....the trip that will bring us to another height::Karambunai Protocol

After months of preparation, propagation and deferment, finally on the 17th of February 2012 at around 09:10 hours, 13 (Vicky, Julie and Mai arrived a day earlier, while our MD was flying directly from KL in the evening) of us – the Think-Tank of the 2nd largest LNG producer at single site were flown directly by MASWings from Bintulu to Kota Kinabalu (KK). Arrived at the new KK international airport (better than any airports in Sarawak) around 10:20 hours, Vicky has waited for us with a 32 seats air-conditioned bus
After a very smooth 45 minutes trip to Nexus Karambunai, with tour guide explaining to us what KK has to offer us, we finally arrived and was given a warmth welcome by the staff. We were very exciting and grateful. However, the anti-climax was when we were told that the room is not ready for us. Being the chief Facilitator of the workshop, I have told my team to have a seamless check-in and they have informed the hotel weeks before regarding the arrangement. But, what upset me, the hotel was not discipline enough to ‘kick out’ the foreign guests, I guessed!! Vicky was trying to closely get in touched with the receptionist but they seemed to be helpless with the outgoing guests.
We were entertained with a welcoming drink at the lounge and 10 minutes, there was no sign of rooms made ready for us?! The Administrator suggested us to take early lunch (I mean before the Penyu Restaurant actually ready with the buffet). We were spoilt by varieties of foods and the service was superb.
However, we (Dzafri, Kabir, Zul, Major Ramlee, Ahmad Hussein, Kamari and me) have to cut short our lunch for our Friday prayer. We were supposed to perform our prayer at the nearest masjid at KKIP (Couldn’t recall the full name of this place) but instead the kind driver, brought us to one of the beautiful Masjids in Sabah – the University Malaysia Sabah’s Masjid. We managed to perform 2 raka’at solat ‘tahiyatul masjid’ just in time before the Khatib went up to the ‘mimbar’ or pulpit to recite the Friday sermon. Unlucky Dzafri, after the prayer, somebody by mistake (I think) took his pair of shoes away from the shoe rack.

In the second episode, upon our arrival at the hotel around 13:50 hours (10 minutes before our workshop start), we were informed that the rooms for Major Ramlee, Ahmad Hussein, Hj Kamari and me were still not ready?! What a standard for the so called 5-Star reputable hotel. All this while, I gave a very high regards to this Nexus chain of hotel, a place that I must visit. But with this kind of treatment to the local guest, like us, dejected and disheartened me! Lucky, Vicky quickly bounced back; he changed the start time to 14:30 hours.
Sharp at 14:30 hours, we resumed our facilitation at the Magibah I ball room of the Nexus Resort and SPA, Karambunai.

One of our Day 1 activities was a Vision Hunting at the One Borneo Mall. We went there at 16:30 hours after 15 minutes, the bus dropped at the main entrance of the so called largest Mall in Borneo (as claimed). I do not think so though coz’ there are many biggest malls (much bigger than it) in Jakarta Indonesia. True enough, after few hobbling steps into the mall, I did not feel the ‘wow’ factor. Well, nothing much to see and less to offer though as heard by my relatives and friends who had been there before. After less than one hour strolling along the corridor and window-shop the mall, we decided to wait for the bus for our next agenda – dinner at Nelayan Village.

We arrived 10 minutes before 19:00 hours. Though we made it before the expected time, but our beloved MD/CEO arrived 10 minutes earlier than us. Our dinner was quite private and exclusive, served by two locals Ruth and Amirah on a boat called Putri. The foods were not that I’ve expected for a well propagated restaurant. I mean not the scrumptious as I thought though the prawn and grouper were fresh from the aquarium. At 22:55 hours, we called it a day.

In the nutshell, the objective of the above workshop, which we called ‘Breakaway’, among others, is to revisit our Vision; Mission; our Roadmap –KITE that is due to expire by 2013 and also to look into short/long term interventions to address some of the issues that were surfaced through the recent POCS.