VISA Renewal Trip - Bajghiran, IRAN

Ok. Gua nk citer sket pasal visa renewa trip gua recently. Korang nk tau - kalau korang nk dtg kerje kt Turkmenistan nih, kena ader Letter Of Invitation (LOI) from Turkmenistan Gomen. Once dah ade LOI baru lah korang dibenarkan masuk turkmenistan utk bekerje...

Sampai kt Turkmenistan, gomen bg, 1bulan visa saje..Yep 1 bulan bai!!! Maybe dasar luar negara nih, lain sket dari yg lain kot...Cukup satu bulan, gua kena keluar Turkmenistan jap, pastuh masuk balik...Then dapat lah 1 bulan visa balik. Process nih akan berterusan sampai lah dapat work permit. Work permit pon tahan 3bulan jer...

Soo visa renewal nih takes 2days gaks ah.. Mule2 kitorang akan naik flight from Turkmenbashy. 1hour flight. Selalu flight mlm lah (10.20pm..Sampai kt Ashgabat (Turkmenistan punye capital city) dlm pkul 11.30mlm mcm tuh la...Kitorang overnight lah kt Ashgabat. Duduk lah kt staff house kt Ashgabat. Besar gaks umah dier, ok lah utk merehatkan badan...

Da next day, kitorang bgn awal2. Naik van..kitorang dibawa ke border turkmenistan/ iran called Bajghiran. Naik van jer, da trip took us 45minutes lah. Border dier nih between gunung ganang lah..Jalan mcm nk pegi Cameron highlands lah..Yg best tuh da sighseeing lah. Gunung ganang dier mcm pergunungan Alps lah !! dah nk sampai border tuh, u can see Iran punye side, gunung2 dier dilitupi salji tebal..mmg lawa lah

Border kompleks - xbleh amek gmbar daa, for security reason lah. Kuar jer Turkmenistan (Jalan kaki jer, sbb border complex sebelah2 kan), masuk Iran..kena bayar USD100..lepak2 dlm 15mins, settle urusan kt Iran..jalan kaki balik ke Turkmenistan. Masuk jer Turkmenistan, kena bayar USD110 plaks....(sume benda related to visa renewal nih claimable lah)

Pastuh, turun balik lah..ke bandar Ashgabat. Kitorang pegi lepak shopping mall paling happening kt Ashgabat !! they call it YIIM PASS. 3 storeys jer hehe...xleh nk challenge lah dgn Pavillion. Tp bersyukur lah dgn ape yg ade di negara org. Kt Yim pass, we had our lunch, shopping beli ape yg patot lah....After shopping, kitorang balik la staff house balik..berehat2 sambil menunggu flight mlm nye..

Mlm tuh jugaks..kitorang balik Turkmenbashy..around 10.30pm sampai lah camp...
Next month pegi lah Iran balik...mcm tuh kehidupan di sni..hehehe

HAppy New Year 2010 !!!

Happy new Year 2010 !!! So dis new year, gua sambut new year kt CAmp Kiyanly,Turkmenbashy,Turkmenistan !! hehehe..
Da custom for locals here, diorang akan celebrate new year dgn Families. So kalau nk buat party new year, mmg kena buat before 31st Dec 09 lah..

So our camp held da new year party on da 29th Dec 09. Venue-Recreational room TCF. Our tempat lepak mlm2, tempat main pool, tempat main snooker, karaoke or wahatnot, was changed into da party venue. Recreation was nice sume.SIap ade mini stage tuh!! Mlm tuh, ade live band bai!!. 4-piece band lah. Instrument wise - ade guitarist n keyboardist, lagi 2 org lagi singers cum MC lah.

Mcm biasa, everythin was in Russian lah hehe..Yg best nye, diorang play byk gaks english songs..Ade dance floors sume.Da locals were dancing lah. Food pon best. Sbb byk masakan Mesia kan.Siap ade kambing golek tuh hehehe...Oh ade santa claus, dis cute princess, n also belly dancers hehhe =P

Oh gua ader amek gambar,mcm biasa lah.

Agak sedey, bile mengenangkan xbleh celebrate new year with my sayang. Tp nk wat camne,dah kena kerje nih, nk wat camne.2009 was a good year lah. I got engaged, i got married wit my sayang. Dapt berumahtangga dgn my sayang. Dapt pi honeymoon ke Bali.
First time sambut hari raya puasa, hari raya haji wit my sayang..Aprt frm dat, kena pegi kerje kt Turkmenistan pulaks. Nih kirer my first oversea asgmnt since kerje dgn Technip.Kena be away from my sayang-sedey tp nk buat mcm mane kan..

Kalau betul lah, kena setahun kt Turkmenistan nih, i'll be spending da whole year kt sni lah. Once every 3months bleh lah balik Home leave, 2 weeks kt Mesia. Sangap lah, i'll miss doing things wit my wife lah. It's ok kot,dtg sni bukan berfoya2 pon-just nk carik rezeki yg halal..

So kengkawan. Happy New Year 2010. May dis year, akan murahkan rezeki korang,korang bertambah happy, hopefully all da challenges yg akan berlaku tahun, u guys can face dgn tenang dan rasional..InsyaAllah =)

My first MCR-A Walkabout !!!

It was xmas day, 25th Dec 2009. Kt mesia sumer org cuti Public holiday. Kitorang mcm biasa lah kena kerje heheh.. Since da E&I lead kena check wiring on the EDG Control panel, so i had da oppurtunity to follow him skali. 2 of my friends yg di assigned from Technip pon ikot skali. The MCR-A topside and the GBS (the structure to be planted on the seabed) were located around 1.5km from our site engineering office.

Construction is on going lah. Kitorang naik sampai da upper deck. Near da helideck. Tangga nk naik helideck tuh xsiap lagi, kalau x mmg nk naik. Da view from up there was breath taking !! I can see how big is da Fab yard, jauh sket dah nampak the Onshore Gas Terminal (OGT). OGT pon still under constrcuction lah. Since the FAb yard is by the sea..u can see how big is da caspian sea. Da thing about this caspian sea is, there is no wave at this sea. CAspian sea is actually a very big lake, so sbb tuh xder ombak kt laut nih.

Apart from that, i also noticed that - apart from our population, yg lain sumer nye Padang Pasir !!! I cannot see even one single house pon at the vicinity. Kedai, petrol pump jgn cakap lah..As i said before, 45minutes drive baru sampai 2da nearest pekan lah..

Oh gua ade amek gmbar gaks time walkabout tuh...

Daily life in KiYanly, Turkmenistan !!!

Okeh, gua dah settle down kt Kiyanly nih.

Let me citer sket, my daily life kt sni. Gua ditempatkan kt TCF; Temporary Camp Facilities lah. Tempat nih camp kitorang. Project nih ader Fabrication Yard, TCF, Onshore Gas Terminal. Site office gua kt Fab Yard, so pagi2 kena lah pi office-transport disediakan. Kt area fab yard tuh, diorang tgh construct gas platform MCR-A. Electrical wise-gua kena take care Technip punye deliverables..

Anyways, keje sni 6days a week. Ahad jer cuti. Lantak la ader public holidays ker idak,kitorang kerje gaks. Kitorang dapat cuti time National Day jer kot.

Kt TCF-gua dapat duduk dlm kabin. Kabin gua nih ade 2 katil, tp buat mase nih, gua sorang jer duduk. Ade bilik air, siap dgn heater, aircond yg bleh jadi heater gaks during winter. Ader portable heater.Ade study table, cupboard sumer. Tv ade, tp 4da time being - gua tgk jer tv nih. Dgr kate nyer, nk pasang Astro Russia kt sni, so dat kitorang bleh tgk tv.

Loundry - ini yg best. Dlm bilik ade bakul, letak jer dlm bakul, pagi2 nanti ade org amek - petang siap basuh, gosok hantar kt dlm bilik. Bilik pon hari2 ade cleaner kemas, so xyah kemas katil pagi2.

Makan?? Itu jgn dirisaukan. Makn 4 times a day. Kt dewan makn - sni makan sume nyer free. Malaysian food of course!!! Ade daging, ayam, sayur or whatnot. In entry yg akan dtg gua akan amek la gmbr ape benda yg gua mkn kt sni.

Sni ade Recreational Room. This da only place kitorang nk bersosial mlm2 lah. Sni ade meja pool n snooker. Meja ping pong ader. Bilik karaoke pon. KAraoke dier best bai !!! Bleh challenge sama itu redbox lah !!! Ader beribu2 lagu..siap ade songlist lagi. Yg best karaoke sni free hehe. Utk kemudahan nk call Malaysia, kt recreational room disediakan 2 telefon. Telefon no2 di Malaysia - FOC; Free of Charge. Tp mcm biasa lah kena Q lah kan. Terasa mcm zaman duduk kt boarding school dulu jer hehe...

Weather at Kiyanly - skang sudah winter. Malam lebey panjang frm siang.Pegi kerje 8am, mcm malam gelap nyer..(9pg baru terang). Petang balik from kerje, 6pm dah start gelap dah. Sbb Fabrication Yard nih by da sea - so angin laut tuh yg xtahan. Sejuk woo..dlm office sume ade heater. Kalau isap rokok pagi2 kt luar site office tuh, mmg menggigil lah..

Gua ade gmbar amek sket2, kasi korang tgk suasana kt Kiyanly nih heheh...

Salam Dari Turkmenistan !!!!

Yep, lame gile gua xupdate blog nih. Since gua start kawen hari tuh kot. Lps kawen ade la gua update pasal benda2 gua buat lepas kawen. Pastuh tarak hehe. 6bulan senyap. Biasa lah dah lepas kawen, ade bini – so kehidupan berkeluarga lah pulaks..

Tp gua rase, gua nk start tulis balik blog. Sbb aper bai?? Sbb gua kt Turkemenistan skang nih hehehe. Company gua hantar job assignment kt Turkmenistan. To be specific, kt Kiyanly Camp, Turkmenistan.

Sejarah nye mcm nih. I was supposed to go to Turkmenistan on 1^st Nov 2009. Diorang kasi gua pegi sane, sbb soh tgk site work for MCR-A gas platform. This project is a JV between Technip n MMHE, while the CLIENT is Petronas Carigali lah. Skali hari tuh departure gua diorang postpone. Alih2 last minit kena pegi gaks, on the 13^th Dec 09. So bermula lah perjalanan gua ke Negara Turkmenistan nih.

I’m sure korang xtau kt mane Negara nih. Cube tgk kt dlm map. Turkmenistan is located between Afghanistan n Iran. The Caspian sea, yg menjadi dispute between Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan – has the largest gas reserve in the world!! So mmg byk lah prject2 oil n gas kt area sni. Turkmenistan gained its independence in 1991, previously was under USSR’s administration. After da independence, this country became a republic country, governed by a President.

Ok, so flight gua was on Sunday, 13^th Dec 09. Da thing is, there is no direct flight to Turkmenistan. Da cheapest route is KL –Bangkok-Ashgabat-Turkmenbashy. From KL to Bangkok diorang kasi gua naik Thai Airways. At Bangkok airport, kitorang tukar kapal terbang naik Turkmenistan Airlines. Kl-Bangkok just 2hours jer. Bangkok to Ashgabat 7 hours flight. Flight naik Turkmenistan Airlines, gua rase naik Air Asia lagi baik lah..There was no in flight entertainment, makan pon xsedap. Mcm itu lah – xleh nk komplen sangat2 lah kan.

Arrived in Ashgabad-we were told on the closed door policy of this country. Foreigners cannot be seen after 11pm, cannot be seen taking pictures publicly, cannot be seen smoking publicly. Da officials pandang kitorang slack semacam jer. We rested at MMHE rest house sumwhere in Ashgabat. Weather – it’s winter kt sni. Kire first time lah gua pegi Negara 4musim. Sejuk gaks mlm2 kt Bandar Ashgabat nih.

Da next day, kitorang kena bukak acc bank kt Ashgabat. Ashgabat nih kirer capital city of Turkmenistan. Since xleh amek gmbar,xder lah bleh gua tunjuk gambar city tuh kt korang. Let me describe buildings in Ashgabat – mcm Putrajaya lah lebih kurang. Residential/ housing areas diorang still mcm zaman soviet dulu lah. Byk rumah flats jer. Dgr citer nyer, xbyk berubah sejak end of communism. Bil api, air sumer nyer free kerajaan byr. Kitorang kena bukak bank, sbb senang ler KL nk masukkan allowance kitorang tetiap bulan.

Mlm tuh jugaks kitorang kena fly pegi Turkmenbashy. This is da nearest city to the site (i.e. Kiyanly camp). 1-hour flight to Turkmenbashy frm Ashgabat. Da thing was mlm tuh flight delay kt Ashgabat airport. Kt sni, kalau presiden dier ade nk turun kt airport – Airport kena tutup, jalan nk pegi airport kena tutup. So flights sumer kena delay lah. Gua pulak kena tahan kt airport, sbb diorang issue tics kurang tepat dgn name gua. Oh kena bagitau korang nih-sni mmg ade masalah komunikasi, diorang hanye tau ckp Russia jer, English hampeh betul. Bile dah kena tahan tuh, mmg xtau nk buat aper lah, Nasib baik dapt call Logistic Coordinator (local)-bg dier cakap dgn org kastam tuh. Xbleh gaks lepas. Alih2 gua dapat advise from logistic coordinator via phone, soh kasi jer duit kopi USD20. Once kasi, terus lepas !!! Itu lah lumrah alam kt Negara nih..

Since flight delayed, kitorang sampai Turkmenbashy 2am in da morning. Dgn angin sejuk nyer, mmg menggigil abes lah !!! Airport turkmenbashy, xleh challenge LCCT, even lagi teruk dari Airport kerteh. Beg sume akan diangkat gune lori. Di tengah2 mlm tuh kena lah kitorang kena angkat beg. Fm Turkmenbashy ke Kiyanly camp plaks – 45minutes drive pulaks. It was a bumpy ride lah. Giler jalan sane hampeh, dah la jauh plaks tuh….

Next time plaks gua cite pasal kehidupan gua kt camp. Itu baru perjalanan nk ke Kiyanly camp hehehe…

Salam dari Turkmenistan !!!! =)