Empty hands, full stomach

Friday, 1 Oct. The Kancil Awards 04.

The ad industry annual award show. This year was quite a sad year for DDBi cos we didn't win anything. The finalists were displayed outside the ballroom before the dinner and ceremony started. So a quick tour of the exhibition told us we won't be running on stage that night. Saw old friends and ex colleagues. Was very happy for them who picked up a few. Like Alvin's Korean War TVC Bronze and Ivan's Gold in Copywriting.

It was also interesting to see how consistent Leo Burnett was across all categories. They've got really good people over there. So nervous about joining them soon. What if I don't measure up? What if I'm not good enough? Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

After the night was over, we went over to Flams in Pyramid. SookWai hung out with us too so that was really nice. Kinda like a little reunion for everybody. We went a little crazy. Guess we were really trying not to let our no-win bother us.

Rollerblading and a yummy dinner...

I could finally rollerblade!! It wasn't that hard after all. Tried on Kay Li's blades on Saturday which were slower than the pair Clare lent me. They were much easier to balance and once I got over the fear of falling, it was actually quite fun!

After rehearsals, I had dinner with my family and family friends at Gold Dragon City in Paramount, PJ. Kinda like a 'welcome home' dinner ("sai chan", or wash dust, as we would say in Chinese) for my brother. It was also mom's birthday.

The food was great... opened with the 4 Season Starter which had almond crusted crab claws, scallops and snow peas, some really nice fish cake and seafood balls. Then it was the Superior Seafood Soup which tasted like sharks fin, minus the fin of course. I would never order a shark killed. Then we had Pat Poh Duck, which was a braised herbal stuffed duck. My dad and the older folks loved it. We also had Mar Lat Chicken which was steamed chicken with a spicy sesame, chili and spring onion crumble on top.



Then there's the special Pomfret Rolls with Crunchy Bones. They deboned the fish, rolled the fish fillets and steamed them while the bones were deep fried till crunchy. Followed by Braised Sea Cucumber, Mushrooms and Broccoli as well as birthday noodles. For dessert it was warm Soy Bean with Hasma (frogs stomach apparently).

Li Yen brought a huge carrot cake with candles for mom and between 12 people, we finished 2 bottles of wine (which is not alot, considering I had to hustle the uncles to drink). It was fun. Everyone had a good laugh. They loved the food. And I was quite contented by my 3rd glass of wine.

It was nice to see my parents having a good time. Haven't seen them so contented, ever. These occasions are rare and few. Who knows how many more there will be.