We bid goodbye to a wonderful Malaysia as our flight, MH0192, took off from KLIA, to our destination, Bangalore, on August 18, 2006.

It was a cloudy Friday and our route to KLIA was jammed with eager traffic rushing home for the weekend. We started as early as 18:00 for our 22:15 flight home, as we usually do. The journey to the airport in the family limo, which carried an unusual amount of luggage this time, took a little longer than an hour.

Flashing back two weeks before, I was handing over my project to a colleague and then training some to run and administer Gateway, as I prepared for my exit. Our Engineering Vice President and my former boss came up to my place to thank me for my services and mentioned that he enjoyed working with me. That was special. I was then invited to our department lunch and my send-off, at Park Royal.

Another week before that, Sneha and I loaded-up our car with all our household stuff and took it to ICS International for transporting our cargo to my hometown, Belgaum.

ICS International is a small cargo outlet in Masjid India area, behind MyDin department store. Frankly speaking, I was skeptical at first, because ICS International didn’t come home to collect stuff. But at RM11 a kilogram, we took the risk.

I must say it was totally worth it. They gave us a door to door delivery, cleared customs, paid dues and, everything we sent reached intact even before we left Malaysia! That’s an awesome service. They are tied-up with First Flight and deliver anywhere in India. Their port of entry is at Chennai and they then transport stuff by road to your home. If you’re sending stuff from Malaysia to India (even if you’re a tourist), they’re your men for the job.

Back at the airport, our baggage exceeded by 30 kilos and I ended-up shelling out over a grand ringgit. I regretted carrying that much stuff on us and wished we could have sent a couple of heavy ones via ICS. [Pei Lai and Yoke Kwan, this one's on you two fine ladies :).]

Sneha cried a bucket full on our way. I had never thought she would. Neither did she. The maid hugged her, our two kids and wept. Human relations are so inconspicuous and so emotional at the same time.

In all six years of my stay, places or events that I never went to see while in Malaysia are:

• The bridge connecting Petronas twin towers
• The Formula One
• The F1 Powerboat in Putrajaya

May be next time, if there would be one.

I am now in my hometown, unwinding, preparing for our future, taking care of stuff and things that need to be done for our immediate future.

While here, I am trying my best to connect to an erratic and extremely slow access to internet via my parents’ dial-up account. My email auto-response is still going out to everyone on my contacts, writing to me. I apologize for my inability respond immediately.

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