Well, it's Christmas Day in Malaysia....and we had three fabulous boat dives today....Eel Valley, Lobster Wall (no lobster!) and Don King Yama at Kapalai.

Everyone has finally gotten enough rest to be fully recovered from the travel travails & the last two pieces of missing luggage (including dive gear) arrived early today, so we've got some happycampers now! Sightings today included turtles, schools of bream, a juvenile blue ribbon eel still in his black phase as well as a "true" blue ribbon eel just a few feet farther down the reef. Everyone had exciting things to talk about after the dives and lots and lots of photos were taken...it's amazing what some fabulous diving can do to erase the stresses of travel!

Christmas Eve is a much bigger celebratory event than Christmas Day so last night's dinner included turkey & gravy along with some of the other trimmings. A Yule Log was also presented for dessert. Because the Christian staff had the evening off to go into Semporna for Christmas Eve services, our Muslim staffers serenaded us with Christmas Carols. The veranda was decorated with a Christmas tree, snowman & gingerbread houses. The guests all joined in singing the Christmas carols and then some of the staff entertained us with their fantastic dancing skills. We even had a performance from the "Miss Mabul" contestants..some of the male dive staff dressed as dancing girls! Those "gals" sure can dance!

We're enjoying the hot, sunny weather and calm seas...we're also thinking of our friends and family back home in the snow, ice & cold....we wish you were with us! Merry Christmas everyone!