It was good to be traveling again after so many weeks in the office. This trip I was able to combine four destinations into one trip; Java, Singapore, Christchurch & Sydney. A good combination of developing and developed countries that give a good variety of culture and food.
The trip started off wrong however when I realized I forgot my passport while getting on the local bus. A quick call to my support team and I was met at the train station with enough time to catch the train to the airport. But it seems that my mind was not in gear as three days later after traveling 3hrs by car from Tuban to Surabaya I noticed while unpacking that I had forgotten my pants and shirts hanging in the closet at the previous hotel. With a flight out the next morning, I tried to see if anyone could bring my clothes into the city. A lot of the project team go into the "big city" for the weekend. But I wasn't that concerned as I would get the clothes eventually and could survive with the clothes I did remember to pack. With my mind free of worry I went to bed at 11pm that evening only to be awoken at 2 am by a call on my cell phone. It seems a driver had been asked to take my clothes to me (a 3hrs drive) drop them off and then return to Tuban - a 6hrs drive in total. I guess he felt he needed to personally deliver them, but at 2am I didn't want to meet him in the lobby and asked he give them to the front desk. Unfortunately I never did get back to sleep.
My weekend started off catching a flight to Singapore (economy class - ugh!) and with a 10 hr layover in Singapore I took advantage of the time to visit a project there that was just wrapping up. The project manager met me at the airport and showed me around his project. Which was very nice of him seeing as it was the weekend. It was in the port of Singapore and I always enjoy visiting ports. To enter the port you have to register in advance and get clearance. It was a little odd however, that after getting the necessary paperwork they didn't even look at it at the security gate. In fact the photo was so bad it could have been anyone.
At the project site I met this one fellow from Germany and was reminded that the expats you meet are often rather odd. He had at most 3 teeth, all at unusual angles, with earrings and tattoos he reminded me of a short, fat pirate. In Singapore he gets respect and is the boss of many, in Germany he would not be in charge of the toilets. (perhaps I am a little harsh, as I only spent 10 min with him)
The trip started off wrong however when I realized I forgot my passport while getting on the local bus. A quick call to my support team and I was met at the train station with enough time to catch the train to the airport. But it seems that my mind was not in gear as three days later after traveling 3hrs by car from Tuban to Surabaya I noticed while unpacking that I had forgotten my pants and shirts hanging in the closet at the previous hotel. With a flight out the next morning, I tried to see if anyone could bring my clothes into the city. A lot of the project team go into the "big city" for the weekend. But I wasn't that concerned as I would get the clothes eventually and could survive with the clothes I did remember to pack. With my mind free of worry I went to bed at 11pm that evening only to be awoken at 2 am by a call on my cell phone. It seems a driver had been asked to take my clothes to me (a 3hrs drive) drop them off and then return to Tuban - a 6hrs drive in total. I guess he felt he needed to personally deliver them, but at 2am I didn't want to meet him in the lobby and asked he give them to the front desk. Unfortunately I never did get back to sleep.
My weekend started off catching a flight to Singapore (economy class - ugh!) and with a 10 hr layover in Singapore I took advantage of the time to visit a project there that was just wrapping up. The project manager met me at the airport and showed me around his project. Which was very nice of him seeing as it was the weekend. It was in the port of Singapore and I always enjoy visiting ports. To enter the port you have to register in advance and get clearance. It was a little odd however, that after getting the necessary paperwork they didn't even look at it at the security gate. In fact the photo was so bad it could have been anyone.
At the project site I met this one fellow from Germany and was reminded that the expats you meet are often rather odd. He had at most 3 teeth, all at unusual angles, with earrings and tattoos he reminded me of a short, fat pirate. In Singapore he gets respect and is the boss of many, in Germany he would not be in charge of the toilets. (perhaps I am a little harsh, as I only spent 10 min with him)
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