Api! Api!

Can you imagine what it is like to walk down 31 flights in a narrow, low ventilation stairwell?

Well, neither can I. Fortunately enough, since I'm about 3 months pregnant, I'm a 'special case' and was allowed to take the service lift, accompanied by one of the floor safety officers, straight to the ground floor in this morning's fire drill. The rest of the office had to go all the way down to level 42 before taking the express lift to the main lobby.

But it didn't end there. Our mustering area was in front of the mosque, a good 10 minutes' walk through the park (and at 9.30 in the morning on a sunny day, that was not very pleasant). Since I took the faster route down, my colleagues, including the guy with the placard designating our floor hadn't arrived yet. My companion and I were wandering quite aimlessly in the general vicinity near the mosque for a few more minutes before the rest of the crew showed up.

There was almost a carnival feel in the atmosphere. Picture two of the tallest office buildings in the world spewing forth all its human contents onto the surrounding grounds. There were ambulances and Rescue 991 vehicles stationed near the mosque, in the event that a few of the stairclimbers turned out to be 'special cases' too.

And they were certainly kept busy. We saw a lady rushed by on a stretcher, and a few on wheelchairs. Sirens blared once in a while. Bottles of mineral water were being distributed - or rather, grabbed before they could be properly distributed as per the marking on the box. A group of women nearby started screaming and shrieking - one of the resident lizards in the park decided to gatecrash their party.

It was about 11 o'clock before the masses started moving back in the direction of the towers. By then a few of us were feeling quite hungry (I swear I can tell the time by my stomach) and decided to go for a quick snack. Masitah, our project secretary, hadn't even had breakfast yet so she was dying for a morsel of food. We decided to make a stop at the second floor food court in Suria KLCC and have nasi ayam.

Masitah, as it turns out, looks so much younger than her years. Very slim and stylish, her eldest daughter is already attending university. She was telling me how my lead engineer was trying to make a pass at her, playing the chivalrous knight by holding her arm on the way down when she very obviously did not need his help and even told him so. We had a good laugh about how he even managed to make new acquaintances at the interim floor while waiting for the lift. Gosh, I really shouldn't be gossipping on a Friday afternoon, but juicy stories about expatriate colleagues (any colleague, for that matter) are always irresistable.

Hmmm... I know I've already had an early lunch, but I know I'll get hungry again by 2.00 pm. So maybe I'll stick around for a couple more minutes, do my prayers, then work up an appetite at the Isetan sale.