New friends

Riduan and Eko.

One of the good thing in attending conference was that you are going to get new friends. Riduan and Eko, both are doing their PhD in Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. The former is a UTHM lecturer doing his PhD in Project Management while the latter is an Surabayan, doing his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering. Since my PhD was also from Australia, we were like brothers. Australian alumni.

One of the key advice I gave to Riduan was to make sure that he visited Sydney (he has never been there even though finishing in January 2013!) and also to make sure that he bring back at least one BBQ grill set. Otherwise, you cannot call yourself as an alumni 😉

Shamelessly, we use the advantage of Eko, being a local, to take us to shop and dine in Surabaya. We went to the infamous Ampel, a shopping district and Mirota, a shopping centre for batik. Later we dine at Bumbu Desa.

Well bro Riduan and Eko if you read this, nice to know you. Please keep in touch. I hope to meet you guys again at UTP’s ESTCON 2014.

The dishes to choose from.