Saturday, 26 March 2011
Air, Sea & Land
It's been a very busy week - on Sunday and Monday I travelled down to Perth for the Tuesday morning meeting at Eni, which I followed by a couple of other business meetings and a late night reporting my activity. On Wednesday I had to go to the airport early to make sure two crew members who were travelling out to the Saipem 10K made their check-ins, and then I had to hang around for my own flight to Karratha. From Karratha I flew to the 10K where I spent the night so that I could get a review of Geolog's service, as well as conduct an audit and review my own crew (Mark says "Hello dad"). Then it was back to Perth on Thursday night, and on Friday a follow-up meeting at the Eni office, with a meeting with our consultant immediately after. Afterwards I had to head straight to the airport to catch my flight to Bali and make a tight connection to Jogjakarta so that I could enjoy a long weekend in Magelang with family and friends. Which is where I am now. I'm exhausted so it's lucky we are at a really plush hotel on the bank of a beautiful river.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Happy Birthday To Me
Today marks the 10th anniversary of my 29th birthday, and is the first birthday I've celebrated outside of the UK since I turned 14 (unless you count my 28th which I spent on a rig in the Danish sector of the North Sea, which I don't).
On Saturday Rae pulled out all the stops to plan a great day out. It started with a lie-in when Rae got up at 7am with Oscar. I got up 30 mins later to have a cup of coffee, only to find she'd snuck into his bed while he was watching telly and fell asleep. I left her there until 830 and played with Oscar.
Then at 10 we went up to one of the malls to get some DVDs - Spartacus (Blood & Sand and Gods of the Arena), King's Speech, Tron: Legacy plus a stack of kids Tv shows for my mini-me. We were back at home for 12, and after a quick hotdog lunch (which I've been looking forward to for a week) Brent picked me up for a massage at Majesty, just down the road.
An hour and a half of traditional massage saw me relaxed and oiled up ready for the next phase: go karting! Yes, Balikpapan has a go karting track, and it is a well kept secret. We arrived at 3pm and waited for the group before us to finish up. By the time they were done at 3:30 all the guests Rae had invited - Brent and Arlene, Adam and Danielle (plus 3), Lee and Danielle with Brooke, Karl and Tonya (and William), Angela with Paige (Dave was offshore), Lucien/Tamzin/Mattias, Graeme and Susan and the Weiss clan (Adrian, Antonia and their 4 sprogs - had all arrived. The dads took the kids on a slow couple of laps so that they could get it out of their system early (this worked on all of them except for Oscar) before conducting the first qualifier (Brent, Lucien, Graeme and Lee), with Brent and Lee winning. A stewards inquiry was held after it was claimed that one of the cars was more powerful so we decided to draw lots for subsequent races. Some of the ladies had a go after that, with a few mums taking the more nervous kiddies for a couple of very slow laps.
Then we all chipped in and had our drivers race each other. That was probably the most highly cheered race of the day, with us expats shouting loudly for our own drivers and hooting those who had crashes.
The next qualifier was between myself, Adam, Karl and Adrian with Adam and I being the winners. We decided to have a rest at this point and let the older kids (Claudia and Alec) have a go. Oscar was having none of it so I popped him in my lap and belted round the track for 5 minutes, with him shouting "Daddy we go fast!" and "We in the lead" as loud as he could. He was loving it, and I can't wait for him to be old enough to take himself out on a go kart.
The final race saw the top 4 fastest drivers from the qualifiers (Brent, Lee, Lucian and myself) facing off. Brent drew the fastest car again (lucky #5), with Lee in the second fastest, myself in the one that had a strange sound coming from the engine, and Lucien in the nag. At the start line Brent and Lee held pole position, but they weren't concentrating on the flag so I managed to nip ahead of them on the first corner and gain an early lead. While Brent and Lee were busy battling it out they weren't paying attention to me so I carried on putting distance between us while poor Lucien was stuck pootling along like a granny on Sunday. I wondered if the boys were letting the Birthday Boy win, but Arlene and Rae assured me that the competition going on a quarter of a lap behind me proved that no-one was going to let me have an easy victory. Luckily for me I held on to first and crossed the line, though Lee had slowly chipped away at the distance between us.
The session ended just after 530pm and everyone dashed home for showers and a change before meeting up at Bombay Curry House at 7ish, where we all put in for a lavish spread. Adam and Danielle produced a bottle of white Chardonnay for me, and Lee and Danielle had a busty red. Considering the price of wine in Balikpapan ($30 for something you'd pay $10 at home) these were probably the most expensive presents I'd ever been given!
The day wound down at gone 11pm when the kids were too tired and fractious to keep up, and we all said goodbye to each other. Plans were made for the next day but they all fell through because there were hangovers to be nursed and hyper children to be contained, so each family opted for a quite day at home. Rae, Oscar and I popped over to the pool for an hour before a deluge sent us scuttling off home.
All in all it was a tip-top day, and thanks go out to all who attended - particularly my wife and son who put a great deal of effort into organising it.
On Saturday Rae pulled out all the stops to plan a great day out. It started with a lie-in when Rae got up at 7am with Oscar. I got up 30 mins later to have a cup of coffee, only to find she'd snuck into his bed while he was watching telly and fell asleep. I left her there until 830 and played with Oscar.
Then at 10 we went up to one of the malls to get some DVDs - Spartacus (Blood & Sand and Gods of the Arena), King's Speech, Tron: Legacy plus a stack of kids Tv shows for my mini-me. We were back at home for 12, and after a quick hotdog lunch (which I've been looking forward to for a week) Brent picked me up for a massage at Majesty, just down the road.
An hour and a half of traditional massage saw me relaxed and oiled up ready for the next phase: go karting! Yes, Balikpapan has a go karting track, and it is a well kept secret. We arrived at 3pm and waited for the group before us to finish up. By the time they were done at 3:30 all the guests Rae had invited - Brent and Arlene, Adam and Danielle (plus 3), Lee and Danielle with Brooke, Karl and Tonya (and William), Angela with Paige (Dave was offshore), Lucien/Tamzin/Mattias, Graeme and Susan and the Weiss clan (Adrian, Antonia and their 4 sprogs - had all arrived. The dads took the kids on a slow couple of laps so that they could get it out of their system early (this worked on all of them except for Oscar) before conducting the first qualifier (Brent, Lucien, Graeme and Lee), with Brent and Lee winning. A stewards inquiry was held after it was claimed that one of the cars was more powerful so we decided to draw lots for subsequent races. Some of the ladies had a go after that, with a few mums taking the more nervous kiddies for a couple of very slow laps.
Then we all chipped in and had our drivers race each other. That was probably the most highly cheered race of the day, with us expats shouting loudly for our own drivers and hooting those who had crashes.
The next qualifier was between myself, Adam, Karl and Adrian with Adam and I being the winners. We decided to have a rest at this point and let the older kids (Claudia and Alec) have a go. Oscar was having none of it so I popped him in my lap and belted round the track for 5 minutes, with him shouting "Daddy we go fast!" and "We in the lead" as loud as he could. He was loving it, and I can't wait for him to be old enough to take himself out on a go kart.
The final race saw the top 4 fastest drivers from the qualifiers (Brent, Lee, Lucian and myself) facing off. Brent drew the fastest car again (lucky #5), with Lee in the second fastest, myself in the one that had a strange sound coming from the engine, and Lucien in the nag. At the start line Brent and Lee held pole position, but they weren't concentrating on the flag so I managed to nip ahead of them on the first corner and gain an early lead. While Brent and Lee were busy battling it out they weren't paying attention to me so I carried on putting distance between us while poor Lucien was stuck pootling along like a granny on Sunday. I wondered if the boys were letting the Birthday Boy win, but Arlene and Rae assured me that the competition going on a quarter of a lap behind me proved that no-one was going to let me have an easy victory. Luckily for me I held on to first and crossed the line, though Lee had slowly chipped away at the distance between us.
The session ended just after 530pm and everyone dashed home for showers and a change before meeting up at Bombay Curry House at 7ish, where we all put in for a lavish spread. Adam and Danielle produced a bottle of white Chardonnay for me, and Lee and Danielle had a busty red. Considering the price of wine in Balikpapan ($30 for something you'd pay $10 at home) these were probably the most expensive presents I'd ever been given!
The day wound down at gone 11pm when the kids were too tired and fractious to keep up, and we all said goodbye to each other. Plans were made for the next day but they all fell through because there were hangovers to be nursed and hyper children to be contained, so each family opted for a quite day at home. Rae, Oscar and I popped over to the pool for an hour before a deluge sent us scuttling off home.
All in all it was a tip-top day, and thanks go out to all who attended - particularly my wife and son who put a great deal of effort into organising it.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Weather Change
We are currently in what is known as the rainy season (aka The Wet if you are Australian). Traditionally it rains all night and drys out during the first hour of the morning, leaving behind cloudy skies and a very humid atmosphere, and lasts from late October to the end of February. Conversely the dry period is just that - high temperatures, cloudless skies and very sporadic showers.
However for the last three years the rainy season has failed to materialise. The general climate pattern in the region has been unsettled (possibly disrupted by deforestation) and rather than light and long rain showers we now get sudden, torrential downpours. These have been the cause of extensive flooding, triggering mudslides, throughout SE Asia.
This weekend's weather is a perfect example of how random it has all become: Saturday was clear and hot (about 35C) while Sunday morning was overcast and mild (perfect for our bike ride in the hills) but in the afternoon a howling wind blew up, thunder and lightening all around, 30cm of rain fell in 30 minutes and a 20ft tall water spout was spotted off the coast. Today it is clear and sunny again.
However for the last three years the rainy season has failed to materialise. The general climate pattern in the region has been unsettled (possibly disrupted by deforestation) and rather than light and long rain showers we now get sudden, torrential downpours. These have been the cause of extensive flooding, triggering mudslides, throughout SE Asia.
This weekend's weather is a perfect example of how random it has all become: Saturday was clear and hot (about 35C) while Sunday morning was overcast and mild (perfect for our bike ride in the hills) but in the afternoon a howling wind blew up, thunder and lightening all around, 30cm of rain fell in 30 minutes and a 20ft tall water spout was spotted off the coast. Today it is clear and sunny again.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
McKFC Anyone?
Last Friday the expat community shook its head in wonder when the news that McDonalds had run out of icecream for McFlurry's and sundaes spread. Then there was a moment of shock when we found out that supplies of cheese and lettuce/onions/pickles had been reduced to nil. No worries we all thought, we can eat burgers. Our mood was soured yesterday when the latest update reached our ears: NO BURGERS!
Yes, that's right. The world's most famous burger chain had run out of meat patties! So instead of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun a Big Mac now consists of special sauce on a sesame seed bun.
So what are they serving today? Fried chicken, fries and rice. This country rocks.
Yes, that's right. The world's most famous burger chain had run out of meat patties! So instead of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun a Big Mac now consists of special sauce on a sesame seed bun.
So what are they serving today? Fried chicken, fries and rice. This country rocks.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Another Taste of Civilisation
I have just got back from another enjoyable trip to Australia. It was nice being somewhere that I could understand all the conversations around me, and didn't have to stop mid-sentence to gather my thoughts and process my next response. Coming back was a culture shock - I transited through Bali where, thanks to the number of Australians in the airport, it was a 50/50 mix of English and Indonesian being spoken. When I got to Jakarta I was reminded that I was in a foreign country when I couldn't understand a word of what was being said.
Anyway, my trip was successful - three meetings in one morning. This is something that can't be achieved in one day in an Indonesian city due to the traffic. I was afforded some spare time to go shopping and so I stocked up on food (bacon and cheese mostly) and popped in to Tiffany & Co to buy a bracelet for Rae (one she'd lost in the robbery). I won points for that purchase :)
And even though I was surrounded by comforting sights and sounds, there was still an element to Australia that reminded me I was in a foreign country. During one of my shopping forays I spotted some some imported tinned Ayam foods (an Indonesian brand of food) and a book about living and working in Britain. Both are strange because in Indonesia we get imported Australian food, and in the UK we can buy books about living/working in Australia. I found it very perverse.
My next trip is scheduled for the start of march, and as it coincides with my birthday I'm hoping to take the family out with me and have a weeks R&R.
Anyway, my trip was successful - three meetings in one morning. This is something that can't be achieved in one day in an Indonesian city due to the traffic. I was afforded some spare time to go shopping and so I stocked up on food (bacon and cheese mostly) and popped in to Tiffany & Co to buy a bracelet for Rae (one she'd lost in the robbery). I won points for that purchase :)
And even though I was surrounded by comforting sights and sounds, there was still an element to Australia that reminded me I was in a foreign country. During one of my shopping forays I spotted some some imported tinned Ayam foods (an Indonesian brand of food) and a book about living and working in Britain. Both are strange because in Indonesia we get imported Australian food, and in the UK we can buy books about living/working in Australia. I found it very perverse.
My next trip is scheduled for the start of march, and as it coincides with my birthday I'm hoping to take the family out with me and have a weeks R&R.
McBalikpapan
After months of speculation the Golden Arches finally came to Balikpapan. The hype was huge, as were the queues of people willing to wait an hour or so to get their greasy beef. The expat community was willing to wait even longer, and put off visiting the second McDonalds in Indonesian Borneo (an area roughly the size of France) for a week or so.
Rae and I were in the same mall last week and we decided to brave it and add another country to my McD count (15 so far). I was saddened to see that the Quarter Pounder wasn't on the menu but wasn't surprised at all to find that half of the food on offer was a combination of chicken and rice, the national favourite.
By and large it was a pleasant experience - I had a Prosperity Burger (marking the Chinese New Year), double cheeseburger, fries (exceptionally good) and a Coke while Rae had a blueberry sundae. What I can not condone is the local's practice of ordering fried chicken and sticky rice, rather than one of the half dozen KFCs or hundreds of cafes in Balikpapan. As usual it's all about status and the Indonesians want to have the prestige of being seen eating at an American (expensive) fast food (doubly expensive) restaurant (treble expensive).
Rae and I were in the same mall last week and we decided to brave it and add another country to my McD count (15 so far). I was saddened to see that the Quarter Pounder wasn't on the menu but wasn't surprised at all to find that half of the food on offer was a combination of chicken and rice, the national favourite.
By and large it was a pleasant experience - I had a Prosperity Burger (marking the Chinese New Year), double cheeseburger, fries (exceptionally good) and a Coke while Rae had a blueberry sundae. What I can not condone is the local's practice of ordering fried chicken and sticky rice, rather than one of the half dozen KFCs or hundreds of cafes in Balikpapan. As usual it's all about status and the Indonesians want to have the prestige of being seen eating at an American (expensive) fast food (doubly expensive) restaurant (treble expensive).
Monday, 24 January 2011
The One That Got Away
It's time to fill in the rest of the story and close the book on this tale.
As I said in yesterday's post, the police believed it was an inside job and other expats have said that 9 out of 10 times it is a disgruntled employee. That said, the only person of interest was our bone-idle houseboy, Latif, who worked for us for the first two months we had the house. We asked him to leave when we got a maid in December and he disappeared from our lives. Or so we thought.
Because it turns out that when we were away in Lombok he let himself into the house but thankfully Yuni was there. It is likely that he planned to burgle us then and there but blessed Yuni stopped him. It's a shame that she didn't think to tell us when we got back so we could have done something about the locks.
Now jump forward to last week when we had water supply problems and we asked our landlord for help. Our friend Latif arrived to give surly instructions to Yuni about what taps to turn to get the reserve tank flowing. A couple of days later he was back because we still didn't have enough pressure to run the shower or fill the bath, and he grudgingly told us that the pump (which previously he'd said only pumps water to from the lower reserve to the upper tank) actually pressurises the system. What a star you are Latif.
And now the final chapter:
We had a visit from our land lord's local agent, Maureen, today we told us that Latif had caught a plane to Jakarta yesterday. The police had been tipped off by his brother but for reasons unknown to us they were not able to apprehend him. They must have talked to him at some point because we were told he would be back in 2 weeks. Yeah right Latif, you're home and dry now mate. So our property and the perpetrator have done a flit. We've given up on getting any of it back.
This has left us with a very nasty taste in our mouths. The quicker we get out of here the better. We are thinking about finding a house in a secure compound and living like the rest of the expat population, but on my wage I'd have to spend 100% of my monthly earnings just to achieve a roof over our heads. So if anyone wants to do a quick whip round...
As I said in yesterday's post, the police believed it was an inside job and other expats have said that 9 out of 10 times it is a disgruntled employee. That said, the only person of interest was our bone-idle houseboy, Latif, who worked for us for the first two months we had the house. We asked him to leave when we got a maid in December and he disappeared from our lives. Or so we thought.
Because it turns out that when we were away in Lombok he let himself into the house but thankfully Yuni was there. It is likely that he planned to burgle us then and there but blessed Yuni stopped him. It's a shame that she didn't think to tell us when we got back so we could have done something about the locks.
Now jump forward to last week when we had water supply problems and we asked our landlord for help. Our friend Latif arrived to give surly instructions to Yuni about what taps to turn to get the reserve tank flowing. A couple of days later he was back because we still didn't have enough pressure to run the shower or fill the bath, and he grudgingly told us that the pump (which previously he'd said only pumps water to from the lower reserve to the upper tank) actually pressurises the system. What a star you are Latif.
And now the final chapter:
We had a visit from our land lord's local agent, Maureen, today we told us that Latif had caught a plane to Jakarta yesterday. The police had been tipped off by his brother but for reasons unknown to us they were not able to apprehend him. They must have talked to him at some point because we were told he would be back in 2 weeks. Yeah right Latif, you're home and dry now mate. So our property and the perpetrator have done a flit. We've given up on getting any of it back.
This has left us with a very nasty taste in our mouths. The quicker we get out of here the better. We are thinking about finding a house in a secure compound and living like the rest of the expat population, but on my wage I'd have to spend 100% of my monthly earnings just to achieve a roof over our heads. So if anyone wants to do a quick whip round...
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