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.