WOBL has been a fully remote studio since day one. The team is spread across Java and Bali — feedback goes through Discord, deadlines through WhatsApp, and for five years the work always shipped on time. But in those five years, no one on the team had ever met in person.
In February 2025, we fixed that. The whole team flew to Kuala Lumpur for four days. It was the studio's first offline gathering, and for some teammates.
This post is a simple recap: where we went, what we ate, what we shot, and what we brought home.
Celebrating our trip with our own craft: The City Guide & Trip Schedule
As creative people, we wanted this first trip to feel personal and distinctly ours. Before taking off, we designed a cohesive city guide system and a physical printed stationery kit distributed to the entire team.
We divided this folding A4 printed guide into two primary sides:
1. Kuala Lumpur Trip Guide & Itinerary Map
2. Malaysia Itenary February 2025 Ensiklopedia
Holding a physical guide made entirely by our own team while navigating MRT stations and Kuala Lumpur streets added a special kind of warmth — living proof that design and illustration are our natural language for celebrating togetherness.
Why we went
We stayed remote on purpose. No office, no plans to open one. It works for us: hiring happens over voice calls, feedback happens in threads, and everyone works the hours that suit them.
Still, after five years you mostly know a teammate as a small profile photo, a typing sound, and a way of writing feedback. Meeting in person fills in the rest fast — how tall everyone is, how they walk, what their laugh sounds like in an actual room instead of through noise suppression.
We had one rule for the trip: no work talk at meals. It lasted one dinner.
So we picked a city that's a short flight, booked the same dates, and went!
Fig. 01 — Edited on Davinci Resolve with ARRI Convertion & Film Vision II
Four days in the city
Day one was for arriving: flights from every province from Java, check-in, and finding out what everyone actually looks like standing up.
Day two we gave to the city. We started at Dataran Merdeka, the field where Malaysia declared independence, then walked toward KLCC. The Petronas Towers end up in the background of almost every photo from that part of town. We didn't fight it.
Most of the photos in this post come from one camera: a Fujifilm X-H2S with the XF 15-55mm. It got passed around enough that everyone shot a few frames, and the 6.2K footage for our trip film came out of the same body.
A second set of photos came back on film — shot by teammates, developed after we got home. The rest are phone shots from in between.
The food
The first team dinner was Nasi Kandar: rice, fried chicken, spiced eggs, and a mix of curries poured over all of it. It's not a formal meal — everyone's curry runs into everyone else's, and that turned out to be a good setting for a first meeting.
The next day it was Nasi Biryani. Two teammates ordered for the whole table without asking anyone first, and nobody complained. Apparently, five years of working together is enough to guess what everyone wants to eat.
Two people ordered for the whole table without asking. Nobody complained.
In between we stopped at cafes for cold drinks. February in Kuala Lumpur is hot, and we walked most of the city on foot.
Souvenir shopping
The last day went to shopping: chocolate, local snacks, keychains, and gifts for families. Several teammates were on their first trip abroad, so the souvenir lists were long and specific.
Then the airport, flights home, and back to normal on Monday.
“Everyone had a list. Nobody finished it early.”
The photo set
Every frame from the trip, in shooting order — digital, film, and the phone candids in between. Search by place, caption, or filename, or star photos to build a shortlist.
Common questions
When did the trip happen?
February 2025. Four days in Kuala Lumpur: arrival, a full city day, a photo-walk day, and a last morning at Batu Caves before flying home.
Who went?
The core studio team — illustrators, animators, art directors, designers, our project managers, and the developer who keeps the website standing. Our creative director hosted the trip, with family along for the ride.
What gear was the trip shot on?
A Fujifilm X-H2S with the XF 15-55mm for photos and 6.2K open-gate video. A second set of photos was shot on film and scanned after the trip. Everything in between is phone shots from teammates.
Was this a work trip or a holiday?
Neither, really. Nobody opened a design file for four days, and nobody missed it.
Will there be a next one?
Most likely. Nothing is booked yet.
The team is back in Java and Bali now, working the same way as before — same channels, same files, same time zones. The only difference: when someone laughs in the group chat, we know what it actually sounds like.
Next trip: still being debated in the group chat. *LOL
