tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24745604868434755612024-03-13T07:47:45.102-07:00ChemhosterThe portraits of life, realities and thoughtsChemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.comBlogger259125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-60800903437926564422020-05-21T16:58:00.000-07:002020-05-21T17:13:36.203-07:00Getting out of prison<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We finished the drilling campaign in Myanmar and got back to Yangon town. Back then the global Covid-19 cases were slightly over 1mil. We had a bet as to when would be the earliest the cases hit 1mil, I won the bet. The curve just shot up exponentially. When we headed out to the rig, things were pretty much under control. After a month, the world economic engine ground to a halt. Many countries have implemented lockdown and airports have been shut.<br />
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Back in town, we checked in the 8mile hotel. Couldn't head off to China Town for seafood BBQ and beers as a celebration of a job well done, which we normally would. We had some fun drinking and partying in the hotel restaurant. Quick adaptation, wasn't it. There were ~15 of us from the same companies. What a gathering! The international airport has been shut down. We continued to stay until further notice. </div>
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From my team, 3 Indonesian crews left to Jakarta the earliest among us via South Korea. One of them tested positive on the Rapid test, and then tested negative with the Swab test one week later. Haiz, causing us unnecessary stress. Then the Thai crews left via land. Eventually left only 2 Malaysian + 1 SG + 1 Kazakh. There was no strict lockdown in Yangon, but we avoided going outside unnecessarily. The number of Covid-19 cases reported in Myanmar is pretty insignificant, but we know it was because there were very little tests done. </div>
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At first, I got kind of lost as to how to get through the days. Concurrent with the Covid-19 crisis, the oil price was also crash terribly. At one point in time, it turned negative for April's future. Without a doubt, there would be RIF and we are also concerned about getting laid off. After adjusting and adapting, it's not bad after all. The key lies in *Stop worrying and start doing something*. Finally, there was a relief flight straight to KL, after close to a month of confined stay in Yangon. It costs 300USD each and we had to wait in line for 5 hours in the Myanmar airline office to buy the tickets. WTF.</div>
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At the airport, we saw 2 stranded girls crying, and rubbing the tears with hands. Most likely they are on personal trips, used up their money. And it's taboo rub the eyes. Not good. The plane we took to come home, it was at 100% capacity. Being paranoid, I skipped the flight meal so I could have my face mask on at all times.</div>
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Upon arrival at KLIA, we were swabbed, escorted to Pulse Grand Hotel. it's the smoothest traffic I had ever been in, didn't even stop at traffic lights. It used to be a 5-star hotel as per Google. We were confined to our own hotel room for 14 days, given 3 meals a day. It's no other than a luxury prison. The food was as good as compared to what we got in 8mile Hotel. 2 weeks have gone by, I'm leaving prison today.</div>
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What did I do to survive all this? 6 weeks isolation, or so to speak.</div>
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1. Complete all the company online e-learning courses </div>
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2. Try to learn some Spanish, failed</div>
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3. Try to learn some Python programming, failed </div>
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4. Work out and gain 6 packs finally, hope to stay in shape.</div>
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*I have always tried to work out inconsistently to get 6 packs, but no success. </div>
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5. Learn technical analysis and candle chart, good progress. </div>
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*If you do something you are passionate about, you have a better chance to see results. </div>
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6. Trade KLSE, gain 1k. </div>
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7. Watch a lot of youtube videos, CNBC, documentaries etc.</div>
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8. Watch some movies. </div>
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I'm ready for post Covid-19 new norm.</div>
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Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-674034319062711432017-02-21T07:15:00.002-08:002017-02-22T01:40:34.807-08:00A wonderful adventure to Java (Surabaya to Jogjakarta)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just completed an amazing and adventurous trip in Java, along with my amazing girlfriend. We didn't take up any tour package, but to explore on our own.<br />
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We touched down at Surabaya airport. There was a very helpful guy at the Information Center who sketched up on a piece of paper explaining to us how we can use public transportation to Probolinggo, from where we can access Cemorong Lawang to commence the Bromo adventure. The bus journey took couple of hours, which hurt our butt real good. There were some really interesting scenes whereby there were people hop on and off the bus to sell things, snacks and even to play some musics and singing.</div>
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A little scam took place in Probolinggo, whereby the mini bus operator wanted to keep us waiting till the bus got filled up prior to departing (it's low season), and he wouldn't let us go with ojek, the motorbike taxi. Anyway, I managed to cut a deal with him to wait no longer and push off.</div>
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Put up a night at Cafe Lava hostel. It's cold and wet. There were few extremely friendly (annoying) young fellows selling scarfs and goods and they just kept coming despite we had already bought some items from them. Woke up at 3AM, thinking to commence trekking to the Penanjakan view point at where we could catch sun rise and the broad view of Bromo Mount . It was cold and drizzling. Fortunately that we bumped into a cool and funny jeep driver. Out of safety concern, we decided to skip the trekking and take the jeep. We were way ahead of our planned schedule that we had to kill some time at the rundown cafe house getting hot coffee and tea. We trekked to Pananjakan. Met a bunch of Indonesian campers. They just set up a tent and put up a night in the wild. Pretty cool, and pretty cold I bet. The mist was so heavy that the visibility was almost entirely impaired. Eventually there was no sun rise seen and the Bromo Mount was well hidden too. Disappointed we were, nevertheless we did have a very satisfying hot mee cup there. We were in luck that we'd waited long enough and at about 7am the mist started to clear. The view of the greenery of the village and the Bromo mount and Bromo Crater was breathtaking. Following that the jeep took us to the so called *Jalan Tikus*, a bypass route to the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park where we crossed the Sea of Sand and then hiked up to Bromo Crater. It's fuming heavily and the wind was high. The mist and the rain came and went off. Despite the harsh weather, the scenery was still interestingly amazing.<br />
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The jeep then took us back to hostel. We checked out and left for Probolinggo sharing the minibus with a bunch of fellows from the UK. Spent 2 nights in Probolinggo, a town that had almost nothing to do, except for the Madakaripura Waterfall, which was about 1 hour away by ojek motorbike taxi. We tried to find a rental motorbike but to no avail. We were scammed before that the waterfall was being been shut down due to raining season, which was not true. It's raining slowly. It took about 30 minutes of trekking to get to the waterfall. The waterfall is undoubtedly the most scenic one I've seen anywhere else. The water comes off of a height of 200m. We got drenched wet, and it's freezing cold, but the hardship was definitely worthy. Another thing about the town is this restaurant (CJDW), selling kepiting (crab) masak Asam Manis. The home stay owner strongly recommended it to us, even offered the ride to and from the restaurant. Well, the food was pretty awesome.<br />
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Next, we headed for Kawah Ijen. At Probolinggo, we went to the train station to check out the tickets to get to Jogjakarta, only to find out that our original plan would not work as there is no train running at night. On the way back to hostel, we were *intervened* or helped by the beca driver who introduced us to this transportation agent. We cut a deal with him for transportation to and from Probolinggo - Pos Paltuding (where the Arabica Homestay is and a location closest to Ijen Crater) and to Jogjakarta.<br />
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After a good lunch at Nasi Ayam Bromo restaurant and watching a snake in action, we spent the next few hours of depressing ride to get to the Arabica Homestay, where we put up a night and woke up at 1AM to start the Ijen Crater tour. It's cold, wet and heavily misty. We had to trek for about 2 hours to get to the spot where we can see the blue fire. We had to breathe through the special mask / respirator due to high content of sulfur in the atmosphere as we're getting close to the spot. Well, we literally grasped for air. It's hard to imagine how to sulfur miners can continue to work laboriously in such a harsh environment. Such job was documented by BBC as among the toughest job on earth. They mine the sulfur and pick up about 50kg of same to go back each trip. The dancing blue fire was pretty interesting, despite the light pollution by some ignorant tourists. At one point, the wind was blowing the sulfur fumes towards us and we got chocked and our eyes got irritated. Under the guidance of the our guide, we just remained calm and after awhile we slowly made our way back and away from the spot. We had no luck to watching the emerald green lake as the thick mist had killed the visibility altogether. We made a stop midway at the coffee house and had a mee cup.<br />
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We traveled back to Probolinggo. Went back to Nasi Ayam Bromo restaurant, but the driver came calling us to get back to the bus before our food was even served as he was going to start driving. We supposed that it will be a comfortable ride as there were just three of us (including Ivar) but it was without air conditioning, and the road was pretty bumpy. It's about 8 hours journey. We arrived at Jogjakarta past midnight. The driver wouldn't send us to straight to our hostel unless we topped him up some money, which Ivar was reluctant to do so. Eventually we managed to get a cab by an old man who was driving at 30kph and we arrived at Venezia Garden hostel.<br />
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The next day, first thing of course is to rent a motorbike so that we can go anywhere conveniently. We sent our laundry, went shopping for batik pants in Malioboro street. Had a great Bakso there and then went to the famous Gudeg Yu Djum, it's alright. In the afternoon, did a 1.5 hour ride to Prambanan, a UNESCO World Heritage site and it's a Hindu temple from the 9th century. Thought to catch sunset, but it's too cloudy.<br />
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Woke up at 6AM and hit the road for about 1.5 hour to get to Borobodor. Stopped at Indo Mart for mee cup. The crowd was not too bad. However, the cloud was too much. The Merapi mount was almost hidden. We hanged out a bit and took some photos. Met a bunch of local students who approached us to talk and socialize, as part of their course/project assessment.<br />
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Headed for Perangtritis beach in the evening in an attempt to catch sunset despite the fact that we'd known ahead that there was a slim chance of it. yes, it's extremely cloudy and the sunset was well hidden. We discovered though the nature mirror. Something like what there is in Sasaran. Have some fun taking the reflection photography. Went for nasi goreng babi dinner at Warung Bakmi Ketandan. Waited for extraordinarily long and then we found out that we had to wait for the queue. The food was delicious. On the way back to homestay, it poured on us. We were drenched wet and trapped outside for a short while taking shelter in front of a bank.<br />
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Headed for Pindul cave, some 1.5 hour away. As we were arriving, we had a company who was offering to lead the way to Pindul. He insisted it no matter how we turned it down. So, let it be. We bought a package for caving on foot, caving on a float and water rafting. It's fine with discovering some bats, crystal and carbonate features. We proceeded to heading for Pantai Timang. As we were getting close to the beach, there was a stretch of extremely bumpy road. The road is made of thousands and thousands of small stones. It's so bumpy that I was so concerned that the tyre of the bikes went busted, and we would be so stuck in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, we managed through it in great pain and exhaustion, and eventually we got to a heavenly scenic beach. It's a sunny afternoon. The sea was ferocious and the waves were going as high as 3-4m. The view of the cliffs and the bay was just terrific. We wanted to ride the gondola (a short cable car literally using the men power to turn the wheels) but we were too tired for it. Got a mee cup and a coconut. Did some photography. Went down to the beach, the water was emerald and clear. Strong waves were hitting relentlessly. It's quite an experience. It's no doubt a huge losses that we couldn't stay long enough for the sunset as we had to travel approximately 2.5 hours back to the home stay, and of course through the shitty and bumpy stretch of stone road. Despite the hardship that we had to deal with, I think the beauty of the beach is a fair reward. Went for Ayam Penyet Surabaya again for dinner.<br />
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Morning of last day, wanted to get the delicious bakso at Malioboro street, it hadn't open for business. Went across the street and had gudeg. Returned the bike. Checked out and left for airport, made a stop at a coffee shop for shopping. <br />
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It's an amazing adventure, with amazing company. Can't wait for the next one. </div>
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Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-46962902426805196402016-12-13T22:03:00.000-08:002016-12-13T22:21:00.020-08:00A blessed 2016First half of the year was pretty slow in terms of works. Plenty of days off.<br />
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Did a hitch onboard NB2 drillship working for SHELL. Finished job and rigged down equipment.<br />
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Did a solo trip to Vietnam traveling from South to North. Simply amazing trip.<br />
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Spent some time working down in Labuan. Went KK - Kundasang in conjunction with Keamatan festival with a Rayner, my technician and is a Dusun.<br />
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Went Singapore a week for job training. Had a superstar Katong Laksa. A pleasant discovery.<br />
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Brexit took place. Market crashed momentarily.<br />
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Sent off sister to UK for furthering her studies in Edinburgh.<br />
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First time working down in Brunei. Was surprised at the sight of rigs and production donkeys in the middle of town. At the workshop, someone stopped me from continuing to work at mid-day on Friday. Worked on an average of 15hrs a day everyday onboard SKD Pelaut Tender rig. Pretty worn out. Surprisingly I had quite some porky meals there, thanks to the Chinese and the Philippine restaurants. Lol....<br />
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Trump won the US presidential election. Huge uncertainty thus arise on geo-politic, economy, trade deal, climate policy and etc.<br />
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Mila has repatriated back to town. In an unexplained odds, our path has crossed again. Wish her the very best of her future endeavors.<br />
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Went back onboard NB 2 drillship. It's drilling in such remote location, that we rode the crew boat for more than 15 hours. It's a pain in the ass! While being onboard, I was notified that my dad was in hospital. Requested for emergency leave. When I arrived in hospital to visit my dad, his vital signs had been stabilized. However, his recovery was excruciatingly slow, perhaps due to old age. Anyway, Count it a huge blessing that it's no chronic illness nor any complicated medical complications. Fortunately enough that he received the medical attention timely. It could easily be a life threatening case.<br />
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Dad's condition has improved enough and he was discharged from hospital. A planned family trip to Seoul and Jeju island went scrapped.<br />
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Market was still flooding with crude inventory. Finally, OPEC and Non OPEC have come together with deal whereby each will cut production in an attempt to push up oil price which I hope will go as far as 65 USD / bbl and sustain thereafter. We are so deprived of the well-deserved benefits and opportunities to make changes as we wish for. Anyway, we should expect significant recovery of oil price.<br />
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More investments down the pipeline and moving. Could only have faith they will work out alright in time to come. Hope things come to fruition and life will be great.<br />
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In a hindsight, it is a blessed year.<br />
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Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-11035374240287010142016-06-16T08:50:00.001-07:002016-06-16T08:55:21.646-07:00I do think that I am living like a nomadThe past few weeks I have been jumping around different places, although I'm not in the midst of backpacking or anything.<br />
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I finished my hitch working my ass off in Labuan at the end of May. I hopped to Kota Kinabalu to visit the Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA). It was in conjunction with Hari Keamatan, for the Kadazan and Dusun. Stayed a night at KK town, and moved onto a road trip to Kundasang & Ranau. Stayed a night at the homestay at Kundasang, enjoying the greenery and fresh air, as it's rainy. Looking at the extent of damage to the Gunung Kinablau due to the quakes last year, it's frightening and saddening. Went visiting Kinabalu Park and feeding squirrels.<br />
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Flew back to KL, stayed a night or two, and made a road trip to Penang with hometown friends. Stayed two nights in Penang. Literally felt agonized having whacked up too many of food. Visit to a Thai temple, where there is a Buddha statue, to which you can ask for grant of wish from Buddha. <a href="http://www.mir.com.my/leofoo/Thai-amulets/Penang/Wat_Buppharam/index1.htm">More info</a>. Drove back to KL and stayed a night.<br />
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Drove back to hometown. Drove my mom to Ipoh for a check up at KPJ hospital. Hope the treatment will get her better. So happened my brother was home too. Stayed three/four nights. Attended a wedding of a friend of my primary schoool, Li Qian or the flower of the class.<br />
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Drove parents to KL. Stopped by Sekinchan for lunch. Drove my brother to airport, from where he flew back Singapore. The next day, drove my parents to airport again, sending off my sister who is furthering her degree studies in Scotland. Pretty teary scene. Wakaka....<br />
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Drove parents to Bukit Tinggi French village, Colmar Tropicale. Luckily they found it fun there. Drove them to Genting Highland.<br />
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Next week, I'm heading to Singapore for a week of training.<br />
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and after next week...no idea.<br />
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So yea....This is definitely one of the an unprecedented level of mobility. I'm so mobile, that I haven't slept over the same bed for over a week. And yea, it's fun and I'm burned out....<br />
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<br />Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-26065816317385396882016-04-22T18:59:00.001-07:002016-04-25T07:29:08.161-07:00Vietnam - South to NorthJust did another solo traveling in Vietnam from Saigon, to Hanoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Sapa, Hanoi, Cat Ba, Lan Ha Bay and finally Hanoi before flying home. I did so little of survey prior. 50% of my trip itinerary was planned out in Saigon when I'd purchased an open bus ticket costing me 800k-900k dong. And the other 50% of it was planned out in Hanoi, taking tips from a couch surfer from Chiang Mai, Maew Chaiwiang.<br />
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The travel was alright. I'm glad that I've explored the country quite a bit, the people, the food, the motorbike culture, the street food culture, the minimalist culture, some young entrepreneurship, the coffee culture, the ways that tourists are over-priced or scammed, the congestion and scarcity of space in the cities, the ways most locals are looking up to westerners (questionable) and the sleeper bus culture and etc. Although I read that the economy has been taking off at >6% per annum, but I've found that there are still quite a large number of people living in certain level of poverty, but they are happy. A French girl told me that although there are so many poor people, the society is functional and livable in general, in contrast to what she saw in Beirut, Lebanon where things are in still and stationary. Traffics, security, businesses are not warranted.<br />
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Anyway, there have been plenty of unknowns whom I met along the way who've made my trip meaningfully interesting.<br />
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A Filipino Canadian Jamie (from couch surfing) at Aleezoo in Saigon. She has been living nomadic for like a year or so. Fell in love with Langkawi. But yea, she just relaxed and lost.<br />
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A Saigon girl Hien (from couch surfing) who brought me to the Phuc Long cafe<span style="color: #27374c; font-family: "lato" , "proxima nova" , "gotham" , "geneva" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">. </span></span>Pretty interesting cafe in the sense that the crowd there is just the locals. I am not thrilled at the scene where all the foreigners hanging out. She is nice and she shared some tips about Saigon. She is the only local who is so assertive that I don't look like a Vietnamese.<br />
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Another Saigon girl Chi La May (from couch surfing) who took me to dinner and motorbike ride around Saigon. Had a beer at rooftop bar. She works as a travel agent in partnership with USA/Europe companies. <br />
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An Airbnb host from Hoi An. The guy speaks a little Cantonese as his dad is from China. Spent quite a bit of time chatting with him, despite difficulty to understand his broken Cantonese. He told me that Laos and Cambodia are doing better these days compared to Vietnam in terms of tourism. He is alright but when I was leaving the town, he made an offer to send me off from the home stay using his motorbike and he asked for a fee. WTF...<br />
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Another Airbnb host Lyn from Hue. Definitely a super host. Took me out for dinner, went on boat ride at Perfume river, even cooked me lunch. More than what I'd could ask for. I mean I could be on my own and venture, but to get the true local taste, your best bet is to have him/her taken you along and try something that he/she normally does. She seems genuine and nice. Anyway, I've taught her something about business and investment.<br />
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An uncle from South Korea who came to share table with me over BBQ dinner at Sapa town. We both had to communicate via GOOGLE TRANSLATE. Yea, funny. He started talking of the tragic Sewol ferry sinking accident taking place in 2014. It's quite striking for me. I saw a couple walking by, and I told him that the couple are Korean, based on the make-up. He went chatting them up, proving me correct. Lol...<br />
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A French girl Julie (from couch surfing) whom I met at Hanoi and then met again in the village at Sapa out of coincidence. Spent an evening with her at Ete bar. Interestingly we got into some serious topics, than all the traveling stories, as I'd expected.<br />
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A pair of Russian couple whom I went trekking with. I thought they are pretty decent people, although the typical perception that we have is that Russian are crazy. I told them too. They are vegetarian, courteous, and fun. They are both wedding photographer by profession. They do 2-3 months vacation in winter every year. I got invited to Russia. Lol...<br />
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The trek master from Sapa village. Pretty interesting person. Speaks relatively good English. 21 years old and married with a kid. I told her that Sapa will be different 20 years down the road, even there may be no more paddy field. Young people leave to work in town. Economy will be more dependent on good and services, than farming. She said no way. So we will see. <br />
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Two girls from Singapore Natalie and Lydia who went to the same home stay in Sapa as I did. Pretty girls or Chio Boo (in Singlish) We met again in Hanoi before I flew home. Smart and fun people to be with. I told Nat that she looks like Stephanie Sun and she told I'm noisy. Hahaha...speechless. We had a BBQ dinner. As we were about to get done, there was a brief raid whereby the authority just appeared out of thin air, seized some tables, got out of sight, all in a blink of eye. It's pretty dramatic. <br />
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Two Hanoi girls whom I met at Cat Ba. It was such a small island, that I bumped into them too many times, even went on the same day trip cruising around the Lan Ha bay. One of them became my kayaking partner. Despite quite a bit of interactions, it's no easy to get along with them. Lol...<br />
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Four Thai guys whom I met on the day trip cruising the Lan Ha bay. One of them can speak pretty good Chinese. As we started talking in Chinese, the German counterparts were taken aback. Yea, these days, if you speak a little Chinese, you're in different league. Lol.... <br />
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Overall, a good adventure and exploration.<br />
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There was a fuck up the first day when I arrived at Sapa. I had booked two days of homestay in the village, 5km off the town. I took a motorbike taxi to the village, and then two con ladies came walking me to the village. The women at the home stay were confused of my arrival, which then I found out that I was in the wrong home stay after making a call. For safety reason, I took a cab back to Sapa town and stayed the night there.Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-4722139776607236512015-12-13T08:03:00.001-08:002015-12-13T18:57:29.669-08:00Year of busy-nessThis year has been the most hectic one of the 5 years of my working life. That means the highest grossing I ever have, and automatically, the most tax incurred, which sucks.<br />
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Early of the year was working at offshore Kemaman onboard MRC. Was actually got onboard on 1st Jan. Plenty of easy money there. Gansar, one of the wells that I've seen issue after issue.<br />
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After that was assigned to offshore Sabah onboard E8504 semi-submersible, the most live-able rig I've ever been. High profile job, world first BTR-s deployed. Did 2 hitches there including rigging down.<br />
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Right after that, made a solo trip to Xian. Hiked at Hua mount. Wonderful lamb BBQ in Xin Jiang style. Missed my returning flight. Lol...<br />
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Went to work at Labuan. There were some crews on VSS scheme. Had a wonderful BBQ at Pohon Batu beach.<br />
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Made a trip to Brazil. Spent 4 weeks there doing all the courses at Macae as well as Barra da Tijuca. Best part of it is none other than visit to places of interest around Rio de Janeiro.<br />
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Went to work in Labuan again.<br />
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Went to work in Gulf of Thai. Shit happened. One fuck up that caused the biggest mess ever that I've seen in my entire life. The silver lining, no one got hurt, and we learnt a bunch from a preventable incident.<br />
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Went to work offshore Miri onboard DD3. Did 2 hitches there. Equipment was not working properly. Thanks god there was no NPT and replacement came just in time. Stress but it all went ok. Too much of rigging. Good evaluation from Client anyway. The well was actually non drillable, even with MPD. Eye opening.<br />
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Went to work offshore Miri again onboard Naga 8, a new rig which is not even 1 year old. We're nearly drilling to TD in next few hours when a total losses occurred. Everyone was caught off guard. So happened it's at shift change time at 6am. Well kicked on us, and went into shut-in. PMCD was activated and got to TD. Gunk plug had no success, but cement plug did after the second one. <br />
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Going to go Noble Bully 2. Will be first time being onboard a drillship. Finally I gotta cover all types of rigs, from land rig to jack up, tender-platform, semi-sub, and drillship. Awaiting time to come back working 8-5 if opportunity permits. Anyway, world first integrated BTR-s deployed, high profile again. Lol...<br />
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Snapped up commitments. House and car are in the pipeline.<br />
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Topped up stocks to nearly 200k.<br />
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Crude oil price has just breached the 2008/09 recession level, at ~35-40 per bbl. The cartel OPEC has decided to go ceiling less on the daily production level, than the original one at 30mil bbls daily. The whole oil and gas industry is in a gloomy climate. Lay off is nothing new. Keep finger crossed.<br />
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Finally a sure target has emerged. Let's go get it or break it. Finger crossed again.<br />
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Applied to Robert Gordon University, and a conditional offer has been secured. 50% chance to go for a master study in UK. Finger crossed again.<br />
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Still contemplating whether or not this offshore way of life is of any sustainability. Not too keen anymore for such unforgiving mobility / travels. Looking forward to a shift a path. No doubt that the headwind will be especially strong next year in light of industry cyclical downturn, lift-off by the Federal Reserve, against the backdrop where prices are hiked over and over across the board, life goes on, however the adversities are. So, keep hopes alive. Finger crossed. Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-76571956896907556822015-11-13T08:11:00.002-08:002015-11-13T18:21:54.649-08:00Financially committed finally<div>
It has been great to live with zero commitment for years, fear no losing my job, plenty of disposable cash. Gone are the days of stress-free on finances that I've just made couple of financial movements in just two weeks of time. </div>
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While waiting arrival of friends, we paid an impromptu visit to a property fair, just so happened there was one taking place. and so happened there was one awesome deal, at least so I thought. I snapped up my first property, and paid the booking fee of RM 5,000. Housing loan was approved today, so it's pretty much a done deal. From hindsight, the way I've bought my first property is no different than buying vegetable. Almost minimal scrutiny or checks that I'd made...<br />
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After being turned off by the news that most imported cars will see price hike due to ringgit depreciation starting next year and so happened that Honda is putting up good promotion, I waited no more and snapped up my first car. Loan approved today too. So it's a done deal too.</div>
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Was supposed to meet with a friend who is also a Great Eastern agent to discuss on life insurance matter, so happened that was a booth set up promoting the Public Bank Mutual Fund. Signed up to put portion of fund in EPF Account #1 to mutual fund.</div>
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Signed up with CIMB a Private Retirement Scheme. </div>
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On the path to becoming a modern form of slavery to money. It's that much easy to snap up debts. Anyway, just hope that I could flip the unit in 5 years. Gotta keep budget in check now on.<br />
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Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-8087592636788551322015-07-14T15:58:00.001-07:002015-12-14T22:46:38.085-08:00Rio de JaneiroI met this Brazilian guy who works as a subsea engineer during a course. We asked him how is his salary. Well we know for a fact that subsea engineer usually makes big bucks. His answer was simple without lacking of wisdom. He said he has no complaint for his pay.<br />
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Relating back to my work trip to Brazil, I reckon it that I has no complaint for whatsoever. Company paid for my flights, hotel, transport and some courses, and I've got some time to make my own travel checking out a place so internationally acclaimed, Rio de Janeiro. Perfect deal...Well, all goals acheieved, both the courses and the travel.<br />
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I had my first Brazil visa back in 2013, unfortunately the activities in Malaysia picked up that I was retained in the country to support the ongoing operations. Disappointingly, I thought that I'd have no luck this Latin America Country. Nonetheless, I still wish for it.<br />
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It did come back again, and came so swiftly that I got notified of the flight booking short of 24 hours. Well, I was anticipating it, but didn't expect so short a notice given, that I had to travel back to KL residence, bought some USD, packed my baggage and etc, all in less than 10 hours.<br />
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Got to Rio de Janeiro after more than 24 hours of flight, including layover at Dubai Airport. Tired, excited and jet-lagged.<br />
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What is fun about the trip is that we were completely taken by shock that most of the people around us don't speak English, not even simple one two three. Imagine that buying a meal at McDonald is already a big challenge, no joke. So yea, I bought an apps on my phone to learn some Portuguese.<br />
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On the first Saturday, I joined a couchsurfer, Cristina and went on a Caminhada de domingo (Sunday walk) at a conservation park to meet some other Brazilian couch surfers and see some plants. After that we went to a lake and did some kayaking and stuffs. What is interesting here is how I managed to find the assembly point before we convoyed to the park. As informed by the receptionist at hotel, I took the intercity bus at 1 real per trip to Lagomar. I absolutely had no idea where exactly to meet, but I took my chances. So yea I found them at the petrol station in front of Baker Hughes. Lol...it's an adventure considering that I don't speak Portuguese and know nothing about the place which is notorious with crimes.<br />
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Third weekend, we were down at Barra de Tijuca for a 5 days course. I exhausted my weekend doing the very things every tourist here will do. Visit to Sugar Loaf mountain, downtown of Lapa & Selaron stairs, Copacabana Beach, Ipanema Beach, Christ of Redeemer at Corcovado mountain. Again, the traveling part is completely adventurous and fun. Yes I got lost too many times. Thanks to Google Maps. <br />
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It has always been a wish of mine to selfie with this international icon, the Christ of Redeemer. Nothing to do with religion, but it adds to my collections and yes finally I've made it crossing half way across the globe to Latin. An accomplishment for sure. Btw, it's one of the new seven wonders. I was up there at from day light till night fall, witnessing the statue got lit up, as well as the city of Rio. It was just amazing, completely worth my wait.<br />
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A canvas painting that I bought at Copacabana Beach. It has to be due to a regret that I've had that I didn't buy a real nice spray art when I was at New York city. I was quoted 900 reais initially. But I bargained it for 100 usd + 50 reais. </div>
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One of the most interesting here is the Brazilian Beach Culture, everyone is in their swim suit and do all kind of activities along the beach. </div>
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Some Brazilian beers...</div>
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Brahma and zero...</div>
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Antarctica</div>
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Bohemia</div>
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Next up will be Sao Paulo and some Northern cities if I am back again. And of course, Puerto Iguazu Fall, Argentina and Macchu Picchu, Peru.<br />
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Finger crossed.Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-48201006613329082232015-05-12T20:24:00.002-07:002015-05-13T17:40:01.808-07:00说走就走#1Just returned from Xi'an, a trip that I'd consider a solo travel to highest extent by far. The previous ones like the Nepal trip and the Tibet trip were less of solo travel as I was hosted by the agency for most parts of the trips.<br />
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I bought the flight ticket two days prior, totally and absolutely unplanned. It's also pretty much exploratory as that I knew so little about Xi'an as a matter of fact. It's rather an act of impulsion in conjunction with the Chinese saying "说走就走!". I was worried of the overwhelmed crowd as my travel was right after the golden holidays in China, May 1. Turned out it's perhaps a better timing that the crowd has diminished to nearly minimal, no congestion, no Q, no rubbish, no price hike and etc.<br />
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Touched down at Xian Yang airport middle of night. There was no more public transport available at that hour. Took a cab to get to the youth hostel that I'd booked. Paid 160rmb for the ride. Wtf, it's just 25rmb by airport bus, which drops me off right next to where I was going to stay. At the hostel, the two-men room that I'd booked was let go to someone else, as I arrived late. I'd to check in a 4 men room instead. Put up a night uncomfortably.<br />
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Second day, the limited survey about the city that I did was of little help. So I walked out on the street and started exploration. First thing was to get a local sim card to allow me browsing. Spent the whole morning and miles of walking, eventually there was a telco shop who settled it for me. Paid 150rmb for some 3G data, if not mistaken. The difficulty is that the rule is more stringent for sim card registration which requires ID card. Meanwhile, checked out on the nearby bus stations, the LRT stations, food hunts, travel agencies and so on. Bought a trip to 兵马俑+华清池。The man (杨世华)who discovered the 兵马俑 was present for autography session that I bought a 兵马俑book for 200rmb with his signature on. Back to town, and had a conversation with a Malaysian guy who was also staying at the same hostel as I did. He had returned from 华山.Got some information from him and yay I was otw the next day.<br />
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Took a high speed train to 华阴市, commenced hiking. So happened to bump into a 湖南guy, we hiked together. Otw, joined again two 浙江chicks. However, they all just did one day trip while I stayed overnight inside the mountain. Checked in at 东峰hotel, at 125rmb / night in a 10 men room. It was 150rmb at 北峰hotel. Was relieved to not pay for a big price for it. When I entered the first room given to me, there were few guys inside and they were smoking right there. I insisted a room change and I got it. Met two guys from 深圳。They were solo hikers like me too. Some great stories from them about hiking in 云南。I'm convinced enough that I'll make a trip there some days. The night was chilled. Got up at 5am in the morning to catch sun rise. Yes it's freaking cold. It was quite a scenery but less of a stellar one, probably because of the cloud and the haze. After the sun rise viewing, we split and carried on individually and we were heading for different route.<br />
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Back to town, took some time off and had the aching muscles rested. Made a short trip to the museum. Spotted a weird weather, hail (冰雹) which is snow fall and followed by rain. First time to see such a scene. I overheard that it is a rare occurrence. Bought a trip to 陕北for黄河壶口瀑布and 延安.<br />
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Was on a bus with mostly retired uncles and aunties. There was a group from 重庆and a group from 江苏。Good people. I got surprised that they didn't spit and litter like I used to know. There was one 重庆guy who dressed in military uniform and made a flag written "回延安" for this trip. 延安is a place where the first development of new China unfolded by president Mao. They called the trip 红旗之旅 that we visited few places relating to P. Mao. They sang the songs proudly praising P.Mao. This is impossible in boleh-land.<br />
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Last night at the town, just hang out and did some food hunt. Accidentally walked into a local market which reminds me of the Chatuchak market in Bangkok that they sell everything: food, cloth, jewelry, birds, fish and etc. Met a 长沙chick and went for lunch together. She was also a solo traveler, not a vivid one though. Took the airport bus to airport.<br />
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Shit happened that I found out my flight was supposed to take off last night, which meant that I'd missed my flight. Wtf! Put up a night nearby the airport and bought a new ticket back to KL. Terrible conclusion of the trip. Gotta pay more attention to such details in future, sheer complacency! I'd laugh at myself for this kind of stupidity.<br />
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All in all, it's a good trip, apparently burst my budget for the mistake. Let it be. Now I'd added few more destinations to the list of places to visit...it just gets longer and longer, instead of the other way around...<br />
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Hopefully the Chengdu - Tibet biking trip will happen. Finger crossed! <br />
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<br />Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-62571934885538415942013-12-29T06:31:00.001-08:002013-12-29T14:48:02.613-08:00Year of growth<div>
We got displaced by rising water at the rig site. Here I am, back to the town, anticipating to have some wonderful time for the new year party.<br />
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The year will be over soon. It's been a year of phenomenal growth.</div>
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A big pay raise. Couldn't be happier over it, well who would not be! Of course, I have to take up a bigger responsibilities. Somebody told: It's a challenge, not a problem. A specialist in the making, how is it not exciting. It does take a lot to be a subject matter expert. Although I sometimes contemplated about a shift of path, but it wouldn't be so within a foreseeable future. I guess I will still continue with the on-the-go lifestyle, jumping around and sleeping over different places, frequent the airports and so on. I only wish to extend my travels to new countries. Keep finger-crossed. </div>
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Investing experience. I put a lion share of my money in the stock market. Over a period of a year, I've seen it hit the high of 13K of paper gain, and then descending to a bit of paper loss to date. No doubt the stock market is highly volatile, burning up all my paper gain was quite unbelievable and it has been a displeasure, but it's less of a concern. The market behaves like pendulum, it will recover my gains, just a matter of time. I'm still injecting money into the account and hope I will achieve 100K by second quarter next year. Apparently this is quite an experiment to me, as it's a relatively a huge amount of money in the first place, and some people will argue that the market is very risky tool to increase wealth. However, I thought the risk is pretty minimal as I'm in no rush for the money. As I read somewhere: Patience is the only risk. After all, it's something worthy of my time and money.</div>
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Traveling. The solo trip to Nepal has been an a big motivator for me to want to do more of its kind. It gives me the assurance that it can be done and it's fun. In the foreseeable future, I will have to leave behind everything (as if nothing else matter), take my backpack with me and set out on my journey.</div>
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My brother just got married last month. I am happy for him of course. Now problem arises, my parents are bugging me where is my girl friend. A real problem. </div>
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Shit happens from time to time, don't spend much energy dwelling in them. Too many ideas in the pipelinne, all is well to 2014. </div>
Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-37095517689621066412013-10-12T08:03:00.000-07:002013-10-12T08:09:13.074-07:00LatelyCertainly I don't come back to this blog space as regularly as I used to be, blame it to the laze.<br />
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What's been up lately. Well, pretty much still going around places. Went to work in China (Tian Jin and Beijing) for more than a month. It was a good experience that I got to see firsthand the Chinese way of life than I normally read and hear about. I don't have too much of a problem to try to blend in with them but at times I reluctantly speak because of my "rojak" tougue. After awhile, I was a better mono-linguist. But yea, I don't really fancy working out there, as translations are needed for every piece of documents, which means that I'd have to make a lot of efforts to brush up my broken "Chinese", it may well be my nightmare. </div>
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However, the plan to transfer me to China didn't pull through, feel partly blessed and hence I continue to remain in AP region. Had a work visa to Brazil applied, but unfortunately plenty of jobs are ongoing here right now and we're left shorthanded. Chance to expand my exploration to far West may be not taking place or just yet. Keep hope alive, anyway.</div>
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Went to work in Labuan. Took a short trip to KK, went snorkeling at Sapi Island. Pretty relaxing. Then went to work in the isolated and godforsaken jungle nearby Miri, more than 3hrs of boat ride upstream Sungai Baram. Hate to have to share a container with more than 10 men. Similar to the PNG jungle, bugs are everywhere. Have survived about 3 weeks there and so here I'm, back to KL, get days off and going to go back the same location, but I hope a new one. Keep finger crossed.</div>
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Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-28237275353418684182013-06-19T07:31:00.002-07:002013-06-19T07:40:35.724-07:00First solo travel - NepalJust returned from my solo travel for leisure for the first time. My trip spanned a duration of 2 weeks, of which 10 days I went hiking around the Annapurna region.<br />
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It's a truly enriching experience and I'm convinced enough that I wanna do more things of the sort. I thought Nepal is an awesome place to visit. Apart from being a heavily religious and cultural, the country has an amazing and vast nature to explore. </div>
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I did ask around to see if any of my friends would be interested to tag along, but none seemed to be interested for whatever the reason. So I decided that I'd do it myself. From the point when I touched down the Tribhuvan International Airport of Nepal, I came into contact with complete strangers until the end of my journey. This is one very interesting part about the trip. I got to know all sorts of people of different nationalities including Ecuador, Germany, US, UK, Ukraine, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, South Korean, Malaysian, Japanese, Russian and of course Nepal. Among them, there is teacher, nurse, Nato ground force, DJ in broadcast station, professor, film maker, anthropologist and etc. Everyone at least taught me one thing or two. Many of us tend to make the statement "I'm too old for it", I tell you, you're NOT. </div>
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Going around the places in Nepal, be it the Kathmandu valley, the Pokhara, the mountain area, and also during the transfer/commuting from one point to another, it painted out well to me what sub-standard way of live is about. So if you're still wondering all time how much more money you need to make to be rich, do a site visit in Nepal. I got told that the situation is much worse in India, to which I was struggling quite a bit imagining how miserable the place is. Anyway, money is still imperative, and make sure you've got enough of it.<br />
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It's a bloody awesome trip far exceeded my expectation. I stayed at couple of places such as Thamel, Pokhara, and around the mountain. I went hiking with a group of 11 people including the Nepali guide, Mahendra. We went to a waterfall at which time we discovered the attack of leeches. We had to live with the leeches throughout our hiking tour. We got to witness the snow-capped mountain, the Annupurna South and Machhapuchhre and etc. We went to a hotspring. We had a party night in the middle of jungle. We had little rain during hike. We sat down talking, eating and laughing. I had got awesome photo. We had a cultural dinner. Some people had food poisoning. We checked out the night clubs in Pokhara. We got horses passing right next to us while hiking around the mountain. We made stops at tea house and enjoy scenic nature and the mountain range. We hiked through rocky road, sand road, jungle, grass, paddy field, river, stairs and bridges. We saw plenty of waterfall. We had the Nepali food. I had a very fantastic grilled chicken. Most of us loved the local green chili sauce. We stepped on bull shit. We had beers, the Everest and the Ghorka, and the Nepali whiskey. I did water rafting at Trisuli River. Some did paragliding. I was in the local bus for x hours during which I had no idea where the bus headed to. No one in the bus could speak no English. I had to walk through a neighborhood for about 40 mins from where the bus dropped me to my hotel. I did mountain biking with my guide around the Kathmandu Valley with the #Nepali #Highway and traffic. It's fun though.<br />
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Shit had to happen twice that I forget to bring my camera with me as I pushed off to the airport. I had to spend half the cash I'd brought to Nepal to buy another Camera. At first I didn't even bother to activate my credit card to oversea use because I thought I'd have enough of cash anyway. I finished up all my cash towards the end of my trip and I didn't even have enough cash to buy a nasi lemak. I thought that's fucking hilarious as I told the pretty cabin crew that I'd skipped that after asking the price of it. Well, a lesson learned. That makes a funny conclusion to my wonderful solo travel.<br />
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Can't wait to go for a second, third, xxxx time....</div>
Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-91958827935732494432013-05-31T09:07:00.001-07:002013-05-31T09:12:45.544-07:00One of the interesting days<div>
I guess I've taken way too long a break penning down things, haven't I.</div>
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Today was remarkably interesting that I've decided to have a record of it here. So I'm back.</div>
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In fact, I've had a pretty hectic week. I was attending a one week course, well control, at Park Royal Hotel, Bukit Bintang. On the first day, the instructor, Wayne, wanted every one of us to make a brief self introduction to collect some background information of his students. Of the combined 200 over years of industry experience in the class, I barely contributed 5%. Besides that, I was the only first timer there in the class, while the rest were just needed a re-certification. What it means is that I've got a huge gap to close in.Anyway, I was ready to cook through.</div>
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Time lapsed fast. I did my practical test on Thursday on the choke trying to circulate out influx and kill the well while maintaining pressures kind of stuff. So I had two papers to write this morning, one on equipment while the other on on principles and procedures.</div>
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Fair enough, here goes how the heck everything that could possibly go awry taking place this morning. I pushed off the LRT station heading the Bukit Bintang. Half way through, I realized that I'd forgotten to bring my calculator, which I needed for the exam. I had to rush back to room.Apparently I didn't have that much of time to waste. It so happened that one of the two lifts in my condo was out of service. I waited impatiently for the lift which stopped at almost every floor. I finally got to my room and rushed back to the lift hoping that it hadn't gone down yet, It just went one floor beyond. Heck that! I thought that I wouldn't want to wait for the lift to make a round trip, I took the stairway from Level 16 all the way down to L2. I thought it would be quicker to ride a cab than taking LRT and then switch over to cab. I headed over to the taxi stand, heck that there's none. Just now there're plenty of cabs. I waited for a while, then the driver told me that he was not going to Bt Bintang, then came the second driver who didn't wanna go as well. I asked whether it's gotta be lots of traffic there, the answer is affirmative.</div>
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So I waited no longer but to run to LRT looking like a loser. It's like 30 mins before my exam kick off. I boarded the LRT sweating like hell. Finally got to Ampang Park and immediately hopped on a cab and carry on. Heck that the traffic lights were always in RED. Eventually I got to the exam room JUST in time. Everyone else was looking shocked at me as I used to be the early bird.</div>
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So basically I got shit after shit, things got back thereafter. I passed the test. Went to claim a Glenlivet 12 year from Hard Rock. Fix my condo access card. Called my cab for tomorrow early ride to airport. Packed my luggage for the hike, so on so forth.Plenty of things got done.</div>
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I hope that I'll have a terrific hike tomorrow. TBC.....</div>
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Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-78857300939064472582013-01-12T09:10:00.003-08:002013-01-12T09:12:31.561-08:00Thoughts of Last YearLast year was a great one for me. In the course of time, I have had lost plenty of my virginities.<br />
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I was down in Papua New Guinea. That's my first time flying chopper, my first time at a drilling site deep in the forest, also my first time doing night shift continuously for 5 weeks. <br />
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I finally climbed the Kinabalu Mount. Being a replacement to someone who couldn't make it, I was absolutely unprepared. The climb was tough. It poured on us. We were drenched wet and the temperature was like about 5- 10 deg C. I'm glad I made it. Ticked off one of the items on my to-do list.<br />
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Went for Avenged Sevenfold concert at Sunway Surf Beach.<br />
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Went for a visit to Shan Tou, China too, taking along my old parents and sister. We arrived in a farmers village. The scenes of the houses, the farms, the neighborhoods are all interesting to me. We traveled to Macao as well, (the Vegas in Asia).<br />
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Traveled to Houston, USA for a training and also went for a visit in New York City. Couple of funny encounters. We went to a Chinese restaurant. We checked the bill. There's few coins balance. I told the waitress: Keep the change. She replied, it's too little, no way. Then I topped up few bucks. I got a backpacker room near the China Town, cheap yet very close to the city. It shocked me quite a bit to see how small the room was, just a single bed and and a spot to put my baggage, no fan, and shared bathroom for twenty over occupants i think. I thought it's funny. I will pay a bit more next time if I'm going back. Hahaha. But yea, I was all too tired hoping from one place to another around the NYC. I slept well though. Anyway, NYC has such an amazing skyline. I photographed a lot.<br />
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Did a RCD job offshore Sabah in a water depth in excess of 1,000m. We were drilling from a SPAR with and tender barge, West Menang. <br />
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Also, did a MPD job offshore Sarawak, Onboard of Ensco 106. My first experience doing basket transfer. Lots of things that I have picked up. Also, spent my Christmas there.<br />
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Spent approximately a month in Bangkok, coordinating a job for Chevron. It's like working-traveling experience. Absolutely fallen in love with Bangkok.<br />
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It's been a year filled plenty of businesses, quite an awesome deals for me. Hopefully the momentum will maintain. <br />
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KEEP FINGER CROSSED for 2013!!!Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-53296049868581879362012-11-30T07:58:00.004-08:002012-11-30T07:58:53.107-08:00Mixed feeling prior to year-endOn a short notice (again), I was on an assignment, which should be pretty tough.<br />
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At first, I thought it's no big deal. As I was diving through the details, it's then all the complexity discovered.<br />
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So it's HPHT, severe/total losses anticipated, PMCD + CBHP, Statically UB mud, perhaps dynamically UB mud at some points. Whatever, it's gotta be a good opportunity to learn stuffs. Hopefully it's a blessing in disguise.<br />
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Excited but nervous! FML...<br />
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Knock off to bed. All is well.<br />
Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-65940706950933019162012-10-28T08:47:00.002-07:002012-10-28T09:54:59.183-07:00The empire state of trip...Out of the blue, my boss had wanted me to sign up a course which would be conducted in Houston, Texas, US. It did take me by surprise. Immediately after that, I had to go offshore for a job, which lasted for about 3 weeks.<br />
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As I got back to KL, I was running here there, trying to expedite my visa application, or else I wouldn't go nowhere. I had less than 2 week of time allowance, and fortunately it went on without a hitch, although the visa approved for me is a single entry one, as opposed to most of the others' 10 years multiple entries. Anyway, it's just doesn't matter.</div>
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I flew Qatar Airways, had my transit in Doha International Airport. The long haul flight was of no fun. They served Middle Eastern Food, which I didn't quite like it. I finished up to like 5 movies or something.</div>
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Touching down Houston Intercontinental Airport in the morning, felt lethargic, and of course the jet lag (12 hours deviation) was ain't helping at all. Checked in the Sheraton North Houston Hotel, which is just next to my training center. Another colleague of mine, Nisha was there too. She had got a truck and she drove us around abit. </div>
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The course (Drilling Engineering) went on for two weeks. Good to get to know some colleagues from Aberdeen, Brazil and also US. Although it's kind of introductory stuffs, but I certainly have taken home lot of input. Glad I came! We always want to go back to the basics, and it's so important to have a good basics (I thought). Apart from it, we had great deal of fun visited few interesting places around Houston such as Hard Rock Cafe Houston, Space Center Houston, Kemah Boardwalk, Premium Outlets Houston, and the neighborhood of Sheraton North Houston.</div>
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Had an examination in the morning on my second Friday in Houston and project presentation in the afternoon. I pulled it off. After that, went with the colleagues to Midtown Houston for dinner, and of course the party. We were hopping from a club to another. I think we visited like 5 of them. It's so much fun. All of us got so drunk. I came back to hotel early with Adam (Brit). I remember the scene where both of us taking the dustbin located at two side of the lift at the hotel and puking. That's hilarious, because he didn't know that I was so drunk and vice versa. That's at 2.30am. </div>
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What's more classic (to me) was that I had to check out the room at like 3.30am to go to the airport and heading for New York City (NYC). Apparently I was having a really bad hangover. How I managed to get myself from Houston to Atlantic Airport to NYC was impressive, to me myself. You know all the procedures in the airport, checking in luggage, clear custom, finding the boarding gate and so on. </div>
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Touching down Newark Airport in the afternoon. Checked in Sun Bright Hotel located in Chinatown, Manhattan. It's absolutely a budget hotel, It has such a small footprint that a single bed and my luggage already took up 80% of the space. It was within walking distance to the Canal Street subway station, which is like few stations away from 42 Street, The Time Square area. I bet almost everyone will be amazed by the neon lit advertisements running all over the buildings along the streets and almost every corner. It's just vibrant and energetic!</div>
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We bought the package of combination of New York Pass and bus packages to gain access to couple of places of interest such as Empire State of Building, Top of The Rock, Madam Tussaud's. In addition to that we had to get ticket for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tour. </div>
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NYC 's skyline is simply breathtaking (especially at night) with some remarkable buidings, at least three major suspension bridges and of course the Statue of Liberty from afar. Having to view it from the Top of The Rock observatory deck at night, at observatory deck of Empire State Building at noon, and also from Semi Circle Cruise in the evening, all were just keeping me more and more interested about the city.</div>
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Went on Brookyln City Bus Tour, but was stuck at lower deck of the bus, and eventually I fell asleep like for most part of the tour. Waste of money as well as time. Went on the New York City Night Tour, which was informative as well as amazing. Right before we made a round back to Time Square, the guide turned on the song "empire state of mind", which was way awesome. The ambiance of it was just good. The whole place is like representing freedom, dream and the likes. Indeed Terrific.</div>
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Moreover, visited the Wall Street, the Trump Tower, the Ripley's Odditorium, the Manhattan's Bridge, the Ground Zero and so on. I guess we had covered most of the places of interest around the city. It's tiring but it's just fun.</div>
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Wanted to go to the Central Park on the fourth day, but it was drizzling all the time. So got stuck at Manhattan Mall and Macy's, leading to more damage to my broken account!!!!! Hahahahaha...it's just joyful though.</div>
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One more thing worth a note. It's the time during which I did so many online purchase, from flight booking to hotel booking, camera, book, New York Pass and so on. All of them worked!</div>
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Looking forward to my next trip already. Cheers...</div>
Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-58473673103771474932012-10-14T03:53:00.001-07:002012-10-14T03:56:29.650-07:00Of the beers I've got I am no big drinker, not at all. I guess I drink as I want to socialise and it's actually part of my job. Lol. Further than that, it's one of the things which I wanna do to expand my life experience, much like traveling to different places, learning different cultures, and so on. Hilarious tough, most of the beers taste about the same to me, but some are smoother than the others.<br />
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Here's a list of beers I had tried, (not following any chronological/preference order):<br />
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1. Carlsberg, Danish<br />
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2. Heiniken, Dutch<br />
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3. Beck's, German<br />
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4. Chang, Thai<br />
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5. Singha, Thai<br />
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6. South Pacific, PNG<br />
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7. Corona Extra, Mexican<br />
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8. Stella Artois, Belgium<br />
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9. Hoegaarden, Belgium<br />
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10. India Pale Ale (IPA), English<br />
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11. Budweiser, American<br />
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12. Shiner Bock, Texan (American)<br />
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13. Tiger Beer<br />
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Of course, the list if not exhaustive. Guess I will need to come back and update it over time.<br />
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<br />Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-3756926753238561922012-08-18T05:42:00.000-07:002012-08-18T05:42:01.460-07:00In the middle of oceanI was asked to come back from Bangkok to standby for few days before flying for the next job. I did, but for just less than 24 hours, I took off to Labuan, stayed for the night, the next day before the day broke dawn, I was on the chopper setting out to the rig. Forgot to mention, I got such a short notice on this, I had to pack my beg while the taxi driver was already waiting for me at my condo. Great achievement. Hehehe...<br />
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Has been out here in the middle of ocean, offshore Sabah. I am onboard a tender-spar rig, standing in a water depth of about 1300m. I came here with another engineer, who is of my age as well, but a bit more experienced. Thinking of it that the two of us had to run the job without a supervisor, it's definitely a crazy arrangement. Luckily, things have been going fine, and everybody is happy so far. The rig should be drilling to the total depth today, and hence I should be anticipating an relieve in a week time or so.<br />
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Being my first time offshore, I am certainly feeling bored already after a week. Got not much to do after installing and commissioning my equipment. Anyway, it's good that I have picked up a lot. Hopefully the learning curve hikes more...<br />
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I'M WAITING FOR MY CHOPPER TO FLY OFF...Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-75067028222681042742012-07-24T06:20:00.002-07:002012-07-24T06:21:45.802-07:00Outstation at SiamLast week I was asked to fly to Thailand the next day. It's on a very short notice, but hey man it's city of Bangkok, and here I'm.<br />
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This is my first time in Bangkok. I was fast to like the city. Friendly people, pretty girls, and fluid Thai language, and of course the food. Thai the english, it sounds too funny. Something like HelicOptErrrrrr, hAAAve...<br />
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I checked in Oakwood Service Apartment. The room is good, undoubtedly one of the best hotel rooms I've been to. It's of walking distance to my office, at Citibank Building, opposite to Station 21, a pretty established mall.<br />
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<span style="background-color: black;">Have been working my ass off though. Work, eat and sleep, work eat and sleep. Got wasted last friday night. The night club was awesome, conducive ambiance for party with DJ's. Traveled along the Chao Paya river, dropping by at Wat Pho temple, Grand Place, and China Town. Yea, just to check out the places and satisfy my want-to-know-ness. Pretty interesting places, loads of tourists, all kind of nationalities. Also, another act of solo traveling.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;">Back to room, got a bit of rest and I guess I will still need to get a bit of works done later. Hope I am getting my second weekend in the city before leaving to Songkhla. </span>Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-75737538790172188992012-07-14T23:18:00.000-07:002012-07-15T03:05:28.394-07:00A new take<span style="background-color: black;">Few days ago, boss approached me for a new role whereby he wants me to focus on a particular piece of technology the department is providing. Essentially, we are seeing increased interest in the technology, and they need a dedicated person to be "babysitting" all projects that use it, including resolving issues, analysing data and so forth. I guess it's gotta be big for a budding fellow like me. What I am almost certain is that there will be a big gap which I have to close.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;">"If you take it, it's yours, you're always my first priority, otherwise I will have to go to the others!" A rather big compliment I guess.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;">In light of chance/change, indecisiveness and hesitation creep in. Yes, the role is tempting. It is exactly what I would wanna do, perhaps 3 to 5 years down the road, but it's presenting NOW. I am getting something and I am giving up something too. Always two side of coin. Again, my capacity will be put on test, big test I would assume.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VHKRFo_MeVQ/UAJeC1S_A2I/AAAAAAAAB2U/yMQF_Q1OOuU/s1600/autobahn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VHKRFo_MeVQ/UAJeC1S_A2I/AAAAAAAAB2U/yMQF_Q1OOuU/s320/autobahn.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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German Autobahn: so fast so furious...</div>
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<span style="background-color: black;">It's a new take. Things are going to be fast like the "german authobahn". I hope I will pull it off, always embrace optimism. There may be a cut in my allowances, and travelling, but I am anticipating the revision and how things should fare. Keep hope alive!</span>Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-16619659211986824572012-07-07T22:40:00.002-07:002012-07-08T04:21:57.144-07:00Evolving perspectives towards life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HHpjFz8khN0/T_kPfgr15hI/AAAAAAAAB1k/KWA6bldgPPo/s1600/3+stages+of+life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HHpjFz8khN0/T_kPfgr15hI/AAAAAAAAB1k/KWA6bldgPPo/s320/3+stages+of+life.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Came across this article which I find very interesting yet meaningful.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Primarily, it says about the three distinct spectrum of perceptions one seeing things throughout his/her life.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cc0000;">Spectrum #1: See mountain, perceive it as mountain; See water, perceive it as water.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">People in this stage have always been sheltered from the storm. They are naive. They just have not been taken through a bumpy road yet, just yet!!! Life is seemingly a bed of roses. They do face shits in life, but somebody else has paved the road for them. They are still very much clean and clear. They are just ready to cross a river where there are bloody crocodiles in existence. They are carefree, tend to be a trouble maker too, but it's all right, because there will be someone else to cover the ass for them wilfully. Majority of individuals who have not stepped into society belong here, although there could be some people who been part of the society for some time.Of course, there are cases of exception.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cc0000;">Spectrum #2: See mountain, perceive it NOT as mountain; See water, perceive it NOT as water.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">People in this category have been through a lot. They know the fact that they are riding on a bumpy road. Say they are crossing the river, they know that there are bloody crocodiles right beside or ahead of him/her. It's either they take the crocodiles down or they avoid the crocodiles to make it though or to pull it off. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">They are trouble-averse. They tend to be sceptical, insecure and high on their guard. They could be masking themselves in the name of hypocrisy. They would rather choose to stay out of trouble than anything else. They may be pretentiously cool, pretentiously fine although they are not really so. They may find themselves lost in the capitalism world. They try to race with others, race with time, race with the space. At some occasion, they forget about what really contributes to the wellness of his/her life. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">I am here!!! It's time to move on.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">They see river, and heck that they think it's Amazon River, it'd be deadly.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cc0000;">Spectrum #3; See mountain, STILL perceive it as mountain, See water, STILL perceive it as water.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">These are the group of people who has great piece in mind. They can take out relationship between outside world and themselves. However the environment, the surrounding, the outlook fare, he/she is not bothered and has got very little interest . They have come to a point where nothing else matters except for what really matters for him/her. They have got things sorted out pretty clearly. They know what is really important for them. They go after their own interests are, rather than interests what most people going after.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Most of the time, this group of people are financially strong, or they have got a good financial planning.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">However, people who are as rich as millionaires may not necessarily be in this category, unless they are ready to curb the desire of wanting more.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">They see mountain, and heck that they know it's Everest Mount or something, but so what, they are just hiking near the ridges, rather than heading to the peak like most would want to do.</span></span></div>Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-17121941272827670902012-05-24T20:19:00.001-07:002012-06-11T17:32:54.580-07:00Talks over the lunchWas in a lunch with couples of white men, when two Americans started a conversation about the time they spent in China and their experiences.<br />
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American 1 said one of the most perceptible things about the Chinese is that they don't value personal space. In the train station, you sat down there and have your beg sitting down right beside you, one of the fellows would come up and got your beg on the floor and sat down right next to you. He went on commenting that it's as if the beg wasn't entitled to be seated. Then he went on saying in China, not very sure which part in specific, he would go to one of the international hotel chains, rather than any the local hotel, because lacking of the perceived security, comforts and cleanliness. Also, he made it sounds like such a big deal as no one speaks English or something like that.</div>
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The other guy said that he would just go to McD or KFC because the local restaurants don't have an English menu and there's no picture attached available to depict the food/dish.</div>
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Well, of course I just briefly captured their conversations above. They talked like as if it's all craps in China. It kind of getting me pissed a bit. It looks like there is misunderstanding or lack of understanding or cultural shock or their sheer superficiality. C'mon gentlemen, don't you know that when in rome do as the romans do! Yes, US has been a super-major since long. China has recently climbed up on top as second largest economics in the world too. However, this is not even the point to argue with. Please respect the differences and diversity, which really make the world all more wonderful, ain't them. No single country is perfect, every country has their own set of strength and weaknesses, or opportunity and threats. </div>
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I hope this bunch of morons or anyone on the line will soon get it and stop expecting everybody to act/be like a US and of course stop preaching about their superiority. Because, it doesn't matter from where you are, you are only superior when you have a breadth and width of knowledge in today society, in my point of view. Of course, be respectful to the others too.</div>
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<br /></div>Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-42738767586754429832012-05-14T10:14:00.000-07:002012-05-14T14:17:47.938-07:00Stepped into one of the world least explored places, PNG.Again, I'm currently out-stationed for job. It's my first time at the rig site, all way in a remote jungle in Papua New Guinea. Rumor has it that this place has got cannibalism which is kind of freaking me out at first. I still remember that my culture anthropology lecturer said that there are some tribes in the country who have a very interesting practice whereby the guys will receive cements from elder guys to become an adult. Not sure how much truth in it though. Anyway,I've been here for closed to two weeks. It's not that tough an environment to adapt to than one which I'd imagined it before getting here.<br />
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Be it as remote a place in a jungle which is accessible via only helicopter, it's still an oil and gas industry where the common language is still English, which I can comfortably use. Communication is really not much a problem. It's a mixed community here, 70% the locals and some foreigners. I am in for night shift. I've made many friends. One of my acquaintances is Sutowo, the rig tool pusher from Indonesia who is humble and has helped me a lot in understanding the rig system. I'm more than thankful to him.<br />
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The operation that my company/department is providing has pretty much been over when I got here, so I've been on the standby. The operation is drill stem testing now, whereby they produce the hydrocarbon at some 2000m beneath to surface and flare it to evaluate the commerciality of the reservoir.<br />
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The flare is totally rocking. It's so loud that it annihilates off the noise from the helicopter, which is already deafening by which I am constantly disturbed during my sleep daylight. Believe it or not, the flow of the hydrocarbon through choke (the restriction) to flare is so strong that it literally is shaking up the whole area. I'm feeling all the vibrations at the desk, room, and etc. Apparently, there is so much of energy down at the reservoir to push the hydrocarbon to surface at such a speed. It is no doubt the strongest fire I have ever encountered in my entire life so far. <br />
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The flare when the choke was at about 50% opening in a misty morning. As of the time of doing this post, the choke is fully opened, the flare is awfully ferocious and loud. I guess it's measuring about 40ft, translates into 4 storeys of height. Yes, it's a big eye opener, but then it started bugging me, or perhaps everybody (except the company reps) a lot now.</div>Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-21608975260719848402012-05-09T08:54:00.001-07:002012-05-09T22:45:55.521-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I had always wanted to go climbing Mount Kinabalu, the tallest peak in Southest Asia. A couples of things had hampered me to proceed, like gathering a group of hikers, availability and etc. </div>
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Just so happened that a friend of mine needed a replacement for his group as someone withdrew herself. I was kind of tied up to work at the time, but I just carried on joining them to conquer the mount. It was just a week prior to the climb that I got informed about the replacement, and my leave was approved right the day before the climb. </div>
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Things were happening swiftly. I didn't make much preparation, didn't go on any kind of stamina training, plus I didn't really take with me all the the items/gears which would come in handy during the adventure, reason being that I wasn't really thinking about the climb which would otherwise turn out to be a huge challenge. </div>
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The climb was tough, which yields a big satisfaction. We started off climbing up thru the Mesilau Trail, which is about 8km in length. As we proceeded half way, the weather turned on us. It's pouring. The rocky trail became a mini waterfall, and we kept going up, as the day was getting darker and darker. We had to reach the rest point by 6pm. We were drenched wet and the ambient temperature was like 5 deg C. My feet were like ice-bathed and got kind of frostbitten. Thanks to the strong mental, I reached there, the first in my group, and swearing all my way through. Bearing all the exhaustion and suffering the spasm, I just kept going on. Come to think about it, it's definitely one of the toughest things I had ever done in my life.</div>
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Had a buffet dinner, got some rest, and got up at 2am the next day, the rain hadn't yet stopped, but it did at 2.30am. We started climbing uphill again to the peak. It's wet and freezing cold, about 3 deg C and the air was thin. We had got another perhaps 4 km to complete to be at the low peak. It took such a huge efforts just to make a few more steps. I thought few steps away was already far. That's how exhausted I was. We did make it to the top slightly pass 6am. Sun was a little up already. The view was magnificent. All the hardship paid off, although we were still suffering the extreme coldness. </div>
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The climbers. We didn't come here camping. We climbed to the peak.</div>
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Whatever, I've what I wanted to do since long. Great achievement, great experience. Hope to have another adventure similar to this again soon.</div>
<br />Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2474560486843475561.post-26549246928707618622012-04-02T09:49:00.000-07:002012-04-02T09:51:34.214-07:00Being away and ....Have been away on business for quite some time already. Previous trips din't shoulder me with much of a burden, but this one, when I am the one in charge. Sounds good, ain't it? Glad that things are still pretty much under control thus far, am hoping for a terrific completion. Of course, I have got three amazing co-workers, and again I just got to meet them for this project, just like any other projects I went to, I met new faces. I guess this a pretty interesting environment the job offers to me whereby I get to not only meet up with new faces, but also to work with them as a team. Be a team leader or team player, just get into it and make things really work. <br />
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Anyway, I've had good sleep for most of the nights (some were tipsy nights of course) but tonight. Many things are popping out on my mind. I guess exciting things are awaiting me already at some corners. Hahahaha...Sense of over-optimism...<br />
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So here am I, in the blog space. I find it a magnificent tool to beat the sleeplessness. Am I saying blogging is boring? hahaha...I tried it couple of times in university and it worked. So yes, I 'm getting a zzzzzzzzzzzz...Good night...Chemhosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06976340219556855379noreply@blogger.com0