Enlighten Me: Bangkok Blues

Why does my luggage always fail me when im overseas???

Deja vu - my osakaian luggage broke on day im checking out. Arghh. Luckily Im still able to manoever it around with its other handles..unlike the very unfortunate incident on the first day in Fukuoka which culminate in my buying of THIS luggage in Osaka, and trawling it around Japan with 2 peices of luggage and a million of barangs.

Been to Bangkok and back, Im sure all of you folks know what a terrible work trip it had been.

Thanks to the guys who sent me off on my first "overseas studies", it was real sweet of u ... brotherhood eh? Oh and not to mention to think we could get lost in T1...笨笨的

SAWADEE KA!!! First time at new BKK airport, sure beats Don Muang

Steph and Joyce whom I braved through this project with

Steph - a natural Thai (was probably 1 her previous lifetime)

Our hotel - Erawan Grand Hyatt. Its located right in the heart of their Orchard Road, so you can imagine the jam.

There, my bed for the next 8 nights. We 3 gals shared 1 room to save costs, and upon checking in, the hotel wanted to gave us 2 rooms - but informed us we had to pay for additional room and some other rubbish. Of couse we refused and stuck to 1 room. Only to find out our dear boss had arranged the 2nd room as a surprise for us. Waliew! Wasted, kena scolded stoopid.

See the contrast between hell and......

And Al's Villa Heaven (which we all sneaked in to have a look...hehe)

And the view of Central World from our room...

Our hotel lobby...

Our souvenir cum event guide to customers...quite kewl eh? We printed the guide and sent it to BKK to get it binded into a notebook.

And now my nightmare story shall begin.

28/10 10pm - Meeting with Pico BKK. All's well and ready to go at 11pm.
28/10 11pm - No news..ok maybe dun be so kancheong. We went up to rest first.
29/10 3am - Went down to look and this is what i saw.

Called BKK girl - said they will be putting up entrance structure and resume work.

29/10 7am - Everything looked the same as i saw at 3am. This was when shit bomb drops and everything goes haywire.

I stationed myself at the ballroom the entire day and watched the workers s l o w l y up the structures and oh so painstakingly install the graphics. Hate it that I had to stand there watch the slow progress, hate is that they are working so SLOW, hate it that I cannot hurry them as they dont understand English, hate it that the BKK girl is NOT doing her her job to push the suppliers/contractors, hate it she keeps lying about updates and details, hate it that I cant trust any of them and theres nothing I can do about it.

I got sick worrying and fretting about the delay and because I didnt had much food, i got HUGE HEADACHE and real dizzy at night, I really thought I was gonna faint. When people speak to me, I feel like I was in the waters, can hear blurred voices, but dont really register. I looked so terrible, I fitted right in with the Halloween theme. Puked twice, was naeseous even when the lift was surging upwards to 14th floor. Smelt lemongrass - naeseuous. Smelt cooked food - naeseous. Could only drink warm water. Called it quits at 8+pm and knocked out, leaving poor steph taking over the setup.

Who says working overseas is fun huh?

Never had such a disasterous setup and working day before, we were so late in handing over, the place was only barely ready 15 mins before doors open. Yet poor workmanship can be clearly seen all over the place, never seen such bad finishings.

Anyways, its over and needless to say, my NJNL boss will make sure Pico BKK learn their lesson.

Here's some happi moments/highlights of the trip:

S60 conference - borrrrrrring stuff which Steph had to go through as she was on deck. Mi and Joyce get to move around freely at the Expo area.

Discussion area

Enterprise Area - Surprisingly the area we had most trouble designing it turned out the best. This is my fav area. The circly thingey is made of yellow painted pvc pipes.

Actually I rather like this year's design, with the 4.5m tall structures in the 8m high room, we really transformed the place.

Multimedia Area - Would have preferred the bulbs bigger and more....

Infotainment Area - Second fav area...if only the finishing was better.

Games and Location-Based Services Areas

Huh. Hmm. This din work well.

S60 Expo - Actually I quite like this area too...especially the grief-inducing green device showcase in the picture.

Ahhh...The Residence Kitchen Loft, where the developers had their briefing on first day and I missed it due to my sickness. Lucily din miss out on the cuties coz there were none! =p

View from Lebua State Tower - BKK most expensive dining place

Inside Lebua with the draggies

S60 dinner by the pool - Lower budget compared to MAS dinner, but I think its just as nice. Great food, casual dining with business associates, breezy night...plus Don my man was there to spin live music...=p

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Don's in this mth issue JUICE

Realised BKK is reli quite an artsy place, their creativity and materials usage is pretty innovative. Could feel the artistics vibes as we walk through Jatujak (Yes this is THE correct spelling, NOT Chatuchak)

Thought their outdoor events were cool yet doesnt look costly...

Swan Lum Getai!

Yumz! Food is damn cheap. The more unhygenic it looks, the more yummy it tastes.

The hotel gave us 3 complimentary 1 hr massage of choice! Dunno was it through our boss or pure customer svc, we were pretty esthetic abt it! The chocs were gd too!