Apparently Flickr is banned in Dubai!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Last Lagos Dinner
Tonight we we treated to a sumptuous Japanese dinner by our project manager, Samir Ounnas. We went to the Fusion restaurant at the Lagoon. Here’s the group photo of what’s remaining of the 20+ we had in early September last year. Counter clock wise from the bottom left is the project manager himself, Samir Ounnas, Miguel Sasso, Jason Payne, Alek Lokowizh, Hazem Fayed, Paul Charlton, Tim Whelan, myself, wife and Andrew Dryra.
Samir contemplates a lot in the office. Even now he’s probably thinking deeply about his tea.
Trying to make sense of the menu. Miguel helped make some good choices.
Faces of very hungry people. Jason rarely smiles.
Mr. Whelan has a cool iPod Touch. Never leaves home without it.
Some serious discussion going on. All three are accomplished engineers in their field. Two of them are chartered engineers, while one’s an umbilical expert. No mean feat.
Finally, a smile from Mr. Payne. He’s probably the one guy with the whole Egina project embedded in his head. I can hardly keep track of the flowline data but somehow, he has most of the numbers and data stored in his head. Remarkable.
Nice array of bottle lines up against the wall.
Time to pay the bill. The fastest money counter in the whole of Lagos – brilliant personality.
Lastly, a picture of the lagoon where the restaurant is located.
The team started demobilising early this month. Tomorrow two go home, I leave on Saturday, 5 remain behind for another 2 weeks. Our 10-month TOTAL Egina Deepwater journey comes to an end.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
5 OBSERVATIONS
1. Once, all villagers decided to pray for rain, on the day of prayer all the People gathered but only one boy came with an umbrella...
THAT'S FAITH
2. When you throw a baby in the air, she laughs because she knows you will catch her...
THAT'S TRUST
3.Every night we go to bed, without any assurance of being alive the next Morning but still we set the alarms in our watch to wake up...
THAT'S HOPE
4. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future or having any certainty of uncertainties. ..
THAT'S CONFIDENCE
5. We see the world suffering. We know there is every possibility of same or similar things happening to us. But still we get married??.. .
THAT'S OVER CONFIDENCE!!
THAT'S FAITH
2. When you throw a baby in the air, she laughs because she knows you will catch her...
THAT'S TRUST
3.Every night we go to bed, without any assurance of being alive the next Morning but still we set the alarms in our watch to wake up...
THAT'S HOPE
4. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future or having any certainty of uncertainties. ..
THAT'S CONFIDENCE
5. We see the world suffering. We know there is every possibility of same or similar things happening to us. But still we get married??.. .
THAT'S OVER CONFIDENCE!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Chinese Philosophy
Some Chinese philosophy on life...
When without money, keep pigs;
When have money, keep dogs.
When without money, eat wild vegetables at home ;
When have money, eat same wild vegetables in fine restaurant.
When without money, ride bicycle;
When have money, ride exercise machine.
When without money, wish to get married;
When have money, wish to get divorced.
When without money, wife becomes secretary;
When have money, secretary becomes wife.
When without money, act like rich man;
When with money, act like poor man.
Man, O Man, never tells the truth:
Says sharemarket is bad but keeps speculating;
Says money is evil but keeps accumulating.
Says women are trouble-makers but keeps desiring them;
Says high positions are lonely but keeps wanting them.
Says smoking & drinking is bad but keeps partaking;
Says heaven is good but refused to go.
In the past, woman gives man their virginity;
Now, woman gives man their newborn baby
In the rural area, chicken calls man awake;
In the cities, man calls for chickens.
In the past, famous actresses will not sell their bodies;
Now, actresses will sell their bodies to become famous
What is life about?
1
At age one, YOU are the top priority
10
At age ten, academic excellence is the top priority
20
At twenty, getting laid is the top priority
30
At thirty, a good career is top priority
40
At forty, keeping your body in shape is top priority
50
At fifty, beating others at mahjong is top priority
60
At sixty, keeping IT up is top priority
70
At seventy, remembering something is top priority
80
At eighty, moving around is top priority
90
At ninety, knowing directions is top priority
100
At 100, having your portrait on the wall is top priority!
When without money, keep pigs;
When have money, keep dogs.
When without money, eat wild vegetables at home ;
When have money, eat same wild vegetables in fine restaurant.
When without money, ride bicycle;
When have money, ride exercise machine.
When without money, wish to get married;
When have money, wish to get divorced.
When without money, wife becomes secretary;
When have money, secretary becomes wife.
When without money, act like rich man;
When with money, act like poor man.
Man, O Man, never tells the truth:
Says sharemarket is bad but keeps speculating;
Says money is evil but keeps accumulating.
Says women are trouble-makers but keeps desiring them;
Says high positions are lonely but keeps wanting them.
Says smoking & drinking is bad but keeps partaking;
Says heaven is good but refused to go.
In the past, woman gives man their virginity;
Now, woman gives man their newborn baby
In the rural area, chicken calls man awake;
In the cities, man calls for chickens.
In the past, famous actresses will not sell their bodies;
Now, actresses will sell their bodies to become famous
What is life about?
1
At age one, YOU are the top priority
10
At age ten, academic excellence is the top priority
20
At twenty, getting laid is the top priority
30
At thirty, a good career is top priority
40
At forty, keeping your body in shape is top priority
50
At fifty, beating others at mahjong is top priority
60
At sixty, keeping IT up is top priority
70
At seventy, remembering something is top priority
80
At eighty, moving around is top priority
90
At ninety, knowing directions is top priority
100
At 100, having your portrait on the wall is top priority!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Law of the Garbage Truck
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.
As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
So ... Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a blessed, garbage-free day!
Note: This is becoming more and more prevalent in these times. These days people snap at the smallest provocation. It will get worst. It will get so bad that someone will just detonate some nukes and humanity ends in an instant. The earth then waits another million years or so for another species to dominate the world.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.
As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
So ... Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a blessed, garbage-free day!
Note: This is becoming more and more prevalent in these times. These days people snap at the smallest provocation. It will get worst. It will get so bad that someone will just detonate some nukes and humanity ends in an instant. The earth then waits another million years or so for another species to dominate the world.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Stupid Things People Say on Facebook
Ever wanted to know what stupid things people say on the Facebook profiles....then check out Openbook.
Another Night without Water at Somerset Court Hotel, Osborne.
Staying in this hotel is becoming a joke. You have a General Manager who scoffs at your complaints, some of the staff who lie to you (don't get me wrong, you do have some staff who go out of their way to make your stay a memorable one) and aging plumbing which fails all the time. Add a horrible Internet connection to the list. Also, despite having a multitude of TV stations over cable (Dstv), there's only 9 channels available (if their working). I dont know why the hotel cant buy more decoders and have more channels, like what they have at Bungalows.
The general rule at Somerset is that the hotel is run for the staff by the staff, guests are secondary. And all this for N32,000 (USD213) per night.
We have been patient for long enough. It's been 2 hours since we lost water. The front desk said, "Don't worry sir, water will be back in 5 minutes." Typical Nigerian response for everything. I guess the expats are right, we're never staying at Somerset Court Hotel, Osborne any more. Enough is enough.
I dont know if the Somerset Hotel at Temple road is any better - with only 2 TV channels but with faster Internet since there's not many tenants.
The only things that works properly is the swimming pool. Thank God for that.
We stopped eating in the hotel because the food is so salty. After 2 weeks staying in Somerset, I ended up at the Reddington Hotel with a blood pressure of 180/140!
To their credit, they did implement some worthwhile ideas, like having the tea, coffee and juice out for everyone to take during breakfast. And their breakfast delivery time has much improved - we dont have to wait 20 minutes for our breakfast, even after informing them of our choice the night before.
I dont know if the Somerset Hotel at Temple road is any better - with only 2 TV channels but with faster Internet since there's not many tenants.
The only things that works properly is the swimming pool. Thank God for that.
We stopped eating in the hotel because the food is so salty. After 2 weeks staying in Somerset, I ended up at the Reddington Hotel with a blood pressure of 180/140!
To their credit, they did implement some worthwhile ideas, like having the tea, coffee and juice out for everyone to take during breakfast. And their breakfast delivery time has much improved - we dont have to wait 20 minutes for our breakfast, even after informing them of our choice the night before.
But overall, Dover could have done better than put us, for 10 months, at Somerset Court Hotel. Good riddance to Somerset in 2 weeks time.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
Did you know that Samuel Langhorne Clemens is better known as "Mark Twain." You probably know him, but you may not know that he was also the dear friend of rogue genius Nikola Tesla.
Physicist and inventor Nikola Tesla predicted a device that would let a businessman in New York wirelessly communicate with his office in London or elsewhere. He made that prediction 101 years ago.
Friday, May 14, 2010
No Food at Pat's Bar.
Being hungry (starving actually), 5 of us headed off to Pat's Bar for lunch. They were closed the day before for some tax issues. Those of us who ordered the burgers got our burger after 45 minutes. The other two colleagues who ordered something more exotic ended up with nothing as their dishes only arrived after we called for the bill. Then magically their dishes appeared.
I dont know how they could keep their cool. But they did. Their now back in the office waiting for their take-away food to come (eventually).
Another example of poor service in Nigeria.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Watch the Thomas Cup (Badminton) Live On the NET
Catch the Thomas Cup badminton live on the internet at
http://www.desichannels.co.cc/view-channel.html?ch=pembawa4&type=jst&nm=Thomas%20Cup:%20Malaysia%20vs%20Denmark
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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