The Langham

Now, The Langham is a great hotel. Full of tradition, and somewhere I wouldn't otherwise could afford to stay in. This was where I was put up in Hong Kong and also where the conference was held. And it was snack in the middle of the posh shopping district. A mall sat quite literally next door. If only Ringgit was strong ...

The hotel had pedigree. A sign of the colonial past, which reminded me of E&O in Penang. I was told that the Peninsular in town was even more a pedigree, but I don't think that this hotel was that far off.

The famous lobby

The lobby was small and the pool sat right on the top floor - unfortunately I didn't even have the time to have a peek at the pool. It was supposed to be grand. What the lobby lacked in size was more than made up by its sheer elegance. There was a cafe by the reception with the main eatery where breakfast and lunch were served sat on the other end. The lobby cafe was famous for its English afternoon tea - served on a specially designed Wedgewood.

There was also a two Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant on the first floor plus another two more American-themed joint located in the basement. The reception dinner was held at the Bostonian - where I had Halal ribs - and right next door to that was an American cafe called Main Street. Wished I had time to have a look at that.

For breakfast ...My room was a standard one on the seventh floor. Nothing much in terms of view from my window but the room was spacious and cosy, great amenities and the in-room dining - I had some salad on the night I arrived - was superb. They had a full movie and sports - alas no football - channels as well as pay-to-view and the internet was free. I had the 30Mb speed courtesy of the conference.

Breakfast was a mixture of continental and Eastern food. They knew how to make a decent omelet there, and I have Halal meals especially prepared for me for lunch.

The service was top notch. The staffs spoke perfect English and knew how to make the visitors welcomed. Transfers to and from airport took around 30 minutes. There was a metro station right next door.

Don't think I could ever afford to stay here again, and the place was certainly up there when it came to opulence.

More write-up on the trip here.

That Was Quick!

Was at a Celcom branch yesterday to settle my bill - yes, I activated data roaming during my recent trips! - and i started to test the LTE speed in the branch!

Holy cow! This one was fast! It soon slow down the moment I stepped out of the store. It was not helped by the fact that there was a Maxis branch right opposite .....

Submission Done

This was going to be my 3-monthly ritual form now on. Submitting the GST, which was due at the end of this month. The paperwork alone was a bit of a nightmare, but hopefully I got everything in order. The fact that the under the law, it carried a criminal penalty did not help matter.

But the Customs Department had streamlined its process and payment had been less of a pain. I was able to do everything online, with the payment linked straight into my bank account. I didn't have to physically open my chequebook or take a trip to the bank for this one.

I must say I had been having sleepless nights thinking about all this and certainly its combination with the economic downturn was starting to take its toll. Prices were all going out while salaries remained stagnant, or in some cases coming down for those unfortunate enough not being able to retain their job. Best to take stock during this time of economic downturn to plan ahead ....

Back to the Usual

The weekend came and went. My return flight from Hong Kong got delayed, which spoilt Anita's plan to pick me up at the airport with the boys. By the time I came out of the departure hall, the boys were already cranky being there for almost 3 hours. But they had already had dinner and were aware that my flight would be delayed.

At least I didn't have to go around looking for taxi that evening. However the delay caused me to miss the first half of the Manchester derby. Unpacking came next and it was well past midnight when I finally got to sleep.

Monday morning was rather easy going as I didn't have any inpatient and my clinic was in the afternoon. So, I took the time to have a late breakfast in Bangsar while sorting out some personal banking matters. By the time I reached home that evening, I was already spent and couldn't wait to get straight to bed.

Back for the usual routine then, especially when one of my colleagues would be away for the weekend. I also had a medical call coming ....

Second Day

Had a very fruitful day yesterday and I had a good night sleep after a quick walk around town after dinner. Rather tired when I reached the hotel, and I then realised that they do not show football here. But the Rugby World Cup was going on, and I fell asleep in front of the TV

Early start this morning, breakfast and then a quick morning stroll around the hotel. Not much to see as there was already plenty of people walking around. I hang around a bit by the pier, before walking back to the hotel, packed and went to the lecture hall.

I planned to go to the shop for a quick shopping after the morning tea. That should give me enough time to return before the last session and check out. My transport to the airport would be right after lunch. Back to the lecture ....

More on the trip here.