Welcome back, Kotter!

After an absence of 13 months, I am going to Penang again. The opportunity presented itself when I was asked to give a presentation to a group of sales manager in EMC at a resort in Langkawi Island.

Langkawi is a group of islands, about 60 miles north of Penang island. From there, it is just a hop and a skip to Penang, so I am quite excited about this trip.

Booking the tickets for this trip turned out to be nerve wrecking. I was told to book the tickets on Thursday. The soonest I could get to the island and still have some time to relax before the presentation is Monday, which means I have to fly out of Boston by Saturday. Now you know, getting a ticket for two days later is never a good idea. You need to have at least two or three weeks' time from the day you book to the day you fly to get a good price on the air fare. Well, according to our corporate travel agent, the fare for this flight is $6,833! That is a lot of money. So, when I submitted the travel request, it was stopped. A lot of questions were raised. Why so expensive? Is there a cheaper flight? blah, blah, blah. Throughout the day, I waited and waited for the approval to come, but I never got the word. It was not approved or rejected, just silence.
I called our admin a few times, and she was very helpful. She tried again and and again to talk to the person whose decision it was whether I get to go or not, but by the end of the day, no word. I finally gave up and went home.
Today, Friday morning, when appraised of the situation, my director made a decision: "book it!", and so the rest is history. Tickets booked, room secured, connections booked, friends and family informed of the travel plans. I am going home.