Working in Luanda, Angola - Part 2

Actually, when I’m writing this blog, I’m already back in KL, in KLIA to precise, waiting for my flight to go to Doha. I arrived in KL on the 14th. Now it's the 17th, 0000hrs. Yeap, I got myself less than 3 days to enjoy Malaysia before I have to go somewhere else again for work. I don't mind really, at least I’m doing something then just sitting at home doing nothing. Why did I come back from Luanda so early? Well, the job got postponded until January. So Paul (TecWel's agent in Angola) thought that I shouldn't waste my time in Luanda finishing my visa doing nothing. He told me to book the next ticket flight home. Fine by me... Alright, here are some highlights what happened,

1. Steve (the engineer from UK) had some problem regarding his health and had to sent back home. Apparently, he was suspected to have Malaria. His kidney was swollen and all. Sad...
2. Had meeting with TOTAL engineers regarding a well they're considering to run one of our tool. Doesn't look to good though. It was quite complicated. FYI, these are French TOTAL, much fussier.
3. Went for an SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineering) paper presentation. It was about some geology shit. When i said shit, I meant I couldn't understand shit what that guy was talking about. (Damn I need to do a lot of reading). It was pretty cool though...
4. Went for a medical check-up (Paul just wanted to make sure that I’m okay). I did have some kind of fever though. It comes and goes. Turned out it was just a normal fever. Pweehhhh!!!!
5. The night before my flight, Paul brought me to have some fancy dinner. I was quite supprised to see the place. It was really nice. Never thought that a place like Luanda would have such a nice place like that. I had fish.. (don't really know what to order, not use to fancy restaurants)

So, that was pretty much it. My flight back home was quite smooth even though it was delayed for 1 1/2 hrs. Oh yeah.. my luggage never arrived!!! I was told by MAS that it never left Dubai. I had to go to Dubai and take it myself. I was like what??? Why??? They told me that they don’t know why (ceh...) Anyhow, I had like 18hrs to spare in Dubai. So, I thought to myself, might as well check out the place, which I will write about it in my next blog. :)

I have to be honest... I'm soooo glad that i'm out of Angola. But if i had to go there again, I don't mind going at all... But the feeling when you arrived in Malaysia was... WOW!!! Cheers!!! :)

Working in Luanda, Angola part 1

It took me a total of 18 hrs of flight to reach here. It's long isn't it? But at least I got myself a business class.. :) Reached in Luanda around 1300 hrs. The airport is worse than the worst airport you can find in Malaysia. Nevermind... after showing my yellow fever certs (yeah.. yellow fever is a big thing here) straight went to the imigration line. My visa processing went quite smoothly. Next, I went straight to the baggage claim. Waited and waited and waited... It's not there!!! FUCK!!! This is the first time ever an airline lost my bag. Nevermind that, a driver from GETMA is suppose to send me where i'm suppose to go, but I couldn't find him anywhere. So I waited for a while until a saw someone wearing a GETMA vest. Introduced myself to him and he ask me who do I work for. I told him TecWel... he said huh? Oilfield support... huh? Slb... Oh Slb... Follow me, he said. So I followed him. He then told me that my name is not on his list and I need to wait for a while. He took care of my lost baggage and told me I can only get it in 4 to 5 days. FUCK!!! Long story short, I finally reached the staff house and met with the rest of my collegues from TecWel. Had a little briefing about Luanda and all. There's a few stuff i need to be carefull of. Malaria, being alone at night, yellow fever, the locals, and AIDS. And then I started thinking.. What the hell am I doing here??? But then again, work is work.

The next day went to the base to check the tools and to pack them for offshore. On the way there manage to see a little bit of the city. Oh my god... It really is a third world country... Reached the base and took care of the tools and went back home. I found out later that i'll be going offshore soon. Good... The sooner the better.

It's my 5th day here and I'm still waiting to go offshore. And no luggage... I have to be honest, I hate this place.. It's dirty, it smells, and it's dangerous. I just hope that I can start my work soon and get home quickly. Ummi... Nak balik!!!!!

House hunting

Went house hunting with my sis the other day. Yeah... i'm buying a house and so is she. Probably sometime next year. The idea of me having a house kinda freaks me out. All these questions keeps playing around in my head. Am I ready to get one? Is it the right price to buy it? Is it the right time? Do I really wanna commit myself paying 1500 every month for the next 30 years? Damn...



Well, actually I almost bought a house last two weeks. Paid the d/p and all but I canceled. It's a cekap place to buy, Metropolitan Square, MKLand at Damansara Perdana, i'ts like 200 meters away from the curve. What made me change my mind? First of all, I went there alone without getting any consultation from anyone. It was like I went there, saw the showroom, and buy. Secondly, it was too expensive for the size. Yes, I know, Damansara Perdana is a great investment area to buy property. But 300k for 725 sqft? Seriously, what the hell was I thinking. Asked my boss about it, and he was suprised to know that it's so damn small and even he thinks it's too expensive for the size. So, the next two days I canceled the purchase. And the d/p i will only get after 2 months... Fuck!!!

FYI, to cancel a purchase, you have to make a letter stating why. So, just to share with you, here are the reasons why I canceled. :)

1. Still a fresh in buying properties (no experience)
2. Advice from parents
3. Apartment is too small for the price
4. Rumors on next year economy crisis



Hehe... Amacam? Ok tak alasan aku... But seriously, i'm quite nervous about the fact that i'm getting one soon... Anyways, next year there will be some kind of economy crisis that will cause all the houses price to go down (reason number 4). Then is when i'll buy a house. Seriously, I really want to get a good one. A really, really, really good one. Yosh!!! Also went to see the apartments in Mont Kiara, my god it's so nice there. They made it supernice. I felt like crying knowing that I can't afford to have an apartment as nice as that. Seriously, I felt like crying... But one day, one day i'm gonna get one.

Swimming duel

Lat friday had a swimming duel with Joshua. Three of 'em actually. The first one is 25 meters frestyle, second was underwater swim for 15 meters and the third one was swim sprint all out half pool. There was money involved. Results? Let's just say that I lost a lot of money that day... :( Well, he had all the upperhand. Joshua had been swimming since he was in primary school. Enter competition and all. Plays for his college. Me in the other hand, learned how to swim myself. Curi duit ummi 5 ringgit sebab nak ikut member pegi swimming. Pastu tgk orang swim macam mane... Hehehe... Okla, I have a little bit of advantage. I'm taller than him and I had a 2 days of training. But I am fatter than him and I smoke 1 pack a day. Anyhow, it was a good competition, at least I got a good workout out of it. After the duel messaged all my colleagues the result. This is what they replied:

Muzammil: Dang. You r not fit plus u smoke. Short of breathe. Remacth la nanti.
Ijad: Nevermind bro.. you did a good job.. try again later.. sure u'll win..
Hasrul: As we expected, is only a miracle if u can beat him but at least u tried.

The comments are quite positive except for the one from Hasrul. As we expected???? That dude hasn't seen me swim yet!!! Bugger!!! Hahaha...

Anyhow, for sure I'm gonna duel with him again soon. Probably after he had a really heavy meal... Haha... I think I can push a little harder. So, wish me luck.

Starting to blog again

It's been a while since I blogged. N this is actually my first time as a blogspot user. Why do I wanna start blogging again? Kebosanan tahap melampau, tgh mencube nak cari hobi baru, etc etc. Plus, most of my friend have their own blog and i think that is supercool and i should make one myself. I think i have quite a few intereting stuff to tell you guys. I think... Anyhow, here goes... Let's start blogging again.