Practice Management away day

Salam to all my dear friends and family.

Inaugural Practice Management Away (PM) Day

Johor Bahru & Singapore, 24 to 26 May 2013 

Universal Studios, Singapore (USS), Hat Yai or Desa Rhu? These were the options the PM Away Day Committee put to the vote...

The 2013 inaugural PM Away Day was organised by Committee co-chairs Wan Luziana and Siti Salmah. They were well supported by Committee members Har Simran, Susan Lee, Susan Wong, Mary Chan, Saufiah Kamaruddin and Yokeswary Kailasam.

You’d never think it, but majority voted for USS. Bet you thought the PM ladies would have gone for Hat Yai, a shopping and food paradise. Nope - it was the allure of the wild rides and the excitement of entering a fantasy world in USS that caught their interest.

Day 1

So early Friday morning (24 May, Day 1), 66 excited ladies gathered at 1 Sentral at 6.30 am. We registered and collected our goodie bags, and departed 1 Sentral at about 7.15am in 2 coaches. Our destination was Hotel Selesa, Johor Bahru.

We reached Hotel Selesa around 12.30 pm, dropped off our luggage and proceeded straight to lunch at a restaurant nearby. Needless to say, everyone dug in with gusto into the “Ayam Penyet”, a speciality of the LC Catering Restaurant.  

Then we were off to the border...Singapore Woodlands Checkpoint (Immigration).

In Singapore, we picked up our two local tour guides - Encik Jamil and Encik Hanifa . They took us on a city tour, covering Orchard Road, Merlion Park, Suntec City, Marina Bay Sands and Gardens By The Bay. The Gardens housed an exotic diversity of plants from all over the world. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit the must-see Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. 

Then it was off to a quick buffet dinner at Vis Fiesta Restaurant, followed by night shopping at Mustafa Street.  We arrived back at the hotel in JB at nearly 11 pm, checked in, and went to bed. Day 2 was going to be a tough day of fun! 

Day 2

Saturday 25 May, Day 2 started with and early breakfast at the hotel.  Then we set off to USS on Sentosa Island.

Despite an early start, we reached USS way past our planned time of 10am. We reached at 11.30am. One of our coaches had a little misadventure along the way it "kena saman" for speeding on the way to the Woodlands Checkpoint.  Singapore has a very strict traffic regulations, so there was no room for negotiation.  The driver had to settle the summons. To top it off, the coach passengers, i.e 33 of us, had to chip in for the SGD300 summons.

The fun began with a group photo in front of the Universal Studios Globe.  After that, it was Free & Easy for all at USS.  Those who travelled at the same "speed" grouped together and walked in to USS for 7 hours of adventure. 

USS offers 7 adventure zone.  Hollywood, New York, Sci-Fi City, Anvient Egypt, Lost World, Far Far Away and Madagascar.  Each zone provides a range of rides, shows, attractions and enteries.  The must do is TRANSFORMERS The Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle.  The wait could be as long as 3 hours, but it was well worth the wait.  Other popular attractions included Shrek 4D Adventure, Madagascar: A Crate Adventure, Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure, Battlestar Galactice: Human vs Cylon duelling coasters and the Mummy's Revenge 

For those view the PM team as a quiet bunch used to the daily 8.30 - 8.30 schedule, you'd be surprised at their daring.  Many took on the cutting edge rides without blinking an eye and some of the rides were really not for the faint hearted.

And of course, there was shopping.  Many of us bought souvenirs like USS T-shirts, fridge magnets, bags and water tumblers.

We bid a fond farewell to USS at about 7pm closing time.

Then it was back to JB for dinner at Bonafee Village Restaurantm near our hotel.  Many of us opted for an early night, but some went for a relaxing foot and body massage nearby.

Day 3

Sunday 26 May, Day 3 again started with breakfast - but at a more leisurely pace before we convened for a 3 hour team briefing session on at 9am.

Li Li, Head of PM chaired a briefing session for the team.  The objective of the session was two-fold.  The first was for everyone to know each other better, discussing their strengths and areas for improvement.  This gave everyone an idea on who they can approach for help and/ or to help as needed.

The second was for everyone to share the "Client Service" they experienced from Day 1.  These feedbacks were then used to strengthen the understanding of the "support" that our bosses expected from us.  A good example was that on Day 1, one of the coaches was late, we had to wait for the driver to refill petrol and have his breakfast on the morning itself.  Everyone agreed that the delay could have been avoided if the driver prepared in advance, or if his colleague had reminded him.  A team would effort would have made a difference to the final delivery.

We ended our stay at Selesa Hotel with lunch.  At 1pm, we checked out and headed to our last stop at Johor Premium Outlet (JPO)

The adventure continued on the way to JPO.  One of our buses had no air-cond, the compressor had broken down.  To avoid losing precious time, we put 66 people plus 4 others from the travel agency into ONE coach.  We were lucky that there were no traffic police.

We left JPO at around 4pm when the replacement coach arrived.  We arrived at 1 Sentral at 10pm for Coach 1 and 11pm for Coach 2.  The latter had to make a detour to JB and drop off he driver of the coach that had the spoilt compressor.  Regardless, we all arrived home safely.

All in all, it was a fun filled and enlightening first Away Day for the PM team.  A very special thank you to the Committee for making this trip a resounding success and to the firm leadership for budgetting  for such team activities, which plays a critical role in bringing colleagues together on an informal basis.  When someone now knows a colleague exits, it is an investment well made.