24 April 2005
A few more days and I would say goodbye to one month of my contract. One down, five to go.
Indeed time seems more inclined to pass in a shorter span of time here at sea than being excruciating slow rate back in SG. Of course no pun intended to those of you all back home *gives a Cheshire cat smile*
Reaching KaoHsiung tomorrow and I have just plonked down in front of my laptop after my duty hours-night snack-laundry run and penning this entry off before I start to procrastinate.
A few hundred more miles and I can start singing 'Mei Hua Mei Hua man tian xiang...'Of course you might be anticipating what I would be up to when ashore in KaoHsiung but then I hate to disappoint you folks back home.
Arrival at 4pm and probably I get to start the first watch from 6pm to 12am. So pray thee, besides the nocturnal saunas with *ahem* extras; KTVs with some obasans or some makan stalls or some "Pin-nang Xi-shi"s still operating at this time of the night, I gather I would be better off in my bed.
Sorry fellas, until I get the changeover to 12-6 shift or when some additional officer can take on 4 hrs so that each of us get 8 hrs off, I suppose the Green Island here is out of my reach. Pretty much a wet blanket is it not? *twiddle thumbs*
Perhaps some of you there might not have an idea of my working hours. So just keep your eyes open:At sea, when the ship is running full steam from one place to the other, at present my watch hours are from 8-12 (morning) and 8-12 (evening). This is the 3rd Officer's hours.In port, when there are only 2 junior officers (namely 2nd Officer and 3rd Officer), we split the day and night into 6-12 and 12-6. The so-called "work" does not stop until the whole cargo operation is over. With an additional officer, we all can breathe more easy when we do only 12-4, 4-8 and 8-12 respectively.
However as with the usual nonsense, going ashore means sacrificing sleep time for the sights and sounds ashore and having to crawl back to continue on for the next 4 or 6 hours. With bleary eyes and much weary body, we attempt to stay alert supervising the cargo operations.
Catching up with sleep then becomes the next most important priority when the ship sails off. Hence forth, the major proportion of my time onboard goes to, of course, sleep.
Yes yes, this bed-lazing bugger have a tendency to crawl out of bed most of the time. The snooze function on my mobile hence become important; it allows me another 5-10 mins before I HAVE to really wake up. *Laughs*So much said. 1am now. Time to hit the sack. See? I told you I love to sleep. *chuckles* I got to crawl out again at 7.15am
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