RACONTEUR-ESQUE SCRIBBLINGS

Monday, 12 October 2009. Back to training The skin is still awful, and I found a whole bunch of hair fall off my comb while combing my hair. Is it the MSG, or the water, or my shampoo? Anyway, training today was pretty dreary because the whole lot was conducted in the classroom. Turns out, the PEs in Japan too are sometimes faced with unsolved mysteries in terms of product problems, so we are not alone. After training, we headed out together for dinner, all the 7 of us because the cafeteria was closed (It was apparently a holiday in Japan which we and the trainers were not involved in!) As CK, JC and I had travelled the streets of Hiratsuka on practically a daily basis, we seemed to lead the way to the place we were supposed to go for dinner. It was hilarious seeing CK being all tour guide-ish, informing our other 4 friends what restaurants there are and what they serve and the price range. Finally, we ended up at a very cozy looking place which served ramen noodles, but the vari...

Thursday, 8 October 2009 The Typhoon I was awoken at 5 am by a loud sound, but refused to get up until after 6. The sun rises early here, and you tend to wake up with it regardless if your curtains are drawn or not. Looking out of the window, I could see the effect of the ‘tempias’ (can’t find the perfect translation for this in English, sorry) of the typhoon that hit Tokyo. The wind was so strong that you could see trees swaying like crazy. There’s a motorbike parked right beneath my window, and the sheet that supposedly protects it was blowing with the strong winds and looked as though it was about to fly. The walk to the training place was challenging compared to the other days as the wind threatened to blow us away. Surprisingly by noon, the sky was clear once again and we saw the sun. According to our trainer/translator, the sun comes out when the typhoon ends. Later that evening, we headed out to town. ***We took the bus to the train station, which is like the most happening...

Over 5 months have passed since I went for the Performance Driven Team training which involved a trek in the jungle. I recall posting up anguish filled posts that were related to the issue before and after the training because it did mean a big deal to me. Nevertheless, one final post about it remained in the drafts section of my blog for reasons I cannot remember. A cap and a watch, lying on the floor. It's anybody's guess what could have possibly happened Anyway, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, as I was floating in and out of the different stages of sleep, I found myself dreaming that I was in another outdoor adventure of the same sort, this time with team #5 at the beach, in which someone I sort of know but haven't actually met in real life made a special appearance and was part of the team. Nevertheless, our adventure was far from pleasant as we had to deal with waves that turned into tsunamis. As a self professed hydropobic, that was freaky gila babi ! (L...

You never know how much you're capable of doing until you're chucked in the middle of nowhere with nothing to depend on other than your gumption and your team mates. Our journey into the jungle started easy enough with breakfast first and another journey by bus to a camp by the name Kem Bina Semangat (can't think of a proper translation right now) in a small town called Kuala Kubu Baru (KKB). There we lodged our other bags in an empty dormitory, took our respective heavy camping bags by the handles and trudged on to the assembly point with nervous anticipation. Our first task started at about 11 am after a short briefing. Not much information was given (because the journey is supposedly a secret of some sort!) except for the target time we needed to achieve. Putting on brave faces, we marched along the path with the following thoughts - 23 in, 23 must come out. From dry land we were suddenly face to face with a ferocious river that reached chest level (for someone of 5...

I don't know how many muscles we exactly have, but I can safely say that every single muscle in my body aches as I'm typing this out. Anyway, pain aside (which I hope will disappear in a day or two), here's a rundown on my so-called torture camp. I woke up Thursday morning with a deep sinking feeling. Due to the late hours spent working in the previous days, I hadn't had the time to pack nor prepare myself mentally for what I was about to face. Nevertheless, I took half day off that day, went back, got packed and drove back to work in the evening to board the bus that was to take us to our destination which was a golf club amidst green trees and fresh mountain air in a place known as Templer's Park. The pathway we used to get to the seminar hall from our apartments. I thought the arch made by the trees were cool Top: The view outside the apartment balcony, Bottom: The hall in our apartment for the 2 days The classroom session began at almost 9pm that night a...