Next Stop is the Country of Blue Sky

On Wednesday, I had disclosed that I had left the country. After Singapore, the next stop was Mongolia, the "Country of Blue Sky" (or the "Land of the Eternal Blue Sky"), due to its consistently clear skies and over 250 sunny days annually.

Three Malaysian travellers (Ahmad Fakhri, Jamilah Samian and Victor Ong) reached Ulaanbataar via Incheon, South Korea on October 08. At 02:21 AM, Mongolian Airlines OM308's tyres touched asphalt. And the Chinggis Khaan International Airport came into view. 

Сайн байцгаана уу? ("Sain baitsgaana uu?"). Hello, everybody! We're in MONGOLIA! 

And because we're here for more than a week, I suspect, we will get to learn much about the country and at the same time, have many interactions with the locals. 

In truth, we came to Mongolia to do research for our third book. And we planned to conduct workshops and engaged in Toastmastering too. 

In spite of the temperature being -3 degree Celsius , we were joyfully met on arrival by A Bolor and Shi Di, Academy of English reps. 

As in Singapore with Dr Ernest Chen, we are to interview Dr Ganchimeg Zagdaa. [She's the President of Toastmasters Mongolia National Organization and World Speech Day Mongolia Ambassador as well as Founder of Academy of English]. 

Of course, there will also be ample opportunities for sightseeing, that's for sure.

Certainly, you can expect postings galore on Mongolia!

For the first 3 days/3 nights, we're staying at Novotel Ulaanbaatar Hotel, right in the heart of the city and near the Government Palace and the Chinggis Khaan Museum.

My first daylight panorama of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Looking out of my hotel window, on the 12th floor on October 08, 2025 at 07:17 AM 

I have never imagined that I'll ever step into Mongolia but having been given this opportunity, I am SUPER EXCITED!

Malaysian women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan advanced to the Arctic Open semi-finals with a comfortable win over a much lower-ranked French pair in straight games. 

The world No 2 pair beat the 42nd ranked Margot Lambert-Camille Pognante 21- 11 , 21-19 in 34 minutes today at the Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland. 

Pearly-Thinaah, who were last year’s runners-up, will meet either China’s Bao Li Jing-Zheng Shu Xian or Hsieh Pei Shan- Hung En Tzu from Taiwan.