Alot of morning I wake up with a knot at my lower back....hurts so dang much. I have a condition, my 5th lumbar is a little off alignment which causes me to have a stiff lower back and causes me plenty of pain. Apparently the muscle left to that particular joint is pulling it, causing it to twist and stiffened. That's why I have been visiting the local chiropractor clinic in Klang. Which I have not attend any back adjusting sessions for awhile now.
Another cause of my back problems is that I spend wayy too much time in front of my computer...which is what I'm doing now. I play games, surf net for nonsense, download movies...the works. I tend to slouch and maintain at a certain position for a long period of time. Which causes undue stress to my joints and back. So since my current chair has a broken gas lift...time to shop for a new one.
Done some research online and found out that a chair is very important to health and productivity.....to me it just means more gaming goodness with little rest. Ahhhh....music to my ears. Anyway, I have found a perfect match for my new health investment....a chair that is so ergonomic it should be part of Star Wars. The chair is by Herman Miller, a really really expensive furniture company. Which cost about RM 5000. But I am looking for a knock off or similar design to it.
After making some calls to local companies that carries such chair designs. Some have the design I wanted and it only cost less than RM 1,500. Which is good. One of them invited me to a furniture exhibition with a free pass held at PWTC this 6th March. The Malaysian International Furniture Fair....or MIFF.
Anyone wanna tag along?
a Chair? health investment?
Belvedere Luxury Vodka
Woke up tired this morning but surprisingly without the headache considering the amount of vodka I chugged down last nite. Yeah, was the Belvedere Luxury Vodka launch at Sunshine Modern Bar. Only managed to RSVP a few people only before the event, so only Me, Randi, Vincent, Brenda and Eddie. A small group but we had loads of fun.
As we walked into the bar, we were ushered in front for our mugshots...now we know how the celebs feels. 6 cameramen were shooting away at us. LOL. The event is held at Sunshine Bar to promote their Ice Bar too. It's a bar where the inside temperature is at a constant 0. Keep things chilled, no?
Vodka served in Ice Shot glasses...cool!It was kinda boring inside then we decided to take it outside, where he get to see all the invited celebrities and the Ice Queen with an albino python around her. Each of us took turns to have our picture taken with the python but not Eddie. He was terrified of the little guy. LOL.
The night ended with the ladies driving us home. It was fun hanging out with friends at bars once in awhile.
DIY Project 95% Completed
It's finally over...it has been a tiring 6 days of moving, painting...up and down stairs....measuring, drilling and cleaning up. Alot of work has been done. And I didn't do it alone, my dad's been a great help. Without his help I wouldn't have completed my project in just 6 days! It is kinda fun doing activities with your dad. You guys should do it once in a while.
Anyways, the only thing that is left undone is fixing up the lights and a piece of my shelf is missing. Had a last minute change of plans and extended the shelf length. So I gotta go back to IKEA for another piece and for a carpet. A big one.
Doing something like this gave me a sense of accomplishment on my vacation back home. Not just lounging about doing nothing. Now I just gotta find for something else to do.
Some pics of the makeover:
Drilled 12 holes for the shelves....
Room Makeover.....DIY Project
I have been looking for things to do with my free time back here...and I figured why not do a little makeover for my room? So I decided to move into the master bedroom, but before that I need to prep up the place. Since my aunt is here on a holiday, might as well ask for her expert advice on snazzing up the place. She's an interior designer in Singapore. And it's free! LOL.
Was shopping at IKEA yesterday with my aunt, mom and randi. Picked up some stuff to spruce up the room. New lights, some shelves and little of this and that. Found a nice carpet that fits perfectly to cover the huge empty floor...didn't know that big piece of rug like that will set me back a few hundred bucks. But I guess it's an investment.
Bought a few cans of paint from Boon Seng. I let my aunt decide what color would best match the furniture. I am quite bad with color and tend to pick the weirdest combination. LOL. Will need to do some rewiring and patching up cracks on the walls before painting. Gonna be busy this week, hopefully can be done before I leave for my next rotation.
Since I'm gonna be doing everything myself....I hope all will turn out well. Will post some pics of the progress here. Tune in!
Lou Sang at Home
Been a fun and exciting Chinese New Year so far...best bit is that I am back for it and get to spend time with my family. And also to have friends is a great bonus. This year the annual "Lou Sang" is held at home...the first one I had was in Anderson's house with a bunch of friends. It was like battle of the chopsticks....it was all over the place.
Last Sunday, my mom whipped up a great lunch and I had some of my college buddies over and of course another round of Lou Sang. This time I bought it from a vegetarian restaurant and the salmon are from Jusco. Huge and fresh. Everyone brought their partners and we all crammed into the table. Crap...need the card reader to upload the video from my camera.
Did you know that "Lou Sang" is originated from Malaysia? Alot of people would've thought that it might be originated from China or Hong Kong but nope...it was a home bred culture.
And tonight is the Hokkien's Lunar New Year.....there's gonna be tons of fireworks later. Be sure to keep both eyes out for a great show.
Camp Food....Nyum!
Some of the food that is served in the camp. Gruesome I tell you. Same crap, different day
Buckwheat with Beef
Rice with Beef and vege soup
A birthday meal for a fellow operator. Salted fish with Onions, Tomato with Onions,Bowl of Cucumbers, Flat Bread and Vodka!
Rye Bread...hard, dry and sour-ish.
Now this takes the cake....it's a big piece ofPork Fat...pure!
Yep, just slice it and chomp it down with bread. Errgh!
Time Forgotten...
Wow...it's almost a week since I've been home. And it feels like only a day has passed. Sheesh...when I'm in Kazakhstan, a day feels like a week. Guess time flies when you are comfortable and happy huh? It's a blessing that I get to be back home for the Lunar New Year. Family and friends...that's what makes home feels so great. Been doing some shopping and tagging along with my mom to the morning market in Eng Ann. Get the feel of the festive mood.
Well, tonight will be the "Reunion Dinner", everyone back home with their family for dinner. Anderson's back from China too. The bad weather didn't keep him away huh.
I have brought back a can of horse meat from Kazakhstan. I guess will be waiting for a time when everyone is gathered and will get a taste of it. I personally won't be eating it...had my fair share in the camps. Uggh. So wants to have a Fear Factor Klang challenge can contact me. LOL.
Anyways, I have lots of pictures and videos to upload. Finally.
White Christmas in Almaty
What I wore to work everyday...ninja gear.
Happy New Year!(SnoVim GodOm)
Headin' Back Home
Tomorrow I will start my journey back home...a long journey. In one week alone I have traveled more than 50hrs, by every transport available. Trucks, Trains and Planes. Will be heading out of Zhannajol camp to Aktobe and spending a night there, the next day I will be flying to Almaty and spending a night there too.
20hr Super Star Express
I just got to Aktobe this morning, the 20hr train ride wasn't so bad actually. It was quite fun. It is an old train with lots of cabin which has 4 bunk beds. It was kinda cramp but quite comfortable. Although there was problem with storing my luggage.
I was accompanied by a Kompani GIS office girl, Svetlana, cos it's hard to travel through Kazakhstan alone if you don't speak any russian. So the company sent her with me. She doesn't speak English too. But we use a little translation book she had. Haha.
The journey started at 3:30PM from the town of Kyzlorda. It made many stops along the way...some short and some long. Enough time to run down to get some food or just to stretch your legs...but I hardly recommend the latter. As you travel up north, it gets colder.
The cabin was OK, depends on your standards. But I am used to it because of the condition of my camp in Kumkol. The toilet is terrible though. Dirty and smelly. Ugh! And they have this weird little water heater. So unique in design that I thought it was a distiller from the olden days. Got a picture but sadly I don't have the cable to upload the pics.
In our cabin was other 2 men, both heading to Aktobe. One of them is a university student traveling a camp nearby Zhannajol for practical before graduating. The other is for work. The student speaks little english, but good enough to communicate. Kazakshtan are a friendly bunch. They offered to share their food and even bought me some beer. Cool eh? We ate and drank and talk...sorta. At first I was wondering about what am I going to do for 20hrs in a train. Guess time flew by if you enjoying yourself eh?
A few stops I went down to stretch my legs and saw lots of doggies running about, all searching for food or hoping for passengers alighting from the train to throw some scraps. Peddlers are walking about to sell you things, mostly food. Even dried salty fish....it's the custom to drink beer and eat salty fish. Weird but kinda nice.
Slept rather well in the night. Quite warm in the cabin, and thank goodness none of the people snored. Woke up and coffee was made by Svetlana. Ate some bread, hard boiled eggs and cold sausage. After 20hrs, we arrived at Aktobe. Grabbed my luggage and waited for the driver to come.
Another Adventure
Tomorrow I'll be taking another adventure through this country, traveling from Kyzlorda to Aktobe via train. My butt is gonna get sores from this trip...20hrs of chugging. This is normal for the people who works here. They usually live in towns far away from the oil fields. Like Karaganda. Some 26hr train ride away.
And by train I don't mean those nice cushy ones we have back at home...wait...I take it back...our trains are crap! Beyond crap! I guess anything is still better than our stinky trains back home eh? Anyway, trains here are the old kinds where I remember taking them from KL to Singapore. Sways sideways the whole journey.
The reason I'm heading up north is for my breakout exam! Yay! Finally after more than a year of waiting I am finally "graduating". I have already prepared my 120 slide presentation...Yup...long and gruesome. Reckon it will take about 8hrs. Nice. After my breakout, I will head back to my ol' camp in Libya. Funny, once you have been to the worse kind of camps...I find the camp in Libya is like Hilton compared to here.
Lord of the Snow
It snowed again yesterday.....a full day till 3AM this morning. It started light in the morning and during the evening, strong winds started to join in the fun. Hard to move around the camp, even to the mess hall. Strong winds + heavy snow = Slapped with hundreds of ice. LOL.
In the nite, the snow was already 1 feet high. I can barely walk with the boots I have on. Worse is that I was locked in my room....the snow barricaded my door from the outside. Haha. Had to use force to push open the door. And had to shovel the snow away. Then this morning I had to do it all over again. In Malaysia we have to deal with flood and here I have to deal with frozen water. Although I never have to deal with flood at my house.
Frozen in Time
I've been here for almost 3 weeks now and only been to 3 jobs. All short ones. Apparently the weather here isn't helping to the drilling, everything tends to freeze under -35. I guess the steamers didn't help much.
I can see liquids freezes before my very eyes. That is how cold it is here. Well, nothing much to do except sittin in my room watchin movies and playing some games. Also reading up on my job related stuff. Preparing for my breakout, hopefully it can be done this trip. So I won't have to return to this depressing place. My boss needs me back in the desert, apparently I'm the most "senior" once I return there. I will have to lead everything for the Compact tools. Greatt......
At least I get to have a short holiday in States after my training course in Houston in April. Randi will be coming over and we will travel from Texas to New York. Gonna be a short 2weeks excursion. Since my frequent flyer account has enough points to redeem a ticket for her.
Anyways, still waiting for my laundry. Haih. Get paid to sit around eh?
Heaven's Swarovski
As the title says, fresh snow on the ground with the sun shining on it makes it look heaven peppered the earth with swarovski crystals. Everything just sparkles. Get to be a "Sua Ku", was so excited when checking out snow flakes that fell on my black jacket, I can see each of the unique design of the flake. Such beauty.
Last night was out on a rush job. Kinda came last minute, was ready for bed and suddenly got a call for a job at 3AM. So I packed and made sure I took extra clothes for layering. Since it gets pretty cold at during dead hours in the night...I mean really really cold. Say -35 degrees. So we got there and unloading the equipment from the truck and it started to snow. Little at first then it got heavy. The snow lasted till 10AM.
With 6inches of snow, my shoe was covered to the top. Luckily I bought myself a ski pants...and it kept my legs dry from the snow. Money well spent. Apparently last night it wasn't that cold, it was perfect to work in. It was around 5 to 10 degrees and it was great. Kinda gotten used to the cold temperature except when it drops below zero, that is a different story altogether.
A Sex Scandal...but....Ewwww!
I was shocked to see the headlines in thestar.com.my this morning. It was about a sex DVD...hmmm...so they changed it from sex tape eh? keeping up with the trend I see. Anyways, it was about the Health minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. His "endeavor" with a personal friend has hit the Malaysian box office and has led to a press conference to apologise for it.
Read more at thestar.com.my
As I was looking for more news inside thestar, I stumbled upon something really funny. The headlines at the "Most Viewed" section.
The first title is 'Chua says sorry over sex DVD', if you scanned through the topics and come to the fourth topic which is 'Chua - Highly experienced'. If you read them together like that it seems like the the 4th article is telling that Chua is highly experienced in bed as shown on the DVD? Haha.
That article just explains how successful and experience he is as a minister for his past work. What a relief.
Happy New Year 2008...Let's Party!
Yea....bye bye 2007, hellooooo 2008. It has been a great year! And this is a New Year to start anew! I have plenty of New Year's Resolution liao. Gonna be lots of changes in this new year.
Anyways, last nite was a blast. I was invited to the guy's hut for an early session of yamseng...and I mean real early....5PM. Cos they wanna celebrate Fanil's 50th birthday early too. His birthday's on January 1st, how cool is that. They only drink neat Vodka, and that did not go too well with me. I took a break at around 8PM to sleep it off and was dragged out again at 10PM. Haha.
At 11:30PM, we were called over the workshop for a New Year countdown. Everyone was there. Some trucks we moved outside to make room for a dance floor....yup....dance floor. Russian and English music was playing. I had the honor of opening a bottle of champagne too. Was cheering and I was asked to give a speech in my own language and Vitaly will translate it to them. Since I was half drunk, I say why the hell not eh?
And then everyone was groovin' at the dance floor. Man, these russian guys and gals are sporting. Young and old alike just dancing away. And I was dragged in too. Haha. I even won a prize for being the best dancer I think. It was quite a good New Year celebration. I mean apart from spending time with my loved ones. Especially with Randi. Da Best!
Well, more drinking and dancing. This old man called Yuri, he grabs and made me his drinking buddy last night. Really nice fellas. Everyone is friendly and hospitable. Will post up some pics and videos later.
A BLESSED NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!
Beep...Beep...Beep....Uh-oh!
You know, I have been explaining to you guys about my job and the hazards of it. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I guess a video is worth a million? This video shows me carrying a Geiger Meter (device that measures radiation) that you always see in movies. In my job, I have to use it every time a radiation source will be used. To check before and after status of a job site and make sure we don't leave the source behind. Or worse case scenario, a leak. And that can very very bad.
Radiation kills a person slowly over time if they are over exposed, but that takes ALOT of exposure from a source. Back in my Libya camp, the locals there runs helter-skelter every time we take a source out BUT when we are assembling Guns by loading High Explosives into them. They stand right by it SMOKING. Geez...they are scared shit of something that will not kill them even in the long run but they are carefree about something that will blow their head clear off their shoulder instantly? Go figure...
Took this video when on a job in Kazakhstan last trip. Gotta tilt your head a bit, forgot bout the angle when taping this :P
The big orange container holds the Neutron source, the smaller is the Density. Neutron is deadlier as it sort of disassemble H2O,which what 90% of what the human body consists of, by knocking the 'H' off.
Is this the cause of Malaysia's problems?
Was surfing the net and some forums, stumbled upon an interesting topic, education level comparison between Malaysian and Singaporean ministers. I'm not sure they are true or not, use Google to find out if you want.
The circulated email is making our Malaysian ministers a joke.....true? You decide.
Singapore and Malaysia's Minister
PM Lee Hsien Loong
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1974)
Harvard University - Masters (1980)
PM Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi
University of Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1964)
SM Goh Chok Tong
University of Singapore - First Class Honours (1964)
Williams College , USA - Masters (1967)
Deputy PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak
University of Nottingham - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1974)
MM Lee Kuan Yew
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1949)
Minister of Foregn Affairs Syed Hamid Albar
(can someone tell me his univeristy? )- Bachelor of Arts [ UITM ]
Minister for Law Prof. S Jayakumar
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Law Honours (1963)
Yale Univerity - Masters (1966)
Ministry of Works- Dato' Seri Samy Vellu
(Education Unknown) [ Form 6, Anderson School ]
Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Arts & Business Admin (1977)
London Business School - Masters (1979)
Ministry of International Trade & Industry Rafidah binti Aziz
Universiti Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours
Minister for Foreign Affairs BG George Yeo
Cambridge University - Double First Class Honours (1976)
Harvard Business School - MBA w/ Distinction (1985)
Minister of Agriculture Muhyiddin Yassin
(Education Unknown) [ Polytechnic Ungku Omar ]
Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang
Cambridge University - First Class Honours w/ Distinction (1976)
Harvard University - Masters (1986)
Ministry of Domestic Trade Shafie Apdal
(Education Unknown) [ Form 5, Failed English ]
Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean
University of Manchester - First Class Honours (1976)
Imperial College, London - Masters w/ Distinction (1977)
Minister of Education Hishammuddin Hussein
(Education Unknown) [ Bachelor of Arts, Social Science ]
Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam
London School of Economics - Bachelor of Arts
Cambridge University - Masters
Harvard University - Masters
Minister of Home Affairs Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad
(Education Unknown) [ Kolej Islam Malaysia , Diploma ]
My First White Christmas....alone....
Blessed Belated Christmas Everyone!
Well, on the morning of Christmas I got a big surprise. It was snowing! Don't wanna sound like a 'sua-ku', this IS my first white Christmas.....even my first snowing winter. Previous winters I spent was either back in Malaysia which is usually raining or in Libya which is cold but no snow.
First white Christmas and I am spending it alone....sad eh? Well, what to do....work is work. I flew out of Almaty early in the morning and arrived in Kzylorda around noon. Once landed, the captain announced that the temperature outside was -19°C....I thought I heard -9°C but once I stepped out of the plane...it immediately hit me.....my face had a biting feeling....ears and fingers were in pain. You think that is bad huh? Wait till I tell you about the temperature at my base camp in Kumkol.
A list of my Christmas presents:
1) Nokia N81 8GB from Randi
2) White Christmas
3) Skywards Silver status from Emirates (sorta...)
Yes, apparently I'm short of 135miles but they gave it to me anyways. I guess it must be too close and they decided to give me the status or because I have the returning flight with them. Either way, I have additional perks now. Access to the Business Class Lounge, E-Gate check-in, add luggage allowance and many more. Woot!
Shalom!
My Skywards miles
Feeling heavy waking up this morning....knowing that I'll be flying...again. Another 2 more flights before I'm at my camp. I take a total of 6 flights a month just to get to work and back. And you guys complaining of driving to work. LOL.
My uncle dropped me off at the airport, first time in almost 2 years the airport is not so packed. Weird...maybe because it's a work day. Check in my luggage, 23.5 KG. Not bad...considering the amount of winter clothes I brought...including 2 huge thermal coveralls my uncle gotten me. Having my breakfast at Starbucks...now...typing this while waiting to enter the departure gate. 5hrs of flight and I'll be in Almaty....checked the weather online....it's -3 now. Rainy Snow Mist....hmmm...is that good?
As we drove near the airport, can see the newly built departure terminal from afar. It's huugggee...like a huge caterpillar. It's not open yet but once it does....it'll be hell for someone who gotta walk from one end of the terminal to other. One of either new or the old terminal would be dedicated to Emirates flights. Good news for me.
Oh talking about Emirates, I am so pissed since I knew that my frequent flyer Skywards Tier miles are going to expire by 31st Dec. The tier miles determines which level I'm at....there are 3 levels....Blue, Silver and Gold. To reach Silver level, I have to collect 25,000 tier miles in a year, Gold is 50,000. Apparently I only have 24,865 tier miles!! Short 135 miles to become Silver. Crap! and it's gonna expire end of this year. My next flight is only in January. By then I'll have to start from 0 again. Actually I could get the Gold status if I didn't spend 5 months at home. Being Gold, I get to check in at the First and Business class counter, use the Business Class Emirates lounge at airports and get 30KG of luggage allowance. And maybe...just maybe....get bumped to Business class seats. LOL.
Okay, gotta go now. Shall write more when I'm freezing my arse off in Kazakhstan.
Shalom and Out!