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!
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!
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!
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…….
Sometimes known as Bulgemeister or Precision Processor.
Formerly known as VM (as in Visual Mathematician), Bungkul and Whopper.
A big Manchester United fan since he was a wee kid.
He is a guy who seems to know everything, but he does not really because everything is just an apparently.
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