Attending my first International Conference.

November 20, 2011

Attending my first International Conference.

November 14-18 (Monday to Friday) 2011, was the first time I participated in an overseas International Conference. Not exactly my preferred venue as I have already visited Taipei 3 times, (hence I would much more prefer cities like Xi'an, Tokyo or even Ho Chih Minh), but I guess I should feel thankful. (Afterall, it is also Thanksgiving Sunday today.)

Felt a little grown-up (my first "business trip"! Hurrah!) so I put on my nice ladylike autumn trench coat and set off to the airport. Didn't know that the Air Busan flight would provide lunch so I had a little breakfast on my own - samgak kimbap (or Leonard calls it the Korean-style nasi lemak), a sausage (not shown here) and a can of cold Starbucks doubleshot espresso & cream (1,500won).

Flight meal (from Busan to Taipei) - Hmmm finally I tasted the most delicious kimchi ever... 30,000 feet above the air in a small little vacuumed-package of NongHyup KimChi. How ironic.

My presentation session was to be held in the evening of the 2nd day. Went there on Tuesday morning to register my attendance and get some freebies (a nice slingbag, USB pendrive, and damn, couldn't exchange the Zigbee module!) The conference venue was Jiantan Overseas Youth Activity Center (剑潭海外青年中心), which was surprisingly pretty, a red brick building set amongst a lush green background with a pond (with geese and storks flying overhead!) and with the famous Yuansan Hotel in the background.

Jiantan Overseas Youth Activity Center (剑潭海外青年中心)

I was glad my mom flew from Malaysia to Taipei to join the trip with me. Had the chance to bring her around to experience the nice Taipei life. Took some pictures at the conference venue and rushed off to our next stop - Taipei 101. Will blog about the other days later after I finish my thesis defense on Tuesday.

I am getting less anxious now to give presentations. Although my heartbeat still tends to quicken at the last 10 mins before it's my turn. I guess it's because I have gotten used to giving presentations and now I am more familiar with my topic. Still, I need to remind myself to take deep breaths (slowly, surely, steadily) before I go up, and I remind myself: "Nobody knows this topic more than you do, (well at least the ones that do are not here anyway :P) and you are just explaining your work to the morons sitting down there... :P"

Ximending Shopping Street （西门町）

Impressions of Taipei:

When I got to Taipei I had a faint illusion that I might still be in Korea. At the shopping streets with the stalls selling clothes, they played K-pop. At the restaurant in Ximending too. Some Taiwanese girls in the same boat with us to Danshui Fisherman's Pier were trying to speak some easy Korean (나쁜여자!) and talking about their favorite K-pop singers. A guy checking something out on his Samsung Galaxy S II. A girl buying clothes on Gmarket Mobile using her smartphone. The girls on the streets everywhere were dressed up in boots and late autumn clothing even though the weather was a humid 22 degrees Celcius! I fell asleep watching a Korean drama dubbed in Chinese on the hotel TV. Korea has conquered the world! (Or Asia, for that matter.)

Stuff that I bought:

"My Beauty Diary" foam cleansing scrub, "My Beauty Diary" sleeping mask, "Burt's Bees" pomegranate flavored lip balm (costs RM25 in Korea but only RM15 in Taipei), "Ma Cherie" moisture treatment for hair, and some 森田药桩 masks (buy 1 box free 1 box).

Some RM20 clothes and RM25 bra-panty set (TOO CHEAP!!!!!!!!!)

All the flats below cost RM19 a pair (including the "Ugg" boots)!!!!!!!!!!!! TOO CHEAP!!!! And the purple canvas Nike's which I had been eye-ing for an entire summer and autumn in Korea cost RM98 compared to RM120 in Korea.