What are your reasons?

This afternoon, i experienced something which i can only describe as an encounter with God. And it all stemmed from one simple question.

It was just after lunch and my colleagues and i were walking back to the office. I was chatting with one of them and somehow the chat came round to me sharing with her how a Christian's walk is difficult at times. I was explaining (or more like whining) how my relationship with God was not getting anywhere. Then came the question - why do you seek to deepen your relationship with Him? Is it to find contentment or peace. Ok, i don't exactly remember how the question sounded like but it meant something like the above. My first answer was rather lame, amounting to something that sounded like "Yes, sort of". But as i sat at my cubicle, i couldn't seem to stop thinking about it, wondering how i could have given a better answer.

And so, there i was trying to think of a good textbook like answer. I began to draw an analogy to our relationship with our physical earthly father. And then, suddenly i began to realize that all this while, i never truly knew what i was doing and the reasons for doing it. "Why do you seek to deepen your relationship with God?". I never really knew or understood why. Perhaps it is because that was what people said was the right thing to do. Pursue God, improve your relationship with Him. But what are one's own reasons for that?

Finally, i realized what the answer was. It's very simple really. What are some of the things that form the basis of all relationships? Love, trust, understanding and respect for each other are some of it. When you love someone, be it your parents, other family members, your significant other or even your friends, wouldn’t you try to get to know them better, understand a little more about what makes them tick, put your trust in them and respect them for who they are? If you love your parents, you would also obey them and trust them to know what's best for you. And so it is with our heavenly Father. You want to get to know Him better, understand Him, put your trust in Him, share your life with Him. And because you respect and fear Him, you obey Him and try to be like Him. A healthy relationship should be not just one sided but interactive and continually growing. So why does one pursue a deeper relationship with Jesus? Simply because you love Him. You don't do it because someone else told you to do it. You don't seek His face just because your friends are doing it and it seems like the right thing to do. No...you do it, simply out of your love for Him.

I felt that burden to put down my thoughts in writing and so that's what i did. I emailed my colleague with whatever i could share. Most of it is up there but the version here has been tweaked to reflect as best as possible of what was truly an encounter with God. I truly believe that He was speaking to me through that very simple question. Simply amazing how that touch comes when you least expect it.

Desire

In this journey I call my life, i wonder where along the way i stumbled and lost a little something. More exactly where and when. That little something which i could not properly word or name until today's sermon by Pastor Michael Koh...desire.

For a while now, i've felt jaded a little more than once. Nothing seems to excite me that much anymore, except for one or two things that come along once in a while. Indifference, boredom, hollowness, directionless...a few of the words that might fit the description of what i sometimes experience these days. And in more than one occasion, i have felt my own self being contradictory...yearning for company and yet isolating or distancing myself when the opportunity comes. I just confuse myself.

Desire. Where and when did i start to lose that, even for the little things i used to like so much. When did it all suddenly lose its meaning or did it happen so subtly and gradually that i couldn't notice. Only when i heard today's message that i realized what it is i had lost. Desire. A desire for life...for life's little things, for the things that make us who we are; the hobbies, the interests, the wishes that defines a person...when did that disappear?

Perhaps i've settled in so comfortably that i cannot move anymore. Perhaps it was disappointments as Pastor Michael mentioned. Whatever it may be, i need to feel desire again, no matter how little. I need to find something to get enthused in again, to force myself to commit to it until i feel it in me again. Then maybe somewhere along the way, i will finally encounter God...and finally feel that i am truly alive again.

Hypocrite?

Sometimes i wonder if i'm just a big hypocrite. I know what and what not i should be doing and yet sometimes i do what i know is wrong. The past couple of days, i was trying to give some so-called advice to a friend and i ended up realizing that i wasn't practising what i was preaching. It's so easy to tell others what to do but what's the use when you don't even apply it in your own life? It's about time i took my own advice...

On another note, i'm wondering if i should continue this blog now that the Georise chapter is finished. Since the main objective of setting up this blog has been achieved, there seems to be no point in keeping it alive. Why? For one, there's hardly anyone who reads it and 2. i don't know if i have the motivation to keep it going. So...what next?

Georise - The final chapter

Days 72 to 100, 18th Apr to 16th May 2009:

Finally, the last post for the Georise programme. What took me so long you ask? More work and activities as usual which took up most of my time and energy. Oh, and not to mention cooking (which takes up at least 2 hours of my time). After all that, i just didn't feel like i had anything left in me to put up a new post. That, and the fact that it takes me ages just to write one because i can be pretty long winded.

Anyway, this is the last post on my adventures in Texas. I actually got back on the afternoon of the 18th of May but only got round to putting together this post now (due to laziness this time). Since it's been more than a month since the previous post, i will not go into details and just give a short outline of what's happened during that time.

Since the Easter holiday, we've watched a baseball game, gone to the aquarium, attended an Irish festival and visited the Johnson Space Center. To be honest, the baseball game was one of the most boring i've ever watched. Then again, baseball is boring if you don't really know anything about it. But the tickets we bought were for charity, so it was also for a good cause. The game was on a rainy Friday night and Neil (our lecturer) was kind enough to let us go early.

The Houston Astros vs. the Cincinnati Reds (i think)

The following day was also a gloomy one so it was good that the places we were going to were indoors. We went to the aquarium located in Downtown Houston and it was another ho-hum affair. Well, it was just so-so for me but the others found it rather disappointing. The visit took up about 2 hours if i remember correctly. We followed up with a visit to the Museum of Sciences since we were downtown. We didn't actually go into the museum since by the time we got there, it was about an hour and a half to closing time and the museum employee advised us to come another day since that amount of time was not enough to cover the entire museum. I never did manage to visit it after that, though a few of the others did i think.

One of the tanks in the aquarium

The following weekend, we were in Downtown again to attend an Irish Festival. Every year, the city would host an international festival and this year the focus was on Ireland. It wasn't entirely Irish though; there was a South American and Jamaican section as well as some other countries (which i can't quite remember now...blame it on my short term memory). Again, it didn't exactly turn out to be a super fun weekend.

Some kids performing an Irish dance

For our second last weekend in Houston, Jocelyn, Melanie and I finally went to NASA. Most of the others had already been there in the weeks before that. Shifa hadn't been there before but she decided to join the three others who were making a trip to the Six Flags Theme Park in San Antonio on the same day. I would have really loved to go but i was no longer in any mood to make such a long trip and frankly, between NASA and an amusement park, i decided that there probably wouldn't be many other chances to visit NASA in the future compared to an amusement park. Was it worth it then? I definitely had no regrets. It was educational yet interesting and we spent six hours at the Johnson Space Center because it really took that long to cover everything...well, almost everything.

One of the displays in the Johnson Space Center

The actual Mission Control Center - it's empty because it's a Saturday

The actual Saturn V rocket

It was now the second last week in Houston and we were all rushing to finish our processing reports. Half of us were trying to finish it before the weekend in order to have a free final weekend in Houston but i knew i couldn't finish by then. I was quite tired by now with all the brain activity during the weekdays and going out in the weekends that i did not have much left in me to try and complete it after work hours. So i settled for using part of my weekend to finish the report. Even though it had been a phenomenal experience so far, i was looking forward to going home. Before all of us were to go home though, we held a BBQ by the swimming pool in Briar Forest on that second last Friday. Almost everyone got wet (a few involuntarily) but i managed to sneak away before i got dragged in. Frankly, i was pooped as well and went straight to bed after showering.

We handed in our reports on the final Tuesday and everyone immediately felt a sense of relief. No more assignments, presentations or reports. Like me, some of the others couldn't wait to get home as well. And so, the Georise programme came to a close on Friday. More pictures were taken and 'Thank You' cards were presented to the administrators of the training programme. During these last few days, i did some last minute (and i really mean last minute) gift shopping and was again reminded why i hate shopping for gifts. I was even shopping on Saturday afternoon, a few hours before we were to fly. And that Friday evening after the final class, we were in Walmart for the last time to get some chocolates for our office colleagues. After that, it was just down to Melanie and myself making a trip to a shopping mall in Sugarland in order to get a Coach handbag that her friend had asked her to help buy for his wife. Such expensive things these bags...

That last night, a few of us gathered at the pool again to just chat and hang out together for the last time. We didn't really do anything else except chat. A little after 10pm, we got ready to leave and finish our packing. Goodbyes, hugs and even a little bit of French style cheek-to-cheek greetings were exchanged. And that was it...the end of an extraordinary experience of a lifetime. I would say we gained a lot more than just knowledge and skills for our work. The friendships we forged and the experiences we went through will surely be etched in our hearts forever. And if ever we forget (God forbid), there's still all those insanely huge amount of pictures to remind us :)

Easter weekend

Days 64 to 71, 10th to 17th Apr 2009:

Good Friday, a holiday here in the States. All of us had plans for the slightly longer weekend. The previous night after class, i sent Shifa, Su Yin and Jocelyn to the airport as they were going to Los Angeles. Shangar, Irwin, Magda and Lukasz were off to Mexico; Omon and Wen Ting were going to Dallas while Melissa and her boyfriend were going to Big Bend (a national park). So what was i up to then? For practically the first time, i actually opted to go camping. This from a guy who didn't even want to go to Taman Negara. Guess people change when they grow older, ha ha.

So at 6am Friday morning, i found myself behind the wheel with Hannah, Cécile and Melanie on the way to our first activity for the day - kayaking in Bastrop, a small town near Austin. After about two hours, we switched drivers and arrived in Bastrop with an hour to spare before the actual kayaking. Bastrop is a nice quiet little town where the buildings were charming. Of course, there is also a modern part where you could find a Walmart and other large retail stores. We had a bite and coffee at the local diner and it was quite a comfy and welcoming diner in my opinion.

With our stomachs filled and the girls charged with their daily dose of caffeine, we proceeded to the office of Rising Phoenix Adventures. From there, we were bundled into a van with a family of four and taken to the river where we were to start our little adventure. Along the way, our friendly kayak instructor, Bill fed us bits and pieces of interesting information about Bastrop.

After receiving some final advice and instruction from Bill, we pushed off. I was in a tandem kayak with Melanie as she was not confident to kayak alone. The river was suitable for beginners like ourselves as the flow of water was slow to medium and in certain areas was relatively calm. The family of four went ahead of us and was soon out of sight while we paddled slowly and just took in everything...it was just really relaxing and a change to be out here. We saw a lot of tortoises sunbathing and managed to snap some pictures of them. We even encountered some snakes and looking back, i realised i shouldn't have gotten so close to them. Cécile was closest to them and was taking some pics of them when i butted in, putting her at risk. Lucky for us the snakes just escaped into the water instead of retaliating.

A paddling we go

Attempt at an artistic shot :p

The other two lovely ladies

We took approximately a little over two hours to finish the course, since we were just leisurely paddling and drifting away. It was a truly relaxing and good experience. With the first activity completed, we continued our journey on the road to Pedernales Falls State Park, which was where we were to camp. Along the way, we stopped at another recreational park to have our lunch which consisted mainly of bagels and sardines.

It took us about an hour plus to reach Pedernales. After checking in at the rangers' office, we continued to the primitive camp site (meaning no bathrooms but with a chemical toilet nearby). It was a two mile hike from the parking area to the camp site, which took us about half an hour to 45 minutes if i remember correctly. The remainder of the evening was spent setting up the tents we rented. I had no previous experience with tents and sad to say didn't really manage to help much with setting it up, except for taking them out of their bags and spreading it out. The girls had a three-man tent, while i had a two-man all to myself. Dinner was again bagels and sardines, with some other side stuff. We retired early that evening, going to bed around 8.30pm.

Wolf Mountain Trail, our home for the next two nights

My two-man tent...which Cécile set-up while i was trying to set-up the other tent

The next morning, we hiked along Wolf Mountain trail. It was quiet and serene with the occasional bird chirps. We didn't really see any animals apart from birds though and that was a bit disappointing. The only other fauna we saw was a deer during our hike to the camping site the previous evening.

Hiking along the trail

After about two hours of hiking, we hiked back to the parking area and drove along the road to Pedernales Falls as there wasn't much to see if we hiked there. After parking, the falls were just a short hike away. It was rather a nice place, though did not quite fit in with my idea of waterfalls like the ones i'd seen in Malaysia. For one, the falls weren't exactly rushing at high speed (though there were flash flood warnings posted around the area) and the water was green instead of crystal clear due to the low energy in the pools. Still, it was beautiful and serene. There were quite a number of people about; some with kids, others with dogs. We picked a spot and sat down to a lunch of...yup, you guessed it...bagels with sardines (Cécile had pita bread though).

Pedernales Falls

After our 'sumptious' lunch, we continued to hike downstream in search of an area called Cypress Pool, which was supposed to have a scenic lookout point. We didn't really find it, or else we passed it without knowing so finally we hiked back to the parking area via a different route. We had already done quite a fair bit of walking so far, but we weren't finished yet. We got into the car and drove to another camping site, one with bathrooms and toilets and designated lots for people's RVs (Recreational Vehicles, sort of like a mobile home/camper on wheels). There were quite a number of people here, mostly families and their dogs. After parking at a suitable place, we journeyed on to Trummel Crossing, a place where we could cross Pedernales River. We had to take our shoes off to avoid getting it wet and boy was the water cold or what! So cold, to the point that my feet nearly went numb after that and yet kind of refreshing. From there on, we continued our hiking and chatting until it started to rain. Cécile and I had both brought our umbrellas so we shared it with the other two girls. Another hour or two passed by before we finished our little tour and went back to the car. At this point, we were quite tired so we decided to take a shower and call it a day.

That night, it rained but i was ready for the colder temperature as i had rented a sleeping bag (designed for freezing weather). During the night, I was woken by rustling sounds. Some unknown creature was scavenging for food in our trash bag and quite frankly, it was a bit scary listening to the sounds. As i later found out, both Hannah and Cécile were also awake and feeling the same way. It was so quiet that i could even later hear the creature sniffing around close to my tent. The only one who slept through the entire incident was Melanie. We never did guess what it was that ransacked our garbage bag.

Morning arrived and the sky was still gloomy. I didn't exactly have the world's best sleep with the hard ground sticking into my back and waking up each time it rained but i was rested enough. With the threat of rain again looming, we quickly started packing and taking down the tents. Sure enough, it rained halfway through our packing. It only stopped after we had started our hike back to the car.

With our plans to visit Enchanted Rock threatened by rain and shortage of time, we decided to just head home and stop along the way at any place that was interesting. After breakfast at another area close to the modern camp site called Twin Falls, we started our drive home. Talks of having a huge and greasy Texas BBQ meal began circulating after almost three days of only bagels, powerbars and sardines. So a stop at one of the BBQ restaurants we saw on our way here earlier was planned.

A little before lunch hour, we pulled into McKinney Falls State Park to have a look. The sun was out in full strength now and the threat of a storm that was predicted a few days earlier had seemed to pass. Feeling encouraged, we took our swimsuits along as we hiked a short distance to the lower falls area. The girls didn't hesitate to plunge right in while i decided not to as i was a bit squeamish after seeing the green water, ha ha.

Group picture time at McKinney

After getting their fill, we got back on the road. Talks of Texas food resurfaced as everyone was now getting hungry. We passed one or two restaurants on our way out of Bastrop but decided to go for the next one we could find, which was about an hour later and closed as it was Easter Sunday. Finally, we scrapped the idea and stopped at a restaurant called Schobel's sometime around 3pm. After three days of bagels, the food was a welcome change. With our hunger satisfied, we continued home and arrived in Houston around 5pm.

Monday the 13th of April came and we were back in class. With the theoretical part behind us, now the real processing had begun. Everybody was still high off their respective holiday adventures and not exactly looking forward to class. But go to class we did. The rest of the week was spent scratching our heads trying to get used to how the processing works. Essentially, it was a little like programming and we had to learn how to code and modify the scripts to get the jobs to run. Rather hard at first, especially if you need to code it from scratch but gradually became easier as we only had to modify existing scripts. Still, it can be quite interesting, so we'll see what lies ahead of us in our final four weeks.

Breathe again

Days 49 to 63, 26th Mar to 9th Apr 2009:

If you've been wondering why it has taken me so long to update my blog, it's mainly because of a rather packed schedule the past two weeks. That, added with a little exhaustion have helped to delay the updates.

It's been two weeks of trying to finish off our second presentation, which is a lot more technical and specific. Everybody was a little stressed out since most of us had a bit of a hard time trying to understand what we were going to present. A second test looming over the horizon didn't exactly help ease the situation. Somehow though, we managed to find a little R&R amidst the chaos.

Half of the group made a day trip to San Antonio on the 28th of Mar, which was a Saturday. It turned out to be great timing as there was a street fair and market being held (apparently on every last Saturday of every month. I don't know if it was just because of the fair but the Downtown San Antonio seemed a lot more alive than Downtown Houston.

While we were there, we visited the Alamo, strolled along the River Walk, went through La Villita and finally dropped by the Cathedral of San Fernando. The Alamo is a historic place where the most famous battle of the Texas Revolution took place (i had to Wikipedia that up, he he). The River Walk (which is probably my most favourite part of San Antonio thus far) is a beautiful network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River. It has many restaurants and cafes along the walk and it is just that nice. I wouldn't mind revisiting it if i had the chance. La Villita is a historical arts village but we basically just passed through there. Our final stop was at the Cathedral of San Fernando which played a role in the Battle of the Alamo. There's just too much too describe but i guess i won't bore you with the details. In short, the trip to San Antonio was well worth the three hour drive from Houston.

The Torch of Friendship

The Alamo - no pictures were allowed inside the building

The streets close to the Alamo where the street fair was being held

Taking a cruise down the River Walk. Our boat driver cum guide was quite a funny guy

The Cathedral of San Fernando

Reality sank in after the trip as we worked to prepare our presentation. We also took another test on Friday and thankfully, it wasn't hard. The review before the test helped a lot. We celebrated by going for a dinner in a fancy French restaurant. By fancy, i really meant a little bit more pricey :) The food was quite good though.

The following Saturday, about half of the group took a day trip to Austin. This time, i did not follow, as tempting as it was because i was tired and had to finish up my presentation for the following Wednesday. From the others, i heard that Austin is another great place to live in. Too bad...at least i had my rest though.

Our presentation was split into two mornings and mine was on the second morning. Everyone was feeling quite nervous but thankfully, it didn't really show for most people. I didn't really practice that much and relied on whatever little i could remember in my brain. Praise God i managed to pull it off without really feeling nervous mentally. However, my body seemed to think otherwise as i was sweating almost profusely. In any case, i'm just glad that that's finally over and here i am again :)

A good but tiring weekend

Days 42 to 48, 19th to 25th Mar 2009:

Nothing much to blog on the class, we just continued on the fundamentals of processing Geophysics. The evening of Friday after class turned out to be a trip to the Memorial City Mall. Some of the girls wanted to go shopping for work clothes and i didn't really mind going so i tagged along. Ok, maybe tagged along isn't exactly the right word since i was the one driving...chauffeur would be more suitable. While waiting for the girls to finish shopping, i ended up getting a shirt as well. I got a couple of fridge magnets as well for my mom and sis.

After that, i had to send Su Yin back to her unit at Westheimer and took the opportunity to borrow her toilet as i was in need of one. After that, the 3 girls just took to chatting and i was stuck there for about 2 hours, watching tv while the girls chatted.

Saturday the 20th saw some of us going to the beach in Galveston. We started out a bit shaky, losing some time trying to find our way there but eventually we got there. The morning was a bit gloomy but thankfully the weather turned out sunny when we arrived at the beach. The guys just went straight for the water while the rest stretched out and enjoyed the sun. Later on, we had some fun burying Shangar in the sand and i really mean we had fun with the sand. I'll spare the details since i think i've already done enough damage with the photos i posted in Facebook, ha ha.

The beach, the beach!

Snacking and enjoying the sun

Fun with sand and Shangar :)

After about 3 hours at the beach, we went to The Strand, a famous street of sorts in Galveston. I'm not exactly sure what it's famous for, perhaps it's the old buildings but it wasn't bad. Got a couple more fridge magnets before we headed home at about 6pm.

A part of The Strand

Short carriage rides along the street for USD25

The next day, it was a trip to the rodeo. It was the very last day of the rodeo, so we didn't want to miss it. And there was more than one red face that day from the previous day's outing. Magda O was quite red or like a beetroot in her own words.

At the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, there were carnival stalls, livestock (such as cattle) on display and of course, the rodeo. I went straight from church to the place with Omon while the others all came together, so i didn't really see them until the rodeo started at 3.45pm. We spent too much time walking in the carnival area and lost the chance to view the livestock and browse through the merchandise in another part of the area.

The rodeo was quite interesting as we watched events such as bull riding, chuck wagon racing, calf scramble and mutton bustin'. Bull riding is quite a dangerous sport but there were a few funny moments here and there. Calf scramble was another interesting event as the participants (all teens) had to catch a calf. It was a charity event as scramblers who manage to catch a calf will get a USD1,500 certificate to purchase a registered beef heifer. They will then be able to care for and raise the heifer until they return to the Houston Livestock Show the following year for a special competition. It was quite funny to see the 28 teens trying to catch 14 calves; some wrestling was definitely needed and it was also great to see the girls having no problems matching the boys. Mutton bustin' involved kids clinging to sheep, kind of like a kids version of bull riding. The kids latch onto the sheep and hold on for as long as they can. The eventual winner turned out to be a 5-year old girl :)

The rodeo finished off with a rock concert by ZZ Top. Yup, i don't know who they are too (i think most Malaysians don't). They turned out to be quite old guys; the two lead singers had really long white beards. They're quite big over here, but some of the other Georisers like JB have also heard of them. Not exactly my kind of music, but it was ok all the same. Even though it was a very loud rock concert, Shifa and Su Yin actually managed to fall asleep, ha ha.

After the concert, we were almost ready to go home when Hannah asked if anybody was interested in going for a ride on one of the attractions at the carnival. Cecile, JB and myself volunteered and we all had a go at the ride, called Tango which was this contraption with an arm that split into three limbs that lifted its occupants in the air and spins them around. It wasn't exactly that exhilirating and it was a bit short but it was still quite fun especially if you're not going at it alone. I bet it cleared up Hannah's runny nose for a while, ha ha.

The board says it all

Carnival!

Bull riding

Calf scramble

ZZ Top doing their thing

Monday came again and i seemed to be extremely tired from the weekend's activities. Somehow, i still managed to make it through the day without embarassing myself. By Tuesday, i was fresh again and had no problems concentrating on the class. No more packed weekends after this!

Today, the housing management of the Marquis held a small welcome reception and dinner for all of us. It was a nice gesture i must say and i didn't need to cook dinner, ha ha. Of course, this also means that tomorrow's lunch will probably be a microwave meal. I wonder how i'm going to finish the chicken i bought...

A return to the world of simple cooking

Days 40 and 41, 17th and 18th Mar 2009:

Day 40...another normal day. It was St. Patrick's Day and i was supposed to go with some of the others to Sherlock's (a local pub) but decided to FFK at the last minute. Decided not to go as i didn't seem to be in the mood for it, not to mention that i was feeling a little tired. So, i just went back to the apartment and to my suprise, actually sat down for about an hour and a half doing my CBT (revision using a company program). Crawled into bed just a little before 11pm and slept quite soundly until the next morning.

Today, we continued our training on Geophysics Fundamentals. The next few weeks will also be focused on the data processing. And it looks like we'll be having a little test by Friday. Seems to be quite a few things to balance, between doing the CBT, trying to figure out what to do for the next presentation and trying to revise for the test.

We're finally on our own for lunch starting from this week. We didn't had to worry about lunch the previous weeks as it was provided. As i wasn't really prepared for this transition (due to my empty fridge), i only had 3 bananas, a pear and a cup of hot chocolate for lunch today. Everybody else packed theirs or brought instant noodles. I had already eaten that as part of my dinner yesterday so i didn't want to repeat that. Later after class, we stopped at WalMart for supplies and i got rice, some vege and other stuff needed to cook. It's been 3 years since i last cooked anything apart from instant noodles, the last was during my nearshore job in Ca Mau, Vietnam (where the other guys made me cook since they said i was so free). In any case, i managed to whip up a very, very simple meal for dinner. Never mind that the rice was just a teeny bit wetter than i would have liked it, or the egg was slightly overcooked, it was a good meal...to me at least. Now, i kinda look forward to cooking a bit more in the coming weeks, ha ha.

Simple indeed, but it feels a bit like a milestone of sorts :p

A wet and cold but good weekend

Days 36 to 39, 13th to 16th Mar 2009:

Friday the 13th. It has always been associated with a day of bad luck, at least according to superstition. Nothing much on this day. We just continued with training on the XPS database manager. We did get feedback on our presentation the previous day though, through a one on one interview with Francois. As i suspected, i was too fast as i used up only 9 minutes of the allocated 15. There were a few more areas i could improve on but otherwise it was alright. My field evaluation was also ok, thank God :)

As it turned out, it was also Lukasz' birthday. The Polish girls got him a huge bottle of bubbles (i don't really know what you call it, it's the soap liquid that you use to blow bubbles with) as a present it was quite fun actually. Later that night, we partied at his unit. The girls brought his birthday cake along with a birthday balloon. I left around 11.30pm as i was shutting down by then but i think some of the others stayed until past 12.

The birthday boy with his bottle of bubbles :)

Cutting the birthday cake at his apartment

Saturday, the day of the game between the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs finally arrived. It was a wet and cold day, like the 2 or 3 days before it. The weather was just right at the start of the week when it suddenly turned wet and cold around Wednesday i think, probably around 10-15 degrees Celcius and Saturday was no different. I woke up feeling like crap, with my stomach giving me problems and my whole body seeming to ache everywhere. I think it was a combination of the relatively small lunch i had the previous day, with the greasy pizza for dinner and the bacardi with 5% alcohol at the birthday party that did me in. I ended up going to the toilet a few times throughout the day.

Anyway, we were supposed to meet up with Alain in front of the Toyota Center by 6.40pm. All of the guys arrived early at 6pm (the girls had already left the apartments to go shopping after lunch). It was still drizzling and it was cold and there we were standing outside with no tickets to go in, brrrr... Finally, Francois arrived at 6.40pm with the tickets while i had to go to the toilet inside. We got in and some of us bought some souvenirs at the Team Shop. I ended up with both a red Rockets jersey and a cap.

The game started off a little slow but got more intense later as the teams were neck and neck though the Spurs did have the advantage. I shouted myself hoarse trying to cheer the Rockets on, ha ha. There weren't as many dunks as i would have liked to see but there were quite a few interesting events during the time-outs. I especially liked the one where the Rockets mascot threw cakes at 3 Spurs fans...it was hilarious but unfortunately i didn't catch it on camera as i was enjoying it too much. The night ended with a loss for the Rockets but it was still a good match and it was really fun.

The Rockets getting fired up

For a 3-pointer

On Sunday, i finally attended church again. I went with Omon, a fellow Georiser from Nigeria and we went to Lakewood Church. Now this is really what you call a mega church. The church building is the Compaq Center, which used to house sports teams like the Houston Rockets so you have an idea of how huge it is. According to Wikipedia, it can seat up to 16,000 people. Huge! It was interesting experience going there and it was also interesting to see about 3 or 4 people of which half of them (or maybe all) protesting against the church for what they perceive to be a fake church used to gain profit. One of the signs held by a protester read "Fakewood Church" and "Joel Wolfstein". I think we'll be going back there next week anyway.

Inside Lakewood Church

Later in the afternoon, i became a part-time driving instructor. Melanie had asked for my help to teach her to drive before she goes for the real driving course as she will be staying on in Houston for another 9 months after the rest of us leaves. Why? Just to save money, he he. If she can practice now, she won't have to spend so much on practising later on. Frankly speaking, i was a bit apprehensive and there were one or two times where she panicked a bit but overall, it was ok. Guys, please keep me in prayer for this ya :p

Not much to talk about today. It was about project management today and the most interesting part of it was when we were divided into three teams and given the task to build a house using some white cards, a pair of scissors and some magic tape and masking tape. The house had to have 2 floors and 2 ceilings, complete with a ridged roof and chimney. The first floor had to have 2 windows and 2 doors which could be opened and the second had to have 2 windows which could be opened. Another limitation was that the masking tape cannot be on the outside, meaning it must be taped on the insides. We were given 50 minutes to design and plan and only 5 minutes to build as many houses as we can. Two of the teams, including ours only managed 1 house while the other team managed to build 4. There's actually a lot more than what i'm telling here but i don't want to spoil the suprise, just in case any of you might actually go through it as well, ha ha. In any case, i learned a few things here, including the fact that i can be overbearing at times, ha ha. Quite an insightful revelation, that one :)

A new post...at last

Days 26 to 35, 3rd to 12th Mar 2009:

Finally, some time to put up a new post. It's been 10 days since my last post and quite a lot has happened. I won't go into too much details; i'm not even sure i remember that much.

I left the base camp in Marmul on the 4th without having much time to say goodbye to some of the people there, partly again from my last minute attitude. I decided to stay in and not go out upon reaching Muscat...a mistake i was soon to find out. Since my flight back to Houston was on the 7th, i decided to wait until the next day to go exploring. Unfortunately, i forgot that this was an Islamic country and it was a Friday the next day. I spent Friday morning online and was prepared to go out at 12pm only to be informed that the shops will be closed until 4pm. So i had to wait a while. After lunch, i walked to the nearby beach and found that some sort of party was going on. A lot of Indians around and quite a few of them were flying kites as well.

4pm came and i went on a mini tour with Bala, the company driver. He charged me 7 Omani Rials to go around (which was about RM70) but i guess it's a good deal, plus the fact that this would be my only chance to go around in Muscat. He took me to the Mutrah Souq, which was like a flea market of sorts, one of the palaces of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said and finally to a street that resembled Little India in my opinion because it was practically filled with Indians and only a handful of Omanis. One thing that i really found beautiful about Muscat is the mountains surrounding the capital city. Really spectacular and the evening sun falling on them gives off a slightly romantic feel.

Near the Mutrah Souq in Muscat

The Mutrah Souq

In front of one of the Sultan's palaces

The beautiful mountains surrounding Muscat

So, it was back to Houston on the 7th. Another long, long, long flight. I did manage to get some interesting shots on the flight back though and here's one of them:

Somewhere over Dubai

Somewhere over the northeast coast of the North American continent

I reached Houston around 4pm local time the same day. Most of the others had already reached the Hilton Garden Inn and i was one of the last for the day. There were 2 more coming in on the next day and on the 10th respectively.

On Sunday the 8th, we checked out and moved into our apartments at the Marquis on Briar Forest. We each had our own single bedroom apartments and man, are they nice or what. The apartment is fully furnished with practically almost everything. There's a kitchen with stoves, an oven and microwave oven as well as a fridge. We got a washer and dryer to do our laundry, cable tv, walk-in closet and other stuff. There's definitely privacy but i think it would have been more fun with two in a two bedroom apartment instead of just one in a single bedroom apartment. They had to split us up between the units at Briar Forest and the units at Westheimer as they were unable to get 17 units in the same place. We also got 5 cars to share among the 17 of us as well and it really helps to have a car around Houston.

Block 13, which is where my unit is

The bedroom inside Unit 1325 of Block 13

The kitchen

The living room

Anyway, the reason why i haven't been posting lately is because i was trying to finish up my report and presentation. The presentation was today and i think i did alright, though i was a bit too fast and finished too early. Instead of using up the 15 minutes allocated, i finished in about 10 or maybe less. I wasn't too nervous but my hands were freezing when i started to give my presentation. And now that the first presentation is out of the way and my report more or less completed, i look forward to Saturday the 14th. Houston Rockets vs. the San Antonio Spurs!

Topic...confirmed, laziness...also confirmed

Days 19 to 25, 24th Feb to 2nd Mar 2009:

Finally, i'm posting a new blog. Was just too lazy to post for the past week, not to mention occasionally having a little more things to do here. Ok, maybe only for a day or two.

The past week was divided between visiting a few more departments/sections, working on my report and presentation, and twiddling my thumbs. Yes, i have the audacity to mention that i still have time to sit around shaking leg (the nerve of this guy!). I admit, i haven't exactly been really productive and as usual, am regretting it. I've got two or three more sections to cover, then i'm done. But work on my report and presentation only started about two or three days ago and i wasted a bit of time. I'll be trying to finish at least a draft of both by Wednesday coz i'll be flying to Muscat on the Thursday and then back to Houston on Saturday (7th of March).

So, what else has been happening besides that? I spent the morning of the 24th with Mohd again, scouting for a new area to move the recorder truck to. Actually, i was supposed to go with the vibe pushers in the morning but one thing led to another and i ended up with Mohd. After he had finished scouting the area, he asked if i wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon with the vibe pushers but i was feeling too lazy by then, so i just followed him back to camp after lunch.

The 'nodding donkey'

The next day, i went with Mansoor, one of the line foremans. I suppose he's a bit old now though as his hair and beard are graying, but i won't hazard a guess since i suck at guessing people's ages. He supervises the line crew who pick-up/lay-out the cables and geophones. I spent only about an hour with him before he sent me to one of the vibe pushers. Originally, the plan was to spend the morning with him and the afternoon with the vibe pushers but since i pretty much already understood how they did things, i agreed to hop on to the vibe pusher's truck.

One of the line crew members picking-up the cable in the morning fog

The rest of the morning was spent with Abdullah or Abadi as his friends call him (since there were a few Abdullahs around). His command of English was just marginal but he tried his best to explain his responsibilities and how the shooting plan currently was. Again, there wasn't that much to fill up a whole two or three hours and i actually ended up napping for a while after the whole story was finished. I tried making small talk with him after that but i ran out of things to ask him too. Towards lunch, the vibes under his care were serviced one by one by the field mechanics and i got to get up close and personal with the machines. Since the vibes basically operate 24 hours, they have to be refueled and serviced in the field itself.

The DSD (Digital Servo Drive) unit inside the vibe.
This thingy here receives commands from the DPG (Digital Pilot Generator) in the recorder truck which tells it when to vibrate

One of the vibes being serviced

One of the mechanics got into a minor accident in which he ended up with a really painful and bleeding (rather profusely) finger tip. One of the J.O.s who was nearby was then called to fetch him back to camp to have his finger treated. In the mean time, Abadi helped bandage his finger. My lunch at this time was supposed to have been sent with Abadi's but it got sent to the recorder truck instead. So Abadi asked the J.O. for his help to pick-up my lunch. I decided to follow the J.O. instead, to save him the trouble of coming back to deliver it. Since he had to drop the mechanic off first, i ended up going back to camp again. Earlier i had asked Rakesh (one of the observers at the recorder truck) to arrange for my lunch to be sent with Abdullah's but i guess i didn't pass the message correctly which ended up with my lunch getting sent to the recorder truck. On the way back to camp, he sounded a little annoyed after the J.O. told him I that i was with him, saying something like he should have been informed first. Whether that was directed at me or the J.O. i'm not sure, but it was partly my fault anyway.

On the 26th, i visited the Obs Workshop. This is where all the electronic equipment is maintained and repaired. I wanted to talk to Ian (i think he's Scottish) as he is quite experienced but he was a bit stressed out with a network problem and was trying to sort it out. So i talked with Randy (a Filipino) and asked him about the stuff they do over there. Randy's quite experienced as well, though not as much as Ian as he had just been transferred to that department recently. After getting the information i needed, he passed me to Francis who is the supervisor of the geophone workshop. There, they repair or replace the many geophones that have problems in the line. Francis is a little Indian guy who seems quite old. It seems that all the supervisory level people are old timers in this crew. Not necessarily old, so to speak but with at least an average of 10 years of experience. So, he showed me around, explaining how they repair the geophones, or in half of the cases, replace them. I got one of the magnets inside the spoilt geophones as a souvenir (but you can see these things all over camp anyway). The rest of the morning, i spent looking at a manual in the Obs Workshop. Suprise, suprise...i found material for my proposed topic (which was still not yet confirmed).

A geophone string. That yellow thing with the sharp spike is the geophone and it can detect your heartbeat if held in your fingers

The next day was spent with the Survey department. It seems i caught Trevor offguard as Mohd forgot to inform him i was coming over. In any case, i followed one of the GPS guys as they went out to mark the vibro points (or VPs) and geophone string points. The guy i followed was another Indian veteran named Vijay. Again, after about an hour's worth of explaining and questions, i had nothing else to ask. I had to sit in the back this time as the passenger side was just filled with the small biodegradable plastic sandbags used to mark the points. The truck has a GPS antenna just above and a little behind the driver's seat so what he does is to drive to the location and drop the bag out of the truck. It has to be within 30cm of the mark, so there's quite a bit of driving, stopping and reversing to do. Sitting in the back, going back and forth and sometimes through bumpy paths, i couldn't help but feel a little dizzy and eventually fell asleep. Thankfully, he had planned out his course well so when he finished the second line we were only approximately 2km away from camp. He dropped me off around 1.30pm before heading back to finish his work for the day. I didn't really pray to God to send me back early but twice He delivered. He truly understands what our hearts desire, even though we don't voice it out. Don't get me wrong about the whole thing though, i do think that it's a bit boring doing what these people do out here in the field but it's even more so when you're just tagging along and not having to work with them.

My second day with the survey department was again spent in a truck, this time with Al (short for Alfredo, who is the only other Filipino in the camp) and Imran (a Pakistani). These guys map the routes for the vibes at night as it is more dangerous at night due to the darkness. Basically, all they do is do a lot of driving. They just program the GPS receiver, called a Garmin to record as they drive around areas where the terrain is more hilly or where there's hazards, such as structures along the source lines. Once again, i couldn't help but doze off after i switched seats with Imran at the back...sigh. As most of the area they needed to cover was flat, we were back in camp in time for lunch.

The next day, as Trevor was still busy sorting out his problems, i spent the morning going round camp with Keef, the British Chief Mechanic. It was supposed to be just around the workshop but it somehow ended up with him showing me around the whole camp. Among some of the places we dropped by was the junior staff kitchen, the junior staff quarters and even the make-shift mosque. It was also interesting to learn that all the used water (fr0m the kitchen and showers) and the waste was treated in two large tanks behind the camp. These tanks use bacteria to break down the waste before discharging it in the desert. And i was wondering why there were sprinklers in the desert...mystery solved.

Today, Trevor finally had a little bit of time to describe how the survey department operates. The morning was spent with him in his office. He even printed some notes for my reference. Later in the afternoon, it was a short interview with Steve, the Australian party manager and a short session with Stephane (a Frenchman) in the QC department. It's just amazing how all the crew here are so helpful, giving you the time of the day to answer your questions and all while they have their own work that needs to be done.

Well, that about wraps up one week's worth of blogging all in one post, ha ha. Tomorrow, i will be tying up all the loose ends before fully concentrating on my field report and presentation. It's high time i use a sentence without the word 'try' in it.