Obesity and low fitness levels are main concerns in our current society. Quoting our country’s Health Minister, YB Liow Tiong Lai in his speech at a recent health awareness seminar, YB Liow said “Our population is literally growing sideways and getting out of shape over the years. We are currently facing an epidemic of overweight and obesity, which is apparent if we look at those around us.”

Nando’s Restaurants, Malaysia’s caring chicken player is making effort to help alleviate the ministry’s concerns over the issue and recently launched Nando’s Health & Nutritional Campaign, themed as “ Eat Responsibly”. Through the Eat Responsibly campaign Nando’s will be advocating the importance of healthy eating as well as combining it with proper fitness regime. The campaign runs from 29th October 2009 – 3rd January 2010 with a series of interesting activities lined up for the consumers.

“We believe that our core product which is our signature Peri-Peri Flame Grilled Chicken made from freshest A-grade butterfly cut chickens, with excess fat trimmed off, no added colourants, flavourants, additives or MSG would be the healthier meal option due to the ideal calorie count and high protein level,” said Mac Chung Lynn, CEO of Nando’s Restaurants at the campaign launch.

Mac added “On top of that other benefits would be Nando’s famed ingredient, the Peri-Peri is rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, high in anti-oxidants and the best of all is the capsaicin in chillies which helps enhance metabolism and burns fat.”

As a start to the campaign, Nando’s with the help of Kevin Zahri, Malaysia’s own health celebrity have carefully chosen the most suitable sidelines to accompany its existing Peri-Peri Flame Grilled Chicken for the campaign’s Peri Hearty Meal.

Nando’s Peri Hearty Meal consists of a ¼ chicken with the sidelines of a serving of grilled vegetables and a serving of Mediterranean rice. To compliment the healthy meal would be a bottomless Coke Light. Nando’s Peri Hearty Meal is available at all Nando’s restaurants for RM 17.80.

To encourage the consumers to select the Nando’s Peri Hearty Meal, Nando’s will be rewarding 5 lucky diners to fun-filled activity holiday package for 2 to Club Med Cherating. On top of that there will also be 50 consolation prizes of RM100 Nando’s gift vouchers. To stand a chance to win the holiday package or vouchers diners would only need to make a purchase of RM25.00 at Nando’s with a condition that the purchase must include at least an order of the Nando’s Peri Hearty Meal.

To further advocate healthy eating and healthy lifestyle, Nando’s will be collaborating with Malaysia’s No.1 health advocators, Fitness First for a 7-week fitness regime challenge. The challenge will see 2 lucky radio listeners who will be selected through the radio station’s online search to undergo training along with Jakeman and Rudy under the guidance and supervision of personal trainers from Fitness First. Both the lucky listeners will compete against each other to be the fittest throughout the 7-week challenge and Fitness First will closely monitor their weight, body fat and Body Mass Index (BMI). The winner of the challenge would have the opportunity to bring along a friend and holiday together with Jakeman and Rudy at Club Med Cherating. Besides that, Nando’s will also be offering members of Fitness First the Nando’s Peri Hearty Meal at only RM14.50.

Whether you are keen on keeping fit or staying healthy, Nando’s Peri-Peri Flame Grilled Chicken would be the perfect meal choice to compliment your daily regime. And you might never know you could end up winning something the next time you visit Nando’s because at Nando’s there is always a surprise waiting for you!

Visit Nando website for more info.

If you were driving around town in the morning or stuck in a jam after work early this year, chances are you may have seen a Volkswagen car housed in a transparent lorry right next to you! You may have also seen CIMB’s Tow truck boys giving out goodie bags and cash rebates whilst buying your groceries from the local supermarket or banking somewhere in town.

After CIMB Bank’s inaugural success with its’ Dream Deposit Campaign in 2006 and Dream Deposit Drive Campaign in 2007, CIMB is back again with the same campaign only with bigger and better prizes to win! The campaign which was opened to all CIMB customers ran for 4 months from March to June 2009.

Who wants a ride ?

CIMB Bank showcased a 3 ton lorry which housed the car of the month and toured the nation daily. Cars up for grabs were:

• March 2009 – Volkswagen New Beetle 1.6I
• April 2009 – Volkswagen Golf GTi 2.0I Turbo FSI
• May 2009 – Volkswagen EOS 2.0I TurboFSI
• June 2009 – Volkswagen Touareg 3.6I V6 FSI

The lorry made an average of 5 stops at CIMB Bank branches around town and at high traffic areas in Peninsular Malaysia. During each stop, the tow truck crews distributed flyers about the campaign, CIMB Bank goodie bags and cash rebate to its customers.

All that was needed to be done was just to open a CIMB Bank or CIMB Islamic account and deposit a minimum amount of RM500. For existing CIMB account holders, the same minimum amount of RM500 is required.

The campaign received an overwhelming response; and four very lucky female winners emerged as winners of this campaign and received the keys to their brand new Volkswagen car.

Excitement!

We, at Salina & Associates PR would like to express our heartiest congratulations to these four very lucky ladies!

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a dull girl. No matter how much work one has to do, one needs to take a break and do a little exercise to keep the body fit and healthy.

The launch of Cambert’s new product; Sweet Sweat™ made it’s release on the 8th of April at Celebrity Fitness, One Utama. Some of our favorite local personalities such as Jonathan Putra, Moe Nasrul (Fly FM radio announcer), Diana Rusdi, Nigesh Armon as well as Alam (So You Think You Can Dance S1 winner) were present along with the media.

Guests were ushered to a counter where they were treated with BMI and BP checks courtesy of Damansara Specialist Hospital, and then to a short product presentation by Mr Edwin Phang, Sweet Sweat™ Product Executive.

The REAL fun began when Ms Coery Sik, a dance instructor from Celebrity Fitness took over the stage and wowed the crowd with some of her hip hop moves. The guests were then invited to join in the fun; but not before applying Sweet Sweat™ on their body! A crash course on how to “bust a move” with Flo Rida’s “Low” booming from the speaker box was enough to keep the guests perspiring bucket loads.

At the end of the session, everyone was dead tired after the ‘few’ minutes of their life; shaking their bum and sprawling their thighs. I guess the public service announcements are true whereby stressing on the fact that the public is in dire need for more exercise!

More about Sweet Sweat™

Sweet Sweat™ a unique formulation with all natural ingredients and patented by Sports Research Corporation, USA to enhance your exercise. Sweet Sweat™ accelerates and enhances Thermogenic Action; the key to improving your workout effectively and efficiently.

Health enthusiasts will know that Thermogenic Action is the process in which energy is consumed and heat is produced during exercise thus leading to increased sweating and burning, giving you a more efficient, effective and faster burning workout.

Buenos días! Salina and Associates welcomes all of you to a new Madrid where passports and visas are not required at all!  Yes, I’m talking about real live Madrid in the heart of KL!

So ladies and gentlemen, dress up in your killer red heels, cashmere scarves, polished shoes and satin bows! Turismo Madrid (the Madrid Tourism Board) is here to flaunt their flamboyant designer wear and astonishing artistry which will leave the streets of Kuala Lumpur on fire!

In conjunction with F1 week in Malaysia which sees thousands of tourists and Malaysians alike in a feverish F1 frenzy, Turismo Madrid decided to organise a whole week of exciting Madrid themed events to give Malaysians and F1 visitors a taste of what Madrid has to offer, a chance to discover the great cultural activities of Madrid, its food, fashion and history of magnificent architectures and luxurious art pieces.

The 31 March 2009 saw the Madrid Week open with a very special performance of traditional flamenco by Jerez Puro.Compañia de Maria del Mar Moreno - a co-presentation between Turismo Madrid and Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS at PETRONAS Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

The performance entitled “Esencia”, took the audience to the roots of the mysterious spirit of traditional Spanish Flamenco. Award wining dancer Maria del Mar Moreno and main singer Antonio Malena together with a group of 8 singers, dancers, guitars and palmeros performed from the deep wounded cry of “Seguidillas” to the jubilant joviality of “Bulerias”; capturing the whole sphere of human emotion in this brief encounter with Spanish culture.

Guests were treated to a very unique concoction of molecular cuisine, followed by  an iconic tapas performance by starred Michelin Chef of Madrid - the very charming and talented- Chef Paco Roncero!

The performance by Jerez Puro.Compañia de Maria del Mar Moreno certainly had us all mesmerized while the delicate molecular cuisine had us all in awe! Unfortunately one week of Madrid was certainly not enough! Looks like its time to start a putting some money away for a real Madrid getaway….or for those of us who find that a bit difficult perhaps we may see more of Madrid in KL next year……

Well, to wrap things up, ‘me la pasé bien’ (the entire Salina & Associates had an amazing time!)

Ya me despido,

Adios!

Out of the 4 days in Bali, today seems to have the finest weather! How is that possible? Ugh.

After having a quick breakfast, some of us started to unwind by reading a book by the pool area. While Lydia and I went for more shopping right after breakfast, we were adamant about getting a certain dress for Caitlyn, Lydia’s princess. And we did so happily!

While Nadia and Fauziah, continue shopping for more dresses and gifts for love ones! Selina and Sherilyn also didn’t miss out on strolling around Kuta area for more good buys.

Since we are all PR practitioners, and we are used to doing things in advanced. Proactive they say. So there was no rushing to pack. We took our time strolling around Kuta area and taking lots of pictures. By lunch time, we have arrived in Denpasar airport waiting to board the next plane. =)

All in all, a memorable trip with colleagues/friends who is close at heart.   

Next stop.. Cambodia!!! The land of space cakes! *whoops*

Well, Selina and team has come to realised that no time is the best time. There is always something going on, client to attend to- work we have to finish, appointments we have to keep and people we have to see. 

The only reason we managed to spend this 4 days 4 nights in Bali is because Selina believes in reward system.  Also because she was adamant in getting everyone a blackberry. So we can work from wherever we are, to prove to our clients that we always have their best interest at heart. 

What’s the point of making so much money but losing the essence in life? While, making time certainly can gain you some fierce mutual understanding, unwavering support and never ending giggles!  

The day lady boss gave up on our tour guide for being ignorant and insensitive.

What happened a day ago in the van.

Selina: (drove pass some nice stores) Eh, Mathir!! Nak Pergi sini la!! Boleh?? Aiyor.. Cantiknya..

Mathir, the tour guide: (motionless) ah… ya. Nanti kita balik sini, depan pun ada.

Selina: (Drove passed even nicer stores with beautiful vases) Oh Mathir! nak pergi sini juga nanti… !!

Mathir: (Ignorant, didn’t answer Selina) …

Selina: (Talking to us) This fellar, ignorant only… see la! sure won’t come back one.

All of us at the back: (Burst out laughing in agreement)   Hahahaha!

So, Selina and Sherilyn decided to have the day all to the both of them only where they were supposed to take up surfing lessons! But it was a gloomy day and it was raining. So they ended up in Seminyak town instead, spending quality BFF time. This is another place I would recommend if you like chilling out.

So the rest of us carried on with the touring plan and went to Tanah Lot, the famous temple on water. We continued to do some minor shopping at Tanah Lot. Almost all of us got an extra painting from there, it was simply irresistible.

Dinner was served at a restaurant near Tanah Lot. How ironic can it be? We’re from Malaysia and having dinner eating Malay food and almost all of the dishes were greens. Well, we didn’t mind at all, since we’re all health freaks. Later that night, the tour guide dropped us in front of Hard Rock Café by DEMAND. And we walked quite a distance back to the hotel while stopping by shops to pick up more nice souvenirs and so many dresses.

You wouldn’t believe how tired we were when arrived back in hotel. Lydia and I were exhausted yet happy with our findings! While Carole, Fauziah and Nadia went for a night swim and have quality girly time.

Our second day started off with considerably good International breakfast at the hotel. Our tour guide being the ever punctual man was already waiting for us at the lobby. We had no clue as to what was in store for the day. But we were sure to have set our hearts to enjoy ourselves to the fullest!

We stopped by at what seemed to be like a mini theatre to watch the famed Barong and Keris dance of Bali. Barong is probably the most well known dance. It was basically a story about the struggle between good and evil; and the story was told through acting, dance and minimal dialog. The Barong dance is the classic example of the Balinese way of acting out mythology, resulting in myth and history being blended into one reality.

After that, the mischievous tour guide took us to a silver factory outlet, where the prices of most items were simply ridiculous. Another site to cheat tourist, we thought to ourselves yet again. We quickly browsed through the whole store and asked the tour guide to quickly take us to the next destination. *fingers crossed it won’t be a tourist ‘slaughter’ site again*

Alas, we end up at what seemed like paradise to Selina and Sherilyn’s. The Art shop where everything looks magnificent and most importantly, it was dirt cheap. All of us girls got converted to instant art aficionados so quickly that most of us end up getting an art piece to bring home.

We then headed up mount Kintamani to have lunch. It was so cold but the view was breathtaking but none of us were able to capture a good shot because it got cloudy when we had the opportunity to do so. We adjourned to Ubud for shopping! This was what we’ve been looking forward to all day!

When night fell, the team quickly booked two cabs and headed to the best clubs in Bali! And with S&A company, you just can’t stop having fun! So we danced, drank and laughed the night away.

The best part of the night was all of us running in the rain! Oh, the whole town was flooded, it was raining cats and dogs. But that didn’t stop us from running in our Manolos *oh, as if*. Well, some of us were shivering when we got back to our room!! Phew! What a remarkable experience…

The Barong and Rangda dance is a very poweful performance and is not taken lightly by those involved.

As soon as S&A Dream Team arrived in Denpasar, Bali airport, the air of excitement could be felt. All of us were just oblivious to the fact that, we only slept for a few hours prior to the trip. The day had too much in store for us that tiredness was away from our minds. We just ran on pure adrenaline to enjoy the day!

After we checked in to our rooms, the tour Guide took us to a scenic restaurant overlooking a paddy field, well, the view was beautiful but the feeling of being a tourist was not all that thrilling. In our hearts we could feel that we were being cheated as we were brought to such an expensive place to dine for lunch. *eyes rolled *

The first tourist destination that we were brought to was the Uluwatu temple, a heritage place which is a must see destination when tourist visits Bali. Later that day, Selina our boss, treated each of us to incredibly fantastic traditional Balinese Body Spa that all of us have been dying to have. Oh! A good full body massage followed by the feeling of being covered in Tumeric or better known as “Kunyit” and then further spread with Goat’s Milk was just heavenly. To complete the ritual was the relaxing floral bath. The whole process took about an hour or more is certainly a must try for every visitor to Bali.

The Dream Team then proceeded to sumptuous barbeque seafood dinner at Caviar Café where they also served a delectable choice of other dishes! The entertainment during the dinner was power house as we were entertained to the famous Baris and Legong (Balinese Dances).

After dinner, we went back to the hotel for the rest which we were longing for but our boss being the energizer bunny didn’t feel it was right to call it a day just yet. So all of us too a stroll in Kuta City and ended up in a dessert bar, drinking and chatting the night away.

Well, I must say, when we work, we work really hard; and when we have fun, we play till our hearts content. That is one of Selina Yeop Jr.’s motto in life and also what all of us are trying to live up to. =)

The night still hasn’t ended! When we got back to the hotel, we continued our drinking session at Lady boss’ room. Oh.. Raspberry Vodka with Sprite, just the drink you need before you hit the bed.

As for Nadia and I, we went for a swim in the pool and had a wonderful chat thereafter.

Arrive in Denpasar Airport, Bali. *Glowing*

Lydia, Carole and I in the shutter bus!

The amount of luggages that seems almost impossible for a short 4 days trip!

So little room for luggages??.. hmm..

S&A Dream team and our Tour Guide at White Rose, Hotel.

At Padi Padi restaurant for lunch!

Overlooking the ready to be sown Paddy field!

Dream team entourage!

The sacret Uluwatu temple.

@ Uluwatu temple

apparently many monkeys falling off the cliff while fighting one one another.

at dessert bar!

chilling at dessert bar.