i'm back!

Hey people! sorry for not blogging the past 2 weeks or so.

Airshow was over & i was away on a 6-days campervan holiday trip with my friend from Singapore over the Good Friday & Easter break!

Am back in the office today, have to clear some of my work before i end my last day in Melbourne office on 1-apr & take a flight to Sydney on 2-apr for my next 3 months work training there!

Will give more updates of what my little adventure on the campervan holiday & will upload pictures taken asap. So wait up & catch ya soon! =)

Short Update

This week seems to have passed pretty fast compared to the last... Perhaps it was because i was given a day off?

When the Airshow officially starts on 15-March, we get to rest a little - taking turns to rotate a day off among ourselves & i was scheduled to rest on monday, 14th March - which happens to be Labour Day in Victoria. As Geelong is located near the coast, i took a drive to Queenscliff, stopped over at Torquay's beach for 2hrs - had a dip & sun baking (where i fell asleep!), drove a third of the Great Ocean Road & had seafood in Lorne before heading back to the apartment. The rest of my colleagues had to work long hours that day & didn't come home till almost 10pm... Indeed it was LABOUR day for them!

The Airshow in Australia is well known for its 'Live' Flight Performances which basically is the main attraction that the public wouldn't mind paying AUD40 per adult for an entry ticket! Being the official freight forwarder on-site, we are given free admission tickets (limited though) & some staff entry passes. Took some photos of the performances but mostly i've them captured on video instead.

Today (19 Mar), i'll get half a day off but have to report for work tomorrow, sunday 3pm for the closing of the Airshow - which in a way, works out to a 1 day off! YEAH! I plan to drive back to Melbourne city to spend tonight in my own apartment, do some proper laundry today, attend church on sunday morning & drive back to Geelong for work!

Working Weekend

It's Saturday again & i'm updating my blog from the site office instead of the usual internet cafe... kinda skiving... hee!

A quick update on what has been going on this week:
1. it's everyday 4.30am wake up & wash up
2. leaving the apartment at 6.30am
3. starting work from 7am - 7pm (including weekends!)
4. aussie BBQ lunch everyday at our warehouse (lamb chop, chicken kebab, port sausages, coleslaw, bread)
5. late dinner at 9pm
6. in bed by 10pm

About work:
For this event, each of us was given 4 airshow polo t-shirts, 1 cap, 1 spray jacket (like windbreaker), 1 fleece which is a thick jacket to keep warm (all with company logo printed) & a safety vest - ours to keep for all except the safety vest. Pretty cool, huh? =P

Weather was good - cold throughout the week at a top of 22 degrees on weekdays. We had several days of dark clouds, threatening to storm/rain but thank God, it didn't... But it gets more & more difficult to wake up so early as the days goes by. However, there are couple of things which i look forward to when i wake up - it's some kinda motivation lah... You would need that sometimes, think positive, you know? It's all in the mind... ha! Well, i would look forward to a nice hot shower, 2 slices of toasted bread with butter & jam, a cup of coffee (oops! coffee again!) and the beautiful sun rise view when we reach the site office!

Check out the photos i've taken under "Airshow Down Under 2005" in My Photos. If you find the sunrise and/or sunset pictures beautiful, you should see it live for yourself... It's just awesome! The magnificent creation work of God...

Work was quite ok, so far. Coming into the site office each morning, we have to gear ourselves up with airshow pass, safety handbook, safety vest, safety shoe & a 2-way walkie talkie each. Guess the walkie talkie makes the work a lot fun & interesting.. hee! It gets really dusty here at the site. There are layers of dust on my laptop after some 5min! And i think i'm a bit sensitive to the dust 'cos i've got some rashes round my neck...

About the apartment:
I'm currently sharing a 2-bedroom serviced apartment with 3 other female colleagues for this airshow at Geelong. On my 1st night sleeping in a room with 2 other girls (Eva & Emily), i didn't sleep well or at all for that matter... Then, i had a dream (i think) but it was so real i wasn't even sure... i felt someone coming very close (i mean really really close) beside my bed, i could hear her breathing down at me, kinda pressing me down & in my mind i've this impression that someone was Eva... then i tried to open my eyes to wake myself up but couldn't... when that 'thing' left, i opened my eyes to see the 2 girls fast asleep! i don't think Eva has any sleep walking habit so i reckon it's probably some unclean spirit... it was quite an experience for me 'cos i never have any problem sleeping whenever i travel overseas... anyway, i prayed again that morning - like i did when i 1st arrived in the apartment... & guess what? i had exactly the same 'dream' yesterday night!! Didn't tell the girls about this, lest it freak them out... ha! Other than this weird episode, i've been sleeping quite well... Who wouldn't after a long day at work?

Airshow Down Under

Just a really quick update from the Airshow site office...

In case, you are wondering why am i so free to even blog? Well.. i'm here waiting for 2 of my female colleagues to complete their email replies & instead of wasting my time away simply waiting for them, i blog! =)

As a matter of fact, here at the on-site office, we have absolutely no internet restriction AT ALL! Which means, i can check my hotmail a/c which i could never be able to do so when i'm at work in the Melbourne branch office! Yippy! Then again, like i have so much free time to check on my hotmails or surf internet right? Sigh...

I reported at the Melbourne branch office last Sat, 6.30pm & four of us were busy rushing out some paper work & didn't finish until it was 8pm. Went for dinner & headed up west for Geelong at 10pm. Reached the apartment at Geelong around 11.30pm, met the rest of the team (the guys from Sydney office) & was in bed almost 2am.

Had to wake up the next morning (Sun) by 5am to wash up, change & get ready for our 1st on site work at the Avalon Airport where the Airshow will be held. Worked throughout from 7am to 3pm, unloading trailers of exhibition goods, etc... The nite ended with the team going for dinner @ 6pm, came back around 9pm & lights off by 10.30pm.

Was a super long day for me 'cos i wasnt able to sleep well on the 1st night. In fact, it was as though i didn't sleep at all...

2nd day of work (which is today - Mon) & as a matter of fact, for the rest of our on-site work (ie. till 23 Mar), we have to leave our apartment by 6.30am! Work will end around 7pm (earliest)! And with only 1 bathroom to share among 4 girls? I will have to get up @ 4.30am to be the 1st to shower while the rest take their turn to use it for 30min each!

Work Woes?

Surprised to see another post from me? Well, there's a slight change of plan. We (colleagues & i) will be driving up to Geelong this evening - meeting in the office @ 6.30pm - which gives me the opportunity to update my blog during the day! Indeed those who are faithful in checking my blog (despite being told last week was my last update) are blessed! Hahaha!!

Just a quick short one (i hope)... This week was really a trying week for me - both physically & mentally... Work has certainly speed up this week as we prepare for the Airshow. Majority of my time was spent at the warehouse & loading bay where i had to locate the exhibition goods, label them, & monitor the loading of exhibition goods on 4 big trailer trucks. It was long hours of standing, running around, telling the forklift & truck drivers what to do. Each truck would take approx. 3hrs to complete the load! Usually by the time i'm home, it was around 8pm & i would be so so so tired...

I wrote about Work privileges in earlier post but it's time to face the reality of working in a Fairs & Exhibition dept! NO FUN!! Gone were the days of sitting in the comfort of an air conditioned office, trouble shooting problems through emails & phone calls, have long 1-2 hrs of lunch breaks, numerous opportunities of surfing the internet and chatting on msn with friends, get paid for all the above! Now? It's about standing in the sun/rain subject to the mercy of weather condition, solving problems by running around the warehouse (no more let the fingers do the walking... ha!), 15mins (max!) of lunch break, no time to check emails not to mention surfing internet or msn chat!, still get paid but no OT pay for the long hours! Mind you, the above are just the beginning of pre-event preparation work... The worst has yet to come!

When i was back in the office after loading the last trailer around 7pm, my colleagues said that by the end of the Airshow event, i would have picked up all the curse & swear words - which are expressive words commonly used in this industries... The fact is, all the Aussies & Germans in my dept, all the forklift drivers & truck drivers, all the people i would come in contact with when working in the Fairs & Exhibition dept use the 4-letter word as punctuation! Every sentences are filled with #!@*!!!

I pray i will not be under their influence & put under any forms of pressure to utter these words! To be honest? I know this is tough - very tough! Yet, i'm determined not to conform to them, i want to be different, i want Christ likeness to shine through & God help me please...