Painful puns aside, orientation was a bomb. Although I had a slight fever (probably from weather shock), it was entertaining and educational at the same time. We talked about things hitting close to home, learned more about ICMA and even had nice panel discussions with experts and a very enthusiastic alumni. Big props to Kara and Tony for setting it up.

One of the highlights for me was Mr. Jeff from the American Planning Association, who gave us the 101 on city planning and it really changed my perspectives on some issues back home in Sarawak.

Something Mr. Jeff discussed upon really got me thinking though, even until now. He had nothing but praises for Malaysia’s city planning – but a lot of us might disagree with that fact. Is it a lapse of perspective? Are we biased in our opinions? What does he see that we don’t? Some things to ponder while I go through with this program.

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Did I mention that the food was bomb though?!

Anyways, fast forward to Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Thome and I was picked up at the airport by Mr. Gus Von Roenn himself, CEO of Omaha Permaculture. Mr. Gus brought us on a little tour around the city. Another city another landscape/cityscape to accustom to *gulp*. It is crazy freezing though, there was frost in our breaths and the wind is just howling on us as if our bosses back home were trying to blow us back to work.

Gus couldn’t stay long, he had some other urgent matters to attend so I took the whole Sunday wandering Midtown Crossing alone. It’s a very cozy city – there’s a large selection of grocers and cuisines spread throughout the place. A big difference from D.C. in terms of outlook, feel and culture. Check out the photos below for a little preview.

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Quick trivia! The Oracle himself, Mr. Warren Buffett is from Omaha Nebraska. Mr. Buffett serves as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net worth of US$82.5 billion as of March 9, 2019, making him the third-wealthiest person in the world

I guess I’ll end this post here before I bore you all to death. Feeling kinda bummed that we ICMA fellows had to part ways for a month but duty calls! Can’t wait to see you all in a month, ICMA team included.

See you all in a bit

The Sarawakian Ian