August in Jakarta

Late August in Indonesia means Ramadan. Ramadan means fasting from sunrise to sunset. At sunset, roughly 6 PM, everyone wants to be home with their family to break fast. This means they leave work at the same time I do. Thanks to the extra traffic, my five mile commute went from a twenty minute drive to a two hour drive. It's this time of year I finish two or three books per week.

August also means our daughter has returned to school. She is still at the age where this is an exciting proposition. Learning is fun for her. I really hope that never changes.

Our traveling is done now until we return to the US for a few weeks in October. We're taking advantage of the lull in travel to be more active. My wife and I have a bet. The loser is required to get up early with the kids both days on the weekends until the end of the year. The bet: who can run the most kilometers in 30 days. She has far more time available to run than do I, but I run at a 50% faster pace (8kph vs 12kph), so I think it is a fair bet. After five days, I'm in the lead by .25 km.

Finally, I need to get back to the golf instructor. I was hitting the ball very well, just slicing right. Yesterday, I went back to the range and couldn't hit the ball to save my life. I even broke the head off my driver! Now I need to replace a club I never really used. Hopefully, my instructor can determine what bad habit I've picked up.
 
I need to load some pictures.  I'll do that tomorrow.

Living in the Third World

Living and working a third world country has really helped me understand why countries remain third world countries.  I used to think with enough aid, investment, and assistance from first world nations, third world nations could become economically viable and lift the living standards of their citizens.  I no longer believe this.  It's just throwing money away.

Here are some examples as to why:

1)  The Road That Never Was.  To effectively mine, produce palm oil, or grow food, a company needs to have exclusive usage rights to the appropriate land.  Currently, in Indonesia, there is a project underway to build a road on land owned by such an entity.  When the company that owns the land objected to the project, the local government officials, after admitting that the road should not be built, said the project must continue because the money was budgeted for 2010 and is already spent.  Their solution?  After the road is finished, they'll shut it down and let the jungle grow over it again.  Who do you think has the contracts with the government to build the road?  Friends of the governor.

2)  The Hand Never Disappears.  Anyone wanting to understand why companies (that are not the Chinese government) shy away from doing business in third world countries need only look at what just happened to First Quantum in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The DRC is not alone in their shady business practices.  In Indonesia, every natural resource company is having their Contract of Work (COW) reviewed and, in some cases, renegotiated.  It seems like every other week, the government is levying new taxes against the natural resource companies that operate here.  The business environment is not stable and the government cut of the operations increases every year - to 100%, in the case of the DRC.  The hand is always out hoping to be padded with more money.

3)  Graft.  In Indonesia, the Jakarta Chief of Police was recently reported to have over $1 million USD in a bank account.  He has a base salary of $30,000 USD per year.  The newspaper the broke the story was fire-bombed the day after they published the report.  No investigation of the bombing occurred.  Other companies report issues of bureaucrats denying or delaying permits either to extract a 'fee', or because they lost money on a business deal that ended up favoring the company now seeking a permit.  A fully-funded monorail system in Jakarta has nothing to show for the tens of millions of dollars spent other than concrete pillars partially finished down the main street.  All the money dried up three months into the project, after several government ministers built new homes.  If you are sending money to a third world nation, you are really just funding the next car, house, or vacation of the bureaucrat between your donation and the intended recipient.

The IMF, World Bank, and NGO's really should just stop involving themselves in developing nations that are unable to demonstrate gubernatorial competency.  Otherwise, it's just good money after bad.

Shopping, Doctors and a Family Reunion

Sunday in Singapore was as I expected.  We woke late, had the buffet breakfast, and went to the grocery store.  Singapore is the closest approximation to Western society we can get within a few hours of travel.  Whenever we are there, we load up on the groceries we cannot find in Jakarta.  For me, that means five large bags of whole rolled oats.  Yum!

After our grocery visit, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel pool.  We met a Navy pilot who had participated in the recent show of force off North Korea.  The aircraft carrier he is based on was in Singapore's port for the weekend.  He had flown his wife down for the weekend from Japan.  They had a daughter our son's age.  Being from Texas, and living in Japan and on an aircraft carrier, they missed Mexican food.  We told them about Clarke Quay.  A few hours later, as we sat at our table at the newly named, newly branded, and newly menued Octapas, we saw them walk by.  They had eaten at Muchos.

Monday was medical visit day.  The dermatologist told me one of the dots I thought was a mole was actually a wart.  He cut it off.  Tests will indicate if it is genetic or viral.  I asked how I could have received a viral wart.  As he rattled off the ways, the only one that stood out to me was massage.  He told a story of a female attorney who had visited the spa at a high-end resort in Singapore.  Two weeks later she was in his office covered head to toe in nearly 3,000 warts!  I won't be going to the spa anymore in Jakarta.

Brief tangent:  my parents both come from fairly large families.  My mom's side, in particular, has a significant gap from eldest (my mom) to youngest (my uncle).  Therefore, I have cousins the age of my children.  My mother is the same way.  She has cousins who are younger than myself.  One of them happened to be in Singapore on business on Tuesday.  He joined us for breakfast before we did the second part of our medical visits.

Tuesday was referral day.  The one mole I wanted to have removed because it hurts when I bump it is on my eyebrow.  Dermatologist said that a plastic surgeon would have to remove it because it is too near a muscle and dermatologists aren't trained for surgery near muscles.  He was concerned he could make a mistake and "it would end up looking very ugly".  So, I went to a plastic surgeon.

I leave Singapore with oats for cholesterol, sliced and diced, and more medication than free samples week at the nursing home.

I must be getting older.

Universal Studios Singapore

We are once again in Singapore.  This time, we are on a "medical holiday".  Nothing serious, I just didn't trust my skin cancer screen during my annual physical in Jakarta.  When I asked for one, the doctor gave me one, but not before saying:  "We only worry about skin cancer with Caucasians living below the equator".  I thought he was joking.  I was staring at him with a look that said: "I am a Caucasian living below the equator".  Basically, my insurance will pay for me to have the procedures (I'm also having a mole removed, I think) in Singapore, but don't deem it an emergency, to they won't pay for the airfare, lodging, or recommend time off of work.  So, I've taken vacation to coincide with our Tuesday, Independence Day holiday, and am using my travel allowance.

It has been a few months since we've been to Singapore.  When we returned from our April visit, we realized we missed the Grand Opening of Universal Studios, Singapore.  We made it a point to go there on our first day this time.  But I'm getting ahead of myself....

We're staying at the Shangri-La Hotel.  When we entered the lobby, my daughter remarked:  "This is beautiful!"  She wanted to move in.  We took several pictures in the lobby - not something we normally do at a hotel.  We're staying in the Towers.  According to their brochure, one of their other sections is "favored by corporate executives, visiting dignitaries and heads of state".  I didn't ask for the rates on those.

This morning, we started with the buffet breakfast at the hotel.  I think it is included in my room rate, but I forgot to ask.  After receiving the bill, I hope it is!  The buffet was amazing, though.  Well worth the price.  And since we only eat two meals when we travel - a HUGE breakfast and a large dinner, we get our money's worth.  I ate more blueberries today than I can typically find in the entire grocery store in Jakarta.  Odd, the things we miss.

After breakfast, we took a taxi to Sentosa Resort World.  This whole area of Sentosa island opened this year.  It includes Singapore's only casino (to which they charge admission for locals, but not visitors), several new hotels (including a Hard Rock), high end mall, several western restaurants, and Universal Studios.

The Universal Studios Singapore (USS) has sections for Madagascar, Far Far Away (Shrek), Jurassic Park, The Lost World (The Mummy), Hollywood and New York City.  Madagascar's primary ride is still under construction.  We spent the whole day in Far Far Away and Jurassic Park.

My daughter is just now tall enough to ride the more advanced rides, so Amusement parks are becoming more fun.  We took another trip to Waterbom Jakarta last weekend, and there are just two waterslides there she cannot yet ride.  At Universal Studios, this meant my daughter went on her first roller coaster.  Two, actually.  And a pretty scary water ride (that she went on with my wife).

This was the day that almost didn't happen.  When we first arrived, the ticket office told me they were sold out for today.  I asked about Sunday:  sold out, too.  I shrugged and figured we'd head off to the Singapore water park.  My wife told me to get tickets for Monday and we'd go after our medical appointments.  As I was buying the Monday tickets, a tour cancelled and their tickets opened up the park.  So I bought tickets for today!

Around 2 PM, it started to pour.  That emptied the park.  Between the afternoon dowsing and the initial "sold out", we had the park pretty much to ourselves from 3 PM until the 7 PM closing.  There was a mere 5 minute wait on the biggest roller coaster at the park (that is currently open).  I went as a single, and was able to use the single rider line.  I had no waiting and hopped in the front of the first car.  Total time from leaving my family, taking the ride, and rejoining the family was less than 5 minutes.  This was 5 PM on a Saturday at a brand new amusement park!  Pretty amazing.

The highlight of the trip so far is two quotes from our daughter.  The first was when she explored our hotel room (which is quite nice).  She was marvelling at the bathroom and announced:  "It has everything!  The only thing missing is a book, so daddy can't read when he uses the toilet."  The second happened at USS.  When we boarded the first roller coaster, I said to my daughter:  "This is your first roller coaster.  Are you ready?"  She said:  "Yes."  When it came to a stop at the end, she looked at me and said:  "My first roller coaster was pretty scary.  Can we do it again?"  Brave girl.

Tomorrow we'll make a quick trip to Chinatown to custom make an outfit for me.  I'll load a picture when it's ready and won't spoil the surprise before then.  The afternoon we'll likely just spend at the pool.

We have several pictures from today, but I neglected to bring the necessary hardware to load the images to my computer, so you'll have to wait until we return on Tuesday night.

A few updates

The company Olympics came and went.  My team has won gold medals in over half the competitions, so it appears we are the runaway champions yet again.  I wish I could say I contributed as much this year as I did last year.  I played the same two events:  golf and bowling.  Though I repeated my showing in golf (2nd place), I did not come close to approximating my dominance in bowling.  I bowled a measly 118/133, though the 133 was good enough for 3rd place.  Those scores are a far cry from the 186, 142 I bowled last year.  My bowling this year was not accompanied by cheers, or a first place finish for my team.

Everyone kept asking what was wrong.  My practice throws were strikes and spares.  When they counted, in 22 frames, I bowled one strike and 9 open frames.  I said I just wasn't throwing well.  My ball was just not doing what it normally does.  One of my colleagues who bowls frequently and wins several tournaments a year, however, said it was the lanes.  Watching him bowl a 103, 99, I thought maybe it was for him, but not for me.  Then my mother-in-law bowled the same lanes later in the week.  Most of you probably already know, thanks to a very public Facebook taunting, that my mother-in-law is a good bowler and beat my 171, 179 series when we played a few weeks ago.  On the lanes we bowled the company Olympics, she bowled 97, 119.  Maybe it really is the lanes (though she is blaming the balls).

Next week our daughter returns to school.  The last few weeks have been difficult for her because she is at home all day instead of just a half day.  It really is harder on her that it is on us.  She likes the interaction with the children and the learning.  We've been working with her, though.  She knows how to spell "dog", and several words that rhyme with it (bog, hog, etc.).  She has learned that evaporation is how the sun makes the water disappear and that if you put your feet together on the swings you go faster because of aerodynamics.  She also knows that you ask daddy if you want ice cream and mommy if you want pickles.  Thankfully, she doesn't ask for them both at the same time.

I'm finally loading the pictures from our team building and rafting trip.  I've had them since the Monday after and just haven't made the time to load them.  Anyway, here they are (I'm the goofy looking Caucasian).

Random Thoughts I Think I Think

Peter King, of Sports Illustrated, is one of my favorite sports journalists.  I'm brazenly borrowing from his Monday Morning Quarterback features for this entry.

1)  I think I think China is going to replace the United States as the most important global country within five years.  Contrary to common belief, America's influence is not a result of the purity of our beliefs, the strength of our democracy, the power of our military, or the strength of our faith.  We have had influence throughout the world because, until recently, we have been the world's strongest economy.  For decades, the US was the number one importer of goods from nearly every country in the world.  Customers have influence, and we are the world's largest. 

Last month, China became the world's top energy consumer.  A few months before that, it passed Japan as the world's third largest economy.  Pay close attention to its natural resource consumption and agreements in Africa and Asia.  China is playing a long-term game of industrial chess.  Third world nations are its pawns, agreeing to infrastructure-for-mineral swaps and allowing China's million-strong army to provide security.  The US is the king it is trying to checkmate.  Our elected officials are the hubris-filled Spassky and China is Bobby Fischer about to topple us over.

2)  I think I think I'm glad the drought of the world's best sport is finally over.  Football camps opened this week and the Hall of Fame Game is next Sunday, 8 August.  When the NBA and NHL finals complete, the sports world suffers the agonizingly boring games of men swinging sticks at a small little white ball (baseball and golf both apply) until a real sport returns.  I am truly excited for the start of the season.  I've already begun my research and analysis for my fantasy football team.

Here are my predictions:

• Ravens, Colts, Jets, Chargers, Packers, Saints, Cowboys and 49ers win their divisions. 
• Cincinnati, Houston, Vikings and Giants will complete the playoff picture.
• Superbowl will feature the Ravens against the Vikings, and the Vikings will finally take it all.
• Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Seattle will occupy the cellar.  The Lions will near .500 for the season.
• Rookie of the Year will be Jahvid Best.

3)  I think I think the media is preventing our economy from recovering fully.  They highlight the possibility of a double-dip recession and focus on the fact that housing values have not increased, unemployment is high, and that consumer confidence is low.  They are failing to recognize those are old-school measurements.  Those are indicators of a consumption economy.  The US is quickly moving to a provider economy, supplying countries like India, Brazil, China and even Indonesia with technology and financing to support their ever-growing economies.  Banks are showing profitability again.  Caterpillar, maker of the machines that build infrastructure and extract minerals, is posting tremendous growth.  America, thanks to a depressed dollar value, is increasing its exports.  Businesses are hoarding cash because US consumption is down and they don't have a reliable model to predict consumption in third-world nations.  In the long run, their cash is better spent growing their business than getting 2% in a CD.  They will soon spend that money to grow their business, and that will create jobs.....assuming the media stops scaring everyone.

UPDATE:  Apparently, I'm not alone in this assessment.

4)  I think I think we need to drastically shrink our military, cut our military spending by 50% and redirect that money to finding energy resources available within our own shores.  This gambit provides several useful benefits.  First, we stop being customers to the world's terrorists.  Our current energy consumption is like buying from WalMart and hoping they don't use their profits to pave our neighborhood into a new parking lot.  Second, we can sell this technology to other nations, increasing exports and creating jobs.  Lastly, it turns China into the world's largest target.  If we're not dependent on maintaining a government friendly to us but unfriendly to its people, we'll have no reason to be in Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Afghanistan.  Let China invade them and receive the animosity.

5)  I think I think my wife will never let me run for political office, so I'll have to spend my time writing letters instead of writing laws.

UPDATE:  6) I think I think I need to proofread better before posting!  I just get too excited to share my thoughts.