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