Monday, 8 July 2013

Shopping and heading home...

Just time to explore the shops on Saturday before heading home on Sunday, tired but with lots of new memories, after lots of fun, some great team bonding and....


For sale....!


......  who doesn't enjoy seeing new places... as a global team based in London, Bangkok, KL, Brisbane and Sydney, it is rare for us to be together in one location so a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues who are also friends.....





Impressive!!!

Friday, 5 July 2013

The Batu Caves - Kuala Lumpur

Friday morning dawned bright and clear so after filling up at the breakfast trough, we headed out to The Batu Caves, a local tourist attraction.  The steep climb up the 272 steps is well worth it, the view from the top is pretty good but the Caves are an experience as are the monkeys.








And after running the gauntlet past the monkeys..... one of our number had a serious run in as a monkey brushed past his legs.... a hairy moment as he screamed like a girl....





Bizzy bizzy.....



And just time for some light lunch before we reconvene for our afternoon sessions!  Another experience to chalk up although I confess, despite peer pressure and the encouragement to eat off banana leaves with only bare fingers... well its just not me... I struggle to eat peanuts without my cutlery so I managed the banana leaf but found the fork very useful...


Thursday, 4 July 2013

Thursday in Kuala Lumpur

On Thursday afternoon, we headed out to our local KL office to meet the team.  Another great welcome where we were met with, you guessed it... more food... as well as some fun party games, Pictionary amongst them and each of us was presented with a gift of clothing.  A big thanks to the team for making us so welcome, we really enjoyed our time chatting and hearing a different slant on our world.


Next stop, The Westin Cantonese Restaurant for, yes.... more food!   Set in the heart of the designer shopping district, the lighting in the streets gave us a spectacular view as we worked out way through many courses of a well chosen banquet.
Fish soup with caviar
Duck heading for duck pancakes and Sang Choy Bow











After dinner, we headed to Qba for a bit more team bonding!

Some enjoyed it more than others!


Wednesday, 3 July 2013

Next Stop - Kuala Lumpur

No sooner was I home than I was unexpectedly off again.... Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for some quality team bonding.  The information pack was a little misleading "Executive Team Retreat" brought pleasant images to mind... poolside, cocktails.... "Survivor - Executive Style" would have left me better prepared....

The itinerary went something like this... Normal day at the office Tuesday until airport for an 11pm flight... red eye to Malaysia, 6am land KL, arrive hotel 8am, meetings kick off 1pm.... dinner, drinks, sleep, work, office visit, dinner, drinks, sleep, morning trip, work, dinner, drinks, sleep, shop, dinner, drinks, sleep, airport 8am, land Brisbane 8pm, sleep, work.... 


I jest, it was a great trip, well organised and hard work but great fun.... I won't bore you with work details, but here's the fun bits....

The flight with Malaysia Airlines was a good one, the staff were so welcoming and friendly, something that I found to be echoed throughout our trip... KL is the most genuinely friendly place I have ever visited... and a HUGE thanks to our Flights organiser.... she did us proud, looked after us well and got us there on time....

.... and then... the hotel!  The Majestic..... fabulous... our organiser had done us proud, our rooms were mini suites and spectacular... we had an early check in so plenty of time for a shower and freshen up before heading to the conference rooms and tracking everybody down.

The food experience was incredible for the entire trip, breakfast was a buffet affair with every option you can think of, oh except pork of course, KL is an Islamic nation and all of the food was halal.

On day one a few thought a BLT sounded like a good filler through to dinner... (we had already had breakfast! Twice!).  Here is a BLT at The Majestic.. this was EACH!  Needless to say, we didn't quite manage it all!
Throughout our day, we were plied with top quality food, I have never eaten so well or so much.  After breakfast each day we would manage an hour or two before morning tea, where we were presented with a selection of quality bites and nibbles, usually a wide selection of mini cakes.  Lunch saw us again in the buffet, which put us on to afternoon tea, again a wide selection of nibbles to help us maintain our sugar levels through until dinner. 
Dining at The Smoke House, The Majestic

If you felt you couldn't quite make it to dinner, you could check back to your room for fresh fruit and a dip into the delicious complimentary chocolate truffles.

Now a word to the wise.... we were constantly warned about theft of electronic valuables, smart phones, laptops, etc so be careful!  Personal safety was also highlighted as something to be very conscious of and although we didn't personally experience anything untoward, we deliberately avoided potential dangerous situations.

The Colonial Bar, The Majestic Hotel, KL
If you venture to KL anytime soon, I highly recommend you consider staying at The Majestic!!  The ambience, the facilities and the staff help to make it a wonderful experience and getting into and out of town via the hotel shuttle bus means you are never too far away from the action - or the shops!

The Orchid Conservatory, The Majestic Hotel, KL