Upload Done

It took me a good week or so, but finally the photos from the recent Penang MSH meeting were up. It was just that I had a couple of calls right after the meeting last week, and finding time to sit down and go through the photos was a bit difficult. After the photos were done, then there was a small matter of uploading the the photos onto my server. And that would take bandwidth as each photos was about 1Mb in size. It didn't take that long with the fibre connection at the apartment, but finding time to do so at the apartment was another story.

Once the photos were ported up, then I had to embed than onto the website. And that took me another couple of hours. It wasn't long but finding the time to sit down and do them was the problem.

Anyhow, it was all done. I decided to capture the photos in RAW on the 7D, making colour management through Aperture, less tricky. I was actually pretty happy with the results.

Morning Suns

Yes, the venue was sub-par, but the location of the hotel was to die for. With my room facing the glorious sunrise - I had always preferred sunrise to sunset - I was treated to brilliant spectacle on each of the morning I was in Penang.

If not for the flags and manifesto lining the beachfront - the General Election was due in a week's time - I would have happily enjoy a morning walk in front of the hotel. But, maybe next time ….

Gurney Down

I was rather disappointed with the current state of Gurney Hotel, the venue for our recent Haematology Meeting. The place had certainly been run down compared to what it was back in 2010, the last time I was there. It needed proper maintenance, or to put in bluntly, it needed proper management. The current crop should hang their collective heads in shame.

In the past, the food was reasonably good, the state of the room were well above average, the jacuzzi in the main bathroom suite was in working order, and the internet actually was of broadband speed.

Now, the food was dreadful, the room was stuffy, and even the air conditioning was not working properly. I had four air-conditioning unit in my apartment, and only one remote was available. My room lacked proper lighting, I couldn't even get any work done. And the internet …… I was sure you could get faster speed in North Korea.

The other thing which actually irked me was the lift. The hotel had almost 30 floors, but with only 3 lifts for the patrons. The less I elaborate the better I thought …..

But the main reason why I was strong in my criticism was the fact that the hotel wasn't not able to cope with the 550 delegates - and 31 pharma booths - for the event, despite claiming that they could easily manage 750. Bold claims, but couldn't deliver ……..

Gurney Hotel, Penang

World Cup Dude!I had to leave early, and had breakfast at the main restaurant as my transport to G was at about 8.30 am. The boys were still fast asleep then - they had only slept after midnight. I later found out that after breakfast, Puan Anita and the boys spent a couple of hours in the pool! As the lunch break for my talks were a couple of hours, I walked back to Gurney Hotel to surprise the boys. They have just returned from the pool, Idlan was enjoying his ice-cream, while Puan Anita was getting ready to take them down for lunch.

I decided to take my camera out while walking back to G. The weather was really sunny on the afternoon, but the cool sea breeze kept things comfortable. I soon realised that the sea front along Gurney Drive had at least seven Bak Kut Teh restaurant - even more than the whole of Klang I thought! While waiting for the afternoon session to start, I had the chance to have a look around G. It certainly was very chic. The main lobby was expansive and open from one end to the next, giving the impression that it was more of a long corridor rather than a hotel lobby. Right next door was Gurney Plaza, an upscale mall by Penang standard, complete with multiplex cinemas. The banquet and conference service there were definitely state-of-the-art. It was a popular venue for weddings amongst the local upper middle-class.

The main lobby at Gurney HotelThe boys enjoying Shaun the Sheep! My favourite as well.Time for the pool. Nice slides but believe it or not, there was no wading pool.The infinity pool for adultsGym next to the pool, with beach sand of courseHmm! Let's work this one outThe session I had after lunch was quite long. I only arrived back to my room around 7 pm. After a quick wash, we headed for a drive around Georgetown, stopping for dinner at Padang Kota - more about that in the next entry. After dinner, me and the boys had another jacuzzi session before putting them to bed. The next morning, I woke up early in the hope of a quick photowalk around the Masjid Kapitan Keling area. Unfortunately the weather was gloomy. I skipped that instead.

After breakfast, they boys insisted on a session at the pool. Another quick dip, then it was time to pack up and check out. On the way back to KL, we stopped at KFC for lunch, then stopped by at Pahang Road to visit my grandmother. We finally reached Gombak just before 6 in the afternoon.

Penang Ahoy!

Idlan getting settled inEverytime I was invited to Penang for a talk, either as a speaker or just sitting in to listen, it was an opportunity to balik kampung - return home. Such opportunity came last weekend. One of the pharmaceutical company invited me to Penang, and I decided to drive the troupe along.

Morning sunrise from our roomThe main bathroom complete with jacuzzi, attached to the master bedroomI left work right after clinic last Friday, leaving KL just after 3.30 pm. Everybody was already full, so we drove on none-stop. We reached Prai at about 6.45 , crossed the Penang Bridge but only arrived at the hotel to check in just after 8, such was the traffic in Penang. It seemed that everybody was rushing around, either for food, or to reach home as on the night, Brazil were playing the Dutch - Dutch won despite Brazil dominating the first half.

The main living and dining area - I was about to unpack the WiiThe room we checked in was a two-bedroom suite, and the boys were really excited. The attached bathroom had a jacuzzi and a separate shower, hence the first order of business was a quick dip in the tub, while Puan Anita putting the room service order in. The boys were still running around until the end of the football match - which was around midnight. They were full of beans. It was not helped by the fact that the boys were asleep in the car on the drive up.

The suite we stayed in. Up on the 29th floor!We stayed at Gurney Hotel. The room was spacious. It has a main bedroom, with the jacuzzi. The other room was for the maid. She has another bathroom to use. There was a combined dining and living area, plus a small kitchenette. This was the second time we stayed here, the first being a couple of years ago. We specifically asked for this room even though the talk was actually held at the much newer and chic G Hotel, 15 minutes walk away. The round-the-clock room service was good. The best thing was the in-room breakfast. The boys just woke up, ran around and was ready for breakfast. No need to head for shower first. The added bonus was, football was shown live in the rooms.

I will talk about the hotel, and its services and swimming pool on a later entry. The slideshow of the photos taken during the trip can be seen here.