IEM-YES National Summit 2008

The Young Engineers Section(YES) had their National Summit in Penang this year and it was on the 30th August till the 1st September 2008. It was my first time joining in the YES' program, so i thought it was a pretty good idea to go and what's more when I have many days off that week. I went to Penang myself on Friday and put up a night with Serena - her friend's house in Kulim. Thanx Ruby and family for the good food and hospitality. hehe.

It was my first time taking NICE express..Guess what..Its luxury gives you the comfort (exaggerating =P )..Its like an airplane. But of course, you pay for it. It costs me RM62 from KL to Penang...They served me food and three times of drinks.. and they have pillow, blanket, table at your seat and 2 television in the bus..right, and its functioning.hehe..Watch 2 shows..Mr bean and i forgotten the other one.

Right, so 5 of us joined the National Summit..the other 4 committees went there by the university's van and I meet up will all the other participants on Saturday afternoon at the Golden View Service Apartment which is quite near to Gurney drive.Within walking distance.
Altogether 11 students participated - from UNITEN, UTM, Curtin University and UTHM( my uni) and the others were all engineers from different IEM-YES branches - KL, Southern Branch (Johore), Perak, Miri, Sabah,Kedah-Perlis and the organizer, Penang branch.

After lunch on Saturday, we had a meeting (the purpose of the summit) in the Penang branch at Northam Tower.. Honestly, the meeting is just a couple of hours.. and from Saturday night onwards its fun, fun and fun. We had our dinner at a Thai restaurant in Hotel 1926 after the meeting. And the food is delicious..Something different. We spent our night out in Ferringhi then hung out at Gurney drive till past midnight. Independence day in Penang was really different. Lots of people hang out in Gurney drive on bikes and cars with flags on their vehicle.. Out of nowhere, we saw oxen pulling a cart and people sitting on it..And thats what we won't get to see in KL. Unique.

The following day, we spent the whole day in Pulau Paya. Its situated between Penang and Langkawi. 2 hours ferry ride from Swettenham Pier to Pulau Paya and...to my dissappointment, there's nothing much in Pulau Paya. There's only a platform in the middle of the sea and that's where you rest, change, eat, sleep and do whatever you want. There is a snorkelling area from the platform to the shore. I think its about 1.5km. Honestly, there aren't any colourful corals in Pulau Paya and the water its not so clear too. but Thank God, i didn't have any eerie feeling while snorkelling because i can't see clearly in the water unlike in Redang. Even so, I just swam awhile and went back to the platform.. I felt pretty insecure at that time. Buffet lunch is provided - its in the package. There's also boats with glass screen in the middle - they bring you around to see the corals in the sea. They also have shark feeding in the afternoon. It was high tide so we manage to see baby sharks only. But theres a lot and they do attack people. We left Pulau Paya at 3.30pm and it was about 6 something when we reach our hotel.

Dinner that night was the hawker stalls in Gurney Drive. After that, it was free and easy. So i went to Gurney Plaza to kill my time..hehe and later on gathered at a cafe and played some card games with the others. The next morning, guess what we had Bak Kut Teh..OMG. I miss Klang's one...boo hoo hooo hooo...Penang's one sucks big time. No taste at all...Sorry Penangites, your local food is nice but definitely not Bak Kut Teh. We then went to Ghee Hiang and also visited some of the world heritage spots like the Fort Cornwallis and the Water Village.

Us wearing the Southern Branch YES t-shirt

Rice - Restaurant in 1926 Heritage Hotel

Some of the Engineers

YES...we are posers..hahahahaha

Thats...a King Sized bed..hehe

Engr Loh with thumbs up sign..Thanx for chauffering us everywhere..lol

2 beautiful oxen taking their own sweet time & holding
up the traffic behind in Gurney Drive

Sun & Narvin from UNITEN

The student chapter @ Swettenham Pier

Pulau Paya Platform

Another part of Pulau Paya

Card game session with Engr Loh & Engr Alex

In G Hotel

No..i behaved well in Penang..I didnt step into QE II. =)

The Fort Cornwallis

Water village

I left the island and took my 1.30pm bus back to KL from Butterworth and I spend 7 hours in the bus..It was so tiring and i was restless. Some unwanted stuff happen during the journey thats why it took so long. Anyway, I enjoyed the trip..More comments will be in the next post.

Right, thats all from me..

*Cheers*