28.03.13
(a vague recollection)
One of my best experiences during LIMA2013 was that I had the chance to be the L.O. to Sapura Kencana Petroleum Berhad's Executive Vice Chairman, Dato' Mokhzani Mahathir, who is also more well-known as Tun Dr. Mahathir's second son. After my not-so-awesome-but-still-awesome experience escorting the PM (read about it here!), you can't blame me for expecting this to end up the same! But nevertheless, I was thrilled and honoured to have had the opportunity to escort another VVIP with Gup (in place of Naomi who had to deal with her AO).
Not knowing when Dato' was arriving, we hung out at the delegate's waiting area for his arrival at around noon. There was a lot of confusion and running around before we had that 'luxury' of sitting down and waiting for Dato'. One of them was that the person who did his badge typed his name wrongly and I had to goose-run to the registration hall to get it fixed. And us, not knowing the exact time of his arrival made us do everything that needed to be done in twice the speed. It was havoc, to say the least.
Not knowing when Dato' was arriving, we hung out at the delegate's waiting area for his arrival at around noon. There was a lot of confusion and running around before we had that 'luxury' of sitting down and waiting for Dato'. One of them was that the person who did his badge typed his name wrongly and I had to goose-run to the registration hall to get it fixed. And us, not knowing the exact time of his arrival made us do everything that needed to be done in twice the speed. It was havoc, to say the least.
I had to call up Mr. Bayu, the head of security for Dato' Mokhzani, to basically liaise with him about the Dato' whereabout, schedule, needs and wants. After a string of failed connections and busy phonelines, I finally got to him and told him who I was and to where to meet when Dato' arrives. To everyone's shock, he was already at the Agusta Westland pavilion, having brunch! We scurried outside like little guinea pigs smelling scents of cheesecrumbs. (do guinea pigs even like cheese?)
A very humble and friendly man, the Dato' is. Very unlike the stereotypical arrogant bossy ones indeed. When we were escorting him along booths through throngs and throngs of people, he preferred us not to push people away (which we did not lol) and instead, he'd strike up some conversation with the people who wanted to shake his hand and take pictures. We even had free yummy French espresso at the EADS pavilion where he was having lunch whilst watching the airshow! Once we were done with the booths, as we were heading towards the buggies which were waiting for him outside the hall to take him to his private jet over at the airport tarmac, he gave us (volunteers) some advice about life and tried to get to know more about us, which was so comforting and nice. It was such a pleasure escorting Dato' Mokhzani :)
We were supposed to escort the Dato' to the tarmac to check out the static displays before heading to the airport and since Dato' and his personnel only needed 1 out of the 4 that were efficiently provided by the operations team, after I 'walkie-talkied' the operations team, (Yup, I just had to mention that! hahaha cuz it was so much fun!) the rest of the buggies were occupied by some of the volunteers who were around the info counter and wanted to join in the fun! The more the merrier, right? and it was such a good reason to get to the tarmac! hahaha shhhh! It wasn't everyday you get to scoot around in buggies with like-minded friends after all, no?
We had a whole lot of fun hanging out with the Dato' on the tarmac and we even followed him to the airport and bthat was where we bid our farewells. Little did everybody know, Ms Azlin was actually ordering for all the volunteers to be back at the OO immediately through the walkies. Funnily and coincidently, those with the walkies (me, included) chose to unplug and just enjoy the last of the official trade days!
Once we got back, we hurriedly got our stuff, whammed the walkies into their charger slots and literally ran to the last bus which were waiting for us for about an hour or so already! hahaha We were heading to Resorts World Langkawi (used to be known as Awana Porto Malai) to check out the maritime vessels! I shall let the photos speak now.
We decided not to go on the Jebat vessel since we have been on it last LIMA, so instead we stayed on the platforms, mingling and taking loads of pictures. It was such a fun and fruitful day, spent with like-minded colleagues whom I'm proud to call my friends, as well :)
previous LIMA'13 posts
Post a Comment