Integra Training, Day 2

MARCH 9, 2006

Last night I haven't spared my time to work on Camino monitor. I was supposed to give the basic groups some inservice training on how to set up ICP monitor today.
This morning I watched Camino and Ventrix inservice CD before I took shower.
Thank God, I only had to observe what the groups were doing and gave them some comments on their hands-on.
Did Aero-Box class after the training session ended. Need to burn some fat here, LOL.
Went to Suan Lum Night Bazaar with Anil, Irene, Vicky, Xipin, Jeong, Jin, and Jason. Took two taxis. But then we lost the first taxi, we need to call them using my cell phone. Ohhh, I don't know what the calling charge would be!

Found them, we bought dinner and ate at the table provided outdoor. They are having some shows, singing and dancing on the stage. After eating, we agreed to split up to get our own shopping and met again at the temple gate at 11 PM.

Gees.....I spent so much money on table clothes, bed cover, table runner, and some fabrics for Ibu Ani's birthday present, dried fruits, etc. I still have some more shopping to do.
Something hapenned with our group, we have waited for them for 30 minutes. They didn't show up, I called them twice and send a text message. No reply! We were kinda upset. We took Tuk Tuk to go back to hotel.

Wow, my first time riding a Tuk Tuk. It's almost like Indonesian bajaj, but bigger and it has an open design.

Look at our shopping bags

Integra Training, Day 1 (March 07, 2006 )

BANGKOK, March 7, 2006, 11.09 PM

On the way to hotel. Do you know Susan brought along some Kiranti's with her in the smaller handcase. It caused some questions asked by officers in the airport when they did the checking.

We were flying on Lufthansa.......Cool eh? Not really, the food and the entertainment was dull.....Maybe they saved the best for last, for flying schedule to Frankfurt. Agh, I realized, I can't complaint, we paid cheap tickets!

We are staying in Evergreen Laurel Hotel Bangkok. Last year, I stayed in Evergreen Laurel Hotel Kun Ming (China). The room is great! Luxurious (USD 95 ++ per night. I should thank my company to send us here)
The most important thing is we have free internet connection here.
I tried it once I unpacked, checked the settings and reply some e-mails.

A nice warm shower was really freshened me up. Went to bed at almost 2 AM.

MARCH 8, 2006

I was still very sleepy. Woke up at 5.30 AM........Got dressed and ready for the training.

Took breakfast, met old friends. This time they did differently. As one of the advance class participants, I had to teach the basic class how to insert two types of catheters.
Gosh........! I didn't have time to read the read and study the instruction manual! Fortunately, Karen helped me and gave some tips to the groups then I managed to do myself.

Tomorrow must do in-service of ICP monitor to the groups and I haven't got any chance to review the video or work with the machine today.
Had a long discussion with Tony. Then with Susan and Fiona, we went to MBK to have our dinner.

Need to sleep early.

Go for another training (February 28, 2006 )

It’s time for Integra training. After persuading my boss, I can bring Susan with me. I told him that I need her to back me up for Integra products in case I’m outstation and there are any queries for the equipments. Adolf agreed to what I suggested.

The training will be held next week and it will be in Bangkok again. Based on my experience, it’s a heaven for you shoppers out there. Yippie! Bangkok, here we come.

I have to sign another contract for one year (after another negotiation with boss, of course!). Yeah…you may say how stupid this girl is. But hey, it means I still have my chance to grow myself and grow with this company.

Well, my closer friends already knew another reason behind that.

I’m hoping it can come true next week. Keep my fingers cross.

I have been planning to extend my visit in the country where I have my training and have my own adventure. Up to now, It has never happened.

Thank God I have Susan. We have arranged our accommodation in a two-star hotel, will move there after the training and stay for two nights.

I want to go to Chatuchak market that only opens on Saturday and Sunday (I’ve been in Bangkok twice and never been to the market!), visit Royal Temple, Floating Market, don’t forget to go to Siam Square area (wanna buy shoes there….trendy and girlie ones with my size), Naraiphand (for silk scarf and table cloth, but if I find them in Chatuchak, I won’t buy anymore), Suan Lum Night Bazaar, MBK, etc.

Need to study the equipments. They give participants of advance training special assigments. Must bring all issues to be discussed with Tony and Wei in Bangkok.

See…..? It’s work-work-work………..

Meanwhile, I still have many things to do before I go next week. Must go to Purwokerto for my Selector project this week.

Jolean will join us, she will fly early, stays in our room and not miss the tour that Wei has arranged us during the weekend.

See you soon, look forward for my news and pictures from Bangkok.

Power down in Palembang Aiport! (February 11, 2006 )

It has started! My travelling schedule again...........

On Feb 8, I went to Palembang (it's capital of South Sumatera).

It was so amazing how can they let the power down for 2 hours in this new airport!

Every time I travel, I always hope to get home soon, at least on time. But, you can't rely on the local airlines here.

At first, I could predict that it would be late, as usual. When the plane arrived in the airport (30 minutes late of course) and we were about to boarding, suddenly the power went down.

We waited, and waited....No one cared to explain to passengers about what was happening!!!!

I sighed...............There goes my night! Babies started crying, the gentlements got angry......No airline officers or airport officers in the boarding lounge. What the he_ _ !!! What a bad customer service. I was getting hungry.

If only the plane didn't arrive late, we would have been on our way back to Jakarta then!

The silly thing was, the airport office didn't have a certain answer from the power company, when the power would be on again.

Lots of yelling and shouting from passengers...........Finally, I was home again! Thanks you ALLAH.

Spending beginning of Ramadhan in KL (oct 7, 2005)

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan

Welcoming our holy month 2005:

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan.

Would like to wish you all Happy Fasting. May Allah give us strength.

================================================================

It was my first time in life where I did fasting in other country, not being with family.
My head office held ISO internal auditor training on Oct 5, 2005. My office in Jakarta sent me, Henry and Selvi to KL. We were there during Oct 4-6, 2005. We stayed at Concorde Hotel, as usual.

On the first sahoor (early breakfast before fasting), Selvi joined us (she's a christian). It was 3 a.m.
I thought they would serve the food at the buffet, it turned out a set menu.
The food was nice, there were appetizer, main course, and desserts. Unfortunately, all of the food were cooked with coconut milk. It was unusual for us because for us, we only took light dishes and not oily food.
It happened for 2 nights in a row. There would be one vegetable dish and three meat dishes. Appetizer was soups and desserts were pudding or fruit slice.

On the second sahoor, the day after, it was only I and Henry. We suggested Selvi to take normal breakfast hour so she can have variety of meals.

The Malay food cooked with coconut milk can increase our cholesterol level and affect health. Poor Henry, he must stay for one week for additional training. I hope he'd be OK with the food.
When he got back to Jakarta, he said on the last day he only ate the fruits.


Our dinner in KLCC foodcourt

Tips on How To Save Money While Traveling

You can enjoy your travels without having to spend more than what you can afford. Besides, traveling doesn’t have to be very expensive, especially if you are miles away from home. Doing so can put a great impact on your finances and can drain your money even before you are scheduled to fly back home.

Here are some economical tips to keep you on track and enjoy your travel with more money in your pocket.

1. Try to make a budget first

Before you start your travel or after arriving at your destination, it is best to have a good budget with you. Try to set a budget for the week. In this way, you get to keep your expenses and finances tightly intact. For instance, if your budget for the week is only $100, try to stick to it.

Without a budget, you will be tempted to buy this and that.

2. Have a map

To save more money on your transportation expenses, always have a map with you. In this way, you can anticipate the best and the most economical way to your destination. You get to avoid taking cabs or special trips just to get to your destination.

Read more ...........

Airports

(I have my story about this on August)

Following my posting on August about Jakarta International Airport (Soekarno-Hatta), here are some pictures I took from airport waiting lounge in Incheon (South Korea). Kinda dark....

I need to get the pic of KLIA waiting lounge from Henry (Kuala Lumpur International Airport). Henry told me that he accidentally deleted all of our pictures from his digicam. Oh well, I got to use mine then:

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, waiting room

Going back to Jakarta (September 29, 2005)

Jeonine went first at 5.30 AM with Gary, Kate, ricardo, and Somchai. They had almost the same flight time.
Took a shower, paid the bills. Went to Kukkiwon....I got Seoul map and the place map, but both weren't similar, I couldn't find the place. I wanna ask people where the place is, but I was afraid I just waste my time because they can't speak English. I spent 30 minutes went around and around.
In Gang Nam Station there are small shops....I think the station is kinda like a small shopping place....I found a shop that sells cute girly clothes, most important thing is they are cheap compare the ones in COEX malls. I had my eyes on several models, but I can't try them out. The owner didn't let me. So I just picked up 3 shirts with colors I don't have and hopefully the will fit in me.
Well, I went back to my hotel because my taxi will pick me up at 11 AM. After checked in the airport, I looked around to see situation. I looked for a cafe because I haven't had my lunch yet.
Lunch at Welly's, bought seafood spaghetti. Even, they served it with cucumber pickles. Then I saw a small corner there, a machine making taffy/candy. It was pumpkin candy. I wanted to try it, so I bought 1 box. Then I went to the other corner, I bought traditional Korea rice cake.

(Rice cake above and pumpkin candy laying down)

I wish I sit alone like when I was in my plane to Seoul. Ugh, some old man was sitting next to me. He smelled like he has just smoked, and also smelled beer. Ewww.......
The food was nice, the entertainment was nice. They showed "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" movie.
I really miss home. And tomorrow I can have my replacement leave.

 

Seoul, Seoul - What I love about this city

September 28, 2005

1. Modern: the buildings, the gadgets. People are so free using and wearing mobile phones, MP3, etc, on the street.

2. Clean & green

3. Geographical location:

• There are parts where the city is hilly
• Seoul is divided into two parts by Han River, South and North
  

4. Organized: Bus, subway.

5. Good habits:

• Your your food tray must be returned to the counter after you finish eating.
• Must smoke outside the buildings.

5. Fashionable people: the girls are pretty, wearing cute shoes and boots, they wear fancy clothing in any occassions.

But Young, my friend who is a Korean, said that he didn't like living there. Everything is expensive. Yep, correct!

Seoul Trip: Day 6

Last day of the conference.....Pfewww...Some of the booth have been already empty....Few doctors only in the exhibition, and mostly Korean doctors....

I wish Gary dismissed us early. Nothing to do there. When we sit, he said why we lovely ladies just sit and watched while others were working. Well....There were five guys were already packing the goods and we would be just on their way. He kept telling me and Jeonine to do more sales, everytime! I'm bored to death.....Hahaha.....Just kidding. I know my responsibility.

They started to pack around 2 PM. Gary let us go at 2.45PM. Somchai hasn't came up yet from his morning tour. My feet still hurt. We carried a lot of stuffs back to hotel: brochures, newsletters, CDs. We haven't had our lunch. Since it was late in the afternoon and probably we would have heavy dinner, so we just ate the bread we took from hotel.

Went to "Wonders of Human Body" exhibition. Very very interesting! Just see my photo album. We found out that Somchai got lost to hotel.

Farewell dinner at some Korea restaurant.... Mmm, I'm not a fan of that. To me it's not a real food. No rice, only vegetables, kimchi, BBQ beef, and cold noodle at the end of meal. Jeonine shared her Bimbimpab with me.

After dinner, I and Jeonine decided to go to Myeong Dong. It's our last night in Seoul and Jeonine needs to buy souvenirs. Went to Myeong Dong night market with Kate, Ricardo, Jeonine, and Somchai by subway......There was only street fashion. No souvenirs.....Poor Jeonine, she didn't find what she was looking for. I bought 2 broches, Kate bought a pair of lovely earrings. Ricardo bought us Baskin & Robins ice cream. Very nice!

Seoul Trip: Day 5

September 27, 2005

Hotel has been provided breads, tea, and coffee since yesterday. I didn't take them, but I took bread today and save some for snack in the booth. The tea and coffee tasted awfull....Maybe the staff used hotel water to make tea/coffee, the water contains chlorine....Ewww.....We were late going to the booth. Kim was already there, and prepared the booth.

Lunch with Lynn and Jeonine. Ate sushi and tofu soup with many items inside: carrot, beansprout, fried egg, seaweed. TASTY ! I love it.

Won a doorprize from a pharmaceutical company. Gary got upset when saw us brought the prize......" Are you working or playing here???". Gosh.....Gary.....

Kate has made an apppointment for me at the foot massage shop in COEX mall at 4 PM. How nice of her....

After closed down the booth, we ran to the mall.....It cost KRW 30,000 for a basic foot massage, 30 minutes. Man......I'm doing this just for the sake of my feet. I'll have my spa when I'm back in Jakarta.

Jeong and Young took us to Suma SamChain vegetarian house for dinner. It was my first time to eat at a vegetarian restaurant. Then hung out awhile at Dunkin' Donuts....Because I can't go to the bar where the guys actually wanted to go.

Showed Jeonine how to use Friendster, LOL. She has the account but never used it.

Seoul Trip: Day 4 (Sept 26, 2005)

God....I slipped my step when I was in bathroom last night. I fell hard on my right knee and my toes of my right foot may hurt. My feet and toes are very sore......Can I stand up all day???

Lunch at ASEM Food Court, at "Umato Tomato", fusion umorice....The dishes diplay looks yummy.....The price is quite expensive, but myself needs a reward. So I choose umorice with deep fried king prawn with peanut croquette....Very very tasty, I spent KRW 8,900 for the rice and KRW 1,900 for Sprite. Big porsion. Last Sunday, I saw many people were queueing to get the table in that restaurant.

Check e-mails from office in hotel.....Susan asked many questions and informed the situation that was going on in the office. Oh, I hate it. I can't do anything since I'm far away.

Dinner was in Yong Su San restaurant, a traditional North Korea food. We were taken by Jeonine's principal, Minntech, where Nejim works there. So it was 5 of us: John, Lynn, Nejim, Jeonine, and me.

I'll show you the menu we chose: No pork for me and Nejim, no beef for Jeonine. The waiter that served us is very particular and understanding about what we requested. Two thumbs up!! Unfortunately, I didn't notice his name.

We were a strange funny group there. We made jokes about anything. John was sooo funny.....

I'll scan the menu and show it to you what we ate there.

The charge was KRW 257,000. John paid it.

Went to Hard Rock Cafe, near by the restaurant. Jeonine bought two T-Shirts. Took some pictures.

We walked along the street, found a bakery shop. I bought chocolate cake and some breads, then we went back to the hotel by taxi.

===============================================================================

Seoul Trip: Day 3 (Sept 25, 2005)

Went to the booth early... Met Dr. Nur Hayat and Dr. Bahtiar at hotel's lobby. Set up the brochures. Greeted the doctors. Got 4 Indonesian doctors filled in the leads form...

Met Jeonince, finally. Lunch with Jeonine at COEX food court.....Had sushi for my lunch, KRW 4,000.....

Damn, My shoes are killing me!!!!! Need foot massage.....Went back to hotel. Planned to have a dinner at COEX food court with Joe and Sornmchai but the korea distributor (RNL) invited us for dinner at "bizbaz", german style buffet restaurant....It must be expensive. I needed to be choosy and be carefull of the dishes, I won't wanna have pork/beef/chicken as they probably not halal. Seafood and vegetable are safer.

There was a 1st birthday ceremony. A korea family invited their family members and friends to celebrate their soon's 1st birthday. It was not just a common birthday. They had some rituals.

Went back to hotel with Kate. Haven't had my shower, and still writing the blog.

OK, I'm finished. C yaaaa

Seoul Trip: Day 2 (Sept 24, 2005)

Woke up. Prepared breakfast, instant noodle I brought from Jakarta.

Went to Oakwood Premier Hotel for pre-show training. I walked there from hotel. I realized that KCAT is near to the hotel. I could walk yesterday to hotel.
We had an English translator as those Korea distributors don't understand English.

Booth was still being built at 17.00.
Dinner at Korea House and watched performance (Opera singing, Fan Dance, Sam gam mun, Samgul Nori). Kate and Ricardo didn't come with us. They had to finish the booth. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside. I fell asleep for a moment, Gary slept all the way. We were too tired. Susan has canceled the city tour for tonight.

Seoul Trip: Day 1 (Sept 23, 2005)

(Sunrise, on my way to KCAT)

Landed on Sept 23 at 6.15 AM, arrived in Seoul at 9.30 AM. Got an annoying problem at the custom. Used KAL limousine to go to Seoul, one ticket cost KRW 13,000. Took 1.5 hours from Incheon Airport to Korea City Air Terminal (KCAT).
Darn, my cell phone didn't get any signal! But my phone operator said I would be able to use the international roaming service. How could I contact Jin Hyu??? Well, called him trough public phone. Picked up by Jin Hyu, brought me to his office and I met Jeong Hoon, went with Jin Hyu to meet his friends. He met his friends at LG HQ. You know.....the big electronic company from Korea. Had a lunch at the cafetaria. Spent the time untill I could check in to my hotel, which is after 12.00.
13.15 Checked in to the hotel. Well, the room is small (3x5 m2 I think) but it has a desk, kitchen, and a bathroom. Neat! Internet connection is free.......!!! Called Ramada Seoul Hotel and check whether Jeonine has arrived. Strange.....they couldn't find her name on their list.
Unpacked. Slept.
Hey, I forgot to greet Seoul City.
안녕하세요, Seoul?
(Annyong haseyo Seoul? - Good Afternoon, Seoul)

Dinner with Jin, Jeong, and Young. They took me to Itaewon, where muslims are. It has a mesjid. Dinner was at Waz Wan Restaurant, Indian food. It was Jin's treat.

Shopped for souvenirs at Itaewon area. I spent KRW 68,000 only for souvenir. I looked for Dobok for Sabeum Mansur. It's expensive I think, compare to Indonesian made. The fabric is thin, they sell at KRW 30,000. Maybe I'll look around first before buy Dobok. But Jin suggested me to buy it in Kukkiwon HQ.....Hahaha, it will be more expensive.

Here are souvenirs I bought

September 21, 2005 : Travel around

I have never had such a busy travelling schedule. On Monday, Sept 19, I flew to Semarang to meet an urology surgeon for my Greenlight PVP machine and met Dr. Wijitra, a gastroenterologist. Went home in the evening. Bought Wingko babat and Kue Moci for me, and bakpia for Yeny.

Then on Sept 20, went to office as usual, gave Susan a to-do-list, went to Siloam Gleneagles Hospital with her, then flew to Medan in the afternoon.

Stayed in my grandma's house for a night. On my way to her house, I saw lots lots of DURIAN....Wow.....The Durian season is here.....I wished I could eat them. But I didn't have time. My uncle dropped and picked me at Adam Malik Hospital on his motorcycle. Man......the hospital is very very far....And if you know it, it's the hospital where Mandala airplane burned victims were gathered. Waited for Dr. Adril, the busy neurosurgeon, from 8 AM. He showed up at 11.20 AM, followed him to O.T., waited again for 30 minutes, followed him to his office. He left to Haji Hospital. I talked for awhile with his assistant. Went to see Vice Director and Director.

My uncle brought me to bika ambon store, I bought Bika Ambon cakes and a bottle of terong belanda syrup (I don't know the fruit name in English).....More baggage to carry. Before went to Polonia, he brought me to the site where Mandala airplane crashed. His younger brother was one of the victims.

I arrived in Jakarta at 9.15 PM, arrive at home at around 10 PM. I unpacked, washed my dirty laundry, and packed again for Seoul trip.

SEOUL...........I'm coming!!!

August 11, 2005 : SOEKARNO-HATTA AIRPORT (compare to the ones in other Asia countries)

This feeling always appears. I went overseas, I saw great airport buildings (the structure, the decoration, the cleanliness, the sophistication, the great environment and arrangement).

When I landed home, I must face the reality here. Jakarta airport is still in good condition, but it really needs redecoration and staff improvement!
Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Guangzhou airport are like exclusive shopping malls.

The waiting rooms have wall to wall carpeting, the seats are comfy.....Those are airports in big cities. Not to mention airports in smaller cities, like Penang-Malaysia and Kun Ming-China, SAME!

Now, see Jakarta airport: it's gloomy, waiting rooms aren't nice, no carpeting, the seats are old and not comfy for my butt and back. One good thing is that they have wash room and mushola down stairs.

I got a not-so-good treatment from a custom officer after I got back from KL this Monday.
See, I wear jilbab. And there were Indonesian women workers came back from Arabian countries and they wore close clothing and jilbab.
But they can't go through custom in the regular queue, they had to gather and will be lead by some officer (actually these officers just want some money from the workers!)
I continue my walk to custom gate.
No discipline there, there were a lot of people wanted to go out of the gate, but only few gates were open. Only one gate was open for Indonesia passport holders, but four gates for foreign passport holders. But we all didn't care, we queued everywhere. As long as we can go out fast.

When it was my turn, I handed over my passport to the officer.

A conversation occured:
Officer: Dari mana neng ? (dengan nada melecehkan) - Where did you go, dear? (harrasing tone)
Me: Dari Kuala Lumpur (dgn nada agak kesal) - from Kuala Lumpur (annoyed feeling)
Officer: Emang Kerja apa di sana? (masih dgn nada belagu) - Well, what did you do there? (still in that same tone)
Me: Training! (with disgust feeling)

(Hey, I know what you think shithead! You think I'm one of those workers, huh, because I wear jilbab? You can't treat people that way, especially to the same Indonesian. Either it's me or workers, your job is to provide service. So, smile and be nice, not be an a**hole!)

Oh God, when you all snap and realize how you can be modernized and improved with that attitude?

August 08, 2005 : Stomach problem, and i was on a trip!

I hate when my stomach is having the old problems: gastric, or diarrhea. It's been a long time since I got diarrhea. Usually because the food I eat is not hygienic.

Gastric problem comes when I am late to have my meal. I can bear it, as long I take my medicine.

But, diarrhea? That's tough, man. You will be dehydrated, so powerless, no energy. It's like every minute you got to go to the toilet. Can't do anything.
I take many medicines, but it's hard to make it stop. Your stomach feels like it is being twisted. I couldn't say what happened in the toilet, horrible.
At least it will take 1.5 day to be in normal condition again.

And what happened to me last week? It took me 4 days to recover. Shit!

It began on Tuesday, August 02. I have started my work out program. So after office hour, I went to the gym, it was raining and I was taking a bus. I had no umbrella with me. I got wet.
The aerobic class was quite tiring. I didn't change my sweaty clothes, I didn't bring any dry clothes and I thought I would go home in this clothes because it was already dirty. I went out to stop bus. It was cold, the rain has stopped, but I was cold.
I took a shower after got home. I felt cold again.

In the next morning, I felt tired and couldn't get up. I felt something was wrong, my tummy was so big and hard, and when I sat, I had problem breathing normally. I still asked myself about what happened to my body that day. My friend said that I probably had "masuk angin".

Thursday, August 04:

I plan to do fasting today. After I took sahur (early breakfast), my stomach was feeling really bad and I started "draining", all water came out!
I said to myself, "OK, continue fasting. If in the afternoon it's getting worse then stop fasting". I kept going to toilet for several times, but I fasted untill end of day and took medicine. I went to mall to purchase back pack for my laptop, I plan to bring my laptop the next day for my trip for training in Kuala Lumpur. I was so tired and drained, can't walk further. I took taxi.

Friday, August 05:

I feel allright and fresh today. A little pain felt in the stomach but I have no worry. I'll enjoy my trip. Guess what, I went to executive lounge and waited my plane there. I ate some snacks. I flew on the airplane i talk about in my previous posting.

At 10.30 AM, the stewardess distributed snack box. I only ate one snack and keep the pastry in case I'm hungry. I landed in KLIA at 1 PM, queueing in custom gate took 30 minutes, searching for my bagage location and all took another 30 minutes. I walked quick like someone was chasing me. Many restaurants at the airport and I didn't stop to have my lunch. I keep going and continue my trip, it was long way to go. from KLIA, I took KLIA express to KL Central (28 minutes). My stomach started to want food, I ate the pastry I keep in my back pack. Still hungry. From KL Central, I took taxi to my hotel, I think it took 30 minutes or so. What I remember was I left my hotel around 4 PM, and walked very quick to my office.

I have promised to meet my colleagues there and have some discussion. Julianto told me that the hotel and the office are not far, but hell.......It took me 20 minutes to walk there, sweaty and hungry.
After I was on the floor where my office is, I looked for a face that I would know. Oh, there's Lydia! She introduce me to everyone, I met Joseph and he continued introducing me to the rest.
I told Joseph that I haven't had lunch, then Ravita bought me fried bihun, it was 5 PM! Nice and warm, but unfortunately my gastric problem has already started. So painful! Oh yes.....toilet problem was over.

Met Kevin and Jeonine, finally. With Jeonine, I discussed Capsule Endoscopy for about 45 minutes. Then she & Kevin took me for a dinner. We again, walk.....from office to Suria KLCC. The famous Petronas Tower is there!
I had my last gastric pill. I had to buy another pack of gastric medicine for precaution. I brought charcoal pills from Jakarta. The meal was great, but I couldn't enjoy it. I took all medicine.

(Picture L-R: Jeonine, me, Kevin)

Saturday, August 06:

First day of training, I feel better. Last night, I apply balm to my tummy. I believe there was gas, hahahaha....Breakfast in the hotel, morning snack, BIG lunch (I tried almost everything), afternoon snack. Eat, eat, eat. Becarefull, you just had stomach problems.
For dinner, Kevin took us to Indian restaurant. Soli was so excited about it.

(Picture: My banana leave plate)

God, I was taking a risk. I just got better and I took exotic food, I's so sorry stomach.......It now or never, trying Indian food. I took my charcoal pills first. Ordered yogurt drink and ice tea (they served me tarik tea ice instead). I survived that night but I was soooooo full with all the food I ate.
That Kevin were naughty, he teased me, telling me that I farted in his car. Shoot, Kev.....just because I had stomach problem, doesn't mean I forgot the manner.

Well, anyway.....this is the longest stomach problem I have ever had. And I don't want it happens again.
What to do?

July 14, 2005 : Lounge Room in airport: It's so cool....

I may say I was a little bit late to enjoy a previlege I have from my gold credit cards (ehemmm......). I always wanted to go in a lounge room everytime I fly. But, don't know why, I have never stepped my foot in the lounge room, although the waiting room in airport is not comfortable.

So, yesterday when I and my colleague waited to fly back to Jakarta, my colleague, Heri talked me in to this. The waiting room in Hasanudin Airport is not very bad compare to the one in Badarudin Airport (Palembang). At that time, it was hot. I had an idea to go to lounge room, I asked Heri if he has gold credit card too so we can go in together. He doesn't have it, but he encouraged me to go there and enjoy it. I said no, because I will leave him alone. He said it was fine. Then after some time of persuasion, I decided to check out the lounge room. Just to see if we can use my two gold credit cards.

So, went we go to El-John Lounge, we found out that my NGA card can't be used there, but my other card can.....And, surprise, surprise, with only 1 card, it can be used for 3 persons, FREE!!!! Oh, I love it.

And, it was very comfortable. Many snacks and drinks are served! There was toilet and mushola. Very cool......We enjoy those right away. The flight was delayed, so we must wait for 1 more hour. But I didn't mind this time.

One problem : there were some old men smoking! Hey, it's an AC room here!!!!

I couldn't stand the smoke and we got out. Do you know what we did? We went to another lounge room-TORAJA Lounge Room! Just next door.

Voila.......The room is a lotta nicer, there are couches.......Great, we were sleepy and we found couch! No one's smoking, even better!

Next time, I'll wait in the lounge room!

Toraja Lounge Room

July 14, 2005: What I hate about flying nowadays

I went to other city this Monday to follow up a hospital project, Makassar, on airplane. Then I remembered things I hate when flying nowadays, using local airlines.

The airlines charge cheap airticket so many people can afford flying. They don't serve fancy food/snacks to cut cost, don't prioritize on passengers' comfort. The most important thing now is passenger can get to their destination.

But, because of it, I feel there's no prestige anymore in flying. No more nice flying experience. The airport waiting room is like a bus terminal. Crowded.....Hot......Smelly.....

OK.....back to my story. As usual, I flew on this airline (I won't tell the name). My company choose this airline because of the rate of airfare, which is CHEAP, of course!

I fly with this airlines several times already.

This what happens/happened:

a. As usual, we departed late.

b. The seat is narrow

c. The isle is narrow

d. I thought the only snack I would get would be a glass of mineral water. Fortunately, since the flying time was 2 hours, I got a glass of mineral water, a box of snack (contents of 2 kinds of bread), I can choose hot tea or hot coffee, and I got candies before we landed.

e. I was on isle seat, near toilet!!!!! And I hate it because other passengers who walked in the isle sometime just bumped my shoulder or my legs. And...it was near toilet....so smelly!

Actually, I had a window seat. But because there was a "bad" arrangement of the seat of a family, I let them had my seat and I moved to other seat.

f. Children, baby, infants, or whatever they are called........They kept crying during the flight. Gosh......No peace!

g. Passengers still use their mobile phone just before take off.

h. Everytime we touch the ground, just after the lights are switched on, all passenger will rise and quickly grab their bagage, and start to queueing in the isle, waiting for the door to be opened. What's up with that????!!!!

(Just after took off)

In conclusion: What do you expect from cheap ticket airlines? I couldn't complaint......I just have to bear with it as my company will try to save cost.

For a self-reminder:

1. Check in to the counter at least 1 hour before boarding so I won't get back seat near toilet or the pantry. It will be smelly or noisy!

2. Ask to have window seat, the best is near emergency door. The space is bigger there.

3. Babies? I just have to put up with them.

4. If it's short flight and I will only get mineral water, I'll bring my own delicious snacks......

Sunset, taken from the plane.