Wednesday

I was the second person at breakfast this morning with many not getting there at all and others turning up now and then. After that I wrote up a couple of articles for the magazine, which has its next deadline soon.

By the time I'd finished that I need to go and pack. One thing about not doing any washing while you are away is that the clean clothes get less and less and the washing bag can just be squeezed in without needing worry about creases.



The plan was to have an early lunch at 11-30, have taxis ready at 12-10 for the short trip to the ferry terminal in timer for the 12-30 departure. While we were a bit tardy the taxis were late anyway and it looked like we would have to wait an houir for the next one. Since one of our crowd had an early flight that could have been a rush for him. The taxis arrived just before 12-30 and we somehow managed to get our luggage in, get there and still catch the ferry.

The long bus ride was again spent mostly in conversation although many of has had a nap for part of the time, There was allegedly some loud snoring by someone who shall remain nameless.

Once back at the hotel the goodbyes began. Jonas left straight away and the Koreans about 6. the rest of us plus a few who had stayed in KL met up and had dinner in the food court nearby. I treated myself to a banana split for desert. I guess that will be the last banana for a while at the price they are back home.

After that Fatou left to stay with friends and the ne Malaysians headed home. That left just 3 of us and we picked up a drink and nibbles and had a small farewell party in Mathias's room. He at least I will see in Sofia.




Eventually Christie and I left, me for my room a few floors lower and she for another hotel. My room this this has a view of the KL tower.




My flight is at 9-40 tomorrow so it will be an early start to get to the airport.

Tuesday

After last night's rain, today was sunny and warm. I was up in time to get to breakfast by 9 and then walked around the resort. Some of the crowd were playing 3 on 3 football on the court. The eventual result Korea/Germany 3 - Malaysia/Sweden 0.

After a brief trip to the shops for some drinks, I had a 1 hour massage. I chose Balinese which is a gentale style. Christine also had a massage and Poh Wah a manicure.

Lunch was a buffet and then we got into some mini vans for an Island tour. We stopped at a beach where there wer monkeys in the trees and some sort of (fake) temple on the headland.

 The drive then took us around the top of the island and through a fishing village to a (real) Chinese temple.

On the way back we picked up some banana based pancake snacks.

At 5 a large contingent went kayaking, but this didn't appeal to me. Christine and I had a swim in the sea but when we got stung a few times we headed to the pool instead.

Dinner was a BBQ with lamb, chicken, crabs, prawns and sausages. The crabs were good and I had quite a lot of them.

We had booked karaoke for 10 and played Set in Poh Wah's room which adjoins ours. The karaoke room was nearly as professional as the one in KL and there were several technical problems with feedback, sound levels etc. However it was less for us combined than per person.

Tonight 6 of us are on the patio updating Facebook and blogging.

Retreat

Monday

A group of 14 of us have headed to Pangkor Island for a post conference retreat. We travelled in a large bus which could have taken 40 or more so it was not cramped and we were able to chat to each other on the way.









We travelled North through farming country with Palm oil being one of the main products. The building is a school.

We had one rest stop before getting to a town near to the ferry terminal. After much driving around and  back tracking, we eventually ate at a Chinese restaurant. We had about 8 dishes and it cost about $8 each.





















We arrived at the ferry about 7 minutes past the hour, with it running every hour on the hour so there was along wait. We took more photos of the bay  but there was a brief shower that sent us back under cover. the trip itself took only 10 minutes. We then took 2 minivan taxis for the short trip to the resort and were met with a welcome drink.

We are staying in chalets and I am sharing with Christine from Germany. The room was hot and humid but we got the aircon working and eventually it cooled down. We did a partial unpack and then I lay on the bed under the aircon and read my book, before falling asleep until it was time to go to dinner.




There were 2 tables set up with a turning dish in the middle with several options. Again we were supplied with non alcoholic drinks, although it looks like a red wine. Thsi was followed by fruit and then they cooked up some Satay for us.

There is wi-fi in the lobby , bar and restaurant but it doesn't reach the rooms. Nearly all of us at one stage were on facebook on our phones, friending each other if we weren't already and updating status.

Since then I have been catching up with emails, the blog and facebook. It is pelting down with rain but we 3 girls are under cover. The rain is so loud I can hardly hear my music playing, even at full volume. It is 1 am.

360 degree view of the bay where we waited for the ferry. Double click to view.

Gala dinner

Sunday night

This was held in the same room as the seminars but radically transformed. The settings were impressive and the food was good although possibly the smallest meal of the weekend (including morning and afternoon tea). We had to select our main course a week or so earlier and it turned out that my choice of sea bass was a good one.







Many of the men wore suits and looked quite sharp and the ladies were dressed in their finery, with a number in traditional costumes.

There was one scruffy looking guy who I thought had missed the "formal" on the instruction but he then sat down behind the drum kit on the stage. He was actually a member as well.

The meal was served fairly briskly but it took 10 minutes or longer just to get a can of soft drink.





Once the meal was over there was some dancing and eventually then some announcements. There were 5 of us who completed the Mind challange and I was second quickest, but beaten by nearly 20 minutes by the winner.

The helpers were thanks and then we formed a large circle and sang Auld Lang Sime. There has be a multitude of facebook friending so let's hope we can keep in touch.

A group of us headed out for some drinks,but the bar we saw the previous night was closed and after trying a few other places we just went to 7-11 and bought some beers, which we drank in my room.

Sunday

After such a late night it wasn't surprising that I slept late. In fact I woke up 10 minutes after the first event was supposed to start. After a quick shower I arrived at the seminar room to see him reciting a 20+ digit number. The topic was memory and Anant is a record holder and winner in Memory championships (who knew!) in India and the world.

It was another interesting talk with some exercises as well. In the end he had us all reciting a list of 20 diverse words include penguin, ice cream and BMW and then a list of the 10 secrets of wealth. He even showed us how to remember long numbers although we didn't test it.

This was followed by a talk and then Q&A session with Dhyma Vimal who has written several books and founded an organisation called the Friends of Mankind. He believes we have the power to solve or at least improve on the problems faced by the world in general if we put our minds to it. Again a passioned speaker and an interesting session.

The chairman again met for lunch and several topics were discussed with a number of points raised that I think may benefit us in Australia. We then had a photo taken of all of us together. We were too late to go to the next session and so I continued discussion in the lobby till tea and then went to the last 2 sessions on the Leadership Exchange Program. This is a Mensa program that brings together 7 leaders or potentials leaders for 2 seminars. It seems to have had a positive result for the Malaysian attendees.

I returned to my room to get ready for the gala dinner and my key card didn't work. There was a mix up with the booking and they thought I was checking out today. It was sorted and I was able to get in and get changed (not to mention have access to all my gear).

Saturday night

We met again in the lobby and this time headed out on foot. there were about 30 of us and our path led us through the Indian area where a night market was in progress. The most obvious difference was the number of head scarves on sale. These are worn by a large number of the women since it is predominantly a Muslim country. They were very colourful.

Next we walked passed one of the larger Mosques at the junction of 2 rivers  where KL was originally started. Nearby were some of the original buildings from the early colonial days.

From there we headed on to the a place I'd passed on my way from the train station. It is one of of the original Clubs from the early days for the English upper class with Elizabethan style buildings and a Cricket pitch in a large park. This was across the road from a building which was originally the courts but not used for that purpose any more - still a civic centre. It is light by constantly changing floodlights which cycle through the spectrum every few minutes.

From there we walked through the central markets which was a pleasant break from the heat and humidity since it was air-conditioned. It is now a craft centre. Some of the group stayed in that area for Indian food but 20 or so of us went on to Chinatown and ate in an air-conditioned restaurant. We had the top floor to ourselves with tables of 8. On ours we shared a number of dishes and had several  large bottles of Tiger beer, which I mixed with Sprite for a shandy. This was adopted by Matthais who sat next to me.

By this stage I had realised why I need a cart for my gold as my knee was getting very uncomfortable after so much walking.

The Indian diners had caught up to us by the time we had finished and we headed for the tube. again we split with some going to the hotel, some shopping but 20 of us finished at a karaoke place in a large shopping centre which was mostly closed by that time.

If you had told me I'd have gone to karaoke last week I would have expressed disbelief, let alone actually singing. Fortunately there were 4 Mikes so nobody had to carry a song on their own.Also some people who got up early set the bar sufficiently low that I didn't feel intimidated when I join in. It was surprisingly good fun and it was well after 2 before we were back at the hotel.

Saturday 24th

After a reasonable sleep, I wrote yesterdays blog, got dressed and headed to breakfast. This was typical of Asian hotels with options of eggs and fried western food, Asian food, fruit, cereal, and juice, although the range was smaller than some other hotels I have stayed in.

The first speaker today was Simon on NLP. It was interesting and he gave some information on it in his first session and then did a workshop with a brave volunteer. She had a goal of having her own fashion business and he took her through some visualisation exercises and a timeline. It seemed to have a positive effect.






After another tea break, Bjorn, the director of small National Mensas (ie everyone except the US and UK) talked about Mensa and the future. He first explained how Mensa was organised internationally and then we workshopped some ideas of Mensa in 25 years.

At lunch the chairmen from  the different countries and Bjorn sat together (at the suggestion of Sherman from China) and talked about issues each of us faced. This was also productive. There seems to be some commonality of problems but also ones that are particular to each country.

After lunch was a session on Past lives in one room and a Korean game in the other. I decided that this was the time to look for somewhere to photocopy our brocure for the Australian gathering and after wandering around a bit found a polace that would do it for a reasonable price and also was able to put in a sim card. I had tried to buy one last night but you need you passport and mine was in the safe in my room.

When I got back to the seminar, I checked out the Korean game. Even if they hadn't all been talking (shouting) in Korean I don't think I could follow it.

There was a third room where they were holding a Mind Challenge - a series of puzzles. I decided to give this ago after the break and skipped a session on Financial intelligence. I managed to finish in under 50minutes although 90 was allowed.

Friday 23

This has been one of the weirdest "pre-trips" for me recently. All my other trips have involved a reasonable amount of planning , preparing etc. This one, apart from actually booking the flights has just sort of arrived. I thought a bit about what to pack and that was about it.

It was also a night flight so I had the whole day to fill before heading to the airport about 11pm. No business class lounge on this trip so it sat near the gate and read my book for an hour or so be fore boarding. My - those economy seats are crowded. My work trips have spoiled me. I did try and get some sleep but found my self awake and eating lamb curry at 3am none the less and probably only manged a few hours on the 5 1/2 flight.

It was an hour before I was on the train to KL. It wasn't so much that things were slow but I just kept missing trains, in the worst possible way. ie you see the train pull out just as you get there so you have the maximum wait time till the next one. It was 8:30 by the time I got into KL (the express train is excellent. and by the time I'd got to the taxi and then to the hotel it was just about 9. No rooms available so left the luggage and met some Mensans from Singapore who were just finishing breakfast.

I then went to the 7th floor conference area and checked in. Met lots of new people and a couple of ones I'd met or emailed before. This is the first Asian  Gathering and may become a regular event, like the European one.

After some discussions and greetings in the lobby , we went into the conference room which is quite large, and were welcomed by the Malaysian chairman, Azrai. He introduced us by country with some 11 different groups represented, all speaking English fortunately. As well as myself the only one from Australia, there are 2 each from Sweden and Germany and one from Holland and the rest from Asia - Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia, Singapore and of course Malaysia. We had been asked to bring our country's flag to wave as we were introduced and at great expense ($2 at Red Dot) I had bought one for Australia. Not everyone had remembered or been able to do this but the quick witted Singaporeans had one showing on an Ipad instead.

Many of the representatives are Chairmen or committee members and there a re a few International (or former) office holders. It will be a challenge remembering all the new names and faces, although the Europeans were quite easy. There seem to be a reasonable representation of women but we are still definitely in the minority.

After the introduction and welcome we had a tea break. We were later told it is expected that these would be substantial so there were spring rolls and samosas and some pink cake-like confection as well as the hot drinks. There goes my diet! More introductions and discussions ensued.

While this was happening a group of Indonesian students were setting up for a recital using traditional instruments made from bamboo, plus some drums and a bass guitar.  There were 2 xylophones and the rest were strange percussion instruments I hadn't seen before. Groups of 3 differently size bamboo pipes on a rack and 10 -20 of these racks handing in a frame.  They then performed for us which was quite musical since the instruments are tuned to a normal Western scale.

The first speaker was Rashan on leadership in the 21st century. He had a career in GE with many high positions before getting into HR mainly because he felt it got in the way rather than helped many businesses. He introduced leadership programs which developed average level graduates into future leaders and then applied these ideas to students from poorer rural areas in Malaysia with positive results. Eventually he started his own consultancy. He provided examples of successful companies and people as well as some interesting ideas of what leaders are and how to create them.

The next speaker was the owner and founder of Bufori who make luxury handmade cars in a factory in Malaysia, although they started in Sydney. I'd never heard of them but apparently this is the car you buy after you have grown out of Rolls Royces and Bentleys. They make only 60 a year and there is a 2 year wait. The cars are individually designed - 7 models in the last 25 years and most of the components, event nuts and bolts are made in house. They have a classic look to them, like something from the 30's or 40's but are made with a stainless steel chassis and carbon fibre and kevlar bodies.

Lunch was a buffet downstairs and by then my room was ready. I have been upgraded for free to a deluxe as the hotel is full. I'm on the 28th floor with a view.

The first speaker after lunch was Mathias, the Chair from Germany which also runs an election consulting business. They have collected data from 150,000 elections over the years and using mapping software can display results and demographics seat by seat, town by town and booth by booth. They also have sophisticated modelling software. They consult to media and the parties and have a very good track record with their predictions. It was quite interesting in itself but also as an insight into the German electoral system and there were many questions. There was an second session on Ancient Chinese wisdom in another room.

After another substantial tea break - noodles, cake and water melon, where I bought the souvenir polo shirt, We had our final speaker Jason Lo. His career include MBA in accounting, Rock star, band manager and studio owner, and DJ and is currently the head of Tune Talk a new mobile phone company here, with links to Tune hotels and AirAsia.His talk was quite amusing and covered his own varied career with insights into the development of Airasia and his own mobile company.

It was really an excellent and high powered group of speakers for the first day and we did run overtime with all the questions after each session.

We had a short break before gathering in the lobby and heading out for dinner. We caught the metro (45c each way) to the KLCC in the Twin towers.  After a wait until they could find tables for 33, we had a meal in a traditional Malaysian restaurant on the 4th floor. Food was good and quite cheap not much over $5 for a main course. Later we went to the park in front and did a slow lap of the gardens around the lake there. Multiple photos of the towers themselves and groups shots of the people occurred in this time. We then headed back towards the hotel and 10 of us has a beer  in the centre across the road from the hotel.

It was about 12:30 by the time i was in bed and I was pretty tired. I had a decent sleep before waking about 6-30.