Twenty Six

Twenty six things I did when I was twenty six.

#1

Ended my 2-year relationship with my ex. Of all possible days to do it, we broke up the day of my birthday. It was painful at first, but since then she got herself happily attached, while I also found myself a girlfriend.

She is Japanese. Her name is Soni.

 

#2

Full name Soni Playstation Three.

Unfortunately, lately I have been neglecting Soni a bit. I hardly even had time to eat or sleep normally, let alone play with Soni.

I hope she’s not angry at me.

 

#3

Took part in two 42km marathon runs.

The first was in Singapore last December. I trained hard for the Singapore Marathon and completed it within 6 hours 15 minutes – even with my iPod running out of juice.

I ran again in Kota Kinabalu last month. Due to lack of time, I did not train at all for this marathon and physically could not manage to go on after 33km.

Ah well, at least I attempted.

 

#4

Became an uncle, for the fourth time. Everybody say hi to Ethan!

 

#5

Shaved my head bald for charity.

The target was to raise RM50,000. Thanks to the generosity of kennysia.com readers, we managed to raise RM65,325.01!

 

#6

Travelled to Ho Chi Minh City.

When it was announced that Vietnam had won the ASEAN cup, the entire city was turned upside down into an absolute chaos and frenzy.

 

#7

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Travelled to Phuket.

It was supposed to be a Valentine’s Day trip I planned for me and my ex. We broke up 5 days after I booked all the flights and hotels. Instead of bitching and moaning about it, I did something I have never ever done before in my entire life – I put up and thick face and asked somebody whom I only met once to come along.

To me utter surprise, she agreed. It was the weirdest, awkward and most platonic Valentine’s Day date I ever had.

 

#8

Travelled to Wales. Saw some sheep.

I stayed at a friend’s place far away from the tourist district, in the town of Tal-y-bont. I thought there might be nothing to do, but just by walking out of his house, I managed to discover some of the most beautiful untouched pieces of nature.

 

#9

Travelled to Ireland. Saw the Cliffs of Moher. When I saw a picture of this on a tourist brochure, I immediately hired a car and drove all the way to the west side of the island.

 

#10

Went to St James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin.

As an avid Guinness drinker, this to me, is like going to Disneyland.

 

#11

Travelled to Manchester. Went to Old Trafford Stadium. Saw Manchester United. Got force-converted into a Manchester United fan. Then witnessed Manchester United lost in the most embarrassing fashion to Liverpool 4-1.

#12

Travelled to Bali. Again. With 4 hot babes in tow.

I swear I did not deliberately plan for this to happen, but I ain’t complaining! Most men would give up their left testicle in my position. They had a great time being pampered like princesses and I had fun playing tour guide.

It was such a memorable trip that we’re still trading inside jokes till this day.

#13

Travelled to Tokyo. Saw Mount Fuji.

#14

Travelled to Copenhagen. Molested The Little Mermaid.

#15

Travelled to Melbourne. Hosted the Merdeka Party with LapSap and Kim Ong in front of thousands of Malaysian students and had an absolute blast of a time.

Despite having no hosting experience prior to
this, the crowd response that night was something I will remember for the rest of my life. I remember having so much trouble going from one end of the room to the other because I kept having to stop and snap photos with so many people.

It was so awesome. I wanna to go back to party in Melbourne again.

 

#16

Dressed up as Arthur Guinness. Met up with The Black Eyed Peas. Made them laugh.

Till this day I have a "hard time" (hur hur) digesting the fact that Fergie put her arms on my shoulder.

 

#17

Dressed up as Susan Boyle. Flashed my vajayjay.

 

#18

Still jetting back and forth between Kuching and KL. It went from being once a month, to once every 2 weeks, to me being in KL every single weekend.

In fact, I think I spent more weekends away in KL than at home.

 

#19

I go to KL so often that I even received my own Google Maps pin, placed on the front of Bangsar Village.

But I think by now it’s already been replaced with a Christmas Tree.

 

#20

Starred in the TV show Project Alpha.

I know this photo looked suspiciously like the set-up of a porno, but Project Alpha is with Jojo Struys interviewing Malaysian bloggers.

 

#21

Met the Prime Minister of Thailand. Compared him to our Prime Minister.

#22

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Became a chef for a day at KDU College.

I’m heading back there in December to host another one of their Open Day.

 

#23

Earned quite a bit from blogging.

 

#24

But also turned down many lucrative offers, simply because I do not have time to commit myself to more work.

I think I must be one of the few bloggers who constantly turn down advertising or event engagements. In the month of October alone, I turned down almost RM20,000 worth of advertising revenue and 4 travel opportunities to Singapore, Jakarta, Sydney and Korea – all because I was too busy setting my own business in Kuching.

 

 

#25

Won an award for at Nuffnang’s Asia-Pacific Blog Awards. When I started blogging, never in my wildest dream would I have imagined I could get a trophy for it!

#26

Started my own business – Level Up Fitness.

I built my dream – Kuching city’s only affordable quality fitness centre – entirely from ground up. So far, things are going great. I poured in a lot of effort on this project and I’m glad it has paid off well.

 

Those are twenty six things I did when I was twenty-six.

Today, I turn twenty-seven years old.

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Listen To Dennis Lau

As a boy growing up, I always wished I could play a musical instrument.

Not so much for the love of music. More so because of the well-accepted fact that men who play musical instruments are able to pick up more chicks.

Fast forward to many years later, and the closest I ever got to becoming a musician is playing Guitar Hero on Sony Playstation.

Obviously, it’s gonna be a very long time before I’d be able to get a girl. 🙁

One thing I’ve learnt for sure – it ain’t that easy to pick up playing a musical instrument. To do it right, one has to spend a lot of time practising, practising, practising. It’s not uncommon for those really dedicated ones to eat, sleep and shit music.

Not sure how many people poop music out from their anus.

But I do know one person who sleeps with a violin.

His name is Dennis Lau. This guy has been playing violin so much, he’s even playing it in his sleep.

Of course, it’s all worth it to him. as one of Malaysia’s most sought after violinists, he has been playing his violin at events both locally and abroad. Just a couple of months earlier, Dennis managed to clinch a deal with Sony Music to release his debut album – DiversiFy.

It also happens to be one of the most refreshing and enjoyable albums I have ever heard from a local artist.

When people think violins, in their heads they usually think either one of two things. Either it’s classical music that old farts listen to, or the hot fiery sounds the likes of Vanessa Mae.

But Dennis’s album is neither.

This is violin in a completely different flavour than the ones we’re used to.

DiversiFy has a bit of jazz, bit of R&B, even bits of rap and hip-hop thrown into the mix. It is full of fresh new sounds 100% composed and produced by the violinist himself. On the whole, Dennis’s music is very easy-listening, very relaxing, and something you’d love to hear while chilling in a nice cafe on a rainy day having a hot cup of latte.

But talk is cheap. Here’s a sample of what the violin sounds like on Dennis’s hands.

Disclaimer: Kenny Sia did not receive any form of bribe/cash/chicks from Dennis Lau for the writing this entry. All I got was his autographed CD, which you can easily get from CD Rama and Rock Corner record stores all over Malaysia.

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ADV: I Am So Stressed

Dear budding young entrepreneurs.

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If you are thinking about starting their own businesses after reading inspiring stories of the rags-to-riches of those like Richard Branson, Bill Gates or even Tony Fernandes – a word of caution. If you think having your own business is as easy as plonking down your money and watching it grow on trees, think again.

When you work for somebody else, maybe it’s okay to slack once in a while. After all, what’s the worst you could lose?

(Your job.)

However, when you’re the captain of your own ship, then it’s a whole different story.

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Not only do you have the responsibility of making things happen, you gotta always be one step ahead of competition. That means being ingenious, open-minded, alert and staying determined.

Usually, that translates to many bottles of Brand’s chicken essence to take you through the night.

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Take it from me.

Since I started selling memberships one month ago, I have not had a single day off, stopped travelling completely, worked 15 hours a day, slept only 5 hours each day and most importantly – every morning I wake up feeling so very STRESSSSSSSSSSSS
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SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS-ed.

 

I guess if that’s what it takes for things it work the way I want it, then I am happy. 🙂

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The Most Honest Suggestion Ever

At Level Up Fitness, we have a suggestion box.

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To me, it functions a bit like a blog comment box. Except it’s all in real-life.

From time to time, I’d open it up to see what my blog readers customers have to say. Also to find out how I can improve my place.

Just the other day, I stumbled across this gem.

Not something within my control, but I certainly appreciate his honesty. 🙂

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To Arthur!

So my one-on-one interview with the Black Eyed Peas…

 

…didn’t actually end up happening. 🙁

My agent told me at the very last minute that they were not gonna do any one-on-one interviews due to their time constraints. It meant all that planning, thinking and plotting for what could have been the biggest interview I was ever gonna do all ended up in smokes. Obviously I was very upset.

However, I did turn up to the media conference to meet The Black Eyed Peas.

The reason why the Black Eyed Peas was here was because it was Arthur’s Day. The 25th September marks the 250th anniversary since Arthur Guinness signed the lease on St James’s Gate in year 1759, marking the birth of what is now, the world’s most popular stout beer.

A momentous occasion like this deserves a momentous celebration. A series of parties hosted by celebrities was held at five major cities around the world. Here in Malaysia, KL was chosen the only city in Asia to host this worldwide celebration by Guinness.

The only difference is, while other cities got some not-so-famous names to host their parties, we got the band that everybody wanted – The Black Eyed Peas!

As a result, everybody wanted to go Arthur’s Day.

Naturally some people thought I would be able to pull some strings and get them free passes to the event.

Why me? I don’t know. I mean, seriously, who do they think I am?

Arthur Guinness?

 

 

 

Ya. right.

Those of us among the thousands who were there that night at Sunway Lagoon definitely remember what a kickass night Arthur’s Day was. And not just because it’s the first time we saw the surf beach so tightly packed with over 18,000 human bodies.

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It was so packed that even those with mosh pit tickets were unable to get in to the mosh pit area. But no one was complaining. Everyone was there to celebrate Arthur’s Day. Every time the emcees shouted “To Arthur!”, the 18,000-strong crowd all responded in unison.

Lucky for me, I got access to the VIP zone where not only did I manage to watch the show from a comfortable distance, it was Guinness free-flowing all night long.

That made Tey Cindy very very happy.

If it’s true that heaven exists, my guess is that it must be at the Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach inside the Arthur’s Day VIP tent.

The entire experience at the event itself was too damn awesome for words. Even the journey from the entrance of Sunway Lagoon to the Surf Beach was filled wth remarkable experiences.

We passed through a History Tunnel showcasing the life of Arthur Guinness, and even managed to get behind the bar and pour our own perfect pint.

But once we’re there, the party atmosphere was electric.

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Everyone was in high spirits, sticking their hands up in the air and cheering non-stop. From the moment those inflatable robots popped up on stage, we were going crazy right up to the point Fergie, will.i.am, Taboo and Apl all appeared on stage to their hit song Let’s Get It Started.

 

We were all so hyped up. Each and every song they performed, we were dancing, yelling and jumping energetically.

The Black Eyed Peas performed most of the songs for their latest album and some of their classic hits from the past. A Boom Boom Pow, an Imma Be and a Meet Me Halfway later, we were treated to something we have never witnessed before – an amazing showcase by will.i.am on the DJ decks.

It was then that we realised how much of a musical genius will.i.am is. He was just magic on the decks!

The crowd was already hot on fire, but with will.i.am’s seamless blending of beats, freestyle rapping and impromptu track mixing, he managed to get every fibre on the ground rocking to his beats.

will.i.am rocks as a singer. But as a DJ – damn, he was GOD.

Just as we were beginning to feel exhausted from all that jumping and dancing, the Black Eyed Peas ended their performance with I Gotta Feeling – officially my favourite BEP song of all time. Immediately the whole entire 18,000+ bodies starting bopping up and down again in near unison.

And then, just as we were about to leave the place, suddenly the skies above exploded into a spectacular display of fireworks!

 

It went on and on and on for what must be like 15 minutes of pyrotechnics that left our jaws dropped in awe.

Just before we left the venue,
I raised my beer up into the sky and shouted out one last time – “To Arthur!”

I had fun. And it was indeed, a good, good night.

Arthur’s Day was truly awesome. But one thing I must admit – that celebration at Sunway Lagoon was not actually the highlight for me.

My highlight happened earlier in the day, at the press conference at Hilton KL.

After a series of serious questions by serious journalists asking them about serious stuff, suddenly a light bulb plopped over my head and I decided to do something completely out of the ordinary to lighten up the mood.

Let’s just say, they were very, very, very amused.

My highlight of Arthur’s Day = getting all four of the Black Eyed Peas laughing till they’re in stitches. 😉

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Level Up Fitness Is Hiring!

Since I am already shamelessly neglecting my woefully abandoned blog, I might as well exploit it to the max by publicising some positions I am hiring in my new company.

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BODYPUMP & BODYCOMBAT INSTRUCTOR

You hop onto stage, do some funny dance for 60 minutes and make sure 30+ other people in the studio do the EXACT same thing that you do.

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Like swimming.

Since there are no licensed Les Mills BodyPump/BodyCombat instructor in Kuching, I am happy to hire anyone experienced from throughout Malaysia or Singapore. Whoever wanna go on a free trip to Kuching, e-mail me and I’ll sponsor your flights and stay.

Brazilian instructors who can attract rich tai-tai aunties are welcome to apply. Can do part-time work as gigolo also.

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Ideally I’d want someone who can stay in Kuching for the long-term – at least 3 months lah, but I’m happy even if you can stay for a week or two.

 

MARKETING & COMMUNICATION EXECUTIVE

Since the day my fitness centre opens for business, I find myself juggling multiple balls at the same time.

Huge balls too.

In theory, my position in Level Up Fitness is “Executive Director”.

In practice, my position is “Executive Director / IT Manager / Graphic Designer / Marketing Manager / Front Desk Receptionist / Juice Bar Tender / Cleaner”

In other words, ham pa lang pow ka leow.

This is an ad I designed myself to promote our BLT class. (Don’t ask how I know this exercise is supposed to guarantee a sexier body.)

I need a Marcomm Executive who can help me to copywrite and design artwork for the fitness centre’s various marketing campaigns. You’ll be working very closely with me. Some publishing experience, proficiency in Photoshop and fluency in written English is a must.

Since the internet is a core part of my strategy, this is the only position in the company that I shall allow to blog or Facebook during working hours.

That doesn’t mean you can slack during working hours.

I already know about the “set Microsoft Excel as your desktop background” tactic, so don’t even try that (‘cos I used to use that tactic before myself).

FRONT DESK INTERN

During peak hours, the front desk is easily the busiest part of the fitness centre.

But it’s also the most fun position of the company, because you get to see every member who walks in and out.

Over at my company, being a front desk receptionist is more than just being an attractive young girl in short skirts, greeting members as they walk in.

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I am lucky to have hired really fantastic front desk staff with loads of experience. But I reckon there’s room for one more.

This is an intern position that would suit anyone wanting to gain experience in the hospitality industry. You’ll be trained by my manager, who’s worked in so many front desks around the world she could be re-born as a Japanese zhao chai mao.

 

Interested applicants may e-mail me directly at kennysia@levelupfitness.com

In another news, I dunno why I always accidentally type “Body Pump Instructor” as “Body Pimp Instructor”. 🙁

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