July 5th 2008 - Humidity

July 6th 2008

Finally Sea Trial

This week started like the last week ended ... with the whole site team on stand-by while the sea trial was delayed day after day. Worst of all was that we could never get any information out of the shipyard. They kept hoping for the best without having any clue as to when they could be ready. There was a huge fight between yard and engine maker, as the yard wouldn't stick to the engine makers recommended procedure for start-up. One should think that the yard had learned their lesson with their last ship, which engine they "burned" off 3-4 weeks ago!

We finally got to go on sea trial on Thursday - 9 days delayed. Most things went well, but there is still a long way to go before the ship is ready for us to take over.

Tuesday we went out with Flemming and Marilyn and a visitor from one of our company's partners. We went to SeaHouse and had a great ice cream competition ! I think it came to a tie between Flemming and I ...

The rainy season seems to have hit us hard this year and now people already start talking about it being over. I don't understand .. last year July was the time when it started. But it is getting noticeably hotter and more humid, so maybe the rains are almost over. It certainly is too hot for Paula and Peo is enjoying the AC as well. I have just changed my winter duvet for the summer duvet !

Middle of the day and 33 degrees .. it's humid!

Paula and Peo suffering in the heat !

That said, todays mountain bike ride felt very very hot. We will have to get an earlier start from now on or I will slowly melt away or turn into a raisin. This time of year the Koreans become very extreme in their sun-avoidance. In 33 degrees they will still all wear long trousers and shirts , a hat with a huge shade, a towel around what the hat doesn't cover and a mask for the rest of the money. It makes it a little challenging to ride, because they siply cannot see anything wrapped up like that ! So actually it's kind of like driving a car here .. you got to keep your eyes WIDE open and expect the unexpected.

View of Hyundai Miboo shipyard and the mouth of Tae river

Saturday I was once again well rested after a sea trial with very little sleep (my room mate was a heavy snorer - the heaviest I have ever heard!), so we got hold of Carlos and took a trip to town. Carlos is one of the more adventurous of my colleagues when it comes to food, so we tested out a few places that we have had our eyes on for a while. That is the Vietnamese noodle place, the waffle bistro and the German Brauhaus. I can't say that I was happy with it all, but I liked the German beer and the waffles weren't too bad either.