The Promenade Kota Kinabalu

Unfortunately I was not referring to walking on the side of the beach here. But rather about the hotel I stayed in during my weekend at Kota Kinabalu. The Promenade happened to be where the MSH Scientific Meeting took place and staying there meant that I didn't have to worry about travels.

Anyhow, the hotel was more than capable of holding such an event. The rooms were just being refurbished. And you can tell from some unfinished fittings still left on some of the corners.
The wifi in the room was sluggish and not password protected. The TV channels were limited to 10, with only one sports channel. Luckily United were playing on Sunday, after I reached KL.

The lights on top of the main lobbyThe main lobbyThe reception areaA group of Korean climbers checking in. They looked to be very well prepared.On the first day, I had to get the plumbers to be sent because the toilet was getting clogged up from the previous tenant.

The breakfast was great actually. And the waitresses were attentive and polite, unlike some of the venues in KL which I was used to.

As for the hall, it struggled to accommodate the sheer number of delegates. We didn't plan for 500 people to start with, this being Kota Kinabalu and all. But we were wrong. Yes, we had to partition the ballroom for the pharma booths to fit in, which can get rather noisy. The ceiling in the meeting rooms were also rather low, but we coped OK. The AV system was UK although I stayed away from the wifi. My iPad has good LTE signal on the hall floor.

The bed was cosy enoughA nice seating area by the windowThe corridor from my roomThe hotel was also within walking distance from the town centre, the beach front and the Filipino Market which was a hit amongst the nurses. Transport in and out was simple via taxi.

On the whole, it was a pretty decent hotel. For lunch, I had some Chinese dim sum which was not bad. More of a working lunch rather than anything. Would definitely try it again if I return, although Sutera Harbour would still be my first choice.

MSH Meeting 2015

Traditionally, the Malaysian Society of Haematology held their scientific meeting yearly, alternating between Kuala Lumpur and outside. It was held at Shangri-La last year and Penang the year before that. So, this time it was again time to venture outside of Kelang Valley. So, it was Kota Kinabalu.

It was the first time the meeting was held there, and the initial plan was to both do a small meet up with a very selected topic covered. Initially, we wanted to talk about bleeding in pregnancy. It soon turned into a two-day event, the first day being about bleeding and the second about clotting, both with emphasis in women. It turned out to be a great program, with the help of the International Society of Thrombosis and Homeostasis. We got speakers from abroad to chip in, plus have a nursing workshop the day after. It was great.

Le President, Dr Alan Teh with his welcoming speechOn top of that, we had 500 delegates and secretariats turning up. It was much better than expected. I must say that I learned plenty. On top of the of course, there were great food!

I chaired one of the session and live blogged the whole event - except during Friday Prayers of course.

The participation from the Pharmaceuticals were also strong, with the booths oversubscribed. All the symposium slot were also taken. The whole weekend was a resounding success. There are also write-ups from yesteryear's meeting here.