Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Business Training Trip to the Lion City Part 1 - April 9th 2006

I was in the Lion City for a week, from April 9th- April 14th 2006 for my training; a vendor/third party software tool training. Of course, due to its nature in relation to my current job scope, it is technically a business trip and not much to hope for some personal travel or sightseeing until the last day :p
And not to mention; this is my second business trip but definitely one of the very first which I have to travel on my own. Of course, the return trip from Shanghai does not count since it was just one way where I had to fly back to Malaysia on my own. Anyway, this time, the destination is not as far as China but I was entirely on my own for the entire trip; from the departure from Penang to Singapore.
The trip was pretty cool (I've always liked Singapore anyway *wink*) ...I enjoyed my stay in the Lion City and as I've mentioned, I liked this country and am seriously considering the migration there..haha; much to some displeasure from certain parties (of course!).

Okay, back to my hotel, I stayed in the highest hotel in the city; with 72 storeys high and the unique features of this hotel include its circular structure; yes, the rooms were actually situated in a circular manner. However, if I were to compare the rooms and the facilities provided; I'd say the hotel I stayed in Shanghai any time of the day..hehe:)

This is the view from the main entrance















This is the mini bar.

















The view of the bed.

As I've mentioned, the unique part of this hotel is its circular structure; you feel like you are walking in a rotation; of course, from the room standpoint, it's semi-circular :)
Enjoyed the nice view of the city from my room; which is actually on the 40th storey of the hotel...pretty high ler *wink wink*
















View of the city from the balcony of my hotel room; 3 different angles; left, center and right from the balcony angle.
And, if you are thinking that these are pretty common pictures of the city, well, these are to be expected when you are in the Lion City itself.








To be frank, I've always been in awe and admiration for this dot of a country on the globe; I mean, it's practically nothing next to its huge neighbour which is one bulk of visibility above it - referring to Malaysia. However, comparing the reputation otherwise, Singapore goes way above Malaysia....and this is the deserving point..basically, this country's also famous for its strategic location as an international stopover; most of the traders would have to pass by this spot before moving on to Malaysia or Thailand, China, India, etc (If my Geographic knowledge still doesn't fail me...hehehe:)
Development's pretty ongoing in Singapore..I saw construction and buildings here and there. So this country's definitely not resting from development and progressing in a pretty aggressive direction.
Now, that's part 1 of this Lion City trip; will update on the training and the places visited in the next entry.