An Incentive Trip by Putu

-



The day was finally arrived. I had been preparing for the incentive trip for the last 2 months. And here they were, coming, going out from the bus and went into the Tjampuhan hotel.

Daniel, the organizer and the senior manager of the company , suddenly went out from the hotel. He was wearing the Balinese sarong (the official uniform for the gala dinner), but he did not wear any clothes. Must be because it was to hot here.


"Take me to royal Pita Maha, bring all the trophies and certificate." He said. I asked my friend, Doyok, (his real name is Nyoman, but all his friends called him Doyok) to drive the van to take Daniel to Royal Pita Maha. It was the stage where the gala dinner was to be held. It is 5 minutes drive from the Tjampuhan hotel, where we were.



I was waiting with Anom at the lobby of Tjampuhan hotel. Anom was a tour guide whom I asked to assist me in handling this tourists group.


My part was being the local organizer who settled almost all the ground arrangement like tour itinerary, selecting restaurants, organizing transport ation, massage, providing unique Bali trophy design, and supplying Balinese traditional attire for all 40 participants to wear in gala dinner.


"Everything must be about Bali," Daniel once warned me. "And must be perfect because my big boss is also here."


The time was 4 PM. All the participants of the gala dinner went into the fitting room under the hotel lobby. I would like to see what was going on there, since as the organizer, I need to know or monitor what was going on. But I did not think, those ladies, would be too happy finding me hanging around in the fitting room when they change their dress.


So, I waited and waited for them to get dressed.


Bu Agung, the dress supplier, came out from the fitting room and ascended through the stairs to where I was.


"Is everything all right?" I asked her.


"It's all right, Putu. All the ladies had got their dresses, I just need to get a needle because one of male client cloth button came off."


Then she went away to the nearest store.


It was a bit chaotic. I don't really understand this dress thing, but we had been preparing the dresses for months. From selecting amterial, color, getting measurement, negotiating price, and finally sewing all the material into ready Balinese sarong and kebaya. It was really a hard work, but fun to do it.


At 6, everybody dressed in colorful Balinese dress, ready for Gala dinner. Some of the VIPs were coming late.


I asked the bus driver to drive all the participants to Royal Pita Maha, with Anom assisting. There was a Malaysian tour guide who came with them, his name is Alan. He was great tour guide, could speak hours without stopping and always find ways to make things better for his client or amuse his clients.


At 7 PM they were all gathering in front of the gate of Royal Pita Maha. Bayu, the photographer whom I know from the Internet, get his staff ready for group photo taking.


I could not resist myself from looking at the banner which had a misspelling. The banner was prepared by Royal Pita Maha, and it said "Enchangting" instead of "Enchanting". But it was minor detail, maybe.


Gilda Sagrado, an international caliber MC whom referred to me by a friend at Grad Hyatt, was ready at the stage announcing that the VVIP was coming and that the gala dinner was to be started.


So, that was it. They were having fun on the stage, speech, eating, singing, dancing and a little bit hang over. I was waiting outside, feeling relieved that the Gala Dinner was going smoothly and a success. I was very occupied from early morning, and the last time I had shower was 6 in the morning and the time at the moment was 11 PM. I was starving and I need to get some food.


Note: I this post I would like to express my great gratitude to all the people that had help me in preparing this Gala Dinner and the Incentive Trip. Thanks to Pak Anom, Pak Komang, Doyok, Bu Gilda Sagrado, Pak Bayu, Pak Made Ariadi (trophy carver), Pak Ida Bagus Suryawan (Lereng Agung Restaurant), Pak Yoga (Bebek Bengil Restaurant) Bu Kadek Suningsih (Top Deck Restaurant) Pak Komang (Purnayasa Transport) Bu Oka (Ubud Suckling Pig), Bu Agung Setiawan (dress supplier), Gek Putri (Angkasa Pura I), Pak Kadek (Murni's Warung), Bu Ade Arifin (Bali Ratu Relaxation and Spa) Bu Frederika of Biyukukung Suite and Spa, Mr. Gazzo of the Club Med, Pak Wayan the video grapher, and the security of the Club Med who asked me a lot of questions which make me feel like that I was in a quiz before I could enter the hotel.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Swastika symbol in Bali?

-
Swastika sign can be seen in Bali, especially in Balinese Hindu temple. I must say almost all the Hindu Balinese are familiar to this symbol. Besides temple, one can also see it in houses, or community building. Even the 'Swastika' word is used as a person name, for example, Ketut Swastika. But why and what does Swastika mean? It simply means balance in relationship. The Balinese Hindu see the life is ideal when they live a balanced life indicated by three good relationship. The first is good relationship between human and the Almighty God. All the festivals, offering in temples, praying activity that you witness in Bali are examples that the Balinese really long for a great relationship with Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, The Almighty God. Next, the harmonious relationship among the human race. The Balinese values good relationship between themselves. Many activities in villages in Bali involve community of villagers . When one family in a certain village hold a ceremony such as cr...
Read more

Is Cow a Sacred Animal in Bali?

-
The answer you get of this question may vary if you ask different people. The priest may say, yes it is. But many Balinese, although they are Hindu, consume beef. And people in Bali breed cows for meat. You will not see cow wander in the streets, because they are just cattle. Some people don't eat beef because they think they should not eat beef because they think it is a sacred animal. They say they will have a headache if they do so. Well, may be because of the cholesterol or some thing like that. And another thing, we don't consume cow milk or any other milk in the past. We just recently do this, because it is been advertised a lot in the media, that milk is healthy for our body. But many of the older generations, many of our parents or grand parents don't fancy milk. They don't drink milk, they'd rather drink coffee than drinking milk. I can understand that, because milk taste awful sometimes. Oh, did I mention that our cow doesn't produce any milk? Their mi...
Read more

Why Can't A Woman in Period Enter A Temple?

-
Image
"Sorry, I can't go to the temple this full moon. I have my period," that's what Made, a friend of mine, once said to me when we talked about going to a temple. In Bali, women talk openly about their menstruation especially when it is related to temple activities. There is nothing embarrassing about that. But instead of saying in period, they merely say that they have their "monthly guest" coming. When you visit a temple in Bali, you must not be in your period when entering temple complex. Why is that? People, especially the lady tourists, ask with inquisitive and accusing look at me that we don't treat our Balinese women fairly. Okay, let me tell you, that is not the case. There some reasons why people are not allowed to enter the temple, this is called cuntaka (pronounced chun ta ka). If there is a mourning because of there is a death in one family, they can not go to the temple. Because it will cause the temple "leteh" or dirty. The woman wh...
Read more