Marcia Yap & Wilkies Song Tie the Knot!

Congratulations Marcia Yap and Wilkies Song! You both tied the knot on 21st November 2009. ๐Ÿ™‚

Marcia was my Sunday school teacher when I was going to St. Ignatius Church during my high school days. I haven’t seen her for a few years until I met her again by chance not too long ago, when I returned to the same church for the Sunday evening service. It was also my first time in a long time attending for service in this church.

Anyways, we met up again for lunch the next day and boy, there was plenty to catch up on! Marcia was dating Wilkies and it was only less than two months before their official wedding. About the same time, she was getting ready to move into her new place in Sg. Buloh so I obliged to help with the house shifting.

(well come to think of it, the major thing I did was just shelleck the furniture!)

I got invited to the wedding and it was to be at the same church. Met a couple more familiar faces there, which in turn would wind up leading to a separate adventure, which I’ll talk about in the coming post!

Congratulations, Marcia and Wilkies! (especially Marcia… finally! phew!) Here’s to an awesome, blissful and long lasting union between you two! ๐Ÿ™‚

Guerrilla Business Intensive in Singapore

Hey, it’s another long overdue blog post!

It’s been months since I last visited Singapore, especially since I had moved to Petaling Jaya back in May.

So what brought me over the causeway this time? Guerrilla Business Intensive. ๐Ÿ™‚

Back at the Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar, Elle and I signed up for GBI. So the big 5 days were drawing near, and we bunked over at Foo‘s place for several nights! (thanks Foo!)

Hotel rates in SG are insane. Even if the bills were to be split in between the two of us, it wouldn’t be worth it. Probably because I’ve been so accustomed to paying for anything in Malaysian Ringgits. ๐Ÿ˜›

Coincidentally, Foo relocated to Kallang (no longer Redhill) so Elle and I bunked over at his place, thus we saved on the expensive hotel rates! ๐Ÿ˜€ The HDB flat in Kallang is a mirror of the Redhill place where Foo used to stay though. To the dot!

Meeting the Singaporean Internet Marketers

It’s been a year since I last met Calvin Woon and his girlfriend Patricia Lin in person. Jonathan Teng, their IM Buzz Partner from Maritius, happened to be in town.

That’s us at the Dim Sum place in China Town. L-R: Elle, Patricia, Calvin, Edmund (me)! ๐Ÿ™‚

Later we played some board games at Settler’s. Damn, Calvin kept trashing us. But then, those games are supposed to be ‘no-brainer’ so I think it means something about Calvin’s mental behavior. ๐Ÿ˜›

Jhong Ren swung by albeit for a short while to play a few round of board games with us too. ๐Ÿ™‚

Calvin and Pat challenged me to a dare… which turned out to be riding the sling shot! (And that’s after eating lots of Dim Sums!) I rode one back in my Bali trip last year – yes it was scary. But I was pleased to find out this sling shot model is half the height I rode back in Bali.

Still needed a companion though, so I convinced Jonathan to ride with me!

That’s me looking nervous, while Jon seemed somewhat “over” confident. ๐Ÿ˜›

Strapping ourselves for a blast-off! Better check for our passports, LOL

That’s me… after completing the sling shot! Couldn’t help smiling ear to ear – conquered my fear of flying up! Haha! ๐Ÿ˜€

Guerrilla Business Intensive

The 5 days we’ve been looking forward to is finally here! And man, it sure lived up to its name! The next 5 days were grueling and intensive… 9AM to 10-11 PM every day!

We met up with familiar faces Melvin Ng and Sunny Tan ๐Ÿ™‚ Of course not forgetting some of the Success Resources crew whom I had the pleasure to meet back in GIS Penang.

I learned a wealth of new things from this crash course business school “the street smart” way ๐Ÿ™‚ Art of negotiating, selling, outsourcing, copywriting, finding customers, networking… all packed into the notes I’ve been writing away these 5 days.

T Harv Eker is one of the better speakers I’ve seen on stage in a while!

Of course, there were other guest speakers too like Kireon Sweeney, Alex Mandossian, and Joel Roberts.

Yes, that’s Elle riding the tricycle. ๐Ÿ˜›

The last day was concluded with everyone (700 people in the room) given a ‘business template’ that is re-usable for every business model! We got broken up into groups of 4, and ran through the business vision and the template itself. This was what set the course for Elle and me doing the 7-DAY PLR SALE (just ended as I’m writing this).

Hanging Out with Fuu Fuu and Friends

As soon as the last of GBI concluded, we rejoined Foo and his friends!

L-R: Foo, Gerardine Tan, Elle, me ๐Ÿ˜›

After getting acquainted with Foo’s buddies, who are at large Malaysians working in Singapore like himself, the three of us decided to catch a late night movie and watched Inglorious Basterdz. (the show was too long IMO but I agree with most other people… Christopher Waltz 0wns!)

The show would be on in an hour, so we entertained ourselves at the arcade. ๐Ÿ™‚

Btw… Foo and even Elle handed my ass to me in Daytona. ๐Ÿ™

Elle also 0wn3d Foo in (I don’t know the name of that game). Shame on Foo! ๐Ÿ˜›

But hey, when it comes to shooting – I RULE!!! ๐Ÿ˜€

So it was…

15th September – meet Calvin & friends
16th – 20th September – GBI
20th – 21st September – hang loose!

Great adventure in Singapore this trip around! ๐Ÿ™‚ Wonder when I’ll visit again. It won’t be as frequent as when I was staying in JB since I’m now in PJ for most of the time.

Until then!

The IM Weekend Workshop!

First solid blog post in a while! I organized a 2-day workshop on Internet Marketing with my friend and partner, Elle Wong. It was on demand by friends, so for a big part of the (small) crowd we pulled in were my high school friends. ๐Ÿ™‚

As you can probably tell, in spite of my status as a co-author for Secrets of Millionaire Students – which I’m proud to announce it’s now on the bestseller’s list in Singapore and Malaysia – speaking engagement is not my cup of tea.

Although it’s a whole lot more profitable selling stuff online (duh), we did this to boost up our local credibility. And also, to make our ABOUT ME page look more gorgeous. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Here are some of the photos we took of the class in action on 5 & 6 September 2009:

The IM Weekend Workshop booklet!

That’s me – your one and only main speaker and trainer for the workshop! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Edmund Loh

Teaching the class on basics of Internet Marketing…

Edmund Loh speaking

Okay, that’s Elle my guest trainer. ๐Ÿ™‚

Elle Wong

Class on break…

Class

The students were also thrown into various activities – the copywriting challenge being the highlight!

Hey… poser!! ;-P

Peace!



Thanks for coming to the workshop everyone!
๐Ÿ™‚

Business and Leisure in Penang

It’s been 3 years since I last visited Penang.

I had been invited to speak at the Global Internet Summit and this was going to be the first time GIS is presented in Penang. I had prepared my presentation a few days before the big day and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous at all; this was also going to be my first speaking engagement as a main speaker.

And to top that, I was also going to be the first speaker to climb the stage to kick start the event!


At Senai Airport

One day before the big day, I caught a flight to Penang and checked into the Evergreen Laurel Hotel at Persiaran Gurney. While I was looking forward to having more fun and going around Penang, the presentation occupied my mind most of the time. Couldn’t wait for it to end.


Inside the 5-star Evergreen Laurel Hotel - sea view!

Walking outside the hotel at Persiaran Gurney

Thankfully, the Success Resources team had arrived earlier and since I was going to be the first main speaker to start the event – I wouldn’t have the luxury of observing and learning from other speakers before my turn – I rehearsed my presentation in the empty room. I rarely spoke in front of large crowds and I had to learn almost everything I could from “Great Public Speaking in 10 Days”… in 2 days.


Rehearsing in front of the empty room

My biggest worry was whether I would exceed my allotted time of 1.5 hours. So I spent whatever available time I can rehearsing my presentation (though I paid little attention to the details in the final 15 minutes i.e. selling).

Other speakers arrived shortly and I met up with them for dinner to get acquainted, especially Benjamin Teo and Andy Hun since I’ve not met them before.

We ate at Gurney Drive and yep, Penang is well known for its food! Here’s Andy Hun (right) and Feebie, Benjamin Teo’s girlfriend. Andy’s from Johor Bahru, to my surprise (just when I thought I’m the Sultan of Johor).

I don’t have a profiled picture of Feebie but she looks really, really familiar. I was certain I saw someone who looked like her back in Sydney (and maybe true since she and Ben Teo came from Sydney!)… and she looked like an ex-classmate of mine.

“Common face,” said Ben.


Feebie (Ben Teoโ€™s gf) and Andy Hun

Oh yeah, here’s Alvin Phang too. His first time in Penang. Since I won 2nd place in his Atoming Blogging 3.0 contest, should’ve asked him to hand me my prizes while in person. ๐Ÿ˜›


Alvin Phang

Of course, Benjamin Teo himself. He may speak in a monotone voice but hey, he’s THE social media expert. He was from Malaysia (surprise, surprise) and then moved to Australia at an early age. He’s got like… what? 36,000 followers on Twitter? Follow him on Twitter: @upicks


Benjamin Teo - the social media expert

And of course, here’s the star and the hero himself. What’s this blog without THE MAN? ๐Ÿ˜‰


Edmund Loh

Global Internet Summit


View from the stage

The long awaited 1.5 hours of presentation finally came… and go! ๐Ÿ™‚

I think I did pretty well for a first timer, considering many of the audience didn’t quite believe this was my first time speaking on stage, my fear of exceeding the 1.5 hours of given time was un-found (I finished on time), and I sold some of my back-end programs too at an acceptable ratio for a crowd that I heard was hard to please.

To add to that, my hairstyle was at its best. ๐Ÿ˜› I can’t think of anything I’ve goofed up badly and I must say I did well. ๐Ÿ™‚

I haven’t got the photos of me speaking on stage so when I get them I’ll post them here. But I want to show you the photos of some of the people I’ve met at the GIS.


With Kelly Lai

with Tiong Wei

with Low Kok Seng

with Soo Cheng Guan

with Alvin Ooi

with Dawn Tan

with Anna Tan

UPDATED 16th April

Thanks to Jaz Lai and Edmund Toh for the pics! Here they are…


First up on stage!

Edmund Loh on stage

At speakerโ€™s panel

Answering in a Q&A

Answering Q&A

Okay now that the business trip is covered, let’s talk about leisure for the rest of the blog post!

Red Box Karaoke


Red Box

In no sequence, let me show what we’ve been doing when we’re not speaking for the GIS. ๐Ÿ™‚ Hope this convinces some people that we’re totally nerds behind the comps – or that we spend the rest of our free time at the cyber cafe. lol


Jaz Lai, Edmund Toh and Khai Siung signing up at Red Box

This is the third time I’ve gone to a karaoke session and though I’m not good at singing (actually, the extreme opposite) I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I’m beginning to like it too. ๐Ÿ™‚ Look forward to go to more of these Red Box outings next time when I’m in KL. Khai Siung is a MUST in the group, really.


โ€œTakes me one step closer to the edgeโ€ฆ and Iโ€™m about to break!โ€

I didn’t know Jaz Lai could sing, though.


Jaz Lai

And even Edmund Toh. I suspect we came from the same factory that produced us.


Edmund Toh

And hey, it’s our guest and friend from India, Alok Jain!


Alok Jain

Finally… me. ๐Ÿ™‚


I can sing, ok?

Yes, I really canโ€ฆ

Kenko Fish Spa

It’s been everyday that I go to Gurney Plaza while I was in Penang but I’m most fond of the Kenko Fish Spa while I’m there.

I’ve seen people blog about their experience at the fish spa and I think it would be sad if I didn’t try it out at least once in my lifetime. Now I’m certain I would do it once in a while. ๐Ÿ™‚


Chewing off my feetโ€ฆ

Jaz, Edmund, Edmund

Feeding his hands away

Letโ€™s see if you can find our card at Kenkoโ€™s Guest Wall!

Trying to maximize my value for money by dipping both my hands into the pool and still get away with paying for only foot massage fees.


Becoming fish food

Here’s York Min whom we’ve briefly got acquainted with. I’ve also tried out the full body massage at Kenko’s the next day since the massage service at the hotel left a lot to be desired.


with York Min

Dinner and Food!

What’s Penang without all the amazing food and friends right? ๐Ÿ™‚


Lunch at Coffee Island

Now with me inside the photo

We also had Speaker’s Dinner on the last evening of the GIS. Here’s me and Vince Tan – damn he sold many seats too many for his back-end program, well done!


Me and Vince Tan

L-R: Vince, me, Alok, Andy


Vince, Edmund, Alok, Andy

Thanks to Success Resources for helping me out with my first speaking engagement!


Me with the SR Team

Some moreโ€ฆ

Group photo

with Yan Ang since she had been missing from the rest of the group photos!

Special credits to: Jessie, Yan Ang, Henry Chee, Henry Wong, Purple Chin (and of course, the rest of the SR team!)

Last Day – Going Around Penang

I was the last speaker to leave the island (Patric Chan doesn’t count since he’s a native here!) so I checked out Bukit Bendera and the Kek Lok Si temple.


At Bukit Bendera

Bukit Bendera

View from the top of Bukit Bendera

At the Kek Lok Si Temple

Year of the Tiger

Also caught a movie at Gurney Plaza’s GSC – Shinjuku Incident starring Jackie Chan. Even though it’s like what Jackie himself said in an interview, “1% action 99% drama” I think this is one of Jackie Chan’s best films. The premise of the show is that in the early 1990’s – based on a true incident that really happened – Jackie plays the character “Steel Head” and was one of the many of the illegal immigrants from China who settled in Shinjuku, Japan… illegally, of course.

Steel Head would go on to find that his former lover is now married with a kid to a Yakuza leader called Eguchi. From here on, Jackie went from doing odd jobs to starting multiple illegal businesses like selling fake phone cards and tampering with the jackpot machines until he seizes substantial power within the ranks of the Yakuza semi-legitimate organization and controls a pure Chinese territory for his Chinese ‘brothers’. There are a lot of heart wrenching moments when you can see how good people turn bad, and yet how some things don’t really change – and the racial issues between the Japanese and the Chinese.

I can see why this show is banned in China because of how it portrays the Chinese people. Nonetheless, I’d say put it in your “must watch” list.


Shopping for stuff the last minute!

Okay, this is it. I’m sorry if I didn’t mention some of you in my blog post and I’m still waiting for new photos to add here. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading and it’s been a pleasure to meet new people while I was in Penang! Talk soon and until the next time!