Mystifying Valley

Finally got hold of the pictures from Winnie ( the girl on my right) for the year end bash on Monday night. Microsofties have always been living with the motto of " Word Hard, Play Hard".

I’ll let pictures speak for itself. 

All these were the snacks that evening that I didn’t get a sight of. They were all gone by the time I reached the place. Actually, almost everyone was already tipsy when they saw me.

The night started with some mild drinking and chatting.

Cheers for a good year ahead.

The Enterprise Partner Group ( EPG) with our MD, Yasmin

Again, if food didn’t deplete so fast it probably would have saved a lot of people from getting overboard with drinks.

From left: My boss Lorraine, Jason, Dawn the hot HR Manager as you can see she was all googoogahgahed by these lads, Winnie, Lih Bin, Victor the joker of the year, Nikki Mah and JunFwu

Our MD, Yasmin yet again inspired the team for even bigger aspiration in the coming year.

These are my colleagues, my friends.

10 years ago, my future was as bleak as the Iraq war hence started my very first blog and named it " Mystifying Valley" to pen down my journey wherever it took me. I remembered looking up the sky from my room in London and asked myself where would future bring me to in 10 years time.

I guess this picture speaks it all.

Healthy, active, more wrinkles, but wiser. Started off a good step in career but yet to be successful. Enjoying working class lifestyle in KL. And sadly, single.

The girls having a girlie chat with Yasmin.

See, told you guys my colleagues are serious drinkers. I kid you not.

When everyone become tipsy, they are more vocal and chatty. That’s how kiss n tell stories start.

Winnie, Anne, Yutz, Me and Anabelle

The pictures below depict how much fun the party went.

I got a little emotional towards the end of the night but managed to quickly pulled back before breaking loose. Damages had been done and all we should do is to let time heal the wound and stay positive.

Looking forward to a hopeful year.

Related posts:

http://www.jashomi.com/random/easy-weekend.php

http://www.jashomi.com/kl-lifestyle/bad-hair-day-not-anymore.php

http://www.jashomi.com/restaurant/the-apartment-klcc.php

http://www.jashomi.com/party/ever-wonder-how-does-microsofties-party.php

I’d been asked a gazillion times by partners & friends alike as to whether Gates was coming to WCIT this year few months prior to the conference. For PR reasons we were not supposed to speak for the company but now that it’s almost a month over, I can now tell you that Bill did make his appearance in WCIT but only virtually. But does it really matter? Even if he was there speaking live you wouldn’t be able to physically touch him anyway!
   
 Click below to watch his hologram appearance at the WCIT.
   

Video: Bill Gates Hologram at WCIT 2008
     
But what about yours truly?
     
   
     
I was only there very briefly on the last day so I won’t elaborate much on it.
     

But my colleagues who were there on duty throughout the 4 days had shared their 2 cents worth @ their respective blogs.
     
http://pohsze.com/2008/05/22/some-shots-in-wcit-2008/
     
http://patrickyong.net/2008/05/21/wcit-2008-day-3-wrap-up/
     

Remix Malaysia was launched in LUCT on Tuesday. Sweats was paid off when you know it’s a great event.   Here’s to share with you some of the event snippets which have taken place that day.

Thanks to Yutz for her wonderful DSLR camera for capturing these photos.

Few hundred industry designers, web developers, web strategists, lecturers and university students came all the way to Cyberjaya to witness Remix and the official launch of Microsoft Expression 2.

The venue was called ” Hall of Fame” and it looked very grand. We were very impressed as we don’t get to do many red carpet events here. There were beating of drums performance when the VIP arrived and all guests were given a stub of fresh orchid pinned by their hot chic lecturer, indeed a bonus for the folks. :P

The awesome speakers have struck their audience with awe and you know why? Simply because their demos were way cool! Especially the “deep zoom” technology used in http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/, it gives the world a whole new perspective of prezzo formatting.

Next time if you are doing a presentation and want to jolly impress your audience with their jaws dropped like the picture above, ditch powerpoint and use Deep Zoom by Silverlight!

Launch gambit of Microsoft Expression 2

Noticed we were all in black? That’s the LUCT dresscode and we folks respected that.

With Arturo after the event.

From left: John, Tang, Chia Yee and Yu Tsing

That’s the Power of People!

See also:

http://blogs.msdn.com/malaysia/archive/2008/05/28/snippets-from-remix-essentials.aspx

I’ve been going to LUCT for quite a bit in the past two weeks for work. Sigh… it’s going to be a very hectic week ahead for me. Might even have to sacrifice the weekend to clear some backlog. Therefore, might not be posting much for these few days.

  
Before the planning of the event, never knew this university is so cool and groovy.   
 

  
They have their own hair salon, film and audio production studio and their cafe ambience and quality is on par with Starbucks/ Coffeebean.
 
 
 

 
 
 
Even Mel Gibson came to LUCT to launch something that I can’t remember
 

  

 
 
 
This car model is done by one of their student. Impressive!
  
Anyway if you are a web designer or developer or strategist, come join us at this event.
 
 
Click here for more information: http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/events/remix  
 

 
 
In collaboration with Limkokwing University, Microsoft is bringing Remix Essential to KL next Tuesday!
  
REMIX Essential 08 is all about the latest web technologies in Silverlight 2, Expression 2, Windows Live and etc. If you are a designer/ web developer, don’t miss this chance to see how innovators are creating the next generation of engaging websites and unprecedented user experiences (UX) for the web and window client.
 
Apart from cool freebies, don’t forget to check out the agenda as we have some very credible speakers from Corp and the Region there to talk about Remix.
 
Don’t forget to wear black that day! ;) 
  
To register, please visit: www.microsoft.com/malaysia/events/remix
 
 
 
 
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I think this is my second time blogging about Tech.Ed SEA 2008. Please register now if you haven’t done so coz the ticket price will just keep going up! 
  
This year, contents will be more on Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008, there will be more hands-on experiences, bigger expo hall and definitely more fun. Coz I’ll be there too!
 
 

To register, please visit: www.techedsea.com

It was yet again a great event yesterday.

Visual Studio 2008 Deep Dive at Multimedia University (MMU) in Cyberjaya.

 
  
Majority of the attendees are software developers from giant MNCs around the area and they took a day off to spend with us 

   
 Some were “awestruck” by our speakers showcase
   

    
Well, our speakers were indeed very very cool, look at Tyson!
    

   
Hoong Fai, Rohan, Poh Sze and Patrick
    

    
And whilst I was trying to clear some work when the event was still ongoing
    

    
Some struggled to stay awake

 
  

    

    
Ian, Siak Kwan and I looking relief, happy but exhausted after the event.
    

    
Bunch of Old skool kids from the crew.
 
 

If you are going to PC Fair this weekend, don’t forget to drop by the Microsoft Booth at Hall 4. Lots of great promos and amazing prizes! There is also a wind chamber for every Microsoft software purchaser!

Anabelle and I this afternoon checking out our booth.

3000 over heroes from all over Malaysia have rocked KL Convention Center on Tuesday! The crowd was overwhelming and the event was really successful. Glad to be part of the launch team this time again after last year’s WOW launch. Product launches have always been the most sweaty and yet the most satisfying experience in Microsoft.

 It’s just like giving birth, you would have forgotten all the pain and sweat the moment your newborn is placed in your arms…

Anyway, here are some of the photos taken on the Heroes Launch.

The night before launch day where we stayed till 1am for the dry run.
 
 

Had very minimal rest before launch day. Attendees started flocking in from 7.30am onwards.
  

The exhibition hall where activities were ongoing throughout the day
  

The diligent crew making sure everything was executed flawlessly.
  

Our inspirational MD up on stage.  
  

The heroes
  

 

The Opening Gambit
  

Hands On Lab
  

Ask The Expert
  

Press Conference
  

Kennedy and I
  

 
Going for the launch appreciation night at Scarlett later. Have a good weekend peeps!
  

Could you spot me in this video?

So you may have heard about the super duper cool Start.NET program that Microsoft Malaysia is currently running…. but have you been getting the anticipated attention from your friends and colleagues? But most of all, here’s chance for you to win a trip for 2 to Bali and many more prizes await you.

How?
Read on for more details.
 

Read more

Heroes Happen {Here} Launch

On 8 April, the KLCC Convention Center will come alive as we launch three ground-breaking products: Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio Team Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008. This one day event will feature a keynote session, 3 breakout tracks, Partner Pavillion, Hands-On-Labs and many exciting activities. A full copy of Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 awaits each attendee*!

Register TODAY at www.heroes.com.my 

* While stock lasts