Reach For GREATNESS - Exclusive Invitation By GUINNESS®

Today started like a normal routine day and the GUINNESS® brand team really brightened up my day today.

I am one of the lucky 10 winners for the GUINNESS® Gastronomic Workshop in Mandarin Oriental tomorrow. Besides enjoying limitless pints of GUINNESS® Draught, we will be served by the Chef in Black. Men in Black I know lar, but Chef in Black? Hmm... interesting.

Shall be back with more photos & details of the event for my blog readers and also my Facebook group fans for GUINNESS® Draught exclusively for Malaysians only so if you are one, join us here.

I AM OVERJOYED!!!!!!!!

Mikemmery Behind Glasses

I am going to put my Gruvavenue album review aside today. For quite a while, I had been experiencing bad eye sight especially at night so I decided to get myself a pair of spectacles.

This is how I look like without glasses.



And this is me in my Aviator sunglasses. Mafia enough or not? Keke...



And me in my RayBan frame specs. Do I look more uncle now???

Mikemmery Goes Mobile

My virgin post from a portable mobile device. It had been an extremely hectic day for me at work. Stresses & pressures can best described my day @ work.

While updating this, I'm accompanied to the voices of Vanessa Tan & my Guinness (I shall review her debut album in my next post tomorrow, trust me, she beats our Malaysian Idol Jaclyn Victor flat).

Ok signing off from my loyal LG KS20. Apology for my random post but it also means that I misses you all, my loyal readers.

Muacks!

My Sunday

Went Chong's housewarming last night. Good to catch up with some college mates which I have not seen for years. How time flies indeed. Some got married with kids, I have yet to feel the pressure as my closest buddies are still single.

And here I am enjoying the new CD that I bought. This will be my first jazz album. And thanks to someone who inspire me to like jazz tunes. I shall review her album soon, meanwhile check out my other previous album reviews here and here.

I am currently updating my N95 while listening to Vanessa's captivating jazz songs. She will sing on my birthday for me. Heavenly!

Happy Deepavali

To my Indian friends & readers, Mikemmery would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Deepavali (The Festival of Lights).

Do enjoy the break and those on the road, be extra cautious.

Now here is my all-time favorite Deepavali ad from Petronas. Enjoy!

If I Still Love You

If I still love you, I will walk the journey with you no matter what lies ahead. Perhaps my definition of love is different from many other guys you may have known but I am sure that you know me more than anyone do.

I dare to say no other girls know me better than you. Perhaps this song will best describe me :)



Just normal Friday's babbling.

It's a long weekend this week, safe journey to all my readers who are traveling.

From Bad to Worst

It rains again while I am drafting this post. I was having dinner one night at this food court in Selayang. This uncle surely made one of the best seafood noodles I ate and not to mention this fella is pretty friendly too.

It was past midnight back then, and after sending me the noodles to me & my other friend, he chatted with us.

"How's business?" my friend asked. He did not answer but he bended his index finger indicating "dead"



Like my previous post, I did mentioned I don't feel good about the rest of 2008 and I am predicting a real bad 2009. Like the noodle uncle said, "Now it is not only the inflation problem, not only the increase of prices everywhere but also the God is playing us".

When I asked further what he meant, he said it seems like there is an automatic switch daily to turn on the downpour. It had been more than 3 weeks that it rains everyday at strangely most of the evenings. The worst hit people will be those pasar malam (night market) stalls. One of the guy I knew mentioned that he had not been operating his stall for more than 2 weeks now.

What happen to this world?

Rain

It's been raining quite often lately. It seems that there is an automatic switch around the evening time and there will be quite heavy downpour. I cannot explain, I have this weird feeling that the coming days will not be as great as I want it to be. I am very concern about the economic condition here.

While the company I worked for had been achieving its target for the past 2 months, somehow rather I am not overjoyed with this achievement. I should be happy innit? But why I am not?

When will I see a brighter day again?

Britney Spears Armpit Hair

This post is specially dedicated to a friend of mine who has this weird liking on girls with armpit hair.

Christopher, hope you like the picture I put up for you. It's Britney you know, don't play play. I guess you must be darn motivated now.

Kekeke...



Happy weekend everyone!!!

Na "The GURU" Jib

I am not sure if this latest piece from Malaysia-Today is true or not nor am I a photoshop expert to determine whether the photo is genuine or not. In my naked eyes, it looked blardy real innit?

If this is true, and with the current news of Najib leading the nominations for UMNO presidency, I start to believe in the power of GURUJI.

Malaysia-Today reveals here.

Canned Food - Are They Really Safe?

I was reading this post Zewt posted, and true enough that personally I have doubts on canned food & drink now. Although most of dairy products in Malaysia are cleared of Melamine, as per Zewt's posting, I still think there are substance that can be harmful to the body that have yet to be discovered.

I still remember during my primary school days, mom would wake up early to prepare breakfast for us. One of my all time favorite would be clipping 2 pieces of Gardenia bread onto the Ma Ling Luncheon Meat. I think till now you can still see the famous canned Ma Ling Luncheon Meat in those non-halal section of all hypermarts here. In Singapore, it was banned after test showed that its sample contained a cancer-causing antibiotic. Scarry innit???

And we were talking about a brand which already in the market for decades. And how sure are we that the rest of the canned food in the market now are safe? Are you confident enough to say that our all time favorite canned sardine, tuna & red beans are safe? How about the condensed milk & vaporated milk that we consume daily on our coffee & tea?

Thanks Zewt for sharing & reminding.

Najib & His Chopper Deal

I still remember the first time I bought my car. Back then, I only had enough budget to get a car in the RM50k region, so after shortlisting some, I went to check out the car, made a few test drive and the decision making took me more than a month before I decided for Myvi.

Today our future PM, Najib had another kaboom. To sum it all, he decided to purchase 12 Eurocopter choppers at a price of RM2.317 billion. I would say the country can go ahead to buy the choppers as it do help the nation when it is in need.

But... but... for such a big deal and be it a government deal, normally it had to gone through the tender process. And as part of the tender process, testing is compulsory but how can a minister signed on a deal without testing the machines? And we are talking about RM2.317 billion. Perhaps he made some mistakes there but the people cannot help themselves but to think that "under table" is practiced in the deal. Don't blame the rakyat, proof us otherwise.

Malaysia-today reveals here.
More on The Malaysian Insider & Malaysiakini.

I cannot help but to think the project interview may sounded like this;

Tenderer 1

Interviewer: Your bid is 3 million. How do you justify your tender sum?

Korean tenderer: 1 million for labour, 1 million for materials and 1 million for expenses and a little profit.

Interview: Ok. Thank you. Next!


Tenderer 2

Interviewer: Your bid is 6 million. How do you justify your tender sum?

Japanese tenderer: 2 million for labour, 2 million for materials and 2 million for expenses and a little profit.

Interviewer: Ok. Thank you. Next!


Tenderer 3

Interviewer: Your bid is 9 million. This is way above everyone else. How do you justify your tender sum?

Malaysian tenderer: 3 million for YOU, 3 million for ME, and we get the Koreans to do it for 3 million.

Disappointed again & again & again... Once a Minister made a remark saying that, "...if the country continues to subsidize the petrol, the country might go bankrupt one day..." and the
above RM2.317 billion - money well spent?

We'll see what Najib got to say on this.

We Miss You Brother

Ever since the day you got taken away. We know for the fact that we will be having difficulties to see you again. Do write more letters back when you are free.

We miss you. Rim, Gooi, Abang & myself miss you lots.

In respect of his identity, I had blackened his eyes because in Cantonese, he "mm kin thak khong"

I Am Dumb But Melaka CM is Dumber

Shah Rukh Khan was awarded the title of "Datuk", the equivalent of a knighthood in Britain by the state in recognition of his promotion of the southern state through his films. Malacca Chief Minister Mohamad Ali Rustam said Khan had helped the state's tourism because six of his movies involved locations in Malacca, the New Sunday Times quoted him as saying.

source: Malaysia Insider

Still remember the Hong Kong movie, Summer Holiday starring Sammi Cheng & Richie Ren where most of the movie was shot in Melaka & Redang Island, Terengganu?

Then there should be Datuk Sammi Cheng & Datuk Richie Ren.

Ali sohai...

Are You GUINNESS® Draught Fan?

GUINNESS® Draught lovers? Join my group, GUINNESS® Draught Fans (Malaysia). Specially created for Malaysians who enjoy the Greatness from the tap.

I had 4 perfect pints last night. How about you?

Birthday Wishlist

Having problem of what to buy me for my birthday? No worries, I am generous enough to ease your trouble. Here you go, my birthday wishlist;

1. Apple iPhone 3G

2. Coach Tote/Messenger Bags

3. Or it can be Gucci Tote/Messenger Bags... but please no LV

4. A MontBlanc ballpen. Must be of Meisterstuck Platinum Line Homage A.W.A Mozart serie.

I am pretty simple person innit? Damn! Come to think about it, don't think I will get any of the above. Wishlist transformed to Wishbin.

Thank God it's Friday!

On Malaysian Politics

Some readers who frequented here must be wondering why I am not blogging about politics lately. Without many realizing it, it soon becoming a big joke. Politicians to some certain extent should have some wisdom and at the same time should be a role model to the people. But I am not seeing many, our political scene is more filled with 'Barisan Jokers' and it's even more dramatic than any TVB drama making Astro On-Demand expecting to lose some business to these jokers.



With Dollah announcing his plan not to defend the UMNO Presidency, Najib to go for the top post and few jokers going for the No. 2 post in UMNO. You see, everything about Barisan, it's also about UMNO. Presidency in UMNO automatically confirm one as Prime Minister, second man in UMNO will be the Deputy Prime Minister. Yes, Opposition did gave hope, I look at the Opposition coalition, it's really a good partnership for a Malaysian Malaysia - Malaysia for all races but all of a sudden, they went into hiding after failing to deliver the 916 or whatever the number they had promised us.

Malaysia is a rich country - we have oil & gas, plantation, rubber - plenty of resources, this includes human resource. We have plenty of bright talents but mostly opt to pursue their career out of the country. So what's left in Malaysia? Maybe we will not see it in 5-10 years to come, but if the current state continues and with jokers leading the country, Malaysia is going down in history as a joke.

We have Father of Independence, Development, Unity, Modernization and some even remarked the latest one as Father of Shame (Bapa Kemaluan). The script is like an auto-repeat itself, it is like listening to Sean Kingston's playing on the radio over and over again that you feel like smacking the radio. All politicians who about to come into power will always promise CHANGE.

I'll say, "CHANGE MY FOOT-LAH! SKRIP BODOH!"

Please Get My Name Right!

In the midst of my busy-ness, I can’t help myself but to write about this here. At times, I wonder whether my name is so hard to spell or something. I have a common name, a name I believe many celebrities, stars, artists are having it.

But in Malaysia, I encountered many who cannot even spelt my name correctly. It’s MICHAEL but many spelt it the other way round MICHEAL. What’s wrong with you guys? Don’t you know Michael as in Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Michael Chong, etc?

For God sake, some people whom I had given my business card can mis-spelt it most of the time. And when the emailing does not goes through, I was blamed. If you fax or snail mail me spelling my name wrongly, it will still reach me as there is only one Michael in the company, but email, it's not controlled by me, wrong spelling meaning it will not reach me. Get me?

It’s not that hard to spell my name innit? Remember it’s MICHAEL not MICHEAL.

End Year Madness

I perhaps will have limitation in blogging. The final quarter of 2008 is rather crucial and will be the busiest month ever for any trading company despite the recession that slowly hitting the world.

After the long Raya break, works been piling up steadily, I wish I will have more time. October is going to be a short working month with Deepavali coming end of the month. Expecting a new product launching next week. And in the month of November I will practically be out of the country most of the time. My younger brother will be getting married and the dinner will be in November. After that, I will be away in Hong Kong from 7th to 15th November. And maybe I will be flying there again on the 18th to attend the InfoComm Asia Exhibition which coincidencely will be held in Hong Kong as well. I guess I will have little time to surprise myself on my birthday. And I will be missing the scheduled company trip as I will still be in HK then. There are a few readers here from HK, perhaps we can meet up, do contact me at songm@hotmail.com



Gosh... are you as busy as I am?

Ciaoz!

Hatyai - Syiok!!!

Hey people, I am back. It felt a bit weird not being able to online for the past 4 days. To cut long story short, I was away for vacation with my family in Hatyai, Thailand since it is a long Raya break. And my apology to all Muslim readers, I take this opportunity to wish all Muslim friends a very happy Raya Aidilfitri.

How to get there?
Back to my trip, this time around, dad decided to go by bus. Hatyai had been a yearly destination for my parents during Raya break. This is my 2nd time there with my parents. Little do I know, now there is a daily direct bus from Melaka to Hatyai, saving all the hassle of driving there. Cost is about RM70/pax from Sentral Melaka up to Hatyai City Centre. For fellow Malaccan who needs more info, here is the number, KKKL Tour (06-2881399).



Where to stay?
I had been to Hatyai for a few times now, still our favourite hotel will be BP Grand Suite located along the busy Sanehanusorn Road mainly because of the location and the price. For a decent queen size bed, it cost RM80/night. There are many other hotels along this stretch, there are many new hotels in this area too.





Food & Beverages
I always love Thailand, whether it's Hatyai, Bangkok or Chiangmai because of the food. Everywhere you go, you see pork, very nice pork or "moo" in Thai. And not to mention too their chicken rice is very yummy, none of the joints in Malaysia that I know of that can beat the chicken rice here. So, if you are going Hatyai, chicken rice & bak kut teh is a MUST.







And also right opposite the BP Grand Suite, there is this fried kuey tiaw stall which only open late noon til late night. Highly recommended too.



As you walk around the busy street of Sanehanusorn, you can see a lot of stalls selling Thailand junk food. Try as much as you can. But price nowadays is not as cheap as 3 years back. Price very likely similar to KL rate but worth a go.



Do not forget the mango with glutinous rice, pineapples and coconuts.







Activities in Hatyai
Shopping - for ladies. Cheap imitation jerseys, fake Polo Ralph shirts. The most expensive boutique here is Lacoste followed by Nautica, both in Lee Garden. The girls commented the bra & the panty are cheap here. Few shopping malls in this stretch of road - Central, Odeon & Lee Garden. Tips: for discount on the street always offer 50% lower than the price quoted. As for in the shopping mall, go to Odeon, the promoters there can give discount if you sweet talk them to bed







As for guy like who does not fancy shopping, always can opt for a hair cut like I did during my trip. I had a hair cut & coloured my hair plus shampoo & washing - total cost about RM70. Where to get such rate in KL? Loreal somemore, don't play play.





Also massage - plenty of massages. Farking cheap making you feel like a fool paying double/triple the price back in Malaysia. Standard 1 hour 45 mins full traditional body massage cost only 240baht (appx RM24) and for foot massage 1 hour 30 mins 250baht (RM25). I had all of them and it's heaven. You can also walk in any saloon, get your nail cut (RM15), cleanse your ears (RM8), dead skin removal (RM15). Highly recommended - Apple Saloon (2 blocks away from BP Grand Suite). As for full body massage - go for Sakura.



Night life & activities
In Hatyai of course a lot of guys will be there to enjoy their escort services. For those who are not there for this, you can always go to pubs scattered around the Hatyai City. Their live bands are really good and interactive. There is one just below the Odeon Shopping Mall, and another one called Westside. For disco you can go to Paragon or Kiss Channel. The damage for alcohol here is much lower than in Malaysia. As draft beer is not that popular here, go for big bottled Heineken in any pub/disco you go. Price per bottle not more than RM15 and the waitress here are much friendlier and much fun to be with :)



I sang a song too.



Things you must know
Since my last trip there 2 years ago, a lot of changes now. Smoking is prohibited in most indoor area, this includes pubs, discos & restaurant even if they are not air conditioning joints. Good for non-smokers! And convenience stores or supermarts cannot sell alcohol drinks within a certain period of time. Good rules innit?

Bring an international adaptor for your phone & laptop charging. The currency rate at the time of my traveling period was RM1 = 9.80Baht



And big Heineken selling in Tops Supermart for RM6 per bottle. Damn!!!



That's about it all for Hatyai this time around. Come this November I will be going for 9-days free & easy Hong Kong, Macau & perhaps China trip. Life can be wonderful.

Happy weekend ahead!