Home is where you make it

Hooray!! My trip to Lagos was cut short by a day!! Actually, before we even get there...it's a long story. Let me summarise:

1) Wednesday
- Left Port Harcourt at 6:45 a.m. to Owerri Airport. It was a 2-hour bus ride through Aba Town.



- Arrived about 9 a.m. Flight's supposed to depart at 9:15 a.m. but couldn't find locate my ticket!



- Finally managed to get a ticket. Flight departs at 9:45 a.m.



- Landing delayed by 30 mins due to bad weather. Landed in Lagos around 11 a.m. and it was supposed to be a 45 min flight.

- Decided to follow my colleague to the Lagos office. BIG mistake!! The journey took almost 2 hours!! Arrrgh!! Traffice jam was at a grid lock due to some political rally.

- Arrived at Freeman's House around 2 p.m. Another BIG mistake!! Couldn't find an empty desk to work on. Couldn't find transport to send me straight to the hotel. So had to wait for the 4:15 p.m. bus.

- Bus only leaves at 5:15 p.m. Grrrrrr!! More traffic jam - grid-lock more like. So had to walk half way to the hotel. Took about 30 mins. to arrive at the hotel - and I haven't even eaten all day!! May as well have fasted.

- Within the 30 mins. managed to avoid being run over by 2 transit buses, and at least 10 ocassions by the okadas (motorcycle taxis). Who needs "Survivor Africa"??

- Too tired to notice hotel room. Seems comfy enough. At least the bed doesn't smell of B.O. and bathroom clean enough without risk of getting Hepatitis.



2) Thursday
- No transport to send to Eko Hotel where the workshop is. Found a colleague (bless him) who kindly gave us (me, the facilitator & another participant from Gabon) a lift.

- Turned out that the workshop will be compressed to 1 day. Hooray!!

- But now have to forward flight to Friday instead of Saturday. Arrrrgh!!

- Colleague (bless him again) managed to get me a seat on Virgin Nigeria at 9 a.m. on Friday.

- Workshop turned out to be a brainstorming session instead to discuss issues directed by the SNEPCO Leadership Team. So wtf are we SPDC and Gabon staff doing here????!!!! Grrrrr!!

- Had dinner with the facilitator.

- Managed to confirm transportation to bring me to the airport after countless of "pass the phone" game.

3) Friday
- Luckily traffic to Lagos Airport was not too bad. But the whole journey was a heated political argument amongst the Nigerian passengers. Arrrg!! I thought I was going to be caught in some "friendly fire".

- Flight to Owerri was delayed by almost 45 mins. because the refueller was late. Grrrr!!

- Got chatted up by some Filipino Paray at Lagos airport, who turned out to be quite useful. Helped me with my luggage - from putting it in the overhead compartment to carrying it all the way to the arrival hall at Owerri Airport. "Salamat, paray!!"

- Arrived in Owerri Airport today at 10:30 a.m. However the bus only departed at 12 noon because we had to wait for passengers from Warri. Arrrgh!! So close yet so far away from home.

- Got into another grid-lock somewhere in Aba. Arrrg!! So had to u-turn and go through another town. Can't even remember what it was called. Arpapo or something or other.

- Finally reached the R.A. at 3 something, and home at last at 3:30 p.m.

- Soooooooooo glad to be home-sweet-home. I love Port Harcourt!

- Missed the kids so much. It was so good to see them.

- Am off to sleep now. The end.

I'm leaving on a jet plane - well kind of

Have just finished packing. I hope I remember to pack everything I need. I'm fliying to Lagos tomorrow for a 2-day workshop on Performance Management. Unfortunately, because of the security restrictions, there is only one flight to Lagos - and that's in the morning. So you add 2 extra days to travel back and forth. All in all, will only return on Saturday. Ho-hum. Such is life, I guess. Will definitely miss the babies. This will be my first time away from my second-born since the day he was born. So am kind of nervous about that.

Oh. Did I also mention that Port Harcourt Airport is closed? Well that means I have to fly out via the airport in the next town which is in Owerri. Which "conviniently" is 2 hours away by road. "Never a dull moment!" as they always say here.

Apparently, there's a public holiday on Monday. Not sure what it is for yet. But nobody seems to be able to confirm it for me at the office today. But I could really use the day off since I expect I will only be arriving home in the afternoon on Saturday. It'd be great to have an extra day to catch up with the kids.

Saw an advert last night that 24 season 5 will be airing on Tuesday at 9:30pm. Well this is Tuesday and it now now 10:15pm. Have been sitting in front of the tv since 8:30pm and no sign of Jack Bauer. So I ended up watching CSI since it's on anyway - and typing this blog at the same.

Got to concentrate on CSI now, and catch up some sleep later.

Ramadhan Mubarak

It was an uneventful Sunday yesterday. But in a nice way. Spent most on the day in and out of sleep. It just goes to show what a hectic week I had. Still uncertain whether or not I will be flying to Lagos on Wednesday. Just realised today that I have been booked at a different hotel. The hotel I was supposed to stay in is fully booked. Let's hope I will get some news tomorrow. Otherwise will cancel the trip. Just not worth the effort or risk, partciularly in view of the current security situation.

Fasting month started on Saturday, which is a day earlier than Brunei - but then again year-in, year-out Brunei is always a day later than everybody else. We got some home-made donuts yesterday from a Malaysian friend in the camp. We practically stuffed ourselves while watching tv. It just goes to show what desperation and deprivation can do to you.

We've been calculating our monthly grocery expenditure, and it turns out that we're spending more than we ever did back home. You'd never have guessed this, considering the condition of this place. But groceries really are that much more expensive. I guess, the scarcity and uncertainty of goods are the main determining factor. On top of that, we are having to pay the EXPAT rate. And this is not including diapers and formula milk for the kids, which we bring over from Brunei by the crate-load...

...Speaking of which, I'm still waiting for my airfreight. It's almost 2 months now since I arrived. How long does it take for the airfreight to arrive???? We're definitely running out of diapers and milk. Also, need my clothes amongst other things. I'm not even going to start on my seafreight. Haven't even bothered to inquire about the whereabouts for the moment.

I am superficial

After such a depressing last entry...thought it's time to chill-out a bit. Afterall it's the weekend. Ramadhan starts today in Nigeria. Of course did not participate. My excuse for this week will be "ladies problem". As for next week? Who knows.

Invited a couple of friends over for dinner - well, my husband's to be honest. So glad I got dressed up for it, eventhough it felt a bit weird at first, since we're only going to be in our own house(!). The wife of one of the friends came dressed for a gala night. So getting dressed definitely paid off.

Forgot to update - I managed to fulfill one of my wishlist last month. I know. How could I miss such an important event? If you recall one of my previous entries entitled "Downtime", I wanted a Dior Gaucho bag. Well, it's mine now. I bought it while on transit in KL onroute to Amsterdam. Of course, my husband (as is his usual self) had his doubts when I'm on a bag spree. So I convinced him under the false pretense that it was a "baby bag". SOLD!!

Here's the evidence:

Another day in paradise

Work's really picking up now. Yesterday did interviews all day and I couldn't believe how tired I was at the end. It's hard work, and to think you're just sitting there asking questions.

Had an argument with a colleague on Tuesday afternoon. He accused me of "causing him stress" because I have not submitted enough information. Unfortunately for him, I submitted the data early last week. So he had a whole week to realise that and tell me, so I could provide him with the extra information. And who told him to start doing things minutes to the deadline. So sorry, but I will take non of that crap and told him so. Tried to be funny with me today - but somehow the humour was lost on me. Too little, too late, I guess.

Another moron came my way today. It's unbelievable the issues that people seem to "suffer" from. Sometimes I wonder how people get to be so high up in the organisation and yet be so STOOOOOPID. It's such a curse being in HR, I'll have you know. At the end of the day, you can only do so much. You can't please everybody and you get all sorts, including tw*ts (unfortunately more often than not).

Will have more interviews to do tomorrow. But managed to talk my way out of the afternoon session. But I know it'll still be a long day. So much to do, yet so little time....and to think I signed up for a 4 year assignment. Wonder what I will write then? Even weekend has become a dread - not because I don't need it...but...must...do...work...will...not...rest...until...it's...done...

...what am I turning into?

....after almost 3 months of silence

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted. I've moved on since. Am now finally in Africa. Nigeria to be precise. There's never a dull moment here, I tell you. My supposed first day at work was spent at home. A few expats got kidnapped over the weekend, so as safety precaution, nobody was allowed to go out of the residential camp.

Today we were told to "work from home" as the Industrial Union decided to go on a three day strike. Just got an e-mail telling us to do the same tomorrow. Oh! The joys of working from home!! Thank you, Unions!

Starting to have withdrawal symptoms...desperately need my dose of handbags...of course, this is the ONE territory that the male species will never understand. Have been caught spening too much time on the Purse Forum, much to my "better half's" dismay. So...must...try...to...hold...urges...so...husband...will...not...notice...

Watched "Brownies" today. The amout of handbag product placement in the movie was more than enough to keep me glued to the screen. I was more than willing to forego and ignore the crappy storyline and really annoying lead character (who is she?). And why does the "hero" (I am using this term LOOSELY)...look like...get this...Barry Prima?? Does anyone remember him? Like??

The highlight has to be the white Bottega Veneta bag. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the exact bag that is on my wishlist. Sigh....And the amount of Anya Hindmarch bags on parade! And a Be a Bag to boot! Darn! Drool...drool...drool.