How do you rub shoulders with the rich and famous?

You push them.  And they push you back.

:P

Attended the Mercedes-Benz STYLO Fashion Grand Prix last night at Thean Hou temple and had mixed feelings.

What I love: 

1. Very fresh idea of having an event at a temple, according to its theme French and Chinois.  Very Chinois but not sure where the French comes from, probably from the Kronenbourg beer that sponsored the event.  Cause first thing that came to my mind; Mercedes defected?! :P The setup was simple but really gave me some great ideas on how to 'work around' the environment :) 
2. Since 'Sex and the City' made Jimmy Choo a household name, I've always wanted to interview him.  I've always wanted to know about his beginnings - not as how media writes it but how he feels it (which is thoroughly absent from press releases).  I wanted to know what he feels about being Malaysian.  I wanted to know what's next for him.  What happens to people who have already made it.  I wanted to know if people knew Jimmy Choo was a Malaysian and not an ABC.  I wanted to know his creative inspiration.  I wanted to know his marketing strategy - how did he decide one day that he should price his delicate shoes at an unattainable couple of grand and made women worship them.  I wanted to know who was his mentor and who he is mentoring.  I wanted to know what keeps him up at night.  I wanted to know what his real passions are.  I wanted to know if he could change one thing about Malaysia (however small and however big), what would it be (for someone of his position).  I wanted to know if he was... a nice person.  And when I was finally introduced to him... all that came out was just 'uh, hi'.  ?!?!?!?!  Yup.  Uh, hi.  Oh well, brighter next time, sparks!
3. While I didn't particular 'get' the creative showcase because it was beyond fine art, it was still an interesting presentation of fashion (and hair) abstract expressionism.  Just felt sorry for the models who were trippin' on the runway because of impossible shoes.  Jimmy, you should really look into that, y'know...
4. Runway muzik.  Muzik pumps me up and makes everything better :)

What I didn't love:

1. They don't serve non-alcoholic drinks.  I'm heavily allergic to alcohol, like how Mogwai is allergic to water.  You don't want no Gremlins now, do you?  So this stereotyping of 'everyone drinks' or 'everyone should drink Kronenbourg' just didn't cut it for me.  I wonder what those Malay datuks and datins drink.  From their tumbler?
2. This... fwa fwa hoity toity vibe.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not holier than thou, there's certainly nothing wrong with the crowd.  It's okay to be rich and famous, all glitz and glamour.  It's just me.  It's all me.  It's everything about me.  It's my 'Fun to Drive' ecobag (woops!).  And I can't seem to perfect the air-kissing thing, I'm sorry.  I'll do better next time.
3. The SLK 200 displayed at the door.  Yawn... Merc, I've seen you do better.

Automotive: Mercedes GP Petronas.

Honestly? Petronas has never looked this good. Seriously, that was a darn good move.

Watch the revealing of this year's car livery:


Please don't mind the purplish sides. Wasn't intentional and am not liking it too.

Automotive: Petronas to sponsor Mercedez GP.

Today's breaking news:

*** start of article ***

Mercedes GP has signed a long-term agreement with Malaysia's national oil company Petronas to become the title sponsor of the Formula One team.

Financial details or the length of the deal were not disclosed in the announcement Monday.

The new Silver Arrows and Petronas branding will appear on the Mercedes car when it makes its track debut at Valencia on Feb. 1 for the first of the preseason tests.

Petronas also sponsors the Malaysian Grand Prix, which is schedule for April 4 at the Sepang International Circuit.

Mercedes-Benz has returned to F1 racing under its own name for the first time in 55 years by buying Brawn GP, which won the drivers' and constructors' championship last season.

*** end of article ***

Original post in The Star.

From Alex Yoong's Twitter: Petronas signs with Mercedez GP. Words fail me. Mercedez a good team, no doubt but what Lotus is doing is completely ground breaking+brave and Petronas not seeing that fills me with shame.

Hmm. While I'm sure what Lotus intends to do is groundbreaking and there are probably some strong and frustrated local sentiment simmering right now brewed by Alex's declaration of 'shame'. But personally, I think it's better for Petronas to go with Mercedez. From a brand and business point of view, this may be a lucrative partnership and I feel that it could do Petronas a lot more brand mileage than Lotus. I do understand that Lotus is fully a Malaysian backed team and all this hoo-hah about 1Malaysia. But think of it this way, who says all local brands have to 'stick' to one another in these kind of international activities? Maybe it's better for each individual brand as well as Malaysia for us to disperse and pursue our own challenges competing with one another. Sticking together sometimes brew contentment. And I say no to that.

A whole new dimension of Safety Technology.

While we were busy on crash test and G-force control and minimizing pedestrian injury and what not, look what Mercedes-Benz has been doing? It really tells us something about our times, doesn't it?
I mean bullets, yea, that's the norm. But hand grenades?