There really wasn’t time for any ‘planning’ or ‘preparation’ before this trip to Indonesia. Everything came together quite suddenly. And while instincts screamed there wouldn’t be much we could do the week of Ramadan, we had been assured that technically only 8-9 August were holidays so at least some people would be working the balance days. Furthermore, for such an important project, it was critical we demonstrate our commitment by being on the ground ready to work.

What happened? Friday (2 Aug) late afternoon as I was about to head out to hunt for apartments, learned that the office would be closed. As in an hour from when we were informed, it would be fully shut until Mon, 12 August 2013. Not only would the office be closed, the entire building would be. Not only that, but the national holiday was extended to the full week as well so Jakarta would shortly become a ‘ghost town’.

I had already been considering heading to Bali or Gili islands for the latter half of the week. The work would be ‘virtual’ those days anyways, so why not do it from a blissfully relaxed beach? Why not indeed!? (more…)