Boh Tea Plantation, Cameron Highlands

On a recent trip to Cameron Highlands, we frequented the Boh tea plantation again. But this time, with the benefit of hindsight, we only visited at close to 16:00 hrs. This way, we would avoid the traffic on our way out.

Unfortunately, 16:00 hrs was too late a time to go. We would have had a chance to wander around and see more if we had visited an hour earlier, but we were kinda busy with the strawberry scones at The Lord's Cafe.

 Proof that tea leaves can work as well as flowers as a way to a girl's heart ...

Still, I think that everybody enjoyed themselves. And at the end of the day, that's really all that matters when it comes to holidays.

say cheese !

Felix Baumgartner - 128,100 ft skydive. Wow !

He's been in the news. He must have caught a lot of imagination. To jump from that high - the mind boggles. Wow !

128,100 feet.
To dive from that high is already astounding. To achieve a maximum speed of Mach 1.24 ?



Let's not leave Red Bull out of this. Felix Baumgartner is faster than Sebastian Vettel.
Not. Even. Close.

Tan Hong Ming in love - the Petronas ad that nearly wasn't

I've been reading "How you know ?", a book written about famed Malaysian director/advertiser Yasmin Ahmad. There are snippets and insights into what seemed a pretty unique woman.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read that she had publicly given up her government scholarship once she found out that she got it partly because of her bumiputra status. In an age when taking what is rightfully mine - taking what I think should be mine (even if it isn't) - taking what is yours but I'm making it mine anyways - what Yasmin did is practically unheard of.

Then the bit about Tan Hong Ming in love -  the ad that was a Gold Winner at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2008 - and how they had already stopped filming Tan Hong Ming after he said that his best friend is a boy who wears a songkok. The entire final ad uses footage that was filmed simply to humour Tan Hong Ming, who kept following them even after his bit was done. They put the camera on him and Yasmin asked "Do you have a girlfriend ?" and the rest of the ad flowed out. Totally unscripted. Quite amazing, when you think of it.

Ian Poults for the Ryder Cup at Medinah

"We've revised the qualifications (for the Ryder Cup). It's nine spots, two picks and Poults."
- Lee Westwood

4 for 4 this weekend. 12 of 15 overall record in the Ryder Cup.

You've got to hand it to Ian Poults. He may never win a major, and lots of people may not like him or his image or his character or his clothes -  but stick him in the Ryder Cup and the guy will roar like an English lion....  And bring his A+ game to back it up.

The Ryder Cup makes for compelling TV viewing. Strange to say since I don't watch any other golf programme or event on TV or video or anything, really. But I've watched the last two Ryder Cups and I can confirm that it is right up there in the top echelon of sports TV.

Maybe it's because golf is a game that piques my mind. The possibilities, variables, strategy and the need to translate all that into the physical ...... it's a game that I find interesting.

Maybe it's because the players and the crowd and the TV audience are so obviously keyed in. Maybe it's because there are 24 millionaire golfers who are essentially playing for pride and little else - sports in it's purest form. Maybe it's the excitement, tension, potential .... whatever it is, I'll be waiting for the next edition in two years time.