i shall not stop writing.

If you're in my list of friends in facebook, you might either get infected with my current 'sickness' or you might think that I am crazy. Haha...

Yes........ I am in love, currently... so in love.

With the recent distasteful affliction brought on to my family, we've all agreed that the experience has made us even stronger. With the one getting his spirits back after a PS3 binge, I on the other hand found an email by Malaysia Airlines Enrich an avenue to rid off those negative energy and stress. The email was timely, notifying me of a 20% discount for tickets to Babyface Live in KL concert this Friday! Woohoo...!!

Now, I have never really been that eager to go to any concerts simply because I don't quite like getting into overly crowded places and I always felt that listening to their albums is sufficient. But I dunno... with all that's happened recently, I just felt that I needed to do something to make me feel all swell again, and take care of myself the way no one else would.

So, yeah... I am treating myself to this exciting event and am so happy that my best friend, Nicole, has agreed to accompany me to this concert. Gosh, I am still so elated with this whole thing... and it's funny that even she wasn't aware of Babyface coming to town. And since my car only plays MJ's hits due to little jj's demand for familiarity as she's gotten so hooked on to his songs, I have been going into youtube to get my dose of Babyface while I work on my computer. I know I am so gonna cry my heart out this Friday to let go of any sorrows in my heart but especially because his songs and voice are just so beautiful to listen to... I am sure those memories of the past will come flooding especially when I think of those close friends of mine who grew with me during my uni years when listening to Babyface (and falling in love with him!) was something we shared together :)

The one asked me why he wasn't the first person I thought of to accompany me to the concert... *erkksss* and he laughed instantly when I asked him to sing some of the songs from Babyface haha... gotcha. I can't possibly let him see me drool over Babyface and it's good to know that he know nuts about any of his songs haha....

And while I got them tickets for this Friday at 1 Utama's Axcess ticket outlet, I decided to also treat the entire family for a much deserved outing.

can't wait to see the sparkle in little jj's eyes... it will also be the 2nd time for my [not so] little munchkin ;)

And while I count the hours to this Friday, would like to share with you one of the songs written by Babyface that has always been my personal favourite. I've share so many videos on my facebook page but those were songs sung by him... this one's by After 7.

Ok.. it’s been almost a month since my last post as I’ve been very pre-occupied… well, mostly due to the constant Twitter updates that is just as satisfying; a little more due to facebook and their addictive games which I could always participate in between breaks; but more so because of the endless attention required of a growing toddler who has learnt to walk and always able to grab mommy at any time and every time. *phew*

Anyways, I have been very busy with work and I thought it may take me another one week or two before I have the energy to blog again but something just hit me tonight and I have this strong urge to write an entry.

See, there was this discussion on blogging and how some people could still regard blogs as an unimportant marketing tool. Really, at this age and time (and this, I meant the 21st Century – not my ‘age’) I am perplexed at such an opinion. No, it’s not because I am a blogger myself. I am saying this because anyone who’s familiar with the internet and use the internet as a source of info would know and could see how much has changed over the years… how blogs have evolved from what they were before – an avenue to voice out concerns/sharing of information to one of the most effective marketing tools nowadays.

I was even more perplexed that this opinion came from a successful entrepreneur who was taken in by the advise of her friend (also a successful entrepreneur in the same industry) that a blog is not important, and that she should focus more on revenue-generating efforts – an advise given by a person who owns a personal blog with plenty of links to reputable connections in the industry, advertisement spaces and clearly stated contact details for, what else – income generating opportunity! I was about to open my mouth wide but stopped immediately since my advise doesn’t come free that easily and I shall say no more ☺

No longer can one say that blogging is a waste of time or rubbish. Yes, you get some people who writes rubbish but who’s to judge when they have hundreds of ‘followers’ on their blogs. It’s no longer about the content… but more of the following, readership and connections on a personal level. Some say it is no longer fun blog-hopping because one tends to read too many advertorials and entries on online contests but I guess, this sort of marketing and promotions work… or else no advertisers or sponsors would venture into such tactics – it works!

One is no longer subjected to the confinements of one’s home with house chores to be completed. Instead, many housewives have now started to blog to gain additional income (although I am not sure how much one can really earn from sponsored posts/ads like nuffnang, on average). Housewives are also smarter by pursuing their hobbies and selling their products online, through their blogs, that are also filled with links to other bloggers and a huge number of online conversations.

Big corporations in Malaysia have started to open up and welcome bloggers to their events and functions, as they know how powerful it is when certain messages are exchanged in blogs. In this case, bloggers are treated somewhat similar to media practitioners because some people (moi included) do not have that much trust in paid media due to the perception that adspend always (or most of the time) influences the angle of an article unlike independent opinions of bloggers, who at most times provide an objective opinion and approachable at a more personal level through the interactive environment - be it in the comments section or ‘Shout Box’ displayed in their blogs. I, for one, was privileged to be invited by MAS to their Cabin Crew Training for bloggers as they felt that it was important for us bloggers to educate the public of their new motto of Malaysian Hospitality and that cabin crewmembers are not just pretty faces.

Many companies have adopted and accepted the concept of including bloggers into their PR and marketing acitivities. One just cannot discount the importance and strength of published information on a blog, as I learnt back in 2005 just after the Tsunami that badly hit our neighbours and some northern parts of our country. In the news sense, information traveled faster than the main news channels; footages from the catastrophe that were aired on national and international news networks were sourced from blogs; and what I remember most was how a mat saleh baby, whose family had fallen victim to the giant waves in Phuket, was identified by their relatives in Germany (I think!) from photos of him posted in blogs. These, I found out based on my research for an IT article I was required to submit for a client's newsletter. From then on, I discovered the satisfaction of blogging, made many friends through blogging, and of course, met the one from blog-hopping.

Now, almost 5 years later, companies not only welcome bloggers' opinions, many have built special blogs for employees/customers/registered bloggers to post entries/reviews on their blogs. Even politicians have accepted this fact – that opinions posted on blogs can be powerful and how many have tried to create a monitoring system for Malaysian bloggers. Of course, this ain’t easy. Hence, we can now find many blogs of our politicians, all who fell into the saying, "If you can't beat them, join them."… some write their own entries, while some probably use the services of ghost writers.

In the US alone, the acceptance of blogs as a powerful source of info is so overwhelming that even CEOs blog. Sad to say, the only CEO in Malaysia who blogs is none other than Tony Fernandes (I’m not sure… is he a Datuk Seri now?). No wonder he can be such an admired corporate figure… it’s this acceptance and moving along with the times allow him to be the pioneer of many wonderful opportunities…

I, for one, who’s an internet savvy individual – who uses the internet to find information and learns from what she discovers every time, would have to totally say that blogging is an important tool for whatever reasons – be it for marketing purposes or even branding… not necessarily branding/portraying a certain image for your products. Blogging also creates branding for yourself, through the eyes of your readers from what you write. This is because you allow people to get to know you better since what you write is usually seen as a personal opinion; you reach out a massive audience as your blog can be accessed publicly (if you do not choose to make it private) and there are millions out there, at least, who, like me, uses the net as a main source of information. Heck, just one keyword typed in a search engine will display hundreds if not thousands of blog lists that relate to a certain view or reviews that you are searching for. More often than not, those opinions count because those are the information that you obtain FOC.

Heck, I no longer buy beauty magazines as I sometimes find them with too many adverts that do not appeal to me and articles that are downright boring. For now, I am very happy to read two beauty blogs whom I have begun to trust in their suggestions and recommendations, even though I have only been following them for a couple of months. Part of my decision to try out a facial session at Lancome was due to limited information on some beauty brands that I was looking for and the Lancome Beauty Institute in Bangsar Village II was at the top of the list, written by one of them. That was enough to get me curious and how I got totally hooked after the experience under those warm, magical hands of Tiffany ;P

Same goes for you, if you have not been blogging yet. I am not persuading you to… but if you underestimate the power of blogs, get these facts:

- 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs

- 51% of blog readers shop online

- blog readers average 23 hours online each week

- 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years (this is an American survey

- there are 500,000 active bloggers in Malaysia, ranking us among the highest in the world after Indonesia and EU (70% of the election results were influenced by information found in blogs)

- more and more bloggers have garnered additional income from blogging

If you are seeking to reach your audience and brand yourself to be more approachable and accessible, this is one great way to do it. But if you can’t see that, then you lose out in the massive opportunity and just be a follower, rather than the force that you want to portray to them. Hence, you lose out to your competitor who actively blogs.

Geesh... now this is definitely a free advise, huh?

Malaysia Central - Blog Directory

Part of the perks of being a blogger is not only meeting my one true love (ehehh…) but I also got the chance of taking part in a half-day session of cabin crew training.

Now, which one of you ladies have never ever dreamt of being a flight stewardess when you were younger? I believe so many of us have that dream at least for one small minute… I know I did… especially those days when I was young-er (I’m still young!) when the airport was based in Subang… those cabin crew were scattered all over PJ and I would always catch a glimpse of groups of smartly-attired, uniform-clad cabin crew in their MAS vans transporting them to and from Subang Airport.

I never really re-visit that dream once my height stopped at 150cm, plus that sudden drive and belief that I would make a good (and glamorous) medical doctor ☺

Anyways, it all started with a boring and long night, anticipating the arrival of my the one to return from London when I decided to finally click on that icon on facebook. It links to the Malaysia Airlines Travel page and I decided to be one of its fans.

They had a contest running and it was pretty simple – to just complete the sentence – no slogans required and nothing additional to purchase in relation to the contest. I didn’t give it much hoot and read what others’ wrote. The contest was open only to bloggers and 10 will be picked as winners. Originality is key and I suddenly realised that there is one thing I had always wanted to learn from looking at them female flight stewardess. Thus, I wrote, “I want to attend MAS cabin crew training because I've always wanted to know how the ladies don their sanggul... it looks so simple yet I have always failed in making my hair look that smooth and professionally done :D”.

The next day, after returning home from picking up the one at the airport, I clicked on the page to show him what I had done and was surprised to note that I was picked as a winner…

So, there I was… attending the session with much hopes, although nothing much could be learnt from that half-day training in comparison to those actual months of training. What do I expect, right... it's not as if we were all getting certs :) but at least I'd know how it feels like for a cabin crew to go through the training programme.

What I instantly noticed upon arriving at the Malaysia Airlines Academy was the fact that all of us bloggers were treated like journalists… anyone in the communications industry would agree how special journalists are usually treated. And I guess, from those years of so many parties telling the corporate sector to take bloggers seriously as they are perceived as ‘new-age reporters’, Malaysia Airlines is probably one of them who has taken the first step to recognise bloggers as part of their branding, CR and media relations activity.

We were warmly greeted by a big group of people from the airline, mainly those from the Media Relations department, Training and their PR consultant. That was when I realised how serious they think of us bloggers…

Mr Gunalan led the briefing at the start of the programme and Tengku Evelyn then elaborated on the seriousness of Cabin Crew Training. After that, we were brought to a grooming class where it was already filled with attractive new recruits. My hopes to learn to do the bun the MAS-flight stewardess way dashed out the door when I realised that it isn’t as easy as one thinks. A cabin crew goes thru a 4-day grooming training when we were only allotted a good one hour for grooming and deportment.


The main highlight was letting us know how important make up is to a flight stewardess, as made perfectly clear by the external consultant as she picked out a fresh face to be transformed into a glam babe. I was afraid seeing how thick the make up was on the consultant's face but surprisingly, she did a really good job on Elena. In fact, albeit her thick make up on, she looked really good in photos.


I guess the flight stewardess all need specific type of long-wearing make-up as they need to maintain a clean, matte complexion so that they look fresh and sweet at all times despite working under cabin pressure where us ladies are always advised to wear minimal make-up to prevent from clogged pores and foundation turning cakey.

Despite not being able to learn to do the 'sanggul', I still managed to get my hair done ;P with specific instruction to only do a style that doesn’t make me look extra chubby (ahaks!).

The deportment class was even more interesting as my eyes wander the entire room… they had complete props – dining table and chairs, sofa and even a runway with mirrors all around the room.


The eye-opener would be attending their first aid class and safety training. We managed to catch those going for their refresher course, at a time when the trainer was going into specifics on a medical condition. Like, you think those flight attendants would only stand pretty and serve you meals… you are dead wrong. I was damn impressed… especially seeing them with dummy babies, trying to revive and help an infant from choking. That struck a chord in me as I couldn’t imagine what to do (*touch wood*) if that were to happen to my baby. It – was – scary.


As for safety training, I must say that I have a safety passport which will expire in another year… and I went for the basic first aid training and offshore safety training about 2 years ago but I hardly remember the specifics until my memory was refreshed when I saw the requirements for their safety training.


My point is, this half-a-day opportunity made me see that the career of a cabin crew shouldn’t be taken lightly… you see them pretty, you see them only serving you meals only because nothing eventful ever appears while you fly... well, at least not on those flights I took…

A flight attendant in Malaysia Airlines not only have to look pretty (and smart), they are also equipped with very important knowledge during those emergency situations. I mean, do most of us really know what hypoglycemic means? Do you know how to treat it? More importantly, can you tell from seeing someone that he/she is showing symptoms of hypoglycemia? And how do you treat a hypoglycemic in a coma, effectively?

The ladies who don the tight-fitting kebaya could also apprehend rowdy passengers, and they’re taught to handle critical situations like terrorism/hijacking. What’s more, just imagine them saving your life while being thrown at sea, in their kebaya. Haha… I know it may seem like a beautiful sight until you know what it’s like to be in the water, trying to swim to safety into the raft… I tried that in my previous safety training and trust me, in deep sea, salty water and those huge waves, it ain’t easy getting to safety… it is difficult enough doing it in those calm water of the swimming pool.

imagine having to get uncomfortably wet in tight kebayas
and thick make-up.

and swim laps... under very strict observation and instructions.

the kecil-kecil cili padi trainer with a really firm voice instructing
the trainees while i busily snapped photos non-stop for Khairul
using his camera.

At the end of the session, all of us emerged with a different outlook, but the same fascination of the cabin crew in uniform :D

I would like to thank Malaysia Airlines, especially the Media Relations and Training department for having us all there and showing us true Malaysian Hospitality.

all of us capturing one of the many memorable moments on
camera... truly an experience one may never forget ;)

They have many more contests updated regularly on their page in facebook. I regretted adding them as a fan a tad late as I missed ‘the Great Escapade’ by a few minutes. Otherwise, I am confident that little jj’s ranting on our trip to London could at least get noticed… ‘she’d’ just have to add another paragraph on which Stimulus Package would be perfect for us ;P. Oh well…

But you don’t need to miss out on anything. Just click on the icon of Malaysian Airlines Travel on facebook and become a fan. They have plenty of information to share with you with regards to travel tips, food excursions and many many contests. Who knows... even if you don't obtain anything in kind from Malaysia Airlines, you could just get that rare chance to make friends with perfect strangers, like we all did..... while experiencing something one could only dream of, like we all had... aha :D

one of the many group photos on the first class cabin,
photo courtesy of William

What are you waiting for... check out the Malaysia Airlines Travel page on facebook and be a fan! You'd be sure to check out their page every once in a while for their informative and interesting updates.