Every now and again, I come across a beautiful soul, and Indie singer-songwriter Jonathan Tse is one such person.

While most pop music focuses on selling desperation, materialism and sex, Jonathan writes his music using a different set of values; one that is divinely inspired by faith, love and hope.

Last Saturday, the talented pop-jazzer from Labuan launched his second album entitled “I’m Alive” at City Mall, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

I only managed to catch the tail-end of the performance, enough to take a few pictures but not enough to report on the performance program. Nevertheless, I got there in time to buy a CD and t-shirt and have been enjoying the tunes all day.

Jonathan is and have always been incredibly supportive of locally-bred talents. In addition to the “My Story” showcase he organizes to give local musicians exposure, he uses his own media opportunities to let other musicians piggyback on the public exposure. For his album launch, he invited Atama and Alvin to perform with him.

WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE IN SABAH

Even though I’ve been blessed with global exposure, all my big dreams were nurtured right at home in Sabah. This is why I believe in supporting Sabahans doing great things! In spite of our humble roots, we can go much further when our own community supports us. Everybody wins when a Malaysian makes it to the International center stage and this is why you guys should buy Jonathan’s CD!

Moreover, Mia Palencia, better known as Malaysia’s Jazz crooning queen sings a duet with him on the last track of his album. You know it’s good stuff if Mia puts her name on a track!

WHERE TO GET THE ALBUM

The album can be purchased online from Amazon.com and iTunes. In Malaysia, it can be found at SPEEDY stores and most Christian bookstores in Kota Kinabalu.

THE I’M ALIVE MUSIC VIDEO
Check out the “I’m Alive” music video here!

For more information on Jonathan Tse, his upcoming shows, and to listen to sample tracks from his new album, visit jonathantse.com

Do you love the variety of things at ConsFood but can’t be bothered to deal with the parking problem in Damai? To all the foodies, bakers, housewives and expats of Kota Kinabalu, behold the spanking new ConsFood concept store at Jalan Tuaran!

Located just near the entrance to Taman Yakim Jaya (across the street from Tai Seng Supermarket, on the other side of Jalan Tuaran), the brand new 5-in-one ConsFood Concept Store features a Cold Storage, Baking Ingredients section, Chocolate and Patisseries section, Bread Bakery, and a Cafe that serves hot food.

I had a chat with the owner of the establishment two weeks ago and here’s an overview of what’s on offer.

Cold Storage
A selection of imported cheeses, cold cuts, milk, cream, nuts, dried fruits, a range of international condiments, fresh vegetables, imported frozen meats (Aussie beef and lamb), fresh poultry, frozen foods and more. This is a halal food market without pork.

Bakery Ingredients
Various types of flours, ingredients and cake decorations for commercial and domestic use just like the one in Damai.

Chocolate and Patisseries
The Chocolate and Patisseries section is a nice little place to escape from the scorching heat for some coffee and cakes. There’s wifi there, so it makes a great place for folks to have business meetings. You can get cakes to go and also order bespoke cakes for weddings and special occasions.

Bakery
The bread bakery section carries Asian-style breads, buns and European crusty breads that are baked fresh daily. I’ve yet to try their European breads, so the jury is still out on that one but it’s great for KK to have another alternative to the Hyatt bakery as far as Western breads go.

Cafe
At the corner, there’s a cafe that serves gourmet sandwiches, hot foods and ice cream. The owner mentioned that they will be serving their own brand of gourmet ice cream so keep an eye out for that.

ConsFood officially opened on 15th August 2010, so if you happen to pass by Mile 2 1/2 of Jalan Tuaran, do check them out. They are open from 9am to 9pm daily.

Are those USD$150 cycling jerseys breaking your bank? On my last trip to Melbourne, Australia, I found a homegrown brand called Netti, which carries a basic line of simple jerseys that are only a fraction of most retailing jerseys. The brand carries both men and women-specific cuttings so you don’t have to worry about excess fabric hanging if you’re a woman or risk looking like a drag-queen if you’re a man. Here are some pictures of my new gear and my thoughts on them!

The two solid-colored Netti Diva Breeze jerseys above cost AUD$40 on offer, while the one with the pink shoulder detail was AUD$60 from Goldcross Cycles at Chadstone Shopping Centre. They were made from high-quality sweat-wicking fabric, has rubber grip zippers, reflective detailing and also SPF 50+ sun protection. In my opinion, they’re just as good as the USD$100+ jerseys functionally-speaking and it’s great as long as you’re not intent on wearing pieces of art.

I really liked how well the ladies cutting fit me and the back pockets are fabulous; there’s lots of room for energy bars and other essentials!

As I’ve been surviving on one set of gear for the whole year since buying my bike, I was more than delighted to bring home 5 pieces of cycling clothing and not feel like I’ve been extravagant. I bought 3 Netti jerseys and a pair of shorts for less than AUD$190. Saying that however, I treated myself to the blue Fox jersey (AUD$80) because I knew I’d regret not getting it.

So if you find that you’re suffocating on those expensive cycling jerseys, remember to look for some Netti while you’re in Australia or try to find a retailer online that will ship to your country!

Just wanted to check in and let you guys know I’m at Google DevFest Kuala Lumpur 2010 and it’s been awesome, except for the terrible internet connection.

The room was packed coming in!

The morning began with Christine Songco, Program Manager for Developer Relations, giving an introduction on what the DevFest day would cover.

Daniels Lee, an Engineer who supports developers with Google Maps 3.0 API ran through several handy snippets of JavaScript code that easily taps into the the features of V3, which included options on map controls, overlays, customizable styles, directions and others.

What I found most exciting was the custom street view demo of Sydney, which has a marker that leads into the Google Sydney office.

How cool is that?

The second part of the morning featured Frenchman Patrick Chanezon, who covers cloud computing at Google San Francisco presented on the features of HTML5 using the Chrome browser.

So that sums up the morning. I’ll blog about the second part of the day soon!

Ladies, I stumbled upon this fantastic program to get you started working out if you are thinking of getting off the couch and doing something good for yourself. I’ve compiled all 6 parts for your convenience. For just in 30 minutes today, you’ll get a full body workout. Give it a try and enjoy taking the first step to having a fantastic life!

Are you an Asian web entrepreneur, innovator or social media enthusiast looking to expand your horizons and network with the web industry’s key movers? Look no further! OpenWebAsia 2010, the most anticipated regional technology and web business conference for South East Asia will be held in Kuala Lumpur at the Crowne Plaza Mutiara this 13 and 14 July 2010.

WHAT IS OpenWebAsia ABOUT?

Current issues in these areas will be addressed:

a. Enterprise Web
b. Government 2.0
c. Mobile Applications
d. Android & iphone Development Platforms
e. Could Computing & Location Based Services
f.  Venture Capital & Funding
g. Social Media & Social Gaming
h. Architecture & Standards

The above topics are covered in three different tracks, which consists of a Social Media Track, Developer & Technology Track and an MSC Malaysia Innotech Track, the latter for entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses to VCs for funding over two days.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

The event brings together top minds in the web technology space in the region and beyond, with representatives from Google, TechCrunch, Yahoo, Amazon, Digg.com and many more are expected to attend. Also see the list of the speakers for more details and yeah, of course I’ll be there!

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

Show up on the day and the ticket will cost you RM300 (USD$93) at the door, so make sure you register online to get the RM200($62) rate. For an incredible rate, you get to rub shoulders with the cream of the web technology business, some of whom will be coming from as far as Silicon Valley, but wait!

If you’re one of my readers, enjoy a special 10% discount for tickets to the event just for being awesome. All you need to do is register online using this special promotional code: 3803, and you’ll pay RM$180 only! How fantabulous is that?

LUCKY DRAW @OWA

It gets even better! Come to OpenWebAsia and you’ll stand a chance to win an iPad and Nexus One! No, you’re not dreaming. I bumped into Daniel Cerventus last week and he said they’re giving those away to some really lucky winners!

So what are you waiting for? Register online today with the promo code: 3803.

For more information, visit OpenWebAsia.com.

This morning, I’d like to share a video with you.

It’s about a coal-fired plant that TNB-SESB are planning to build on the East Coast of Sabah, overlooking the Coral Triangle, which is home to 75% of marine wildlife species known to science, and half of the last remaining 30 Sumatran rhinoceros in the world Borneo.

According to Nadira Ilana of Green Surf, the Prime Minister “Mr. Najib went to Minado, Indonesia last May for the Coral Triangle summit, where he pledged to protect it but this coal plant will contradict his promise to the world as well as his pledge at the Copenhagen Environmental Summit to reduce Malaysia’s carbon emissions by 40% by 2025.”

The proposed coal-fired plant site is at Kg Sinakut, Lahad Datu, a village that borders the Coral Triangle, an area where the WWF has rated as a globally outstanding marine eco-region. It is also just a mere 17km away from the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, where hippos rhinos, elephants and other endangered species of wildlife call home.

My question to all Sabahans today is, do you want to pay for energy that sacrifices our wildlife and environment? What about a coal plant that will cause your children to have breathing problems, subsequently developing asthma and potentially, emphysema and lung cancer? TNB says that the coal will be clean, but this is their coal plant in Perak.

WHAT IS IT WORTH?

Our eco-heritage that took millions of years to forge is under threat. The world’s last few outstanding regions for marine wildlife and endangered animals are under threat. The potential 8 billion eco-tourism industry that Sabahans depend on for a livelihood is under threat. Why? So that two corporations can make a lot of money from Sabahans. Money we won’t have if we lose our source of income from tourism, but that’s besides the point.

YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

SEND A POSTCARD TO THE PM
If you don’t want this madness to happen, please tell our leaders that Sabah does not want a coal plant by sending him a postcard.

SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION

Sign this petition too, telling the Prime Minister Najib Razak that coal is not the answer, that clean renewable energy that has longer-term profitability prospects should be explored and discussed with the ‘rakyat’ in an open and transparent manner.

If you would like to help protect Sabah’s wildlife and environment, you can find out at the Green Surf Website, where Sabahans, international NGOs, and all concerned citizens of Malaysia and the world unite for a Greener Sabah.

You can also learn more from the people who work passionately to show you why you should care about what is happening to Sabah.

Don’t wait till it’s too late. Act now, we invite the world to read and send this letter to the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

SAY NO TO COAL! Ask for clean, renewable energy!

As much as there is so much to be fixed in Kota Kinabalu, I’m very proud to say that DBKK is going forward in the right direction by launching the ‘No Plastic Bag on Monday‘ Campaign.

Today is the official kick-off date, and participating stores which include Parkson, 7-Eleven, Tong Hing Supermarket, Giant hypermarket, Milimewa, Southern Bakery and Popular Bookstore will not be giving out free plastic bags to shoppers at the checkout counter for free.

If you are shopping today without your own bag or basket in any of the stores above, you will be charged 20 cents per plastic bag. Those proceeds will go to fund environmental and cleanliness projects by DBKK and the Enviromental Action Centre (EAC) around the city.

But why stop today? Say no to plastic bags everyday! I guarantee you it’s a much sexier look and you’ll be kind to the earth and all who inhabit it.

So bring your reusable bags to the supermarket today!

If you want a reason to get off your couch, now is the time. The Sutera Harbour 7k Sunset Charity Run is just around the corner. Whether you are going to do it for charity, health and/or fun, this is the hottest active event to go to in Kota Kinabalu! With 10,000 people expected to participate, it’s the ideal event to show off your muscles to a band of screaming kids or prove to yourself that you can hit the distance with the grannies!

The best part of all is that you’ll help raise funds for the Sabah Thalassaemia Society and Special Olympics Sabah.

The run will be held on Saturday 10th July 2010. Registration costs RM25 for adults and  RM 15 for children (comes with a t-shirt). For more details on the run and where to register, visit the Sutera Harbour website. See you there!

Here’s a list of the best coffee shop foods in Kota Kinabalu, as submitted by a reader called Ah Bing. If you’re always getting asked where are the good places to eat local food in K.K., now you have a handy link to pass on. Enjoy!

Visit AhBing.com