My Chill Out "Jazzy" Week

 

Of late, I have been going bar hopping a lot. No, not because I'm happening, but because there are some really good Jazz acts that are really worth going to. On Wednesday, some colleagues and I decided to go to Sevenatenine for their Bar Night, which featured their international mixologist and also it's our excuse to finish up our bottle which was "parking" there since September. Also featured was a quartet group called G-String. Kinky as it might sound, they are actually quite good. Thanks Jolene for getting us a table right in front of the stage. We were later joined by my friend Michelle and Joshua to what was a nice night out.

 

 

Rabin & I

 

 

Chui & Sonia

 

 

Our bestest best friend, Mr. Johnny Walker

 

 

Rabin and his "Around the World" drink...he was gone after that

 

 

Michelle & I

G-String!

 

 

On Friday night, I was at Alexis Ampang together with Elisa and her friends for Ida Mariana. This is my first time listening to her perform and I must say, she is really good. Sorry about the blur images below though. Didn't have my camera with me then, so have to resort to using my mobile's camera which is practically useless for night shots. Us sitting quite a distance away didn't help either.

 

 

 

Ida Mariana

 

Then last night, I was at No Black Tie for another performance. This time it was Albert Sirimal (guitar/vocals), Badar (percussions/vocals) and a special guest saxophonist. They don't have an official name for their band though but they were really really good. They did really good Bossanova renditions of Carol King's I Can't Hear You No More, Lionel Richie's Stuck On You and even Michael Jackson's Human Nature which I thought was absolutely brilliant!

 

 

The unnamed band...which was really good

 

 

So there, my quiet and chilled out week filled with Jazz. I'm starting to believe that I am getting a bit too old for clubbing nights already. Don't get me wrong, It's not that I don't enjoy clubbing, I still do...it's just that going for a Jazz night out is simply more fulfilling.

New Zealand Natural Turns 5

 

Last Tuesday, New Zealand Natural celebrated their 5th year in Malaysia. Now with 12 outlets in total, it seems they only can become bigger in years to come. Being their interactive agency, we were invited to attend their anniversary celebration held at the Waterfront of Desa Parkcity. There was a jazz band, celebrities, good food...and of course UNLIMITED ICE CREAM!

 

There were games and prizes to be won as well. Integricity seemed to "clean house" when it came to the question and answer sessions (we should right? Since we did their stuff). Either that or no one really wanted to participate. There was also a treasure hunt to find hidden ice cream cups, a "guess the flavor" competition, as well as a New Zealand Haka war dance competition.

 

 

There was quite a turn out considering it was a work day..

 

 

The jazz band

 

 

Terence being fed ice-cream by a celebrity in "Guess the flavor" contest.

Can you spot the ninja? hehe..

 

Warren & Alex does the Haka war dance

 

 

"...to 5 great years!" - Yao Han, Kevin & Paul

 

 

The cake

 

 

NZN's latest Christmas Sundae creation

CONGRATS NEW ZEALAND NATURAL!!

Just looking at the pictures above, you can tell we had a good time. Who knew that having 3 scoops of ice-cream and finger food could last me till dinner time. =)

The Weekend That Was..

 

After a stressful week of work last week, I decided to have a fun filled weekend. Yes, I really needed the weekend to unwind...chilling out, catching up with friends and just not think of work basically. On Saturday night, I met up with some friends for Moonshine at The Apartment KL, where Mia Palencia and Reza Salleh was performing. I must say, whilst the music is good, the venue isn't really built to stage this kind of performances. The ambiance isn't as good as say...No Black Tie or maybe because the positioning speakers and setup was not good. Nevertheless it was a nice event.

 

Mia Palancia (center) feat. Melina William & Zalila Lee

 

Reza Salleh

 

Zara

 

Su Ann & Zelly

 

Elisa & I

 

 

After the event ended...it was still rather early to be headed home on a Saturday night. So we all decided to party at TwentyOne for a bit. We were joined by Richard who is the manager of The Apartment and a friend of Su Ann and Zelly.

 

 

Zelly, Su Ann & Richard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, I met up with Rabin, Loong Heng and his wife to support Team Malaysia at the A1GP at the Sepang Circuit. We manage to get free tickets for the grand stand area but it was packed to the brim and we have to settle for the secondary grand stand (for all you non-motorheads, Sepang has a dual grand stand area). No complains of the seating arrangement, since it was free!

 

 

Go Team Malaysia!!

 

 

All of us @ Sepang

 

 

Well, Team Malaysia did finish in third for the feature race which sent roaring cheers from within the crowd. Malaysia Boleh!

 

Phew! I actually feel more tired now after the weekend instead of recuperating. But I guess, everyone has a different way of relaxing...mine is just all about having fun and doing the things you like doing...nothing else matters.

If Only This Actually Happened...

 

I had a dream last night. It was a rather weird one, because it really seemed something out of a Hollywood movie. I swear I'm not making any of this up, but here's how it went...

 

I found myself in a train station...and of all places somewhere in Canada. I knew it was Canada because there was a flag somewhere in the background. Anyway, I was at a cafe nearby, presumably to catch the next train to some place. While sipping on my cuppa, I was approached by this attractive young lady (think Kristin Kruek) who asked if she could join me because she didn't want to sit alone. She had the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen, cute pouty lips and long black silky hair...of course without hesitation I offered her the seat opposite me. She then introduced herself to me simply as Patricia. She didn't give a last name, but she looked to be of mixed parentage, Canadian Chinese I presume.

 

Anyway, we then chatted away and she told me she works as an air stewardess and was there to catch a train to the airport. I can't really remember in detail the conversations that we had, but I do remember giving her my business card and asked her to keep in touch somehow. Then the announcement of her train's departure suddenly was broadcast through the station's PA system. She told me she had to leave and wrote her number on the back of my business card and returned it back to me. Later, we both stood up, and I gave her a hug and said our goodbyes. I think I had a tear in my eye at that point...and I watched her board her train.

 

Soon after, I got up only to realize that it was just a dream...DARN IT! Imagine what it could be if something like that did happen in real life. Anyway, the sad part is...I CAN'T REMEMBER THE NUMBERS on the back of the card...Haha! =(

TGIF

 

IT’S FRIDAY! Finally. I’ve been extremely busy of late that I don’t even have time to update the blog. Thank goodness for the existence of micro blogging via Twitter so that people can still know that I’m still alive. Anyway ever since I returned from my holiday, it has been somewhat short of being “crazy”. So many projects, so many meetings and so many deadlines to meet. You can’t imagine how I long for a relaxing time this weekend. Right about now, my body needs to be refuelled with alcohol and relax with some chill out music. I always lived by these words “Work hard, play harder”. So it’s time to PARTAY! 

Livin' It Up @ Hong Kong & Shenzhen

 

I just got back from a holiday in Hong Kong and Shenzhen for a couple of days and I must say, it was really good to be back there. Well, first of all, my trip was supposed to be during end of November, but was brought forward so that I can meet up with May Lynn there when she "transits" for 5 days, from Korea before flying back to KL. I was also initially supposed to go alone, and was supposed to be a purely shopping trip, but then Mike, my colleague decides to tag along as well. It's a good thing too as he used to work in Hong Kong for 2 years back in 2002, so he knows where the best places to go are.

 

So what did we do in Hong Kong and Shenzhen? Well, for me...like intended, it was a shopping trip. For Mike, I think he just enjoys being back for the food and the city after such a long time. I also manage to catch up with old friends as well as meeting new ones.

 

Well, I won't be writing a whole report on everything, I will just sum it up with lots of pictures as they always seem to say more anyway...

 

THE CITY...

 

 

 

 

 

awesome skyline via the Star Ferry

 

 

THE FOOD...

 

Pork dumplings stuffed with celery and vegetables with noodles

Braised beef la mien

Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun

 

Click here for more food pictures...

 

 

THE COMPANY...

 

I met up with May Lynn, Penny, Su-Lin + her family, Melor, Michael and also Vicky. What's really interesting was because, I have never met Melor and Michael prior to this trip. I used to liaise with them only through phone and emails while working in my previous company. Melor was based in KL before, but strangely enough, we've never met at all and Michael is based in Singapore all the while. Now both of them are based in Hong Kong. We kept in touched through MSN and also Facebook all this while (don't you just love technology?) and finally met for the first time at Discovery Bay at a restaurant overlooking the sea!

 

 

Mike, Vicky, Michael, Melor & I @ Discovery Bay

 

Mike, May Lynn, Penny & I @ La Qube, Lan Kwai Fong 

 

 

Click here for more pictures...

 

 

 

SHENZHEN...

 

Mike, May Lynn, Penny and I went for a day trip to Shenzhen for shopping. It's about a 45 minutes ride by train to Lo Wu station, which is the border town between Hong Kong and China. We managed to get on-the-spot visa which entitles you for a 5-day pass into China. We expected a long wait for our visa, but to our surprise, it took us less than 10 minutes! Maybe because it's a weekday that we went. The visa costs HKD150 (approx RM75) in case you want to know.

 

After the border, we took the subway to Laojie station. So what's good in Shenzhen? Well...shopping of course. It's the land of the knock-offs, land of the pirates...anything you want to call it. These places sell Grade-A fakes and you can't tell the difference really. Just to illustrate what I mean - I saw this pair of limited edition Nike Footscapes Woven which cost around HKG1900 (approx RM950) at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, and by comparison...I got the same thing (just of a different color) at HKD290 (approx RM145). Cheap isn't it?

 

On the bad side, Shenzhen is also known for its snatch theft. My friends and I actually witnessed a guy snatching a girls mobile phone while she was about to board the train! Then, we saw some ruckus amongst a group of people and some policemen! Talk about a dangerous place to be in....but I would still recommend anyone to go there for a day trip....just to shop...but nothing more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yatttaa!! - Hiro Nakamura wannabe..

 

Click here for more photos of Shenzhen...

 

 

AND THE SO CALL HAPPENING BITS...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, I would say it was a memorable and awesome trip. And mission accomplished (for me...didn't I say it was a shopping trip??) ...I got 3 pairs of limited edition shoes - 1 from Hong Kong, and the other 2 from Shenzhen, Tees from Esprit and Bossini ranging from HKD39 to HKD79 per piece, Polo Tees from HKD 20 per piece, an Armani Exchange bracelet and souvenirs. It was all good...but tiring as well....but would I do it again?....HELL YES!