November 4th 2007 - Boxing
Our Korea Diary - November 4th 2007
Boxing Day !
I was a bachelor this week ... Paula left me to go on a shopping spree with her friend Renata on Tuesday and came back Friday evening. She also took the camera with her, so I don't have too many photos to show this week. At least not of the personal kind. I might go down to my car and get the camera, so I can show you how far we have got at work.
While she was away I made some ground with my other home page. It's tough going though, as I have to teach myself real coding from scratch, but I'm slowly but surely advancing. Paula is disappointed that I spend so much time on it, but it beats watching television ! Thursday Ole and me went out for dinner and Friday I was invited out to lunch with Peter, Carolina, Lilly and Hubert. It's nice to be looked after ! hehe .. Friday I awoke with a terrible allergy and a beginning toothache. I was in a bad state and decided that I needed a slow start to the day, so I called my boss and told him I'd be in a bit later. It helped a little just doing a few chores in the house and after half an hour, my nose had cleared enough to make my nose spray work. I suffer from dust allergy and it seams that autumn brings a change to the winds here, so that we now get a lot of dust from Siberia. We start to see people wearing masks on the street again. At night, after a game of squash at the old foreigners compound - where a BIG Halloween party was held - I waited for Paula in our apartment. Right down below us Hyundai Arts Center had arranged a concert, so I had first row seating while I was waiting !
Saturday my allergy was much better, but the toothache was killing me. I had to go to work but at noon time I had to go look for a dentist. No luck, but at least the pharmacy were able to give me some medication that took the inflammation down. I will have to see how I get on tomorrow, but at the moment I am OK.
Sunday morning my colleagues Kim and Ole came over for the "fight of the year"! Calzaghe vs. Kessler at the Millenium Dome in Cardiff. Thanks to the time difference we could sleep in and watch it live at 10 am instead of 1am local time. It was a good fight, though not exactly with the ending we had wished for. Our man Kessler lost on points after 12 rounds. I'm not really a boxing fan, but a quality fight is always interesting.
The action Friday night as seen from our living room. There was Kendo fighting, Kareoke, Choir singing and more.
Our good friends Stephanie and Jerome left this week, so Paula went to have a say goodbye at Cafe Lime.
This week I "starred" as a substitute for the German team in the pool tournament for the second time.
Germany was playing Asia at the New Foreigners Compound and here is the line-up.
I did better that the first time, although I started with a loss in the first game when I scratched on the eight-ball (I was way ahead of my opponent, so it was a really stupid move!). Anyway - it brought some excitement into the game and I managed to pull off a 2-1 win after a close third game.
Kim, me and Ole watching the boxing Sunday morning.
Sergei and Mr. Oh at the office after a hard days work.
This week the cargo tanks for the fifth vessel arrived from China. A floating crane is used to lift them onboard. In the background you may just see the bottom of the accommodation, which will be lifted onboard in a few days (the white bit on a barge, seen below the cargo tank on the right)
By lowering the tanks into the cargo hold using a floating crane and with the vessel afloat, there really is a lot of things that can go wrong. Just a few days ago in Busan, the same operation turned into disaster when a big wave rolled by. We were luckier and "only" had a piece of steel wire tear free and drop from a considerable height. Luckily nobody was hit !! Notice the people waiting in the bottom of cargo hold - that would be reason for immediate closure of a European yard due to security issues!
As you can see, it is a close fit. And remember the poor people directly below this monster !
Here the tank is seen from the other side.
Here we are inspecting the cargo hold of one of the other vessels. As you can see it's a tight spot. You can also see why my allergy was especially bad Friday, the day after I took this photo. I wear a dust mask all the time while on board, but the dust is all over you and your clothes after one of these inspections.