Bali trip..

I had so much of story to tell, but don't know where to start..

I guess during Ramadan ni, masa lebih banyak tertumpu kepada kerja, rushing balik ke rumah to beat the jam, then masak (or beli je kat Bazar Ramadan).. make sure all set for iftar.. Lepas iftar, fokus plak on ibadah (yang selalunya asyik ketinggalan -- berazam to ensure this part will increase this year -- alhamdullillah so far so good).. then terus tido --sebab by 4.00am dah nak bangun plak for sahur..That's it for my ramadan routine..However, the merdeka weekend I was very excited coz dapat balik Penang berbuka puasa with all my family members - immediate and extended.. Lepas the kenduri Yone a couple of months back (which reminds me, I still have 1 last entry abt that), was very glad to see all of them -- especially the small ones (Adi and Irfan -- wish Emran was there too, but I guess that will happen during raya ja kot).. dapat suprise birthday party lagi -- hehehe.. thank you to all my siblings, parents and my beloved husband (terlibat ke idak ni??)

Anyway -- back to my original story plan -- I was in Bali a couple of weeks back for the 9th ICAAP -- the flight was ok -- on time and we got to the hotel fine. However, the hotel we stayed in Nusa Dua was really, really horrible - the bath tub was moldy - the bathroom was dingy.. The ceiling was moldy and had water stains (don't think it was due to rain because there's another couple of floors above me) -- there was only 1 power socket which was used by the TV (small 14 inch TV) and there were a couple of times, I saw this 'ulat' - I used to call it 'Separ Bulan' mengulit mimpi di dalam toilet as well as in front of the closet.. eeeewwww..

It seems Letchumi had a lousy room too - so it's not just me.. Francyne who had to stay one night earlier at the same hotel pun complaint that it wasn't great (mind you, she got to stay in one of the presidential suite!! The hotel misplaced her reservation, so they upgrade her at the same price).. It's so not worth it for USD85.00 (this is conference rate kalau tidak it's more than USD100.00) per night.. Tapi memandangkan easy commute to the Convention Centre -- we make do je la..

Petang the first day tu, we had to attend the opening ceremony -- I didn't realise that it's going to be so windy and chilly at night so tak prepare with any thicker clothes. Also, asap rokok dengan merdekanya berterbangan di sekeliling ku menyebabkan tonsilku mula terasa bengkak.. Jenuh la dok pop-in the 'F**h*r**n F*i**d -- to make the sore throat go away.. The O.C. was good, tapi the speeches were quite long, orang semua dah lapar..And by the time the OC is over -- the food stations dah penuh dikerumuni ramai orang -- so we took the bus to get back to the hotel. We had our dinner at the hotel's restaurant je that night.

Overall the whole conference was good. The participants got what they want. Most of the participants are first timers in reporting on HIV/AIDS -- we had to spent quite a while to make sure they understand the sensitivity of reporting on HIV/AIDS. Alhamdullillah -- they all look quite excited about learning something new...

Also, this is the first time ever in my experience of handling these types of workshop the majority of the participants are women -- almost 90% -- only 2 guys (but 1 dropped out last minute - so last2 tinggal sorang)..

I also managed to finally meet Kak Pi of Pi's Twist during one of the interviews. The efforts and commitments of the NGO and the people running the NGO such as Buddies of Ipoh really deserve the highest salute from the community. Sungguh mulia hati mereka ini semua...

Kak Pi being interviewed by Shaza..

The troop from Buddies and ABU

By this time, I was quite sick -- nasib baik ada clinic kat the conference, went there quickly to get the medication before my fever escalates. Nanti tak boleh balik plak..kena kuarantine..

We were checked out from the hotel on the 11th and proceed to Kuta for our own time -- the hotel there (eventhough 3 star) was so much better.. we really love the room there..We did some shopping and spa the next day and by night time, boarded our plane back to KL..

cantik kan.. lupa plak nak amik gambar 'horror' kat the previous hotel..

Muka tak berapa sihat tapi tetap pegi shopping.. hehehe.. kat Erlangga..

It was a good trip...