fun in kl, in the name of work

it felt as if the holiday had already begun this week.
how could i not think so when i spent three nights attending a course in kl and went to klcc all three nights in a row??

the place where i was put was off jalan duta and it was also where the course was. so everything was in one building.
it was not a hotel but an institute.

this was my room.....3 star??

bathroom  was small and looked worn eh? look at the cracked toilet seat. eeeee......well, we requested for a new room because all the power points in this one could not be used. phew!
the new room was better......but i still could not sleep that well.

i brought the cold i caught on sunday night all the way to kl and it stayed with me for two days too. haiz. finished using all the packs of tissue paper i brought and ended up begging from others, ;)

the course was just ok, i mean i did not get anything that wowed me. it was one visit to kajang prison which i enjoyed most.

i have never imagined that i would be visiting a prison one day......we are not talking about any abandoned prison here. this is a functional prison and where convicts are kept and there are some awaiting their death sentences to be carried out. it will be death by hanging here in malaysia.

we were brought to visit the 'tame' area of the prison area where we saw prisoners doing their morning march and drills in the courtyard, bread baking area where they learn baking skills, cooking area where food for prisoners is prepared and cooked by prisoners themselves and finally their bedrooms which only had thin mattresses, blankets and transparent boxes to keep their belongings.

oh, we also saw prisoners in one of their sessions where they sat in a room and decide whether to punish or forgive those who made mistakes in their daily activities at the prison. we were given reminders not to interact or make eye-contact with any prisoner. so i tried my best to keep myself composed and calm. and i also had some 'protectors' who really came and stood in front of me, blocking me from the views of the prisoners when in the same room with them. i was the only one showing legs and hair......in my knee-length dress and hair tied up in a bun due to the heat. the rest? err...all wearing headscarfs and in their baju kurungs.

the prisoners do have a balanced diet in there. we saw their menu for the week and gosh, it was better than what i get from the workplace cafe. so is it any wonder that some ex-convicts return due to the harsh condition outside prison?

one thing we learnt from the officers on duty is that no prisoner will admit they are in the wrong. 'never' was the word used. we also saw photos of caned buttocks and the noose used to hang convicts and heard stories of caning and hanging. this was a really memorable and eye-opening experience for me. will definitely share what i have gained here with the juniors.

ok, now to less depressing stuff. klcc- three nights in a row! crazy right? well, it is the closest to where we were staying, so why not? and i watched 3 movies!!! hahaha.....watched 'chef' on day 1 and watched 'spiderman' and 'x-men' both on day 2.

i was like a tour guide bringing my colleagues and showing them places around klcc. heck, they even called me the gps as i was also the one who pointed them the route to go there.

did some shopping there as well. body shop was having their sales!!!

my first fountain pen...to sign my name on official documents hahaha....
everyone in the office has one fountain pen with them....so i got one too.

and this might not be my first one.....the nib is a bit soft, hence the line that comes out is a bit thick. i need to get one with a harder nib so i can write finely with it. and also, my handwriting is not exactly the neat type. haha.....thick lines will make whatever i am writing turn out to be in a mess and all joined into one pile of mess. eeewww....

check out the cinema and seats i got. i watched both spiderman and x-men in the same cinema, on the same seats. in fact, we would not have got up from our seats if not to get some pop-corn to chew on while watching x-men which started at 11.30p.m. yawn.....i was yawning a few times because i was really sleepy due to lack of sleep.  the movie ended at 2.00a.m.  what a night.....the night that did not end on the same night. hahaha.

and on the  last night, there was no more movie to watch, so we hung around in chilli's. waited for 20 minutes to be seated.

got a great seat by the side where we got a view of the fountain in the park.

ordered a classic mojito and appetiser. yummy mojito. not diluted at all as i could taste the bacardi. yeah!

grilled lamb shoulders for the three of us. everyone agreed that the mashed potato was superb and meat was succulent. what a satisfying meal.

so do you think i was working at all this week?
i had the time to replenish the sleep lost in kl yesterday night. i only woke up at 10.30a.m. this morning. haha....i am so proud of myself.

couldn't go to sleep early too last night. it was malaysia versus indonesia in thomas cup semifinals. gosh, the first double game was literally nail biting. yeah, i had my finger in my mouth and the heart beating so fast. luckily the match was saved and malaysia got its second point. phew! even the prawn crackers were left for a while during that match.

all malaysians will be stayed glued to the tv tomorrow at 5.30p.m. for the finals against japan i am sure. thank you japan for beating china in the other semifinals. i have a feeling that malaysia is going to win!!!!! strong feeling about this!!! another bowl of crackers will be accompanying me too. haha...
can't wait.