This trip was just a quick trip really to attend the Annual Australian Development Scholarship Alumni Dinner, and to interview Australian painist, Geoffrey Saba, Lisa from the Ombudmans Office in Jakarta and Indonesian group LETTO.

It is always nice to fly in the morning as skies are generally clear and bright. The view of the volcanoes near Banyuwangi is always a thrill and that day was particularly clear. Also delays are less likely. I arrived in Jakarta at 9.50am and took a Silver Bird taxi direct to IALF’s head office in Jl. Rasuna Sahid. I needed to meet with Geoff Crewes, CEO, to talk about a few KGRE matters plus spend some time with the technical guys at IALF. KGRE needs two new microphones for our new Sony mini disk recorders so Pak Hendro and Pak Eddy at IALF Jakarta helped with the choice. We use these reorders when we interview people for KGRE.

In the evening I attended the Australian Development Scholarships (ADS) Annual Dinner in Jakarta. The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia was the special guest along with his wife Elaine. He presented over 100 certificates to newly returned ADS alumni. The Jakarta Broadway Singers performed a shortened version of the story of Cinderella – that was terrific and funny and by the way, the singing was excellent. KGRE ran a short quiz at the end of the night with these questions. Maybe you know the answers?

3. Which is further north - Adelaide or Canberra?

4. Where would you be if you were ‘out back of Bourke’, ‘out woop woop’ and at the same time ‘beyond the black stump’?

5. How many letters, that’s the total number of letters, in these words – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth?

On Friday, after a brief stop at IALF Jakarta, I called into the Australian Embassy to visit the world famous Australian pianist Geoffrey Saba. He was at the embassy giving Master Class piano lessons and advice to students from Bandung. There were around 12 piano students and teachers in attendance listening carefully to Geoffrey as he took them through their music selections. Each participant played a short selection for Geoffrey and then he talked to them about how they played it. The other participants watched on and over a full day, they all learnt and were shown practical tips to improve their performances. The three Master Class days were supported by the Australia Indonesia Institute and the Australian Embassy.

On Saturday I flew back to Bali but had one interview more to do at the airport. I waited in a small restaurant for the members of LETTO to arrive. They were coming from Semarang and were due at 1.00pm. They were right on time too. Their manager, Pak Aldi found me and then brought the guys over. We all huddled in the tiny café and spent approximately one hour doing the interview. Only three members were present - Noe, Patub and Dedi – as their bass player, Arian, had broken his arm several days earlier and was not traveling with them. However, the conversation was lively and very interesting. We talked about their educational backgrounds (all university graduates), the band and how it started and even about their favorite cities in the world. You can hear LETTO on KGRE towards the end of this year and be sure to listen for the fun we had. I am sure KGRE will ‘bump into’ them again someday and maybe even in Bali. Thanks Guys!