For those of you whom are always on the run, either on business or perhaps have a regular habit of traveling by air, you must have remembered the feeling of excitement. The enthusiasm of getting to new places you’ve never gone before, seeing new surroundings and perhaps meeting different bunch of people.

After being back to the headquarters for sometime, the office has decided to appoint me as representative for a military course in the Netherlands on Peacekeeping studies, and man! It really made me excited for sure.

This trip was a well-planned one. Unlike the misfortunate experience I had when repatriating back from Monrovia, where the travel agent somehow messed-up the connection flight from Dubai to Jakarta.

With no where to go and transit visa seemed quite impossible to arrange in such a short notice, I was really helpless and able to enjoy over 10 hours strolling around the Dubai international airport.

It is really interesting to see how people travel, and learning how people interact, resort for some sufficient rest prior engaging to another flight home or elsewhere. I guess I was lucky enough to capture moments like the snap shots below;

Arrived in early April 2008 and will stay till end of the month. The reason of being so enthusiastic, apart from the strategic benefit the course for me, further development of professionalism, confidence and many more career advancement possibilities;

First, this assignment has flown me to a new place never have gone before, and secondly, it’s a combination of (a fair share) business and (a little bit of) leisure. I have to admit that the course is a real-deal and indeed an intelligent race of the mind, being able to grasp the materials in such a time, active participation in discussions/forums, the abundant assignments and sort of, all that makes this head spins. However, perhaps the shots below would give you a clearer description of how important this course is about in whole.

Ok, let’s skip the serious part: The course and stuffs are just great. Trust me!. However, the excitement began from the moment I made myself boarded the plane and flown. Flying business class is really something, where they pamper you non-stop and luckily the next passenger was such a nice companion.

Sir – we unfortunately do not serve.. what was the name again? Bajigur?..

The greater fun begin when it comes to weekends, and friends are kind enough to show and take me around. Thank you to Ms. Imeza Saraswaty for being such a great city guide and host, and Ms. Marion van de Reijden, my long time friend whom I firstly met while serving in Liberia in 2006 – 2007. The snap shots below are some among many taken during the weekends.

From the Netherlands, my best regards and hope to hearing from each one of you. :-)