Slums of Jakarta

On our final day in Jakarta, we sloshed through mud puddles in one of Jakarta's kampongs, or slums. The high-walled community reminded me of a pueblo project I made out of papier mache in 3rd grade - tiny windows, every room adjacent to another and under another and over another.

Getting Used to Goodbyes

The flurry of facebook and email exchanges flowed more smoothly and rapidly than many parts of our cultural exchange at BINUS, the unfortunately-acronymed business school in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Leaving international friends feels different for me. Not only is there the realistic probability that we will not see each other again, but more often than not the friends I'm speaking with aren't used to goodbyes. As someone who loves to travel and has been given the privilege of doing so, I am more used to goodbyes that don't hold the promise of another encounter.

When checking my email after the foreign exchange that same night, I was surprised to see facebook requests and emails from our new friends so soon. Strange! We had just met these kids, clicking with some more than others, but they already eagerly emailed some of us and lamented our upcoming flight from Jakarta. I realized that it had not even crossed my mind to email them, and I did some soul-searching. Was I less interested? Pretentious? Lazy? Preoccupied? I was feeling pretty bad about this stream of self-accusation.

I remembered goodbyes I had said in the U.S. - brief hugs, genuine and smiling. We'll Skype and facebook and email and see you when we get back!

But here in Jakarta, and in other past international goodbyes, those promises of sporadic digital conversation seem like thin threads barely able to hold together a friendship. The chances of my return are, at best, uncertain. Yet with the dozens of eyes on me, as the emcee with the black bouffant hairstyle asked me whether I wanted to return to Jakarta, I caved and said yes, yes, of course, if I'm in Southeast Asia it'll be right up there on my list.

I don't wish to have such light feelings at goodbyes. But at the same time, crying every single time I say goodbye would be exhausting, especially after knowing them so briefly.

Is it a necessary adaptation to get used to goodbyes? Or is it a callous on the meaning of friendship?

Cultural Exchange

"Sushi" the Vietnamese pop star has gone on tour in Jakarta, Indonesia!

Some of you may be familiar with my stories of the Vietnamese people's expectation of spontaneous song exchange as a means of introduction to new cultures.

One recent evening, after a long day of company and factory visits and absorbing all the unfamiliarity of Jakarta, we attended a cultural exchange with BINUS, an unfortunately-acronymed business school. Turns out this cultural exchange was a dinner, a performance, some crafts AND, what we didn't expect, a performance from US!!!

We pulled into the university traffic circle nearly twenty minutes late, due to the outrageous traffic that is a norm in Jakarta. Students thronged in the lobby and outside of the building, bedecked in smiles and the traditional Indonesian garb called "batik." They brought in a professor and her daughter who gave lessons on how to make batik using wax and multiple dyes.



Before dinner, they gave us a sweet cucumber drink that was surely a nectar from the heavens. Here's a photo:


The students performed a few numbers of Indonesian traditional dancing:



I met some nice business students while there and swapped email addresses with them. Before we even arrived back at the hotel, they had already emailed us! So sweet!

Oh, also...the emcee with the black bouffant hairstyle called up G., one of the guys in our group, to sing! The other guys burst out laughing, as it turns out they had told the emcee that he was a renowned singer when in reality, he really really doesn't sing in public unless it's karaoke after a few beverages. So he turned to me!



As a tribute to my debut in Vietnam, I sang "I Want It That Way," trying to ham it up as much as possible.


Finally, feeling sick at the thought that these culturally-intelligent Indonesians would think that we only sang pop in the U.S., I gave them a rendition of the famous "Summertime" from the American South:


My friends M., C., and J. did an excellent job of jumping in with the traditional Indonesian dancers and performing along with them, but I couldn't get any good pictures!! You'll just have to trust me when I say they represented America well. :)

Our dean spoke at the conclusion of the event and said he was thankful and thrilled by the Indonesian performances and also very pleased that America still has some talent! I felt honored to have been a part of that. Hooray!

Kawan Lama in Indonesia

Caption: I'm standing with a taxidermied tiger on the top floor of the executive suite of Kawan Lama, a giant Indonesian corporation.


"Kawan Lama," or "old friend," in Bahasa Indonesian, is the name of the extensive hardware, construction, and logistics company we're visiting today. Their four businesses are distribution/trading, retail, service/property, and manufacturing/engineering.

After our 4-hour briefing that morning in the U.S. Department of Commerce, we were expecting nothing more than a dingy, straightforward, unglamorous warehouse. Despite the 81% favorability rating that Indonesians give to Americans, mainly due to President Obama's Indonesian background, we weren't even sure of the treatment we would get from Indonesians.


WOW were we wrong to worry! The Chinese family who founded and still own the business opened their arms to us. They showed us around every single floor of the company's giant building. We asked questions about their sales staff (each university-educated with their own laptops), the financials, the religious facilities (must be prayer rooms for Muslim employees to pray 5 times a day), plans for expansion and more!


Always wondered who made hotel carts and those cleaning buckets. Didn't you?






Couldn't help but think of you, Dad, when we wandered through the aisles and aisles of wrenches and hydraulic hammers. This place owns franchises like Ace Hardware. It is Home Depot + Lowe's on steroids!

Not only did these open, positive and proud entrepreneurs show us their business, but they also gave us a tour of their private art gallery! Priceless paintings and sculptures from all over Southeast Asia caused our jaws to drop, as they ranged from political to picturesque to pornographic.









Kawan Lama was founded in 1980 by a man named Wong Lin, hailing from mainland China. Word on the street is that the family businesses are a de facto economic empire here in Indonesia, and that Lin himself is as rich as Warren Buffett. No kidding!

The business has differentiated itself from many Indonesian companies by aggressively providing logistics to the 17,508 islands of Indonesia. Talk about a challenge! Kawan Lama emphasizes good customer relationships, highly important in Asia, by providing especially good after-sales service such as calibration and installation services.

When we left, the company was exceedingly kind. They even gave us this amazing Ace multitool - in PINK! Talk about a sweet sercy. Not sure how I'm getting this through airport security, though -- better put it in checked baggage.



When we were leaving, we were all about to fall asleep on the bus. The traffic here is slower than snails, turtles, molasses, Hardee's or whatever parameter of slowness you want to use. Luckily for us, the bus had a mobile karaoke machine! C. rocked out to "Greased Lightning"! Even our dean got in on the singing with "Runaround Sue"!

Our Hotel Deserves a Blog Post

Arriving safely after a harrowing time in the Jakarta airport -- our poor friend R. got pulled into a room. We were sure he was being connected to a polygraph and getting bamboo shoots up his fingernails, but he said they just re-scanned his passport. My passport was also deferred to a superior security officer -- guess I look suspicious. At any rate, we are here, alive and well!

We are right in the city center of Jakarta, living in the lap of luxury in the Grand Hyatt next to an impressive fountain and endless stream of honking traffic. Here's the nighttime view from my window:












We are welcomed by the hotel staff by a long line of metal detectors and security officers. Right after though, we enter a palatial mall full of marble and premium brand-names like Cartier and Jimmy Choo's and Rolex.

In a nation where 50% of the population live on less than $2 a day, we are welcomed with iced lemon-tea and some of the finest hospitality I've experienced yet. It is a very odd feeling of guilt and glee.


Perceptions. Misconceptions. Because of Indonesia's vast size (17,508 islands, far as Massachusetts to California), its diversity (300 ethnicities! 700 languages!), and our very short six days here, I am hesitant to say what I've learned for sure.

We've been kept from 8am til 6 or 7pm most days in air-conditioned rooms, both corporate and governmental. The speakers have been a range of controversial to inspiring. Many of us feel we haven't seen the "real" Jakarta. Every morning we race downstairs as though it were Christmas to the scrumptious brunch spread of tropical fruits and nuts, fresh eggs, made-on-the-spot omelettes and pancakes and waffles, and traditional Indonesian dishes like nasi goreng (fried rice) and ayam goreng (fried chicken) and a whole bunch of other things. Sushi is also a breakfast option!

Lazy Late Update from Sentosa Island, Singapore

Sorry, faithful readers! I nearly forgot to recount my friends' adventures on the beaches of Sentosa Island, Singapore, practically the nation's only resort. It was surprisingly less expensive than we thought -- my friends' faces always fall at the $15 beer in most of Singapore -- but in Sentosa I managed to get a Snapple and water for only $4.50 -- a financial feat!

Anyhow, Sentosa is juxtaposed to a half-finished branch of Universal Studios. The giant "Merlion," a mix of lion and mer-creature, is the symbol of Singapore. I haven't the heart to tell them it's totally a fictitious creature...hopefully they know. :) Sentosa is made possible through imported sand from other nations in Southeast Asia. Beyond the silky sand and gently waving palm trees, you can see hordes of giant container and tanker ships coming into the world's busiest port. Here's a photo:



This is my poor back after 20 minutes of laying out -- LITERALLY ONLY TWENTY MINUTES -- and I had already put on 50 spf sunblock!!! Just goes to show how much more intense the sun is here at the equator:





Besides soaking up far too much sun, C., M. and I went on a hair-raising zipline! The zipline ran from a high point on Sentosa island, over some ocean and finished onto another island!! Here's the track:
























There was also an option to do a wave-rider, or artificial surfing wave. We abstained -- maybe next time.




What was really crazy is that despite our larger American-size, we didn't build up enough momentum to make it to the end of the zipline. The Singaporean staff literally threw us ropes and reeled us in. When two children came behind us and weighed even less, a Singaporean harnessed his hips to the cable and crawled out to pull them back in! I'm fairly sure that would never meet safety standards in the U.S., but it sure was fun to watch!

When we were finished with the zipline, we crossed a creaky rope-bridge back to the main island of Sentosa. We toured through Chinatown to buy last-minute super-saver souvenirs.



Later, just before flying out from Singapore to Indonesia, we visited a factory for Hewlett-Packard. Fascinating, really -- turns out HP manufactures nothing in their factories. Instead they purchase parts from multiple manufacturers and assemble the pieces at their factory here in Singapore. So...what is the value-added, you ask? Search me...

Flying from Singapore to Jakarta

As the small cartoon of our airplane crossed the equator on the Lufthansa screen, I found myself thinking more about where we'd left than where we were going. Our tiny plane was navigating the crosswinds between the island-city of Singapore and the vast number of islands making up Indonesia. We'd left the Singaporean beaches which existed only thanks to tons of imported sand, and we were headed for the nation that was once a major source of that sand before banning the practice in 2007.

Whether beaches or buildings, Singapore had astounded me. I often stood on the street and simply started up at the long lines of modern skyscrapers reaching into the rainclouds. These buildings remain standing through careful construction and their composition from many materials - steel, concrete, glass, and more. A single material would never suffice to make a building like these. Like the Biblical story of the man who built his house on sand, unless a person chooses the foundation wisely, storms will wreck the house.

I'd like to build on this idea to say that a strong foundation today means having the strength of many. A house must be built of bricks that stay strong against wind, of steel that can bend, of wood that can insulate. Having the strength of many is to synergize from a plethora of sources to achieve a hybrid power. Just as Singapore has chosen to import foreign sand for its beaches, the nation has imported foreign ideas and talent from all over the world to form its economy.

These buildings revealed the transformation of Singapore since Lee Kuan Yew's televised tears marked its expulsion from Malaysia in 1965. Other markers of the change are its per capita GDP's growth by nearly 64 times what it was in 1965 and a general standard of living that increased about 10 times (Yah 4).

Will Singapore continue its meteoric rise like the skyscrapers, tall and stable? Or will it rise and then fall with the tide, its skyscrapers suddenly only sandcastles?

After experiencing the nation's openness to ideas and its proactive search for the best talent and materials this planet has to offer, I believe Singapore will continue to rise. The nation continues to build its metaphoric house on a variety of materials. Singapore chooses not only sand, but top-quality materials such as global talent and MNCs from all over the world. In this way, Singapore will withstand the inevitable storms to come as it relies on the strength of many.

Would the Real Singapore Please Stand Up?

We stay on a college campus, the National University of Singapore. We dine and shop along Orchard Boulevard, the glamorous touristy district. We taxi to the nighttime zoo, the Singapore flyer Ferris wheel, and to famous buildings.


So where is the "real" Singapore, the place where everyday folks do everyday things?

Thankfully, my longtime pal W. lives here and decided to introduce us to more Singapore than the average tourist finds. He picked us up and drove us through a lightning storm, past the embassies, past the police station, past the ritzy high-rise casinos. Oops, they use the euphemism "integrated resorts" here! Quite a bit fancier than even the Beau Rivage in Ocean Springs, MS, that we visited, David! (Without gambling a dime, I might add for other readers!)

Finally, we arrived at his neighborhood of Ang Mo Kio to eat at an outdoor set of stalls called Chomp Chomp. Very fitting title, because boy did we chomp down on some delicious "real" Singaporean food! The stalls each had a specialty, and W. went to at least five or six, ordering the best dish from each. Our eyes widened with amazement as the dishes were delivered to our table, steaming and aromatic. We ate spicy green beans, a seafood noodles dish, chicken/beef/mutton satay, packed rice, cream dumpings, and more which elude my description and memory.

C. and I enjoyed sipping on fresh sugarcane juice through neon straws from tall, deep steins. The condensation on the outside of the glasses complemented our sweating foreheads from the spicy food!

For dessert, we headed over to a place just around the corner. Most desserts featured ice, close to the American version of ice cream, and fruit. I had a strawberry and mango ice, which consisted of a plump scoop of vanilla ice cream sitting on slices of mango and strawberry all swimming in a caramel sea of shaved ice. Absolutely refreshing!

We enjoyed ourselves so much that random other people joined in!

W. patiently corrected, informed and inspired us regarding the "real" Singapore. Just with any nation, the insider's perspective can often be more valuable than even a critical, objective reporter's perspective.

As for me, I believe that one cannot help but to view the touristy, ritzy parts of Singapore as also mini-cultures within Singapore itself. These parts say something about Singaporean culture as much as the small neighborhoods do.

We continued our cultural exploration by touring Chinatown. Now honestly, it is difficult for me to distinguish between the Chinese of Chinatown and the ethnic Chinese Singaporeans who visit Chinatown. We, of course, did not blend in in the slightest, swinging plastic bags of our purchased treasures through the narrow alleyways among stalls. It wasn't an issue though, because everyone was focused on ferreting out the very best deals!

The swinging red Chinese lanterns above our heads mirrored our buoyant mood, as we realized the incredible value deals before us. Tiny intricate Chinese knots made of thread were a mere dollar, hand-painted images of flowering trees on long fabric rolls were always under twenty, silk purses and wallets and beaded hair clips were each three for ten dollars. Jade carvings and faux-pearl necklaces were set off by sparkling jewelry cases and mirrors as long pashminas of all colors swayed in the breeze. We gorged ourselves on sights and barely kept our money from flying away into the hands of the kindly, smiling merchants.

While on our way, we caught a few unguarded moments of "real" Singaporeans. Here a group of elderly men watch a game of checkers, coaching without solicitation!

















We visited many stalls and malls, seeing advertisements and shirts which looked familiar, too, like this Avatar poster and Internet- joke shirt.













These shocking food options and offensively-named wallets for sale gave us a start!


















We'll continue on our quest for the "real" Singapore -- till then, stay tuned.

Once You Pop, the Fun Might Stop: Pringles in Singapore

I'm sitting cross-legged on my red sofa, listening to thunder from another Singaporean storm rolling through, and munching on soft-shell crab Pringles.

You really did read that correctly. Soft-shell crab Pringles! Although original, sour cream & onion, and barbecue varieties are here, there are also many unusual kinds too, such as Lemon & Sesame, Grilled Shrimp, Blueberry & Hazelnut, Wild Spice, and everyone's favorite: SEAWEED!! The seaweed-flavored chips themselves are even green! I'm convinced the barbecue variety contains curry seasoning.

Final verdict on the soft-shelled crab chips: they taste surprisingly like your amazing crab dip on crackers, Aunt Mary!

What makes these different tastes so appealing to people from different cultures? The curiosity of marketers demands answers.

The Procter & Gamble marketing folks here have really spent time and fortunes delving into where Asian and Western tastes diverge for Pringles. Not only are the flavors different, but smaller chips are easier for smaller mouths, lighter seasoning makes for a more subtle flavor, and the can itself is narrower. I cannot even get my hand into the can!

When we visited Procter & Gamble on a company visit for class, the marketing and finance directors sent us on a brand scavenger-hunt. We took the metro to grocery stores, convenience stores and pharmacies to compare how brands were displayed, packaged, priced, promoted and positioned next to competitors.

For this entire trip, my responsibility is Head & Shoulders, the anti-dandruff shampoo/conditioner typically geared toward men. We noticed that H&S is typically bottom shelf, not necessarily the eye-level desired position. We're going to do further research to see what matters to Asian consumers. So far though, it seems that poor Head&Shoulders for men is always placed in the women's section. Asian retailers have a beauty section or a men's grooming section, and shampoo is not considered grooming. So, men's shampoo gets stuck with the women's products. This will likely be a point of recommendation for us.

I continue to try new products and foods at an alarming rate. For food, I go for half-familiar, half-crazy, always with a healthy dose of Pepto Bismol later! The soda I have liked best is called "Qoo," a Coca-Cola variety that is white grape-flavored. It reminds me of sparkling grape juice at New Year's, Virginia! Plus the character on the can is really cute.



More on food later! We're off to dinner at the Blue Ginger restaurant!

Eyes Wide Open at the World's First Nighttime Zoo

After being caged in class all day, learning about Singapore's industrialization and future economic prospects, a group of us hopped in a taxi to visit the zoo!

This zoo was not just any old zoo. Just like Bruce Wayne, its nighttime identity is a whole different story. Singapore's Night Safari is the world's first nighttime zoo open to the public. To showcase its nocturnal animals, the zoo built a cunning series of lights and stages along a tram track.

You remember what it's usually like at the zoo for those poor nocturnal animals:

Little Boy: Mommy, why's the bat sleeping in the daytime?
Uneducated Parent: It's lazy, honey. C'mon bat! I paid money for this! *taps on glass furiously* Wake up wake up!


And so the story goes, until many poor animals go crazy and run in circles. But here in Singapore, the nighttime experience is one in which flash cameras aren't allowed and visitors get to see those often-snoozing creatures strut their stuff.

I loved it - especially the unusual animals, such as tapirs, which look like pigs crossed with elephants, and capybaras, giant rodents!

We got an extra show featuring humans, not animals. A team of barely-dressed young guys hooted and danced to the beat of drums. Then they started to chug beer, spew it and set it on fire, that's when we started backing away!



Dinner was chicken satay, a delicious twist on the ol' shish kebab. Rice cooked in braided bamboo leaves was ehhh.

We were disappointed in only one thing -- where were the adorable bush babies?!?! After wandering around after the tramride for quite a while, we came to grips with the fact that the sweet little marsupials were nowhere to be found. The zookeeper informed us that the sweeties had been "transferred to above" and we shrieked, "THEY'RE DEAD?!?!" Actually, he just meant they had been sent to another zoo for a while. Bummer. At least they aren't dead.

This is the only bush baby we found, waaaaahhh!!

Finally, as we left the park, we saw people placing their feet into large tanks of tiny fish. Turns out they paid for this pleasure! $10 for 5 minutes of little fishes eating the dead skin off their feet as a spa treatment!