M A C V A Y S I A

Visited Muar, to do the usual: eat, attend weddings, eat some more, and in between maybe even relax a bit, and of course eat.

Did a reading at a jazz club called No Black Tie, at the invitation of the lovely Bernice Chauly. It was an honour to be among such talented people as Jit Murad (he read a quirky but interesting piece that was on several loose sheets of paper; at one point he said Aw fuck it and threw everything onto the stage and had to be coaxed to continue), Ann Lee (she read a piece with lots of stage directions in it), Nic Wong (a talented lad who read some poetry and even played a piano piece for us), Sharanya Manivannan (oops, I snuck out before her piece, but I know she’s talented and writes wicked poetry), and Bernice herself (who also writes nice poetry and takes some nice pictures too). I read what is to be the fourth chapter in that book I just can’t seem to complete. For a better look at that evening, check out Sharon’s blog (she was there too and gave me lots of encouragement). Yeah, the photo of me looks really goofy, and yeah one of the commenters thought the piece I read was ‘long and flabby’ (that phrase would sound disturbing even if it weren’t about my writing, haha), but do check it out anyway. Great fun.

Had a really crazy, busy week at work. Crazy because…well, take my word for it. It was crazy. Busy because I’m doing mostly corporate training now. My main focus during this particular week was a three-day course for Malaysia Airlines cabin crew. It was interesting, especially the sessions we conducted in the airplane mock-ups at the MAS training centre in Kelana Jaya.

Me @ MAS

Met up with an old friend, Hady, an Egyptian who is really a citizen of the world and currently calls Dubai home. Hady and I met back in my down-and-out days as a security guard on the Halifax waterfront. We hung out a lot but gradually lost touch, until I found him eight years later on Facebook. Turns out he was about to get married and his honeymoon destination just happened to be Malaysia. Leen and Al and I met up with him and his lovely bride Shayma at the Renaissance hotel and had a great time—a nice stroll around KLCC, a big fat meal at Chilli’s, lots of pictures, and lots of catching up.

Hady & me.

Chased Alisdair all over the place. He’s walking now. A lot. It’s cute, for sure…but very, very tiring.

Now it’s another weekend. Soon it will be another week. Maybe even a crazy one. I need a good rest. It’s all good.