Feb 28

Today is the first day since we've been here that it isn't raining. Unlike my last trip, this time the rain actually cleaned the pollution from the sky. The sky is clearer than I've ever seen it (though the sidewalks are slick with a grime I can only assume came from the sky). This has made for some great pictures of the skyline. From the office, I also saw a mountain in the distance I did not know even existed.

I woke up before my alarm again (at 5:30) and hit the gym for an hour before breakfast. I find that when I travel I actually eat and live healthier than when I am at home. I eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, yogurt, bowl of all bran cereal, an omelette, bacon and two glasses of Guava juice.

Today I spend the whole day reviewing and discussing the design. There are key features that do not appear in the draft of the design documents I am seeing, but upon deeper discussions with the design team, they understand the requirements and have accounted for them, they just have not completed the documentation just yet. This is the best news I've heard so far, but we still have to have the discussion regarding whether we do a complete rewrite or if we modify the existing application. I still vote for the latter but I see the merits of the first.

For dinner, our Indonesian host takes us to another traditional Indonesian restaurant. Among 12 pages of options, I find three that I can eat and select the most adventurous one - Balinese Seaweed with fried coconut. The waiter informs me they are sold out for the day, so I settle for "beaten beef" with coconut sauce on a bed of coconut rice. It's very good and I am indeed, as the menu advertised, "addicted of it".

In addition to great food, the restaurant had tremendous atmosphere. Each room had a slightly different decoration, but all were traditional Indonesian. From traditional artifacts like gongs and wooden idols to Zen gardens, each room is a new surprise. The hostess gives us a tour of the restaurant before seating us in the "haunted room" - a room that is supposedly haunted by the spirits of the many artifacts hanging in the room.

Today was a busy day that flew by and I'm exhausted at only 9 PM. Tomorrow is our last day in Jakarta before heading off to the mine site. I started taking my malaria pills today, and I'll need to take them for the next 16 days. Saturday will be our first day on the island that varies from a tropical beach at the base of the mountain to a glacier at the top. Should be an exciting time.

I've heard from my Phoenix colleagues that the blog is blocked from the corporate network there, but my Indonesian colleagues are able to access it from the office. In any event, I believe I can configure my blog to post based on an email I send it, so I should be fine either way.

I've uploaded the pictures from the trip here.