Damai Laut - Part II

View of the nearby Pulau PangkorI actually got up before the morning 6 am morning call! An achievement. I realised that there were a few mosquitoes in my room as well when I got up. I slept like a baby even though the bar was still belting out some disco numbers at the time I took to bed. My room was near the main reception, where the bar was situated and I can hear the music coming in through the windows. Shower, got dressed, took my 7D and went straight to breakfast. It was still too dark to go out for snaps at the time.

It was nice to be valued, especially just before being covered by swarm of jellyfishYup, it was SaturdayWalking up to the main lobbyBreakfast was pretty basic, and on the whole considering this being a four star hotel and the form of last evening’s barbecue dinner, I was expecting more. There were the usual assortment of continental, English and local breakfast, but they lacked variety. I settled for some omelette and cereals. Had a chat with the other delegates and introduced myself to the speaker - Mr Raja Badrul from UPM, the other being my friend KT Chua. I then had around half an hour to explore the hotel with my camera. The hotel was facing west, and it was still overcast, so no beach pictures yet. I snapped the facilities and the pool. Had a walk around the compound, before heading back into the room to get ready. I was chairing the session that morning, so had to be on time.

Felt like dropping everything an just lay there

The morning session started early, and was wrapped up by 10. However we were not finished yet as there were more activities later. The organiser had arranged a kin of paperchase for the delegates - which I will talk about in the coming entries. That was the time when we managed to explore the resort further, having the chance to sample archery and the lot. Being a sensible photographer, I took my camera along. Suffice to say that we came last …..

One of my junior colleague, Helmi, checking out the poolYes! I got the idea.The room provided for me was the sea view deluxe. It had a couple of balconies - one facing the sea, an another facing …. a wall. Due to the short stay, I never really had the chance to sample what the resort had to offer. From the limited time I had, I found that it was what to expect from a four-star resort. The food was reasonable, with a good selection for room service. The ambiance was very soothing. There was a comprehensive spa service, a karaoke lounge, herbal garden and sports facilities, such as archery, watersports, beach volleyball and soccer. There was also a tennis court and for the avid golfer, there is an 18-hole par 72 nearby. If you fancy an apartment, or even bungalow villas, there were a few units, which you pass through on the drive to the resort.

Karaoke anyone?Or for some ice-cream?

The swimming pool looked tempting, but the sea front was quite small, and there was a big warning sign about jellyfish. I think, I would recommend sticking to the pool. The was also a wading pool for the kids. Will I come here again? For the price of around RM350 and if you don’t mind a lightly disappointing - at least to my standard - level of food selection, it will be worth a visit. The danger of staying more than a couple of nights would be you might be left with nothing much to do, unless you were on your honeymoon of course. Personally, I was willing to give the resort another chance. When? Not soon I don’t think. We were planning to go down south for the next holiday.

For more information on the resort, please click here. I have also uploaded the slideshow of the visit here.

A Masterplan

It's always very tiring turning up at work after missing a couple of days. In my case, with the last couple of days away in Ipoh, I had plenty of catching up to do. None more so than the plan I was hatching with a Pharmaceutical company friend about a workshop in the next couple of months.

The plan initially came about a couple of years back with a former housemate from Sheffield. He was working with a Pharmaceutical company then, still is now, but only in a different division. We had this idea of teaching the specifics of antibiotics therapy to the Masters students or senior Medical Officer who will be Specialist in the coming few years. The first was held in Port Dickson in 2008. We were now planning the second instalment. The discussion just now concerns the venue and the content.

It was still in it's early draft and we were deciding on the suitable speakers. We had a few in mind. A few phone calls needed to be made. The timing will also soon be finalised but I can't see it happening before June.

Program such as this I feel is quite important as the alternative would be either flying the students abroad to conferences or flying in speakers from abroad to give a lecture or two. What we needed was more coaching and sharing of experiences rather than just a one-way lecture. In PD during the last workshop, we had a voting pad sustem installed so that questions can be answered anonymously. We Malaysian are always afraid to get things wrong even though we don't have clues what the answers were. That way, we can gauge undertanding in the crowd and address issues directly. I was hoping for more of these but once in a couple of years was a good start.