Touchdown at Yogyakarta

It was a cloudy and still morning on February 2nd when we woke up to get ready for our journey from Jakarta to Yogyakarta. As always the team assembled at the hotel lobby on time and we commenced our soujourn with a cab ride to the Soekarno-Hatta airport. It was Jean Sum from ABV who accompanied us this time as Waya had left earlier to make arrangements for our stay in Yogyakarta.We checked in as a group and mercifully all our extra luggages got unilaterally checked in without any additional charges....many thanks to the disciplined light travellers of the group .:-)

 

One and half hours later we landed in the quaint looking Adusutjipto airport of Yogyakarta. At the beginning of our trip we were told Jakarta is the political capital of Java while Yogyakarta, also known as Jogja ( pronounced Yogya) for short was the spiritual and cultural capital. If the airport is any indication of that, it did not disappoint. Surrounded by mountains and serene scenery, the bumpy landing was not even felt by any one of us. Waya received us with a caravan at the airport and we checked into our nice comfortable hotel rooms. Post a briefing session in the afternoon, we headed for dinner at a local restaurant which by last
count had about 100 Indonesian dishes to choose from....and what more around 20 of them were vegetarian...my kind of place..;)

The next day we headed up to the University of Gajeh Madah to participate in the seminar organized by IBM for the promotion of entrepreneurship. In the second half, we were introduced to our clients and that ended our long day. On Tuesday morning, we participated in the public event at a school
where IBM introduced and donated the KidSmart platform. Our scheduled meeting with the client got postponed which meant that we got some extra time to do shopping for our Batik clothing at the famous Malioboro street.

Salamat Detang Indonesia

At 10:30 AM on January 31st, I landed in Jakarta and thus began my CSC journey. Incidentally it was also the Chinese New Years Day and the Year of Horse began on that day. A friendly chauffer from Four Seasons Hotel was waiting for me just after the Immigration area, as promised. Thanks to the holiday, the notorious traffic of Jakarta was not encountered and me and Jibu, my fellow collegue and CSC participant from India, zoomed to the hotel in just 45 mins.
Indonesian hospitality never disappoints. After checking me in the Concierge gave a description of the hotel facilities and walked with me all the way up to my room...never before have I experienced this level of service..Kudos to Four Seasons Jakarta !

Almost the entire team and Waya, our ABV co-ordinator gathered together in the evening for dinner--a Javanese cuisine. A whole slew of dishes swooshed into our table...however it was "Sayur Sayuran saja" (vegetables only) for me since I am a vegetarian. Thankfully there were enough "sayur sayuran" dishes in the menu and I relished my first Indonesian meal with the team. A sumptuous "sit-in" dinner enjoyed by a group of 12, in a restaurant which featured live Indonesian music band, all for just $50 !!

Welcome to Indonesia !..;)

Zoom…Hiccup…Panic….Peace…and finally , I am all set for Yogyakarta!

 

It was a nice cool Bangalore morning in October 2013 when I received a mail from Jamie McDonald confirming that I will be part of the Indonesia CSC5 team...it was a long awaited mail since I was selected for the CSC program way back in June 2012. More mails introducing fellow team members followed. It was a very exciting time…I was going to be part of a truly multi-national team –12 colleagues from 9 different countries on a mission to Yogyakarta, Indonesia…wow !..we are the new “Dirty Dozen” ..;)….and the “Lee Marvin” entrusted with the task of preparing us for Mission Yogyakarta was a CSC Alumni, Tina Zybur.

Tina’s superbly hosted weekly calls started in November and soon we found ourselves engrossed in team exercises, individual exercises, articles, papers and presentations on Corporate Social Responsibility and related topics. Soon it was December which meant it was time to get the logistics in order. The air tickets and hotels had already been booked by ABV, our CSC program partner, and therefore the only major task that remained was to get the Indonesian visa.

The Indonesian Embassy was in Mumbai and since I was based in Bangalore, I had to hire the services of a Visa Agent to get my visa.

December 26^th--I submit by visa application and go off for a vacation…so far so good and I am truly ZOOMING.

30^th of December – I receive a call from Thomas Cook, the visa agent, saying that the invitation letters have not been specifically addressed to the “Consulate General of Indonesia” and hence they must be re-typed and re-faxed to the Embassy. I go through the drill once again--speak to ABV, reach out to the client and the letter is re-typed and re-faxed on Jan 3^rd,2014 ....life’s good OR is it ? Not so easy sir….I discovered that my name had been misspelled in the revised letter….HICCUP!

Actually it did not quite surprise me…in fact I expected it to be mis-spelt the first time around because South Indian names are notoriously long.  “What a long name for short man” has been an oft repeated comment from many a British Officer, in the days of British India. Throughout my career, I have been “the chap with the longest name” or “the guy whose last name I cannot pronounce” and the recipient of the request “Please, can I just call you Jay” to which my answer has always been “No Problemo”.

But you see, Visa Officers are a different breed….they will have “No Problemo” scanning through names even as long as the Great Wall of China with a magnifying glass.

Its only 3 weeks for my plane and so I press the Panic button. A repeat request is sent for a revised letter.

Jan 9^th –The letter with my correct name is promptly faxed to the Embassy. Ok, now I can relax…

Jan 17^th , on a Friday afternoon– I receive a call from my Travel agent again saying that the fax never arrived !!  PANIC !!...Neil Armstrong’s heart-rate when he landed on moon would have been slower. I start shooting e-mails to all and sundry once again at the rate or knots.

Amidst all this meelee…it rains cats and dogs in Jakarta that weekend. And my mother, who almost never watches news channels chooses to watch BBC that exact weekend. and catches the news !!...and what do mothers do….they worry…its probably a universal trait…it does not matter how old their children are….mothers always worry….and she promptly calls me to tell me—“I am worried for you”…..well mom, great timing, welcome to the party !

 Jan 22^nd – PEACE returned finally when my agent confirmed that the Visa has been granted and that I would be able to pick up my passport the next day …Phew !!

The last of our team calls also happened today......and the excitement is back.

Now its time to do some last minute shopping, pack and I am all set to go !!...cannot wait now….Yogyakarta, here I come.