33

과 학 의 지 평

32 과학의 지평

징검다리

hangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa, Philippines’ largest and most

exclusive deluxe resort, offers its guests the ultimate tropical paradise

vacation experience… a perfect getaway for fun, relaxation and sea sports”,

so says the opening statement on their home page. Enticed by this, and of course

by my secret desire to continue my scuba diving training, I decided to book a trip,

my fourth destination in South East Asia in as many months. And off I went.

The first thing I needed to find after a half night’s sleep (arrival after the

midnight) was a location to continue my SCUBA diving adventure, which was

the main reason to be there in the first place. This resort complex was so huge

that I got lost a few times in attempt to find the diving center. The staff at the

Sea Sport Center was extremely helpful and supportive of my fantasy adventure

at my somewhat mature age. By the way, in case some of you are wondering

what SCUBA really means, this is the acronym for Self-Contained Underwater

Breathing Apparatus for which the legendary Jacques Cousteau gets a well-

deserved credit. Having been introduced to this wonderful sport only a few

months ago in Bali, Indonesia, I was determined to obtain an Open Water Diving

Certificate. The first level certificate, which I already had, is called “Scuba

Diver Certificate”, obtained after two days of training and it is good for diving

down to the 12 meter depth. I had to invest two more days of training and

exams for the open water certificate, which allows one to dive to 18 meters.

First, I had to read and “master” a 360 page book on the scuba diving, and it

was also required to watch a one and a half hour DVD. I felt embarrassed

because I had to memorize so many new things but kept forgetting some. Well,

it shows that it is not easy to teach an old dog a new trick. Anyway, after

several training dives and a final dive to the depth of 18 meters, I had to pass a

final exam.

Altogether, I had to pass 3-4 written exams, one of the exams being about the

basic principles of buoyancy and underwater pressure. Do you believe I scored

only 8 out of 10 in this sub-general physics test? It was a real embarrassment

for a physicist but I blamed, naturally, less-than-precisely phrased

(unscientific) questions. Upon my protest, my instructor concurred, not that it

mattered. In any case, these were my first serious tests in more than 45 years

and hopefully the last in my life! How I felt when I was awarded a certificate is

beyond any description. I was told, however, to my disappointment, that many

years ago some one older than me by two years had gotten the same certificate

at the dive center there. I was beaten by two years! Mind you 18 meters is

more than I can handle and that is deep! By the way my certificates were issued

by PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), the world’s largest

diver training organization, located in many cities and resorts around the world.

They are supposed to be “the world’s most respected and sought-after dive

credentials”.

In scuba diving, there are two commandments. The first is you never dive alone

for the obvious reason; the second being never to hold your breath or you are

at risk of damaging your lungs and others. The diving equipments are heavy and

complex. Simply put, however, one needs a compressed air tank, which is by

the way extremely heavy, and the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) jacket with

breathing air hoses dangling like an octopus. In addition, one wears standard

goggles, flippers and a weight belt to let you sink. Luckily, the wet suit was

light since the water temperature in Philippines was around 30 degree Celsius.

The depth you want to be at is controlled mainly by the amount of air in the

BCD and is fine-tuned by the amount of the air in your lung, which is harder

than you think.

Once you are at a certain depth and cruising by using flippers, you are in the

zone in a new dimension, being weightless and enjoying breathtaking

underwater world. I must warn, however, that the sport has elements of danger

and one cannot underestimate the dangers involved in the sport. First, the air

you breathe is highly compressed, so nitrogen can smear into your body and

A journey to a new dimension,

the underwater world

S“

Prof. Kim, Chung Wook

School of Physics, KIAS

33

과 학 의 지 평

32 과학의 지평

징검다리

hangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa, Philippines’ largest and most

exclusive deluxe resort, offers its guests the ultimate tropical paradise

vacation experience… a perfect getaway for fun, relaxation and sea sports”,

so says the opening statement on their home page. Enticed by this, and of course

by my secret desire to continue my scuba diving training, I decided to book a trip,

my fourth destination in South East Asia in as many months. And off I went.

The first thing I needed to find after a half night’s sleep (arrival after the

midnight) was a location to continue my SCUBA diving adventure, which was

the main reason to be there in the first place. This resort complex was so huge

that I got lost a few times in attempt to find the diving center. The staff at the

Sea Sport Center was extremely helpful and supportive of my fantasy adventure

at my somewhat mature age. By the way, in case some of you are wondering

what SCUBA really means, this is the acronym for Self-Contained Underwater

Breathing Apparatus for which the legendary Jacques Cousteau gets a well-

deserved credit. Having been introduced to this wonderful sport only a few

months ago in Bali, Indonesia, I was determined to obtain an Open Water Diving

Certificate. The first level certificate, which I already had, is called “Scuba

Diver Certificate”, obtained after two days of training and it is good for diving

down to the 12 meter depth. I had to invest two more days of training and

exams for the open water certificate, which allows one to dive to 18 meters.

First, I had to read and “master” a 360 page book on the scuba diving, and it

was also required to watch a one and a half hour DVD. I felt embarrassed

because I had to memorize so many new things but kept forgetting some. Well,

it shows that it is not easy to teach an old dog a new trick. Anyway, after

several training dives and a final dive to the depth of 18 meters, I had to pass a

final exam.

Altogether, I had to pass 3-4 written exams, one of the exams being about the

basic principles of buoyancy and underwater pressure. Do you believe I scored

only 8 out of 10 in this sub-general physics test? It was a real embarrassment

for a physicist but I blamed, naturally, less-than-precisely phrased

(unscientific) questions. Upon my protest, my instructor concurred, not that it

mattered. In any case, these were my first serious tests in more than 45 years

and hopefully the last in my life! How I felt when I was awarded a certificate is

beyond any description. I was told, however, to my disappointment, that many

years ago some one older than me by two years had gotten the same certificate

at the dive center there. I was beaten by two years! Mind you 18 meters is

more than I can handle and that is deep! By the way my certificates were issued

by PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), the world’s largest

diver training organization, located in many cities and resorts around the world.

They are supposed to be “the world’s most respected and sought-after dive

credentials”.

In scuba diving, there are two commandments. The first is you never dive alone

for the obvious reason; the second being never to hold your breath or you are

at risk of damaging your lungs and others. The diving equipments are heavy and

complex. Simply put, however, one needs a compressed air tank, which is by

the way extremely heavy, and the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) jacket with

breathing air hoses dangling like an octopus. In addition, one wears standard

goggles, flippers and a weight belt to let you sink. Luckily, the wet suit was

light since the water temperature in Philippines was around 30 degree Celsius.

The depth you want to be at is controlled mainly by the amount of air in the

BCD and is fine-tuned by the amount of the air in your lung, which is harder

than you think.

Once you are at a certain depth and cruising by using flippers, you are in the

zone in a new dimension, being weightless and enjoying breathtaking

underwater world. I must warn, however, that the sport has elements of danger

and one cannot underestimate the dangers involved in the sport. First, the air

you breathe is highly compressed, so nitrogen can smear into your body and

A journey to a new dimension,

the underwater world

S“

Prof. Kim, Chung Wook

School of Physics, KIAS

35

과 학 의 지 평

34 과학의 지평

harm you if you stay in deep water for too long. Although nitrogen has no direct

influence to us at the surface, it has a noticeable intoxicating effect that

intensifies as you dive deeper. Descending and ascending in the water require

extra cautions. For example, it is mandatory to remain about three minutes at

the depth of 5 meters during the ascent. This process gets rid of residual

nitrogen in your body to avoid the decompression sickness. Finally, you should

not fly within 18 hours after your final dive. This practically means your final

day must be spent by doing something else.

In the rest of my stay, I had many dives down to 18 meters at different dive

sites and experienced wondrous underwater spectacles. Describing the

experience here will not do any justice to it since I am not a good writer. In any

case, while diving, one experiences whole new sensations. In a new dimension

of deep underwater, everything is different: light, sound, color and of course

the way you feel about life. Sharks? No, fortunately I did not encounter them.

Maybe next time, in Sipadan, Malaysia which Jacques Cousteau raved about as

being one of the best dive sites in the world or wherever tickles my fancy.

Since I had stayed at the resort more than 10 days, I must tell you about the

place. It had hosted the South Eastern Asia Summit Conference about ten days

before I arrived, President M.H. Rho being one of the attendees. This in fact

caused some unpleasant experiences which I shall not go into details here.

Believe it or not, more than 60% of guests at this resort were Koreans! Is Korea

that rich, I wonder. The resort is ideally located on the secluded north-eastern

edge of the Mactan Island connected to Cebu by two bridges. Upon crossing the

main bridge, I saw a huge picture sign of Mr. President (of Korea) and Mrs. M.H.

Rho, but no other pictures of the heads of the other countries, which were all

gone by that time. What was the reason? I will not tell you.

Being a self-proclaimed gourmet, I sampled most food served in five

restaurants at the resort. Surprisingly, the food, unlike typical chain hotel

restaurants, was over all as good as one can hope for. If, however, your stay is

part of a package deal, which most Korean tourists use, you should not expect

gourmet food all the time. I had chances to sample the food in the Korean set

menu, which was below any reasonable expectation. If you are madly in love or

hungry enough and don’t know any better, you might not even complain as the

food looked wholesome and plenty. Didn’t they say ignorance is a good

medicine? The most notable restaurant was a sea food restaurant called Cowrie

Cove, situated near the by then familiar Sea Sport Center where I was a regular

everyday. The restaurant gives you the opportunity to eat fish while feeding

fish down below the deck built next to the cliff. The lighting was done expertly.

Live fish, crabs and rock lobsters are stored in several tanks as in Korea,

waiting to be picked, yes, by you. I could tell, though, that not all of them had

slept in the sea the night before or a week before. Rich bites of rock lobster

meat, properly firm and succulent, reminded me of my trip eons ago to Nova

Scotia where I ended up having lobsters two meals a day for more than a week.

One dish I thoroughly enjoyed was spicy crab a la Chinese. The crab was a

black stone crab-like a monster with its claws as large as those of Maine

lobsters. The meat tasted like a blend of good old Chesapeake Bay blue crabs

and Maine lobsters.

Since I was not supposed to dive the day before I flew out, I decided to go

snorkeling, a baby version of scuba diving. The snorkeling area was next to the

beach which turned out to be a delight even for a SCUBA diver like me (pardon

my expression but I cannot help it after getting the Open Water Diving

Certificate!) This area was carefully designed and built for the fish sanctuary. I

knew because I had my last dive there. You will be surprised to see how well

wild fish can be conditioned. Encouraged by the staff at the beach, I took some

bread into the water to feed the fish. Yes, feeding was allowed! I noticed a few

Koreans watching me and saying to themselves, “Look at that old man carrying

bread into the water! What on earth is he doing?” I was tempted to explain

politely in Korean what I was about to do, but instead swam quietly to where

the fish were waiting, and whispered to myself, “I am going to have fun with

literally hundreds of fish of all sizes, colors and shapes. You don’t know what

you guys are missing!”

Of course I was not in the water all the time. I saw the smallest primates in the world,

called Tasier, which is a size of my fist. These were the cutest thing I ever saw. This was in

Bohol Island, close to Cebu and an astonishing place, waiting for people to discover many

wonders. This was the place where I also saw a thousand Chocolate Hills. A geological

wonder! Just imagine a thousand hill-size Hershey’s kisses all around you. This reminded

me of happy gatherings after lunch in the discussion room at KIAS where a considerable

amount of chocolate had been devoured.

35

과 학 의 지 평

34 과학의 지평

harm you if you stay in deep water for too long. Although nitrogen has no direct

influence to us at the surface, it has a noticeable intoxicating effect that

intensifies as you dive deeper. Descending and ascending in the water require

extra cautions. For example, it is mandatory to remain about three minutes at

the depth of 5 meters during the ascent. This process gets rid of residual

nitrogen in your body to avoid the decompression sickness. Finally, you should

not fly within 18 hours after your final dive. This practically means your final

day must be spent by doing something else.

In the rest of my stay, I had many dives down to 18 meters at different dive

sites and experienced wondrous underwater spectacles. Describing the

experience here will not do any justice to it since I am not a good writer. In any

case, while diving, one experiences whole new sensations. In a new dimension

of deep underwater, everything is different: light, sound, color and of course

the way you feel about life. Sharks? No, fortunately I did not encounter them.

Maybe next time, in Sipadan, Malaysia which Jacques Cousteau raved about as

being one of the best dive sites in the world or wherever tickles my fancy.

Since I had stayed at the resort more than 10 days, I must tell you about the

place. It had hosted the South Eastern Asia Summit Conference about ten days

before I arrived, President M.H. Rho being one of the attendees. This in fact

caused some unpleasant experiences which I shall not go into details here.

Believe it or not, more than 60% of guests at this resort were Koreans! Is Korea

that rich, I wonder. The resort is ideally located on the secluded north-eastern

edge of the Mactan Island connected to Cebu by two bridges. Upon crossing the

main bridge, I saw a huge picture sign of Mr. President (of Korea) and Mrs. M.H.

Rho, but no other pictures of the heads of the other countries, which were all

gone by that time. What was the reason? I will not tell you.

Being a self-proclaimed gourmet, I sampled most food served in five

restaurants at the resort. Surprisingly, the food, unlike typical chain hotel

restaurants, was over all as good as one can hope for. If, however, your stay is

part of a package deal, which most Korean tourists use, you should not expect

gourmet food all the time. I had chances to sample the food in the Korean set

menu, which was below any reasonable expectation. If you are madly in love or

hungry enough and don’t know any better, you might not even complain as the

food looked wholesome and plenty. Didn’t they say ignorance is a good

medicine? The most notable restaurant was a sea food restaurant called Cowrie

Cove, situated near the by then familiar Sea Sport Center where I was a regular

everyday. The restaurant gives you the opportunity to eat fish while feeding

fish down below the deck built next to the cliff. The lighting was done expertly.

Live fish, crabs and rock lobsters are stored in several tanks as in Korea,

waiting to be picked, yes, by you. I could tell, though, that not all of them had

slept in the sea the night before or a week before. Rich bites of rock lobster

meat, properly firm and succulent, reminded me of my trip eons ago to Nova

Scotia where I ended up having lobsters two meals a day for more than a week.

One dish I thoroughly enjoyed was spicy crab a la Chinese. The crab was a

black stone crab-like a monster with its claws as large as those of Maine

lobsters. The meat tasted like a blend of good old Chesapeake Bay blue crabs

and Maine lobsters.

Since I was not supposed to dive the day before I flew out, I decided to go

snorkeling, a baby version of scuba diving. The snorkeling area was next to the

beach which turned out to be a delight even for a SCUBA diver like me (pardon

my expression but I cannot help it after getting the Open Water Diving

Certificate!) This area was carefully designed and built for the fish sanctuary. I

knew because I had my last dive there. You will be surprised to see how well

wild fish can be conditioned. Encouraged by the staff at the beach, I took some

bread into the water to feed the fish. Yes, feeding was allowed! I noticed a few

Koreans watching me and saying to themselves, “Look at that old man carrying

bread into the water! What on earth is he doing?” I was tempted to explain

politely in Korean what I was about to do, but instead swam quietly to where

the fish were waiting, and whispered to myself, “I am going to have fun with

literally hundreds of fish of all sizes, colors and shapes. You don’t know what

you guys are missing!”

Of course I was not in the water all the time. I saw the smallest primates in the world,

called Tasier, which is a size of my fist. These were the cutest thing I ever saw. This was in

Bohol Island, close to Cebu and an astonishing place, waiting for people to discover many

wonders. This was the place where I also saw a thousand Chocolate Hills. A geological

wonder! Just imagine a thousand hill-size Hershey’s kisses all around you. This reminded

me of happy gatherings after lunch in the discussion room at KIAS where a considerable

amount of chocolate had been devoured.