A Trip to Cactus

Cactus is actually just a restaurant. I didn't go to any desert or anything. The food at the hotel is either very spicy or very salty (most of the time) and it doesn't go well with everyone. But since we work long hours, we have no choice but to eat at the hotel. So when we do get the chance to go out, we RUN!

 

The driver was giving the car a quick check up before taking us.

 

Don't laugh but this is one of the security vehicles guarding the entrance of the estate. And no, the lady in the picture is not the security guard.

 

Picture below was my attempt to catch my colleague buying phone card off one of the many street peddlers. I don't have a better picture of them but there are lots of them on the streets every day. Its a tough living here.

 

If you look right in the middle of the picture, that’s the traffic police in the little wooden hut, right in the middle of the junction. He or she controls traffic during peak hours. Without them, traffic would be virtually at a stand still. No joke. Nigerians do not give way. These people make all the lady drivers back home in Malaysia so much more bearable to live with. (I don't think my wife will read this :)  )

 

I don't know how these two pictures will turn out to be but the gentlemen in white is Jon Clancy, one of the tallest people I have ever met. He leads the SPS team (the subsea structures) while the handsome guy to his right is Paul Charlton, who left his previous employer of 19 years to come spend time with us in Nigeria. Paul’s the umbilical guru.

Close to me is my princess, who hardly gets out of the hotel!

 

 

Just beside us were people in the skidoos. These are private skidoos.

 

 

 

Our little neighbor having a jolly good time.

 

 

And yes, going back to the hotel, we got caught in traffic and the car was practically at a stand still most of the time.

 

 

This is the river that separates the main land, Ikoyi from Victoria Island. Traffic on this bridge is very, very heavy every day. On a public holiday, it takes us 12 minutes to get from the hotel to the office. On normal days, it takes us 50 minutes. Still, its not as bad as going from Kepong to Tun Razak!

 

 

The smiling gentlemen in the middle is Baljit Singh, the Dover Project Manager, who’s leaving the project for better opportunities.

 

 

Ah, I hope this is a better picture of the street peddlers. They will carry boxes of practically everything you can possible imagine. I saw someone selling toilet seat covers today. It’s a tough job but everyone has a stomach to fill. You can buy fruits, tid bits, books, pens, watches, lots of stuffs.

 

This scene happens every morning. The poor queue up for long hours at a petrol station to buy fuel for their daily needs.

 

This is where we go to get our groceries. It’s the equivalent of a small supermarket in Malaysia. Its so much smaller than a small Carrefour back home. There is another called Shop Right but we haven't been there yet.

 

A glimpse of Lagos town. Looks like KL in the 1970’s.