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...

Beijing Trip -- work + fun

Okla.. I didn't get the chance to update at all in Beijing.. Mana taknya, asal ada free time either pegi shopping or was invited for dinner or sembang menyembang dengan K. Hanizah. Actually this trip was organised by K. Hanizah and CCTV. My contribution in this is fairly small --- just a bit of presentation to promote my prizes -- ABU Prizes on Climate Change and HIV/AIDS Reporting to the CCTV producers. Besides that ada buat other meetings for future projects..

It was a succesful trip. Totally satisfied. Biarla semua gambar-gambar yang ada ni bercerita…

Ni gambar amik masa workshop first day – with Asako Kume, a NHK producer and Dr Nawiyah, the moderator from IPTAR.

My first presentation ever -- nasib baik ada translator -- while he's translating what I said, I took the time to calm down..

Ni jakun sikit-- first time tengok real snow - perakgh teruih!! Nasib baik kotor kalau tidak siap dah melompat-lompat kot hehehe. This is actually a frozen lake.. tak nampak macam frozen kan ?? This is near one of the entrance to the Great Wall... Another shot near the entrance -- while waiting for K. Hanizah to finish her business in the washroom.. OOoiii.. air macam ais batu punye sejuk.. Dekat-dekat situ la jugak.. Ni konon-kononnya nak mencari entrance to the cable car -- tapi sempat bergambar dulu.. Both ladies in distress.. cari the counter for cable car entrance, tapi tak dak orang.. really like ghost town.. confius..
Rupanya tempat lain.. akhirnya naik la jugak cable car menuju ke great wall tu (tujuan naik cable car -- tak larat nak panjat naik great wall tu.. lenguh uih..) The view from inside the cable car -- beautiful eh... The sights of the Great Wall from different angle... look at the mountains..ishk.. ishk..ishk.. Ni kononnya trying to be artistic in photography la ni..berangan ^~^ Mula-mula gambar innocent je.. this is with Dr Nawiyah..

Another artistic attempt.. (I think you can see the enlarge version -- just click on the picture)

Mula dah start 'weng' sikit..

Ala-ala Cinderella Asian gitu ..

K. Hanizah pun dah start posing maut..

Another beauty shot..

Against the wall -- the walkway are pretty steep -- senget2 berdiri..

Ni dah habis destress la ni - in front of Ming's Tombs

Pas tu amik la satu gambar bersopan..

Introducing the monument..

By this time, K. Hanizah dah tak kuasa nak posing ayu..experimenting abih la ni..

Met a mother with her two kids -- look la at the cheeks -- ishk geram.. the sister lagi geram tapi very shy, tak dapat nak tangkap gambar dia..

Cantik kan the view ??

This is breathtakingly beautiful -- I think because the weather is too cold, not that many people visited the Ming's tombs tu yg dapat this cool picture..

Amik la gambar to prove that's it's real and we are in it..

This is Dr Nawiyah's passion -- she is so in love with pokok 'botak' -- abih semua orang disuruhnya tangkap gambaq kat pokok2 botak ni..

This is another shot of the beautiful garden -- kali ni of course with all the creatures behind..

Tangkap la satu gambar kat gajah ni.. the end of the jalan2 episod..
This was taken after dinner on the last night we were in Beijing.. Besides us 3, the tall lady is Ivy who was the host for that dinner. The lady at the right end, next to Dr Nawiyah is Wang Yan -- the nicest person I've ever met, took us around to the shops, belanja us dinner, make sure we have our own driver that can drive us around to the Great Wall and the Ming's Tombs and bought fruits for us to bawak balik.. totally one generous lady..

Mexico Trip - Conference part 1

After the long awaited months and a lot of hiccups.. finally Mexico came.

The journey as expected was really.. really long.. I was in my most comfortable outfit--sampaikan Craig, Francyne's husband said "Anom, I've never seen you so casual -- even while we were travelling, you were always in heels and proper office attire". Craig used to be my boss before, hence the comment.. Abih dah la long flight -- I have to walk a lot and I was in my sport shoes(pasal kaki masih sakit lagi kalau jalan banyak2) takkan nak pakai smart2 plak..

Sampai kat LA, we separated from Francyne & co.. and continued our journey to Mexico City.. The stewardess on the flight to Mexico was very, very unfriendly -- tak inform pun kat we all yang we have to isi the immigration form. Dah la bagi food yang salah to me, nasib baik tak de mood nak makan..

Anyway, the conference was fun.. the hotel was so-so, the traffic in Mexico city was horrible. Every morning we have to be ready for the bus to get us to the conference at 6.45am... That means, wake up at around 5.00am.. Jet lag was not so bad.. But the first day was quite bad.. All of us was like zombies at 12.00 noon onwards -- because that was about 1.00am kat Malaysia.

The following days were better.. afternoons are the worst la, but we all got over it fine. Cuma disebabkan terlalu disoriented, the first morning tengah bersiap-siap, instead of pakai my contact lenses, I threw (curah) the lenses into the sink -- how stupid was that!! So disebabkan tak bawak spare.. terpaksa la pakai glasses yang dah teruk conditionnye the whole conference.

On Monday 4th August night, we were invited to attend the Kaiser Family Foundationnye dinner - in Westin Hotel in Centro Historico.. We were like very late because we were stuck in the traffic. We took the bus, had to do a bit of "Amazing Race" round the block at night in Mexico city before we reach the hotel.

The hotel setting was very 'funky' -- with a lot of shiny red, black and white colour furnishings. It was dark as well.. Somehow I felt like I was in one of the CSI Miami settings -- u know, the crime scene set before the crime happens. Anyway, at the dinner, we were assigned different tables to sit and we have a name card to put in front of us at the table so that others at the table know you.

At my table, I was surrounded by Americans. Front, right and left. The hot topic was the US Presidential election.. Eventhough I didn't follow the US politics that much, when I asked questions, they took the time to explain. That was the great thing about being there at the table.. Someone asked me about the Malaysian politics, suprisingly they haven't heard of Mahathir Mohammad, much less Anwar Ibrahim -- though they heard about the Petronas Twin Towers. It was great fun..

Francyne sat at the table behind me, she sat with a couple of journalists from Caribbean, a British woman named Penny who worked with Kaiser. Later that night, Penny told me that she went to school with a Malaysian princess in the 1970s.. She can't remeber her full name but she promised to google her and let me know when she gets back. That reminds me, I have to email her to get that Princess' name.

On that table too, there was this girl named Marvilyn Brown -- she's HIV positive and she used to be a guest in Oprah Winfrey Show. She wrote a book -- and an advance reader edition was distributed FOC at the dinner. I got her to autographed my copy -- when Francyne introduced her to me, Francyne told me that she was in Oprah and me being a little bit blur -- lambat respond -- so I think she wasn't quite happy la when I didn't recognise her -- a bit of attitude la..Yela... how said, you became a celebrity because of HIV.. how sad kan.. tu pun ada hati nak eksyen.. I haven't even started reading the book yet. Tengokla, when everything is settled, I'll start..

Richard Gere was supposed to come to dinner tapi he was shooting a movie somewhere so he didn't make it. His brother David Gere was there, but we did know about it until a couple of days after that.. Kalau tidak brother pun brother la..Anyway, end of the year masa kat Bali during our General Assembly nanti, Stephen (Kaiser representative) promised to try and get Richard to come to the event.. Orait..ada la can kan nak bergambar dengan dia.. hahaha..Berangan Anom.. eh.. bukan I sorang si Francyne and Lisa pun sama gak..

Other than that, saw Bill Clinton and Annie Lennox in person -- of course body guards were all around takde la dapat dekat kan.. Also was face to face with this actress -- Sheryl Lee Ralph which at that point I can't remember her name, otherwise would have asked to take a picture with her. Anyway, a youth was busy interviewing her so malas la nak kacau daun gak kan.. she played Rita's (Lauryn Hill) mother in Sister Act 2.

Too many things happened at the conference -- the whole conference was divided into 3 -- the Global Village -- where all the fun, happening things went on, the sessions at the Centro Banamex and the exhibition which was situated on the same floor with the Media Centre.

At the conference, for the first time I saw real life protests, -- dalam pelbagai2 bentuk -- ada yang protes terbaring, ada yang took their top off -- had their body painted with all the protest messages and just stand there at the media center for at least 45minutes -- can u imagine?? I was so shocked, tak teringat nak tangkap gambar..Even if I teringat pun.. rasanya tak sanggup nak amik..so humiliating.. Even Francyne yang mat salleh tu pun tak sanggup nak tengok..

A lot la was going on, tak tercerita the whole event punye coming and going -- it was labelled a Social Conference as a lot social things went on -- not just the serious conference stuff. Most importantly - this conference gave the people who are affected by HIV a platform to come out in the open and say what they need to the public be it men who have sex with men, transvestites, sex workers and others.

Lupa plak -- I also met with this Mufti from Zambia -- he's part of this network called - African Network of Religious Leaders affected or lifes are affected by HIV/AIDS - ANERELA+ .. He wanted to know the view of our religious leaders on the topic -- I told him it's very much a taboo to talk about HIV in Malaysia. He's interested to talk to Malaysian Imams or Muftis to change that view because HIV knows no boundaries.

The interesting part that I discovered was how Muslims from other countries have a bigger perspective of the issue and they want to discuss it -- because to them, it is there, it's affecting people especially the young ones -- if you ignored it, it will get worse. In fact, 2 Iranian doctors were supposed to present papers in a couple of the sessions but they weren't able to make it due to some technical problem.

Next I will update about my involvement in a HIV messaging and jalan2 experience in Mexico and LA. Enjoy some of the pictures below. (K. Ja/Shana -- enjoy, sorry na lambat update..)

In LA airport waiting for our luggage -- si kecik ni tak letih pun.. still full of energy

The Centro Banamex -- where it all happened..

Annie Lennox -- at one of the press conference

Bill Clinton speaking at his Keynote address session..

Methadone Man & Buprenorphine Babe
Superheroes Raise Awareness of Lifesaving Medicines for Drug Users -- Lisa stopped them to take pictures

Anom & Lisa going through booths at the Global Village

The normal protests..

Dewi - Metro TV journalist doing her stand up for the camera crew for her news piece.

Us three with Glenn -- a participanting journalist from Papua New Guinea who is also an Australian. Great guy..

Us again with Stephen from Kaiser -- notice the spectacles ?? Hodoh betul..hahaha..

Indian performers in Global village.. or maybe it was another form of protests -- tak sure la..

Vientiane, Laos

Actually dah lama I wanted to do this entry, tapi memanjang tak sempat.. so dari hari ke sehari almost dah half a month since I last started this entry.. sorila ye.. the entry is backdated.. Tapi memandangkan hari ni 9th May -- I wish Meor Hamzah Happy 29th Birthday

Here's my entry on Laos --

Setelah sekian lama tak travel, last November I was assigned to go to Vientiane, Laos for a project funded by Asian Development Bank on issues of development in Greater Mekong Subregion -- topic was really boring, tapi disebabkan hotel yang we all lepak for the meeting (courtesy of my boss -- 'courtesy' as in chosen) was really nice, ok la gak...

Vientiane on it's own, tak adela apa sangat, ala2 macam Ipoh town 20/30 years ago.. pukul 5 -5.30 ptg, kedai dah tutup.. malam takde mende and tempat nak pegi takde sangat so kebanyakannya lepak je la..

Anyway, the first night we arrived (I was traveling with Francyne), we were picked up by the hotel transportation free of charge..how cool was that..Hospitality was really great..I recommend kalau sesapa nak pegi Vientienne, boleh la duduk kat The Green Park hotel...The next day after dah check everything was fine for the meeting, Francyne and I went to town to shop - Francyne cakap takut nanti tak cukup time nak shopping later... So we went to this market called the Morning Market -- kononnya Morning tapi sampai ke petang bukaknya.. but as I sayla pukul 5 - 5.30 dah tutup..

Food wise as usual, susah -- but adala a couple of Indian/Pakistan restoran yang halal -- so dapatla cover for one night -- other times -- I am totally vegetarian.. Lagipun stock bawak banyak..

The participants to the project was ok-ok je la.. sebab yg ada pun only 4 of them.. including one from Lao PDR itself.. Ms Malayvieng -- or as we call her Malay..

The hotel.. nice and serene right??

The hotel's restaurant.. Francyne and I will always have our breakfast here.. eventhough matahari dah naik and sometimes terik... still serene and quiet for breakfast..

This is during the first night out. The ADB guys mula2 reluctant to have Indian food (rupanya sebab Indian food kat Philippines teramat la mahalnya) -- but lepas dah try the first night, the next night dah sibuk nak pegi lagi....Anyway, thanks to Francyne yg peka with my requirement -- she yg suggested for us to eat at this halal restaurant.

The next night, Francyne bawak all of us for welcome dinner in town -- kalau tak salah the restaurant name is "Kop Chai De" -- maksudnya welcome ke terima kasih.. i pun dah tak ingat. Ni Jason(ADB) ready to makan the 'cengkerik' goreng during this dinner - at least I think it was cengkerik goreng.. tak tau la plak kalau serangga lain..

After dinner, we went to this bar across the street -- it was Malay's Jazz Bar. This is Malay and Jason sitting and talking in the bar... that was my first time ever in a bar -- luckily it wasn't 'happening' yet as it's still early. But me and Francyne, we were the first ones to leave.. penat la..

Me listening to Tito's experience when he attended one of the Halal conference in Southern Thailand(some years back).. he gave some pretty interesting facts -- although I don't quite look interested in the picture hahaha...mengantuk macamana nak look interested..

How on earth did the topic of 'Halal' came about ? Well, while they were drinking wines, they serve this snack macam beef strips which at that point I ingat pork.. Malay beria-ia suruh I makan, she said "it's beef, don't worry!!" I told her, even if it's beef, it's still not halal because it's not slaughtered the Muslim way.. so that's how the topic started between me and Tito..

Both of us looking very mengantuk--really want to go back to the hotel room and bedebush..However, sebab kat Vientiane takde teksi, we have to naik some sort of a tuk-tuk.. of course who would dare to naik tuk-tuk sorang2 so I had to wait for someone to leave so that I can tumpang..

This was taken during a field trip (on the last day of meeting ) to a "school for teachers" -- ala2 maktab perguruan la yang di'funded' by ADB. The bebudak yang nampak macam students to sebenarnya are going through training to become teachers. Ada sorang tu datang dari jauh di kawasan pendalaman -- 2 tahun belajar baru sekali balik kampung.. kos tinggi and jauh sangat katanya..

Kat atas yours truly with the camera crew from Laos National Television -- I wasn't involved with any of the production part - just coincidentally berdiri kat sebelah diaorang..sibuk gak nak tengok macamana they all operate..

This is the student (sebelah kanan, berbaju putih dan ber'tie') yang I kata duduk jauh di pendalaman.. kesian jugak tengok they all.. But you can see their determination to be good teachers so that they can teach their younger generation and prosper.. He is going to teach English.. He speaks quite well for a Laotian..

Yang dasyatnya lagi.. they all bercucuk tanam and ternak ikan/binatang untuk dapat sumber makanan sendiri.. ye la semua nak beli mana ada duit..

Since we all datang buat field trip ni hari ahad.. you can see la all the students tengah study lepas basuh2 kain and mengemas -- kat belakang tu I am not too sure whether it's the classes ke they all punya dorm.. tak ingat..Tapi rupa dorm they all very macam zaman sekolah kita la kat sini -- katil bertingkat, satu dorm panjang share 20-30 orang.. baju2 sidai merata..

Another angle of the school.. the guy in yellow shirt is Roger from CCTV.

After the school trip, we went for lunch by the Mekong River.. the restaurant is actually floating on the water -- siap ada floating sampan as restaurants lagi..Tapi food wise alamak.. gelinya(paham-pahamlakan).. but untuk mengelakkan daripada host (orang kementerian jugak rasanya) rasa kecik hati.. aku makanla nasi kosong je.. pastu dalam van belasah makan biskut yg dibawak untuk time2 emergency mcm ni..

Kat atas tu, gambar lepas semua orang dah makan by the river..

Lepas lunch, we went to another place some 'irrigation' place that ADB also help funded to ensure farmers has sufficient water to plant their crops..Another big welcome.. siap dapat kalungan bunga lagi -- tengok la kat atas tu..

Next we went out to the fields to meet and try to interview the farmers that actually benefit from this programme.. Malay had to do a report for her news programme malam tu..

Anyway, the reason why I include this photo is talk about the way Lao women dress -- officially every Lao women has to wear the Lao skirt -- ala2 macam batik jugak la.. top tak kisah nak pakai apa pun.. tapi seluar tak boleh pakai.. semua kena pakai skirt..the skirt plak akan diikat dengan tali pinggang besi yg ada kerawang2 tu -- macam my Opah used to wear.. to know the status of the women (whether orang berada ke orang biasa) you can judge from the belt.. kalau besar, colour gold -- ha tu orang kaya la tu.. kalau kecik halus je.. biasa je la..Unfortunately, I tak de plak the proper picture of a full dress Laotian woman.. terlupa nak amik..so this is the best I can show u all la..

The LNTV camera crew did not come properly equipped.. macamana datang buat interview kat outdoor tak ade 'boom' mic?? Nasib baik la participant dari Vietnam si Huy ni creative.. terus create a mic boom out of ranting kayu..

And the interview went well.. I think la..Mana nak paham apa diaorang cakap..