Out in survey area

Days 16 to 18, 21st to 23rd Feb 2009:

Finally, i'm out in the field and down in the lines. My first day out was with Mohd, the Recording Crew Manager (RCM). He's a Sudanese residing in Egypt and he somehow reminds me a bit of an African American. We left the camp after breakfast, around 9am.

Basically, he drove around and stopped at various parts of the line to show me some of the equipment and explained their uses. Some of the equipment i saw was the FDU (Field Digitizer Unit, the LAUL (Land Acquisition Unit Line) and the vibrator trucks. He explained how the entire layout was equivalent to a computer network as each FDU, LAUL and LAUX has their own IP address.

The vibrator trucks or vibes

Around noon, he took me to the recorder truck, where all the data is collected. It's also the monitoring and control centre for the vibes, for monitoring line breaks (meaning, a disruption in the ground network) and is basically the centre of communications for all that is going on around the survey area. It can get quite busy in the recorder truck and there's only two observers in there. When we were there, it was quite a busy day, with the VHF radios crackling practically almost every few minutes. Rakesh here, Rakesh there, Rakesh everywhere! I had my lunch there (lunch is delivered to those working in the field in tiffin carriers) or more specifically, Mohd's lunch as mine got sent to the wrong place. I was the only one eating as the observers were too busy to eat.

The recorder truck, the centre of all activity

After that, we were back in the lines. I spent the rest of the day following Syed (or Said, i don't know how to spell his name), a line supervisor as Mohd had other things to take care of. He's quite a nice guy as well and through our conversations, i learned that he has two daugters, one just born last month and that almost his entire family is in the seismic business. It was quite an interesting day just going around and seeing how he works. At one point, he helped one of the trucks which had gotten stuck in the sand by calling another truck to help pull out the other one. Finally, before the end of the day, he checked the line layouts in another block and found some mistakes. As he was off correcting them, i wandered around taking pictures.

One of the plants in the desert

A close-up of the plant's flowers

Tennis balls? Out here in the desert?

Look again. They're actually small watermelons

Camel tracks

On my second day, I was taken to the recording truck where i was to spend the day by one of the J.O.s (Junior Observer) called Azedeen. It was one of the bumpiest rides of my life. Basically, in the recording truck one observer monitors the network of cables and receivers to see if there are problem areas. He then gets the troubleshooter or J.O. (junior observer) to go there and fix the problem. He also instructs the layout crew on where to pick up the cables and geophones and also where to lay them as shooting progresses throughout the day. This was Rakesh's responsibilities. Gabriel, the other observer was concentrated on the vibes. He monitors the shots to see if they're good or not and basically controls when to shoot and when to stop. He communicates only with the vibe pushers (another truck that guides the vibrator trucks). It was a tough day for them as line breaks were popping up here and there, mostly in areas where the cable was lying on the blacktop (tar road; when i first heard the word, i went like, huh?) unprotected. On the other hand, it did give them time to sit back a bit and eat their lunches. I didn't bombard them with too many questions as i didn't want to get in their way and half of my time was also spent looking at some of the manuals. In fact, half of the day i didn't really know what to do so towards the later part of the afternoon, i explored the area around the recorder truck and took more pictures. By the way, did i mention that there were no toilets around?

Animal tracks. Wonder what made these?

Lizard tracks?

Desert rabbit/hare tracks?

I think these are mouse tracks crossing a centipede's tracks, perhaps

Today, i followed John (another RCM) who's a Canadian. The morning was just spent taping down the existing roadmats and laying more roadmats for other cables crossing the blacktop. I didn't do much, just helped to wave the red flag to slow motorists down as they worked on the blacktop. That was pretty much it for today. We got back to camp by 1pm and i spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work on my field report (and going, what...i have to write this?) and studying my CBT. Wonder what's up for tomorrow?

First week in Oman

Days 11 to 15, 16th to 20th Feb 2009:

I thought i was done with flying for the time being. Apparently not. One more flight to Marmul where the base camp is. Thankfully, i was not alone this time as there were two other crew members at the accommodation; Manish, the assistant project manager and Wanidi, a new journey manager. We left the bungalow around 12pm to catch the 1.30pm flight. I just followed blur-ly (if there's such a word) as Manish led the way.

The flight took only about an hour plus and we were at the base camp by 4pm. Wanidi and I were immediately given the safety induction and a short tour around the base camp. The facilities available here make life here comfortabler; they've got the basic ones like toilets, bathrooms, mess rooms and laundry (you don't even have to do it yourself, they'll pick it up from your room and deliver it back when they're done). They've also got an internet room and wireless throughout the camp (signal's weak and slow, but sufficient), a gym and recreation room and even a small bar to cater to the westerners. With the tour done, my first day here was pretty much finished.

The day shift here starts at 6am, so i was up by 5.30am. My second day here began in the QC department and there i stayed for the next few days. I observed how the QC was done through a few steps and tried my hand at parts of it. The checks are quite thorough and stringent. Basically, data from the field is recorded in external disk drives called NAS (Network Attached Storage) disks and they're brought in twice a day. They then load it into the system and make backups in 3592 tapes. Support data that includes navigation, observer logs and geometry/offsets are sent wirelessly and these data are checked for errors before being used to generate the geometry. Shots are also checked for bad shots, bad traces, etc. before the geometry is applied and the brute stack generated for the final check. I didn't really get into the details as a general overview was enough for my purposes. And so, i was pretty much free after two days in that department. I didn't want to impede their work, neither was i really that interested to really delve into the subject until i could really QC on my own as i figured it was unnecessary for my job scope to know that much. Call me lazy if you like, ha ha.

I've found that the people here are really friendly. They'll greet you and ask you how you are whenever they see you. I've also found that most of them have a really good impression of Malaysia. "Malaysia, truly Asia", was almost half of the response i got everytime i answer their question of where i'm from. Ahmed, an Egyptian in the QC department told me that Egyptians really have a high regard for Dr. M and everyone says Malaysia is a lovely country. Makes you kinda proud and appreciate what you have when they say that. Sure, people can complain about a lot of things but if you've never been to other poorer countries, you don't know what you've got. That's my opinion anyway.

Tomorrow, i will finally be able to go down to the line to see the acquisition in progress. I'm looking forward to it as i hope it will help me to understand land acquisition better. It'd be interesting to see how things work anyway. And i hope that i will finally get a topic for my presentation back in Houston tomorrow. Instead of just being given one, i'll have to think for my own on what would be suitable. I got one or two ideas, hopefully they'll be enough. With that, i'll stop here with a few more pictures i took today, including the one with the camel. By a stroke of luck, i saw them close to the base camp. Next time, i'll try to get close up shots, hehe.

Yes, those are tracks from my shoes inside the tyre tracks

Sunset

One of three camels i spotted heading towards the garbage dump. The men are not the owners, they're part of the workforce here

P.S.: My stomach is finally ok now, so don't worry Mom.

Valentine's Day

Day 09, 14th Feb 2009:

The day seemed to start well though i couldn't really seem to eat as much for breakfast as did in previous days. Little did i know that this was gonna haunt me later.

I had an interesting conversation with Cecile during breakfast as i found out she also had some offshore experience prior to joining CGGV. Our conversation revolved around the happenings at sea, the equipment and stuff like that. Kinda cool to know that there's someone else who had been on a vessel before in the group.

After breakfast, i went back up to my room to finish my packing so that i can keep the rest of my luggage in the office while we're all away for the field assignment. Being the blur sotong that i am, i brought every piece of luggage down and loaded it in the minivan, including the bags i was going to take to the field. Only after loading it in the boot did i realise what an idiot i was. Since it was already in the boot, i decided to just leave it there until it was time to fly. We then dropped off our luggage at the office and then i returned to the hotel to wait for the Youssif to come pick me up at 3pm (it was only 12pm by then) while some of the others went to WalMart again.

As i still felt a bit full, i decided to skip lunch. Youssif arrived at the appointed time and off i went to do some flying again. I checked-in and waited as the flight was at 6.25pm. Even though i was feeling hungry now, i only ate a bar of Snickers as i decided to wait for the in-flight dinner.

The time finally came for me to board and i was off on a long flight again. It was my first time boarding a Boeing 777 and the Emirates plane had an in-flight entertainment that was top notch, with a touchscreen and a whole lot of stuff to keep you entertained. When they dimmed the lights for flight, i noticed that the ceiling was created to simulate stars and it was quite cool.

Anyway, by supper i was starting to feel the effects of my stupidity earlier in the day. I started to feel bloated and lost my appetite to eat. I know Mom, i know...i should eat regularly. I guess long flights and me just don't mix as i've fasted lunch before with no repercussions. There was some major turbulence during the flight but thankfully i wasn't affected by it at all.

Day 10, 15th Feb 2009:

The plane arrived at Dubai half an hour past the ETA due to the turbulence earlier. I got off and started asking around on where to go next. Guess i asked the wrong people coz i ended up missing the connecting flight to Oman. Thankfully, they managed to put me on the very next flight which was about an hour later. Man, was i rushing about like mad. I have to say that Dubai airport is really really long...takes like forever to from one end to the other. By the time they booked me on the next flight, i had to practically half run to get to the boarding gate in time. Was also originally planning to call Eve to inform her about the incident but i didn't have enough time to get an IDD card to make the call. Fortunately, the guy at the boarding gate was nice enough to lend me his mobile when i asked and he didn't even charge me for it!

I finally arrived at Muscat airport at 11.30pm and was immediately faced with another head scratching situation, one concerning my visa. After asking around, i found out that i had to buy the visa for US20. Anyway, with that out of the way, i was finally out and looked for my contact person outside the hall. Noticing an Indian holding a piece of paper with the company's logo and my name on it, i breathed a sigh of relief as i was afraid he might not have waited. I offered him my sincerest apologies and explained the situation to him. Poor fellow had been waiting for nearly two hours by then. He then drove me to the crew's accommodation and i spent the night there, having no problems falling asleep.

Field assignments review, a trip to Sercel and HSE

Day 08, 13th Feb 2009:

Friday, the last day of our first week's course. Today, we went over the field assignment procedures again as a final check. I still did not get my topic to work on in the field and apparently it will only be discussed when i get there. JB also will be getting his only when he arrives in Thailand. I've already taken a look at some of the others and they're not easy. Oh, the suspense is killing me (not really, i'm too phlegmatic for that :p).

Melissa, Jocelyn and Melanie then had to leave for their field assignment offshore. I'm guessing they got the best or rather the most comfortable assignment since it will be on 3D vessels, which i've heard can be quite nice (unlike the small 2D vessels i used to ride in). At least they don't have to worry about being exposed to harsh environments except for the occasional bad weather perhaps, as compared to those going to Canada and Alaska (go Shangar!).

With all of that out of the way, Scott lead us to Sercel which was about half an hour's drive away from the office. I was kinda expecting to see a factory of some sort since they do make half of the equipment that CGGV is using (not to mention the fact that CGGV does own Sercel). Unfortunately, it was only a presentation in the classroom about the equipment while we were having lunch. We did get away with some nice goodies though :). And it was rather funny sitting in the backrow watching Kasia and Cecile fooling around with the geophones (oops...shouldn't have said that, should i?).

The final part of the session was back at the office, a briefing on HSE (Health, Safety and Environment for those of you who are not familiar to this term). Humberto, the speaker, had a great sense of humour. As Cecile pointed out, HSE isn't exactly something that everyone was looking forward to which Humberto only knew all too well. I'm not a good storyteller but he said something like, "You guys don't wanna be here; i don't wanna be here coz i know you guys don't wanna be here but i have to be here anyway" (guys, care to help me out here with the explanation?)

Anyway, with the HSE out of the way, it was again shopping time for some of the others who still needed to finish their shopping. I don't know how it happened but i ended up going back to the hotel with only Irwin. Everybody just seemed to have something else to do, but we did meet up again for dinner, this time at a chinese halal restaurant as Shifa was craving for chicken after going vegetarian for a week. Most of the other guys hadn't really eaten at a chinese restaurant before so they didn't really know what to order. To cut the story short, everybody ended up sharing the food, with a chicken dish here, a vege there, some beef dumplings on another side and one too many fried rice ordered, he he. But the food was quite nice...definitely nicer than the first chinese meal we had on Monday.

The petroleum industry and more shopping

Day 07, 12th Feb 2009:

Yes, i bought another thing. But before we get to that, the session today was an introduction to the petroleum industry and the bases of geology. The speaker introduced us to the some historical background of the industry, the major players, the technology, the what, why and hows as well as how it's evolved so far. After that, there were some bits on basic geology such as the types of rocks, the tectonic plate theory and stuff like that. It was another good refresher and a good introduction for those not familiar with geology and geophysics.

Anyway, we ended up going on another shopping trip as some of the Georisers had not yet got all that they need. This time, it was a trip to Best Buy (an electrical and electronics mega-store) and Ross (a sort of re-seller, really cheap stuff). I stepped into Ross without anything in mind particularly, but came out with a duffel bag on wheels. Now how did that happen? Poor planning is probably the best explanation. It hit me that the rucksack i borrowed from my sister was not going to be big enough for a 3 week field trip and i definitely didn't wanna lug around that huge other luggage bag when i saw the duffel bag going for only USD14.99. It looked just about the right size, so what the heck? (I wasn't really full of options anyway) And now i've also realised that i should have brought more common shirts for the field trip...duh.

After that, it was a quick stop at another mega store called Academy that specialises in sports stuff. There just seems to be a mega store for everything here. It was a really quick stop, kinda like grab and go as it was already 8pm and everyone was hungry.

Dinner was at a fast food restaurant called Denny's near the hotel. I shared a sizzling chicken something (again, i wasn't really bothered about what it was called coz i was rather famished by then) with Su Yin as we were afraid that the portions might be beyond us mere mortals from Malaysia. I think i could have taken it on alone had it been lunch coz somehow i can't seem to eat that much for dinner. And that was it for another long day.

The sizzlin-chicken-something-something served with tortillas

Of shopping, tuna and basketball

Day 06, 11th Feb 2009:

Today's class was solely focused on marine acquistion. Interesting how there are so many more things to consider for a 3D marine survey. The positioning system used for each streamer alone is quite staggering. Then there's the matter of controlling the streamers so they don't get tangled up with each other, which lines to survey first, etc...it's just amazing what technology can do these days. Wide azimuth survey as opposed to the conventional narrow azimuth survey is another new thing which i don't think i have fully comprehended yet.

After the session, Scott (one of the lecturers) took us to a store specialising in outdoor gear, kinda like a hypermarket for outdoor clothes and the sort to help us buy the stuff we need for the field trip. It was mostly to help those going to the colder locations like Canada, North Dakota and of course Alaska (Shangar, i feel for you man :P). I ended getting another pair of shoes as well, this time hiking shoes. I guess i didn't want to take the risk of losing the whole outer sole when i get to Oman later. The whole thing looked like it could peel off anytime. I guess that's what you get for keeping a pair of unused shoes for 8 years :)

That's Scott in the foreground.

Inside the Bass Pro Shop

We were supposed to meet Francois (the programme manager) and Alain (another lecturer) for dinner at 7.10pm but everybody was too busy shopping until we forgot about the time and poor Scott was also hobbling around trying to look for everyone (he had hurt his foot a few weeks back). By the time we reached Babin's for dinner, Francois and Alain had been waiting a full 20 minutes. We definitely need better organisation but it's not easy with a group of 17.

Babin's was a seafood restaurant (in the western kind of sense of course) and Alain was treating (which was really really nice of him). I ordered a tuna something, can't quite remember what it was called (gulf coast market or something like that) and had it pan-sauteed. Man, i didn't know what i was getting myself into. When the food came, i opened the fish up and found that it looked rather pink (almost like it was still raw). The waitress noted my moment of hesitation and asked if i would liked it to be cooked a little more, which i gladly consented.

The tuna with a side dish of baked sweet potato (i had already finished the caesar salad)

During dinner, we were discussing about where to go in Houston for the sights and the matter of basketball came up. Turns out Alain is quite the hoops fan and it was suggested that we all go for a match between the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs on March 14 after our field trip. Can't wait to experience a real NBA game :)

Let the training begin

Day 04, 9th Feb 2009:

The classes have started. At 8.30am after breakfast, we drove to the CGGVeritas centre which also housed the CGGVeritas University. It was only a short drive, approximately 5 minutes from the Hilton Garden Inn that we were staying in. Oh, did i mention that it's the best hotel i've ever stayed in so far? I don't know about the others, but it's the best for me so far.

Anyway, back to the story. We arrived at the office, got our temporary visitor's pass (temporary until our access cards are prepared) and proceeded to the classroom. There are 5 buildings with the university located in the northwest building. Quite a nice place to work in as well. The work culture over here in the US appears to be an early start to the day as people start arriving in the offices before 8am.

The first class opened with a welcome message by the manager responsible for the Georise programme, followed by the corporate introduction of the company by the President of CGGVeritas Western Hemisphere. After that, an introduction to Geophysics which was a good refresher for me who has quite a low knowledge of the subject matter for someone who graduated with that degree, he he.

Towards the end of the day, four of us managed to get our laptops first while the rest will get theirs the day after. After class, we went back to the hotel and proceeded to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Luckily we had the two Mexicans to communicate with the waitress (but it was their idea to eat there anyway). The food was quite nice but again big portion. For some reason, i couldn't really eat as much as i would have liked to, i really don't know why. We didn't go anywhere else after that as most of us were tired, so it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Day 05, 10th Feb 2009:

When i woke up this morning, i found to my horror that it was already 8am. Apparently, i forgot to set the alarm and by God's grace i still managed to wake up. As a result, i only managed to have some yogurt, a croissant and a glass of orange juice for breakfast, hardly what i would consider enough to sustain me till lunch. In any case, it was my own dumb oversight that i forgot to set the alarm.

The course today was about land acquisition and geometry. Man, i felt kinda useless when i couldn't really tackle some of the simple exercises which i should have been able to do. It just means that i'll really need to put in quite a bit of effort from now on. Comes from three years of half-hearted effort in the uni, sigh. Regretting over my laziness, as usual.

Moving on, about eight of us managed to get their access cards done. The rest of us will still need to check in at the lobby for the temporary pass until we get ours...bummer. Almost everybody has their laptops now, except for a few who's laptops have not been fully configured yet. Rather useful this certain program they installed in the laptops. It's a self-study program that compliments the courses at the university, really useful and necessary.

After class, we went to a shopping mall that was just huge. I'd say it was at least double the size of Midvalley or even maybe triple the size. Every building in Houston is just rather wide and generously spaced, which is probably due to the vast amount of land that they have in Texas. Some of the girls bought shoes...what is it about girls and shoes anyway? Guess it's something us guys will never understand, the same way most of them will never understand our fascination with video games and toys, ha ha.

Back at the hotel, i immediately set to washing my clothes in the laundry room. Good thing they have cheap coin operated washers and dryers here, only USD1 per use per machine. I initially wanted to go to the nearby McD's for a bite as the pizza slice i had in the mall was not enough even though that slice was almost as big as a personal pizza back home, but it was raining. Even as i complete this blog, my stomach is grumbling. Will definitely make sure i make up for it tomorrow morning.

First post in Houston

Day 01, 6th Feb 2009:

My day started off rather rushed as i was quite the last minute guy. When it was finally time to leave, i picked up the large bag my mom bought me and moved towards the door of the apartment. Just as i was opening the door, the bag's top handle broke...sheesh! Too late to change bags now as the taxi was waiting. So, without further ado, i was on my way to the airport and caught the plane with the rest of my colleagues.

After what seemed like forever, the five of us finally arrived in Houston. The entire journey took about 19 hours. A lack of sleep the past few days finally took its toll on me as i succumbed to a slight cold during the flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. It really was a long long flight. Imagine leaving at 6pm on Fri and arriving at 7am on Fri as well, he he. Oops, actually we arrived at 7am on Sat (7th Feb 2009).

The immigration and customs check went rather smoothly at LA, for me at least. I didn't get that many questions as the immigration officer had volunteered to do double shifts so i guess she was too tired to bother me much. Some of the others had to show some documentation to prove that we were in the US for training. Shifa even had to go through some 'special' screening as we were going into the departure hall for the transit to Houston. How special? Let's just say that they weren't eager to see an unwanted fireworks display in the sky.


Day 02, 7th Feb 2009:

Upon arrival in Houston, we claimed our baggage and went to catch the pre-arranged taxi that would take us to the hotel. The taxis were just big with plenty of trunk space to fit in all our huge bags and sitting in them made me feel like i was riding in a limo. Cool, really cool.

Finally, we reached the hotel, checked-in and had breakfast. The others decided to go explore around after that but i decided to just stay in as i didn't quite feel up to the task. I practically slept through most of the afternoon and felt much better after that. At night, we met the other Georisers (as the training is called Georise) from other parts of the world for an introductory dinner. There were 4 people from Poland, 2 from France, 2 from Mexico, 1 from UK, 1 from Vietnam, 1 from China, 1 from Nigeria and of course the 5 of us from Malaysia. 8 of us (including myself) volunteered to be the drivers after the dinner and that was the end of the first day.

Day 03, 8th Feb 2009:

This morning, i was the first of the Georisers to go down for breakfast. Most of the others had arrived later than the Malaysian group and were probably compensating for the lack of sleep during the long flight. Eventually, one by one, each arrived to have breakfast and we all got to know each other better. After breakfast, we walked to WalMart for some shopping. Took us quite a while to get there as it was far and we took a wrong turn and had to double back. I bought a pair of shoes (i think they're called loafers or is it moccasins, the type made of leather) as my current pair seemed to be falling apart after 8 years of disuse, ha ha.

According to the schedule, the volunteer drivers were to meet in the boardroom of the hotel at 2pm for a short driving course. It was already close to 1pm and we were still at WalMart so some of the designated drivers (myself included) decided to leave first while others were still browsing around. The four of us tried to make our way back to the hotel as quickly as possible but decided to have lunch at an asian buffet restaurant first. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were 15 min late and were the last of the drivers to arrive. We were shown a short video on defensive driving and the importance not drinking and driving. In fact, a lot was stressed on DWI (Driving While Intoxicated), DUID (Driving Under the Influence of Drugs) and DUI (Driving Under the Influence). The instructors also stressed a lot on the importance of following the speed limit and various laws. For me, i guess the hardest part was to accustom myself to driving on the right side of the road instead of the left and half of my concentration was also on trying to drive under 35mph (rather difficult for someone who's driven in KL, he he). Each of us were given 30 min to drive around with the instructors so we managed to get a preview of the other parts of Houston.

The day ended with a dinner in a Hong Kong food restaurant that served huge portions which none of us could finish. The food was also just so so. But it was interesting to see our western counterparts trying to eat with chopsticks.

At the moment, we haven't received our notebooks yet so pics have yet to be uploaded. Will try to upload some when i get the chance.

What is L-O-V-E?

What is love? Love is:

• your parents lending you their winter clothes for your trip overseas
• your mom reminding you to renew your road tax and insurance before you leave
• your sister calling you up to ask about the trip
• your sister and bro-in-law taking care of your car while you're away
• your friends and family praying for you before you leave and while you're away
• your friends asking you if you need to borrow anything and providing advice

So what is love? That's what love is :)

Numb...

Sigh, sometimes it's all too easy to lose your way. Just a slight deviation from the right path and sometimes you find yourself just struggling to get back on it, like it's a tightrope and you're hanging on for dear life. And through the whole experience, you feel nothing...just numb. But this is life, and even if you have to crawl and inch your way back onto the road, it's gotta be done.

Lord, please take the reins and lead me for i am lost without you.

Return of the boring sotong

Man...it's really been a while since i've blogged. I would have liked to make a better looking blog but i'm too far behind in the web to understand xml or xhtml now. In fact, i never really did learn up html for that matter. And so, February 1st 2009 marks the unceremoniously boring return of the boringly blur blogger known as Alvin Lip.

Anyway, the main reason for starting this new blog is to sort of journal my coming trip to Houston. I'd probably still be sending emails but a blog sounds kinda cool as well, hehe. I will try to blog often, meaning i will try (keyword is try) to get off my lazy bum to do it. With that said, i end the very first official post of this blog. God bless.