuse” to come to Malaysia has been the Malaysian International Dive Expo. Things work out well when your “excuse” happens to be an incredibly fun and successful event. Growing each year since its inception 3 years ago, the show this year saw a record attendance of over 6,000 visitors. The sentiment amongst the crowd and exhibitors was that MIDE has become an important show in the industry and is here to stay. In fact, for many exhibitors that can't get to DEMA and stay in the Austrailasia region, this could be their most important show.
For the last two years my “excuse” to come to Malaysia has been the Malaysian International Dive Expo. Things work out well when your “excuse” happens to be an incredibly fun and successful event. Growing each year since its inception 3 years ago, the show this year saw a record attendance of over 6,000 visitors. The sentiment amongst the crowd and exhibitors was that MIDE has become an important show in the industry and is here to stay. In fact, for many exhibitors that can't get to DEMA and stay in the Austrailasia region, this could be their most important show.
A key success factor and differentiator is MIDE’s openness to the community. It all starts with the fact that entrance is free and open to anyone. Additionally, MIDE involves the community; everyone from the Minister of Tourism to the young Scuba Rangers are involved in the opening ceremonies. There are activities for the children throughout the show and constant prize give-a-ways. There is nothing to lose by coming into MIDE, but you may leave with a prize, an award, or perhaps best of all, a new passion for diving.
The Minister of tourism addresses the crowd during the opening ceremonies
Once you meet the show organizers, Kenny and Ness, it’s easy to tell where MIDE gets its welcoming spirit from. The sibling team is involved in every detail of the three-day event. If a light goes out in your booth, expect Kenny to be there in a matter of minutes with a ladder and a replacement. Despite any madness that might be going down at the time, they always have a smile on their face and why shouldn’t they? As attendance of most Malaysian expos goes down, their show steadily rises. The fact is that Kenny and Ness really want the show to go well, not just for their own sake, but also for the sake of diving in Malaysia. Their passion towards this purpose infiltrates the busy halls of the show and is reflected in the satisfaction of both exhibitors and visitors.
It was great to have the opportunity to once again present the prizes to the winners of the children's drawing contest.There were some impressive young artists at the show!
While there are not many underwater photography exhibitors, given its locality in South East Asia, there was plenty on display for underwater photographers. Resorts from all the top underwater photography destinations like, Sabah, Bunaken, Lembeh, Bali, PNG and more were at the show.
AquaMarine Diving-Bali was offering great deals at the show. Whenever DPG goes to Bali we dive with Ketut (left).
Once again Panasonic had a big booth to showcase their Lumix line of point and shoot cameras. One camera in particular, the Panasonic Lumix LX3, created quite the buzz. Edvin Eng, an award-winning compact camera photographer (and now Malaysian Panasonic rep), recently put away his trusty Canon G10 to pick up the LX3 for its great wide-angle capabilities.
Edvin Eng of Panasonic Malaysia holds up his plaque from winning both Our World Underwater and DEEP Indonesia compact camera categories
The Panasonic Lumix LX3
Scuba Diver Australasia (SDAA) was the co-host again and had a big presence at the show. The winners of the Through The Lens photo competition were displayed in the front hall. The winners were impressive and featured many of the usual suspects including Keri Wilk, Jeff De Guzman and Cal Mero.
Winning images from the SDAA TTL photo contest
SDAA recently acquired Asian Diver magazine and unveiled the first issue during a ceremony at the expo. At the ceremony, prizes were given away including the special Asian Diver/SDAA double issue.
The unveiling of the new Asian Diver magazine
Of course it would not be MIDE without the SDAA/MIDE/PADI party at Modesto’s. Like last year, it was a great night of fun, food, drinking, more drinking and dancing. Of course, it also meant that Sunday morning set up went a little slower.
Me, Tim Hochgrebe and Maggie Ombeng at Modesto's. (Photo credit: Maggie Ombeng)
MIDE might not be like some of the big U.S. shows where I get giddy thinking of the new underwater photo products I will get to see, but it is not necessarily trying to be that kind of show either. Instead, Kenny and Ness have organized a show that is conducive to building a community –be it exhibitors networking, local visitors learning about the dive world that surrounds them or children learning about the importance of the ocean. At the very least, the show guarantees a room full people with one thing on their mind—their next dive.
Pulau Bidong-Gotta Go Diving
Of course, you cannot leave Malaysia without getting your camera wet. This year I would be diving off mainland Malaysia in the province of Terengganu. Terengganu would be our base for diving Pulau Bidong, a small island off the coast in the South China Sea. I had the pleasure of going with underwater photographer/ book-seller extraordinaire Ivan Choong who has dove most of Malaysia, but like me, was a first timer at Bidong.
We stayed at the very pleasant Sutra Beach Resort & Spa which has a nice infinity pool, large dining room, and beach side rooms on, what can be sometimes rare on mainland Malaysia, fairly uncrowded beaches. Ivan and I also had the pleasure of diving with the popular operator SeaMonkey. SeaMonkey has dive shops throughout major diving destinations in Malaysia, and has very experienced guides. We dove with Adrin, a veteran photo guide who owns an SLR and took us to a macro spot the first day because he saw the light was bad. It’s not everyday you come across that kind of experience.
The reason for staying on the mainland is that Pulau Bidong is uninhabited, or at least has been for about 20 years. In the late 1970’s Pulau Bidong became a home for Vietnamese refugees who were fleeing their country from persecution. The refugees were mainly the upper class who could afford boats big enough for the travel and brought with them jewelry and US dollars. At one point, it was said that as many as 40,000 people inhabited Pulau Bidong. Today the only people that use the island are the University Malaysia Terengganu’s marine science students.
In 1991 the refugees were relocated, but they left their mark . Reminders of their presence, in forms decaying remnants of what was called “Little Saigon,” riddle the island.
Included in these remnants are the boats they came on which were purposely sunk so they could tell authorities they had no way back to Vietnam. Today, these boats are one of Bidong’s dive sites.
On the last day we dove two reefs that looked like they had never experienced any sort of human interaction. The first dive was on Midway Reef, which is a large reef not deeper than 20 meters. There was a slight morning current that brought the polyps out of the large hard corals and colorful soft corals. Schools of damsels, anthias and other reef fish were hovering around the corals politely posing for pictures. Anemones with clownfish scattered the bottoms of the reef and large barrel sponges came out like boulders from sandy patches.
The climax of my Pulau Bidong visit came at the end of the last dive (as it should be, right?) at Batu Tengkorak (skull rock).
Pulau Bidong-Gotta Go Diving
Of course, you cannot leave Malaysia without getting your camera wet. This year I would be diving off mainland Malaysia in the province of Terengganu. Terengganu would be our base for diving Pulau Bidong, a small island off the coast in the South China Sea. I had the pleasure of going with underwater photographer/ book-seller extraordinaire Ivan Choong who has dove most of Malaysia, but like me, was a first timer at Bidong.
We stayed at the very pleasant Sutra Beach Resort & Spa which has a nice infinity pool, large dining room, and beach side rooms on, what can be sometimes rare on mainland Malaysia, fairly uncrowded beaches. Ivan and I also had the pleasure of diving with the popular operator SeaMonkey. SeaMonkey has dive shops throughout major diving destinations in Malaysia, and has very experienced guides. We dove with Adrin, a veteran photo guide who owns an SLR and took us to a macro spot the first day because he saw the light was bad. It’s not everyday you come across that kind of experience.
A view of Sutra Beach Resort from the pool. By Ivan Choong
The reason for staying on the mainland is that Pulau Bidong is uninhabited, or at least has been for about 20 years. In the late 1970’s Pulau Bidong became a home for Vietnamese refugees who were fleeing their country from persecution. The refugees were mainly the upper class who could afford boats big enough for the travel and brought with them jewelry and US dollars. At one point, it was said that as many as 40,000 people inhabited Pulau Bidong. Today the only people that use the island are the University Malaysia Terengganu’s marine science students.
In 1991 the refugees were relocated, but they left their mark . Reminders of their presence, in forms decaying remnants of what was called “Little Saigon,” riddle the island.
Included in these remnants are the boats they came on which were purposely sunk so they could tell authorities they had no way back to Vietnam. Today, these boats are one of Bidong’s dive sites.
The lovely Pulau Bidong
Unfortunately I was limited to just three dives because of a sinus infection that caused painful reverse blocks. However, I saw enough of the diving around the area to get a sense of what it was like -- pristine. The Vietnamese refugees may have fished a lot of the large pelagics, but they did not harm the reefs. I was told this was mostly a macro spot, but I disagree. The reefs here are so well preserved that they are just begging for a dome port.
On the last day we dove two reefs that looked like they had never experienced any sort of human interaction. The first dive was on Midway Reef, which is a large reef not deeper than 20 meters. There was a slight morning current that brought the polyps out of the large hard corals and colorful soft corals. Schools of damsels, anthias and other reef fish were hovering around the corals politely posing for pictures. Anemones with clownfish scattered the bottoms of the reef and large barrel sponges came out like boulders from sandy patches.
At the end of the dive was a large rocky area covered in purple, red and orange scleronephtyha that was lit up by the sun.
The climax of my Pulau Bidong visit came at the end of the last dive (as it should be, right?) at Batu Tengkorak (skull rock).
The Skull Rock dive site
We spent the majority of the dive casually shooting sea fans, different Porites and barrel sponges when we drifted into a large garden of staghorn coral that went on as far as the very good visibility let us see. Not a single tip was broken off, and very little was bleached.
It was hitting noon and we were shallow at around 8 meters so the light on the reef was strong. The current was just powerful enough to move me past the coral garden so that I did not need to exert any energy whatsoever. It was one of those perfect dive moments. The mixture of the pristine reef and prefect light made for a memorably serene and relaxing ride over the staghorn.
My relaxing cruise over a garden of staghorn coral. Photo by Ivan Choong
The dives I did at Bidong were not the kind of the dives where you come up listing off all the stuff you saw. No turtles or sharks on the wide angle dives, and not too many very unusual critters on the macro sites. However, that’s missing the point of Bidong. It’s an extremely accessible diving area that offers beautiful reefs and great visibility. It might not be a place to fly all the way from the States from, but it is certainly a worthy dive destination.
The reefs make you believe no one has ever been there before, but the Vietnamese wreckage reminds you of its historic past.
Clownfish yawning. Photo by Ivan Choong
Special thanks to:
Ivan Choong
Kenny and Ness
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Thank you Matt Weiss, for sharing Malaysia to the rest of the world in such a well written article. Terima Kasih!(thank you)
PadiPro- Sama Sama! Can't wait to go next year.