A Quick Hop

A bit of a change this weekend with an overnight trip down south to Singapore on Friday. Great that I would be back on Saturday evening and would have the Sunday to chill.

I was at the hospital early that morning to clear a few things before Anita dropped me at KL Sentral for early lunch. The journey to KLIA was tight as the train was full. Most of the passengers however went on to KLIA2. My flight was only half full.

Didn't pack muchThe train to KLIA was packedDelayed ...The schedule for the rest of today and tomorrow looked full. I would go straight to the conference venue from the airport, then to attend the faculty dinner before my pickup back to the hotel at 9.30 pm. I would only check myself in then.

It would be an early start tomorrow. Pickup would be at 7.30. My talk would be after the coffee break in the morning before being taken straight to airport for a 7pm flight.

En routeWaiting for my pick-up from the airport ...What should I do on Sunday then? There is a hifi show in town. Maybe I'll go to that ...

Four Years

I had been a Member of the Hospital Medical Advisory Board for the past two sessions - four years. I was the secretary for the last couple, and yesterday we held a fresh election which I did not stand for.

It was not too taxing but I had to spend a few afternoons a month attending meetings and other duties. Time to take a break. During that period, I was involved in Doctor's Agreement negotiations, implementation of GST - and now the removal of it - and also the introduction of the computer system at the hospital that was still a bone of contention at work.

So, the job was concluded with the minutes of the Staff Meeting held today. Time to sign off!

All Planned Out

I may have pulled out the short straw. But it was something which needed to be done. I was asked to organise the upcoming Malaysian Society of Haematologist Scientific Meeting for 2018 and I felt that one day I would be organising it like many other before me.

We do the meeting every year alternating between Kelang Valley and elsewhere. It was JB in 2017. I remember my first such meet in 2004. It was held at Marriott Putrajaya, which was secluded compared to how it is today where the IOI Mall sat next to it. It was barren back then.

The first order of business was to book the venue. Again, it would be the newly renovated Shangri-La KL, as it was a couple of years back. I surveyed a few other spots but none had the same facility as Shangri-La and it was at a right price.

Then came the team. And this would be a good one. My mates were helping out and now we were just waiting for the sponsors and registration to come in. Still plenty needed to be organised but I'm quietly confident that it would turn out OK. Although I am fully expecting more grey hairs by the time April comes.

Overnight in Singapore

It was a meeting I was invited to in Singapore, and it involved an overnight stay. Initially I was not very keen but I thought I might as well go.

I left after my rounds on a Thursday, flew over reaching Singapore in time for dinner.

Then I had a free morning for myself - enough time to prepare for my talks on a later date. The meeting proper only started on the Friday afternoon after which I had to catch a flight home straight after.

A full day, not really much time to do anything else but to read, sleep and read some more ...

Good thing that the hotel was cosy and there plenty of malls next door. Not that I could afford to shop with the state of Malaysia Ringgit! I was then greeted with a busy Saturday morning clinic as well as a couple of talks to give upon return, not to mention being on call on the Sunday! Happy times!

The Mandarin Orchard

I must admit that I have a soft spot for old hotels. In Malaysia, we do not have many of those, and if there were, they were all still relatively new. That was why I was always keen on E&O, Smokehouse and similar colonial-like establishment.

In KL, there were not that many of those. So, I tended to gravitate toward hotels established since the 70s. Shangri-La in KL, Hilton PJ to name a few. The service tended to be more established although I was detecting a decline in the service at the PJ hotel mentioned.

The rather understated main lobby, located on the fifth floorAdorning the ceiling of the lobby was this rather unique detailWhen I was in Singapore recently, I stayed at Mandarin Orchard. Not exactly a new hotel, but certainly they offered modern amenities. The hotel was originally opened in 1971, and since then, they have added new wings. I stayed at one of the newer wing during my overnight stay and the service was excellent. Food was nice as well.

Only before I left that I realised that there was a boutique mall at the ground floor of the hotel, which included outlet from Tumi, Bell and Ross as well as a Leica. I asked for a grip for my Q, but they didn’t have it in stock ….

The hotel was located near a few of the major shopping outlets in Orchard Road, and an Apple outlet was only 5 minutes away. Managed to get a nice case for Anita’s phone during that trip. There was a couple of MRT stations right around the corner and a McDonald’s outlet behind my block. Certainly was a great location.

The Leica store at the hotel lobbyOne of the exit from my hotel. Straight from the lift from my floor.All the guests also had access to a mobile phone for them to take around from the room. It allowed me to make free phone calls to Malaysia in fact to 15 countries. A neat system and it had a free internet SIM at LTE speed. All free, unlimited internet. Shame that you couldn’t use it to tether!

The hotel also has free wifi, which is quite fast and all the things you would expect in a modern hotel ….

The hotel official website is here.