RedRibbon Days

Did you know it was World Environment Day on 5 June 2011?

2011-06-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

Warning : This may be a longer than usual post, compared to my normal standards. Hehe. And yes, I know I've been slacking big time. Sudah kena 'sound' so I'm trying to make up for it. hehe. Sorry!

Thanks to RedRibbon Days, I now know that every 5th June of every year is World Environment Day (WED)! Yes, I was that ignorant. I think more people should create more awareness about this day because it's not only about conserving energy like the popular 'Earth Hour', but WED is about anything and everything that we can do to save our environment.

We were honoured to be given the opportunity to organise and execute events on behalf of our client to commemorate this day. We were not only excited and but also ecstatic that our client is supporting this day and engaged RedRibbon Days to help them spread the word to the public.

Theme of this year's WED is 'Forests : Nature at Your Service' so naturally, the main event we organised for our client was a tree planting initiative. To help us spread the word on a much bigger scale, not only were the staff invited to join in, but also local celebritiess and personalities such as Daphne Iking, Dato' Yasmin Yusuff, Lina Teoh, Jojo Struys, Hansen Lee, Amber Chia, Carmen Soo, Dennis Lau, Freda Liu and many more.

BUT, it was not only about the tree planting event on the 5th that we were excited about, but also about the pre-event initiative which we hoped will create more buzz and hype leading up to the actual day. RedRibbon Days came up with the idea of also creating awareness that everyone can play their part in helping the environment by Reducing Their Carbon Footprint.

OK, I have to admit, when I first heard that term brought up by Ming Ne and Sherin, I went like..'huh?'..then after they explained what it was all about...I was like...man..that's genius! Everyone should be aware of this and talk about it! So yeah...in my very own layman terms; Reducing Your Carbon Footprint is about things that you can do to reduce your Carbon Dioxide emissions, which we all know is BAD for the environment right? OK, even I knew that. So, i.e. instead of driving, ride a bicycle. But of course, we can't possibly revert back to our primitive ways right..so, what we can do is be a bit smart in our current lifestyle choices which is practical but at the same time help reduce our carbon footprint.

SO, the pre-event theme revolved around the concept of "Reduce Your Carbon Footprint - Experience It Locally" - meaning, you don't have to travel overseas to experience something amazing and unique because it's all here in our very own backyard. I bet you can ask any of your friends whether they are aware that you can actually be a Pilot for a Day, ride an ATV in a jungle, Bungy Jump, Paraglide, Segway Ride etc all here in our beautiful country - I can bet that most of them would say they would probably have to fly to some other country to experience it. So obviously, having to travel overseas would create a whole lot of carbon emissions like no one's business.

This is where we got the help of these celebrities to spread the word. Each of them did an amazing experience that they've never done before or weren't even aware that it was available here in our country, what more here in KL. It took us a whole month to gather and organise these experiences for everyone, but the outcome was just sooo satisfying that you just have to view the video clips to know what I mean.

Please do check out our YouTube page here to view each celebrities' experience. They're all funny and entertaining in their own way so it's really fun to watch!

Sooo..once the pre-event was over, then came the main event on the 5th. EVERYONE was chartered in what we call a 'Green Bus' with all the celebrities faces designed on the bus. How cool is that. Some of them were saying they felt like SJP in SATC's opening theme song. hehe. I thought the bus looked pretty cool, but what made it way cooler were the outriders escorting the bus all the way from our client's office to the tree planting venue at Taman Botani Shah Alam! I'm sure everyone felt like royalty being able to have outriders 'shoo' every vehicle in your way. hahaha.

Checkout the Green Bus!

Upon arrival, it was just plain fun all the way! Despite the slight rain drizzle scare early morning to the sudden scorching hot sun; everyone was such as good sport and looked like they had fun planting trees and plants for a good cause. It definitely was not your typical tree planting event where everyone plants a tree then goes home. I think each activity and detail played a significant part in the success of the event.

We had so many more highlights that I just have to list it out in point form here:

- an opening performance by No Noise Percussion; a group that performs using recycled items like pots, pans, rubbish bins etc
- After the tree planting session, the management and celebs got to have their hand print in cement at their plot of land
- A time capsule which we proposed to our client, where messages written by the management and celebrities were sealed in a time capsulee; and then there was a time capsule burying session at the end of the tree planting initiative
- a lovely lovely lunch
- photoboard signing session
- AND the GRAND FINALE - hop on back to the green bus to Fahrenheit 88 and Lot 10 for a Shout Out session! Everyone who joined held up banners spreading the word that it's WED and tips and environmental messages while the No Noise Percussion performed.

I have to say this was probably the first time I was shouting like a madwomn to a big crowd in the middle of KL city, prancing and dancing without any shame. I don't mind doing it again. haha

phew. all that in half a day. From 5am to 2pm. Kudos Sherin, Ming Ne and of course, the whole RedRibbon Days team - Shiva, Reza, Penny and Sophia. Best teamwork ever! So proud of everyone.

OK tired of typing. A picture says a thousand words, so technically, below are a few more thousand words. hehe :) But please do visit our Facebook Fan Page here to view the whole event! Enjoy!

Mother's Day is Coming!!!

2011-05-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

When I become a mother, I would like either one of the following experiences from my kids:

1. Hair Make Over with Matthew Mack
Because I nak maintain MILF okaayy? hehe

2. Romantic Fine Thai Cuisine for Two
Because you kids need to give mummy and daddy some romantic time, kay

3. Body Contouring Spa
Because mummy needs to maintain body after the Jap dinner night out with dad

OR

4. Bliss Pampering Package
Coz mummy needs to relief stress from all the shouting and screaming to you kids

And lastly

5. Sea Cliff Chalet Getaway for Two
Coz nothing says I Love You Mummy than a holiday from the kids...hehehe

Soooo, don't you think YOUR mother wishes the same, or deserves the same? What will you be getting your mum on Mother's Day? Don't tell me just a bunch of flowers? pffftt :P

The Day I Fell Flat on My Bum Trying to Roller Disco

2011-04-20T04:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read right. I attempted to Roller Disco. And I fell flat on my a**. And it hurt for days. :(

BUT...it was fun! Me and my oldest friends (as in 'old' we've been friends since primary school, definitely not old in age..ahah!) decided to dress up ala Roller Boogie (yes, we don't dress up like this everyday and you have GOT to watch this ol skool movie) and this day was organised in lieu of Amy's birthday who turned, ehem 21 this year..like 9 times already.

Soon, you and your friends will be able to enjoy this experience and buy it for YOUR friend as a gift and organise a Roller Disco day for you and your friends via RedRibbon Days! So stay tuned as we'll have it on our website real soon!!

In the meantime, have a look at how silly we looked. hehe. But hands down to the best dressed 'roller' of the day, none other than Mr. Hubby, Azlan Ibrahim. Doesn't he look so KEWL?
ahahaha.

Mr. Hubby looking dashing. But I think the shorts aren't short enough

The Birthday Girl - Ms. Amy!

Lan and his pose 'maut'

ok, i don't know what tuty is doing. haha

2011 - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

2011-02-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

Yes I know...it's already 2nd Feb 2011! It's not THAT late to wish everyone a new year what. hehe. OK it is, but better late than never. Hope 2011 been's treating everyone good so far. It's already Feb 2011 and we at RedRibbon Days have already had a quite eventful Jan 2011 with a major client event all the way in Tawau, Sabah.

It was my first time stepping foot in Sabah. Tawau is a quaint little town. Very green, popular for its seafood (I had ikan ayam, praying mantis, siput sedut etc) and Nasi Kuning apparently. But we didn't get to spend much time going around as we were busy preparing for the event. Suffice to say, all the hard work and stress was well worth it as the client was very happy, saying that it was their best annual dinner ever. Kudos to Sherin and Ming Ne! Months of preparation and those occasional travels to Tawau paid off eh. Anyway, I would probably step foot in Tawau again, only because you'd have to take a boat from Tawau to get to Sipadan. So yeah, Sipadan is on the list of must visit places.

Speaking of must visit, I'm revisiting my must-do list which I did back in Jan 2010. I failed miserably. Only manage to do 4 out of 10! I only did the first 3 and the last one! hehe. Okay so this year, I shall not make any to do lists or even resolutions. Going to take 2011 as it comes with always keeping in mind the notion of "Just Do It!" 2011 is going to be the year of opportunities so just grab whatever comes your way and keep on searching for more.

Coming to the second month, Feb 2011 is just as eventful as we also have another big event coming soon after the Chinese New Year holidays. Speaking of which, Happy Chinese New Year! See, I'm right on time based on the Chinese calendar. Haha. It's a beautiful day today. The sun is shining, there's a bit of a cool breeze, birds are chirping and best of all, the roads are soooo clear. If only everyday was like this. hehe.

Ok I'm just rambling on here. To close this post, please enjoy this video clip which is sort of my theme song for this year :)

The One with the Many 'First'

2010-12-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

I'm so behind in my blog posts that it's so not funny. It's been more than 2 months since my last post and how true the maxim "Where Did The Time Go?". Oh well, it's also true what they say - time flies when you're having fun and it certainly has been an eventful past couple of months here at RedRibbon Days.

Before that, hope everyone had a JOLLY GOOD MERRY CHRISTMAS! Here's to the new year and a new beginning and a much more eventful year. I have a good feeling that 2011 will be an awesome year. So here's wishing everyone an awesome HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Anyway, back to this post, since I'm way behind and a lot has happened in the past couple of months, I'd like to share with you the many 'firsts' here at RedRibbon Days. In no particular order, here goes. This may be quite a long post, but it's to make up for all the lost time. hehe.

First Dragon Boat Race
I never thought I would witness, what more be a part of a race like this. So when one of our clients actually agreed on our idea and proposal of running a Dragon Boat race as part of their weekend event, I was like..No way! Awesome! This was held a couple of weeks ago in Putrajaya and the objective was to have a fun-filled, yet healthy weekend getaway for our client's client and family members. Because there were not enough participants on one of the boats, we were invited to join in the fun. I've always been a fan of watersports (considering I don't know how to swim - ironic isn't it? haha) so I was ecstatic to be a part of the race. What's so cool about this race is that all boats have a 'drummer' who sits in the front of boat, guiding the rest to paddle according to the beat. So the faster the beat, the faster we have to paddle. It creates a sense of unison and the beating of the drum makes it more exciting. So I was on the same team wth a few other clients and Ming Ne but we only managed to get 4th place. haha! It really didn't matter to me, because the experience alone was awesome.

The cool looking Dragon Boat!

Our team ready to go. See, we're all kind of 'small size' so maybe that's why we got 4th place. *Sore Loser*

That's us...trying to figure out whether the race has started. haha

On your mark, get set, go!

First Torn Among the Roses @ RedRibbon Days
We recently hired our first male staff here at RedRibbon Days! Hehe, Lawrence Chong joined us on December 13th 2010 as an intern. He'll be with us for the next 3 months and so far, we are glad to have him on board. Despite being the only guy in the office, he seems to be fitting in pretty well. Plus, it's always handly to have a guy around the office to help carry stuff and all. Haha. Lawrence is currently studying at Sunway University and he's also a part time ice skating instructor @ Sunway Pyramid! For those of you who wants to get to know him better, you may call him at 0121234567 haha just joking, I think he's taken. :P Welcome on board Lawrence! Hope you get to contribute and learn as much as possible during your short time here. Don't forget to enjoy yourself while you're at it!

erm ok, this picture does not do him justice. hahaha

First RedRibbon Days Christmas Tree
Hard to believe that last year, we had no space at all for a Christmas tree. Now that we've moved to a bigger office, there's no excuse to not have one! Our Christmas tree is soo pwetty. If you're wondering what the pieces of papers are doing hanging on the tree, do read on :)

First Experience Based 'Kris Kringle'

We decided to give a twist to our normal secret santa ritual. Instead of spending money on a gift, we got everyone to give a 'priceless' experience to their Kris Kringle partner. It can be anything from becoming a coffee maker for a week, office maid for a week to driver..u get the drift. I must say it was kind of fun thinking of personal priceless experiences to provide! It brought out the creativity in everyone and the experiences were really priceless! hehe. I'm kind of excited with mine, as I got a "Private Ice Skating Lesson" from who else, the ice skater himself, Mr. Lawrence Chong! I'm gonna grab these girls out to come skate with me. hehe. Oh ya, we even did our very own vouchers and Lawrence drew his own:

cool eh?

And this is what I gave my Kris Kringle partner, Shiva! ...hmm now where did I put that Chakra For Dummies book? hehehe.

Anyway, Lawrence and Theing 'redeemed' their Kris Kringle experiences already. Lawrence got a ride in an Aston Martin to our Annual Dinner given by Ming Ne and Theing got chauffered driven in a Bentley! They sure looked like they had fun. But I'm sure Shiva can't wait for her Chakra Therapy too! heheheheh. The others were interesting too...Shiva gave Penny some "personal guide to South Indian food" and Theing got Sherin "personal guide to Bak Kut Teh in Klang"....obvious that we love to eat eh. But the winning prize goes to Penny who gave Ming Ne a "Justin Bieber Experience". No, she didn't dress up as JB, just that she's suppose to play that oh-so-annoying song - Baby Baby Ooh for like 10 times or something. oh what joy!Oh by the way, Penny's our new addition to the Pleasure Team! Welcome onboard!

First RedRibbon Days Karaoke Outing...and the first ever karaoke for Shiva!

Can't believe that Shiva has never been karaoke-ing. haha! This year's annual dinner we decided to go for a karaoke session since we have a few singers in the house..being Theing and of course Ming Ne! hehe. Well, Shiva here is a karaoke virgin and what more appropriate first song than Madonna's 'Like a Virgin!'...and oh boy can Theing really sing or what?! She really can. Belting Alicia Key's song so effortlessly. Funny thing is, myself and Sherin kept singing oldies songs like Bonnie Raits' Total Eclipse of the Heart, Summer Nights and many more la, while the rest where singing Linkin Park, Alicia Keys etc. Geez, kinda obvious eh Sherin?..such a dead giveaway. Gotta watch more MTV now.

Anyway, it seems like yesterday we were telling ourselves during last year's dinner that next year, there will be more team members - and we already have with the addition of Penny and Lawrence. So we're really looking forward to 2011 where the team will definitely double if not triple!

Lawrence and Penny singing none other than Justin Bieber's Baby Baby, specially dedicate to Ming Ne.

Sorry I just realised I didn't take that many pictures. I think I was busy attacking the buffet.

Okay I think those are the our many 'first' that I can think of now. Here's signing out from 2010...bye bye 2010! you've been good but 2011 is gonna be even better!

To Sherin and Ming Ne, thanks for a spectacular year, for all your support and I can't imagine any other partners to work with. Here's to 2011 ;)

Mandi Bunga Part II

2010-10-14T01:18:00.000-07:00

Hari Raya has officially ended last weekend. Thank god. Now it's back to the stationary bike which was used as an official handbag hanger. Really really need to lose those extra kilos in time for the year end.

On a separate note, I think I need another round of a 'Mandi Bunga' session. The last time I had one was last year, December 2009. So I guess I need to do it at least once a year. Reason? Well, today has not been a good day...a really bad day in fact. When you think things can't get any worse, it just did. And when people say, oh well, 'sh*it happens', well today it was more like 'diarrohea happens'..to the point that i can't wait for the day to end, hoping tomorrow will be a new day.

So what's the worse thing that could happen you say? Well, I may be blowing it out of proportion, but when you're in the industry of pleasing people and making people happy, the smallest dissapointment or dissatisfaction expressed by just one person - is enough to break your heart into pieces. And the worse part, it is something out of your control. I know we can't satisfy and please everyone, but when it happens to the wrong person, it just kills. On top of that, you are then bombarded with bad news on after the other. Gah! Okay, I'm just babbling on here but my point is, it's been a bad day. :P

So here's to picking ourselves up, learn the lesson, remember to not repeat it again and strive on. Oh yeah, and a 'mandi bunga' session this Saturday. Batai flower shop, here I come! This time I need to double the amount of petals. :)

Selamat Hari Raya!

2010-09-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

I hope it's not too late to wish everyone a Selamat Hari Raya! Raya celebrations are throughout the whole month anyway..hehe.

Hope everyone had a great, fun, joyous and mouth stuffing raya! I celebrated mine with in-laws here in KL and I must say this year, KL turned into a cowboy town due to the long weekend hols. But good thing Lan's family and relatives were all based here in KL so celebrations went on as usual and it felt like every bit like raya.

Mum and dad left for Johor last Thursday and only returned on Sunday. So I celebrated with them on Monday. By the time they got back to KL, they were pretty tired from all the raya-ing back in JB, my mum's hometown. So for them, it was quite a relief to come home to KL.

This year raya felt a bit different though. You see, me and my husband - we're raya grinches. In fact, Lan has turned into a raya scrooge as well..haha. Those who know me, are accustomed to my feelings and thoughts about raya. To me, I love it because it's another holiday and it's a celebration to mark the end of a whole month of fasting, but at the same time it gets quite tiring sitting around the house the whole day entertaining relatives or going from house to house meeting relatives. And seeing that holidays are quite precious for me, sad to say, it's a part that I kind of loathe. I know, I know, I shouldn't feel this way. I can't help it :(

But like I said, this year felt a teeny bit different. On raya eve night, I actually had this sudden urge to play bunga api. For some reason I reminisced about the good old days when we were young and all cousins would gather around and play 'bunga api' and all sorts of illegal mercun or small fireworks on raya eve..hehe. Then I realised kids nowadays in the city hardly do that anymore. My little niece who I think would enjoy it, has probably never experienced it before. They just stayed in, watch TV and went to bed - on raya eve! So boring.

So yeah, that's when I thought maybe I've started to soften up a bit to the thought of really celebrating raya, maybe because it's so different from the old days or maybe because I've outgrown the novelty and maybeeee also because I don't have kids of my own yet. But I truly did feel the raya spirit (just a tad bit!) and did not moan and groan too much compared to last year. haha. Anyway, I know it's a bit too soon, but here's to hoping I won't turn into a raya grinch again next year! Hehe Selamat Hari Raya!

Here's to a month long of lontong, rendang, ketupat, laksa and lemang! I owe the girls at RedRibbon Days a taste of raya food. Haha. Sorry girls, since last Friday, food ration has run out. Gotta wait for the next batch this weekend. :)

Making Dreams Come True....

2010-09-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I haven't done enough (on a personal account) giving back to the community, especially to the less fortunate. The most I've done is donating old clothes and helping my mum clear out unused items from the house which is still in good condition to donate. I also remember the times when my parents held 'kenduris' every now and then and we would invite orphans from a nearby orphanage to bless our occasion by performing a nasyid and reciting verses from the Quran. We would then treat them to Nasi Beriyani or Nasi Minyak and each will receive a small token for taking the time to bless our do. They all looked happy and it was a nice feeling sharing our house, food and celebration with them.

Then as we grew up, I guess I was too fixated with earning money, daily routines and work that I tend to forget about those in need. The most I would do is donate during Hari Raya. In fact there was a time when I wanted to set up a charity for myself - The Nik Hida Fund; to raise money for me to buy a new pair of heels so that I can look taller. Haha ok obviously that was a joke

So one day, we were thinking, after 2 years of prodiving memorable experiences to our customers; how about those who are less fortunate and those who don't have loved ones and families to give them an experience? We truly believe that experiences are to inspire and to fulfill lives. If given the opportunity to children, wouldn't it inspire and motivate them to live life to the fullest ? Or how about the older generation at the old folks home? If we help them realise their dreams, wouldn't it make their lives much more worth living for and that to not give up on life?

So when RedRibbon Days came up with an initiative of giving an experience to the less fortunate with the objective of fulfilling their dreams and giving them the opportunity to experience something they've never done before; we instantly thought what a great idea this would be and the impact it would make on their lives if every single corporate company gives support to this program. Imagine giving the chance for an orphan to fly a plane when his ambition is to become a pilot. Wouldn't this effort inspire him/her to study hard to achieve that dream? Or even if they don't want to become a pilot, giving them the opportunity to fly in the sky for the first time is an unforgettable experience that they will never forget, and it gives them something positive to reflect on for the rest of their life; seeing that they have been surrounded by hardships their whole life.

What we want to achieve is to create awareness and communicate to corporate companies that in addition to donating money and daily supplies, they can also make a difference to each individual lives of the less fortunate by giving them a chance to realise their dreams or to allow them to experience something they've never done before. It will truly touch their lives in a different perspective and they will remember you for the rest of their lives for giving them the chance. Experiences are created to inspire and to make life much more meaningful and colourful. This is important for the kids as they have been surrounded by negativity and hardships their whole lives. Exposing them to new surroundings and experiences will make a difference to their personality and wellbeing.

On 4 September 2010 we took 4 orphans on a KL City Sky Tour. None of them have ever flew in a plane before so you can imagine how ecstatic they were. The joyful and excited looks on their faces melted our hearts, especially after knowing the hardships they've been through. Seeing the look on their faces made me realise how lucky I am and how these kids need the help and support to make life much more meaningful. So from now, I vouch to do more giving back to the community personally and to work hard to get the support of other corporates out there. So here's to many more new experiences for many more children!

The girls from Rumah Amal Cahaya Tengku Ampuan Rahimah

The kids from Sunbeams Home

You Jump, I Jump....for Merdeka

2010-08-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

This coming Tuesday is Malaysia's 53rd Independance Day. Here's to celebrating 53 years of independence, growth, success and harmony :) May we all be independent in our own way; be it from your fears, to materialise that dream or it can be something simple like breaking yourself free from a dirty habit.

RedRibbon Days was recently invited to appear on NTV7's 'The Breakfast Show'. We were all excited and prior to that, we had to come up with some interesting topics and experience to feature on the day, since the theme for the show was Merdeka Day and that our slt was one day beore Mederka. We were cracking our brains to think of something fun and exciting to feature, not because there's nothing interesting, but only because there's SO many unique experiences we'd like to share. Then a few days before the deadline to submit our material to the TV station, one of our suppliers emailed saying that Bungy Jumping is now available here in Malaysia! We were thrilled! We instantly thought of featuring this. We came up with a Facebook contest asking our fans to write in on why they want to Bungy Jump in lieu of Merdeka Day. We chose 3 winners who all had aweome answers. One said he wanted to face his 27 years of being afraid of heights, another said why go all the way to other countries when you can Bungy Jump here in your very own country and last but not least, the last winner said he wanted to jump for Merdeka! So thanks to their clever answers, all 3 of them had a chance to jump for the very first time in their lives.

I was there to witness them jump and to also give moral support. I must admit, I haven't gathered enough courage to Bungy Jump and I was truly amazed seeing the winners jump without the slightest hesitation; although they all admitted that they were nervous and quite afraid in the beginning.

We made each of them jump together with the Malaysian flag and it was a pretty sight watching them freefall . It was an awesome experience even just to witness the jumps. So now, I have to make a point to face my fears and to try it one day. I guess I'm not a 100% independent yet ;).

Here's a video clip of one of the winners. Awesome stuff! I'll let you know once I've gathered enough balls to do it too! hehe.

We don't have this experience on our website, but it will be up soon. I can't wait! Can you imagine receiving this awesome experience as a gift, especially for daredevils!

Btw, did you catch our interview on NTV7? :) I wonder whether television actually adds 10 more pounds? hehe

Surprise Surprise!

2010-08-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons why we at RedRibbon Days love what we do is simply because we are passionate about making people happy. It gives us much satisfaction to know that we can also give that ‘power’ to the buyer of a gift - to make the recipient feel like he or she is the most special person in the world. Every now and then we have customers who come to us asking us to help arrange surprises for their loved ones for their birthdays, anniversaries, proposals or even just because. We’ve arranged many special surprises from proposal in the sky to a private picnic by a waterfall to something simple like a delivery of 20+ balloons to that someone special. It’s a really great feeling to know that we’ve made an impact in someone else’s lives and to know that what we do creates unforgettable memories.

So when we’re always behind the scenes of scheming a surprise, it truly is a pleasant surprise when you yourself become the recipient of one.

Two weeks ago I turned 21 (for the 8th time) and I really didn’t expect anything because you get pretty bored turning 21 years old 8 times, so there’s nothing really new actually. Hehe. But at RedRibbon Days, no one’s birthday will go unnoticed. The girls here will make sure that being born is an occasion that definitely needs to be celebrated. So on 13 August, Friday, I came to work as usual, and first thing I noticed when I walked in was that my room somehow looked ‘merrier’ than usual. First thing that came to mind was, ‘Err, is it Hari Raya already?’.. haha then as I came closer, I noticed the big ‘Happy Birthday!’ banners and the fancy decorations. Then everyone suddenly screamed out HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!.. it was a great way to start the morning so I was already thankful for the lovely surprise. Then suddenly everyone came up to me and passed me a ‘crown’ which says ‘Hari Jadi Ayam’ (loosely translated ‘Happy Birthday Chicken’ – I’m hoping this is because I’m born in the year of the Rooster and not anything else haha) and a sash saying the same thing. I was told to wear this the whole day. Hahahahah, ok at this point I thought, oh well, it sounds like fun and there’s no harm wearing this the whole day. So with just a pinch of hesitance, I wore the ‘chicken’ accessories and thought that I actually looked good in it. So I wore it for the rest of the day. Ahahha.

The surprise doesn’t end there though. Apparently, celebrating a birthday also includes having to embarrass yourself. So I had a ‘task’ – which was to parade in my new ‘outfit’ to other offices in the building and collect 10 business cards. On top of that, I forgot that we had a meeting with a vendor, so I was in a meeting complete with the outfit. One of the ladies even wanted to take a picture with me. I felt like a celebrity for a while. Hahaha. The rest of the day was as awesome. We had KFC for lunch, a yummy birthday cheesecake, an embarrassing session of me parading in other people’s offices and a lovely RedRibbon Days experience from everyone at the office – ‘Contemporary Japanese Cuisine for Two’. I personally haven’t tried it but we’ve been receiving rave reviews about this experience. All of our customers who have been there loved it so I can’t wait to enjoy it too :) If you don’t believe me, here are a few pictures to prove the day of my lovely but embarrassing yet fun Birthday at RedRibbon Days! Thanks guys, I had a really fun day!! Love you all xoxo

The next day on my actual birthday, hubby then apparently planned a surprise for dinner. I thought I was going to have a typical birthday dinner with my parents and I was told some cousins will join. At that point I found it a bit weird, because it rarely happens – cousins joining in on a family dinner. But I thought, hey maybe I’m extra special this year. Ahahah. Turns out when we arrived for dinner, hubby conspired with my close friends instead and I was greeted by birthday screams! OK, this I did not expect because my hubby never ever surprises me or even attempts to surprise me so when he managed to pull it off, I was more surprised than the actual surprise! Hehehehe. It was so sweet. Before dinner, I actually told him I wanted to hang out somewhere else when we’re done, so that’s why he gave excuse of my cousins joining. Haha. It was a lovely night and I couldn’t have asked for more. :)

Theme for this year is '21' and headgears..haha

So here's to surprises and making people happy; delighting them in ways that make them feel special !

The one with chickens, frogs and Westin KL

2010-08-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

The months of June, July and even the first week of August have been pretty eventful. I was going through pictures in my camera as I was saving it to my laptop, and I noticed almost every weekend there was an event to attend to; be it both personal and for RedRibbon Days.

As I was going through the pictures I came across an interesting shot I took at one of our client’s event which I just HAD to share here and which I’m sure most of you would probably hate me for...hehe. I’ll tell you a bit about the event first.

We called it “A Gastronomic Experience with a 5 Star Hotel Chef”. It was a special arrangement we had with The Westin Kuala Lumpur where we arranged for winners of a contest run by our client to spend half a day with a culinary chef from the Westin Kuala Lumpur – not only to cook in their kitchen but also taken on a private ‘marketing’ tour to Pasar Pudu (one of KL’s oldest wet market) personally by the Chef, a sit-down breakfast at a local kopitiam, followed by the cooking session and lunch. I must say I was really excited to join in on this experience. Of course, it’s not often you get to witness for yourself how a 5 star hotel kitchen is run and better yet, them giving you a personal cooking lesson right in their own kitchen.

But for me, it was not only the experience of being in the kitchen with the chefs that intrigued me the most, but it was also the experience of touring Pasar Pudu. I’ve been to a few wet markets before when I was young. I remember following my grandmother to ‘Pasar Tani’ early in the morning and helping her to carry groceries. Although I didn’t enjoy it much (which 10 year old kid would enjoy waking up in the wee hours of the morning to go to a Pasar anyway?!) but as I grew older and now that my grandmother is no longer with us, I began to understand tit was not so much the trip to the Pasar, but it was more of the ‘bonding’ time with her. She loved to cook and the only reason I would enter the kitchen was to quickly grab something from the fridge, so I guess trips to the Pasar was the only way to get me to bond with her. Either that, she really needed help to carry her groceries. Haha. Well, either way, it was one of the fond memories I had about her.

Sorry I digress, but the reason why it reminded me of my grandmother, was because the Chef himself (Chef Kuan) also told us stories about how he constantly followed his mother to Pasar Pudu when he was younger. It was interesting to hear his personal stories on which stalls his mother used to patronise and some of the sellers during that time were still around and they greeted Chef Kuan personally like they knew them his whole life. It was nice to see how Chef Kuan still has a personal connection to the market even though now he’s a big time chef in a 5 star hotel and that he still enjoys returning to Pasar Pudu.

So as I was saying, I’ve been to wet markets before but none of it compares to Pasar Pudu. I had ‘rojak’ feelings after experiencing this market. It’s difficult to explain, because I felt intrigued but at the same time it was a gruesome experience. It’s sort of like the feeling you get when you watch movies such as ‘Hostel’ or ‘Saw’. I actually enjoy watching gore movies, but of course, I still cringe at the gruesome gory scenes with blood spurting out and eyeballs popping out. Oh well, you get the idea..hehe . If you are a fan or gore movies, then maybe you’d understand ;)

So I have to warn you that this market is probably not for the faint hearted. Why I say this is because this market was sort of like a ‘live’ slaughter house. Despite being surrounded by fresh produce, smelly fish and chaotic ‘pasar’ noises, you are also surrounded by one-man slaughter machines. As soon we stepped in, there was a man at a chicken stall, casually picking up chickens, bending their necks, then swiftly slashing their necks, threw the carcass aside, and picked up another one. It only took him about 1 second to slaughter each chicken. SO you can imagine he was like to production line machine – picking up a chicken, slashing it, throwing it aside…and the cycle continues. I even tried taking a picture, but he was so swift that my camera couldn’t take a still shot of him slaughtering.

I was already a bit ‘jakun’ by the live chicken slaughter man that I kind of dumbstruck for a moment. Then I thought, erm ok, this is a pasar and I guess it’s pretty normal. Then we continued walking and passed by the fish stalls. There were plenty of ‘live’ fishes but not in fishtanks mind you, but on the fishmonger tables still squirming and flipping around. I love seafood, and there’s nothing more satisfying for seafood lovers than to see and buy fresh seafood right? Erm, not this time. To my horror, I just had to witness one of the fish mongers pick up a fish and bang it’s head on the table just to stop it from flipping around much! Geez, this not only felt like a live slaughterhouse but a real life scene from Saw or Hostel – just that it’s animals and not tortured humans…haha..

So what came next was something even a gore movie fan like me couldn’t take. There was a stall selling frogs, frog meat to be exact. But as usual, this being a slaughter house, there was of course another ‘live’ show of the poor frogs being slaughtered. Weapon of choice? A pair of scissors! The seller just picked up the frogs and squished its’ head between the pair of scissors and with just one SNAP!; the head fell on the table and the carcass was thrown back on the table only to pick up another poor frog. This time, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the man in action and it’s a good thing it’s not very clear (unless you zoom in on the picture) but maybe it’s not a good idea to look at it after you’ve had a meal.

I've probably painted you an ugly picture of Pasar Pudu, but I think this is what makes it unique, colourful, beautifully gruesome and intriguing at the same time. This represents a piece of Malaysia and since our generation is so used to air-conditioned supermarkets I bet a lot of us have not experienced such a thing. A visit to this market is truly an experience on its own which is why I chose to blog about this instead of the cooking experience in Westin KL’s awesome kitchen.

But to sum that part of the experience, I’ll let pictures do the talking. The kitchen is my dream kitchen which I’d hope to have some day. The food was magnificent (We cooked nasi dagang, prawn dumpling and beef tenderloin cantonese style) , the chefs were extremely friendly and being in the presence of the kitchen staff and chefs running around the kitchen preparing lunch for their guests on the day was awesome. I believe everyone enjoyed themselves, from the pasar trip, breakfast at the local kopitiam sharing each other’s personal stories to cooking in the kitchen until lunch – every moment was an experience on it’s own.

Hello Level 7!

2010-08-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

We officially moved to our new office last Monday, 26 July 2010. Moving to a new place always brings about mixture of emotions. We were kind of sad as it was our home for the first 2 years that we started out. So there were a lot of bittersweet memories, kind of like the feeling you get moving out from a home where you were born in and where you spent your first few years of childhood.

But at the same time there’s this feeling of excitement and joy; as you anticipate a new beginning and what the future has in store for us. We look forward to not only a bigger office, but most importantly a bigger team of RedRibboners :)

I kept a photo diary on how our new office was born, from being stripped naked to being prepped up for a new look and how it was constructed into a gorgeous office; just like how Sherin and Ming Ne envisioned it to be.

1 July 2010

5 July 2010

13 July 2010

19 July

And here's the new completed look. *Pics courtesy of RRD FB Page Album :)

For more pictures check out our FB fan page album here

It’s already been a week and I believe we’ve all settled down and already used to the fact that we have to walk slightly further to the toilet, pantry and even to each other’s room! Hehe.

But it’s all good and everyone couldn’t be happier. So here’s to our new office and farewell old faithful office on Level 12 :)

Oh yes, and a warm welcome to Ming Ne to the blogging world. I am very honoured that she made me her first topic to blog about. I'm very touched :P

Happy 2nd Anniversary RedRibbon Days!

2010-06-22T01:29:00.000-07:00

On 19 June 2010 RedRibbon Days turned TWO. Yes, 2 years old! Still a baby but we all can't believe how much RRD has grown. I still remember we almost forgot our 1st year anniversary because we were all so busy but RRD has grown so much since then that we can't afford to not celebrate us turning 2 years old.

We lined up a few celebrations on Friday and Sunday. It started from Friday lunch with our traditional sunrise duck rice feast. We're making it a point to have this for lunch on each anniversary because this was suppose to be our lunch during the day of our launch back in 2008, but we were so busy preparing that we didn't have time to eat and it went to waste. So it sort of has a sentimental value to all of us - and not to mention it is definitely one of the most yummiest duck rice i've tasted :D

And after our lunch we enjoyed a big cake and popped a champagne. What makes it more special this year is that our team has grown with 2 additional ladies who we are glad to have onboard. Shiva and Theing, thank you for your support and for believing in a small company like us. But we hope that both of you stay long enough to be a part of our BIG team and vision we have planned. - in the very very near future!

It was a bit difficult to concentrate on work for the rest of the day last Friday. A lot of fond and bittersweet memories suddenly came into mind from day 1 that RRD was established. We've probably said this a million times but it's hard to believe that we just started from Sherin's dining table in her house a couple of years ago to a team of 5 dedicated ladies with many more coming..i know it's a bit cliche when you read about stories such as this, but when it happens to you, sometimes it feels a bit surreal.

Anyway, we left office at 6pm sharp to continue on to dinner at Vincenzo. It's nice to have the team at one table, catching up on each other's lives and not to mention the current World Cup which is going on. I ate so much that night! The food was fabulous but most important of all was the great company.

Took a break on Saturday (from all the eating!) and continued with the final celebration on Sunday as a team - High Ropes Adventure! I think this was one of the challenging experiences I've ever done! Starting off by climbing up a 17m ladder was already a task! Imagine having to go through various obstacles on tree tops while trying to face your fear of heights. Nevertheless, nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction after completing the whole course. And I'm so proud of the team as everyone completed the whole course! No chicken exit for anyone! Good on you girls! A shame that none of us brought a camera to take pictures of us doing the experience as we were afraid we wouldn't have time to take any and it's true. Each of us were too focused on completing each obstacle that I don't think we would have bothered taking pictures. But here's a group picture we managed to take at the end. Next day all of us we had sore arms and legs but it was all worthwhile! What was supposedly a challenge between the Directors and Staff ended up into a personal individual challenge for each of us as everyone turned out to be a winner :)

It was a fun weekend and we look forward to many more annversaries. To Sherin and MingNe, words cannot express how extremely thankful I am for being such great partners and friends. Thanks for your understanding and patience and here's to many many more anniversaries. It's an honour to be a part of your dreams and to help you guys make it come true.

To the Shiva and Theing, we hope you will last long enough to see RRD bloom and grow :). Thank you for your support and for believing in us.

And to RRD, I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you ;)

DJs on Ice!

2010-05-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was an exciting day for us. When Hitz.fm approached RedRibbon Days, asking us to organise and arrange a few exciting experiences for their DJs to carry out, we were absolutely thrilled! Talk about getting a bit star struck, but it's always a teeny bit more exciting when a cool hip radio station is your client..hehe

So last Wednesday was just one of 3 different experiences that we arranged for Hitz.fm DJs to experience - but with a slight twist. While carrying out the experiences, the DJs are to carry out a challenge at the same time. And the experiences are slightly on the 'extreme' side, so most of the DJs have no idea what's in store for them and have never even tried it before.

So the first experience we organised was an Ice Hockey challenge. Did you know that Malaysia has a National Ice Hockey team? Did you know that it takes at least 30 minutes for an ice hockey goalie to get all suited up?! One of the many great aspects of working with RedRibbon Days is that you get to meet new, fun, interesting people and at the same time discover and learn new things! hehe. Anyway, the challenge for the DJs were that they were suppose to become ice hockey goalies and to try save as many ice hockey pucks. Sounds easy eh? Well, not really, when you're actually going against the National Ice Hockey Team and the fact that the last time you've ice skated was 10 years ago! The exact sentiments of the DJs that were going to challenge the Malaysian Ice Hockey team - JJ and Ean from the Hitz.fm Morning Crew!

RedRibbon Days arranged for a private use of the Sunway Pyramid ice skating rink and had to gather the whole Malaysian Ice Hockey team for this special event. When the JJ and Ean arrived, first thing I asked them was "Do you know how to skate?"..and both of them said.."err yeah, like 10 years ago!..and that was on rollerblades, not even ice!"..hehehe that's when I thought.."ok! this if going to be fun!" hahaha

Before that we had to get them all suited up. I really didn't expect it to take THAT long! There were so many gears and equipment an ice hockey goalie has to wear - making them look 3 times bigger than they actually are. I heard that an ice puck can actually travel as fast as 100km/h, so go figure! You could tell there was a mix of excitement and tiny ounce of fear from the DJs, especially when the National Goalie was telling them how he actually had a concussion once, playing ice hockey! But everyone was telling JJ and Ean that they'll go slow and be nice to them! Borriinggg..heheheh

Here are some pictures of them getting ready

Ean

It really took about 20-30 minutes for them to get suited up. Beats a bunch of teenage girls getting ready for the prom! hehehe. So once they're both in their gear - looking 3 times 'macho-er' and a quick briefing, everyone was pumped up and ready to get into the rink!

Both of them had a quick warm-up session to get used to the gear and the skates. Here's a picture of Ean falling down. He fell down a few times and it's not easy getting back up with all those equipment on you..hehe

After the warm-up session, the challenge then started. JJ and Ean took turns challenging the team. Both were given 5 minutes and I was in charge of being the timekeeper and calculating goals saved. I must say, for first timers, they were not bad at all! During the challenge, the team Captain came up to me and said, "you know, actually 5 minutes just defending goals is considered quite long and tiring!" hehehe. I could tell, even looking at them made me feel tired! hehe. At the end of the challenge, the winner turned out to be DJ Ean, only winning by 1 goal! It was very very close. The verdict - JJ: 20 goals saved and Ean: 21 goals saved, both in 5 minutes!

After the challenge, you could also tell that both of them looked relieved! and they both looked tired too, but it also looked like that everyone had fun!

I believe it was a memorable and fun day for the DJs as well as the Malaysian Ice Hockey team - and not to mention for us too!. It's not everyday you get to play ice hockey with radio personalities eh?

See, we're not the only ones who were star struck..hehe

And of course, how can you not end the day without a picture with yours truly and the sweet Ms. Theing? heheh, sorry Theing, I have to say this - but she was really excited wanting to get a picture with the 2 DJs! heheheh

This weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday, we've got 2 more DJs carrying out an extreme challenge:

1. Saturday, 15 May 2010, 11am @ Kompleks Sukan Astaka - CHICKEN RUN PAINTBALL
This means the DJ will run around the paintball field, without a marker, avoiding from getting hit from other paintballers..ouch!

2. Sphereing / Zorbing, 16 May 2010, 11am @ Tmn Tasik Titiwangsa - ZORBING CHALLENGE
A DJ will be rolling in a sphereing ball, together with dirty underwear, dirty socks and other slimy items..eeeww!

If you want to know which one of your favourite Hitz.fm DJ will be carrying which challenge, well, you just gotta come down and see for yourself! See ya!

Why I LOVE my job.....

2010-04-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

There are soooo many reasons why I love my job. But I think what I'm about to share tops it all.

For the full story please visit our RedRibbon Days blog entry here

Nothing beats the feeling of being able to make customers really happy, to fulfill their dreams and to be able create unforgettable memories for them - in other words, knowing that we've made such a great impact on their lives.

Please do read the blog entry and you'll know what I mean. It also made our team beam with happiness the whole day after reading it :) Thanks girls for making it happen. Hope you guys truly understand why we get all stressed up about our customers' requests. Because in the end, despite all the potential dramas and stress, if we put our heart and soul into what we do, our customers will share their heart and soul to us too - and you know that all the effort will be worthwhile.

Bon Appétit

2010-04-07T04:05:00.000-07:00

Personally, the gift of 'food' is one of the best gifts ever! It's soooo simple, yet it gives sooooo much pleasure. Especially for me! I wouldn't call myself a foodie but I just LOVE to eat. :D

So you can imagine how ecstatic I was when I received this as a gift - Contemporary French Cuisine for Two.
(yes, we at RedRibbon Days get excited receiving a RedRibbon Day too! heheh). I don't go for fine dining very often so I was looking forward to this very much, especially when I got to share it with loved ones.

Ouh by the way, this was also one of the experience on my wish list so yeah, it just made the gift much more meaningful. I'm not much of a food critic but all I can say is it was AWESOME. Everything from the ambience, food, service and did I mention food? hehe. But seriously, I get lost for words when people ask me to describe food. I usually reply with 3 standard answers and ratings:
1. AWESOME!!! or It was sooooo gooodd!!!!
2. OK-lah
3. Yuck! or Tak Sedap

Hahaha ok, I'm probably despised by food critics right now.
Here's what I had and apologies for the poor photos. I'm really bad at taking photos. Sherin would know. hehe.

Crab and prawn bisque with crab quenelles, prawns poached in beurre noisette and a trail of Italian lemon oil - Yummy! One of my fav dishes for the night

Deep fried spice dusted soft shell crab with whitebouillabaisse sauce, tomato reduction, chickpea aïoli and saffron foam - Another yummy one! I love soft shell crabs

Pan seared Japanese mulloway with saffron risotto and romesco thickened bouillabaisse sauce

Crème brûlée, glacée, flambée

To sum it up, I would be so happy if I received this gift again. It's a great gift for couples to celebrate an anniversary, birthdays or even just because. You can never go wrong with the gift of food, what more when it's GREAT food and ambience.

The beauty of our website is, we've got an array of cuisines to choose from; be it Italian, Japanese, Thai, Lebanese, Korean, Croatian, Mediterranean, Western Fusion, Cuban and many more to come.

So if you're stuck on gifting ideas, just remember that although food sounds like a simple gift, it can turn out to be an experience they'll remember - because I sure as hell will never forget my Contemporary French Cuisine experience :))

Has Technology Killed Customer Service?

2010-03-03T02:24:00.000-08:00

I read Sherin's blog and I too, would like to vent out my frustrations here. After all the drama, we came to a conclusion that you can have all the technology in the world or the best product in the world, but it's all useless if you don't have the right people at the forefront of the technology - in other words, customer service. You can boast and claim all you want in being one the country's pioneer in "providing payment gateway services and that you are dedicated to provide and develop high quality diversify network services to our customer". But when it comes to dealing with customer issues, all of that means nothing to me as they are probably too focused in developing and building their technology (which is not all great by the way) and forget the 'human' aspect of business.

Customer service is something I dare say we, at RedRibbon Days pride ourselves in (touch wood!). I say that only because we are soooooo passionate and particular about keeping our customers happy. After all, we don't call ourselves 'The Pleasure Team' for nothing. We really really get excited when we receive great feedback from customers and we actually do get a bit depressed when there are the occassional one or two unhappy ones who we just can't seem to satisfy.

My point is, we try our best to attend to our customers the best way we can and go out of our way, even if it means breaking a company policy or two, to satisfy them. Of course, having said that, we can't keep EVERYONE happy and there are times where we are unable to keep them happy and can't make any exceptions because if we did, we might as well be running a charity organisation. But at least, there's this conscious in us that we are aware of how we address and handle our customers to not offend them in any way.

But this is not the case for that particular 'party' that we were dealing with as how Sherin explained in her blog. Talking to their support team, I may as well be speaking and complaining to a 5 year old child. There was not a sound or hint of empathy and the person who I spoke to sounded like.."that's too bad, there's nothing we can do..it's not our fault"....well not in the exact words, but as a customer, that's how I interpreted it. The least she could say is something along the lines of " I will bring this up to mgmt and will try to see how we can resolve or compensate you" , especially when it's kind of obvious that they were at fault as well. On top of that, I was trying hard to understand what all her emails meant and trying to make her understand what I was trying to say.

But being a Msian, I've kind of come to terms that as a country where we're far from being dubbed as 'developed' and where English is not a first language, I guess these are things that we have to put up with. I'm pretty sure everyone here in Msia has experienced really bad customer service every now and then, even with big organisations like telcos or banks. I guess we have a long way to go if we want to be known as a developed country.

Well, my thought is that the people who you put in the frontline to attend to your customers as a first point of contact represents your company, which we strive to continue providing; to set ourselves apart from the rest. I know now is the new Internet age, where technology is suppose to make things easier and to cut costs, - but I don't think it will ever replace human interaction. There are some things that machines can' t handle and we shouldn't lose focus on that, no matter how 'canggih' the company is.

But to be fair, after all the 'ding-donging' around and numerous emails and phone calls, they eventually said that they will compensate and really want to resolve our issue. A bit too late for me though as it already left a really really bad impression, not to mention a horrible experience. All they needed to say was that they will 'consider' us the compensation if the issue couldn't be resolved. Simple as that. Wasted my time and unnecassary rise in my blood pressure. Don't charge us the 4% transaction fee for nothing, especially when you admit that it's your fault as well.

2010-02-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

Oh by the way, I hope it's not too late to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! Here's to a 'roaring' year of the Tiger! Both personally and for RedRibbon Days!

Whoa, 3 entries in one night..that's a first! haha

And after reading through my entries, I just realised I use the phrase...'oh boy' a lot, which is funny coz I never reallyy say it out in real life. OK that was just a random statement.

Til next month for my next entry! hahaha..kidding, let's hope not. I'd like to share my 3rd experience for the year...

On The Water and In the Air! - Part 2

2010-02-18T02:52:00.000-08:00

Pilot for a Day

I had mixed feelings about doing this experience. Both good and bad.

Good - because how often do we get the chance to help fly a plane!? Super exciting! and;
Bad - only because I really really hate rollercoaster rides and the feeling of turbulence in a plane feels like that; so I was worried that I would feel queasy. I even took a motion sickness pill before my ride! haha how bad is that.

BUT..so far I've never turned down an offer to try out an experience. I've been through White Water Rafting, Abseiled down a building, ATV-ed through muddy jungle tracks, went through a Skydiving Simulator and even Zorb-ed!! which by the way was wayyy worse than a rollercoaster ride..Sherin could tell you how loud I screamed which I think made her temporarily deaf coz she was in the ball with me..haha!

Sooooo I thought..how bad could this be right? Turns out, it wasn't all that bad at all and I have not one ounce of regret trying it out..again, this is something I would never forget and the feeling was surreal, especially when you are trying to face your fear.

We started out with an on-ground briefing. The captain explained to us pre-flight checks that are usually done to a plane before flying. He also explained some technical parts of the plane (like the wings and flaps..hahaha sorry I didn't take notes!) which helps control and manoeuvre the plane. He also went through the control panel and oh boy were there were a lot of buttons and controls and to be honest I paid little attention but only because I was nervous of the actual flying experience!

Then came my turn to fly...oh boyyy..i was turning pale. I entered the cockpit, put on the headphones and was a bit amused at first and distracted by the voices from the control tower. It's amazing how a pilot can know which command or instruction to take note of because you'd hear so many voices and instructions for other planes as well! But they have like cool nicknames for each other which sounded like 'Eagle 123' or 'Sparrow 456'...hahaha ok those were not the exact names but it sounded something like that. Like from a scene in TopGun..hahahah..

Anyway, back to my fear of flying…we were about to take-off and the pilot told me to manoeuvre the plane on the runway..Obviously I forgot which pedal to push and which way controlled the direction so I kind of nearly steered it off the runway for a while...hahaha..plus to distract myself I wanted to take a video of the take-off. Then suddenly it was time to actually take-off....and it happened quite fast and smooth actually.

In the air, there were times when the wind was a bit strong and the plane shook a little. I have to admit I was kind of scared at this point, and I actually told the captain to land the plane like 5 minutes after we got in the air! Haha..So ‘chicken’ of me. But I kept myself distracted by admiring the awesome views from the above.

I kind of had the feeling that the pilot had just a bit more fun then I did – watching me squeal and scream every time I felt a bit queasy. He even said he was being very nice to me by not nose dipping the plane or making sharp turns. Well, I think he didn’t think he have a choice because I said I’d scream to the control tower if he did…hahahahah

Eventually came the time when we had to land and again, there were mixed feelings. Just a teeny tiny bit of relief but alsovery sad as I felt that I was going to miss the awesome view and the feeling of actually being in front of the plane’s control panel like an actual pilot – well, minus the squeals and cries for help..haha!

But I can totally imagine how great this gift would make for husbands, boyfriends or even daredevils alike. It’s such a rare opportunity and an awesome chance to fulfil someone’s dream. To date, this experience still remains as one of our best sellers and I’ve just come to understand why til the day I actually experienced it myself.

On The Water and In the Air! - Part 1

2010-02-18T01:10:00.000-08:00

Oh boy, another overdue entry. Time really does fly and it feels like only last week I thought I posted the last one, but it's already been a month!

I wanted to blog about my first 2 experiences for new year - Langkawi Sunset Dinner Cruise and the Pilot for a Day. Both are totally opposite experiences, and although it's been about 2 months since I've carried out these experiences, until today I can still remember the exact emotions felt and some mental images of the day flashing in my mind. That's the beauty of experiencing new things and adventures and what better gift than the gift of a memorable experience!

So I'll start off with the Langkawi Sunset Dinner Cruise first and continue on with the Pilot for a Day in my next entry

Langkawi Sunset Dinner Cruise
Thanks to Sherin and Ming Ne who made my year end trip much more memorable. Year 2009 was one helluva rollercoaster ride and I can count the fingers on one hand (less actually!) the number of holidays I took the whole year. But I would always make it a point to take a couple of days off to celebrate the new year with hubby or friends outside of KL and this experience was not only the icing on the cake but the cherry on the icing of the cake! To summarise my whole feeling about this experience - it just makes you want to leave everything behind and spend your whole life wandering the seas and becoming a beach bum! haha. I was very tempted.

I believe for this experience, pictures should suffice to describe the feeling so I'm probably going to turn this entry into a photoblog instead. But that's the beauty of this experience, you're not suppose to do anything but enjoy the ocean breeze and views while your mind tunes out and wanders off - all within the company of great friends and loved ones. Trust me, if you know anyone who lives in Langkawi or Kedah or if you plan to visit Langkawi, please please please do try this out and you'll know what I mean.

All smiles at the start

Imagine a view like this everyday!

This is pretty much what we did the whole time..haha

Okay this is probably the highlight of the whole experience which I have to explain..hehe..It's called a 'Saltwater Jacuzzi'..imagine holding on to a big fish net while you're gently being pulled by the yacht! so the bubbles created sort of feels like you're in a real jacuzzi! It was a bit scary for me considering I don't know how to swim so I kind of held on to my life..hehe..but it was awesome!

A portion of the 9 course BBQ dinner which included a selection of seafood, appetizers and salads and an Open Bar! Yup, you read right an all you can drink open bar..bet I caught the attention of drinkers out there..hehe..you'll feel like you're in a MTV Hip Hop music video on the decks of a boat holding a glass of Bacardi..hahaha

Hubby giving a go at bringing down the sail. Not as easy as it looks! Takes quite a bit of strength to wind it up!

Beautiful ending to a beautiful experience! How can you forget something like this?

2 weeks into Jan 2010

2010-01-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

Ok i know this is wayy overdue but I'd just like to say "Hello 2010!". Time flies and we're already 2 weeks into Jan 2010. Feels like just yesterday we celebrated New Year. Anyhow, hope you had a jolly good Christmas and an awesome New Year celebration. :)

It's been a great 2009 ending for me and for RedRibbon Days, I believe. Got a few overdue posts about what's been happening but before that, I'd just like to start off saying one thing - I am now a strong believer in "mandi bunga" (as per my previous post)..hahaha! Not that I want to jinx it or anything, but a couple of days after my "mandi bunga" experience, things just turned 360 and it was one good news after the other! Call it pure coincidence or whatever you want, but I'm dead serious! It's kind of freaky in a way but whatever it is, I'm really happy about how 2009 ended and I'd like to think that the "mandi bunga" had something to do with it..hahahahha.

It also feels surreal, that RRD has grown from myself and Sherin, working at home on her dining table to a team of ladies in a REAL office. We actually had our first ever inaugural Company Dinner on 8 Jan 2010. Feels weird, but good weird and we hope to actually FILL UP the restaurant with RRD staff in the next 5 years :)). One of our staff, Shiva blogged about the night. Ladies, we hope you had fun although it was just the 5 of us, but here's to many many more so we can have more office gossips and scandals..haha.joking of course.

Anyhow, apart from the great closing to 2009 for our business, I'm really happy that I've fulfilled 3 out of 10 experiences I'd like to do for 2010. Instead of coming up with new resolutions, I've come up with a list of new EXPERIENCES I'd like to personally do for 2010. 2009 has been pretty hectic as we were all busy establishing and growing the company so this year I hope to dedicate more time to try out new things and it's great to know that only 2 weeks into the year, I've already done 3!

So here's my Top 10 to-do list for 2010. I'll talk about each experience I've completed in separate posts..hope it won't take til 2011..haha

1. Langkawi Sunset Dinner Cruise for Two DONE! 1st Jan 2010 (thanks to Sherin and Ming btw)
2. Pilot For a Day DONE! 12 Jan 2010. Scariest experience for me to date (i actually hate rollercoaster rides and this kind of felt like one), yet surreal.
3. Contemporary French Cuisine for Two. GOING TO DO TODAY! yeay

Ok the rest below is in no particular order :)

4. Design and Make Your Own Batik Art. I seriously don't think it's as boring as it sounds...
5. Learn Wakeboarding! – 4 Sessions Beginners Course. It looks cool..haha. I can tell people i 'wakeboard'. How cool is that..hahah
6. Spa Getaway for Two in Malacca – Aroma Foot Massage. A charming boutique hotel in Melaka. I've never stayed in a boutique hotel before. Am quite curious...
7. Borneo Highlands Kayaking and Orang Utan Visit for Two. I have a thing for orang Utans..nothing weird ok, i just think they're cute..hahah
8. 3D/2N Survivor Island Adventure via Kota Kinabalu for 2. I sooo wanna go to Sabah
9. Walk In The Sea . Yes, Sabah again.
10. Mandara Massage . 2 therapists massaging you at one time? sounds good.....

So what's YOUR top 10 experience list?

Will share pictures and stories about the ones I've done in my next post..and maybe will revisit the ones I've done in 2009 :)

Enjoy the weekend!

"Mandi Bunga"

2009-12-08T05:30:00.001-08:00

I went through one of the worst unlucky streak in my life during the past couple of weeks - both personally and business wise. I'm sure everyone goes through a period where somehow everything just goes wrong and anything that you do with good intentions just hits you back, smack in the face. For me it was pretty bad and I don't want to go into details - let's just say things that happened made me want to crawl into a hole, sleep and not wake up until next month. One or two days is not so bad, but for me it just carried on for a couple of weeks! From something simple to typo in emails, sending out the wrong sms to the wrong person to running around like a madwoman around town or a quiet day of sales. It was just bad news one after the other.

That's when I thought, that's it...I gotta do something about it! This is when "mandi bunga" comes in :) Sherin and myself have this ritual of "mandi bunga" or floral bath everytime we go through a series of unfortunate events. Call us naive or trivial, but when sh*t hits the fan, you'd do anything to make all this bad luck go away.

So, last Sunday I went to buy 7 different flowers (why 7? I don't know..ask Sherin hehe) and in the evening I made myself a nice floral bath.

Ouh, by the way here's a definition of floral bath or "mandi bunga" take from this link -http://themalaysianlife.blogspot.com/2008/03/mandi-bunga-ritual.html

Quote "The mandi bunga is performed to dispel bad luck (bad vibes) - "buang sui" or "buang sial". The rationale is that once a person is void of bad luck, he's able to attract good fortune." Unquote

Based on the write-up, I was suppose to put in kaffir lime and pomelo leaves..oh well. Maybe it'll half work..hehe

I don't know whether to believe it or not, but I do feel much better since yesterday. So far, there hasn't been any drama (touch wood!) til today. For what it's worth, even if it it's all in the mind, at least I had a relaxing evening bath ;)

Next time we go through another spell of bad luck, I'm gonna share another one of our rituals - moving furniture around the office..hehehe..but let's hope that we don't have to do that anytime soon or ever! We're runnning out of furniture and space.

For those who can't be bothered to look for flowers or draw their own bath, RedRibbon Days has an experience to help you shoo away any bad luck you've been experiencing, coupled with a body massage! Check out our Flower Blossom Spa experience. Ok, the picture in our website looks more inviting than mine. Should have bought more flowers..haha

Busy is Good!!!!!

2009-11-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

Busy is good?! You'd never ever hear me say that sentence 2 years ago...but since RedRibbon Days, it's what myself and Sherin remind each other when both of us are swamped and overwhelmed with work. It's like our very own mantra that we probably (I know I do..hehe) chant to ourselves just to remind us that being busy is ALWAYS good for any business..and never to sigh when things get a bit crazy or when you just feel deadbeat..

Speaking of which, this is just about the same time I left a stable job 2 years ago to venture into the unknown..and looking back, i have not one ounce of regret :). It's been an awesome journey and it hasn't ended, in fact we're just at the start of the trip....which is why I have to admit, sometimes when you just feel so tired, you can't help think to yourself "are we there yet?!" - but then you realise that you've only reached Karak Highway when the destination is Kelantan..so you move on and enjoy every bit of the journey. Heh, my point is: it's takes a lot of patience, determination and persistence (not to mention a good business partner to push you when you're suddenly driving 50km/h on a 110km/h highway ;) to strive on. We keep telling ourselves it's too early to stop for a break now and being tired a few days a week is such a petty thought.

What I actually need is a lifestyle change...a healthier life i mean...I know this is sooo cliche, but I have to admit, if I lead a healthier lifestyle, I wouldn't be feeling as tired as often and wouldn't have to keep chanting to myself..'busy is good, busy is good..because you wouldn't be feeling it if you were always pumped up! Another thing I think I should give a try is our new Wellbeing experiences - Energy Treatments.

Energy Treatment – Fractal Wellness Therapy or this
Energy Treatment – Body Wellness Therapy

Sounds really good and I'm scheduled to try it out. I've always been a believer of - if you're surrounded by positive energy or if you're a positive person, you attract positive things in life.

Oh yah, and I also need sleep, which I should be doing now...gnite!