Q's Mind: 8 days in Samarinda: Day 5

8 days in Samarinda: Day 5
14 April 2009

7:50am... My morning cup of coffee~
Mamak fried 3 eggs for us...and fried rice...
Mix them together... and its one hella great breakfast for the day!8:16am... the sky's pretty brighten up already...
and we're about ready to set off... (ran outta clothing... so borrowed my dad's work pants and coverall; good for getting oily and dirty...)
8:31am... oh here's a clearer picture of the granite quarry near our place...
8:33am... @ the gudang again...
still working on the fuel injection pump...
I stepped outside for some nature-exploration and spotted something moved in the drains...
Its a mole~! Its kinda drowning, safe for that rock... so I scooped it up from the drain and flung it onto the dry land~ 1 x good deed~ ^__^
9:02am... moving on to the next work-site...
By the road... barge filled with Coal...
This barge holds up to approx. 8000 tonnes of coal...
The river banks of Samarinda are joined by just a couple of bridges to reach the other side...
We usually can see it from afar... but it takes one hell of a long time to reach that bridge...
Tiny bridges cross little streams / drains below... and the locals love to build their houses by these drains... source of water perhaps?
another coal barge...
... oh and here's another tugboat-in-progress very near the road... almost like a house... I could stay in one, I dun mind~ looks cool~

Green Taxi... there are about 4 different companies of taxi in Samarinda... all in different colours... so they serve each side of the city, separated by the river and the bridge (4 parts)... so if you need to travel to the next region, they only drive you to the cut-off point... You'll need to get another taxi over the other side to continue to your destination...
Oh yea! The Koropok man~! See that motorbike behind with that couple hundred packets of crackers? Very common sight on the roads... they travel to each and every roadside eateries and sell them a bunch...
9:33am... market area...
the streets here are exceptionally crowded with motorbikes...
super crowded inside the market area...
... and it is at this place crowded with motorbikes... I witness this family of 4, just 3 metres ahead of my car, all squeezed into 1 motorbike... the kid in the middle fell off the motorbike, but fortunately picked himself up in time before the wheels of a 2-tonne Mitsubishi 4WD Truck rolled over his puny little head... almost a fatal accident... the mum promptly fell off the motorbike too because she was too anxious to pick up her child... and the father was stuck between pulling his child to safety and holding up the motorbike that his wife and another child was on... messy.
Aunty infront is the traffic warden on this crowded street... she blows the whistle, gives lotsa handsigns, point here and there... and walks up and down the street...but nobody gives the heck about her...
...the motorbikes squeeze in and out everywhere... and that's why the bigger cars couldn't really move much...
... a good video to show you how... they're like blocking our way... talk about brainless? or simply heck-care about traffic rules~

9:52am... finally, after a traffic jam for a good 20mins at the market... we're on the way again...

Heading into this stretch of road...

This area's kinda like a private road... owned by a huge shipyard company... one of our client's~ there's like 2 layers of machine-operated gates ahead... manned by a guardhouse...

This area of the shipyard is just about 10% of the area~

Storeroom...

Tugboats-in-progress...

We were searching for someone... so we left this side of the dock and went to another side...

... over the other side... its nearest the water here...

Gotten pretty used to climbing boats...

... and heading into the engine room...

Oh~ that blue centrifugal pump looks very~ familiar~

.. I headed up to the wheelhouse...

Carpeters still at work on the interiors...

the wheelhouse still needs lotsa work in here...

Oh~ and this steering wheel looks so familiar too~!

Headed to the rear side of the tugboat...

and found another very familiar anchor winch~! xD

always on the phone...

off the tugboat... that bronze propeller submerged in the water... ALSO VERY FAMILIAR~! Hahahaha~

... further ahead... another coal barge passed by... (Dunno why... the sky in indonesia looks like beautiful... and the clouds too...

11:14am... at Sanga Sanga... another work-site...

... one of the client's boat sank overnight...

called up the boss to tell him...

just a video clip of the site...

Shared a boat with a group of workers to cross the river...

got to get to TANJUNG PURA 6 on the other side...

darn workers kept standing up and down... rocking the sampan...

letting the group of workers embarked first...

then we head back the way we came from...

Got to board Ocean Jaya first....

then climb over to TANJUNG PURA 6...

11:30am... and I reached~! (Geez... I could get a certificate in boat climbing and jumping.... )

Getting down to work...

some piping works to tailor...

... headed up to the wheelhouse for some wind...

This is the helms pump... its directed behind the steering wheel... hydraulic pipes links the steering wheels to the rudder behind the boat...

12:04pm... still at the wheelhouse... freaking hot outside... been idling on the boat for while...

across the river, someone has swam over and board the sunken boat from behind...

12:34pm... headed back down to the engine room (I spent an hour above baking in the sun~)

Found them relaxing in the shade...

12:51pm... Lunch arrived!

Big packet of white rice and a big piece of chicken thign!

For the record... I prefer no chilli...

Talk about an "Engine Room Meal"... Did we wash our hands before meal? Nope, no water tap... Fork & Spoons? Nope. Our hands were oily... but heck~!

1:12pm... done with lunch and headed to the deck for fresh air... the sunken boat opposite has been pulled up...

1:18pm... called for a sampan to bring us to another work-site...

Hopping down takes lotsa precision and agility... jump onto the plank in the middle... land on either side too hard and you bring everyone into the waters...

video clip of the boat ride...

Headed for this work-in-progress...

Lotsa measurements to be done...

Pull the measuring tape...

Chalk comes in handy here...

This view looks so nice I had to snap a shot of it...

Video clip of the site... was pretty noisy cuz the workers were doing welding works on the metal structures above head...

1:41pm... Job's done and time to board the sampan again~ (I hate the ground there... the black mud sinks in and sticks to my shoe... )

Sending our friend over here back to the boat...

Here's a good idea of how I usually climb the tugboat from the sampan...

2:09pm... Met the Boss to the Tanjung Pura fleet for lunch~

Was his treat, so here's to a 2nd lunch~! Keke...

Nasi Ayam~

and Tea-peng kosong...

3:11pm... Back on the road... Met a herd of ducks crossing the road... Kawaii~~

I was pretty fast with my camera... the ducks there are so beautiful~

3:22pm... at Samarinda... was told the local government spent a huge portion of their city budget building this gigantic stadium...

... and the huge and wide roads leading to the stadium... not a wise budget-move...

Oh... I'm still as good behind the wheels of a manual transmission car despite haven driven auto ones for the past 5 years...

3:52pm... By the roadside waiting for dad while he heads into another shipyard...

2nd hand wood for sale by the roadside...

Got a phonecall from dad to park the car and head into the shipyard... the way they build their ship here is slightly different...

4:36pm... @ Ah-Seng's metal workshop...

Did I mention they have pretty big dogs here? (There's a bigger mastiff behind this dog...) Scary...

4:47pm... back home....

6:36pm... evening cup of coffee...

6:48pm... heading into town for a dinner appointment... here's the street in Samarinda at night... no streetlights.. thats why taking photos-in-car at night is a hassle there...

The director of my client's firm has specially thrown this dinner for me when he heard I got there... ^_^||

Samarinda Central Plaza (S.C.P.)... This place is like HEAVEN~

The anchor tenant for S.C.P. is Ramayana~

Video Arcade...

Movie theatre...

Billard and Bowling centre! (Lights are not opened yet...)

Headed for ONG's PALACE...

Was told its the finest Chinese restaurant at Samarinda...

Restaurant was totally empty except for our table... (and the staff of course)...

(kinda weird seeing an Indonesian in Cheongsum isn't it?)

Sharkfin soup~ (I am beginning to not-appreciate this kinda soup...)

Hotplate... (I didn't bother with the rest of the dishes... its kinda funny taking photos when the client's around)...

View from ONG's PALACE windows... also the top of S.C.P. ... notice the streets below were very dark? It isn't safe walking alone in the dark street there...