2011 - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

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'

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 ;)

2 weeks into Jan 2010

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!