Busy times - and I am off to Korea this weekend!

Hi there, I have been so busy I have not had a chance to upload my photos from Yemen yet! I will do it soon!

This weekend I am going to KOREA! Yes, Donna's colleague Bum-Hee is taking me to Korea with him, and then we will all meet in Beijing China for a few days. Then back to London for a while.

South Korea is in Asia. It is on a peninsula, and is bordered by North Korea, and is across the sea from Japan. The population is 47 million people. I will be going to Seoul, which is the capital, where Bum-Hee is from. 11 million people live in Seoul.

Korea is famous for many things, including tae-kwon-do, hosting the 1988 summer Olympics, and making excellent electronic products (Samsung is a Korean company). Korean food is also delicious, with great bar-be-cued meats and pickled spicy vegetables. I am so excited about going.

Here is a picture of me with Bum-Hee's daughters, Seo-Young and Yu-Young.

Bab al-Yemen

We spent our last evening in Sana'a in the market. It was amazing. Bab al-Yemen, or old Yemen, is really just the same as it was about 1000 years ago.

It is a traditional souk, or market, and as there are very little tourists the items sold are really the things used by Yemenis. Like lentils.

And dates.

When we were walking through the market we actually saw the President of Yemen! He was accompanied by about 20 SUVs and a lot of military guards. It was exciting, but we didn't want to take a picture as, unless you ask, photographing people is rude in Islamic countries. And we didn't think we would be able to ask / get close enough to the President to ask!

I also got to see "jambia" or the traditional Yemeni daggers that all men carry, once they become men at the age of 14.

It was a great day to see a lot of Yemen! I think the country is beautiful and the people were all very friendly!

Site Visit in Bal Haf, Yemen

When we arrived at site they issued us all with hard hats. Mine was a bit big!

I can't show too many site photos, as I couldn't wander around without a hard hat. But I can show you a ruined fisherman's hut that was saved during construction. It is a very typical site in Yemen!

Helicopter tour of Bal Haf, Yemen

We arrived at the airport and I was so excited - I got to go on my first helicopter ride ever! We flew in a helicopter to get a good view of the industrial site and location of the new liquefied natural gas plant in Yemen.

I flew in the information pocket - it was the safest place. Everyone else was harnessed in and they all wore ear protectors too.

I got to see the beautiful coastline. The beaches looked amazing, and the sea was so blue. Apparently there are some beautiful coral reefs there too.

And at the end of the flight, I got to say thank you to the pilots! They were really nice!

On the way to Bal Haf, Yemen

I haven't had much internet access to update everyone about my travels to Yemen - but I can say that it has been very exciting!

Here is me and my boarding pass - we took an early morning flight to Bal Haf, which is on the southern coast of Yemen. The plane was a Dash 8, which is a very small plane that seats about 40 people.

Here is a photo from our plane ride to Bal Haf Yemen. We took a Dash 8 plane, which is a small plane that seats about 40 people. Bal Haf is on the southern coast of Yemen and to get there we flew over amazing mountains and the desert. We also circled over the sea - the Gulf of Aden - which was a beautiful blue colour.

You can kind of see the desert in the background of this photo, and the propeller from the airplane!

My first taste of Sana'a

We arrived in Sana'a on Tuesday morning, and went straight to meetings.

Here is a picture of me with the map of all the oil and gas fields in Yemen.

Donna introduced me to everyone in the Yemen LNG offices. After work we went for a tour of her colleague Olivier's home in Sana'a. This is me with the view from his rooftop.

I have never seen a satellite dish so big! Olivier has a big satellite dish. He uses satellite for his internet access, and also to watch French television while he is in Yemen.

You can barely seem me on the wire!

That evening we had a great Yemeni meal. We had some spicy beans, and very tender roasted baby lamb. My favourite was desert. Here is a photo of me with the wonderful bread and honey dessert. It is called Bint al-sahn - I loved it!

Off to Yemen

Today I took off for Yemen. We flew British Airways to Dubai, then stayed overnight and caught a very early flight to Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.

Yemen is one of the oldest countries in the world. It is located in the Middle East, on the Arabian peninsula, on the southwestern bit of the peninsula. It is right across from Africa, with Somalia right across the Gulf of Aden.


Maybe you have heard of the Queen of Sheba? She was Yemeni! In Yemen they call her Bilkis.

Yemen is historically famous for its spices. The Roman emperor Augustus tried to take over Yemen because it was wealthy from its spice trade, but he failed.

Yemen is a pretty large country, it is a bit bigger than the state of California in the USA. It has a population of about 25 million. About 50% of the population is less than 15 years old. Its economy is about 90% dependent on the oil industry. The average annual earnings per person are less than $1000, which is not much money.

Because the country was only unified in 1990 (it was split into North Yemen and South Yemen before then) and then had a civil war, only recently has there been enough stability to have foreign investment and development. Much investment is still in the oil and gas industry. Donna was going to Yemen because her company, Total, is investing in a large project in the south - the largest ever industrial investment in the country, totalling over $4 billion. It is impressive.

The flight to Yemen was great. The staff on British Airways were so nice - they gave me a secret present for Hamish. Here is a picture of me and Carina. Carina is from Sweden. I have a feeling that I am going to meet people from all over the world on my travels with Donna and her colleagues!

Backgammon Evening

On Friday evening I went to Donna's neighbour's house to play backgammon. Martin Lane lives on Elder Street, like Donna, and he is a backgammon nut. He collects antique backgammon boards. Donna's husband is really good at backgammon - in April he beat her 30 times in a row - so Martin is very determined to help Donna learn the tricks and improve her game so that they can all play together.

Backgammon has its origins in Egypt and Iran, and at some point in time due to the trading between the middle east and India, dice were added into the game. The first games resembling backgammon date to 3000 BC in Egypt. The first written rules of modern backgammon date from about 500 AD, in Persia (which we now call Iran). The "Game of Tables" first appeared in France in about 1000 AD. And in the 1700s in England it was popular and also banned from the royal courts, as it is also a form of gambling. It is a strategy game - you always need to think ahead about what move your opponent might make after you make a move. It is also a game of probability. Having a good knowledge of simple math is important, it means you can make moves knowing likely outcomes.

Donna learned pretty well on Friday night, and finally beat her husband! I handed over the chips!

A Day at the Office

Today I went to the office with Donna. She works at Total, the French oil company. Her office is in Canary Wharf London, which is where the gas and power trading business is located.

Today I got to spend some time with Gary, who works on the natural gas trading desk, covering Northwest Europe. I actually got to do a deal. I sold some natural gas!

Here is the screen shot of the deal I did.

And here is the ticket for the deal.

Later on in the day Donna had a French lesson. She studies French because Total is a French company. She also loves studying languages. She has lessons with a teacher, Isabelle, and she focuses on conversation, grammar, and they also read literature. Right now she is reading a book by Vivene Delcast, a new French author. This is Viviene's first book of short stories.

Isabelle, Donna's French teacher, read along with me while Donna read out loud. French is hard to read, but is fun to listen to!

In the afternoon, we had a coffee and Donna introduced me to more people she works with. The view from the office window is amazing. You can look at see The Thames, which is the river that runs through London. You can also see in the distance a building that is shaped like a pickle - they call it the Gherkin, it is really called the Swiss Re building. It was designed by Richard Rogers, a famous architect, and it has won a lot of awards.

Donna and her husband David took me for a meal at The Real Greek. The food was really good. We had grilled lamb cutlets and grilled prawns and salad. I drank water.

I got to meet the chef. He sent a dessert plate of Baklava to us! He was really nice. All the people who worked there were nice, although this was the first time they had ever heard of me! And I thought I was famous, but maybe only with school kids.

My first day in London

Hi everyone, and especially Hamish

Today I arrived in London. Donna got back from her trip to Florida and found me safe and secure at her house. She decided that we would start things off with a trip to her office - the photo of my arrival at her office is the title to this blog!

I didn't see much of London on my first day, as Donna was really tired. But I did get to meet everyone on her team at work, and she told them all about Hamish's project (me!) and they were all really excited. They started making plans about where I would get to visit during my time with Donna.

Donna works for the LNG trading team at Total. Total is a big oil company, and LNG stands for Liquefied Natural Gas. Did you know that they can take natural gas, super cool it, and it turns into liquid (well, about the consistency of hair gel). Then they pump the liquid onto a ship and send it to where people need natural gas. Natural gas is used mostly for power generation. It is mostly produced in remote places of the world, so they cool it to put it onto ships and send it to highly populated areas with a lot of demand for power generation. Donna's team is involved in buying and selling LNG. It seems very glamorous to me!

Donna's team travels all over the place. So far they have plans to take me with them on their business trips to Yemen, China, Mexico, Nigeria, France... I am so excited to see so many new things. Our first trip is next week!

Donna works on a trading floor. Tomorrow she is letting me spend some time with her friend who buys and sells natural gas. Maybe he will let me do a deal!

To finish my first night out Donna and her husband took me to dinner near their house. I got to meet the waiters and chefs. It was fun!