Celebrating Chinese New Year

Twenty five hours after leaving Toronto I arrived in Malaysia.. First stop a beautiful hotel in Kuala Lumpur. I dove straight into bed to try and make a fast adjustment to the 13 hour time change. I left Toronto at 7am on Wed and arrived in Malaysia on Thursday 8pm. At 5am I woke up to the sounds from the outdoor speakers of the local mosque.

The city is alive  with celebrations marking the Chinese New Year. Everwhere you go you see red lanterns celebrating the year of the snake. You may also hear 2013 referred to as the year of the Water Snake, Black Snake or Black Water Snake.  In Kautan at midnight fireworks continue to be sent off marking the celebration.

#ibmcsc Malaysia

More info on Corporate Service

For all of you who love videos - here is a clip that shows in 6 minutes what this program is all about. Learn why it was recognized by Fortune Magazine as key program in Corporate and Social Responsibility. 

So my next blog will be from Malaysia - slightly sleep deprived. Wish me luck.

Leaving the Snow Behind

Just when I thought I could jump on the plane and go from -20 to +86 degrees and 80% humidity the snow arrived. So my send off was truly Canadian involving lots of shoveling and skating with neighbors in our community rink.  I can only hope my arrival in Kuantan in a few days will not be a monsoon.

Is this my car?

Skating with neighbors - 3 days before leaving

#ibmcscs malaysia

Countdown to Malaysia

I'm about to embark on the journey of a lifetime through my participation in IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (#ibmcsc Malaysia).  From past IBM alumni  I have heard this is a fabulous experience and many would love to have the opportunity to go a second time. So expectations are high

I will be living in Kuantan, Malaysia for four weeks as part of a team of 12 IBM employees from 9 countries. As a team we have been working together for the past few months next week we will  finally meet in Kuala Lumper. Our team has been assigned 2 customers and 5 projects (wow)

Follow my journey as I leave the snow behind, immerse myself in Malaysia culture and business.