Leaving tokyo in an hour

We are once again on the move and this time we get on an Air Canada flight first to Vancouver and then TO. Funnily enough we are flying at 7 pm and arriving at about the same time in Toronto on the same day Tuesday.

We composed a whole posting in the Tokyo Reference Library only to have it evaporate when we pressed `publish post`. So this is a recap. If this post is a bit wacky we blame the keyboard which is basically set up for characters not so much for alphabet.

Thursday and Friday in Sigli were significant in that the Vice Bupati (Vice Mayor) invited us out to a dinner he hosted - and awarded us with the Sigli official plaques. At the restaurant it was hilarious when due to the size of the group it was deemed that a wall partition should be removed in order to accommodate the entourage and then the nails sticking out from the floor were hammered down with a handy rock. So that was a big wow.

We are very pleased to have the help of the translator Iwan, while we are away this time as he transitions into a local resource for the library project. So basically we spent a couple of hours teaching him everything about the project and bob is your uncle. What a great guy - we are blessed.

Let`s face it we travelled a lot this trip and Saturday was no exception as we went from Banda Aceh to Jakarta and then overnight to Tokyo arriving at 7 am. We really lucked out on the flight and each had 3 seats over which we could sprawl out.

In Tokyo on the way in we saw one of the dressed up `maid girls` with the frills and high heels. Little did we know the shots of her shoes would be some of the best we got of weird getups。 We valiantly attempted to do Tokyo in 36 hours - shrines, temples, shopping, fish market, museums, sushi, and mastered the transit system in the process. Or so we claim.

The post would not be complete without a nod to the bathrooms, specifically the toilets. They are amazing - what can be achieved with technology. O.k. they have heated seats, various bidet options, the sound of gurgling water and even an odor button which we didn`t try. Given the context of coming from Indonesia where all bathrooms have pools of water on the floor and the usual squat, we were so enamored that we visited more than our fair share of washrooms around the city.

Right now we await our flight in a business lounge and we are crossing our fingers that indeed time will fly and get us home in less than an hour.

Emperors palace looked great in the winter

Unexepected trip to Banda

Just when we were getting used to the idea of being in one place for more than a few days, we got a phone call inviting us down to Banda for an evening reception. Turns out that there were a lot of FCM Canadians in Banda and it was felt to be a good opportunity for people to get together and network and talk about the different projects. There was also a lot of members of the Banda FCM team too, so it was nice to see a lot of familiar faces. There were a couple of birthdays thrown in the mix too. So our day ended with a nice dinner in Banda.

But we still had our two sessions at the library and we had Yuni and Yurni over to the house for lunch.

In the morning Katherine delivered a presentation on 'Children's Services'. It was a chance to really get behind the nuts and bolts of why libraries program for children. We ended the morning by handing out all sorts of puppets that we brought from Canada...many of the animals are found in Indonesian folk tales. In fact Dawna found a deer and there is a trickster figure that is the little deer. We thought that was mighty nice to have found that. I think the tortoise was the favourite....they called it Johnny.

At lunch Yurni and Yuni came over to the house. They wanted to send a picture of the library to OLA for the superconference and the bandwith at the library just couldn't manage sending a photo. While we were at the house Yurni also got a Facebook account. It is a marvel to see how much technology has become part of the routine now.

Then we went back and talked about the layout of the library and brainstormed ideas about how to make displays for teens. It was a good afternoon.

We left the library and headed directly for Banda. It was a crazy drive...there are road works going on and not much coordination among the road crews. At one point we were inches between the edge of a cliff (let's just say a drop) and a HUGE truck....we all breathed a sigh of relief when we got past. I was glad of my I-pod which we all could enjoy through the car speakers...(Thanks for the Cake Alex.)

First day in Sigli

We got to the library and had a quick look around. It is so different! The layout has changed, it is tidy and inviting. The shelves are clean and you can feel a sense of order when you walk in. The morning was spent reviewing what has been done since we were here in August and then some brainstorming about what was learned in Sleman and Singapore.
At the break the staff wanted us to see the library. It was FULL of people, 90% students. I mean people were everywhere. It was quite a contrast to the sleepy place we first visited in June. They are averaging about 150 visitors a day…compared to less than 50 when we first arrived. We credit much of this to Mukhtar’s leadership, the increased hours and the welcoming environment. Kudos all ‘round.

In the afternoon we worked on some skills training. We wanted to ensure that all of the staff have email accounts so they are able to communicate with the contacts they have made during the exposure tours. There is a new staff member named Nufina…she had never used a computer before…she now has a gmail account and has sent 2 emails. Other work involved creating a brochure to promote the library…we picked up a lot of samples during the tours and with a template they will be able to create something for Sigli. We also discussed the ‘Thank You’ letters going over step by step the content and structure. These letters will be sent to both Sleman and Singapore libraries. We will work on the draft tomorrow.

We talked about how the library can connect with the community and gain further support from the government. The library is very low on the awareness scale for the local politicians.

There is an easy camaraderie now amongst us and we are getting asked a variety of questions. We spent quite a bit of time today talking about motivating staff to work, stating expectations and the role of the supervisor. It seems that some staff were blaming others for work not complete- imagine.

Back in Banda and then on to Sigli

We had two flights to get to Banda…by this time we feel like old hands at the process. Once we got to Banda, the Sigli staff went on to Sigli, while Katherine and I stayed on in Banda. It was good to get to the hotel, where we know the staff and felt quite welcome. We booked massages and took it easy for the rest of Saturday. We met up with some other FC volunteers (Jim, Mansur and Ted) and caught up on the various projects.

On Sunday we drove to Sigli. We have a new translator this time…Iwan….pronounced E1. He had spent 4 months in Alberta through Canada World Youth; his English is perfect, complete with Canadian idioms. We got to the house, chose our rooms (we are sharing the house with E1 and two other FCM/Indonesian staff), ate the pizza we got in Sigli and called it a day.

Singapore – Day 2

The day began at the Library Supply Centre, where all of the materials are processed for all of the library’s internal and external clients. We were given an overview and then a tour. It was fascinating to see the conveyor belts and assembly lines…the staff process 5,000 items each day. They use an automated system, complete with cherry pickers to select specific titles that are stored on the myriad of shelving throughout the warehouse. It was a site to be seen for sure.

The Sigli staff were able to see materials being processed and ask questions first hand and get demonstrations of how it is done in Singapore. The Singapore example showed the precision system that may be far removed from what the Sigli staff were going for, but they still were able to take some good ideas away from it. For instance, maybe they won’t want to drill the books like they saw in Sleman and perhaps they will opt for some reinforcement tape to do the same thing.

Since it was Friday, the next stop was a mosque where the men could pray. The women were free to go shopping…which we did. Yurni and Yuni wanted to buy fabric. It turns out that they make most of their clothes for themselves. Katherine and I opted for some ready made clothes and found a kinda sweet Persian designer shop. Lunch was in an Indonesian takeout restaurant….which was a welcome change. Dinner the night before was in an Indian restaurant and felt to be ‘too spicy’ by many.

Next stop was a neighbourhood library, Bishan. It had 5 floors and special attention was paid to the youth and children’s floors. The collections were full and immaculately shelved. A storytime was being held and we were able to quietly observe it. This all helped the puzzle pieces fall into place….we had been talking about Children’s programming and now they could see it happening.

The final library we visited was Woodlands library, where Roy works. He was able to give us an insider’s view of the collections. It was a spectacular library, complete with a theatre space, reference floor and the largest Children’s department I have ever seen. There was space dedicated to community exhibits, which is something we are wanting to develop more in Sigli. Just like in Sleman, it was good to see so many of the concepts that we have been talking about in action.

We were given an hour break for dinner and then we went to the Night Zoo in Singapore. (Nazir missed the zoo…ask us if you want the long version….) The night zoo was fun. There was a show and then a tram ride in the dark where you get to see the nocturnal animals - lions, elephants and of course water buffalo which are a common sight throughout Sigli. We got back to the hotel by 11:30…and reserved wake-up calls for 4:30 a.m. the next morning to get us on our way back to Indonesia. We were completely beat but we still managed to have a glass of wine and a beer in the lobby…we couldn’t believe how long this day was.

Day One - Singapore Tour

We all met in the lobby and made our way to McDonald’s for breakfast..yep you read that right. We made this choice since it was close to the library, affordable and halal. We were able to have a meeting in the McD’s before we started the tour and gave everyone a chance to ask any questions.

When we got to National Library of Singapore (NLS) we were met by Lian Geok and Shankari and given an overview of their structure and the steps they have taken to achieve their current level of success. It was nice to see TPL’s statistics along with NLS’s. The Sigli team were quick to point out ‘Toronto’ when the word turned up on the Power Point screens.

We were then given a tour of the many of the floors of the NLS. The focus was on the many galleries and Asian collections. The staff were quick to point out items that were familiar and ideas that they could apply to Sigli. The highlight of the tour was to see the circulating collections on the basement floor. The place was abuzz with people and it was colourful and welcoming. Special attention was given to the Children’s section where the furnishings and contests received a lot of attention from the Sigli staff. They were able to see the different ideas that Katherine and I have been talking about.

Roy took us to lunch at an Indonesian restaurant….we were slow to leave and got caught in a torrential downpour. The ever gallant Roy borrowed my umbrella and dashed across the street to the NLS and got us all umbrellas. We then walked through the Raffles hotel complex and then on through the shopping complex maze and made our way to the community library called the Library@Esplanade that was located in the Esplanade performing arts centre. The Esplanade is akin to Hummingbird Centre and is a focal point for the arts….Broken Social Scene are performing there in March.

The arts library focused on four villages: music, dance, theatre and visual arts. We were shown the collection, including an incredible array of scores. There was an amazing view of the harbour, as there was from the pod of the National Library. These downtown libraries take full advantage of the highlights of downtown Singapore.

We then went to the Merlion for the classic tourist shots. BY then there was a lot of walking and we were a bit concerned about the footwear…but the Sigli staff charged on. We had the sense that the SIgli folks were not used to this kind of all-day walking. So we generously gave them one hour rest at the hotel before taking them off to Little India that night.

Roy accompanied us on the MRT (two transfers) and they got their subway experience, complete with getting their own tickets from the automated machine. We ended up taking a city bus too. All new experiences. We shopped at Mustafa Centre, luggage seemed to be the main items purchased…they didn’t seem to enjoy the Indian food…too hot. Aceh food is really not that spicy…Simon was OK with it because it was similar to the Padang food from his region. We then piled into taxis to get back to the Pan Pacific for the night.

Wednesday – travel day

We headed out to the airport to make the to trip to Singapore. We were all on the first flight together and then for the flight from Jakarta to Singapore we were on separate flights. Due to the late departure of the flight from Jogja, Katherine and I had to make a mad dash to get to the next flight. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare…time enough for Dawna to buy Dave a magnet, but not for Katherine to get a coffee.

When we got to Singapore we were happy to see Roy Won at the airport. Katherine and I had met Roy in Toronto in November when he came to tour TPL for a couple of weeks. We discovered that our flight flew into one terminal and the Indonesian team was on a flight coming into a different terminal. It was actually the first day that this new terminal, T3 was open. We took a couple of trams to get there and meet them.

When we got there the Indonesians were nowhere to be found. The luggage carousel for their flight had stopped and there was no one left to come off the plane. We paged for Simon, the FCM staff person who was traveling with the Indonesia team. We waited and waited. Katherine and Roy went back to our original terminal, thinking that perhaps we had missed them and they were trying to find us. Four hours passed!

Eventually another fight from Jakarta came through and the team was on it. We had used Roy’s cell phone to call Simon and we were able to get through to Simon once they had landed. Our relief was palpable and it was so good to see them after the long wait. Lesson learned – we should all travel together and we should have cell phones to keep in touch when plans go astray. We were so thankful to have Roy with us, logically working through the steps until we were all reunited.

We taxied to the Pan Pacific hotel. It was a tremendously grand hotel and we were all in awe. The elevators were liked jewelled globes going up the interior and exterior of the building. We checked in and had to explain the rigorous no smoking laws and the fact that one would be charged for even touching a bottle in the mini-bar. (There was an electronic sensor in the mini-bar…you had to call room service to get it deactivated and emptied in order to use the fridge to keep your own stuff cooled.)

Roy took us all out for a walk and orientation around Singapore. We were able to walk from the hotel through a maze of shops and covered walkways to the MRT (subway system). He gave us an overview of how to use the MRT and also walked us to the National Library where our first scheduled meeting was set for Thursday. We walked back to a food court where we had our dinner and then found a money changer.

By the end of the day we were all exhausted but keen to get ready for the days of touring in front of us. Katherine and I stopped by Club Sev (7-11, where you can buy beer at a price much cheaper than any bar or restaurant) and had a relaxing drink in one of our rooms before we called it a day.