Balin' in Bali
The fall of 2017 was one of the busier times of my life. Working a full-time job in Washington, DC while also a full-time student in Chicago. TV was almost out (Sandra and I were able to watch 5 episodes of Narcos in 3 months) and gym was substantially reduced. Nevertheless, I made it. Despite going to Chicago for 10 straight weeks, I barely saw the place. I would fly in on Friday afternoons (leaving work around 2 pm) for a 6-9 pm class. I would go to an AirBnB to sleep, and then go back to campus for classes from 9 am - 4 pm. Then head straight to the airport for a 7:30 pm flight and get home around 11 pm. Sunday was for homework although I was usually so tired from the week I would procrastinate. Here are some of the photos I was able to take despite the chaos:
Sunset cruise
From Roosevelt station as I transfer to airport train from my classes
Taboo airplane photo
Graffiti on train overpass taken while on a moving train
Our flight to Bali had a layover in Qatar ("kutur"), which was my first glimpse of the Middle East. It was actually a little strange flying to Qatar because its neighboring Gulf countries have an air embargo against Qatar Airways from flying over their land space. As such, all Qatar flights must avoid Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and UAE as seen in the picture below. The other different thing about Qatar is that all of the employees in the airport appeared to be immigrants and there was a separate lounge area for men and women to sit.
Moving on to Asia. Everyone at INSEAD nervous about the grad trip to Bali on account of Mt. Agung, which has shown increased volcanic activity since the end of the summer:
In fact, there was an INSEAD vote in September to see if students wanted to move the trip from Bali to Phuket, Thailand that was narrowly defeated by 42% to 58% in a student vote. The reason was that most students had already purchased their flights and the 100% loss of these flights was deemed worse than the potential (and much higher) possible loss of the entire trip. This is actually a well documented psychological phenomena known as prospect theory. To demonstrate, imagine that you had the following two choices:
A) Win $100 for sure
B) Win $1000 with a 15% chance Which one would you pick?
Now, imagine the next scenario:
C) Lose $100 for sure
D) Lose $1000 with a 15% chance.
Which one would you pick now?
If you are like most people, you would pick A and D. But, this is not rational. In fact, B has a higher expected payoff than A with 15% x $1000 or $150. Similarly, C has lower expected losses of $100 versus $150. So if you picked A and D, you picked the worst choices, statistically of course. Relating this to the trip, no one wanted to lose their flights for sure, and so they were willing to gamble on a small chance of losing a lot more money and potentially the entire trip. I was one of them.
Graph showing that losses hurt more than similarly sized gains. It feels worse to lose $100 than to gain $100.
The menacing Mt. Agung which has cost Bali over $1 billion in lost tourism since the volcano became active in September due to trip cancellations and changes.
The first thing I noticed after arriving in Bali, Indonesia is that I could not read the local language. Yes, many signs were translated into English, but not all. This was a weird experience because I can almost always read signs as most of my travels have been in countries that speak Spanish, English, French, or Portuguese. Having no idea at all about signs was unusual for me. It also meant that I had to accept my role as a tourist. In Latin America I strive to be a true traveler and speak with the locals and take public transportation. Not in Bali. In fact, our tour bus had police escorts that would stop traffic on our behalf. We definitely had the royal treatment.
The second thing I noticed in the van from the airport to the hotel, was that motorcycles are the dominant form of transportation and kings of the road. Every country has its dominant player in transportation. In the United States it's cars, in the Netherlands it is the formidable bicyclist, in Olympia it's the long boarder, and in Bali it's the motorcycle. But not a motorcycle so much as a dirt bike/scooter. Sometimes an entire family of four would be on the same motorbike, all with no helmets. The ratio of motorcycles to cars was 5:1 and at every stoplight the bikes would filter through the cars and form a huge ball at the front of the intersection. When the light would change, the ball would take off like a swarm of bees and begin weaving in and out of traffic and forming their own lanes between cars.
Bali has an interesting culture. It is 89% Hindu in Muslim majority Indonesia. The local residents place small food offerings outside of their homes and businesses before each meal (3x per day) in the form of square leaf plate things with crackers and an incense. All the workers in the hotel would greet us with a bow as we passed by as would all shopkeepers we would interact with. It's a little uncomfortable to have someone bowing at you, so I found myself instinctively nodding my head forward in an awkward mini bow to reciprocate. Can't leave them hanging.
Back to the grad trip. The grad trip consisted of four days of partying and socializing:
Day 1: Welcome dinner and talent show
Day 2: Boat trip to Nusa Penida Island, snorkling, banana boat, Favela Club
Day 3: Pool party at Mrs. Sippy
Day 4: Beach Olympics and white party in a gothic cathedral club
Day 5: Flight to Singapore
The Grand Hyatt Hotel where we stayed. Bali has such a mild climate that the hotel itself is completely open to the outside. There are no walls in the lobby, hallways, etc.
Wounds from beach soccer at INSEAD Olympic games. We played five 15 minute games in deep sand. I've never been so sore. I also had a number of deep gashes in my legs as you play barefoot. Fortunately, we won the tournament and I scored two goals in the final to win 2-0. We weren't the best team, but we had a superior strategy of sitting back and scoring on counter attacks rather than trying to dominate possession. Beach soccer is also not the most beautiful version of soccer as passing and dribbling are very challenging. It was a great way to go out with a bang on the grad trip and many people congratulated me on the win during the cathedral party.
The trip was a great chance to reconnect with my INSEAD classmates whom I hadn't seen since June. While I had been simultaneously working and taking classes, they had been doing recruitment, taking a few classes, and going on lots of trips. The people who already had jobs secured from the summer internships had basically been traveling non-stop so Bali was just another place for them to go before graduating, whereas for me it had been the inspiration to work hard for 4 months. I realized that by foregoing INSEAD I did not have as deep of relationships as my classmates did, nevertheless I did form very strong relationships in just 6 months at INSEAD. In fact, I feel as though these relationships are stronger than the relationships I formed at SAIS in 18 months. I do not regret leaving INSEAD early as it was much better from both a personal and professional perspective, it's just something that I noticed. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
The third day was a day of rest after the pool party. Sandra and I decided to head over the the Festival of Lights which was a 10 minute walk on the beach from our hotel. The festival felt like something from Alice in Wonderland. They had rows and rows of colorful lights strung up like flowers in a field. We were the only tourists in the place, which made it feel a little more authentic. In addition to the flowers, they had light sculptures of dinosaurs, trees, animals, houses etc. It was a very special place and somewhere I won't forget.
On two of the nights we had open bar, and INSEADers definitely know how to take advantage of that. Even with 20 bar tenders constantly pouring drinks, they could not keep up with the thirst of 300 INSEAD students. Many times I would see an INSEAD student emerge from the bar with a tray of 30 tequila shots, which would disappear from the tray in a matter of seconds, like a chunk of meat dropped into a piranha tank. Everyone was in an amazing mood and wanted to have a good time. The vibe of the parties felt like a wedding. Everyone was so happy. Even though I hadn't seen anyone since June, we reconnected extremely fast. Admittedly, I found myself having to give the same 30 second life update repeatedly, but it was fun. Sandra also integrated extremely well into the group given that she had visited INSEAD on several occasions. Some INSEAD partners are clingy to their significant other, but Sandra almost had more friends than I did by the end of the week.
INSEAD gothic cathedral party. Dress code was all white.
After four exahausting days of socializing, partying, and beach soccer, we headed to Singapore for the official graduation ceremony. Double open mouth sleepers tuckered out on the flight from Bali to Singapore. We were randomly sitting next to a fellow INSEAD student.
Sunset cruise
From Roosevelt station as I transfer to airport train from my classes
Taboo airplane photo
Graffiti on train overpass taken while on a moving train
Our flight to Bali had a layover in Qatar ("kutur"), which was my first glimpse of the Middle East. It was actually a little strange flying to Qatar because its neighboring Gulf countries have an air embargo against Qatar Airways from flying over their land space. As such, all Qatar flights must avoid Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and UAE as seen in the picture below. The other different thing about Qatar is that all of the employees in the airport appeared to be immigrants and there was a separate lounge area for men and women to sit.
Moving on to Asia. Everyone at INSEAD nervous about the grad trip to Bali on account of Mt. Agung, which has shown increased volcanic activity since the end of the summer:
In fact, there was an INSEAD vote in September to see if students wanted to move the trip from Bali to Phuket, Thailand that was narrowly defeated by 42% to 58% in a student vote. The reason was that most students had already purchased their flights and the 100% loss of these flights was deemed worse than the potential (and much higher) possible loss of the entire trip. This is actually a well documented psychological phenomena known as prospect theory. To demonstrate, imagine that you had the following two choices:
A) Win $100 for sure
B) Win $1000 with a 15% chance Which one would you pick?
Now, imagine the next scenario:
C) Lose $100 for sure
D) Lose $1000 with a 15% chance.
Which one would you pick now?
If you are like most people, you would pick A and D. But, this is not rational. In fact, B has a higher expected payoff than A with 15% x $1000 or $150. Similarly, C has lower expected losses of $100 versus $150. So if you picked A and D, you picked the worst choices, statistically of course. Relating this to the trip, no one wanted to lose their flights for sure, and so they were willing to gamble on a small chance of losing a lot more money and potentially the entire trip. I was one of them.
Graph showing that losses hurt more than similarly sized gains. It feels worse to lose $100 than to gain $100.
The menacing Mt. Agung which has cost Bali over $1 billion in lost tourism since the volcano became active in September due to trip cancellations and changes.
The first thing I noticed after arriving in Bali, Indonesia is that I could not read the local language. Yes, many signs were translated into English, but not all. This was a weird experience because I can almost always read signs as most of my travels have been in countries that speak Spanish, English, French, or Portuguese. Having no idea at all about signs was unusual for me. It also meant that I had to accept my role as a tourist. In Latin America I strive to be a true traveler and speak with the locals and take public transportation. Not in Bali. In fact, our tour bus had police escorts that would stop traffic on our behalf. We definitely had the royal treatment.
The second thing I noticed in the van from the airport to the hotel, was that motorcycles are the dominant form of transportation and kings of the road. Every country has its dominant player in transportation. In the United States it's cars, in the Netherlands it is the formidable bicyclist, in Olympia it's the long boarder, and in Bali it's the motorcycle. But not a motorcycle so much as a dirt bike/scooter. Sometimes an entire family of four would be on the same motorbike, all with no helmets. The ratio of motorcycles to cars was 5:1 and at every stoplight the bikes would filter through the cars and form a huge ball at the front of the intersection. When the light would change, the ball would take off like a swarm of bees and begin weaving in and out of traffic and forming their own lanes between cars.
Bali has an interesting culture. It is 89% Hindu in Muslim majority Indonesia. The local residents place small food offerings outside of their homes and businesses before each meal (3x per day) in the form of square leaf plate things with crackers and an incense. All the workers in the hotel would greet us with a bow as we passed by as would all shopkeepers we would interact with. It's a little uncomfortable to have someone bowing at you, so I found myself instinctively nodding my head forward in an awkward mini bow to reciprocate. Can't leave them hanging.
Back to the grad trip. The grad trip consisted of four days of partying and socializing:
Day 1: Welcome dinner and talent show
Day 2: Boat trip to Nusa Penida Island, snorkling, banana boat, Favela Club
Day 3: Pool party at Mrs. Sippy
Day 4: Beach Olympics and white party in a gothic cathedral club
Day 5: Flight to Singapore
The Grand Hyatt Hotel where we stayed. Bali has such a mild climate that the hotel itself is completely open to the outside. There are no walls in the lobby, hallways, etc.
Wounds from beach soccer at INSEAD Olympic games. We played five 15 minute games in deep sand. I've never been so sore. I also had a number of deep gashes in my legs as you play barefoot. Fortunately, we won the tournament and I scored two goals in the final to win 2-0. We weren't the best team, but we had a superior strategy of sitting back and scoring on counter attacks rather than trying to dominate possession. Beach soccer is also not the most beautiful version of soccer as passing and dribbling are very challenging. It was a great way to go out with a bang on the grad trip and many people congratulated me on the win during the cathedral party.
The trip was a great chance to reconnect with my INSEAD classmates whom I hadn't seen since June. While I had been simultaneously working and taking classes, they had been doing recruitment, taking a few classes, and going on lots of trips. The people who already had jobs secured from the summer internships had basically been traveling non-stop so Bali was just another place for them to go before graduating, whereas for me it had been the inspiration to work hard for 4 months. I realized that by foregoing INSEAD I did not have as deep of relationships as my classmates did, nevertheless I did form very strong relationships in just 6 months at INSEAD. In fact, I feel as though these relationships are stronger than the relationships I formed at SAIS in 18 months. I do not regret leaving INSEAD early as it was much better from both a personal and professional perspective, it's just something that I noticed. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
The third day was a day of rest after the pool party. Sandra and I decided to head over the the Festival of Lights which was a 10 minute walk on the beach from our hotel. The festival felt like something from Alice in Wonderland. They had rows and rows of colorful lights strung up like flowers in a field. We were the only tourists in the place, which made it feel a little more authentic. In addition to the flowers, they had light sculptures of dinosaurs, trees, animals, houses etc. It was a very special place and somewhere I won't forget.
On two of the nights we had open bar, and INSEADers definitely know how to take advantage of that. Even with 20 bar tenders constantly pouring drinks, they could not keep up with the thirst of 300 INSEAD students. Many times I would see an INSEAD student emerge from the bar with a tray of 30 tequila shots, which would disappear from the tray in a matter of seconds, like a chunk of meat dropped into a piranha tank. Everyone was in an amazing mood and wanted to have a good time. The vibe of the parties felt like a wedding. Everyone was so happy. Even though I hadn't seen anyone since June, we reconnected extremely fast. Admittedly, I found myself having to give the same 30 second life update repeatedly, but it was fun. Sandra also integrated extremely well into the group given that she had visited INSEAD on several occasions. Some INSEAD partners are clingy to their significant other, but Sandra almost had more friends than I did by the end of the week.
INSEAD gothic cathedral party. Dress code was all white.
After four exahausting days of socializing, partying, and beach soccer, we headed to Singapore for the official graduation ceremony. Double open mouth sleepers tuckered out on the flight from Bali to Singapore. We were randomly sitting next to a fellow INSEAD student.
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