From Monday to Saturday at Thailand (part 2)

Fiuuuuhhhh…finally first day at head office had been successfully finished with meeting so many new but old people right there.

Wait, old? New? What do you mean, Yulia; are they all older than you but new employees? Heheheee…let me explain and don’t misunderstood okay :D New in this term means that for me they are new people who I met for the first time at head office after so many months talking to them through emails and phones only. But for K. Nong that I met in the Monday morning, she was new employee at head office also K. Prateep at IGS department, and K. Kai at Finance department (the people I know); while the other people are old means they are seniors at there and you can see how senior they are from their title (department manager, vice president, and so on). People come and go in our life; such as the person who has come to my office before now already gone before I have a chance to meet him at head office. Quite surprise when found out about this when I was asking about this person to K. Toni at there.

Okay, the training will start in a moment and that Tuesday morning I had to choose my breakfast carefully because I don’t want my stomach to sound with “strange noises” during the training time *big grin* Started on Tuesday and will end on Thursday, all of us will have a SAP training. Who is all of us? We are the staffs from representative office of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, and China; so total are 6 persons because from India there are 2 persons who came for the training. I’m so thankful that I could meet them at head office and get along with them for a while during the challenging SAP training. Here they are the beautiful Asian Girls who attended the SAP training with me ^__^ Good memory to be remembered for sure and so glad to know you all, girls :D Can you guess which one that already married and she’s currently pregnant with baby no 2? And she asked me to go to Pattaya next year to have the holiday together :D ups, have to save a lot money started from now then hahahaaaa….

We got favor from the Finance Manager K. Chumphon and VP Finance K. Pannee who treated us for lunch on Tuesday and Thursday (many thanks ka :D). No wonder if Ain (from Malaysia) said in her facebook that her diet program was messy because during her stays at Thailand, she just kept eating and eating and eating hehehee…and me toooo!!! Oh my gosh!!! As I said before, I could not resist the temptation of Thai food although most of them are more spicy than Indonesian food. On Monday evening, K. Euam and K. Prateep treated me for dinner at Central Plaza mall which located at other area (different Central Plaza near the Richmond hotel where I stayed). We ate something like a food of raw fish that served with spices, strong seasoning, and guess what…with grapefruit!!! The taste is sour but also fresh and delicious too :D Never seen any kind of food like that before and I’d like to find out more about using grapefruit for the food. When the food reached your mouth, you will feel a kind of strong feeling that a mixing of sour and spicy. Whoooaaaa…want to eat that again!!! Hahaha…LOL

When we ate at small restaurant near office, we had a kind of dessert that I really want to try again. If I could get the recipe, I would like to make it by myself hahaha… Unfortunately I forgot to take picture of it but how about the delicious taste? It’s still in my memory *grinning* The desert was a white bread that eaten with a green sauce made from coconut; just perfect and made you want to eat more and more and more :D Hey, wait, for this food I got the picture and we ate this on Thursday night for dinner with K. Euam and K. Mod at an open air ordinary street restaurant near the office. The seafood is steamed and you need to put it into a spicy sauce before eat it. We ate that with Pad Thai or fried rice or just eat like that it’s also delicious. You can find shrimp, snail, scallop, and squid in the basket and it’s more than enough for having a full stomach if you eat all of them without the Pad Thai :D 

So, the second lesson that I got from this trip is that don’t bother about your diet program or, if you still want to keep your weight under control then do some exercises that suit to you (easy to speak but hard to do right hehehe…)

Anyway, did you have a chance to go for shopping and sightseeing, Yulia? If you asked me that, my answer is more to no than to yes eventhough I went to Siam Paragon mall that Wednesday night and also to MBK on Friday night. I had a thought to extend the trip until the weekend but I changed my mind because this trip was more tended as a business trip with objective for training and not a vacation. So next year I should come back to have the real vacation hahaha…

The traffic at Bangkok is quite the same with Jakarta although in some cases can be better at Bangkok because they have the Bangkok Sky Train already to reach some shopping places from one site to other site quite fast. But I went to Siam Paragon by car that night with K. Es, K. Toni (he is the driver and the owner of the car ka, also the initiator for going to Siam Paragon ^_^), K. Salma, Ain, and Lan Anh; and we were stuck in traffic jam for some time. At that mall we had a Mexican food and also had sightseeing for the night market at the opposite of the mall (Lan Anh chose to go back to hotel after dinner because she’s sleepy). That time K. Toni accompanied Ain to shop clothes and shoes while I, K. Es, and K. Salma were walking around to see the other street shops around that area while waiting for both of them.

While at MBK, I had another Pad Thai with Ms Eda (she’s from Phillipine so I call her Ms Eda from her full name Edalin A. Timtiman) and this Pad Thai is quite sweet and not spicy. Different with what I had at the hotel and at the seafood restaurant. MBK is like a shopping mall where you can buy souvenirs (T-Shirts, handycrafts, key chains and so on), cheap clothes, accessories (like belts, hair accessories, and many more), pashmina, bags, Thai snacks, and of course eating Thai foods at the food court. But you know what, there is also a Balinese food at their international food court when we walked around the area before decided to buy. And while at there, I saw some blonde tourists besides of the tourists from other countries too. Wooowww…I was not the only tourist that night I guess :D and I was considering myself not as a tourist actually, but a Thai person because I do look like them (if I don’t open my mouth to speak hahaha…). At there, I saw 2 or 3 European men were waiting for something while they still have their luggages with them. It seemed that they just arrived from airport and directly went to MBK…oh my goodness, what a surprise!!! MBK provides small cards like in the photos below as the guidance for visitors to find the tenants that they want; very helpful as the guidance. 

Because we went to MBK during the after office hours and also on Friday, we were in traffic jam when we took the express way. And when we finished everything, we were in a quite long queue for a taxi with other people (again, I saw tourist from various countries were there). Something funny but a little bit scary experience we had that night. I was thinking to take a taxi by myself to go back to hotel and Ms Eda went back to her place but then Ms Eda wanted to bring me back to hotel first before return to her place. So we got a taxi and suddenly the taxi had a trouble with its engine and stopped in middle of nowhere. Oh my goooosssshhh!!! The driver talked to Ms Eda that he had this accident twice already during that day and he asked us to move to another taxi because surely the error can’t be solved in minutes (thank God Ms Eda can speak and understand Thai for she has been self studying the language during her working period). So we got another taxi, but….unbelievable!!! He was driving like crazy!!! So fast and the speed was increased when we entered the toll/express way. I and Ms Eda were holding our breath when he’s doing some manouvers to overtaking other cars’ lap. Another oh my goossshhh!!! OMG!!! In my heart I was praying that we will be fine and we will arrive safely without any accident; I guess Ms Eda also did the same thing :D Finally we arrived at my hotel and Ms Eda waited until the taxi disappeared and she took another taxi to go to her place. Fffyuuuuhhh…what a relieved!!! Both of us were so grateful that we arrived safely :D Unforgettable memory for sure and has no intention to repeat it hahaha…*LOL* Thank you so much for that night, Ms Eda, really appreciate your time to accompany me and hopefully next time we can visit the weekend market :D

Well, that’s all for now, I’ll continue to the part 3 on the next day and thanks for reading it ^___^

From Monday to Saturday at Thailand (part 1)

Thank God I had a good sleep after full enough with the Thai fried rice on the Sunday evening *big grin* and I woke up in the morning with excitement that I’m going to see my colleagues at head office with whom I have been communicating through emails and phones. Finaaalllyyyy….hoorrraaayyyy!!! hahaha…sorry, I’m too excited but this is my dream comes true, seeing the persons face to face and talk directly without boundary of distance :D 

Of course, I started to have the breakfast at the hotel with big curious what kind of foods that they provided and I wonder if there’s any Thai food that I can try because this is Thailand. And as usual, any persons who met me thought I’m Thai (if I don’t open my mouth to speak words). So that morning in the lift when I was going down to restaurant, a young woman greeted me and spoke to me in Thai language. So I was just giving her a big smile while saying,” I’m sorry, I can’t speak Thai.” Hehehe…

The foods for breakfast at the hotel are quite a lot and it’s American buffet breakfast actually; so they are completely served from bread, croissant, soups, salads, fruits, and main menu such as fried rice, white rice, and dishes with vegetables and meats, or fish, and chicken or pork sausages. Whoooaaaa… I was going to jump to see all those foods and wanted to try all of them one by one :D But then I remembered that I must choose the foods wisely because I need keep my weight under control while having enough energy for the whole day activity. And for the next days, a thought about keeping my weight under control already gone because I could not resist the food temptations at Thailand hahahahaaa…

After finishing the breakfast, I took my bag and notebook and went down again to get a taxi. A friendly staff greeted me with “sa-wat-dii krap” and I answered him with “good morning, can I get a taxi?” He asked me again, “Where are you going?” “Thaicom,” I said. Just one word and he understood ^__^ And he helped me to speak to the driver about the direction to Thaicom.

After I arrived at Thaicom, I was looking for Pat but she has not come yet that morning. So I tried another name that is K. Nong, the secretary of VP-SA2 (capital letter “K” means “Khun”, the way we call persons at Thailand) with a hope that she has come. And yes, she has come and she went downstairs to welcome me. She said that I looked different than the photo in web directory and we were just excited finally we can meet each other ^__^

After some chit chat with K. Nong, she brought me to Finance Department area because I don’t have the access card to open the door. And I landed safely at there for that day, met other colleagues with a tour assistancy to other departments from K. Toni, sitting near K. Toni, and working on my pending tasks from Jakarta before having a short question and answer with K. Es.

In the lunch time, I got a favor to taste tom yam goong soup, green curry, fried fish, and other foods that I don’t know the name with K. Es, K. Toni, K. Thanan, and K. Luk. All of us were treated by K. Luk for that lunch (khob khun ka, K. Luk ^__^). And in the evening, I went to the mall near office and hotel to buy simcard and fruits with K. Toni and K. Es (thank youuuu ^_^)

I thought I would not need a Thai simcard during these days because I still can use my Indonesian simcard (pre paid card) after I arrived at the airport to sms my parents and K. Tinnakorn my boss to inform that I landed safely; also sms my friend too. But then when I arrived at the hotel and reached the 16^th floor, I could not use my simcard anymore. A little bit panic that time, oh noooo…the signal was gone and even after keep searching and got some Thai operators, I didn’t know which one that has cooperation with Indonesian operator of my simcard. So I tried to choose other operator and also decided to buy local simcard because I don’t want to loose contact with my parents while I’m at Thailand. The cost for using Indonesian simcard in Thailand is quite expensive and if we stay quite long (more than 3 days), we better buy local simcard to save the cost. This is one of the lesson that I learn from this trip ^__^

Okay, part one is done and continues with part two coming soon :D

note: the yellow orchid photo was taken at near gate D4 when I was going to boarding to go back to Jakarta. Wish could bring it back to Jakarta :D 

Hari – hariku di Thailand

Hari pertama (Minggu 21 November 2010): aku tidak sengaja terbangun sekitar jam setengah empat pagi dan mencoba tidur lagi sampai sekitar jam setengah enam tapi tidak bisa maksimal. Pengennya sih tidur lagi tapi karena teringat harus ke bandara pagi – pagi, aku langsung terbangun dan menyiapkan segalanya. Dengan pertimbangan ini adalah perjalanan ke luar negeri yang pertama, aku sudah membuat daftar apa saja yang perlu aku bawa selama perjalanan ini sejak 3 minggu sebelum hari H dan hari Sabtu sudah mulai packing supaya persiapannya lebih baik.

Akhirnya hari itu aku berangkat dari kos jam 8 pagi dengan pertimbangan bahwa perjalanan ke Gambir dan menunggu penuhnya bis Damri akan memakan waktu kurang lebih satu jam. Tapi ternyata, meskipun pagi itu ada kegiatan car free day di sepanjang jalan Sudirman – Thamrin, tapi jalanan lumayan lancar dan aku sampai Gambir jam 8.15. Menunggu penuhnya bis Damri yang akan ke bandara juga tidak lama, hanya sekitar 15 menit juga. Pagi itu saat aku naik ke bis, baru ada 5 orang termasuk aku dan satu per satu orang mulai naik sehingga tidak lama kemudian bis mulai berangkat. Dan sopirnya pun lumayan ngebut sepanjang jalan menuju ke bandara sehingga aku sampai di sana jam 9.30 pagi.

Setelah turun di terminal 2D dan kesasar ke counter check in Singapore Airlines, sempat pe-de mampir ke counter bebas fiscal padahal harus check in dulu, akhirnya aku berdiri di depan counter check in Thai Airways sekitar 30 menit karena mereka baru buka jam 10 pagi. Aku menikmati pagi yang (awalnya) sepi dengan mengamati orang – orang yang lewat di depanku. Ada orang Asia, Eropa, dan Arab juga para crew pesawat terbang yang mulai berdatangan dengan bagasi mereka masing – masing. Ada yang datang dengan anaknya dan anaknya yang lucu itu yang menjadi perhatianku seperti biasa dengan tingkah polah mereka yang menggemaskan. Eh ada yang bawa binatang juga lho, sepertinya kucing dan anjing sampai 4 ekor. Akhirnya pagi itu mulai semakin ramai seiring berjalannya waktu yang mendekati pukul 11 siang.

Berhubung aku sudah check in jam 10 dan setelah itu antri imigrasi selesai sekitar jam 10.30, aku menunggu di depan gate E1 dimana pesawat Thai Airways akan parkir. Dan menikmati kembali orang – orang yang lewat di depanku untuk ke gate lain sambil mengambil foto bunga krisan putih yang cantik di sebelah tempat dudukku.

Lumayan mengantuk juga setelah duduk 15 menit dan aku mulai pindah ke dalam gate E1 dan menunggu di sana. Ternyata ada orang lain juga yang sudah menunggu di sana dan pada jam 11 petugasnya mulai datang untuk membuka counter check in-nya. Satu per satu penumpang mulai datang ke ruang tunggu gate E1 di sana dan aku mulai menebak apakah mereka orang Thailand atau bukan (untuk orang yang face-nya seperti orang Indonesia). Dan aku ada salah tebak satu orang laki – laki yang sepertinya orang Indonesia tapi ternyata orang Thailand setelah dia berbicara bahasa Thailand di telepon.

Pada sekitar jam 11.15 pesawat Thai Airways dari Bangkok mulai mendarat di airport dan setelah penumpangnya turun semua, naiklah para petugas kebersihan untuk membersihkan dan mempersiapkan pesawatnya untuk digunakan kembali terbang ke Bangkok. Aku agak menyesal kenapa tidak prepare beli roti sebelum boarding karena perutku sudah mulai bernyanyi minta diisi sekitar jam 12 padahal waktu menunggunya masih 35 menit lagi. Dan nanti pada waktu naik pesawat belum tentu langsung diberi makanan karena menunggu pesawatnya stabil dulu di udara. Aduuuuhhh…aku berharap pada waktu itu tidak ada yang mendengar perutku keroncongan dengan merdunya hehehe…

Karena aku belum pernah naik pesawat internasional, aku lumayan kaget melihat susunan kursi pesawatnya dan sempat bingung cari tempat duduknya. Plus terkagum dengan pesawatnya yang lebih besar daripada pesawat domestik, sayang tidak sempat aku foto pada waktu menunggu masuk pesawat ^__^ Aku duduk di dekat gang dan 2 orang di sebelah kiriku adalah bapak dan ibu dari Indonesia juga yang akan training ke Thailand sementara di sebelah kananku adalah bapak – bapak dari Jepang (di tempat duduk tengah).

Tidak lama setelah take off dan pesawatnya mulai stabil di udara, para penumpang mulai dibagikan kacang mede/mete untuk snack dan minuman. Setelah itu ada pembagian handuk kecil panas untuk warming up supaya tidak mengantuk dan membersihkan tangan sebelum makan. Pertamanya bingung juga kenapa dibagikan handuk panas itu dan aku hanya menirukan para penumpang lain harus ngapain dengan handuk itu. Kalau untuk yang laki – laki (ada wanita juga), mereka membersihkan muka dengan handuk itu tapi berhubung aku pakai make up jadi tidak bisa pakai handuk itu di muka dan hanya di tangan dan di leher.

Setelah kebingungan kenapa dikasih handuk panas, kemudian mulai diantarkan makan siang (sebelumnya aku mengira handuk itu hanya untuk warming up saja). Berhubung aku sudah kelaparan *big grin* dari awalnya, maka aku agak tidak sabar menunggu makanan dibagikan hehehe… Makan siangnya enak lho ^___^ Ada 2 pilihan; chicken curry and vegetables with rice atau beef with pasta. Ada desert-nya semacam puding (enaaaakkk) dan minumannya boleh pilih teh atau kopi. Setelah makan siang dikasih minuman lagi dan ada pilihan wine juga untuk yang sudah cukup umur. Pengen sih nyoba minta wine tapi berhubung reaksi alkohol ke aku bikin mukaku merah dan pusing, aku tidak berani minum ^__^

Di pesawat ada fasilitas TV di kursi masing – masing penumpang jadi kita bisa pasang ear phone dan mulai menonton film atau mendengarkan musik. Tapi aku pilih untuk tidur sebentar karena setelah makan mulai merasa mengantuk dan ingin sekali tidur siang. Para pramugara dan pramugarinya ramah, sangat membantu, dan ada yang mirip Angelina Sondakh lhooo ^__^ Pesawatnya mendarat lebih cepat 15 menit di airport Suvarnabhumi sehingga harus menunggu sebentar untuk mendapatkan tempat untuk menurunkan penumpangnya. Dan bandaranya…oh my gosh!!! Bagus, bersih, besar, modern, dan sayangnya agak panas pada waktu menunggu antrian di passport control; sampai ada bapak – bapak Jepang di depanku yang mencopot jas-nya karena kepanasan. Kapan ya Indonesia punya bandara seperti ini? Let’s have the dream and hopefully the government will improve the current international airport Soekarno-Hatta. 

Perjalanan setelah keluar dari pesawat Pengambilan bagasi diatur sesuai kedatangan pesawat dan bagasiku lumayan cepat juga keluarnya. Tidak ada 5 menit sesudah aku berdiri di jalur bagasi no 14, aku kaget melihat koperku sendiri sampai agak sedikit teriak dan membuat seorang perempuan bule di sebelahku memandangku heran hehehe…Setelah mengambil bagasi, aku turun ke lantai 1 untuk antri public taxi dan antriannya lumayan panjang juga ternyata karena orang – orang asing memilih public taxi dan bahkan orang Thailand sendiri.

Setelah melewati jalan tol yang panjang sambil terkantuk – kantuk menikmati pemandangan kota Bangkok yang warna – warni di malam hari selama kurang lebih 1,5 jam, aku sampai di hotel, check in, mulai belajar menggunakan peralatan elektronik di kamar yang serba pencet, dan membongkar barang bawaan. Sekitar pukul 20.30 (waktu di Jakarta dan Thailand sama, jadi tidak perlu mengatur ulang jam atau pusing dengan perbedaan waktu), perutku mulai minta diisi lagi dan aku juga ingin mencari air minum untuk persediaan. Jadi aku memutuskan untuk keluar ke 7 Eleven di dekat hotel (butuh waktu kurang lebih 5 menit jalan kaki) dan di depan mini market itu ada penjual makanan juga. Thanks God aku dapat bantuan dari bapak – bapak yang bisa bahasa inggris dan dia sedang menunggu makanannya juga. Bapak itu membantuku untuk menjelaskan ke penjual kalau aku ingin nasi goreng yang ada sayur,telur, dan tidak pedas (pilihan yang aman buat orang yang baru datang ke Thailand kata si bapak ^__^). Nasi gorengnya enak tapi sayang terlalu banyak minyaknya. Dan di 7 Eleven beli yoghurt selain air mineral untuk disimpan di lemari es kecil di kamar. 

Begitulah hari pertamaku di Thailand, cerita hari selanjutnya disambung lagi ya  ^__^

**Story of Appreciation**

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview; the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none". The director asked, "Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.

The director asked, "Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect. The director asked, "Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"

The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me. The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.”

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: "Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes.”

The Director asked, "Please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, "This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

(copied from an email I received from Reader Digest Indonesia milling list)