Perhentian

Last weekend 6 of us ventured to an island off the east coast of peninsula Malaysia - around 7 hours bus ride plus one hour "ferry" (speed boat) from KL. And it was PERFECT :)

The island is covered in jungle but seriously, the beach (called Long Beach but actually super short, and not that wide either) is the only place where anything is. The 'restaurants', booking & departure points for scuba diving & snorkelling, accommodation, and a couple of shops. There isn't anything else.

Cool stuff:

• Not wearing shoes the whole time
• It was quiet
  
• No-one ever knew what the time was - or cared

Weird stuff:

• The geckos were blue-tongue sized
• We had a crappy room with two beds (between the 6 of us) but a balcony with an awesome view-the first 2 pics below. We probably spent about 20 mins in the room actually awake, so no probs :) Our bed had a mosquito net, so we felt like princesses - well, me & Pavla anyway
  
• Every restaurant (except one that was actually a restaurant) had the same menu, it just looked different until you started reading it

The shakes were also very cool - specifically, mango (ahhh Cambodia!) and Snickers. In fact, the shakes were so cool that there have since been 2 blenders purchased :)

Snorkelling was awesome. It was the first time I've been, the water was sooooo clear, and we saw turtles (man they swim fast), nemo's cousins (I really should see that movie), and lots of other super cool fish & corals. We also had some excitement with a super strong current and a boat that seemed happy to wait for us to fight our way back there. The frustrating thing for me though is that when I see fish, I'm happy, and I smile. And then, the water starts to leak into the mask cos those smile lines! The same goes for waving at your mates underwater - grrr!

HR Forum 2007

After months of a little bit of work each week, and a few weeks of heaps of work each day, HR Forum 2007 came & went at the end of June (yes I know, I'm late!). This is an HR conference that our company runs annually in KL.

I was happy because:

1. No major crises - phew!
2. The speakers were really good, including the one from Adelaide :D I got to sit in on a few of the sessions and it was cool
   
3. The participants all seemed happy, they asked questions during the panel forums and got right into the "networking" spirit of things during break times
   
4. The feedback was good
5. The food was good - this is very important in Malaysia :)
6. The powers that be were happy - this is very important no matter where you are ;)

National Ambassador's Camp

This small 3-day AIESEC camp held in the seaside (ugh...) town of Port Dickson was my first hardcore AIESEC conference experience in over a year. And it was great :) I volunteered to help faci and ended up being conference manager & chair (a new combination for me!), but luckily it was a pretty chilled out affair, more camp than conference, so not too crazy at all.

I was more than a little shocked that agenda was being written a week before the event itself... I'm assured it's not like that usually. But it was kind of cool in a way. Rush to the MC office each night after work, 2 hours of planning & laughs, then off for dinner. Pretty relaxed, and definitely culture shock for Pavla, Csilli and I who are used to conference preparation being a little more... intense. Anyway, everything came together and the weekend was a success. It was great getting to know the 'new' MC team better (some I didn't know at all before) and the delegates as well.

The whole weekend was focussed on exchange - something I'm quite passionate about :) - and working in an international faci team (MC including Csilli plus Pavla & myself) was just as fun as always. I went to sleep so happy on Saturday night. I don't know how to describe it, but being in an AIESEC conference environment again was so uplifting. The energy level, the interest in getting to know and learn from each other, the anticipation of the difference we can make when we leave... It's something special that makes me sure that, no matter how frustrating it can be sometimes, I will always be happy to be associated with AIESEC and proud to count myself among our alumni.

Memorable moments included:

• "Malaysia Truly Asia" session especially traditional dance/game from East Malaysia, and the local delegates singing Malay songs

• Myself & Jasper (JasMINE) as the faci team representatives at the cross-dressing party
• Games at the beach (and being dunked in the the least beautiful part of the ocean I've seen in M'sia..)
• Global village
• Sharing from Bon & Eric about their traineeship experiences (APX reunion!)
• Faci team plots to "acquire" team mascots and eggs... and team member tactics to avoid it
  
• Really different ideas and ways of thinking on controversial issues at world cafe
• Watermelon eating competition
• Dancing "old" songs with Pavla & Csilli, and learning the newer ones
• Sharing time in closing plenary
  
• Wrap-up with the faci team

Manglish

Who offed the pantry light?
Translation: Who turned off the kitchen light?

Why you so like that ah?
Translation: Why are you so grouchy today?

Got?
Translation: Do you have it?

Got discount?
Translation: What's your best price?

Can ah?
Translation: You can do it, right?

Can can!
Translation: Sure, no problem!

Why not follow me lah?
Translation: I'll give you a lift/ride

You sent her already is it?
Translation: So you already drove her there?