"see u in hadramout"

macam tak percaya. when i first got to know that iif dubai was re-routing to yemen, my first reply was "takde tempat lain ke kat dunia ni??"

i mean, ya. out of all places. yemen?? exhibition?? conference?? well, i did underestimate. in some ways.

flight was suPPosed to be sunday. but it was brought forward to friday, then again to thursday. i had to forego alumni bbq reunion which i dah semangat gila2 ajak org pegi. mcm disindir (i dont know why am i using this word) la pulak when mr president called for a meeting. but alia wasnt ready to miss a bbq that she herself organised, so he cooled down.

well, i dont feel guilty for not going. coz as a matter of fact, the semangat IIF came waaay before the bbq came in, so yeah, i think i made the most sensible decision. plus, my mum counted on me, so i couldnt have done the opposite. alia acted V responsibly though.

abah mentioned: "sukalah tiki tu. dapat balik kampung". at first i didnt take it that way, but now that i am back home here, i do feel that the trip was one. not during the time in mukalla, nope. but the times aFter the exhibition, conference and whatnot-s.

i dont think the chaos of last minute-s could ever be imagined by those who didnt go thru it. the going in and out of bus several times to find dinner, the flight non-confirmation, the delays, the kena-marah-by-the-"boss", the on the spot packing to catch a plane, the cancellation of flights with the replacement of 14 hour bus rides, the stranded ones who didnt get neither the bus ride nor a seat in the plane and the list goes on...

but despite it all, i knew there were things that we benefited from. although the place was shabbier than what most expected, and the number and 'type' of visitors werent as anticipated, my objective going there was to promote aN, and alhamdulillah, a lot were interested - although some were more interested than others - of which, follow ups are to be done.

and of course along the way, contacts were made. well, never mind the lawak-ness of the 'main' guy coz he's all the way in P; or the very known GO because AH always brings up his name, the fact that they work as professionals is already a strong reason for, say, alumni to utilise their skills in programs conducted in the future.

~~ there is never a journey where you dont gain anything;

iF you are deteRmined to benefit most from it. ~~