Bali/Lombok pt.1

-Creepy Start-

After learning of my transfer to Qatar around the end of April, I had 3 weeks off to play with. For a long time I had wanted to do a few things around Indonesia, but I had been waiting for two things: time and friends. After waiting two years and never finding both in any one instance, I figured this was my last chance to go for it. So I made a very rough outline of my plans, packed a light bag and headed to Singapore.

My parents happened to be in Singapore at that time, so it was a great opportunity to be with them and also get some supplies for the next stop on my trip. I grabbed a nice light backpack and some camera equipment along with loads of good food and beer. After two days I booked an AirAsia flight (cheap!) to Bali, packed everything into the backpack and headed out.

I arrived at night, found a taxi to go hotel searching and was on my way to the beach. My plan was to find any cheap place for one night and then use the following day to explore and find a better spot. My taxi driver was a perfect example of the general honesty and friendliness that you'll experience if you ever head to Indonesia. He knew of all the small local places to stay, and we found a vacancy after 3 tries. I was too excited to sleep so I secured my stuff in the room and headed out by foot to search for a better place to check into the next morning. It was around 11pm, but most places stay open late. I started out from my hotel in the heart of the Kuta area (the most popular and touristy spot in Bali) and worked my way north.

It was a beautiful night, hot and humid but pleasant. Groups of Australians were wondering about between bars, motorbikes were buzzing by on the narrow street and you could hear the night life beginning to pick up a few streets away. I was walking about two blocks from the beach, stopping in any place that looked decent to ask about vacancy and prices. After only a few minutes a short, chubby man dressed like a diva asked me if I was 'interested'. Despite his attempt to look like a woman, he was falling well short. After shuddering and a quick 'no thanks' I stepped up the pace and moved on, wondering if some poor bastard would get too drunk and end up taking 'her' home. Hookers on the street are just another part of Bali, something that will always be there, so you learn to have a good laugh and move on. A few more hotel stops later I saw a sign for a promising hotel that was 100m down a small road. It was dark and winding with a high wall on one side. I gave it a second thought but decided to check it out. After walking half way down it seemed like it was a bust, so I turned back. Suddenly a motor bike came turning onto the road and headed straight for me. It was another 'lady' of the night out to pick up some tricks. To be honest I can't say whether it was a girl or a guy, but they had their radar locked onto me. This time words weren't enough, I had to juke her out of a headlong hug attempt and got back onto the main road as fast as I could. Nothing like a chubby transexual trying to hug you to give you a cold chill down your back.

Believe it or not I was undeterred and kept up the hotel search, eventually making it home 2 hours later. Despite the creepy encounters the walk was great; I got my bearings and was begining to feel the excitement and freedom in anticipation of the weeks to come. I planned to make one more search even further north the next morning before I picked my spot to crash, and went to bed.

Hot and Dusty

Lots has changed in my life since the last update.

The first part of this year found me working and playing around Indonesia, which was followed by a sudden transfer to Qatar at the end of May. What a change! They are polar opposites in many ways and it's taking a while to adjust. The summer heat is in full bloom and its brutal. I never thought that Houston summers could be put to shame, but this heat is on another level.

Qatar is the small peninsula sticking out from Saudi Arabia outlined in red.

Just wanted to put up a quick update. More to come about the fun I had before leaving South East Asia..

Blasting in the jungle

We were having fun and getting muddy taking a seismic survey in the Sumatran jungle (Dec '08)

Recap pt.3

Shortly after Singapore I went off to a location on Seram island in the Maluku straights. We flew from Jakarta to Ambun, and then another small flight from Ambun to a village named Bula. The airstrip consisted of a dirt road with a small shack at one end serving as check-in, luggage claim and emergency response. Upon arriving I noticed a sign on the wall giving warnings for poisonous creatures. I was sad to learn of 3 deadly spiders, and 2 deadly snakes that managed to take home in such a small island. Not only did they have the Death Adder snake, but also the Seram Death Adder that can only be found on Seram Island. I gave my pile of registration papers to the local police before heading to the camp, about a 45 minute drive outside into the jungle.

The three things I can say about the camp is that 1) the food was rotten (literally); 2) the bed was made of a wooden plank with small .25 inch pad; and 3) it was in the hills of a jungle which made for a pretty cool experience. I remember seeing huge bats that I thought were birds until they landed on a bare tree upside down.

Getting back and forth between the camp and village requires you to drive through a small river, which I found out becomes a large river after raining. The picture shows my crew chief walking through the middle of the river where a sandbank makes it easy to walk on. It had recently been raining a lot, and the river had risen to a point where we weren't sure if we could make it across in our Ford Ranger. Luckily someone tried before us, and managed to flood their engine and strand themselves in the middle of the current in 4 ft of water. Thankfully for them a huge earth mover came to the rescue to pull them out.

This convinced us to turn around and brave another dinner in the camp galley. After three weeks of bad food, poor sleep but good experiences I was heading back to Jakarta again.

Recap pt.2

Here I am in Singapore for the F1 race held there for the first time in September.  My friend from work joined me (it was his idea actually) and we escaped Jakarta to enjoy 5 days living it up and watching the first night race on the F1 circuit.  The bridge in the picture is part of the track, you can see it lit up really bright for the race.  It was my first F1 experience, and it was wild.  The cars looked sweet under the lights, were loud as hell, and crazy fast.  It was a great international environment as a load of Europeans came to support their favorite teams and drivers.

The only thing I know to do in Singapore is eat, shop, go to the zoo, and party.  Its also famous for its red light district, which is set up aside from the city.  Its like they took all the hookers and cheap hotels and quarantined them into one area out of view.  For less sleazy sightseeing the zoo has a great setup for my favorite animal, the orangutan.  They roam free in the trees through most of the zoo, you just have to look up and you're likely to see one playing in the ropes or catching a nap.

I remember waking up every day around noon and having a cigar and coffee before deciding what to do until the race activities started.  And every night after being out late we would get a shawarma from the persian stand in Clarke Quay.  I guess we stumbled upon the best way to start and end each day in Singapore and we stuck with it.  We both knew after the trip we would likely be straight out to a wellsite so we tried to make the most of it.

Sure enough, almost as soon as we were back we headed out again..

Recap pt.1

This pic finds me around the end of August headed for the rig ahead of us.  I remember the boat ride took over 24 hours, jumping from one spot to the next, where a straight shot to the rig would only take 3 hrs.  Luckily the sea was pretty calm as you can see, so we just slept most of the time in the ship galley.  Our MDT specialist had loads of video games on his laptop so that helped also.  

If this picture seems ominous, its probably because the fool taking this pic was forshadowing the future.. it turned out the job was a near complete disaster.

Before this I had just returned from better days in Japan where I had 5 days of training, but unfortunately no days off.  After work each day I would hop on a train to where the guys I was working with had recommended.  It was really interesting; I'll have to go back someday with more time to really enjoy what Japan has to offer.. along with a translator

Update

This will be my second attempt at a blog, the first being a sad attempt with only two posts..

With a few friends curious about whether I'm still alive, and a few pissed that I never answer emails, this should be an easier way for me to keep anyone who's interested updated on my whereabouts and doings. I promise to do a better job this time :)

Status: alive
Location: Duri, Sumatra

I'm in limbo right now, not sure if I'll make it back to Jakarta for the holidays. My parents will be in Jakarta for the holidays so it would be nice to get back.

As for Duri its been a good time. I came to help out on a borehole seismic job, and then extended my stay for a little while. I was here for my training period in Schlumberger, and a lot has changed since then. Only one engineer is still around from that time, and luckily enough we went out on a job together which was good fun, along with a French Lebanese engineer with a good sense of humor. I've had some Teh Telor (egg tea) from the local warung, which is just as tasty as I remember it. Other than that just catching up on some sleep and waiting to hear word for my next move. Hope my next post will be from Jakarta!
Until then, happy holidays to everyone.