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.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
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).
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).
Sunday, August 1, 2010
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:
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.
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.
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.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Rain, Golfing, and Lifestyle Games
It looks like July 2010 will be my least productive blogging month since our arrival in Jakarta. I think that is because we're at the "been there, done that" phase. I've already documented our life, our lifestyle, and what it is like living in Jakarta. We're doing more of the same.
The rainy season in Jakarta, in theory, starts in November and ends in April. We had so little rain during the rainy season, I kept asking when it started. This year, meteorologists announced it officially ended in June, not April. It's rained nearly every day since they made that announcement. I think they may have it backwards.
Our company Olympics are underway again. Last year, I participated in the golfing and bowling events. I took first place in bowling, helping my team finish first. My scramble partner and I placed second in the golf scramble, helping my team finish first. Overall, my team finished in first place. This year, my new team is expecting the same production from me. Sunday, we had the golf event. My scramble partner was our CFO. I haven't played golf since our event last year, though I did take a lesson and have spent several days at the driving range. I hit the ball very well. Probably lowered my handicap by 10 strokes. My partner and I finished second (I have the trophy to prove it). The other scramble for our team finished in first, so, once again, my team won the golf event. Now I just have to bowl well next week and I will cement my legacy.
Our daughter, like myself, is addicted to sweets. We want to break her from that, but it's difficult when daddy is always eating a chocolate cookie or ice cream after dinner. She also prefers watching cartoons to doing something active. Sweets and inactivity are not good health partners. To help with the situation, we have invented a lifestyle game. Using a poster board, we made three columns: Fruits and Veggies, Mental Exercise, Exercise. Each day she eats fruits and veggies, does a learning activity (or attends school) or exercises (like riding her bike, or playing at the park), she earns a sticker in the appropriate category. Once she has five in each category, I take her out for ice cream. It's still early in this experiment, so we don't know yet if it is effective.
Did I mention my mother-in-law is visiting? Yep. One month. This marks the third visit in 17 months. The eighth family member visit in 17 months. Doing the math: 17 months away from Phoenix, subtract one month for Europe and two months for living in Singapore = 14 months. Eight visits for roughly one month each, means we've been on our own in Jakarta for a total of six months. So why do we still miss home?
The rainy season in Jakarta, in theory, starts in November and ends in April. We had so little rain during the rainy season, I kept asking when it started. This year, meteorologists announced it officially ended in June, not April. It's rained nearly every day since they made that announcement. I think they may have it backwards.
Our company Olympics are underway again. Last year, I participated in the golfing and bowling events. I took first place in bowling, helping my team finish first. My scramble partner and I placed second in the golf scramble, helping my team finish first. Overall, my team finished in first place. This year, my new team is expecting the same production from me. Sunday, we had the golf event. My scramble partner was our CFO. I haven't played golf since our event last year, though I did take a lesson and have spent several days at the driving range. I hit the ball very well. Probably lowered my handicap by 10 strokes. My partner and I finished second (I have the trophy to prove it). The other scramble for our team finished in first, so, once again, my team won the golf event. Now I just have to bowl well next week and I will cement my legacy.
Our daughter, like myself, is addicted to sweets. We want to break her from that, but it's difficult when daddy is always eating a chocolate cookie or ice cream after dinner. She also prefers watching cartoons to doing something active. Sweets and inactivity are not good health partners. To help with the situation, we have invented a lifestyle game. Using a poster board, we made three columns: Fruits and Veggies, Mental Exercise, Exercise. Each day she eats fruits and veggies, does a learning activity (or attends school) or exercises (like riding her bike, or playing at the park), she earns a sticker in the appropriate category. Once she has five in each category, I take her out for ice cream. It's still early in this experiment, so we don't know yet if it is effective.
Did I mention my mother-in-law is visiting? Yep. One month. This marks the third visit in 17 months. The eighth family member visit in 17 months. Doing the math: 17 months away from Phoenix, subtract one month for Europe and two months for living in Singapore = 14 months. Eight visits for roughly one month each, means we've been on our own in Jakarta for a total of six months. So why do we still miss home?
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Raging Rapids Build Teams
Saturday I used money from my budget for a team building event. Earlier in the year, one of the supervisors in my group asked if we could have a more elaborate team building event than the bowling event the prior year. I told him to put something together and I would see what I could do. The first proposal was a two-day event with an overnight stay. I said the location looked good, but pare it down to one day and confirm that it was actual team building, not just a fun activity. They revised the proposal, and yesterday we put it into action: a white water rafting adventure in Sukabumi. My only question was "Does Indonesia have alligators?"
We met at the office at 5 AM for a 5:30 AM departure. This meant we actually left at 6 AM. We loaded just under 40 people into two buses filled with food for an army and equipped with karaoke that kept the group entertained for the duration of our trip. Not wanting to sing in Indonesian (or at all, for that matter), I slept. As with any company event, we started with a prayer asking for a safe journey and a fun day.
From the office to Sukabumi is about 180km. In a country with a good highway system, this would take about 90 minutes to two hours. In Indonesia, it's a four hour drive. The first 90km or so is expressway, which, especially at 6 AM, moves pretty quickly. The next 45km is a two-lane highway, often slowed with trucks. The average speed is about 20kph (15mph). The final 45km is a barely wide enough one-lane, bidirectional road winding up and down the mountains of western Java. Construction to build drainage canals under the road made travel more precarious by cutting the already narrow road in half. Hairpin turns, narrow roads, road construction - that makes for a harrowing drive.
After passing a semi-truck that had succumbed to the dangers of the road and was laying on its side in a ditch, we arrived at our destination on top of a mountain. We had a welcome drink and made our way down a stony path to open ground at the base of the mountain. After opening remarks (which, from now on, I'll need to remember they expect me to make before any event) we did several "icebreaker" and "team building" events.
The first event was "Burung Burung" (bird-bird). Standing in a circle, we formed groups of threes by counting off 1-2-3. Then, the 1's and 3's clasped hands to form a cage for the 2's, who were the "Burung". The game started with the organizer shouting either "bird!", "cage!", or "all!". If he shouted "bird!", then the bird had to leave its cage and find another empty one. "Cage!" had the bird staying still and the cage finding a new bird. "All!" had everyone running. We did this until we got the hang of it. Then we did elimination, where one of the guides would stand in as a bird or form a new cage so that either a bird or a cage was eliminated each round until we found a winner.
When that game completed, we did a new elimination style game. The guide would shout out a word like "berdanse" (dance), and we would have to gather in groups of 2, 3, 4 or 5, depending on what word he shouted. Lots of running around to find the appropriate number of people to do each activity (dance, bird with cage, rowing team). We performed this activity until we found two winners.
For the next event, we gathered in predefined groups. As the highest ranking person at the event, my group was always Group 1. Our first activity in these groups was to come up with a group name and a group cheer. I forget what my group's name was, other than it was "anti-" the name of another group, and our cheer was our group name sung to the Queen anthem "We Will Rock You".
After shouting our cheers to one another, we commenced with the team activities. My group started with trying to throw a water balloon through a loop 10 meters away (30 feet) using a tarp. The only other rule was that everyone on the team had to be holding the tarp. Wanting my team to take on leadership roles the whole day, I remained silent when the group discussed how we would accomplish the task. We were unable to successfully throw the balloon through the hoop. I don't think any of the other teams did, either. It was incredibly difficult.
Our next task was to link hands, and tighten ourselves into a spiral. The guide then tied us tightly with a rope and, still in a spiral formation, we had to race through an obstacle course to pick up five balls in our designated color among fifteen balls on the course. We incurred penalties if anyone other than the end of the spiral touched a ball of any color, if we fell, or if we touched the bench in the middle of the course. We completed it without penalty, though we completed it very slowly. I'm not sure my team understood it was a race.
The final activity was a staple of most corporate training events - the Trust Fall. For those unfamiliar with the Trust Fall, one person stands on a five foot platform, turns their back to the group, and falls backwards with their hands clasped to their chest. This is to demonstrate you trust your team to catch you (and in your company's medical plan). My group had the only 200+ pound team member, but everyone did the event without issue.
After those three events we broke for lunch. Traditional Indonesian fare with rice, fried meats, vegetables in spicy peanut sauce, and tofu. My administrative assistant, who was part of the planning committee, is well aware of my food allergies and they had a special beef dish prepared for me. After lunch, we had one final team building activity before we went rafting (though it isn't worth describing).
At 2 PM, we prepared ourselves to brave the rapids. We donned crash helmets and life vests, grabbed our paddles, and loaded into the back of a flat-bed pickup truck. We stood like livestock in the back of this truck as it drove, roller-coaster style, up and down the mountain's dirt backroads. As we left the starting point, we encountered a bus that had shared the same fate as the semi-truck. It was blocking our way home, so we hoped it was cleared by the time we were ready to leave.
Arriving at the river, we broke into eight groups of five employees and one guide and boarded our rafts. There was a ninth raft with just extra guides. After brief safety instructions, we were off. The river run is 9 km and requires about 2 hours. Simple math tells you the current is about 4kph (2.4 mph). Because we were stopping for some activities, our trip would require three hours.
A river running at such a slow pace does not seem daunting, until you are traveling that speed directly at rocks the size of a couch. We had many direct hits, became stuck on top of a few, but spent most of our time gripping our paddles while our guide steered the boat. There were very few areas of calm water and we spent most of our time flailing about the boat as it crashed from one current to the next, soaking us all. If anyone didn't get wet, other boats took care of the drenching by splashing as we coasted by (I was the worst offender of this behavior).
After an hour, we stopped for our first task which was both a team building and safety activity. We had to simulate a capsize. Our job was to flip our boat upside down dumping us all in the water, flip it , and get everyone back in the boat as quickly as possible. The boat of extra guides demonstrated for us. Then it was our turn. We lined up our boats and began. My boat was slated to go last.
The first team flipped their boat and flipped it back without issue. Climbing back in proved to be a challenge and they completed in 32 seconds. The next six teams gave their best and the time was consistently improving with the boat right before ours clocking the best time at 23 seconds. I had noticed throughout, however, that none of them were able to pull themselves in the boat. The fastest teams had helped two people lift themselves in, who then turned around and helped the others. I knew I could lift myself, saving several seconds, so I was determined to win.
When our turn came, they blew the whistle and we capsized the boat and flipped it back without issue. Less than a second later, I was in the boat. I turned around, grabbed one of my teammates with my left hand, another with my right, and lifted them in the boat. At the same time, one of the others had pulled himself in, and our guide, who had also pulled himself in, lifted our final member into the boat. They blew the whistle and announced our time: 14 seconds.
From there we continued down the river. We did not see any alligators, but there were several monitor lizards climbing through the rocks or swimming alongside us. A drinking water buffalo did not seem pleased to see us. Something easily overlooked when you are trying to avoid rocks is the beautiful scenery. We were rafting down a river in the middle of a jungle with a high canopy, lush greenery, and rolling mountain hills. We passed by several beautiful waterfalls, and some spots where the Earth looked like it had sprung a leak with water pouring from the bottom of a cliff without an apparent source. The scenery was as amazing as the rafting.
At the end of the second hour, we broke for some hot tea and did the next activity. Two ropes hung over the river. From these, they created a mini slalom course. We started down river, had to paddle up river through the first slalom, cross the river, turn down river, and go through the second slalom. Fastest team wins. My team once again went last. We were not very fast and I have no idea where we finished.
We rafted for one more hour and stopped just before the final event - a race. When all groups were ready, the guide boat counted down and blew a whistle. The eight boats started paddling furiously. Everyone except me. I waited until boats came close to us, then grabbed them and pulled our boat in front of them. My boat's guide started laughing hysterically. I was probably the first to ever attempt this approach. This strategy worked well until I managed to pull my boat into a wall. We ended up in fifth place.
Climbing out of the boats, we sat down and enjoyed fresh coconut water direct from the coconut. Before coconuts are fully ripe and create the flavor you find in Almond Joy bars, they contain a mildly sweet water that eventually becomes the coconut meat. To consume this traditional Indonesian treat, cut off the top of the coconut, and drink the water with a straw. There is usually the beginning of the meat along the inner walls of the nut that you can eat with a spoon. This was my first time having the treat and probably my last. It wasn't bad, but it was, to me, flavorless.
Our day concluded with a ride back to the main office in the cattle trucks and dinner at a restaurant halfway to Jakarta. The bus journey home was done in pitch blackness and rain, making the road that much more precarious. My team slept the whole way. I slept in the morning, so I was wide awake for the terror of passing vehicles by driving into oncoming traffic and flashing our lights to let them know we were a big bus and they would not win in a game of chicken.
We finally pulled in to Jakarta at 11:30 PM after spending 18 hours together. In my closing remarks, I said that we arrived as coworkers but were leaving as friends. Eighteen hours together in confined spaces will do that to you, if you don't kill anyone in the process. For me, it was a great adventure and helped me get to know my team better. All in all, a great experience.
On Monday, I'll have access to the photos of our adventure and will post some of them here at that time.
We met at the office at 5 AM for a 5:30 AM departure. This meant we actually left at 6 AM. We loaded just under 40 people into two buses filled with food for an army and equipped with karaoke that kept the group entertained for the duration of our trip. Not wanting to sing in Indonesian (or at all, for that matter), I slept. As with any company event, we started with a prayer asking for a safe journey and a fun day.
From the office to Sukabumi is about 180km. In a country with a good highway system, this would take about 90 minutes to two hours. In Indonesia, it's a four hour drive. The first 90km or so is expressway, which, especially at 6 AM, moves pretty quickly. The next 45km is a two-lane highway, often slowed with trucks. The average speed is about 20kph (15mph). The final 45km is a barely wide enough one-lane, bidirectional road winding up and down the mountains of western Java. Construction to build drainage canals under the road made travel more precarious by cutting the already narrow road in half. Hairpin turns, narrow roads, road construction - that makes for a harrowing drive.
After passing a semi-truck that had succumbed to the dangers of the road and was laying on its side in a ditch, we arrived at our destination on top of a mountain. We had a welcome drink and made our way down a stony path to open ground at the base of the mountain. After opening remarks (which, from now on, I'll need to remember they expect me to make before any event) we did several "icebreaker" and "team building" events.
The first event was "Burung Burung" (bird-bird). Standing in a circle, we formed groups of threes by counting off 1-2-3. Then, the 1's and 3's clasped hands to form a cage for the 2's, who were the "Burung". The game started with the organizer shouting either "bird!", "cage!", or "all!". If he shouted "bird!", then the bird had to leave its cage and find another empty one. "Cage!" had the bird staying still and the cage finding a new bird. "All!" had everyone running. We did this until we got the hang of it. Then we did elimination, where one of the guides would stand in as a bird or form a new cage so that either a bird or a cage was eliminated each round until we found a winner.
When that game completed, we did a new elimination style game. The guide would shout out a word like "berdanse" (dance), and we would have to gather in groups of 2, 3, 4 or 5, depending on what word he shouted. Lots of running around to find the appropriate number of people to do each activity (dance, bird with cage, rowing team). We performed this activity until we found two winners.
For the next event, we gathered in predefined groups. As the highest ranking person at the event, my group was always Group 1. Our first activity in these groups was to come up with a group name and a group cheer. I forget what my group's name was, other than it was "anti-" the name of another group, and our cheer was our group name sung to the Queen anthem "We Will Rock You".
After shouting our cheers to one another, we commenced with the team activities. My group started with trying to throw a water balloon through a loop 10 meters away (30 feet) using a tarp. The only other rule was that everyone on the team had to be holding the tarp. Wanting my team to take on leadership roles the whole day, I remained silent when the group discussed how we would accomplish the task. We were unable to successfully throw the balloon through the hoop. I don't think any of the other teams did, either. It was incredibly difficult.
Our next task was to link hands, and tighten ourselves into a spiral. The guide then tied us tightly with a rope and, still in a spiral formation, we had to race through an obstacle course to pick up five balls in our designated color among fifteen balls on the course. We incurred penalties if anyone other than the end of the spiral touched a ball of any color, if we fell, or if we touched the bench in the middle of the course. We completed it without penalty, though we completed it very slowly. I'm not sure my team understood it was a race.
The final activity was a staple of most corporate training events - the Trust Fall. For those unfamiliar with the Trust Fall, one person stands on a five foot platform, turns their back to the group, and falls backwards with their hands clasped to their chest. This is to demonstrate you trust your team to catch you (and in your company's medical plan). My group had the only 200+ pound team member, but everyone did the event without issue.
After those three events we broke for lunch. Traditional Indonesian fare with rice, fried meats, vegetables in spicy peanut sauce, and tofu. My administrative assistant, who was part of the planning committee, is well aware of my food allergies and they had a special beef dish prepared for me. After lunch, we had one final team building activity before we went rafting (though it isn't worth describing).
At 2 PM, we prepared ourselves to brave the rapids. We donned crash helmets and life vests, grabbed our paddles, and loaded into the back of a flat-bed pickup truck. We stood like livestock in the back of this truck as it drove, roller-coaster style, up and down the mountain's dirt backroads. As we left the starting point, we encountered a bus that had shared the same fate as the semi-truck. It was blocking our way home, so we hoped it was cleared by the time we were ready to leave.
Arriving at the river, we broke into eight groups of five employees and one guide and boarded our rafts. There was a ninth raft with just extra guides. After brief safety instructions, we were off. The river run is 9 km and requires about 2 hours. Simple math tells you the current is about 4kph (2.4 mph). Because we were stopping for some activities, our trip would require three hours.
A river running at such a slow pace does not seem daunting, until you are traveling that speed directly at rocks the size of a couch. We had many direct hits, became stuck on top of a few, but spent most of our time gripping our paddles while our guide steered the boat. There were very few areas of calm water and we spent most of our time flailing about the boat as it crashed from one current to the next, soaking us all. If anyone didn't get wet, other boats took care of the drenching by splashing as we coasted by (I was the worst offender of this behavior).
After an hour, we stopped for our first task which was both a team building and safety activity. We had to simulate a capsize. Our job was to flip our boat upside down dumping us all in the water, flip it , and get everyone back in the boat as quickly as possible. The boat of extra guides demonstrated for us. Then it was our turn. We lined up our boats and began. My boat was slated to go last.
The first team flipped their boat and flipped it back without issue. Climbing back in proved to be a challenge and they completed in 32 seconds. The next six teams gave their best and the time was consistently improving with the boat right before ours clocking the best time at 23 seconds. I had noticed throughout, however, that none of them were able to pull themselves in the boat. The fastest teams had helped two people lift themselves in, who then turned around and helped the others. I knew I could lift myself, saving several seconds, so I was determined to win.
When our turn came, they blew the whistle and we capsized the boat and flipped it back without issue. Less than a second later, I was in the boat. I turned around, grabbed one of my teammates with my left hand, another with my right, and lifted them in the boat. At the same time, one of the others had pulled himself in, and our guide, who had also pulled himself in, lifted our final member into the boat. They blew the whistle and announced our time: 14 seconds.
From there we continued down the river. We did not see any alligators, but there were several monitor lizards climbing through the rocks or swimming alongside us. A drinking water buffalo did not seem pleased to see us. Something easily overlooked when you are trying to avoid rocks is the beautiful scenery. We were rafting down a river in the middle of a jungle with a high canopy, lush greenery, and rolling mountain hills. We passed by several beautiful waterfalls, and some spots where the Earth looked like it had sprung a leak with water pouring from the bottom of a cliff without an apparent source. The scenery was as amazing as the rafting.
At the end of the second hour, we broke for some hot tea and did the next activity. Two ropes hung over the river. From these, they created a mini slalom course. We started down river, had to paddle up river through the first slalom, cross the river, turn down river, and go through the second slalom. Fastest team wins. My team once again went last. We were not very fast and I have no idea where we finished.
We rafted for one more hour and stopped just before the final event - a race. When all groups were ready, the guide boat counted down and blew a whistle. The eight boats started paddling furiously. Everyone except me. I waited until boats came close to us, then grabbed them and pulled our boat in front of them. My boat's guide started laughing hysterically. I was probably the first to ever attempt this approach. This strategy worked well until I managed to pull my boat into a wall. We ended up in fifth place.
Climbing out of the boats, we sat down and enjoyed fresh coconut water direct from the coconut. Before coconuts are fully ripe and create the flavor you find in Almond Joy bars, they contain a mildly sweet water that eventually becomes the coconut meat. To consume this traditional Indonesian treat, cut off the top of the coconut, and drink the water with a straw. There is usually the beginning of the meat along the inner walls of the nut that you can eat with a spoon. This was my first time having the treat and probably my last. It wasn't bad, but it was, to me, flavorless.
Our day concluded with a ride back to the main office in the cattle trucks and dinner at a restaurant halfway to Jakarta. The bus journey home was done in pitch blackness and rain, making the road that much more precarious. My team slept the whole way. I slept in the morning, so I was wide awake for the terror of passing vehicles by driving into oncoming traffic and flashing our lights to let them know we were a big bus and they would not win in a game of chicken.
We finally pulled in to Jakarta at 11:30 PM after spending 18 hours together. In my closing remarks, I said that we arrived as coworkers but were leaving as friends. Eighteen hours together in confined spaces will do that to you, if you don't kill anyone in the process. For me, it was a great adventure and helped me get to know my team better. All in all, a great experience.
On Monday, I'll have access to the photos of our adventure and will post some of them here at that time.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Jakarta Doldrums
Our Tour d'Europe completed two weeks ago and we have adapted seamlessly back into our Jakarta life. Instead of long walks through historic neighborhoods to world famous monuments, we have long drives through heavy traffic to the grocery store. The sulfur scent of exhaust, pollution, and trash have replaced the sweet aromas of coffee, ocean breezes, and fresh bread. We've replaced our days of exploration with days of repetition - wake, work, wind down.
Returning from the Western world to Jakarta has made one thing abundantly clear: Jakarta is not home. Don't get me wrong, Jakarta, and Indonesia as a whole, is a wonderful place. There are experience opportunities here that exist nowhere else in the world. And, for a price, we can closely approximate our Phoenix lifestyle. Yet, the key elements that make someplace feel like home, the key ingredients to a fulfilling life, are absent.
1) Sense of community. This is hard to achieve, for a number of reasons, and it has nothing to do with the fact that there are 18 million people living in Jakarta. First is the fact that we know we are here temporarily. We have no incentive to establish roots that we know we'll just uproot in a matter of months. Second, the community with which we can relate - the expat community - is really a combination of subcultures, divided by either organization of employment or nationality. The expats from my company are mostly at our mine site, and Americans are not nearly as common in Jakarta as are British, Australian and other Europeans. This makes identifying a community we can call our own quite challenging.
2) Lasting friendships. Recent studies have shown that the relationships we have with others, whether they be friendships or familial, have the largest impact on our perceived quality of life, and even contribute to our longevity. In Indonesia, the economic disparity with the locals, even colleagues, is so great that, even if we can overcome the cultural divide, the economic divide creates an impassable canyon. Something as simple as going out to dinner can prove economically awkward. That leaves us to forge friendships within the expat community which, by its very nature, is transitory. Many of the friends we made in our first few months in Jakarta no longer live here. Relationship bonds are forged and strengthened with time and common experiences. We don't have the opportunity for either. Returning to our friends and family in Arizona will be a renewed blessing.
3) Quality Time. Many people in the US have long commutes. In Phoenix, driving at least an hour each way to work is fairly universal. Ninety minute commutes are commonplace. New York City residents can face two hour commutes. We all complain. I look forward to the day when my work commute is the only time I experience traffic. In Jakarta, we dread leaving the house because we never know how long we'll be gone. A trip to the grocery store because we ran out of peanut butter can take over an hour. Going to dinner at a restaurant in our neighborhood has us away from home for three hours just because driving the two miles takes forty-five minutes each way. We'd walk, but there are no sidewalks and the pollution and humidity leave you too sweaty and smelly to enjoy the evening. We often spend more time getting to activities than we actually spend doing the activity. It's difficult to have "quality time" in your car.
Thankfully, we are on the downhill side of this assignment. With nine months to go, we have already started planning for our move back to Phoenix. We have a renewed energy, and an increased urgency, to experience everything we can about Indonesia, and the Asia-Pacific region, that we can before we return. More than that, we can see the end. We can see the return to normalcy. A life of washing our own clothes, of doing yard work, driving our own cars, making a five minute trip to the grocery store. A life where we can have familial privacy again, where we don't have maids and nannies always about and drivers that know everywhere we've been.
We've enjoyed our time in Jakarta. We've met wonderful people, experienced great things, and have found enrichment opportunities we would not have had staying in Phoenix. But it is time to come home. It is time to return to our home country, despite its flaws, and live our lives again.
Returning from the Western world to Jakarta has made one thing abundantly clear: Jakarta is not home. Don't get me wrong, Jakarta, and Indonesia as a whole, is a wonderful place. There are experience opportunities here that exist nowhere else in the world. And, for a price, we can closely approximate our Phoenix lifestyle. Yet, the key elements that make someplace feel like home, the key ingredients to a fulfilling life, are absent.
1) Sense of community. This is hard to achieve, for a number of reasons, and it has nothing to do with the fact that there are 18 million people living in Jakarta. First is the fact that we know we are here temporarily. We have no incentive to establish roots that we know we'll just uproot in a matter of months. Second, the community with which we can relate - the expat community - is really a combination of subcultures, divided by either organization of employment or nationality. The expats from my company are mostly at our mine site, and Americans are not nearly as common in Jakarta as are British, Australian and other Europeans. This makes identifying a community we can call our own quite challenging.
2) Lasting friendships. Recent studies have shown that the relationships we have with others, whether they be friendships or familial, have the largest impact on our perceived quality of life, and even contribute to our longevity. In Indonesia, the economic disparity with the locals, even colleagues, is so great that, even if we can overcome the cultural divide, the economic divide creates an impassable canyon. Something as simple as going out to dinner can prove economically awkward. That leaves us to forge friendships within the expat community which, by its very nature, is transitory. Many of the friends we made in our first few months in Jakarta no longer live here. Relationship bonds are forged and strengthened with time and common experiences. We don't have the opportunity for either. Returning to our friends and family in Arizona will be a renewed blessing.
3) Quality Time. Many people in the US have long commutes. In Phoenix, driving at least an hour each way to work is fairly universal. Ninety minute commutes are commonplace. New York City residents can face two hour commutes. We all complain. I look forward to the day when my work commute is the only time I experience traffic. In Jakarta, we dread leaving the house because we never know how long we'll be gone. A trip to the grocery store because we ran out of peanut butter can take over an hour. Going to dinner at a restaurant in our neighborhood has us away from home for three hours just because driving the two miles takes forty-five minutes each way. We'd walk, but there are no sidewalks and the pollution and humidity leave you too sweaty and smelly to enjoy the evening. We often spend more time getting to activities than we actually spend doing the activity. It's difficult to have "quality time" in your car.
Thankfully, we are on the downhill side of this assignment. With nine months to go, we have already started planning for our move back to Phoenix. We have a renewed energy, and an increased urgency, to experience everything we can about Indonesia, and the Asia-Pacific region, that we can before we return. More than that, we can see the end. We can see the return to normalcy. A life of washing our own clothes, of doing yard work, driving our own cars, making a five minute trip to the grocery store. A life where we can have familial privacy again, where we don't have maids and nannies always about and drivers that know everywhere we've been.
We've enjoyed our time in Jakarta. We've met wonderful people, experienced great things, and have found enrichment opportunities we would not have had staying in Phoenix. But it is time to come home. It is time to return to our home country, despite its flaws, and live our lives again.
Monday, July 5, 2010
An unpaid advertisement
Vacations can be tough. All the planning, all the anticipation, all the excitement can create such high expectations that reality is nothing more than a disappointment. Such is not the case with Villa Poggio.
Europe is not known for its hospitality. This was painfully obvious in Paris, and, more subtly, in Barcelona. But don't tell this to Verena, the owner and proprietor of Villa Poggio. From the moment you arrive at Villa Poggio, a charming, active olive plantation nestled in the Alpine foothills just outside of Florence, Verena greets you with an enormous smile and a friendly "Ciao", welcoming you to her family-run business. She personally walks you to your room, explains the amenities, and gives you your keys. That completes the check-in process - no standing in line at a counter surrounded by your luggage. No requests for signatures and credit cards, as if you would leave without paying.
Verena treats you as more than a guest. She treats you like a member of her extended family. Whether it be keeping you apprised of potential snags in your travel plans, helping you arrange trips to the nearby attractions, or giving you a free bottle of wine because you spent half your day walking around the nearby village trying to find a bank where your ATM card would work so you could get enough cash to pay for one of your excursions (because cabs don't take credit cards), Verena is there to ensure your stay exceeds your expectations.
During our stay, we stayed in the luxury Donatello suite on the second floor with views of the Italian Alps foothills. This luxurious two-room accommodation offered everything we needed for a comfortable stay - stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, internet access and a kitchen sink. A fireplace in the living room and bedroom made me wish we were visiting in the winter, not the heat of summer. The free, high speed internet was a welcome surprise and the continental breakfast they brought to our room minutes after we called to request it more than sufficed for a morning meal.
If the villa itself isn't enough for you, the grounds themselves are exquisite. Quiet, secluded, and full of everything a young child needs to go exploring - trees, hills, a field, and a pond - the beautiful serenity of the property is matched only by the surrounding countryside. The unheated pool is a refreshing contrast to the hot summer temperatures, and, even when the villa is full, you are likely to have it all to yourself for a cooling plunge, or a clandestine, late night skinny dip.
If you are looking for a bustling, full service hotel in the heart of a city, this is not the place for you. If you want a quiet place to get away from it all that is still close enough to the city that you can enjoy its nightlife, this is the place for you.
If Italy is on your bucket list, then so should be Villa Poggio.
Europe is not known for its hospitality. This was painfully obvious in Paris, and, more subtly, in Barcelona. But don't tell this to Verena, the owner and proprietor of Villa Poggio. From the moment you arrive at Villa Poggio, a charming, active olive plantation nestled in the Alpine foothills just outside of Florence, Verena greets you with an enormous smile and a friendly "Ciao", welcoming you to her family-run business. She personally walks you to your room, explains the amenities, and gives you your keys. That completes the check-in process - no standing in line at a counter surrounded by your luggage. No requests for signatures and credit cards, as if you would leave without paying.
Verena treats you as more than a guest. She treats you like a member of her extended family. Whether it be keeping you apprised of potential snags in your travel plans, helping you arrange trips to the nearby attractions, or giving you a free bottle of wine because you spent half your day walking around the nearby village trying to find a bank where your ATM card would work so you could get enough cash to pay for one of your excursions (because cabs don't take credit cards), Verena is there to ensure your stay exceeds your expectations.
During our stay, we stayed in the luxury Donatello suite on the second floor with views of the Italian Alps foothills. This luxurious two-room accommodation offered everything we needed for a comfortable stay - stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, internet access and a kitchen sink. A fireplace in the living room and bedroom made me wish we were visiting in the winter, not the heat of summer. The free, high speed internet was a welcome surprise and the continental breakfast they brought to our room minutes after we called to request it more than sufficed for a morning meal.
If the villa itself isn't enough for you, the grounds themselves are exquisite. Quiet, secluded, and full of everything a young child needs to go exploring - trees, hills, a field, and a pond - the beautiful serenity of the property is matched only by the surrounding countryside. The unheated pool is a refreshing contrast to the hot summer temperatures, and, even when the villa is full, you are likely to have it all to yourself for a cooling plunge, or a clandestine, late night skinny dip.
If you are looking for a bustling, full service hotel in the heart of a city, this is not the place for you. If you want a quiet place to get away from it all that is still close enough to the city that you can enjoy its nightlife, this is the place for you.
If Italy is on your bucket list, then so should be Villa Poggio.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
