Last weekend marked another special occasion in our family. After the wedding of my brother barely half a year back, it was now my cousin sister’s turn. The wedding dinner took place at InterContinental Hotel KL, and the food was prepared by the Chinese restaurant Toh Lee. As family members of the bride, most of us were there as early as 5pm to make sure everything was in order. The tables were all set, flowers all blooming and the AV system all ready to go. I was given the task to tick off guest names at the reception but before that, I couldn’t resist from taking pictures of the gorgeous settings in the ballroom. If you can’t tell already, it was largely decorated with beautiful peonies.

The beautiful peonies decorating each table

To be honest, it was the first time I saw peonies up close. They’re not grown here and had to be imported all the way from Holland! It’s a good thing that they happened to be in season or there wouldn’t be so many of them decorating each table in the ballroom.

The guest list

Even the cocktail tables were decorated with flowers!

Snacks at the cocktail area

Entrance to the Junior Ballroom

Some pictures and wedding invitation of the bride and groom – don’t you love the flowers?

Since we’re early, we had the opportunity to visit the ballroom before the guests arrived. I loved how very warm and pink the whole combination looked. The flowers really did make a big difference!

The main table

Settings on the main table

A closer look at the peonies

Love the colour combination of hydrangeas

Guest tables

The Junior Ballroom

The wedding cake with pink roses

A picture with the flowers

The bride and groom

The couple with their family

During the cocktail hour, we took some pictures using the props given. Here are some taken by my brother that night.

Pretending to be serious

3 generations of ladies in the house

Some of the props at the photo booth

I did not take pictures of food on the actual dinner itself since the environment was too dark and I was too busy eating. But here are some of the pictures of the food we had during a tasting session held a month ago. Most of the menu remained the same, except for the five combinations platter and dessert. I enjoyed majority of the dishes served but special praises must be sung for the Roasted Duck and Steamed Cod fish! It’s not very often that we get to eat duck on wedding dinners and this was roasted to a marvelous crispiness that didn’t remove the moisture from the flesh. On the other hand, the cod was served in a very generous portion, with silky smooth flesh that almost melted in my mouth. Thumbs-up!

Grand Five Combinations Platter

Loved this deep fried ham roll

Double boiled baby abalone with cabbage heart and bamboo pith soup

Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style with Five Spice Powder

Baked prawns with egg dust and oats

Steamed Cod with ginger and topped with superior soy sauce

Extremely flaky and smooth cod

Braised sea cucumber, pacific clams and mushroom with dried scallop sauce

Steamed lotus leaf rice with Eight treasure nuts

Chinese Pancake and “Min fa kou” (Cotton cake)

Lotus seed and lily bulb in sugar cane juice

Champagne for toasting ceremony

Oh I must also mention that dinner started just before 8pm, which is quite a rarity! Everything else followed according to schedule and the night ended with the couple’s first dance. So romantic! Here’s wishing them a wonderful, loving and happily-ever-after marriage, Theng and Jeremy!

The very yummy chocolate cake

Going to Pangkor Laut Resort without visiting the Spa would be the same as going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower. The PLR Spa Village has been awarded the Best Spa in Malaysia and Best Destination Spa in the world for multiple times. Even though it is expensive, it’s worth the price to give it a try since we’re already there. To get a better deal, book your spa experience through YTL travel centre by emailing them in advance. Our rate for a 50-minute massage treatment was RM230nett but the published rate there was RM290++. What a huge difference!

Spa Village lounge area

The Best Spa Experience award

Koi-watching while waiting for our treatment

What makes the Spa Experience so different? Even though we only booked for a 50-minute treatment, we’re given an extra 45-minute pre-treatment during which we went through a series of bath rituals from around Asia. Therefore, you’re advised to allocate an extra hour on top of your treatment time to fully enjoy the spa services.

Reflections of the sun and the colourful koi

First pre-treatment: Chinese Foot Pounding. Traditionally, the concubines in China had their feet bound to keep them small. To ease their pain, their feet were frequently pounded with a wood mallet to improve the blood circulation. Well we didn’t have our feet bound but we did enjoy the foot bath and the foot pounding. It was a great start to our spa experience!

Foot bath area

Foot  bath

Cute decorations on the wall

Next, we were led to our respective bath houses (separate for male and female) and were asked to change into a brown sarong. Our 2nd pre-treatment: Malay ‘Circulating’ Bath. Before that, one of the staff gave me a coin and led me to a wishing well to make a wish. Then she asked me to walk into the pool with water pouring from the sides, resembling a waterfall. I took a dip and it was cold! The staff just smiled and told me that this was to resemble the natural river that the traditional Malays bathed in, while the waterfall was used to clean the hair. We were asked to bathe here for about 5 minutes, after which we were led to an area with 4 steam boxes. We were supposed to inhale the steam that contained various combinations of herbs that would uplift and calm our senses.

Malay bath (Photo credit)

Moving on, it was Japanese Bath time. We were first led into a room with several taps on one side and a stool for us to sit on. Using the toiletries provided and a goshi-goshi cloth, I scrubbed myself clean and rinsed with the hot/cold water from the tap. When that’s done, I was asked to walk through the door to a ‘Rotenburu‘ pool, which was essentially an outdoor Onsen or hot spring. After being in the cold water for the previous baths, the hot water seemed scalding! I took my time to dip in inch by inch, and before long, I was soaking under the sun in the glorious warm water. I was also given a glass of green tea to quench my thirst. At that point, my only wish was that Saucer could share the pool with me.

The Rotenburu pool / Outdoor hot spring (Picture credit)

The third and final bath ritual was the Shanghai Scrub. I was led into a room and asked to lie down on a bed with my back facing up. The professional staff then scrubbed and exfoliated by back from top to toe, all the while drizzling me with warm water. It was very relaxing. I felt thoroughly clean and pampered afterwards, but was given another surprise! There was a tray on the table with several pieces of sarong, and I was asked to choose one as a gift from the spa! She then helped to tie the sarong around me and asked me to proceed to the waiting area to get ready for my treatment.

Shanghai Scrub (Picture credit)

This was when Saucer and I reunited, and we were given a glass of hot Chinese tea while waiting for our treatment room to be ready. Soon, we were led to the treatment room that was huge, cosy and had two beds. We were given our massages for 50 minutes – I had the Balinese massage while Saucer had the Malay massage. My Balinese massage was very relaxing, each movement was in long strokes and varying rhythm, putting my body at ease without the excruciating pain. I wanted to ask Saucer how his massage was but I heard the sound of his peaceful and soft snore and knew that he was in dreamland. Yes, we have to say that we’re completely satisfied with our first ever Spa Experience at Pangkor Laut Resort. It’s an experience like no other!

Spa Village

Pangkor Laut Resort
Pangkor Laut Island
32200 Lumut,
Perak, Malaysia
Tel No: +603-2783 1000
E-mail: travelcentre@ytlhotels.com.my
Website: www.pangkorlautresort.com
GPS Coordinates: N 4° 11′ 58.76″, E 100° 32′ 46.92″

For the rest of my Pangkor Laut Resort experience, check out my Pangkor Laut Resort Itinerary.
For a complete set of pictures, check out my FB Album.

What will you be doing on New Year’s Eve this year? How does a FREE party with Malaysia’s biggest stars sound to you? Well I may have passed the age of partying but then, it’s hard to resist when so many huge acts are coming together to perform on this special day while waiting for the new year to arrive. This new year’s eve, ENCORP Strand is proud to present MYSTICAL EVE 2012 – an extraordinary countdown event at its prestigious Red Carpet Avenue from 6pm to 2am.

Mizz Nina will be there!

For the very first time in Malaysia, the ENCORP Strand building will move, transform, and come to life in 3D to the beat of pulsating music, light effects and fireworks. What do you mean by 3D? Just look at the video below of how the 3D projection of abuilding came to life. So amazing! Beams of laser light are hand-manipulated before your very eyes, bent, stretched and spun around like a light sabre by the electrifying Laser Man. With aerialists twirling through space to a dreamy rhythm and a contortionist pushing the limits of human flexibility, the crowds will pour in – mystified!

3D projection of building

Who will be there?

Mizz Nina – I’m sure no introduction is required for this internationally-known hip-hop queen who hails from none other than Malaysia. She catapulted to fame with her single  “What You Waiting For”, and her more recent single “Take Over” (with Flo Rida) earned over 100,000 hits on YouTube when it was first released. I must admit that I didn’t think much of “Take Over” at first, but after listening to it a couple of times, it’s actually pretty catchy and I couldn’t get it out of my head.

“Take Over” by Mizz Nina featuring Flo Rida

Dennis Lau – And who can forget Dennis Lau, the guy who recently acted in the much-talked-about Nasi Lemak 2.0? Having started his violin lessons from a tender age of 8, he is no stranger to us as an accomplished musician who has won multiple awards and performed with various international celebrity. That night, he would be performing with Shawn Lee the Beatboxer who represented Malaysia in the Beatbox Battle World Championships. Check out the video of both of them doing what they do best alongside Canon in D. Very talented pair!

Dennis Lau

Dennis Lau with Shawn Lee the Beatboxer

Joe Flizzow – The award-winning hip-hop artist is half of the internationally known duo Too Phat, the band that received multiple international awards and recognition from MTV Asia and Channel V. After 10 years in the band, he started his career as a solo artist in 2008 with the release of his album President and his fame never stopped growing since.

Joe Flizzow

Some other noted performers include Najwa, Pop Shuvit and Reza Salleh, not to mention the famous DJ acts Aurology, Davern & Jee Hoe and DJ Xu, pumping up the Red Carpet Avenue with unstoppable energy. What’s more, the event will be hosted by 2 sizzling hot emcees – Megan Tan and Julie Woon, both faces familiar from the 8TV Quickie.

Megan Tan

Julie Woon

with the Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers

Are you still having second thoughts? Throw them away and join me and the Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers for a fun party to cap the year with style.

Mystical Eve 2012

Themed “Tonight, Extraordinary Works Overtime”, MYSTICAL EVE 2012 is bound to kick-start your new year in high gear. FREE ADMISSION! For more info, visit facebook.com/encorpstrand.

A week ago, we were invited by Puma to go for a bowling event on a Friday night. It was ages since we last went bowling, so we put on our socks and bowling shoes, and were all geared up to bowl! The launch of Puma Social was held at Cosmic Bowl, Mid Valley where they introduced us the latest social sport – none other than bowling, of course. Entitled “Here’s to the After-Hours Athlete”, it paid homage to the champions of late night games such as foosball, ping pong, darts and arcade games, and applauded accomplished individuals who enjoy the smell of victory and the agony of defeat, whilst keeping track of their life’s Scoreboard.

Puma Social Club

Here’s to the After Hours Athlete

When we reached, we were randomly assigned to different groups by different-coloured wrist tags. Their intention was to mix us all up so that we get to play with new friends and start socializing. At first, I was not used to the idea of playing with complete strangers, but once we started playing, our goal was the same – to strike!

The wrist bands

Cosmic Bowl

Aiming for a strike

Getting ready to bowl with Caroline

Halfway through the game, the emcee came and asked us to play a game of rolling the ball backwards. The one who scored the most pins would be given a prize. Guess what? Saucer won!

Bowling backwards

Rolling the ball backwards

Saucer won a Puma shirt

A group picture

“PUMA Social Club Nights, where Malaysian after-hours athletes will be given the opportunity to experience PUMA’s quirky interpretation of bowling at designated corners within each participating club. The club events will not only take place in the Klang Valley, but also in key market centres such as Penang, 2 December at Fuel, Autocity; Melaka, 9 December at Movida; Johor Bahru, 10 December at Hola Pub & Bistro; and finally, Klang Valley, 25 November at Ecoba, Damansara Perdana and 26 November, Movida, Sunway Giza. The grand finale will take place on 16 December 2011, also at Cosmic Bowl

Consumers who wish to win PUMA vouchers and score invites to the PUMA Social Finale Party will need to log on to PUMA Social’s microsite: www.puma-social.com.my. Become a fan on http://www.facebook.com/pumamalaysia for immediate updates

Lovely morning on a Saturday? What are you doing for the weekend? If you’re free, do drop by Jaya One and support this amazing campaign called Don’t Duck It by Passionately You, a voluntary collaboration between Assunta Hospital, Asia Assistance, Jaya One and Pj Live Arts founded to encourage the community to support the cause for cervical and breast cancer awareness and early detection.

Don’t Duck It Party at Palm Square, Jaya One

To kick start the party, they have DJ quizzes and game stalls. For the ladies, there will also be FREE breast examination and on-site vaccination at a special promo price throughout the day. Both activities will be conducted by the professionals of Assunta Hospital. If you’ve always been shy to learn about breast examination, this is the perfect time to come and find out more. After all, you won’t be alone!

Don’t Duck Breast / Cervical Examination!

To have a better idea, here is the itinerary of what will be in store for the whole day on 22nd of October 2011. Best of all, entrance is FREE.

Itinerary

Not to forget, there is also a flash mob happening at Don’t Duck It Party. Check out the very informative video below and look out for hints at the end to find out what time it’s happening. If you can, learn the moves before you go so that you can be part of the fun!

Flash mob tutorial

For more information, check out http://www.dontduckit.com/ and pledge your awareness!

It was after work, circa 6pm that day that I reached home. And Saucer was playing his PS3, engrossed, if I might say so, apparently at the last stage of his game. When he saw me, he just nonchalantly said “Hi” with a smile, while continuing with his game. It was my birthday, I frowned. Fine, so I sat down beside him and waited until he finished his game, then only I had his full attention. He told me “Go have a shower and put on something nice, our reservation is at 7″. So he did have a plan after all.

Candlelight dinner

When we were in the car, he tried to fool me into believing that we were going somewhere else, when, in fact, we were headed to Cafe Cafe, a restaurant I’d been wanting to go ever since years ago. I was as excited as a little kid after we parked the car, but the restaurant was quite hard to find. There was no sign board, and the row of shops it was in were all closed and dark, so much so that we thought we were at the wrong place. A couple of phone calls to the restaurant and we finally found it – a corner unit, dark and unpretentious, almost like a gem waiting to be discovered.

The romantic setting in Cafe Cafe

Walking into the restaurant, we were greeted with a cozy and warm ambience, with romantic chandeliers and candle light on every table, not to forget the French music piping in the background. We felt like we’re in a different country, almost. Dinner started with some complimentary bread rolls which were served warm with a crispy crust.

Complimentary bread and butter

I ordered the Michelin set that night, priced at RM139+ with 5 courses included, starting with the Special Chef of the Day or better known as amuse bouche. It was a slice of beef on top of mashed potatoes. The beef was grilled and very tender, topped with such delicious gravy that a small piece like that was not enough!

Special Chef Of The Day – Beef with mashed potatoes

The next course was Truffled Honey King Prawns, served with 3 pieces of huge, plump and succulent prawns de-shelled except for their tails. They were deep fried to a crispy finish then coated with crunchy peanuts, giving it a nice balance of texture and flavour. I simply could not get enough of them!

Truffled Honey King Prawns

The third course was Rocket Salad, a bed of wild rocket with parmigiano, sliced pear and roasted pine nuts drizzled with foie gras reduction. The dressing was amazing! I have always thought of foie gras to be something so exquisite and fine that it should be savoured slowly on its own, but drizzling them all over the salad worked wonders too! It balanced out the slightly bitter flavour of the rocket leaves, while the pear slices gave the combination a sweet hint. This was one of the best salad I’d ever had. It would have been perfect if some baby spinach was added to the mix though.

Rocket Salad

Then, it was my main dish of Duck Confit on the table. Just look at its glistening and crackly skin, golden brown and fried to perfection, not to mention its extremely aromatic smell attacking our nostrils,  begging to be eaten. It was a sight to behold indeed – served with sauteed potato, lentils and a whole onion confit. Every bite of the skin was superbly crispy and addictive, while the tender duck meat was bursting with flavour, a sign that it was cured impeccably. It is no wonder that the duck confit is one of Cafe Cafe’s best seller.

Duck Confit

The other bestseller of the restaurant turned out to be its Wagyu Cheeks, which was ordered by Saucer. To his delight, the wagyu cheek was served in a rather huge portion with a generous amount of red wine sauce surrounding it. Surprisingly, he was presented with a fork and spoon to eat this dish, instead of a knife. The waiter was so confident that the meat was going to be so soft that one would not need to use a knife to cut it. And boy, was he right! The wagyu was extremely tender, soft and melted in my mouth! The taste of red wine in the sauce was distinctive but not overpowering, almost a match made in heaven with the beef. It was so good that we couldn’t decide which mains we liked better, between this and the duck confit.

Burgundy Cheeks Of Wagyu With Red Wine Sauce (RM75)

Before dessert arrived, we had Strawberry Sorbet to clear our palate after all the savoury food we had, to get ready for something sweet.

Strawberry Sorbet

Waiting for dessert (pardon the blur photo due to dim lighting)

Our dessert was Tiramisu, which had moist sponge fingers soaked with liquor that gave it a tinge of bitterness amidst the mascarpone and chocolate flakes. I thought the cake was moist and fluffy, but Saucer thought they could do better with less alcohol since he thought the bitterness was rather overpowering.

Tiramisu

Guess what? We were given some complimentary macarons that night too! So colourful they were.

Complimentary Macarons

Us at Cafe Cafe

It was such a wonderful dinner in an even more romantic restaurant that I almost felt heavy-hearted to leave. Even though prices here were not cheap, I think the food served and the ambience were well worth every cent paid. We would definitely return for some other special occasion in the future.

Dining environment at Cafe Cafe KL

Secluded Cafe Cafe entrance

Cafe Cafe Restaurant (corner lot next to Bank Simpanan Nasional & across the road from Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka)
175, Jalan Maharajalela
50150 Kuala Lumpur
Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia.
Contact No: +603-2141 8141
Opening Hours: Daily 6pm-12am
GPS Coordinates: 3.136172,101.703416
Website: www.cafecafe.com.my

Once we reached home, I was told that there was going to another surprise waiting for me! I was already extremely full from dinner, but Saucer came out presenting me with this cute ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins! I was pleasantly surprised because he never bought me any ice-cream cake before.

Surprise birthday cake

A year wiser

Make a wish and blow

It was a Chocolate Mint ice-cream cake, one of my favourite ice-cream flavours from BR. Needless to say, the cake was delicious! But wait, there’s more! What about my birthday gift, you say?

Mint Chocolate ice-cream

He gave me this wrapped present during dinner, and I unwrapped it excitedly, all the time wondering what it was.

My birthday gift!

It was a Ball watch! Ball is well-known for its precious watches according to the railroad (RR) standards, and their design is always contemporary and chic. But I never thought of buying it on my own since it’s so expensive!

A watch box

Needless to say, I was ecstatic! The watch is so pretty and elegant, something that I would have chosen if I were to pick one on my own. Best of all, this watch glows in the dark, with a blue hue instead of the common green colour.

BALL watch

The signature RailRoad standard

“Let there be light”

The whole night was so sweet and romantic that I couldn’t help feeling like the luckiest girl on earth. It’s no wonder that birthday is my favourite celebration of the year, since it’s the day that belongs to you and only you. Thank you to the incredible man who made it all happen. <3

The man who made it all happen <3

Let me introduce you to a lovely person, her name is Angie. She came into my younger brother’s life about 4 years ago, and eventually to our lives when she started visiting our family with him. Together, they have survived years of long distance relationship, from Perak-KL at first, to Perak-Germany, to KL-Terengganu and even Singapore-Terengganu. For 3 out of that 4 years, it was long-distance relationship, until recently when both of them moved to Singapore together. Finally, just last year, my brother popped the question and there they are now, together as husband and wife – after years of surviving the distance and time. And I cannot be happier to be part of this memorable occasion.

 Choon Hoong & Angie

It was last week that I attended their wedding dinner in Star’s Restaurant, Muar, which is Angie’s hometown. According to the Chinese custom, there will usually be a dinner for the bride’s family and another for the groom’s family. If they happen to be from the same hometown, the dinner could be merged. In this case though, both of them come from different parts of the country so there would be two wedding dinners to attend.

Pre-wedding slide show on the projector

As with most wedding dinners, there was a projector set up with a recurring slideshow of their pre-wedding photo shoot.

Waiting for the couple to enter

Pretty soon, the emcee announced the arrival of the bride, together with her parents. My brother, on the other hand, was standing at the middle of the aisle, waiting for them patiently.

Waiting for the bride

Entrance of the bride and her parents

It was quite a touching moment to watch when Angie’s parents gave her away to my brother.

Parents giving away Angie

They proceeded to walk the rest of the aisle together up to the stage, for a short cake-cutting ceremony.

Cake-cutting ceremony

Then dinner was served! Some of the dishes we had that night included the Four Seasons Platter, the Seafood Soup (no shark’s fin) and Roasted Suckling Pig. Food generally was above average, with quite generous portions to go around. The most memorable one was the second final dish of Lotus Leaf Rice, which was extremely fragrant and nice, but too bad I did not have a picture of that.

Four Seasons Platter

Seafood Soup

Roasted Suckling Pig

While enjoying our dinner, we were entertained with a very interesting group of musicians. Instead of the common 3-piece band singing love songs, Angie arranged for a traditional Chinese band to entertain us! It was really something I experienced for the first time in a wedding. Watch the video below to get what I mean.

Traditional Chinese band playing ‘Oh Susanna!’

Even the emcee was a talented Erhu player

After the first few dishes, Angie had a change of outfit and came back with a bright red evening gown. Look at how radiant she was!

Second gown of the night

Champagne pouring ceremony

As usual, Chinese weddings would come with a toasting ceremony from the host’s family to the rest of the relatives and friends. Instead of saying ‘Cheers’, the common term to use is ‘Yam Seng’ in Chinese.

Toasting ceremony – Yam Seng!

Short speech from the newly-weds

After dinner, we took some time to take photos of each other. Many have requested a full-length shot of me in Cheongsam, so here it is!

In white Cheongsam

witch & Saucer

By 10.30pm, the dinner was over and guests started leaving the restaurant. As the hosts, Angie’s parents together with the newly-weds would thank everyone at the entrance for being there to share their joyous occasion.

Guests leaving the restaurant

Before we left, a picture with the newest family member. Welcome to the family dear Angie!

One for the album!

I am looking forward to the wedding and tea ceremony that will be held in Kampar next week. Last but not least, CONGRATULATIONS to both the newly-weds!

It’s the weekend again and what better way to groove to the beat than with a bottle of icy cold French beer? Kronenbourg 1664 recently launched their delectable wheat beer called the Kronenbourg Blanc at the swanky View Rooftop Bar on the 29th floor of G Tower. Stepping into the bar on a week night, we were surrounded by smartly dressed working professionals who seemed to be unwinding after a day at work. But what attracted me more was the amazing view of KL city at night, coupled with the Twin Towers on the background.

Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc

Petronas Twin Towers

The bar was constantly filled with music, red-faced people and best of all, continuously flow of Kronenbourg 1664 beer.

The crowd and the beer

T-shirt drawing station by Paintlust

The huge bar had several sections of seats but my favourite has got to be this long row of couch at the back of the bar, with a full 180 degrees panoramic view of the city. Best of all, it’s away from the crowd and noise, which is perfect for kicking back and catching up with a good friend or two.

Comfortable couches

Some of the pictures of the KL night view:

KL night view #1

KL night view #2

More Kronenbourg 1664 Beer

My first bottle

with the gorgeous ladies: Weizhi, Christine & Ivy

What can I say? Good beer, amazing view and wonderful company. That’s how weekends should be. Have a great one!

Growing up in Malaysia, I have always wished for a chance to watch Broadway shows which are ever so popular in New York. Now I haven’t got the chance to visit New York as yet, but boy am I glad that New York has come to me! This year, Sunway Lagoon has brought together a group of first class talents from London’s West End in this RM3 million production of Magical Musicals, set against Times Square, New York. The stage was glitzy and glamourous, with many iconic landmarks of Times Square being reproduced down to a T.

Heading towards the entrance of amphitheatre

The amphitheatre this year was much cooler and more airy compared to the previous musical that I attended last year. Several giant fans were spotted around the theatre and it helped that the temperature that night was not too warm.

The stage

Left portion of the stage

Right portion of the stage

Of course, Saucer and I were lucky to have bumped into Caroline for her seats were awesome, smack right in the middle of the stage.

witch and Caroline

Since it was the first show of the season, there were some opening speeches by the VIP that had to take place but the musical soon started around 8.45pm. The story revolved around a group of small-town performers seeking recognition in New York during an audition. This group of 6 talented performers soon became fast friends and together, they performed over 30 musical numbers from famous musicals of all times including Mamma Mia!, Dreamgirls, Saturday Night Fever, Moulin Rouge, Hairspray and even the latest Glee.

Group of performers in an audition

The complete cast of singers and dancers

Throughout the musical, there were some memorable scenes, such as this one where all the hunky guys took off their shirts (drools!) in the song “I Need a Hero”.

“I Need a Hero”

And another scene where the whole stage turned dark with lovely sporadic blue lights in the background.

“As Long as You’re Mine”

But it was without a doubt that “Jai Ho” was the song that got everyone singing or tapping their feet!

“Jai Ho”

The second act of the show told the story of the performers 5 years later, where they returned to New York and reminisced their time together, while the girls went on to star as the Dreamgirls.

Opening of second act

“Dreamgirls”

I personally enjoyed the second act of the musical more as I found the songs to be more relevant and contemporary.

“Night Fever”

And when the songs from Glee came into play, the crowd just went crazy! My favourite of the lot was the mash up of “Singing in the Rain” and “Umbrella”. It was so catchy and upbeat that I couldn’t help but sing along with them.

“Singing in the Rain/ Umbrella”

Other memorable numbers were “Reflections”, “Mamma Mia!” and “Dancing Queen”, all of them in the second act. The cast was powerful and energetic and they closed the show with a bang singing “Proud Mary”. It was overall a very entertaining night and more so if you like musicals like me.

Closing number “Proud Mary”

If you’re interested to find out more about Magical Musicals, check out the official website here. Seats range from RM100 to RM300 in the VIP zone.

It goes without saying that online shopping has now played an important part in our daily life. It is even more prevalent now with the mushrooming of group-buying sites that are offering products and services at only a fraction of the original price. In the midst of this all, the HiShop.my was born, Malaysia’s premier members-only online shopping club. What differentiates HiShop.my from the rest is that only members are granted access to their private online sales, offering up to 80% discount. Besides, all the items on sale are either branded goods or carefully picked limited edition items with a 100% authenticity guarantee. This allows average people like most of us to afford branded goods without burning a hole in our pockets!

HiShop.my member page

Feeling curious, I went to their website to have a look and found out that there was nothing much I could see until I registered as a member. Fret not, registration was easy and instant, and before long, I landed on the page of ‘Current Sales’ showing a list of brands on sale.

Current Sales page

The pages were easy to navigate and user-friendly, and I found myself getting familiarized with the layout in no time. Special attention was paid to the CK bags sale since my own handbag was stolen in a recent house break in. I was glad to find that most of the items on sale were greatly discounted! It was a shopping haven for shopaholics indeed.

Discounted CK Bags

Shopping can now be hassle-free and stress-free, without costing a fortune. Check out the video below to have a better idea on what HiShop.my is all about!

*This is a sponsored post.