Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor @ Charity Walkathon

No he didn't walk with the rest of the participants. But he did join in the warm up session in his thick leather jacket and long pants. Looking impossibly handsome at it too. LOL!

Check out the video at the end of this post!

What? Kordel’s – Arthritis Foundation Malaysia Charity Walkathon

Where? Taman Jaya, Petaling Jaya.

When? 24 May 2009 (Sunday)

Who? Special appearance by Datuk Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor (Dr. SMS)

Arrrrgh! I jump fright out of bed when I saw the watch – 6:30am! Amelia supposed to pick me up at 6:00am !!! I was too late! Amelia had already gone but she left an sms saying that she had to go without me after she left like 20 misses calls! Waaaaa....! (Insert thousand of apologies to Amelia)

I was out the whole day and night the day before – morning (thread mill challenge @ 1-U), followed by Talentime Film screening and discussion, and later that night – volunteering in PM1 circuit run 2. I was totally drained out of energy when I reached home that night. (Note to self – remember to turn alarm on and reset ring tone from silence back to LOUD after movie is over).

Luckily, Taman Jaya is not that far away from my home. So, I ran down for the Rapid bus and then took an LRT to Tman Jaya. Taman Jaya was buzzing with walkers. Loud music (rock and roll) was playing. Participants were collecting their T-shirts.

The walk has yet to start....Phew! I was not late after all!

I met Aiman, Kevin, Amelia, Julie, Kei Ming, Choi and Cheang. Chatted with them while waiting for the VVIPs to arrive.

Dr. SMS arrived about 8am. Our very own.....astronaut, cosmonaut, angkasawan, spaceman, space participant...whachamacallit.

So, everybody was like waiting in Q to "posing maut" with Dr. SMS. He looked impossibly good in the morning like just walked straight out of a GQ magazine or something!

The wait was not over. We had to wait another 1/2 hour for another VERY VERY LATE VVIP. Finally she arrived and we were called to the start area for a warm up session, lead by a national walker. Oops, sorry forgot his name. :)

It's not Yuan Yu Fang. Heheh!

Dr. SMS also joined in the wam up session. Looking very pretty at it too. The cameras just love him!

BTW, He is a part time model too. You can find his face on the Milo can. :)

Cool. Calm. Suave. Handsome (Insert your own adjectives here). I'm sure lots of girls...and aunties were smittened that morning! LOL!

Personally, he looked kinda weird doing stretching exercise in his smart leather jacket and long pants. "Tak panas ker?"

But the real question is...What was he warming up for? Heheh!

He didn't join the walk and soon left Taman Jaya not long after the walkers were set off.

Participants of the walkathon raced in a team of 4.

They had to make 3 loops around the lake.

Too bad they don't have a prize for the most "fashionable team". This black with batik team sure win-lah. :)

Some celebrities spotted - JD and Charmaine Poo. Yes...They did rounds like the rest fo the participants. Congrats!!!!

That should be the way. It was a WALK-athon. Not a WARM-athon! LOL!

Lucky draw prize????

Dream on! Heheh! It was the promo trailer for a local bank. You have to dump in a sum of money into the bank to be in the running for a draw to win this.

The walk was fun...well at least from a photographer point of view. :)

Lots of free food, lovely goodies bags, hampers for grab and fun games.

Not forgetting the charity part too. They raised some money for the Arthritis Foundation Malaysia.

Well done to Kordel's and Arthritis Foundation Malaysia! What a fantastic "JOINT" effort....Can't resist the pun. :P

Watch Dr. SMS shake to the beat here...Click PLAY.

ENJOY!

Note: Soundtrack - Pump It (Travis Barker Remix) by The Black Eye Peas.

Talentime Film Discussion with Yasmin Ahmad

What? Screening and Discussion of Talentime The Movie

Where? Pawagam Mini P. Ramlee, FINAS, Kuala Lumpur

When? 23 May 2009, 3:00pm

I rushed to FINAS in Hulu Kelang from 1-Utama after the Treadmill Challenge for this....

The Talentime movie was screened first before the discussion. Shame about the sound system but didn't have the heart to complain since it was free! :)

I have watched this movie in TGV KLCC once the movie was released late March this year. Have always been a fan of Yasmin Ahmad's movies since Sepet.

Yes....I even traveled all the way to Singapore to catch Muallaf. It was tagged as "The movie Malaysia may not get to see" in the promo posters. No one ever dared to touch the "sensitive" issues like religion the way Yasmin Ahmad did in the movie. She scored beautifully with this movie about love and forgiveness.

Who were in the discussion? - Prof Dr Wan Zawawi (Moderator), Yasmin Ahmad (Director), Mahesh Jugal Kishor (Actor) and Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad.

I found Yasmin very kelakar (funny), sharp and extremly witty. She had the audience roaring with laughter in many instances throughout the discussion. And when she spoke, everybody was like all ears! But of course you have to be fans to turn up for this event. :)

With all the International awards she won, she still claims that she doesn't know much about movie making. :) Very humble-lah this woman. :)

Special appearance by Hon Kahoe who played Kahoe in Talentime.

Why so serious?? Oh! She was listening to a very special woman....Guess who?

Azean Irdawaty!!!

Azean made a surprise visit halfway through the discussion. Wow!

Q & A in session. Movie buffs asked about babies, strawberries and then some.

The Movie Poster

Here are some video clips I took from the discussion.

I would like to thank Yasmin Ahmad for the permission to post these to YouTube.

Note: I used my digital camera to record these, so you might hear some whirring sounds made by the lens.

These were meant for own use but the clips are too good not to be shared!

Intro

Mahesh talks about how he was discovered for the movie.

Music - Yasmin talks about how she roped in the talented Pete Teo for the soundtrack. Also hear about why O Re Piya didn't get featured in the OST CD. Yasmin also cheekily provides an alternative to get O Re Piya-ed. ;)

Kahoe - erm, watch at your own risk, I don't even know what to say.

Azean Irdawaty - MUST WATCH! She recollects how she met Yasmin and get casted in Talentime. Find out why her character's name is renamed Embun.

Strawberries. Are strawberries dangerous?

Babies....Where did they come from?

Current & Future Projects......

After the discussion, we were treated with some kuihs and curry noodle.

I went up to Yasmin and asked her permission to post the clips to YouTube. She said OK. (Insert jumping for joy here! Yay!)

We talked briefly about Noah's Ark Animal Shelter. Initially I heard Yasmin was going to shoot her new movie there but due to some reasons, it will not happen after all. :(

She reminded me in Cantonese (this woman never fail to surprise me!) to send her the link to the YouTube clips before I left theater.

I must say that I am very excited about her next project - Go, Thaddeus!

Yasmin! If you ever need any extra as a runner in Go, Thaddeus...please consider ME! Heheh!

Standard Chartered Treadmill Challenge 2009

What? Standard Chartered Treadmill Challenge.

Where? HighStreet, 1-U Shopping Mall

When? 23 May 2009

Who? Sazzy Falak, Betty Banafi, Aishah Sinclair, Rina Omar & Nazril Idrus

The organiser of Standard Chartered KL Marathon is going all out to promote KL Marathon to the masses. A two day road show was held at 1-Utama Shopping Mall last weekend.

Since I was free on Saturday morning, I made my way to 1-Utama to catch some stars at the launch of the Treadmill Challenge.

What is a Treadmill Challenge?

The Treadmill Challenge, the first in the country, was set to last for 24 hours over the course of two days, where participants would run for five minutes each at the speed of 5km/hr. Easy peasy, right? Wonder why they called it a challenge. Heheh!

I personally think the real challenge is to get people to sign up for the marathon! LOL! Yeah....many of my friends prefer to lead a sedentary lifestyle and do not give an eff about exercise. (Sigh!)

At the start of the event, 5 local celebrities turned up....the husband and wife team of Nazril Idrus and Sazzy Falak, Aishah Sinclair, Betty Banafi and Rina Omar.

Seen here, they were warming up before the run.

Group pics with the Malaysia Book of Records people. First time in my life I see a certificate being presented before a record was set. Malaysia sure BOLEH! Heheh!

The girls are very flexible, eh?

Kannan Murugasan's bragging right T-shirt. He is the country only Ultraman finisher.....Wow! He was there as a trainer and to dissipate tips about running.

Nazril licking his lips....

Nazril licking his lips again....Hmmm...Dry lips? I dunno. Strange that both photo I took turned out that way....

Rina the most bubbly one. Little dynamite she is...

Betty Banafi...I'm sure it took a lot of effort to look so good in the morning, smiling to the camera while running on a treadmill! She's a pro!

Aishah Sinclair is doing it.

This is Zamil...a Malaysian Idol finalist turned TV Host.

Snazzy Sazzy!

Good...He's not licking his lip anymore. :P

See stars run....

Rina hanging tough!

Rina rocks!

More publicity shots. :)

After the stars, we in turn got to run on the treadmill. I found that 5km/ hr was too slow for me. So I increased the speed to 8km/ hr. :) No sweat!

I get a certificate of appreciation (with name printed on) and a can of 100plus for my effort.

OK...Now that 5 minutes "challenge" is done, the real event will be coming in a month's time.....Have you all signed up????

Check out the video...

Note: Soundtrack - Boom Boom Pow (Remix) - Black Eye Peas.

How many have signed up for KL Marathon? Hopefully many Malaysians will come and support KL Marathon.

You don't have to run 42km. Nobody can just roll out of bed one morning and decide to run a marathon. But a 10km is very doable.

Get fit not fat.

For more information about SCKLM, please visit.... http://www.kl-marathon.com/

The International AIDS Memorial Day 2009

What? International AIDS Memorial Day 2009

Where? Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Khidmat Usaha, Off Jalan Duta

When? 17 May 2009 (5:00pm onwards)

Who? Organised by Malaysian AIDS Council, JAKIM & Ministry Of Health Malaysia

I went off from Klang parade before the announcement of the winners from the Open Category. Rushed back to KL Sentral to catch the FREE bus to Masjid Wilayah for The International AIDS Memorial Day activities.

According to the announcement in Facebook event, free shuttle bus was provided at KL Sentral to the mosque and back. I went around searching for the said shuttle bus. Went to the Rapid Bus stop - nothing. Went to the Info counter - Zero info. No flyer. No signages.

Frustrated, I had no choice but to take a cab and it was not cheap! I could have turned back but I do not want to miss this opportunity to visit this mosque and witness for the FIRST time ever an AIDS memorial event like this being held in a mosque and non-muslims were invited for the event. Yes...the first!

The taxi driver was puzzled why me a non-Muslim doing at a mosque. I told him I was going there to take pictures. :)

This is my second time stepping my foot INTO a mosque actually. I think the first time was when I playing tourist guide to an American friend to National Mosque. Some mosques, like Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque in Johot Bahru does not allow non-Muslim to enter the mosque. Yes, they put big signboards to keep us out. :)

I arrived slightly lost! The place was huge and I did not have a clue where the event was held. The guards at the mosque were very helpful and pointed me to to the Dewan (Hall).

Masjid Wilayah is located on a 13.4 hectare piece of land near the government office complex of Jalan Duta, and was built by the Public Works Department, JKR at a cost of whopping RM255 million. Construction began on 15 March 1996, and was opened on 30 August 2000.

The mosque has a floor area of 47,000 square meters and the architecture is inspired by the Blue Mosque of Istanbul, Turkey. Check out those high ceilings of the prayer hall!

There were booths by several NGOs with information about HIV as well as several ongoing prevention programmes including the Needle and Syringe Exchange harm reduction programmes (NSEP).

Some of the exhibits by Drug Intervention Community (DiC) of Kuantan, Pahang. I met two volunteers from India, Andrew and Joshua at the forum later. Played the translator for them because the forum was held in Malay. I don't know how to explain the title of the forum - Bukan Salah Ibu Mengandung...:(

Vice-President of Malaysia AIDS Council (MAC) - Datuk Mohd Zaman Khan being interviewed. :)

A TV Forum was recorded in front of a live studio audience (me included) - Forum Perdana Ehwal Islam. Moderated by Ridhuan Lee Abdullah with panel members - Datuk Noh Gadut, MCA Executive Director - Bakhtiah Talhah and one "fierce" Ustazah...can't recall her name though. :)

Dayang Nurfaizah, our local popular singer who is a Red Ribbon Support Celebrity by the Malaysian Aids Council to spread the awareness of HIV and to help stop the stigma and discrimination.

This is Fahrin Ahmad, popular TV actor, also a Red Ribbon Celebrity. I saw Owen Yap (8TV) too at the forum but I couldn't locate him for a picture after the forum had dissipated. :(

I left after the forum. There were more events lined up - yassin reading and tahlil (prayer for the dead) with the Minister in PM's Department in attendance. I worried about getting transport hom from there. Had to walk to the main road to hail a cab to take me to Sentul Train Station....Sigh! No sight of the free bus service which was promised to be there.

I took some snippets of the forum. Check it out!