It's been a ride ...

... there's no other way to describe the last few months. ;)

Let's start at the very beginning ... a very good place to start ... when you read, you begin with A, B, C. When you sing, you begin with Do, Re, Mi ........... *pause*

Sorry. For some strange reason, the songs from The Sound of Music have been playing in my head the whole day. It's been a long, LONG day. ;) Fun and thoroughly enjoyable, I must say. ;)

Ok, well, like I said, let's start at the very beginning of the last quarter.

The Crazy, Mad Training Sessions:
Ok, I deal with safety equipment and it's an industry that I am proud to be associated with, despite the ribbing I get from certain quarters in my circle of family and friends. Anyhoo - we decided that it was time that we focus on our subsidiary company, that deals mainly with the Government and its subsidiaries and that it was time for this company to start flapping its own wings more fervently. My colleague, Hartini has been doing a marvelous job of turning the company around and actually making it profitable. Despite the fact that it's ONE saleslady generating sales to pay salaries for SIX people. Er - ok back to the story. We went on this massive Community Service / CSR blitz thingy with Malaysia Airports Berhad, where we would train HoDs (that's Heads of Departments) with the available range of PPE (that's Personal Protective Equipment) on the market currently and explain the various uses etc as every airport whilst sharing certain similarities, also have vast different processes. :)

So ... we decided to go all out ... and was tasked with training 19 (yes, NINETEEN friggin' airports). So of course, it fell to me (my other colleague was swamped with work, so it couldn't fall to her) to make arrangement for flights, samples, bags, hotel bookings, etc etc. And very soon, it became fairly obvious that we needed to drag in more muscle from the Parent Company in to assist in this training.

Finally we had 4 teams, totaling 8 people to go out and do what we do best ... and my partner, Hazlan ... well let's just say my adventurous spirit seems to come alive when I go out with him. People who know me know that the moment I reach home and am in my PJ's ... it would take an Act of God to drag me back out of the house. I'd safely venture to say that in the 2 months of travelling non-stop from Thailand (previous posts) to the rest of Malaysia, I've actually seen MORE of Malaysia in 2 weeks than I have in my ENTIRE life.

We discovered new highways etc that took us over the picturesque Titiwangsa Mountain Range (OMG, Geography actually came in handy) and very quickly into Kota Bharu, Kelantan, the first stop for our Peninsular portion of the training session. I saw the innate beauty that Sarawak possesses as well as the cultural explosion of Kuching, where the Rainforest Music Festival is held annually. Unfortunately, we left a full week before it started, so I was a little disappointed by that. :( However, for a breakdown of what transpired, head on over to Fiona's blog, where she details her excursion to Kuching for this event. It's an entertaining read. The photo was 'borrowed' from her blog. Thanks Fi! ;)

So yeah - training took about 3 weeks to complete for my team. I missed my home terribly.

The Many First of Firsts
I have this motto that I live by: "I'll try anything once" and I chose this motto to enable and empower me to experience LIFE more fully. Yes, there have been times where my gag reflex or lack of extreme self-confidence or even just plain common sense prevented me from trying certain things, but more often than not, I tried something new. A few of my first of firsts are:

1. First time to Thailand. Ever. Reason? After watching the show "Brokedown Palace", I've always had this innate fear of Thailand. It seemed at the time, pretty much a cowboy town. Plus ... I still couldn't believe they let the Japanese people through without wanting to help defend us. This show, whilst definitely fiction, shows us what could really happen when you 'befriend' someone in a foreign country and place your trust in them. For some reason, this show really just put me off of Thailand. But funnily enough, a lot of it was filmed in the Philippines and apparently Claire Danes, on her high horse, managed to issue some statements that royally pissed an entire nation off. Tsk. Tsk. Tact, girl. Look it up.
2. First time killing a bird: We (Hazlan and I) were driving to the East Coast for the said training for MAB and on the highway, this black bird, the size of a crow (probably was anyway) decided that flying right in front of the windscreen would be a great idea. We were chatting ... and them *thump* and then silence. It was a little upsetting, I'll tell you that much. Really. Reminded me of when I drove over a monkey. (Oh shut up :P It ran in front of my car. What would you have me do?)
3. First time away from home for work: Seriously. Nearly 6 weeks. I've never missed my home so much before. And my bed. And my air conditioning.
   
4. First time with so much Malay food: Seriously. Overkill on the rendang, nasi lemak etc. Gimme some Char Siew!!! ;)
5. First time seeing Hazlan upset: with HER no less. ;) It was priceless and a treasured memory. So it's not just me that has an issue. ;)

Ok, since I've left this for so long ... I've kinda forgotten loads of stuff now :P ... but I promise to write more as I remember it ok?

xoxo,
K.