Our BAT adventure started on Merdeka day when we met William, BAT Malaysia at the airport. 14 hours of flight time and 3 hours of transit later, we found ourselves in the land of watches – Geneva. Upon arrival at the airport, there were no less than 20 watch ads plastered along the corridors of the Geneva airport! The spoken language here is French but you can get along just fine in English.

It took us another hour by car to get to Montreux where the BAT summit was held, a beautiful town by the Lake of Geneva. The drive along the Lake of Geneva, the largest lake in western Europe, was a scenic one. Terraced vineyards lined the coast of the lake. Across the lake is the French side and a lovely view of Mount Blanc, the highest peak of the Alps is faintly visible. We stayed at the Montreux Palace Hotel situated by the lake and took a nice long stroll into the town of Montreux (right by the beautiful waters) and relaxed over drinks before we headed out to dinner. The weather was just perfect hovering between a low of 10 and highs of 20 plus degrees.

This is Montreux Palace, where we stayed…

We took a romantic walk by the lake…

Day 2 – Thursday

As the summit opening commenced at 4, we had the first half of the day to ourselves to explore! We made our way to Gruyeres, a medieval town 40 minutes away from Montreux. The main attraction there is a medieval castle built in 11th century. Situated on a hillside slope, the view of the Alps and the vast greenlands was fantastic!

That evening, we had sundowners and canapes on the terrace, overlooking the lake and beautiful sunset at the Le Petite Palais. I was introduced to a couple from Vietnam, Janet  and Dan (not their real names coz they are covert like that) and Andrew, MD of BAT in Vietnam. Also at our dining table were Taiwanese reps from BAT and Pan, the CEO of FamilyMart. It was obvious that everyone was impressed by the opening talk that swimmer, environmentalist and former maritime lawyer Lewis Gordon Pugh gave. He had swam 1km in the north pole, another in Mt Everest and was giving inspirational and motivational advise. The two things I got from everyone there were:

1. Radical Tactical Shift – What used to work before may not necessarily work in today or in future. And at times, a different approach may be needed for success.
2. Don’t set yourself up for failure. (Only set one objective/goal in your head. If you have a backup/exit plan, you’re psychologically preparing yourself for failure.

Gruyeres

… view from the Castle…

Inside Castle Gruyeres

The view from the Castle was just magnificent!

I found my Prince Charming! I fell in love with Prince when I saw him! He is a mix Yorkie and Shih Tzu! Super adorable!

I absolutely loved my trout!

Day 3 – Friday

The ladies were treated to a pampering session at Clinique La Prarie. I had opted for collagen mask and face massage which was followed by a healthy lunch the La Prarie restaurant.

The Montreux Jazz Gala dinner was a black tie event held at the Salle des Fetes, the ballroom of our hotel. The evening started out with champagne and a group photo session. Dinner was exquisite, especially the funghi risotto dish prepared by Michelin-starred chef Anton Mosimann OBE and his entire crew who were flown in from the UK just to cook for the event! Ming had the pleasure of sitting next to BAT CEO Paul Adams who is a great guy with a wonderful sense of humor! Everyone at BAT seems to remember him by the stories he tells of his son, setting him by example and relating it back to the workplace. His tip to us that night was “Management by Stories” – that people forget the PowerPoint slides and charts you present to them but they remember stories.

After dinner, there was wine and cigars and we randomly bumped into a gentlemen who was also part of the summit and somehow or rather, he ended up giving us 2 tips on love and knowing if your partner is THE ONE. He said:

1. She is not the one if she doesn’t give you shit. (good one!!)
2. If you can’t imagine your partner making u laugh 25 years from now, it’s not gonna work

Duly noted with thanks!

Day 4- Saturday

It was a 60-minute train ride to Gstaad, a ski resort/town 1050m above sea level. Upon arrival, we hopped onto a horse-drawn carriage and circled the town. The weather there was surprisingly warm (well, just perfect, I thought) and I didn’t need the overcoat I had brought with me. Despite the lovely scenery and nice weather, the windy car ride through the mountains back to Montreux made me sick and I was thankful when we arrived back at the hotel.

Dinner that night was divine. Andrew had made reservations at a lovely French-fine dining restaurant by the lake, L’ermitage and the food was superb, despite the waiter who’s service didn’t quite match up. We checked out the party scene in Montreux that night which only got happening at 2-ish, which was also about the time we were ready to go to bed, (blame it on old age, or old souls!). Besides, other than the fact that the clubs there close at 5am, I think we do a lot better in KL!

In the train, on our way to Gstaad…

Gstaad town

Andrew & William checking out an antique…

Every other passerby had a dog!

On our way back (by car) to Montreux… (I was car-sick soon after I took this photo!)

Day 5 – Sunday

Our last day was somewhat relaxing. We visited Chateau de Chillon (pronounced Shee-on), a castle built on an island of rock in the 12th century. It was there at the souvenir shop where I discovered Smarties Pop-up ice cream, one of the greatest inventions in the history of ice creams on a stick! I am head over heels over my new-found guilty pleasure and couldn’t help myself so I had two of those. I’m secretly thankful though, that they don’t have it in Malaysia so I don’t over-indulge! Lunch was a little lackluster, as expected, after two delightful Smarties ice creams! No doubt, the company and view of the lake was amazing, as always.

This is a cool invention! Check out how it works! And you get a Smarties treat at the end of the ice cream!

And what better way to end the vacation than to buy RM1500 worth of Swiss chocolates as gifts! Yes, the sales lady and a few other passengers thought we were crazy or don’t have chocolates where we come from!

A big THANK YOU to William who took such great care of us in Montreux and for his kind hospitality!

To our new friends Andrew, Janet and Dan (not your real names but you know who you are!) it was a pleasure meeting and hanging out with you guys! You guys are a fun bunch and I’m looking forward to some jaw-dropping, eyebrow-raising action during our next visit to Vietnam!

Last but not least, I just had to post this up! After 10 minutes of looking around the hotel room for plug points, I finally realized that the cool looking dots on the wall were electrical points! I’m assuming it can fit various plugs as well, which not only looks funky but it’s so practical!

… and it looks even cooler with a plug on it!

Having eagerly waited almost two years to finally get a chance to visit Egypt, I was stoked to finally land on ancient grounds. Air pollution and dust hails in Cairo and those were My first impressions of the city but I was soon mystified by the magnificent pyramids of Giza. As I stood in awe of the Great Pyramid (built by King Khufu), the sight of tourists soon faded into the background and I soon immersed myself in the history of the Pharoic period as it was recited by Ahmed, our tour guide for the day. And of course, having traveled so far, how could I miss the opportunity to check out what lays inside a pyramid! I decided to explore the 2nd pyramid, built by King Chephren, son of King Khufu. As you enter the pyramid, you descend underground before you start ascending toward the tomb. The corridors are narrow and only a little over a meter in height, not a good place for those who suffer from claustrophobia.

The third and smallest pyramid was built by King Mykerinos, son of Chephren. Beside it, you will notice 3 smaller pyramids. Thos were built for his 3 favorite wives…

And how could I not try riding a camel in Egypt?? Holding onto my life with my left hand, I nervously managed this shot with my right hand! Camels are TALL, VERY TALL!

That night, we had dinner on board the Hyatt Cruise and watched a belly dance performance.

Day 2 – It was a 2.5 hour drive to Alexandria, a city located north of Cairo and sits right along the Mediterranean sea. Founded by Alexandria the Great, this city is quaint, a lot greener and a lot less dusty.

We drove around the city…

and visited the Alexandria National Museum…

Day 3 – Borg el Arab
Borg el Arab is a new industrial estate not far from Alexandria. My dad spends at least 2 weeks of every month there since he set up his factories in Fayoum & Alexandria about a year ago. And although I’ve seen his glass factories before, I was curious to check out this new one!

We headed to the marina for lunch and to check out Mr Baraka’s summer home. Located about 30km from Borg el Arab, the marina is beautiful development that sits on the Mediterranean sea. The waters are clear but very cold at this time of year. Just perfect for summer! (which I intend to return for another vacation soon!)

This is Nour, Mr Baraka’s daughter, a 10-year old with a brain of a 20!

Day 4 – Luxor
A one-hour flight and we landed in Luxor. Luxor is Luscious in green but because it’s located further south, it was HOT! The city is believed to contain 1/3 of the monuments in the world and is divided into the west and east bank. We started our tour just as soon as we landed at the airport!

Valley of the Kings – Known as the religious capital of Egypt during the new kingdom, Luxor was chosen as a burial ground for the kings to escape tomb robbers. Albeit the scorching desert heat, the underground tombs maintained a cooler temperature and i was mesmerized by the grandeur structure of the corridors and the intricate inscriptions carved on the inner tomb walls. Unlike the pyramids of Giza, these corridors were large, at least 3 – 4 meters in height. No photos are allowed in the valley of keys and the tour guide had already warned us how strict they are but I managed to sneak a shot on my iPhone (which we almost got caught for!)

Hatshetsup Temple. She was the most famous pharaoh and most powerful queen who ruled Egypt in the 18th dynasty.

By the 4th day, I had fully immersed myself in their culture and was looking for my Arabian prince…

My favorite temple of all the places I’ve visited here in Egypt has to be the Luxor Temple. In the midst of towering pillars and giant statues of phaorahs, i stood there amazed, mesmerized and in awe… That such massive structure could be built so many thousands of years ago, when there were no cranes nor machinery!

Inscriptions on temple walls are plentiful. This one below contains hieroglyphics and depicts offerings being made to the Gods.

In the evening, we checked out the Sound and Light show at the Karnak Temple …

Day 5
The day started early, as usual. We departed at 7am and made our way, to Aswan, a city about 300km south of Luxor. The auburban landscape was an interesting one, with lots of green (sugar cane, palm trees and Padua fields) right by the Nile river and the rest of it is dessert. Two and a half hours into our journey, we arrived at a town called Kom Ombo and we made a quick stopover at the Kom Ombo Temple, which, unfortunately after having visited the temples at Luxor, we weren’t quite impressed by.

From there, it took us another hour or so to reach the heart of Aswan and all along the way, I was amused by the many donkeys we passed and camels being transported at the back of trucks. (there’s a camel bazaar in one of the towns nearby… What’s a camel bazaar? I asked… They buy and sell camels and /or slaughter and eat them!)

Soon, we had arrived at the city of Aswan and I was taken aback by the lovely scenery by the Nile! Countless sailboats lined the riverbank and our hotel, Movenpick was located on a tiny Island on the river! They say the water on this part of the river is so clean it’s drinakable and true enough, the waters here is crystal clear, but not enough to convince me to taste it! Our hotel was so nice we all decided to cancel our tour guide and stay in instead. I finally got a chance to relax and tan by the pool!

Day 6 – Like many other tourist, we flew into Abu Simbel (30mins away from Aswan) for 2 hours to visit the two temples and we flew back to Aswan right after. Originally located by the Nile river, this temple, built by King Ramses II was discovered underwater and was carefully relocated to higher grounds (not far from its original site) in 1964. The relocation process took 4 years to complete. This temple is especially special because on 2 days of the year (Feb 21 & Oct 21, the latter being the King’s birthday) the sun shines directly into the 3 statues placed at the end of the temple. After its relocation however, those dates were delayed by one day. The second temple was built by King Ramses II for his favorite wife, Nefertiti.

We returned to Aswan for a late lunch (after having spent so many days in Egypt we were all immersed intheur culture which included lunch at 3-4pm and dinners at 9-10pm!) Overall, our stay in Aswan was a pleasant and relaxing one… We flew back to Cairo late that night…

Day 7 – Our last day in Cairo was packed with To Do’s! We started out at the Cairo museum which I completely loved! I had the pleasure of meeting most of the famous (& decaying, well not really) kings and queens of the pharoic period (their mummies, of course!) and I am amazed at how their teeth, hair and nails are preserved till this day! Most impressive of them all are King Tutankhamon’s (the youngest king who gained power at 9 but unfortunately died of malaria at 19) treasures found in his tomb. His coffin was enclosed within 4 shrines, made of wood and plated in gold. And his mummy was enclosed within 3 coffins. Imagine Russian dolls! An 11kg solid gold mask, together with a whole bunch of other precious and intricate jewelry were placed atop his mummy.

The treasures found in his tomb were just stunning! There were so many items including his chariot, throne, figurines, chess set, weapons and the list goes on! Unfortunately, no photos are allowed and I didn’t dare risk being caught this time round!

After the museum, we stopped by the “Hanging” Coptic Church, constructed and suspended above a Roman fortress.

Before lunch, we popped into a famous silver shop (I had held out on buying silver jewelry all trip long coz Mr Baraka mentioned that the store he knows in Cairo charges half the price of silver per gram!) I say “famous” because The Clintons have been there! Silver jewelry were found in bucket loads and we picked out items like there was no tomorrow! I managed to find some really cool antique Bedouin (they are the nomadic tribes who roam the desert regions of Egypt) necklaces which I absolutely love!!! By the end of the hour, we had spent USD5000! (No, I did not buy that much shit, my dad and his friend did!)

The photo below was taken specially for my nephew Nata who loves elephants!

We had lunch at a quaint Egyptian restaurant at Khan el-Khalili bazaar, located in the Islamic district of Cairo, one of the main tourist attractions…

One thing we had without fail at every meal was the very sweet & yummy honeydew melons!

Apart from being harassed by all the street vendors every 2 seconds, the bazaar setting was great for photos (although I was a little apprehensive to take photos of the people and the stalls coz that would give them a chance to hassle me for money!)!

A very big THANK YOU to Mr & Mrs Baraka and family who took such great care of us during our stay in Egypt!!!

Just as a lot of couples didn’t manage to celebrate Valentines Day this year ( coz it HAD to fall on the first day of CNY!), I didn’t either and instead, I was in Jakarta, collecting Ang paos and did nothing but eat and sleep. So, as a belated valentines surprise, Ming planned for a surprise romantic getaway 2 weekends later…

A 20-minute boatride away from Jesselton point of Kota Kinabalu, we arrived at Bunga Raya resort on Gaya island. The view as we arrived at the jetty was breathtaking! With mini huts on stilts that lined both sides of the long wooden walkway and crystal clear blue waters underneath us, my jaw dropped and I was mesmerized!

Tucked away on a secluded part of Gaya island (Gaya is a HUGE island,  and currently has 2 resorts, by the same owner, Gayana & Bunga Raya), Bunga Raya is new, very new. With an eco-park concept, the resort sits on a cove and 88 species of hibiscus (bunga raya) have been planted around the area. Out of the 47 villas, only 3 were occupied (that included us!). Our villa was strategically located near the beach and a 5-minute walk from the “main building” which consisted of the Koi restaurant, ballroom and pool. It claims to be a 5-star resort but the service and food is nothing but. The staff are friendly but poorly trained except for two or three “brighter” ones. The food menu selection was limited and due to the low occupancy, they didnt even have some of the choices available.

Other than the slow service and mediocre food, I absolutely loved the place! Our villa had a private plunge pool which was super romantic especially taking a dip under the stars and bright moonlight. This part Steve would love – the soft drinks and tiger beer in the fridge were complimentary and refilled everyday! PLUS (I especially love love love this part!), complimentary pre-dinner drinks – wine on the house!

On the first day we arrived, we pampered ourselves with a 3-hour “Water Harmony” spa treatment which consisted of a foot bath, scalp therapy (super relaxing!!), body scrub and an aromatherapy message. I must say, the spa treament was superb and certainly was of 5-star quality!

My G9 stopped working since Day 2 as we dropped it from moving some “furniture” around so I relied on my trusty Iphone, which I’m perfectly happy with!

Check out the fishes!

View of the jetty at night. We hung out at one of the little cozy huts that night…

Day 2 – we slept in and had a late lunch by the beach bar. And the food selection and taste was by far a whole lot better than that of THE KOI restaurant! We were ecstatic! That afternoon, we took a boat to Gayana resort, a 10 minute boat ride from where we were, situated on another cove of Gaya island. It was a completely different atmosphere here -crowded with many guests, and wayyyyyyy more water activities, the air was lively! While Ming took a short dive, I snorkeled. There were a ton of fishes, including nemo, some psychedelic fluorescent ones, and a whole lotta other kinds (I’m no fish expert!)… huge clams, anemones, corals and sea rambutans lined the sea bed and I even saw a poisonous fish ( Ming said it was) hiding behind a huge coral.

My favorite time of the day is between 6-7pm where wine is served. We hung out by the bar and got a little bit wasted before a very “healthy” dinner of fried EVERYTHING at the Chinese seafood restaurant. (The food and service at Gayana is a lot better than back at our hotel, probably because the staff are better trained and more experienced) As we refused to take the 6:30pm boat back to Bunga Raya (how could we miss our pre-dinner drinks?), our next boat ride was at 10:30pm. With almost 2 hours to spare after dinner, we went for foot reflexology and a head & shoulder massage!

This is Gayana Resort…

Day 3 – No more wasting my time sleeping in, I woke up early to tan by the pool. And the good thing about being the only other guest at the resort (the other couple had left the day before), we can pretty much do what we like, including having breakfast sent to the pool!

Having some fun with my iPhone’s Quadcam!

A last look at the beautiful jetty…

All in all, It was a great romantic getaway, too short as all beach holidays are but still, really nice and I had a wonderful time! Big hugs to Ming for the fantastic weekend!

So for those of you who’s wonderig if I liked Bunga Raya more than Pangkor Laut Resort, here’s the verdict: In terms of rooms and ambience, food and service, PLR wins hands down. In terms of beaches, sand and sea, the waters at Gaya are a lot prettier – crystal blue with tons of fishes! I also really enjoyed my spa treatment at Bunga Raya which was quite reasonably priced as well. The good news is – YTL is currently constructing an Eco-resort on Gaya island too and is expected to be ready by the first half of 2011! So you should have the best of both worlds then! Keep a look out for it!

Jeff greeted us with a warm smile as we arrived at Pangkor Laut Resort (PLR). Ahhhh… We are back! The last time Steve and I were at PLR was about a year ago, to shoot a wedding and we fell in love with the island and of course, the people. So for this year’s FIFOTO company trip, there was no better place than to spend a relaxing weekend at the lovely PLR!

And surprise surprise! Just as we stepped in for breakfast, I was greeted by another familiar face! Fellow wedding photographer, Jon who was scheduled to leave on the mid day boat! As luck would have it, we now had a professional photographer who so willingly and happily agreed to help us with our group photos! Having someone take the photos for us beats our ever-so-faithful Mr Tripod but what’s more, we had the talented Jon Low shoot us!

We headed to Emerald Bay and had a blast ! (as u will see in the photos to follow!)

So here we go… FIFOTO Trip 2009 @ Pangkor Laut.

WARNING:PHOTOS RATED PG18. YOU MUST BE 18 AND ABOVE TO VIEW THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS.

Arrival at Lumut at 8:30am!

Thanks Jon for the amazingly fun-filled group portrait session!

For those who don’t know who Jon is… he’s the pimp daddy in the middle

It’s a rat race!!

FIFOTO is all about LOVE!

… and action-packed too!

Meet Jeff… he was the one who made our trip a spectacular and memorable one!

That evening, Jeff had organized a sunset cruise for us and 4 other girls (who happened to be my friends as wel!) We enjoyed wine and canapes on a boat, watching the sunset…

Meet Aja, Mel, Gwen and Mabel

Day 2 – We went sailing!!! I absolutely loved tanning on the boat!

And of course… we enjoyed FIFOTO weather! (Blue skies, fluffy clouds!)

Mabel celebrated her birthday on Saturday and we were invited to join em!

Day 3 – Steve, Aips, Emilia & Kit went on the jungle trail… (while I slept in)

I bumped into the girls at breakfast and I decided to do an impromptu mini portrait session for them!

We headed to Emerald Bay…

Steve enjoying the company! (Look at the big grin on his face!)

… and we found a mermaid on the beach!!!!

… it was a tranny mermaid!

Chillin’ by the pool…

The 2nd Villa from the right is the Purnama Sea Villa, the largest sea villa suite which I had the chance to stay in!

Our last dinner was a private, candlelit one by the beach, at sunset. We enjoyed BBQ Lobster!

Our last day was spent relaxing and unwinding at the Award-winning Spa village, a perfect way to end a perfect FIFOTO getaway!