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Have a good time! Although you're probably on the plane by now 
Posted: 20:49 Oct 10 2002
Off to Indonesia
Some of you are already aware I've been on standby the last week or two to go to Indonesia for a 7-week project. Well, we now have instructions to proceed so I'm flying out to Jakarta tomorrow evening...
I'll still be logging in here (we made sure the hotel we're at has broadband access!) but my postings may seem to come at very odd times!
Anyway, back end of November. In theory.
I'll still be logging in here (we made sure the hotel we're at has broadband access!) but my postings may seem to come at very odd times!
Anyway, back end of November. In theory.
Not any more I'm not - had a relaxing first day in Jakarta but then we haven't started work yet...
And yes, we have found dodgy VCD and DVD shops already!
And yes, we have found dodgy VCD and DVD shops already!
Posted: 15:38 Oct 12 2002 Hah always good!! tho i rather like the oriental fabrics and stuff!! you know me and costumes!!!!!!!
by Ming
we have found dodgy VCD and DVD shops already!
and now my hairs red i could do an MJ costume from the movie!!!!my brain is always on costume mode.
Posted: 18:48 Oct 12 2002
Heard on the news about a bomb going off in Jakarta or something. You OK ming?
Posted: 09:46 Oct 13 2002
I'm fine. Thanks very much for asking.
The bomb was in Bali, a holiday resort. Jakarta's been quiet so far. I've had my mother and sister calling to make sure I stayed away from any gatherings of Australians and Americans - the bombs went off in a club almost exclusively frequented by Australians and outside the American Consulate.
The bomb was in Bali, a holiday resort. Jakarta's been quiet so far. I've had my mother and sister calling to make sure I stayed away from any gatherings of Australians and Americans - the bombs went off in a club almost exclusively frequented by Australians and outside the American Consulate.
Posted: 12:04 Oct 13 2002 Although we were taken aback when our local chap expressed alarm that we'd gone to Mangga Dua Mall (trans: Two Mangoes Mall!) on our own - seems it's supposed to be a slightly dodgy part of town (well, it was in the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides...).
by nemesis
(quotes)
Hah always good!!
Seen a fair bit of Indonesian stuff but not much Chinese stuff - ISTR MJ was wearing a Cheong-Sam in the film? There was this shop at Changi Airport while were transiting there though...
tho i rather like the oriental fabrics and stuff!! you know me and costumes!!!!!!!
my brain is always on costume mode.
Posted: 14:42 Oct 13 2002
Well, somewhat to my surprise, my employers are pulling us out to Singapore on Monday where we'll now be working most of the time, bar a few flights in for meetings.
Posted: 18:32 Oct 14 2002 Inflation honey
by Ming
Huh. Talk about escalation. It was in the singular last time you mentioned the subject!
And now you're in Singapore I see many exotic gifts winging their way to me
Posted: 19:31 Oct 14 2002
Since when did Singapore count as exotic? (caveat, said by the Malaysian...)
Posted: 16:53 Oct 16 2002
Awwwwwww and I was born there too Ming , at least let me think of it as Exotic
Posted: 20:29 Oct 16 2002
Then, in that case, you'll know the relationship between Malaysians and Singaporeans is a tad, well, complex so that's just my basic jaundiced Malaysian view.
For everybody else's benefit, gross generalisation but Singaporeans think Malaysians are a bunch of undisciplined layabouts, Malaysians think Singaporeans are a bunch of sheep. And then there's this joke about Dr Mahathir and Lee Kwan Yew but that's possibly a tad obscure...
They both call people like me bananas - yellow on the outside, white on the inside because we've spent too long in the West.
For everybody else's benefit, gross generalisation but Singaporeans think Malaysians are a bunch of undisciplined layabouts, Malaysians think Singaporeans are a bunch of sheep. And then there's this joke about Dr Mahathir and Lee Kwan Yew but that's possibly a tad obscure...
They both call people like me bananas - yellow on the outside, white on the inside because we've spent too long in the West.
Posted: 13:10 Oct 17 2002
Unfortunatly I don't Ming , I was the produce of an Army father and Mother and left there when I was just under two.
But tis nice to have two Birth Certificates although gets very confusing when filling out forms when they ask If I was born in the United Kingdom and I say no and then they just dont seem to have any part of the form that applys to me
But tis nice to have two Birth Certificates although gets very confusing when filling out forms when they ask If I was born in the United Kingdom and I say no and then they just dont seem to have any part of the form that applys to me
Posted: 16:03 Oct 18 2002
Fair enough. Well, we're now in Singapore, somewhat ahead of schedule. My project manager knocked on my door this morning and said "We're out of here". A sure sign I didn't appreciate how serious the situation is/was: I thought he meant we were late for a meeting I'd forgotten about, not the FCO's updated advisory...
Posted: 19:11 Oct 18 2002 
You may well jest but there are serious discussions right now about whether we can
a) Realistically perform the project mostly from Singapore
b) Send anyone to Indonesia given current advisories, insurance coverage, duties of care etc even for short meetings, irrespective of whether they volunteer or not
If the answers to the above is no, then the only thing we can do is resign the project.
This has been one of the most random weeks of my life. Yesterday was starting to feel like this really bad film I saw once about the last flight out of Saigon only the Indonesians are baffled by the exodus. I have to admit I can see where they're coming from: We didn't get advised to evacuate the UK when the IRA was running mainland bombing campaigns.
They're the ones who are really going to suffer. The economy was just starting to recover from the 97/98 economic crisis. The hotel we were at saw its US and Australian bookings vapourise almost overnight and the place was emptying while the Rupiah has devalued about 5% and even before that it was ~8,900 to the US Dollar compared with about 2,500 before the crisis.
I have rather conflicting/paradoxical feelings about all this: On the one hand, I wasn't especially keen on doing this project as it was personally inconvenient but, having come out here and got stuck into it, I am loathe to abandon it uncompleted. This will sound very sad, but the Indonesian telecoms market has proved to be absolutely fascinating in a very bizarre sort of way.
a) Realistically perform the project mostly from Singapore
b) Send anyone to Indonesia given current advisories, insurance coverage, duties of care etc even for short meetings, irrespective of whether they volunteer or not
If the answers to the above is no, then the only thing we can do is resign the project.
This has been one of the most random weeks of my life. Yesterday was starting to feel like this really bad film I saw once about the last flight out of Saigon only the Indonesians are baffled by the exodus. I have to admit I can see where they're coming from: We didn't get advised to evacuate the UK when the IRA was running mainland bombing campaigns.
They're the ones who are really going to suffer. The economy was just starting to recover from the 97/98 economic crisis. The hotel we were at saw its US and Australian bookings vapourise almost overnight and the place was emptying while the Rupiah has devalued about 5% and even before that it was ~8,900 to the US Dollar compared with about 2,500 before the crisis.
I have rather conflicting/paradoxical feelings about all this: On the one hand, I wasn't especially keen on doing this project as it was personally inconvenient but, having come out here and got stuck into it, I am loathe to abandon it uncompleted. This will sound very sad, but the Indonesian telecoms market has proved to be absolutely fascinating in a very bizarre sort of way.
Posted: 07:49 Oct 19 2002
Well, it seems the client is happy with us working from Singapore so I'm going to be out here till end of November now.
Posted: 16:08 Oct 22 2002 
Coolness 
Have a good time
Have a good time
Posted: 17:21 Oct 22 2002
Cheers. So far so good. One good side effect is I get to fly up to Kuala Lumpur for my father's Birthday this weekend.
Feeling a bit isolated today because my mail server's been down all day - the chap I spoke to at my hosting provider said it was because either quakes or firebombs in Manchester had taken out a bunch of circuits in the North of England (my hosting provider's based in Chester) but he wasn't sure of the details. Can anyone enlighten me?
Feeling a bit isolated today because my mail server's been down all day - the chap I spoke to at my hosting provider said it was because either quakes or firebombs in Manchester had taken out a bunch of circuits in the North of England (my hosting provider's based in Chester) but he wasn't sure of the details. Can anyone enlighten me?
Posted: 16:21 Oct 23 2002 
by Ming
the chap I spoke to at my hosting provider said it was because either quakes or firebombs in Manchester had taken out a bunch of circuits in the North of England (my hosting provider's based in Chester) but he wasn't sure of the details. Can anyone enlighten me?
There were arsen attacks in Manchester this morning: www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/27750.html
(Edited by DJ Billy 23/10/2002 17:11)
the chap I spoke to at my hosting provider said it was because either quakes or firebombs in Manchester had taken out a bunch of circuits in the North of England (my hosting provider's based in Chester) but he wasn't sure of the details. Can anyone enlighten me?
There were arsen attacks in Manchester this morning: www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/27750.html
(Edited by DJ Billy 23/10/2002 17:11)
Posted: 17:11 Oct 23 2002