Jackie Miao

Jinx Chin

This morning I’d like to introduce you guys to my friend Jinx Chin.

After he move back to Malaysia from the United States, Jinx poured his heart and soul into composing jingles for commercials. Though you may have heard a few of his catchy tunes if you live in Malaysia, you probably don’t know who Jinx is nor heard of his true melodic prowess.

For the longest time I’ve been waiting for him to put his romantic pop rock music out there. Finally, in November 2009 his music hit the Internet and the airwaves of SBS radio in Sydney, Australia.

Jinx has a YouTube channel where he uploads videos of himself doing beautiful covers and a Jango channel featuring his original songs. He’s already got 543 fans from simply uploading his music to Jango.

Here is his first original song of 2010, Back At The Start:-

Back At The Start by J I N X C H I N

P/S: If you can’t access the widget above, please go to his SoundCloud page.

If you like what you hear, you can buy his music at Nimbit for the sensational price of $0.99 a track. For more information on Jinx’s music and to nosy into his wonderfully whacky world of music composition, visit his website at JinxChin.com

Sometimes it takes a clear sky and a mountain to remind us of why in spite of many inconveniences, we still choose to come back to Sabah. Here’s a photo meme of Mt. Kinabalu from yesterday and today….

Taken from Tanjung Aru

It all started on Facebook when Phyllis woke up to this view from her bedroom.

Mount Kinabalu from Jalan Tuaran

Then I looked out my bedroom window, headed downstairs and took this shot. (I was actually closer than Phyllis to Mt. Kinabalu but my camera was crappier.)

Mt Kinabalu from where Bob is. Yea, with his toy heli.

Bob flew his toy heli in front of his view and took this one. The helicopter almost looks real doesn’t it?

Cornelius took this from Pekan Nabalu from his mobile

Last but not least, here’s a shot of Mt. Kinabalu this morning from Cornelius Chua. Isn’t that just breathtaking? Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos with me.

P/S: If you would like to share your Mt. Kinabalu shot with me, email your picture to me with the time, date and location of where it was taken to jackiemiao.my(at)gmail.com. Remember to let me know how to credit you.

Do you live in Kota Kinabalu and are you a fan of no-nonsense fresh Pork Bacon and Pork Sausages? If so, you totally, absolutely, definitely have to add Stone Bridge Galley to your list of restaurants to follow!

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If you are Sabahan or visit Sabah often, you are also very welcome to befriend us on Facebook too. Actually we’ll befriend anyone who loves good food! We’re a pretty social bunch!

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The bacon and sausages are calling your name. What are you waiting for?

Did you know that there’s a deep house music scene brewing in Kota Kinabalu? Last Saturday night, I was invited by Amir Yusoff to attend the Moondance “Groove Your Mind” event at Luna Rossa.

Crowd consisted of local socialites and expats

Surprisingly, the turn out of the crowd was pretty good. When I moved back to Kota Kinabalu in 2002, the city just wasn’t ready to embrace deep house music back then. Today it is a different story as K.K. has grown tremendously and the city is now home to many more expatriates and repatriates. It wasn’t the right time then but it looks like it may be the right time now.

It was a pretty good turnout

Luna Rossa is just a beautiful space for this purpose, spotting a fusion of Indomalay ethnic wood carvings, statues, tactile fixtures and great mood lighting. It has the right ambiance for the delivery of tasteful beats into the bloodstreams of its visitors, a big factor to why people flocked to the dance floor with nothing but funky tunes as their cue.

Deep house lovers getting their groove on

In fact, I heard someone say the event had the vibe of Ku De Ta in Bali, while another person said it felt like he was chilling in a trendy lounge bar in Jakarta. Judging from the success of that night, I wouldn’t be surprised if people are hoping Amir Yusoff will continue to bring high quality groove parties to K.K.

People sitting at the garden area

Here are some more pictures from that night. I couldn’t resist posting the cutest pose yet from Mel C making the Asian peace sign(lower left photo), while she proudly displays the bag she ordered from TheBagBar.com.

Picture of and with people

It takes a special person to be able to pull off a parody of the sacred sign without offending those who swear by it. She kind of just whipped her finger up to her face really fast, half-ashamed of her dorkiness, as if to say she only means it if nobody’s looking (because she actually means it). Haha. This is why I love Mel… she’s such a beautiful person! Meanwhile, Sue was just giving me a hard time with the faces. She left me no choice but to use this shot of her where she’s kind of pulling a dodo face, but it’s better than scaring the children and furry animals away!

Pictures of and with people

Last but not least, here’s a shot of Amir and his partner getting some freestyle acoustic action in as additional layers to compliment the electronic tracks. The percussion just blended so well, and that isn’t always true everytime you see a set of bongos come out at clubs. In addition to being good and having a great track selection, what really sets a perfect routine apart from an “almost” great one is knowing just how much to give the crowd (no more, no less) and this level of groovy can only come from a combination of talent for rhythm and extensive experience in entertaining live, which is where Amir truly shines.

The multi-talented Amir on the bongo

To sum it up, the bad news is Luna Rossa isn’t a permanent lounge bar that offers house music on a weekly basis yet. When there aren’t any special events they operate strictly as a restaurant and wine bar. The good news however, is that Amir works with the most sought-after DJs in the region, and has plans to organize more of these parties in Kota Kinabalu as long as there is a demand for them.

If you missed this great event and are interested in attending the next one, follow Amir’s updates at FreestyleAvenue.com.

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!