Manzalai 5

My first job in Pakistan. The rig is located on Manzalai field nearing the border of Afghanistan. We set out in the afternoon and arrive late evening. It was difficult to grab any nice pictures with the driver putting the pedal to the metal. It was a rough 5 hr ride. As we were nearing the a town called Kohat, the oil company sent 2 trucks with security personnels armed with sub-machine guns to escort us to the rig. Reason being that we were nearing the Afghan border, and Talibans have some nasty activities around there. Raids and attacks. Gun fights...RPGs flying. LOL....no, seriously.

Just came back last night, job got delayed. Was on standby for 6 days on site. Rotting in the camp. They have nice food though....better than the ones I had back in the staff house. Apparently the rig got lost while drilling....couldn't find the intended zone. Might take another week or two.

Never thought that Pakistan has such a beautiful countryside, it was hilly but filled with green. The rig is smack right in the hills. A nice change of scenery for me...since I have been with the company, I have only worked in deserts.

Bridge built by the British in 1905

Annual Sick Day

Haih....sick today. Since last night actually. Not sure why but I only get sick only once a year or sometimes once in every 2 years. I have worked in the hottest place on earth to one of the coldest...and I did not even get sick. And here I am in a tropical climate country....I get sick. Nothing bad....just a fever.

Staying home today....woke up with a headache. There's nothing much to do at the office anyways. I just need to rest in bed for the day.

Hi from the land of Honking!

The title speaks for itself....literally....in Islamabad, people just love their car horns. They honk their horns at the slightest movement. LOL. I mean everything. In a 10 minutes car ride...one could hear hundreds of honks.

I have been here for 5 days and things are good. Unsafe? Don't believe everything you see or read in the news. I am practically living in a mansion. My room is practically a master bedroom, we have 5 butlers waiting on us....thirsty? they will bring a glass on a tray. Feel a bit awkward since I have never been served like that before. But this I can get use to....Haha. My toilet has 2 "jamban"...now that is just weird. If you can't squat, you can just hop over to the next one.

It is a blessing that I get to work with a few other Indonesian expats, feels like home since we can speak Bahasa. At least now I can brush up on my Bahasa and maybe some Indonesian. LOL.

Food here is not at all bad, just like asian food.....rice, curry chicken and stuff. Will post some pictures. Last night we went up to a place called Margalla Hills, there's a nice restaurant....Monal....the restaurant overlooks Islamabad. Cool air. Food there is fantastic....awesome kebab. There were 8 of us and it only cost Rs 4800....which is about RM 240. Cheap! We even had Shisha. Wish can eat there every night.

It is weird that they have power blackouts 4 times a day. It happens at 5am, 1PM, 5PM and 9PM....like clockwork. I guess the government is trying to conserve energy by allocating it to other districts or sectors. Each blackouts lasts only an hour. Our staff house will get a power generator soon. Oh...and even for Pakistan it has kick a** broadband speed. But you gotta pay a hefty connection fee.

Too many experiences to write and elaborate. Will go in detail when I'm free...for now...I am here to work my butt off.

Haih....another 12hr flight....

After a 9hr flight...got my land legs back...another 12hr flight back home in an hour. Sitting in McDonald's having my breakfast....I usually skip airplane meals...really dislike them regardless what they serve. Usually once on board, I'll have a beer or any liquor and sleep. Best and fastest way to kill time during long flights. Unless I am taking Emirates, which usually has individual screens and plenty of movie selections. But this time I am flying with KLM, using old planes.....a few monitors in an aisle. Crappy.

Anyway, thought that I will have a chance to tour the city of Amsterdam this round home but they changed my flight itinerary again....now only have 3+ hrs transit here. The previous booking made, I have at least 11hrs of transit...which I was thinking of heading out to Amsterdam. Chance destroyed.

After 2 weeks in Houston I am ready and eager to head back home. I still prefer Fort Worth. More quiet and peaceful....sorta. And they the Six Flags Over Texas theme park. Man how I miss the Titan.

Ok...back to watching anime again. Sleepy...need coffee. More beer! LOL.

Howdy Pardners!

Didn't realise that it has already been a month since I last updated this. Been putting it off to prepare for my trip here to Houston. Yeah...yeah....I am a lazy. Busy getting my head wrap around this training course. It's been a good adventure here, seen a lot of things and experience "many" new things. Mainly the NASA Johnson Space Center....where the famous quote from the movie Apollo 13...actually it IS the real thing.

Will be heading home in a couple of days...here are some pics.

That is one BIG engine....

Ken Lee - tulibu dibu douchoo!

Hahaha....came across this wondrous video clip in Youtube. You guys gotta see this. I laughed so hard almost fell off my chair. Is it english? Who knows. Lols. Lols. Lols. Comes with very accurate subtitle. Have a laugh.







P/S: It is actually "Without You" by Air Supply or Mariah Carey "Puff" or the first original by Badfinger (1970).

Wondrous Malaysia!

Was reading the theStar online this morning and saw the headlines that former Port Klang assemblyman Zakaria Deros has kicked the bucket. May he rest in peace. What will happen to his infamous mansion? I believe everyone knows by now that he has built himself a house befitting a multi-millionaire.

"His mansion has 21 bathrooms and 16 bedrooms, including 11 that are occupied by each of his children, as well as a VIP room, three living rooms, a dining hall and a prayer room.

The house also has a swimming pool, several gazebos, an orchard, a two-hole golf lawn, an office, a storeroom, two rooms for maids as well as a wet kitchen and a dry kitchen." - taken from theStar.com.my

Anyway, while reading about his mansion. I remembered receiving an email about our very own Malaysia's 7 Wonders! How cool is that? After rummaging through a few hundred emails, I found it. Here it is....


Organizers recently announced the seven new wonders of the world.
Here in MALAYSIA BOLEH -land we have our very own 7 wonders .

1. THE ZAKARIA 'PALACE'
The only building built with no approval and unpaid
assessment fees that is not demolished and sealed.

2. THE 'BOCOR' PARLIAMENT
The unique feature is its ability to 'leak' away
billions of taxpayers money while the guardians of
the nation stood there all wet.

3. 'UNHAUNTED' KUCHING PRISON
The only $600M prison in this world that is free of
haunted stories and encounters. Reasons No execution
was done here before. In fact no prisoners were held
in here. There are also no concrete walls with barbed
wires to contain souls - both dead and alive. Maybe it
can qualify as the first imaginary prison built with
real money.

4. PAYA INDAH 'WASTED' WETLANDS
The nation's premier eco-tourism park holds the
record in the category of attracting more lawyers
with litigation than tourists with binoculars.

5. 'NOT SO' SMART TUNNEL
Uniquely design to alleviate floods. When completed,
it does everything except alleviate floods.

6. 'DISCONNECTED' CYBERJAYA
The one and only high tech city in the world that
offers limited or no internet connection to its
residents.

7. CROOKED 'CROOKED' BRIDGE
The most crooked bridge in the world dreamt by a
most crooked mind. Too bad it was abandoned; otherwise
it would make it as one of the wonders.

LATEST 8th WONDER :
1ST MALAYSIAN ASTRO MAN BLASTED OFF TO NOWHERE WITH MILLIONS OF
RAKYAT MONEY BURNT IN 10 DAYS FOR THE MOST EXPENSIVE SPACE EXPEDITION HAS ENTER INTO THE MALAYSIAN GUINESS BOOK RECORD AT 10 PM ON 0CT 10, 2007.
BRAVO!

Well, I was in Kazakhstan that time and was waving to the rocket with millions of hard earned tax payer's money blasting off leaving only a trail of smoke. For what?

Wounded but not out...

My butt cheeks are cramped as I walked to the washroom. Results from yesterdays paintball session. Guess I am in better shape than the others. Some of them left with several additional nipples as a souvenir courtesy of me....Haha.

Key Fatt arranged a Paintball session at TTSportspark in Subang Jaya, he invited his cousins and some friends. I only managed to get Seng to come along. For the rest, I guess they must've been traumatized by our previous games. There were total of 13 players yesterday...and one of them was a female participant. After the short briefing, I got suited up...my personal armor. Long sleeve turtle neck and my company coverall. Haha. Full protection eh?

With the adrenaline rush from the excitement, I was able to calm myself down for the 3rd round. After that, all hell broke loose. Haha. In a round, I manage eliminate 2-3 opponents. Most of them by flanking them. Don't know what hit them. There's a guy which I manage to go up to him at point blank but he decided not to surrender and turn his weapon on me....so I rained a barrage of fast paint balls on him.....point blank! He was grabbing his sides leaving the zone. Pity him though.

As for me, I got wounded too. A few headshots, thigh, hand and arm. Nothing serious compared to a guy who has 4 nipples. Haha. His wife is gonna be grilling him when he gets home. It was a good day. Our players were all rushing, rather than hiding behind the same bunkers everytime. Guess I will put it off till my next rotation then.

Rule #1 - No More Chinese Horror Flicks

Woke up today with a little smirk on my face....thinking I would be the first few in Malaysia to catch the new movie "10,000 B.C.". It was a media screening at 10:30AM at MidValley's GSC, manatau kena "yam"! It turns out there was a miscommunication with the people at both ends, it turns out it was a screening for a Chinese horror flick..."RULE #1: There are no Ghosts".

Since we were already there, what the heck. We have free popcorn and coke to boot. And again I was wrong....the movie really really sucked. Starring Ekin Cheng and Shawn Yue, they are both police officers in a special underground branch called Miscellaneous Affairs Department (MAD). They investigate the paranormal activities a.k.a Hantu that people report in. And trying to keep paranormal under wraps from the public. The story tells of a serial killer that was killed by Shawn later turned into a ghost and seeking revenge. The ghost apparently possesses people by touch. Passing himself around like a parasite. It is somewhat similar to the 1998 movie "Fallen" by Denzel Washington.

Not only the acting is B-grade, the storyline is so cliché. With ghost appearing out of nowhere trying to scare viewers. Which would be better if the ghosts were....how should I say....scary? In this movie, we can see Ekin Cheng with a trench coat, unshaven face, always smoking, wearing a tie, a gun holster and drinking Chivas from a flask....sounds familiar? He's like those movie detectives from the 50's. Gosh...soooo corny. In the end...the hantu wins. That was suppose to be the twist in the story....a twist that like lemon to be exact.

If you are a fan of Chinese horror or got nothing better to do....I would still recommend you to avoid this one.

a Chair? health investment?

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?

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!

A little info on Belvedere, apparently it's the world's first luxury vodka. Belvedere is marketed as being distilled longer than most other vodkas. The lengthy distillation of the drink is said to make it much smoother. Which is true, when I drank it...it went down easy and smooth. Not like the ones I drank in Kazakhstan...hard and almost makes me throw up.

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.

Update: Lou Sang Pics

Finally gotten a card reader for my digital camera....left the cable at my aunt's place in Singapore. Uploaded some pics during CNY Lou Sang session and lunch at my place.

Calm before the battle....

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

Cabbage wrapped Beef

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 of
Pork 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.