2008!

Here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year. Hope 2008 brings happiness, prosperity and peace.

Whatever you do tonight, don't drink and drive.

New year and new resolutions. So here are mine (well, just some of them!):

1. I will post more regularly.

2. I will exercise more.

3. I will lose that extra weight that I gained when I was in Bintulu and that extra bit more.

4. I will improve my almost non-existent photography skills.

Hope your resolutions are achieved come 31 Dec '08.

Good luck!

The end is now....

After almost 7 months here, it's time to come back home.

Today is my final working day here. The experience has been great, the people are friendly and the place is beautiful. I have nothing but good memories. Thanks for everything!



Lumut, here I come!

How fat is your wallet now?

To all my government-employed friends, here's wishing you a Happy 'Bonus' Day!

Bila belanja?

Remember to spend wisely and save for that rainy day.

Happy Crimbo!

Regardless of your faith, here's wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year!


Hope 2008 is full of prosperity and peace.

Selamat Raya Aji!

First of all, let me wish everyone a Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha.

Last week, my family (well, not all of them; it would have been very difficult to ferry 40+ people across the border and down to Bintulu, and imagine how many rooms we would have needed!!; it's just half of them, which is still a lot!) came down to Bintulu. They stayed for 4 days. I loved it; at least it was a nice change from all those lonely nights in the hotel room; eating dinner alone and practically had no human contacts at all. I really did not mind that noise that the kids made.

The family actually enjoyed Bintulu more than I did. Probably it was because I knew I was there for work, while they were there for a holiday. They basically visited all the bigger department stores. On the way down to Bintulu., we stopped by in Miri to exchange some money and I told them not to exchange too much as there would be nothing interesting to buy in Bintulu. How wrong I was later proven! They managed to use up all the RMs on the second day and had to get some more via the ATM. Which was better than exchanging at the only money exhanger in Bintulu, which gave a lousy exchange rate.

I was happy for the kids as well, as the trip did not turn into a shopping-only trip. They went to Taman Tumbina (Tum is from TUMbuhan [flora] and bina is from BINAtang [animal]); it is an animal + flora park. The kids enjoyed the park very much. There were monkeys, deer, crocodiles, mouse deer (pelanduk! pelanduk!) and a tiger among the animals there. It was the first time that some of kids actually saw tiger and crocodiles right in front of their eyes.

Today, it's Friday and it is one of the two working days that got sandwiched between the two public holiday (Raya Haji and Xmas) and the weekend. So I decided to take today and Monday off; I'm having a six-day weekend!! Yay! But too bad, I have no plan to do much.

Come next Wednesday, I have only three more days to spend in Bintulu before I come back for good. I have to admit that the past 2 weeks I had not been able to keep my enthusiasm up much. The thought that I would be leaving Bintulu and back to work in Lumut was lingering in my mind most of the time. The past week I spent most of the time clearing off my email inbox and personal folder. I realised that I managed to accumulate s**tloads of emails in just 7 months of working there and more than half of them were not work-related!!

I have got some plans for next week: Wednesday I'm going to clear my desk and empty my file cabinets; Thursday I'll probably bring some food as a farewell gift and in the afternoon I'll be visiting a new LNG tanker and I'll spend Friday saying good-byes to friends and colleagues there.

So how was my training assignment in Bintulu I heard you say.... In general, it was good; I made new friends, established networks, saw different equipment, did some things that I never had the chance to do before, etc. One of the highlights was organising the workshop which happened in early September. The effort put in and being recognised by everyone really made it all worthwhile. As with anything else, there are a few disappointments and frustrations along the way, but I think I prefer not to mention them here.

So what would I take home from my assignment there? Well, I have some ideas of what I am going do when I am back and finally sit at THE seat. But until that happens, no one will know; I'd rather keep it a surprise!

My final day in Bintulu will be on Friday, 28 December and I will be back to work in Lumut on 31 December. Anyway, I'd like to thank all the people who made my stay in Bintulu memorable and enjoyable (upto some extend I think!). Also thanks to friends in Brunei whom I might have bored with my constant emails; your emails made the stay in Bintulu bearable and kept me sane!

I do not know how appropriate this song is, but my feeling at the moment is perfectly captured by the song!

Clean Your Hotel Glass!

Considering that I've been spending most of the past year in a hotel room somewhere, I was quite alarmed when I got forwarded the following video.



Now I've started taking some precautions, such as soaking my glasses in hot water or bringing my own glass. Call me obsessive compulsive, but I rather not get sick, thanks!

Jap Action

Saw this video somewhere and thought it was hilarious....

What I did last week...

Was off to a well-deserved break to the Australian city of Sydney last week with some friends.

The BWN-SYD flight was horrible; the towel that they gave at the beginning of the flight smelled of cockroach, the food sucked and the personal tv monitor did not work for half of the cabin. It was one of the worst flights that I have ever taken.

Stayed in Sydney at a cheap hotel on George Street, one of the famous thoroughfares in Sydney. It was conveniently located near to the Paddy’s Market, the Central Train Station and Chinatown, and within walking distances to Darling Harbour, the main shopping area of Pitt Street and Circular Quay (where you might find the world famous Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge).

Circular Quay

The Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Harbour Bridge

Darling Harbour

We managed to catch a ballet performance, called ‘Destiny’, by the renowned Australian Ballet troupe. It was my first ever ballet show and I was kind of half-asleep, half-awake while the show progressed. (Well, I was tired, and I don’t normally sleep during flight and I managed to doze off for probably an hour during the 7-hour flight). Nonetheless, the bits of the show that I managed to stay awake to watch were amazing; the movement was graceful and the accompanying music was breathtaking. I was mesmerised to see the conductor who seemed to be a little too animated and full of energy.

What is a visit to Sydney without going to Bondi beach, where one could ogle on bronzed eye candy and a bit more? The guys were enjoying the boobies, while the girls were enjoying the bulges! And yeah, we took the opportunity to top up our tan (not that we weren’t that dark already).

Bondi Beach!

I know it's rude to stare, but if you look hard enough, you might see some b00bies!

Billy Elliott the Musical was playing in Sydney at the time of our visit. Secured some seats for one of the shows. Though you cannot compare to its movie equivalent, the show was brilliant. It was amazingly performed by a very talented cast and I thought the boy who played the part of Billy Elliott stood out with his superb talent. My favourite character was Mrs. Wilkinson, the dance teacher. The actress who played the part did so almost as good as Julie Walters in the film version. One complaint though; we all thought the show was better in the first half; somehow the energy was not carried through after the intermission. But this show must be seen whenever possible.

Shopping was not too bad. In the city centre, you tend to find the bigger names in Australian and international circuits. The likes of Myer, Jeanswest, Just Jeans, Borders, Kinokuniya, Dymocks, whatever-it’s-called chemist, Coles the supermarket, the usual staples of Starbucks and Australian-owned Gloria Jean’s Coffee and many more littered the city centre. We also tried shopping at Bondi Junction, where everything you might want to find can be found here. Plus Target; it’s like Woolworth in UK but bigger and better. All in one building. We actually preferred shopping here, as the shopping complex was air-conditioned and we didn’t have to spend more timewalking than shopping itself.

Food is really expensive here. Expect to fork out more than AUS$10 for a meal at a decent restaurant, such Wagamama, Nando and Kasturi. The last two places were halal. There were also the normal McD, Hungry Jack (Australian brand of Burger King, the ocean catch was served on a baguette, rather than in a bun; I thought it was nicer in a baguette), KFC and kebab shops. And there was also Krispy Kreme. I was a Krispy Kreme virgin before the trip; but somehow I found KK might be overhyped?

Overhyped Krispy Kreme?

I bought a book by Richard Hammond aka the Hamster, the short guy off Top Gear. It's called On the Edge. It tells the story of his nearly 300 mph crash in the Vampire dragster jet-powered car. The book also tells his wife’s story during his recovery from the life-threatening accident. If you want to borrow it, just let me know. I enjoyed the book, I thought it was touchin. (see the video of the crash here). I also got a few books, which are compilations of the best questions asked in the 'Last Word' column of New Scientist magazine. You'll be amazed by the amount of (unnecessary?) knowledge that you might get. Also got myself a nice Moleskine diary, as used by Hemingway and Picasso (apparent—ly).

Got Kylie Minogue’s latest album, X, and Spice Girls compilation of their greatest hits, both albums come complete with dvds. Those Spice Girls songs brought back those sweet memories, especially those years in the UK. Also got a dvd movie called Shortbus. Google it and let me know I you want to borrow it.

The return flight was marginally better. This time there was no personal tv screen, but at least the wet towel didn’t smell of cockroach and the food was better. The flight was more filled, but mostly by transitters going off somewhere via Brunei. But I wonder why did the whole airplane stink whenever someone flushed the toilet? And I was sitting quite far from the loo…….

Le Prez's Birthday Presents

Just a quick photo post; pictures taken when Le Prez received his birthday presents today.

He received some bottles of extra hot chili sauce, flown all the way from the good old UK.

Le Prez, hope you enjoy them; but don't blame us if you get burnt!

As usual, the card got 'personal touch' by our very own card scribbler, aka Kakarrot, giving homage to some members of the lunch gang.

P.s. apology for the cr*p quality of pictures.

Birthday Greetings

Happy Birthday to.....

Le Prez, the lesser known VM.....


and

Running Diva.



Enjoy your birthday and bila belanja?

In memory.....

This weekend marks one year since my mum passed away suddenly last year.

These songs never fail to bring tears to my eyes everytime I listen to them.





When was the last time you told your mum that you loved her?

Al-Fatihah.....

Morning song...

You know, the morning song ... the song that you listen to in the morning while getting dressed....

This is mine at the moment ... I don't know why, but it just is.

So what's yours?

Puasa in B-Town and a bit about Raya

Puasa here was somehow a bit different from home.

Working hours were not shortened like back home. We worked from 7.30am until 4.30pm with an hour of lunch break. Most people used the one-hour lunch break to take naps. For a person who relied a lot on caffeine to survive the day, it was really difficult to survive those fasting days. Thus the one-hour lunch break became one of the highlights of the day.

Breaking fast and bersahur became 'loner' events. I normally went out to the gerai to get something to sungkai with. There were 3 main places of gerai ramadhan here; the biggest one was the old airport, right on the now defunct runway of the old airport (oh, they also used the runway to race their kapcais!). The hotel also provided sungkai buffet which cost RM35 per person, but I was not a big fan of buffet. There were sahur spread at 3am, but I prefered my sahur to be sent to my room. So every night at about 11pm, I would get my sahur delivered in a nice bento box, complete with starters and desserts. And they all cost just an extra RM8. So I would have my late supper at 11pm and wake up at 4am, to have some water and kurma. Speaking of kurma, every Muslim staff was given a box of Iranian kurma from the company, which was a nice gesture.


Gerai Ramadhan at the Old Airport


Some examples of my Sahur boxes

There were no public holidays for the start of Ramadhan and Nuzul Al-Quran (or the Anniversary of the revelation of Al-Quran), which were celebrated with public holidays back home. Also, there was no Israk Mekraj holiday here either.

Celebrated Raya back at home; took the whole week off. Raya was a low-key affair; it was the first Raya without my dear mother who passed away last year. Hence, no gerai-styled open house this year. Sorry guys!! Spent most of Raya at home, but spent one day visiting relatives' houses in Bandar, which was really unplanned.

On lighter note, this was seen in one department store in Bandar. This really took the piss out of the warning not to increase price of goods during the recent BGS!

Cake! Cake! I lurveeee the cakeee......

Just couldn't resist posting this...... Enjoy!!



Remember to eat with Ryvita; it makes everything low fat!

Old posts re-visited

Remember that injury that I got while playing badminton (read about it here and here)? Well, five months on, the wound has healed (well, kinda). So Jest, don't worry about it; all forgiven but not forgotten! Ha ha!

Before - May 2007

After - Oct 2007

Announcing Part Deux

Referring to this and to answer this:
arzhri: Is that a mazda 8? is it your new ride bulgemeister? if so, SWEET! (posted: 2007-10-24 4:21 PM).

The answer can be found here.

It is said to be a crossover between an SUV and Mazda RX-8. The Mazda RX-8 is a tad too small; I like my ride to be big!

Something DF.....

Many congratulations to Dr. Lenny and Dr. Taufique on their wedding over the weekend. Sorry I was not there during your nikah.

P.s.: DF = Doctor Friend(s)

Fly to Sydney anyone?

Airbus has delivered the first A-380 to Singapore Airlines, who is the launch customer of this super jumbo. The first flight to Sydney will leave Singapore on 25 October.

Check out more on the delivery here.

The aircraft also boasts a new class, apparent--ly a class above First Class. It is called the Singapore Airlines Suites. Check out the new Singapore Airlines Suites and other classes here.

It's time to check out new courses in Sydney then!

Posted by: Bulgemeister (a PPS Club member!)

Announcing.....

... a new addition to the Lunch Transport. Arriving in LMT in January 2008.

:)



See you on the road!

Posted by: Bulgemeister

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Pulang ke kampung melalui Miri,

Harap-harap queue janganlah panjang;

Masa memandu berhati-hati,

Ingatlah pada orang yang tersayang.

Dr. Muzaphar angkasawan Malaysia,

Berhari raya di ruang angkasa;

Salah silap maaf dipinta,

Termakan terminum halalkan semua.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Another incident on the road.

This incident happened recently while driving back to the hotel from work.



I was driving towards a roundabout when there was a slow moving trailer on the left lane. I decided to take the right lane while the trailer stayed on the left lane. As we (me + the trailer) were going around the roundabout, I heard some sort of rumble. I took a quick look on the left side mirror and noticed that the load (consisted mainly of metal pipes, probably 6" across) on the trailer was starting to fell off the trailer. I stepped on the accelerator, hoping to avoid any of the falling items. I heard some scratching noise and knew immediately something must have hit my car. I stopped by the roadside and sure enough, there was a long, deep scratch on the left side of the car, running across both the front and back doors. The rear wheel wasn't spared either; there were some damage to it too.




Damage to the car



Scene of the incident


Anyway, to cut the story short, I managed to get the tranportation company to pay for the repair. Brought the car to the Toyota agent and was qouted RM500 for the repair. And that the amount I'm getting from the company.



So far, I've got 3 car-related incident during this posting to B-Town. Shall I get a new car to get rid of the bad luck? He... he...! :)

Posted by the Bulgemeister

Who Can??

Just a short post for today......

Buffet sungkai anyone? Got this from one of the many Bruneian bloggers.......

http://muazrashid.blogspot.com/2007/10/appalled-and-speechless.html

What do you think? Remind me of "bali saja, nyaman ni!"....

Two greetings......

Firstly, many Congratulations to a new mother and hubby on the birth of their baby girl.


And, Happy Birthday to the One Who Had Left to Do His Masters, aka Jester or PP (Precision Processor).

So been to Old Trafford sudah?

Selamat Berpuasa

It's not too late to wish everyone Selamat Berpuasa, is it? But anyway, Selamat Berpuasa!

Check out this video:

Happy Birthday!

A birthday greeting for our own Word Warrior (with his fully-extended ..... lens)!

KNK Outing

A few weeks ago, some of my friends and I decided to have our own KNK - Kenali Negara Kitani - outing. Apart from the obvious touristy reason, it was also intended as a farewell outing for a friend, who had left to pursue his Masters degree in UK.

Did not get permission from the KNK tourists, so can't really post pix with our faces in them.

I was wearing my new slightly-oversized Man Utd jersey ...

We started off with breakfast at CAM Yayasan. We had this ...

and this ...

We had a good view of Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddin with its tilting fountain 'bowl' ...

First stop was Kampong Ayer ...

Made a detour to see Jong Batu ... (so kids, be kind to your parents!)

Made a quick pitstop at the Riverine Filling Station ...

Got off at Sungai Kebun and walked through Kg. Peramu ...

Took this picture and thought it looked nice ...

Stopped briefly at the latest monument in Bandar; the HM's 60th Birthday Monument. It definitely looked bigger in the picture....

How much did you have to contribute to be a platinum sponsor?

Made quick visits to the Brunei Museum and the Malay Technology Museum. Was not allowed to take pictures at the Brunei Museum. Comments on both museums: it was hot (not as in nice hot, but warm hot; no aircons perhaps), most displays were outdated (cantik was spelled chantek), most interactive displays do not work anymore, same displays as the ones that I saw when I last visited it 4 years previously, some displays were just too scary (just go the the Brunei culture gallery) and yeah, some galleries were not even lit up properly (energy saving measures kali?). And yeah, we completed our visit to the Malay Technology Museum in 15 minutes! We saw some funny comments left by visitors to the natural history gallery; one visitor was disappointed because he did not see any dinosaur bones.

Because of the disappointment with the Brunei Museum, I just could not be bothered to take my camera for the Malay Technology Museum. So no pictures from either museums. One positive point: we now know how a Kedayan tribal house looks like!

We then made a stop at the Sultan Bolkiah's Mausoleum ...

We then head off to visit the Royal Regalia building ...

We were wondering what happened to that statue of Winston Churchill and all those fish in the Aquarium. Several must-see items: the Crown as used during HM's coronation, the miniature Throne Room of Istana Nurul Iman and spot-the-face game at the Silver Jubilee Chariot Hall. No camera is allowed within the inner galleries, so only took pictures in the hall that houses the Coronation Chariot.

Last visits were to the Jamek Asr Hassanil Bolkiah and Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin. One of us tourists had never set foot into a masjid before. Again, no cameras were allowed. One of us tourists was stopped from entering the Main Praying Hall of Masjid SOAS as he was not a Muslim. Think I was more embarrased than he was; what's wrong with a non-muslim entering the Main Praying Hall? I know it was almost time was the next prayer, but they were not going to make some noise, were they?

Well, lastly the tired feet of the KNK tourists ...