MI 8 helicopter ride

Interior of the helicopter

This was my first helicopter ride. My friend Chris who lives on Batam island Indonesia made some friends from the airport. He was trying to win a deal to upgrade the Batam runway and was going all the way to accomodate them. When they mentioned that there were going to Singapore to buy a TV Chris agreed to put them up at his home. The only catch was that they were not taking a ferry here but hitch a ride on a helicopter.
It seems that a local freight forwarder operates a Russian helicopter between Batam and Singapore. That was how we got a free ride on it.