Indonesia Day 5

Attending this international meeting is even more stressful and tiring than working back home. I wake up early and sleep late, so that I have chance to clear office emails.

I managed to send internet sms to Isa before she leaves home for her chinese exam.

Nothing new for breakfast except fried rice instead of white rice. I was the first one to enter the dining hall. I placed my order for the scrambled egg. Shortly, Claudia from Argentina arrived. People are going for breakfast earlier, so that they can avoid the long queue for the scrambled egg.

I will be meeting Shakeer before the meeting starts at 9am, to discuss how my office can contribute in one way or another to this international community. I really pray hard that after this meeting, some actions can be done so that we can start gaining a little foot in this community.

Participants are already discussing what to do on Fri afternoon after the Closing Ceremony as many would only return to their home on Sat. I am unsure if I would be following some to go to Jakarta to visit the Main Office of our Indonesian counterparts. It is a long journey, to and fro, would probably takes about 5 to 6 hours. So some suggested to book a hotel in Jakarta to spend the night but many have also paid their bills here.

Worst comes to worst, I will remain at this place to sleep until Sat.

Thur is almost over and I was so glad and relieved that my preferences of Working Groups have been met. In the morning, I attended my second choice and in the afternoon, I attended my first choice.

During the 2 rounds of discussions, many participants shared their experiences and challenges faced. We agreed that we would work closer together to sort problems out.

Rain came in the afternoon. Though today's meeting ended earlier, I could not return to my room as it was raining heavily. I decided to stay behind to do my work.

The inhouse movie started at 6.30pm. It was an old movie and half way watching, I felt unwell. I left and went to the dining area to wait for the rest.

Today's dinner was special because the meeting will ends tomorrow afternoon. Some participants would be leaving tomorrow night. The organiser has allowed 6 hours for the travelling to the airport. OMG, just to ensure we will not be affected by the jam?

I made my decision that I would stayput here instead of going to Jakarta tomorrow afternoon. A night in the hotel costs USD 95 but here is only USD 40 inclusive of meals. Even if there is nothing much to do in the afternoon, I can continue finding some people to talk to or even surf internet to kill my time.