January 11th - 19th: A week in Jakarta with my friends at the Hafar Group of Companies helping them with some ISO decisions in order to remain compliant with ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and ISO 45001 (Occupational Health & Safety Management System). Additionally, we started to raise awareness of two other standards: ISO 31000 (Risk Management Guidelines) and ISO 37001 (Anti-bribery Management System) within the company. After two and a half years absence from the office I received a warm welcome from everyone but saddened that the company had lost personnel due to Covid-19. My flight arrangements were with Qatar Airways with my arrival into Jakarta late on the Saturday night giving me Sunday to catch up on lost sleep before Monday morning. I stayed in the Mercure Gatot Subroto Hotel which is just a 5-minute walk from the office, across the road. I don't know if the hotel food is expensive, but motorcycle couriers are always out-front meeting guests with meals. Images below show the airport facilities in Doha which are quite impressive but when I ordered a toasted sandwich an open sandwich arrived which wasn't as expected. The McLaren supercar was one of the regular raffle prizes which are a feature of most Middle East airports these days. Flight time was 6.5hrs to Doha with a 4hr transit time and then on to Jakarta in about 8hrs. Immigration officials were impressed with my Bahasa Indonesia language skills, so I didn't have any problems getting into the country. I wish Qatar Airways would return to Cardiff......... Extremely tired after the long flight I slept in for a while but catching up on sleep after a 20hr journey across 7 time zones is never easy. I went into one of the large shopping malls for a wander and for lunch and Porsche even had a showroom on the ground floor. I opted for tempura and sashimi for lunch but without sake, as pictured below. The final image is from my hotel room looking across at the blue-faced building, which is where the company offices are located, reached after I cross the bridge from my hotel. Wednesday evening dinner with the Board of Directors following a visit to Pic Chinatown with my good friend and colleague Mrs Sisilia Kho. The final picture is with the President of the company with his wife Tess, whom I've know from many years ago when Emier and I both worked for Conoco Indonesia. Friday, my last day in the office with my work completed. and a view of the Mercure Gatot Subroto taken from the 5-minute walk to/from the office. Saturday, the long flight home with Qatar Airways via Doha into LHR T4 for the drive home to Cardiff. And it was a long flight home with 8.5hrs to Doha for a 4hr transit (and a shower) then 6.5hrs to LHR T4 for the 2.5hr drive home using the services of MET Executive Travel.
After take-off from Jakarta there were a couple of times when the crew were strapped in, but I didn't find the turbulence to be too severe. Service and food on both sectors were good but overall, I thought Qatar Airways were better pre-Covid, particularly because I could fly from Cardiff. Food and drink wasted on me during the second sector as I was just too tired to enjoy the offerings, even the fabulous curry. I slept throughout the transfer back to Cardiff from LHR T4. The final images below are from the airport in Jakarta (where the fire extinguishers are concealed behind interesting artwork!) and the flights home.
1 Comment
Helen
25/11/2022 12:16:58
It must have been so nice for you to see old and valued friends again after such a long time and not knowing that you ever would. They must hold you in very high regard for your ISO expertise and your input to the credibility of they company.
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