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” Hola.. Buenos Dias.. Gracias.. Buen Viaje ! “

~~ For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.~~
-Laura Swenson.

1st week of Sep : The wait is almost over..

Full mobilisation started. There were trainings, briefings, trainings, briefings, waiting, waiting and waiting… just to prepare us for the big national event.. nevertheless, it was quite helpful. But i guess i was more excited to know which delegate am i supposed to ‘jaga’.. and when i gotta know it’ll be someone from the southern america, i was a bit dissapointed coz i was expecting those from arabic country. That made me felt more nervous coz i didn’t speak Spanish at all. I was hoping that he can speaks English so that there won’t be any miscommunication or a chicken-and-duck conversation later..

2nd week of Sep : Still waiting..

Tried to spend some time to study about the country and specifically about the delegate. But not much infos are available coz most of it are in Spanish. Luckily google have translate features. On top of that, was quite packed with my other duties as it was my org. moving week.. and due to that i couldn’t spend much time on my study the country and the delegate. And when the day came, i could only hoped and prayed that everything willl go smoothly for me and them, and tawakkal to Allah.

2nd / 3rd week of Sep : And the wait is over.

And finally.. the day i’ve been waiting for.. Went to the airport early in the morning. As i stayed quite nearby to the airport, i arrived quite early so went to get a hot cocoa and hanged out @ the waiting area. There, i managed to do my last minute reading & checklist. Not long after that, i was told that the flight will arrive much earlier, then we went straight to the gate where i was supposed to receive him. When passengers started to appear one by one @ the gate, i waited anxiously for my ‘fierce – looking’ delegate ( based on the pic. given) but to my surprise he actually has that cool fatherly in person ! well, picture can be deceiving sometimes.. I greeted, introduced myself and the rest of the ‘greeters’ and we proceeded to the custom for the delegates’ passport processing, walked to the pick up point, took the BMW and went straight to the hotel.. from that time onwards, my duty as L.O, which basically is to send, fetch, receive, attend him continues smoothly day by day. Quite hectic tho coz lots of movement, recce & planning are needed. Oh yeah, btw he does speaks English… =)

Surprise, surprise !

The 3rd day he was here, i gotta know that it was his birthday on that day. Was looking around to get something suitable for him but couldn’t find something nice over that short period of time. Only when i’ve sent him back to the hotel, i noticed few nice mini cakes and boxes of chocs sold @ the hotel cafe and decided to buy em and ask to be delivered to his room. 20 minutes later, i received a private no. called and was surprised it was actually my delegate using his mobile ( aka ‘cellphone’ @ his country) just to say thanks for that small gift. I was so glad to hear his delighted voice and hoped that that will make his trip here in Singapore even more memorable.

3rd / 4th week of Sep : It’s Over.

And when the fun had just started… well, having to spend time with him and his other officers for 5 days straight, i felt quite sad (and a bit heavy – hearted) when i sent them off @ the airport. They are such a kind, nice and humble souls despite their high-level positions. Am a bit dissapointed tho coz i didn’t get to bring him much for tour as he had a very tight schedule. But the best part was when i brought him to Mount Faber and a temple @ lil India, i felt that i was a tourist too as i’ve never been there before.. =p Anyway my overall comment for the whole journey is beyond words. It’s such a great and wonderful experience! An amazing learning journey and exposures too.. Apart from the delegate, I would certainly miss the other fellow DLOs, the hang out with my other 4 colleagues during our ’standby’, the waiting periods, the screenings, the uniforms + nametag + pin, the arrival / departure hall entry thru staff entrance, Nokia E70… and especially.. the BMW 7 Series… =D

Hmm, anyone interested to go to Uruguay ?

Wassalam..