The Bali Experience: Part 1

UPDATED 10th JUNE 2008…

The Bali Experience, as I would call it, is nothing less than awesome. Perhaps the understatement of the year? I am in Jakarta, Indonesia right now as I am writing this. It’s only been a day since I left Bali for Jakarta and I am already missing the island! 🙂

The beauty of the island is more enchanting than I had expected, and the environment is definitely something you cannot get the feel merely over the TV screen or in books we read about. And yes, there is certainly more to the Island of Gods than just strips of beautiful beaches, nude statues and merchandise items resembling private parts. 🙂

Day 1: Checking in the Sanur Beach Hotel & Kecak Dance

Inside Air Asia

Ladan and I left for the KL International Airport early in the morning and it was going to be our first experience in boarding a flight with AirAsia. The low budget aircraft was mighty crammed with people like a flying sardine. 🙂 We arrived at Bali (Denpasar) in 3 hours by flight, and another hour of wading through the crowd at the immigration point.

Hectic? Yes. Worth it? Yes, too!

Dee Ferdinand and his friend Kevaz Mighty Xavier picked us up at the Bali airport almost right away and we had lunch nearby. I’ve known Dee on the Internet or more than two years and I found him to be highly hospitable, friendly and selfless.

This was also my first time meeting his friend and V.A. Kevas. His real name is actually Lucky. Yes, I didn’t believe it was his real name (so did many people) and that was why he changed his name. 😉 He’s an animated, funny guy and laughs easily. He reminds me of Disney cartoon character Goofy, really.

Edmund, Ladan and Dee

Eating seafood for lunch, just after we arrived at Bali (DPS) Airport. L-R: Ladan, me and Dee Ferdinand. I was flashing the 50,000 Rupiah note but don’t be fooled by its voluminous figure; it is worth a little above $5.00 when you convert the note to US Dollars. 😉

At the Rice Field

With Dee at the Rice Field.

Then, we checked into the hotel shortly, though both Dee and Kevaz were staying in another hotel just 10 minutes away. Soon after, we were racing to a traditional stage nearby to watch the all-cultural Kecak Dance.

The Kecak Dance

Watching the Kecak Dance live on stage. A group of approximately 30 topless men greeted the audience doing the dance and chanting ‘chak chak chak chak chak’ and ‘ouw ouw ouw ouw’. Okay it sure sounds crazy but when I heard them chanting like that, they sound just like me when I am at home. Maybe I’ve found my roots here in Bali? 😉

Full explanation on the Kecak Dance and its origin are here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kecak

Shita & Trijata

Shita and Trijata enters the scene.

The White Monkey

Now it’s the white monkey. According to the storyline of the popular Indonesian folklore, the white monkey is of good nature. He sure looks otherwise here, though.

Flying Monkey

Flying monkey!!! The Kecak Dance we witnessed tells a brief story found in the popular Indonesian myth (which in print it’s a thousand pages long). After the main story was told and acted through the traditional dance, two little girls show their dancing talents on stage.

More Kecak… And More Ooomph..!

And what ensued was a wild dude breakdancing on fire!

Wild Dude Breakdancing on Fire

Nah, just kidding. 😉 The man was stomping on fire with his bare feet, though. Talk about feat.

Edmund Loh

That’s me, just after the Kecak Dance performance was over. 🙂 And here are some more photos we took on our first day in Bali:

Dee Ferdinand and Edmund Loh Dee Ferdinand The Road to Bali

Edmund and Ladan Kevas and Dee

Statues Outside Sanur Beach Hotel Sanur Beach Hotel The Freeze

Day 2: Walk at the Beach, Discovery Shopping Mall, Seeing the Sun Set…

We spent most of the day in Kuta, in which we came back now and then throughout the same trip. We walked past a long street of merchants before we reached the beach.

Edmund, Kevas and Ladan

L – R: Me, Kevas, Ladan. Strolling down the street teeming with busy merchants driving for a hard sell.

Having Lunch with Dee

Having lunch with Dee.

I also visited the monument and site where the Bali Bombing occurred in Year 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Bali_bombings

Edmund @ Monument of Bali Bombing 2002 Site where Bali Bombing Occured Monument with Names of Victims

After a long walk, we finally reached the shore and… the beach is very beautiful! 🙂

beach1.jpg

beach2.jpg beach3.jpg beach4.jpg beach5.jpg

Unlike in Malaysia, the day gets darker by 6.00 to 6.30 PM in Bali so we went on to catch seeing the sunset from outside Discovery Shopping Mall. Bummer that the clouds were blocking us from seeing the sun set. 😉

Clouds like Chicken Wings?

And yep, the clouds sure look like a pair of chicken wings. 🙂 Here are some more of our photos we took…

Edmund Loh Ladan

Dee Boooo…

Edmund, Dee & Kevaz

To be Continued in Part 2…

CREDITS TO DEE FERDINAND: Thanks for your generous share of excellent photos! 🙂 Guys if you need any graphic design done for your products, I highly recommend Dee’s service: http://www.MiniSiteGuru.com. (No, he didn’t pay me to advertise – his service quality speaks for itself) 🙂

Off to Bali For a Holiday!

I’ll be going to Bali in the morning and will be there until 9th June. I will then spend the next three days in Jakarta, Indonesia before I return to Malaysia. I understand there is WIFI access in the hotel lobby but expect limited connectivity, and thus no updates to this blog until I return on the 12th June.

Customer/Member Support: please contact my helpdesk and I will give priority to answering your queries.

Thanks and I’ll be back!

Immitation – a Form of Flattery?

WARNING! Rant up ahead…

Being successful comes with a price. As a leading pioneer in the Private Label Rights business on the Internet, I face a lot of new challenges that I had never previously encountered as an Internet Markeitng newbie.

One of them happens to be dealing with copycats. Personally, I have nothing against ‘borrowing’ ideas to an acceptable degree. But literal copying? Word for word? Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised at all that a lot of Internet Marketing ‘wanna-be’s are copying my marketing moves, style, choice of words… all to the letter.

Just this afternoon, I discovered yet another Edmund Loh ‘wanna be’. This time it came in the form of HepiMoney or Cik Mint.

It is said that immitation is a form of flattery. But being a subject of *literal* immitation by many other so-called ‘competitors’, I never found this one bit amusing much less flattering. More on that later. Read on.

When I checked my Inbox this afternoon, I received an e-mail notifying me of a pingback to my About Me page. And I was wondering, “Who would actually link to my ‘About Me’ page?” I had to check it out.

And lo and behold, what greeted me was a very familiar post. In fact, it was one of my first posts that I wrote at the start of my Personal Homepage.

Except that it was written in Malay.

First, check out my blog post here.

Okay? Now see this.

Copycat...

The anonymous author of this blog might change his (or her) blog content later so I’m going to paste the screen shot of the full contents here as it is.

Blatant Copy of Blog Post - Only in Bahasa Malaysia

Interestingly enough, when I hovered my mouse cursor over the link, it was a link to my About Me page. This was what resulted the pingback.

Is Edmund Loh = Cik Mint?

Even my URL was copied to the dot too. Hmmm… and what was I saying about literal copycats? “Cik Mint” had also copied a portion of my About Me page, again only to be loosely translated to Bahasa Malaysia with a minimal changes.

To prove the point, check out my About Me page here and see “About Edmund Loh” and “Internet Marketing Skills & Expertise”. (link opens in a new window or tab)

Alright, now see this:

About Me - in BM

Now what are the chances that there are TWO Internet Marketers in the Private Label Rights business staying in Johor Bahru, both agreeing that they are workaholics but know when to time out, chill and relax, can write promotion emails and do web copywriting, design e-cover graphics, create digital products, are experts at membership sites, build opt-in lists, do Joint Ventures, and execute product launches?

Perhaps I shouldn’t be laughing at people who are less gifted than I am (pardon the sarcasm). After all, there are a lot of people out there who are handicapped of their own identity and this is one speck of the proof. 😉

So is immitation a form of flattery?

Hmmm… considering that this person could have copied after profiles of more successful people like Mark Joyner, John Delavera and Ewen Chia, maybe I should feel flattered that this anonymous person chose to copy mine instead. 😉

Or should I?

One thing I know for sure: if you want to quickly brand yourself as a fool, you can pick up literal copying. Just like “Cik Mint”.

Will wonders ever cease? 😉

The Two Pieces of Paper That Changed My Life

Affiliate Video Brander

(Be doubly sure to see this video on the first Life Changing Party Event)

I’ve been hearing a lot about this thing called “Law of Attraction“. When I first heard of it, I found it – in one word – ridiculous. Especially when I first heard of it, a friend of mine said along the lines of: “Edmund, did I tell you about the time I was driving to work? It was veeeeeery jam-packed, with heavy traffic and al’, so I started visualizing an empty parking space up ahead the road and… VOILA! That’s Law of Attraction to you, buddy.” 🙂

Cock and bull?

Hmm… come to think of it, it’s not that ridiculous after all.

Okay it sounds absurd yet there is a lot of truth to the Law of Attraction being applied and in effect in our daily lives. When was the first time you started meeting the type of people you want to hang out with? At what point did you realize you were surrounded by unwanted people and did you analyze the cause of it?

In many instances, ruling out pure luck, it was seeded with sub-conscious intentions and thus applying the Law of Attraction. It can work in your favor. Or even against you. It depends on how you use it on sub-conscious level. (And the sub-conscious mind is always more powerful than the conscious one)

I attended a Catholic Church for the first time in my life when I was 9 years-old. My mother told me that God grants everyone a petition for three wishes upon entering a new church. Without questioning at all, I quickly whipped out a piece of paper and wrote down my three wishes I wanted so much at that time.

Fast forward Year 2006…

I’ve forgotten all about that piece of paper until almost 11 years later when I dug out my priceless treasure of memories, packed into boxes. For a brief few years, I lived the life of a vagabond with my family, going to different places and living on merely traveling bags. As a result, I was forced to discard a lot of things and items from my previous house to move to the next. However, I was ‘stubborn’ enough to keep my personal items collected from my life journey, that no money can buy.

When I discovered the same piece of paper I realized how much had changed since. And so much it was. On it, I wrote the 3 wishes: to get a computer and to be able to pay my bills on time. The third wish was blurred out due to age (and partly owing to my bad handwriting) and I couldn’t remember what it was either.

The most important thing to me when I discovered the paper I wrote 11 years ago was that the wishes had become self-fulfilled.

Owning a computer today may not be a ‘big thing’ especially in civilized parts of the world but I remembered how much I craved for a computer at that time. I thought it would be cool to have one and keep up with my friends from well-to-do families. I had also wanted to enjoy the latest computer games – Red Alert, Quake 1, Starcraft… ah, those days 🙂

I was also wondering why my mother kept worrying about not being able to pay the bills on time and she never looked happy about it. I didn’t understand about working life at that time but I just knew it wasn’t easy for her to get more money so I wished the problem would go away.

While the two wishes had been accomplished on their own merit eventually, I realized that I had gotten more than what I initially wanted. Today I don’t just own a computer; I have two laptops, a PlayStation 2 and PlayStation: Portable. I still sweat before my paying bills though; can’t help it that Malaysia is a hot country but at least I pay my bills on time now without worries. 🙂

Yet I’ve achieved more and beyond. Living in an age of social competition and the desire to gain more in wealth, materials and self improvement, the discovery of that piece of paper reminded me of my more humble days and life was once simple.

It also reminded me of yet another direction-altering paper that I stuck to the side of my room mirror in 2004, which little did I know, would go on to change my life. The paper was aptly written Mission: Financial Independence.

I am no fan of sticking notes on my wall, wallet and steering wheel (well I didn’t have a car then), etc. but I had my focus written on… yep, that piece of paper. I wanted to be financially free, get my mother out of Johor Bahru and move her to Kuala Lumpur, and be able to fund my sister’s college when she goes out of high school.

In as corny and less-detailed as it sounded, those were exactly what I wanted. I didn’t know anything about starting a business and I certainly was clueless on how to become enterprising at that time. I was working as an office boy and going to college on weekends to take the Certified Financial Planning (CFP) Course.

Again, all of what I wrote in that piece of paper had come true today.

Alright my mother isn’t staying in KL now but well, I did move her out of the sub-urban house didn’t I? 🙂 As far as being financially free is concerned, I found my solution eventually through a strike of million brainstormed opportunities. And as they said, the rest is history. I’m also still in a state of surprise on how I managed to fund my sister’s college in a short notice of just less than two years too. I’ve heard of parents working for years to fund their children’s tertiary education. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull off in a shorter notice since I didn’t have the benefit of ample time. But I’m glad I did.

Regardless…

I was more than happy and wish I could see myself smile when I saw that piece of paper which marked the point of what I call life changing. The simplicity of my core desires from then reminded me never to make my head swell in size as I go on to accumulate bigger success in life.

What if I had planned bigger goals?

Bigger dreams?

My story isn’t unique to the application of Law of Attraction and I have personally experienced more examples.

Quick LOA Tips

Now if you’re shy by any chance to express yourself (I was too), but deep within you know that you aren’t an ‘extra bolt or nut’ in the universe by a long shot, I strongly recommend taking any of the following small steps – it will just take you closer to your big goal. 🙂

1. Start visualizing what you really, really want. Don’t worry about the ‘how to’ or whether it’s possible or not. That’s not important for now. Start asking yourself what you really want in life and most importantly, don’t feel guilty about it. If you really crave owning a luxury car, so be it. Big house? Good. Help the needy? If that is what you really, really want to then go for it – just don’t do it out of guilt or just to please your friends.

2. Write them on a piece of paper. Now you may not be able to pull off the above mental exercise in just five minutes. It may take days, weeks or even longer. But don’t worry about whether you’re taking too long or too short – you’re your own judge and boss. YOU decide what you really want. Remember: The sub-conscious mind is the most powerful part of the human brain. You want to form desires on a sub-conscious level FIRST – then on conscious level i.e. starting with the act of writing them on a piece of paper. I also recommend throwing in printed pictures to make it more visual – then stick the note in your house or work place, where you spend most of your time in the day.

3. If you’re from Malaysia or Singapore, I highly recommend attending the Life Changing Party. The premise of the party is that you don’t attend it as you are right now BUT as you are five years from now. Come dressed as your ‘future self’ whom you visualize to be in the next five years. They are hosting the next party in June – brief details below:

LIFE CHANGING PARTY 2
Where: MATRADE Exhibition & Convention Centre
When: Saturday 7th June 2008
What Time: 6pm – 12 midnight
Why: To Dress, Walk, Talk and Behave Like The Successful Person You Want To Be In 5 Years’ Time For The Entire Duration Of The Party.
Benefits: When you act and behave like the future you, as if you’ve already achieved all your goals and dreams, your vision will be totally entrenched into your entire being. Following the Law of Attraction as seen in the hit movie released on DVD, “The Secret”, you will then start to attract all the things, people and help that you will need in the weeks and months ahead to create the future you!

What You Will Get: Full Details Here

4. Start networking with a healthier group of friends. Had ‘friends’ who pulled you down instead of pushing you up? It’s probably time to get a new batch of buddies. You will do well to start actively networking with like-minded people who not only share the same passion as you do but would also be preferable to mix with those who are already doing what you want to set out to achieve.

Admittedly, Starting to Visualize Isn’t Easy…

… Even if you do it on a few pieces of paper. Not especially when you entertain the thought of the papers and notes being seen by your friends, and God forbid, cynical family members and relatives.

I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t been mocked or teased at for even daring to think of wanting something better in life. It was as if I was committing a state criminal offense. But I continue to hold on to the belief that I am meant for bigger, greater things in life – and so do everyone else as long as they believe in themselves and that they aren’t in this world just to live on status quo.

Don’t you, too? 🙂