Sunday 28 December 2008

Perfume

I consider myself an immature perfume fan. I hardly wear them, and I have a bad flu-prone nose.

My first perfume was a Dunhill Desire Blue given by my ex, while the second was a Burberry London for Men, purchased together with my younger brother.

High note, mid tones and base, basics of perfume. Just like liquors, I'm fascinated by the intricacy of perfume making, and the amazing abilities of those in this industry to imagine, blend and smell.

Scent triggers memories. Hence, for almost a year, I stayed away from my Dunhill. But no worries, because I’m happily using it now. LOL

I do wonder, does anyone remember how I smelled like? I’m quite odourless to myself, but that is probably because my nose got used to it.

Here's the story which inspired my rambling. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Should an Old Fragrance Be Forgot

Thursday 25 December 2008

My Secret Santa is...

Today is Christmas.

A few weeks ago, we had the Secret Santa thing going on. What started out as a simple gifts exchange event became a major CSI drama in the office. GP and Allie got obsessed over knowing who is whose Secret Santa and formed the GPS team.

GPS means Gila Power Syndrome in our office, but now they have redefined it to become Gaik Ping Subramanian.

They guessed, investigated, and force-confessed people in the office to complete their list of Secret Santas. And over conversations and MSN, they will tell us “I know who your Secret Santa is!” before they put up a big grin and said “But I won’t tell you”.

Women...

But it was great fun on the 23rd! Look at our happy faces! My Secret Santa was Nico, freaky since I was GP's secret santa... the BMW triplets. Same thing happened to the healthcare team too. We also received personal gifts from each other, the amount of love was just overflowing that day.


Ku giving his speech


Warm and fuzzy felling

Other than a few, the GPS team got almost everyone's Secret Santa correct.


GP checking her not-so-perfect list

The office also went to Karaoke on the same night. And my gosh, the Scary-oke became one of the most fun K-outing I have ever been to! We discovered singing machines, song birds, and ha ha, I sang too, voluntarily!



Big thanks to Ku, Joyce, Jida, Kel, Nico and GP; you guys gave me my first pink-lavender coloured shirt; a book to accompany me (I love the personal note in it); know my music taste (must admit, was a bit worried when I saw the CD shape wrapper); and know my favourite brand for skincare!

Not in the picture: BearBrick Series 17 from Zoe (I kept your small note), a very entertaining “oil hour glass” from Fazz (probably the gift that I’m going to stare at the most, ah yes thanks GP for the correction), and Vennese’s obscenely big pen from Scotland.

P/S: I’m grateful for the two Christmas that we spent together. Merry Christmas & happy anniversary.

Saturday 20 December 2008

My first LOMO experience!

Pictures taken using Alarm’s LCA. Just so I can add more text to this post, do you know the difference between LCA and LCA+?

You don’t know le.

LCA is Russian made, while LCA+ is China made!

Yea~ simple saje. LOL, of course there are more to the answer. Go dig yourself la. It’s fun to make a discovery by yourself, no?

Ok, ok, then let me tell you about the 10 rules of Lomography.

01 : Take your LOMO with you EVERYWHERE you go
02 : Use it all the time, every time DAY AND NIGHT
03 : LOMO does not interfere with YOUR LIFE, it's part of it
04 : Get as CLOSE as possible to the objects of your Lomographic desire
05 : Don't think
06 : Be quick
07 : You don't have to know what you're shooting
08 : You don't have to recognize what you've shot
09 : Shoot from the hip and over your head
10 : Don't worry about rules

Okay enough text.


The darkened corners is LCA's specialty.


Enlarge to see the details. Trust me.






Aiya, why like that!





















To me, LOMO is fun photography! Yea~ You should really visit www.lomographyasia.com and see how the other PROs do it.

Pictures in my FB taken using SLR. Not LOMO. But still very nice. So I like. Hahaha.

The Rope Theory

I remember clearly reading it once in Doraemon, that human’s luck is intertwined like a rope. We start our journey of life from the tip, and walk towards the end, each with its own length.

Luck, like the strains of rope tied to each other side by side, pair good and bad side by side too.

The chain is about understanding balance and moderation, about being prepared for failure when we are successful, and about not losing hope when situation seems desperate.

I believe in it for as long as I can remember.

Dec 9, 2008. I went to work with aching legs due to my excessive walking in shopping malls the day before. It was an exciting day because within the same day, it will be the 2nd Malaysia PR Award night- the event that marks my anniversary in the industry.

But also in this fateful day, my ancient Mitsubishi Lancer 3rd Generation aka Proton Saga broke down at 12.30 afternoon, while the BMW team was on our way to Cyberjaya for the last WIP meeting in 2008.

I can’t tell you how horrible I felt. Surely it wasn’t the first time I experience a car breaking down, but it was my first with passengers!

For almost two hours, Nico and GP accompanied me, suffered and dehydrated under the hot sun while waiting for help to arrive. AAM and highway SOS phone booth didn’t work. Here is GP’s story.

Rescue came when my uncle arrived and confirmed that the tow truck was on its way, and then Allie also arrived to fetch us back to the office, with water and potato buns. I felt like a stranded GI, or rather a refugee rescued by the humvee or black hawk, with patriotic music playing in the background.

Back to the base, exhaustion prevented me from doing any real work. I spaced out for about an hour before we went to Nico’s place to get the much needed shower for MPRA.

This time, GP drove.

Maybe it was the clients who were present, or the excitement knowing that after one year I’m back here again not just as attendee, the rush of blood provided me the energy to look lively.

“We better win something tonight!” was what I said while waiting for help to arrive earlier. The “Rope Theory” worked its magic, and we did.







BMW Shorties became the biggest winner of that night, an honour that must be shared with Sashi and Nahri, and of course our client, Mr. V.





In total, BMW Shorties won:
- Gold Campaign of the Year
- Best Use of Digital

A big thanks to Nico, GP, Ku, and Joyce too.

Not a bad way to end 2008. Cheers.



p/s: More pictures in my FB album and a moment of glam for me in Bernama news.

* My bragging rights, haha.

Monday 8 December 2008

neu

This is new. The client is new, the SOP is new, and the media we deal with are new.

Well, at least for me, a noob in the industry.



Back when we were pitching for it...

But new also means I get to devise the SOP, get to set benchmarks, get to contribute rather than just following the footsteps of pros.

Daunting task that excites me. LOL.

***

Have also put up an album in FB sharing my one year in FH.

Public viewing is available here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=65516&l=3ec67&id=576696560


Saturday 6 December 2008

2008 is coming to an end...

... but it is not yet the last event of the year for me. I have one more coming up on 17 Dec. However, it was the last one for BMW team- BMW Premium Selection Launch







***

Two years ago around this time, I joined Ntv7 as video editor, not knowing what to expect. I thought that I'm a broadcasting person, because I prefer visual, I'm hands on, and most of all, I write badly.

A year ago, I joined Fleishman Hillard as PR executive, also not knowing what to expect. It doesn't make sense to many, even myself! What I know then were... though I prefer visual, I'm not visually creative; I write badly, because I have never written and read as much as I should.

Now, sitting here looking into 2009, I know what I want next year. In three more days, the MPRA is at us again. Coincidentally, MPRA represents my anniversary in FH as well. We have two nominations this year.

You will hear more on Wednesday. I hope.

***

Recently, the office went on a movie character matching rampage. Well, according to my officemates, I'm R2D2 of Starwars, Sam of LOTR, Ron of Harry Potter, and Abu of Aladdin (the monkey). I'm not complaining, because they are all lovable characters, and I used to called myself a hobbit.

We still can't figure out a movie that can match everyone... but there are some interesting stuff. So before I forget, let me write them down here.

Star Wars:

Yoda - Ku
Darth Vader - Joyce
Luke Skywalker - Jon
Han Solo - Nico
Queen Amidala - Jida
Princess Leia - Fazz
R2D2 - Me
C3PO - GP
Chewbacca & Jajabing hybrid - Kel

Disney:

Violet - GP
Jasmine - Fazz
Abu - Me

LOTR:

Gandalf - Ku
Legolas - Jon
Gimli - Kel
Sam - Me
Saruman/ Galadriel - Joyce
Eowyn - GP
Arwen - Vennese

Harry Potter:

Harry - Nico
Ron - Me
Herminone - GP