TThe crowd was rather sparse, as I picked my way
through the tightly packed chairs and tiny tables, and the only light
illumating the place was the shadowy flickering of tabletop candles.
Shen-Myin was already there, with Yheng Mun, Japheth, and Jeannie. At
that point, I realized that I hadn't seen most of them for ages,
Jeannie since she got back from China, Japheth, since the impromptu
interview session at McDonalds, and Shen-Myin herself, since
Michaelangelo's, Pavilion. We ordered our drinks, which began with a
coffee for me, and waited for the rest to arrive. Before long, Nicole,
Billy, Basile, and Adrian filed in (not necessarily in that order).
Ironically, the Its A Small World After All euphorism held true, as I
realized that I had met all of them before, from different places and
times. Slowly dying of hunger, we ordered our food, and began the oh so
pleasant process of catching up.
Jazz Latino, from 3 tables away.
The music thrummed from the stage, as the crowd began to lower their voices. Eric Li, the lead man of Jazz Latino, started the evening with a little trilling number on the keys, which was quickly echoed by the other talented members of the band.
Eric Li, and his flying fingers.
Before long, the inspired keyboardist let loose with his musical talent, and practically pounded the keyboard to a pile of dust, without missing a beat. The jazzy, soulful notes became increasingly louder and frenzied, making it hard to talk to each other without screaming. At this point, I ordered another coffee, Shen-Myin, another coke, Yheng Mun, another ice lemon tea, and Jeannie, another cake. Hard as it was to communicate, we just smiled at each other around the table. It was only at the interlude where the spent Jazz Latino band wandered off to rest that we could resume our conversations where we left off.
Japheth, Jeannie, and a missing cake.
I look incredibly ogre-ish next to the lady-like Shen-Myin.
Stunning women surrounding the ogre holding a coffee cup.
And here, I just come across as slightly insane (and rather full, after having some of Nicole's pasta).
The Compulsory Group photo.
The conversation went to rather strange areas, and even managed to cover some of my *ahem* future criteria. It was an incredibly wonderful night, with good music, good food, and best of all, great company. I even managed to leave with a souvenir, when Shen-Myin handed over two hard-to-put-down books, for my literary consumption.
Thanks for organizing this Shen, and looking forward to the next one!
Kudos to the Queen of Books and Good Food for a job brilliantly done. =)
Where Kien Fei, His Dad, Alwynn, and Li Ping Collectively Turn 120...
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
It was a week full of birthdays (of the same
people), and of course, these people can always be counted on to have
some sort of event to celebrate it. After the fashion show, Li Ping and
I made our way to Balakong, where Kien Fei's dad turned the grand old
age of 51. Coincidentally, it was also to celebrate Kien Fei's own
birthday, which had passed not too long
ago.
Anyone would be happy to see the amount of pork here (no innuendo intended).
LiPing, portrait, portrait, Kien Fei.
During the dinner, Li Ping held chicken wings in both her hands, flapped them, and said "I can fly!".
Ms. Kissy Lips.
The jelly that Li Ping bought from Pavilion because they were colourful and cute.
Kien Fei discovers that feminity is never far from the surface.
We had gone up to KF's room to get away from the noise outside. This is the precursor to people falling asleep.
Li Ping was already starting to nod off, here.
We actually went down again, to see KF's dad blow the candles on his cake.
The Tangs.
Yenli arrived (finally) with Kin Yan, who happened to know Jae Shen's brother.
The Compulsory Group Photo (yes, Li Ping fell asleep at 10.50p.m.)
Some of us went out to grab a bite (and raided a factory in the process).
A few days later, it was Li Ping's actual birthday, and it took place in good 'ol McDonalds, Taipan.
The birthday girl, with cake in hand.
It was a DIY cake from Yen and Yan, made from putting together foodstuff from several different sources.
The ingenious duo.
Yun Kei and Shu Kao are highly amused by the cake.
Fast forward a few days, and it was a dinner for Kien Fei, Alwynn, AND Li Ping, at Telok Gong, Klang. Rain pelted down heavily on us, but rain is never a deterrent for starving people who want to eat balitong.
Yen, with Ju-Onn in the background.
The couple looking at Li Ping's cards (see here for more info on this)
Alwynn, looking bemused.
Shun and Alwynn.
The sotong was tantalizingly oily.
The crab was drenched in sweet and sour sauce, perfect for mantau-dipping.
Digging in.
Lalalalala.
Mantis prawn, in handfuls of fried butter shavings.
Throughout the dinner, Yen and SooLiPing became increasingly enthused and hyper, while the rest of us grew more and more stoned.
The Compulsory Group Photo.
...and here we have the birthday boys and girl slicing away at the cake.
After the candles were extinguished, I bade everyone farewell, and went off to meet up with Lauren for a drink. The intended 'drop-by for a while' lasted a bit longer than i thought, and I ended up being late.
It's Malaysian International Fashion Week! (where Wedding Gowns are in Style)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
On a rather hectic Saturday evening, I picked Li Ping up, and we headed through slightly heavy downpour to attend the Malaysian International Fashion Week, specifically, the Celestial Collection showcase, by Celest Thoi at the Pavilion, KL.
Now, Celest happens to be the wife of my colleague James, who was kind enough to extend tickets to the glitzy event. Since I've never been to a proper fashion show (and neither has Li Ping), we leaped at the chance to sit beside the runway while models garbed in white saunter past us, looking as if they own the world.
Celest is the Creative Director of Pretty in White, a boutique that churns out bridal, formal wear, and shoes. Together with Elaine Kong, and Stephanie Ong, they outfitted the models with approximately 30 different designs, and set them loose to bedazzle the eagerly anticipating crowd.
The Compulsory Backdrop Shot.
Here, you can see the crowd, and horde of photographers (as well as a grinning Su Yin, and James in purple, somewhere at the back).
Li Ping. We sat on the 3rd row of seats, and most of my photos had heads at the bottom of them.
Stephanie Chai!
Model with sharp nose.
Probably one of the better models of the lot.
The smouldering look!
If you were a girl, and got married, you'd want this dress to be one of the ones that you change into during the Chinese dinner session.
Very flowy, graceful, piece.
She's glowing!
This dress had a back that was so loose, if you were standing on the second floor looking down, you'd be treated a great view of certain hidden assets.
Yet another dinner dress piece.
Deborah Henry was the celebrity guest model for the event. Somehow, she manages to look pristine, and sizzling hot at the same time.
Oh my.
The event ended with Celest and Kids walking down the runway to receive her due applause and appreciation.
A brilliant show indeed! Again, my thanks goes to James for the invites, and the opportunity to ogle at models from barely a meter away.
Stay tuned for the next part of the evening, where Li Ping and I made our way to Balakong! (without getting lost)
For all of you planning to get married sometime soon, you can browse a wedding catalogue-ish Facebook album here, for ideas.
"If I Had to Get Stuck in a Shopping Mall, With Zombies Surrounding the Place Which One Would it Be?"
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Sometimes, in your idle moments, when your mind isn't dwelling on any serious matter, I'm sure that you've wondered to yourself, "If I had to get stuck in a shopping mall, with zombies surrounding the place (ala I Am Legend), which shopping mall would it be?"
Ok, so maybe you've never thought about it. Most sane people wouldn't. But in an attempt to identify the best shopping mall in Malaysia (or rather, the Klang Valley), the question was raised that if you had to be stuck in a shopping mall, which one would it be, and why?
I promptly suggested that the reason that one could be stuck in a shopping mall was due to the ravenous horde of zombies mincing along outside. I guess that reason is as good as any (despite being rather inane).
These may be what the zombies look like. (photo credit to copypastegames.files.wordpress.com)
What do you think?
Do leave the reason you've chosen any of the above in the comment box below! Happy voting!
The Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards 2009 @ Singapore!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Day 1 - The Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards 2009
It was early on Friday morning that I caught a cab from my place in KL to the Asian Heritage Row, where the bus was already waiting. Yenli and I boarded it, and managed to find spots behind Jolyn(the girl who looks different every time I see her) and Eng Seng, which made the long journey so much more fun.
Yen and I, dying of boredom in the bus.
You know its no longer Malaysia when you see 'Singtel'.
An artistic photo of Spoon, and Eng Seng (credits to Yen).
Jess! (recovered from her illness, and ready to take a million photos in a day).
The room was cosy, contrary to popular belief.
Yen experiments with the amenities.
The toilet bowls are clean, and odour-free!
Jolene Lai had flown in earlier that morning, and dropped by our room to pay a quick visit, before going down to the lobby where the bus was waiting. Look at that headpiece!
Before long, we were done (with commendations to Yen, whom, apparently, had never gotten ready for dinner in so short a time before). The bus was already waiting, and in grand fashion, whisked us to the Pan Pacific, one of Singapore's finest.
Yen and I. This time, not as dishevelled.
Carol at the compulsory Nuffnang registration table.
Finally, I got to meet Chee Kiang in person. After all the events that Jolene and I attended, this was the first that I got to see Chee Kiang at. Although we were both the presidents of our respective Interact and Leo Clubs in our school, strangely enough, we've never met.
Jolene and Chee Kiang, resplendent in front of the backdrop.
Yen and I take our turn in front of it.
After some thought, we might have met during one of the English Essay-Writing competitions that they had back in primary school, at a district level.
Josh Soo, former colleague, uni-mate, fellow nonsense-talker. Likes wearing singlets, and hates wearing jeans.
Jolyn (who looks different again) and Yatz (who looks totally different with short hair).
Kenny Sia (who bagged the Best Entertainment Blog award.. more on that later) and I.
I wandered over to Jolene and CK's table, to talk, but the music from the band was slightly overpowering, so I just snapped a few pictures, and wandered back.
Here's a snapshot of the nominees.
...and here's a snapshot of the people taking a snapshot of the nominees.
Yee Hou, who has perfected the art of camwhoring. The brilliant dude managed to get all of us safely to and from Singapore, and coordinated the logistics of the journey (as well as the dinner) brilliantly. Kudos to you, and thanks for the photography tips. (I will let you know when I manage to get a picture of Megan Fox's ..ahem.. body parts. *cough*)
Xiaxue, Singapore's most prominent blogger, bagged 3 awards on that night, including Region's Best Blog.
Diese, Yen, and Jolyn, in varying shades of green.
Yen, and long lost friend Karen.
Yen's long lost friend Karen, and I.
Anne Marie!
Trying to be artistic and aristocratic and all kinds of tics.
Yen and I proudly displaying our Nuffnang Candy Jars.
Yenli promptly fell asleep, so I went out to meet up with Jolene and CK across the street to do some catching up. Strangely enough, although we all stay in Subang Jaya, we had to go all the way to Singapore to yumcha. It was fun, of course, just reminiscing about old times, and pondering upon highly theoretical situations (i.e. would you let your daughter date a rebel with a good heart?), and stuff like that. Before long, it had turned 3 a.m. , so we bade each other farewell, and adjourned to our rooms to sleep.
CK and Jolene.
End of Day 1.
Day 2 - The Uniquely Singapore Tour
Yen and I woke up at 8, and hurried down to the lobby where the buses were already waiting to shuttle us off to our first destination - The Royal Selangor Pewter Musuem in Clarke Quay. It was a guided tour of the museum, and at end of the tour, we tried our hands at shaping a pewter bowl (surely the highlight of the tour). This was followed by the Singapore Flyer.
Yen, looking bright and chirpy, despite having only 7 hours of sleep.
Jolene, whom we managed to meet in the morning, before the tour began.
The Royal Selangor Pewter Museum, in Clarke Quay.
Old Photo.
If you never knew the temperature that pewter melts at, now you do.
We ran over to a nearby 7-11, to get breakfast.
Yenli.
Yenli putting on an apron, and getting ready to hammer away at pewter.
Delicate hands engraving the pewter.
Pewtersmith hard at work.
Yenli's bowl starts to take shape.
Carol, hammering away happily.
My completed pewter bowl. Can see the names there?
Yenli, proudly displaying her hammers.
Our guide explaining the sights along the 1/2 hour turn around the wheel.
Singapore, from its highest point.
Farah and Peach! Fellow Malaysian bloggers.
After alighting, we made our way to the souvenir shop, where I discovered fake children.
Carlos, the jolly Filipino blogger. (Did I mention that the bus we were on housed the entire Filipino blogger's contingent?)
Carol and Timothy.
The next stop was Maxwell Food Court, where, based on Vern's recommendation, we had chicken rice.
We also had bubble tea.
About 15 minutes later, we disembarked at the Chinatown Heritage Centre.
Many Chinese surnames, and their origin.
Typical Chinese breakfast.
I become a rebel.
Emo photo of Yen (which would eventually become her Facebook profile photo)
Emo photo of me (which would eventually become my Facebook profile photo)
Yen is very proud of taking this picture.
We were supposed to both sit at the sewing machines. However, after setting the timer, I ran and sat ont the wrong chair. I had no sewing machine to pretend to use, so I just held some scraps of cloth on the table.
After the intense session on Chinese history, we made our way to the Mint Toy Museum.
The owner of the toy museum. I've never seen such passion in a man for his toys.
Yen and I, dead tired from the walking around.
Alodia, Filipino blogger. She and her sister, Ashley, were tiptoe-ing about on the glass floor, and taking photos.
Beatles Memorabilia.
It was about 5.00p.m., and the busload of tourists were feeling tired, so a majority of them opted to head on home and rest. For some of us however, we simply couldn't go by without stopping at Orchard Road for a spot of shopping, so the bus dropped us off there, and promised to return for us slightly later.
The Die-Hard (Kiasu) Contingent.
Alodia and sister reminds me of the Powerpuff Girls, for some reason.
The Filipino Bloggers, Peach, Alodia, and Ashley.
We split up, and Yen managed to procure some stuff, before we met up again at the bus pickup point, and headed back to the hotel. There, we freshened up, and watched The Eye, before we walked around the block to find food. We ended up at the same Hongkie Store that Jolene, CK, and I had supper, and sat there for hours, just talking and catching up. Good fun, indeed.
The Eye.
Dinner at the Hongkie Store.
End of Day 2
Day 3 - The Trip Home
Yenli was rather unsatisfied with the round of shopping the night before, so we made plans to return to Orchard Road the next morning. I went out for an early breakfast (Yen was still asleep) at the nearby market, and came back to find Yen already ready to shop. The shuttle bus to Orchard left the hotel at 9.55 a.m., and the 2 kiasu Malaysians were on it, with plans to buy cloths, and eat MOS burgers. Sadly, when we arrived, most of the shops weren't even open, so we travelled down the street, in hopes of finding a shopping mall to go into.
Here's the pork rice I had for breakfast.
Orchard Central.
This is the closest to the Merlion that we got.
Sex shops don't open before 11a.m.
Yenli wanted to walk into Carrefour, just for the sake of it.
Since we couldn't find a shopping mall, we looked around for an MRT station to take, also just for the sake of it. The ride was SGD2 per person, and we happily paid up to travel to Somerset, which was only one station away. Talk about jakun-ism.
The station has many escalators.
Yen looking very touristy.
Mirror photo.
This can never work in Malaysia.
We ended up back in Orchard Central, where we were MOS Burgers' first patrons of the day.
The brightly lit sign.
Rice bun with savoury meat patty.
With that, we took a cab back, and quickly checked out from the hotel. Before long, we were on board the bus, and on our way home. Besides several stops at various rest areas, the journey (again) was rather uneventful, and comprised mainly of sleeping and eating snacks. At the very late hour of 9p.m., we reached KL, and all the bloggers went their separate ways.
At the Yong Peng rest stop.
Of special note, of course, were the delightful conversations with Yenli, and the whole trip served as a bonding session with a very good friend, whom I got to know just a bit better over the 3 days in Singapore, including several strange and hilarious moments, i.e. being freaked out in the middle of the night (I will never see Teluk Intan in the same light again). Thank you, Yenli, for being a gracious (and highly amusing) guest. =)
Lastly, many thanks to Nuffnang, for the opportunity to be part of this historical occasion. It couldn't have been easy (or cheap), bringing all of us together from 4 different countries to a singularly special event, but somehow, you guys pulled it off with nary a hitch. My hat goes off to the people at Nuffnang Singapore, Australia, Philippines, and of course, Malaysia, for a job wonderfully done.
For more photos, click below, to view the Facebook albums;
No, its not exactly what you think. You can toss the whole image of scantily-clad Playboy bunnies jumping around on a bed, smacking each other with fluffy pillows and screaming with glee (the very stuff of male dreams) right out the window. Well, maybe you can take some time to walk to that window first.
Playboy. The Fragrance.
It was the launch of the new fragrance by Playboy, and since I was in the Midvalley area, I thought I'd just pop by to snap some photos. Inevitably (and not very surprisingly) I was late, and missed the earlier part where the Nuffies paraded around in their bunny ears in an attempt to win the bags (read: Burberry) that were being given out. Still, I managed to bump into Joshua and Serge (the avid cameramen who are everywhere), Griza, Cindy, TimandAudrey, and Adele.
Cindy, complete with bunny ears. I'm not sure if they had to return them, in the end.
This guy was in the Canon Photomarathon, and decided to head down here to snap some pics of bunnies. Good choice.
They have a voting booth!
Yes, even Playboy Bunnies need to get registered. Its like mengundi.
Rabbit-head keychains, anyone?
Vertical Playboy.
Playboy Fragrance. For Men.
I finally met Adele! The random meetup at Asia Cafe will never really work.
An imported Playboy model, and a happy local man.
Now, if you drive this around, you'd be called 'The Player'. Unfortunately, putting that logo on the hood of my Kancil just won't work as well.
Redmummy and Tzia, who won first and second place, respectively. Congratulations to them!
I only saw the chairs on the way up the escalator.
