Indonesia Day 1

I knew about this trip since early Aug. I had an internal struggle; this period was Isa's year-end exam and this symposium was very important to my career. I was praying hard that the dates changed and thus I could attend with ease. But since it is an international symposium, the organiser has long FIXED the dates.

Finally I embarked on this lone working trip again at this sensitive period. I have never been to any working trip with my colleagues and this one is no exceptional.

The plane was full and the departure gate opened quite early. I was hoping for a punctual arrival time as Wilma from Costa Rica, Leung from HK, Edmond from Russia and others were waiting for me at the arrival hall of Jakarta airport.

The plane left late due to some baggages' problem. As a result, the arrival time was delayed. As agreed, Martin met me near the immigration counter and I was relieved to see him. The queues at the immigration was long and I took almost an hour to clear. After collecting my luggage, I still have to queue to have my belongings scanned before I could leave the airport. By then, Martin was nowhere to be found.

The moment I stepped out, people asking whether I want hotel or taxi etc. I panicked a bit, I saw no sign of Martin and Wilma. Martin forgot to tell me the meeting place! I have no choice but to remain near the exit and hope to see Martin or Wilma. Else I have to start making a call to the organiser.

Not long, Martin appeared again and he said he was looking frantically for me too. He told me Wilma and Leung were already waiting at the coffee stall. We were glad to meet each other. Wilma has a real long flight; from Costa Rica to Los Angeles to HK and then finally Jakarta. In fact Wilma and Leung were on the same flight.

From the airport, it would be a 2.5 hours' drive which I detest most. During the firt half of the journey, the traffic was smooth on the expressways. During the second half when we passed through the villages before heading to our destination, the roads became narrow; squeezed between houses. The roads or lanes were so narrow that I thought they were single-laned but traffic from opposite direction came. I think the driving skill of the drivers must be number one.

Along these roads, we chat happily. The feeling was funny, we are from the same profession though different parts of the world. We speak the "same language".

I saw countless adults and kids helped to "direct" the busy traffic

The room in this hostel is simple. Or should I opt to stay in a hotel but quite a distance away?

Anyway, I am not staying here for good. As long as it is safe and reasonably clean, I cannot expect too much. Afterall it is USD 40 per night inclusive of 3 meals and 2 coffee-breaks.

The dinner was real simple; white rice, fried chicken, fried fish fillet but with bones, stir-fry veg and a soup made of sweet corn & egg.

The room and dinner were pale in comparison with the working trip in Beijing last Nov.

During dinner, I knew nobody or nobody approached to talk to me. When I was on my way back to my room, another group of participants arrived.

I hope to have a good start tomorrow.

December Holidays Part 2

D has booked a room for us but in the same hotel throughout our stay in Taiwan. This is real funny; aren't we be moving around and tour different parts of Taiwan, instead of spending more than a week in just Taipei? Anyway, the hotel e-voucher is ready for printing and I assumed payment and thus confirmation has been made by D.

Isa should be longing to break away from textbooks, revision papers and assessment books. I have always longed for a relaxing holiday to break away from office work. But I will be bringing my laptop for this trip. Am I asking for troubles? It is convenient to have a laptop with me to remain ... (what?) We need it to do our e-check in before departure. We can use it to send internet sms and we save a lot on the phone bills. We can use it to read our local news when we are overseas. We... (all sorts of crap!)

I will start reading some guide books on Taipei after Nov has started as I still have quite a lot of office work to settle. Maybe I can ask Isa to look into this area since we will have a day on our own before D's family arrives. Of course, this can only be done after her year-end exam.

December Holidays Part 1

My last holiday to Japan was in Dec 2009. I started planning this trip as early as Sep 2009. This Sep, I did nothing except work.

D has been pressing me to go either Korea or Taiwan on our own for this Dec holidays. But I have been to Korea twice and looking at the prices of air tickets, I turned down the offer.

D finally decided to go Taiwan and surprisingly when I mentioned to my "finance minister", J, he thought was a great idea to spend our year-end hols in Taiwan. The problem is where to get reasonably priced air tickets. D suggested getting tickets from CPA but have to transit at HK. The price for an adult air ticket is about $660+, slightly cheaper for a kid. J immediately checked his KrisFlyer Miles and found that he has sufficient miles for 3 persons but on the Saver type which means seats are really limited or possibly not available during the peak period in Dec.

Nevertheless, we decided to try our luck, noting that using this Miles to redeem air tickets is not really FOC as we still have to pay for the various taxes plus the fuel surcharges, which amount to nearly $800 for the whole family.

The next early morning, J received an sms from SIA and our outbound trip was confirmed! What a swift response and this no doubt increases our confidence in making this Taiwan trip possible.

I called SIA Contact Centre and was told since we were on the priority wait list (there are priorities in the wait list ???), our chance of getting the return leg was high.

After a day, I called again to ask about the status of our booking, only to be told that our chances of getting the return leg was slim. What a joke and confusion? I asked immediately when (date and time of departure)and how to increase our chance of securing our return leg. The kind staff advised me and I immediately agreed to the date and time of departure.

Money is leaving my bank account to SIA and the e-tickets are on their way to me. I have secured the air tickets to Taipei and we are travelling by SIA!

Now the burden falls on D to do the planning of our week's stay in Taiwan.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Course evaluation summary

I started conducting courses in July. The first course evaluation summary was finally ready. The scores and comments given by the participants have been very encouraging. This no doubt is a good reward for all my effort and time spent to prepare the course materials.

Just when I wanted to explore further this teaching route, my boss has asked me to look into another aspect of my job - a "checker". I told her "point-blank" that I will look into this new aspect (I can't say no since I am still drawing a salary) but I will not give up my current teaching "post". I do not know how these two posts can run concurrently as teaching requires me to be away from the office on average a few days per month. Being a checker, I am supposed to conduct random checks on the work done by staff, ensure KPIs met, think of ways to improve efficiency and productivity, foresee possibilities of failing to meet KPIs, monitor regular reports submitted on KPIs etc.

Alas, what is all these nonsense about?

I can only continue to press on until I call it a day.

Himawari Restaurant

J's sister who works in MBS, has been promoted. She decided to give the whole family a treat. A lunch appointment was made at Himawari Restaurant located opposite PSA building.

The restaurant offers ala carte buffet. Since we arrived quite late, we decided not to have the buffet but a set meal. As usual, Isa is keen in cha soba but since only soba is available, she has no choice but to try soba.

I ordered Gindara teriyaki set whic consisted of fish, rice etc. To ensure Isa has an option in case she did not like the soba, J ordered oyako don.

The meal was taken in a cosy environment.

I am growing fat!

I know my weight has beeen increasing steadily. I thought by keeping myself busy with work, I could keep my weight under control. I tried to brisk walk in the big office to shed any unnecessary fats. I tried to delay my meal during lunch and eat mainly vegetables.

But all these have failed!

Today, after a heavy lunch at Mushroom Pot at OG Plaza, we went to shop for some clothes. Yes, the Mushroom Pot has its 1 to 1 offer and it is really too good to miss. D suggested to have a lunch there and all together, we have ten members of family, eating at a big round table to enjoy our lunch.

By the end of the lunch, I was such full that I simply wanted to find a place to hibernate instead of walking to Isetan to look for my clothes. Nevertheless, I pressed on and walked all the way from OG Plaza to Isetan located near ION Orchard.

I desperately need some presentable blouses. My blouses are becoming old after several washing and I need to look presentable when I conduct a course or give a presentation. I need to go for size L instead of the usual size M. This is one of the signs that I hate - putting on weight!

I want to look for a dress meant for the official dinner to be held around middle of this month. This is the first official dinner for this year and I really look forward to attend because of the delicious buffet spread offered by the host. J picked a dress and I asked the cheerful salesgirl if there was a size L for this dress. The salesgirl looked at my waist and then the dress. She suggested me to take size XL. Ok, another sign that I hate but nevertheless, I took her advice and walked straight to the fitting room to try this dress of size XL.

OMG, after putting on this beautiful dress, I looked like a rice dumpling, so tight fitting that the dress seemed to burst any moment!

I dont know whether to laugh or cry seeing myself in the full length mirror.

No more beautiful dresses for me. I tried some loose tighting blouses and they looked ok on me (look, it is not I look ok with them!) I asked the salesgirl to get other colours but of the same design for me. Without even trying, I headed to the cashier, paid and left Isetan in a hurry. I simply do not want to embarrass myself any further.

Well, at least now I have 4 new blouses in my wardrobe after parting $160 from my wallet.

Creative Vegetables