This was how it looked from the 69th floor of 'Swissotel The Stamford' where I was attending a conference yesterday.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
The haze is back!
The haze is back in Singapore!!!
This was how it looked from the 69th floor of 'Swissotel The Stamford' where I was attending a conference yesterday.
This was how it looked from the 69th floor of 'Swissotel The Stamford' where I was attending a conference yesterday.
Trip to Jakarta (Indonesia)
Does business travel qualify for good 'travel experience' worth sharing?
Ask this to someone who frequently travels on business trips to a particular set of destination(s), and the answer most probably is a "No".This is because such trips over a period of time become monotonous and similar to any other normal working day at workplace which is packed with routine mundane tasks and back to back meetings with the same set of people.
Therefore I think what makes a travel experience worth sharing is its uniqueness.May be this is reason why we can't uniquely remember our each working day from the last week , but can easily narrate travel experiences of each day for a fun/leisure travel that may have happened an year ago!!
Even though this 2 day/1 night business trip to Jakarta (Indonesia) somewhere in October of 2013 was my first and only one to Jakarta so far , apart from the travel part of it was like any other day in office.
Because I was accompanied by a colleague from Singapore who had previously been there , and also the hotel booking was taken care by our Indonesian subsidiary , had not really bothered regarding location/map/name of the office building/hotel and the technicalities of reaching there.So the overall 'surprise' element was missing in the trip until that late evening after checking in the hotel I entered my room. To my surprise it was a 1 bedroom suite and just couldn't resist taking a few snaps as it seemed to appear straight from some glitzy interior decor magazine!!!
Whatever Jakarta I experienced was on the way from and to airport and office.Jakarta is known for its worst traffic on the roads , and only got to experience it first hand!!
Ask this to someone who frequently travels on business trips to a particular set of destination(s), and the answer most probably is a "No".This is because such trips over a period of time become monotonous and similar to any other normal working day at workplace which is packed with routine mundane tasks and back to back meetings with the same set of people.
Therefore I think what makes a travel experience worth sharing is its uniqueness.May be this is reason why we can't uniquely remember our each working day from the last week , but can easily narrate travel experiences of each day for a fun/leisure travel that may have happened an year ago!!
Even though this 2 day/1 night business trip to Jakarta (Indonesia) somewhere in October of 2013 was my first and only one to Jakarta so far , apart from the travel part of it was like any other day in office.
Because I was accompanied by a colleague from Singapore who had previously been there , and also the hotel booking was taken care by our Indonesian subsidiary , had not really bothered regarding location/map/name of the office building/hotel and the technicalities of reaching there.So the overall 'surprise' element was missing in the trip until that late evening after checking in the hotel I entered my room. To my surprise it was a 1 bedroom suite and just couldn't resist taking a few snaps as it seemed to appear straight from some glitzy interior decor magazine!!!
Whatever Jakarta I experienced was on the way from and to airport and office.Jakarta is known for its worst traffic on the roads , and only got to experience it first hand!!
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Trip to Malacca (Malaysia)
Malacca city (or Melaka in Malay) is the capital of Malaysian state of Malacca and a UNESCO world heritage site.It is located on both sides of the Malacca River near its mouth, flowing into the Straits of Malacca.
Check this link for more details on Malacca City
In September last year , visited Malacca for the team building exercise organised by my company.From Singapore , it was a 4 hours travel by road in coach to Malacca city.Since this was a combined team building exercise , our Malaysian colleagues had also joined from KL.We all stayed at the Equatorial hotel which is located right at the city center and offers a great view of the city.
We were there for a weekend end and the 2 days spent were full of fun , team building games , heritage sight seeing and night market shopping! I loved Malacca city for its historical heritage , old city charm and China town night market.
Sharing some snaps of the Malacca trip ......
September 2016 is around the corner , and registrations for this year's team building are already closed.The destination happens to be in Malaysia again !!
Check this link for more details on Malacca City
In September last year , visited Malacca for the team building exercise organised by my company.From Singapore , it was a 4 hours travel by road in coach to Malacca city.Since this was a combined team building exercise , our Malaysian colleagues had also joined from KL.We all stayed at the Equatorial hotel which is located right at the city center and offers a great view of the city.
We were there for a weekend end and the 2 days spent were full of fun , team building games , heritage sight seeing and night market shopping! I loved Malacca city for its historical heritage , old city charm and China town night market.
Sharing some snaps of the Malacca trip ......
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| Tuas link - other side is Malaysia |
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| Hotel Equatorial - Malacca |
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| Hotel Equatorial - View from room |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding game |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding game |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding game |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding game |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding game |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding game |
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| Malacca - Teambuilding game |
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| Hotel Equatorial - View from room |
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| Hotel Equatorial - View from room |
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| Malacca China Town - night market |
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| Malacca |
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| Malacca |
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| Malacca |
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| Malacca |
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| Malacca |
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| Malacca - Well done team!! |
Monday, August 15, 2016
11 years ago !
On this date , exactly 11 years ago , was my first working day in Singapore!
A day before i.e on 14th August 2005 , still remember it was a Sunday, I had landed at the Changi airport and then checked in into a hotel booked by my new employer.
Though the flight to Singapore from Bombay took just 5 hours to complete , the journey still continues.....
A day before i.e on 14th August 2005 , still remember it was a Sunday, I had landed at the Changi airport and then checked in into a hotel booked by my new employer.
Though the flight to Singapore from Bombay took just 5 hours to complete , the journey still continues.....
Sunday, August 7, 2016
The surprise trip to Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
The fact , I got to know that I need to go on this business trip to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) , Vietnam less than a week before it happened(somewhere in March 2015) was the first surprise.....and then there were many others to follow!
My company had a business subsidiary there , and I was required to fly for a short business trip(2nights/3days) on some project assignment.Since hotel booking was a prerequisite to the express/urgent visa that was being processed , without much thought I booked the first hotel that appeared in Agoda.com search of hotels those were in close vicinity to my work location.
Because of the ongoing busy project schedule , never found any time to read or know about HCMC in detail.In fact , until I landed there I was thinking it to be the capital city of Vietnam ! Though Saigon (former name of HCMC) was the historical capital , the present day capital city is Hanoi.
To be frank , my knowledge on Vietnam was limited to the Vietnam war and the frenetic 2 wheeler traffic on its city roads that I had previously watched on some TV travel shows! But HCMC , Vietnam kept on surprising me.Yes , the frenetic traffic was present but there was a method in its madness.The city was not at all chaotic and crowed as I had assumed it to be! I also had my own taste of the 2 wheeler adventure when a colleague of mine dropped me to hotel after my first day at work !
The 'Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel' turned into a great accommodation because of its great location and city view! The warmth and generous hospitality of my Vietnamese colleagues ensured I got a taste of authentic Vietnamese cuisines and that I had a great and memorable short stay.
Early this year , my company sold off the Vietnam subsidiary.But the bonds I have made with Vietnam will stay on forever.
Sharing some snaps.........
My company had a business subsidiary there , and I was required to fly for a short business trip(2nights/3days) on some project assignment.Since hotel booking was a prerequisite to the express/urgent visa that was being processed , without much thought I booked the first hotel that appeared in Agoda.com search of hotels those were in close vicinity to my work location.
Because of the ongoing busy project schedule , never found any time to read or know about HCMC in detail.In fact , until I landed there I was thinking it to be the capital city of Vietnam ! Though Saigon (former name of HCMC) was the historical capital , the present day capital city is Hanoi.
To be frank , my knowledge on Vietnam was limited to the Vietnam war and the frenetic 2 wheeler traffic on its city roads that I had previously watched on some TV travel shows! But HCMC , Vietnam kept on surprising me.Yes , the frenetic traffic was present but there was a method in its madness.The city was not at all chaotic and crowed as I had assumed it to be! I also had my own taste of the 2 wheeler adventure when a colleague of mine dropped me to hotel after my first day at work !
The 'Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel' turned into a great accommodation because of its great location and city view! The warmth and generous hospitality of my Vietnamese colleagues ensured I got a taste of authentic Vietnamese cuisines and that I had a great and memorable short stay.
Early this year , my company sold off the Vietnam subsidiary.But the bonds I have made with Vietnam will stay on forever.
Sharing some snaps.........
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| The first glimpse! |
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| Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel- View from room |
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| Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel-view from terrace |
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| Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel- view from terrace |
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| Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel- view from terrace |
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| Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint Hotel-Gym |
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| Vietnamese fish lunch |
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| Vietnamese chicken steam boat lunch |
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| Authentic Vietnamese Pho dinner |
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| Ben Thanh night market - souvenir shopping! |
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