Malaysia – What a Great Experience

What an opportunity!

Part 1:
Late last year when it was announced Tourism Malaysia was our new joint major sponsor many of us said it would be appropriate that we visit Malaysia.  We figured we should know more about our new sponsor and then be in a better position to talk about Malaysia. After all I drive a Hyundai so can give you first hand experience about our other joint major sponsor.

That joking around in the change rooms came to fruition for eight players, including myself, with a visit to Penang. Chris Judd, Nick Stevens, Brendan Fevola, Brad Fisher, Kade Simpson, Andrew Carrazzo, Bryce Gibbs and I represented Carlton in Malaysia on a tour that was designed to provide a closer relationship between Tourism Malaysia and Carlton as well as an opportunity to see some of Malaysia and what is making it an increasingly popular tourist destination for Australians.

Making the trip even more memorable was the transport to and from Penang – Richard Pratt’s private jet. This was an experience in itself, it was fantastic. We flew from Essendon airport on Sunday, January 25th, leaving around 10:00am. What was great was that we parked our cars near the jet at 9:30 and were on the way just 30-minutes later, no need to line up for boarding passes etc. it was so convenient. And the plane, well it is fair to say it is a great way to travel!

The trip gave the 8 players and Ratts (Coach Brett Ratten) the chance to have a talk about the season ahead and on the tough three weeks of training we had completed since returning after the Christmas break. This was a light week of training and that is why the Malaysia visit was organised for this week. We also had the opportunity to speak with Sticks (Club President Stephen Kernahan), Swanny (CEO Greg Swann) and of course Richard Pratt – about football, business and many other things. It was a great way to start an important and memorable few days for us.

Arriving in Penang we were met by our official Tour Guide, Badrul, who assisted in getting everything sorted out on our arrival. And while it is a private jet we were still required to pass through customs and immigration before the bus ride from the Penang Airport to our resort, the Shangri-la Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa at Batu Ferringhi. The bus ride was a real education as we passed through a number of different areas of Penang (Penang is an island off the main land of Malaysia) including the historical city of George Town. Making the 50-minute drive more enjoyable was the ‘bus tour guide’, Yap (not sure of the spelling) who provided a commentary on the significant buildings and areas as well as some comedy relief. Yap became a bit of a celebrity among the group when we were on the bus during our visit. In fact when the microphone was not working on the bus on the Monday night we were all very disappointed, but he made up for it with some additional lines when the microphone was back working the next day.

Penang is three hours behind Melbourne so while it was around 4:00pm (local time) when we were settled into the magnificent resort, it certainly felt later. We were given a very warm welcome by the management and staff at Shangri-la Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, including a tour of the facilities before a brief rest and a swim in the fantastic pool and then dinner at the resort.

It was Chinese New Year the next day, Monday January 26th, and both Monday and Tuesday were public holidays and the resort was at full occupancy. However such is the layout of the resort that it didn’t feel to be that busy. Following dinner we all went into George Town for a look around and it was a great experience to see the local people preparing for the New Year celebrations. This was a bit like Christmas Eve with families getting together as they prepared to celebrate New Year, 2009 the year of the Ox.

As part of our cultural education we all now know the animal for the year we were born:
- Chris Judd, Andrew Carrazzo and Brett Ratten – Year of the Pig
- Brad Fisher and Kade Simpson – Year of the Rat
- Nick Stevens – Year of the Monkey
- Brendan Fevola – Year of the Rooster
- Bryce Gibbs – Year of the Snake
- Myself – Year of the Rabbit

Monday morning (Chinese New Year’s Day and of course Australia Day) was a day of celebration in Malaysia and we were treated to a dragon dance in the lobby of the resort. There was real excitement about the New Year with the resort having a special celebration lunch and dinner available for guests.

The rest of the tour party arrived at the resort on Monday morning after flying from Melbourne during the night. They left Melbourne at 12:45am on Monday and flew to Kuala Lumpur, then to Penang and enjoyed the bus ride from Penang airport to the resort with Yap providing some local knowledge and comedy. Assistant coaches Bomber (Mark Riley), Monty (Brett Montgomery) and Harves (Robert Harvey) were part of this group, together with our Fitness Guru Justin Corday as well as our Communications Guru and media representatives.

While we enjoyed a restful morning watching the dragon dance and enjoying a swim, the arrival of Justin Cordy signaled the start of some training. While it was a light week, it was certainly not a week off and early in the afternoon we hit the gym at the resort with a weight and exercise session. The great thing about a training session at the resort was the opportunity to then relax in the pool. Not only was it a great pool but the weather was 31 degrees (every day) and the pool temperature was 27 degrees (every day). There was a sign near the pool and it is fair to say it doesn’t need changing because the weather was the same every day we were there.

A few of the boys also had a hit of golf on the ‘Executive Par 3’ course. Basically it is a chip and putt 9-hole course and it was a bit of fun. While returning from the golf it was good to see Ratts (Brett Ratten) and Harves (Robert Harvey) going head-to-head on the tennis court. The Australian Open was on tv at the resort and I think these two had motivation after watching another match from Melbourne Park. Actually the tennis was covered in the local paper everyday with a two page spread on the results from the previous day so you realize just how big the Australian Open tennis is. Let’s hope we can get some Carlton coverage in 2009.

Monday night was a bus ride into George Town for a group dinner at QE2 Seafood Restaurant. This was a great night as everyone was together for the first time and we had a great view over the water toward the mainland of Malaysia. It was great to sit down and have a chat to the media representatives during the dinner as it is not often we get to meet with them in a casual environment. A sight I really enjoyed was seeing Richard Pratt on the back of a golf buggy (used to transport people to and from the car park to the restaurant) alongside Mick Molloy as the rest of us walked back to the bus. I can’t say that I had ever pictured Richard and Mick together having a chat in Penang on the back of a golf buggy!

Once again we were able to view many of the celebrations that go with Chinese New Year as we traveled to and from George Town. On the way to the restaurant we were amazed at the traffic heading toward Batu Ferringhi, it was bumper to bumper. Yap explained that Batu Ferringhi was a very popular area, both for locals and for tourists. Thankfully by the time we drove back to our resort it was not as busy so it did not take too long.

An early evening with a big day planned for Tuesday, including a 7:30am departure for golf.

Marc Murphy

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

For more information on Malaysia visit the Tourism Malaysia website at
http://www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my