It was a cool Saturday morning when our group,consisting of some 20 people, led by our Chief Instructor Philip Lee Sensei and our guest shihan Hironobu Yamada, set off for Kuala Lumpur from the bus station in Golden Mile Complex. The date was the 22nd of September, and the event we were going to attend - the Aikikai Malaysia 30th Anniversary Celebration.

After a six hour bus ride, we finally arrived at the Ming Court Vista Hotel. I managed to sneak in a short nap after check-in before all of us were bundled into the bus once more for our first training session, to be held by Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba.

The venue was the University of Islamic Studies, a gorgeous blue and white campus that sprawled over the lands.

Reception dinner with Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba after the first training at the University of Islamic Studies, KL

The Anniversary dinner was held on the second evening, hosted by the president of Aikikai Malaysia - Jun Yamada Shihan.

The second training session with Doshu was held at the Police Academy. Spectators were entertained to a short demo by Doshu during the session.

The last day was spent in the frenzy of shopping and 'pigging out' on KL culinary delights before heading back to Singapore.