Sunday, November 18, 2007

GIMME GIMME F23

It has been 3 weeks since I last spent more than 1 night at home. I was in KL for 2 nights, Penang 1 night, Offshore at my home platform F23 10 nights, Brunei 5 days, now in a foreign platform and missing my old place so so much.

I was a proper pampered princess back in F23, my home platform (and always will be! - sniff)

I'm now sharing a room with a guy, who's working the night shift and this means that I can't enter the room in the daytime - so I have to use the washroom in another guy's room. Almost bumped into that guy today coming out of his toilet - luckily I was decent.

My old place has at least 30 people at a time (when I left it we had over a hundred men), and I ate lunch and dinner with my guys, talking about the days' work, and their wives and kids. Here there are only 14 people on the platform, and the dining room is so small the meals are taken staggeredly. Everyone faces the huge plasma TV. I feel so lonely.

Water here is rationed - no more baths which take half an hour or 24-hour laundry. And the water here is cold.

Excuse me if I sound like a whiny princess. I am really quite tough. Honestly, earnestly.

I wanna go home now.

Funny how you don't miss it until you leave it. I always knew I would miss it, but I never realized how just how much:

I MISS F23!!!! (this is the largest font blogger will let me write in)

Sniff again.

Anyway, in the spirit of being positive, here is a list of things which I plan to do once I get back (ahem):

1) Send my old car to the service center - after driving to and from Brunei 4 days, it's high time for a service (damn the Miri roads - I think they murdered my suspension)

2) Pay papa the rest of the $$$$ I owe him - sorry pa for the delay

3) Wash the pile of laundry from BEFORE I went to KL the last week of October (mum, am sorry I put you to shame with this confession)

4) Mop the floor at home - the last I left it the living room floor had the thinnest film of grease on it - yucky sticky greasy feet, ewww...not looking forward to this....anyway, it'll be a good workout (ahh..sorry again mum)

5) Pay a visit to the Immigration office - I, erm, missed renewing my Sarawak work permit and now have to go and wheedle some officer in town to grant me a new one (again mum pls don't panic) - it's pretty common for us nua (erm, busy) West Malaysians who, for some reason, still need our passports and Work Permits to work in Sarawak. Is Sarawak not part of Malaysia? Do I look like Abu Sayyaf????!!!!!!

6) Send my shoes for repair - 4 pairs and counting. 1 of them is the safety shoe I'm wearing now - the sole is hanging loose like a dog's tongue or something and I'm leaving pieces of black rubber residue wherever I walk. Not good. The other, cheap sandals I bought in Miri (RM16!) and the soles removed themselves on the 1st day I wore them. When will I learn that you get what you pay for? Sigh. Another 2 pairs, erm, have burst their straps more than a year ago. Yes, I am an expert procrastinator and it's more fun to buy new ones anyway....wooh sound like a proper girl I do.

Haven't thought about cooking yet, but I did manage to buy some hard-to-find foodstuff from Brunei, where almost all of their food is imported:

1) All-Bran cereal for the renewed health and weight loss plan

2) Cadbury chocolate, made in Australia - Roast Almond - only BN$3.50 (RM8) for 250 grams.

3) Real Australian Tim Tams! Not made in Shah Alam! AK's favourite (AK, if you're reading this, they're in the fridge - bottom shelf - don't eat them all ya!)

4) Off-price (and just a liiiiiiiiiiittle bit off-colour) apples and pears - only BN$1.20 (~RM2.70) for 6 pears and BN$0.80 (~RM1.85) for 3 big apples. I am kiamsiap and not ashamed of it. No more offshore, no more free meals!

5) A huge doughnut with a sugar coating thick enough to crunch satisfactorily- which I already ate, of course. Very nice.

6) Pringles! Only BN$1.70 each! I bought 2- BBQ and Loaded Baked Potato.

Hmm......re-looking at what I bought...so much for health and weight loss......who was I kidding with Purchase No. 1???? Damnit, shoulda just bought more Tim Tams (dark chocolate) and my fave Ginger Nut cookies instead. Self-delusional at the time I musta been. What's with the Yoda-speak??????!!! I blame it on the lack of sleep and the travel by many modes - plane, chopper, boat, bumpy car ride, Brunei Colleague's Mercedes CLK - both the delusional purchase and the Yoda-ism.

Anyway, I have totally gone against my vow to stay here 3 nights and asked for a chopper diversion to take me home tomorrow. Let's hope that this happens.....All da best to Debbs, may she survive this lonesome offshore trip and also summon the strength and willpower to complete her very ambitious to-do list.

Ta ta.

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