sumatra

hey people...missed me much? i just got back...damn tired, i but couldn't keep all you mobydicksky fans waiting. =)

sumatra was quite an experience. the people, the land and the vastness of everything around you just makes singapore seem like such a small dot on this planet. the people there are generally very friendly, but they need to refresh their driving skills. we travelled around mostly on dirt roads (which became pretty muddy when it rained the first day), and had to get a 4-wheel-drive SUV. i went there with an ang moh colleague, martin. he was VERY irritatingly talkative. enough about him.

anyway, unfortunately, i can't reveal much about my trip...like which part of sumatra i went to, what i did there, or anything like that...confidential client information....ooo, sounds cool right. haha.

from the beginning.

eugene stayed over the previous night so that he could send me to the airport (i lent him my car, and in return, he helped to feed my cat once a day). the client had a private jet come and pick us up from seletar airport at 8am. maciam we damn big shot...


starting point

apparently private jets don't have / don't need doors to the cockpit...so i got my first first-hand look at a real cockpit.


cockpit

in order to make myself look busy, so that the bloody ang moh would stop talking to me, i took quite a few photos on the plane:


airborne picture 1


airborne picture 2


airborne picture 3

and then we reached the destination. after the inital formalities with the hosts, i checked in at the hotel. it was beyond my expectations, so i was pretty happy.


hotel room


makan place


swimming pool

i had one bad experience with the hotel though...i brought buster bunny (lee hsin bought him for me from europe a few weeks ago) on this trip for good luck...and once i got settled down in my room, i put him in the drawer next to my bed. day 1 goes by, and i leave for my site survey on day 2. when i came back at lunchtime, my room was all cleaned up and made already. happily, i plopped onto the bed and turned on the tv. i thought that buster bunny might wanna have some sunshine so i opened the drawer to take him out, but he wasn't inside! i panicked and literally searched the whole freaking room...from the drawers, to the bar fridge (i had a bit to drink the night before), to the lint and dust underneath my bed...he was gone! immediately i called the housecleaning people and asked them if they had seen him. they said that they'd get back to me, and since i also had to leave for my afternoon site survey, i left it at that. when i came back later in the evening, the whole thing had become such a big deal, that the minute i stepped into the hotel, the front desk guy told me that they "found" buster bunny...apparently he had crawled into my blanket without the housecleaning people noticing him. whatever. i was just happy to get him back...


buster bunny (after kidnapping)

this is probably the only picture from sumatra (outside of the airport and hotel areas) that i can put on this blog.


indon meow meow

the 2 days went by like a flash. so, this morning, i went back to the client's private airstrip (oh yeah, the client also has a private airstrip), and got on the plane.

private airstrip / airplane

oh, and they've got a private chopper too.


helicopter

the ang moh colleague stayed on in sumatra to do more site surveys, so while i was on the plane, i had the opportunity to nurse the earache that he induced during those 2 days. from sumatra back to singapore:


airborne picture 4


airborne picture 5


airborne picture 6


airborne picture 7 

eugene picked me up from seletar...told me that he couldn't find my cash card when he passed through the erp gantry the other day...the car sounds funny when i drive...no more carpark coupons either. oh well, at least gin gin is still alive...thanks anyway seow.

i'm tired. out.