After the IBM Corporate Service Corp Assignment, My Life Continuously Changes

"It is a life-changing event", many of the alumni will describe the experience as such. For me, it is indeed a life-changing event, and an experience that I will never get tired of sharing. It has been more than a year since we were sent to the island of Makassar, and lived with 9 other IBMers from across the globe. So many things has happened, and I worry that my IBM CSC experience will soon fade away. I didn't get to blog every single day...

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Welcome Dinner at the Lara Djonggrang (Jakarta, Indonesia)

It is been a while since I wrote about my assignment in Indonesia. I am back in Manila for more than 3 months, but the memories are fresh like it was just my dream last night. I am looking at some pics this morning and I thought I would write again about this series/assignment. It is timely because our favorite noon-time show is now in Indonesia - Eat Bulaga Indonesia! But yeah, the hosts will be locals and not our favorite TVJ and dabarkads....

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Arriving in Jakarta, Meeting the IBM CSC Team and Staying in Hotel Kempinski

I am home (in Manila) for a week now, but I still think and remember the great memories and experiences I had in Indonesia with my team - and all other people I met in Jakarta and in the island of Makassar. Most of the time, I find myself checking our Facebook Group for updates - posts, comments, likes, any activity from any of the team member. I miss them so much - and it is really hard to go back to my life. "Reverse Homesick" is what the...

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IBM CSC Team Indonesia 3: The People from Different Countries Who Changed and Inspired Me - You Guys Are Missed!

Blog written/started on April 7th - Saturday I am sitting here in seat 06B of Philippine Airlines aircraft bound from Singapore to Manila. It's all over now. It is funny that I almost missed my flight - probably it just showed that I am not yet ready to go home. It seems like only yesterday when I boarded the flight to Jakarta, and it was my first time to travel alone. Now, I am heading back home - with swollen eyes, dry lips and sad...

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Meeting/Presentation with "Green Team" in the Hospital

Seems like everyone in the team had a great day today. Nitu (India) and Sabine (Austria) - working for the Marine Conservation Team had a village tour and witnessed a local wedding. Marcelo (Brazil) and Jessica (USA) working for the Library and Archives Group attended a story-telling contest. Cheryl and I met up with the "executive" Green Team and some doctors of the General Hospital of Makassar this morning. I am glad that the meeting went...

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Working in the Team Room with Interpreter & Lovely Dinner at New Dinar

I thought we would finally get the chance to visit the hospital again but no, we were not allowed to go out of the hotel because of the same reason. Some of my teammates got to visit and meet with their clients. For Cheryl (USA) and I, we had to stay in the hotel and work on our presentations. Our interpreter got a call from the hospital and advised that the director will send a memo to the hospital's "executive" team to meet with us tomorrow...

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Something New for Lunch and Learning an American Dance

We are on house arrest. For two days. Per IBM Security's advised, we need to stay in the hotel for our safety and security. There had been demonstrations in Jakarta and Makassar, and students are participating in rally against fuel price hike. We were working in the lobby and caught the news update..   We had to stay in the hotel again yesterday and today (although some of my teammates got to the client sites). I and my...

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