Then, besides my assignment deadlines, I had a few articles to write as well. I’m still doing some writing for Going Places magazine, and of course, there is my monthly What The Tweet and Tale of Two Cities in R.AGE and The Star Metro respectively. Then, in early May, the masochist in me added another deadline in the form of Olympic City.

I first pitched the column to my former bosses back at The Star a couple of months ago. I wanted to capture London from a more lifestyle perspective regarding the Olympics, instead of a sports focus that we’re bound to see a lot of. I figured that I was in a unique position to do this considering I am living here and am myself pretty excited about the games.

Those of you who read the print edition of The Star won’t see the articles though. Instead, it is available exclusively on The Star’s iPad edition. You can download the app here. My column started on May 4, and runs weekly on Fridays. So if you haven’t already read it, make sure to download the May 4, 11 and 18 columns (so far) and every Friday from now on.

Those of you without the iPads … well, I’ve posted some of the older ones up in my portfolio so you can check it out too. But please support the iPad edition and download it from there if you have the device.

I hope you enjoy the columns. Would be great to hear from you guys what you think of it, and what kinds of stories you would like to read considering I am writing for an audience who doesn’t live in London. Brickbats and bouquets all accepted!

p/s I promise to blog more often now that I have a bit more time on my hands.

12.09am Greenwich Meridian Time

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you would know that one of my biggest enjoyments in life is travelling. I have always made it a plan to travel whenever I can. I think this is something I picked up from my parents, who took us on trips all the time since me and my sisters were kids.

However, since I moved over to London last September, I technically haven’t been anywhere. There was that short trip home for Chinese New Year, but I don’t think that counts. So when my friend Mike suggested that I tag along on a trip he had arranged with his friends Hannah, Ash and Laura, I quickly bought my tickets and crashed their Easter weekend plans!

This trip to Berlin was not my first to Germany – I have been to Frankfurt previously, as well as a smaller city somewhere many years ago as part of a European tour my family and I went on. Still, I don’t think I soaked up much of Germany on those previous trips. This one, however, was totally different and I totally enjoyed it.

We had four days and stayed at the Holiday Inn slightly outside of the city. But with the efficient U-Bahn and S-Bahn commuter system, and the tram (as pictured above), it was really easy getting around. Oh, and people drink every where too … even on the trains. You know what they say, when in Germany, drink beer on train like everyone else. So we did.

But it wasn’t the beer drinking (although there was a lot of that during the trip) that was the highlight for me.

What I could really feel about Berlin was how recent the history was. Like most of us, I am vaguely familiar with Berlin’s “recent” history. But it wasn’t until I got there that I really felt it. I can’t believe that World War II was in my father’s lifetime, and that the fall of the Berlin Wall was during mine. It all seems so long ago, yet when you think of it, it’s not.

The picture above is of me and Mike at the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. The concrete blocks filled up a whole area. From a far, it looked pretty morbid. Up close, it looked a bit scary and maze-like. I’m not sure what the creator of the design had meant but it really set a sombre tone. But it really was the museum under the memorial that got to me. We only spent a couple of hours there, but emotionally, I was exhausted.

Over those few dyas, we did several touristy things. We visited the Brandenburg Gate in the pouring rain, and we also popped over to see the Reichstag. We also made a trip to Check-point Charlie. Of course, we had to see the wall. I wasn’t even sure that the wall would still be up. I imagined there would be bits of it still up as part of a memorial but I did not expect to see this amazing 1.3km of wall with meaningful and beautiful art work on it.

The tour guide told us that various artists from around the world were invited to pain something on their respective section based on the theme of freedom/liberation, in line with the fall of the wall. I took many pictures, and many were beautiful but this one above really stood out for me. I’ve since used it as my Facebook cover picture as well.

The tour that we took was the Alternative Berlin Tour and our guide was named Amy (she was a Brit). Basically, the tour took us to see a different part of tour compared to the usual tourist spots. One of the stops, my favourite among the many we made, was at Tacheles. We had encountered it as we headed over to the meeting point, and it immediately caught my (our?) attention so we stopped to take some pictures.

We found out later from Amy that Tacheles is the last remaining “alternative” art space in the area that was formerly East Berlin. Apparently, after the fall of the way, many of the derelict building were turned into art spaces but commercialism had reared it’s ugly head and most of the buildings have been taken over for commercial purposes. She told us that Tacheles is going through a legal case at the moment, and might not be around in a couple of weeks. I do wonder if that’s tour guide speak only though, to make us feel special that we managed to see it before it came down.

We also made a visit to the Tommy Weisbecker Haus (above) and many other buildings with lots of graffiti all over. Among the ones she brought us to was a housing building where the pillars at the based of the building were painted with pictures of, we were told, faces of residents. It was a community project aimed at bringing people together after a horrible incident (rape) occurred in that area. I loved the story because I personally believe that art can be therapeutic.

But it wasn’t just these buildings that had graffiti. The whole city seems like a giant canvas. I really liked that because it showed a lot of character and I always found street art to be a liberating form of self-expression. I may not be an artist, but street art is one of the few forms I like to see. That said, the whole city had character – not just the walls of buildings but even the people. The style of dressing was unique, and I found myself constantly distracted by something different, like this person just sitting down randomly under the bridge watching cars drive past.

Berlin was a short and enjoyable trip. There is something about the city, a certain energy and buzz that I can’t describe. I would like to visit again, but I also think it’s important who you have for company. I have the most amazing time with Mike, Ash, Hannah and Laura so I was really lucky. We saw a lot of things, ate a lot, walked even more and partied quite hard as well. German techno is mindblowing.

I was really tired by the end of the trip, and although this picture was taken on the second day, it really reflects how I felt by the end of the trip. There was a little bit of tiredness, slightly emotional, some bits of awe and constantly surrounded by art and culture. Good trip, indeed.

p/s More pictures on my Flickr page.

12.13am Greenwich Meridian Time

If you’ve ever heard any of my talks on digital culture, you would know that Twitter is my social network of choice. There are many reasons for this but one of the main ones is that Twitter has connected me with people that I would never in my life have imagined I’d speak to.

Early this morning, that number hit 10,000 people (not including those that I am following and have spoken to in passing). I’m not one to make a big deal about my social media numbers but even I would admit that 10k followers on Twitter is pretty special. So I thought I’d “commemorate” the occasion with a blog post – to pay tribute to the social network that has in many ways changed my life, and to thank some people who have been with me along the way.

My love affair with Twitter goes back to 2008 when I first signed up for it. For a few months, I experimented with this new “micro-blogging” tool but in Malaysia then, it didn’t have such a huge impact. By the end of the year, however, it had started making waves worldwide and the number of Malaysians who started Twittering was increasing quickly.

By early 2009, it was all the rage, and I had for a while been pushing for R.AGE, the youth section that I was working in, to engage with readers using the platform. At the height of Ashton Kutcher and CNN’s challenge to each other to get more followers (remember that?), the editors at The Star decided that we needed to write about this new platform. I volunteered to do that story, which became a cover story on StarMag, the then-Sunday lifestyle section.

I would say that writing that article was the tipping point. A couple of then-acquaintances (people I had only connected to on Twitter, who I know consider good friends) tweeted about how I had brought Twitter mainstream in Malaysia. It was a big compliment but make no mistake, writing that article led me to great opportunities.

I have since met people who told me that they joined Twitter because of that article. The perk is that many of them, of course, started following me and my profile as a “prolific Twitterer”, as I have been called, escalated. But because many people don’t know how to refer to someone who tweets a lot, I started getting introduced as a blogger and that too, made a huge impact in my life.

It was after that article was published, and people realised the “social influence” that I was perceived to have, that I started getting invited to judge competitions and give talks on social media and journalism. These invitations would keep coming for many years after that, and I have had the privilege of speaking at the same events as a former prime minister, guest lecture at universities and appear as a panelist on talk shows on TV, radio and podcasts. I was even interviewed for a BBC radio show about social media and politics in Malaysia.

Perhaps the most memorable one would be when the PR Association of Malaysia invited Dr Michael Netzley who is based in Singapore to speak, and I was invited give a talk alongside him, and moderate a panel on social media, titled Confessions of a Twitter Addict.

(You can watch the second and third parts here if you like)

That same year – 1999 – I was bestowed some amazing honours: I was one of August Men magazine’s inaugural Men of the Year for Social Networking and Martell VSOP awarded me with Media Personality of the Year (a peer nominated award, which made it extra special). There were a few other accolades after – a dubious Top Twitterer in Malaysia public voting campaign (in which I came in second), being featured in a reality TV shows about the life so bloggers called Project Alpha, another Men of the Year honour from M2 magazine and I was listed by Time Out magazine, alongside my good friends Carmen Soo and Jonson Chong, as one the five Twitterati of Kuala Lumpur. I even won a car in a blogging competition and PayPal even wrote me a song!

The best part about this was being able to put my personal experience and knowledge to practice at work, and the R.AGE team worked very hard at making sure we were always engaged on social media. The icing on the cake has got to be the Best in Social Media award we won last year at the Asians Digital Media Awards 2011.

I was also extremely proud of hosting a Pecha Kucha event last year with the British Council where I brought eight people from various industries/backgrounds to talk about how social media has impacted their lives and work.

But for me, it wasn’t all about work and pleasure. One of the strongest appeal of Twitter for me is that it affords the potential to use social media for social good. Some of the campaigns I’m most proud of is being named a Digital Ambassador for the Power over Cervical Cancer campaign (I would continue to work with the National Cancer Society of Malaysia for its Relay for Life event), the #AIDSaware campaign and most significantly, Twestival.

In our first year of organising Twestival KL, me and some friends (a couple of whom I had first met via Twitter) managed to raise over RM11,000 by mobilising the Malaysian Twittersphere for a home for juvenile delinquents in Klang. The year after, I joined the Twestival Global team as the Regional Coordinator for Asia, and continued in that role until the last Twestival event.

My Twitter profile also gave me the opportunities to speak and engage to many young people at various events in the area of youth development, something that I am very passionate about.

As I sit here in London, I wonder how much of my life currently would be what it is if not for the opportunities that have come my way after I joined Twitter. Yes, I put in a lot of hard work over the years as well, and I have had support from an amazing number of people, but I think it would be wrong to deny that Twitter had a big impact in the trajectory of my life.

I can’t thank everyone individually, but I hope that you all know how grateful I am to have you guys with alongside me on this wonderful journey. Thanks for helping me hit the 10,000 mark and I hope that you’ll continue to enjoy the content I create and help move as much as I enjoy the conversations and engagements we have (and will continue to have, I’m sure). I also look forward to learning more each day from all of you, as I have for the past four years.

11.23pm Greenwich Meridian Time

So, last night, I finally got to watch Kylie Minogue live in concert, thanks to the generosity of my friend Leigh.

Picture by Adrian/Acediscovery from Flickr under Creative Common License.

If I was going to be completely honest, just a week ago, I didn’t even know she’s performing in London. I’ve heard of her Anti Tour, which is held in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of her first hit Locomotion, but I didn’t know the dates.

My friend Leigh was kind enough to invite me along with him. Unfortunately, in the end, he couldn’t make it but treated me to the concert anyway. I took my friend Joe along.

Now, while I have heard about the Anti Tour, it didn’t occur to me until the day before the concert that I wouldn’t get to hear her hits. The Anti Tour is dubbed B-Side, Demos and Rarities, which hints at the kinds of songs that she’ll be singing. Still, I was pretty pumped up – after all, how often does one get to watch Kylie?

I was even more excited because I was pretty bummed out that she was scheduled to perform in KL last month (although that didn’t happen due to organizational issues) when I wasn’t back home.

I’m not going to share any pictures I took because they were all, well, crap. It’s hard to take shots of a concert (due to the lighting) from an iPhone, and I thought we wouldn’t be allowed cameras in (that’s what concerts back home are like!) so I didn’t bring my good one along.

Anyway, I digress. I promised Leigh I would blog about the concert so here it is.

First things first, I only knew three to four songs (and even then it was vaguely familiar). Still, that didn’t stop me from really enjoying the concert. In fact, even though the concert was pretty much stripped down (no fancy costumes, just a band and some backup singers), the entertainment quality was top notch.

In fact, I found myself wondering how she didn’t have more hits if these songs were so good and enjoyable to listen … live!

It was a bit strange when she came on stage in just a T-shirt, shorts and very ‘blinged’ shoes and hat. Other than a different hat and top during the encore, she didn’t change at all (although she did remove the hat midway through the show).

I think that because of the stripped down feel, the concert felt very cozy – almost like a bar performance - even though it was at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo. The only fancy thing in the show, production wise, was the lights. I really loved the effects and it gave us a touch of the Kylie camp that we’ve come to expect from her.

Joe and I were seated at the upper circle but still, there was a good connection with her. We could see her quite well (no need for binoculars!) but I think credit has to be given to her for great rapport. She joked, laughed and connected well with the audience. At one point, she dropped her lyric sheets (she needed some help I guess, seeing as these aren’t her usual routine of songs) but the crowd sang along and helped her through it.

She apologised and thanks everyone for helping her through – but she was so sincere, no one took any offense!

It did feel like she was really, as Joe put, “bogan-ed it up” – she sounded more Australian than I’ve ever heard her from all the interviews I’ve heard and watched! Maybe because she’s had such a close connection to the UK that she overcompensated her “Aussieness”. I actually turned to Joe and said – gosh, she sounds so much like Dannii (her sister, for those of you not in the know – this reference is for you Leigh)!

By the end of the night, even I didn’t want the concert to end (of course, all the beer and me dancing just got me into a really partying mood). I left feeling quite amazed to be honest – as I said when I live tweeted for R.AGE from the concert – it really takes a special kind of artist to be able to do a tour solely on b-sides, demos and rarities and get away with it. She even said at the end that there were dozens more songs she could do that would fit the theme.

Considering how many hits she’s had, it must be one heck of a discography.

Thanks again Leigh (SUYL)!

12.28am Greenwich Meridian Time

I know I said this about autumn when I blogged about winter.

But seriously, how can you not love spring?

1am Greenwich Meridian Time

There is only one way to describe how I felt all day today – shattered.

The picture above was taken at my Uncle Doug (ku poh’s only son) and Aunty May’s house a couple of years during Chinese New Year. This is the last photo I took with ku poh, seated next to my sister on the left, I think although I did manage to see her at Chinese New Year when I was back in January.

Ku Poh was particularly special to our family. Besides the fact that Uncle Doug lived with us for a few years – and as such, we were exceptionally close – ku poh was always right there from the start. My sisters have more memories with her than I do from the stories they have shared with me in the past, but that is expected I guess, considering that they are both older than me.

Still, I have extremely fond memories of her. For one, she was an amazing cook. We would look forward to her, as kids, coming over now and then to whip up an amazing meal for the family. She knew exactly what dad loved and was ridiculously meticulous with her cooking. As I remember, she never once used a blender – everything had to be pound, diced of julien by hand. And each piece was always the same size.

Ku poh Nona also loved photographs. She would collect stacks and stacks of them from any event – birthdays, weddings, festivals – and keep them in albums or wrapped properly in old newspaper. I always looked forward to whenever she would take a couple of stacks out whenever we visited her, and everyone would sit for hours laughing at each other’s childhood pictures and trying to decipher who’s who.

She had a heart of gold too, although she could be really strict. My sister remembers how she would always complain, when we upset her, by saying, “Cekik darah!”. I was most afraid of her chice for punishment when I was younger, she would pinch my hands really hard. As if to warn me, she would always preface the action with, “Gua cubit lu eh!”

As with many relatives, we didn’t see very much of her as we grew older. Everyone gets busy with our own lives, she had grandchildren to take care off and was would commute between her children in two countries, and siblings in a different state. Still, every time we saw her, she wanted to know what we were up to and was very proud of us.

I will miss her terribly and my heart still breaks every moment I think of her since I heard the news this morning.

Goodbye, ku poh, and rest in peace. Lots of love from London.

12.25am Greenwich Meridian Time

I’ve not shared a video in a while. I was just watching this before I went to bed tonight, and I just HAD to share it. More important words has never been spoken. And while Bryan Stevenson speaks from an American context, I think his ideas and thoughts will resonate around the world, Malaysia included.

Enjoy, and be inspired.

12am Greenwich Meridian Time

This morning was pretty eventful for me as I joined hundreds of other students standing in the cold outside our university waiting for the arrival of a special guest. The other students who were there, I’m assuming, were invited because we were scholarship recipients from the university.

I didn’t arrive too early so I didn’t get to stand where they are in the picture above (don’t think they got much of a better view than I did though) but at least I didn’t stand as long as they did in the cold. Having said that, it wasn’t particular chilly outside today.

The occasion was the launch of King’s College London’s new school wing at the Strand campus. Since I’ve arrived last September, I’ve noticed that they had been renovating the building next door – the East Wing of the renowned Somerset House.

When I got the email invite a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t sure what the arrangements were. I suspected we were just there to greet her quickly, but a big part of me (admittedly) was hoping we’d actually get to meet her. I’m not a royalist per se (although I grew up being terribly fascinated by Diana, Princess of Wales) but it would have been quite a thrill to meet her, and what a story it will be to add to my adventures living in London?

Alas, it was not to be. When she arrived (a couple of minutes after she was scheduled to), it caught everyone by surprise. Most people around me scrambled for their cameras by the time her car had entered the gates and didn’t have time to get any good shots as the car went past us.

In fact, I didn’t get a shot of her at all (not even her hat!). I tried later to get a shot as she was leaving (everyone was trying to get the front of the car, so I positioned my camera at window level to try and get a shot of her) but pressed the button too soon.

It’s a good thing then that I managed to get a video of her car coming in, although you can’t really see her too well. Still, I guess it’s better than nothing!

Yup, the car just went past us, then someone opened the door and she walked straight in (I didn’t notice her turn around to wave at anyone unfortunately!). It was, for a lack of better term, pretty anti-climactic. Everyone had been standing there for a while only to have it all over in les than 15 seconds.

In fact, when everyone got over the shock of her just walking out of her car and into the building, there was a slight laughter that went through the crowd, which translated probably said: “Are you kidding me?”

We were then told that if we wanted to catch a glimpse of her, we should head over to the Somerset House entrance where her car will be exiting. Except that when we walked out, we were told that all gates and doors have been locked and we cannot get out. It was pretty funny. Imagine, all of us who had the invite wanting to get out and everyone inside, wanted to get out to see what was going on.

Still, it was a nice experience. At least I got the opportunity to “see” the Queen, even if I didn’t get to meet her. Hey, it’s part of my London experience, no?

Having said that, I did get to meet her car. Consolation prize?

11.26pm Greenwich Meridian Time

In case you’re not sure what I’m going on about, the Home Ministry has banned the sale of Peter Mayle’s book called Where Did I Come From? on the grounds that, according to a report by The Star, “it could be detrimental to society’s morals and of public interest.”

Truth be told, I didn’t even know what the book was about. But seeing the tweets yesterday mentioning the title of the book with the word “ban”, I could forge a guess. And then I let out a deep sigh.

I then went on to Amazon to find out about the book and found that it was only £4.40, so I ordered it (I also get free shipping) to see what the fuss is all about. Now, having read it (thank you, one day delivery!), I still don’t see what the fuss is.

Yes, I will agree, the topic can be embarrassing to some. In fact, the author even acknowledges this. In his dedication, he wrote:

“For Simon, Nicholas, Christopher, Jane and red-faced parents everywhere.”

I can totally understand that, of course. Sex can be a very private matter and it is hard for some parents to talk to their children about this. But that is exactly what this book is for. It is marketed as “first-aid for parents”, so it was written to help them with the very difficult task of talking to their children about the birds and the bees.

I am thinking back to when I was much younger and I would think that this book would have been most helpful considering the fact that my parents never spoke to me about sex, and that my teachers in school were not even comfortable talking about sexual reproductive organs (even in secondary school, and they totally skipped a whole chapter from our syllabus!).

The fact is that sex education is terribly important. Research has shown that having access to such knowledge is not only important to protect young people, but could save lives as well. And already we don’t have proper sex education in school, now we are banning a book that can help us address this issue?

I also take offense to the moral policing that our government is taking on our behalf without looking at the larger context of things.

Abdul Rahim was quoted to have said:

“If the contents are found have elements that could harm the moral of the community, we would ban it.”

By whose values are were gauging this by, Sir?

UMNO also got into the fray. It’s Youth wing Community Complaints Bureau chairman Datuk Muhd Khairun Aseh noted that the book was stocked in the children’s section at book stores.

I can agree that this might be a mistake on the store’s part. The book appears to help parents with dealing with their children’s issues so maybe it should be placed in the parenting section instead. I can understand that. I can even appreciate if the shelves where these books are placed is labelled with a warning that the book is not suitable for kids below a certain age group to read without adult consent.

I think that these are reasonable suggestions and are more positive and pro-active than a simple blanket ban.

But what I cannot agree with Muhd Khairun was his statement about the “degree of obscenity” being “too much” because the illustrations show the make and female genitalia. Are we then going to ban text books in school as well?

Never mind that its bad enough that our Government – the people we elected to power – is telling us what we can or cannot read, but I find it almost insulting that we are expected to have to live with such narrow views on what is to be considered obscene. In all seriousness, do we really think that anyone is going to have a personal jolly time looking at the cartoon pictures of a man with his penis showing, and a woman with breast?

I think people can get more thrills from watching a music video on TV (never mind the easy access to pornography these days).

Are people so free that they have nothing else to do but complain about the most trivial of matters? I understand that some people in the public may have complained about this (it’s our national pastime after all; that and lodging police reports) but surely, we have to look at the larger picture before just acting on the whims of some?

When are we going to stop reacting to things in a negative manner, and find more positive ways to address issues, especially those that have benefits for greater good?

12.12am Greenwich Meridian Time

The flashmob was called #fakewatergun fight and what we basically did was plan a, well, fake water gun fight in the middle of Jalan Bukit Bintang one random day. Having said that, I think many of the others involved in this project will agree with me in saying that this is probably the most extensive we had planned for a flashmob in all these years.

I won’t tell you too much about it because the video is finally out! Have a look of it and see what you think!

There is also a behind-the-scenes video so you can see what we usually get up to in the planning stages of our flashmob.

Anyway, if you enjoyed that, and thought it was fun, you might want to check out this new one that RandomAlphabets is planning. I’m a bit bummed out that I can’t be there for this but I’ll look forward to seeing the video. This is one event that will look great with more people so please go for it, and drag your friends and family members as well.

I’m not trying to be biased but I’ve only ever had good fun while taking part in RA’s events so I’m thinking you’ll have a great time as well. Let me know how it goes!

Click on the picture above for the details!

11.47pm Greenwich Meridian Time