Reunion Update # 4

February 23, 2012

Dear Friends,

Saturday, 15th September 2012 is fast approaching and I believe an update is warranted to help you plan your trips. Please do take note of the details given here.

THE SABAH EVENT

The Sabah end of the program keeps getting better each time we receive updates from Kah Kiat.  He has very carefully put forward a suggested itinerary to maximize your Sabah experience. Please refer to the attachment, “Sabah Program”, for more details.

NOTE:- You are allowed to bring anyone (family members or not) with you to enrich your stay in Sabah. Your guests are also invited to the “Lest We Forget” dinner and the same discount rates will apply to them. They will be treated as one of us and share in everything we do. In short, it is “all in a family” affair. We do really want everyone to have a great time!

Briefly, you should take note of the following:-

1)      Your Sabah Bookings:-

We have simplified the booking procedure. With the exception for your flight booking, please forward all other Sabah bookings and queries direct to Chong Kah Kiat (dckk52@gmail.com)). Be specific when making your bookings (e.g.  date of arrival/departure, number of people, Full name as in passport..etc). If there is any tour of interest to you, please indicate that to Kah Kiat. If the number can justify it, we will undertake to organize the tour for the group.

2)      Flight to Sabah:-

You are responsible to make your own flight bookings. Malaysian Airlines and Air Asia are currently offering cheap flights to Sabah. The fares get more expensive as the date gets nearer. Therefore, I suggest that you make your online flight booking ASAP. You should aim to arrive in Kota Kinabalu no later than the evening of the 17th September to attend the “Lest we Forget” dinner hosted by Kah Kiat and Ivy Chong. Carefully determine your length of stay in Sabah before making your flight booking. Do seek advice from Kah Kiat if you are note sure of the number of days needed to complete your activities in Sabah.

3)      Hotel Accommodation:-

A better deal has since been negotiated with HotelSixty3, www.hotelsixty3.com .
For RM$170, you have a choice of,
-          A Superior King (1 King bed) / Superior Twin (2 Single beds)
OR
-          Family Deluxe (2 Queen Size)
Do specify your date of arrival/departure and the room type when placing your booking with Kah Kiat. Room type will be allotted on a “first come first serve basis”.

4)      Planned Programs in Sabah:-

At this stage, there are two planned programs in Sabah. The “Lest we Forget” dinner, as mentioned previously, will be held on the evening of the 17th (Monday) September 2012 hosted by Kah Kiat and Ivy Chong. Dress code shall be Smart Casual as a minimum standard.

On the 19th (Wednesday) September, there is an organized trip to Kundasang where the famed Mt Kinabalu National Park is situated. We planned to include in this trip activities such as golf, visit to Ranau Poring Hot Spring, War Memorial, Fresh Vegetable planting at Tamu Place…an opportunity to interact with the local populace. There will be a ‘get together’ on the evening of the 19th at the National Park for another ‘party’.  We aimed to return to Kota Kinabalu in the afternoon of the 20th September around 2pm.

5)      Scuba Diving @ Sipadan and Climb to Top of Mt. Kinabalu:-

Owing to the huge public demand for these permits there are early Cut-Off dates (see attachment) for registration to join these activities. As mentioned previously, these two activities are truly an experience of a lifetime and we do encourage you to take advantage of the special offer. Please see details in the attachment.

6)      Free Time:-

Apart from the above planned activities, your free time in Sabah is yours to decide what you do like to do to enrich your stay. Suggest very strongly that you visit the Sabah Tourism site to see what other activities may tickle your fancy.

REMEMBER!!! 
Inform Kah Kiat of the specific events you wish to participate (e.g. Trip to Kundasang, Island cruise, Climb Mt Kinabalu,…etc.) and he will register your names and advise you of the discounted rate applicable.

THE KUALA LUMPUR EVENT

There are TWO planned events. A welcome party to be held at Dave’s Bristo Bar and Grill on the 13th September and of course the Main Event on Saturday, 15th September at the One World (5-Star) hotel. Dress code on both occasions is Smart Casual. Golf sessions will definitely be arranged for those interested.

I am also very proud to announce here that David’s son, Darren, was recently awarded the overall winner of “The Sandwich World Cup” organized by the World renown group, Delifrance, (see link below)! This is indeed an outstanding achievement and shows the standard you can expect when eating at any of Dave’s restaurants…need I say more! So, don’t miss the Welcome Party.

For those of you who wish to stay at the One World 5-Star Hotel where the main event is organized the current discount rate is about RM$280++ (ie. Plus 10% Service charge and 6% Govt Tax). Please let us know if you are interested to book your rooms at this hotel.

Depending on your length of stay in KL, a trip to the Old Historical Town of Malacca (a Portuguese settlement) is highly recommended. In addition, there are many places of interest (e.g. Twin Towers) you can visit and shopping you can do in KL.

YOUR ATTENDANCE

At this point, we should be fairly certain of our commitment to attend the “THIS IS IT” Reunion. May I seek your cooperation to help us in the organizing of the event by confirming your registration?
Please review the attached list of attendees. If your name is on the list and you are definitely (100%) no longer able to attend due to unforeseen circumstance, please let us know and we will remove your name from the list. If your name is not on the list and there is a chance that you may want to attend, I urge you to register. This would help us tremendously in the detail planning of the events.

PAYMENTS

When the organizing committee embarked on this venture, we do not have a working capital. Therefore, we do need to start collecting payments now for the booking of venue and band. For those of you who have a good chance to attending the reunion we would appreciate if you can help by remitting your payments to us. Let me assure you that should your circumstance change in future and you can no longer attend, we will reimburse you the payment.

The prices for the Reunion are shown below.

Australia/US/Canada - AUD$85/USD$85/CND$85
New Zealand/Singapore – NZD$110/SGD$110
Others - RM$230

The difference in prices, as mentioned previously, is to cover any exchange rate fluctuations and bank charges. Any gains in exchange rate will be plough back into the Reunion. This is definitely NOT a profit making Reunion.

At this point, payments can be only collected in the follow locations.

Malaysia – by Teoh Lay Hock
Australia – by David Chin
New Zealand – by Francis Chang

We will soon forward payment collection details to you. For those coming from the other countries, we will advise in due course how payment should be made.
Before I forget, I do like to say a special ‘thank you’ to those close friends of mine who answered my call for help by making early payments to help us through the initial stage of planning. I will throw a ‘shrimp in the Bar-B-Que’ for you. Please check your payment status on the attached attendance sheet.
At this stage, “Money”, to us, is definitely not a crime or the root of all evils. We do need it to plan the events. So, may I gently remind you with this video clip.

We hope we have given you enough information to confidently plan your trip and start making your flight and hotel bookings. For more details please refer to our blog below for previous updates

Do join our Facebook for informal updates.

Finally, the committee is here to help anyone who is keen to join this reunion. Read this update carefully including the attachments. If you need any help, or have any queries, please don’t hesitate to forward them to us. We will take great care to smooth out your worries. Do start your bookings now before it is too late.

We promise this will be a warm, exciting, welcoming reunion for all to enjoy before we say our final ‘Goodbye’.

Take real good care of yourself and we hope to see you there (KL & Sabah).
Ciao!


With Regards, 


Henry Cheong