The first person to show up was Yogaretnam, and I was even happier because he said that he saw my Tweet and that’s how he found out that we were doing this (he had taken part two years ago). I really didn’t think anyone would just appear – I thought the ones who would show up are people who I was already in touch with and who have agreed to take part. Khairul came a little bit after and signed up himself and his wife Lovelykatz.

Then Ling came by, and she’s been such a great supporter and collaborator of my projects so I am very grateful. Sorry you got cut out of the picture though! Then Harinder and Dorothy came by. We were there from 3 to 6pm and I thought that would be it because it was getting a bit late by then and no one else had tweeted or called to say they were coming. Then, just as Rubi, Meem and I were going to leave, my phone rings and Amanda said she was nearby and not to leave yet!

ANOTHER MEET-UP THIS WEEKEND!

Well, I’ve had a few other people who have registered since – you can see the names of everyone who has signed up thus far here on the donation form – but I’m organising another meet-up this weekend. So mark your calendar folks, and join us please.

Venue: Chawan in Bangsar (directly opposite Coffee Bean at Bangsar Village 2)
Time: 11am to 2pm (let’s have lunch!)

| Twtvite here |

What is there for you to do there? Well …

1. Register to be part of Relay for Life (which will be held from 6pm on May 29). There is a RM15 registration fee and you will get a T-shirt and entry band on that day itself.
2. Make a donation. If you can’t make it on that day, or not so keen on participating, you can still make a difference by making a donation because at the end of the day, Relay for Life is a fundraising event.
3. On top of those two things I mentioned, it’s a good time to catch up as well!

If you want to know more about Relay for Life Social Media Initiative, click here. Last week, I also blogged about why I am taking time out to do this.

I hope to see you guys there on Sunday! Just look for a strange guy sitting in front of the Relay for Life banner. Like this!

7am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Before I get into the event, I need to apologise for the poor quality of pictures. I’ve realised that my iPhone isn’t the best way to get good shots for this blog (okay, okay, I’ve been in denial) but my current DSLR camera that I bought a few years ago is too bulky for events. Please bear with me while I save up for something a bit smaller, but can take better pictures. Maybe a semi-automatic or something (pretending to know what I’m talking about).

Anyway, the event was held at Neo Luxe Lounge on Jalan Sultan Ismail. Joyce and Rudy were both the emcees for the night. I’ve only ever been once to Neo and that was for the launch of Hanger a couple of months ago. I got there just on time (I managed to get my first glass of beer just as the two of them walked on the stage) although I had planned on getting there earlier.

It was free flow the whole night, and there was a fashion show as well as a live performance (although I forget the name of the band, sorry!). It was also a good time to catch up with friends, so many were there including bloggers Kimberlycun, ShaolinTiger, Friedbeef, and Nigelytl as well as Serena C, Liza Tay, Hansen Lee, Melissa Indot, Ash Nair, Kevin Yeoh and more.

There were a few competitions happening where they were giving away phones.

One of them is called TouchyTouchy (did Rudy come up with that name? Haha) and they invited three celebs and three contestants on stage. What are the chances that they were all friends? The three celebs onstage were Azura Zainal, Stephanie Chai (who’s running this cool wedding site called The Wedding Guide) and Will Quah. What they basically had to do was be blindfolded and then grab as many post-it sheets off their partners – Miss Malaysia/World finalist Kyan May, Amanda Choe and Jonathan Putra.

In Joyce’s invitation, the dress code read:

Fortune favours the brave. Be distinctly Bold and you might just get rewarded.

So yes, there was a best dressed competition where they invited three of the best dressed from each gender on stage to perform a catwalk. As you can see from the above picture, Rudy demonstrated to the guys how to work it. Below, Joyce showed the girls how to move it.

Of the five, I only personally knew one of the contestants. Rahul, from One Buk Shot, actually took the main prize for the guys (pays to have friends around, I guess, when it’s public voting – dude, that phone is mine! I don’t care what Amanda says!). He’s the guy in the centre holding a, er, flower.

It was a good night. I really enjoy nights like this when you have good company around. Thanks for the invite Joyce, and you did great!

11.50pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

As a whole, I really shouldn’t complain much about the year. Though it was far from perfect, so many good things happened for me that I am extremely honoured, humbled and most of all, grateful. I can’t thank everyone who has helped me and been there for me the past year personally but I hope you know who you are.

And on to the list!

JANUARY

Okay, fine. So it really isn’t about me. But hey, it was a slow start to the year.

Truth be told, though, Obama’s “Yes, We Can” slogan really set the tone for me this year. It was what drove me. I’m not sure if it’s because of the hype, or that I was determined to be more pro-active this year.

That, and the the fact that I dedicated four blog posts to him (and did my first ever Live Twitter event on my blog), makes his inauguration my moment for January.

Read my blog post here.

FEBRUARY

February was all about my kampung, Perth (blog post here). It was my first return there since 2004 so the trip was indeed a long time coming. I had spent over two years there right at the start of the noughties, and miss it dearly. That said, I don’t think life would ever be the same there again if I ever returned.

The trip was special – I was there for work to cover my first ever Big Day Out (where I got to meet and interview Sneaky Sound System and Cut Copy) but I spent an extra few days catching up with friends, visiting my former university and catch the a Fed Cup tennis tournament.

I had also written about Perth being my kampung for my The Bangsar Boy column, and received hate mail for it. The writer demanded an explanation on why I would consider a foreign country my home (and essentially called me a traitor). I dealt with it the way I always do my hate mail – I ignored it.

MARCH

I discovered a new sport in March! My wakeboarding experience was so much fun that I told myself I’ll keep going back. Er, it’s January now, I’ve not been back since. But I really did enjoy it and I really want to go back. Maybe that should be my 2010 resolution?

In March, I also found out that the one movie that I had done in my life – as a teenager – was an Oscar-nominated film. I kid you not! What happened is way too long to tell so you’ll just have to read my previous post about it. I may have only had a small part, but hey, sure looks good on the resume, no?

APRIL

Theatre isn’t new to me, but Shakespeare was. I’ve not read a single of the Bard’s work before I took part in From The Page and Unto the Floor, an acting workshop focusing on Shakespeare’s works organised by KLpac and run by Jeff Kevins. I really enjoyed our workshop performance as well – me playing Romeo to Davina Goh’s Juliet – that it was no doubt one of my highlights of the year.

In April, I also introduced a couple of social media elements to the way R.AGE, The Star’s youth platform, including our first live blogchat where I did a live review of the American Idol finale. Speaking of American Idol, a few days after the finals, I also got a chance to meet David Archuleta (well, I kind of stalked him as well as it was the first time @thestar_rage was doing a live Twittering session on the go). Since then, we have done several other social media based projects including the new R.AGE blog, our World AIDS Day special and I also help run The Star Online’s Live Chat series of interviews.

MAY

In May, Dato’ Yasmin Yusuff invited me to join her and other local personalities for Relay for Life, in aid of cancer. I was very honoured to be invited and together, we collected over RM20k (just the celebrity gang). It was a great experience, good fun and also poignant as I walked for someone who is close to my family as well. Among the personalities who walked (you can see in the picture above or read and see more pics in my post) include Jaclyn Victor, Samantha Schubert, Hans Isaac, Chelsia Ng, Jehan Miskin and more.

I grew up watching TVB serials. I think it was those shows, and not my mother’s attempts at getting me and my siblings to speak Chinese, that taught me Cantonese (I jest, of course). Well, this year, I finally managed to make a trip for the first time to Hong Kong – the setting for most of those shows – and with my best friend Adam to boot.It was also a continuation of my “Visit Asia” policy where I hope to visit a new Asian location or two each year.

May was also the time when I was invited to be a judge for local social networking site Ruumz’s Most Wanted Ruummate competition. It was the first time I was invited to judge something with this profile (it got media coverage, dammit!) so I was very honoured. Actually there was the Spa and Wellness Awards last year too but that was pretty last minute. It would also be the first of quite a few things I was invited to judge this year.

Yes, I know this is quite a lot of things to feature for one month but I can’t help it. In retrospect, May was probably the month in which things really started happening for me professionally and personally in 2009. One of the events that led to that of course was my article on Twitter on the cover of StarMag. It really increased my profile as a proponent of social media.

JUNE

In June, I gave my first talk as a “blogger”. Public speaking is not new to me – I have been invited to give talks on journalism to college students for many years now – but this is the first time on a social media element. Besides reconnecting with my old uni mate Kenny Sia, the event was also where I met some of my closest friends now including Soon Wei, SmashpOp, Amanda and Rames.

Another first in June! This time, I made my first appearance on television (well, with a credit mention at the end of each episode that is). The show was called Alamak! and aired on Astro Ria. It is a show featuring comedy sketches in Bahasa Malaysia and I feature in six different skits throughout the season.

And woah, it’s taken so long – and I’m only six months in. I guess the second half of the year will have to come in another post. For now, good night folks.

1.48am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Juggling that with work (and some nights to rest) and that means I’m pretty lifeless.

So I received an invitation from Junk Magazine to attend Topman presents Couple, Killeur Calculateur, Lovesick Avenue & Twinkies at Zouk, KL last Friday, I couldn’t say no. I’m not a big fan of indie music but I do quite enjoy a couple of Couple’s song (pun intended, naturally) and have heard of Lovesick Avenue but didn’t know much about them.

What better time to find out?

There were a few of us going to the event, including Rames and Amanda, so we made plans to hang out. It was a nice evening, considering I don’t see them often. Plus, it got me out of rehearsals (hehe). Moots from Hitz.FM was the emcee for the night.

Truth be told, the first act of the night didn’t excite me that much and I really didn’t know what to expect from Killeur Calculateurs. Their first song just sounded like they were, umm, screeching but I suspect that it sounded like music to everyone else’s years cos they were bopping and dancing to the music. Unexpectedly though, they really did sound quite nice from the second song onwards (maybe it’s because I moved away from the speakers!).

Of course, what would going for an event like this be without some camwhoring pics? We took quite a few (with my then-new iPhone 3Gs mind you) but Amanda hasn’t uploaded hers yet (bad girl!). Here is one of the two of us squeezing in the shot with Krystle from Freeform.

Of course, Rames always has his camera handy, and you can’t count on him to take great shots (and upload them quick too). This was taken outside at the Terrace Bar as we had some food to eat. We bumped into a few friends there like Howard, Jeff and Mynjayz. Sorry Rames, I curi your gambar – as usual.

And if you’re wondering about the stickers on our sleeves, it reads “It wear Topman/Topshop”. Topman and Topshop dressed some people, including all the band members in their gear for the event. Those wearing its clothes were given the sticker as well. Nifty idea!

12.55am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Yes, I got to keep that shirt (and jeans that you can’t see). Like it?

Basically, the idea was that road races have been covered by the media in many forms – broadcast, print etc – but mostly from the outside. This project was to capture elements of the race from the “inside”.

This video will explain it all.

Nike+ Human Race 10K LIVE from the INSIDE from BBDO argentina on Vimeo.

I came across this through @thechannelc, who wrote on her Posterous blog:

The Nike Human Race is a massive event and it’s covered by all sorts of media across the world. But this year, BBDO Argentina decided to do something a little different, they’ve covered it live from inside the actual race with a mashup of voice + twitter and google maps combined with real time broadcasting of all the information to a dedicated website and even directly into web banners on sporting portals.

I wish I was part of it!

Speaking of the race, a few weeks ago, Amanda Choe and I – representing the Sambal Sprinters and Rojak Runners respectively – together with the Nike Malaysia crew and other local personalities handed over a mock cheque for RM10,000 to WWF as part of Nike’s pledge to donate RM2 for each kilometre clocked in for the Nike+ Human Race 10k Ambassador’s Challenge.

This event was held at Methodist Girls School in KL where local personalities like Hitz.fm’s Adam C, Azura and Era FM’s Nana showed up for the Nike Run For My School Challenge. Some of us ran about 2km with the girls. I don’t see Adam that often, so it was nice to catch up and take a picture together. Thanks to Amanda for the pix (actually, she doesn’t know that I stole it from her blog).

Of course, the biggest star there was Datuk Lee Chong Wei. The girls all went crazy, some asked some very good questions (I liked the one which asked about him and Lin Dan). Even Amanda and I became like groupies and asked for a photo with him. Hehe

8.48pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)