Coke , England & Malaysia ??

One of my greatest single Coca Cola Collection is the commemorative bottle for the wedding of Prince Charles & Lady Diana Spencer. The bottle dated back to 1981. Like all weddings, the wedding was a joyous occasion in England.

BBC News, in its 29th July broadcast, reported “Crowds of 600,000 people filled the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their wedding day. The couple were married at St Paul's Cathedral before an invited congregation of 3,500 and an estimated global TV audience of 750 million - making it the most popular programme ever broadcast. Britons enjoyed a national holiday to mark the occasion."

The wedding is not the only event, Coca Cola has presence in. Amongst other events are in the EPL, British Music, Christmas and many more. I've never wondered why Coca Cola has constantly invested in England, and not Malaysia. Perhaps in comparison, English people are mightier and seen as a conqueror. Or perhaps Coca Cola in Malaysia is under an 'I-don't-know-what-is-marketing' Chinaman company. Or perhaps British simply drink more than Malaysia. According to Coca Cola 2005 Annual Report, British drinks 199 ounce servings of Coke beverages per capita annually.

But these statistics will remain statistics as what is more important is the future. Let me tell you why. Malaysians, multi ethnicity community will soon be somewhat richer. Here is why. Firstly, the majorities will continue to benefit from the government’s feeding hand (if that is the B#$%^ N$%^* government can survive the emergence of the Pakat$^& Rak^%). Secondly, the smallest of the main 3 races is starting to get more attention thanks to Makkal Sakthi, and perhaps they could become millionaires. Thirdly, the other main race will, well they will continue to find ways to remain at the top.

So perhaps with more disposal income, Malaysian's will surely drink more Coca Cola? Will then our local Coca Cola franchise start coming out with something interesting in its packaging? If not for sure, Coca Cola will lose out to local cola franchise, such as TESCO Cola, which many say it’s not bad. "Now Everyone Can Produce Cola"

A home for Coke.....

In 1886, Coca Cola was born in Atlanta, Georgia, of the USA. From there , it went from one continent to another, trying to settle down and find a HOME. Today, apart from being in almost 200 over countries, I have a home for my Coke...

I moved in to my own place, for nearly 5 months now. Amongst the many room of my humble double store abode, I've dedicated a special room, for which my Coca Cola collections' call HOME

One will not missed it, as the door which separates the mystery of my collection with the ordinary world, bears the signage synonym to many.

Visitors my new place, after seeing the content of this room , will usually end up auditioning to become my 'designated' collector-on-behalf. Others will surely sms or call me when they find a shop/stall that sells Coca Cola collectibles , when they walked in Bangsar Grocer or through the Curve's Street Market.

One could never imagine how big or famous Coca Cola. Being a truly global brand, Coca Cola is the most widely known brand in the world. According to Business Week, in 2006 , Coca Cola ranks the No.1 brand in the world, with a value of USD 67.5 billion!

My house in the other hand, is valued at RM 350 thousand! That is inclusive of the furniture and appliances. Perhaps I should add the value of its occupants , their pet Ginger and Rodney and their priceless collections of clothing, DVDs, old newspapers, liquors and of course the Coca Cola collectibles.

One of my biggest challenge prior to moving into this house was the interior designing. Of course it helped that my gf had great taste. All I had was.... a great gf. I must say, the finishing was great. Nice paint job, perfect furnitures, high tech AV appliances, beautiful paintings (coming soon) , a contemporary bar and of course my Coke room.

The room currently holds a fridge, stocked up with all the soft drinks (of course pre-dominantly Coke) , Heineken and loads of chocolate bars. Also within is one large cabinet with multi columns (bought from Giant), one multi tier cabinets (buatan AYAH) and several smaller shelves. All of these furnitures house my collections of 400 + articles. There are still many more rooms for expansion, namely the walls, which I hope in years to come, it will be filled, either by my own or by house's visitors or anyone who which to donate their collection after reading this blog.

Bangkok Land of Traditions, Cuisine & Coke..

I love Bangkok! For the past 2 years, I have made an effort to visit Bangkok, for its cultural wonders, great food, and Coca-Cola collections. I find Thai’s really hospitable, friendly, accommodating and they love Coke! Bangkok is really a place where Coca-Cola Collectors find joy in. Here’s my story…

In 2005, during my 5 days trip to Bangkok, I visited this restaurant called “Café Classique”, at Sukhumvit. Far from being your ordinary café, the owner of this place showcased his admirable collection of Coca-Cola. This café have easily thousands of Coca-Cola cans, bottles, posters, signage and merchandises.

I also visited a shop at MBK called About Coke (http://www.collectmyall.com/). There, I spend close to 2 hours talking to the owner, who is a collector himself. I ended up buying 3 sets of Coca-Cola cans.

From my trip in 2005, I started researching about Coca-Cola collectors in Bangkok. I came across http://www.cokethai.com/ . It was Thailand’s Coca-Cola Collectors Club’s forum. I became a member, although most of the posting were in Thai. I corresponded with a couple of people there (Oly from China, Keith from Australia), and learned more about their passion for Coca-Cola collections. One of them was Sam, a moderator for the website.

From that trip also, my Thai friend, Jess, learned of my passion for Coca-Cola, and he started collecting for me. When I was there recently in 2006, he had collected the complete World Cup 2006 collection (10 cans) and a couple of China World Cup collection. Thanks Jess!!

Apart from that, during my 2006 trip, I managed to buy a 1 litre Coca-Cola bottle from a provision store, a plastic Coca-Cola cup from a food court and a prototype Coca-Cola Christmas edition, due to be released at 7-11 in Bangkok (Thanks Non!)

I really love Bangkok! Great. My Bangkok Coca-Cola collections will remind me what a great country Thailand is and how great my friends are.