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.
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