Flamingo by the Beach hotel to open on Thursday 15th Oct 2009

Another new hotel that bought over the old hotel that is opening soon near us:

After 18 months of renovation and refurbishment, the former Crown Prince Hotel will reopen as the Flamingo by the Beach hotel on Thursday.

The beachfront hotel in Tanjung Bungah underwent a RM20 million refurbishment with all its 280 rooms and 20 suites as well as other facilities being upgraded.

Hotel manager Ong Hai Leong said the upgrading works for the four-star hotel included renovating the coffee house and ballroom.

The hotel was bought over by Magnum Leisure Sdn Bhd a few years ago and is managed by Flamingo Management Sdn Bhd, which also manages Flamingo by the Lake in the Klang Valley.

Penang Bridge International Marathon 2009 T-Shirt/Vest Design

Hmm, here you go. Some sneak preview for all those eager to know how will this year's PBIM t-shirt looks like. This design will be on every shirt be it t-shirt or vest that the participants will be receiving. Since we are paying so much this year for the entry fees (compared to previous years), it was announced that there will be vest for long distance runners. Full marathon runners will definitely get it, but I'm not very sure for the half marathon folks...looks like we have to wait...

Our very own Oktoberfest 2009

Event : Penang Oktoberfest 2009

Date : 31st October 2009

Time : 7pm onwards

Venue : Malaysian-German Society, Jalan Air Itam

Seems like the Oktoberfest is everywhere. In case you do not have the chance to visit Germany, worry not coz as usual, Penang will be having it's own Oktoberfest, it's 37th annual edition. So beer fans, gather up your gang for the festival at our very own style!

Starwalk 2009 registration opens...

REGISTRATION for the northern region’s premier sporting event, Penang Starwalk 2009, opens today.

The popular yearly event, jointly organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd and the Penang Amateur Athletics Association, will be flagged off at 7am on Dec 13 at the Penang International Sports Arena.

The walk is divided into two categories – competition and non-competition – with both covering a distance of 10km.

The competition category is divided into nine groups: Men’s and Women’s Open for those aged 20 to 34 years; Men’s Junior Veteran (35 to 44); Men’s Senior Veteran (45 to 54); Men’s Diamond Veteran (55 and above); Women’s Veteran (35 to 44); Women’s Senior Veteran (45 and above); and Boys and Girls (13 to 19).

The registration fee is RM8 for non-competitive walkers and RM12 for competitive walkers. All participants will receive a T-shirt and a goodie bag.

The top three winners in each group of the competition category will receive cash prizes. All participants who complete the walk within two hours will be eligible for a lucky contest.

Registration is open from 9.15am to 5pm on weekdays, except public holidays, at The Star Northern Hub, 202, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah in Bayan Lepas, Penang, or the newspaper’s George Town office at 15, Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling.

The entry form can be downloaded from http://thestar.com.my/starwalk.

It will also be printed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in StarMetro North.

Registration booths will also be set up at shopping malls and public places in Penang on weekends. For location details, look for announcements in the daily ‘What’s Up’ column in StarMetro North.

Registration closes on Nov 13 or when the targeted 15,000 registration mark is reached, whichever is earlier.

Upper Penang Road @ UPP 10th Anniversary Celebration - 10th Oct 2009

Theme : Upper Penang Road 10th Anniversary Celebration

Date : 10th Oct 2009 Saturday

Venue : Upper Penang Road

Time : 3:00pm to 12:00 am midnight

A decade on, Upper Penang Road is today a distinctively thriving and lively precinct of Georgetown, a renowned destination for locals and visitors alike for many reasons.

Born out of a joined vision and collaborative effort of the area merchants and business owners, Upper Penang Road (UPR) celebrates its 10th anniversary on Oct. 10, 2009.

It is the aluminum or tin anniversary in wedding term. In the UPR case, they celebrate 10 successful years of association of the merchant-members in adding zest, bringing better and added values to UPR patrons while improving the bottom line.

UPR celebrate a win-win proposition and rejuvenation of UPR precinct as a happening place in town, vibrant during the day and lively after sunset. This auspicious and fun occasion is marked by the launch of the official website http://www.upr.com.my/.

Hari Raya Celebration @ Esplanade In Action : 10 Oct 2009

Theme : Concert Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Date : 10 / 10/ 2009 Saturday

Venue : Penang Esplanade

Time : 8:00pm - 9:30pm

This Saturday come celebrate Hari Raya with us at Esplanade In Action. 8pm to 9.30pm.

Be mesmerized by our Malay culture of Penang through the performance of Malay Traditional Dance at the Penang Esplanade.

Celebrate Hari Raya with a delightful 90 minutes traditional cultural dance and learn the true roots of the Malay culture with its colourful costumes and friendly persona.

Astro wins football league broadcast rights

ALAMAK!!! 50% more than the current deal? So what now? We just paid extra rm12 for sport package 2 months ago....with this deal, are we gonna PAY MORE AGAIN come next season??? Why can't the government do something so that ASTRO doesn't monopoly the satelite tv field? Or is it they purposely act dumb and do nothing???

Astro All Asia Networks plc has won the bid for the rights to broadcast the Barclays Premier League (BPL) for the next three seasons for about RM800mil, sources told StarBiz.

The vendor of the BPL rights is Britain-based Football Association Premier League (FAPL).
Over the last few weeks, a bidding war had erupted for the much-sought-after BPL rights, with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and ESPN STAR Sports believed to have been involved.

Despite emerging victorious, Astro will still have to grapple with how it is going to recoup the high fees it is paying for the rights, believed to be at least 50% more than what it had paid previously.

The cost of BPL content makes up about a third of Astro’s total content cost and is not profit generating in itself. But BPL is still a major pull factor for Astro’s Malaysian subscribers.

An analyst said there was a limit to how much Astro could raise prices for its sports package as it would not want to risk losing customers. That means that its profit margins may take a hit.

On the other hand, Astro would no longer have to buy BPL content from intermediary ESPN STAR Sports, which was the previous successful bidder.

Buying the rights from ESPN also involved some unfavourable terms, where most of the revenue comes from advertisements shown during intervals of BPL games belonged to ESPN.

“If Astro is able to keep those ad revenues, this should help it stem the margin erosion,” the analyst added.

Astro is also likely to produce the entire BPL show – which includes talk shows and match analysis – now that it owns the rights directly. Previously, ESPN had done so and had factored that into its price to Astro.

It is believed that TM had sought to buy the BPL content to make its planned broadband TV service attractive.

However, it is unlikely TM will have had its infrastructure for broadband TV up and running in time for the next BPL season. Hence, if it had won the BPL bid, TM might have had to resort to re-selling the BPL content, possibly to Astro.

Astro’s established network and subscriber base is another factor that FAPL is likely to have considered when awarding the bid.