Jackie Miao

I’m not sure if it’s incidental or did lots and lots of things happen in the last two weeks? You decide.

1. Steve Rogers’ Running Grandpa featured on USA Today

Remember Steven the Texan, one of the Top 50 candidates I was competing against for the Best Job in the World? His 91-year-old granddad Orville Rogers was featured on USA TODAY this week to show everyone you can still run at his age. So the next time you manufacture some excuse about not exercising, think about Orville and ask yourself what’s your excuse again?! Uhuh… I thought so!

Read the USA TODAY article here…
Website: Steve’s Blog

2. Island Caretaker to Appear on Oprah

When I read that Ben was going on Oprah I was pretty excited for him. As happy as I am for Ben I couldn’t help but think how close I came to being on Oprah myself. Saying that, to now know I am only one degree away from one of my biggest sources of inspiration of all time is pretty stokin’. Maybe I’ll get to meet Oprah for other reasons one day. There’s definitely hope yet!

Websites: Best Job in the World, Oprah.com

3. Jordan on Female Magazine’s GORGEOUS 50 List

My friend Jordan stunned everybody when he appeared in the quintessential ladies magazine as a celebrated sizzling hot symbol of desire in the November 2009 issue of Female Magazine (Malaysia Edition). If I don’t appear shocked, it’s because he kind of told me about a mystery photo shoot he did before he became too hot to handle!

Read my interview with Jordan…

Website: FemaleMag.com.my

4. Mia Palencia to Launch her Second Album

One of my good friends Mia Palencia will be launching her second album Songs from the Jiwang Kingdom this Friday in Kuala Lumpur. I get goosebumps when I listen to her sing; firstly from her amazing diva voice and secondly from beaming with Sabahan pride. It’s even better watching her live, as she scats her vibes into your pores. Listen to her here and judge for yourself.

Websites: Brabons Entertainment, MiaPalencia.com

5. Pete Teo, Honey Ahmad on CNNGo’s List of People to Watch

Pete Teo, the melodic prose king from Sabah and foodie Honey Ahmad of FriedChillies.com were featured on the new and very sexylicious CNNGo.com as people to watch in Asia. I met Pete about 8 years ago at No Black Tie through Roger Wang and worked with Honey Ahmad to host the delegates from the World Gourmand Awards in Sabah in 2005. FriedChillies also supported me earlier this year when I ran my Best Job in the World campaign, so as you can imagine I couldn’t be happier to see Honey’s name sprout up on CNNGo’s Hot List!

Websites: http://www.peteteo.com, http://www.friedchillies.com

6. Mad About CNNGo

Speaking of CNNGo, When I was invited to check them out a few weeks ago I wasn’t sure how good their content was going to be. A few weeks into this I’ve now gotten slightly cozy with the guys behind the scene. CNNGo.com is hip, stylish, daring, quirky, humorous and relevant. I laugh incessantly at their stuff, so much so that I can imagine myself giggling, chuckling and just about snort in their Hong Kong office with them. Loving them so far! CNNGo.com is the most exciting website in Asia right now and if you live or spend a lot of time in the region, they’ll make sure your wanderlust never fizzles.

Website: http://www.cnngo.com

7. BFF Gives Birth to a Baby Boy

This is more of a personal phenomenon but my BFF (who in our invincible years swore she’d mother a child with or without a man by 35) just gave birth to a baby boy(at 33 years old)! Phew… Thank goodness her husband locked her down before she hit the tadpole bank. She’s in super-confinement mode at the moment but I can’t wait to meet her little treasure in a week’s time!

8. Jennifer featured on Harian Metro

Remember Jennifer Pedersen, the beauty who won the Estee Lauder Model Search? She appeared in Harian Metro on November 5th, 2009. Below are the scans from her mother.

Isn’t she lovely? I’m sure you’ll see her popping up everywhere in Malaysia and Singapore, but I thought I’d follow up since the last post I wrote about Jennifer.

9. Fakawi Banshee Proud of Team Achievements

One of the coolest bunch of people in Malaysia are the Fakawi Tribe mountain bikers. Their Banshee team riders Ausanee Pradupyard(Thailand) and Stanly Jalip JR (Malaysia) podiumed in the ACC Asian MTB Championship held in Malacca last week.  All mountain biking nerds should check out those Banshee Bikes. Last I read they cost you your left kidney, but the hefty pricetag is nothing compared to the satisfaction of riding downhill like a demon. (Small print: If you’re skillfull and daring that is!)

Websites: FakawiBikes.com, FakawiTribe.com

That about rounds up the eyebrow raisers of the fortnight. In my next post I’ll share more about what I’ve been up to, so stay tuned!

Ladies and gentlemen say hello to the new face and Brand Ambassador for Estee Lauder Malaysia, the beautiful 19-year old lass Jennifer Pedersen from Sabah.

Jennifer Pedersen for Estee Lauder Model Search 2009

Jennifer beat 3,000 girls to emerge as the winner of the Estee Lauder Model Search for Category A (Under 29s)  as well as bagged the Most Photo Perfect prize as well. I could not get a hold of her in time for this post but managed to chat with her mother Helen, who informed me that she is currently in Bali doing a photo shoot. Here are some pictures courtesy of Helen Pedersen.

Estee Lauder launched a national search for a model and Brand Ambassador

According to Helen, Jennifer had a bout of pre-live contest jitters and wanted to pull out of the competition for fear of failure. Her supportive mother eventually managed to convince her to go through with it, advising her that it’s okay to lose if she does. With her nerves negotiated, this girl bit the bullet and went through the competition with her head held high…

Jennifer doing the stage lap

With contenders like that, I'm not surprised that she's not expecting to win!

After two rounds of judging, she surprises herself by winning the Estee Lauder-Sony Most Photo Perfect contest.

Jennifer wins the Most Photo Perfect contest.

The judges then pared down the list to the final three.

Comic effect to diffuse the suspense perhaps?

And tada… she wins! The title of Brand Ambassador comes with a RM 35,000 voucher, on top of the other RM 16,000 voucher she won for Miss Photo Perfect.

Jennifer wins the Estee Lauder Model Search 2009!

Isn’t she glad now that she didn’t quit!? We should all learn from this girl that you should go ahead and face your fears head-on. Who knows what the universe has planned for you? Jennifer is now RM 51,000 worth of prizes richer and likely going to get more modeling jobs because of the exposure she’s gotten from this process.

Triumphant and her fear conquered!

Perhaps for another challenge, she’ll enter the Miss Malaysia pageant next? Let’s hope so!