Every 90 to 120 days we where we're taking some 7 days off from work assignment whilst in one of the most important steam injection fields in the world located in the Riau Province, town of Duri, Sumatra.
Those 7 days where provided as “perks” for balance of most of the weekends in the island. The trip to Singapore, was quite exciting, especially for the kids, as we had to travel by jeep through the jungle, some burning fields (burn down to plant and grow palm-oil-trees), then arrive at the port of Dumai, catch the ferry, cross the strait of Malacca, then get on a taxi and speed down to Singapore. We use to leave Duri by 7 AM, arriving into Singapore by 5 pm.
Other than the work environment in the camp, life revolved around family life where there were plenty of activities for all families; we had to compete in fun summer style sports. In the camp, we had friends coming from all over the world including Venezuela, Mexico, India, South Korea, Pakistan, USA, Colombia, Scotland and many other. English is the language to speak amongst all and as such it was pretty much straightforward to organize any type of activity that we all wanted to run.
So, towards the end of the quarter and after so much work and family activities we were jumping on the Jeep and heading on to Dumai. During many months of the year in that area of Sumatra a lot of burning of the jungle is ongoing since they need to flat all the area in order to be able to grow palm oil trees; so more than a few times we had to go through smog all the way from Duri to Dumai with windows closed, AC at full and recirculation on. We could barely see 5 meters ahead so driving has to be done very slowly.
Once in Dumai we would go through the immigration process in order to be able to board the ferry which would take us to Malacca in Malaysia at the other side of the Strait of Malacca. The trip by ferry doesn't take too long - perhaps few 4 to 5 hours and depending on the time of arrival to Malacca, if it was high tide we would disembark at the docks; otherwise, low tide, they would have to let us down and small canoes would take us from the ferry to the beach next to the docks. Obviously, all of this an adventure for the kids.
Sadly, lots and millions of tons of CO2 in background from the burning forests in Indonesia
After disembarking we will then go through the immigration process in Malacca to enter Malaysia. Once outside we will look for a taxi, ask for the price one way trip to Singapore which would usually be anywhere from $150 to $200. The very first few times that we did this trip we wasted a lot of time asking questions and how to do things but after 2 to 3 times you get used to it and once you arrive you know exactly what to do so the flow of your activities just keeps on going smoothly. The drive from Malacca to Singapore takes about 3 to 4 hours and we would surely would stop halfway in a McDonald's have some hamburgers, fries and coke !! Then continue driving to Singapore. The entire length of the highway between Malacca and Singapore has been constructed between thousands of hectares planted with palm oil trees for more than ten or fifteen years earlier. The entire area has been domesticated and the views are quite different from the Sumatra Island where we got used to see elephants walking slowly through the camp.
Finally, once arriving to Singapore and nearing the border we would get ready for the immigration process. Once done it was straight from there on to the hotel. We stayed at the Orchard Parade Hotel which is located right at the end of Orchard Road; room prices are average and the good thing is the from there you have access to most of the shopping centers and restaurants in Singapore … of course we spent a lot of time in the shops gathering toys and equipment for the boys as they were Scouts (Cubs) and with plenty of activities back in the camp.
Seven days that passed by very fast since we enjoyed every minute of it. So many things to see and do that by the end of the week we were exhausted and just wanted to go back home and to our beautiful Duri camp.
Enjoyed the short narration, UPVOTE. Liked it so much, RESTEEM !!!
