She once wore a tiara, but traded it for a mask, regulator, fins and tank. Pummkin’s Pitch (http://pitch.pummkin.net) blogger Pamela Lim has an eventful career, from a model, interior decorator and presenter to a dive instructor, which eventually led her to journalism.

Lim enjoys blogging as it allows her to document her struggles, aspirations and travels.

The name of Lim’s blog is derived from a pseudonym that she had used. It refers to a city girl who loves the outdoors but does not have an inclination on surviving its pitfalls. Lim’s friends used to call her the “city bumpkin”. She improvised on that term, removing the “B” and “P” and replacing them with “P” (from her name) and an additional “M” so she would not be associated with a pumpkin. “Everything that I am is pitched from this blog,” she says.

Pamela or Pam, as Lim is affectionately known among friends, has been a diving instructor for the last 10 years and is now an instructor trainer with the National Association of Underwater Instructors, but she works full-time as a Web editor for Virtual Malaysia, the official portal for the Tourism Ministry. This means that Lim does travel photojournalism about destinations and events in Malaysia, including nature and dive-related events such as Project Aware and Reef Check. Blogging allows Lim to document her struggles, aspirations and travels. It also allows her to share her challenges in a way that people can relate to. And since she comes from a large family, blogging allows her to keep in touch with relatives from around the world, too.

“I’m able to see what others think when they contribute in the form of comments and calls, and how I can learn from them. I like blogging because it keeps me thinking about what I want to deliver to my readers,” Lim says. She admits that blogging is somewhat impersonal, but writing to everyone in her family would be quite a challenge. She blogs about issues, life and the path to live blissfully in her struggles and challenges as a Christian and as a female in a male-dominated profession as well as her observations during her travels. “The blog is all about my adventures as a female in the wilderness,” she says.

Lim adds that she avoids using direct references to detractors. She also does not talk about politics or bad-mouth others in her blog. “Life is so beautiful and exciting that I don’t need unnecessary stress levelled on me for bringing negativity to others,” she continues.

Lim originally started her blog on Blogger.com, but decided to migrate to her locally hosted domain using Wordpress after dabbling in some software and Web site development tools. She has even built several Web sites for non-governmental organisations and friends. Apart from her blog, Lim founded an Olympus user group called MyChiaroscuro.net with a handful of users a year ago. Now, the site has grown to about 200 members with over 50 regulars who meet up each week for teh tarik sessions and walkabouts with their cameras.

Lim stresses that the group is not a part of Olympus Malaysia, neither do they receive any funding from the company.

“Being a faithful Olympus user, the pictures in my blog were taken with Olympus cameras such as the E510, E500, E300, C5050z and C4040z. “All of my underwater shots were taken with the C5050z, which has an F1.8 super-bright lens that allows me to capture shots without flash. I’m waiting for the Micro four-thirds system to debut so that I can finally use a dSLR (digital single-lens reflex) underwater! Once I hold the camera, my imagination takes over and the fun begins!”