ADV: KDU College Open Day

A couple of weeks ago I was invited back to KDU College as part of their Open Day.

The college told me that I had to speak to a couple of Form 5 students about what to expect after high school.

I had no idea what to talk about. So I asked my Twitter followers what is the biggest thing that happened to them after high school.

One person said “losing his virginity”.

Well, I can’t possibly say THAT in front of parents and students!

Instead, I told them how instead of choosing something traditionally “safe” like medicine or engineering, it is more important to do something they like. When choosing a college course, it is vital to think of it as something they don’t mind doing for the rest of their lives.

Nowadays people can become “celebrities” in not just entertainment, but also in cooking, interior design and *cough* blogging. As long as they have the passion for it, success and money shall naturally follow.

“The moral of the story is. Choose something YOU want to do. Not something your parents want you to do.”

A couple of parents in the audience were giving me evil eyes after I said that.

But it’s true what! How many of us regretted engineering because our parents never told us how incredibly boring it is!

Obviously, if you get a kick out of problem-solving and looking at electrical wires, then this career option is for you.

But if you’re clumsy as a clown like me…

Then you might wanna go for something safer.

Anyway, it was nice to enter an engineering lab again after studying it for 5 years at university. It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten how to use a multimeter already.

This one doesn’t work. I think spoil already.

If engineering is not for you, you might wanna do other fun stuff.

Like mass communications.

Or even law.

DSC_7701

At KDU College, the law lecture theatre is designed like a courtroom. The lecturer who showed us around is a hot chick lawyer who carries around an LV handbag.

Personally, I can never do law.

Some people are born to do law. Some people, like me, can only do this.

I dunno what I was doing but I’m pretty sure it’s against the law.

KDU College’s biggest strength is still in its School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts.

Previously, I only had the chance to discover a bit about what they have to offer. This time round I got to learn so much more.

The culinary arts course at KDU is still very popular and it’s not difficult to see why.

The college employs very experienced ex-chefs as lecturers.

Their culinary arts course is unique in the sense that it’s a marriage between cooking and science.

That’s why not just prospective students enrolled into the course, but also housewives who wanting to brush up on their cooking skills.

Of course, some of the stuff they did goes beyond what a normal household kitchen is capable of.

The KDU lecturer introduced me to this thing called “vacuum cooking”.

Normally, with stuff like meat, a lot of its juices and flavour are lost if you pan fry it. So what they do is vacuum pack the marinated meat first, then throw the whole thing into boiling water to cook it.

True enough, when these prawns are finally served, they are as juicy, tasty and succulent as… umm… Edward Cullen.

Not that I know what Edward Cullen taste like.

And I’m sure those prawns taste better than a vampire from the movie Twilight.

Anyway, there’s also this thing called “molecular cooking”.

This is actually an ice-cream
dessert the chef at KDU college prepared for me. In some expensive fine-dining restaurants, they would offer this as part of their dessert menu.

Once you order it, they will ask the chef to come in front of you.

Yes, the chef will literally take out a spoon and squirt out a bit of cream.

Whipped cream.

Next, he takes out a liquid nitrogen and freezes his cream right in front of you.

You take the frozen cream into your mouth.

It’s cold. You bite into it.

Next thing you know, your mouth explodes with ecstasy. You are high in delight and wonder, “Damn! How on earth can something like this feels so good. So pleasurable!”

You are satisfied. The chef is satisfied. Then he’d charge you RM50 for the experience.

This blog entry is sponsored by KDU College. If you’re a student fresh out of high school looking to further your studies, a working professional hoping to brush up on your skills, or even a simple guy who just wanna learn how to cook to impress your girlfriend this Valentine’s, head on to www.kdu.edu.my and check out their range of long and short courses on offer.

Hannah Tan did.

Hannah Tan graduated from KDU College, with a degree in Beauty and Brains.

ADV: Jam Packed Kenny

It’s been 3 months since I started this business and I gotta say I’m really happy with the way it is progressing so far.

One weekend, I brought the entire BodyCombat class out to our local shopping mall, and I think we did a pretty good job rocking the entire place upside down.

We attracted a lot of attention, including some unexpected participants like this little Bodycombat-er like here.

Don’t play play, eventhough the movements are fast, this girl still has the stamina to follow the entire class from start to finish.

The participants loved it because its a change of environment. The crowd loved it because they’ve never seen anything like this before. The instructors loved it because it they felt like rock stars standing in front of a jam-packed audience.

The only person unhappy is the shopping centre’s security guard. The fella came by several times to ask us to tone down the volume.

Sorry lah bro. Doing BodyCombat without volume is like singing karaoke without music.

Knowing how passionate the BodyCombat gang at Level Up Fitness is, even *I* am afraid to mess with them.

The biggest headache I have now is that my fitness centre is starting to get a little packed by the time the clock hits 6.

We’re still the largest fitness centre in the city area and we’re still doing heaps better than others in Kuching in managing traffic. But hey, nobody likes waiting on treadmills.

So just 3 months in, already I’m looking at having to spend more money buying new hamster machines treadmills for my members.

Meanwhile I gotta pacify my members with freebies. Like giving them sample packs of Milo Fuze 3 in 1 that Nestle Milo® has so generously donated to me.

If anyone thinks running a fitness centre is as simple as buying a bunch of equipment and throwing them in a room, they’re wrong.

I’m having such a difficult time juggling between my roles as Kenny Sia The Blogger, Kenny Sia The Business Owner and Kenny Sia The Human Being that I felt there’s simply not enough time to finish all I wanna do in a day.

Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish there were three of me.

That’ll make me a 3-in-1 Kenny.

Sadly it’s not possible to have a 3-in-1 Kenny.

But it is possible to have 3-in-1 Milo. And it is even possible to win a new Apple iPhone 3GS and RM1,000 cash prizes if you submit a photo of how you “jam pack” your day with Milo Fuze. That’s pretty awesome incentive just for camwhoring yourself with a pack of 3-in-1 Milo.

Quite a number has already submitted their entry on the Milo Fuze site. The question is, how far are you willing to go?

Will you fly for Milo?

entryImage.aspx (1)

Suffocate self for Milo?

entryImage.aspx (2)

Stuff Milo down the blouse for Milo?

Whatever you do, just don’t try too hard like these bunch of sumo wrestlers ok!

Dun wanna know what’ll happen if someone farts inside.

ADV: HP’s Thin-And-Light Laptop

As part of our contribution to the HP Future Is… panel discussion, the 5 of us were given a HP Pavilion DM3 Notebook PC each as thanks.

IMG_1614

That’s pretty awesome gift just for half an hour of sharing what we think future computing trends are gonna be like. 🙂

This marks the second HP computer I own. The first one I had was a netbook – the tiny HP Mini which still serves me faithfully till today.

IMG_1572

I got the HP Mini when netbooks were all the rage a while back. The problem with netbooks is that they cannot do what big bulky laptops can.

Yea basic surfing works just fine, but open up more than 3 windows and immediately the performance starts to suffer. Then it becomes as slow as #yorais.

There’s an obvious size-performance gap between lightweight netbooks and heavyweight laptops. That’s where the HP Pavilion DM3 comes in.

IMG_1616

I always like the slim sleek designs HP come up with for their laptops. Although slightly more expensive than others in its class, their laptops usually more than make up for it in fashion and looks.

Case in point: their eye-catching brushed aluminium exterior.

IMG_1625

It’s sturdy, less than an inch thick and slips easily into a backpack.

The widescreen high-definition LED (not LCD) screen is a joy to look at, and the comfy keyboards reminded me of the ones they have MacBook Pros that cost 3 times as much.

IMG_1624

The HP Pavilion DM3 belongs to a category of laptops called the “Thin and Light”: thin like a netbook, powerful like a heavyweight laptop.

At 1.9kg, it ain’t exactly feather light. But if you’re used to carrying one of those big arse behemoths from 3 years ago, the weight loss is definitely noticeable.

IMG_1583

Underneath the hood, the HP Pavilion DM3 is powered by DDR3 RAM and Intel Core 2 Duo – none of the discounted stuff like Atom or Celeron.

IMG_1623

The unit I got came pre-installed with Windows 7. It’s my first experience using Bill Gates’ latest money-making tool. Although I’m still getting the hang of the new OS, I quite enjoy its zippy performance. It’s possible to browse the web, burn CDs and watch Youtube all at the same time without having your computer slow to a crawl.

IMG_1619

One feature the DM3 has that stood up from the rest is its ridiculously long battery life. Most other laptop’s battery only last 2 hours without charging. The battery in the DM3 is rated to last up to TEN HOURS.

For most other laptops to last that long, you’d need to friggin feed it with viagra!

IMG_1608

Of course, the laptop is not without flaws. There is no built-in DVD drive, although it did come with an external one beautifully crafted to match the design of the laptop.

IMG_1621

However, my biggest complaint about the HP Pavilion DM3 is the trackpad.

IMG_1599

For something so frequently used, HP mysteriously decided to plonk a glossy mirror surface as its trackpad. I don’t know why. It’s difficult to slide the finger around and I always manage to leave my smudges and finger prints.

The only good thing is if you’re a girl, and you wanna put on your lipstick, you can actually use the trackpad as a makeshift mirror.

IMG_1606

Other than that, with a thin-and-light design and an extra-long battery life, it’s a great laptop for people like me who’s always hopping on-and-off airplanes.

IMG_1590

If only HP could make me thin-and-light and bless me with extra-long life too. 🙁

Die Die Both Ways

Last time, when I was updating my blog more frequently, people often asked me "So Kenny, are you a full-time blogger? Do you actually do anything else besides just blogging?”

“Do you even have a LIFE?"

Now that I started my own business, people are scolding me saying “Fuck you Kenny, all you ever blog about is your gym! Entertain us now DAMMIT!”

I don’t understand what people want from me sometimes.

Goodbye ‘09

Not very often can I look back on a year and say, “Wow, that was an awesome year.”

On the 31st December 2009, I was invited to the New Year’s Eve party at Fullerton Hotel hosted by the gracious Miss Singapore (the Universe one, not the Boomz one).

There I was, sitting at the balcony with a bunch of new friends, thinking to myself how fortunate I was to have crawled out from that shit hole I was in and to enjoy doing what I’m doing today.

IMG_1171

I don’t think I’ve ever been this optimistic on the eve of a new year.

In 2005, I lost my dad. In 2006, I had no cash. In ‘07, I made wrong decisions in. And ‘08 was just sucky all-year round that I was so glad it was over.

This time last year, I was so upset at the state I was in that I listed down 5 things I wanted to do in 2009:

1. Run a marathon in less than 6 hours. 
2. Get less addicted to e-mails and Facebook.
3. Double my investment portfolio.
4. Start a new business.
5. Be happier.

IMG_0961

Well, I tried doing a marathon but I did not managed to finish it because I didn’t train. Certainly did not get any less addicted to e-mails and Facebook. (In fact, I ended up with a new addiction – Twitter.

Apart from that, I’m happy my other 3 resolutions were somewhat accomplished.

IMG_0220

I realised I have grown up a lot in 2009.

My style of blogging has changed compared to how it was when I first started. I am 27 years old now. A lot of those stupid idiotic stuff I used to do for my blog, I stopped.

Ok lah, not completely.

As I grow up, I started thinking what’s important, and started doing things that actually gives back to society. Things like adopting a cause for charity, spending more time with loved ones and running a business that promotes healthy living.

IMG_1706

I realised that despite me being single for the first time in 8 years, I am actually A LOT happier now.

Starting my own business was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made in 2009. Sure, it sucked out a lot of my time and energy, but I love my job and I wake up every morning looking forward to going to this fitness centre that I’m so proud to call my own.

In hindsight, I think it’s a good thing I don’t have a girl in my life. A friend of mine had a girlfriend the same time he started his business. He told me that at one point he was so busy that he “wanted to get it up also cannot.”

Eventually, perhaps when my business stabilises, I’m gonna get back into  relationships. For now, I still think girls are fussy creatures that required way too much time and attention than I can afford.

In 2010, I want to:

1. Complete a marathon in less than 6 hours (real one lah this time).
2. Achieve my sales and membership targets for Level Up Fitness.
3. Help people around me realise their true potential and talent.
4. Be more optimistic about relationships, less shy about approaching the opposite sex.
5. Stabilise my business, so I can put more time back into blogging.

2009 was a good year.

P1040551

2010 will be better!

Navigation