For those of you who have been following me from the beginning of this travel blog or have read my previous posts, you may have known the fact that I’ve already made a plan to fly to Padang, Indonesia to volunteer myself – under the US-based organization called Hands On Disaster Relief (HODR) – following a massive earthquake that struck the area in October last year.
That plan was initially made when I was looking for any opportunities abroad, and while doing my research online, I stumbled upon HODR. HODR is …

The recent earthquakes that struck off Padang, Indonesia have left me feeling distressed to a certain extent. I was really concerned about the Hands On Disaster Response team at the basecamp. Upon being asked whether everyone was alright, Tom informed me that Stef (that’s Stefanie Chang, the International Project Director) tweeted him that all was okay. And this is her e-mail:
There were two quakes but no reports of additional damage. It would be a good idea to check with the airline, but we didn’t hear any earthquake news from …

Due to certain unavoidable circumstances, I would have to put my volunteer stint in Padang, Indonesia off till later time. Kind of upset about it, but then again, the plan is not canceled. Just postponed. Call it telepathy, but when I was logging in to my e-mail to inform Tom Taylor (Hands On Disaster Response staff in their Boston office) about it, his e-mail was already in my mailbox!

He was supposed to be expecting me this 1st of January. Instead, I will be going in February 2010. I’ve watched …

As a matter of fact, I used three methods – SMS, e-mail, phone call. Firstly, I sent an SMS to a mobile phone number given on the website. No reply. Secondly, I e-mailed my resume and a letter to express my intention. Still no response. Lastly, I called their headquarter and was asked to send my resume via e-mail. Which I said I already did. The person-in-charge told me that it’s already the end of the year, and I have to wait until 2010 comes and there will be more …