2013.05.27 - JiYeon wedding

Wedding, Naming ceremony and vacation

One month without updates ... what a lazy bugger I have been ;-) (but at least my sister has been just as lazy!)

Well, in my own mind I have been busy with work and pleasure and just haven't had time or energy to post the updates. After a long day at the office, spending more time in front of the computer is not high on the list.

As you can read from the title, we have been away on vacation. On May 11th we went to Malaysia for a diving/snorkelling holiday. I will need a bit more time before I am ready with that update. Many videos and pictures from an amazing diving holiday need organizing!

At the beginning of May we went furniture shopping (again!). This time we were looking for a replacement for our old faithful sofa. Sofas in Korea are not so easy to come by - at least if you like to sit comfortably in a European way. We had seen one in Hyundai Dept store which we didn't completely disliked, but I wasn't all that keen either. So on May 4th we went down to Busan for a second time (first time had not produced any could-be's). This time we had up-sized and were looking for something a little bigger than before. Considering that we most likely will stay in Korea for a while longer, we may as well get something that fits the apartment here, we thought. To our surprise we found a nice sofa straight away. And to Paula's surprise, we bought it just as fast and then left to meet up with Jiyeon and Pietro for lunch !

JiYeon, Pietro and me in Busan - Pietro's new "home town".

Got the sofa delivered 4 days later, but Paula sent it back again due to poor condition of the leather. Buuuh. The happy end to the story is that we finally got a new sofa on May 24th and we are very happy with it so far.

The new sofa - the white one.

Friday May 10th we celebrated the naming of our drillship Bolette Dolphin. Not too lucky with the weather - rain during the quay side ceremony, but it cleared up during the day and in the end it was all good. Rolf, our project manager, ended up missing the day entirely after having spent weeks arranging it. His son was born the same morning! The ceremony followed the traditional schedule with a ceremony at the quay side, onboard tour followed by lunch at the HHI guesthouse. Then down to Busan for post-naming dinner at Westin Chosun. It was a good day with about 150 guests - a lot of them from overseas.

This man will be in charge of all the machinery when Bolette leaves .... Oh dear ! (Ian and Sarah)

Anatoliy and Oksana

Paula and Peder !

The derrick

Too many guests for all of us to be on the stage, so we were placed in two pavilions instead

Gordon grabs every opportunity to air his ... kilt !

The officers - Andrew, Allan, Paul, Ian and Clel

Paula, Dawn and Robert on the catwalk ... the riser catwalk.

Paula at the drill floor

Fred Olsen didn't join, but he did send a video message

Paula and Henry

As this is a bit of a video diary, I may as well show you that we rolled in to Westin Chosun early and filled the gap with a drink in the lounge

Full house at the APEC house

Next day was also busy for us. I got about half an hour at the HHI spring festival before I had to pack my bags and leave for Malaysia. More about that trip elsewhere.

Back in Korea again on May 20th.

Saturday May 25th we went town to JiYeon and Jerome's wedding in Busan. They live in Paris and were already married there, but had decided to do a small ceremony here in Korea, as her family could not make it to France for the real wedding. It was a nice and simple ceremony and afterwards the close friends met up in a hotel room at Haeundae beach for some hours of socializing. It is a rare opportunity to get so much time with the bride and groom !

JiYeon and Jonny

She was a bit emotional on the day ... of course.

The wedding wows

Jerome and JiYeon with her parents

At the lunch afterwards - now in Hanbok

The Hanbok is the traditional Korean dress

And this is Paula's traditional dress !!!

Of course there has also been time for a bit of biking. Unfortunately my buddy Leif has left, so now I am looking for a new regular riding buddy. We are a bunch of guys who ride together from time to time, but with Leif we were regularly out once or twice per week.

Derrick and Webster making it to the top of Magol after a tough 20-minute climb

On the trail I call Dinosaur Park (due to the many big funny-shaped rocks - some look like dinosaur eggs)

Leif cornering

Leif was going to ride this but luckily he got to his senses and walked instead

Michal's first ride - it may also be his last. He was convinced that I was trying to kill him !