Quality of Dunhill Cigarettes Makes Me Want to Quit Smoking

The quality of cigarettes has been deteriorating. I was smoking Marlboros but due to the Dunhill conversation programme and also it’s higher quality, I switched to Dunhill.

Now, I find that the quality of Dunhill Red appalling. This may be due to the fake cigarettes flooding the market but as a loyal Dunhill customers, this is so discouraging especially for those who have been smoking it for decades. Twice so far in the last 2 months, I encountered people who bought a bad pack of Dunhills. Paul opened a new pack of Dunhill Reds to find that there were 16 sticks in the pack and at another time, a friend opened a new pack and found that the sticks were not rolled properly. See pic below.

Besides the low quality of Dunhill Reds, Dunhill D360 Menthol Lights are not fresh and neither are the Dunhill Fine Cut Menthol Lights. This could be attributed to less people smoking those variants which results in slower moving stock which causes the cigarettes to go stale. But if I’m going to pay a price that’s higher than normal premium cigarettes, I’d expect some sort of quality.

I’ve complained to several friends who work at BAT or have connections to the company but I’ve not received any follow up so far.

First, bad quality cigarettes. And now bad customer service follow up? This reflects extremely badly on BAT which I previously held in good light.

This is disappointing indeed.

I’ve since switched back to Marlboro. But the taste really isn’t as good as Dunhill.

So both Marboro and Dunhill (all it’s variants) suck. And I can’t smoke the value brands.

I enjoy smoking but all the cigarettes available in the market today either taste bad or are of bad quality. And I’m not going to pay good money for an inferior product.

I’m considering quitting smoking altogether.

Health reasons notwithstanding, it’s more about being ‘cheated’ by brands I used to love and was willing to pay good money for.

Holiday - Private Villas in Bali

I’m feeling sleepy. Very sleepy. It’s such a non-productive day at work. Well I’m in the office but I’m not working. My mind is stoning.

Doesn’t help that I was out till late on Wed at Clear & Thurs at Attic.

So Sin Cyn and I went for an aromatherapy foot massage in Urban Retreat at The Curve during lunch today. It cost RM39 for half hour and it was so worth it. I almost fell asleep. Now we’re planning to go for a 1 and a half hour full body massage the next time we are able to have a long lunch (massages are cheaper during working hours).

And talking about massages, I can’t wait to go to Bali and spend a few hours in spas everyday!

My holiday to Bali with Paul is finally confirmed! After several emails, calls and SMSes to Ashley of Nazar Travels, we’re going to Bali!

I’ve been to Bali several times but it’s still a place u can return to again and again as a holiday destination. It’s got so much to offer. I was contemplating between Bali and Samui during New Year but the good hotels in Samui have compulsory New Year Eve gala dinners which costs up to RM800 per person! And the peak season surcharge was high for both destinations

So we pushed it 2 weeks later which also coincides with our 1 year anniversary.

For RM1,800 each, we’re staying 3 nights in Villa Dedaun in Legian and 2 nights in Santi Mandala in Ubud. Each private villa is large and has its own pool.

I can’t wait to surf, get a tan, go for spas and sip cocktails every single day while we’re there!

Check out the pics of Villa Dedaun. The pics of the place was what sold me on Bali this time. Finally, no more tan lines ;)

Heineken Extra Cold Launch @ Velvet

Here are more pics. This time it's from the Heineken Extra Cold launch held at Velvet last night.

I looks like I'm partying but the beer team and I were there for work! Really! The client invited us to mingle, PR and try out the new beer.


With the Boobster and Lols.

The beer team and the client. We're missing Smallie aka Little Monster aka Smurfette.

With Sin Cyn and the Fairy.

Siew Yee of G2 loves Heineken! Helps that there was free flow that night.

The big bosses of Guinness Anchor Berhad and the Heineken girls.

Heineken in a ice casing. Some people were licking those ice cases while others were wiping their palms on it.

Close up of the new Heineken Extra cold bottles. These come in bottles and on tap. The liquid is exactly the same but it's made to be served at 0C - 3C whereas normal beers are served at 4C. This also makes the taste smoother and less bitter than the usual Heine. I'm not a beer person but i gotta say that this is quite yummy. Beer should never ever be served if it's not icy cold.

Saatchi & Saatchi is Agency of the Year!

Saatchi & Saatchi wins Agency of the Year at the Kancil Awards! By then, we were onto our 20th bottle of Moet and trying not to fall off stage though I heard that 2 people actually did that. Yes you do know who you are. I just can't find anyone who took a pic of it. I'll check the Adoi website since the photographers were lined up facing the stage.

And these are some of the pics from before the walk up onto stage and before the alcohol madness.


Cyn was bored in the car. We were stuck in a jam on the way to the Kancils which were held in Sunway Resort Hotel this year. No one likes this venue for the Kancils but i suspect that Shangri-La has banned us after the amount of damage done to cutlery, crockery, furniture, furnishings and people in the past few years.
We finally arrived! Cyn, Shell and I decided to take a shot before we got smashed. This is in the car park lobby.
The pre-party at Cafe Flam with Cindy & Adrian.
Cyn & I with the planners - Salt Boy who's left Saatchi (do u regret it now??!) and May Leen who's leaving soon.
The alcohol has begun to flow. Darren, Bubs, Kenny, Boobster & Dawn. Saatchi had 7 tables and each one had a few bottles of Moet. No wonder those from other agencies were hanging out with us!
Marsupial, Shell & I. Marsupial is bored. Your first Kancil is boring cos you don't know many people especially if you're in a smaller agency or one which isn't picking up a lot of metal. By the time u hit your 5th Kancil, you're jaded and bored. That's why the alcohol must flow! Then everything becomes fun again and everyone is your friend.
Cheryl the Smallie likes girls when under the influence. I'm not posting pics of her doing other stuff to girls cos I'm nice. Hehe!
Pic with Tina, my ex AD. Do u see Smallie the monster behind?
Sin Cyn & I with the bosses. They are not only important cos they are our bosses but cos they pay for the very many bottles of Moet, vodka & wine.
Darren the intern is the first casualty. Totally passed out.
Aaron is doing something strange to Passed Out Darren while Sin Cyn and Sin How eggs him on.
If only Passed Out Darren wasn't passed out. He'd have enjoy that. Okay maybe not the cheek pinching but the lap dance...?
Apparently Boobster and I always take a shot like this every Kancils.
Wow .... i look sober and this was at the after-party in Wabisabi.
This is a drunk Andrea. When we have pics like this, it always means we had a great night.


This is the first time I'm in an agency which won Agency of the Year. I'm so proud of Saatchi & the Guinness team! Go Saatchi!

Happy Halloween 2008! With Pics!

As promised, here are the pics from the Halloween Party.


Sin Cyn trying on the pirate cum Zorro type hat & mask.

I'm smiling under the mask!

Sin Cyn said I scared some old ladies walking around with a extra fluffy bright orange pumpkin wig.

Then 8 of us went Trick or Treating, unlike last year! More fun but it also means I get less candy! And here's my bounty. Lotsa sweets and candies, a few paper clips, a pack of chips, RM2+, one tennis ball and one pillow.

Guinness marks the start of the party in the office.

Mini Mouse makes an appearance. She's smoking tho. Not good for the Disney family image.

A fairy, not The Fairy in the dark.

A must for Halloween!

A fairy, pirate & pumpkin.
Pumpkin, fairy, Pinky and Smallie according to height

Casting a spell!

The devil and the gargoyle.

Superman!

Dunno who Boobster is trying to be.

And I don't know who this is.

There wasn't enough Guinness so Lara Croft got violet and took it out on a poor unsuspecting alkie.

Pinky just took it out on herself.

By the way this was a secret party and not many know we sneaked into the office so don't tell anyone!


Enjoy these pics. The office is closed for the afternoon so we can all prepare for the Kancils tonight. More (very drunken) pics will be posted up.

Happy Halloween 2008!

Happy Halloween! We're having a party in the office in the dark with a lot of alcohol right now. Pics to be posted up soon!

26 years old and like beer? Buzz me!

Who's up for a free drinking and makan session at my office in exchange for a 1 hour chat with you on your views on beer? We even have Guinness Draught in the office now!

The sessions will take place on Wed, 31 Oct and Thurs, 1 Nov at 7pm onwards.

In order to qualify, you need to be:

- Male

- 25 - 27 years old

- Blue and White collar

- Non advertising / PR / Media and alcohol industry related work background

- Chinese and Indian

- Heard of Guinness brand, tasted the drink but Guinness is usually not their first choice of drink. (We are not looking for regular Guinness drinkers in this instances).

If you meet the criteria above, please send me a note or buzz me.

If not, please pass the word to your friends. I'm sure they'd thank u for telling them about free beer.

I need names by tomorrow, Tues 30th Oct. please. Thanks!

Bubbles Has New Hobby

Bubbles has another hobby! And yes it’s a real hobby by the right definition.

Paul recently bought me a bear from Starbucks, from their Bearista Series. I was a bit skeptical at first since the green apron he was wearing states ‘MALAYSIA’ but I guess I can start with him first. As I travel and my friends travel to other cities, the collection of Starbucks Bearistas can grow.

So my new hobby is collecting Starbucks Bearistas!

He’s called MalBear. I’m going to name them with the first syllable of the city they are from followed by ‘Bear’. So a Starbucks bear from Phuket will be called ‘PhuBear’, Bali will be BaBear and so on. Much easier than giving them other names which I may forget if the collect grows to more than a dozen.

So instead of buying me magnets and key chains, you now know what to buy as a souvenir.

Looqy is in New York.

Choon Yeen is in London.

Gowri is in Melbourne

Cindy and Wendy are in Sydney.

Vy Wonn is in Hong Kong.

Lance, Gary Bar Slut, Papa Alf, George, Kenny and Reinti are in Singapore.

So that’s NewBear, LonBear, MelBear, SydBear, HongBear & SingBear!

And so many more friends from all around the world!

And that’s not a hint since I’m being up front about it.

Revelation 5

Revelation is happening again this weekend! But no I’m not going this time.

After what Revelation revealed last year, where:

- We got so drunk by 10pm that we almost didn’t make it to the rave.

- We lost half of our crew before we even entered the gates.

- One guy got into a fight with the bouncers and got his shirt torn so he had to walk around half naked.

- Another group who drove up from Singapore only to party for half an hour before the rave was shut down prematurely.

- One guy who tried to vault over the barrier in front of the stage, hoping to land on the stage, only to fly 5 feet into the air and land on his 2 front teeth, break them and also sustained a nasty gash on his shin which needed stitching in the hospital in the next state.

That was way too much drama for one party. Even by my pre-clubbing-retirement standards.

No Time

As Sin Cyn, Michelle Stays On The Seashore and I drove past Ikea, Sin Cyn commented that Ikea has named a book shelf after my wallaby, Billy.

I said that I have been so busy these days that I have been neglecting Billy.

Then Sin Cyn says that I’ve been neglecting Facebook.

Then Michelle Stays On The Seashore says that I’ve been neglecting myself.

Which is so true!

Work has been crazy these days and I’m extremely stressed. I’m handling 2 major campaigns with many small jobs in between. And there are 5 other major campaigns which will be briefed in soon.

On Monday, I thought it was Tuesday. Today is Thursday but I thought it was Friday. Time is warping for me.

After rushing like mad at work, I usually meet Paul for dinner, then go home to watch the telly, read a bit and sleep. That’s my day 5 days of the week.

I’m missing out on my reading. I’m now reading Haruki Murakami’s The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. At the rate I’m going, I’ll probably take one whole month to finish it.

Other things I would like to read are:

- newspapers which I get to read once a week and it’s usually a week old. So I rely on friends to tell me when something major haps happened.

- Newsweek to know about issues from around the world but I cancelled my subscription when I realized that I have 12 issues piled up, most of them still in their plastic envelopes.

- Adoi and Media but that’s the same situation of Newsweek. I’m in advertising but I hardly have time to read publications on advertising or even the ads in the papers which I’ve produced. Good thing we have a nice lady in the office who goes though the news papers everyday and cut out the ads which we did as well as the competitive ads. Or we’ll never manage to catch them.

- Motivational books such at the ‘Science of Success’ which I found to be interesting and have read the first few chapters but I’m not a how-too kind of book reader so it takes me even longer to finish a book.

- Other people’s blogs. But I don’t even have time to post on my own blog, what more read and comment on friend’s blogs.

I need to slow down. I need a holiday.

Now where will I find the time to plan a holiday?

From Clubbing to Parenthood in a Year

One year, we’re daring each other to down double shots, refusing to leave the club after closing because we want to dance some more ……. Or we’re dancing and drinking and have not realized that the club was closed an hour ago….. And the next year, we’re meeting up in the afternoon drinking chrysanthemum and soya bean, cooing and carrying our friends’ babies at other friends’ baby full moon parties.

I know I have, most of my friends have, retired from clubbing but this was almost a shock to the system to realized that in such a short time, the clubbing lifestyle which we have known and lived for so many years is so long behind us that if I turn around to look, I can hardly even get a whiff of stale alcohol and cigarettes nor hear clinking glasses and incessant laughter induced by one too many shots.

We club, we meet people, we hook up, and suddenly people are getting married and having kids. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea, the concept, the new lifestyle which I need to come to terms with.

It’s not that I miss clubbing. Far from it. These days, I almost dread it when I go into a club and have to accept being jostled around, bad service and drunken people around me either puking or starting a fight. Like Marsupial asked one day above the music so loud you have to yell at each other, “Why did we ever enjoy this?!!!”

I still relish the idea of clubbing, of how good it used to be. Of how I used to loved it. Of how my entire week never goes smoothly if I didn’t club on at least on day of the weekend.

Now all I want to do is stay home, read a book, watch DVDs and just hang out with Paul. Beside the age and finding a good partner, the domesticated lifestyle is also brought about by over clubbing. Clubbing for 15 years, 10 of it which were hard core over several times a week, can do that to you.

My friends who have retired from clubbing are off having babies. Chris A, the ex DJ in Viva, the club which was THE club of our clubbing era, has a baby boy who’s going to turn a year old in a few days. My best friend, Fruitcake has Isabelle who’s also my god daughter. Wendy does not have kids yet but is recently married and has been ready for babies for a long time now. We all just attended Sue Ann’s baby Kay Lee’s full moon party on Saturday. While being around my friends and their babies does not make my maternal instincts kick in (I suspect I do not have maternal instincts anyway), I know that things will never be remotely the same again.

Even Fruitcake talks to me differently now. She says that I’ll understand better after I have had by own kids. Isn’t that obvious? Having a baby is such a life changing, monumental event in a person’s life. And people who are non parents would never be able to experience the same emotions a parent is put through.

I guess what I’m saying is that I need to accept that there is a pattern in life. We grow up, go to school, make friends and promise we’ll be friends forever, leave them behind to go to college and university where we’ll make more friends, drink and club like these is no tomorrow, do a few stupid things and blame it on youth and the alcohol, graduate, go out to work, buy a car, and a house, make more friends, continue clubbing but in more sophisticated clubs drinking more sophisticated drinks, meet more people, asses them for life partnership, get married, have kids, bring them up, work hard to pay of the housing loan and the car loan and plan to save up half a million for the kid’s future.

Our kids will then repeat the cycle in similar fashion.

When I was 21, I opposed the idea of marriage. Now I’m buying bridal magazines and talking to people about their weddings, and planning to plan for one (note that I’m not planning for a wedding).

When I was 28, I still could not fathom having kids. Now I’m warming to the idea though I’ve not totally accepted it. People do it all the time so I ask myself, why would I want to have a child? And no matter that I come up with and who I ask, all the reasons seems really selfish to me.

“I like babies”? - Well they do grow up to be fully grown adults and we know from experience that not all of them are going to be cute or remain cute. There’s a lot to be said about cuteness.

“It’s the thing to do” – Say’s who? Society? Is society going to take care of you when you’re feeling deranged and about to break down at 3 in the morning because the baby has been crying all night and you don’t know what’s wrong? Or when you want to send your kid to the best university but can’t afford it?

“So that they can take care of me when I’m older” – Now, this I find is the most selfish reason of all. Besides, I real doubt the family unit, even in Asia, is going to retain such high filial piety. You’re gonna need to work hard to pay off those loans, bring the kid up, put the kid though university and then start saving up for your own retirement. And that is if you only have one kid.

Okay this is me, pre-motherhood talking. I’m sure my views will change in a few years.

Just like how I could not get though a weekend of not clubbing and now I dread it, perhaps in the next few years, I’ll also find my own answer to the creation of life during the journey of parenthood, in the next few stages in the pattern of life.

Losing 15 Mins Every Day & Night

It feels like I loose 15 minutes every morning and evening night.

I wake up at 9am, potter around a bit while getting ready for work. I look at the clock again and it’s 9.30am. I gather my stuff, check that I have everything and I leave the house and walk to my car. When I get it, I look at the clock at it states “09:45”. It couldn’t have taken me 15 minutes to ride the lift and get to my car!

And at night, at about midnight when I’m ready to get into bed, I slide in and cover myself with the duvet, get comfortable and look at the clock and it’s 12.15am!

Where do those first and last 15 minutes of my day go to?

It’s a phenomenon. Like when you put a load of laundry into the machine. At the end of the cycle, you have all your clothes minus one sock. So what happened to the other sock? It’s one of those unexplainables.

Happy Birthday to the September Babies

September is finally over and very soon I’ll be paying my debt for birthday presents for all the September babies.

To Fruitcake, Harry, Kenny, Dale, Lola, Dawn, Michelle, Ling, Kit, Hau, Olivia, Regina, Melissa, Teoh, Shalimin, Annie and Flo. Happy birthday all!

It’s not surprising that there are more September babies than any other months since Christmas and New Year and the year end holiday season is 9 months earlier.

What is surprising is why there aren’t even more.

Many of my friends can pin point exactly when their kids were conceived. Christmas, New Year and Labour Day holidays seem to be months of high conception.

Proscratinating in the Office

Today has been a day of procrastination. There’s a long list of things to do but we all don’t want to do it.

We’ve been racing our Spring Treat My Little Ponies and squeaking our tortoises instead. It’s definitely a whole lot more fun than doing up projected costings and writing creative briefs.

Right now there is a whole bunch of people shouting and chasing each other with a blow up baton as well as a real metal baton. There’s also a lot of shouting. I have no idea what’s going on.

But shouting and chasing is a distraction and an excuse for more procrastination.

Our My Little Ponies. Yeah they are all Spring Treat cos Mc D didn't have the other 3.

My tortoise.

Michelle Stays On The Sea Shore's Tortoise.

Sin Cyn's Tortoise.

Our tortoise. They all make different pitched squeaking sounds!

Happy Birthday Paul

Happy birthday to my darling Paul!

Hope you enjoyed the drinks, presents and company during the celebrations on Saturday, last night and more to come tonight!

2 Hour Passport Renewal

For all the short comings of our country which includes:

- racial discrimination which we’re not supposed to talk about

- our weak currency which means our holidays are confined to a handful of neighbouring countries unless we want to spend 2 months of salary on 4 days of holiday

- demolition of buildings with cultural or historical significance

- the mortal danger we’re exposed to be it in our homes, in our cars and in the streets which is getting worst each day

among many other gripe we have but have learnt to live with.

Today, my experience at the immersion department warrants a big fat brownie point to our country and the government service in my books.

I went to the Immigration Department at 9am today with Michelle Stays On The Sea Shore (formerly known as Michelle Shell) to renew our passports. We lined up in front of machines in a room called KIPPAS for about 20 minutes before it was our turn.

We then placed our old passports into a slot and slipped our MyKad into another slot. Then we scanned out thumb prints and clicked a few buttons on the touch screen and inserted RM300 after which a receipt was produced.

The friendly officers in the room were smiling and happily told us to collect our passports on the first floor of the building in 2 hours.

2 hours?!! But we used to wait one whole week to collect our passports. Could this be true? Could the government system improve that much within the last few years? Sure I heard of the automated system a few years ago but there were so many problems at launch.

Hoping for the best and still feeling skeptical, Michelle Stays On The Sea Shore and I went to Starbucks for coffee and cigarettes and 1 ½ hours later, trotted back to the Immigration Department, got a number and got our passports within 10 minutes!

Which means from the time of completed submission and full payment, we received our passport in UNDER 2 hours.

Malaysia, specifically the government sector, can actually be efficient.

I’m totally amazed.

The Meeting Is Over

And I’m done. Yup, it’s a 10 minute meeting for which we have to get up really early to read from a piece of paper. The only upside is that we get breakfast. Today’s was sandwiches only though. And I was looking forward to some mee siam or quiche.

Due to the gloomy weather, less than half the people showed up for the meeting.

If one is late, one will be charged RM10 which goes into a kitty which either goes to charity or for a big party at the end of the year.

On days like this, I think I rather pay the RM10 for another 1 hour in bed.

But I’m too responsible an employee for that. The guilt will ensure I won't be able to enjoy the extra hour in bed. Then the RM10 would not be justified.

What a start to the day.

Stay In Bed Monday Morning

Mondays are terrible enough. It’s much worst when we’re all forced to be in the office by 8.30am to read a stupid piece of paper which states the status of our jobs which we filled in ourselves on Friday and sent to the managers, only to reiterate it on Monday morning to the entire team who is not bothered by any one else’s job but their own.

It’s a gloomy, rainy Monday! We should all be in bed right now.