Random musings.....

I am currently reading a book called The Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy. The book belongs to my colleague Sarah (one of my book supplier), she insist that its a must read and although i haven't finished it, i must agree that it is starting out to be a really good read. Here's a short paragraph from the book that i really liked. It was a message from a brother to his sister.

"The rule of the game is simple: if you want to write, you will write. And know this: if you want to fall in love, you will find someone to fall in love with. But take it from your older, battle-scarred brother: you should never set out to fall in love. Because those sort of romances always seem to end up as the stuff of cheap melodrama. Real love, on the other hand, sneaks up on you unawares...Then gives you a kick in the head." 

My Weekend at Cameron Highlands

My first trip to Cameron Highlands started out as a disaster; a disaster because we chose the wrong date to take a trip. It was a long weekend thanks to Labour Day, and it seemed as though the entire population of Malaysia were there. The jam was so bad that it took about two and a half hours to pass through a 3km stretch. No thanks to the rain and idiotic drivers who decided it was perfectly alright to endanger everyone’s lives by cutting in and out on the narrow hilly slope and speeding up the hill. But although the jam and rain ruined most of our carefully planned out activities, we did in the end have fun; all thanks to a great bunch of people.

We did spend a lot of time in our rented apartment (Parkland Hotel & Apartments) but it was time well spent as we played games and made fun of each others unfortunate accidents =p

http://www.pinganchorage.com.my/malaysia_hotel/cameron_highlands_parkland_hotel_apartments.htm

Anyways, below are some of the sights we managed to take in during our 3D 2N stay.

Would you wear these?

Brinchang Night Market

This night market was super packed with tourist and locals that it was a little annoying having to make our way through. People seemed to enjoy pushing instead of saying “excuse me.” The night market is definitely a street food haven for many thanks to the variety of food on offer such as ayam percik, apam balik, kebab, grilled corn, honey, strawberries dipped in chocolate and more strawberries! Even strawberry ear mufflers! This seemed to be quite a hit as I came across it pretty often during my three days stay. Seriously, it’s not that cold. 

Cameron Valley Tea Plantations (Bharat Plantations)

A trip to Cameron is not complete without a visit to a tea plantation. And so we made our way to Bharat Tea Plantation (I kept insisting my trip wouldn’t be complete without my tea and scones) The company which begin operations in 1933 now owns a total of four tea gardens which adds up to 1600 acres of tea planted on the hilly terrain. The view was unquestionably beautiful and the clean fresh air was more than enough to make me forget about the horrid jam we would be stuck in on the way back to our apartment.

Not so yummy scones

Cameron Valley Tea House

After our adventurous (for some) trek at the plantation, we then made our way to the tea house situated next to the plantation. The weather threatened to pour again but I was adamant to have my tea and scones. And sadly, I was disappointed. The tea was delicious, black with no milk and sugar, just the way I like it, but the scones (although it looked delicious) tasted bland and dry. Is it just me or is it weird to serve scones with whipped cream? I always thought scones were served with strawberry jam and clotted cream or sometimes butter. The only thing that stood out for me was the freshly made strawberry jam. So far, the best scones I’ve ever tasted are at Sweet Chats.

http://www.sweetchatcafe.com.my/

Strawberry Farm

Our last day was a breeze. The rain stopped and the jam decreased. Phew! Another place you have to visit in Cameron Highlands is the strawberry farms. There are a total of five strawberry farms in Cameron; the one we visited is called Kasimani’s Strawberry Farm. An exciting activity at a strawberry farm is getting to pick your own strawberries. Unfortunately we were a little too late for that (we reached around 10 am). The only strawberries visible were green! So strawberry picking abandoned, we made our way to the café to pig out (less than half and hour after breakfast) on fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate. Yum yum!

Strawberries dipped in chocolate, yummy!

Lata Iskandar

Lata Iskandar is a waterfall located along the stretch of Tapah leading to Cameron Highlands. The view is incredibly beautiful and it is definitely a sight to behold as you make your way up or down the hill. What I’ve observed is that Malaysians love frequenting waterfall areas on holidays and weekends with their entire family. It was no different here, the area around the falls were packed with families picnicking with plates of nasi kandar and mee goreng; some even sitting in the water as they feast on chicken and rice. Whatever happened to finger sandwiches and light snacks?

So to summarise, the trip was……………fun! Seriously! There were ups and downs here and there with the heavy jam; rain and the crowd but the right company made it all worth it. =)

The bunch that made it all worth it =)

P/S: Please refrain from travelling to popular spots around Malaysia during public holidays for your own sanity.

Zombie Boy

Would you date this guy?

My colleague Sarah came across an interesting article on Tongue in Chic about Rick Genest, a Canadian guy who is also known as “Zombie Boy” because his entire body is tattooed to look like a human body that has decomposed into a corpse. The idea, which he came up with himself, is a tribute by Genest to his favourite movie genre, horror.

Sarah then had a thought, “I wonder what his parents think, or whether they approve of it.” And coincidently enough I found a rather vague answer on Wikipedia which says Genest waited till he was 16 to get his first tattoo out of respect for his parents. It didn’t state whether or not they were happy about it. (Would you want your son walking around looking like a corpse?)

After moving out at the age of 17, he started saving money by working odd jobs to finish his “project”. After three years and thousands of dollars later, the finish product which was completed by tattoo artist Frank Lewis, is a rather frightening sight in my opinion. 

After spending all that money, Genest eventually became broke and homeless; until someone created a Face Book page about his unusual tattoos. The FB page was chanced upon by Nicola Formichetti, Lady Gaga’s Fashion Director (surprise surprise) and the rest is history.

Genest is featured in Lady Gaga’s latest video Born This Way. He makes his appearance towards the middle of the video doing nothing much but standing looking… erm …dead. 

Check out the video here:

Transcontinental Motorbike Adventurer Visits Malaysia in Support of Women’s Aid Organisation

What comes to mind after reading the above title? I’m sure most of you would just brush it off as just another boring post. I don’t blame you. I did the same thing when the event invite appeared in my inbox. But I went anyway, simply because I wanted an excuse to get out of the office. It’s a real bore to be stuck in doors all the time. =)

Here they come!

So when I showed up at Shah’s Hotel in PJ, I was already planning on leaving early. Get the scoop, take a picture and leave within an hour. But as I listened to Paige Sinclair, fellow team member of Wheel2Wheel, explaine to me the concept of Wheel2Wheel, I was instantly taken in. Who wouldn’t when they hear of one man’s journey across 10 countries on a motorbike to help raise money for charities? “Morgan will be here any minute,” she says excitedly. Which got me a little excited as well and I rushed outside to join the small group of reporters who gathered there with their heavy and impressive camera equipment (me with my small Canon Ixus 300 HS) ready to capture the historical entrance by Morgan Parker. 

Within minutes he arrived, flanked by a troupe of bikers (men and women) on huge Harley’s. The size of the bikes and bikers were intimidating at first but I must admit it was all rather exciting. As the biker’s parked and got off their bikes, the reporters proceeded back under the shade of the Lagenda Bistro at Shah's Hotel to listen to Morgan Parker’s story. Because honestly, who is this man and why is he doing this?

The bike! BMW F800GS

Morgan Parker is a successful Australian corporate executive based in Hong Kong. He was fairly happy living his life as a corporate giant, until one day when he decided to make a change. “I’ve lead a very privileged life. I’ve always had what I wanted and never really had to suffer. My eight year old daughter also leads a privileged life. I felt that I needed to do something; I wanted her to know that that’s not what life’s all about. At the same time I had all these organisations asking me to donate and people coming up to me and asking for money. That’s why I decided to set up Wheel2Wheel,” he says. 

Morgan Parker

Wheel2Wheel is an innovative independent non-profit organisation created to raise awareness and provide financial assistance to brilliant yet under-recognised charitable organisations throughout Australasia.

Parker began his 100 day expedition/adventure on the 1^st of March 2011 from Hong Kong, and made his way to China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia. After this he’s off to Indonesia, Timor Leste and finally Australia. His preferred mode of transportation is a BMW F800GS (the 2009 model). Although the expedition has taken him through some of the most beautiful sceneries, at times it can be inhospitable.

“It’s tough, I’ve been on the road for 59 days now and I’ve lost about 10kg! I’m not going to lie; there have been times that I felt I couldn’t go on. But I have gained tremendous insights with these expeditions. Realising my ride over thousands of kilometres can lead to a school being built for underprivileged children and helping abused women has made me strong enough to carry on. But it most certainly hasn’t been a joyride. I’ve fallen off the bike about 28 times and caught hypothermia three times. But these obstacles are the only things that remind me that I’ve made a massive change. Without hardship, you have nothing to remind you of why you’re doing this.”

Every country is plague by a different issue or concern, therefore, Wheel2Wheel chooses a different organisation in every country to offer their assistance. The organisation chosen for Malaysia is non-other than the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), an independent, non-religious, non-governmental organisation based in Malaysia and committed to confronting violence against women. 

Morgan with the Harley girls

“When we were seeking an organisation in Malaysia, as in each country, we started by indentifying an issue that has a wide reaching impact and resonates personally. Then we searched for organisations effectively tackling those issues at a grass-root level, built around the work of inspiring individuals. Fellow Wheel2Wheel team member, Paige Sinclair encouraged us to look at women’s rights issues, more specifically domestic violence against women. After losing her cousin to domestic violence almost four years ago, Paige campaigned hard for Wheel2Wheel to support an organisation that is addressing this global epidemic from the ground up. Together with fellow team member Alan Ng they came to find WAO and the good work being done by this amazing organisation,” explains Parker.

Parker will visit ten charitable organisations in ten countries during his journey, which is being filmed for television. The journey aims to showcase natural wonders and human endeavour, bridging cultures, extending recognition to champions of grassroots charity and hopefully inspiring others. To date, he has already travelled through six countries and visited with six of the ten charitable organisations. Malaysia and the WAO is the seventh visit on Parker’s 100 day expedition. 

Morgan with the Wheel2Wheel team and WAO

Now if you are interested, you can follow the Wheel2Wheel adventure online at

www.wheel2wheel.tv

Facebook (www.facebook.com/Wheel2Wheel),

Twitter (www.twitter.com/wheel2wheelteam)

And YouTube (www.youtube.com/wheel2wheelchannel)

Tickle your funny bone – PJ Laugh Festival

We all love having a good laugh. Especially if it's at the expense of others. I have lost count  on the amount of times that I have been the butt of everyone’s joke. Not that I mind; you’ll find me laughing along as well if it’s really funny. But if you are one of those who prefer laughing at others but hate having the tables turn (get a sense of humour for crying out loud!) than I’m sure you will be pleased to know that the second annual PJ Laugh Fest is back, bigger, better and waaaaaay funnier than the last one!

The laugh fest takes place from the 28^th of April till the 5^th of June 2011 at the PJ Live Arts Centre in Jaya One. The list of comedians for this years festival will feature brand new and the usual top acts from the comedy world, including Jon Atherton from Australia, Douglas Lim, Harith Iskander, Joanne Kam with her latest Kam….Fully Loaded! And for the first time, Kuah Jenhan, with his own stand-up show, Tall, Dark & Comedian. But that’s not all; the festival will also welcome the Godfathers of Malaysian comedy, Allan & Indi of Comedy Court, Edwin Sumun and so many more.

The PJ Laugh Fest opens this year with the 2009 Tony Award winning play, God of Carnage which premiered in New York in 2009 with Hollywood bigwigs Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Hayden. The Malaysian version of the play will boast Malaysia’s own star cast of Will Quah, Maya Tan, Megat Sharizal and Lina Teoh.

Here’s a short summary of the play:

Two young boys, a stick and some broken teeth are the catalyst in this tale of two families. Veronica, a writer, and Michael, a company wholesaler, are parents to Henry. Annette, a wealth manager, and Alan, a lawyer, are parents to Benjamin. The two couples meet to discuss the misdemeanors of their sons.

The evening begins quite amicably, with the four parents intending to resolve the situation diplomatically. However, as their hope for this begins to splinter and these disillusionment sets in, the evening deteriorate from one of mild unease and discomfort, into a deluge of accusations, recriminations, jealousy and rage.

Boys will be boys, but can the grown ups be grown up enough to resolve their differences without losing sight of right and wrong? The facade of civility shatters as the God of Carnage wreaks havoc in the living room and all hell breaks lose in the most hilarious manner!

The play premieres tomorrow at the PJ Live Arts Centre in Jaya One. I did an interview the cast for a feature in Vision KL. The article will be out in our May issue but here’s an extract of some of the questions from my interview.  

How did you get the part?

Megat Sharizal: I auditioned for it! (I bribed David Lim- the director.)

Maya Tan: I was asked to audition by Teri Choong, the producer of the play. It was good fun and I enjoyed the script immensely.

Lina Teoh: Initially Joanna Bessey told me about this play last year and David (the director) spoke to me about being involved. But after that I didn’t hear from him for awhile until he called me in to audition early this year. From the moment I read the play I really wanted to be in it. It’s not often you come across great comic pieces like this.

Will Quah: Lina Teoh kidnapped me and drove me to PJLA in the trunk of her car and threatened to cut off extremities until I agreed to be in the play - as her husband. She is quite the man eater. 

Tell us about the character you play and how it relates to ordinary life.

Megat Sharizal: Michael is a working class person who makes his way to the top by his own effort. He is a very straight-forward guy; he says the first thing that comes out in his head. In ordinary life, we see a lot of this kind of people who made their way to the top. Even though they have the money, they tend not to stay away from their roots. In other words you can take a guy out of his kampung, but you can't take the kampungness from him. 

Maya Tan: Veronica is a mum of two, also a writer, loves to cook, and a bit of a human rights activist, which I identify with. She's a big art history fan, which I'm also interested in. However she's rather black and white when it comes to the issue of morality and I have to say I'm a bit more tolerant to grey areas in that aspect. She's also a lot more rigid and is not afraid to stick up for her beliefs in a confrontational way, so in that sense she has more courage than I do. But as the play progresses you see that she's human after all; her inner child bares itself when tensions come to a head. I have to say i have those battles with my inner child all the time. 

Lina Teoh: I play Annette – she’s a wealth manager and lives in Manhattan with her lawyer husband Alan. They are both very career orientated, like the fast city life and are always very busy. She is fairly uptight and used to dealing with high pressure corporate situations. She is a complete control freak. She doesn’t really have time for anything mundane and although is very polite and accommodating on the surface, she is also a no nonsense women who likes things to be dealt with efficiently and quickly. She comes across very strong on the outside but is actually very soft on the inside. Her relationship with Alan is not very good as they are always working. They are quite cold to one another and she secretly longs for more affection.

Will Quah: My character, Alan Raleigh, is a hot shot lawyer with little regard for social niceties and morals. What we do have in common is our phones. I'm terrible when it comes to my phone - always texting, tweeting, face booking. Alan spends all his time answering calls - I'm not quite that rude. 

Do you prefer doing comedy?

Maya Tan: Growing up, I've always been the 'funny girl'. I love having a sense of humour, I love laughter and believe that there's a certain healing power in making people laugh. So my answer is 'yes', and I'm grateful to have had an 11 year-run with The Instant Cafe Theatre Company, which gave me my first chance at theatre.

Lina Teoh: Well this is the first time I’m back acting for quite awhile and I love it!! I don’t know if I prefer it but I do love it. It’s always nice to know that you have been a part of cheering someone’s day up. These days life is so tough, it’s nice to bring some laughter and sunshine to people’s lives.

Will Quah: I've done dramas before. I've also done stand-up. I think I've learn that comedy theatre is a whole different creature. With stand-up, you can react and grow organically with the audience. With a stage drama, you take the audience on an emotional ride. But a scripted comedy is all about translating the text into moments of humour without going over board. It's a fine and challenging balance, and I really do enjoy it, but let me tell you, it is not easy!

What is the last thing you worry about before show time?

Will Quah: Have I had enough to drink. 

Lina Teoh: I hope nothing!! By then there is nothing much you can do but trust you have all prepared enough. It’s now time to enjoy all your hard work and put on a great show!!

Maya Tan: The last thing I would worry about would be everything other than my lines. 

Megat Sharizal: The number of audience attending is less than the number of cast. 

What’s unique about the God of Carnage?

Will Quah: Comedy plays are a rarity. And what's even more unique about this play is that it is so grounded in real life. You will recognise yourself, your parents, your partner, and so many situations you have been in the course of the play. It's that familiarity that makes it so funny. 

Lina Teoh: It’s an award wining international play. It’s very cleverly written and an honest to goodness good night out!! Leave your problems at the door and be ready to be taken on a hilarious rollercoaster!!

Maya Tan: Vomit, underpants, embarrassing situations and to a certain extent, hair dryers have all made their appearances in plays.

Megat Sharizal: Where else can you see Lina Teoh vomiting? 

What will audiences learn from the God of Carnage?

Will Quah: I think the play reaffirms the fact that although we all come from very different backgrounds and cultures, we are all actually scarily similar. It's also a fun fact that even though we get older, we don't necessarily grow up all that much. 

Lina Teoh: That no matter how different we are from each other, no matter what walks of life we come from or what lifestyles we lead. Fundamentally when you strip us down we are all basically the same.

Maya Tan: How to dissect a person's facade in 90 minutes or so to reveal their bare human essence. It's a play about people. 

Megat Sharizal: That parents can become children themselves.

Describe the PJ Laugh Fest in 3 words.

Will Quah: Really really funny. 

Lina Teoh: Damn bloody funny!!!

Megat Sharizal: Why so serious??

Maya Tan: Devastating, apocalyptic, funny.

 

The God of Carnage premieres tomorrow, 28th of April at the PJ Live Arts Centre. The PJ Laugh Festival takes place from the 28th of April till the 5th of June.

Log on to www.pjla.com.my for more information

Dato' Jimmy Choo @ the launch of The Twelve

Sarah, Dato' Jimmy Choo & Me!

I feel drained already and it's only Tuesday. Monday was extremely long and tiring. Not a great start to the week but on the bright side, keeping busy means the week will be ending soon! I have to rush for an event right now but I just had to get this post in. As you can see, here I am with Sarah (colleague and food blogger) standing next to Dato’ Jimmy Choo =)

We saw him at an event last Friday, the 22^nd of April 2011. It was the official launch of The Twelve, a fashion concept store by mifa and Maxis located at Fahrenheit 88. The launch was hosted by Kavita Sidhu (who still looks good in a body con white dress)

Kavita Sidhu, Dato' Jimmy Choo, Heah Sieu Lay, Andrea Fonseka & Amber Chia

The Twelve is a fashion concept store that is an extension of the fashion portal www.fashionista.my. As the name suggest, the twelve Malaysian designers/brands chosen to partake in this endeavour are

• TAS Iman by Tom Abang Saufi

• Zero to Ten

• PU3

• uREKA

• BDA

• YODA

• Radzuan Radziwill

• Key Ng

• Benson Chen

• Sasha Rowena

• Shinju Pearls

• JKhan

Check out some of the shots I took during the fashion show! 

Look at the bags!

GNC Live Well Seminar with the pros!

Charles Glass, ME, Jennifer Rankin & Steve Cook

I attended a GNC Live Well event (GNC Know Your True Strength Seminar) this morning in Fitness First at The Curve. It was actually a seminar for fitness enthusiast to learn more about the latest technique and nutritional tips to boost ones performance and endurance. To highlight this issue, GNC and Fitness First decided it was best for everyone to hear it from the pros, so they brought in three very fit, very built well known trainers/body builders from America. Jennifer Rankin, Charles Glass and Steve Cook.

Audience were given a short presentation on GNC products before proceeding to a Q&A session with the trainers. Some of the question raised were pretty..well..dumb. The majority of people there had the same problem, how to eliminate or prevent pain while working out. And the obvious answer was of course to stop training that particular body part if you’re injured. Muscle injury doesn’t heal in just a few short hours. It takes time. It’s ridiculous to think that these so called body builders didn’t know how to prevent and treat injury while building muscles. And it was obvious from the reaction from the pros that they were a little taken aback that half of the people in the room still continued hard core training while still injured. 

I couldn't resist another shot =)

The two hour seminar was indeed informative even for me. (I work out but I don’t lift weights/body build) And of course I couldn’t leave without snapping a photo with the three trainers who were more than accommodating. (Charles Glass saw me standing in the corner and pulled me in for a photo. =) 

P/S: Before the event started, I actually thought I was going to be faced with a bunch of scary steroid induced body builders. But I was pleasantly surprised. They looked fit and HEALTHY with no hint of steroids in their system.

Steve Cook obligingly took his shirt off after being prompted by the crowd