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I’M FINALLY BACK! I’ve neglected the blogging world for quite awhile for 2 reasons. First reason, I decided to go on a month’s hiatus from updating simply because I didn’t feel like it. Second reason? Well, as some of you might know, I recently sat for a Microsoft certification exam. The exam really stressed me out. I sacrificed the long Hari Raya weekend and spent most of the time at home studying for the exam. I guessed it paid off in the end. My exams was on Thursday, just after the long break. How did I do?…well, lets just say you can call me a “Microsoft Certified Professional” now *wink*.

Oh..another good thing was that I won 2 tickets to watch Black Eyed Peas in concert in conjunction with Arthur’s Day. How did I win?…err..I was given an entry form for every pint of Guinness I drank and all I had were 4 entries. What luck right? The party was great! Although I must say, Black Eyed Peas don’t really sound as nice live as they do on their records. I reckon it could be due to the sound system and the venue which was held in an open environment where sound are often displaced.

Here are scenes from Arthur’s Day

“To Arthur!”

booo to the sign!

met Puei Ee at the event too..

Janice and I enjoying our Guinness

watch the pro at work…hehe

Black Eyed Peas Yo!

Fergie was hot as always, although she sounded a bit off that night…again I blame the sound system and the venue. For me there were 2 highlights during the concert. One was definitely when wil.i.am remixed songs from the widest range of genres. From “House of Pain”, to “Red Hot Chilli Peppers” to “Michael Jackson”, he simply rocked the house. And then, came the finale where they sang “I Gotta Feeling” where the crowd absolutely went bananas! The night ended with a massive fireworks display. What a way to end the week won’t you say?

Last weekend, 7atenine KL celebrated their 3rd anniversary in style by having a 36 hour party. As media partners, we were invited to a private session of free flow alcohol and tapas. Media partners were sort of more privileged than invited guest I think as it was held inside a private room upstairs and we were served non-stop until about 7-ish. Yes, the party started from 4PM, so we (my colleagues and I) were drinking champagne and beer at 4PM. We were already tipsy and full by dinner time.

drinking at 4PM

Oh, did I mentioned there were also 9 Russian models that sat with us on our table that night? Hehe…It was really a fun night. We stayed on until about 11PM, and by that time, I personally cannot (and shouldn’t) drink anymore because I had to send one of my colleague back.

We were also on the invite list for one of the sessions the next day. The dress code was “Chiq White”, so everyone need to be wearing white (or almost all white). Again, we started sipping champagne at 4PM. Ok, I’m lazy to elaborate much on all that happened, because there are just too many stuff going on. I shall let the pictures do the the talking then..btw..all pictures below are courtesy of Ruhani Rabin.

yes..that’s a real snake!

If you ever go to 7atenine in KL, I strongly recommend you their Long Island Tea..it’s one of the strongest and the best so far that I’ve tasted. We ordered 2 jugs that night, and by the end of the night, everyone was really tired and bloated. Congratulations 7atenine on your 3rd year, and thank you for inviting us to be a part of your celebration.

Last Saturday, I woke up early to go to the International Dragon Boat Race at Putrajaya along with Janice, Jasmine and Juwene (3 Js!). While neither of us were fans of dragon boat races, it was my first time watching an actual dragon boat race live and I must say it’s rather fun to watch. Janice and I spent most of our time under the scorching sun snapping pictures. It’s too bad my P&S camera couldn’t take shots as nice as Janice’s though, but here are some shots take by me…forgive me if the shots are not so professionally taken…

Click on picture for larger view

Although it maybe fun to watch, it kinda gets boring after sitting through 30 odd races. Every race seems to be the same. Nevertheless, it was still certainly a good day out.

On Thursday, my Art Director Alex and I, were invited by our client Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia for the launch of their new Pajero Sport model. Like any other product launch, there was a sense of mystery, fun and excitement. After the VIPs made their introductory speeches, the unveiling of the new vehicle was underway accompanied by Jazz music and food. The event was great and the venue was very appropriate. We certainly enjoyed ourselves. Here are some of the pictures..

guests with their goody bag

the models

Stephanie Chai, the emcee for the night

the unveiling

the engine

the cute Jazz singer

Alex & I posing on the Pajero Sport

Alex & I with the Mitsubishi team (minus Sarah)

My team worked hard to be able to put up their new website in time to commemorate this launch. There is nothing more rewarding than to finally celebrate your hard work by going to a function like this.

So what is TEDxKualaLumpur?
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. TEDxKualaLumpur is an event where x=independently organized TED event. At the TEDxKualaLumpur event, TEDTalks video and live speakers were combined to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

It was held in Plug & Play, The Gardens on Wednesday, which I attended together with some colleagues of mine. Due to strict guidelines from TED international, TEDx only allows a maximum of 100 participants. To hold a TEDx event, the organizers need to abide by a lot of these strict rules during the whole event. There can be NO promotions, branding or positioning. Basically, if you ever watched the videos on TED.com, it’s all about sharing your ideas.

scene from TEDxKL. photo by Melvin Chan

We have some really good speakers like Yasmin Ahmad, Kid Chan, Roshan Thiran, Dr. Bernard Leong, Krishnakant Mane, just to name a few. Most of them spoke about their experiences and thoughts which I thought was ok. The video presentation by Brian Greene was really mind blowing. Makes you stop and wonder if there are really more than 3 or 4 dimensions in the universe.

Yasmin Ahmad speaks about “Charisma”

Kid Chan speaks about choosing the right mentor

Overall I thought the event was not really that great but just alright apart from an idiot presenter, who was promoting entrepreneurship week (remember the rules? no promotions allowed). I feel Malaysia needs to have better speakers. Someone who can really inspire by sharing their ideas and leave their audiences captivated in awe by the end of their talk. So far NONE of the speakers made that impact. Probably the best speaker of the lot was Krishnakant Mane who is from India and is visually impaired mind you. Despite being blind, he was still able to operate the laptop (with the aid of a voice reader) to give a presentation on Free Software. He seems more able rather than disable really. I really salute him.

"Anything that is created out of the body is technology. I hope everyone will realize the freedom that technology brings one day." - Krishnakant Mane

Now to me…that’s really inspiring!