Another week in Sing

I spent last week in Singapore working with the team and their accounts. It was quite productive, and as usual, I enjoyed spending my time with these very nice people. In addition to meeting with the team, I met with four major clients. As I mentioned in my last blog post, Chris ventured home a week ago. He enjoyed his time here. Besides the relaxing weekend we had together, I think it was important for him to see where I had been "living."

After a busy work week, I let my hair down a little over the weekend. I went out with Lynnette (one of the mentees in the program) on Friday night.
She took me to a part of Singapore I hadn't yet seen. We had a lovely dinner and then went to a new part of Singapore called Keppel Island. There is another American serving IBM in this program here; his name is Eric, and he is from Florida. He later joined us, that is after his taxi driver could find this new part of the city. On Saturday, I did some shopping and planned to hit the Singapore Art Museum... which didn't happen. Instead I joined in with a local tribute to Michael Jackson - it was pretty cool. I had some very nice dinner plans with my ASEAN host, Irene and her family at their home. We had an amazing dinner on their patio with some of their close friends. Irene, Wei Hong, and their children recently returned from Greece, so we were privileged to see the photos of their vacation. Lovely evening (thanks again Irene and Wei Hong).

I had a nice Sunday after talking to Chris and the kids. I went to an amazing brunch with Eric at the Fullerton Hotel... WOW. The food was out of this world, and the champagne was flowing! We took a rickshaw back to the part of the city close to our hotels. Cool way to see the city, but I felt terrible because the driver was 65! I asked him a couple of times if I could take a turn on the bike. He shook his head and said that I couldn't because I wasn't licensed!

After an early engagement with a client on Monday morning, I flew into Manila and will be here until Friday morning, at which point I will fly into Jakarta. I am sooooo sad that I will miss my first 4th of July at my parents' place in as many years as I can remember. My brothers and their families will be there. Chris is taking the kids (and the dogs) there for most of the week, and they will not miss out on their beloved "Candy Parade." They've never missed one in their lives. I am also missing my 20 year High School Class reunion. I'm sad about that as well. I have reconnected with many classmates on Facebook in the last year. I have to say that it is going to be lonely being an American who is not in America for July 4th :-( I am told there are local American celebrations that I can attend.








So for tonight and the week, I am in Manila. I will complete the assignment two weeks from tomorrow! I fly back to Portland on July 14. Of course before then, I'll visit Jakarta, K L, and then a couple last days in Sing.

I miss my family.

Chris' visit to Singapore (and more)...

Chris flew back with me to Singapore after my short visit to the US. It was very nice to have company for the long flight and to know he would get to experience a taste of where I've been "living." (You'll notice I got a little crazy with the camera as usual.) There was champagne, good menu choices (including sushi for Chris), several movies, many games of cribbage, and a lot of napping. We had three legs that got us there... PDX to LAX, then LA to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Singapore. The second leg was quite delayed, and we had a very tight connection to catch the flight to Singapore. Based on my previous experiences in Tokyo, I did not think we were going to make it. In fact the flight attendant told us that we would likely make the flight, but our luggage would not. In Tokyo, after you've disembarked from your flight, you have to go through a full security screening again, and the lines are very long. Fortunately, we were the first through screening and we barely made the flight. And as an added bonus, our luggage even made it!!

After arriving in Singapore at 1:00 AM, we headed back to the Hilton where I have been staying in Singapore all along. It was time for Chris to meet my new friends! We got a bit organized and decided to get some rest so we could make the most of the time we had on Friday before heading to Bintan. We got up and went for a stroll so Chris could see some of the local culture and we could get some lunch. After seeing this picture, he was disappointed that he didn't do some sort of a leap for the picture.

In the early afternoon, we came back to get ready for the Bintan trip. We consolidated into one bag for the weekend, and checked the rest in with the bell captain to retrieve when we came back.

We arrived at the ferry terminal with plenty of time to get some Chinese Noodle Soup before departure. After a very disorganized experience getting onto the ferry... we loaded up and were on our way. It was a one hour venture to the island of Bintan, Indonesia. There are only 8 resorts on the island, and we had reservations for a suite at the resort called Nirwana. We had a nice dinner on Friday night and explored the resort a bit. We walked around the pool and down on the beach IN THE WARM WATER! After a nice (typical Asian... I say this for a reason) breakfast on Saturday, we found our lounge chairs next to the pool where we planned to sit and relax all day long. We read books, listened to music, swam in the pool, laid in the sun, played cards under the umbrella during the rain, sat at the swim-up pool bar, and really just enjoyed the view and the company. The tropical storms were pretty crazy. The thunder and lightning were more intense that I can ever recall experiencing.
Then comes the rain!! If we leave our great chairs, we'll lose them... so - knowing it is only about an hour or less for the storm to pass, we lowered the umbrella, played some music, and played some cribbage (I would love to say I won - but I DID NOT).

We later took a couple of strolls on the beach, and then went for dinner. We enjoyed a couple of drinks on the balcony of our suite and retired for the evening... both of us recovering from jet lag!

We got up early on Sunday morning, went to breakfast, and made claim to our lounge chairs by the pool. I was able to capture this shot of the infinity pool overlooking the ocean before anyone was able to disturb the water. We were scheduled to leave Bintan on the ferry at 4:30, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the resort before leaving. Again, we sat by the pool, then later walked the beach. Chris found a very cool Hermit Crab that I'm sure Connor would have loved to have. He also decided he might be interested in the impersonation business as a Sand Flea.

We departed Bintan at 4:30, arriving in Singapore at 6:30... we lose an hour due to the time change from Indonesia to Sing. We had big plans to come back to Singapore and spend the night on the town. Instead, we laid down on the bed at our hotel and slept for about 12 hours! That enabled us to get up and get ready for a big day of Singapore exploration. First things first... Chris REALLY needed a Western breakfast - meat, eggs and potatoes! We had a lovely breakfast at the Hilton and then set off for our whirlwind Singapore adventure. We began at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. That was a tremendous experience. We saw several gardens within the park that I will never forget. The Singapore National Orchid Garden was out of this world! We spent about 2 hours walking through the gardens and then took a cab to Boat Quay where we experience the famous Singaporean Chili Crabs. Boat Quay is the on the Singapore River in front of the financial district. This is where many of the clients I'm working with are located in Singapore. After a nice lunch, we walked to Clarke Quay around the corner. Spur of the moment, we decided to go to Sintosa - which is the white sand beach area of Singapore. We didn't have much time, but we wanted to explore it a little bit.

What better way to explore than on a Segway. It was really cool (nerdy, I know, but cool). We finished the afternoon at the Hard Rock Cafe which is around the corner from my hotel. It had been a long day and we had very nice Dinner plans... so we went back to the hotel to begin, yet again, the bag consolidation process. Chris was going to take back 2 more bags for me, leaving me with only one since I will be plane hopping even more. We had an amazing dinner at a place on the 69th floor of the Swissotel call the Equinox, followed by drinks upstairs at the New Asia bar on the 70th floor. Amazing views of the city!

Chris' flight was at 8:20 on Tuesday AM. He returned home without any problems, and was actually able to hook up with a colleague in LA during his very long layover. So for now, things are "back to normal." I am in Singapore until Monday afternoon, at which point, I travel to Manila, Philippines.

Just as a point of reference, this picture is overlooking Boat Quay and the Financial District.

Home Sweet Home

If you've been following along, you know I spent the last few days at home to celebrate an Anniversary, Emerson's birthday, and a brief reunion with friends and family. I was able to rest well on the flight home - thanks in part to half of an Ambian. Chris picked me up at the airport Friday morning at 8:45. I joked that I was able to experience June 12th for about 48 hours!. With a Starbucks in hand, we loaded my two HUGE bags into the car and headed to the house. Knowing how much I'm going to be traveling, I kept only two small bags back in Singapore at my hotel and brought all my big luggage home (one of the suitcases was loaded with gifts for the family).

Emerson asked that I bring donuts to her school on Friday since it was the last day of school and we were celebrating their last day of school. I was sooo excited to see my babies, it was unbelievable. After the celebration with Em's class and saying goodbye to Ms. Petty, Chris and I hit the local joint for our regular Friday "wings-n-beer" (I love America, and Buddies!!). We spent the rest of the afternoon with the neighbors having a cold draft beer from Chris' Keg-r-ator (did I mention I love America, and Coor's light?). Connor recapped his last AAA game with me, in which he hit a double, stole a base, and scored twice. Big game. Later that evening, I opened the big prize suitcase. A side note: in all the hotels (5 different hotels in all), I grabbed the toothbrush kits to give the kids. I kept handing them out as if this was these were their prizes. Finally, when I reached in to the bag, Emerson said, "Mom - this time can I have something cool?" Fortunately, I was able to come through with a couple of fun things.

On Saturday, the four of us spent the whole day together. We went to Build-A-Bear for Emerson and the Lego Store for Connor. Then after our shopping, we went to a Family Fun Center called Players. We did some bowling and many, many arcade games. Afterward, we came home and had a fairly low-key night with nachos and Wipe-out on Tivo.

Sunday was the big day. After toasting our 12 year anniversary, Emerson was delivered breakfast in bed, which consisted of Frosted Flakes and Orange Juice (by request, btw). We got ready for the big birthday party at another Family Fun Center called Bullwinkles. Both Emerson and Connor had several friends there along with their cousins, Leah, Logan, and Kayla. There were more arcade games, the Frog Hopper, Bumper Boats, Go-Karts, Mini-golf, and Bungee Jumping. After all the activities, we hit the party tables to have pizza, presents and cake. Later that evening, we had a very small BBQ at our house with friends. Chris' parents arrived and we all enjoyed the evening catching up.

Monday was my day alone with the kids. We had a nice lunch and went for a big bike ride. Later that evening, we went to dinner with Nana and Papa. Tuesday was spent getting ready for the big trip. Kids were shipped off to Brookings and the dogs went to the Doggy Hotel. I began the extremely laborious task of submitting expenses.. YUCK! I went to bed early knowing how early 3:00 AM was going to come. We arrived at PDX in plenty of time. First leg of the return trip is over, and I am writing this blog entry from the Japan Airlines Lounge at LAX. We leave for Tokyo at 1:20... so I wanted to use this time to update my world-traveling-status.

Chris and I will be in Bintan, Indonesia for a couple of days and then Singapore. He flies back on Tuesday. and I am back to circling the ASEAN nations. I will keep you posted. Thanks again for your love, support and interest! xo - Nic

Link to where we are staying in Bintan: (http://www.holidaycity.com/nirwanaresorthotel/index.htm)

Jakarta - and then a long plane ride home for a short visit (hence the long blog)

I flew into Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday June 7th to work with the team this week. I started this visit earlier than usual since I would be flying back to the US on Friday for a short visit with the family. Irene, my ASEAN host, suggested that I fly in on Sunday early and get a massage especially since they are so inexpensive (compared to the States in particular!). After many long lines at the airport to acquire a Visa, go through immigration and customs, I arrived at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Jakarta. I arranged for a spa treatment ... Great idea, Irene! These photos are from the hotel room.

Monday morning, I took a hotel car to the office. Here were the initial impressions... motorcycles, motorcycles, motorcycles EVERYWHERE! I have never seen so many in all my life. Where the primary means of transportation was the Jeepney in Manila, it was clear the primary means of transport here was a motorbike. The driving made me terribly nervous ... there aren’t nearly enough passenger-side and backseat brakes to manage this traffic, mom ;-) There might be two lines painted in the road, but there were easily four lanes of cars. The cars were inches away from one another on all sides. Oh and the horn honking... I could go on. Later in the day, my country host, Imelda, took a group of us to lunch. She said, “I just need to call my car.” Well, this man drove the car up – and I’m thinking he’s going to get out. He didn’t. I kiddingly said, “Is he coming with us.” Very seriously, Imelda responded by saying, “Of course. That is my driver. Don’t people have drivers where you live?” My response... “Not exactly.” I finally learned on this trip that US and the ASEAN countries are clearly different in terms of the price of goods and labor. In the US – labor is expensive and goods are cheap... it couldn’t be more opposite in these countries. ALL of my colleagues in these countries have 1-3 live-in workers. It astonished me. But it astonished them when I talked about the price of clothing, purses, shoes, etc. It is all 2-3 times more expensive in ASEAN than at home. Good news, Chris... not much shopping for me here! I’ll make up for it when I come home ;-)

I ate dinner every night in the Club lounge and enjoyed some wind-down time with my new friends... the whole wait-staff! We had a great time. They had been soooo kind to me and other patrons that one night upon closing, we decided it was time to serve THESE lovely people. So Charles, Jack and I got our trays and order pads. We asked what they wanted to drink and we served them. They were shocked. They were taking photos of us with their mobile phones. The next day after work, I came back to my room to find two framed photos of the night. It made for a warm welcome.

While I was in Jakarta, I was again honored with the graciousness of many fine hosts. One young gal, Rica, who was assigned as a mentee, took particularly good care of me, ensuring I had dinner plans every night, had a respectful cab to get home in, and even getting this American a very rare cup of brewed coffee. On my second day, she brought me a lovely box of Chocolates to return to Emerson as a birthday gift. Terence also saw to it that I was very taken care of... as you will see on in the Thursday review.

After meeting with a very nice, very large bank client until 7:30, I spend Wednesday night at the hotel. The staff knew I was returning home to celebrate Emerson’s birthday. Before leaving that evening, they all got together and presented me with a gift for Emerson. It was a hand-made card with all their signatures and a beautiful gift box. I looked inside the box to find a stuffed animal that is the Ritz-Carlton Lion. I promised to take video of her opening it and mail it back. They were too kind.

Thursday was crazy. My initial flight back to Singapore was scheduled for 7:00 PM. My Storage Host (I know, many hosts), Terence, suggested that I move my flight to 5:00 with him so he could help me with luggage, etc. We changed my flight, and I thought that would give me more rest time in Singapore before my LONG flight. In the end, we were able to get a meeting with a client at 1:30 ... I was assured we’d still get to the airport in plenty of time. We left the client meeting at 2:30 – and were stuck in a 2.5 hour traffic jam – to go about 20 miles. I have to mention the highlight of the traffic jam... I got to see two monkeys (Natalie)! Both dressed in DKNY outfits. You have to watch this posted video – it is one of my favorites so far - besides the Singapore toilet seat. ANYWAY .... I was hoping for a spot on that original 7:00 flight. Terence and I were #11 and #12 in line on standby. Terence did everything from haul my luggage around on a trolly, to pace in front of the standby desk, to assure me his seat if only one of us could go. Since I was scheduled for a 5:40 AM flight to the US on Friday, I had to make it. In the end, I think the standby guy (yes, there is a dedicated standby guy) pulled a couple of strings and moved us up the list. There were only 5 names called, and both Terence and I made the 7:00 flight. WHEW. I arrived at 11 PM on Thursday and asked for a 3 AM wakeup call.

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/d8fff0873df5da41e11ca46b36d5cb9f/video/4537424

So – I made the flight this morning, and am currently writing this blog entry on the airplane. I will be home for 4.5 days and then travel back to Singapore with Chris. We have some great plans while he is there (for only 4 days!). We plan to stay on the Indonesian island of Bintan – which is a 45 minute ferry ride from Singapore. Then we’ll spend two days exploring Singapore.

Sorry all – Long blog... Long flight. Gave me something to do on the plane! Miss and love you all – I hope to see any of you while I’m at home.

Another week in the beautiful ASEAN region...

For those of you not familiar with the acronym... (as I was not prior to departing on this trip), ASEAN stands for The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN). I am off to my fourth country visit tomorrow and figured it was time to review last weeks visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I arrived last Monday late afternoon and found the hotel called One World. It was very convenient as it was only a short walk through the lobby to the IBM building. On the other side of the lobby, the hotel was connected to a huge mall where there were many places to eat lunch/dinner. On Monday, I connected with my country host, Rathiga Renganathan. She showed me around the hotel, mall and IBM site before I began my first day on Tuesday. I had the pleasure of meeting with my 4 mentees on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening, my IBM Storage ASEAN host, Arnold (left side) and a colleague took me to dinner. Every location that I have ventured to in ASEAN has had such wonderful and hospitible people. They are so caretaking... They always had an escort for me every evening.

On Wednesday evening, there was a large group of us that ventured out. First we went to dinner at a very nice Chinese restaurant where we ate family style. Then most of the group headed to Petaling Street - which is the China Town of Kuala Lumpur. There were many small markets, and it was a cultural experience for sure.

After a very busy day Thursday at work, one of my colleagues, Jason Tan, offered to take me to the city to see the twin towers in Kuala Lumpur. They are largest twin buildings in the world, and until 2004 they were the largest buildings in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas_Twin_Towers). The sight is really quite amazing. Interestingly, the buildings are owned by a company called Petronas, which is one of the client accounts I am working on with a mentee... We are planning a visit to their office building when I return in July. I am told we can walk across the bridge you can see in the photo.

Friday brought on another good day with my colleagues. I finished up my work in the office and was off to the airport for my journey back "home" ... i.e. Singapore. I stayed at the Hilton again and visited with my friends (housekeeper, bellman, and room service)... good to see familiar faces. Speaking of which, it will be really good to see the familiar faces at home when I fly back to the States next Friday!!! Can't wait.