Ski Dubai

So it's official I have now snowboarded in the desert!! That's right, it was about 100 degrees outside and then I stepped inside the mall and went snowboarding where it was about 30 degrees. It was a surreal experience and just something everyone has to do, I mean how many people can say they went snowboarding in the desert. Below are some shots of the constant construction and the 7 star hotel in Dubai. Below is a shot of the new 'tallest' building in the world or at least it will be when it's done.

Desert Safari

So went out into the desert this weekend on what they call a desert safari. What it consists of is a ride in a SUV around the desert. So the driver goes up and down the sand dunes kind of a like a roller coaster ride. There was sand being thrown everywhere and the car catching air off a number of sand dunes along with sliding down the side of certain dunes. It was a really fun experience!! I would recommend to anyone who comes out the desert.
Thanks again Alex; your guide to Dubai has been perfect, I think you might have a future in travel book writing!
So after the sudo roller coaster ride; we had a camel ride, 4 wheel ATV around the desert and then a bbq in this little compound area with belly dancing. All and all a great way to see the desert!
Off to swim in the Arabian Gulf and relax on the ocean for the afternoon!

Dubai

So think HOT; really really really HOT (like 100 degrees). Well that is Dubai. I haven't had a chance to get out much yet but from what I noticed; Dubai is a very large spread out city. They actually in the process of building a monorail. I do feel a bit at home since most of the taxi in Dubai are Volvo V70's; hopefully mine looks as good as these since it's chugging across the US states!

There is also tons of sand everywhere, shocker I know. More shopping malls, tons of construction and as a whole a pretty developed city. More to come.......

Singapore

So I officially left Jakarta on Friday and headed to Singapore for the weekend. It is a good city to stop off at on the way to somewhere else but I probably wouldn't recommend staying a weekend. Singapore is actually the shining star of South East Asia or the "Country Club" of the South Pacific as some call it. It is a very nice city, very clean, orderly, clean air, organized cabs, safe, you can eat anything without worrying about getting sick. So on a whole it's a pretty good get away from Indonesia if you need a break and want some fresh air. However, there really isn't much to do in Singapore...it rained both days i was there on and off which was actually fine b/c it cooled it down a bit. It was very very very hot and humid while i was there (think Jersey shore plus another 50% humidity). I did managed to check out the botanical gardens and Sentosa Island.

I was expecting a bit more out of Sentosa being that its an island and everyone told me to go there b/c they had a nice beach you could lay out on and relax. Well that isn't exactly the case, it is more of a Disneyland on the water...it had kind of man made feel to it and lots of touristy things going on. Not what I would think of in terms of a relaxing day by the beach.
Anyway as a whole Singapore is nice but unless you need to pass through there I would probably pass on it.

The Teams in Jakarta

Today we gave presentations to the team we have been working with in Indonesia for the last 5 weeks. After we had a little celebration as a farewell for us and a couple of other people who were transferring offices in Indonesia. It was sad to say good bye; it has been a great couple of weeks in Indonesia and the team will be missed!

Time to go...

So my time in Jakarta is just about up; I only have 2 more days here. I leave on Friday for Singapore and then off to Dubai for the second leg of my assignment. Not a whole lot new to report here; had a fun low key weekend in Jakarta. Now I'm just trying to get myself together before the big departure. More to come from Singapore!

Some Interesting Facts...

It was great to talk to all the ladies in NYC this morning; I hope you girls drink lots of wine tomorrow for Buckler's Bachelorette. Sorry I can't be there but I am thinking of all of you. So I thought it would be interesting to give some little facts about Indonesia, Jakarta and Southeast Asia from things I have noticed along the way.
1) There is an airport departure tax whenever leaving an airport in Indonesia; the amount varies depending on the airport and if it's international or domestic but it must be paid in cash. This is good to know ahead of time!
2)Indonesia has a very wealthy and very poor class separation. There is no middle class as one might expect in a developing country. However, the wealthy in Jakarta look down on pretty much everyone but other people in their Indonesia social circle. It is very entertaining to see this in any of the malls.
3)Asians love their malls - every city I have been too has TONS of malls with every store from Gucci, Kate Spade to Nine West
4)You can get a motorcycle taxi around Jakarta which will take you about 1/2 the time it would in a cab but you have about a 50% chance of incurring some sort of bodily injury (don't worry Mom, I don't plan on doing this)
5) Everything takes about 5 times longer to do, for ex. dropping off laundry should take 5 minutes but here it takes 25 minutes (no exaggeration). My pedicure took 1.5 hours but it was also one of the better pedicure I have gotten.
6)Airport Security is 'interesting'; you have to pass through a security clearing to even get into the airport (and have proof of travel), then you go through another to get to the terminal areas, then one final screening right before your gate. However, you can pretty much bring whatever you want through, water, any liquids, just about anything. I am not too sure they even look at the screen from what i can tell.
7)There are more KFC's in Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia then in San Francisco. Globalization has hit here big time; I have seen at least 6 starbucks in the city and there tons of other american fast food chains all over the place.
8)Tipping is a way of operating here; if you need help with traffic you tip the guard in the middle of the road to help you get across traffic.
9)They drive on the 'other' side of the road here and in most southeast asia countries
10)A large percentage of the Indonesia population do not speak English. Even in areas where they cater to ex-pats english rarely spoken. So I have picked up many key words that help me get along otherwise its sign language and hoping for the best.
11)Most meals are served with a fork and spoon. I have rarely seen a knife when I'm eating dinner or lunch. If you were to get a steak or something then you would get a knife but for the most part the meals consist of rice or noodles and don't require a knife. you use the spoon to eat with instead.
12)Yellow rice is made here for a special ceremony or event like a wedding, or anniversary.
So there you have it, some random facts about life here in Indonesia.

Banda Aceh

So this week I went to Banda Aceh for a work trip on Monday. It was a very moving experience to say the least. Banda Aceh was one of the major sites of the 2004 Tsunami.; approximately 160,000 people died in the Banda Aceh region of Indonesia. It was a very touching experience; we met with some local people and got to see how all of the NGO's were making a difference in Banda Aceh after the Tsunami. It was pretty amazing to see how much has been rebuilt when the entire city was destroyed by the Tsunami. It was a very busy and happening city for the most part now, our driver took us around to see some of the sites and explain how things looked before the Tsunami hit. He explained that the boat below was about 3 miles offshore and now sits in the middle of town (this thing was huge as you can maybe tell from the picture.) He also described how the ocean used to be about 2 miles further out to sea (picture below) and that the area below where the ocean has raised to used to contain an entire fishing village. He also told us about how everyone in his family died in the Tsunami and he was the only surviver; I was shocked by how calm and collected he was with sharing this information (all in Bhasa mind you but Rhona translated for me). It was incredibly sad and made me realize just how lucky I am to have the life I do and to have so many special people in my life. Sorry to get so sappy but it was a truly emotional day. The mosque above was also the only standing building within many miles; as he put it everyone's houses were destroyed but Gods house (this was the case in a couple of other areas as well).This boat above was parked at the fishing terminal and managed to land on some houses about 5-8 miles from the shoreline. I just wanted to share with everyone some of the experience that I had in Aceh; hopefully it gives you some sense of the gravity of things although I'm not sure the pictures can really describe the feeling that I got when I was there.

oh one more thing

I forgot to mention that I saw Tony Blair in Malaysia as well; he was coming out of a hotel as I was passing through it!!

Kuala Lumpur

I made it to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this weekend and what a great city and country. It is very tourist friendly; no visa needed to visit; safe and easy to get around. On Sat. I went and saw Batu Caves which contains a Hindu Shrine; you were allowed to go into the temple at the bottom as well which was pretty interesting. I also walked around Chinatown and a local market in Merdeka Square. These monkey's above were sitting along the steps up to the cave and they had a habit of taking things from un-expecting tourist like cameras and food. Also took in some great views of the twin Petronas Towers which used to be the tallest buildings in the world until 2004 when Taipei took the title. I did not go up to the top but got a drink in a near by hotel lounge and caught the sunset, and managed to get a great view of the city over a nice french martini. It is really great to get to see a city with a local; sat night I went out with my co-worker and her friends to a local seafood restaurant; the food was AMAZING. One thing the Malaysians are serious about is food. We then grabbed a drink at a local bar which seemed like it should have been in Europe somewhere. The price of the drinks was about double our whole dinner bill which usual indicates a good night out which it was however boozes are expensive in Malaysia due the fact that 60% of the population is Muslim. All and All I recommend people swing by Malaysia if they are ever in Southeast Asia.