Company trip to Ho Chi Minh City

We all finally went for our much awaited company trip to Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. The original destination was Bangkok but because Thailand can't keep their shit together and the fact that there were riots, Nam was the next best thing.
The weather was incredibily HOT and super freaking HUMID! Not good. We stayed at the New World Hotel which was good - really good coz the airconditioning system was great given the fact that the entire country stinged on air-conditioning. We were there for 4 days 3 nights and we were proper tourist with a proper tour guide, coach and tags.
Day 1: We visited the War Museum, The Palace, The Post Office and the Cathedral. Dinner was on a cruise called the Bonzai Cruise with real delicious food.
Day 2: I slept in the hotel the whole day and skipped the tour thingy coz the day before, it was a late night. Dinner was at a famous seafood place called Marina.
Day 3: Visited Cu Chi tunnel to reminisce the Nam war site and the wonderful tunnel & defense system that the Vietnamese developed during war times. Then we went to Chinatown and the famous Benthon market for some shopping. Here are some pictures for viewing pleasure.
This is the Veitnam Opera House - very impressive if you ask me.

My colleagues & I - Ivan & Enyr

At the airport when our flight got delayed for 2 hours then cancelled and then delayed another hour - suppose to leave at 11am - but ended up leaving at 5:40pm. Not fun!

The pagoda

The kitchen at the restaurant where we had lunch on our first day - very cool really!

The food setup at the Bonzai Cruise.

The prawn dish that was served at the Marina Seafood restaurant.

More funky food!

Chicken satay & paper rice dish during lunch.

This was the "bomb" - seafood noodles and it was funky tasty! I had almost 4 servings of this! It's more of a steamboat style.

This was the steamboat mix.

The classic Mercedes E200 that was used by the Vietnamese President during the 1900's. It was on display at The Palace.

These were the lovely Bonzai Dancer at the Bonzai cruise. Falling in love in Vietnam is so easy! :)

This wasn't our cruise - this was another cruise that was there.

The helicopter that was used to transport President Kennedy (I think) during America's invasion into Vietnam. It hasn't moved since! I wonder if the engine is still in there.

The dining room at The Palace.

The President's room - apparently the ONLY room in the Palace where there is air-conditioning. The door on the right is the secret tunnel run-away for the President in an event of an attack.

Us - at the Palace.

Group shot outside the Vietnam Palace. It was hot - freaking HOT!
This is the tank that was blown up during the Nam War - since the blow up, it hasn't moved either. It's all rusty now but I just had to climb on it.
Coming out of the Chu Chi tunnel. Trust me - if you're afraid of narrow places, don't enter.
My most exciting moment is when I fired the AK47 and M16 with REAL bullets. Of course I had bruises on my shoulder but it was fun. I couldn't find a human target so I had to settle for fake targets.

The hole as small and I had lots in my pocket so this was all I could do. Some of my colleagues went in all the way.

A traditional dance with the Bonzai dancer. Not that hard once you got the rhythm.
Vietnam's Declaration of Independence.

The war jet at the War Museum.
My colleague had this wonderful idea of posing just like one of those statues there - it seemed fun at that time but now this just looks silly.
Another fighter transport.
During the American invasion to Vietnam, the US soldiers used this system to chop off war prisoners heads. Cruel bastards!!
More war planes on display at the museum.
The classic figher jet - wish I could have sat in it.
One of the tanks used during the war. Goofing around the grande launcher :)

The classic "must take shot" from the airplane.
Another one of those shots from the airplane.

This is my colleague Jessie - she was the one that I had all my gossip sessions with.

Overall, the trip was fun. Alcohol wasn't really expensive and the night scene is pretty cool. Wish we could have gone out more often but given the financial crisis, lots of cuts!

Besides the weather and the fact that the country is so "kedekut" with aircon, overall experience was good. Vietnam is the only country that fought so many nations in major war and survived from being conquered. KUDOS to that!!

Next destination - JAKARTA hopefully.

p.s. Vietnam has a rule - you can't bring any guest back to your hotel - regardless of the kind of hotel. If you wanna do that, you must get them their own room so guys - lesson well learnt.

Well done Compass Communications

The world of advertising is very interesting. The lifestyle, the glamour, the exposure, the long-hours and of course the HARD HARD partying! But let me tell you what I constantly battle with when it comes to advertising and being a client - PUBLIC RELATIONS!!!!!
After years and months of trial and error, I finally found an agency that not only meets our expectations but also thinks of all the details that I often forget. I am very happy with the recent media coverage that we have had with the recently ended F1 activities. Here are the clips - handsome or not :P lots of photoshop la!

Free Loaders......

This is something I can never understand - this world is full of them and you would be surprised on who actually free loads.
When my friends and I go out - and I mean CLOSE FRIENDS, money is never an issue because none of us free load off each other - which is why I emphasized on the word "CLOSE FRIENDS". The concept is simple - this round I buy, next round you buy, etc. So, the money poll (its what we refer to) stay in a circle and no one is taken advantage of by anyone.
I use to think that there are no such thing as free loaders - GOD! WAS I WRONG! My current job opened up my eyes to this phenomena. I've met alot of people with this job - consumers, media, celebs, friends of media, friends of celebs, club owner / operators, lawyers, doctors, etc. So you can see my diverse exposure to various inviduals.
Some of the people that I meet have good paying jobs and some even come from rich family background. So these are the people that drive those flashy expensive cars, carry platinum cards and wear Rolex watches and dress in all branded attire - but that's all it is! Just the damm freaking outlook! My closest experience is with individuals who hail from a certain industry which is full of fame and glamour but "satu sen pun takde!!!" - pariah betul!
I understand that not many can afford that cool lifestyle (not that I lead one ok!) but the best you can do is be upfront on what you can afford and at least pay for what you have / drink / eat! That common decency.
True to me, I've learnt and mastered the art of identifying these people and once is all they are gonnna get with me and that's it!
Lastly, believe me when I say this, it's those people who talk big about their family background, their influence in clubs and how they know this person / that person, "I am close to this celeb and that celeb" - these are the people who are majority in this "cheap" category. So, beware!

Johnnie Walker at Malaysian F1 - April 5th, 2009

FORMULA ONE! What can one say about this sport....it's absolutely a heart-pumping, ear popping, jaw dropping sport! The energy, the excitement, the uncertainty - all combined, blended together give you the ultimate ride of your life.
I was truly lucky to be able to experience this up-close through Johnnie Walker - of course I'm involved in it with Johnnie Walker.
Some 115 people - combination of consumers, media and select celebs - were hosted at Sepang International Circuit and the seats were amazing - Garnet Grand Stand. Not only did we get to watch the straight shot, but also got great views of the pit action and about 4 different corners of the track. The best part, when the cars approached the last corner, they dropped their gears to 2nd and immediately punched it back to top gear revs - the sound and smell of rubber - it's like an orgasm. All guests were given a hospitality pack - look up - which contained all the crucial element of an F1 race.

At the entrance of the circuit, our very own BMW Sauber Petronas car on display. The F1 car itself sent shivers down my spine.

As I walked into the circuit on race day, this was the view and action. There was so much to see, do and touch (if you know what I mean) - talking about the cars la! Dirty minded people!

An old primary school friend of mine joined me to enjoy the excitement on track. It was his first ever race and GOD! you should have seen him. I don't know which excited him more - the race or the girls!

HOT MAMA Shu Ling - she was like that candy ad - Now you see her, now you don't! She was all over the place like a little kid let loose in Toys 'R' Us.

Celebrity spotting - Resh was a guest of mine at the circuit and guess what - it was his 1st ever F1 experience as well so being an F1 hardcore fan myself, I decided to spend time with Resh and become his personal commentator - I hope he understood what I was telling him. His wife seated here is truly a gem of a person. It took them something like 45 minutes to get to their seats - not that it was that far but the fact that he was stopped every 1 minute by fans to take pictures. Now I have my own reservation and definition about Malaysian celebs but Resh truly is a down-to-earth celebrity and he lives by that. Celebrity = you gotta have talent and he does.

Some track action before the race started and ended pretty much as soon as it started! :(

The grand tour on track by our "new" Prime Minister and Mr. Bernie himself. Have you seen how Bernie's daughter looks like???? She must have followed her mother's looks coz she HOT!!!

We had it all planned man - the dressing of Johnnie Walker and the Vodafone McLaren banner and when Heikki crashed and Lewis was at the back of the trail, the banner came down.
One for the memories - Reshmonu and me. This is probably the only picture that I have taken with any celebrity. Resh -you should be lucky man!
More action on track!And some more.....
Seen here are the usual suspects at the track: L-R: Me, Imran Clyde and Raj Anand. We were real sakai's man!

This was when things started getting interesting - when the sky became dark and rain was expected and rain-it-definitely did!!

The race on wet roads. They should have continued racing coz then Lewis would be 1st coz he's a champion on wet roads.

More rain track action.

Kimi Raikkonen

And this was when they decided to stop the race and keep us all in anticipation on whether the race will be continued so completely stopped!! Guess what happened - they stopped that damm race! How disappointing!

All the cars were lined up while the officials decided on the fate of the race.

Some people even came despite the rain and were all geared in rain-coats, etc. This is my boo Nik and her husband. All that was on his mind - BOOZE!!!!!! On her mind - BOOZE!!!!!

At this point, its official - the race has been stopped and the results:

1st - Jensen Button (Brawn Mercedes)

2nd - Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)

3rd - Timo Glock (Toyota)

4th - Jarno Trulli (Toyota)

5th - Rubens Barrichello (Brawn Mercedes)

6th - Mark Webber (Red Bull Renault)

7th - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes)

8th - Nico Rosberg (Williams)

9th - Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

10th - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso)

Some of us just couldn't believe it - only 32 laps and they stopped the race. Their reasoning - "track condition suffice but shabby"! This is what happens to us Malaysian's - dream big, built big, talk big but when it comes to maintanence - no where close to getting it done!

With that, ended the Malaysian Grand Prix 2009. We were wet, sad, disappointed and then we all headed to buy beers to drown the sadness.