Pearl of the Orient - Episode 1

16 December 2007

I was away in Penang over the weekend attending a conference. It was a hectic 1 1/2 day session. As usual, most of us had to work late hours to complete our group assignments to be presented during the plenary session. So peluang nak keluar merambu tu agak terhad lah. Aku sampai Penang dalam pukul 3:00 petang, Friday, 14 December 2007, together with CZ, NSY and ARG. Dalam pukul 3:30 petang dah sampai kat Zurina's (a butik selling branded goods in Penang). Baru tengah sibuk2 shopping, I received a call informing that there will be a meeting at 5:00 p.m. So tak sempat nak shopping sepuasnya, terpaksalah aku bergegas ke hotel. Sempat lah aku beli 3 helai t-shirt Lacoste.

Just when we arrived at the hotel, I was informed that the meeting has been postponed until after dinner.... Larrr.... Ponet den! So all of us decided to go out again after checking in and sembahyang. We went out at about 5:30 pm ke Teluk Bahang. Rupanya kat Penang ni ada Taman Negara Pulau Pinang. Nampak cam best. Maybe next time. We then stopped over at the nearby mamak stall and pekena mee mamak and teh tarik. Mee mamak dia ala-ala manis sikit.... kureng diminati oleh anak tekak aku.

Lepas makan, tetiba datang idea nak bangun awal to exercise besok pagi. So sebab aku tak bawa kasut...pegi lah beli kasut plak (RM150 for a good Nike shoes at 50% off). Memang lah aku ni hantu kasut... kat rumah bersusun-susun kasut yg tak dipakai pon. Lepas beli kasut we proceded back to the hotel.

Lepas Maghrib ada welcoming dinner...so terpaksa lah pergi. Lepas dinner aku ada meeting yang berlarutan sampai ke 1 pagi. Sekian!

Besok paginya, kasut jogging Nike yang dibeli semalam tak dijamah pon. I went straight to the conference hall sebab bangun lambat. Pukul 6 ptg baru habis discussion. After Maghrib ada another dinner, and lepas dinner sambung discussion balik. Aiyo..penat sudah. Aku sempat keluar jap dengan ARG for about an hour, shopping kat night bazaar di Batu Ferringhi. Takde benda sangat except I bought souvenirs for NM and NA. Then balik hotel sambung keje. Dalam kesibukan ni, sempat juga a few of us planned a surprise birthday party for ARG dalam pukul 11 mlm macam tu. At 11:30 pm, aku sneaked out sekali lagi to meet NM and MZ yang bermalam di resort Penang. MS pon ikut sekali... Hasrat hati nak cari Starbucks, tapi ended up kat Restoran Subaidah. Dalam pukul 1 lebih dah balik hotel coz memasing dah tak larat.

The conference continued on Sunday with a plenary discussion. Habis dalam 12:30 tgh hari. Aku, ARG and CZ chow from hotel dah dekat pukul 3 pm. Sampai KL dalam pukul 8 malam lepas adegan singgah menyinggah membeli buah dan sebagainya di sepanjang lebuhraya. I plan to come again to Penang in the near future....we will see how!