Indonesia Day 2

Indonesia is GMT + 7. At 5.30am (ie 6.30am back home), the sun is already up and finally I decided to wake up. I was not able to sleep well; waking up almost every hour, probably due to a new environment. More people checked into this hostel and the noises from the minibus kept waking me up.

I had a stroll outside around 6am. The sky was brightly lit and the air was cool. I met a guy from Trinidad and Tobago. He spoke fluent English and we had a short chat.

At 6.30am, breakfast was served at the same dining area. I recognised Hong from China. She was chatting happily from somebody from Argentina and South Africa. The breakfast served was real simple: white bread with freshly prepared omelette, white rice, a soup which tasted like french onion soup, coffee or tea. In the end, I took white rice to go with the omelette, soup and coffee. The queue for the omelette was long and by the time I got it, my soup and coffee have turned cold.

I saw an African lady dressed in her traditional costume. Is she here for a costume parade? We are having a big meeting here!

The internet connection in the room is not working fine. Since this morning at 5.30am, I was unable to get connected until I complained to the staff.

The opening ceremony started at 9am. As usual, the opening speeches were given by a few VIPs and then followed by a group photo taking. The group was huge and it was difficult to get everybody in the picture. I saw Dr Alexandar and it was my first time meeting him. I took some courage to approach him and took a photo with him, so that I can boast in front of my colleagues!

During the coffee break, I asked the south african counterparts about danie. I was shocked to know that he had passed away about a year ago. Danie used to send me a handmade xmas card each year without fail since we knew each other in year 1997. Last year, he didnt send me and I thought it was funny. I sent a few emails to him but were all returned. I thought he left this line which was possible as he was single and had no family committment.

The lunch was no better and I found the food rather salty. Ok, I am very fussy about food. I got to talk to Chris from NZ and he knew some of my colleagues. Of course I took the chance to learn more from him. Though the lunch break was about 1.5hr, time semed to fly and before we knew, it was time to return to the meeting room.

Again, more rounds of presentations, discussions and followed by Q&A from the floor.

More doubts and questions were raised during the discussions and the chairman has to quickly direct the audience back to the original topics meant for discussion. Soon it was time to leave for an official dinner organised by the host.

It was a buffet dinner and there was a live band performing music using bamboo. We were each given a bamboo musical instrument as a souvenir.

After the dinner, it was dance. I was looking at the clock and knew Isa was expecting my sms soon. I could not return earlier as the dinner dragged until about 9.30pm (ie 10.30pm singapore time). The finale was all participants holding each other's hands and sang the song "That's What Friends are For".

Yes, through formal and informal discussions, we got to know each other better. And with working groups being set up based on each preference and priority, we will have more chances to learn from each other.

I hope at the end of this meeting, some policies and documentations can be made and accepted by many countries and we will follow the guidelines and principles from these documents to implement plans in our country.