Busy Bee August (Part 2) : Adventure of a non-adventurer

"I thought you said you did not want to go to the forest!"
"I am not going to the forest, I am going to Pekanbaru!"
"What do you think Pekanbaru is? It's a forest!"

I was sort of cursing and swearing about going to Pekanbaru. The thing is, I am not so keen on going any business trips. Because business trip means changes from my daily routine. And on top of that, I just hate packing and unpacking my things. Lame excuse, but it's so true. And I also heard about the forest fire in Pekanbaru. So, that's it. Pekanbaru is a forest, with raging forest fire.
Still I had no choice. I've got a guest that I need to accompany, and so I reluctantly went for this trip. I consoled myself, it's a short trip, less than 2 days.

I left Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon, and reached PB in the early evening, before the sun set, so I still managed to get glimpse of PB before the darkness set in.

So, how's PB? 

"Pekanbaru is a two-time Adipura Award winner!" boasted the driver who sent me to the hotel.  I understood why he was so proud of his city. The city was very clean. He continued to explain that there were two shifts of road cleaners employed to maintain the city's cleanliness. Having spent most of my time in big cities, it was a nice break to see smaller town. 

I had my visual feast on the city on the way to the hotel from the airport.

this is the picture I took from the hotel window

I stayed on Aryadutta Hotel. Supposedly the best hotel in the city. I've got no complain, but my travel companion, from the same company, was busy making phone calls to move us to another hotel. He told me that Aryadutta Hotel was too quiet for his liking. Due to some security approval, we still ended up in the same hotel.

Dinner was at Jalansutra's acclaimed Restoran Anom. Supposedly one of the best chinese restaurant in PB, Resto Anom was famous for its Udang Telor Asin (Salted Yolk Prawn). The dish itself was disappointing, it was runny with very mild salted yolk taste. The other dishes were not too bad, good review from the rest of our group. As our host (who came from Jakarta) explained, it's famous in PB, but we could not compare it to Jakarta's chinese food restaurant. I'll give them 3/5 rating.

No picture of the food from Resto Anom, as I was too hungry and busy eating to my heart's content

We went to Kerinci, another town close to PB, about an hour drive to meet one of our customers and to check on illegal logging business (??!). The road to Kerinci was narrow and winding. We've also got to be wary as there were wild Sumatran tigers abound.

Wild Sumatran Tiger

I would not live up to my non-adventurer tittle if I did take too many pictures of PB or Kerinci in that matter. Believe it or not, rather than enjoying the scene of a new place, I was either chatting with my travel companion or busy sleeping.

And there went my full day of PB and Kerinci. I also found out that equator line actually passed through PB. Too bad, I did not get to see the monument as we traveled to the opposite direction.

Some pictures that showed that indeed PB has forest to prove my colleague's words. No, I did not go to the forest, but the logs & chipped woods came from the forest.

So, that's the end of the adventure for me. I am still not looking forward to this kind of adventure in the future. But, I have to admit that it was quite fun. At least I did not encounter something nasty in the forest, and, oh, I did not go to the forest at all.

Busy Bee August (Part 1) : Communication Cram

I don't know how other people can keep up with blogging. For one, I admire the time that they can spend on blogging. Maybe it's poor time management on my part, or just the lame excuse, but honestly, I just do not have time to update this blog. And I live in the lion country, where internet connection is considered superior. I just can't imagine, living in a place, where internet speed is as big a problem as the traffic congestion, and spending my time uploading data to update my blog.

Those people must have had plenty of time and patience on their hands.

When I see those people who can work, get their degree, sell cakes online, be a mother to young children, really it's a two-thumbs up for them. They inspire me, but I just can't find the self-discipline to follow their path in multi-tasking. It's just me and my lackadaisical life, perhaps.  Maybe because I spend most of my free time reading cooking books and watching korean/taiwan/japanese/local singapore drama. But, hey, I need something for relaxation too, right?

Okay, so let's start to count how busy I've been this month. I started out this month with some communication cram. I am not a good communicator when it comes to public speaking. So I thought I can improve on that.  A proactive step on my part to embrace on public speaking skills.

Firstly, I signed up for Toastmaster Club in my company. A decision that I later regretted  since I then found out (after I signed up) that my VP will come to watch how we are doing as well. That's pressurizing. But then, during my observation session, I had my fun watching others delivered their short presentation, although with the level of skills that they have, I wonder why they still need to attend Toastmaster Club. They just made me feel very nervous about my own presentation when I have to do it later. But, oh well, I guess, I just need to find some courage and do it. Besides, TC comes with free lunch, and that's enough motivation for me to sign up for the membership. 

Secondly, I also attended some communication class. Communication in 4 Dimensions, held by SIM. I was not too impressed with the course. It's a 3-day course, and the trainer was busy trying to prove that there were 4 dimensions in communication. Which I have not problem accepting. I mean, she should know something that I do not, that's why she's the trainer, and I am just the lazy participant. I just want to know, how to apply these 4 dimensions to improve the communication. However, this is nice course to do when you want to get away from your daily mundane office routines. I had fun watching clips of movies, refreshing "The Secret" knowledge, learning about short exercise that you can do for 5 minutes a day, as well as meeting new friends during the course. And since the course was held in a hotel, the buffet lunch and tea breaks were above average. But I will not recommend this course to people who really want to improve their communication skills. In fact, I find that TC is better tools to improve communication, particularly in public speaking. 

So, am I a better communicator now? Still plenty of room for me to improve and plenty of opportunities for me that I can use to practice. And until the next TC meeting, I just hope that I will not be the one who has to do the ice breaker!

Constant Change

I attended a farewell dinner for some colleagues who move on to new jobs. Three of them are posted in China, and another one is leaving the company for good, for better opportunity. It was a nice farewell dinner together.

I do not really have the opportunity to spend time with my colleagues outside work. This kind of farewell dinner is not cheap. Besides, as a working mother, I just feel guilty that I do not spend enough time with my children, yet I have time for other people. So, it's really rare occasion that I go out and join my colleagues for dinner out with them.

But, this time around, it just makes perfect sense since it's the farewell of 3 people at the cost of one dinner. So, economics of scale applied here, and the dinner cost was averaged down significantly. And one colleague is someone that I work with (albeit indirectly) for quite sometime.
And I can only say, it's really fun to mingle with the colleagues.
I have to say that I enjoyed this dinner. Seeing the people I spend most of my time with in a different limelight. Some of them really turned into wild party animals. Amazing!!!
The thing that saddened me was since the dinner served as farewell to our colleagues.

I am a creature of routines, and I do not adapt well to changes. So, I really have mixed feelings about seeing the people I know move on to their new endeavor. True, for them it is better opportunity. But still, I just hate not seeing them in the office, or establish new working relationship with other people. I just hate changes!
And since early this year, there has been many changes, even in my team. One by one, people start to leave, and new faces come in. I guess, it's true, the only thing that remains constant in life is change.
Still...so sad to let them go..