Cerita Chiangmai

It was 4 days of fun and frolic in the city of Chiangmai, Thailand. But oh, in case the big boss is reading this, we also had LOADS OF WORK DONE. So despite the many diversions, productivity was never compromised. The tons of Power Point presentations will prove this particular point.

DAY 1

Touched down on time in Chiangmai, a small miracle in itself when you take into consideration that we chose to fly AirAsia (Motto: “We try to be on time”).

The city looks ancient with old brick forts and walls being the common scenery.

We stayed at the D2 Hotel right smack in the middle of a bustling street. It looked cool on the website and guess what? – it’s cool in real life as well!


The décor's chic and cheery. And there was even a welcoming dance performed by the multi-talented staff.


After a quick lunch, it was straight to work and the first task of the day was to… play military dress up!

After an exhausting brainstorming session, it was time for a dinner adventure, which started with a tuk-tuk race, I mean, ride...

The place itself was culturally awesome, with sights and sounds unmistakably Thai. The night was perfect so far as we were treated to a feast and some enthusiastic dancing…

Then a storm broke out and people started to run for their lives. Well, kinda. People actually rushed out to save their shoes that had to be left out of the dining hall. But the storm did get worse and in the end, the lights (and the dancing) went kaput!

cxcx

DAY 2

More intense brainstorming…

And it got to the point where some of us just got so damn crazy...

But dinner that night was more of a chill-out occasion at the “beer garden” nicely setup in front of the hotel itself.

m.zulkifli

After which, I started to checkout the night bazaar along the main road. This is the place to go for Thai baju and seluar, scented candles and soaps, traditional art, pirated CDs and
“funny T-shirts”.

m.zulkifli

But no matter where you go these days, there’ll always be that sense of familiarity…

And oh, while I was doing all this, a group from the entourage went to see the world-famous "Simon's Cabaret Show", where they had a whale of a time. Damn!

DAY 3

More brainstorming, and more dressing up…

Even Superman dropped by… (that ain’t me, ok?)

But by the end of the sessions, some superb ideas did come out and no one actually got arrested for weird behaviour. Phew!

dasFrom right: Yours truly, creative guru Pete and that guy from some talent reality show…

There was time for some pampering though and a trip to this excellent spa did the trick.

Ah, the life…

DAY 4

Time to head home. Cue that Daughtry song…

Kaaa... Short time or long time?