The Meeting Venue

Typically, the meeting venue I have been to were a long room with chairs and tables arranged in rows. So, when I attended the talk in Singapore this week, I was quite surprised by the arrangement. It was a rectangular room, but rather than the screen being at the long-end, it was at one of the sides.

The seats were then arranged in semi-circle, appearing as if I was attending a lecture at university or a meeting at the United Nations. They had screens on either sides of the stage, but during the video conference, you might have to strain your eyes to look at the projection at the opposite end while looking at the other screen at the presenter.

A bit strain to the neck as the screen and the video was a a different ends of the hallAlmost wrapped upThe venue itself was great. And since the arrangement were as such, I suspect that the room was purpose-built for small conferences such as this. I think the maximum they could fit into the hall was 100.

The other novelty about the place was it was located on the 35th floor of the hotel I stayed in, the Mandarin Orchard. Interesting.

Overnight in Singapore

I was invited to attend a forum in Singapore. The problem was, the meeting was sandwiched in the middle of my week, with clinic being opened tomorrow. Flying in on the evening before the meeting then flying home right after. No real time to rest.

But I would prefer to do that rather than spend another day. It would interrupt my work flow otherwise, and considering I was off a couple of weeks back, may be it was time to sit down and work ....

Cosy chairNot much of a view from my roomAll packed upI had the chance to do a bit of walking around the hotel I stayed in right after I arrived. And the first order of business would be to get Anita her iPhone cover. Still tricky to get covers for iPhone 7 in KL at the moment, but there plenty of them here in Singapore.

After that was done, it was time get some rest. Early start tomorrow morning.

Casual Day

The Malaysian Society of Haematology would be holding our yearly Scientific Conference later this week and I had been gearing down my clinic for that as I would be involved. This morning in fact, I have cancelled my clinic in Subang but had to make my way to Park City for a session. And today, I was just dressed casually in jeans and sneakers, and everybody was wondering why.

Well, best to wind down the clinic fast as I have some things to do this afternoon plus a talk to attend from tonight.

Happy Conferencing!

3 Nights in Brisbane

It was a whirlwind of a trip. Arriving late one evening followed by series of meeting and then the conference. It was a great opportunity to network but the decision to leave straight after the conference end reduced the stay a bit more.

I only had a couple of hours in town on the whole but caught a glimpse of what Brisbane had to offer during my dinner events and the quick outings.

The skyline as I crossed the Victoria BridgeSome interesting cafe they have hereAnd the food was top notch ...The important thing was sorting out what to buy for the boys and Anita. No real time for sightseeing. Especially my hotel - Mantra South Bank - was right across the road from the conference venue.

Brisbane is actually a nice modern city. Very hot - the reason why I preferred Melbourne - with real hot sunshine. It hardly rained during the times I was there. The sky was blue, with none of the pollution of KL.

The City HallOut shopping ....They don't have Burger King here ....Calling it the night ....I would have loved to stay there a bit longer with a quick trip to Gold Coast only an hour away. I get to catch The Wheel of Brisbane and pat a koala, but by the time Sunday arrived, I just wanted to fly home and my schedule after would be packed. And sure enough it was.

I should plan for an extra day of rest next time ...

Midnight Oil

It had been a while since I had to prepare lectures and my luck was in. I had two in the next week. One this weekend and another way next week.

Good thing was I had no on calls until after the talks and I have cancelled my Saturday clinic so that I could attend the sessions before my talk at the event.

So, still had to do their finishing touches on the talks and it looked like I would have to retire soon. I still have the clinic to run tomorrow morning. Hopefully that would be lighter and I don't have any admissions in the afternoon.