Smirnoff Manchester United

I'm sure many of you reading this would definitely be confused as to why I am writing about football. Well my friends, it's not just about football - it's about Smirnoff and football. I love Smirnoff expecially the Green Apple flavor but that's not what this post is about.
Smirnoff recently hosted a series of activities when Manchester United was in KL. I wasn't all that excited becoz I'm not a fan of that sport to begin with. But I must share that, even when you couldn't care less about a sport but when you do come face-to-face with a legend or a celebrity, it is exciting especially if you had the chance to have a beer with the legend alone.

Now, I didn't stand along the lobby of the hotel to take this picture. I was responsible for ensuring that Bryan Robson, the Ambassador for ManU and the Ex-Captain of the team, reaches the Media Conference and the Spirit of Champion party on time. My colleague trusted me in doing this because I was the only one in the office who really didn't care about the sport and so I would carry out my duty as planned without any hiccups :)

But let me tell ya - it was exciting meeting Bryan and Phil Townsend - the Director of Communications for ManU. These guys are really nice and very down-to-earth. Not a single drop of arrogance or ego.

So, after that beer with Bryan and Phil, we headed over to Menara Hap Seng where the Media Conference was schedule to happen at the Hakka Republic Restaurant upstairs. When we arrived, there were fans waiting already. Amazing that even an ex-player still has the same pull as a current player.

The presence of the EPL Trophy made it even more exciting and when the officials reveiled the trophy with bodyguards on standby next to it, media went crazy with their camera's and the fans went nuts. Here you see Bryan with the iconic win!

Of course, part of my job scope was to entertain and ensure that people were comfortable and had a good time and never had an empty hand. Smirnoff cocktails were flowing free-flow - which is always a good thing given that it was a Friday and the next day is a non-working day - at least for me it wasn't :P

This is Kristina Knight from Iris Singapore who is responsible for all the creative work that Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker represents across the region.

The emcee for the evening - my man Joey G! I've got nothing much to say about him coz everyone knows him and nothing I say, could possibly be new-news!

Bryan seen with Ashu Kaul - Marketing Director for Diageo Brands, Riche Monde Malaysia.

Of all the fans that were there to get autographs from Bryan, she was the hottest man! I got her ball signed and Bryan signed it with pleasure.

As part of the evening's agenda, Joey G engaged Bryan and Phil on some Q&A about their role and what it feels like to be part of ManU. Phil and Bryan were quite obliging and took on questions without hassle.

The ball signing ceremony.

After the Media Conference, everyone proceeded downstairs to party at Metropol where regular consumers get to meet Bryan Robson and Phil Townsend. The Media Conference was a closed-door function.

Here we see Zolton ensuring that all Smirnoff cocktails were prepared with perfection.

To keep guests entertained (as though drinking alone isn't entertaining enough), the organizing had some games going on such as football puzzles, football cubes, interactive X-box football console games, and foosball tables, which had attractive prizes, such as SMIRNOFF Red, and original Smirnoff – Manchester United Jerseys, Caps, and Bar Mats for the winners.

Of course the main attraction was the fuss-ball table where everyone thought they were Rooney and Giggs.

Remember I said my job scope was entertaining, this is part of it. What can a guy do when women just wanna take pictures with you?? :)

These are my colleagues - party animal Cheryl on the right and simply subtle Joo on my left. For awhile, we were living the Charlie's Angels life - very short period though!

Again, Joo and I with our favorite Smirnoff vodka cocktail. We drank that very slowly coz we know what vodka can do.

Riche Monde Malaysia at it's best!

With another colleague of mine - representing all the way from Penang! She didn't drive so the streets are safe.

Now, this girl was one of the promoter girls working that night for the event. Everyone was taking pictures with this girl and to be honest, she was the hottest amongst all the girls there. But me being me, decided to take another approach - posed with the "I don't care" look but didn't quite work la.
Enyr or now known as Anya, an ex-colleague joined the celebration and just like me, she was soooo not dressed for the theme.
Ashu with Melvin (left) and Sylvia (left). Both are from Penang and none drove.

Overall, the event was great. Turnout was good and the organizers did a real good job at managing expectations. There were some minor hiccups with the bar service but nothing is ever smooth in life.
Just speaking to the organizers, the party was part of the brand’s continuous effort to bring about new and exciting Manchester United experiences to their Asian consumers throughout the partnership. At the same time, this breakthrough partnership has also provided a powerful platform for SMIRNOFF® to take the lead in promoting and communicating the responsible drinking message under the theme ‘United against drink driving’.
Bottom line - next Smirnoff party - count me in + 50 pax!!

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!!!