Kacang is Nuts!

A career photographer came by the office today, and surprisingly enough, he was here to give us a talk about doing sales. He talked while showing us his pictures and explaining how he took those pictures. Well, it seems professional photography is not too different from sales. After all, a photographer needs to talk to people to persuade them to have their photos taken just so.

One of the things he mentioned was that there was no need to be afraid of getting to know people. After all, they get out of bed in the morning like everyone else, and put on their pants one leg after another, which is of course, just like everyone else.

Hmm… sounds like some wisdom I could use. Hi to all you folks out there who put on your pants one leg after another.

Just found out that we had our faces plastered on the Education section of the Star newspapers today.

Read all about it at here.

It’s sure not home when cars drive on the “wrong side” of the road and the staple food is meat and bread. Yeap, this is my first post from the US of A and it’s been an exciting time here.

They say getting there is half the adventure, and you’d better believe it! The journey over from KL really started off on the wrong foot when the MAS flight we were taking got delayed by engine problems.

Waiting at KLIA for the plane to be fixed

We finally got off the ground, about 4 hours late. A Brit on the same flight was royally pissed. He was delayed on the flight over to Malaysia too, and he was adamant that he’d never take MAS again if he could.

The flight over to England can only be described as long. We had economy class seats, the food was really blah. However, there were personal entertainment systems for all the passengers, and I ended up watching reruns of House and CSI.

We transited in London Heathrow Airport. Our connecting American Airlines flight was overbooked, and surprise surprise! I got upgraded to Business class together with a colleague.

Business class seat on AA. Can’t really tell, but you can really stretch out or lie down.

Not that I’m complaining of course. Hell, business class is THE WAY to travel! The seat’s so nice, you can recline it all the way like a bed to sleep. The air stewardesses actually treat people in a civilized manner, and the food. Wow. You have got to see it to believe it.

Apple juice and really fresh roasted nuts

Salmon something-or-the-other which really tastes great.

Turkey sandwich with salad.

Everyone on business class was given a Bose noise cancellation head phones which totally cut off the scream of the engines to a quiet hum. They’re wicked!

I can’t hear you. I CAN’T HEAR YOU!

The flight was really wonderful. However, on approach, Raleigh looked a bit desolate from the air, not at all what I was expecting. No major city blocks or urban sprawls, just flat land and clumps of development.

Raleigh Durham area from the air.

We got a pick up from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, arrived at Courtney Estates, our home for the next one year.

First view of Courtney Estates residence.

In another case of “Die die also must do, do do also must die”, work has been somewhat overwhelming this week. Will get back with something in a day or two. Or three. Or four. Definitely.