Jottings

Berkunjung Ke Kebun Martha Stewart?

Eh, biar betul tajuk utama majalah Martha Stewart Living yang kini tampil dalam bahasa BUKAN Bahasa Ingerris. Memang benar, di atas adalah gambar kulit depan keluaran perdana majalah Martha Stewart Living edisi Indonesia. Martha Stewart mahu ’kuasai’ dunia sekarang setelah mengalami beberapa kontroversi sebelum ini (antaranya masuk penjara!). Majalah beliau telah pun diterbitkan di Korea, Thailand, Poland, Filipina, dan tidak lama lagi, Timur Tengah dan juga United Kingdom. Hebat bukan?

Martha Stewart telah pun melawati negara kita pada bulan Mei… mengapa tiada perancangan untuk melebarkan sayap beliau di Malaysia? Thailand sudah ada edisi sendiri, Indonesia pun…Malaysia di tengah-tengah! Harap-harap satu hari nanti ada majalah Martha Stewart Living edisi Malaysia pula! Ibu saya memang meminati beliau, siap beli buku Cupcakes oleh Martha Stewart.

Oh ya, berikut adalah gambar kulit depan majalah Everyday Food edisi Timur Tengah… bahasa Arab pula:

Rosie O’Donnell left the Daytime TV circuit after her short stint at The View (in which she managed to help raise the ratings). Now she will be hosting a brand new daytime show on Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

“Rosie is an undeniable talent who has captivated TV audiences for nearly 20 years,” said Oprah Winfrey in a press statement via Oprah.com. “She’s a true original, who brings her authentic voice, dynamic energy and pure passion to everything she does.”

Previously, Rosie O’Donnell hosted The Rosie O’Donnell Show from 1996 - 2002 and was considered as a strong contender against The Oprah Winfrey Show. She also had a magazine, Rosie, for a short while, competing against, Oprah’s O. During the period when her magazine and show ended, she did say something against Lady O (something to do with Oprah being too busy counting her money!)

I was surprised when Oprah decided to invite Rosie on The Oprah Winfrey Show and now Rosie will get her own show on OWN.

Why replace Oprah when you can work for her? Smart move by Oprah and I guess Rosie needs this show! I wonder if this partnership is going to last long. Rosie is known for being vocal so let’s just hope there’s no editorial conflict between Rosie and Oprah (also known for being in control) for this new show!

OWN will debut on January 1, 2011 and I’m not sure if it’s going to be available on Astro, Malaysia.

How many of you actually go to Pasar Tani? Well, during her visit here last month, Martha Stewart made a quick stop at Pasar Tani. She writes:

On Saturday, the fourth day of our visit to Malaysia, our morning activities began with a tour of Pasar Tani, a comprehensive farmers’ market.  When traveling, I always love checking out the local markets and this is a great place to shop for local produce, seafood, meats and a large assortment of freshly prepared foods.

For the rest of the story and photos, click here.

I do hope she will feature a story on Malaysia in her flagship magazine, Martha Stewart Living.

From Yahoo! News:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Sex” is losing its allure at cinemas.

“Sex and the City 2” sold $46.3 million worth of tickets during its first four days of release across North America, falling far short of the opening round for the first film in the series, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

Warner Bros‘ first-big screen adaptation of the HBO series about four New York women earned $57 million in its first three days two years ago.

Oh my, this is not good news for Carrie and Co. I know my cousin will be watching this movie but judging by the response in America, is the SATC franchise really losing its allure? Or perhaps it was overly hyped? The international and local media has been buzzing about it for weeks, I was expecting the movie to be a blockbuster for its opening weekend in American. I guess not.

Ah, maybe the film focuses a lot on Abu Dhabi, instead of the Big Apple?

The Queen of Domesticity made a short trip to Malaysia and was given the royal treatment with an audience with our Queen and First Lady. She might not rule a country but being the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she reigns supreme with her own empire (magazines, books, TV shows, satellite radio, home products, etc), powerful enough for our government here to think that she can promote Malaysia.

True enough, her visit here generated much buzz. With social media, Martha documents her experience via Twitter. Some of her tweets via @marthastewart include:

we loved rosmah mansor the first lady- she is doing good work with programs for children and is an active philanthropist

now we are off to melaka to see a bit of the countryside- we are in “food coma- a meal every two hours- here you are asked-have you eaten?

I am signing the Queen’s guest book in the summer palace while the Queen looks on. http://twitpic.com/1phj8z

Rice patties for miles north of Kuala Lumpur, the “rice basket” of Malaysia http://yfrog.com/3zs25pj

we are in kota kinabalu- the night market is directly across the street-great food hawkers-odd food stuffs-dinner of fresh seafood

Via her blog, Stewart writes, “As you may know, I am presently traveling in Malaysia, having been invited here by Tourism Malaysia, who wanted me to see this extraordinary country and experience the fascinating culture and the delicious cuisine.”

I think that most will ask: Is the government actually paying Miss Stewart to visit Malaysia? If so, how much? I had that question in mind when it was announced Martha will visit Malaysia a few months ago. It is really unfortunate to have a foreigner to promote our country (where is our country’s brand ambassadors?) but then again, Martha Stewart is an icon.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much coverage from the international media of her visit here but with her strong reach via her 2 million followers on Twitter and those that follows her blog religiously, it will educate those that might not even know where in the world Malaysia is. They get a chance to experience Malaysia and it might also correct what misconception they have of our country.

Perhaps the government should invite Oprah Winfrey!! I’ll stalk her if she visits Malaysia. Just kidding.

What do you think? Do we need more international icons to promote Malaysia??