As Suanie Sees It

Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somewhere in my wicked, miserable past
There must have been a moment of truth

Sorry ar, don’t mean to be emo, but this song kept playing in my mind as I was thinking of all the wonderful things that came my way via blogging. To some they may seem trivial, but to me they are greatly appreciated, and I constantly wonder what the heck I have done to deserve your faith and trust that led me to new friendships and eye-opening experiences. Believe you me, I am most grateful for all that I’ve encountered.

Someone thought enough of me to pass me some tickets to go see Dionne Warwick perform at Shangri-la Hotel this past Monday. It was a formal do with a sit-down dinner thing, and I understand that the tickets weren’t cheap. There were about 104 tables at the grand ballroom — our table number was 91 and I think it must have cost RM1000 a plate. My sister who was there with her colleagues sat at table no. 37, and her plate cost RM2000. You get the drift.

After work, I went to fetch Val, then went home to change. This was no mean feat, as I have ballooned to about 300kg and most of my nice clothes don’t fit me anymore. I managed to rustle up something, and we zipped into town and managed to reach Shangri-la on time.

Hot Val, Red Kim, White Tiger, Fat Suan

Like I said earlier, our table was no. 91. It was at the back row, but the view was still good. The table was set up properly with assorted forks and spoons and knives. Reminds me of the scene in ‘Pretty Woman’ when Julia Roberts was deciding which utensil to use, then finally picked up a morsel using her fingers. Unfortunately we could only do that with the bread

So pretty…

Ahpek KY could not put down his bread to pose

We were seated with Nini, her husband, her two sisters and brother-in-law. Nini makes custom cards, available at Embun Cards. They were very nice and friendly, and were engaging dinner companions.

I have always believed that it is important to leave an event with more than just memories. So I stole the menu. But later I realised that ST took a photo of the menu, hence eliminating the need for me to refer to my stolen goods to jot down the courses offered.

We had:

- Rock Lobster Tian with Pomelo and Avocado, Flamed Maguro and Wasabi Soy Vinaigrette
= Translation: I found out that ‘maguro’ means ‘bluefin tuna’. Obviously I wouldn’t have known earlier because I am not a sashimi aficionado. The thing looked raw-ish, but after a discussion with KY about things that I don’t care NOT to have tasted before I die (e.g. foie gras), I decided to give this a try. And I felt a bit sick, spat it out, and came to the conclusion that I will never consume raw-ish fish (even if they have been slightly seared or ‘flamed’) ever, ever, ever again. Yuck. Lobster was nice though.

- Petit Poi’s Cappuccino with Foie Gras Dumpling and Dust of Cepe
= Translation: Apparently petit pois is young green peas. I googled cèpe to be porcini mushroom. The soup tasted like sawdust. Heh.

- Cod Fillet Papillote and Chicken Roulade with Potato Mash, Baby Vegetables, Teriyaki Glazed
= Translation: Papillote, or cooking en papillote is the method of baking in parchment paper. Roulade is rolling a thin piece of meat around a filling. I liked the cod fish. The chicken, not so much. Didn’t taste like real chicken. More like… chicken that underwent plastic surgery.

- Anis and Coffee Cappuccino with Almond Cake Flavored with Orange, White Chocolate Black Truffle Ice Cream
= Translation: I have no idea what ‘anis’ is. Kinda bored to google for meanings and stuff. I mean, they wouldn’t understand ‘cincaluk’ or ‘lemang’ or ‘gula melaka’ or ‘assam laksa’… right?

- Coffee or Tea
= Translation: Coffee please thanks.

- Mignardises
= Translation: “Small sweet tid-bits served at the end of the meal (after dessert), usually with coffee. It’s derived from the old French word, “Mignard” which means either small child, or graceful, pretty and delicate.” (Source)

I don’t know why I bothered, but there you go.

Me and my sister

Adibah Noor opened the show and belted out a couple of English songs. I would have preferred her to sing at least one Malay tune. Not to say her performance wasn’t excellent, but it’s like, Jacky Cheung singing ‘In Love With You’. It’s in English, he’s good, but he is much, much better singing his Chinese tunes.

Then Dionne Warwick came on…

At 67 (this December), Dionne Warwick is a seasoned performer; elegant and graceful in her songs, short talks and even in admonishing the crowd for not clapping hard enough. She opened the show with a Carpenters’ classic “Close To You”, and proceeded to entertain us with songs like “Walk On By”, “Message To Michael”, “Alfie”, “Say A Little Prayer”, “Do You Know The Way To San Jose”, “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again”, “Heartbreaker” and an awesome “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” among others, before closing with “That’s What Friends Are For”. While she was talking about her love for Brazil, I felt like buying a one-way ticket to Rio. That was how persuasive she seemed to be.

Dionne Warwick was so charming that if I were a stalker, I would stalk her.

The only bit I didn’t like about the event was that the camera kept panning to Datuk Siti Nurhaliza’s face throughout the dinner and performances. Ya lah, we know she was there… dah lah tu.

Me with Kim and her cleavage

Me, Kim and Val

After the event which ended at about 11.20 pm, I stopped by Champs @ Centrepoint for a quick drink with Patrick, Min, Gavin, Christina, Richard and Thor. Then I went home and crashed.

It was a lovely, lovely evening

They blogged too: ST, KY