Customer Service with a Smile: The Jetstar Way...

So, your baby has just died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome / SIDS while you were on a group holiday booked through Jetstar. You booked with Jetstar to maximise the benefits of cheap flights and accommodation package deals. You are looking at changing your flights in order to deal with the tragedy within the relative safety of your own home with family and friends. Unfortunately, you find out that changing your flights and leaving your holiday on the Gold Coast early is certain to be problematic. You call Jetstar to organise the changing of flight details only to be told you will have to prove that your baby is dead or you will be slugged with AUD 600 in additional fees and charges.

Jetstar demands that these fees be paid upfront before you fly. According to Jetstar, they are going to contact the family and they are to be fully reimbursed. However, that really is not the customer service point is it? Seriously, how many people do you know who are going to call an airline or front up at the ticket counter and try and claim that they need to change their flights because one of their children has died of SIDS if it did not happen? I appreciate there are people out there that might, but they are in the minority, aren't they?

Jetstar has argued along the lines of "We deeply sympathise with our passengers in such situations and seek to be as flexible and accommodating as possible." Yeah, right! It is all about the dollars and cents. There is no compassion or sympathy exhibited by Jetstar in this instance. And, the above statement might make them feel better about themselves, but it shouldn't. Neither should this justification be considered valid as representative of sympathising with passengers suffering tragedy in their families "If documentation is unable to be provided at the time, change fees and fare difference applies — however, the amount is fully reimbursed once the documentation is provided."

Jetstar really should be ashamed of themselves in regards to the way this family was treated.

I am not going to fly Jetstar on principle. My principles are that people are more important than bottom line dollars and cents. The simple reality here is that these were extraordinary circumstances and cutting this family some slack in their moment of grief was not going to send Jetstar bankrupt. If they do not care enough for the people that pay their salaries, then I do not see any reason for me to support an organisation like that.

Thus endeth today's rant and rail.

Beer Reviews...

I have a desk calendar that reviews a different beer each day for 365 days, awesome. I am thinking that it might be a good idea to plan all future holidays with beer in mind. But, in order to justify this, I am thinking that I need to start a new blog. However, in the meantime, I will review the beers that I drink here. I can always move these amateurish posts later on.

I am thinking that I will also need to do a "beer appreciation" course to brush up on the proper terminology and 'stuff' to make it look like I am a real aficionado or is it beer connoisseur?

Anyways, I was in Woolworths earlier on tonight for the sole purpose of buying bread. Nevertheless, the beauty of Woolies is that there is a bottle shop attached. I figured that if this plan to review beers was ever going to get underway, it was a case of now or never.

So, the next couple of posts are reviews of beers that I have enjoyed, or not, with photos taken by me.

I hope that these post prove as enlightening for you as they were warm and fuzzy for me as I drunk the reviewed product.

Maybe a someone will read these reviews who employs professional beer reviewers....heaven (which one might need a prayer for)!

Life in a Small Town...

I am now into the fourth day and, I have to say, it has been enjoyable. Cootamundra High School is a good little school and the staff are very accommodating and helpful. I am looking forward to spending four weeks here to complete my final practicum. It would have been nice to have Dyah and Will here as well, but they are house and dog sitting...so, I will just have to go this one on my own.

As a consequence of my newly minted "early to bed, early to rise" philosophy, I was awake and chirpy by about 5.15 this morning. So, I figured in my early morning zeal and vigour for life that I would go for a walk. I did not bother to look out the window, it was on with the clothes and out the door.

Perhaps a quick look-see would have revealed an alternate plan.

The road home appears to be a foggy one, at least really early in the morning!

Not to be defeated in my mission I ploughed ahead and walked the streets of Cootamundra. There is a great little early opener called "the Outback Cafe". It serves good, and fresh, hot bread. There were plenty of cakes too, but I figured that would defeat the purpose of exercising. That said, it was a tempting thought to just buy some cakes and eat them while I walked.

It was foggy and cool, but surprisingly there were lots of people out and about.

On my wandering ways I passed a little clothes shop, one of several in bustling Cootamundra. It was not the quality of the clothes that caught my eye, but this t-shirt certainly did.

I guess Cootamundra is not as "small town" as I thought it might be :D

White Ibis -- Cootamundra...

I am staying at the White Ibis while I am in Cootamundra. It is described on its website as "boutique accommodation". It is a renovated hotel / pub that was originally built in 1876 (I will post some more photos in addition to the one here, later). I might have described it as quaint. I like it the rooms are big and the beds comfortable, which are two keys to a good stay.

However, if you are looking for internal bathrooms and kitchen facilities, then you probably need to remember this was once a pub. The bathrooms are shared. They are, however, big and clean with lots of hot running water. There is a kitchenette upstairs attached to 'the lounge' and it has a microwave, a toaster, and a kettle. It also have all the necessary crockery and cutlery.

Last night I was here by myself, no other patrons in sight. Although, judging by the voices wafting in through the room door from the lounge area, I am guessing there are people here who have checked in through the day. Or, there are very chatty ghosts that I have not heard in the past.

So, if you are ever in Cootamundra then this is a pretty good place to bed and breakfast from.

Oh, Cootamundra is also the Birthplace of Don Bradman. I am pretty sure Bowral takes most of the credit for his cricket, but hey you are born where you are born, and the Don was born in Cootamundra. The actual house that he was born in has been bought and converted into a museum. There is also this thing called the "Captain's Walk" just down from the high school. It is a walking path that has a bronze relief of all of the Australian Test Cricket Captains from go to whoa. And, as we all know being Prime Minister of Australia is the second most prestigious and important job in Australia after the Captaincy of the Australian Test Cricket Team!

See you in Cootamundra!

Bingara -- Beyond the Line...

Just a few happy snappies from my time in Bingara. If you want to look it up you can, a simple Google search will do the trick. However, for those of you less inclined to do so, then it is about 1.5 hours from Moree.

The Beyond the Line program is a program run by the Department of Education and Training in New South Wales. The program is designed to encourage new teachers to take the plunge in a rural and / or remote school.

For me, there is not a lot of choice. I am on a Beyond the Line scholarship, so I am destined to go teaching in a rural or remote school.

Adios!

Singapore Casinos & Indonesian Gamblers...

It appears a good bet that some of the biggest and most consistent visitors to the new casinos opening in Singapore are going to be Indonesians. The Resorts World Sentosa is the first of two casinos to open its doors in Singapore. The casino is expected to be open today in order to capitalize on the celebrations surrounding the Chinese New Year. So, today is likely to be an interesting day for many punters as it might be a view into what sort of luck, or lack thereof, they are going to enjoy in the Year of the Tiger.

The second casino is the Marina Bay Sands which is affiliates with the Sands casinos out of Las Vegas. The Sands is not expected to open until April 2010, which means the Sentosa is certainly going to enjoy a bit of a head start.

It would be fair to say that it is not only going to be Indonesians of Chinese ancestry that may partake in a hand or two of Blackjack and Baccarat or a couple of rounds at the Roulette table, there is an expectation that Indonesians of all faiths and types of ancestry will take the plunge and part with some of their fortune in search of new fortunes. This is expected to include those of the Muslim faith.

Singapore is a prime destination for many Indonesians. It is close, and it remains a shopping mecca (this is in spite of the numerous malls and branded stores already in Jakarta) for the well-to-do Indonesians looking to spend a weekend away. The casinos provide a little something extra, for those who have shopped themselves out during the day, to do in the evening. Nothing like glamming it up and hitting the casinos and spending up big.

However, it might be worth mentioning that there are thousands (perhaps tens of thousands?) of Indonesian maids working in Singapore. A wander down Orchard Road on a Sunday afternoon is like taking a walk on a busy Indonesian street on any day of the week in that one hears a steady stream of Indonesian and local dialects such as Sundanese, Javanese, and some Batak thrown into the mix. The point being, will any of these maids be tempted to win their fortune by gambling their meager incomes on the flip of a card or the spin of a wheel?

The temptation of winning the "big one" is quite often too much temptation for some to bear. So, is it a fair question to ponder, has the Singaporean government put into place mechanisms to deal with not only the increased revenue they are expecting the casinos to generate, but also mechanisms to deal with the social problems that are going to arise as they relate to problem gambling?

Perhaps Draconian police measures are not going to be enough to keep crime rates down. Any increase in crime is going to make Singapore a less attractive place to visit. The reality is (or at least was) that I enjoyed going to Singapore for no other reason than it was sometimes nice to get a little respite from the chaos and pollution of Jakarta, and it was always nice to be able to walk down the road, in this case Orchard Road, late in the evening and feel safe as houses.

But, the 'interesting' point of the expected influx of Indonesians to the gambling tables of Singapore is that many of these gamblers are likely to be Muslims. Gambling is expressly forbidden in Islam. So, to engage in it would be somewhat sinful, particularly if one was doing it with the full knowledge that it was sinful. This has been the primary deterrent in legislating for a casino to be built in the Thousand Islands area off the coast of Jakarta; the sinfulness of gambling.

It is too bad that money from gambling is haram because the increased revenue that would most likely be generated from a casino in Jakarta could be used to offset the social problems that allowing gambling would create, but also direct some much needed funding to education and health programs to ensure that "all" Indonesians had access to some basic facilities (naive, maybe; but what has been put into place to date is not working, and has not worked, so what is there to lose?).

The combined intellect of the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Indonesian Ulema Council / MUI) has stated that to gamble is to sin. Gambling is expressly forbidden in Islam (and in Indonesian law) so any Indonesian Muslim would be in a spot of bother in Indonesia. However, Amidhan of the MUI, has offered up that the MUI is only concerned with Indonesian Muslims gambling in Indonesia because what Indonesian Muslims do while they are abroad is beyond the MUI's control. I guess this means that any Indonesian Muslim that gambles abroad answers directly to Allah and no longer to the MUI?

The casinos are not just casinos, but rather full-service fun, entertainment, and business venues that can cater to a broad range of interests and needs. The idea seemingly being that "you" can hold a business conference there, and there just happens to be a casino close by for punters to partake in their hobbies during the non-business related sessions of their trip. The Sentosa includes a theme park which makes it a family-oriented weekend away (or as the cynics have suggested - somewhere to dump the kids while mum and dad go and spend the kids' inheritance).

Singapore hopes that the imminent opening of the casinos will be a shot in the arm for recently dwindling tourist arrivals in the city state. Time will tell!

USA & HIV / AIDS -- A Travel Decision...

It seems that the US has finally decided to make its decision to overturn the ban on HIV infected people travelling to the US a reality. President Obama has signed an order that will see the ban lifted from early next year. Hopefully, the other dozen or so countries that continue to ban HIV infected travellers will soon follow the US lead and remove the bans in their respective countries as well.

HIV / AIDS treatment has come a long way since the early eighties. So much so, that it is more a chronic illness than the death sentence it once was. People are living much longer with proper treatment, and the majority are able to live full lives and make lasting contributions to the communities in which they live. To discriminate against them on their HIV status is wrong.

Interestingly, there has not been a single HIV conference in the US since 1993. The ban on HIV+ travellers has meant that HIV+ researchers and activists would not have been able to attend to participate in any conference held. If you want to be the leader in any endeavour then you must act like the leader. This decision to remove the ban on HIV+ travellers is definitely a sign of leadership in the fight against HIV / AIDS.

The "10-Pound Pom" Returns...

I have always thought the term was "10-quidder". My old man was a 10-quidder. What his motivations or reasons might have been in deciding to pack it all up in his homeland and head to the land downunder are irrelevant, but the rest, as they say, is history.

The original scheme was one adopted as a means of "encouraging" migrants from the United Kingdom to take a punt on heading to Australia in the period after the Second World War. And, the scheme ran through until the 1960s when my old fella made the fateful decision. A decision, I am sure, that he does not regret.

Ten quid at this point in time is the equivalent of about AUD 21. To qualify a person wanting to purchase a ticket must have a valid working visa in order to be able to work in Australia, and be willing to fly Qantas. The idea is that this is a way of boosting tourism to, and then within, Australia. I am not so sure that it will considering there are only 150 of these 10-quid tickets available on a first in, first served basis.

The tickers will be sold from STA Travel centers throughout the UK from 5 August 2009. However, seeing there are only 150 tickets available, they are not expected to last long. The expectation is the tickets will only last a few hours before being sold out. I am guessing that with some 35,000 Poms expected to gain working holiday visas that 150 tickets might only last a matter of minutes.

There are some additional conditions besides the visa one. Particularly, travel can only occur between 15 August 2009 through 30 September 2009 and 1 November through 30 November 2009. And, travelers can fly into Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane.

Those that miss out on the 10-quid tickets will get the next best Qantas special which is STG 679 of the equivalent of about AUD 1,400.

For anyone reading this in the UK and who has a valid working holiday visa and is yet to get a ticket to travel, then this might be the perfect opportunity to camp out and get a super cheap flight on Qantas to the land downunder and get your working holiday underway.

For anyone interested in learning more, there is a website, see www.statravel.co.uk/10poundpom.

Women and My Life

Two of the four women who have had a significant impact on my life and what I am today. The picture is of my Wife and my Nan (if you're wondering, the other two are my Mum and my Sister).

Visa on Arrival -- Indonesia

The days of just fronting up at a port of entry into Indonesia, handing over your passport, and getting a 60-day visitor visa are long gone. The old system has been replaced with a visa on arrival system. The Visa on Arrival or VOA was Indonesia's move towards reciprocity, namely: if it is free for Indonesians to travel to your country then it will be free for you to travel to ours.

Charging a VOA fee was also a simple and easy way to create a cash revenue stream into state coffers. At USD 25 for a 30-day tourist visa it is not all that expensive and it does not involve all of the form-filling that one must do when the roles are reversed and Indonesians are traveling abroad. It is also pretty much sans any risk in comparison to most places that Indonesians travel where they are required to submit a form, pay an exorbitant non-refundable fee, and then pray that the visa gods shine on them.

The VOA system may have its flaws but if we are to draw comparisons with the costs and bureaucracy of other visa systems, then the VOA system is not so bad. Then again I have never had to get one :D

Travel Horoscope -- What's Yours?

By way of Life In Mono.

Travel Horoscope for Aries

When you travel, you literally want to see a whole different world. You want a vacation full of adventure, exotic sights, and tons of variety. You should travel to: India Kenya New Zealand Brazil Thailand

What's" Your Travel Horoscope?

Ban the Babies

This was part of a choice heading from the Sydney Morning Herald which in full reads "Ban the babies, say air travellers". This very worthy news piece was based on a survey of 2400 Australian travellers on the totaltravel.com website. A whopping 81% of respondents to this very worthwhile survey said that babies and presumably the baby's parents should be segregated on long haul flights.

The primary reason offered up here by respondents was that listening to a baby cry for 12 straight hours is no fun. Really, are you kidding me? I have not seen a baby cry for 12 straight hours but whatever.

Sitting next to or in close proximity of someone with questionable hygiene standards is also the proverbial pain in the arse from what I can tell. Have you ever had to sit next to someone who flicks of their shoes and then have the heady aroma of toe jam float around you and the cabin for 12 hours or so. Nope, lucky you! But my take would be that these hygiene-challenged individuals should also be segregated for my flying pleasure.

It is only a small leap before we want to start segregating people based on other supposed differences..."Sorry sir, but you have blue eyes you may only sit in rows 21 to 25"..."Sorry ma'am but it says on your ticket that you weigh 65 kilograms, you may only sit in seat number 10D, we have to keep the aircraft balanced you know!" Ohhhhh, the discrimination of it all!

We should never forget that at one time we were these screaming cantankerous little buggers we call children. Give the parents a break you only get to enjoy their pain for a mere 12 hours, they get to enjoy it for the whole holiday!

Wake up and smell the coffee, order another wine, whack in the headphones and chill to the latest movies or the latest groves without having to leave your seat. One thing airlines have become so much better at is in flight entertainment. So, get your money's worth there and stop worrying about the screaming kiddies! Have you ever noticed that with the improvements in in-flight entertainment there has been a corresponding decrease in the level of service provided by the flight attendants - how bizarre?!?! :)

Happy Travels!

Standing Still in the Fast Lane

Have you ever just stood still for a moment and wondered whether you were happy, whether you were doing the things in life that you wanted and hoped to do, whether you were still heading towards that all elusive dream destination? As I get older I find myself stopping more often and thinking have I made it, am I close, how much further before it all falls into place? As a famous former Liberal Prime Minister of Australia once said, 'life wasn't meant to be easy' (or at least something like that) sometimes I wonder if it was always supposed to be so bloody hard into the bargain.

It is time to wake up and smell the coffee...It is time to do more things for myself, the things I want to do and not all the other things that other people expect of me. My biggest weaknesses as a human being is an inability to say 'no'. It doesn't matter big project or small, I always want to help out in anyway that I can. I am spread too thin (not of body mind you) and being the perfectionist that I am, the self-analysis of the quality of my commitments always sees me short of where I think I should be.

I guess this really hits home where letters after your name mean so much more than experience. To be here, to be there, to do this, or to do that you must have a Masters, you must have a Doctorate, and myriad of other humbug and bunk! Being young and stupid and intent on bucking the trend has seen many of my younger contemporaries who jumped on the Masters and Doctorate bandwagon slowly but surely edging in front of me in the employment stakes...sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and conform so LLM here I come.

And for a topic, beats the hell outta me...I am good at a few things such as criminal and international law (there's a combination for ya) and advocacy. It is just about time I returned to my country of origin and got back the things I want to do and the things that I am good at. Yet, I am good at what I do now although I never seem to get the recognition that I think I deserve (perhaps others do not think I deserve it). Recognition is not money but an acknowledgement of skills, ability, and experience.

They say (I do not know who 'they' are but I have been told so) that a change is as good as a holiday, maybe I just need a holiday - a month of meditation in the mountains of Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon, sounds like it would do the trick! By the way the photo is not mine but can be found here and yes the photo was taken in Bhutan. If you are a traveller then this is a site worth checking out!

Pekanbaru

Well, no sooner had I arrived home from Japan I was off again to Pekanbaru...for those of you that are unfamiliar with Indonesian geography it is in the Province of Riau which is part of the island of Sumatra...now that the geography lesson is over, on with the story!

I was in Pekanbaru for work on an illegal logging, money laundering, people trafficking workshop...all of which I new were issues in Riau already but was nevertheless surprised at the extent of the problems faced by local law enforcement...

Illegal logging is devastating the natural growth forests of Riau at such a rate that it will not be many years into the future that the forest of Riau will be gone, taking with it the wildlife that it has supported for millenia...Tragedy does not seem to do justice to the extent of the damage being done...but what is tragic is the extent of involvement of government officials in the facilitation of the rape and pillage of Riau's natural environment...it does not seem to be a case of just a "few bad seeds" but rather a "lot of bad fruit"...yet, there is hope because there are people committed to doing what is "right" and sometimes at great personal risk and cost...

The Central and Regional Governments need to get their heads together and come up with a comprehensive and integrated legislative plan and policy to address each of these issues. The problem is not that there is no law in this area but that it is spread out over many laws and regulations and it is unclear and confusing for law enforcers which way they are supposed to turn when a crime is committed...is it corruption, is it a crime against the environmental law, is it an ordinary crime, is it an extraordinary crime, or is it something else all together. This sort of confusion means that law enforcement has generally not been seen to be a deterrent to those intent on profiting from these ventures...

Pekanbaru was not all work and no play...the city is no different from any other regional center in Indonesia; if you ask the right people, they will point you in the right direction. The other thing to remember about Riau is that it is looking to further develop its oil and gas resources meaning that more oil and gas companies are likely to be exploring their opportunities in this region - good for business and good for the development of a raging nightlife! I was surprised at the number of venues available ranging from cafes to live music pubs and to your head thumping beats of disco (whatever happened to the Bee Gees - that is more my disco style)...I guess wherever you have youth you will have venues of this kind...

Don't be fooled that this is a region a fair way away from Jakarta so prices are going to be cheap; there are cover charges and drinks were comparable to hotel prices in Jakarta (30,000 Rupiah for a bottle of water and 70,000 - 120,000 Rupiah for mixed drinks and cocktails) so definitely not for the faint hearted.

The hotel prices were also comparable to Jakarta but the service was not...I expected much better service considering a room sets you back almost 500,000 a night (the only saving grace was that someone else was picking up the room tab)...the bar staff were rude and slow, which was not good, but even worse was that on different nights the bar was out of coca cola, out of beer, and out of snacks...on a different night I wanted to order a drink and was told the bar was closed and then an Indonesia guest came in and was served a drink (I am guessing it was a regular or someone important) but all the same, still somewhat rude...

However, what is a workshop in Indonesia without the obligatory group meal and karaoke fest...it never ceases to amaze me that there is at least 2 or 3 excellent singers in each group, and this group was no exception...the food was great, the singing was excellent, and the dancing a challenge (I need to improve my dancing style to get into the dangdut groove)...

Another interesting 4 days...but back to the real world and back to the real world problems of work and Jakarta...

Japan

Well, I had never been to Japan before so I had been looking forward to going...this was even more so the case because someone else was picking up the majority of the tab (airfares, accommodation, and a not so generous per diem as it turns out)...

The first thing that struck me was that it was summer in Japan and it was hot! Somewhere between 36 and 40 degrees Celsius which was actually nice as it reminded me a little of my summers in Australia. It was hot and dry which is always a nice contrast to the hot and humid weather of Indonesia. I was only there for 4 days and having to work there was not enough time to get out of Tokyo and see the rest of what is said to be a fantastic tourist destination...I would have loved to have had the time to get down to Kyoto and check out the Geisha (the ride down on the bullet train might have been fum as well)...I will definitely get back to Japan someday (it is one of the countries on my list of 1000 things to do before I kick the bucket!!!)...

Japan is comparatively expensive for someone on an Indonesian salary...I understand that with a Japanese salary your standard of living is likely to be much better. But all the same, I guess I have just been spoilt with the comparatively cheap prices that are always available in Indonesia if you want to shop around!

The other point of note is that Japanese obviously like to drink...It was kind of bizarre to walk around the streets late at night and see blokes in business suits sleeping on the footpath using their briefcases for a pillow obviously having staggered out of the bar that they are asleep in front of...Also surprising, although I probably should not be, was the number of African blokes working as touts to the girlie bars...

You gotta love Japanese hotels...24 hour porn channels and access only requires you to buy a card from a vending machine! 1000 yen a card but it only lasts for a short while, so I am told :)...

It was nice to go somewhere where there is a functioning, clean, and efficient public transportation system, particularly the subway which sort of gets you to wherever you want or need to be...Get a map though and learn your way!

The airport, at least the Narita airport, is a long way from Tokyo 70kms on an expressway...but there are public buses that get you to most places in Tokyo for about 3000 yen or the train for about 1900 yen...the bus is easier for first timers if you are unfamiliar with the subway system...

All in all it was a fun 4 days!