I even have the coordinates of the exact location of the ship at 12am 10/09/08 (Oh, I didn't even realized they were synced numbers!)
So I turned 19 in the Engine Room! Where I spent my night from 12 am to 6am working with the watchkeeper (Gerjan - Netherlands) and 2 other guys. The noise from the generator was crazy and it was very hot in there!
I also did firerounds from 3am to 4am. Got a break from the hot engine room and had to endure the cold winds. Oh such fun to go around the ship in the middle of the night! I wasn't alone of course, no way would I be able to do it myself =D
Then I slept from 6 to 8, got up for breakfast, went back to bed from 9 to 12. It was definitely not enough sleep! Don't know how the watchkeepers do it. They have those late shifts every night for a week.
Then I steered the ship. I'm still so bad at it. Let me introduce you to Simon. He's a very tall German and calls me Yasmin. It's thanks to him that I got the coordinates as he was on sea watch at that time.
I had the best birthday present. I saw 5 WHALES from the bridge! They were spotted while I was steering, so I basically got to view them from the best place on the ship. That was the best shot I could get. See that little spur of water in the picture? Well, of course I got to see more of the whale then that la!
I enjoyed the experience with Irene (Malaysia). I kept her company in the bridge while she steered and vice versa. It was nice to be able to speak in mandarin with her again. Especially when we made fun of the guys on watch!
So that's some of my birthday!
Since I'm a guest on the ship, I didn't have to work. But I went straight to work! It was the best chance to experience other departments as I hardly had anytime during STEP.
I went back to my roots and did Accom. It's the red shirt that's proof of my work. I was with Aude (France) while we sailed out of Sydney and past the Opera House.
And as you know, Engine. With Matt the engineer (US), Wilfred (Netherlands), and Gerjan, the watchkeeper (Netherlands)
Catering the next day. Now, remember how I only had 4 hours of sleep the day before? Well, to work in catering, I had to wake up at 5.45am! Oh well, it was all worth it. Again, proof is the green catering uniform. The girl beside me is Boram (Korea)
Then at last, I did Deck. Again the shift started at 6am! Scrubbed decks helped while they operated the crane, and RUBBISH! I've actually done deck during STEP but didn't do much as it was a Sunday, only did rubbish and painting the rails. So this time, since I quite enjoyed rubbish the last time, I decided to help poor Tersius (South Africa) who was doing rubbish alone. But that was NOT a fun day to do rubbish. The ships company just doesn't separate! So we had to go through everything, go through the rubbish of 350 people! Plus, that was during the time everyone was moving cabins or leaving, so there was more than usual. Ended up doing rubbish management for more than 2 hours!
4 months ago with deck during Step (it was my off day!)
Yeap, so 4 departments! Accom, Engine, Catering, Deck. And I wore the same pair of safety shoes throughout! Shhhh... I actually regretted helping with Accom the first day. Should have gone for Book-Ex instead. Then I would have done all the 5 departments! Oh well =D
We sailed under the Habour Bridge!
It was in the Engine Room.
So that's me and the Doulos.
Oh and that where I was at when I turned 19. At 35 56 2S 150 46 0E
EDIT: ONE MORE IMPORTANT THING
The other amazing birthday present that I received was a phone call from my STEPPER friends on the night of my birthday! It was such a lovely surprised and I was so happy I had happy tears. How wonderful they are. And a day after that, my dear bai yun called me because she had missed the call on the previous night. Oh I have lovely friends from around the world =D =D
I ski without poles!
