guinness

AMPLIFY @ The Rabbit Hole, Changkat Bukit Bintang

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amplify

The number one question I’ve received from friends visiting from abroad is invariable – “Where can I chill with a couple of beers and a live band?”. You ever notice that? It’s never “Where’s the hottest club in town?” (once you get past college) or “Where’s the best place to pick up girls?” (unless you have a creepy set of friends).

live music

People just want to have a good time and kick back at night with a good brew in hand and some live music while they chat with friends.

rabbit hole changkat bb

I was out last Saturday night at The Rabbit Hole @ Changkat Bukit Bintang to check out one of the first iterations of Amplify. Guinness Amplify is a brand new music platform from Guinness – described as a journey of sound and sensation, it’s a celebration of the journey of talented, dedicated and passionate musicians.

amplify jumero

The Rabbit Hole was nicely decked out with a feature stage and a great sound system. It was packed by the time I got there for the JUMERO set. There’s a nice mix of locals and foreigners there too. There’s nothing better than listening to the best local bands that we have while downing a couple of pints of Guinness on tap!

jumero

There are three live sets each Saturday night – JUMERO was followed by THE MARQUEE before the headlining act OJ LAW. Each set lasted from 30 – 45 minutes and each had it’s own character. I particularly liked Jumero’s stage presence and how The Marquee got the crowd’s support with great covers. It’s so different from other music events – the musicians doing their gigs here is definitely made of more – they have the passion and dedication which makes them a cut above.

Here’s a video of The Marquee in action!

rabbit hole

The best thing about the live stage music is that it showcases local talent – they’re all bands from Klang Valley and a lot of the names will be familiar to you. I browsed through the bands that will be performing and recognized a lot of the bands. Yup, there’s going to be a Guinness Amplify event every Saturday night till October 11:

SEPT 20
Bierhaus @ Austin, Johor
AN HONEST MISTAKE
BIHZHU
FROYA

SEPT 27
Foley’s Irish Bar @ Oasis Ara Damansara
TEMPERED MENTAL
NICK DAVIS
DASH

pint music

OCT 4
SOHO Gastro Pub @ Precinct 10, Penang
THE ENDLEAVES
FROYA
KYOTO PROTOCOL

OCT 11
Laundry Bar @ The Curve
HALFWAY KINGS
PAPERPLANE PURSUIT
THEY WILL KILL US ALL

amplify tour

Entry is FREE for all events. There are no tickets required except for the finale show. Come early to grab your seats coz it’ll be pretty full once the first set starts! Guinness on tap was at RM 10 all night long at The Rabbit Hole and you’ll get 1 Guinness free for every 2 Guinness you buy, and there are give-aways between sets for the exclusive finale show at KL Live at every one of the Saturday night live events.

guinness amplify

Also, have I mentioned that Guinness will celebrate the Finale Show with a bang? It would be “Rude” of me if I didn’t reveal that Canadian band MAGIC! will definitely be performing alongside our local talents OJ Law and DASH in this much anticipated finale.

the marquee

You’ll love this – it’s all about passionate musicians showcasing their passion. It’s really different from other live band venues. Get more details about the weekly Saturday night events and how to win tickets to the phenomenal final show at KL Live @ www.amplify.com.my!

Guide to Throwing the Best Garden Gala Ever

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Step 1: Entertainment

garden party people

Upstage all the parties going on at the end of the year by adding in some drama (okay, I’ll stop with the wordplay haha) by setting up your very own mini-theater. It’s really not hard to do – I go to the Singapore Arts Festival every year (my mom and sister lives there) and they have al fresco performances in the middle of the park. You just need some scaffolding and plywood for seats, that adds to the artsy feel too.

mini theatre

I’ll do a smaller scale one in the middle of a large enough private garden that I’ll rent for the day and fly in some entertainment that people would love to see. I’m thinking of the Ishinha group with their signature Jan Jan Opera, they’re really good and offer something MORE.

Step 2: Decorations

You can’t have a garden party without decorations. It’ll be like having a wedding without the bride. You can get help from your friends and enjoy customizing your garden and furniture. This will not be easy without the use of gardening tools so better check out your local hardware for sturdy ones. If you do not like shopping downtown, you can also get those tools delivered on your doorstep.. Try bestofmachinery.com and browse with your friends through their discounted gardening tools and supplies.

flowers

I’ll pick up some nice flowers from Cameron Highlands and arrange it around the garden so there’s not just lush green grass but a lot of color.

wanaka party
(Image source: Wanaka The Bungalow)

I’ll be nice to have some fairy lights to get things going too!

elephant

…and maybe even an elephant! 😀

Step 3: Snacks

You’ll also need some festive themed candy for people to snack on while they’re standing around and chatting.

christmas candy

I’ll go for chocolates instead of hors d’oeuvre coz I want everyone into a festive mood. Otherwise, it’ll just be another generic garden gala. This is my little twist – I love candy and I bought a lot of the Xmas themed ones.

snickers nutcrackers

The manufacturers actually come out with a lot of interesting limited editions during the end of the year! I spent over 4 years in Melbourne where there was a lot of limited edition runs of flavors e.g. White Chocolate Twix for Christmas.

twix tin box

Interesting side fact: There are places like Melbourne where snack manufacturers do their test marketing before deciding to launch a new product. I don’t know how they decide the criteria for a city/town – several places in the US are test beds too but it’s not the ones you think e.g. Los Angeles. It’s the slightly smaller cities with a more cosmopolitan make-up. Neither Singapore nor New York is a test bed. Apparently, you can’t be too big, or too small.

I’ll also have some Christmas crackers for people to pull just coz it’s fun!

Step 4: Dinner

It’ll be nice to cook for all your guests but the logistics behind it would make it too much of a hassle.

christmas turkey

There are plenty of caterers who can do the job just as well at the end of the year. I’m thinking of having a party for 30 so that would be too many to cook for. It’s not like an 8 person dinner party, so I’ll just order some Christmas dinner staples!

Turkey with stuffing is a must, as well as a plethora of side-dishes to make everyone happy and full.

Step 5: Drinks

You need to add something more to get people sociable and in the mood for celebrating the festive season at your garden gala.

made for more

I’ll want people to stay and talk, laugh and bond, after all the entertainment, snacks and dinner. I’ll want something more so here’s to bottles and bottles of Guinness to finish the end of the year with more!

wanaka

The reason behind this guide is because I’m interested in the above contest – Guinness is actually giving away the prize of a Garden Gala for end of the year! It’s a Celebration of More and it’s bound to be the best way to end the year!

garden gala

Yup, you get to win a private party for yourself and 29 of your friends too! This is something you really don’t want to miss. I hate to bandy around the term “once in a lifetime” but this comes really close. I’m going to join but in the spirit of giving, I’m going to invite all my readers if I win! 🙂

Garden Gala
Start: 12th December (Thursday) 10 am
End: 14th December (Saturday) 10 am

Go join the contest too but remember to invite me and my plus one if *you* win. Haha. The contest ends 14th December so head on over to the Guinness Malaysia Facebook page for more details now!

Old friends, new friends

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welcome

Welcome to the Friendliest Day of the Year!

st pats girls

I went bright and early to the St Patrick’s 2012 celebration at Changkat Bukit Bintang. It’s my third St Patrick’s Day celebration – to which I’ve rallied every single consecutive year since 2010. 😀

hie ming

…and guess who I bumped into? Hie Ming, a classmate of mine from Sibu which I haven’t seen since I went to NZ in 1996! A meeting of old friends is always a good portent of things to come.

st pat 2012

The street started filling up as the night went on…

drinking guinness

…as we enjoyed pints of Guinness on tap.

arthurs lounge

Arthur’s Lounge – I was quite excited to go in, since someone told me there will be a nice surprise inside. There was in fact, more than one.

perfect pint

I had a go at pouring the perfect pint…

workshop

…while personalized Guinness pint glasses with our names engraved on it were made.

personalized pint glass

It’s like Santa’s workshop for adults! There were heaps of people involved in the making of my very own pint glass.

personalized pint

I can bring this around to pubs and fill it up with the black stuff and it’ll never get lost coz…it has my name on it. It says “Huai Bin”. 😀

poloroid

There were street performers and buskers and people going around snapping Polaroid photos. It was a very merry experience indeed.

rachel

I bumped into Rachel…

harleys

…and beheld the wonder of a procession of Harleys driving into Changkat Bukit Bintang with a troupe of performers bringing up the rear.

next year

The night ended with an awesome display of fireworks and I have to say, I haven’t had this much fun since the last St Patrick’s Day. The Friendliest Day of the Year? I would say so. I met old friends and made new ones, and that’s what this year’s St Patrick’s Day is all about! (and also getting into the Guinness Book of Records)

why so serious

What about the record? Check it out for yourself!

evelyn

I raise my (currently empty) personalized pint glass in anticipation of next year’s celebrations, where I aim to bring it and fill it with drink. 😀

The Friendliest Day of the Year

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March 17th

I hear it’s being touted as the Friendliest Day of the Year.

people

It’s one of the few holidays that break out from the country of origin (Ireland, in this case) to metamorphosis from obscurity to become something more…something global, something truly epic!

eat play love

It’s St. Patrick’s Day!

st pat 2010

I go every single year. Guinness has held the biggest St Patrick’s Day parties for two years running in Malaysia. I was at the 2010 celebrations in 1Utama.

st pat 2011

I also went to the 2011 street party at Changkat Bukit Bintang where they have all the awesome street performers and even awesomer (spell check just warned me about this word with the red squiggly line) launch with the jugglers and huge motorcycle parade.

I couldn’t get a good shot at the actual event with everyone jostling around but here’s what it looks like – that’s from the preview event and is almost exactly the same. 😀

dancing

It is always a day full of fun, friendship and laughter.

Fun Fact:
A popular Irish toast on St Patrick’s Day is “May the roof above never fall in, and may we as friends beneath it never fall out”.

performers

This year sees a return of the celebrations to Changkat Bukit Bintang! There will be a month full of celebrations starting right about now. Remember when I said March 17th is going to be known as the Friendliest Day of the Year?

Well, there’s this obscure, little book that you might have heard of. It’s called the Guinness Book of World Records. 😉

friendliest day of the year

This is the real thing, the authoritative tome that people refer to when a feat or record is in doubt. It’s no local wannabe, if you’re in it, you know you’ve done something worth writing down for posterity in the entire known world.

parade

Guinness is attempting to set a new Guinness World Record for the Friendliest Day of the Year by getting 1 million people to pledge online at www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia and www.stpatricks.com.my to get into the book. Just click on COUNT ME IN to make it happen! 🙂

st pat 2012

I’m telling you, it’ll be the best fun you ever had. The crowd is always nice and there’s fun and laughter. Get ready for the pure awesomeness that is the main St Patrick’s Day street party:

Date: Saturday (17th March)
Venue: Changkat Bukit Bintang
Time: 6 pm onwards

street performers

There’s even going to be a busker dressed like a court jester. What more can you ask for? 😀

Get more information on the various other parties and promotions being held at www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia.

Get exclusive tickets to Arthur’s Day right here on sixthseal.com!

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I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, saying ayo, gotta let go
I wanna celebrate and live my life, saying ayo, baby let’s go!

guinness girl

You know about Arthur’s Day right? Of course you do. In case you’ve been hiding in a pit for the past few years (people do that all the time, just ask Mr. Hussein ;)) let me give you the lowdown. Arthur’s Day is a celebration of 250 years of the world’s favorite stout! Hailing from Dublin, Guinness is a brand that has survived a ¼ of a millennium while still remaining a favorite of drinkers all over the world!

arthurs day

History lesson time! Arthur’s Day first started in 2009 when they launched the 250th anniversary of Guinness – I was one of the fortunate few to be in attendance. The event kick-started with an out-of-this-world (literally) contest.

In more relatable terms, Arthur’s Day is also the biggest concert in KL for two years running! 🙂

arthurs day 2009

Arthur’s Day 2009

I also did a video with Cindy that I’m rather proud of for Arthur’s Day 2010.

I fondly remember all the friends I got to know over a couple of pints when I went to the first Arthur’s Day concert in 2009.

Arthur’s Day has been synonymous with triple A list stars coming to Malaysia – in 2009 it was the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Kingston headlined last year and true to its history of getting the best artists to come, TAIO CRUZ will be performing this year!

taio cruz

It is truly an experience money can’t buy. The chanting fans, the super-charged atmosphere, the epic party-cum-concert with artists you usually just hear on the radio, the merry tinkle of Guinness pints (well, they use plastic cups to comply with regulations but you catch my drift).

arthurs day 09

Well, this year, Arthur’s Day is going to be different – you can’t BUY the tickets – it’s NOT FOR SALE. The only way you can get in this year is by snagging one of the exclusive tickets and I’m pleased to announce that I have a few pairs to give away (no worries, you won’t be going alone, bring along a friend).

I’m going to give away five (5) PAIRS of tickets to Arthur’s Day, and I won’t make you jump through hoops to get it. These are not mere tickets, but exclusive invites – an experience, if you will.

cruz

Arthur’s Day 2011
Date: 23rd September 2011
Time: 6 pm till late
Location: Speed City, KL

These exclusive tickets are very much in demand, so please make sure you can attend k? I will select 5 winners based on how funny/crazy/fun/interesting/cool your photos are and get back to you so enter your correct email address too! Remember, each of the 5 winners get a PAIR of elusive invites each so you can bring your +1. 🙂

Just upload a picture of yourself on Twitter or post a photo on Facebook wearing the outfit you’re going to wear to Arthur’s Day and comment here with the permalink.

Yup, just right here on this blog post.

Example photo:

arthurs day 2011

I’m sure you can do better.

It’s time to paaarrttyyy! TO ARTHUR! 😀

March is the new December!

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harley

You know, I’ve always wanted to be a biker when I was growing up. It’s easy to imagine yourself riding down a highway with the wind blowing through your hair and the freedom of the open roads lying ahead.

I can just imagine Deep Purple’s Highway Star playing while I rev my chopper.

…and then I realized that my feet can’t reach the ground.

I’ve tried to get on a Harley and even the smallest of the big bikes isn’t built for a relatively diminutive 171 cm person with a high body to leg ratio. I nearly toppled the bike while I was on it coz it was too high and heavy.

girls

It was at an exhibition in Melbourne when I was doing my university there, and I could practically hear the muted laughter of the crowd and see the attendant trying to suppress a grin. I slinked away as best as I could and tried to look nonchalant while at it. action

I don’t think I fooled anyone.

…but never you mind! smirk

launch

March is here and let’s face it, it’s not one of the best months of the year. It’s like the reason Cyrus Jakoby gave when he killed one of his clones in The Dragon Factory – “It’s a Tuesday”. Tuesdays, like March is one of the mundane moments of existence. There are no public holidays in March and you’ve just come out of the shortest month in the year (February) with a festive season to boot.

I wonder if researchers collect statistics about depression diagnoses during the month of March.

merry me

However, things are starting to look up since St Patrick’s Festival is going to be held in March this year. I went to the media launch and if this is an indication of things to come, it’s going to be an awesome March instead.

March would be the new December!

I mean, how often do you see bikers revving their choppers followed by a parade of dancers, clowns, cosplayers and buskers?

I consider myself a little jaded and cynical so for something to impress me like this, it’s gotta mean something.

musket

After the official launch of St Patrick’s Festival 2011 (complete with an old musket that shoots a spray of sparks) at The Tavern, there was entertainment and food galore.

food

You know what Guinness is about – fun, laughter, and friends.

This year, St Patrick’s Festival is going to be more like a parade than a carnival. There were mimes and performers interacting with the crowd. I like the change – it feels like Mardi Gras without the beads and that’s just indoors!

buskers

Imagine them bringing this outdoors and you’ll get an even bigger scale to the entire parade.

giggag

There’s also an app called St Patrick’s GigGag that’s hilarious to play around with. It’s a cheesy but funny customizable video where you can put images of you and your friends to make a choice of two videos.

hahaha

HAHAHA

how

Basically, what happens is that you choose four (4) friends and use the in-built tool to fix the faces to the template. You also have to set where the mouths are and that produces some unexpected but funny results. Heh!

St Patrick’s GigGag is meant as a fun application to celebrate the festivities of St Patrick’s Festival so try it out and spread the word. You can pull profile photos straight from Facebook so it’s easy to use and share!

dance

The main event will be at Changkat Bukit Bintang on the 17th of March from 6 pm – 12 am and there’s going to be celebrations throughout Malaysia – even in Sabah and Sarawak, so no one misses out on this.

Join the Guinness Malaysia Facebook page for more info on events at your place!

us

There’s going to be trivia and games in addition to the parade so it’s all going to be very engaging stuff.

performance

Combine that with food and pints of Guinness and you’ll be saying “Miss March much?” in April.

up

I’m looking forward to it already. Alright, I’m looking up in this photo but you know what I mean. 🙂

Santa can you hear me?

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I have been so good this year. Well, maybe not, but with Christmas around the corner it’s time to write the letter to the good ol man up North and ask for the things that you want for Christmas!

1. A partridge in a pear tree

I’m totally serious. I would love to have a partridge in a pear tree. It would be remiss not to ask for this. How many people have actually gotten a partridge in a pear tree?

Patridge-by-John-Coulter

No? Well, there you go. 😉

2. Turducken

Christmas used to be all about turkeys. Well, not anymore. Turkey is so ’90s. The thing to have on your Christmas dinner table this year is the turducken. What exactly is a turducken?

Turducken

Well, put simply, it’s a chicken stuffed into a duck which is then stuffed into a turkey. Now how about that!

3. Travel the world and the seven seas

I love to travel and though I’ve been to Europe, Korea, China and several other SEA destinations this year, I would love to spend more time at each place…taking my time, going through every nook and cranny of the places I step foot on.

stonehenge

I’m particularly interested in doing the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which no self respecting traveller can call him/herself that until this ritual is complete. Starting at China and going all the way to Russia. I’ll send you a postcard from Russia (with love).

The Eurorail coming-of-age trail blazing is also something I’ll want to do – a pass to travel all around Europe at your own leisure. I’ll make Ireland my first stop, I’ve never been there and it’s home to St James Gate Brewery in Dublin, which produces the fine brew we call Guinness. 🙂

4. A new car

I’m not one for material possessions and love experiences more than anything. However, my old car has been through a lot of…er, vehicular mishaps and it seems like EVERYTHING is wrong with it. I probably should send it to a workshop but I fear that it would cost more to fix than to purchase a new one.

How I’m going to pay for the down payment and monthly instalments would require very creative budgeting but hey, since this is a wish list…

5. 5 gold rings

Seriously.

5_gold_rings

I’m so broke right now that 5 gold rings sounds (no pun intended) just about right.

6. A job as a travel writer

Somewhat related to the above, I know that the industry is hard to break in and not as glamorous as it sounds. It’s often a low paid job where you most likely have to top up the balance yourself and you spend a lot of time writing and compiling and doing good ol fashioned legwork. I even hear the Lonely Planet writers have to take a course in self defence before they even get sent out.

bath

However, despite all that it’s something I would love to do. It’s not about the money, it’s about setting your own hours and doing what you like.

7. A new digicam

I have a dSLR and a compact digicam and I tend to use the latter more since it’s shockproof and waterproof, two important qualities when I bring it on my vacations. However, all the trips and travels and misadventures has given it a good beating and I wouldn’t mind getting another one for Christmas. 🙂

8. Get to see my family more

I must admit, with my family scattered around, it’s hard to have the traditional annual family vacations that my father set a precedent for ever since I was a kid. My sister is married with a baby daughter in New Zealand with my mom and my dad is in Sarawak while I’m working here.

family

Blood runs thicker than water after all. The warmth of having family and giving and receiving support is, pardon the cliché, invaluable.

My dad and I used drink together and my mom has been known to have a pint or two herself. She actually can drink the two of us under the table if she sets her mind on doing it. Heh! It’ll be good to have a family get-together where we can just sit around the living room, nursing a pint of Guinness.

9. A notebook

No, not the ones made from trees, I have come to the conclusion that while having a 17” widescreen notebook is great when you’re at home, lugging all of it in its 2.7 kg glory while travelling is decidedly not.

One thing on my wish list would be for a small and compact notebook where I can write, access the net and run Photoshop while travelling.

10. Get another tattoo

I’ve always wanted to get another tattoo – I even know what I want it to be but I’ve put it off for years, going for piercings instead. I don’t know why I’m procrastinating on this since it’s not on public skin e.g. visible so it’s not a work related issue.

tattoo

I want a full color piece on my left leg, starting from the ankle up to the knee. It would be a rotting female corpse hand reaching up from the grave and gripping me, raking her fingernails and drawing blood down as a reminder. I guess the subject of the reminder is personal since I’ve subconsciously put it off for so long but I want to get it done soon.

11. More personal time

I would love to have more personal time for me to do the things I like. I love reading and have recently completed the Millennium trilogy – a series of novels which centres on Lisabeth Salander, a rather unique and likable character whom I can relate to.

books

I tend to be a voracious reader but I never stray far from my favourite genres – I picked this out on a whim and I’m glad I did. It’s a good read and I aim to do more reading – preferably not just on the porcelain throne. 😉

12. A Christmas dinner with friends

Since my family won’t be together during Christmas, I’ll love to have a nice Christmas dinner with friends complete with several pints of Guinness. Christmas is all about sharing, gift exchanging, letting them know how much they mean in your life and nothing beats a good dinner recounting with your closest friends – sharing stories, spending quality time (which all of us lack with work and everything) and just being together with good food and drink.

guinness girl

On the same note, Guinness is having some consumer promos on their Facebook so it’ll be a great place to find an outlet to have pre-Christmas and Christmas events where you can celebrate the festive season. Surf over to Guinness Malaysia Facebook for more details.

You’ll also get a gift all month long, courtesy of Guinness when you buy 6 pints of Guinness Draught or 1 bucket of Guinness Stout – a heritage collection glass with old Guinness ads! =D

There is also going to be games (Merry Mat anyone?) and surprises at selected outlets starting from 17:59 (the year Guinness was founded). That’s one minute before 6 pm.

guinness

Well, since I’m not going home for Christmas this year, I figured I’ll grab 4 of you and we’ll throw our own mini-Christmas bash instead! I’ve arranged for a cosy dinner for the 5 of us at Backyard in Hartamas, KL on the 22nd December at 7:30 pm.

I’ll select 4 of the most creative answers we’ll all have a great time this Christmas! Don’t worry about drinks and food, it’ll be on me! It’ll be fun, just comment here and and tell me “What you want for your Merry Guinness” this year. Make yourself available on that date and we’ll have an awesome time! My treat. 🙂

This photo looks Photoshopped…but isn’t

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me-suanie-kim

I love this photo. It’s one of those photos that looks Photoshopped but isn’t. This was taken during the BEP concert on Arthur’s Day. We were doing a jump shot for the camera and I jumped right out of the photo.

It’s quite amazing since I don’t recall jumping that high. Please direct your eyes to my…er, waist’s position with Suanie as the point of reference. I literally jumped off the frame.

I’ve never been able to achieve the same altitude after this photo. >.<

Photo courtesy of Kimberly.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner/ The Flight of the Valkyries

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Sea. Air. It’s like yin and yang, two polar opposites of this great chunk of rock we call Earth. I’ve been to both extremes of the horizon my 28 odd years here. I’m an avid traveler, novelty hunter and thrill seeker so I have a natural affinity to new experiences. Nothing rocks my boat (pardon the pun) more than travelling the world and the seven seas.

manukan_island_snorkelling

I’ve been deep sea fishing off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. Spending three days on a fishing boat with no showers and the smell of fish permeating everything is certainly an experience which…I’ve repeated several times. Heh! There’s just something about being in the open seas doing some honest backbreaking toil (jigging for tuna is hard work, okay).

beached%20whale

I also enjoy hitting the beaches. The sun on my back, the sea in the horizon and the wind on my face…it’s paradise!

the%20artist

I’ve also been known to go au natural during my beach excursions. 😉

summit

Going a little higher in altitude, I’ve been snowboarding and skiing in Melbourne. Nothing beats hitting the slopes in winter when the weather is all gloomy and depressing.

skyventure

Moving further up the stratosphere, I’ve bungee jumped, skydived and done all sorts of aerial acrobatics…such as this ride in Genting. SkyVenture is a “vertical wind tunnel” that does a pretty good simulation of the free fall experience of skydiving…short of jumping out a plane 4 kilometers up.

I’ve always felt that something was missing though…something important.

guinness event

It just didn’t feel…extreme enough. It felt too common, for a lack of a better word.

perfect pint

I’ve been trying to top my experiences every single time. I like going to weird, out-of-place destinations like Sri Lanka.

guinness girl

There are two places which I feel are rare destinations, one more so than the other. Antarctica requires at least RM 40,000 for the trip but comes with significant boasting rights. Not many people have been down down under.

bottles

The other is of course the “final frontier” – space. This group is so elite that only a handful of private citizens have actually gone into the great beyond. I’ve been following the Ansari X PRIZE with some anticipation…it’s a step in the right direction. One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind stuff.

divers

I was pleased when Richard Branson’s Virgin group launched Virgin Galactic for an out of this world (literally!) experience, dubbed space tourism. As an avid traveler, you have no idea what appendages (and perhaps even dangly bits) I would give to have a go.

banner

I was at the Guinness 250th Anniversary Global Contest launch at Aquaria, KLCC and I am pleased to announce that you (yes, you) will have a chance to do this and more! The launch was very well orchestrated, with divers unveiling a banner and consuming bottles of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout underwater.

turtle

In a nutshell, Guinness is giving away three unforgettable experiences:

Guinness Space Experience
The winner and a friend will fly to Virgin Galactic’s home at Spaceport America, New Mexico for training before going into space for a zero gravity experience.

Guinness Sea Experience
The winner and two friends get a unique opportunity to board the first ever Guinness deep sea bar off the islands of Norway. The four day trip to Lofoten Islands includes the experience of enjoying a pint (or six) 70 meters below sea level!

Guinness Studio Experience
The winner and two friends will get to see an exclusive live performance by The Black Eyed Peas at a recording studio as part of their forthcoming world tour! You’ll also get to spend some time hanging out with the band.

guinness girl me

Sea, space or stars (Black Eyed Peas la). No matter what, you’ll be getting one hell of an experience!

pint

Learn more about the Guinness 20th Anniversary Global Contest here.