With so much excitement in the air, it didn’t felt like a frigid navy open house at all. It was more like some sort of a family carnival for everyone to participate and have some fun. Haha.

Look at that warship. AWESOME. But it didn’t looked ferocious enough over that beautiful background.

In fact, the entire place had a fun, carnival feel to it until some PIRATES came and terrorized everyone! hahahaa. They just suddenly came out of no where! And with MACHINE GUNS. Woah I was on a live movie set!

The mean gang snatched a hostage from the audience and that poor guy was man-handled all the way to this rectangular cut-off of a building that was supposed to be a pirate boat. I’m not going to share more until the event is over. Don’t want to be a spoiler.

But honestly, I was so entertained by this showcase! Military strategy was employed from the sky, into the sea and onto land. VERY EXCITING. This show is 100000x better than the last movie I watched – The Last Song. Yucks. Miley Cyrus. Ew.

Of course. That poor guy was rescued in the end. Pss by the way, the pirates are actually elite Naval Divers! Such great acting skills! Especially the diver that looked like a Taliban terrorist.

Well if you really want to know what happened during the show. Ok ok. Here’s Diana’s take. Erm this awesome Naval Sea Display is only available twice a day. So take note of the timings:

22 May: 10am and 3.30pm
23 May: 11.30am and 3.30pm

Yeah. You can’t expect elite Naval Divers to do this over and over again the entire day right? Lolx.

Hey remember the other time when I went on a clipper ride and got myself a super ugly tan? This time, I boarded a MACHO-ER vessel! A Frigate! And it has a name! Steadfast! My adorable Chuck was feeling a little shy to make friends with Steadfast because he feels extremely small next to this humongous vessel. But they got along fine eventually. Steadfast is very friendly and told Chuck stories of his high seas adventures. Then Pete got jealous. OK I don’t want to go into this so never mind.

Before we went on Steadfast, Diana and I took a magic pill.

She’s so pretty isn’t she? She’s damn cool and horny. I like.

Back to the warship. Humble as he is, Steadfast is actually a Formidable-class frigate. Ok Frigates are highly capable warships equipped with state-of-art combat systems that allow him to perform a wife spectrum of missions and deal with a range to threats in all dimensions of naval warfare. In short, he is very fierce. Haha.

Steadfast is armed with lots of vicious war tools. I got up close and personal with cold, hard harpoons and saw malicious missiles and torpedoes murdered deserving pirate vessels. Check out Diana’s blog for more pictures shots. I brought Pete’s 50mm girlfriend along and failed miserably to take good pictures inside.

Only good picture I got was this.

Major Tan Yong Chye, a hunky ex-CLEO bachelor told me pirates are a menace because they will steal from merchant ships! Can you imagine those evil pirates taking away a whole container of stuff you like without paying a single cent? Totally UNFAIR. Not like we can be pirates too right? So don’t you agree that they should be killed by torpedoes or missiles. Haha. Kidding. My priest would probably kill me if he saw what I just typed. I’m sorry Father. Was just thinking out loud.

Anyway the tour was awesome and very informative. If you are curious about the inside of Frigates, Landing Ships Tank, Missile Corvettes, Patrol Vessels and Mine Countermeasure Vessels, you can’t miss this event. But you need to ballot for a guided tour, ya? Just ballot for the tour at any information booth. If your ballot is successful, you will be notified by phone to collect the tickets.

If you are into thrilling stuff just like me, check out this map tailored for daredevils! You’ll love it.

You know, the tour reminded me of the tour I had up on an oil rig. But instead of engineers and riggers, I had the company of charming naval officers! Ok here’s one of them.

Name: Major Noel
Age: 30
Favourite colour: red, pink, pastel yellow, magenta, purple
Past time: buying kinky sunglasses and checking blogs owned by beauties like Clara, Diana and Feliza!
Background: He served at the Caribbean Gulf. Oops. I meant the Arabian Gulf.

Nice guy. Ok I made up all the facts above except for the name, age and background. Any questions from you? Just email me. I’ll pass you his contact. Hehe.

Moving on, the highlight of my frigate tour was the Combat Information Center. CIC for short. Sorry! Didn’t took any pictures here because it is super dark like a dark photography room. It was kinda romantic though. You should make your way here and witness the stimulation of a evil attack of a merchant ship by treacherous pirates!

I liked how technology and automation plays such crucial role in the navy. Wonder if Malaysia’s navy is as cool as this. Walking into the bridge of the ship is just like walking into the set of Starwars. Buttons and odd-looking objects were all over the place. Well the bridge of the ship actually controls everything and is usually the first area to be targeted when under attack. Scaryyy but isn’t that thrilling?

OH check out this high-tech microwave!

Well, the Navy Open House is only happening this weekend! So make time for this event if you want to check out what’s behind-the-scenes of Singapore’s modern maritime force, explore macho vessels or even try being a sailor for a day.

Had to rushed off early for an important work event or I would have tried the rides on the small crafts! So if I were you, I’ll hop on the Fast Craft Utility from the welldocks of the Landing Ships Tank and check out the Navy’s ?Duck Tours? from the North Wharf.

(:

How to get there? Want more details? Here.

Have an incredible outing and remember to put on sunblock! I hope you get to spot the mysterious Submarine that may make an appearance in the waters of the base. Bah I know my weekend is gonna be super busy. Hope I have time to sort out all those lovely pictures from Perth and share some interesting places.

Nah he didn’t wore that. But I still love him!

(:

The event was graced by the attendance of VIPS from Starhub and Discovery Travel & Living. Was glad that Catherine, Walter and Jayden were here as well to savor this tasteful dinner! You guys were great company. Thanks Belinda and Audrey for the invite. I had so much fun and it’s a brilliant idea to showcase a tailor-made menu in relation to Ian recent travel adventure. I couldn’t agree more that travel and food goes hand-in-hand together.

While we chow down these variations of exotic cuisine, Ian shared snippets of Okinawa, Siberia, Cuba, Venezuela and Sri Lanka. I think the highlight of the day was him proudly stripping off his shirt to reveal a peachy sun burn he acquired in Bali prior to his visit to Singapore. How lovely.

He caught everyone’s attention. Mine especially.

Right, lets move on. Ah since the dishes meant to mimic the cuisine of places Ian features in his latest show Out of Bounds, I anticipated something out-of-the-ordinary. The dishes by Novus were decent but I presume that authentic exotic ingredients were unavailable and thus, everything served tasted like fusion cuisine with a dash of Singapore lurking in it somewhere.

First up was a variation of Pelmeni, Siberian meat dumplings.

These wanton-look-alikes were average but I could grasp the idea of remoteness and the unforgiving environment in Siberia via the edgy combination of sour cream, dicey minced chicken and smooth broth with chives. But if that harsh environment could not deter Ian from trekking across the wastelands of one of the world’s most isolated regions, I could not be bothered too. After all, this was the country what put the ‘cold’ into Cold War. Can’t wait to catch Ian on his epic journey to Siberia where he learns the art of throat-singing from young Tuvans, takes on their dads in a wrestling match, and spends the weekend with Yurt-dwelling sheepherders. I am so jealous.

Kakuluwo. Blue crab curry with coconut and rice.

A fusion dish with influence from a country that has just ended a thirty-year civil war which left thousands dead, the chunks of crab meat with aromatic spicy curry brought to mind of a violently attractive place. Imagine spots herds of elephants roaming wild in the jungles, awesome giant Buddhas or castles that float on the top of giant rocks. Well, here’s where Ian indulges in some of the most delicious food in the world, and hangs out with the spooky Devil Dancers of Kandy. Trust me. You wouldn’t want to miss that episode.

Mojito. This mocktail was enthused by Ian’s visit to Cuba! A refreshing concoction of lime, brown sugar and mint, the last thing that came to my mind when I tasted this Cuban drink was cigars.

Blame me for over-generalising this beautiful island that lies just 90 miles off the Florida coast. But for 50 years, Cuba has been a no-go zone. Boycotts, blockades and Bolsheviks have meant that most people harbour a fear and mistrust towards this country. You too? Not anymore I guess after Ian swore to change all these negativity. Expect to see him venture into the heartland of Cuba on a journey that takes him from the bubbling metropolis of Havana via Fidel Castro’s secret mountain hideout to Cuba’s buzzing music capital, Santiago Di Cuba. I’m looking forward to watch him go wacky with cowboys, boxers, dancers, musicians and a 90 year-old coconut collector who showed him how to climb a palm tree! Sigh. What a remarkable journey. I wish I’m Ian. AGAIN.

Then there was the Lamb Shwarma, a Syria inspired lamb dish. I could smell the grilled lamb before it was served.

Accompanied by pita bread with yoghurt and hummus, the essence of this dish was strong and dry. Pretty much sums up the ancient city of Damascus that has been consistently welcoming visitors for thousands of years but has parched and become a symbol of repression and aloofness today. I was told that Ian took part in an ancient Christian festival in Melula, and finally takes a train to Alleppo where he discovers the secrets of Islam’s Whirling Dervishes. Mythical and mysterious. That’s Syria in a nutshell.

Last dish inspired by Ian travels was Quesillo, a Venezuelan dessert.

The idea of serving Venezuelan caramel flan with fresh berries offered a double-edged take towards Venezuela’s provocative character. I mean the dish was pretty just like how Miss Venezuela always shines at Miss World Universe pageants but the mix of all these subtle sweet flavours  just burst over the seams; intriguing me even more. Thus it is not surprising that this is where Ian did more extraordinary stuff ie. witnessed one of South America’s biggest Christian festivals, journeys down river to meet indigenous tribes, hunts for a children’s ghetto orchestra, and finally ends up on Margarita Island – one of the world’s most notorious cocaine smuggling haunts.

Sounds like an awful load of work was put into filming this travel series.

(:

Food aside, I actually quite worried that I would utter gibberish when he was going to pop by our table, and hence, I decided to shut up. My gawd. He was always in TV. How on earth did I manage to even stand next to him? This is the guy who travelled everywhere and now he is just millimeters away from me. I thought I was dreaming again.

My dream turned in fantasy when he kindly obliged to give me a kiss! He’s such a good sport! I’m so glad that I managed to calm my nerves and boldly requested for a tiny little peck on my cheek.

That’s not all! I was given the chance to go on stage and play Pictionary with Ian! I was on his team! Awesome! Ian’s exuberant personality is so contagious.

The euphoria following this event gave me the motivation to keep on sharing my experiences with friends via this humble blog of mine. And come to think about it, my love affair with Ian started way back when dad signed up for cable TV and I hungrily pestered him to subscribe to Discovery Travel & Living. My rational was that if I can’t travel extensively at that point, might as well start doing research and join wacky travel hosts on their adventures. Never did I know, years later, Discovery Travel & Living would be a source of inspiration for my blog which have evolved over time to what it is today.

AND honestly if you are still reading this super long post, I can assume that you are either a hardcore Ian Wright fan or you are really keen to catch a breather yet still stuck in your apartment.

If I’m right, feel free to join Ian at Discovery Travel & Living. Simply catch his latest show Out of Bounds that is premiering on 20 May, 9pm!

He never disappoints!

Ooh one last thing before I forget. If you are on Twitter, you can follow @travelnliving for updates AND watch this space because I’m so gonna rave about my trip down under right after this.

I’m super EXCITED!! *JUMPS AROUND IN GLEE*

After watching on him doing crazy stuff with people all over the world right in my living room for years, I’m actually meeting the person who’s job is doing exactly what I want to do before I turn 40! Travelling here, there, everywhere! Difference is, he gets paid for doing that.

Back in high school, most of my lazy weekend afternoons were spent watching the Discovery Travel & Living Channel with mom and each time when Ian comes on screen trying out wacky stuff in foreign lands, I would solemnly advise mom to be prepared for the worst because in the near future, her daughter will be ‘missing’ for months doing stuff like that minus the on-screen telecast of course. I did promised to send her pictures, postcards and call whenever I can but you know moms, they get paranoid when daughters have zany plans of travelling alone. It’s worst when she don’t understand Facebook.

And that was like 5 years ago? I’ve tried to explore as far as I can but with time and moolah constraints, I’m still nowhere near a female version of Ian Wright. Well let’s see. 40? Another 16 more years to go. Loads of time left. Erm.. just need to figure out how to earn a huge long break and lots of moolah!

:S

Now take a deep breathe before I continue with utmost envy for what this man has done with his life which I totally wish to at least experience half of it.

In a span of 15 years, Ian practically travalled all over the world! I am like jumping up the wall now because I’m being reminded again that his adventures are all fully paid for! Can you imagine living that kind of life? He spent three months in Egypt, seven months traveling around India and Nepal, and six months traveling around Europe including Poland and Romania. I’m so jealous!! Check out the long list of countries he featured!

Jaws-dropping? Hold it.

I proudly announce that Ian’s latest show, Ian Wright: Out of Bounds is gonna premiere this May 20 on Discovery Travel & Living every Thursday at 9:00 pm! Goodness! With no new places to explore, Ian now turns his attention to the world’s most remote, unusual and least visited places in the world!

Let’s see. Okinawa, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, Sri Lanka and Siberia. What? SIBERiA? Gosh. With this new TV series bringing him further than he’s ever been before, NO places are out of bounds for this lucky dude.

Did you just screamed awesomeness? I shrieked outrageous!

Haha. Here’s a sneak peek at Ian messing around in Siberia.

I can’t wait for Tuesday to come.

I’m not just full of envy for him. I also like his spirit. I admire his sincere take on bringing travel explorations to a deeper level by going beyond introducing glamourous attractions to simply doing exactly what the Romans do in Rome. For real. No kidding. This guy thrives on getting his hands dirty.

Ian had me at hello when he said:

“ Comforts don’t interest me. The sort of trips I go on are all about living cheap and getting dirty which is how I like it.”

I’m sold. Getting dirty never sounded sexier. That quote from him basically sums up my travel philosophy. Sure, comfort is great but nothing beats going off track to check out real conditions on the ground where I can mess around with real people with stories to share.

Ian had my utmost respect when he questioned the effects of tourism on underdeveloped countries in an interview with Time Asia. I remember discussing this social concern during a sociology class in uni. It’s tough to force people to ignore tourism dollars when it comes knocking. So the best way to highlight this issue is through influential TV personalities like Ian. Rock on, Ian! You’re my favourite travel icon.

I love you!

You know, I’m actually going to tell him that personally over dinner.

*giggles*

Can someone please tell me that I’m not dreaming? I still can’t believe how I got myself invited to this exclusive event! I’m having dinner with Ian Wright on Tuesday! I’m dreaming! Am I?

No I’m not! It’s for real!

Do you like my red stockings? Ken hates it! Oh well, at least Clara adores them. Haha. She’s such a babe. Our trainer, Laurette was sweet too! I was the test subject of the day and it was an indulgence to have her applying the latest MJ makeup on my face. It was like a free makeover but I got to learn how to do it after that.

Of course, Laurette used the featured MJ products which includes a Pore Cover. It works like a makeup base. Something like a BB cream but I find that MJ Pore Cover is so much lighter and my skin felt more comfortable in it. Any idea why BB cream is heavier and oilier? Maybe it is ill-suited to Singapore’s humid weather. Then there’s the Jeweling Eyeshadow which comes in either a pink or blue palette. She tried the pink one on me. Honestly, I never had pink eye shadow before and was worried it may turned out weird. Thankfully, the swatch of colours was soft and pastel-like.

Here comes the best product of the chapter. Laurette glammed up the light yet distinctive eye shadow with the Amazing Mascaras Lash Bone Black Fiber In & Lash Enamel Glamour Volume On. My lashes was significantly lengthened and thickened after the application! OK we are supposed to use the Bone Fiber which acts like as the mascara base followed by the Enamel Glamour. I tried it on my other lash and the application was fairly easy.

My lashes were very stubborn. They simply refused to curl nicely! I was told to clip them longer next time with the eyelash curler. Anyway I found that Asian brand mascaras are more suited for me than Western brands especially Revlon which tend to be clumpy and smeary! MJ is not bad. The mascara was quite light, even after I applied a couple of layers thinly. Doesnt weigh my lashes down. Nice!

Since I had a date at St.James after dinner, Laurette gave my doll-like eyes an extra finish by lining my eye with the Perfect Automatic Liner. It looked even more dramatic. Meanwhile..

From the looks of it. everyone was busy having fun, dolling up, trying out MJ products. I will probably post more detailed reviews of these products when I get my hands on them. Am definitely looking forward to using the Lash Enamel Glamor Volume On & Lash Bone Black Fiber On for night outs with girlfriends!

Photos credit: Majolica Majorca Facebook Fanpage

Organised by DiningCity.com Singapore, Restaurant Week is actually a highly successful event, a culinary event in countries such as The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and USA. Thus, the launch of Restaurant Week in Singapore instead of anywhere else in Asia sorta amplifies and establishes Singapore’s position as the food capital of Asia. Gotta give credit to this tiny island for beating Shanghai for winning this launch.

After the event, I am officially a fan of Veuve Clicquot! It was lively, delicate yet powerful. Moet & Chandon, Cape Mentelle and Terrazas was also served to my pleasure.

Photo credit to Glenn!

Not to mention those exquisite canapés I sampled from four of the participating restaurants: Julien BOMPARD, Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar, The Song of India and Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant. The event was tastefully done.

This one-week culinary event is a darling for lucky peeps who managed to book limited seats! They can enjoy a special three-course meal at affordable fixed prices of S$35++ for a three-course dinner and S$25++ for a three-course lunch during the Singapore Restaurant Week from 22 to 28 March 2010. Just the perfect opportunity to taste a varied range of unique dining experiences at a wide selection of choice restaurants.

That’s the guys from Tatsuya. Oh when you book your reservations, do check if the particular restaurant is a DiningCity Star Awarded restaurant. If yes, you may be charged a fixed supplement of S$15 for lunch and S$20 for dinner. Also check the menu to see if you like the offerings.

(:

Bookings can ONLY be made online via www.restaurantweek.sg. You gotta hurry if you are interested because the last time I checked, empty tables are fast filling up. There are in total 58 participating restaurants. Unfortunately, Julien BOMPARD and Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant have NO MORE SEATS! 18,000 seats gone so fast! It’s just been a day! Must be those American Express Cardmembers. Yup American Express actually offers early booking privileges to their Cardmembers! Jealous.

):

Not that I’m going to sign up for an American Express card anytime soon. So next year, I shall set my alarm clocks to be the first to reserve some Restaurant Week tables!

*Pete was resting at home so I had to grab pictures from Kyle. Thanks Kyle!*

The celebration was held at the new Esmirada At The Pier located in the thriving dining hub of Robertson Quay. Warm lights illuminated the interior of Esmirada At The Pier and the combination of rustic brick walls with blue accents brought an easy-going allure. Seemed like the perfect place to idle away a lazy Saturday evening with girlfriends!

Esmirada At The Pier is a really cosy and casual restaurant with a rustic charm! We spent the evening at the al fresco seating. Good thing that the courtyard was breezy and when dusk arrived, pretty candles tea lights evoked a romantic feel! Nice.

Ken and I enjoyed a glass of Sangria with Esmirada’s Famous Garlic Bread (S$6) – a towering crusty baguette loaf fragrant with garlic and butter – before digging in to the selection of appetizing antipasti, salads, soups and tapas!

My favourite starter would be the refreshing Greek Salad (S$16)! The cheese was awesome and it gave the salad enough flavor that salad dressing isn’t needed. The sharp taste of onion went really well with the red peppers and sun-dried tomatoes. Tasty! Would be perfect if I could add a bit of garlic, a dash of oregano and a teaspoon of white wine vinegar! Hehe I like my salad to be fancy.

Tossed a couple of cold prawns on our plates too to go with the wine. Fresh goodness.

Of course, Mediterranean food is not Mediterranean without some grilled meats, pita bread, and falafel. It was nearly impossible to decide what to taste first considering the selection dishes displayed on the counter.

That’s the roasted pork. I love the few unique starters especially the delectable Balkan dish, Cevapcici (S$18) – grilled meat fingers made from minced beef and lamb and served with a homemade mustard ragoo dip.

Another tasty entrée was this. Make a guess what this is.

Smoked ham! Totally scrummy! Look at the size of that humongous piece of meat!

The chef was there the entire evening making sure that each slices of smoked ham was cut to perfection. These delicate paper-thin slices of smoked ham were so well-flavoured.

Our appetite was further satiated by main courses such as the Esmirada Skewers (from S$28) – perfectly grilled quality ribeye steaks, lamp chops, chicken kebabs, king prawns, swordfish and vegetables served on a custom-made iron frame and accompanied by bell pepper relish, tzatziki sauce and oven baked potatoes.

Ken tried the famous Spanish saffron rice dish, Paella Espanola (S$30), that is brimming with fresh mussels, squid, prawns, chicken and vegetables. That was a hearty dish.

Always have space for dessert when it is chocolate fondue and fresh strawberries!

I’m sure no one could resist creamy smooth chocolate cascading down a chocolate fountain. Sinful.

Craving for some Mediterranean goodies? Well there’s something going on now. You can enjoy 15% discount off Total Bill from now to 31 March 2010 (not applicable with other promos) at all three Esmirada outlets.

Esmirada At The Pier
80 Mohamed Sultan Road
#01-03 The Pier at Robertson

Photo credit to Huishan

Last Saturday morning was not put to waste as I went under the sunny weather and got a healthy dose of Vitamin D. Good thing we did not chanced upon any ox-eye/a cloud or other weather phenomenon that may be indicative of an upcoming storm. Marina at Keppel Bay is a very pretty place. Was here exactly a month ago for the NYE yacht party.

Huge red Keppel logo on the clipper as it was the main sponsor of the Uniquely Singapore yacht in the 09-10 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race! Very amusing how I keep running into stuff affiliated with this company. First, it was Ken. We were quite into Keppel Nights for a period of time. Then there’s the very interesting oil rig tour. And now I’m going sailing! Woo hoo!

It was blazing hot! Wanted to get a healthy tan but freaked out during breakfast. Don’t want to look like Ken. He went sun tan and became an ugly brownie after peeling for a week. So bought the mini Mentholatum Sunplay SPF130 sun block from Guardian. $1.95 only! Woah good stuff. It worked like magic.

The crew on board were very friendly and I got a feel of their enthusiasm to be sailing around the world! Singapore is actually the 4th leg of the race and up next is Qing Dao, China. Would you want to be an ocean racer too?

Fyi The Clipper Race is the only round the world yacht race for non-professional sailors and takes place every two years. This means people from all walks of life can sign up to be ocean racers! Apparently many of those who took part had no sailing experience before they began their pre-race Clipper Training. But be prepared to leave everything behind for at least a year to pursue this extraordinary aspiration.

Uniquely Singapore is helmed by Singapore-born Skipper Jim Dobie, whose present crew includes female Keppel Ambassador Karan Teo as well as Nicole Ho, who is circumnavigating round the world. In just ten months, the race will see the international Clipper Race fleet cross five continents and visit 14 ports, including Brazil, Qingdao and California. So cool! Around the world! I also wanna go! But on second thoughts.. maybe not. I don’t want to end up looking like a sun-dried tomato.

Despite the scorching UV-rays, I enjoyed the breeze and awesome sea view as the Uniquely Singapore Clipper sailed across the waves. It was generally a smooth ride.

Briefly pondered if I am up to the challenge of becoming an ocean racer but my hopes were dashed shortly. Though the Uniquely Singapore Clipper was easily sailed and maneuvered, I freaked out minutes after I steered the clipper when it tilted precariously to one side! SCARY. I think the girls screamed in horror or maybe it was just me.

Ben attempted to do some tacking/zig-zagging so as to sail directly towards the wind. Not bad. Lester and Lionel was pretty good at steering too. As you can see, the clipper is quite narrow. It’s an amazing feat for such a compact vessel to house a team of ocean racers.

Didn’t really dared to move around the clipper. But my fear of falling overboard gave way to photo opportunities! Haha. Stole Vic’s bright yellow sunnies.

Photo credit to Huishan

Just when I thought the clipper is stable enough for me to move around, I was wrong. Huishan caught my panic-stricken expression.

Photo credit to Huishan

Big thank you to Ben and Lionel of Singapore Tourism Board for the invite to be onboard the Uniquely Singapore Clipper! Though we were all pooped after sailing across the wind for 3 hours, this outing was extremely enjoyable! Most of us went home with uneven tan but Victor acquired a really strange tan because he only smeared a streak of sunblock on his arm. Lol.

Last but not least, wanna thank Huishan for the lovely pictures! Lucky girl! No sun block but unly her eyelids were burnt! Can you believe it? Anyway the rest of the pictures were taken by me using Hipstamatic for iPhone. Nice?

If you noticed, the few italic words in this post are all commonly used nautical terms. More at wiki.

So there. Ensco 8052. His baby. It is so huge, my lens is simply not wide enough.

The christening of an oil rigs is very much similar to how a newborn baby is baptised in a church. Similarly, a baby’s christening is also known as the naming ceremony. So on that day, Ensco 8052 was officially named.

That was the pastor giving his blessings to Ensco 8052. A short heartening prayer was offered. Wondered if other religious man will be engaged if the client is not American.

Anyway a highlight of the christening was when the very important lady, Ms Cambria Reinsborough pressed a button and a champagne bottle was smashed onto the hull of the rig signifying the start of a glorious for this vessel. Ah this ritual is very important because apparently maritime superstition held that a ship that wasn’t properly christened would be considered unlucky and a champagne bottle that didn’t break was a particularly bad omen. Anyway all went well and with the most enthusiastic round of applause and a brief shower of rainbow confetti, Ensco 8052 is off to a good start!

Can you spot the champagne bottle? By the way, when I told Ken that using a button to smash the champagne bottle seemed to spoil the fun. I felt that the ceremony will be more kick-ass if the lady smashed the bottle manually. Then he told me about the Curse of Camilla. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall was the honored lady who christened a passenger ship in 2007 and the bottle didn’t break. Turned out the first few cruises were marred by a vomiting bug which afflicted passengers. Hor hor. He also mentioned that the infamous Titanic was launched without a christening ceremony. Ok point taken.

Ah I can’t stop admiring this mighty rig. Isn’t that magnificent? Woah my eyes practically gaped in amazement. I was so fascinated by the super huge structure! Fyi those slender columns you see will be submerged under water when Ensco 8052 start drilling the seabeds for oil/gas. The idea of these columns supporting a platform deck at a significant height above the sea surface is kinda freaky to me.

Felt so tiny when I stand next to that humongous rig. Even the ropes I saw was monstrous.

And I was told to be wary of the thruster. lol.

Ben, pls. I know what you’re thinking. No. Not hard gay. The thruster I meant works just like a propeller. It pushes the vessel and is meant to keep the rig in a fixed position when the environment condition becomes extreme. According to wiki, an oil rig is used to house workers and machinery needed to drill wells in the ocean bed, extract oil and/or natural gas, process the produced fluids, and ship or pipe them to shore. That’s a mouthful isn’t it?

Oil rig 101.

Ensco 8052 is a Semi Submersible rig which floats and stay upright. I guess this type of platform is good for urgent projects because it could drill a hole in the seabed then quickly moves to the next location. If you are interested to know more about oil rigs, check out this wiki entry on oil platforms. Personally, I think the jack-up rig is pretty interesting.

After the ceremony, came the tour which I am so excited about! Personally, climbing up the stairs was a scary enough. The horrifying wire cage elevator was worst. It jerks unexpectedly and I almost thought I’m going to fly out of it just like how Charlie flew out of Willy Wonka’s glass elevator.

After surviving the terrifying elevator ride, I landed on a large deck. Everything was perfectly fine until I looked up. I was a little perturbed by the steel beams. Ok maybe perturbed is an understatement.

Getting more and more paranoid that this thing will land on me, I escaped to the control room. Couldn’t make sense of the buttons though it looked simpler than those dashboards we normally see on spaceships in sci-fi movies. Coolness.

Goofing around at the living quarters. Guess what, there’s also a gym and a TV room with a huge LCD TV on board!

Popped by the pantry for drinks and muffins. Finally I could take off the helmet.

That’s the end of the indoor tour and we were directed out to the open again. Wacky photo moment with me and darling Sok Hui.

Ting-ling-ling lunch is ready! Lol. I’m pretty sure that’s not the purpose of this bell. We also shared some fun moments at the helipad. Especially when Timmy decided to propose! So sweet!

Haha It was just for fun! He already proposed to Nic, his lovely fiancé weeks ago I think.  But nonetheless, it was still laudable act. Haha. Just like a typical scene from some Mediacorp drama. If you recall, Keppel did ran a drama series on Channel 8 featuring Christopher Lee with hideous white hair.

Before I end my post, I want to say that I’m proud of Ken being part of this project. Silly-billy looked very happy in the following picture.

Though the science behind how you guys put this astounding thing together still baffles me, I’m aware of the loads of man hours took to build this. This explained the extra hours/OT you needed to put in. All is forgiven. (:

At times, Cablenazi have to go offshore for couple days to run checks on the equipments and I wish I can get him to smuggle me into the cabin! Can’t whine to him for couple of days is quite torturous. I heard that one of his friends is involve in a floatel project! A floating hotel! Would you like to spend a night at a floatel? Could you imagine the excitement and drama of the oil adventure, life on board an oil rig? Honestly, I don’t mind the experience! Sounds fun! Imagine wearing the white telly-tubby overall and walking around pretending to be an engineer for a day. lol. I’ll probably drive my colleagues crazy.

Though interesting to the uninitiated, the nature of an oil rig’s operation — extraction of volatile substances sometimes under extreme pressure in a hostile environment — means risk, accidents, and tragedies occasionally occur. Now it seems pretty scary isn’t it?

(:

Thanks Ken for the invite and all the guides on the tour for your sharing. Well done folks for the successful delivery.

It’ s been a while since we last heard any news from Motorola. Well gotta give them credit for trying. What caught my eye when I saw this phone was the conversation bubbles all over the home screen. Woah. Conversation threads, friend updates, stories, links, photos and more are automatically delivered to live widgets on the home screen. Interesting. Widgets.

What you think? The bubbles looked pretty cute right? But will you be distracted by the real-time updates on the embedded widgets which link directly to Facebook and Twitter? One thing for sure, those who don’t mind will be pleased with the smooth integration Motorola DEXT offers with MOTOBLUR.

What’s MOTOBLUR? In a techie noob terms, its a useful system designed for blur people like me. MOTOBLUR combines various social networking portals such as Facebook and Twitter all in one place without the need of logging into each service separately. This means I can post a status update to one or multiple accounts at once. That explains the ‘everything else is anti-social’ tagline.

Trying to psycho Ken to get an iPhone too when his plan expires but he is still looking around for one with a QWERTY keyboard. DEXT should be ok and it even comes with a pretty responsive touchscreen, but I think it is a tad bulky at 15.6mm thick. Not very handbag friendly. Honestly, it is not very sexy so there’s nothing much on the form factor for me to elaborate further.

I guess this phone is more function than style. So for a techie review, check out what Joe thinks of the Motorola DEXT.

As for the launch event at Helipad, it rocked because the bloggers were awesome as usual. Enjoyed the after-launch at the rooftop lounge! That’s me with sunshine Sidney. His caption: Kiddies on the loose. Eh how old are we again? *giggles*

Mus, Yin and I. Taken with his DSLR. Mus has sturdy arms. Lol. Oh must thank Kelvin for the champagne.  Yum yum!

Thanks to Cablenazi’s client, Ensco (the largest offshore jack-up oil and gas well drilling corporation), we boarded the Harbour Queen on New Year’s Eve at Marina Keppel Bay and celebrated the coming of 2010 with a bunch of happy people! I fell in love with this place instantaneously. Wouldn’t you?

Before long, the Harbour Queen left Keppel Bay and went island sailing! It cruised passed Marina area, Sentosa, Kusu Island and St.John Island. Ah the warm sun, blue water and a good breeze were so indulging . Wine was free flow on board!

Back in the cabin, we camwhored with funky hats! Haha Yes funky. Although not as funky as those I saw at the Hat-py Party, it was enough to keep us entertained. Hehe.

The vessel was circling Marina area, Sentosa, Kusu Island and St.John Island the entire time while waiting for the spectacular fireworks display at Marina to go off at the stroke of midnight. Unknowingly we spent close to 7 hours on the yacht. The initial waves of excitement kinda drowned as I felt a little dizzy and drowsy from the rocky-rolly motion of the craft.

Ah should had taken some anti-seasickness or nausea capsules before coming. But it’s too late. I had to take a short snooze and thankfully, the uncomfortable sensations disappear after that. Was only told later that I should go outside where fresh air could blow on my face and keep my eyes directed to a fixed shore or horizon, where possible to prevent seasickness.

When I woke up, the peeps were having fun with glow sticks and the beer funnel.

FYI the act of is using a funnel to rapidly consume a large amount of liquid, most commonly beer is referred to as Bonging a Beer! lol. That’s Dean.

Anyway the party continues with rock and roll and great music! There was plenty of space for guests to twist and grind to the music. Some dance moves were super hilarious! Check these cool moves out!

Finally the moment everyone was waiting for has arrived. Minutes before midnight, we scurry up the upper deck and anticipated the fireworks display. Poof! Bang! Kaboom! We had a blast watching fireworks explode across Marina Bay! Beautiful! Singapore’s night sky turned magical in glittery shades of green, red, blue, purple and gold!

In retrospect, I still can’t believe a decade has gone. 2010 seems like a loooong way from 2000 when I was still in secondary 2! Though I cant turn back time, I can’t help but wonder if I could have spent the last decade in better ways. Perhaps, I should had set my priorities and goals right and be more focused in getting to it. Oh well! the passing of a decade feels like a wake up call as much as a fresh start. I shall look forward to the new year and new decade with anticipation and optimism!

Cheers to 2010! May it be another decade filled with fun, joy and love!

—
Cablenazi is a Lead Electrical Engineer/going-t0-be Project Engineer in February at KeppelFels. He’s a lucky boy to have such fun-loving, appreciative clients.

Hey Ensco, you need any social media help?