I feel very fortunate to be born in Singapore. In Pekanbaru, basic amenities are lacking. Power failure is frequent and tap water is brown in certain areas. People are used to flies on their faces and food. Cockroaches are rampant. Houses are constructed beside the roads on sand as and when required. Floors are cemented and untiled, unlike Singapore. Food is mainly spicy or fried. I lose my appetite everyday. However, I still have to eat to get enough energy for the day activity. Drinks are very sweet as they are topped with extra sugar. I had ice-tea on my first day and was disgusted to suck sugar from my straw.
Work is associated with black sandy oil, heat, sweat and danger for newbies.One has to be extra careful. A lorry reversed in my direction without realizing that I was there and I was nearly hit by an equipment suspended in air. Working in the day is terribly hot to the extent that I witnessed patches of grass burning. We are practically the victims of the sweltering sun. Fortunately, I have a nice tan by working hard. However, I am dehydrated by the intense heat.
There is no toilet at the rig site. I have to refrain from dunking myself with copius amount of water despite sweating profusely. Guys can pee anywhere by just unzipping the coveralls.So unfair!!
Friday was so bloody hot. I was spooling the cable facing the oncoming sun. However, it was worth the effort. The well at location 8C-76 was successfully run in hole (RIH) and I was given the opportunity to start the well. I was escalated. My team mate took a video of me by the rig after we completed the job. Cool!!!
Working at night is so much cooler. I didn't even sweat. I'm back from troubleshooting 2 wells. They were shutdown due to transformer failure and overload of voltage respectively. The next assignment for the team is at Kota Bata, 100km from base. Due to the rugged terrain, the speed limit is 40 to 60km/h depending, thus, 100km is considered far. They will be staying over for a night. As I need to be in office on Monday morning, I am unable to go.
I was assigned to 3 different groups so far. Each group consists of 4 mates. Thus, I worked with 12 people all in all, unlike my colleague, he worked with the same group all the while. I prefer the arrangement that I had. Most of the team mates are very nice and they are eager to teach me, language barrier aside; they can't speak good english and I need help with Bahasa Indonesia. I gave each of them a keychain from Singapore in return. They like the keychains very much. Probably because girls are rare in the field, I was welcomed by all.
I find their job interesting. Probably because it is a new experience for me. All unfavourable working conditions aside, it is a good job. The crew work 5 days, 5 nights ( 7 to 7) and 5 days off. They can sleep all they want when they are not working; there is no OT. I shall attached some photos next time round.
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