Mystery solved.

We all know where’s the party now. 

For days and weeks leading up to this year’s Carlsberg ‘Where’s the Party?’, I must say I was pretty excited.

They did a terrific job in hyping the party up! I too, shared the buzz and my excitement with everyone.

Goodies at my doorstep as early as a month before the party! A Nixon LED-silicone watch, a Carlsberg flashdrive

and six bottles of Carlsberg in a bag full of glowsticks, streamers and shiny tinsels!

The very week before the party, I received my invitation.

The bag contained earplugs, a neck travel-cushion, an eye-mask and a couple of Carlsberg bottles.

Granted, my enthusiasm grew as the days passed, but I was half wondering how exactly they were going to throw a “bigger and bolder” one this year, as last year’s epic tri-nation beach party certainly raised the bar to an apex!

Remember the teaser post I wrote for Carlsberg – Where’s the Party?

You can see plenty of photos of last year’s party there.

That being said, Carlsberg and team would most definitely have big plans to up their ante this year, in line with their claims of “Malaysia’s most epic party”, right? 

Wrong.

Unfortunately, ‘Where’s the Party?’ 2013 was, to many, nothing compared to last year’s mind-blowing instalment.

Don’t get me wrong.

This year’s ”Where’s the Party?’ 2013 certainly had its strengths, but not nearly enough to outweigh what it lacked.

Being an avid partygoer with a strong thirst for good celebrations, allow me to share my experience and elaborate my observations with an objective point of view. 

Adhering to the time stated in the invitation, my partycrew and I adjourned to Serdang in the mid-afternoon.

Oh the suspense! I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us at ‘Where’s the Party?’ 2013.

Where will we be taken to this year? Where will the location be this time round? 

Arriving at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) where we are to be transited to the party showgrounds.

Our transit bus.

So excited! Where will they be taking us?

The transit bus dropped us off at the registration area which was a mere 5 minute drive.

Arriving the grounds with my partycrew.

What else could it be? 

Upon seeing the cabin crew/air stewardess uniform on the usherettes,

I knew for certain that I had predicted this year’s theme correctly. 

Then again, why wasn’t it held close to the airport if we were to be travelling somewhere (like we did last year)?

Hmmm.. maybe we aren’t going to be travelling anywhere this year then.

Konzy and I after receiving our “flight tickets”. 

BestiePam and I about to enter the party showgrounds.

And we were off!

Soon, it was confirmed that Carlsberg ‘Where’s the Party? 2013’ was all happening at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS). No, MAEPS wasn’t only the first location to assemble.

It was THE LOCATION – the very answer to Where’s the Party?

Though the location was no where as impressive as its predecessors, Golden Palm Tree Resort in Gold Coast Sepang (2011) and Hard Rock Hotel in Penang (2012), I was certain (and hopeful!) that this year’s party would be just as fun as the one held in Carlsberg Brewery in Shah Alam (2011).

After all, it doesn’t necessarily need to be in a resort hotel to ensure a good party in motion.

Good job in keeping the suspense on the high this entire time! 

I was amazed when I saw the the giant signboard and entrance; very akin to the typical ones you see at airports!

WELL DONE 

What’s even cooler, they had makeshift metal detector booths set up with “airport officials”

stationed to “scan” our bodies for any metal or weaponry before “boarding” our ‘flight”.

It’s the little things and effort paid attention to in enhancing a theme of a party, that makes me happy.

I loved how they utilized every opportunity to heighten our party experience from the beginning – a sign of a great night ahead I hope?

Cabin crew offering us cans of Carlsberg

The elevated DJ booth, resembling an airplane

Yup, the entire party was full-on, every bit of an aviation theme.

My partycrew and I walked to the first thing we saw – the games station.

Shot before playing.

This game was fairly interesting!

 It was an action-memory game and we were supposed to imitate the airport runway security too.

Evidently I was having fun jumping LOL.

Final showdown between me and bestiePam as everyone else got kicked out LOL

Us players on the “airport runway”!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to play all the other games such as Loud Ludo, No-Sigh Flight, Turbalance and Safety Slide as I was asked to leave the game zone and head to the press conference which was to begin soon.

Ushered into the “departure hall” for the Press Conference.

Inside, I figured another reason why Carlsberg adopted the aviation theme.

It’s probably because winners will stand a chance to win themselves an opportunity to fly to Europe for the global ‘Where’s the Party?’ 2013 where Axwell will be performing. Hence the whole emphasis on a flight experience.

Isn’t that cool? 

There was an enormous Antonov airplane inside the vicinity of the rave zone

I heard you could actually climb up and sit inside the cockpit to check it out! Dang, wish I’d known earlier! 

But at the very least, I managed to get a picture with the propellers!

That still counts as something, doesn’t it? 

The Managing Directors of Carlsberg Malaysia & Carlsberg Singapore making their grand entrance!

They kicked off the press conference in full swing

Mr. Henrik Anderson giving us, the media a warm welcome

The big bosses of Carlsberg making a toast! 

Jul 6, 2013 | At #Carlsberg #WherestheParty now! It’s fun so far. Lotsa games! Can’t wait to reveal tonight’s line up ❤ #WTP by imthejessicat on Keek.com

Up till this point, I was still in high spirits. How can I not?  I’m sure you can tell from the video above.

The amazing set-up, the whole ‘jet-set’ theme, the games – it was basically the entire initial excitement of the party that got me hungry for more of this year’s instalment!

….. until the line-up was announced. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not putting these fellas down; all I’m saying is that most media around me, including myself, was a little puzzled as to why this year’s line up was a far cry from last year’s eclectic entertainment.

During the interview session, a few from the media had also asked what was the reason behind the choice of this year’s line-up, being very different from last year’s.

However Carlsberg did an excellent job in presenting the line-up to us in airport shuttles! 

First of the lot, popular local stand-up comedian, Douglas Lim

I was thrilled to have him as part of the line-up!

Local DJ Eva T

Eva T giving a short speech

Local DJ Funkzu

Offbeat rappers and singers, Nine Lives

3AM in the Valley, Big Skrptz from Australia and Joel Turner

MC Derrick and DJ Inquisitive

DJs Class and Ming Ming 

German DJ Miss Nine

These girls got all the men wolf-whistling!

Korean ‘K-Pop’ girl band, Sweety.

And finally… headliners Swedish Dub House duo Cazzette

Tonight’s entertainment.

The view of the stage from afar

Funnyman Douglas Lim took the stage and cracked his usual arsenal of rib-tickling jokes up his sleeve!

Best part was when he sang his own rendition expressing his hatred for K-Pop

of popular Cantopop song, Beyond’s Hoi Fut Tin Hung.

It was my second time listening to that song now. I freakin’ love it! 

Being Cantonese myself, and also despising the K-Pop craze, I could totally relate to his song!

For K-Poppers, don’t take offence, it’s just satire. 

Nine Lives on stage

They performed a good deal of classic rock and pop

My partycrew and I only stayed ’til mid of Nine Lives’ performance, before we headed out for a breath of fresh air, games and for a much anticipated massage.

To our disappointment, by the time we got out at 9PM, all the games’ booths and also the massage booth was already shut.

What on earth?  We were barely in there for an hour and once we came out, it was a shame that all the fun, games and massages were over. I remembered back in 2011, the games and massages went on all night!

The iDarts booth was the only games booth that was open.

We had fun playing this, at least! 

The view of the stage from the crowd

It was well designed, it boasted a strong audio system, stage lighting, with both laser and pyro effects but ummm… the LED balloon container could do with a little more creativity as it looked like a giant corncob defying gravity, dangling in the middle of nowhere.

Rather out of place, no? 

For their fourth time hosting Carlsberg ‘Where’s the Party?’ series of parties, MCs of the night

Patricia Knudsen and Joey G were looking very fine in their pilot uniforms.

The ‘jet-set’ theme was kept alive throughout the party. After seeing the ushers dressed as air stewards

and air stewardesses, it was only natural to expect the hosts to be donning aviation uniforms as well!

DJ Eva T on the decks

She was good, as usual, but most of us were wondering why the DJ booth was

errected in a way that her back was facing the majority of the crowd 

When we adjourned from the Press Conference, we were told that there was a free flow of food served.

But as we made our way to the food section, we could hear varying complaints of “OMG the food sucks” rather audibly from the crowd. We ignored the tell-tale signs, and instead, decided to try it out and judge it for ourselves – to our utter dismay. 

This year’s meal : pre-packeted food.

As glad as we were to chomp down something (gotten really hungry after a long day!), we were appalled when we saw and tasted this year’s preparation of the food. 

In the past three instalments of ‘Where’s the Party?’, a sumptous buffet spread of delectable local and international cuisines, various courses, comprising the sweet and savoury, appetizers, mains, soups, desserts and what’s more, with chefs present to cook our meals right before our eyes. I’m not even joking; it was that elaborate! 

In comparison to those dinners which were marvellously catered, this year’s dinner was a huge letdown. 

In plastic pre-packed packets of tasteless and very bland Nasi Lemak, Bee Hoon, Nuggets, Burger and Satays.

We deliberately tried out ALL the food on the table but none even came close. Who are the caterers???

The only thing decently edible were the satays – the only ones which vanished each time the refills came.

At least we had lots and lots of Carlsberg to go around to make up for it.

One of the main redemptions of this party was that the number of guests doubled from last years ‘Where’s the Party?’.

I bumped into heaps and heaps of my buddies! T’was great to see them and catch up.   Cue the pictures!

Unfortunately, like many others who left, we did not stay for the hoardes of free lok-lok steamboat trucks when the party was officially over.

But that was a fantastic surprise for those who stayed till the very end, no doubt! 

My biggest regret is that my partycrew and I probably did not stay long enough to feel the heat of the party which seemed to pick up quickly after 11pm (I was there since 5pm!). Neither did I manage to catch Cazette, which I was so keen on raving to!

I might not be feeling as live wired nor into the night as I was very, very much hoping to be.

I wouldn’t say it was a horrendous nor bad party, it just didn’t live up to the high expectations we had for this year (especially after setting such high standards in the previous years) and underdelivered its claims. 

Leaving as early as 10pm with mixed feelings about this years party 

We had to queue up, as many others were also waiting for the shuttle bus to leave the premises

I’ve looked forward to Carlsberg Where’s the Party? 2013 for months on end and was pretty geared up for an epic night. Thus, It was no surprise when I was pretty disappointed as to why I didn’t quite enjoy myself as much as I thought I would.

I guess I really wasn’t feeling it tonight. 

But we all made sure we adhered to Carlsberg’s responsible drinking and safe driving advocacy.

So to answer the question posed – YES, we did have a designated driver  He is right in front of me!

In a nutshell, I must say that in comparison to the previous three Carlsberg Where’s the Party?’ versions that I have attended, this year’s party is by far the worse of the lot.  From track record, I jolly well know that Carlsberg and its crew do posess monstrous capabilities to throw us kick-ass parties!

Better up your game! 

Despite this year’s disapointment, I do look forward to next year’s Carlsberg ‘Where’s the Party?’ and what it has in store for us! 

 Check out the previous ‘Where’s the Party?’ event i’ve been to last year.

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For more information on Carlsberg Where’s the Party 2013, you can:

Log on to the official website at: www.Carlsberg.com.my

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