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Busyness Trip
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Part of my job scope involves going on business trips to Malaysia every now and then. Since a significant proportion of business is done there, and almost the ENTIRE nuffnang team is in either Penang or KL, I tend to make a trip down at least once a month.

This time around, I was headed up to penang to interview some staff. If you are an experienced PHP/MySQL programmer, come forth! Nuffnang needs you!

Anyway, I thought this time around with my trusty K810i camera phone (It is fabulous), I would document the trip.

Normally, I hitch a ride to the airport, but as eddie was tied up, my dad suggested Iuse the MRT! I was about to call a cab, but I thought, what the heck, lets be a little bit more adventurous.

Eddie dropped me off at dover MRT, and off I was.

I really cannot recall the last time I took the MRT anywhere! Once I got the car, it was bye bye public transport!

It was a comfortable ride for at least half of the way (first half standing), but the only gripe is that it takes a bruddy hour! In total, to get to the airport! All I can say dad is, been there, done that!

If you've got tons of time to spare though, and want some time to meditate, take the MRT. It is quite a pleasant experience going through the heartlands, and checking out the "scenery".



From car, to train, to plane.



Bye bye singapore (I lurpte you)!



GOOD MORRRNIINNNGGG PENANGGGGG!!!!



At the airport, I am picked up by Raja, whom by the graces of Boss Stewie and his parents are assigned to pick me whereever I need to go. Raja is a great guy, married with an 11 year old boy, and likes to call me Mr Ming. Which I quite like actually.



There is no time to waste, and the first stop is 55 Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, or NUFFNANG HEADQUARTERS! Menara Northam!



Ok, i know i made it seem really grand, but ours is just a teeny office on the 20th floor. At least we've got a great view.

I step into the office, to find .....

The Nuffnang team hard at work! Aiyah, they knew the terror boss was coming, so they all buck up! (Hahaha, joking lah, they're all great and dedicated workers, and I am lucky to have them!)



After getting up to speed with what they are doing, and setting them various targets, i finally step into me and tiam's room. This is it! My office in penang! I know, there is NOTHING on my table. BUT LOOK AT THE WONDERFUL COMFY SWIVEL CHAIR .... I sit down gently on it, and ecastasy (EH! Dun laugh! i use plastic BBQ chairs in the singapore office K! :-p_)



And as quickly as I get comfortable, the interviews start! WHICH ONE OF YOU WILL BE THE NEXT APPRENTICE? (Their identities have been "masked" so as to protect their privacy, although they were thinking to themselves, I'm not going to work for this voyeuristic kook!).




That is tim 2 conducting the interview. He's pretty darn good at it, and hahaha, you should have seen his piercing expression, I had to calm one of the guys down and say, yo dude, don't be nervous, tim may look like he's ready to take a chunk out of your skull, but really he's as gentle as an ant.

Of course the trip is not just all about work (even though we work from 830 in the morning (boss comes in at 9), and leave at about 8pm (ok so I'm a little bit of a slave driver, but its fun working late! It feels so cosy!).

The other crucial part is the FOOOOOODDDDDD!!!! Penang has some of the best hawker food in the world. BUt my guys ah, even having lived in penang for all their lives, don't know where to find good food at night. So it was off to Gurney Drive Hawker Center.

There, I had, Char Kway Teow, Wan Tan Mee, Ikan Bakar, and Hokkien Mee (ALL MY MYSELF- The hazards of being a businessman- thinking takes calories ok!)
FOOD.
FOOD.
AND MORE FOOD.
In penang, you just got to eat first, and think later.

Besides the work and food, there is also pleasure. And nothing gives me more pleasure than waking up EVERY morning to a view like this (CLICK TO VIEW, It is a panaromic photo- my phone camera is so cooool).



Boss stewie modest as he is, always tries to play it down, but his house must be one of the nicest in penang. Perched majestically on the top of a hill, it commands a view that you couldn't even pay for in a 6 star hotel. Some days, if I get back early from work, I look out over the horizon and watch the sky change hues as the sun sets over the mountains. It is beautiful to say the least.



Time passes quickly when you have got things to do. The trip was over as soon as it started.

Ewe Tiam, having just arrived back from KL the previous night drove me off to the airport into the loving arms of a Nandos!!!

Yum! Everytime I have nandos, I remember my times in London, and how it was the first restaurant I had dinner at (with Kelly, do you remember?), when I went there for uni.Warm fuzzy feeling.


So it is goodbye penang.
Hello Singapore (I lurpte you long long!).
It is irnonic to say the least, but there are two parts of any trip I like the most. The first is the ride to the airport. And the second is the ride back home.

On the ride to the airport, no matter where you are going, there is always this great sense of anticipation, that you are getting out, and going somewhere exciting or different.

On the ride home, as you see the overarching trees on the ECP and go past the skyline, you cannot help but think to yourself, "I'm glad to be home."

Uh oh, getting late now! Gotta go for ieat charity dinner! Quite exciting hor. Ok bye bye!

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Ming. Co-founder of Nuffnang.com, Asia's First Blog Advertising Community. Welcome to my blog!

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