India made me wanna blog again

I have left blogging a long time ago. Although occasionally I do write a post or two, they were mostly afterthoughts which sometimes are left in drafts and never published. Most of the drafts are for my property and financial blog : Legal Cat-asthrophe, as I was using it to write my books or to promote my new book.

Being a writer may have made me a bit of a snob. I expect to get something in return for the information I published. Not as if I get paid all the time. When I write articles for magazines or online news portal, the value I get from them is being recognised as an expert on a particular subject. It does bring me business and that is actually enough for me. Although I do crave to be able to command monetary gains for being a blogger, I just didn't have the tenacity to achieve it. In short, I couldn't care less. In fact, I believe, the era of celebrity blogger has long passed. Now it is the era of celebrity instagrammer or Youtuber.

Anyway, this short post is about how I am thinking (not daring enough to say I have returned) to being a blogger as the trip to Delhi for the New Delhi Book Fair 2015 was an experience I couldn't not to tell others about. As I mentioned in my Twitter feed, it was not just a journey, it is an experience.

The people I met, the people I get to have lunch, dinner and supper with, talked to, asked about history of the places I went, were just amazing.

So, let's hope this is not the last entry about India and it will be a starting point for some more jottings....

(next post will have pictures!)

Malaysia Social Media Chambers

I was a part of a collective who organised the Malaysia Social Media Week 2012 which was held between 13th and 17th February 2012. We are known as Malaysia Social Media Chambers which is currently in the midst of being registered with the Registrar of Society. It is a collective of people who are active in social media and all are welcome. 

Currently we have a few like-minded people like Stephen Doss (@stephendoss), Christopher Tock (@spinzer), Anis Nabilah (@anis_nabilah) and Altimet (@altimet), among others. They have their own reputation on social media. If you are on Twitter or at least Facebook, you should know them. Discover them by joining the Chambers.

The Malaysia Social Media Week or MSMW 2012, as it was known, was held at Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur and a few other venues within Kuala Lumpur. There were a Social Media Week Summit, social media games like Social-Poly, Gadgets Galore and even a launchpad showcase at Zebra Square where applications developer pitch their ideas to would-be investors.

As success goes, the event may not be the knocking-on-the-door-trying-to-get-seats type of events but we did try. We promoted the event nearly everywhere, which kind of ironic because personally I would have thought we may want to stick to social media channels next time we hold a social media events. However, the idea was to get people to join social media even if they are NOT on social media. You can't deny the fact that traditional media still hold power over certain demographic of Malaysia populations.

We will be hosting Malaysia Social Media Week 2013 next year and what we want to know is what to improve on any shortcomings that had occurred during the event. We still have the Social Media Awards Night 2012 to look forward to for the best of social media to come out and receive their awards for the social media contribution. Here are the Social Media Awards winners list.

And even if your comments are about there is no need for Social Media Chambers in Malaysia, can you at least give a reason why....

The iftar tango....

 Every year, like any other year, the iftar or buka puasa part of Ramadhan will be in focus. People tend to go overboard when it comes to spending for buka puasa. Before I was married, in a family like mine where buka puasa is an event in itself, my mom tend to cook more than necessary as during those time Pasar Ramadhan or Bazaar Ramadhan were not as popular as it is now. We overeat on what our parents cooked for us, not some food which you are unsure of the quality of from a vendor who you suspect is only there to make money. All this thanks to a fast life of not being able to cook our own food.

Years back, when we were just married, my wife and I decided that we should do the same. Except for one delicacy which we will allow ourselves to indulge, we will only eat something which is well-prepared. Our Ramadhan routine changed but doesn't really change the way we overindulge. Only that we eat better food and something we are sure of being supposedly healthy. We also tend to cook more than necessary and we will try to eat and eat until the time for us to stop.

Once in awhile, we also tend to go out, book a hotel buffet and eat. I also treat the staff at my office the same. Hotel buffet is the norm.That is until 4 years ago when food prices started to rise and the realisation, we are overindulging in something we should take heed not to. 

Nowadays, at home, my wife and I decided we would slow down on our food intake. Iftar is just water and some fruits, usually dates and an apple. I will usually perform Maghrib prayer first before we eat a proper meal. Sometimes, I only eat after the Isya' and terawikh prayers. My wife will usually cook one rice dish and we will eat peacefully at home. I rarely do iftar in hotels anymore. This Ramadhan, I have only had iftar thrice outside of my home or either my wife's parents or mine. One is with my staff in which the hotel buffet has now become a proper catered meal at our office, complete with grill lamb and twice with a bunch of brilliant young minds whom I got to know through their blogs.

There's still half a month of Ramadhan. As we go nearer Syawal, I think it is important to do more ibadah than go eat. As for me, I am trying to lessen more time eating outside of my home but more time inside....

Nestle Drumstick Almond Thrill

New ice cream by Nestle ice cream which is true to its name : Almond Thrill. Full of almond and in terms of thrill, that too. Is it tasty? Let me paint you a picture. You are living in a country where after a full blast of storm and rain, the weather can go back to between 35 to 40 degree Celsius. What better way to cool yourself than grabbing some ice cream. Here was the weather on the day we were given a preview of the new ice cream, and we were sitting just below the sun in Sunway Giza:

The event was launched by Mr Chew Soi Peng, Executive Director of Ice Cream Dvision of Nestle Products Sdn Bhd. The new Nestle Almond Thrill drumstick ice cream joins all the other well-known Nestle drumstick ice cream such as Vanilla Got Nuts, Chocolate Blast and Kit Kat. 

In conjunction with the new flavour, there is a contest which you can join and the prize is RM57,000 in total. Convey how you like to live your adventure with Nestle drumstick by Liking the Facebook page of Nestle drumstick at www.facebook.com/NestleDrumstick. After that register as a member of the Nestle drumstick Almond Thrill 'What’s Yours?' Facebook Application at http://apps.facebook.com/drumstick-thrill. 

Then, upload a video  of not more than 2 minutes long based on the theme onto the Facebook app or you can claim a video shot at any NESTLE DRUMSTICK® ALMOND THRILL "What’s yours?" on-ground event listed on www.drumstick.com.my. Just look at the way you can have fun and try to win yourself some money at where we had the launch in Sunway Giza.

Easy isn't it?

Samsung SMART TV Launch

A few weeks ago in April, I was invited to witness a new revolution in television watching. I did asked myself how smart can a television be as internet seems to be hogging the limelight when it comes to television. It seems that Samsung is one step faster in adapting that as the SMART TV system is not juts about the television. It is also an entertainment system, a computer system you can hook to the television, the 3-D glass that you need to view your favourite show and of course, sound.

As we registered, we were given a 3-D viewing piece for us to see how 'real' television viewing can be. Needless to say, being the blogger we are, we were already playing around with the buttons on it and trying out the spectacles. 

The event was graced by Mr. Yu Jai Sul, the Managing Director of Samsung Malaysia, who pointed out "As we enter a new era of immersive experience, Samsung has redefined the visual elements that make our TVs the centerpiece of any room". Although he is pointing the obvious, it cannot be denied that it is true that rarely does a house does not have a television. Even if you do not watch television, you will use it as a place for you to play video games in so many consoles and use it like I do, as a computer.

A launch gimmick follows with Mr Yu and Dato' Lee Chong Wei breaking a wall to show the new experience coming to your home and then we were presented with the new television and entertainment system.

It was quite impressive and you can just reach out and touch the persons inside the screen (Don't you just wish that?)

The 3D experience is thanks to Samsung 3D LED TVs with stunning clear 3D pictures with the world's best panel technology and proprietary image-improving techniques. The world's fastest unique double-rate frame transition technology reduces the picture frame transition by 50 percent to enhance the viewing quality of 3D content. There is also '3D' sound so that you will run aware scared when the goes in the television says "Bo!"

Brand's 14-Days "Get Smart" Challenge

The first entry for this blog post was done at 7 am on 30th March 2011, a wet Wednesday morning and I am up, doing some work in my office. I was up since 4.30am as I had to send my wife to LCCT, the low-cost airport, as she is going on a long overdue holiday with her. I didn't sleep after sending her but went straight to my office. And yes, it was helped by the 4th bottle of Brand's which I started to take on 26th of March 2010.

On 27th March 2011, a Sunday, I did something I never did before. An adrenaline rush sport which consist of doing flying fox, balancing myself on steps made from pipes nearly 50 feet from the ground and sliding down trees. I am not those who did all these when I was in school, which was more than 20 years ago but I can just described it as fun. The adventure I had was courtesy of the Skytrex-Adventure at Taman Pertanian. Below are some pictures of what I did that day. Drinking Brand's again helped me.

As I handled a few businesses at any one time, I also have to divide my time to manage them properly. And that is not all. I am also a very social animal. I usually don't go home before it is 1 o'clock in the morning. Every Tuesday, Saturday and (just recently) Sunday, I always hang-out at a bar in town listening to music of old being played by a favourite father and son band. Although relaxing in a bar may need that much brain muscle but needing to wake up at 6am and go to work, does make a supplement like Brand's important in my life. As on some days, I give seminars which are based on the books that I have written while I am writing a new book.

Every weekend, for the past 3 months, I have been trekking jungles around the Klang Valley and as it is usually done on Sundays, I need to divide my time between these activities and living a proper balance wok-life relationship.

Then last week, starting from Sunday, 3rd of April 2011 until last night, 10th of April 2011, anyone in Malaysia would have caught the F1 fever. What a fever it was. Parties were held every single day and as someone who tried to use this opportunity to network with as many people as possible, it did take it tolls. The pictures below are just some of the parties which I attended. Yesterday, the day of the race where I woke up at 6am to trek the Gasing Hill, have lunch, hang-out with a few friends while we watched the F1 race, then drove to Sepang for the final STYLO event before joining my friend for what we called our #rockapak session, I am so tired that I could have just take a day-off today. But, I didn't.

The 14-Days "Get Smart" Challenge was not really a challenge as it actually helped me living my already hectic life. The event on 25th March where Brand's announced its new ambassador in Rynn Lim had helped realised how Brand's is the supplement that I need and should have taken long ago.

And it seems that its benefit is scientifically proven too. Dr Paramjeet Singh, the Senior Manager of Brand's Health Science Centre, Regional R&D, Health Supplement Division as seen above showed us what is inside the concoction which made it beneficial. It has ProBeptigen, an active compound that independent scientist help improves memory and mental concentration.

At that event, we had the good Dr. Paramjeet Singh, multi-talented pop singer and composer, Rynn Lim and even General Manager of Cerebos (M) Sdn. Bhd. to answer all our questions on the benefit of Brand's Essence of Chicken and also how Rynn Lim was going to take up the challenge of composing and finishing a song in 14 days from that launch day.

Check out Rynn Lim's progress in his challenge at this Brand's Smart Living Facebook page.

In case you want to get a bottle of Brand's Essence of Chicken, it is sold in 6-bottle packs of either 42gm or 70gm at RM24.20 and RM39.20, with the limited edition Brand's '14-Day Get Smart' Challenge packs come in a special 14 x 70gm bottle pack priced at RM70.90.

Johnnie Walker, The Black Circuit Lounge 2011

How long can a brand last if it doesn't associate itself with something that stands together in its vision. Johnnie Walker did that when it associate itself with one of the stylish and sophisticated sports in the world, the F1. I bet the most harden fans will really know how an F1 car really works unless they have work on one (or driven one).

This year, the team is the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and the drivers are Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. They have just finished the Australian F1 Grand Prix nearly 2 weeks ago and with Lewis Hamilton winning second place, it will be important for them to be on top again this coming weekend. Malaysia will be hosting the F1 GP on 10th of April and with the current scorching heat, with unpredictable rain which can come at any moment (no matter how much the bomoh try to shoo away the cloud), the heat will not be only on the Sepang International Circuit.

Remember the rivalry between McLaren and Ferrari at the end of 1990s and early 2000? That is one rivalry which will make F1 be an interesting sports again. Redbull seems to want to be a contender again and we hope a rivalry like that will ignite the sparks again. With Hamilton and Button, we hope the competitive edge will be there. Johnnie Walker being the number one Scotch whisky brand will understand about being number one, and that is why they associate themselves with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

The Black Circuit Lounge this coming 9th April 2011, The Johnnie Walker Black Circuit Lounge will make sure you can associate success with being competitive. Experience the lifestyle of Formula 1 at this by-invites only party which is lined up with so many big names like DJ Sophia Lin, superstar-mixer DJ Enferno from the East Coast, Hong Kong’s DVDJ I-Tek, Malaysian-own DJ Faith.

Go see what it is all about here :

 

People may ask why I can associate myself with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team or even Johnnie Walker? Of course this is due to be a lawyer and to the fact I own a Mercedes SLK 200 Coupe which I sometimes use to attend event like the Black Circuit :

By the way, if you are going to the Black Circuit Lounge, you can check them at their Facebook page Black Circuit Lounge and last but not ever, ever least :

 

Never Drink and Drive

I Mas Travel? Where?

I consider for this year, this is the best piece of branding I can find. "I Mas Travel", which sounds so like 'I Must Travel'. A fan website for those who travels using MAS, Malaysia Airline System. The original Malaysia air carrier.

The place : Neo Luxe Lounge

Last few weeks, MAS invited bloggers from a few blog companies to come for an event where it was touted as MAS Bloggers Party. I was surprised to find the two warring blog advertising companies there (I know, I make it sound so confrontational) at one event. As I was there under the invitation of Advertlets, I just let you guys decide the name of their competitor. MAS must have organised the event themselves without actually using one or the other blog advert company.

Some of the bloggers

Jojo Struys introducing the entertainer with his kompang like drum from Africa

Anyway, it was held at NEO Luxe Lounge in Jalan Sultan Ismail and it was an entertaining event. We got some goodie bags, we played some games, was entertained with some Haka dance and were feted with some good food. 

Food!

Wannabe sumo wrestlers

We were also briefed about what is iMas Travel website is all about and a blog contest which you can find our more at MAS Traveller website. Why not join Mas Traveller now and join in the fun. 

MAS Golden Lounge in KLIA

Inside MAS airplane when we were off to London

As someone who has been travelling with MAS for sometimes, I can say, they are at par with so many other airlines. I just love it when I was from London and Sydney last year and I get to eat my favourite nasi lemak and read my local newspaper as I board the MAS flight.