Welcome to Mike’s 2013 Blog
Year 9
 
 
To close out 2012, I was in Qatar - AGAIN - for Christmas and New Years. My contract had expired in November 2012 - prior to expiration, I had asked for a modest raise and the client declined to increase my day rate. So I kept working and started to look around at other opportunities. I found one that suited my desires of an increase in salary, better location and Tay could be with me. I went on leave to Thailand in early January and never went back to Qatar. My contract had expired and as I had never signed the new one, I felt that I had honored the terms and conditions. As I had been hired for the new job, the only thing to left to complete was the medical. I passed the medical and headed to Lumut, Malaysia in late January 2013. This was a huge change in the scenery - from sand to lots of green and lots of trees. the pictures above are of the camp in Qatar. What’s New in 2013 ? I arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL) on January 25 met up with one of my old colleagues from Qatar who as already working with the project in Malaysia. We were met at the airport and took a 4 hour ride to Lumut. We arrived very late and I finally got to bed around 1am with a 06:30 wake-up call. So off to work in the morning and getting settled into a new job. I was taking over from my colleague from Qatar as he was being transferred. I had about a week to get trained up before I was going solo. The job is very straight forward and well within my abilities so I feel very relaxed and not the same stress as in Qatar. I spent about a week in a hotel before I was moved into a new accommodation. The pictures above are from the camp in Qatar. The rooms were basic and about 300 square feet (30 square meters) with a small kitchenette but the rules were that you could not cook in the room. You were supposed to eat at the canteen, bye bye Qatar. The accommodation that I moved into is a duplex with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths across 2 stories. The area that I am living in is an extension of a older sub-division. There is a mix of town-homes, duplex and single family houses in the area. The duplex I am in is new so it is in good condition and the furnishings are adequate. Everything is paid for - the house, Internet, cable TV, electric and water. All I have to do is buy the food. I have a rent a car and they pay the gas. It is a good deal for me, I am making more money, full benefits, and best of all, Tay can come to be with me. She can come to Malaysia for 30 days and no visa. We are only 1 hour time difference instead of 4 hours. The flight time is 2 hours. The only down side is that the drive time from KL to the house is 4 hours. Door to door - Lumut to Pattaya - is about 10 hours. I think this job will last through the end of the year. We shall see. After living in the camp in Qatar for 3 years there is some adjusting for me. In the camp everything was done for you. They did the cleaning, laundry, and cooking. All you had to do was get up, eat, work and sleep. Well ..... it isn’t quite as robotic as I make it sound. There was a small store but to get to real shopping was a bit of a chore in Qatar as we were not near any population centers. The adjustments that I have to make are to remind myself to go to the grocery store, do the laundry, gas up the car.......... It is refreshing to be back to a more normal living situation. I also get to do my own cooking. I enjoy cooking up a nice Sunday breakfast of a very cheesy omelet with green peppers, bacon, toast, a nice glass of ruby-red and a cup of coffee. The Lumut area is growing. They have built some new centers such as a Tesco and Aeon over the past 2 years which makes the shopping ok but limited compared to larger population centers such as KL or Bangkok. The selection of food stuffs is asian - OH - I must be in Asia. Lots of fish and Chinese brands. The population is a mix of Malaysian, Indonesia, Indian, Nepalese and Chinese. There are some western brands but I get a better selection in Pattaya. The western expat community is growing here so I am sure in the future the variety will grow. Seri Manjung is the main population center surrounded by Lumut and Sitiawan. Lumut, is a coastal town in the state of Perak, Malaysia, about 12 km from the town of Sitiawan and it is the gateway to Pangkor Island. It is a small sea-side town noted for its’ local seashell, coral handicrafts and dried fish - photo on the left. It is located on the coast about half way between KL and Penang. The word ‘Lumut’ in the local language means moss. In its’ early days, the beach was rich in moss, so they named the area Lumut. There is a naval ship building yard, off-shore rig construction including topsides for the off-shore rigs and palm oil refining. At times there is an odor in the air that smells similar to toast - at least that is what my nose tells me. They tell me the odor is from the palm oil refining process. Lumut is also the main departure point to Pangkor Island. I arrived in Malaysia in late January. Tay came to stay with me in mid-March for about 3 weeks. It was great to come home from work and have a real home cooked meal waiting for me. She made some green curry chicken as well as some chicken cashew - Yuummmm!!!! There are number of good local restaurants and course the usual world-wide fast food places such as KFC, Dominos, and Mickey D’s - Oh and Starbucks. I am back to working a 8 weeks on and 2 weeks off schedule and 60 hours a week. I had my first leave in early April. By now Tay is home sick and wants to get back to Thailand. Tay and I went to KL and caught the late afternoon flight to Bangkok. We arrived back in Pattaya late in the evening March 30th. We caught up on some errands and chilled out. While in Lumut we had discussed going to the USA on my next leave in June. I had made an appointment for her to go to the US Embassy to get a new visa. The day before the appointment we went to Bangkok. We did some shopping and she went to the embassy the next morning for the interview. I am happy to say that this time the embassy granted her a 10 year visa - Yiiipppeee!!!! Now future trips can be a bit more spontaneous. I returned to Lumut in mid-April. I have been on the hunt for a gym for a work out. Lots of hole-in-the-wall gyms but nothing like I get in Thailand or the USA. Finally ...... 3 months later - yeah maybeee I was just being lazy!!!! - anyhow I finally found a spot for me and Tay to get a work out. This should keep her happy. She will come back to Lumut early in May for a couple of weeks then return to Pattaya to get ready for our trip to the USA. We will be very busy traveling. The main purpose is to go visit some family on the east coast. We will spend about 5 days in the LA and Las Vegas area, then off to Boston and north to Maine. We will spend 4 days visiting and then back to LA - a days rest before flying back to Bangkok. The next day I will be off to Malaysia again. I will not even have time to go home to Pattaya. Well ......... I do have time but a lot of driving just to turn around and go back to the airport. They do drive like the wild west over here, cut corners, drive motor bikes on the wrong side of the road, at times actually pass on a 2 lane road and expect you - the on coming car in your own lane to move over to the shoulder - which you do - as you don’t want to be in the accident that the other fool wants to create. Lots of motor bikes and bicycles - so driving can be an adventure. There are a number of golf-courses around but I am not a golfer - I would be more like - hit the ball if I am lucky. UPDATE - UPDATE - UPDATE - UPDATE I have been a bit slow this year with the blog. I have been busy with various activities. After I had my leave in April I returned to Lumut and carried on with work. Tay came to visit again. As there is not a lot for her to do here, we decided that she would come for 3 weekends then return to Thailand. She arrives on a Saturday - and then leaves on a Monday 2 weeks later. This gives us 3 week-ends together. While she is here I get to eat great meals, we do a little bit of shopping and enjoy each others company. Now that Tay has a multi-entry visa for the USA we planned a trip. We decided to go to the USA in June and get over to the east coast - Maine - to visit some family. I left KL and went to Bangkok and met Tay at the Novotel Airport Hotel and spent the night. There was no reason to drive to Pattaya - get there at 9pm - then have to drive back to Bangkok at 2am for a 4am checkin with a 6am departure. So off we went into the wild blue yonder on United - they had the best business class fares over everyone else, which surprised me. We got to LAX and went down to Fountain Valley to see our friends Barbara, Leslie and Andy. I spent 2 days involved with doctors appointments. Then we headed up to Camarillo north of LA to visit with a friend of mine from boarding school days. Tay and I spent 2 days visiting with Daniel and Felicia. We had a good time, great food, and lots of shopping for Tay at the Outlet Malls. Daniel has a ginormous collection of motor bikes and it is always a treat to see what his latest additions to the collection. At least one of which has won some awards. We returned to the LA area for another doctors appointment and got ready to take the Friday red-eye to Boston. We arrived in Boston and picked up the rent-a-car from Avis. Got into the car and it was full of trash from the previous renter. Got it cleaned out and off we went using the Gamin GPS. I thought I followed the directions but ended with a wrong turn - I finally got it sorted out and headed the right direction up I-95 to Kittery Point, Maine. I had been there once before about 20 years ago and the GPS said that we had arrived but I was sure we had not arrived. I kept going down the road and finally saw a familiar house - well it was sorta familiar - it has been about 20 years. I got out the cell phone and - yupppp - no signal. Finally I found a signal and confirmed that we had arrived. We got settled in with my Aunt and Uncle - Alice Mary and Garvin. Later that day my cousin Morgan come over and then my cousin Paul with his wife Debbie came up from Cape Cod. It had been many years since I had seen them and of course Tay’s first time meeting any of my relatives. Paul and Deb stayed for 2 days and then went back to Cape Cod. Later my brother Tim showed up from Denver. So we all hung out and talked, threw the ball for Maggie the dog, and caught up on various things. We did a little local sight seeing and of course more shopping at the Kittery Outlet Malls. It was an enjoyable but fast 5 days. I picked June as I figured the weather would be summer-like - NOT - it was cloudy and rained 3 of the days - well it might have been summer like for Kittery, Maine. For me this is not a problem but for Tay who is used to 80-90 degree F weather basically year around it was a bit chilly. On the way out of town we all stopped for a good-bye lunch and then it was off to the Boston Airport. We headed back to LAX as I had one more doctors appointment to keep. We also wanted a day to finish up any shopping and relax before heading back to Thailand. On our last night in LA we went up to Pasadena to visit with my friend Candy. We went to dinner and then Candy took us back to our motel at LAX. The next morning Tay and I were up and checked in for the trip back to Bangkok. One thing that I noticed is that the US airlines cabin crew don't put up with any crap about following the rules on board from the passengers as compared to the Asian or mid-east carriers - rather refreshing that the rules are enforced. We arrived back in Bangkok at about 11pm. Again we stayed at the Novotel as there was no point to arrive back in Pattaya at 2am and then take me back to the airport at 9am for a 11am check in for my flight to KL. Tay and I had a nice trip even if it was short. We wanted to go to Las Vegas but we would not have had time to enjoy LV so we opted to spend as much time in Maine and LA as possible. Hopefully our next trip to the USA will not be as pressed for time. So I returned to Lumut and another 8 weeks. Tay came to visit for the 3 week-ends. It is always a treat to have her visit. Nothing special happening at work - just moving through the process of construction and shipping of the completed equipment. I took my next leave in August and was home for my birthday. Tay and I just stayed around Pattaya except for a overnight trip to Bangkok for some shopping. My birthday present was a coffee maker that does everything except drink the coffee for you. It was expensive but I am enjoying the brew. Tay got to get her birthday present early - the Louis Vuitton bag that she has been after for quite a while. I returned to Malaysia and continued on with the project. Tay came for another visit. Unfortunately she returned to Thailand before her birthday as she had an earlier commitment so we were not able to celebrate her birthday together. I took what will be my last leave for this part project at the end of October. Nothing special going on - we did another overnight trip to Bangkok for some shopping before I returned to Malaysia. I arrived back at the beginning of November. I looked around and did not see any turkey - lots of chicken. So on Thanksgiving I settled for a ham and cheese sandwich - at least it was homemade - as all TG dinners should be - just my opinion. I will be here for Christmas and likely New Years. They have money in the budget for my position to the end of January 2014 but if the work is completed then I will be headed home early to Pattaya. This is a huge project with a number of other work sites and I am hopeful that they will keep me and transfer me to another site. I have had some solicitations for various other projects over the past months and have I have indicated that I would be available in January. We shall see what happens. I have been saving my money and own what I live in so my just need enough to pay the bills and put food on the table. As I write this, there is a bunch of unrest in the Bangkok area between the current legally elected government and some other opposition groups that want a change. Thai politics is always interesting to watch. The main area of unrest is in Bangkok. So far this time the opposition had indicated that they will not try to occupy the airport as happened several years ago. The latest is that they have called for new elections but the opposition says that this is not enough. Some folks just don't want to get along. I will close out my 2013 Blog and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope that everyone enjoys Christmas and ringing in the New Year. Please be safe, get lots of presents, give even more, eat lots of great food, and even more pie. Stay Tuned For Mike’s 2014 Blog