Singapore

From 25-28 Oct 2008

After having spent some days in Singapore, I realized how well developed the city is. Basically all is planned, all the districts, transportation, city services, all works perfectly, and all under the friendliness of the Singapore people. Which BTW are really proud to be Singaporean. It all dates back to 1819 when the British East India Company established a trading post on the island. Singapore would become one of the most important commercial and military centre of the British Empire, and the hub of British power in Southeast Asia. The planning came largely through a "divide and rule" framework where the different ethnic groups were settled in different parts of the South of the island.(extracted from Wikipedia)

All was like a jewel city, starting to the new concert hall, also called the durians, thanks to their durian type, and continuing with, museums, churches, shoping malls, beaches, wildlife, sky crapers, and multiple historical places, like Singapore river, Sentosa Island, etc. All a unique expeirence. Basically I followed this schedule, except for the Zoo. http://wikitravel.org/en/Three_days_in_Singapore

I was a little bit upset because of the circumstances how I got into the country, however, afterwards I was grateful to have such an opportunity and to get to know the state city and the most touristy places. An extended holiday in the country was not bad at all, and an excellent way of having a forced break from work.

During my final day in Singapore I was able to renew my working visa and have a perfect closing. Visiting the world famous and historical Raffles hotel, and enjoying the millionaire drink: Singapore Sling, which was the favorite of many, rich an famous. The ambiance was unforgettable, like a leap back in time to last century, suddenly surrounded by art deco architecture, jazz music and a delicious drink. A perfect conclusion before going back to Indonesia.

After Singapore

During that week many changes took place. One of my staff went to another project, the planning for closing also started, the future of my team was decided, and I was able to foresee that we were in a big rush, and the subcontractors not performing good enough.

I was tired to deal, press, warn, all the subcontractors. Always trying to enforce their obligations through the ruling contract, trying to enforce the LDs, unfortunately none of these methods, know in Finland as management by perkele, worked. The strategy then changed, to try to engage in a very solid and concise collaboration, where we should assist them in any problem involved with the end customer, and they would help us to perform their obligations in a prompt way. This has required continuous face to face interaction, discussing with them, making them aware about the importance of our close interaction and consolidating a common goal for both companies, us and them. Eventually I got a strong support from their top management, and since then the activities have started to move forward. Little by little, and hopefully soon, reaching our estimated targets by the end of the month.,

It is very interesting to see how many local companies work in Indonesia, one would think that even though these are big ones, the corporate philosophy will pervade, however this is not the case, most of them are organized as a family business, where family ties, and relationship base management dominates the whole environment. With this approach is really difficult to get the required level of formality, so one of the unique methods to gain commitment is to reinforce the relationship with the other partner, some type of business-friendship.

Police Surprise

Oh my gosh, what a day! A total adventure from the beginning to the end.

Because of my extremely short notice and fast departure from Finland to take this assignment in Indonesia I needed to renew my working visa paperwork in Singapore, which was handled by the staff at my office, I just needed to pick it up from the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore and go back to Semarang. All was planned since some weeks ago, and during this weekend I should have flown aboard for this matter.

Yesterday night, speaking with some friends, I got the notice that immigration police was having a campaign to detect unskilled people without the appropriate visa and were focusing mainly on companies all around the city to find out foreigners working in the country. There were some revisions and arrests, I got to know a person who had a friend (an expat) in some European company with operations in Indonesia which was imprisoned. In order to prevent any damage to the company and risk to our staff, the management took ordered that no foreigners should be at the office during this day, and until things settle down. What did this meant? Free day? No way! I wish!

This meant working from home, from the restaurant, from the gym, you mention it. I have never had this unpleasant feeling of being a subject of suspicion from the authorities. (Well, only in Russia when I met the Professor and drank one litter of Vodka together about 10 years ago) Going from place to place with the uncertainty that this type of actions might hinder one owns liberty. As the day evolved, first being at the restaurant having breakfast, using the WiFi, then going home and making plentiful coordination phone calls to my colleagues at the office, then going to the gym and interrupting my sauna and swimming pool sessions with business matters. Luckily all went right, we achieved the milestones settled for the day, and no close contact with any authority bodies.

Since the trip to Singapore was scheduled for that Friday night, I arrived safe to the airport, luckily not before having spoken with some other guys who gave the advice that I should not go through that airport since immigration was very strict. Fortunately experience as a backpacker helped a lot to solve these situations; soon my business attire got transformed on a budget travel outfit. We joked about my stay in the country, places, food, people, girls, etc. then they asked, do you work here? I said, no of course not, only backpacking! And they were satisfied.

I didn't understand a thing, why should one hide, if all papers are in order? It was during the flight that I got an answer. According to the news papers these acts happen more or less once a year, after the national festivities of Idul Fitri, when thousands make their way to big cities from rural areas in search of jobs, action which is illegal without the appropriate permits. However, according to Jakarta Post, this type of actions are targeted for unskilled immigrants, but has evolved in such a way that affects everyone. According to the post "the operation has come to target not only unskilled Indonesians, but everyone in the vicinity including foreign nationals". On Thursday police took in Jakarta ca. 830 residents, sending ca. 430 to trials and releasing the rest. For those found guilty a fine of Rp 25,000 needs to be paid (1 EUR = Rp 13,000).

Following the advice of my colleagues, and in order to keep a low profile, I took refuge at my favourite multipurpose doctor, a very very nice SPA with hamam, 85 C sauna, a 41C, 36C, and 6C swimming pools, which were utilized diligently and indulging myself with a 90 min body massage.

This place I am talking about is the best place ever. It is clean, good staff, good service, and the personnel is well trained, and it has a Finnish sauna with a simulation of avanto! Incredible! Couldn't believe it when I saw it the first time! I enjoyed so much the löyly, but I don't think that the Indonesian people that was inside at the same time as me had the same experience :-)

It was an interesting day after all, with an uncertain beginning but with a good ending, ready to enjoy a nice and relaxing weekend at one of the richest cities in the world. Just in the streets, during my 30 min trip from the airport to the hotel I got to see 1 Bentley Continental GT, Maserati GranTurismo, 2 Audi A8, 3 BMW 7 series, 2 Lexus, 3 MB S series, 1 BMW X5, 1 Volvo S80, 2 Lamborgini Gallardo, 1 Ferrari F430. Shön, oder?

Guci, the thermal town

A new place to be added into the done list: I went last weekend to a holiday in Guci, a small remote village in the South of Tegal. The place is located on a plateau of aprox 2000 m, with thermal activity which helps the water to come hot from a natural spring. I stayed in a hotel which swimming pool was filled with such a water, and since the place is so high, the temperature is extremely confortable, and excellent for a swim at night when is a little bit coldish.

The objective of this meeting was to go hiking with a group of expats. This association is know as Hash Harriers, named after the tradition of consuming hash in early days, not hash as in hashish, but hash as in English breakfast :-) (local name for it)

We started by meeting in the hotel and then following a route through the mountains, crossing huge fields, going up and down between the rice plantations, traversing forests and enjoying magnificent views from the below valleys.

Initially it was hard since a great rain started pouring. The typical rain here is that is starts raining intensely for 30 minutes and then all the clouds leave and the sun shines again. Because of the height, no new humidity is formed, which makes the environment extremely comfortable. Even thought this waterfall falling from the sky, we kept going and enjoying the run
All lasted 1,5 hrs and ended completely exhausted, finally all decided to take a relaxation period with an ice cold deserved Bingtang close to the swiming pool and chatting with the new people I´ve met. Totally there were 11 nationalities, from Finland, Mexico, Germany, USA, Netherlands, Italy, Aruba, Malasya, Indonesia, Ireland, and UK.

In the evening after lunch we all went to the swiming pool, and stayed there for about three hours. Some people left for drinking, some for resting, some stayed chatting. Eventually I left and joined the drinking group. To make the story short, we had a nice time, playing drinking games, something I have not done since 1998, so it was a good time to remember old times. Eventhough I drank about 5 litters of beer, I was not feeling drunk (and with the enough energy to have a morning run in the next day).

During the next day I woke up just in time for the morning run. This time only 1.5 hrs, not only running but also walking. We followed a different route, crossing also villages, and more scenic scenarios. The mist in the horizon made the place look as a real paradise, in the background you could listen to the birds, and other strange animals making unique noices. There was a time where I was completely alone, and this experience of being surrounded by nature was just amazing. After some kms I found a waterfall, very tall, and refreshing. This time I did not go in, but I would have loved to.

Time to return to the hotel, have some lunch, have a last swim in the thermal watters, and go back to Semarang. On my way back I grabbed a ride with a couple from Netherlands that have been working in Semarang for 5 years. We chatted nicely and long, until the 5 hrs drive was off, and arranged to go together to a dancing course. Which BTW was cancelled.

After comming back from my trip, I got to the appartment and find out that my neighbour, a guy from Thailand who is leaving next Saturday, is organizing a party. Not a common party but one with a live band, and only for 5 guests! An amazing experience.

It was like a private concert which I enjoyed greatly. The girls in the band were so beautiful and sang so nicely. It was like hearing a professional band. Probably I will contact them soon again, to celebrate my birthday, that has not been celebrated because my lack of time.

Next Wednesday I will have my first dancing course, and if all goes nice, I might become on a good dancer :-)

Again, greetings from my humble balcony, facing the illuminated Semarang city, listening grass hoppers and a waterfall singing, over viewing the nicely blue illuminated swimming pool under the star filled firmament. This time I am without a beer, but with the fresh memory of weekend's stories!

Life goes on

I was surprised yesterday, when I did not get angry after the electricitry went away for half an hour. I could not use the network, and so instead of waiting I only started using my GPRS and problem solved.

(this paragraph can be a little bit disgusting, so please skip it) Now I think back and it sounds funny.

I found thought that I could endure everything until today when I met an intruder in my shower: a 1 3cm long cucaracha, with 4 cm long antenas (luckily it did not fly). Since I did not want to smash it an then clean the remainings, I took it with toilet paper and threw it into the letrine. The most disgusting part was when holding it, the thing started moving and I felt it in my fingers.

Thinking back I am happy it was not small, since I can be sure they are not reproducing at my place.

But at the end of the day it is not that bad. Eventhough things are not at all organized, there are very nice areas. For example, now, after work, I am enjoying a nice cold beer, while being sitting besides the swiming pool in the back yard of my appartment, enjoying the panoramic view from the city. The temperature is aprox + 26, nice sound of small waterfall in the background, very light rain falling refreshing the ambience.

Today I went to the supermarket, took the company's driver, took my coworker home, went to the supermarket to buy basically liquids: water, milk, milshakes, and cleaner for my clothes.

On all the rest of the evenings I come home and go directly to the gym to try to reduce the growing size of my belly. Luckily the growth has stopped, but no reductions what so ever. The problem is that all here is so delicious that is difficult to eat only a little bit. I am impressed with the richness of the food.

The gym I am going is one of the best gyms I've ever visited, even for European standards, it is magnificent. State of the art machines, few people, plenty of instructors, "nice modern" music (basically tecno and pop), and nice girls.

At work all is nice, the amount of work is immense, since I need to be managing and coordinating the performance the project which includes different subcontractors that are problematic, this makes things much more difficult, so in order to have them delivering properly a close eye on them is necessary. I have a team of 9 guys which are very hard working and responsible and it is so nice to be at the office dealing with them.

The level of respect that everybody has with everybody has amazed me. e.g. all refer to each other as Mas = Comrade (more like a brother like feeling) or Pak=Sir (more like a fatherlike meaning) and for all I am Pak.

It is also nice to be able to meet all my expat colleagues in the bar and speak about all type of subjects, and get drunk together! Not happened yet, but almost :-)

What I don't like is that every day I have gone out of work very very late, which does not allow me to do any other activity than to go to the gym which closes at 23.00. Well, I have not found that many things to do in Semarang anyway.

In respect to the girls, it seems as if I am a jetset. All the girls smile so seductively but so far I have been so busy to try to get close to one of them. It is amazing, I have never seen so many girls with such nice shapes and sweet faces, the beautiful ones are like little angels (because most of them are little). I have tried so hard to meet one girl in Finland but without any success, and here it seems to come naturally; however, since I will only stay for a very short time, will it be worth it to give it a try? I need to thing about this rhetorical question, especially after different options have been made evident.

Salary is good since all is so cheap, probably 3 times cheaper than Finland. That's why I only go to the supermarket to buy liquids, since it is easier to go to the restaurant every day. Yesteday, we went a group of 6 people, we all ate good, and I paid the bill. I was surprised when it came, the total was 12 Euro! Not bad. I suppose one can have a pretty good life in here after all: working during the evenings

Now it's started raining a little bit stronger. My beer is empty and swimming pool is waiting. So now you know my next destination after recharging fuel :-)

Two weeks in Indonesia

It has been almost two weeks since I have been in Semarang and finally I have started liking the city. One of the nicest experience has been to get to know the people, the way of behaving towards others, with such a great level of respect, always regarding the other person so politely that one feels almost as a very important person.

The first impression I got from the city was not as sever as when I met with Jakarta. The differences in magnitude are immense, being much more chaotic in the big Capital City, which helped me to somehow prevent myself on what to expect. I can not say that all went without conflict, examples as not working internet, a once spotted rat in my apartment, an office which air conditioning was not working and enough illumination was lacking, taxi drivers not knowing the direction and stopping two or three times to ask where a street was, taxi drivers loading petrol and stopping to do some shopping in the mini market on my expense, all working very slowly, subcontractors not having the understanding of deadlines, etc.

In relation to the personal distance, people here tends allways to come too close, not only phisically, but also personally. It is extremely uncomfortable that frequently the person you are speaking with wants to know details about you, personal details that one would not share with one that you don´t know.

Another interesting point is the level of assumptions that people make. When you ask something, people make assumptions that your actions will be directed towards that object which one is refering to. Once it happened that I asked the secretary where was Novotel. I wanted to go to the Tourist Information Center which was 200 m away. So she assumed that I wanted to go to Novotel because I had a bad experience in my actual appartment with my Thai neighbours and wanted to change places. Examples like that are plentiful.

All these was too much to bear during the first week, and I was getting so bad that I was starting to be upset very frequently, luckily during this period my team was not around due to the holiday week they were having, so I did not get angry with them. It was with all the others, with the people in the supermarkets taking to long to check the bill, people in the restaurant getting the orders confused, bus drivers driving as slow as possible to get the biggest amount of passengers, drivers not respecting the trafic lighs and driving in the oposite way. I realized that it was not worth to expect that others will keep my same level of discipline, and tried to accept things as they were. For all the problems earlier mentioned, I considered the rat at my flat as my pet, which BTW, I have not yet seen again. Took some powerful bulbs to the office, got a fan for myself, downloaded email clients so I would read emails directly from my computer, and hired a cleaning lady.

All other items, I know I need to be prepared to spend at least twice the time for doing one activity, as it would take in Finland. And the behaviour of the people for lack of dicipline, I take it as an adventure, like when I met Jum, a local guy I met at Kura Kura who offered to show me the city, and drove me with his motorbike, of course, driving in opposite direction of a 3 lane avenue! Amazing and very scary!

This type of behaviour is extended to the overall city planning, which seems to be none. Streets are not coordinated, one way accesses make the drivers give a huge turn to get from one place to another, because driving in opposite direction is not feasible when there is a massive amount of cars in one avenue.

Again, I was only focusing on the bad aspects of the city when I first got there. All dirty and polluted, not all was tidy, so whenever I went outside my apartment or the gym, which is in an excellent area in front of the best hotel in Semarang, I did not enjoy the sights. Now my perspective has starting changing, things are not as messy or ugly, indeed there are places which are amazingly beautiful, like monuments, houses, and pretty good restaurants, etc. These are there but hidden, and not easy to see if the attention is taken by the not nice items in the city. Today in the bus, coming from Semarang, I saw the most beautiful houses I have seen in the city, like palaces, probably about 400 sq. meters in a neoclassical style. The funny thing is that I take this road every day for work, and today I saw them for the first time.

So there are nice places in Semarang, it is matter of knowing where to go and what to look for.

Kura Kura, my favourite paradise 4.-5.10.2008

For example, last weekend I was again in Kura Kura, a paradise-like island in the north of Semarang, east of Karimunjawa. To get there a ferry is needed, it takes about 3.5 hrs to cross 61 nautical miles to get to Karimun, and from there a boat is also needed, either a fast or a wooden boat.

The first experience I had at Kura Kura was with Alex, when I found the place by chance on the net. I called, made the reservations and finally got there, without knowing anything about the resort. Last weekend it was completely different, I knew were to go, what to do, whom to see, what to expect. All went much more better than planned. Eventhough it took some effort to get into the boat, because it was full and I needed to be on the waiting list, we were almost on time at Karimunjawa. From there I was sent with a bicycle, which was driven by another man, to the small harbour to take the small wooden boat that will take me to the Kura Kura resort.

Because of the fast winds, the sea conditions were quite rough, luckily I don't suffer from sea sickness, so it did not affected me. Roughly after 45 min we were landing at the Kura Kura jetty, to meet Elisabeth, a 45 ft criuse used for diving and fishing, Kura Kura 1 and 2, the speed boats used to take people from and to the airport in Karimun island.

Since that weekend was the last weekend where the resort would have been opened due to the upcoming restorations and expansion plans, I was the only guest. This was excelent since I met the owner and managers of the resort and had a very nice evening, we chatted and had dinner, and invited me to go back to Semarang by their plane, which is used to transport the tourists to the island. Of course I took the offer!

During that day I spent all the time doing activities, went snorkeling, walking aroud the island, swiming, relaxing, and then having dinner with the guys. We did not stay long, which helped me to wake up at 4.00 am to get prepared to see the sunrise, being at 5.36 from at the other side of the island. Waking up at that time was a mayor achievement, but I was able to do it.

During the night it rained heavily, very strong and short time, and of course, warmish water. Just at its climax I remembered how nice it was to be under the rain, which I have not done since I was a child.

All this, with the combination of pouring rain, being in an isolated island with the highest privacy, gave the best feeling of freedom and joyfulness.








The mid night interruption was worth, and a gave my stay a special meaining. This together with the morning wake up call, sun rise witnessing, swimming at the coral reefs, kayaking and walking around the island, meeting the nice people in the resort, was the best experience, and I can again confirm that I have a favourite place in this world.

The way back was nice. First with the fast boat going to the airport, doing up to 23 knots. Then flying 50 min to get to Semarang. Finally, at the airport, meeting a very beautiful girl, helping with the Kura Kura reservations. I have seriously thought that I should go back to the airport only to meet her, probably invite her for dinner.

First day when meeting with my colleagues 6.10.2008

Back at the office on Monday, after the holidays were over, I met with my team. All are very nice people and responsible ones. They are very kind and hard working, and it has been a pleasure to work with them. At the beginning I had some problems remembering their names, but now is no problem. I was very positively surprised when I met Early, because at first I assumed she was a man (because of the name), but no, she was a girl, and a very nice and good looking one. She is not extremely beautiful on the face, but she has an extremely nice looking body and her smile is perfect, as I hade not seen one for a long time. This, together with her level of politeness, and sweetness, have make me start developing a strong sense of attraction. I need to be very careful, specially in my present circumstances, where I will not stay for a very long time in Semarang.

The rest of my team includes, Ikhwan: which is the acting project coordinator, Sullis: the CME coordinator for PLN issues, Edi and Iwan: the CME supervisors, Yuliarto: the Sitac supervisor, Irfan: the TI supervisor. Dealing with documentationa are Narlin: Sitac docs, Early: CME docs, and Lidya: TI docs.

The first thing we did during the week was to have the meetings with the subcontractors, and to get acquainted with the overall status of the proyect. It was intense work, long days, probably 12 hrs every day, which I closed with a 2 hr session at the gym every night.

My visit to Jakarta on Thursday was very efficient since I got my new passport, and met the project director for Jawa region from NSN. Fortunately the places I needed to visit, except for the City Bank, where I needed to pay my visa, were in the same building.

Weekend in Borobudur 11.-12.10.2008

This weekend I continue with my travels, I visit Borobudur, the largest Budist temple in the Java island. It is a huge mandala, with a huge stupa on the top. Made out of rock carvings located in different layers, creating a variety of platforms, 7 in total, to get to the upper ones, where the biggest are located.

The views from the valley are superb, and only hopping that there are no clouds tomorrow morning, when the sun is rising.

Luckily little clouds, as you can see next...