My biggest turn off...

Ok, here are a list of things I love, appreciate or enjoy. I will simply call them my "turn-ons"

Walking barefoot on the beach watching the sun go down....

Hanging out with my amusing pugs on the couch...

Playing with my friend's baby because she reminds me to live in the moment

Cracking up with friends over jokes and not taking yourself so seriously

Watching awesome animals in action...

Now here comes my No. 1 turn-off. Poor personal hygiene. In particular, bad B.O. It's even worse when you're on an airplane, a crowded elevator or bus because you have NO CHOICE but to inhale the "aroma". And I know I'm not alone on this.

I have girlfriends who have been turned off guys with bad hygiene habits and guy friends who were totally put off by girls who they thought were hot until they found out they smelled bad. It's one of those awkward things people don't know how to tell someone in school or at work that they REALLY should consider using some deodorant and having a shower at least twice a day. I mean, we're living in the tropics. It's easy to sweat in Malaysia just walking from one building to the next.

One of my favourite deodorants partly due to its cool packaging but more so because it's so effective is by Adidas Action 3. I've been a user even before it entered the Malaysian market. I told my sister in Singapore "You wouldn't believe it. The main sponsor of the show I'm currently producing called Project Alpha is by Adidas Action 3! You know all those small bottles we have at home?" My sister said "for goodness sakes, please get some more of their stuff, Jo!" ;) Gee, what about congrats on filming Malaysia's first show about real life bloggers? Nope, she was already placing orders with me! *eyes rolling*

So there I was excited to be at the roadshow of Adidas Action 3 at Mid Valley because they were setting up all these challenges for the Project Alpha bloggers.

Kenny Sia and I were paired up on foosball. We made a brilliant team...

It drew quite a crowd and I remember Kenny saying "OMG, I'm sweating already" who would think foosball would be so intense? It was 5-5! So close!! but Kenny and I managed to win 6-5! :)

Beautifulnara and nicolekiss were knocked out. She was fine, just went off shopping for different deodorants

But entertainment blogger beautifulnara was doing the whole "I'm not worthy" tribute. It's not every day I have this effect on men. I loved it! haha ;)

As it turns out, Kenny Sia and I beat out all the other bloggers.

There was fourfeetnine who tried her best and almost made me miss the ball coz I was laughing so hard ;) She's not the most co ordinated of beings which seems to add to her cuteness. When I interviewed her on Project Alpha, her friend Jia Mei said she's pretty clumsy. You guys have to check out the episode where I'm trying to teach her some yoga. It was ahem...quite "interesting" shall we say? *chuckle*

Budiey and redmummy were the last pair against us

Since Kenny Sia and I were undefeated, we proceeded to get down on our knees and sing "We are The Champions" with great emotion. I know, I know, quite ridiculous but we were really happy we won this little foosball contest coz it wasnt easy! haha

I liked the backpack and so did Sixthseal. He said I had to win it first. This guy, I tell you. Always on the look out for a challenge! :)

Had a lot of fun at the Adidas Action 3 roadshow and we all went home with something so everyone was really happy :)

With an armful of every conceivable deodorant and shower gel for every occasion, we now have no excuse but to smell nice at all times :)

I'm crazy busy in post production!

I can barely believe we've already shot a whopping 49 episodes of Project Alpha. It feels great to now go behind the scenes (no need to look good already, phew).

This was me stealing a moment on the super comfortable bed at Sunway Hotel before the crew invaded my room :) But just coz the filming is done, it doesn't mean we're done with it. In fact the real story telling is happening right now in post production.

I've been sitting in with the director on alternate days going through hours and hours of rushes to find the "right" 3 mins (seriously, editing is kinda like fishing. You need PATIENCE) And there's so much to choose from coz we've shot so many different aspects of every blogger's life and the beautiful part is they're all so different which makes every week on Project Alpha so different. I'd love to hear your comments on the trailer guys. It gives you a snapshot and feel of the overall show. The film crew are very experienced and have shot for channels like National Geographic, Discovery Channel Europe and the entire show was shot on HD. Soooo much work has gone into it. Check it out here...




Project Alpha has been made possible thanks to Adidas Action 3.
The first ep kicks off on
Sep 18th on hitz.fm and nuffnang.com.my

My Italian ex

I was just surfing the net and I was reading kennysia's blog on his trip to Copenhagen and it was the last part which caught my attention between Kenny and a Danish guy on how to impress a girl on a date.

Danish Dude: What type of restaurant would you bring a girl to if you want to have a good night out in Malaysia?


Kenny Sia: Italian. Not necessarily because we like Italian food, but that's just where we're expected to take girls out to if we wanna impress them.

Danish Dude: Italian? See that's the difference. Over here, if we want to impress somebody, we'd take them out to a really nice Asian restaurant. Chinese, Thai, whatever. As long as it's Asian.


The grass is always greener on the other side init? This brought back memories of my Italian ex. He made me wonder if past lives existed coz he must've been Asian before. May as well have called himself an egg. White on the outside. Yellow on the inside. Seriously! He was totally into Asian culture from Japanese tattoos, chinese dragons, the works!

His bedroom was like a chinese temple down to the burning incense. He was trained in kung fu (of course, it couldn't be boxing or anything too Western! ;) Every tattoo on his body was either Chinese or Japanese and he had SEVERAL. Of course there was a Bruce Lee poster on the bedroom wall, chinese ornaments like the fuk luk sao. My goodness, he even had a bagua on the window sill which he placed on his window ledge to ward off "evil"


The irony is the family was as Catholic as it got. There were crosses on the wall in the house, they go to Church, the whole works! His Mum was even afraid of the ornaments in his room because it was simply not her culture and she didn't understand his obsession. She actually requested he keep his bedroom door shut.

This guy was more Chinese than anyone I knew. He read up on it, was really into his martial arts and he ate with chopsticks at meal times while I used normal cutlery. When I was first invited over to his house for dinner, I wasn't sure how it would go. I wondered if his Mum would be ok with me. Naturally, I would be viewed as an extension of his Oriental obsession right? And who could blame her? I mean his bedroom was full-on. Even the calender was in Chinese characters. I don't think he could read it. All that mattered was that it was in Chinese! ;)

Photo by Jothi

Anyhow, I was really looking forward to his Mum's famous lasagna. I had heard so much about her cooking. Apparently, people were trying to get her to open her own restaurant. She was THAT good and totally authentic just the way Italians do it! No short cuts.

Photo by Jothi

She made pasta from absolute scratch. She also grew her own olive trees to make fresh olive oil and she had tomato trees in her garden to make her own tomato based sauces. Wow! I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to dinner with his Italian family.

I liked his mother the moment I met her and she was so warm. She bustled me into the kitchen where she was preparing dinner and I seriously wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when she said kindly "I'm really not that good at it but I've made you some Chinese fried rice"


OMG and it was made especially for me! She was making an effort because she was told he was bringing back his new Asian girlfriend. Oh dear. She then asked me what my favourite food was and I didn't know how to tell her it was Italian! Too funny!! :)

Do we know what's going on deep down inside?

Sometimes, it's good to stop and ask yourself some basic questions. You know how a company you work for or school you go to may assess your progress with reports? Even gyms you frequent can measure how many calories you've burned in an hour right? But...

What are you doing to measure how happy you are with yourself?
Interestingly, we think we know ourselves yet many of us are living on automatic pilot. We're just functioning without thinking too much about how we're doing "inside" The easiest way to find out is to ask yourself a few questions.

Do you think you're happy? Deep down inside? Overall?
What makes you happy? What efforts are you making to achieve or maintain this?
You know what? Since I'm listing down questions, I may as well answer them. You should do the same. Get a piece of paper out or something. It's always helpful to know where you're at.

Do you feel happy sometimes, hardly ever or always? (You know they say positive people hardly ever get sick. Stress kills...literally)
I have happy moments. Sometimes blissful. Isn't life but a collection of moments? and I do stress out (human init?) so I ought to be doing my breathing exercises and hitting the gym again (making mental note)

Do you have enough TIME for yourself? Are you MANAGING your free time productively?
I try to make time for myself but I don't feel it's enough. I could improve my time management skills and procrastinating really doesn't help ;) It would also be good to have more quality time with my boyfriend but we're both so busy (another mental note)

Do you get enough SLEEP at night?
Not always. I mean it's past 4 am now, oh dear! (I really should hit the sack :)

Are you HAPPY doing whatever you do? Is it a passion or a chore?
Creating TV content is hard work but it's bringing an idea to life so it's creative work. I love doing anything creative. It's fun and I find it stimulating. As a blogger the process of uploading photos is tedious but I love writing so it's worth the time it takes to put a blog together :)

Do you give yourself a BREAK (it could be anything) to slow down or unwind when things get too hectic?

Usually, I'd say a foot massage or a good book but I'm going to Bali during the Raya break and I REALLY need a break after shooting 49 episodes of Project Alpha so really looking forward to it! :)


What are some of the things you wanna do before you die?
A retreat in India, maybe go sky diving again, climb a mountain (ok, Asian one. Don't think I could take on Everest or anything)

How many have you done so far? (hopefully not zero)
-Off the top of my head, I always wanted to learn the erhu (a 2 string chinese violin, hauntingly beautiful) and I finally started learning this instrument 4 months ago. Love the sound of it!

-I always wanted a dog but I was travelling out of a suitcase as a model so it wouldn't have been fair. When I joined MIX fm a couple of years back, I realised KL had become more than a stopover. It was where I lived so it was time to get a puppy :) Now, I have three! :)

What are some of the things you've been saying you'll like to do but haven't gotten round to doing yet?
Oh goodness, it's such a long list from changing tiles in one of the rooms in my house to learning another language, watching dvds on movies I've missed, using my oven and actually baking stuff! and visiting my girlfriend in LA (below).


Alrightey, I'm off to bed but I'm glad I did the list. It's reminded me of a whole number of things I haven't done, yikes! Ok, gonna crash out now, nightey everyone zzz

My biggest turn off...

Ok, here are a list of things I love, appreciate or enjoy. I will simply call them my "turn-ons" Walking barefoot on the beach watching the sun go down.... Hanging out with my amusing pugs on the couch... Playing with my friend's baby because she reminds me to live in the moment

Cracking up with friends over jokes and not taking yourself so seriously

Watching awesome animals in action...

Now here comes my No. 1 turn-off. Poor personal hygiene. In particular, bad B.O. It's even worse when you're on an airplane, a crowded elevator or bus because you have NO CHOICE but to inhale the "aroma". And I know I'm not alone on this.

I have girlfriends who have been turned off guys with bad hygiene habits and guy friends who were totally put off by girls who they thought were hot until they found out they smelled bad. It's one of those awkward things people don't know how to tell someone in school or at work that they REALLY should consider using some deodorant and having a shower at least twice a day. I mean, we're living in the tropics. It's easy to sweat in Malaysia just walking from one building to the next.
One of my favourite deodorants partly due to its cool packaging but more so because it's so effective is by Adidas Action 3. I've been a user even before it entered the Malaysian market. I told my sister in Singapore "You wouldn't believe it. The main sponsor of the show I'm currently producing called Project Alpha is by Adidas Action 3! You know all those small bottles we have at home?" My sister said "for goodness sakes, please get some more of their stuff, Jo!" ;) Gee, what about congrats on filming Malaysia's first show about real life bloggers? Nope, she was already placing orders with me! *eyes rolling*
So there I was excited to be at the roadshow of Adidas Action 3 at Mid Valley because they were setting up all these challenges for the Project Alpha bloggers.

Kenny Sia and I were paired up on foosball. We made a brilliant team...

It drew quite a crowd and I remember Kenny saying "OMG, I'm sweating already" who would think foosball would be so intense? It was 5-5! So close!! but Kenny and I managed to win 6-5! :)

Beautifulnara and nicolekiss were knocked out. She was fine, just went off shopping for different deodorants

But entertainment blogger beautifulnara was doing the whole "I'm not worthy" tribute. It's not every day I have this effect on men. I loved it! haha :)

As it turns out, Kenny Sia and I beat out all the other bloggers.

There was fourfeetnine who tried her best and almost made me miss the ball coz I was laughing so hard ;) She's not the most co ordinated of beings which seems to add to her cuteness. When I interviewed her on Project Alpha, her friend Jia Mei said she's pretty clumsy. You guys have to check out the episode where I'm trying to teach her some yoga. It was ahem...quite "interesting" shall we say? *chuckle*

Budiey and redmummy were the last pair against us

Since Kenny Sia and I were undefeated, we proceeded to get down on our knees and sing "We are The Champions" with great emotion. I know, I know, quite ridiculous but we were really happy we won this little foosball contest coz it wasnt easy! haha

I liked the backpack and so did Sixthseal. He said I had to win it first. This guy, I tell you. Always on the look out for a challenge! :)

Had a lot of fun at the Adidas Action 3 roadshow and we all went home with something so everyone was really happy :)

With an armful of every conceivable deodorant and shower gel for every occasion, we now have no excuse but to smell nice at all times :)