My halfway MBA journey

Salam wbt and hi readers,

In this entry, I would like to share what I meant in the entry 5 stars to 0 star here. 

Mid of last year, I was idle and got bored for nearly three months. I was looking for ways to make my time more useful thus I ended up enrolled for MBA - Energy Management Online Distance Learning (ODL) at University of Petronas. 

To stop you from being overly inspired, I will give you heads up. Now I am no longer enrolled in it. I dropped within 2 months into the course, I will explain the reasons shortly. 

What initiates this? 

I was being idle for 2 months in Doha due to Covid-19, lockdown, staying in apartment as no jobs available as operations halt. I tried to learn myself, the LinkedIn offered free courses, I joined it religiously for 1-2 weeks. Then I was bored. I was thinking, if this situation keep going on for another 2-3 months it is better if I commit to something solid. 

Claudia, my apartment mate has been doing Master via online for years since I met her. I am impressed she could do it. So I decided to give it a try. I searched for the courses, online website, national and international universities who can offer distance learning. I was also taking into account the money and cost as I am not willing to pay 100% upfront for the entire course just in case I dropped it if I don’t like it. I contacted my old mate who is no longer with SLB. He is doing MBA as well and at UTP. He shared the pamphlets about the course, fees, and all the information. Unfortunately, the course already start for the first week and I will need to catch up fast. 

Did I enroll?

Yep, I enrolled it. Made a deposit, had a quick introduction meeting via Team with the program coordinator, and proceed to join the online class during the weekend. I forgot to tell you, it was 3 courses in the semester and each course will take 4-5 hours each weekend. Basically, 1 course will be done within 4 consecutive weeks by spending 4-5 hours on Saturday/Sunday. 

It was fine with me for the first couple of 4-5 weeks. As I was not working, I have time get ready, study the materials throughout the week and have questions prepared during the class.

It was getting tough

The first course was Operation Management, it was educational and I could relate it very well. The next course was Economics. Throughout the first week before the lecture, I got time to prepare myself and since it was introduction to Economics during the first class, it was not that hard. 

I proceeded with the second, third, weeks. During this time, I was already at offshore rig. The materials getting more complicated, and I did not have enough time prepare as I had to work as well. I was doing night shift. Besides, I don’t want to mention this, however I did not like the way this lecturer taught the student. I think that was his nature, as other student who might already know him finds it is fine. For me, it was weird because he could scowl (my impression towards him) during the class. Well, maybe because of the online learning, I failed to interpret his response properly.

This Economics class also had a weekly assignment, which is due at very tight times. With my current job, extra homework, and uninteresting classes, I could no longer cope with it. I tried, and resulted me being very exhausted during my shift.

Tried again

I tried again to join the third subject, I don’t remember what was the name but I think it was related to energy. I only joined once - the first class. As this type of class, always had quiz in the first hour of the class. 

I was like, there is no way I could do this. 

Apart from that, being at the rigsite I lost count of the day and time. Especially doing the night shift, I mixed up between days unless I properly checked the clock/calendar. I am telling you, it is common for whoever working in the field to lost count of the day. On one day, you checked it was Saturday and suddenly it was Thursday. Time flies.

The point is, I also missed the class because I did not realize it was weekend. 

Assignments and exams

Since there were no typical exams, the end products will be a mini thesis or equivalent on top of weekly assignment and quizzes. All three courses require quite similar end product which I had to submit at the end of the semester, sometimes in September. I am sorry, I don’t remember the date. 

Since I could relate well with the first course - Operation Management, I said to myself, let's try focus all my efforts on this course and at least, pass it. I read like 20-30 journals to gather the material for the end product - mini thesis. It was tough for me, as I was learning on how to read and understanding the journal/research papers, at the same time I had come out with my own summary.

You need to understand as well, I completed my bachelor degree 6 years ago and I straight joined the workforce which is more practical, not theoretical or research background. 

By this time, I already paid the commitment fee and full semester fees. It was around RM6000-RM7000. 

My realization

Finally, I realized I was not enjoying it. I was struggling and I had sign up for unnecessary pressures to "fill up my time". I decided to work on my exit strategy which was withdraw from the course. 

I did not speak to the program coordinator because I felt guilty as she was the one signed me up at a very last minute. I dropped an email to Uni helpdesk to withdraw me. Also, I asked if it is possible to have refund, or at least 50% out of the fee. No reply but I know I was no longer in the course.

My ex-SLB mate tried to contact me, but I bear no responsibility to explain my situation to him. So I remained silent and my assumptions, he will understand it over time. 

Did I learn anything at all?

Indeed! I learned many things throughout this short period of my "halfway MBA journey" and I understand myself better.

• I now realized and understand, there are other things going on outside of current work scope of field engineer in oil and gas industry. I did not realize it, to put it better, I was ignorant to learn other things apart from doing my job. I was at loss.
• I understand when I am doing something I am not enjoying, I was struggling, very much. At some point, I was feeling it as a burden.
• Learning should not be a burden, if I think it as a burden then I am definitely not on the right paths. 
• Online learning was way different as we could have mistakenly interpret the person.
• Ultimately as for now, I understand I am not going further to advance my academic achievement as I now fully know I am not committed to it and I don’t have passion towards it. Hats off to individual who were able to do this up to PHD level. I cannot imagine myself on that path.

I am grateful to finish my degree. Final year was terrible in many ways.

In the end, it does not matter what qualifications you are pursuing, as long as you keep your passion to learn lit up, you will do well. For me, I am still discovering the road I want to take on. 

Take care and Salam w.b.t

P/S - I finished reading the fourth book for this month, The Timekeeper written by Mitch Albom. It was full of lessons learned about time, and from Quran, Surah Al - 'Asr reflects very well with the lessons portrayed in this book. Indeed, mankind is in loss.

It is all temporary

Salam w.b.t and hi dear readers,

Thank you for keeping up with me so far. I am grateful for that.

 

You know, as for now I have been sticking around with this Blogger though not many readers or attention received. I could have tried using other platform and make money out of it through writing (I wish).

 

A while ago, I studied the Wordpress and the possibility to switch/transfer all Blogger content to Wordpress. It requires a little bit of payment though. Honestly, payment for that platform is not the main issue. The issue is I don’t feel what I share from being me and all the contents I wrote so far can be commercialised. In conclusion, I haven't found my niche yet thus it will be difficult to be consistent.

 

Therefore, I decided let's keep going on with the Blogger to pour my heart out.

 

What's going on with me? I get off the rig last Monday after 4 days of rigging down all the surface equipment. The client is no longer wants SLB onboard, and bring in the competitor to the rig. So, me and another engineer, Kiran did the rig down. I am grateful I spent my entire hitch with best crew - Kiran, Gagandeep, and Adnene. I would say, from management perspective we are just underdog. Underdog here means we are not that fix crew stick together all the time and work for the highest paid client. However, that does not matter as nearly 39 days it has been the best hitch in the year. None acts like a jerk unlike my previous hitch at the "expensive client". Everybody cooperate well with each other, helping each other out and not acting like a passenger. I am really grateful with that as 39 days hitch did not go in misery direction. I rigged down with Kiran, he is super senior engineer. It is been a while I have a senior with me. I have enough sleep throughout the time, none woke me up, and I don’t disturb him. We took care of our shift accordingly.

 

We also had meaningful conversation from time to time about life, personal development, work, family, future, and hope. I appreciated it as it has been a while I have meaningful dialogue. 

 

Overall, it was great time.

 

I want to tell something a bit embarrassing and personal here. Hahaha….

 

I had a crush to one of the personnel at the rigsite. I don’t say anything, not a single word, not try to have a conversation, hardly pass across each other. But, I had a crush.

 

Normally, this crush feeling is just a false alarm and not last long. Well, I don’t remember when was the last time I had crush actually. However, I know myself very well. It is just random crush. So, I did not make any effort to talk to the person. I just looked and it will go away after some time :)

 

You know, how come I can have a crush?

 

It is easy. I am compelled to a quiet person. Not that quiet, quiet type when the people is shy and hiding in their shell. No, not that type. It is like a mystery type, where I really want to ask a lot of questions to uncover the mystery and for some reason, I believe it is interesting to know about that mystery person. Off course, I don’t ask.

 

It is difficult but over time as I am getting older, I am able to manage myself and consciously recognised what and how I feel.

 

It is normal but in Islam, "haya" which means humility, decency, shame is the one character can control ourselves. If human does not have humility in their self, that can lead them to do unethical things.

 

It will be over soon anyway.

 

That’s  all I want to update this time. I will be going home on Monday early hours, all set. Please pray for me that all will be well.

 

As usual, take care people and see you in the next entry. Salam w.b.t.

 

P/S - Finished watching Umbrella Academy Season 2 last night. If I can have a superpower, I will choose to be Number Five.

Extra measures to travel offshore

Salam w.b.t and hi all,

I am in Doha now. Get off the Rig Lovanda last Saturday, 9-May and I am so happy.

The trip from the rig to Doha took quite a long time, I don't remember I ever experienced this long before. I took off from the rig about 6AM and arrived in Doha approximately around 8AM.

Actually, the chopper travel from Doha - Rig Lovanda - Rig Mick O Brien - Rig Al Jassra - Platform North Field Alpha - Platform Rasgas Alpha - Doha.

Quite a journey.

These days the travel of offshore is pretty strict actually. With the current Covid-19, extra measures are in place.

• Some of the clients will require the personnel going to their rigs to be quarantined at their designated place for two weeks. 
• At least two days prior departure, the personnel is arranged for the Swab Test to ensure they are negative. Why two days? The result of the test comes out within 48 hours via text message I believe. I haven't done it but that's what my colleague told me. If the result is negative, then you are clear to go to the rig.
• Mandatory PPE - Face mask, hand gloves are now part of the mandatory PPE that need to be utilized while going to/off the rig. These will be provided by both rig operators and our company. Like me, most of the time I have extra in my possession to last for some time. 

Here in the chopper about to touch down in Doha. Well, phones are not allowed in the chopper. So this picture is illegal.

Now it is nearly 10 days I am in Doha. Been relaxing, do the online training. Well, nothing fancy. A bit bored as well because I did not go out since I am in Doha. I have been ordering food outside and cook myself with whatever groceries I have in the fridge. All my housemates are away. 

That's the update for now. I will keep you posted. 

Take care and Salam w.b.t.

P/S - When you say, "I don't give a sh*t", do you guys really mean it? Or is it depends on the situation? Or is it just a way to vent your frustration at that point of time? I would like to know the definition when I heard about it.

Realization of a field engineer

Salam w.b.t and hello all,

This time, I will write about the reality of working in the Oil and Gas (O&G) industry as a field engineer.

I find that, it is time to write about it as I am field engineer, working in this upstream business for nearly 5 years. For senior professional will think 5 years is nothing when you are in this business. It is nothing, and I agree with them. However, I am not here to discuss about seniority in the oilfield. I will write down based on my experience as a field engineer.

Salary is high, life is low

When I was recruited, and started in UK back in 2016, the starting salary as a trainee was approximately USD5000 per month, before tax. So, after tax with other reductions, it was closed to USD4000, exact number I don’t remember. Still, looking at this figure, it was still higher than starting salary in Malaysia. After conversion, can range between RM15,000 to RM19,000.

My first salary, I paid off my student loan, my mother's credit card, debt, and family expenditure that was backlogged for  months.

It was a relieve 💓

On the low-side, I gave up my life since then. Living away from my family, disconnected from my friends, missing all the important events back at home. I was not there when my grandmother passed away. I was not there when my sister went through operation. I was not at home when my mother had to deal with hardship.

I was not there.

Upskilling, I should have started it earlier

Schlumberger offered excellent training program and career progression. None denied it, great in teaching you how to do your job properly and professionally. Over time, it is no longer relevant and I should have known this back then. It did not click in my head until last year when I was over it, thinking of switching my job. (I am still looking for another job 😄 )

You know, when you want to put your resume to the recruiter, what skills you can bring to the table? Soft skills - good team player, leading, perform well under pressure, etc. This is fine.

Then, come the questions, what are the technical skills that can fit you to the job profile? I reflected all the training I attended at Schlumberger and jobs I have done.

• Drilling the well from top section to TD without failure or NPT
• Fastest and best ROP
• Logging while drilling
• Programming tools - TeleScope, EcoScope, adnVISION, etc..

And many more jargon words that recruiter + outside SLB + different sectors, they don’t understand any of the bit I talked about. Looks like "Wow", then so what?

Thus, I am struggling in this part. I should have not rely solely on the in-house training provided by the company. When you joined the company, the training they gave you is how to fit into the company, do your specific job as you are hired for it, and it was very specific to your job. During the first 2-3 years, you will not get any formal skills that you can sell it to other employers. I should have broaden by knowledge and skills, so my resume can fit anywhere required in any industry.

Yes, after Grade 11 (G11), you can probably sell your resume to other employers as G11 is now considered as employee in the Management/Office group, no longer Field population.

I should have positioned myself where I can get the best from each part of the job - field, technical, management, soft skills.

Save money and invest it wisely

It is easier to forget yourself when you have a lot of money in hand. Imagine, you have let say USD10,000 untouched in your account. I said untouched because you are busy working, don’t have time to spend the money right….

And at one point, you will have your vacations or days off, that’s when your desire to spend so much money come. Without calculation, you will buy this, that, spending on things that you don’t actually need, but you buy it because, of course, why not? Who have been working your ass off so you deserved it, right?

That’s true and not true as well. Yes, you are deserved to get the benefit from your money after you worked so hard for it, but be wise. Have some saving as well.

If you want to invest, you can do it as well however make sure you do it with knowledge and aware of the risks coming with it.

Look, right now the world is going to recession period and unemployment rate is unbelievable. From US reports, the US employment is closed to 1930 Great Depression period and 2.6 million people has seek for state unemployment aid. The future is full of uncertainties. The oil price dove down to negative, never seen in history and yet it happened.

Yes, O&G sector offered you a lot of money when things are all wine and roses. However, you can lose everything when things gone sour. This is especially true for these groups;

• Not spending the money wisely
• Tied to unnecessary commitments
• Investments with high risks
• No backup plan or saving
• No side hustle or additional side income
• Many more..

I am not saying, don’t invest, not spend your money, etc. No! I don’t mean that, I mean be wise, things can go haywire in this industry. O&G sector is no longer a gold mining industry, it is easily affected by external and internal factors.

It is very vulnerable, please bear this in your mind.

Slowly losing control of my life management

As an employee, we have a lot of benefits offered by the company and I am grateful for that. Different employee groups, have different benefits. Therefore, all of us are not the same. Let me share with you some of the benefits I received as my current seniority working at the company.

• Housing
• As I am based in Qatar, it is part of government rule to have housing provided by the employer. Yes, so accommodation are provided by the company. Accommodation, utility bills, internet bills, housekeeping, transportation are all taken care of by the company and provider. You must think, "That’s really great! You are lucky". Yes, it is great and yes I am lucky.
• However, over time, I realised I have lost control some part of my life. I am no longer taking care of management of my life. This way has make me too dependent on the external party, in this case the company. I can no longer make decision on what kind of house I want to live in, why? Simple reason - company has arranged it.
• Vacation allowance
• Even we got the vacation travel allowance and we are not worried about how we can save money to travel. We have allowance for travel! So, when the company reduce it for the cost saving it, people are losing their mind. Why does people losing their mind? Because we are depending on it for travel.
• Health insurance
• This is good actually for everyone who is working. As it is provide protection. For this part, I am happy. At the start I was very comfortable and I thought no need to get another insurance protection. Slowly I realised, my family is depending on me and I have many responsibilities pending. If something happen to me, it will be tough for each of us. Therefore, with this realization I started having the insurance coverage for myself as for now.

Female at the rig

95% of the time, I am grateful I am female working in the field because it has many advantages.

However the other 5%, sometimes I wished I am a male. So, I don’t have to worry of changing the clothes, praying room, using the bathroom because all the facilities are completed - for male employee.

For female, 9 out 10 rigs I have been to, no facilities for female employees. So, I would consider myself lucky if I can get my own room, without sharing with any female personnel on the rig. This is because, you can enter your room, get change, use bathroom, relax at any time you want. If you are sharing with another female, you cannot disturb them as they are off shift. If I got a roommate who is understanding and willing to tolerate, I am lucky. So we will make each other life easier.

Sometimes, when the bed spaces are limited, I will need to share with a male. So for the last 4.5 years since I am here in Qatar, I am lucky I just shared twice and it was really awkward. It was my colleague, but still I don’t feel free.

Working as a field engineer, not everything is bad. It has both pros and cons, similar as other profession. I think I will share it in another entry, more about the positive side.

That’s enough for now. Thank you for reading and take care people. Stay safe and Ramadhan Kareem.

Salam w.b.t

P/S - I am doing day shift, still at Lovanda Rig. Day #3 of fasting.

Ramadhan ya Ramadhan

Salam w.b.t and hi all,

How are you doing? Things are going well with you? I hope you are doing fine.

I am doing alright. Currently working on the rig called Rig Lovanda, I would say it is quite close to Iran border. I have been here since 15th April, relieving my colleague. This rig is brand spanking new, it is good. Internet provided, and I got my own room. Initially when I arrived I was assigned to a room share with the female trainee. However, after some discussions with the person in charge, I managed to get a room without sharing. The reasons were;

• I will be doing 6-6, and the other will do 12-12. We will disturb each other
• There is no changing room and bathroom designated for female crew, again, we will bother each other when we enter the room
• Easier for me to enter and pray in the room, rather than sharing the musolla with the rig crew

Overall, I am glad I got the room for myself.

I don’t have anything particular to write about now. It is quite random time I wrote this entry. I am on my shift now, working and not too busy now.

I called my mother last week, a day before I departed to the rig. Also, texted her from time to time. So it was alright.

Maybe I should address that I am grateful because I still have a job, and actually working. In this tough situation in this Oil and Gas industry, too many variables have affecting the workforces. The Covid19 has created the Domino effect around the world.

Therefore, I am grateful for that. Though, I am struggling with the motivation to keep myself up.

I will be Ramadhan soon, approximately 3 days left before entering Ramadhan. Time flies really fast.

I have been complaining a lot, but I did not do anything to change it. That’s the problem actually.

Why don’t I do something about it? That’s a good question.

Till then.

Salam w.b.t and stay safe everyone.

P/S - Ramadhan ya Ramadhan

Quick Life Update 11 - For months now

Salam wbt and hello all,

Oh my gosh..it has been a while since the last update. How long? Months ago.

I never forgot the blog, but it has been quite a busy times for me. Not all the time busy, but it is a mixture of the hectic and low time for me. Whenever I got time and free, I did not update the blog. Instead I did another things and keep delaying in updating my blog.

For example, got back the rig and at least one day available or free. I will go see movies, eat good food, sleep, window shopping and cooking. I will do things that I won't be able to do at the rig. In terms of updating the blog, I will be like, "No problem, I will update it at the rig". Then, actually at the rig I will be so occupied and exhausted. 

So, while I still in the writing mode, let me bring you up to speed what has been going on with me up to now;

Vacation in Malaysia

I had three week vacation, starting from end of January until mid of February. I just went home, relax. I did not travel to anywhere. Attended the weddings, catch up sessions with some old friends. On the second week, I removed the wisdom tooth. It was a surgery which lasted ~45 minutes. I did the check up two days after I arrived in Malaysia. Then, taking into account the food at weddings, good food at market, my mother's cook, me and my mother decided to come back one week after to do the surgery. Towards the day, I was scared. Should I or should not I remove it? My mother said, just remove it. And I finally removed it, after thousands time cancelling the surgery for the last 3-4 years. I did not feel any pain due to the local anesthetic (2 injections!!!). But! The sounds were scary, "Kruk, krak, kruk, krak" continuously. Three deep cuts were made to my gum as this wisdom tooth was so deep. Once removed, the doctor stitched the wound and I came back on the third week to remove the stitch. At least 3 days to stop the bleeding, the blood was really thick red and I did not even have the gut to check my mouth in the mirror. Once the bleeding stopped, and less painful, I started eating like normal.

Me at Genting Highland, before decreasing my wisdom level.

Other than that, helped my mother to organise the house. Since last year, I planned to renovate the front of my mother's house, which is always her wish. I allocate her some budget, and she organised it accordingly. She looked and interviewed several contractors before selecting any of them to do our house. We also bought some items like lightings, surveyed the mosaic, bathroom items. Funny thing was also, we roamed around our neighborhood to check out the designs for our house. We took pictures, and for me, people might think that we were planning for burglary. Towards the end of my vacation, we rearranged the cupboards to make some spaces for the renovation in the front area. The contractor also started send the items like sand, wood, cement, steel and placed them at our house.

With my sistah at Aisyah's wedding

All in all, I had a quiet vacation. Just relax at home, and it was alright.

That's my mother checking on the stuff

I came back last week

I traveled back to Doha last week, Monday, 12-Feb. Instead of asking my mother to send me to the airport, I took a taxi. I don’t want to trouble my mother to drive early in the morning. Besides, the house renovation started on this day.


Two days of quiet at Somerset, and then I showed up at the base. Managed to fast several days to cover the day I missed in Ramadhan last year. Then, I will need to cover another 10 days for the one I missed last year although I already paid the kifarah. I am using this not busy time to replace them, InsyaAllah. I went to rig GDI-1, did the rig up and came back to Doha. Only one MWD left there, Ahmed Al-Risi. This will be Remote Operation (RO) job, so no need to MWD at the wellsite.


Since I came back, I did nothing. Just roaming around and started studying for ADN-ECO school. Yes, finally I will go to this nuclear school in April. Therefore, need to learn and understand the modules.


Now, I am just staying at the base. A lot of engineers came in, loan as well as transferred. Also Malaysian engineers came in. The activities supposed to start being crazy, for some reasons, many rigs got delayed. When things are not busy, actually I start thinking maybe they will start laying off people. Hehehe…and I had some issues with the top guys, and I probably one of the candidate to be removed. My brain can be so negative sometimes. :)

 

Somerset

Did I tell you I moved to a new hotel, Somerset. Basically, all the International Mobile employees are staying there now. Somerset, it is a service apartment. One apartment, it has three huge bedrooms. I was the third person to come to Apartment 601. Then, after one week, I requested to move another apartment. There is one lady that was bitching around the smell of cooking. I fried eggs and she started to bitching the smell. Also, scolded me for using her cooking utensils. The thing is, she put everything together with the hotel's stuff. She should have fuckin tape her things with her name etc. I don’t like her from the start, although I don’t talk much with her. Surprisingly, she smoke in the apartment and never washed her dishes. I cannot order food every single day you know and I need to live with freedom. I know from the start, whether I can tag along well with somebody or no. It is a gut feeling. Then, fuck it. I reported to the HR and finally moved to another apartment. I am happy.


There are a lot to update. I will see you in the next entry hopefully soon.

 

Take care and Salam w.b.t

 

P/S - It is getting warmer here in Qatar. Summer is approaching. FYI, this is backdated post :)

Random Updates :)

Salam w.b.t and hi all,

 

It has been a while yeah… I am a bit busy for the last 3 weeks since I got back from vacation. I have drafted the part 2 on my New Zealand vacation, but what I haven't done is to upload the photos.

 

The entry will not be meaningful without the pictures, right? So I decide to keep it as a draft now, instead I am making another entry :)

 

Have you guys watch IT and Kingsman? I watched IT with my sister back in Malaysia and watch Kingsman when I was in Doha after vacation. The IT movie is scary but funny as well. It is a very awesome movie, I would say the best movie I ever watch in 2017. I have been telling it to all my colleagues at work, but not interested to them. 

You will float too

Then Kingsman. I personally think the first Kingsman is way much better but did not regret watching the second one. It is good to watch except some of the fighting scenes are too fast to watch. With some background music and it makes me dizzy a bit. Hehehehe…. However, it is fun to watch and shows part of London, black cab, Hyde Park etc. I walked in these places and watching it in the movie created smile on my face. 

 

I miss United Kingdom or Scotland to be specific; the greenery, mountains, hills, buildings, accents, train, weather, jackets, trees and streets. The prices of the clothes, food, groceries and others. I complained how boring is the place but it does not mean I don’t like and miss the places.

 

One thing I miss a lot is the warmth of people back in Aberdeen. The little and sometimes silly talks I had at work with my friends. All the pranks we made to each other. Yes, we pranked each other. Hehehe…tied our coverall, paste on the locker, tied shoe laces together, hid the shoes, and many more.

 

Anyway, past is a past.

 

Right now I am at the present, trying to motivate myself to move on and find the beauty at the present moments.

 

Thank you to those who read my blogs, and leave comments. I appreciate it if you find my blog is useful, again, thank you.

 

I do not update much on Facebook or Instagram. If I do, I will write an easy stuff, but blog is the main medium if I want to pour my heart out :)

 

If I haven't update my blog for quite a while, please do not think I leave my blog. I might be so occupied with all the works.

 

I think that's all I have so far. Take care and see you guys in the next entry.

 

P/S: "Do not worry, I am a Muslim". That’s when I started to worry. I will share my experience regarding this.

New Zealand Trip Part #1

Salam wbt and hello all.

How are you guys been doing? I hope you all are doing fine. I am doing quite awesome honestly.

I just got back from my vacation in New Zealand. It is a great place really and beautiful as well.

Stopping at Lake Tekapo

I think I will create at least two or three entries regarding my trip to NZ. I planned for a vacation in early of July while I was in Doha. I did not know where I want to go for vacation, but I want to go for a travel. I haven't travel for quite a while so I was so thrilled to go for an adventure. Hahaha...

Waiting for boarding the plane - Air Asia

I don't know for sure how I can get in touch with my very old friend, Nabila but I call her Paan. Maybe I saw her quite active on FB sharing stuffs then I asked her straight away her holiday. She said end of August until early of September, around 2 weeks. To me, that's about nice time. 2 weeks in NZ and another 1.5 weeks in Malaysia.

Paan, so down to earth person.

Then, the process of getting holiday approval and planning for journey begun. I just planned my travel to NZ and Paan planned for things to do there. All I told her, I want to travel all over NZ and do bungee jumping. Doing the jump has been on my mind since I was a student but I had limited resources back then. Hehehe....

There were doubts initially whether I will make it or not as the journey will be nearly 25 hours involved of 2 hours transits at many airports. The chance of missing the flight is high and also I had concern about the jetlag and affect of long travel on my body. I don't know, as this will be the longest travel I have taken so far.

View while tramping on Hooker Valley. Yep, that's the name of the place.

Finally the day has come. I was downmanned from the rig early morning of 22nd August.

Phewww... From the plan, I should start my travel on 23rd August from Doha.

23rd Aug, Original plan => Doha - Jakarta - Denpasar - Brisbane - Christchurch

Actual plan => Doha - Jakarta - Denpasar - Malaysia/Rumah emak - Melbourne -

Christchurch

Eating Nasi Lemak while waiting.

Delayed flight from to Denpasar, led to miss flight to Brisbane subsequently unable to make it to NZ. Also, being alone in Bali at night was quite not good experience as the same taxi driver kept tailing me around. And, limited options of flights/routes from Bali caused me blurred/lost as the next flight to Christchurch is in the next two days.

Well, I don't want to stay in Bali while waiting. I don't feel safe being alone in Bali. Thus, I bought ticket to go back to KL straight away.

Get on the flight go home, thinking maybe this is not my time to visit to NZ. At home, my mother/emak encouraged to not to cancel the plan. As she knows I was so excited for the vacation and there will be none there to accompany me if I want to come later as Paan will go back for good. Finally, rebooked the flights. This was on 24th August. (Ah man...money money money. I need to work harder once I finish the vacation)

On the next day, I started the journey to NZ. It was exciting and nervous as well. My mother sent me to the airport and packed me homade Nasi Lemak. Huhuhu...

Alhamdulillah I safely arrived in Christchurch on 26th August at 5AM. Paan picked me up from the airport and went to her place. The road trip will start around 10AM as she will need to pick up the rental car.

Feel like crying looking at this view, so pretty.

So, there were 7 of us and she rented a SUV. It should have a bigger car like Estima or van but we made it work regardless. Hahaha...

We managed to squeeze everyone into this awesome SUV, believe it or not. This is brand new car, 0 KM.

The plan was to travel on South Island first then go to North Island.

I think I will write the itinerary in Part #2. It is quite long entry if I want to put everything here together.

In the meantime, I upload pictures on my Facebook. I just used my phone and pictures shared by others. No fancy gadget as I don't have one. Hehehehe...

Glenorchy, in Queenstown.

Alright guys. See you in the next entry.

Take care and Salam wbt.

P/S - I am glad I went home and collect my winter jacket. It was freezing cold in NZ although spring already started.

Hello peeps

Salam w.b.t and hi all,

How are you doing? I am doing fine. I am offshore at the moment, first time offshore in Qatar. On Al-Khor, Shell jack-up rig. Ocean is calm, but the temperature is so hot. They announce the heat index from time to time, the range of the temperature is between 49 to 56 degree C. It can be hotter during the day.

It has been crazy for the past three weeks. I have been planning to update the blog many times, but I was pretty occupied with the jobs.

Exhausted as well.

I managed to go back to Doha on Eid. I did not go anywhere, I was sleeping and rest as trying to adjust the sleeping schedule. Then, on the very same day, my manager asked me to come to the base on the next day to prepare the basket tests. Then, next day I was planned to go to another land rig for rig up with another MWD, Berik. I will do the rig up and leave Berik to run the job alone. There will be Remote Operation support and I will go back to the previous rig I was, GDI-4.

Ok, that’s cool. We arrived around 4PM and started the rig up. The heat was so crazy, and at 5PM I was sitting at the corner and about to black out. Immediately I went to room, wet my face, threw up, heart beats crazily and I could not open my eyes. I laid down on the floor for one hour with headache. It was like a punch hitting my head. I was so scared that I might be unable to wake up.

Then moved to the bed, slept. Around 6PM, back to normal and continued rig up and preparing the equipment. We rigged up and finish around 5.30 in the morning. We were so exhausted, and Berik, he looked like lost sometimes. Well, I understand because exhausted, heat, and unplanned rig up. He is the man with the plan, and when there is no plan, he kind of lost. I know this rig, so I led him.

At 8AM, driver came to pick me up to go back to Doha. In the evening, got another message to go to another rig, GDI-1 to do the setup and teach the loan guy about the job. Ok, fine. I departed to the rig, and came back to Doha in the afternoon.

After that, I managed to get three days of rest without any disturbance. Treated myself with good foods, watched Pirates of the Caribbean, and sleeping. On the fourth days, I felt weird as the managers did not call or email me. I was so kind (LOL), went to the base to say hello and ask them, "What's up?".

Went to the base, did the basket test and I was told by another manager I will be going to the rig in two days. He gave me 5 minutes pre-job briefing and I don’t know a heck what the job was about. I said, I am supposed to go back to the GDI-4, that’s what my manager told me.

Long story short, I was sent to the rig, I am currently at. I don’t really like it, although the food is really good.

The reasons are;

1. I share the room with another Shell's female personnel. The room is very hot, and the A/C is working, but it is always like that since it is summer
2. No hand phone here, leave it on land
3. Health and Safety is quite strict compared to land rig. I have been working freely on land, and then I need to limit and control it here. Basically, be more safer
4. New client for me, and a lot of things I need to learn and their SOP, bla bla bla
5. On land, if I want to come back to Doha, I can push my manager to relieve me. I can go to the supermarket, and walk around the rig. Here, I need to wait for helicopter and I cannot randomly say, I want to go home
6. I made friends with the rig I was at previously, I know the crew and what they are doing. I call them by their name, and they know me. Here, I am a new crew and I need to break the ice

I am an introvert, I don’t get along easily with people at the beginning. It takes time to know people, and after that I will be fine.

It is quite calm now, we are drilling. I arrived 5 days ago and the last two days, it has been crazy. Anyways, I hope it will be good now.

On another note, I will have my vacation in Aug-Sept. I will go to New Zealand visiting friend and see places, and I just bought the flight ticket two hours ago. It is going to be a long flight. From Doha to Christchurch, in total around 28 hours with three transits. Erm….I hope I will be fine. Then, I will go back to Malaysia. That’s the plan for now, details, I will think about it later.

When thinking about New Zealand, I already feel excited. Hahaha…will see. Anyone wants to join me, you are welcome.

That’s what I have so far.

I will write again later, take care folks.

Keep me posted if anything.

Salam w.b.t and see you all next time.

P/S - Nothing to P/S

Quick Life Update 10

Salam w.b.t and hi all,


How are you guys doing? It is been a while since my last entry. It has been quite hectic and crazy for the last couple of weeks.

Before I proceed, Salam Ramadhan to every Muslim readers :)

After I got back from my short holiday, I stayed in Doha for three weeks, approx. I did not go to the rig, only to base. Since not many engineers available in town, it was quite busy for me as I will need to complete my workshop training. I did basket tests, prepare the tools for load out, as well as preparing for the EMP school. During this time, I would day it was a "honeymoon" time for me. Sleeping, eating, shopping, and chillout in town.

 Krispy Kreme, Villagio Mall

I departed to Abu Dhabi on 13 May and came back to Doha on 26 May. This flight was the shortest flight I ever taken in my two years with SLB, around 40 minutes which I am so glad. The EMP school was two weeks and it was alright. Most of the D&M Engineers said this is the toughest course ever for this segment, but I find it was not that hard. It is just a lot of works, theories as well as practical. In my opinion, preparation is the key. Anyway, I learned a lot and I passed. Grade does not matter, as the application of knowledge on the job is much more critical.

Flight leaving Abu Dhabi

Certificate of completion the course

All the FEs of the class

I came back last week, and I tried to keep a low profile. I did not go to the base for the first weekday, and another trainee, Areej told me that my manager, Kulwinder was asking about me. Actually he knows I am back in town, it is his way of saying, "Why is Siti not here???". Hahahaha….the next day, which was last Monday, I showed up at the base.


Since last Monday, we had calibrations back-to-back. At first, it was supposed to be three calibrations then suddenly an additional calibration required as it was urgent tool. I took turn with Areej to do the calibration with two seniors with us. Basically, two persons are required for calibration and I came with Kamlesh (Senior) on the first day, then Areej with another senior came on the next day. It is summer here and the temperature can be up to 50 degree C during the day, therefore we started in the evening around 5 PM. We finished around 12 midnight. For the urgent tool, me and Kamlesh did it during the day yesterday and it was roasting.

Today, I came to the rig. My manager told me about this last night, and this morning I departed to the rig. This is my breakout job, and Kamlesh is here with me. From the plan, he will leave me alone to run the job after we do the rig up. He does not seems convince I can lead the job. It does not offend me, because I feel the same as well. I don’t feel confident at all, plus, I haven't been to the rig for nearly 1.5 months. Hahahahahaha….But one thing I can tell you about myself is, I will never feel confident if I don’t do it myself. I cannot just wait for the right moment of confidence to kick in, I will need to chase for it.


This is my first Ramadhan in Qatar. We are starting to fast around 3 AM and break our fast around 6.20 PM. The good thing is, everyone is aware of the Ramadhan month and summer. So, they are trying their best to be accommodating. When I did the calibration, Kamlesh kept saying, "Ok you can go have a rest after this", "Go to sleep", and others. The staffs also aware and asked me to go inside of the building instead of standing outside. Since I have been working with Kamlesh most of the times, I told him, it is alright for me and not to worry. If I feel tired or too much, I will break my fast but I will try first to fast.


The weather is so hot here, and windy plus sand. Also, we have been warned about the sightings of snakes and scorpions. The HSE officer casually said, "Before wearing your safety boots, make sure turn it upside down just in case there is a snake inside it". I was like, "Man, are you kidding me???". But that’s true. Another personnel said he came across the snake on the ground, and its colour is brown and when we look from distance, it is like a rope lying on the ground. I don’t feel excited about it.


I told my mother that I will probably not come back for Eid, which is sad as I was planning to go back. I asked my mother if I am selfish and does not care about family, because sometimes I can feel I am a selfish person. She said she understand that I need to secure my job as I have been fighting for this job for many years. It is time for me to prove myself through this breakout job. Therefore, once I am finish with this job, I am planning to take couple weeks off and go back to Malaysia. Although some people said, you should travel around the world since you are working with SLB and has a lot of money. Let me tell you something, distance grows a heart fonder. I will travel, but now, I could not find a suitable person or group I can tag along with.


Actually, we are free now as we are waiting for the crane availability to offload our equipment. The crane is pretty occupied and we could not do anything apart from waiting, waiting and waiting. I was thinking if we can rig up at night as it is very hot during day and I will be fasting. So, we will see how it goes. I drank coffee and just standby if we can start working tonight.


So, that is the update for now. I will write again later.


Take care and Salam w.b.t dear readers.


P/S - "Last Hope" from Paramore has been my looping music for the last two weeks. Listen to the live version of it, it was so good.

 

Art of communication

Salam w.b.t and hi all.

 

How are you guys doing?

 

There is no particular topic I want to write this time. I am on the job but on the standby mode as the drillstring got stuck downhole. Basically, we are not being productive since three days ago.

 

I want to do something productive, like study. But I don’t have the motivation to do it. Therefore, I write this.

 

So far, working in the field is exciting and also frustrating. I will not sugarcoat this by saying, "Yeah, I love challenges, bla bla bla". In reality, you have to deal with everything and everyone.

 

As you know, I am a beginner and absolutely green on my job. Many things I don’t know, thus I will do and react slower in any situation as I don’t know. Thus, my judgments, my decisions, and observation would be off or wrong. I cannot pretend that I know everything and "act" smart. So, when the senior become cynical or scoff at my stupidity, it kills my motivation honestly.

 

 In this case, it is up to my mentality whether I can take it or not. So far, I take it and learn from my mistake although it can be so harsh.

 

Whenever I managed to do something right or close to right, no one really bother. Most of the time, it just me giving a pat on my back as a small reward.

 

Basically, this all comes down to the art of communication.

 

Remember this, if you criticise others for their mistake, you should also praise them for their efforts as well. It is unfair to just do one side - being negative, but not being supportive. This is crucial especially when you are a leader or supervisor, as you don’t want your team turn their backs at you.

 

That's all I want to write at the moment.

 

Take care and Salam w.b.t.

 

P/S - Another 5 hours to go before I can go to sleep.

Me in Qatar

Salam w.b.t and hi all.

 

How are you guys doing? I am doing great here. Time flies really, really fast. I did not get time to update anything since end of last year although I had nearly four weeks holiday in Malaysia.

 

So, I will make a quick update now.

 

I had a good time in Malaysia. Spent time with my mother and sisters, visit my grandparents in hometown. Although several conflicts occur, but nothing much I can do. Typical family issues.

I am with my mother before departure to Qatar

My not-so-little sister with my mother.

My little sister and I did the car boot sale.

During holiday, I met dentist to do teeth crowning. I did not realise I had severe buxism or teeth grinding during sleep. Well, my mom ever told me ages ago, but I thought she was talking about my youngest sister. In the end, I had to do crowning. When I get the opportunity, I will need to see a dentist again to make a mouth guard where you put it in your mouth during sleeping for protection.

I arrived in Qatar on Jan 28. Then, the company sent me straight for H2S training and MK50 Life Jacket. It was additional training on top of the offshore survival training I had back in Aberdeen. Then, did my medical for offshore and Qatar residency.

Sunset from the base.

Third day, went out with some Malaysian and Indonesian guys to the Souq Waqaf. It is a market in the Doha city. There are a winter festival going on for one month. So, people from Saudi will come and shopping there. Also shows, foods, camels, lights, traffics, and a lot of people. I spent around 2 hours there with them before going back to the hotel as I will depart to the rig early in the morning next day

GDI-4 at night

I went to the rig, GDI-4, around 1.5 hour drive from Doha. The rig is in a desert, located in Dukhan field. A lot of land rigs here, which I believed own by Qatar Petroleum. It was easy task once I arrived at GDI-4, since the crews were already there and they were just continue drilling. I did a night shift with another trainee, Areej, a Saudi lady

On third day, I was informed that I will be going to another rig, GDI-2 for rig up and drilling job. This GDI-2 is about 20 minutes from the first rig.

Sunrise from GDI-2, before crew cange

On the fourth day, I departed to the rig with another 2 crews. The rig up was 8 hours of sweat, blood, and swearing. It was so physically demanding, but it went alright. When we are at the rig, we are all working back to back, non-stop.

I am freaking trainee, but I take day shift. For the first three days, I had to troubleshoot and deal with all these people at the rig. Now is day 5, it is quite relaxing as things are going well so far. I hope it will go well and we will reach TD. I estimate around 1 week from now.

My skin is burned. Trust me, this is the only time I can relax since DD is busy.

We are drilling and I have a space to breath for now, that’s why I am writing this to update my blog.

 

I will update it again from time to time.

 

Take care and Salam w.b.t guys.

 

P/S: I think I overslept last night, so I feel so sleepy at the moment. I will go make coffee after this.