Sabah Best 2009

A picture of our booth from the Sabah Best Expo 2009 that took place at the Sabah Trade Center from June 26th to 28th. The turnout to this exhibition was not as we anticipated and alot of the other booths closed early. I wonder why....

I love children. I enjoy the way they express themselves. The boy in the picture is the son of our booth neighbour. His parents did not want him to have ice cream and throughout the event he hanged around our booth. He kept asking for a taste and I was taken with how smart he was for a 4 year old boy. I laughed so much talking to him. Finally, we got permission from his mum to let him have a small scoop of ice cream.

In return for the ice cream his mum told him that he must market Vedablu Ice Cream as payment in kind. This boy will grow up to be an amazing marketeer. He went out to the main entrance stood there eating a scoop of Belgian Chocolate, and as people came in he declared loudly "Jom... beli ais krim~~!!" ("Come on.. buy some ice cream~~!"). People actually came and bought ice cream! He was very persistent and everyone thought he was the most charming boy.

I told him to eat faster, because his ice cream was starting to melt. He told me that if he ate faster it would finish faster. He then asked me if I could keep him in the display freezer so he could finish up all the ice cream! LOL!

Vedablu @ 24th Sabah Dragon Boat Race

After: Picture taken during 20th June (Saturday) late afternoon

Events often take alot of planning and time. There is never a guarantee of us having good results, but often we do this to be apart of the happenings in our small town Kota Kinabalu.

Before: empty space before the set up

Like many other events this year, this is the first time we set up a booth at the newly constructed Public Park at Tg Lipat. We got a nice place under a huge tree next to the stage area. The weather was so hot... that our freezers couldn't maintain the needed temperatures to sell our ice cream like we do in our outlets. We were thankful though for the strong winds, that kept us cool, but kept blowing our large banners away.

Multicoloured flags

Attached are just a few of the before and after photos of our booth set up. Didn't manage to take pictures while the races were taking place because we were also busy serving our customers in the booth. All the pictures were taken with my mobile phone. While I was sitting and resting at the booth, the multicoloured flags that fluttered in the wind against the backdrop of a clear blue sky caught my attention. I felt DBKK (our municipal council) particularly did a good job at this event keeping the whole area clean, as compared to other events we have joined. So... my weekend was spent in Tg. Lipat working, while watching the sea and sunset. Next weekend, we will be setting up a booth at Sabah Trade Center for the Sabah Best 2009 exhibition showcasing all things Sabah. Hope to see you there.

Hospital Likas Blood Drive @ City Mall

This is the second time we are sponsoring the annual blood drive organized by Hospital Likas held in City Mall. The event was held on June 6 -7, 2009 . This year it was bigger and there was more hype as the blood drive was held in conjuction with a Baby Show.

This year Vedablu sponsored 600 scoops to blood donors and participants of the baby show.

Participants and blood donors, getting their ice creams!

The Baby Show, sponsored by Mother Care and Kids Avenue

Vedablu 1 Borneo Parlour

Been meaning to upload a pictures of our newly opened parlour since 2 weeks ago. Been too busy, but here it is, Vedablu's 3rd parlour and 8th outlet opening.

We are situated just behind the Tuah Baker's Kiosk, opposite Face Shop and next to Magic Bite on the Concorse level.

Products we carry here include Vedablu Premium Ice Creams (a minimum of 15 flavour selections), Ice Cream Cakes, Classic Cakes and Pies, Ice Cream Based Desserts, Hot/Cold Coffee, Tea and Chocolate Beverages and Fresh Fruit Smoothies.

If you happen to be in 1 Borneo, and craving for good quality ice cream, come and visit us!

Vedablu @ 1 Borneo

Vedablu will be opening at 1 Borneo on May 29th, 2009 instead of the earlier scheduled May 28th, 2009.

See you there tomorrow!

XOXO

Harvest Festival 2009

Harvest Festival is approaching this weekend. Come and join in the fun at Honkod Koisan KDCA for the Unduk Ngadau Finals!

Drop by and visit our booth from May 16th to May 31st at KDCA.

Vedablu Outdoor Booth Set Up at KDCA May 16th - May 31st, 2009

After a long wait, Vedablu is also opening its parlour in 1 Borneo this May 28, 2009. Swing by and visit us at our newest outlet.

Finally its raining!

Its Raining!

It has been so hot and humid, I feel like I have been in a dizzy state daily. The weather makes it impossible to work efficiently. The frequent power cuts are certainly not helping. The only thing that keeps my spirits up is consuming some cooling Vedablu Ice Cream and looking forward to the climb up Mount Kinabalu this Monday. I told one of my colleagues a couple days ago just as a passing remark and they burst out in laughter. "I'm going to get to the summit and never come back down, until this humid weather passes". There is something about this hot and humid weather that affects people. People around me appear more grumpy and easily agitated. At a certain point this morning, I was also easily agitated, but now the rain has washed it all away.

On the upcoming Mount Kinabalu climb, I am truly excited about this climb, yet I feel a little bit nervous with the little preparation I made. I keep telling myself, as long as I do the climb slow and easy, I will make it! Well at least I have made an attempt to accomplish one more thing on my "things to do before I hit 30 list ". I hope that the weather will be clear on Monday and Tuesday.

Happy Harvest Festival!

Tadau Kotobian Kaamatan!

Celebrate Harvest Festival with Vedablu with our Harvest Festival Special, Rice Wine Ice Cream.

Also from May to June, get Biscotto, White Chocolate and Truffle ice cream selections 50% off on their 2nd purchase, after purchasing similar item at regular price.

Visit the Vedablu website for more details.

See you at the KDCA Harvest Festivals Celebrations from May 16th to May 31st, 2009.

Sabah Fest 2009

This was the first time Vedablu joined Sabah Fest 2009, held at the Grand Ballroom of Magellan Hotel. The highlight of the event is the cultural show that was performed every night at 8pm. Outside along the grand ballroom foyer there was a live showcase of sabah handicrafts and booths of locally made sabah products. To fit in the theme and to support our local traditions, we sold mostly tropical fruit premium ice cream. Many were happy just to have ice cream, there was also many asking "where is the yoghurt forest berries ice cream?" "Where is mascarpone cheese ice cream?" before settling with one of the tropical flavours.

The biggest question was "Is Vedablu a local product?" This question is addressed in my previous post. The answer to that is Yes. Vedablu is locally produced daily but it is made from an italian inspired recipe, giving you only the best tasting quality premium ice cream that is fresh!

It is in events like this, we get to spend more time talking to our customers, half of them regulars. I always have fun getting to know them and in part slowly changing the mind set of new customers that local produced products can be far more superior then imported products. I think the Harvest Festival setting is the best time to do so as we celebrate local traditions and customs.

This event, I must say personally is one of the most fun and entertaining. There were many old friends from other local made food industries (Sabah Tea, Simply Chocolate, Balung, etc) and also new friends were made. I love the the sound of traditional instruments and there was no shortage of that during the day as they practice for the nightly shows. There were 700 performers walking in their colourful traditional costumes.

A special praise should be sent to Seri Pelancongan for the amazing job they did with the decor. See the before and after photo below! I was there 2 days before the start of the exhibition and they turned nothing into something awesome. There were even skulls hanging from the bamboo pillar next to our booth!

(Before)

(After)

I will update a few other photos from partner's camera not to far from now. Many thanks to the team for hanging tough and for being as cheerful as ever. Next event --> KDCA Harvest Celebrations here we come! Another grueling 2 weeks 16th -31st May, 2009.

Half way through April!

I feel like every day is becoming more and more mechanical sometimes. Life as I discovered lately has been, getting up, work, coming back late starving, work, going to bed, sleep... and its time to repeat the day again. Monday to Sundays. I used to get so pumped up every Friday because its the weekend (err ok... that was a few years back when I was working for someone else! I secretly miss those days sometimes =( )

The team has been so busy with events this month since March. Last week we had two events and mobile kiosk running simultaneously. One at the Sabah Golf and Country Club (SGCC) where we sponsored the 21st Amateur Golf Open and our other booth set up at the Hotel & Catering, Food pack and Manufacturing 2009 held at Sabah Trade Center.

I totally forgot to snap a picture of the booth set up in SGCC but this is a picture I took from my mobile phone of the booth set up at Sabah Trade Centre.

This week also we finalized the recipes of our own hot chocolate drink and ice blended chocolate drinks. We will be introducing these somewhere next week. Took these photos also with my mobile phone during the training done for our outlet team leaders.

I will be off to Singapore for a week long short course training on technical aspects of ice cream this weekend. Looking forward to the course as the speakers are flying in from America and between two of them, have decades of experience in the ice cream industry. I have already started listing my questions, exciting!

Just bought my tickets online at zero fare on jetstar! KK to Singapore direct at RM61.00. Incredible!

Note: I still have not started my climb training for the climb to mt kinabalu in mid may... and I am stressing my self crazy thinking about how not prepared I am for the climb.

Relocation of Vedablu Palm Square

I was feeling a little nostalgic overseeing the dismantling and breaking down of our kiosk in Palm Square last night. At 8pm we started disconnecting the machines and equipments, by 9:30pm the carpenters came to dismantle the kiosk itself.

Palm Square was where Vedablu first started and introduced our premium ice cream products to the people of Sabah back in 2006 October. I remember making the ice cream myself and then going to the kiosk standing there with my colleauges of the company, Laura and Christina scooping and selling ice cream to the large crowd all surrounding our kiosk to taste and get some of our products. From that outlet back in 2006 we have grown to another 4 more outlets in Kota Kinabalu, one in Tawau and another in Sandakan.

Based on some business strategic decisions we have decided to move to another shopping mall, after getting much feedback from our customers who frequently shop at 1 Borneo during the weekends. For customers who are shopping around Center Point, you still will be able to get Vedablu Ice Creams, just a few steps away from Center Point at our parlour at Warisan Square. You will be able to enjoy a broader selection of ice cream and other products there as compared to Palm Square.

We also opened a Factory Kiosk in Taman BDC Shoplots just across our factory. The factory kiosk also serve as a training ground for all our new staffs. Ice Cream prices are a tad lower compared to the shops to encourage customers around the Kelombong area and Taman BDC to come visit us.

We are commencing renovations in 1 Borneo very soon and we will soon announce our opening date. I personally thank you for your continous support and understanding.

Home Decor Sabah 2009, Buildcon Sabah 2009 & Home & Security Sabah 2009

Vedablu Premium Ice Cream is going to be setting up booth in yet another exhibition this weekend. We will be setting up booth this evening at Sabah Trade Center.

This event will commence March 26 (Thursday) to March 29th (Sunday). Time: 11am - 7pm.

For more information please you can refer to their website.

I do not have much information right now on the exhibitors and events happening in the next couple of days at this exhibition, but I will have a peek tonight and update this post if I am able to. Saying that, I look forward to see the exhibition and get some inspiration from the latest home decor trends available in Sabah. See you there!

Vedablu Premium Ice Cream Latest Promotion

Get 50% on your 2nd purchase of similar ice cream based product for Apple Pie and Zabajone (Egg Nog) Flavours! Promotion commences March 25th, 2009. Click on Promotion Poster above for more details.

Vedablu Gaya Street Outlet - shoot location

Been meaning to do this post for some time. I have received many requests for photography and film shoots to be done at our vedablu outlets especially the outlet in City Mall and Gaya Street. However, I am going to highlight the recent photoshoot that was done at our Gaya Street outlet by another brilliant local professional photographer Melvin Migin.

He approached us a couple of weeks back to use our outlet at Gaya Street for a fashion photoshoot for a boutique, Porgie. We have been given several catalogues each to be placed in our outlets and I must say Melvin did an incredible job capturing the models in their apparels. To see the cataloge and his other portfolio you may go to his webpage or his blog.

Skies of Sabah

Tanjung Aru Beach


Just a few pictures I took of the skies of Kota Kinabalu. Was editing a few cake photos on my computer and stumbled across these pictures I took on different occasions. I always thought that we had one of the most beautiful skies especially at sunset. The colors are always so warm and magnificent.


KKIA Airport


Outside my office in Kelombong

A Little of Everything (ALOE)

The IPEX 2009 event went quite well. This year we aim to do more events, bring Vedablu to the customers as we say. Most of the customers at the event were overjoyed we were there because the ice cream was a bribe for their children to stay well behaved while their parents made their rounds at the booths =)

On Saturday there were many events lined up. One of the more interesting one was the Edible Architecture Design. One of the teams bought a waffle cone from us to finish off their design. So I went and took a photo of their Edible Architectural Piece. It was the the Kremlin and Red Square of Moscow. Although they did not win, they got a special mention. Way to go St Michael!

Events are always tiring... especially where we are placed outdoors. The booth we have is like a mobile booth. Before each day begins and at the end of the day, we have to rearrange and rebundle all the parts of our booth. Took a couple of photos with my phone camera before the closing. So I apologize first for the poor quality





Am working on a few other things at the moment... from a full cake design menu, the next few months promotions, and materials for the Vedablu Roadshow. Am also looking for a Marketing Executive, fresh graduates welcome, more importantly the person should have a sense of creativity and are able to design and use graphic design softwares.

Also been spending some time updating our SOP's and improve the operations to be of the ISO 9001 and HACCP standards we are in the midst of obtaining.

Admist all this I have been trying to squeeze in some exercise to prepare myself for my Mt Kinabalu climb which is happening on May 18th. The thought of the climb is freaking me a little. Looking at the rate of my preparation right now... I can safely say I will not be able to make it to the summit. Thus, I need to spend more time training!! Sigh...

Good night people!

IPEX 2009

As an effort to be involved in more events, for our 2nd event of this year we will be putting up a booth at the IPEX 2009 exhibition to be held from 12 March - 15 March, 2009 at the Sabah Trade Centre.

IPEX 2009 showcases the latest development in Malaysia architecture, properties and building materials.

In addition, there will be lots of activities happening at the exhibition for people of all ages.

-Children colouring & drawing competition
-Edible architecture Competition
-Photography competition
-Best decorated booth
-Ms IPEX Personality Contest
-Fashion show
-Charity concerts

Look for our Vedablu Premium Ice Cream booth located to the right of the main entrance of the Sabah Trade Centre. We will be having some of our own promos. See you there!!

Kuala Lumpur Trip

I probably go to Kuala Lumpur (KL) a couple of times every year. This time there was a purpose. To settle my 2nd brother, Eugene into his college and new living space for the next 3 years. I always look forward to tasting new ice cream when I am in KL because new Ice Cream Kiosk and Parlors are budding everywhere however somehow this time I did not get to taste any besides Gelatomio which is ownedd by a close italian friend of mine.

However, I did manage to have some other memorable snacks and meals. The first day we landed, my mum had a craving for steak so we went to Tony Romas in Pavillion. I had the prawn pasta which was delicious and they were really generous with the prawns. Brother, mum and aunt all had the rib combo.... huge!
I think smileys is a Tomy Romas thing because they introduced the sauces to us on a plate and it became a smiley (see above picture). Later when they came with the bill, it also had a smiley!



The next meal worth the mention was the Satay Celup in Melaka. Eugene loves this stuff, so we made a point to have some when we were in Melaka. We have something similar in Sabah called 'Lok Lok' but there is a difference. Here we place the food sticks to cook in boiling water then dip in peanut gravy. In Melaka, you cook your food sticks in boiling peanut sauce. Yummy indeed. I am trying to re-call the name of the place but I can't. But this satay celup outlet is the cleanest satay celup place in Melaka.



On a certain day, I decided to go watch a movie on my own. After an appointment and wanting to avoid the KL jam, I decided to watch a movie. It had to be in GSC Cinemas because I just love their caramel popcorn. I decided to watch the movie in The Gardens GSC Premiere Cinema. There was not even 10 of us in the cinema. I watched Valkyrie, real good movie while munching on my golden caramel popcorn ;)



Halfway munching... I thought of how this would make a nice topping on Vedablu Ice Creams. Just think of it! Caramelize popcorns and some Vanilla Bean ice cream... Mmmm

Happy Belated Valentines Day

Happy V day to everyone... hope all you couples out there had another yet beautiful and memorable Valentines Day.

Mine was spent like any other day. Work and troubleshooting of work situations. Before I go into work stuff let me just say this for food of thought...Everyday is Valentines day in your heart and mind if you have found 'the one'.

Ok.. this is what happened. 7pm... black out in my residential area and soon after as I suspected, I get a call from my Citymall outlet. Black out! Sabah Electricity really gotta do something. We really have too many blackouts. I found myself in the dark in my house... as my parents and my dear brother Eugene (the handsome boy in the picture above) was preparing to go out. I contemplated for awhile and then also headed out after making few calls. So spooky staying home in pitch black darkness. I think all my neighbours were also out because it was so dark and quiet in every direction.

I arrived my destination at 8pm and after awhile at 8:30pm got a call from Citymall outlet again saying that they had to evacuate the building because there was a fire. !@#$% Hmmm... there were talks about there being an explosion. At that time the only thing they knew was that they had been some explosion that happened in the basement just beneath Giant and the fire department said there could be a bigger explosion. So now the worry of lost sales became worry of a burnt down outlet. We later found out that it was Giant's generator. It was overloaded during the blackout. However they manage to stop any other occurences of an explosion. The electricity only came back on at about 9:30pm. We had to close early that day on V day, to the dismay of the many couples who wanted to treat their loved ones to some sweets. In result of this, our other outlets in kota kinabalu town became busy and our customers had no sitting place to enjoy Valentines Day.

The sad part of this story is this... we Sabahans have so many blackouts that we have somewhat accepted it as part of our lives. Buinesses have really been impacted by these blackouts.

So much for a peaceful Valentines night... After all the commotion has settled and the outlets did their closings. Then we watched a movie, Slumdog Millionaire. I recommend this movie to everyone. The moral of the story, at least for me... there are reasons for the many things that happen to us in life, may it be joyous or difficult. What matters is the journey and the result and the end of life's journey. The whole story of the Slumdog Millionaire took place and was filmed in Mumbai. Amidst all the slum I wish I can one day visit this place and other parts of India. I am in love with the film's soundtrack, Latika's Theme.



After watching the movie, it seemed that Valentines Day was perfect again. =) Enjoy the video~~

A Little of Everything (ALOE)

My first 'ALOE' for 2009.

CNY is round the corner, just after we celebrated New Years Day. Time is really passing way to fast.

First on a more personal note:

I wished I could have blogged today from my new spanking desktop. A birthday present from my dear dear family. Thanks to them I have fulfilled one of my 2009 New Year's Resolution. What more can a girl ask for? Intel Core2 Quad CPU @ 2.33Ghz, 4GB RAM, NVIDEA GeForce 9800 GT... I wanted a better graphics card but too bad it wasn't in stock at the shop. This present is really a good surprise, and I must thank my dear brother Eugene for helping lead my parents in the right direction. LOL!

A present to myself after much contemplation would be HTC Touch HD. I really need to get organized if I want to get more things done in a day. This will really help me be more efficient and effective. My poor Motorola Razr has to retire after 4 years of service.

I turned 28 a few days ago. Somehow this birthday this year feels different. I don't think I look much different from 2 years ago except maybe for fine lines under the eyes and its harder now to stay fit if I totally don't do any exercise. But I feel different. Its like this year I feel that I have to make more difference in my life as compared to the years before because the clock is ticking and still so much more to achieve.

Now on Vedablu updates:

1) We will be opening our factory outlet kiosk tomorrow. The shop will be just across our ice cream production lab. Ice cream is not gonna get any better then that.

2) CNY Ice Cream Flavour, our Mandarin Orange Sorbet is back!

3) Don't know what to give your loved ones and friends when visiting them this CNY? Why don't try some of our Orange Inspired Cakes?

Mandarin Orange Cheesecake : Orange Cheese cake topped with mandarin orange slices

Belgian chocolate & Orange Cointreau Ice Cream Cake : These two flavours are a really a good combination, topped with orange peel, dark chocolate and orange marzipan

I wished I had the pictures so I could post in up here.Will update if I get them.


I wish everyone Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fatt Chai! May the year of the Ox bring more prosperity, abundance, peace, love & happiness!

Sabah Motor Bonanza Fair 2009

If you are fanatic about cars or are thinking of buying a car come visit the first ever outdoor Motor fair event in Kota Kinabalu. Event will be held from 9 January to 11 January 2009 at the Likas Sports Center, Open Space Parking area. Time: 9am to 9pm.

What to expect at the event? Luxury Cars, Used Cars, Re-cond cars, Car accessories, car performance and racing parts, Bikes, 4X4 shows, fun fair for the kids, etc.

Vedablu will be setting up booth, so drop by for some cool and fresh premium ice cream. See you there this weekend!

2009 Here I come!

My first entry in 2009...

Something felt different as I ushered this new year under the car porch staring up into the clear sky, listening to the few burst of fireworks, but not being able to see any. I made a silent prayer of thanks for the many blessings in 2008 and hope for the blessings to continue in 2009. For the not so nice moments of 2008, its best just to learn from and forgive those who has caused those moments.

So many New Year wishes through sms, and I apologize to those I failed to reply. My inbox of my 4 year old Motorola Razr (first edition) can only fit total of 100 sms. I get frustrated just to delete sms just to be able to reply to some sms. Thus my first resolution. Get a new phone! Or rather two new phones... for the two numbers.

2nd resolution is to complete my 2008 resolutions. Which are ...

1) Climb Mt Kinabalu (doing it in May 2009..yippie!)
2) Move out (in the process)
3) Get a Scuba diving license

My resolutions this year is more simple. 2009 resolutions:

1) To be more organized (no. 4 will help me achieve this)
2) To do more exercise (my own place will give me more space to do my pilates)
3) To pay more attention to personal life and having more alone time
4) Get myself a new touch phone
5) To get myself a new high spec desktop (so finally I can play Sims 2 and the new coming Sims 3)

I bid everyone Happy New Year and may there be more wonderful things to come for all of us.

Cheers!!