Conference on a budget :P

Heard about the directive where all government organised courses/conferences/seminars can no longer be held in hotels to reduce expenditure?

Yes, I was on the receiving end of one last July :P. Initally it was supposed to be held in Subang Jaya (in fact, I was told by a reliable source, it was originally going to be held in Kota Kinabalu) but because of the directive, they found a rather inexpensive spot way out there in Putrajaya!

Rather than travel everyday between PJ (Petaling Jaya :P) and PJ, I elected to accept the accommodation being offered at a budget hotel in Kajang (with daily transport to and from Putrajaya provided by the organiser, of course!).

Above is a photo of the maid as she bustles about cleaning the room I shared with a Sarawakian guy.

The hotel had a couple of interesting views to capture like the staircase shown here. Otherwise, it is quite unremarkable.

To make it in time to Putrajaya, we all had to be up and ready really, really early! It left me very little time to enjoy breakfast...

...which was, thankfully, nothing much to mention (what IS IT with me and food huh?).

Registration- the morning's hustle and bustle.

That lecture hall was FREEZING! Even chatting and catching up with old friends didn't prevent me (or said friends) from nodding off at times :P

Poster presentation on full display. There were prizes to be won so everyone was doing their best. Minna, ganbare yo!


For dinner, fellow conference-mates and I scouted Kajang town for sustenance. This place had changed a lot since last I was here as that gawky school kid (yes, I was studying at a boarding school nearby during my teens :P).