This is my side of the story - 5 days in Tawau
14th - 18th May made me lose 2 kilos. Not a healthy way to shed some kgs. My colleague Ms. J and I was on hands and foot organizing the Halal Expo. The big deal is it was to be launched by the CM and some big guns from Johor and our State.
Day one was booth set up and we have to face digruntled shop owners whose entrance was supposedly blocked by our booths. Hello people, we bring in the crowd for you. The next day was exhibitors entering and prepping their booths and like we've anticipated ada yg sampai merajuk terkena location depan this huge pillar, can't do much but gv discount skit lah. Another butik muslimah fr KK needed some models for their fashion show so I managed to get 2 pretty ladies from the adjoining Promenade Htl for her. Last minute booth additions, requests etc but we managed to sail through it with the help of our event contractor's excellent team.
This was only my 3rd visit and the longest to Tawau but I am impressed on how cooperative and accommodating the people here were. They've have made our job in an unfamiliar venue, much more easier what with some last minute details and requests..
Oh and as a norm to everyone who visits Tawau, one must make their way to the markets for their fresh and cheap seafood, keropoks, periuk belanga, kain-kain and tudung-tudung etc..peluang yg ada kami tidak tinggalkan, walaupun terpaksa selit-selit masa. So on one of the visit there this caught my eye and tickled my funnybone.
Sila baca lengkap dengan slang tempatan.
This was the emcee, he was good in entertaining the crowd. Made them laugh and participated in my quizzes. See how eager they were waiting for to win the prizes..
The Eastern Plaza, venue of my expo has just opened it's doors to the public therefore I need to create some crowd pullers to create hype and get as much visitors as I can. Since this was a Halal themed event, I called upon Kompang Nur Falah, Nasyid Nurul Amal Luasong, Ag. Aziz Gambus Bongawan and Senibudaya Tawau to perform. They were a hit! Fantastic showmanship from Kompang with their formations and energetic beats. Nasyid was harmonious and modern, 4 adik beradik yg amat talented. Ag. Aziz Gambus has the most peminat, they performed some beautiful dances and get the spectators to participate on-stage, berjoget lambak tah bisdia org2 Tawau.
In between these main shows, there were some stage product demonstrations and fashion shows. So I can safely summarize that the expo was a success, the exhibitors were happy that they made some sales and future sales. My only regret was our hard effort was not witnessed by our boss and the main committee. I didn't see any videography taken nor their official photographer taking memorable shots, i sure hope I'm wrong PLUS Ms. J and I was not even offered a ride to the airport by the main comm group who have chartered a bus eventhough we were going back on the same flight..terkilan sungguh.
The Chief Minister's visit to the booths was smooth sailing despite the expo hall being a tad too sempit for comfort. Sayalah orang yg paling nervous at that time.
In one of the food category booth. I like their publicity and promotion gimmick. Clever. They had the most visitors apart from the Lintah booth.
On the flight back to KK, I sat next to this granny..cool kan? She immediately reminded me of my late Granma coz she smelled of antique wooden furniture, just like the ones my Granma used to have.
I'm exhausted, didn't sleep and eat much. We worked from 8am - 9pm. We were given room without breakfast bcoz the rate was too expensive. My meals were mainly half-eaten coz perut sudah masuk angin and too anxious to eat. My brain won't shut down when I wanted to sleep. My mind just went on overdrive and lived on adrenaline the wholetime I was in Tawau. Begitulah gayanya saya when handling an event, tak kan aman sampailah habis and successful. This is the satisfaction that I derive from events that I do that some people might not understand, at the end of the day everyone smiles and say thank you to you. Made great friends, had a "rollercoaster" of a good time. Balik rumah conked out with a smile on my face. Puas...
