We were supposed to go to Shark Island, but it was too choppy, so we went to Green Rock instead. At least these guys tell you what's going on before you leave, so you can stay behind if you want. It was great now that I had the right mask, and I saw rays, porcupine fish, and I finally saw the trigger fish, a big fish that attacks people. Luckily he was swimming away when I saw him. Unfortunately while we swam between some rocks I flailed my hands and cut my fingers in two places. That's why you're not supposed to use your hands at all. Even though I feel like I'm relaxed and breathing slowly, I still got down to 30 bar during the safety stop. At this point the divemaster made me use his alternate air source, and we had to ascend together. I'm getting good at that.

During the second dive at White Rock, which I had been to twice but had never actually seen, I found I wasn't wearing enough weigh. Nils said I only need 2 kg, so I took 3 kg, since I had been wearing 6 kg. We did a free swimming safety stop (no bouy line to hold on to), and I couldn't stay down. I flailed around and touched a spiky plant, and got some spikes stuck in my fingers, which hurt like hell. The divemaster had to grab me and stick another weight in my BCD. This is why I don't dive without a divemaster, even though I am qualified to.

After the dive my ear was clogged up, just like in Australia. The divemaster said I should go to the pharmacy and get some ear drops. The pharmacist said my ear was red and infected, so gave me some drops that cure "affections." So who do I believe, and Australian doctor who said I burst a blood vessel, or a Thai pharmacist who says I have an infection? The drops worked, so I believe the pharmacist.

That night I tried to watch a VCD of "I Spy" starring Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy. Some of what Owen Wilson said was subtitled in English, often incorrectly, but whoever did the subtitles must not have been able to understand Eddie Murphy, since a laugh track followed everything he said. Very strange. I kind of wonder what Thai people think of America, since their only exposure to it is through low quality copies of Hollywood movies.