Trip to Singapore

Yesterday (28th June 2010 - Monday) I took a flight to Singapore for a working assignment. My company participated in the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) exhibition held here in Suntec City.

Flew in with the 1450 hrs budget airline and checked into a nice hotel in just behind Orchard Road. Due to most of the hotels are full, the office had booked me into the Executive Room in which I get to enjoy the Executive Lounge, get free internet access and also breakfast and evening tea inclusive in the package.

Checked in the hotel at about 5pm, then at about 6.30pm, my ex-housemates back in Liverpool came over and we went for dinner and drinks together to catch up. Both of the doctors are working here. It is kinda a nice feeling meeting and catching up on their latest updates.

Today (29th June 2010 - Tuesday) after breakfast, I had a tele-con together with my direct manager from 9.30am until about 10am. Then, I left for Suntec City for the exhibition. I was suppose to be the exhibitor together with some other colleagues. The exhibition starts from 9am until 5.30pm.

I myself took a long walk and visiting other exhibitor's booth the learn the latest technology on the offer in the water treatment industry.

Spend the whole day in at the exhibition center and had lunch with my fellow colleagues and after the exhibition, we went for some drinks and dinner before reaching back the hotel at 8pm.

Took my shower and then went to Marina Bay Sands Casino. No, I didn't even spend a single cents gambling, just a visit to see the environment and setup they have. Drinks are free flowing there where soft drinks, coffee and tea and bottled water are served unlimitedly to everyone in the casino, regardless if you are gambling or not.

Just got back and now the TV is showing the live world cup game between Paraguay vs. Japan and later at 2.30am, Spain will play against Portugal. I hope I can keep awake to watch the match.

Day 9 in Whyalla

Today (15th June 2010 - Tuesday) is my 2nd day in Whyalla, but the 9th day of this trip.

Had breakfast in this hotel as another colleague of mine is coming to pick me up at 8am. Had poached eggs on toast and some mushroom and a flat white coffee.

As schedule, the colleague of mine came at 8am. She took me to the steel mill and got me induced to the safety induction there to allow me to go into site.

Spend the whole day at site looking at various water circuits and also did a presentation to the customer who are championing this water recycling initiatives at the mill.

This colleague of mine was kind enough to buy me packed lunch from the popular burger franchise. She got me a tortilla wrapped with crispy fried chicken with salad and mayonnaise of course with some French fries and a large carbonated drinks.

Worked all the way until about 6pm before leaving site to head back to hotel. Ordered from the restaurant in the motor inn again. This time, I got myself a seafood chowder soup and also chicken stir fried noodles in soy sauce. The soup was good, but the noodles was a bit too salty.

Tomorrow I will be flying out from here back to Sydney in the evening with late arrival.

Guess tonight I will again sleep with World Cup soccer in middle of the play.

Day 8 in Whyalla

Today (14th June 2010 - Monday) I took an early flight from Adelaide to Whyalla. The flight was via a Saab 340 3 seater per row turbo propeller plane.

The flight took about 45 minutes. Landed in Whyalla and a colleague of mine came and pick me up from the airport. Not difficult for him to pick me out from the crowd. I am the only Asian in the flight and in the airport.

He first took me to give me a preview of the steel mill that I will working on tomorrow. He showed me the various sites / factories where different process takes place. Then, he took me round a scenic drive where you can get to see the town below.

Checked into the hotel after that at about 11am. As he drove near the hotel, he showed me a botanic garden next to the motor inn. Then, he told me there is a couple of kangaroos locked in the cage at the park. I was delighted and just after checking in, I went to look for the kangaroos and true enough, after so many trip here to Australia, I finally get to see real kangaroos in front of my very own eyes.

After taking a few photos of the kangaroos, I walk along the beach behind the garden and then stopped at a cafe there to have my lunch - good old fish and chips with a glass of flat white coffee.

After lunch, I came back to the hotel and started working on a couple of New Zealand's prospect until evening.

Then, ordered a room service for dinner, had lamb with lots of vegetable. Very unique and tasty too. Called it a day after half way watching the World Cup.

Tomorrow will be a long long day. Will be at the site the whole day to investigate if we are able to make the difference by looking into water recycling potential in the steel mill.

Stay tuned... more to come..

Day 7 in Adelaide

Today (13th June 2010 -Sunday) is my 7th day in this 2 weeks working tour.

This morning I flew from Sydney to Adelaide with the 1245 hrs flight. Arrived and checked into the hotel at about 1430 hrs.

I arrived at the hotel at about 1030 hrs, which then I had my brunch. As typical me, I had "Mee Goreng Mamak" with Pork. It tasted sweet, which is a little annoying. The stall that sells this uses a kind of a devise where when you order and pay, they will give you some kind of a pager.

Because all the food is to be cooked or fry fresh and hence you need to wait, the waiter will give you this device in which when your food is ready, this device will beep and vibrate to inform you to collect your food from the counter. Cool device and nice idea. I bet it is not cheap to install such a system.

Adelaide is half an hour behind Sydney. Right after check in, I went down to the city center - Rundle Mall off the King William Street.

Finally after 2 days of shopping for a proper winter clothing, I bought a flee which is on bargain. It cost me only AUD30 (approx RM90) for it. The colour is Navy Blue. Good enough for the coming winter and I just tested it earlier by just wearing a simple T-shirt and put on the flee, I went to the street behind my hotel to pack my dinner. It was able to keep me warm. Good buy I would say.

Bought Japanese Teriyaki Chicken Set (again) but this time it is with Miso Sup and Salad as the package. One thing I realize is that where ever you go (well at least those countries which I had travelled before), Japanese cuisine is the only cuisine which the food tasted nearly 100% the original food in Japan.

Well, it might be wrong for me to say 100% as per Japan as I have not been to Japan to savor the food there, but based on those I have tasted, be it in economical sushi shops up to real high end Japanese Restaurant, they always tasted the same all over. Perhaps I am not sensitive enough to spot the difference, but good enough for me to get back the Japanese food taste which I am used to.

Last night or perhaps early this morning, when I called my lovely gf, I was surprise to hear that she is waiting for the World Cup 2010 kick off for the match between England vs US. Now at least I know that in future, when I want to watch any football matches, I got a good company, which is my lovely wife to watch together with me. Isn't that great or what?

Well, tomorrow I will be flying to Whyalla. It is another place where I am suppose to meet up with the customer on Tuesday as tomorrow (14th June 2010) is a Public Holiday here in Australia. Perhaps more window shopping again?

Stay tuned....

Day 6 in Sydney

This morning (12. June 2010 - Saturday) started early at 5am. I went to the airport by a cab and checked in for my 7am flight. A tour group of Korean tourist is lined just ahead of me and they are also flew into Sydney.

Perhaps due to being too tired from staying awake the whole night, I slept over the 3 hours flight. In fact, I slept over the Transformer 2 movie, which I had not watch it myself.

Checked into a different hotel that I use to stay when I come to Sydney. I use to stay in Brighton Beach and this time, after so many recommendations, I checked into Coogee Beach.

Upon checking in, I use the phone card to call my gf for a short conversation. Will be calling her again later tonight.

Went to the Sydney Paddy Market - located in Hay Street / George Street. There were lots of stalls selling all sorts of items. You name they got it there. Bought some macadamia nuts of various flavor - plain, honey coated, wasabi and abalone.

Then had lunch there in the food court above the Paddy market. Had curry laksa, which taste not quite nice actually exceed my expectation.

Initially wanted to look for a jacket and found one. However, after many rounds of thought, I guess I should make use of what I have now - a leather jacket.

Did lots of walking today. Now my legs are really tired. Just packed some Japanese food take away and some green tea from the shop just below the hotel. Will eat it and go to bed. Tomorrow I will need to catch a flight to Adelaide at about noon time.

Will post the happenings tomorrow.

Day 5 in New Zealand

Today its Day 5 (11.June 2010) in New Zealand and its the last day on this New Zealand tour of duty.

This morning we went to the Palmerston North airport to meet a colleague which flew in from Nelson. Then we drove for about 30 mins to meet up with a customer.

The meeting was good. We manage to get across the message we want to present and got a good positive feedback from them.

The evening, me and my colleague flew back from Palmerston North to Christchurch. I have to come back to Christchurch because my plane was book Sydney - Christchurch return. My colleague came into Christchurch because his house and family is here.

I check into the same motel as I stayed on Monday. The owner of this motel was helpful. He suggested me to get some Italian food delivery. I took the menu and ordered Chicken & Cream Pasta. Also in the order I included a green vegetable salad with cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing. The delivery came on time, 30 minutes on the dot.

The food was also good. No complaints.

Tonight happens to the opening ceremony of the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Initially I wanted to catch an early rest, but then perhaps due to the coffee that I had taken during dinner, it kept me awake all night long. I also manage to stay awake until 5am when the cab came to my hotel to take me to the airport to catch the 7am flight to Sydney.

By staying awake, I manage to see the first goal for the world cup which is scored by the host nation - South Africa. By the way, it was South Africa vs. Mexico. However, Mexico manage equalize.

At 5am, the cab came and took me to the airport. I am flying to Australia to begin my Australia tour this week.

Day 4 in New Zealand

Today (10th June 2010 - Thursday) is my 4th day in New Zealand. This morning started from Hamilton, New Zealand. Went to a customer's place and had a good fruitful discussion.

Then, we went to a nice coffee shop which also serves good food. The coffee there was really tasty and have a unique after taste, which I have never came across before this.

After lunch, the working tour continue to another different customer. This visit I think is even more fruitful than the earlier one.

Then, in the evening, we proceeded to catch a flight from Hamilton to Palmerston North. We again took a rented car and again it is the 6 speed Ford XR6.

The lady on the counter of the car rental booth is really not helpful. Our car was booked without a GPS device, and when we requested for one, she insisted that it is not possible and all sorts of reasons she gave. I think she is merely lazy to process the GPS rental and just give us all sorts of reasons. Therefore, we have no other choice but to navigate with the good old method using a road map.

We checked into the Aubyn Court Motorlodge. Its kinda cool place. Clean and neat. One thing really cool is it comes with a jacuzzi tub which is located beside the bed. With the weather so cold, I wonder who is going to use the Jacuzzi tub.

Straight after arrival, me and my boss went for Indian cuisine in the city center. We had good old chicken and mutton curry and some tandoori chicken, naan bread and white rice. It was nice and tasty.

Came back after that, but to keep updated with the work e-mail.

Tomorrow will be the last day of this 1 week New Zealand tour. Will be flying from Christchurch from Palmerston North and will fly out to Sydney on Saturday morning.

Stay tuned. More update on the way...

Day 3 in New Zealand

Today (9th June 2010) I have traveled from New Plymouth to Hamilton via Auckland.

I drove from a site known as Whareroa to the New Plymouth Airport. I drove a Ford Falcon XR6. It is a shift-tronic car with a 6 speed gearbox.

At 100km/hr the rpm is only approx 1,500, which is really low. The car is really powerful. Although I could not determine the actual capacity of the engine.

I begin the day with a discussion with a customer which I have met when I first came to New Zealand. Then, we drove for about 1 hour to another site to meet with another customer at about 1pm.

After the meeting, I drove back to the New Plymouth airport to catch our flight. First we flew to Auckland, in which the flight is about 45 minutes and transit for an hour before boarding another flight which the flight time is only 20 minutes to Hamilton.

I boarded one of the smallest plane I ever flew on. It have just 2 seats each row side by side. The coolest is that in the plane, we can see the pilot doing everything during the flight. The plane model is BEECH 1900 D.

Landed in Hamilton and checked into a nice hotel in the town. It was too late for dinner, as when we arrived in the hotel, its already 9pm, hence, just ordered a BBQ Chicken Salad with avocado, tomato, cucumber and coriander oil. It was nice, light and refreshing.

Tomorrow will be another day of heavy travelling with another 2 customers to visit within Hamilton. By this time tomorrow, I will be in Palmerston North. The flight from Hamilton to Palmerston North is about 50 minutes.

Stay tune, more updates on the way...

Day 2 in New Zealand

Well, so fast Day 2 (8th June 2010 - Tuesday) is over, now its about 11pm, just checked in to the hotel, Auto Lodge in New Plymouth.

The flight initially was suppose to leave Christchurch at about 1730hrs, but was delayed until 1815 and we were place on another flight instead.

The weather in Christchurch is really cold and it was raining the whole time we were at site. I think the temperature in the middle of the afternoon was about 4 degrees C and it was raining quite heavily.

Took a flight from Christchurch to Wellington (Capital of New Zealand) and then from Wellington to New Plymouth. The journey started at about 1815hrs and due to delays, landed only at about 2100 hrs in New Plymouth.

Again, my colleague rented a car and drove our way from the airport to the hotel. Tomorrow will be another travelling day with 2 customers on the list to cover before leaving for Auckland (transit) and then finally to Hamilton.

Its about 12am already, I better go hit the bed and get some rest. Stay tune for more updates later when I get to connect to the net.

Day 1 in New Zealand

Yesterday I arrived in Christchurch after 8 hours flight from Malaysia to Sydney and transit to Christchurch, New Zealand.

By the time I arrived here in Christchurch, its already 4pm. Did not do any sight seeing as the sky was already turning dark, its winter here, by 5.30pm, it will be dark.

Went for dinner with my colleague and we could not see any good place to eat, hence, just had good old fast food, the one which is popular for grill burger, if you know what I mean and straight came back.

Not many people is in town yesterday evening as it was a Public Holiday here in New Zealand (7th June 2010), Queen's Birthday.

Today, its about 750am now, will be leaving for a long day site visit and will catch a flight from here (Christchurch - Wellington - New Plymouth).

Will keep posting when I have time. Stay tune....

Loaded with work

It had been a while since I last updated this blog. Recently, work load in have been really high. Not much time for me to think of this blog.

Next week, again I will be travelling to Australia and New Zealand for 2 weeks for work.

Well, keep this posting short. Hopefully the weekend in Australia, I can have some time to update this blog further.