A Typical Working Day in Dili , Timor Leste

It is still dark and the local time at Dili, Timor Leste is 0530 hrs. I always wake up a couple of minutes before the alarm goes off. I have 20 minutes to cook some Quaker oats , shower and get dressed up to go to the office. Today is a scheduled flight day and the helicopter departs Dili with a load of passengers that comes in by a chartered Metro turbo prop aircraft from Darwin. By 0600 hrs we would have arrived Dili Airport. Yes....I am flying an aircraft belonging to SSFC of Vietnam that is on contract to us. We have two Vietnamese pilots and two Vietnamese engineers in addition to our crew. On each flight there will be one Vietnamese pilot and one Malaysian pilots so this is a real "international" flight. The first thing I have to do is to check the weather via Internet and get the flight planning including flight plans done.By 0620 it gets bright. The helicopter would have been towed out of the hangar for pre flight checks by the engineers and pilots.Passengers from the fixed wing aircraft arriving from Darwin normally comes in by 0645 hrs. Their bags are checked and there will be a drug and alcohol test for the passengers going to the rig.If there are no delays we would have the passengers boarded and the aircraft started for its 195 nm journey to the Ocean Shield which is a semi sub vessel employed for the deep sea exploration.Dili airport is located at the foot of the mountains. within 10 nm from the airport the mountain rises to about 5000 ft so after departure from the airport we have to climb like a home sick angel to our cruising altitude out which is 7000 ft. In the mornings normally the weather is not too bad but there are always clouds covering the mountains.On a clear day this is what we get to see after leaving the airport. The flight to the rig normally takes one hour and thirty minutes.This is the semi sub that I have to bring the passengers to. From a distance the heli deck looks like a small postage stamp. With modern aircraft and electronic navigation systems, it is not too difficult to locate the rig. The crew change takes about ten minutes on the heli deck. A quick turn round of the aircraft is done and when all the home bound passengers are on board we take off for the journey home. Once we have establish the cruise, there is time for some snacks. Ocean Shield normally serves us a healthy sandwiches and a cold drink. the sandwich is Australian sized and it takes me more than 10 minutes to eat it!The return journey will normally be uneventful until the last thirty miles. This is where the clouds building up at the mountain range greets our arrival with some "rock and roll"! However most of the time by the time we are overhead Dili airport it will be clear as Dili is located just at the coast.This is Capt Quan one of the Vietnamese pilots flying with us.Once we have landed, the engineers busied themselves with the post flight maintenance. Every component is meticulously inspected for any sign of wear and tear.Oil levels are checked and the aircraft is equipped with a Health and Usage Monitoring system. all the flight datas are downloaded to check if the pilots had exceeded any limitations and to scan for any unhealthy component trends.The aircraft is then towed back to our hangar.There are only three scheduled flights a week but there could be nonscheduled flights. During the cyclone evacuation there were three flights in a day! The aircraft and pilots are always ready for any medivac flights. So, what do I do on non flying days? Plenty.....I have to run safety meetings and clear off any outstanding safety issue, do my regular paper work, liaise with the client, keep my headquarter people informed on my outfit....phew it is hard work!BUT I am blessed with very motivated people under me so it makes my work as Chief Pilot easy. The local Timorese staff are hard working and the Vietnamese pilots and engineers are a joy to work with.
Like soldiers who are constantly training for war, I like to get my crew well trained in the technical aspects of the helicopter. Refresher training by engineers on aircraft systems are conducted to enhance our knowledge to the highest level.Most evenings I like to run up a 1000 ft hill at the back of the Timor Lodge. It is quite a long run/walk/climb and we can get a good view of Dili town from here.

Capt Binh, one of the Vietnamese pilots normally comes along for the run. He is a very fit man.

Life in Dili is not about working only. we do have organised company dinner every month at a local restaurant.The families are invited as well so this is a good chance for me to know them better. Good food is usually served.

SO you can see that I am having a great life with great people around me and a great place to work!

My Hotel in Dili,Timor Leste

In Dili, I stay at The Timor Lodge. It is somewhat similar to some caravan parks in Australia. In fact the owner of this place is an Australian.This place was selected because it is only 5 min drive to Deli airport and about 10 mins to town(if there are no traffic jams)There is good security..The whole place is fenced up with double layered high fencing and the gates are closed all the time.Security guards are posted at the entrance. Normally there are 2 guards at the gate while the rest patrols the property. So you can see how "safe" this place is. There are villas..these are the higher cost homestays.

If it is a hot day, there is a swimming pool in the hotel. Adjacent to the pool is the F and B outlet. Food here is pricey eg a large pizza is $13.50 USD.

For those on a budget, there are container rooms available, I think it cost about $30 USD for a no toilet room. One container has 5 rooms. Only the centre room has a bathroom attached

I have not visited their toilets yet so I cannot tell you if it is full of shit or very clean .

All the units are equiped with a satelleite antenna to recieve TV shows. It is perfectly legal here.

I am seated in front of my Villa. Looks like a low cost bungalow but my unit was actually the lodge owner's unit and he is away . We even have lovely fruit trees in the compound. Just cannot wait till it is ripe!

Here I am inside my Villa trying to get this blog through. Internet service here is BAD. It gets disconnected very often..almost to the point that we cannot work. In my office I have 4 different internet service provider to ensure that we get at least one working so we have to keep switching! Power failures are a everyday affair. Our hotel has its own diesel generators to keep things going (including the air conds!)

So....it is not too bad a life here

A Sunday Morning Stroll Through DILI, Timor Leste

I am in DILI, Timor Leste now and since it is a Sunday, I decided to take a stroll down to DILI town armed with my digital camera. Timor Leste was formerly called East Timor and they were under the Portuguese rule for many years. Later, the Indonesians governed this island nation and in the year 2002 after some violent objections from the Indons, they became independent. So, it is a "New Nation" so to speak and the UN people could be seen everywhere. I arrived here yesterday and when I did my shopping for some food and groceries I found the prices to be exorbitant. So this morning I decided to go where the locals go for their marketing and also to have a good appreciation of the city. A bicycle would be the best option but since my trusted Dahon is not with me I had to walk.The Comoro river which flows from the mountains down is dry most of the time. In fact Timor Leste is quite dry but there could be thunderstorms for a short period.This man is bringing his products to the market. Petrol here is .90 USD per lit so transportation is pretty expensive. Not many locals own cars. Motor bikes are quite normal.This 100 cc motor bike's engine must be overworked carry so much more than it is designed to do.Little vans called "MICRILETS" forms the main public bus transport system. I have seen people packed like sardine (about 15) inside one of this. The conductor is the guy who stands at the door to collect money and also to push more passengers in! In the local street market all types of food could be purchased. The moment they know you are a foreigner, the price goes sky high.I know it because I crept behind some locals bargaining for some tow foo . They got 6 tow foo cubes for 1 USD and I only got three. When I questioned the seller, he said to get six just cut the tow foo cubes into two! Three times two equals six!

I also dropped in to Landmark Plaza owned by Mr Tan from Singapore. Here one can get most of the items required but at a price! If he cannot make more money here why should he sacrifice the good life in Singapore to stay here!

A Boy Scout from Timor Leste. He was doing a public service at the local church. I spoke to him and he told me he is 15 so that puts him to be a Senior scout. I shook hands with him..using my LEFT hand to tell him that I had been a scout too.
Today is Sunday and I am surprised that a lot of Timorans are dressed in their best for the church service.
Instead of ice creams, this little kid had a local donut for coming to church. He cried after I took his picture. He must be scared of me!

If you have a tyre puncture the shop has to start a fire to heat up an old car piston. A small patch of rubber is then forcefully melted to mend the puncture. A smart idea.

Don't throw away your old shoes. There are alot of road side cobblers around here.

Sometimes when there is excess meat, they will come house to house to sell the meat.

This boy has six eggs to sell and the whole morning nobody wants to buy from him. Six eggs cost USD 1.50!

Adding a Water Feature To My House

The designer of my house Yap Hock Seong has put in an air well in between the main house and the guest room. It was my intention to plant it with carpet grass but after 3 years and three attempts the grass still refuse to grow no matter what fertilisers I feed to them. The two Alsation dogs and my wife's Tsi Tsu dog are forever playing hide and seek and burrowing in this part of the house. It is now high time to renovate this portion of the house. Initial idea was to put in a composite wood deck with pebble wash along the perimeter of the rectangle. One thing leads to another and suddenly everyone agrees that a water feature will be the best bet for the location.
We were very lucky to get hold of a "sifu" (grand master) in building water features. He is Ah Sang, a very motivated tiler and holds high self esteem in his work. Work started on 30 Dec 2009. First, the floor had to be re leveled. Then the concrete base is made. All the parts of the wall that are in contact with water had to be water proofed with water proof cement. Old paint had to be scrapped off. That is a lot of hard physical work involved.

The basic shape of the pool is constructed with bricks. Here Ah sang (in short pants) is working with his partner Ah Leong.This small "pit" is made to accommodate the wooden deck made from composite wood. The top of the deck is made level and the bottom of the floor made to allow water to flow out through an outlet.Electricians had to be called into fix the new lights for "effect". By the second week the pool was ready and the leak checks were performed to all systems. If there had been any shoody work, it will show out now.By now the beautiful composite wood that had been pre cut arrived. Installation of the deck was as per the instructions provided.It is almost ready now. just add in the feature plants and the carp.

It looks cool at night with the lights working overtime. Now I hope my dogs do not discover the joy of swimming in the pool. It is ok for them to quench their thirst but my Mata is a good fisherman a swell...esp for big gold fish!
See..both the builders looked very satisfied with their work. Of course we are happy as well and would not hesitate to recommend their services to anyone who wants to get a pool done in their house.

Growing Grapes in Kemaman

When we mention grapes we always visualise that they are grown in some Mediterranean countries. Very few people know that it is possible to grow grapes in our country. I have a friend Soffian a retiree who stays in a hobby farm near to Kemaman and he has been successfully growing grapes for the last few years. Of course growing these grapes are not commercially viable but it does add some sense of excitements when visitors see bunches of grapes hanging down. And he has never bought any grapes since growing his own.


Soffian takes great pride in explaining the cultivation of grapes in Malaysia.
He grows the grape under a plastic shelter and has a drip watering system.I think he told me that the species of grapes grown is the Isabella variety. Don't these bunches of grapes look tempting?

As for the taste you got to ask this sweet looking girl. She seems to be comparing these grapes with the Australian variety!
Besides grapes he plants a whole lot of other vegetables and fruits. His durians are also very good.