Bali: Eat Love Pray

This trip is one of the four trips which I had planned four years ago in 2015, I decided to go Taiwan first mainly because of Chinese New Year and later also went to Ha Long Bay Vietnam last year after I heard about the largest cave and prawn fishing. Frankly speaking I had lost interest on the last trip to Krabi Thailand as I realized that  I am not that much into Beaches and Swimming Pools.



A lot of my trip are happen by chances, I was planning for my St John Island Chalet for End November and Bangkok Thailand trip on Early December. When my friend Dennis told me to join him for Bali Trip I told him I had plan for other activities during that period. We had planned for the Chimelong Safari Zoo trip in Pangyu Guangzhou China before but end up our schedule could not match and he went for other trip instead.



I encounter some issues when I am trying to book for St John Island Chalet mainly because it require a permit for an event and the Chalet I wanted did not appear in the option list after I had gone through so much trouble trying to apply for the permit. So I told Dennis that I will join him as I had change my plan for the St John Island Chalet.



Dennis is very excited when he hear about this, but I could not join him on the first day because I am not so interested in Temple and Cliff. The other reason is that I had encounter some issues during my previous Vietnam Trip and I know I had to plan for my trips with shorter duration of about three to four days.



Dennis had a very good ideas of staying at different hotel on different days to reduce the traveling time require, I had encounter this method during my Jiangnan China Trip in 2012 and Taiwan Trip in 2015 but it was mainly use by Tour Group.



I initially planned to book the same hotel but the hotel which he book in Jimbaran and Ubud are very popular and had no more rooms available. So I book for different hotel nearby and we can visit each other and experience different hotel stay to maximize our resources.






27th November Wednesday Jimbaran



We reach the Airport at 0830 hrs, after check in we decided to visit the Jewel Mall. Dennis had book for very early morning Jetstar Flight which is cheaper and I had choose Scoot TR284 from 1030 hrs to 1320 hrs at S$263 for better timing.



Dennis told me that the beer cost more than we expected and advise me to buy a bottle of Vodka or Gin and bring over. I thought he did not buy before he fly but later I was told by his wife that he always buy a bottle for every trip when we drink at his hotel in Ubud on the third day.



As I don't really like the strong taste of Scott, Vodka and Gin, I had choose the mild taste of either Bourbon, Rum or Tequila. I was planning to buy the Bacardi at S$23 when the sales lady told me that 2 bottle of Jack Daniel at S$96 will get me a nice Free Gift of Leather Bag. As I am really crazy about Leather Bags, I decided to spend more for a chance for the Changi Millionaire Draw.



We arrive late as our flight delay for 30 minutes due to com issues and my original planned schedule had been delayed by an hour. Dennis advice me to get Blue Bird Taxi at Departure Hall which is cheaper, the other transport at Arrival Hall cost from 90 Rupiah (S$9) to 230 Rupiah (S$23). I manage to spend 50 Rupiah (S$5) for the trip.



We arrive at Anja Jimbaran Hotel around 1430 hrs and check in to  Room 314, it cost S$80 on Trip, $113 on Agoda and $120 on Booking. 4 Star 9.3 Rating and Fabulous Breakfast Buffet, I think Breakfast is the most important meal for the day and a Hotel with good breakfast could not be that bad.

Dennis stay at Kubu Kak Dudung Villas near Movenpick Hotel which cost about S$35 and he manage to get it at a price lower than $30 with Agoda Membership, they encounter difficulty accessing the beach as there are too many restaurant and pub fighting for business.



We had High Tea instead of Late Lunch at Cuca Restaurant around 1500 hrs, it is just across the road from our hotel. We had Crispy Fried Chicken 90 Rupiah (S$9), Pork Buns 70 Rupiah (S$7), Scallops 50 Rupiah (S$5), Rosella and Lemongrass Infusion 70 Rupiah (S$7). There is a 11% Tax 31 Rupiah (S$3) and 8% Service 23 Rupiah (S$2.50).



We went back to hotel for a short nap at 1600 hrs and walk along the beach at 1815 hrs to view Sunset and meet Dennis for Dinner. We arrive at 1900 hrs and Dennis say he will reach at 1930 hrs as he went for Massage. He advise me to download the Taxi app for easy booking, the Taxi Drivers hate Private Hire Car like Grab and Gojek.



We had Dinner at Wahaha Pork Rib, Pork Knuckle 188 Rupiah (S$19), Pork Ribs 168 Rupiah (S$17), Roast Pork Belly 78 Rupiah (S$8), Green Booster (Pineapple with Lime) 38 Rupiah (S$4), Avocado 38 Rupiah (S$4). There is 11% Tax 72 Rupiah (S$7.50) and 8% Service 52 Rupiah (S$5.50). Pork Rib is nice but Knuckle a bit salty, Pork Belly taste worst than the usual Roast Pork we had in Singapore.

We brought two bottle of Coke for 35 Rupiah (S$3.50) and took
Taxi 30 Rupiah (S$3) back to my hotel for our drinking session at 2100 hrs. Talk about stars, conspiracy theories, and sailing life until 2300 hrs.






28th November Thursday Safari



We wake up at 0700 hrs and had Breakfast at 0730 hrs, we had Pancake, Bacon and Mushroom, Yogurt, Sausage and Vegetable. We check out at 0800 hrs and went to Safari early as I had no much to do here at the beach. Taxi took 90 minutes Taxi and cost 270 Rupiah (S$27).

We arrive at Mara River Safari Lodge Bali and check in to Room 112 at around 0930 hrs. It cost 2348 Rupiah (S$235) to 2810 Rupiah (S$281) 4 Star 8.5 Rating, Very Good Breakfast with Lion.
It had Welcome Drink, Fruit Basket, Safari Park Entry. We took the Honey Moon Package at 2797 Rupiah (S$280) to 3423 Rupiah (S$343) which had Honeymoon Cake and One Hour Massage and Romantic Dinner with Lion. It had 21% Tax 625 Rupiah (S$63).



I actually planned to stay at Villa L Orange at S$82, and buy the afternoon 1400 hrs Safari Ticket at 540 Rupiah (S$54). But it only allow one Safari Journey and I am afraid that we would not be able to finish the attractions within 3 hours and will miss a lot of performance shows. The full day ticket is 990 Rupiah (S$99) to 1800 Rupiah (S$180) for VIP, so staying inside the Safari seem cheaper as with the same price I get the Honey Moon Package.



As we can only have the room at 1400 hrs, we decided to tour the Safari Zoo and Aquarium first. We saw Meerkat Feeding and Giraffe Feeding at Tsavo Lion Restaurant, we saw Elephant Bathing and Feeding at 1000 hrs at Ganesha Court. Visit the Aquarium first before we went for Animal Show at 1030 hrs at Hanuman Stage.



We proceed for Tiger Show at 1115 hrs in Harimau Amphitheater and Elephant Show at 1200 hrs in Kampung Gajah. We had lunch at 1230 hrs in Warung Gajah, Satay 48 Rupiah (S$5), Noodle 33 Rupiah (S$3.50), Coconut 25 Rupiah (S$2.50), Orange Juice 30 Rupiah (S$3).



We went for Safari Journey at 1300 hrs, to our surprise the hotel guest get unlimited ride instead of one ride as compare to normal ticket entry. I really like the Safari Journey here as the Truck is Air Condition and it stop at every points for a while and let us take photos while they do introduction. We took two ride and went back to lobby to get our room key, book Massage for 1700 hrs.

We went for Romantic Dinner at Tsavo Lion Restaurant at 1830 hrs, we had Sparkling Wine, Salad, Pumpkin Soup, Stuffed Chicken and Tiramisu. We watch Fire Dance at 2000 hrs just outside the restaurant after our dinner.

 

29th November Friday Ubud

We had Breakfast with Lion at Tsavo Lion Restaurant at 0830 hrs, as the attraction is smaller than expected and we had nothing planned we decided to go for two more Safari Journey Ride before we check out at 1200 hrs.

As the Taxi is not allow to pick up at the Safari we ask the hotel to arrange for Transport for 250 Rupiah (S$25) to go to Ubud. We arrive at In Da Garden Home Stay and check in to Room 7 at 1315 hrs, it cost $31 on Trip, $37 on Hotel and $38 on Booking with 2 Star 9.5 Rating and Fabulous Breakfast.

Dennis stay at Yuni House near Ubud Market, it cost about S$37 and he got it for below $30 with Agoda Membership. He was relaxing by the pool while his wife went shopping and ask me to join him for early drinking sessions by the pool.

We had Lunch at Toro Sushi just outside our hotel at 1330 hrs, we had Bento 70 Rupiah (S$7), Salmon Don 68 Rupiah (S$7), Mango 35 Rupiah (S$3.50). It had 10% Tax 19 Rupiah (S$2) and 5% Service 9 Rupiah (S$1). We went to visit Dennis at the Ubud Market after that and they went for their lunch nearby and bring us around Ubud Market for some shopping.

We brought T Shirt 50 Rupiah (S$5), Singlets 100 Rupiah (S$10), Dress 90 Rupiah (S$9), Slippers 300 Rupiah (S$30), Slipper 200 Rupiah (S$20). We had Coconut 25 Rupiah (S$2.50) at 1730 hrs just outside our hotel before we shower and prepare to go for dinner at 1900 hrs.



We meet Dennis at Mamma Mia at 2000 hrs, we walk around while we wait as he went for massage again with his wife. Brought Owl for 20 Rupiah (S$2), Duck for 10 Rupiah (S$1) and Note Books for 50 Rupiah (S$5). We had Pizza 150 Rupiah (S$15), Spaghetti 125 Rupiah (S$12.50), Mango 25 Rupiah (S$2.50), Orange 40 Rupiah (S$4), Ice Tea 20 Rupiah (S$2). We went to his hotel for drinking session after dinner at 2130 hrs and left around 2330 hrs, this time we talk about families.

 

30th November Saturday

We had Breakfast at 0830 hrs, we had Egg Sandwich, Toast and Omelette. We brought Soap 55 Rupiah (S$5.50) and Shot Glass 45 Rupiah (S$4.50). We decided to visit Monkey Sanctuary 160 Rupiah (S$16) as there are nothing much to buy in Ubud Market. We brought Toiletries Pouch 60 Rupiah (S$6), Coconut Snacks 160 Rupiah (S$16).

We check out at 1200 hrs, we planned to have lunch at the hotel but the owner is celebrating anniversary with wife. So we went to for Coconut 25 Rupiah (S$2.50) and Lunch at Toro Restaurant at 1230 hrs. We had Chicken Don 57 Rupiah (S$6), Prawn Don 57 Rupiah (S$6), Fried Dumplings 35 Rupiah (S$3.50), Mango 35 Rupiah (S$3.50), Green Tea 18 Rupiah ($2). It had 10% Tax 21 Rupiah (S$2.5) and 5% Service 10 Rupiah (S$1).

I had try to book for Taxi at 1330 hrs and it got cancel after 15 minutes and the second booking also refuse to come and insist we got to Monkey Sanctuary for pick up. Finally one Taxi Driver was brave enough to enter Dangerous Ground and bring us to Airport at 270 Rupiah (S$27). I give him 300 Rupiah (S$30) instead for his bravery as I did not know about the conflict between the Local Private Hired Taxi Drivers with Official Metered Taxi Blue Bird.



We reach Airport at 1530 hrs and brought some Soaps 450 Rupiah (S$45). We had Dinner at 1730 hrs before we board our flight, we had Sandwich and Coke 110 Rupiah (S$11), Croissant and Tea 100 Rupiah (S$10). Our flight delay for about an hour and we arrive back in Singapore at 2200 hrs.



Bali Eat Love Pray, Eat at Jimbaran, Love at Safari and Pray at Ubud.

Sweet Home 3D

This project actually kick off in year 2000 when I came back for my 1 year Advance Diploma, but that time it was only restricted to my own bed room due to a dominating mother. We had decided to move into this 5 Rooms HDB in 1996 December due to the upgrading project of our previous 3 Rooms HDB. The whole renovation was control by my mom and the only thing I am allow to make decision is the paint color for the doors and walls. I wanted to keep the balcony and the store room but my mom decided to remove it for her living expansion project. She even open a view window from the kitchen so that she is able to see the main door from the kitchen and most of the budget are spend on her kitchen cupboard as expected and the antique sofa and cupboard set for the living room.



I actually wanted a lighter tone marble or granite tiles for the living room and bed rooms, but the contractor claim that there are shortage in the materials and change the bed room to normal ceramic tiles and the living room to darker tone granite tiles. The granite tiles also became my mom selected material for her kitchen cupboard top and dining table which left us with not much budget for bed room light which is using florescence light bulbs for quite a numbers of years when I finally get to replace it with LED Light later in 2013 when I did the third phrase of my Sweet Home 3D Project.


The first phrase is year 2000 where I install a window mounted Air Con with a Sony CRT TV for my PlayStation Gaming Console. I brought a TV Cupboard, CD Rack and a Book Shelf from Ikea. I also install some mirrors at the common corridor outside the bed rooms which became a popular site for my mom and sis for their clothes fitting. She also requested me to install the left over spare mirror at the wall near to the main door for her and my sis to view themselves before they leave the house.


The Book Shelf is place beside my Desktop Computer in the Dinning Room which later been modify with wheel below for my mom Kitchen in 2013 when I finally manage to win the territorial war and get to trade the share dinning room for the storage room / changing room / study room combo because of the Air Con Installation which was carry out way back in 2007 when I get married.

 

 

The second phrase of the project is carry out in year 2007 when I am getting married and plan to replace my single bed into double bed. My mom did not kept the promise of switching the master bed room as she is so use to the attached bath room toilet, so I had to work with my existing bed room which is near to the common share bath room toilet which is near to the kitchen.

The bed and wardrobe had been replace to accommodate the additional of one more person which is my wife, and other than Air Con Installation for all the three Bed Rooms I also decided to customize the Book Shelf and the Cupboard / Desk to better make use of the space indent into the wall and below the windows. My Cousin Ronnie is able to make the deep drawers an cupboard which I had requested and it really help me utilize the storage space in such a restricted area.

The bed was chosen with bed board and drawers storage which use to keep some consumable items and clothing, the customize book shelf also create a small table top and hidden storage space at the side of the bed which is near to the wall. The wardrobe had been chosen with some drawers for my wife to keep her jewellery and accessories, and I got some hook to stick at the side of the wardrobe and wall to hang clothes.

I had decided to install the Air Con just on top of the doors to save space and the remote controller is locate near to the light switch for easy access. The desk use to be use for my study and work but slowly it became the make up corner for my wife as I am using the computer desk at the dinning room more.

Phrase three which was carry out in year 2013 is the most elaborated of the whole project, it involve the customize shoe cupboard, phone corner and chest storage / sofa for the living room. It also involve the switching of the original storage room and dining room which I plan to make a study / guest room when I saw some Malaysia Relatives had to share master bed room and living room with my mom for the night when they came to attend my grand father funeral the year before.


Let focus on the living room first, the plan is to customize a shoe cupboard near the door to make it more tidy. It also provide a cupboard top just below the windows for my mom to put stuff which she need before she leave the house. The next innovative idea is to make a small sofa cupboard at the corner just outside the kitchen which allow my mom to sit comfortably while she chat on the phone.


The other innovative idea is the chest storage / sofa which my Cousin Ronnie had never came across before. He later manage to use this design concept on many of his renovation project and gain a lot of popularity with his customers. As I am sick of the original sofa cover tearing after short period of usage, I also customize leather cover for both the antique and chest storage sofa for easy maintenance and durability.

 Now for the best part which is the study / guest room, the main challenge for this project is to find a sofa bed which is able to accommodate more than two people. Most of the sofa bed are not suitable as it only able to accommodate either one or two people at the most, it took me long time to finally find this sofa bed which can accommodate three people.


The rest of the study room is a per previous second phrase which involve customize book shelf and desk cupboard which are able to utilize the indent on wall and below windows. The desk customize for two as I take into consideration of my wife and other guests which might want to share the space together with me. I also get a three piece stack able coffee table which I use one for my bed room, and two for the study / guest room which is also difficult to find due to the specific dimension I need.

The final stage of phrase three is the conversion of dining room into store room, I had configure the room in a way that it will allow me to easily change it into an addition bed room if require. It had been tested and proven by my mom when one of my aunt need to stay for short period while waiting for her new home renovation to be completed. The living room had also been use by my mom to accommodate the Malaysia Relative for short period when he need to find a new place when he decided to come to Singapore to work.


I actually told my mom to use the study / guest room but she is not keen as she think it might invade my privacy, I later use it for two of my friends when they need to stay for a short period when they visit Singapore. The storage room main challenge is to maximize the storage area for my mom to keep all her junks, so storage rack with heavy capacity were selected which allow her stuff to be more tidy instead of laying all over the floor previously.


The cupboard / desk / wardrobe combination had all been use to store her junks like the chest storage sofa and she still complain that it is not enough. And to my surprise there are still a lot of stuffs laying around on the floor of the master bed room which I don't understand the purpose of. I also finally manage to install curtains for all the bed room and replace the grill with better quality one.

The grand finale would be the LED Light which I had chosen to save the environment by reducing carbon footprint, Cousin Ronnie had suggested a much simple design as he think the glass panel will collect dust. But my uncle later also chose the same design for his new home which prove my taste in design are more suitable for general public. My mom requested a fan when she saw the other uncle had in their living room, and she also requested to convert a useless water heater switch outside her master bed room connecting bath room toilet to a power plug for her hair dryer.


I finally manage to get better light for the bed rooms and do not have to keep climbing ladder to replace light bulbs and keeping stock of wide variety of florescence light bulb. The remaining phrase of the project will be the master bed room, kitchen and bath room toilet in the future. Planning to install those washing basin recycle water to toilet flushing arrangement, and also a semi circle cupboard under the windows with hanging chair for master bed room.


I also make use of this opportunity to install LAN Cable from the living room to my bed room and study room for better and faster internet coverage. As we progress in life, we must consider the usage of space and utilities supply. We must fully utilize limited space and also think of environment protection, I had replace the shower head with water saving design in year 2012 when I saw it on a website on deal.

The TV were switch to LED once to Sansung in year 2007 and recently again in year 2017 to Philips, the water heater had been replace in year 2009 with Ariston and recently in year 2014 with Joven after the stainless steel pipe leak due to corrosion. I had brought the Sanyo Ultra Sonic Top Load Washing Machine to replace the Side Load Toshiba Washing Machine which we shifted from old home in year 2000, but it was again replace by my mom with Panasonic Water Saving Washing Machine in year 2014 for unknown reason.

The most recent plan is to replace the pillows which had been use for 7 years since 2012 where the initiate one were replace after 5 years since 2007. Future plan will be replacing the Mattress which had been in use since 2007 for 12 years and is trying for Memory Foam type if budget allow. 

Sea Life Chapter 13

Eagle Atlanta

30^th March 2006 to 19^th November 2006

I was suppose to enjoy my 5 months paid leave as promise by the company, but they use my friendship with Kenneth to get me to join one month earlier. Kenneth need to go back urgently to settle some legal paperwork on his property, but the company could not get replacement for him in the past few months. I happen to be enjoying my well earn paid leave during this period and I became an easy target as usual because of my soft hearted nature.

One of engineer which I had sail with once told me that our paid leave are not as good as we thought, taking into account of the Public Holiday and Weekends that we have to work it is only a reasonable compensation. The company did try to convince us to switch our tanker allowance to paid leave, but most disagree with it because it is just a delay payment which allow the company to earn more interest.

Same like AWS (Annual Wages Supplement), it is introduce when they change the weekly payment of salary to monthly payment. 4 weeks will come to 28 days, but other than February all the other months had more than 28 days. Taking into account of 2 to 3 days extra for each month and not counting the extra 1 day for the leap year which occur every 4 years, the AWS still short change you by 1 day as the extra days amount to 29 days.

I met CJ again and he is Fourth Engineer now, there is also China Third Engineer Fu Sheng who is always calculating his salary and bonus. I told him that if he would spend more effort on his job, he would have become a better engineer. But he still more interested in his paint business back in China, I am glad that his mentality did not affect the China Fifth Engineer Ming Fan.

There is an incident which happen on one of the vessel where an engineer got injure by the door swing out under pressure, the engine room is always maintain under positive pressure for all tanker ship to prevent toxic gas from entering. The company ask all the ship to start measuring the air pressure inside the engine room with various condition of door open and shut or fan running on ventilation or exhaust mode.

I remember when I was fifth engineer on Neptune Crux, we encounter Typhoon when going to Korea for loading. Whole vessel was down with sea sick, and when I go to control room for tea break I saw all the engineer laying flat on the floor. I feel a bit awark being the only one siting up, so I decided to join them and lay down on the floor.

Chief Engineer came down to see how we are doing in engine room, he open the control room door and saw all his engineer laying down on the floor. He thought we were overcome by toxic gases and he quickly shut the door again, after thinking for a while he realized that it is just sea sick so he question me why I lay down when I am not even sea sick like the rest.

I also encounter a few rough sea during my cadet ship, and it was so bad that only me and pump man were still standing. I keep watch in engine control room controlling the engine speed to prevent over speed while the pump man steer the vessel on the wheel house. I always make egg sandwich for Chung Hun and Eric whenever they got sea sick, and funny thing is that the Second Engineer always visit them in their cabin to ask if they had feel better so that they can go down engine room to work again.

Chief Engineer Patrick join later with his wife, he decided to on his honeymoon mode when he saw me onboard. The number of time he go to engine can be count with fingers on one hand and the numbers of time he went ashore with Captain cannot be count with both hand and feet.

Before I join the vessel we already had a lot of piping problems, Kenneth had requested for piping material and a welder for the repair but the material only arrive after he had sign off. The welder never came after a very long time, and we are also busy with main engine bearing job on top of a lot of oil major inspection.

The ship use a common telephone exchange system and some of the cabins are sharing the same line under the common server. I try to assist the Electrician on the issue when we encounter some issue with the system and found that only those with three connection will work well. We only have spare for those two connection type, in order to resolve the issue I had to replace one of the two phone in my cabin with the one with two connection.

As I am sharing the same line with one of the AB, I had to off the ringer for the bedroom phone to prevent them from waking me up when they call the AB for night duties. Then there was one occasion where the Chief Engineer cannot get me on the phone and he report the issue to the Captain and claim that I am irresponsible.

Got another occasion he was force to carry out the main engine bearing job with the China Third Engineer, the Third Engineer had done the job many time together with me and he should be able to handle it without any issue. But the China Fifth Engineer told me later that the Third Engineer was not familiar with the Special Tools and cause a lot of delay on the job.

I was really disappointed with the company as I had told them I am planning to get married after this vessel, they had promise to get a replacement after 5 to 6 months but they back out of their word. I had to cancel all my reservation and redo all my planning after I sign off after 8 months and I thought to myself it is time for me to leave this life behind.

Sea Life Chapter 12

Bunga Kelana Satu

3^rd June 2005 to 2^nd November 2005

This vessel was the most challenging of all the vessel which I had join, the company show me a 15 pages list of 193 oil major observation before I join the vessel.They also had to replace all the Liner for Main Engine due to crack and leakage as told by Superintendent Ang when I met him on Eagle Tucson.

“This is Mission Impossible!” I say.

“Mission Difficult will be a Walk in the Park for you.” said Superintendent.

On top of that they are also planning for the vessel to operate in America which I came to know much later. I spend two month getting the ship to good condition and manage to clear the oil major inspection with only 19 minor observations. The company informed me that they plan to bring the ship for operation in America after that.

I was surprise that they are able to arrange for USCG (United State Coast Guard) Inspection in Singapore Anchorage. The inspector was rushing for time, and with just a boat drill and fire drill he clear the vessel for America Operation which mark the start of our nightmare.

We had an oil spill during cargo discharging when the stripping line for one of the cargo pump give way due to rust corrosion, they trip the cargo pump and I went on deck to find out what is the problem. The deck crews were shock and I manage to get Bosun to help me bring the saw dust from his forward store at the bow to stop the spill from getting worst.

There are some leakage from the ship side plug as it is unable to seal tightly due to rust corrosion and we manage to discover it early and arrest it with mop before it touch the water. Captain Chowdury from Houston Office visit the ship and told office that it is not suitable for America Operation. We had long voyage to Caribbean and South America after that due to this incident.

When I first join we had problem with ballast pump suction valve, it is indicating opening and shut according to the hydraulic indicator but it is actually stuck shut inside the line. After checking the hydraulic system with no issue I decided to access the valve from the sea chest filter side with calculated risk.

It is not a pleasant experience as I can feel the pressure coming direct on my face every time a wave hit the suction side of the system. They were suppose to station one person outside to ensure my safety but due to shortage of manpower I can only use constant interval reporting to the wheel house by a walkies talkie.

There are a long interval when I was busy cutting the fishing net from the valve spindle that I am unable to communicate with the bridge and that is when they got worried and send a cadet down to check on me. I had to drill out the broken stud in order to install new bolt on the valve secure to the spindle.

After I had finish with the repair, I met the Burmese Captain Zaw Min in the Accommodation Passage Way. He was so stressful about the vessel condition that he started speaking Burmese to me, I try to listen with patient and understand that he is talking about the Deck Air Supply for their power tools to carry out deck maintenance. Suddenly he realize that I am Second Engineer and not Electrician Min Aung, I assure him that I will provide higher pressure from my main air compressor instead of using the portable deck air compressor which the company provided.

One morning we heard a loud bang and we saw the fan blade from the forward port side ventilation fan had protrude out from the trunk casing. Upon opening up, we found that the whole assembly was rusted and and the fan impeller had broken from the shaft. We had to grind off the foundation bolt before we can remove the motor for shaft replacement and repair the trunking while trying to balance the fan impeller.

I had a very heated argument with Chief Engineer when he show me the Docking Report and told me all the 20 over Fan, Turbine and Pump Impellers are already send for balancing test during the last docking. It is only possible to balance about two impellers for those big size machinery like Vent Fan and Turbo Charger, and the report show all the impellers are balance on the same day.

My prediction came truth when we are doing gas free operation at Venezuela Anchorage, the Inert Gas Fan Impeller also damage the casing when the shaft broke. Before we carry out the operation I had told Chief Engineer that the vessel configuration was different from other vessel which we had sail before. Usually one fan is only 75% of the maximum throughput but this vessel is design with 100% throughput according to the system manual.

They wanted to complete the gas free faster and so the Superintendent decided to run both fan together. The back pressure became too high and the star delta connection switching of the motor control was not long enough to build up enough momentum to overcome the inertia force.

The repair took me 72 hours and me and my crew work round the clock without any sleep or break for three days at the IG Fan Platform. The Superintendent send the Fan Impeller ashore for balancing test and true enough I win the bet and doesn't had to go home without any replacement.

It was actually quiet sad for me as I had to manage manual firing of the boiler for cargo operation later when the control circuit board got damage. I had requested for emergency spare and expected to receive it within two weeks, but the ship had been calling all the remote location port and the spare took three months to reach the ship. All my engineers had been so familiar with the manual operation that I worry they would not get use to automatic control after I fix the issue.

We discover that the fuel oil control piston are leaking and need to service, Chief Engineer ask for the company to send the repair kit as I had carry out the servicing of the control system when I did my docking of Eagle Boston. As Chief Engineer smoke and drink a lot, his hand are shaky and I had to be the one adjusting the control air pressure from 3.5 bar back to 2.0 bar after we complete the servicing of the pneumatic pistons.

The vessel also not discharging with Inert Gas System when I first join, I found out that the three way pneumatic control valve had been damage and would not be able to control the vent of the inert gas when the pressure became high. I did not have any spare for it so I had to modify another similar one to fix the issue.

We had become expert in mechanical seal as most of the pumps doesn't have any spare for overhaul, we had a treasure chest in the work shop where we keep all the unknown spare inside. We would go to the treasure chest and savage any useful part and assemble a modify mechanical seal for most of the pump repair.

I had raise the requisition for the shaft and mechanical seal, but due to delay of the supply of spare I am only able to get the machinery working condition from 30% to 70%. I was suddenly told by the office that I had to sign off after 5 months as I had already overstay my temporary permit from the Malaysia Port Authority.

Sea Life Chapter 10

Eagle Tucson

28^th July 2004 to 19^th March 2005

I join this vessel as Second Engineer, Kenneth was there to guide me on most of the paperwork require. My batch mate James had been sailing on various vessels and writing operation manual for all the same type of vessels, it had become a very useful project for the whole fleet.

This vessel had a few issues with the generators, one of the design failure is the lub oil purification inlet and outlet were position side by side which cause a short circuit that reduce the efficiency of the purification process. This was later resolve by modification of the piping system by shift the inlet away from the outlet at another location near to the flywheel.

Another issue is there are no water washing arrangement for the turbo charger, and we have to remove the newly design scoop type turbine blade for cleaning every month. This issue was resolved later when the maker install the modified water washing arrangement.

The last issue is the Exhaust Valve Spindle Stem Seal was not design to withstand high temperature, so failure of the stem seal cause large amount of lub oil going into the combustion chamber and cause a lot of carbon deposit. This worsen the situation for the turbo charger with the previous two issues, but this was resolve earlier with new spare which is able to withstand high temperature.

I once ask the Indian Fourth Engineer to ease up all the vent flap in the engine room during one Saturday as we are doing our Saturday Routine, he told me that he had already completed the job by morning tea break. I saw the condition were mostly rusted and seize in open position, I am not sure if he is so strong that he is able to ease up all of them within two hours.

I went around and check on the job and found that most of it were not done, some of the pull chain were also damage and require some repair. So the Electrician was surprise that I as an Senior Officer had to carry out the job myself when he saw me in the engine room going around with hammer, pliers and grease gun to repair and ease up all the vent flap. Electrician respect me a lot for that, but I am more concern about the safety of the vessel as it is critical for us to isolate the ventilation in case of fire.

I heard that my batch mate Chung Hun also do the EGE (Exhaust Gas Economizer) Washing himself when he sail with Chief Engineer Ahmad when he was Second Engineer. This is the Leadership by Example that I had learn during my army training, and I don't think this mentality will be able to pass down after we quit sailing.

We are not concern whether the job is difficult or hard, the more we do the more experience we gain. We have seen a lot of young engineer only concern about their pay, welfare and promotion, they are not interested in improving their knowledge and experience. The company culture had make us more competent as compare to other, and we are able to adapt to various situation with ease.

I remember when I am sailing on one of the ship as third engineer, the chief engineer was surprised that I am able to carry out Generator Overhaul alone as it is using hydraulic jack to loosen and tighten the nuts. Usually for those using Torque Wench would require at least two person.

Sea Life Chapter 9

Eagle Boston

4^th November 2002 to 4^th May 2003

I join this vessel in New York, but I did not get any chance to visit New York. The only place I get to visit is Philadelphia, and when I join the vessel my luggage was detained by the airport security for inspection and it arrive later with some damage on the locking arrangement. The vessel had very good voyage of going between America and Canada, and I had the worst Chinese Food in my life when I went to the Chinese Restaurant to have dinner in Canada.

The vessel went to Portugal for docking toward the end of my contract, and we encounter a lot of issues with the System Monitoring and Alarm Panel after the docking. I had notice abnormal low insulation with the 440 volt electrical panel when the yard side connect the shore power supply, they have their cable soak in the water and even after bringing up the issue to Electrician, Chief Engineer and Superintendent with no result.

As the panel is very sensitive to the current, abnormal defects start to happen after we complete the docking repair, I help Electrician troubleshoot and isolate a few of the control card in the server unit. I also had to savage some part from old computer to fix the work terminal, the only part lacking is a very old type of network card which they manage to found it in Russia after I sign off.

The Superintendent is my previous Chief Engineer Firoz, nobody are able to stand his Donald Duck voice nagging. I am not sure why he like to chat with me so much, got once he told me he wanted to get the Inert Gas Fan Casing de rust and coated as I had open it up for survey inspection. He was thinking whether to use hardener paint or epoxy for the coating, before he could make up his mind I had already completed the job with his initial instruction of using epoxy.

He told me that I should not have carry out the job myself and should have ask one of the junior engineer to do it, I told him that all the other engineers are also busy with other jobs and it doesn't really take much time to complete the job. Chief Engineer Paul was doing the docking with me, he later became the Superintendent for Bunga Kelana Satu after Superintendent Ang left the company.

I join Bunga Kelana Satu later when Superintendent Ang challenge me when I met him on Eagle Atlanta, I thought I had seen so many difficult ship in my life how difficult can Bunga Kelana Satu be? I was wrong when I board the vessel later in my life and I found out that 70% of the machinery are not working and they had been discharging cargo without Inert Gas System.

The vessel was handover by Malaysia Company when our tanker fleet was brought over, the vessel was only 8 years old but it was much worst than 30 years old ship which I had encounter later when I did a FPSO conversion project in Indonesia. The first Second Engineer resign after three months, the other Second Engineer emergency sign off after three months too and I took over.

Actually the Malaysia Port Authority rejected my application due to their requirement for Senior Officer with at least a year experience. My sea time was just short by two months, and the company was suppose to take me out when the temporary permit for three months expired. The office was surprise that I am able to last so long on that ship without requesting for signing off, so they decided to keep quite about the whole incident until the Malaysia Port Authority discover that I am still serving onboard after 5 months and threaten to impose a very heavy fine on the company before they told me I had to sign off at the next port of call in America.

I was suppose to attend the court case of the Austin Incinerator Incident in America after I sign off, but due to Visa requirement I would need to fly out of the country first and return back on a Tourist Visa instead of Seamen Transit Visa. The company actually arrange for me to fly to Canada for the reentry but after speaking to the company lawyer on the phone they think that I present is not require and I fly back to Singapore direct from America after that.

Sea Life Chapter 7

Eagle Auriga

5^th March 2002 to 6^th September 2002

I join this vessel after the 911 incident, my sign off had delay for a month due to security issues and both me and the Second Officer had to go to the airport at least 5 hours before the flight for the security clearance procedure. We are the first to try out the procedure after the 911 incident and the check in luggage had to be open up for inspection and all the items inside had to be wipe by a chemical paper to check for any explosive content.

I had manage to break up with my girlfriend due to her unreasonable demand of long phone call which is not possible after the 911 incident. I had went for a backpacking trip to China spending a week each in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing after that.

I took over the Generator from another third engineer and all are due for major overhaul, we mange to complete one of the major overhaul with two second engineer in just two days before one of them sign off and the other one took over.

The remaining two generator had to be done over the span of six day with two units per day as we had a lot of STS Operation after that. The other engineers will keep 6 on 6 off watch while me and fifth engineer will carry out the overhaul during the short voyage out of the river.

Most of my time are spend on preparing the cylinder heads at the Generator Platform, each generator had 6 cylinder heads and each cylinder head will take about a day or two to prepare. With the major overhaul of all the three generators with 18 cylinder heads to prepare and service, most of my time on this ship are spend on the job.

There are a lot of leakage around the engine room, cleaning also took up most of our time as there are a lot of oil major inspection coming one after another. Fifth Engineer CJ is always complaining about the job, but his complain doesn't really have any effect and in the end he still had to carry out most of the job against his own will.

Second Engineer Sam doesn't really talk much, he became a contrast to Chief Engineer Patrick who join later who like to talk a lot. Chief Engineer Patrick join the company after he left another better company when he was third engineer, he always comparing how life were better in the previous company. When he first join this company he cannot get use to the fact that most of the job had to be carry out by engineers ourselves, he use to having engine crews in the previous company and all he have to do is just supervision.

Our company happen to let other company manage 4 of our vessels later towards the end of my sailing career, one of my fourth engineer met the crew from the other company and try to chat with them about machinery maintenance. He realize that the engine crews actually know more about the machinery than the engineers as they are the one that do the actual job.

Chief Engineer Patrick told me more about the famous Rogina, he was sailing on one of the vessel and Rogina was the Third Officer. Most of the guys onboard were very interested in her but she only have eyes for a fourth engineer name Soh Hai. So one day the fourth engineer went to Chief Engineer Patrick and start crying and saying that he had been sexually harass by the Third Officer. When Patrick ask about the details he found out that Rogina had brought some candles and light a path from fourth engineer cabin leading to her cabin.

I had heard about how two of the girls from my batch had join a container ship and turn the vessel into a love boat where one having a relationship with Second Officer and the other had relationship with Third Engineer. There is also a Professional Third Engineer who sail on one vessel with his wife, when the vessel arrive Singapore the office inform him that his wife had requested to join the vessel. He start to panic and that is when they realize that he is having two wives in different countries, some rumor say he actually got three wives in three different countries too.