Burberry Brit Rhythm Men Music Event : Singapore

To mark the launch of Burberry Brit Rhythm fragrance (For Him), a series of 3 live gigs was held in three cities throughout the world : London (16th Oct), New York (17th Oct) and Singapore (18th Oct). In conjunction with the Singapore gig, Burberry Malaysia with collaboration of Sunway Pyramid flew a handful of lucky Malaysians to Singapore to experience the exclusive Brit Rhythm Music Event.

Brit Rhythm, the new fragrance for men, is inspired by British music and the energy of audience sharing that one common electrifying experience. Marking Burberry's first fragrance launch since enrolling in the beauty business in April 2013, the sexy (and provocative) fragrance is one of the brand's most significant men's fragrance launch to date.

Welcome Pack and the Temporary Tattoo - Woot woot!

We checked into the Grand Park Orchard at noon, and were given leisure time to walk around or simply freshen ourselves for the night gig. Definitely a grander stay compared to my previous stays in Singapore. :)

Accommodation for the night, Grand Park Orchard

The weather was fine, and we opted to be touristy and revisited Marina Bay Sands and some other attractions within reach via the SMRT, just for the fun of window shopping and air conditioning. Since we're smacked in the middle of Orchard, we figured that we could hang around here after the gig. 

We were driven to the gig location in Lorong Ampas in the evening, and we soon figured out despite the compact venue, it was not short of elegant guests and event set up. I found out the event's venue is Wheeler's Yard, apparently a place to get your bikes fixed while enjoying your sip of coffee cum gig venue.  

Crowd building up at Wheeler's Yard

Left : Reps from Malaysia, Yin Yin & Joy from Luxasia Malaysia with Dome Pakorn
Right : The new face of Burberry Brit Rhythm, Suki Waterhouse

The highlight of the music gig was definitely post-punk band, White Lies from (you guessed it), the UK. With tracks like First Time Caller and There Goes Our Love Again, definitely played to the mood of the energy and adrenaline of Brit music. 

White Lies

Free flow of beers and cocktails and lively crowd, recipe of a truly happening gig. The gig's finale with rains of confetti of the iconic Brit Rhythm bottle definitely closed the event on a high note.

Available at all leading stores, Burberry Brit Rhythm is layered by :

Top Notes : Basil Verveina, Spicy Cardamom, a shot of Juniper Berries

Heart Notes : Black Leather, Heady Patchoulli, Styrax Resin

Base Notes : Cedarwood Heart, Incense and Warm Tonka Beans

Thanks again to Burberry Malaysia, Sunway Pyramid and Singapore. Certainly wouldn't mind heading to another Burberry's gig in the near future.

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Day Trip In Brunei Darussalam

The trip was ages ago, back when I was still studying in UNIMAS, Sarawak. I was actually in my Miri holiday, when my friend Larry slotted a day trip to Brunei. 

Brunei is significant to me, as it was the first foreign country I've visited, and also the only country I've traveled by car to. The immigration booths, located at Sungai Tujuh (Brunei) is only approximately 30 minutes or so from where we were traveling from (Miri). Immigration waiting hours varies, we actually went on a non-peak day, thus immigration clearance was easier. 

From Sungai Tujuh to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), the capital of Brunei is around 1 hour 30 minutes drive, depending on the phase you're driving of course. Very much like Singapore, I observed, in terms of the cleanliness of the street as well as the driver's etiquette. Culture shock to me, pedestrian crosser are given priority on the road, yes, the car waits until you cross the road. Never I would see that happen in Malaysia (unless there's the traffic light in place).

They do use Bahasa Melayu in Brunei, and their currency was 2:1 when I was there back in 2009. (2.5:1 now). Oil, is what propelled Brunei to be the 5th richest country in the world, and no surprise in that for our Malaysian car, we are not able to refuel the car from a certain distance away from Sungai Tujuh. Brunei is an Islamic country, if mosques and Islamic architectures intrigues you, this might be the place for you. But to me, a day trip was actually more than sufficient, just to cover a few tourist-y spots.

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is a royal Islamic mosque located in a heart of BSB, the iconic golden dome (pure gold, mind you) and the mahligai barge replica can't be missed. A marble bridge leads to that boat like structure in the lagoon. 

You might also would want to see Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of Brunei's Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah and the seat of the Brunei government. It is not assessible unless on annual Islamic Celebration like Hari Raya Aidilfitri. 

We also visited the Royal Regalia Museum, The museum was established in 1992 in commemoration of the Silver Jubilee of Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s accession to the throne. Shoes are not allowed in the museum, very much to Asian culture. And also, we met host Oli Pettigrew (of all places) over here.

If you want a luxurious accommodation while you are here, do check out The Empire Hotel and Country Resorts, a good mirror to Brunei's majestic and cultural heritage. 

There's a theme park known as Jerudong Park, but it was letdown to me. The theme park was rather run down and there's not much of a crowd over there. 

Eating in Brunei, pretty much their food is similar to what you may find in Sarawak, the highlight dish for me is definitely Nasi Katok, a compendium of rice, anchovies and chicken (almost similar to Nasi Lemak) and they're selling at $1 only when I was there. Dirt cheap meal, I had 2 servings for my dinner there.

I guess there's nothing much to see in Brunei, a day trip there is more than sufficient if you are around that area anyway. I would think people is curious to see how South East Asia's richest country is really like, but don't be surprised of its rather humble surroundings, as Brunei moniker suggests, its the Abode of Peace.  

Tips and Tricks - AJ Hackett Kawarau Bridge Bungy Jump

The Kawarau Bridge Bungy (or bungee) is THE pioneering site for bungy jumping. Founded in 1988 by Bungy pioneers AJ Hackett and Henry van Asch, they launched both themselves and an international phenomenon, marking one of the many adrenaline rush activities to do in Queenstown, Otago.

Few things you'll need to know before you make the eventual jump:

1. You must be minimum 10 years of age (Children 14 and under need to be accompanied by an adult) Max 110 years (Immortals are strictly forbidden for the jump)
2. Weighing range of 35kg to 235kg.
3. For tandem jumps: Total weight difference must NOT be more than 30kgs.
4. There's no clothing requirements, in fact as suggested by the Bungy NZ page, completely naked is quite a popular option. (I *might* try this *one day* but no documentation will be recorded *koff*)
5. Medical Considerations and safety (Click to find out what are they). PS: AJ Hackett is 100% confident of their safety measures but ultimately it is up to you to adhere to any rules available to ensure that safe jump.

My trip last year to New Zealand consisted of the bungy jump at the Kawarau Bridge. My travel buddies and I chose this location because it's not too far away from Queenstown central, and we were itching for at least one extreme activity. Located on SH6 in the Gibbson Valley just 20 minutes from Queenstown and 30min from Cromwell. From where we stayed, it took us approximately 30 minutes to reach to the bridge itself. Give yourself an hour prior to your scheduled jump for traveling there. Self drive is a very popular choice in the South Island.

The price may not be cheap, but I didn't necessary put a price on that awesome experience I had! It costed us NZ $180 (Around RM454) for the jump and another NZ $80 (RM202)  for the souvenir photo and video (NZ $45 for either one of them). You may bring your own camera to record your own jump, but of course if you're jumping with it, it's at your risk :)

We're jumping from WHERE?

My personal preference is booking any necessary activities and/or proceed with the payment in advance. That is, a little sense of security to actually do the activity given the schedule that you have.The day itself, we chose the earliest slot! That is, at around 9am (GMT +1300). We registered ourselves accordingly and they took our pre registration slip and weighed us. 

Registration and waiting area

After which, we were brought to the bridge where we were given numbers to jump. This is where most of us will freak out, unless you've balls of steel.

Just below the 235 kg weight quota :D

As for me, I did not 100% freak out per se.... until they started strapping my legs with the harness. That was when I started to think, CRAP, what on heaven heck have I gotten myself into. Oh, and they did give us an option whether to dip (heads down) into the river or just dry jumping :) After a split second of camwhoring (for that picture perfect moment before jumping), I finally jumped.

No motivational push whatsoever, I just followed my instinct and impulsively leaped the bridge.

Jumping is freestyle, but bear in mind the asserted force from the harness pull may injure you, so just feel natural and not to freak out too much.

Of course, to mitigate the fear, they say don't look down. But where's the fun of that. Go YOLO mode and just jump AND look down. Scream, pray, curse, scream-pray-curse when you're halfway floating in the air as much as you want!

The feeling of the jump? Well, you MUST experience this yourself. As for me, once I leaped off the bridge, I felt a sense of liberation (I always wanted to feel what jumpers feel without dying in the end). Of course, within seconds the freedom feeling quickly translated to WTF when there's no pause button or brake to the jump.

Faith! The rope did suspend the fall and I was back heads up momentarily before being spun around in the air. 

Saved by the rafters

The rafters then approached the inverted yours truly and took me down. Of course, looking back up to the bridge platform from the raft, dayyum, I wish I could do it again! That's just my first bungy experience. Aside from bungy, you could try their Swings and Climbs activities in Nevis and Auckland. Call me crazy, but I might, just might, try the jump in Macau by AJ Hackett after this. Who knows? :)

Proof of Jumping :D Picture courtesy of Lemuel Ong

Just in case you're curious to what they actually recorded, help yourself with the video taken by them:

Truly Malaysian - UNESCO World Heritage revisited

If one has heard of Malaysia, he/she can associate Her with its diverse culture and ethnicity blending together, and an enriched history that goes along with it. Old cultural buildings are preserved for future generations with it values. Malaysia is also bestowed with its natural resources, marine wonders and lush rainforests, adventures and discovery awaits to those who would want to venture them. Topping the list of what Malaysia has to offer, are the variety of food that is available here.

It was not my intention to visit UNESCO world heritage locations in Malaysia because they are world heritage, but rather a hungry, gastronomical journey (particularly Malacca and Penang) and I've yearned to visit Sabah since my university years in UNIMAS, Sarawak. This year, I managed to visit 2/4 of the suggested World Heritage in Malaysia, pretty happy about it.

Malacca and Penang, the two gems of Malaysia, rich with its historical values situated along the Straits of Malacca are known for its trading and cultural crossroads between both worlds from the East and West, dating as far as half a millennium ago.

The Dutch and Portuguese architectural influence in Malacca is prominently seen in the government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications in Malacca, whereas British colonial influence can be seen in Georgetown, Penang. Both towns portrays a succession of historical and cultural influences arising from their former function as trading ports linking East and West, alongside with their multi-cultural living heritage originating from the trade routes from Great Britain and Europe through the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and the Malay Archipelago to China. Of course, as what Malaysia is all about, the culture, landscape and architecture from its three major races - Malay, Chinese and Indian blended in these historical towns.

Notable buildings that you may want to visit (or revisit) are Stadthuys, A Famosa Fort and St.Paul's Hill in Malacca. In Penang however, feast your eyes on the artistic graffiti in Armenian Street and Cheong Fatt Tze's Mansion.

One of Malaysia's nature heritage includes the Kinabalu Park, rich with floras and faunas. The range of habitats available here is exceptional, from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain forest, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations. Development of new species are made possible here from the ideal conditions provided by the altitude and climatic gradient from tropical forest to alpine conditions combine with precipitous topography, diverse geology and frequent climate oscillations.

Out of the 14 states of Malaysia, I've yet to step on Perlis, Terengganu, and Johore. But when I do, rest assured that there is always something new to discover everyday, and those states are not exceptional.