I saw a very cool videos a couple of months ago about a freeze stunt by a group of people organized by Improv Everywhere a New York City based group. Check this out:

Grand Central New York Freeze (31 January 2008)

URL: http://improveverywhere.com/2008/01/31/frozen-grand-central/

I find it very cool! Apart from that, there was also a No Pants day and over 70 missions that they’ve successfully launched. It has gotten a lot of mainstream media attention all over the world and it has arrived here in Malaysia as well.

Now compare what has happened on the other part of the world with the recent local attempt:

KLCC Shopping Center Frozen (30 March 2008)

They tried to do it for almost 10 minutes which I think is too long. They then got busted by the security guards.

Yesterday someone organized another one. This time, the event was spread mainly through Facebook (Improv Malaysia Group). The freeze lasted for 4 minutes with coverage by local media as well.

Pavillion Freeze (13 April 2008)

Here’s another view from another perspective:

You can read more of this event on Zestful’s blog. Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever freeze like what the people did just for the fun of it. I think it is somehow silly but if I get paid to freeze, now that’s another story.

Last weekend, while walking through Suria KLCC heading to CIMB Bank over there. I came across a small crowd having a look at some promotional gimmicks. Check this out:

MAC Cosmetics Models at Suria KLCC Concourse

They looked like a real life power puff girl don’t they? If you asked me whether I like looking at hot girls, my guy instinct would instantly say ‘yes’, but of course LV would give me a stinging pinch for that. Anyway, I have no clue when it comes to cosmetic. My dear LV would definitely be an expert when talking about cosmetics since it is a requirement for her in her dance performance field. One of the reasons I fell for her though.

LV told me that she doesn’t MAC Cosmetics and with so many types of cosmetic brand, it is up to each individual to choose what kind of brand which suits you. Personally, I have no preference in any kind of brand. I normally buy any kind of brand which suits my budget.

I’ve never heard of MAC Cosmetics before so I searched on MAC which stands for Make-up Art Cosmetics on Wikipedia. The most interesting fact I found is the brand became famous through word-of-mouth endorsements by professional makeup artists, models and celebrities.

Now that is smart leverage!

Last Friday we witness a heavy rain which lasted more than 2 hours. The downpour causes something unusual to happen, the water seeps through the ground floor of my office area. To make things worse, the water came from the underground septic system which caused a very horrible smell.

I’m lucky my place is located on the 1st floor. I can only sympathize to those who are working downstairs mainly two person whom I know are also fellow bloggers, EstNora and Afif. Anyway, here are a few snapshots I’ve taken:

Taken from the 1st floor of my office

Septic water managed to get inside the ground floor

Check out the water level

Ady Romantika wrote about Rain Inside Alamanda Putrajaya the same moment when the heavy downpour hit our area (my office is just 10 minutes away of Putrajaya). Luckily the heavy rain lasted no more than 3 hours or else we would have been forced to shut down since it was a major distraction for almost everybody. The area currently is surrounded by major construction of highways and real estates development which might have been the culprit of this flash flood we’ve experiencing.

This week, the ground floor has gotten their stinky carpets removed. Lucky for us, the data center wasn’t affected or that would have been the worst case scenario for us.

The beginning of the week, my brother and I went to the American Embassy located at Jalan Ampang to apply for a Non-Immigrant Visa. It was just a short 20 minutes drive from my house. I arrived in front of the American Embassy guard house at 8.30am since I’ve already booked an 8.50am appointment:

In Front of KL US Embassy

The booking was done online here and I’ve already prepared all the necessary documents. Among them were:

• My Passport
• Alliance Bank Pay Slip
• The interview appointment letter
• Filled DS-156 form
• Filled DS-157 form
• An official employers letter verifying my employment
• My Itinerary
• My event schedule

I had to hand over my handphone since they don’t allow handphone inside the Embassy. There were two metal detector door which everybody have to go through. Took a queue number and waited inside the waiting room.

My American Embassy Queue Number

The Mistake

Half an hour later, it was my turn and I surrendered all the filled documents only to find that my photograph were wrong. It had a blue background. The grumpy Indian lady then handed me a yellow slip and asked me to go out and take a new photograph that has a white background. It was my fault of not reading the instruction properly and entrusted the girl at the photo shop of the colour of the background since I thought she had done it before. What a waste of RM18 for that photograph.

I then walked half a kilometer to Ampang Park to get a new photograph with a white background. I discovered that different Visa application photo had different requirement when the shop asked me which country I’m applying for my visa. That place was expensive because I had to pay RM10 for just 2 pieces of photo. I should have gone for other shop but that’s the only shop I found which was opened at 9.30am and I am in hurry to get back to the Embassy before 10.30am. Because of this mistake, I had to take another queue number and was among the last to finish the interview.

The Interview

I lost track of the waiting time already, when my turn is up after gotten my fingerprints into their system, I was interviewed by an American lady. She asked about my company and why am I going to the US. I explained briefly about my company and the reason which was to attend a product update training, a business partner meeting and a conference. She then proceed and asked about my previous employment , my salary and my current job position. It was kind of lengthy (which my brother find odd since his interview was short) but of course I had to endure it.

She then told me the result of the interview, I was only granted a one time visit to the US. She elaborated on the reasons; it’s my first time going out of the country, I have to build more reputable career line (I guess she saw me as a job hopper) and I need to build more credibility on my profile. I almost argued with her but she said she could have refused my application but didn’t want to because she’s giving me a chance. I had to calm down after that because it would be difficult for me on my next application if my paperwork had some negative mark on it.

The validity period is only 6 months (it’s more than what my brother got last time-3 months) and once I stepped into the US, my visa will lose its validity.

The Disappointment

It was rather disappointing the fact that all my effort to get my passport done, getting my US Visa and all the additional hours of doing travelling research went pointless as there was a change of decision in my company’s management. I appreciated my boss for letting me know earlier that there was a slim chance of the travel trip would have to be revoked. However a part of me was also relieved I didn’t make it for the trip since I haven’t prepared anything for my luggage and all the additional spending I had to bare for the preparation of the trip in such short notice.

Anyway, I treat everything that has happened in my life as a good experience and it would always be treasured in this blog to share with everyone.