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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Working from Hotel, Creating a Team Dance and Getting to Know Brazil

Work from Hotel. That was our status yesterday, and I guess it would be the same for today. ABV advised us to stay in the hotel because of the demonstrations happening around the city (due to fuel increase). I am kind of worried and nervous about our assignment because we still need to meet up with the Hospital Director and our contact person, interview more department heads and check out the department's facilities. On the other hand, I am...

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Working @ Red Bowl Restaurant & Cafe

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...

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In a Japanese Restaurant in Indonesia with Americans, Brazilian, Indians and Mexican

I learned new words/phrases last night. But they are not the ones which you can use in daily conversation. I don't want to share the things and the phrases my team and I learned last night. I would rather that you learn it from the locals than in my blog. ;) Anyway, we had Japanese food last night. I am not really into Japanese food but this restaurant called Shabu Tei really offers good rolls - however, I am not very impressed with...

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Charades, Pizza, Indian Birthday Party and Busca Vida

A blog series about my in-country assignment to Makassar for IBM Corporate Service Corp. Follow along http://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/corporateservicecorps/ Pizza! That's what we had last night, after almost a week of eating Indonesian Food. My tongue is literally on fire! But we also had chocolates and (they) had alcohol. It was a productive day yesterday, I think. We had a meeting with the Vice President of the Local...

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What Happened During My Last Day in Hotel Kempinski

Blog written on 3/11/2012 at Hotel Kempinski, Jakarta, Indonesia  Follow along at http://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/corporateservicecorps/ A lot. A lot has happened today. This is our last night in Hotel Kempinski and no one wants to leave the place. I suddenly dreamed of being an Expat who always stays in luxurious hotels and do business; but then again, we are not on a holiday, and I am not even an Expat. We are here...

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Waiting for Departure at Terminal 2 (Manila, Philippines)

I am sitting here near the boarding gate and I am sitting alone. This is the first time I am traveling alone and I missed my travel buddies. We usually have coffee while waiting for the boarding time but I don't think I will enjoy coffee this morning especially that all I want is to catch some zzz's (which reminds me, I forgot my chic sleep mask!) The stores have not opened yet.. It is too early. I was actually planning to buy some items. I...

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I am Flying to Makassar in a Few Hours!

Starting this new blog dedicated to my assignment to Indonesia for the IBM Corporate Service Corp. I actually did a lot thinking on what blog title to use and finally decided on this - after all it is about me, about the island of Makassar, my experiences and my journey. Per our Vice President for Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, "It’s not just philanthropy, it’s leadership development and business development, and it helps build economic...

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