And we did it! The largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the whole Asia happened right here at Changkat Bukit Bintang with a total of over 10,000 people turning up for the event, painting the entire street and bars with a sea of green.
I was there, and I hope your St. Patrick’s Day was as eventful as the one we experienced.
St Patrick’s Day at Changkat Bukit Bintang, getting started
Amazingly, we is only the 6th installation of Guinness St. Patrick’s festival here in Malaysia, and we are already on top of Asia. Perhaps in a few more years we’ll have it as big as the big boys over at Europe and America.
Suan, FA, and myself arrived at the scene pretty early to beat the crowd (and to allow ourselves to have more Guinness, of course), and things are already starting to get busy by around 6+ in the evening. The street was blocked from traffic, and everywhere was decorated black and green.
plenty of friendly servers on stand by
I give credit to the event organizer for hiring plenty of help for the event. Friendly servers everywhere, and most importantly, Guinness stands being set up right along the street at practically every 10 meter or something. There were tables and chairs on the road as well.
It was everything you’d need to have a good time, and more.
looking the concentration Huai Bin has. Robb was there too
A bunch of us also dropped by Arthur’s Lounge (converted from Frangipani for the day) and got to try pretending to be a waiter and pour a perfect pint (in which we got to drink right after).
Check out the level of concentration on Huai Bin’s face in doing just that!
and that’s how you pour a perfect pint
We then proceed to go upstairs and hanged out a little while our personalized Guinness mug was being prepared, and best of all, there were food served as well. Little servings of salmon on bruschetta, meatball on toothpick, spaghetti in a soup spoon. You know, those tiny fine food, which went well with the beer, of course.
and the party is on, full blast
All these while, the party right outside was going on full blast. The parade with clowns, stilt walkers, Irish dancers, and lots of other entertainers.
As I was chilling with some of my colleagues from four other countries, the Guinness bikers strolled by with their Harleys, instantly triggered a flood of flashes as party goers were eager to take photos of them. (by the time I got out from the bar, they were gone, garhh.)
Huai Bin, Suan, FA, Michael, Hitomi, Marcky, yes we obviously had fun.
At the other end of Changkat was a stage where you can near laughter from the crowd as you go nearer. That’s where the comedians were at work. Serena C and Prem were on the scene hosting the entire event, it was really a massive party.
And then the fireworks came on, and the crowd literally went wild with their cameras. Good times!
some fine folks from all around too
So that pretty much summed up my St. Patrick’s Day. Good beer, great time, and even better company. How was yours?
If you’ve missed the big one at Changkat, there are still a few upcoming Guinness St. Patrick’s celebration for this year yet!
After the public off days in January and February, one of the most common theme at the office is people complaining about the lack of holidays on March and April.
Well, so far as government sanctioned holidays, that might be true, but for anyone who likes to enjoy a pint of Irish goodness every so often, there is always the 17th of March – Saint Patrick’s Day!
The 18th is a Sunday, which makes this year’s St. Patrick’s Day ever more convenient, since we can thoroughly enjoy the drinks without worrying about having to get up early the next day. Yeahhhhhhhh!
For those who isn’t familiar with St. Patrick’s Day, there’s a wikipedia entry on it; for those who already know what it is all about, here are some extra fun facts:
As with the previous two years, on this 17th March this year, GUINNESS is bringing back the St. Patrick’s Day Street Party at Changkat Bukit Bintang.
The whole street will be transformed into an iconic St Patrick’s street party from 6pm till late, there will also be the “Comedy Court’ with some of the funniest people in the region with their hilarious performances.
Do not miss out!
Other than Changkat, GUINNESS is also bringing St. Patrick’s experience to the following cities:
All throughout March, there are special promotions in more than 2000 GUINNESS outlets nationwide. Get a GUINNESS St. Patrick’s miniature glass (5 different designs) with every 4 glasses of GUINNESS draught or a bucket of GUINNESS Foreign extra stout. There’s also limited edition GUINNESS St. Patrick’s t-shirt available every Thursday from 8th March till 31st March 2012 for just additional RM 10 in 178 selected outlets.
It is simply the best month for Guinness lovers. From the photos above, you can sorta tell that I am one of those people. 
Hop on to www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia for more information!
As with every celebration that matters, there is also a pledge that I urge you to take part in.
GUINNESS wants to make St. Patrick’s Day officially the ”The Friendliest Day of the Year” by getting 1 million people from all over the world to pledge. I’ve put in mine, how about you? If we hit the targeted number, this will also go into Guinness World Records title for Most pledges for a campaign, be a part of it!
Head to St. Patrick’s Day Pledge on Facebook to do it.
See you at Changkat Bukit Bintang on the 17th March!
Yes! I’m now a proud owner of a Prada, or more specifically, the Prada phone by LG 3.0.
In fact, I was told that I’m one of the very first people to have the phone in Malaysia, because I won it during the launch, Yeeaaahhhhhhh!
this silly pose bagged me a Prada LG 3.0 phone
Just last Friday, Celcom and LG threw a media launching event at G Tower for the brand new LG Prada phone, now powered with Android. Since my office is nearby, dropped by after work to join Haze to check out the new device.
While the previous LG Prada phones have always struck me as fashion statements more than sophisticated gadgets, the 3.0, with the complete departure from previous models by adopting Android operating system, does push its capabilities on par with aesthetics.
Prada LG 3.0, powered by Android, I’m using it now!
Here’s the specifications of the Prada LG 3.0
the event was rather glamourous, I was under dressed
A rather impressive feature set if you ask me, and it doesn’t end there. The phone is beautifully designed, an all black slade with a leather-like pattern at the back, and that PRADA logo, of course. At only 8.5mm, it is also super slim.
The black and white interface is rather unique in the Android world, and actually could make a bit of a mess once you add in a lot of other applications, but thankfully the most common applications are already included in the phone with the same black & white themed icons. I simply hide the colorful icons in other pages. Gotta keep my phone looking pretty!
Haze, Eiling, and many other girls. Look at my silly grin when I found out I won
You can get your own Prada phone from Celcom from as low as RM 1518 by subscribing to Celcom Exec plans. For more information do check out http://www.celcom.com.my/smartphones/android.php#android5
After a day of usage, I’m happy to say that I do like it quite a lot. This phone now replaced my previous Android device – the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. The Prada LG phone surpassed the Arc pretty much in all aspects other than low lighting photography, but I’ll gladly live with that.
After the xmas eve party at my place, the very next day we headed to Gareth and Kim’s for a big feast. We were promised a home cooked dinner by Kim, but boy were we surprised by what was in store for us.
The dinner was for some 2 dozen people, but I believe there were enough food to feed at least two rugby teams, including reserves!
the dinner schedule, check out how many dishes here
First, just look at the schedule above to get an indication of the work needed for this epic dinner. Preparation actually started more than a day in advance (for the food alone), and longer if you count in buying groceries, gifts, and extra table/chairs for everyone.
chicken with pigs in blanket, bread, and cocktail shrimp
The photos you see here are some 70% of the dishes served, there are some that somehow escaped the lens. As far as I remember, here are what we were served:
the super excellent pork loin and ribs
It was impossible to pick a favorite, everything were awesome. I can make use of some ribs and pork loin right now (or anytime) for sure!
Recipes of some of these dishes can be found at http://www.kimberlycun.com/category/homemade-recipes/
Kim includes photos of each step for her recipe too, super easy to follow. This entry is on the pork ribs we were served, I believe.
salad, couscous, and more
In the original schedule, apple crumble was supposed to come out at 8:45, but thanks to everyone being overfed with all these awesome dishes, desserts didn’t make their way out until 11:45 pm.
Of course, nobody complained, 3 more hours to digest is a good thing.
seafood bisque and desserts
As with the slightly more mature theme this year, no one passed out from drinking too much, though many almost have a coma from all the food.
we were all very well fed at the end of the night
At the end of the night, Gareth & Kim played Santa & Santarina and distributed carefully chosen gifts to everyone. That was especially a sweet touch, thanks guys, and lets do this again next year and every year.
and everyone got a gift from the hosts!
The first xmas eve party that I hosted was all the way back in 2005, which actually didn’t feel at all like it was already 6 years ago, with everyone still talking about Douglas’s epic puke fest after having one drink too many.
After last year’s absence (we spent xmas eve at Suan’s), the 5th installment of xmas eve party at my place resumes, and this time around we decided to have it back to basic – without the buffet line, satay man, or sponsored beer.
A big thank you to everyone who shows up, and even bigger thank you to those who brought alcohol and home made red velvet cupcake (Lainey) to share.
Horng, Haze, Terence; Aaron, Ruby, Derek; Terence & Celine
Those who came before in previous years:
KY, Haze, Terence, Horng, Suan, Ruby, Eiling, Michael, FA, Ringo, Ginny, Arthur, Yee Hou, Gareth, Kimberly, Huey Fang, Chan, Kerol.
Newcomer this year:
Lance, Melissa, Michael (yep 2 of them), Li Ling, Lainey, Aaron, Zach, Vinn, Pearl, Derek, Celine, Yuki.
Eiling & KY; Lance & Melissa, FA, Michael & Li Ling; Michael & Ringo
Unlike previous year’s crazy binge drinking style, this seems to be the year where everyone sorta take things slightly more maturely. Everyone was just having a good time, sipping some single malt whisky or having a cold one.
No, there is no beer bong this year, and if you want to look at pictures of people passing out, I’ll have to disappoint too. Some might say this is a sign of old age, hmmmm…
Yee Hou & Ginny; Ruby; FA; Lainey; Suan; Haze; Robb & Zach
The gift exchange part tho, was as fun as ever. Every year we had this rule, and I highly recommend that you do the same for your xmas gift exchange. I initially got this from working at Unisys in Cincinnati (man that was over 10 years ago)
Gift exchange was again the highlight of the night – best was the 1kg bacon
In essence, having the last number usually means you get to pick anything that’s opened, with only one unknown gift. However, even the last person can get his/her gift snatched if she (A) snatched B, then B snatched C, but C can actually snatch back A’s gift.
Loads of fun, try it.
The most snatched gift this year was from Lance & Horng – who contributed a whole 1 KG bacon and a small water feature thing. Those gifts exchange hands at least half a dozen times.
The funniest gift tho was from Robb, and drew by Kerol (after what she chose initially got snatched) – two bundle of bananas!
fire works; Gareth telling stories; bacon; Kim & Michael
I prepared a bit of BBQ (20 wings, some sausages) for those who happened to be hungry, Lainey brought her home made red velvet cakes (super yummy!), and at the end of the night we bbq some bacon too.
And no, this year we did not have any cops coming to end the party. Now that’s a first.
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!
