Missing From The Blog World

Yes Yes!! I know that I've been missing from the blog world. Work has been crazy really! There was so much stuff that needed to be done - working for people has and will never be easy. So what have I been really up to???!!!
Well, there is this new campaign that I was working on with the regional team (I didn't plan it but am just executing it here so don't think I'm a genius in the making or something ok!) and it required alignment and perfect communication within all teams. I work with many agencies on a local level to make advertising and promotions work well. Yes it tough dealing with multiple agencies but being a person with agency background, sometimes the best work comes out when specialized members are engaged. Working with a one-stop-shop agency makes life easier but the work isn't necessarily good.
Anyways, getting the plans together, making sure the details are reviewed and just making it work - trust me, if not for the agency teams that I work with, the campaign wouldn't be just as good. Of course nothing was smooth sailing - there was yelling, screaming, even to a point - some crying - we're all human's!! so don't laugh. But despite all that, when it came to getting it done, it was done. It's funny coz many have told me "Don't worry bro! Things will work out somehow!" - its the word "somehow" that worries me.

We did launch it at a beautiful venue called Red Square in Capital Square KL. This outlet is really really cool. Every table is meant for us to dance on......including MEN! Finally, a place where ever we can get the platform :). The launch was purely for media and they were the first to preview what the brand campaign is all about. There was free-flow of Johnnie Walker and finger food for everyone and despite the heavy rain and traffic, the turnout was excellent. It was really good to hang out with my media friends and just chill and chat.

The campaign is really cool. It's all about friendship and the pact among men! There is nothing gay about it - it showcases how real friends help each other out through the good and the bad. It's a 5 part TVC with trailers of the next TVC featured every month. Since Malaysia is a dark market and we cant have competitive advertising, we can't show the TV ad's on TV coz the government feels that its not good for the morale of our community - kinda stupid if you think about it but that's another issue all together.
Anyways, the launch was great despite having major issues during the setup, nothing was going right, nobody was doing their part right, etc. But at the end, the production went on smoothly and everything fell into place and it was a successful event.

The fact that my M.D. said the event was good - satisfy me coz he's a hard man to please which is a good thing in so many ways coz it pushed you to strecth the limit of work and this is my MD - very nice and neutral dude. This was during our press conference with the media where we were getting hit hard on questions about the brand and campaign. We managed it quite well - teamwork paid off.

After the event, I was catching up with all my media friends - some new and some old. Then there was my agencies that did a wonderful job and pulled this event off successfully. These 2 lovely ladies here are my PR agency - Charlene is on the left and Michelle is on the right. Remember the crying I said earlier - but they are really hardworking and very nice girls. Practice makes perfect ya.
And this is one of the waitress at the bar - who made sure that my glass was always full with 80% scotch whisky and 10% ice and 10% water - apparently water and ice are expensive. She is so good that even before I take my last sip of the glass, there is a new glass already waiting for an exchange.
And of course the talented Paddy and Kumar - Paddy usually doens't go behind the bar but there were so many HOT women there that he just had to make an impression - and an impression he definitely made! He mixed up some funku cocktails for the ladies that made him a hero.

As usual, I had to do my thing and walk around and mingle with the lovely media and get their honest-honest feedback and thoughts about the event and the campaign and it was rally good to hear some positive thoughts and also some constructive critism which only helps us better our next execution and effort.

And of course the other attractive of the event were my Johnnie Walker Brand Promoters. These girls really knew how to show off their sexual appeal to the crowd and there were many people hitting on them.

This was the grand finish of the event. 6 individuals who will live the Johnnie Walker life of KEEP WALKING!

THE SIBLINGS

There are some things that I guess I will never understand no matter how many times people try to explain to me. I was out with some friends a while ago and met some new people through my friends. Ok, this is complicated but anyways, here goes. There is this 40 year old dude – single (never married), no girlfriend, looks like a loser and act like one as well. He apparently portrays a “brotherly” figure for one of his colleague coz apparently she is young and does some stupid things in life. So, while they were out drinking, she was dancing and drinking and having a good time with one of her friends in a club. Things got heated and they started making out. After that, they all went for supper and that was where the drama happened – this 40 year old virgin (I can bet my last dollar he is) just gets up and starts walking back. Now, they were having supper in Taman Tun and he walked all the way back to Damansara Perdana at 3am…..can you imagine. The reason was – he didn’t like the fact that this girl was all over this other guy and that they were gonna “DO IT”.
Now, firstly, they are not blood siblings so what gives him the right to dictate what she can and cannot do? Secondly, just because he isn’t getting any coz he’s ugly and a loser, doesn’t mean everyone around him must stay away from doing anything either. What would that do to our country? Can you imagine a nation that doesn’t have sex? OH!MY!GOD! That’s not event an option. It’s proven that sex makes you live longer – which brings me to another fact – he is 40 so how long does he have? Just kidding! That was bad.
Someone actually told me that he doesn’t like me coz I’m a social person and that I’m a person that takes the attention away from him. Buddy – piece of advise – if you don’t like me, then you shouldn’t drink from my bottle!

THE WISDOM’S OUT

Ok, it’s finally out. Pulled that bad sucker out yesterday and it hurts like a mother f*#%er!! The entire process took only 10 minutes – can you believe it – the HUGE injection, the rocking of the tooth, the pulling and the stuffing of the cotton to stop the bleeding – all that within 10 minutes but the pain and agony and discomfort – it lasted for hours and I still have it now!
So, after pulling the tooth out, the dentist showed the tooth to me – disgusting. Covered with blood and it had cavities (apparently that’s normal with wisdom tooth condition). Looking at the tooth, I felt like I was in the middle of a CSI investigation and I was being interrogated. She even asked if I wanted to keep the tooth!!?? I mean, would anyone want to keep a tooth that gave you the most excruciating pain in your life? To always look at it, will only remind me of that pain. It’s just too painful.
Anyways, I thought it would be cool to have some pictures taken during the process – despite me saying it was a bad idea in my previous blog. So, as soon as I walked in, I told the dentist and my mom (yes! You read that right – my MOM!) that I wanted to take either a picture or a video of the procedure. My mom looked at me as though I was completely out of my mind and my dentist said it’s not ethical. I think my dentist was scared that if anything went wrong, I would have it on video. So, sorry people – no pictures or video although it would have been real cool.
Now I have no wisdom tooth but the funny thing is, I don’t feel any less wiser!

Still a little wise..

So I guess the dentist decided to pro-long my pain and agony. Apparently, there is some kind of infection with the wisdom tooth and she said that it isn't safe to extract during this period. She put me on antibiotics (which is not that great coz I drink for a living - sort of) and its a 3 day course and then I gotto go back next Tuesday to pull that damm tooth out.
It's been reported that our ancestor's are able to accommodate all 32 teeth that a normal human being is suppose to have due to their large jaw lines. In recent years, due to lack of screaming and crying during our infant years, caused the jaws to not develop to a larger size like our ancestors hence why it cannot fit all 32 teeth in our mouth. So guess what happens - the last teeth to develop - the wisdom tooth, are the victims because they develop but have no space to grow hence affecting the gums and raising the need to extract. Many dentist actually prefer to extract these tooth regardless if it gives problems or not to avoid future complications.
I guess I won't be attending any social functions for awhile unless society accepts me consuming mocktails & soft drinks - come to think of it, forget society - I don't think I have the will-power to stay away from alcohol. No I'm not an alcoholic - alcoholics deny that they are addicted to booze. Me on the other hand, accept that fact so I'm just an alcohol lover. Anyways, thats another blog entry story for another time. Maybe I should try writing something when I'm completely pissed drunk.....I'm sure alot of people would love to read that.
I'm off to take more drugs now.

No longer wise....

Well, the day has come finally...the last straw of the tortureous pain that every individual goes through in his/her life - my last wisdom tooth is giving the "shits"now. Its been hurting since Sunday but I brushed it off just like I did previously as I thought "Nothing a pain killer can't fix". Boy! Was I wrong. I think now its time for it to come out. Got a dentist's appointment at 4:30pm today and believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to it. I guess the half hour pain would be a lot better than this on-going agony.
I would love to show pics of my tooth but I don't think the dentist would be thrilled with me bleeding and still taking pics while I'm on the chair. Which is what I don't understand - if the tooth is suppose to make you wiser, then it shouldn't be giving you problems right? I wonder who is the wiser one - us or the tooth? I guess it's one of those things in life that there just isn't any logical explanation.

Malaysian Drivers - What Are We Thinking????!!!!

(On a 80cc bike....you gotta be kidding me mate!!!!! Leave the wheelies to the Superbikes! )
(Small car hits big car coz of reckless driving - small car = Kancil, big car - Harrier. Do the math!)
(Creating his own lane just coz he drives a tank)

How many of you have been behind the wheel and cursed at the car in front of you? How many of you felt like running over those bikes that keep screaming through in between our cars making it hard to even switch lanes? How many times you felt like stopping the car, taking that baseball bat (or hockey stick) and pouncing on that car behind you that keeps tail-gating you? How many just wanted to run over pedestrians? How many just wanted to scream in your car coz the cause of the traffic that you were sitting in for 3 hours was because there was accident on the other side of the road?
If you answered Yes to ANY of the above, it proves how frustrating our lives are getting on the road? Firstly, I blame the government. Yes we are trying to potray to the world that Malaysia is a progressing 3rd world country (accept it mates - we are a 3rd world country) and so the need for afforable lifestyle. Do you really think by creating cars that go 40km/h on the highway as top speed helping in any way? Do you think by creating smaller and smaller cars is going to help take people off their bikes and into a car just because its afforable? Bullshit mate!!! Have you ever been to America and seen a car the size of our Kancil? Of course not because these cars are classified as DEATH TRAPS! Even the guy in the motoring show used our Kancil and Kelisa as a crash test to check safety level - guess what happened there.....let me just put it this way, the roads had more bumps on it compared to the flatten Malaysian pride on wheels.
Creating cheaper cars is not the answer. Fix the bus system! Fix the train system! Fix the cabs! Heck - fix the entire public transportation in Malaysia. That's the answer. If everyone stops taking money for their own personal need and stop being selfish, then maybe our country will be in a much better state.
I don't blame thiefs coz they don't steal because they think its cool - they do it coz they dont have a choice. What would you do if you have hungry mouths to feed and you cant get a job? You'll figure something out....and figure that out FAST! But thats an entirely new topic of discussion.
Now, its not that I hate the small cars....i really dont. I dont drive a fancy car myself but its a sedan coz I like the space. What I hate is that these people in the smaller cars - Kancil, Kelisa, Kenari, Myvy, Savyy, etc - they think that their car is invinsible and the way they drive is like putting Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel of a Kancil with F1 technology. Mates - these cars are not fast. Neither are they safe for that matter. Weaving in and out of traffic isn't advisable. What drives me crazy is that when they drive past us, they scare at us as though its our fault for driving a bigger car and taking up so much space - NEWS FLASH!!!! Roads were built for sedan mate. The smaller cars are like the youngest child in a family - AN ACCIDENT! Having said that, I'm the youngest....mmmm...gotto have a word with my parents on this.
My aim in life is to be able to afford a Hummer some day and run over these small cars and bikes. Dreams do come true sometime mates.

India - India - India

India has been a very interesting place to visit. I am from an indian descent and my mom is from India so I travel frequently to visit my mom's side of the family. It's amazing the life you see in India. The rich are super-rich and the poor are super-poor. There is no in between there. During my recent visit to Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), I stayed at this hotel called The Leela Kempenski and it was very near to the airport. Upon arrival, the door-man knew me by name - now remember, I've never been to that hotel before. I was shocked but more than that, I was delighted and immediately felt warm. They took the trouble to inform every member of their staff on arriving guests and made sure all guests felt just like home.

I was immediately escorted to the signature lounge on the 8th floor where my friend and I were treated to a glass of champagne while we were being checked-in. Our rooms were fantastic. I could stuff about 40 people in the room and still have space to move around. The view from the room was great - pool view and majority of the guests were westerners so the pool view made alot more sense.

Our meeting was 3 days longs and doesnt start till Monday so we decided that we would tour on Sunday. We decided to be typically Malaysian's and tried to act Western - "Let's walk and explore" - that was a bad bad idea. We went towards a direction where civilization was disappearing from our view. But what we saw was rather disturbing. The hotel that we were staying in was a 7star hotel - perks of the job mate. Directly behind it, was slumps. Poor people living. It didn't have proper roofs, proper bathrooms - overall, it wasn't even a house.

We drive around our little expensive cars and sit in air-con rooms, and yet we still complain that we dont have enough. Look at these pics. Don't they move you?

What makes things even worse...there are so many RICH RICH Indians from India who have gone overseas to make a living and are now multi-billionnaires - don't you think they should do something for their country? After all, even if they gave 1% of their total net-worth, it could build an entire condominium for the poor in India and manage it for 15 years. I'm not mentioning names here but you have no idea how rich these guys are - buying over F1's Bernie's home in England for millions of pounds, buying F1 teams just for branding, etc. What is 1% mate? Really?

Well, I guess, this is why the world is what it is today. So pity!

Can't they see you for YOU!!!!

I must say that I am completely disgusted by some people where they openly and shamelessly demonstrate the desperation to know someone only because of the power, VIP treatment and cash that he or she has. What has the world come to? But that isn't what bothers me - what really bothers me is that, people are looking at me not as ME but as a brand manager of an international brand which with it brings lots of fame and perks.
It is actually sad to think that, except for those who knew me prior to this position, everyone else that I meet these days, are only interested in knowing the "Brand Manager" and not "ME". There is more to me than just that title you know. Just the other day, I was at a bar (my fault for thinking that I could actually go to a bar / club these days for a drink and enjoy the night with friends) and a group of people were introduced to me. Now, I ain't the hottest mate in town neither am I loaded with $500 bills dropping out of my pockets and ears. Just a regular dude who was at the right time, at the right place and happened to meet the right person with the right pull. Now, back to the story "The Night Out". So, we are in the bar having drinks and given the noise, smoke and crowd, its hardly a place to strike a conversation or have a decent conversation. I kept to my manners and greeted everyone that was introduced to me and moved on to listen to the music, watch the crowd and enjoy my drink. There were many times that people tried to have a conversation with me but its not that I'm rude but if you can't hear anything, after awhile you get annoyed coz you figured that the person talking to you would get the picture especially when you keep going "Say what?" at every sentence. But people would yell just to get a word in. So, after while, I figured that the only way to avoid all this is to leave which I did. The next day, my mate tells me that some of the guys and girls would like to chill with you coz they think you're a great chap. Now, lets do the math alright - that was the first time I met them all + all I said was "Hi nice to meet you" and gave them my business card + when they tried talking to me, I walked away and left after awhile = HOW THE HELL DID THEY DERIVE TO A CONCLUSION THAT I'M A GREAT CHAP?
Apparently, they think that the brand manager is a great chap coz of what he can do at bars - not me. That's a big difference. I've come to an agreement with myself that, this is how the world works. Call me naive but I thought at least maybe there might be a remote possibility that there would still be some nice people out there that don't expect anything from you but your good company but guess I've been wrong for the past 2 years. Oh well - if you can't beat them, abuse them and take advantage of them. Right?