Noumea – My first time!

I wrote most of this in the plane on the 16th of September but did not have a chance to upload it until now!

So I’ve been in New Caledonia now for 11 months and had not gone to the capital city Noumea yet!  The closest I’ve been to Noumea is the airport, which is just over half an hour away.  Took the opportunity to go there before flying home.

First thing I had to do, shave.

I kept the moustache for a day.  Why? For lols.  I cut the rest off just before leaving.

It was five of us going down to Noumea.  Josh, Ray, Boon, Nic and myself.  This is the trip, in pictures   Here is us leaving site.

Had to fill up petrol, Boon was wearing some cool shorts.  Nic took the opportunity for a smoke.  Had to keep telling him that he can’t smoke at a petrol station!

At the halfway-stop, we came across the bus-load going to the airport. Boon stopped for some nems and we saw William and Scott there!

It was a long drive to Noumea, over 3.5 hours I think.  Ray was tired.

Went to the airport to pick up another car

I went inside and saw William again!

He came to join us for a moment outside.

From the airport to Noumea, I saw a lot of construction.

and also saw Boon overtaking.

As Noumea came closer to us, I saw famous landmarks, such as SLN.

and then it felt as if we entered a city.

Right by the water.

First we went to Le Meridien where Nic and Josh would stay.

Mirror shot while waiting to get into the lift.

Mirror shot again inside the lift.

Inside the room, there was a nice welcome snack.

Nic was demonstrating that it was possible for three guys to share 2 beds.

The bathroom had an interest feature… a window!

Look inside the window!

And then another mirror selfie, with my Qantas consolation prize (ie. when they misplaced my baggage)

Nice hotel!

Then Ray, Boon and I checked into our hotel, Nouvata Pacifique.

Not as fancy as Le Meridien, but I can smile at the money I saved,

We went out to get a snack.

Went to a Pizza and Pasta place, which was quite expensive.  Then realised what people were talking about – it’s expensive in Noumea.  They must be used to Japanese tourists because we were offered Japanese menus.

We sat outside, under red light.

I had a pizza.

Ray had pasta.

Then we went to Nic’s hotel.

and they ate Japanese food.  I was too full, so I took photos of them instead.

Then we went up to the hotel room.

Nice view outside.

and they had some to drink.

Then we went to the Casino as Nic wanted to try his luck.  We were in and out within 15 minutes.  Nic won about $100 and we walked out.

I saw a big icecream.

Then we went to poplight, a nice place on the water.  There was a Jukebox Champions show on. Not my preferred kind of music, but entertaining nonetheless.

You can see, I wear earplugs to protect my ears.

Boon was having a good time.

This is what poplight looks like from outside.

It was cool, standing on the outside, you could see fish and seasnake swimming underneath.

Then we left, to go to MV Lounge.  We walked there.  I jogged, but Boon (Mr Fitness) refused to jog!

We got there and saw Aurelie.

Nic used his casino winnings to buy Champaign.

Then we left and walked home.  Boon drank too much.

Ray and Nic helped him walk.

He wanted to give up.

But we encouraged him.

Ray helped Boon get the alcohol out of his system, then I went to bed after 4am.  Later I woke up, and could still hear Boon clearing his system.

In the morning, I got up and by 8:30am, I was out, walking.

This is poplight by day!

I walked up the hill at Ouen Toro, and enjoyed the view

.

Stayed up there for a while, then made my way down.

I went to the supermarket, bought some water and baguettes and headed back to the room.

Got back to the room at 11:30, Ray and Boon were still in bed.  I ate a whole baguette, and then Ray got up.  Then Nic came over and we went to get more food, while Boon stayed in bed (the whole day).

Ray had a chicken.

I had a burger.

and an awesome banana thickshake.

After this, we went to Duck Island.

and then went snorkelling.

The fish would swim all around us!

Then we relaxed at the beach.

We went back to the hotel, Nic and Josh went back to site.

Then we went out for dinner.  Stone grill.

Boon was still recovering.

I went for another banana thickshake.

Then we brought Boon to the airport, as he was flying to Korea.

The next morning, Ray and I went out for breakfast.

At a place called Malongo.

I had a brunch set.

When checking out, we were standing at the reception, the receptionist lady saw us and said “Konnichiwa!”  We thought she was talking to the other man walking past, until she kept looking at us, then Ray asked “are you talking to us??”.   It was funny! hor… hor hor!!

Then we got to the airport, went into the lounge to relax for a bit.

Then into the plane.

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8th September–Lazy Sunday

Slept in. Skipped breakfast. Got out of bed around 8:30.  Surfed the net.  Watched youtube.  Updated this blog.

Around 10:30am, Jacu went to Ray’s room and we played DOTA.  3 rounds, and then we went to lunch.

I had lots of chocolate icecream, and then wanted to get more chips.

On my way there, I realise that they had combined the Korean canteen into Western for lunch today, and saw a tray full of kimchi.  So I ate that instead.

I got excited and ate too much, but it was good.

After that, got another cup of icecream and bought a pack of Oreos.  Came back to my room and continued gaming while eating Oreos and icecream.

Had enough of gaming after a while, so did more net-surfing and you-tubing.  Went for a light dinner then Sunday night service.

6 more days of work until R&R!   Goodnight

Saturday, unexpected buffet

Saturday was super busy, running around assisting things line up for fixing the big problem discovered on Friday.

Saturday afternoon, I got a call from the vendor, they knew I had a car, and wanted to go out for a drink.  I agreed to drive them to the hotel.  Here’s some photographs from outside my room while waiting to leave.

When leaving site, I stopped to go to the ATM, and they said that they’ll buy me dinner.  So we went to the hotel, had some drinks (lemonade for me!), and the only choice for dinner was buffet.  So buffet it was!

On Friday, I asked Mr Lu what he’s going to do on Saturday night – whether he could play games with us.  But he said that his team were going out for a buffet to celebrate finishing piping.  On Saturday morning, he was the supervisor for part of the solution of the big problem.  I saw his team at the buffet, but he was not there.  Felt very sorry for him, as he stayed back to oversee the work, and missed his team buffet!

Here’s what I ate!

So good.

Thanks guys.

Came back and saw the LAN I had sent the invites to, was well attended.

I was impressed by one the attendant’s hardware.  It was serious.

then came back and Skype with Julie, since she has her new phone now

Bye Miss Hong

Miss Hong was very popular here, almost had a fan club.

But she bought all the Oreos at the store.  Fortunately, she distributed it to us.  Is this why she was popular?  Joking

As farewell, we met up for icecream at the bar after Friday night dinner.  But there was no icecream.  So we snacked.

It was getting late, I was sleepy, so left early

That day, in the morning, had to do isolations for two permits.  The challenge was that it was at EL122, and was told that I needed to be back by 11:30.  I had to climb a few high ladders!

When walking back to the office, managed to get a lift back to the office and got back quick!

Pregnant cat.

I went to lunch at the Asian canteen.  We were a few minutes early, so ate chicken wings and rice first.  Once the line for the Indian food had cleared, lined up again and had some curry.

Had a meeting in the afternoon where a big problem was discovered.  Then it was a rush to fix it.  I want to site to have a look, then on the way back, saw the safety team having a team photograph.

Had a meeting in the evening and managed to leave the office at 7pm, rush to dinner, and then to icecream at the bar.

This is Peru Wilson in the morning!

Asian Canteen again!

Last night’s dinner.

Today’s lunch.

I really enjoy these meals!

Everyone working out (Wednesday body blast with Boon)

View of our city from the office.

1st September 2013–Malabou Sunday!

Sunday morning, met up for breakfast, then headed out for Malabou.

On the way out, saw a man carrying some furniture to the bush bar.

Here’s a glimpse at the bush bar!

I’ll go there one day for more photos!

First, we stopped by the supermarket.

While waiting outside, I noticed the banana trees.

William bought an icecream.

Mark and Duncan appeared to have co-ordinated their outfits.

So off we went to Malabou.

A very windy day, and sunny too!  Good thing I brought my head cover!

A fire was started.

While we sat around.

Some meat was put in the barbeque.

And we waited.

Ray took his shirt off as soon as he got out of the car.

I think he wanted to take his shorts off as well.

So they kicked some balls.

and I sat around.

and Ray waited without a shirt.

While Miss Hong collected rocks to prop up the barbeque.

When the meat was ready, we sliced it.  Plastic forks are too weak for Ray.

Jacu cooked sausages.

Then we ate snakes.

As they proceeded to play with balls, I went for a walk to the resort.

It was a short walk through the bush.

You can see it in the distance.

Across the wooden bridge.

Then I spotted some of the guys having lunch.

We headed back to the beach.

William bought some chips for the beach-people.

Nick had an icecream.

So I bought one too.

This is where Nick, Wilson and Joshua stayed the night.

Joshua climbed a rope.

And we continued back.

Duncan quietly read his book.

While the rest ate snakes.

Just as I was about to take the photo, they carried Ray away and put him on ice.

And then Mark started throwing his thongs around.

We went back.  Saw some cows.

and filled up the petrol.

Rainbows

There’s a been rain on and off for the past few days.  So there’s been a few rainbows.

Wednesday 4th September 2013–Lunch at Asian Canteen

I had lunch later than usual today.  Got a lift to lunch with Gala and Rob.  I walked into the Western Canteen, read the menu and walked out.  Went to the Asian canteen instead.  It was almost empty, the only people eating there were the staff, still wearing their hair-nets.  I had the best meal this swing.

The fish was good, the vegetables were good, the bread and rice were good.  I couldn’t finish it all.  I was feeling full but kept eating, because it was good.  I got back to the office and heard that the meal at the Western Canteen was not good.  I’ll go to the Asian Canteen again tonight, later

This morning when I got into work, I was offered a pain au chocolat, it was much larger than the ones from the canteen.  I had it for morning tea.

Yesterday morning, there were nice clouds above the site.

I was out at site all day.  I looked down the lifting well where boxes of filter bags were being lifted up – not fun as I don’t like heights!

As I looked down, I also saw some close friends.

This is last night’s dinner, it was also a good meal.

Then on my way back to my room, I was talking to Shawn, while talking, I noticed a bright light shooting across the sky.  At first, I thought it was a plane, then I looked at it more and then it died.  A fireball in the sky!  I’ve heard about these before, but it was the first time I witnessed it!

I went to French class, then after French class, on my way back to my room, paused to look at the site, which looks like a city from afar!