Recordings of Life

What's Been Bobbing

It's been a while now... First post of April!.... I seriously need to get into the groove of things and blog more often. But then again, coming onboard my life has been all: wake up, shower, breakfast, stare at a screen, occasional workboat, stuff my face with food, stare at the screen again, dinner, stare at screen, stuff face again, get off shift, shower, maybe gym, stare at another screen again and finally zzz.

Still, there are some quirky things that do perk up my day sometimes :)

Like a day out in the sun on the workboat... Not the tan/doze off kind of relaxing workboat, but the sweaty, stench-filled barnacle massacre kind. The heat has grown up a notch now and if you're not careful, you'll end up looking like a lobster only 30 minutes under the sun. Maybe less.

Barnacles.... They're disgusting.... but getting rid of these things gives you a kind of gross satisfaction as well. Much like popping a pimple. They squirt all over as you 'harvest' them.... and don't let me get started on the slime.... These things grow and attach themselves at anywhere they can find a grip on. I've gotten bad rashes on my hands because of these crustacean creatures. Ugh.

My special supply of chocs and caramel :) . An apt description from one of the guys say here, it's like sex on a biscuit. LOL. But they truly are bliss and I can't seem to get them in Malaysia or Singapore as well :/

Highlight of the day! Was walking around on the helideck for fresh air when I spotted this wee thing. Wouldn't let me get near to it and started flying around and back again. I dashed to the galley to grab some bread and tore the bread into small pieces but the damn thing wouldn't even go near it! A reckons it will die soon :(

Don't die... too adorable :(

My current FB cover photo :) of the damn bird that wouldn't eat the bread I purposely got for it!

Workboat

Imagine seeing this eerie thing floating in the middle of the ocean. Black mast without anything else attached to it underneath. From far it looked like some shark's fins lol. A bit anti-climatic after finding out that it's probably just some marker attached to fishing nets etc...

And my second home.....

That's all for updates to announce I am well and kicking... Almost end of shift and going for a workout in the gym before I am consumed by this sedentary lifestyle!

A Stuffed Snake

Ngam ngam just missed Chinese New Year by a few days and only managed to get back on the 5th day of CNY (incidentally also Valentine's Day but it don't matter to me, so not a bother there). It was a passing of baton of sorts, Su En leaving Penang and me arriving. Of course, both of us kept Mum and Dad busy :P

Pretty much everyone else has gone back home/work, only managed to catch up with a few friends.

Glad to see everyone hasn't changed much... I think our little group is a little behind on the reproduction scale, something I am grateful for :P Marriage and children are a surefire way to change you. Talk crap as usual, swapped gossips.

Another warning before you move scroll down.... more hunger inducing photos. I've been a victim too many times to know how torturous it is...

Nasi lemak!!

But this nasi lemak... lacking in a few essential ingredients. No cucumber slices, no hard boiled egg. :/ sien

Overcast day. I don't know what's up with this year's CNY but unlike the past years, it's been cloudy, raining all day long and strong wind as well. I remember each time CNY approaches, it's swelteringly hot and I'll be all wet and sticky under the paper-like material of new clothes.

Forced Tua Ee to make tu tor th'ng for me. CNY is not complete without this and jiu hu char with lettuce and sambal!

And the coveted laksa.... Has never tasted better.. Prepared with love by Tua Ee of course.... Bliss, bliss bliss! :)

Another one of my loves.... sambal petai. Got to love my aunt - she kept pestering me to tell her what I want to eat. I am truly lucky..... She asked, so I told her sambal petai (and 10 other dishes hehehe) ;) And her yummy homemade lor bak at 6 o'clock. Drool..........

A closer look and more photo credit for one of my favourite dishes please... OMG I AM STARVING AND HOMESICK LOOKING AT THIS!!!!!

Hokkien New Year, more pai pai.

Ang koo kueh. Extremely greasy. No idea why anybody would like them...

Mum's claypot chicken rice. It's really not complicated to make and I love them to bits. Soy sauce, heh bi, dark soy sauce, sesame oil.....

Poor, poor Pickles, she seems to have aged more since I last saw her. Now all she ever does is sleep, eat, beg for food, sleep, eat and beg for food some more. She seemed to have gained weight as well. Her belly is now all round and jiggles from side to side as she trots over on one of her many begging sessions.

I miss rojak so much! Luck was on my side, Mum+Dad kept a few packets of them and we had rojak couple of nights in a row :D Mum insisted that I don't take a pic of her but when did I ever listen :P On a side note, she had the flu and passed it on to me! :/

Another must-haves when I get back. The old uncle hokkien mee.

Followed by a small post-CNY reunion dinner with whoever else left in SP. That makes 5 of us.

Dinner at Piao Xiang with more of my favourites.... the boneless chicken fillet with Thai chili sauce, deep fried sotong, a plate of veg and yam + pork.

Another definite must have whenever I get back - nasi kandar. My absolute fave ayam kicap and the fish curry soaked bendis. I used to have constant craving for ayam kicap when I worked in KL. Would hunt high and low at all the mamak stores and tapao them back while the rice soaks in the deliciously thick curry gravy nomnomnom Thank goodness not anymore or else I honestly don't know how to satisfy that one onboard.

Nothing to do, took pics of Dad's quarters collection I collected for him a few year back. Oh... and Dad is on a roll. Taught me mahjong, Russian poker and also golf when I am back. I teased him that he's such a gambler and he says no lah, teach me these stuff so next time people ask then you know how to play mar and won't get cheated. lol. Like no other.

Last few dinners back home, pai kut ong, sar bi hu and a seriously 'zhap' soup concocted by Tua Ee. I requested for ABC soup which supposedly contains onions, carrots and potatoes but she dunno masuk what angin, go and throw in corn, cabbage, and a bunch other vegs lol. To be fair, it was also nice but it's not ABC!

Got forced to drive into Baling to pai pai at a temple there. Dropped in at Jee Ee's place along the way.

Typical hospitality, brought out every single food item out for us...............

A little homemade yeesang. Also my first yeesang of the year! There weren't any salmons though. Ji Ee used julienned apples for a crunchy bite. Very refreshing from the usual deep fried batter that accompanies yee sang.

Sisters :)

That's pretty much my CNY makan diary :( And just too soon it's a couple more days before I head back to work! Fingers crossed, I will be able to celebrate CNY back home next year.

Hazy Future

So, yes, I am back home for a couple of weeks now. It's been uneventful, doesn't even feel like a proper Chinese New Year except for certain nights when fireworks are explosively loud till Pickles panicked and scurried under the sofa.

On the up side, I've been properly fed and very much well-rested that I think I should be concerned of this sedentary lifestyle.... But I've been jogging every so often so that should alleviate all sense of alarm ;) (self consoling).

Loads of pictures - mostly food, obviously, but I will only blog about that once I've got the full CNY photo editions, up till Chap Goh Meh (15th day CNY), hopefully. My sedentary lifestyle might just get in the way hehe...

On the long journey home after signing off from the vessel...

The ever admirable and efficient Indian staff's secret - handwritten official forms and filing. Not a single PC in sight They painstakingly fill our documents by hand and one month later as I sign off, they can miraculously produce the initial form that I filled. Very impressive. Maybe the agent had them to retrieve the form first before our arrival?

To top it off... there are at least 10 staff in there but they are mostly just mingling around, chatting. This country is really getting to me... even checking in for a flight through the counter takes them about 5-8 minutes to finish. And that was with their national airline, Air India (on a side note, it seems that the more I resent being put on Air India, the more this airline seems to haunt me, I kept having to fly them because I just have no choice :( ). Just recently I flew with Tiger Airways, a budget airline in Singapore and they cleared my check-in within 30 seconds.

I think I'm spoiled by Singapore's efficiency.

Some random trinkets - Saree-clad Barbies in a souvenir shop at the Chennai airport.

Funnily, on the Port Blair-Chennai leg, I watched my first Bollywood movie onboard Air India after many, many years without doing so. The last time I watched an Indian film was when I was 10?? The movie is called Bagh Du something something starring Shah Rukh Khan along with two very pretty and dreamy looking actresses.

It's a typical Bollywood film, filled with music (not so much dancing, strangely enough), romance and over-the-top plot. It's so cheesy and cliche, I almost died from frustration watching it. *** Ok, I just googled the name of the movie and if you're keen, you can read about it here. And it's called Jab Tak Hai Jaan, or, As Long There is Life (roll eyes). The movie depicts Shah Rukh Khan, the main actor, as the ultimate romantic hardcore and the girls around him are like very noble, sacrificing the love of their lives for another, etc. And there's that amnesia bit thrown in as well so it's supposed to be real ironic and sad but hell... not my cup of tea. The problem with movies like these is they create an unrealistic expectation of what love and relationship should be like.

But I have digressed. My apologies :D

Little taxis in Chennai.

I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of this blog is but it's been a while since I've created a new entry and I certainly don't want to see it defunct... Anyway, I was jogging earlier in front of the house's padang. I was wearing a tank top and shorts, just normal workout attire, when suddenly it struck me that I may be 'scantily-clad', especially in this neighbourhood, on this part of the country.

Feeling a tad self conscious, I continued running anyways. Mind you, I wouldn't even consider my workout attire to be sexy in any way, but I swear, this country can get excessively conservative! And I was right. Mild responses from bystanders were just people staring. Then there was this pair of idiots on a motorbike, heading towards my direction. Seeing me, the two guys started shouting something incoherrent and ogling as they pass by me. I turned around to give them the finger but they'd already zipped by. wtf? What is wrong with these people? No job then have to ronda around my neighbourhood and disturb young women is it? I hope their bike gets caught in the ditch and those two idiots are thrown off and run over by a lorry :)

I was annoyed big time but I still have a few rounds to do before I call it a day so I went on. Then as I passed my house, my Mum told me to watch out for a mentally-challenged man she'd seen roaming on the field close to where I run. Double wtf. My confident, morale-boosting run has turned 360 into a over-the-shoulder twitchy run. It was then I started questioning myself if this is where I want to settle down. I honestly do not want to feel threatened or panicky every time I venture outside. It's ridiculous but it looks like it's come to this point.

Su Jen has offered for me to move to the States and I am just glad to be given an option... Singapore is a great place but it's too sanitized and too..... motorized, for some reason. Just lacks life, I suppose. Pre-programmed beings going about their jobs to keep the country running.

Ok I'm just going to end this seemingly zero purpose ranting post. Bed time.

A Typical Ride to Work

Quiet moment at work.... equals to me blogging about crap that I think matters :D Just transferred more photos and decided to upload them as well.

The small airport in Port Blair. Still, cannot beat the size of the mini airport in Williston, North Dakota (scroll down and you'll spot it, lol). Digressing, I hate the fact that the people here do not respect each other's personal space! When you queue in a line, the one at the back will just move in closer than necessary till you feel the jab of her handbag, or their breath on your neck. Sigh...... they're probably used to the overcrowding....

A typical ride to work takes about 2 days lol. In this Indian route, I had to leave my place in Singapore 2 days before the crew change. Even then, I'm considered lucky. Some of the guys have 3 days of travel and when they finally do arrive, they look fit to kill hahahaha.

Chopper that is already waiting for us. All we need to do is strut with as much gaya as possible and whip our hair back if desired. lol.

Boarding time a bit juak la, due to the warmer season in India and there's no AC as well! No air-conditioning... until our chopper takes off.... then it ironically feels too cold -.-

You get a nice view for the first 10-15 minutes of the ride then after that your view is 100% obscured by the annoying clouds :P And there's no way to chat either because of the high decibel droning from the engines, you have to wear ear protection. Only hand signals worth putting in the effort to communicate.