Grand Hyatt Bali

Sprawling landscape with somewhat disappointing beach. That more or less summed up the place. Definitely a place to just chill with the nice room. Anita would've loved it if she could come along.

The whole complex was big. We could easily get lost walking around the compound. The signage was also not the best.

For the first evening, we decided to stay in and have dinner at the hotel rather than take a taxi out of town. Nusa Dua is a rather protected cocoon. The are more than 10 hotels with tight security coming in and out of the area. I was sure it was for the safety of tourists. Traveling into town from the hotel was rather problematic logistically. They even have their own retail area within Nusa Dua.

The dinner was at a Balinese restaurant at the hotel. They even had a cultural show to boot. Food was nothing special however.

Breakfast was a similarly standard fair. They had a couple of outlets doing breakfast and we tried both. The one by the pool - called Salsa Verde - was better.

Since the program was tight, I didn't really get to enjoy the facilities. But that didn't stop me from getting a 10 hour sleep the evening I arrived. It had been a while since I had such lay in. More information are at the hotel website.

Settling into Bali

It wasn't the most pleasant of flights. I was sure that if Anita came along, she would not have enjoyed it. It was bumpy and since it was a connecting flight with a group from Bangladesh, the flight was full.

There were no delays however although I arrived too late to check-in at KL Sentral. Took the ERL and by the time everything was cleared, the gate for the flight was already about to open.

We arrived in Bali 3 hours later. The queue for immigration was long but the authority there organiser it very well. By the time I picked my bags, our transport to the hotel had been waiting for us.

It took about half an hour to transfer to the hotel and after checking in, it was time for the beach ...

MSH 2017

I only managed to stay a single night of the MSH Meeting this time as I wanted to have some downtime after the trip. For the first time, the meeting was held in JB and it was a resounding success. Most of the participant stayed at the same venue making logistics straightforward.

The venue presented itself with some unique issues. Trying to fit into a medical conference configuration and demand was not straight forward and we ended up having the poster in the main hall while the Pharmaceutical booths hidden away in small little rooms, away from the normal flow of traffic. I ended up only visiting half of them since it was rather difficult to navigate around to visit them all.

There was also a nice auditorium where some of the satellite talks were held. Again, it was not design for free flow of participant, with the delegates ending up entering through next to the main stage - the only entrance - while the speakers were at the rostrum. Not exactly ideal. Then came the temperature control of the venue. It was freezing in there ....

After the meeting, I was told that I would be the organiser for next year's chapter. I planned to hold it somewhere near work and the hotel next door to SJMC looked like an enticing prospect.

Timing would be tight thought with Ramadhan starting mid May. Some of the speakers were reluctant to attend during Easter and the local speakers has local University exams to supervise during the period. I have decided to cut it fine and hold it on the second weekend of May next year, just before Ramadhan.

Best to sort out the venue soon ...

A Nice Stay

I was pleasantly surprised with the weekend stay in JB. The hotel - a Double Tree - certainly maintained their standard when it came to rooms and food. The breakfast spread in had there on the couple of mornings were better than expected.

From my window

And the main surprise I had was the staffing. They were all Malaysian as far as I could tell, from the receptionist, waiters, room service and parking operator. Close to Singapore where most of the skilled workers in this sector would have gone to, it was refreshing to see this.

The meeting was within the same hotel block and my lecture was only a lift-ride away. The room was also comfortable although it was mainly for work, and I had quiet night on the couple of evenings there. Combination of need for rest and laziness sorted that one out.

It's a JB Weekend

I was finally there. Arrived early evening on the Friday and I went straight to the shower and had some food since I have yet to finalise my slides. Had to do some tweaking before bed.

Rather than joining a dinner symposium, I decided to have my meal in the room and just had a quiet night.

The room was comfortable and I must say I overslept this morning, waking up later than I planned. I spent the morning sorting out my slide decks and enjoying the sun and the free wifi. I joined the faculty for lunch before doing my session, and planned to venture out to have a look outside before leaving early tomorrow morning.

That was my Boss Dr Ng Soo Chin giving his talk. The podium sign has yet to be changed.There were dinner planned out but I decided against joining, preferring to stay in instead. It was not common for me to have a quiet night, and as such I decided to enjoy it.

I also got to meet a few of my ex-nurses at the meeting and it was great to catch up with them.