First part of Round 2: Manila, Philippines and Jakarta, Indonesia

I arrived in Manila on Monday night and stayed again at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City. After being greeted by my Manila driver, Jonathon, on Tuesday morning, I traveled to the IBM location in Quezon City of Manila. You may recall the BBQ we had during my return departure to the US a few weeks ago... I asked the ‘gang’ to muster up any of their out-grown childrens’ clothes so I could bring them back to Jonathon. His children are close in age to ours, and he only makes a few USD/day. Of course, my friends came through and I was able to give Jonathon two boxes of childrens clothes... he was so appreciative and beyond grateful (thanks friends).

At the office on Tuesday, I was greeted again by my local colleagues, and we developed a very tight schedule for the week. We had some collaborative meetings together in the office and lined up several client engagements around the city. With the team, I was able to interface with folks from large national telecommunication companies, large national banking firms, and Partners. A typical day begins around 5-7 AM in the hotel room addressing US business, then to the office around 8-9 AM, in the office or at client locations until 7-8 PM, and then either dinner/sleep ... or fun with the team.

A few of the days in Manila ended with a fun evening with the team. One of my ASEAN Storage hosts, Arnold Lua, took me to his favorite Dim Sum restaurant called Causeway Seafood Restaurant.

By the end of the meal, I’m sure he ordered 15 dishes for the two of us! Following our dinner, we were invited to attend a birthday party for an STG colleague, Rodney .... It was a VERY fun evening with at least 40 IBMers. We went to Gorilla Bar where I met several new friends. It was a pleasure, and I was very grateful to be welcomed into their circle.

After a second productive day at work, we were invited again to join a group at a local joint for a late dinner. This time, I was accompanied by one of my mentees/new friend, Daisy and also by my local “body-guard,” Arnold (he’s very protective). We enjoyed WONDERFUL local cuisine, wine, and company.

The third day in Manila was scheduled with client and partner visits from 8 AM to 11:00 PM. Again, a long and productive day ... but this time – I turned into a pumpkin and had to call it quits at 11:30 (I’m getting old!). Daisy (Dhey.. sounds like ‘Day’ ) was my partner for the day. My highlight for the day was dinner with “Sir Butch.” He is the "boss" of an IBM Business Partner Company. We spent a fantastic two hours together at dinner. We had so much in common including fishing, camping, hiking, golfing, ... the great outdoors in general. It was my sincere pleasure to meet him, and I hope we meet again. I regret to say I did not take a photo.

I changed my flight to Jakarta to meet up with another client the following day. My flight moved out to the late evening which put me in Jakarta VERY early on Saturday Morning. Someone from the Ritz was present to whisk me through immigration, customs on get me to my car... BLESS THOSE PEOPLE! The lines are very long – at a very late hour... I am grateful to my admin for having that arranged.



My Saturday was July 4th in Indo ... but not in US. I didn’t do much except for pout about not being at home. Ok – I did do some work, talked with my friends in the lounge upstairs, and finally had a massage. But in the end, I was still was pouting (and crying, but don’t tell anyone) ......... Here are a couple pictures of the kids over the 4th of July Holiday. The first picture is Emerson with my nieces Kayla and Leah. The second picture is of Connor and Emerson on the 4-wheeler ride with Grammy Jo and Papa Frank in the background.

As my night came along, I knew the family would be getting up to celebrate the 4th they way we always do. So, I awaited the text pictures and the posts on Facebook to see how it went. ( Meanwhile – Sunday morning (while it was still July 4 in US), Rica and her friend Maya helped me make the best of it... We went to the elementary school Barak Obama attended when he lived in Jakarta for 4 years. It was a short, very nice tour of a now historic (but functional) location in Jakarta. Next we went to a museum in Old Town Jakarta... it was nice – great big pieces of wood carved furniture – and great Indonesian history.
I had the distinct honor of meeting a school class studying English. When they saw this blond American, they were very excited to introduce themselves and utter to me a sentence in English. What a sincere pleasure. Later, we had a nice lunch in the Old Town part of Jakarta (please notice the very cool menus on the back of framed pictures that they actually hang on the wall and remove as guests arrive).



One of the most poignant moments for me was going to the location where Maya volunteers her time at a local school. The children who attend this school live under a bridge and in a slum/shanty district... no running water, electricity. They were recently evacuated from their current school due to their inability to pay the rent. For reference, the rent for the school is $600/year. In order to purchase the property, it is $3000 USD – and they wouldn’t be evacuated again. I have attached a video of their school and a couple of pictures of the children/students running around their “neighborhood” the weekend that we drove through. I plan to donate $$ to help with this school.


Also shown in these pictures are very normal and primary means of transportation... This is where we are all reminded how lucky we are!!!! I referenced the proliferation of motorcycles here in my last Jakarta blog entry ... I do not recall the four-people-on-the-bike version the last time. Oh, and btw – it is NOT uncommon to see an infant on these small motorbikes in CRAZY traffic – no helmet .............

The three of us went back to the hotel and had dinner upstairs, with my other Ritz friends. The chef made special for me his Hot and Sour soup (which is the best I’ve ever had ... oh, and he gave me his recipe!). We had a nice relaxing dinner and called it quits early.

I arrived at work with Monday to something of disarray in terms of this work Program. I was frustrated. Very, very long story short (and a couple of fists pounding on the table – mostly mine) ... things came together, and we were able to become productive. We made progress on Monday, and I was tired. I took a rain-check with the group on Monday, needing to catch up with my “day job,” my friend/colleague Terence (my other ASEAN Storage Host), and SLEEP!!!!


Tuesday night, some of my colleagues took me took me to a local restaurant called Lara Djong Grang – Indonesian Cuisine. This restaurant was amazing ... the food was very good (even for an American that loves very basic American food). More importantly was the story each room told the history of Indonesia. Talk about a crash course! I loved it ... thank you Yukie, Rica and Ghozie for the wonderful evening!!!

I said goodbye to my friends at the Ritz on Wednesday morning as I was headed to Malaysia. Weirdly, it was a tearful, bitter-sweet moment. I’m closer to going home, but these people are people I would invite into my daily life as friends, and I don’t know when/if we’ll meet again. Thankfully, Facebook gives us an ability to stay connected.

So – I have 2.5 days in Kuala Lumpur. I hope I’ll be busy here with KL client work (as of the moment, things are looking bleak). After KL, it’s back to Singapore for a few days, and then.... wait for it.... HOME. Miss those babies, hubby, and home.