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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Working @ Red Bowl Restaurant & Cafe

Wednesday, March 21, 2012


I can't believe I am still up at this hour. I had coffee (and shrimp, squid and Gado Gado) from Red Bowl where Cheryl and I "worked". We worked on the presentation for tomorrow and sort of organize the data that we had collected from interviews we had with hospital employees.

It was actually nice of the staff from the Red Bowl that they actually waited for us to leave. They were like sitting (some of them standing) in the dining area and just let us finish our thing. No one turned off the lights, or the air conditioning unit. We just know they had to leave because they got their bags and things ready. They even provided us with extension unit so we can plug our ThinkPads. I rarely experience such kind of service. I like it!

Anyway, the main reason why we went to Red Bowl is because of the food and the place - it is very quiet in there and it is just perfect for brainstorming and working. Here are some food we had tonight..

Gado Gado  

One of my favorite dishes in Indonesia. 
It is made of fresh vegetables and tofu with peanut sauce. 
It has a perfect mix of taste (spicy) and texture (crunchy crackling)



Shrimp - we always have shrimp every meal!


More shrimp.. 




We had a meeting with the Hospital Director this afternoon and presented our project (again, just to ensure we are on the right track). We also got to interview two representatives from each department (they call it, Instalati) who are members of the "Green Team".

We already have some recommendations and we just need to sort out our data. I am glad that Lia (our temporary translator covering for our translator) has joined us today. She is really good and she is really passionate on helping her community and empowering Indonesians.

Everyone is busy preparing for the trip this weekend. I might just consider joining the Island Hopping activity this weekend. I wanted to join the Java trip but the flight is really expensive. It is much cheaper to go from Manila to Indonesia so I might just visit the place in the future. 

I am missing alot of things today. I miss my mom. I miss speaking in my native language. I miss my accessories (especially that Cheryl always wears different jewelry everyday). I miss my clothes - especially that I am running out of clothes to wear.  I am thinking of asking my mom to send me some clothes. I tried the laundry service in the hotel and they murdered my shirt. Well, it is an exaggeration, but we were already warned about this. So I should not be complaining. The laundry costs less than one dollar per kilo. My delicate clothes were specially cleaned (by piece).



I am thinking how hard it is to actually work overseas. So I admire all my friends who are working in different countries and living on their own. It is actually very convenient for us - especially that we technically work for only 4 hours - when I get to my room, it is all cleaned and organized - I don't need to worry about what to eat for breakfast - all I need is to go down and get what I want from the buffet table - I don't need to worry how to get to the workplace, because our client picks us up from the hotel and drives us back - my broadband/wifi connection is free (although we have problems connecting to our network) - I got an allowance and I can afford to spend this much money in a day - and there are hotel staff greeting me wherever they see me.  But still, there are alot of learnings - and I am looking forward for more learnings in the coming days.

#ibmcsc #teamindonesia3

Blogging from Makassar,

Ruth