I know what you did in Kuala Lumpur :)

Dear friends,

I know, I know, this is late and I can come up with a wagon of completely valid reasons to justify it – but you would not want to read about them. Really :)

So here’s what happened in KL:

AT THE ACI-WORLD GALA DINNER

AT THE GRI-KL DINNER

Full album + download photos click here :)

It happened in Kuala Lumpur! :)

Selamat pagi, everyone!

This is me writing from my new office. I’m still shifting and half my stuff are still in boxes, so I do apologise for not updating this site sooner. But you know, I had to thank all of you for making it from all around the world to meet in KL.

Janell & Alan, congratulations again and thanks for the doll. I’ve passed the beads to my Managing Director’s wife. She is delighted and conveys her thanks to you. Sorry that you were not able to find durians. But since Martin was driving out to the east coast, he might have found some.

Phil, thanks for the moose socks!!! I wore it to work today to remind me to write this post this morning :)

Jonny, welcome to the group and thanks for the wooden horse. I love the painted patterns on it. This is the closest anyone has ever came to giving me my own pony.

Katherine, my whole family enjoyed the chocolates. Especially my sister. Thank you :)

And thank you to everyone for making the Kuala Lumpur leg of meetings a blast!

Photos will follow shortly, I promise you this. Like I mentioned, if anyone wants to share photos on this site, please email them to me at majidah@gmail.com. Scandalous photos (yes, Randy, I know you have some) will be censored accordingly.

When our servers have sorted out some domestic issues, I will also make the GRI Tree Planting Project presentation and the WWF presentation available for download.

Have an awesome week ahead, everyone! Cheers! :)

THIS IS IT!

Hey everyone, WELCOME TO MALAYSIA! :))

Some things for you to remember:

• If you want to go on the bridge of the Petronas Twin Towers, GO EARLY! Tickets get sold out very quickly

• KLCC has several meanings. Don’t get confused. To avoid misunderstandings, say Suria KLCC for the shopping mall, KL Convention Centre for the convention centre and KLCC LRT for the metro station.

• Buy souvenirs at Central Market.

• Buy electronics at Low Yet Plaza.

• Buy everything else at Petaling Street (not advisable during rain)

• Smile. You can get away with anything with a smile :)

Just to remind all delegates coming for the side events, I will be waiting for you at the entrance of following locations:

ACI Gala Dinner
Grand Ballroom, Mandarin Oriental Hotel
3 Nov – 1900-2200

ACI Conference Session on Sustainable Airports
KL Convention Centre Plenary Theatre
4 Nov – 1415 – 1500

You know my numbers if you get lost / need help. See you all soon!

Much love,
MH

Packing for Malaysia

Dear all,

Less than two weeks to go, everyone. Today, I will write about what some of you asked me about: How to pack.

Malaysia at this time of the year has a tendency of being a little wetter than usual. BBC rates the discomfort level from the combination of heat and humidity as high – which I personally think is unfair. It just takes some getting used to :). Expect hot, sun shiny days and showers in the evenings. Average daytime temperature is 27°C (82°F) all year round.

Packing a rain poncho is a good idea. Unbrellas are good too for protection from the sun and rain. Windbreakers and thin jackets will be useful.

Leave thick coats at home. No gloves required. The thinnest scarves you got, if you really have to. Pack light, thin, clothing. T-shirts. Good rubber soled walking shoes. Slippers or sandals.

Westerners usually find moisturizers useful to pack. And low-SPF sunblock. I suppose they will be useful if you are not used to South East Asian weather. Hair conditioner might also come in handy. Especially if you got the fritz. Though, I don’t recall anyone in our group who does.

Don’t worry about the toiletries etc, though. The KL Convention Center is located right next to one of KL’s most iconic mall, and about 15 minutes to about three other malls.

Hello, shopping! :)

Trees Planted! :)

On this day, 15th October 2009, I accompanied colleagues from the KL International Airport’s Landscape Department to plant twenty (20) trees in the airport’s Forest Two. One tree to represent every organisation participating in the Airport Sector Supplement project :)

The KLIA Landscape Team at the project site this morning.

More details on the project at the meeting proper. See you soon! :)

The first two meetings

Selamat tengah hari, everyone!

Matthias just send me a copy of the group photo we took in Munich. So nice, kan?

Click on photo for large size

So just for good measure, I am also posting the group photo we took in Denver.

Click on photo for large size

KL certainly has high standards to live up to! Next time, I want to stand at the back. Can or not? :)

Musim buah durian

That phrase “musim buah durian” (transl: durian fruit season) would make any Malaysian sit straight up, put both elbows on the table and lean right over. By some fluke of strange luck, it seems that you – yes you! – your visit to KL will correspond with musim buah durian here in Malaysia!

So what is a durian?

Dude… durian is… King!

That’s right, the durian is fruit royalty in Malaysia.

No, I’m not kidding.

Truthfully, you will either love or hate the durian, but either way, you will respect it. It is rather hard not to. The fruit is usually the size of a basketball, but there are smaller variants. The fruit is covered with very sharp thorns. Opening the fruit is an art of its own.

The durian flesh – the part that is eaten, has a soft, creamy texture and a large seed in the middle. Think of the messiest fruit you have ever eaten – the durian is probably messier than that. The flesh is usually described as caramel sweet with a distinct flavour that is like no other. British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace describes the flavour as a combination of cream cheese and sherry-wine, among others.

But your most memorable encounter with the durian – if you will encounter one on your trip here – will be the smell. You will smell the durian before you see it. It has a strong scent which is not often described as aromatic. I remember when I was much younger and my dad brought home durians in his car. His car smelled like durian for weeks after that. It is that strong.

This is also the reason why most locals describe the durian as the fruit that tastes like heaven but smells like hell.

Here’s what some notable foodies have to say about the durian:

Its taste can only be described as…indescribable, something you will either love or despise. …Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.
- Anthony Bourdain

It is like eating sweet raspberry blancmange in the lavatory.
- Anthony Burgess

Completely rotten, mushy onions!
- Andrew Zimmern

Its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away.
- Richard Sterling

Other things you need to know about the durian:

• Most hotels do not allow you to bring durian into your hotel room. Remember to check. I don’t know if you can bring a durian onto a plane, though. Good luck.
• Do not, under any circumstances, consume alcohol with durian. This is a formula for a seriously, seriously, seriously bad hangover.
• No matter how gross it looks, you will have to use your hands to eat durian.

The durian is known for its heat properties, so it is perfectly okay to sweat when eating durian :)

The latest fashion in Malaysia right now is the all-you-can-eat durian buffets. I have friends who are durian freaks and would sit for hours and hours just chatting and eating just durian.

So there you go. Something to look forward to on your trip here next month :)

Less that a month to go, yo!

Dear all,

Things are really warming up for the ACI World Conference, all their sister events, and the GRI Meeting over here. My desk looks like a blizzard in need of major disaster relief. Seriously.

This is just a quick note to everyone to email me your travel arrangements. Where you are staying and what your flight plans are like. This is so that I could estimate any extra transport arrangement if necessary.

Also, do let me know if you will be attending the ACI Gala Dinner on the 3rd Nov and Katherine’s presentation session on the 4th Nov.

Oh, and if you will be bringing a partner to the GRI Dinner on the 5th. They’ll have to dress up too :)

If you have not yet made your accommodation bookings, I would really suggest you do it soon. The ACI people are making plans for their events too and thus the race to book good rooms near the KL Convention Center. In my personal opinion, the best hotels to book (closest to the venue) are:

• Mandarin Oriental Hotel - located on the left side of the Convention Center
• Trader’s Hotel – located on the right side of the Convention Center
• Impiana KLCC Hotel – located opposite the Convention Center
• Crown Plaza Mutiara Hotel – located 2 minutes’ walk from the Convention Center
• Novotel Hotel – located 5 minutes’ walk from the Convention Center
• Equatorial Hotel – located 10 minutes’ walk from the Convention Center, 5 minutes’ walk to Saloma Bistro
• Concorde Hotel – located 15 minutes’ walk to the Convention Center, 2 minutes’ walk to Saloma Bistro

And if you have not yet made your flight plans (hello?), there are some offers going on at the Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia websites.

I’ll write more later. Till then, email me, leave a comment, take care and remember… dancing shoes! :)

Love,
Magic

Update on ACI World & Asia-Pacific Conference

Dear all,

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri everyone! It’s the festive holidays here in Malaysia, so if our contacts here are taking a little longer to get back to you, it is because they have traveled back to their hometowns for the long weekend.

Anyway, here’s an update on our side event, Katherine’s name has been officially slotted into the ACI World & Asia-Pacific Conference in KL. Here are the details:

Day 2 : November 4th : Session 4:
Industry Trends – Business Models & Innovation

Please find event brochure in PDF here.

To all members of the working group, please note the following:

• Unless you register officially for the ACI event, you are not allowed to attend all conference sessions nor the exhibition area. However, I have spoken to the ACI people and you will be allowed in for Katherine’s session (only).
• Please let me know if you will be attending the session as I will arrange passes for you.
• Dress code is formal and hall will be on deep freeze mode.

As we have tentatively decided that more than one working group member will do the presentation, I suggest that now would be a good time to confirm this decision. Please let me know so that I could advise the organisers. On our end, we might also want to organise how the presentation would look like.

With love from KL. No, really. Tis the season :)

Didn’t I promise you a fabulous dinner in Kuala Lumpur?

Hey all,

Pack your cultural costumes everyone, the dinner for the KL meeting will be a culturally rich affair. I’m talking about colourful traditional outfits, vibrant music, and lots of spicy food.

Details of the dinner:

Saloma Theatre Restaurant
5th November 2009 | 7.30pm

So bring your dancing shoes. No, really! :)

Saloma Theatre Restaurant is located about 15 minutes on foot from the KL Convention Center. The establishment neighbours the Malaysian Tourism Center and gourmet chocolate boutique on the right side (free maps, brochures, chocolate samples etc) and KL’s most scandalous club, Zouk KL on the left side. Pick your poison.