Hennessy Artistry - Ying Yang Twins

Who doesn't love a good party? Especially when it's free flow all night long with Hennessy. Artistry hit the ground on July 25th 2009 with great artist line up. Held in one of the venues where almost anything could be done, Bukit Kiara Indoor Arena was the ground where it all went down.
The set up was fantastic. We could all see where the money was spend. The exterior was pretty straight forward - similar to last years entrance which makes sense because if something isn't broken, why fix it right. The huge walk way entrance was breathe taking.

We, being Malaysian's a bit kan-cheong la - worried that we might end up standing in line for hours, decided to get there a lot earlier than most people. We were not the only one's there early :). The organizers were kind enough to pass me a VIP parking pass which allowed us to park inside the party zone. Still had a bit of walking to do but that was good coz after all that drinking, sober time was needed.

I got my hand tag well before the event but my friends had to register first before they were handed their tags. Before getting to the registration counter though, we had to be tested for fever as part of the organizers initiative to keep the crowd clean, clear and healthy from any H1N1 infections. Once we did all that, we walked into the arena to partyyyyy!!!

Upon entering, there was a bar serving various cocktail mixes with Hennessy as a sampler but guess what - people were downing them like it was the only bar in the arena - typical. We didn't coz we knew what was in store at the main room - insider information la.

There were also DJ booths to test your mixing skills - both of audio as well as video mixing. Video mixing has been around since 1998 but not many execute it - wonder why. I had the chance to do this is 1998 when I was working as a DJ in a club back then -it ain't easy mate. Also, there were areas where you can chill which was away from the main room - in case you needed "alone" time to clear your head.

The main bar was flowing mate - and when I say flowing, I mean "FLOWING!!" There was no lack of alcohol and in fact, we had to actually stay away from the bar due to over-alcohol availability. We had a fantastic waiter who kept feeding and stocking our table with booze.

Most of us had zone passes. The area was split into Zone:

Zone V - is for trade customers.

Zone S - for Media

Zone O - for CRM

Zone P - for celebrities and KL socialites.

Despite having VIP zone passes, we decided to stay on neutral ground where the real partying happened.

One of the performers - HOT!HOT!HOT! Taiwanese with an American accent. She could move her ass man! I mean MOVE HER ASS!!! She got the entire ground drooling over her. That was the first time, I really wanted to be on stage :(

The Ying Yang Twins - so don't match the name but theire performance was alright only la. They were not that great but the fact that they are from America and are hip-hop artists, created the stage presence.

If you ask me, Fatman Scoop was a lot better. He did numbers from Michael Jackson and other cover songs which was very very entertaining. He tried to do the moon-walk but let's face it - 300 pounds of weight trying to move smoothly on stage - not happening but it was entertaining to see him try doing it. At some point, we were all doing our moon-walks coz after 20-30 glasses of Hennessy, everyone becomes Michael Jackson and Tupac.

My partner in crime- Mr.Clyde - Notorious BIG - white version. We had lots to drink at this point so we made a pact that every photograph taken, needs to be decent so that we don't get in trouble with people - "wink wink"!

I realised that most of the VIP were actually on the neutral ground - this is Yean from Zouk Club and she was partying her hat-off with the general population - the people that know how to party and who are not interested in looking good or being proper at a party - literally not posers la. Again, a decent photograph.

Here I'm with Vythi and Shereen. I dragged them down from the Zone P to the gen-pop zone. After several continous drinks, they ran away.

In summary, great party, good crowd. They clocked in close to 6,000 people at the venue. The venue didn't look like a temporary venue and in fact looked like a permanent structured club. There were so many familiar faces and it was fun to see everyone shaking their asses off to good music, non-stop flow of Hennessy and good friend.

Till the next one - keep the mixes flowing.

Staff Party 2009

Every year, after all the hard work and strained energy, the staff of Riche Monde take a well deserved break and head out of town for some wacky-tacky, fancy-spanzy 2days1night away from the hussle and bussle of the city. For us, this is a real treat away from computers, paperwork, printers and phones (well mobile not included). It is a retreat where we let our hair down, fold our sleeves and pants, take off our shoes and just chill......
This year, we ventured to Bukit Tinggi and stayed at Berjaya's Comlar Resort. The weather was pleasantly cool and the resort - dude, I was in "Pa'ris"!!!!!
This is Colmar Resort and the view was breath-taking man! The building, the people, the weather - it was Pa'ris mate! Suddenly I had the urge to learn, know and speak French!

Le recours était si beau qu'il ne s'est pas senti que nous étions toujours en Malaisie (for those who don't know French - ahem! ahem! it means - The resort was so beautiful that it didn't feel that we were still in Malaysia)

Even the people that worked there were polite and very helpful and always smiling. They are definitely not people from Penang, KL or Johor. KL not so bad la - it's the other two that is bad!

This is the "Wishing Well" that is planted smack center of the walk way of the resort area as you walk toward your rooms. I threw in a coin and wished something - let's see if that comes true! I'm obviously not gonna say it here coz then it wouldn't come true.

Now, a team that works together very hard, also plays together - extra hard!! We had some team building games that required alot of energy and stamina - yea! freaking rite! bunch of people who deal with alcohol expected to sustain high level of energy and stamina. Give me a break but guess what - we did it. We were competitive (that's how we crush our enemies) and we were tackful with the task. Reminded me so much of Amazing Race Asia where you sabotage clues so that others don't find it. Here you see Enyr trying to do the hulla loops.
And in this task, 2 of us were to walk ahead while another walks backwards - trick is - our feet was tied to each other. So, we just blady hell carried the Hot mama!!!
The carpet toss was great - it's hard to explain but essentially, its how far you can jump and how many people can stand on 1 4X4 carpet without touching the sand area. Here you see Joo jumping for her life!
The 4 people slipper - you guessed it - stick it in and walk together. Obviously some are just beginning to learn to walk properly.

After all that games and treasure hunts, it was time to celebrate. Of course the winning team was the one that I was in - not because we were good or anything but coz the MD was in the same team so it's obvious who wins if you want to get into the good books - just kidding!!
The theme for the night was Back To The 70's,80's,90's and this is our MD - Frederic Noyere. Yes he's french so he was right at home at this resort. Fun dude and we had a blast with him by the pool, in the pool and out of the pool - in a decent way!!! You freaking dirty minded morons!!!
Our celebration includes food and "mother load of alcohol"!!!! We had everything you can possibly imagine - Johnnie Walker, Hennessy, Bailey's Smirnoff, Moet, Wines, etc.

These are the true beauties of the company really - except for Francis and Lim - don't know what they are doing here in the picture.
Here we have from left to right - Shirley (suppose to be Irene Cara from Flash Dance), Melinda (the biker chick) and Juanita (i'm still trying to figure out what she was). But nevertheless, all looking extremely stunning.
The wonderful ladies at a glance.

So, when you mix high beat, energy draining games followed by dinner with s%*t loads of alcohol, the following is what happens!! Reminder - we all work together so we are all practically brothers & sisters - KEEP THAT IN MIND!!!

Rachael and her tweety bird sleeping costume. She wanted the attention on little tweety hence the covering of the eyes!! Like we can't recognize you!!

Kar Wai - just had to get some sleep after loosing his slipper (which he never had to begin with), his mind with alcohol and his pride in the pool!

Enyr representing ya''ll

ME - representing ya'll

Carol & I - after the whole dinner and drinks, we all needed to cool down so we headed back to the resort and had more drinks.

Kok Leong representing ya'll

Ivan representing ya'll

Joo & Sylvia - before the grand slam pool action!

The newly promoted Andrew Khan - he cheated during the 5 sec shot - he opened his mouth but kept his teeth together - CHEATER!!! Uncool!!

Kar Wai & Shirley ....................................picture speaks a thousand words!

We really do care for Andrew but when he's drunk, it's all about having fun! Some might say its CLM (career limiting move) - Joo & I say it's CD (career disaster) - ha! ha!

One big happy half naked and fully wet family!

When we were still dry! The idea is to get yourself wet on your own so you don't get thrown into the pool.

As the night started, Jeff and Ashu looking very sober. Should have seen them after!!!

Left to Right: Joo, Melvin, me & hot mama Jessie.

In the end, the whole trip was fun. I won a LV handbag from the lucky draw and exchanged it with another colleague for an iPhone 3G - cool huh! I told you we are a good company to work for!

Hopefully next year's staff party has more dry shot rather than wet shots! These are pictures that are for public viewing. All the private viewing shots are safe and shall not be releases EVER!!!

Good-Bye to a Colleague

A colleague and a friend - Foo Ken Vin - ex-Brand Manager of Hennessy V.S.O.P. - recently moved on with his career path and we had a farewell party for him at De-Lux Nightclub in Ampang Park. Why De-Lux - simple - because it's a business partner outlet with Riche Monde and they are willing to organize a nice buffet line for us.
Ken Vin served as a brand manager for 3 years and I've known him for 2 years out of that 3 years - not because we were both arrogant but I've only been there for 2 years:) Nevertheless, he is one dude that has never had an angry look or a pissed off look. He is always smiling and forever accommodating. He now works with GAB serving as a Brand Manager for TIGER beer.

As you can see, we were both into hip-hop hence the hand sign.
And that night, many talents were unleashed and many were shocked with the many talents that the company has. Some could really sing while other could really drink.
This was Ken Vin's farewell gift - a HUGE HUGE HUGE bottle of Hennessy with everyone's signature on it and he promised that this bottle would never be opened for whatever reason. But we all know how long that will last. Have you ever been in a situation where you and your mates were having a blast and suddenly you run out of booze and at that time these are your options:

1. Accept the fact that there is no more booze and call it a night; or

2. Break open all the limited edition / special edition collectors pack and keep the party going

My choice: Number 2!!!

In this picture, I'm with Kar Wai - who is replacing Shirley who is going for her maternity and will only be back after 3 months. The girl is Juanita - she works with us and was also a college mate back in Metropolitan college back in the 90's.
And this is "hot-mama" Shirley. Even when she is pregnant, she can still kick out a mean tune and put everyone to shame in the singing talent department. She will be missed.

Good luck Ken Vin and I'm sure you will kick some butt in GAB! See you at the Tavern real soon mate!

Hennessy Artistry - Flo Rida

Ok, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. The Hennessy team did a great job with this event. I'm a great hip hop fan - became a fan of that genre when I was living in the U.S. Everyone there listened to nothing but hip hop -50 cents, Eminem, Young Buck, Capone & Noreaga, etc. Anyway, back to the Hennessy story, they had Flo-Rida in town - he brought the bling-bling to town ya'll!! Holla at my boy son! He was the bomb dude. Pimpin out the stage and rocking the crowd.

The main entrance depicted an entrance that seems like I was going into a zone of hardcore partying. I remember walking in, but don't remember walking out. Since we had VIP passes ahead of time (thanks to Ken Vin the brand manager), we wore our tags and strolled right on in the venue.
This was the backdrop with the mini DJ console that you can mix and spin some tunes but it's not the professional type. Just to mess about to learn what the Art of Mixing is all about in this business. Ya'll know what I mean - just like Snoop G when he started.
Each section of the venue (this was in Bukit Kiara indoor arena which is a place where horses run around) which was transformed completely into a club for that night, carried a different name - Shanghai, KL, Miami and Paris. These names also link back to the names of the cocktails that were being served that night - FREE FLOW all night long dude! You can image the night.
This was where I was hangin with my peeps - media friends and friends. We got real close to our waiter and tipped him 50 bucks and guess what, trays after trays were specially delivered to us non-stop. I had 2 glasses in my hands at any given point in time - that's called "Double Fisting" back in the U.S. of A.
There were service bars everyone for the general public. Island bars were located all over the main arena - about 8 of them and each VIP area had their own long-ass bar. Trust me when I say, there was no limitation to alcohol and getting your hands on one was no brainer. It's like they keep finding you wherever you go. The place was cold - thanks to the super-duper, multi-jet airconditio blower located around the venue. It was a really cool event. The best yet so far compared to all the other "outdoor" parties that I've been to :)
My next post, will feature what I did at that party and keep checking this space.
Holla back!!