ATU Farewell Night

ok i'm just kidding. how can i not blog if i'm having a BREAK. how can i not blog if i don't wanna exercise, don't wanna help do the chores, and don't wanna go out of the house. so at the time being, i'll just grab pictures from others, or use my 3.2 megapix camera on my handset :(

this post will be about the so-called ATU graduation dinner... and all the pictures are randomly from those who posted up in their facebook account. thanks alot.

top: eu win - fu han
bottom: tim - mei yueh - subby - airina - yoke peng

the bank negaras

heck, the dinner was actually fun. despite the 2hours late commencement, the fact that we had to stand outside perspiring like shit, the disappointing menu, it's still overall quite a jolly night. firstly we had to chew our gums off the squid and the 'store' flavored beef, and then we had to be entertained by the oh-so-amusing JUMPERS! lol. jumpers was the bomb of the night, seriously. but i still think the band will never be complete without nouri. or azlina down there listening to nouri's all time infamous quote.

to be frank i'm not sure who will be leaving and who will be not; i can't delineate jpa people from the mara people; but one thing for sure, the next year will not be as fun, without even a single of them. i seriously didn't regret paying that 50 bucks for some fired kuay teow and some harder than rock fried squid. laughter and memories of the night worth way more than that.

let's get down to some picture... hm of course i don't really like the pictures. cos i'm not the one who took it. but it's ok, i'm not the best photographer on earth anyway.

airina - subby

the stanford girl

the michigan boy


the stanford boy


the michigan boy


the upenn boy and girl!

mei yueh - yoke peng - subby - airina - uma - tim- jian wei

yoke peng - ms. syeela - airina - subby

uh-oh fuhan... uma's getting jealous!

pose of the day - our pretty butts

i will continue to update the pictures of this post, until i get more of them. so will most the posts that are yet to come. until i get a cheap-second-hand camera. sob.

sigh

sigh. airina lee lost her camera. she is now officially a handicapped blogger. to lament the lost, everythingthinkthink will take a 1 week break.

Emanuel Ax in Town!

What I love about classical concerts is that they start punctually, finish on time, minus the hot and stuffy stadium with a rambunctious crowd screaming their heads off throughout the entire experience. Especially when you pay much less and get to sit in and air-conditioned hall listening to a world class performer. What pleasurable auditory. The thought that classical music as rigid and dead is the most inaccurate fallacy ever. What music can be more alive when people are still performing it after centuries?




Emanuel Ax had a concert in town last night. It's been quite some time since I last watched concert on solo piano. When was it, 4 years ago? Since Volodos lar. I must admit that what makes me attend a concert is not what the performer is playing, but who is performing. So when I read that Emanuel Ax is gonna be in M'sia, I almost couldn't belive my luck. Emanuel Ax, best friend of Yo-yo Ma; Emanuel Ax, the one who won the Arthur Rubinstein Competition at the age of 25? Yes IT's HIM. *swoons*






Well, I think if there were any setbacks, the only one would be a repertoire that I think it's a little lopsided. Even cy felt that the music was too much of a kind. Schubert - Liszt - Schubert - Liszt - Schubert - Liszt - Liszt. Romantic pieces. Even the last 2 encore pieces was again another eminent name in romanticism - Chopin. Nocturne in D flat and Waltz in A flat if I've not mistaken.

And the best part of it all?




A photograph with the concertmaster himself! Wee.....


p/s: Tried out the new Sbux Dark Mocha Frap. Very much like Java Chip, nothing special.

Ikura @ Saisaki

our very last outing as Austin together. it was fun of course, especially when you get a free meal at Saisaki. hah. not much pictures of food taken at the lunch though because those waiters don't allow me to! wtf. i seriously think bloggers should be given a blogger identity card or whatsoever in which you are granted permission to take pictures of everything. eh i wanted to promote that place lah ok. now no pics of the myriads of food how to let people see? padan muka.

we reached the restaurant around 1pm, after jian wei's frantic hush for us to make in on time. the place is in UOA btw. everyone was practically starving when we reached there! i'm sure some of you skipped breakfast for that :P ah the allure of food... *sniff sniff*




tim only joined us 20minutes later, and eu win and the famous girlfriend xin dee only arrived around 1.40, which was a total waste because we all know of his penchant for binge eating. lol. but at the rate jian wei's going, he's gonna beat him in no time.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

'
Desserts

now what i recommend for people who are on a diet but can't resist a buffet - the ikura. it's actually salmon roe, which according to yiling and e-jieh, totally kills your taste buds. after one shot, you'll lose your appetite for at least 15mins. good one eh.




my personal favorite is of course the ikageso and the unagi, as always. just like shogun, each one is given a fresh oyster (hah cy... we go there next time ya).




joke of the day - e-jieh the jelly man who without the slightest tinge of embarrassment, took ht's jellies and gulped it in a split second.




we had our time to the fullest, leaving the place half an hour pass closing time, at the time in which all the staff has already finish eating and cleaning up and switched off the air cond. wtf. anyway i guess if they don't do that we'll probably eat until dinner or so. or maybe supper.




went to pavilion after that. eu win and gf AND jian wei went for movies, e-jieh left, no idea where tim went, and so us girls went shopping and hunting for tops for the atu dinner on thursday. last time shopping with them liao... sob.



that's it. our very last outing. bye bye austin.

阴天

阴天给人的感觉真得很舒服。当你出门时，云朵总会挺身而出为你遮挡着无情的太阳；当你回到家时，习习的凉风回轻抚着你，一直到你入睡为止。

今天的天气非常阴暗，但却没有给我那份亲切的感觉。可能是前几个晚上都睡不好，搞得心情较沉重，上课时也不太爱讲话。回想起来，中学的我真的非常多话，不讲话真的难过不吃饭！现在的我给别人的印象却是很独来独往的，不喜欢多说话 - 喜欢沉醉在自己的空间里。这是一个好的转变吗？我自己也不懂。或许少一点说话能让我看得更多，听得更清楚。人的面目，朋友的丝丝细语，我都听清楚了。

今天我睡醒从房间出来时，客厅并没有像以往那样。阴暗的天气都把阳光给吞噬了，屋里需要借助灯光来照亮一切。在没开灯的那一刻，突然感得很寂寞，而那份寂寞确是很陌生的，意味着孤单，冷落。最后一个礼拜了。在这里交的第一群朋友 - 也是最了解我的一群 - 即将离开，到很远很远去。明年我也会到哪里，但何时能好象现在这样说说笑笑，是个可怕的未知数。

我开了灯，掀开熟悉的书本，再一次把心情埋进书里。

A Strad is in Malaysia!

For the first time in history, priceless and opulent Italian treasures are being put on exhibition in Malaysia! I can't believe that I would ever see a Strad for real, let alone beholding it only inches away. The sensation was just... impalpable. Those violin freaks out there, you'd blame yourself for the rest of your life for not visiting it.

Although it wasn't anything big, I love the fact that there's practically no one at the foyer. You can take your time to read the introduction of any display as long as you like and there's not even a single soul to block your view or anything. Bliss.

An Italian violin maker explaining the art of violin making

Perhaps you may witness Itzhak Perlman or Yo-yo Ma performing using a Strad in various concerts. But beholding it just behind a glass case? Not an everyday opportunity! The exhibition is still on as of now until 20th of June. As a bonus, on the 19th of June at 6.30pm, a quartet of the MPO players will be playing on these Italian Treasures crafted more than 3 centuries ago.




Ok, this is the closest shot I can get. The security people are eying on me as though I'm an all-time infamous burglar. Pictures are strictly prohibited. I'm risking my life here wei!

by Carlo Testore

Those who are still wondering what on Earth a Strad is, they are instruments made by legendary violin maker Antonio Stradivari, dating back to the 20th century. His instruments are commonly regarded as finest among the string instruments ever created, and 650 of them survived until today.

Not many of them are sold however, for most of them are now owned by organizations and foundations such as the Stradivari Society, and a number of renowned musicians. The highest selling price recorded was 3.4 million USD (the Hammer), but this was merely the highest selling price recorded in a public auction! Surely private collectors would go all means to lay their hands on gems like these.

The Hammer

The Airina

Not much difference ny lar right?? :p

FIshed My Way to Made of Honour

Remember the fishing game that I posted about earlier? And guess what, I was the highest scorer. LOL. The event was took place on Thursday night at Marriot's with an 8 course meal followed by a special movie screening of Made of Honor right over the streets at GSC Pavilion.

Picture grabbed from Yee Ming

You know what, I actually believed that we're suppose to arrive at 6. I think most of the Nuffnangers were early, and the auntie uncles were well... late lah of course! After having a glass of juice and a glass of champagne, we were finally admitted into the ball room. Before going in, Cy and I overheard the waiter guy speaking into his walkie-talkie to 'stand by at 7.35'. And it was 7.20 then. Well, 15mins seems nothing compared to 1.5hours of waiting. Argh.

Juices

Champagne

But the courses were actually served quite rapidly for us to make it in time for the movie at 9.45pm. Before you can even finish one course, they are already waiting to serve you another. Aiyo you guys know how slow I eat...

Bagpipers

Before this, I was half hoping that the dinner would be an 8 course Western cuisine. It turned out to me neither Western or the traditional Chinese, but a fusion of Western + Chinese + Malaysian. They have dishes like what? Mangga Kerabu? Doubtful. However, it turned out to be fab.

Pineapple Chutney with Smoked Duck,
Seared Tiger Prawn with Tomato Salsa enhanced with Kerabu Mangga

Shredded Chicken and Bamboo Pith Soup

Sauteed Julienne of Seafood with Curried Mushroom Cream Sauce served in Tam Ring

Steamed Seabass with Thai Sauce accompanied with Chinese Steamed Lotus Leaf Rice

Roasted Chicken Parcel on Pencil Asparagus

Saffron Risotto with Buttered Baby Carrots

Chocolate Moist Cake with Fruit Coulis,
Tropical Fresh Fruits served with Haagen Dazs

The last course was coffee/tea. No need pictures lah. Stuff in the goodie bag...



Our table was no.35, total number of tables - 50. 10 tables for bloggers with 2 tables of Nuffnang VIPs. Those who were present included Timothy Tiah, Pink Pau, Cheesie (Cy was the excited one :P), Suet Li, etc etc... Despite being an avid reader of their blogs, it's really thrilling to see them in person! I felt really grateful since as a blogger I'm merely 2 months old and there I was, attending my very first blogger event with such famous names in the blogosphere. But I was still too timid to actually mingle around. :(

Fellow Nuffnagers - Cy and I, Han Sheng and Yuh Hui

Some of the entertainment during dinner included choosing the most talented couple, bagpipes, and games of course. The most talented pair was 9 + 14! Heck, they really rocked the crowd with their sizzling Salsa moves!

I actually licked it to prove that it's edible

Down to Part II of the night - movie screening.




We all adjourned to Pavilion after the scrumptious dinner. When we got nearer to the cinema, I heard bagpipe music which got louder and louder. Omg. There were actually a bagpipe band performing in front of the cinema entrance to welcome us. How often do you get people playing BAGPIPES greeting when you watch a movie? F-a-b.

That's what everyone does the whole night -
pics pics pics and pics... even in the cinema

Since the movie will only be officially on screen on the 19th of June, I felt obliged to say something about it. It's a rather typical romance flick actually, but you can see the other side of Patrick Dempsey in the movie. He's nothing like what you've seen in Enchanted! In fact, the very opposite. And some of the scenes took part in Ireland - that explains the bagpipes - which were beautiful. Although the movie was not exactly my fav, it's definitely worth watching if you enjoy romantic comedies; or maybe, if you enjoy watching Patrick Dempsey.


p/s: A very happy birthday to fellow Satlaiser Lum Ji Yan. Really sorry for not making it to the club last
nite :(