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My Idol Review

Yes, I'm a HUGE fan. The drama, the clothes, the rivalry. And I'm just talking about the judges. So since the actual performance part has finally begun, I've started to do a weekly "review" of the show.

Read the first one here

Poisoned!

Yup, I had food poisoining and was incapable of writing, walking, eating and um, living, for a couple of days.

For the record, I had Nasi Kandar. It was delicious. With Ayam Madu and what not. Well, delicious scmelicious...

The only possible positive is that I think I've lost a couple of pounds because of this...

I've Got Bloopers!

For those not in the know, I am quite a regular on TV'3 morning show, Malaysia Hari Ini now. To promote the happenings on GUA.COM.MY specifically, I appear every Monday morning in a slot called GUA @ MHI; sometimes live, sometimes pre-recorded (which is hosted by Ms Sari Yanti, as below).


And you know what? I find doing it the pre-recorded way is much, much tougher. I don't know, on live TV, you are kinda expected not to be perfect and to just go with the flow. So even when you're stuck or lost, the host will usually help the guest out.

But recording it means you have to do multiple takes until you get it right. There's no room for too much of the "errrrr", "aaaaaaa"... and if the producer feels you're not eloquent enough, you have to do it all over again (although I AM the boss of the producer).

So naturally, I have chalked up some pretty decent bloopers. Including these...

Funny Foods

Care for some "Frish Chop" today?

Or perhaps some "Black Papper" steak?

My "Love" Affair in Jakarta (Part II)

The Gala was held at Plaza Senayan and I was thoroughly impressed by the whole setup that night. Tons of press came, and the stars were mobbed by adoring fans mingling outside the VIP lounge. My first Indonesian Red Carpet event and I was wowed. Gempak sungguh Pak!

The VIP lounge was nice, cosy and yes, romantic. The theme was Valentine's, after all...

There was even a live jazz band playing...

That's Wulan Guritno. And she's got some pretty steamy scenes in the film. Mmm...

No idea who this is tho. Looked famous, so I snapped away


The Brangelina of Indonesia, Acha & Irwansyah, drew plenty of attention



With my "Hoity Toity" mate, Big Tree CEO Suridah

With "Love" Director, Kabir Bhatia

In case you're wondering, "Love" will arrive at Malaysian cinemas sometime in April. But it'll be worth the wait, I can assure you...

My "Love" Affair In Jakarta (part I)

No, no, it’s nothing like what you’re thinking.

You see, there’s this new Indonesian film, simply titled “Love” and I was fortunate enough to be part of a high-powered entourage (konon lah) from Malaysia who got to attend the premiere gala in Jakarta just yesterday.

The film boasts a stellar (and spectacularly beautiful) cast, which includes Luna Maya, Wulan Guritno and Acha Septriasa (got men also lah, but their names escape me now).

I actually arrived on Monday and was wowed by the hotel I was booked in – the Mulia Senayan

It’s so fancy schmancy, the room even had this…

And the view's pretty breathtaking

With time to kill the next day, I decided to walk to the nearest shopping district in Senayan. And along the way, I discovered that swan dress-wearing Bjork was scheduled to perform in Jakarta that very night. “Hey, maybe she’ll pop by the event later”, I thought to myself. “No she won’t, dumbass,” I thought further

45 kazillion burnt calories later, I reached my destination

And the first thing I did of course was to look for food. Something local was in my plans and I settled for Mee Rebus Jawa, seeing how I'm an official Mee Rebus aficionado. And the verdict? Pretty bland and blah, I must say

To make up for the disappointment, I headed to Senayan City next door looking for... Krispy Kreme donuts! And by God, my faith in food was restored!


Mmm... Donuts

A couple hours later, it was time to head back to the hotel and that was when I felt that "Love" was defintely in the air...

And at the backseat of my taxi...

Coming up! Part II. Duh.

Dude, What Was It Like…

So ok, since that heck of a guy Kenny Sia plugged my blog on his blog, I’ve received tons of emails (ok, two emails), asking me: What was it like being the editor of FHM Malaysia?

The short answer would be: It was a blast!

The long answer? It was a blast! I got to meet the hottest babes in town, watch them take their clothes off for photo-shoots, attend the most happening parties in town, receive cool freebies every other day, and even travel the world. And oh yeah, I actually got paid for such “work”.

fhm

Any downsides, you ask? Well, sometimes there were too many parties to attend that I actually had to skip some. And usually there weren’t enough pages to fit in all the babes every single month.

And although I’ve left the job for more than 2 years now, I still get babes calling me and asking if I could feature them in the mag. What do I do when that happens? Well, I usually get them to pose for my own camera then tell them, “Oops, actually I don’t work there anymore lah”. Of course I’m kidding! Haha!

But seriously, it was a great gig to have; the biggest challenge being how to tone it down for the Malaysian market. REALLY, REALLY tone it down, if you know what I mean. So much so that I’ve fully mastered the art of doing a sex feature WITHOUT mentioning the word "sex". It takes great skill and creativity, I tell ya.

Anyway, here are my 5 Favourite Moments as Editor of FHM Malaysia (2003-2005)

5. Spent five days at Club Med Maldives for a travel piece. Great sights, great food, and the handphone didn’t ring even once!

4. Met the Pussycat Dolls in Bangkok. And I swear Nicole gave me the eye…

3. Shot wonder twins May & Choy for the cover. You should see the pics that WEREN’T published. Mmm…

2. Launched the New & Improved version in early 2005. It’s a magnificent issue and I have no problems saying it so.

1. Visited the FHM headquarters in London!
fhm

Say What?

I've passed by this flyover near Uptown so many times but it was only recently that i realised a typo on this huge ass Bonus Link billboard.

Pencemaran Bahasa betul! Someone needs to fire someone...

For the right spelling, click here

We Rocked It! (part II)

As earlier posted, last week 8TV threw a party for their clients and I was part of a band that was put together to entertain this supportive and generous bunch of people (ahem). And here are the performance pics as promised...

With bassist Nick from CSG. Cool hat, dude!

GUA scribe Izuan was the chief goreng officer that night
Did you know that Izham used to play for Ning's backup band?

8tv

You know you're real rockstars when you get underwear thrown on stage!

Say "GUAAAAAA"...

Drummer Eddie of CSG of course looked the most rockstar of the lot!

"Let me see, how do I play A#m..."

We did it!

Gong Xi!

Earlier this afternoon, the peeps of Sri Pentas were treated to a spectacular Lion Dance show performed by the highly-acclaimed troupe called "The Roar of the North & South Lion Kings". The troupe consists of 24 performers from a local team that has clinched the
World Lion Dance championship numerous times, and the Jin Kai Sheng Lion Dance team from Fujian, China. Impressive indeed!

In attendance were Media Prima's big bosses and the show was even enjoyed by the folks next door at the IBM building.

Lion Dance

I must say being right there in front of the action was quite an interesting experience. And the troupe did a good job as people "oooh-ed" and "aaah-ed" at their every move.

Lion Dance

Apart from the dance and stunts, there was also a bloke who gave away oranges and er... CNI coffee.

Lion Dance

Check out this short video for some "orange throwing" action...

Lion Dance

Langkawi Lagi!

So these past couple of days, I was in Langkawi yet again, but this time for Media Prima's Annual Management Retreat. Basically, this is the time for the management to congregate, generate ideas and (try to) have some fun alog the way.

This year's venue was The Westin, Langkawi, a 5-star resort with magnificent sights, great facilities and lifts that smell awfully nice.

Apart from ideas generation, we also dinner by the beach and did the POCO POCO dance (the pics of which I refuse to publish).

Since this is also Visit Kedah Year, I would strongly recommend this place if you're planning for a romantic getaway or a family vacation... (Can I have my commission now please?) Anyway, do enjoy more pics of this lovely place... (Seriously, can I have my commission now? :) )