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.

A Long Day

It certainly had been a fruitful day. Started early with breakfast, followed by the opening ceremonies and plenary session which was excellent. I then spent the next few session doing live blogging and taking notes.

I took a bit of a break at noon to go to the mosque nearby, taking a cab both ways with a few of my colleagues. We ended up hailing a cab in the rain for the ride home.

These are time bombs. They are juicy in the middle! Beware!I reached the hotel in time for lunch. Another Chinese seafood affair. Then came the afternoon session.

The day haven't stopped yet. Right after that, we had the MSH Annual General Meeting followed by another talk organised separately by a Pharma company. This was followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant. Again more seafood.

We finally reached the hotel at 10.30. Time for a shower and then settle down for the evening. Tomorrow should not be that bad as the session should finish by 4, although there would be another symposia in the evening. I might just give that one a miss and go and see the town instead.