When I was informed that I'll be assigned to Sibu for work in early Apr'07, I had mixed feelings. Reasons being:-
1. It's my 1st outstation assignment since joining HLB in Jun'07 and second Business Centre audit.
2. I had my Certified Internal Auditor Part 2 examination coming up on 16 May.
3. The Sibu team, except me were formerly from EON Bank and thus, were familiar with each other. (Just my initial fears of not fitting in)
FYI Sibu's demography on races living in the town are predominantly Chinese (Foo Chows and Hokkiens). Being in Sarawak, there are also aboriginal races such as Iban-s, Melanau-s, Bidayuh-s, etc and small percentage of Malays.
I was successfully nominated for an external course, Internal Audit and Risk Management course held in Crown Princess Hotel, KL on 18-19Apr07. Therefore the rest of them flew to Sibu on 16 Apr.
I flew in alone on 23Apr...the MAS pilot could have been more skillful in landing the blasted plane! The rattle and shaking upon landing was bone rattling and it didn't help that I was altophobic (fear of heights and high places).
Sibu airport was badly ventilated as the walk from the plane-terminal and down a flight of staircase to Immigration checkpoint with a 4kg backpack (notebook, etc. inside) got me perspiring from the heat. (http://www.thelex.com/sibu/airport/)
Well, although I've been to Sarawak before, I still don't get it why people from West Malaysia MUST fill in IMM 114 (Dokumen Gantian Perjalanan Dalam Negeri Malaysia) and can only stay in Sarawak/Sabah not >3 months. Aren't we (West Malaysian and East Malaysian) all Malaysians?
Anyway, after a quick check I cleared the Immigration and strolled over to pick up my luggages. The Malaysia Aiports Bhd (MAB) guys manually unloaded our luggages onto the conveyor belt and one-by-one the bags slowly appeared and claimed by respective owners.After I got my bags, I went to the Taxi Counter and found that it costs RM28 for a taxi from Sibu Airport to RH Hotel.
Boy, was I in for a surprise!
When I got inline for the taxi, the first one there was an old Toyota Crown (probably as old[...uh, young, I mean] as I am!). That was not the surprise...the roads in Sibu were dreadfully uneven and the taxi driver was not using the right gears to drive!!! Imagine going at 60km/h on 5th gear with the Crown rattling and groaning coupled with the uneven road condition. Not recommended if u have kinetosis (motion sickness)-try to catch a 'younger' vehicle e.g. Proton Wira or Proton Iswara
The half hour ride came to an end at RH Hotel (http://www.rhhotels.com.my/). I was thankful to have arrived safely with all bones intact and did not regurgitate my stomach's contents. Registering was quite fast and I was given a keycard to enter my 'home' for the next 3 weeks.
I was shocked that at about 11:30am, my room was yet to be attended to by Housekeeping (later I was informed that it's normal for our room to cleaned about 2pm). That's coz my room mate's bed was not straightened out and towels were not changed! Nonetheless, I loved my firm and extra-wide super single bed (approx 4 ft wide). I also had the luxury of 3 lumpy pillows and a feather comforter.
I took a quick shower and had a change of clothes before presenting myself to work, which was across the road (along Jln Kampung Nyabor). That's all for now....may u be blessed always :)
1. It's my 1st outstation assignment since joining HLB in Jun'07 and second Business Centre audit.
2. I had my Certified Internal Auditor Part 2 examination coming up on 16 May.
3. The Sibu team, except me were formerly from EON Bank and thus, were familiar with each other. (Just my initial fears of not fitting in)
FYI Sibu's demography on races living in the town are predominantly Chinese (Foo Chows and Hokkiens). Being in Sarawak, there are also aboriginal races such as Iban-s, Melanau-s, Bidayuh-s, etc and small percentage of Malays.
I was successfully nominated for an external course, Internal Audit and Risk Management course held in Crown Princess Hotel, KL on 18-19Apr07. Therefore the rest of them flew to Sibu on 16 Apr.
I flew in alone on 23Apr...the MAS pilot could have been more skillful in landing the blasted plane! The rattle and shaking upon landing was bone rattling and it didn't help that I was altophobic (fear of heights and high places).
Sibu airport was badly ventilated as the walk from the plane-terminal and down a flight of staircase to Immigration checkpoint with a 4kg backpack (notebook, etc. inside) got me perspiring from the heat. (http://www.thelex.com/sibu/airport/)
Well, although I've been to Sarawak before, I still don't get it why people from West Malaysia MUST fill in IMM 114 (Dokumen Gantian Perjalanan Dalam Negeri Malaysia) and can only stay in Sarawak/Sabah not >3 months. Aren't we (West Malaysian and East Malaysian) all Malaysians?
Anyway, after a quick check I cleared the Immigration and strolled over to pick up my luggages. The Malaysia Aiports Bhd (MAB) guys manually unloaded our luggages onto the conveyor belt and one-by-one the bags slowly appeared and claimed by respective owners.After I got my bags, I went to the Taxi Counter and found that it costs RM28 for a taxi from Sibu Airport to RH Hotel.
Boy, was I in for a surprise!
When I got inline for the taxi, the first one there was an old Toyota Crown (probably as old[...uh, young, I mean] as I am!). That was not the surprise...the roads in Sibu were dreadfully uneven and the taxi driver was not using the right gears to drive!!! Imagine going at 60km/h on 5th gear with the Crown rattling and groaning coupled with the uneven road condition. Not recommended if u have kinetosis (motion sickness)-try to catch a 'younger' vehicle e.g. Proton Wira or Proton Iswara
The half hour ride came to an end at RH Hotel (http://www.rhhotels.com.my/). I was thankful to have arrived safely with all bones intact and did not regurgitate my stomach's contents. Registering was quite fast and I was given a keycard to enter my 'home' for the next 3 weeks.
I was shocked that at about 11:30am, my room was yet to be attended to by Housekeeping (later I was informed that it's normal for our room to cleaned about 2pm). That's coz my room mate's bed was not straightened out and towels were not changed! Nonetheless, I loved my firm and extra-wide super single bed (approx 4 ft wide). I also had the luxury of 3 lumpy pillows and a feather comforter.
I took a quick shower and had a change of clothes before presenting myself to work, which was across the road (along Jln Kampung Nyabor). That's all for now....may u be blessed always :)
A well written blog, thank you. My name is Bob, and I live in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. I have visited Sibu 52 times in the last 30 years, and your description of the airport arrival and taxi service is exactly right. I also tried the RH Hotel, but was not pleased, and moved out after 4 days.I will visit again (for the last time) in November.
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