A Thank You Note

Hubby and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on the 1st of March this year. That sounds like a lifetime but actually feels like the blink of an eye. Time does fly especially when we are taking care of 5 lively children. 

We had a lot of plans as to how to spend this special day but then everything changed when Heather, our eldest daughter decided she would be home for the occasion. She started planning last year when she realised she couldn't be home for x'mas or CNY. She wanted it to be a surprise but realised she had to let one of us in on her plans to make sure we do not fly off to somewhere at the time. She decided to surprise her daddy as he has always been the one giving surprises. So I was made to conspire in my own surprise anni celebration. I didn't anticipate this job to be sooo difficult...I had to turned down a culinary trip to Changmai, a visit to NZ to see Don and a Rod Steward concert in Singapore!! And my hubby was getting very upset as the date approached and I was refusing to go anywhere he suggested. I was bursting to tell too when the younger siblings asked when the che che be home but I had to keep mum.

Anyway, back to the surprise, the look on hubby's face when he spotted Heather in the car after I picked her up from the airport was worth all the torture. Now I understand why he loves to give surprises, the pleasure was all ours...the planners. 

We spent one night at the Kinabalu National Park as this was the place where we first met more than 35 years ago. Our honeymoon 30 years ago was, yes, you guessed it, here too. This has to be our favorite place on earth. 

The surprise gift Heather presented us was most touching and couldn't have been more appropriate-- a dinner by a French chef. 

For Kevin, it was like a dream come true whereby he got to work closely with a chef (he called himself sous chef for that day) and he got to ask the chef all the culinary questions he needed answering so much so that William let him on to a secret. If he ever get a chance to dine at a top restaurant in Paris, Tokyo or New York, keep all these questions flowing, the chefs might think he is a Michelin inspector and he just might be lucky enough to be served the best meal they have to offer. He even got the chef to teach him how to sharpen all his knives. 

I was told to go do my nails, pamper myself and only come downstairs when the guests arrive. I was also told not to take any pictures. So I had to steal all these pictures from hub's camera. One shot I would love to have taken was my three girls serving the seated guests. They were so good! Thank you, girls.

    

The chef at the market and....

all the hard work that went into making the most enchanting evening...

Thank you, Heather for your love and thoughtfulness. William, thank you for so generously sharing with us some of your culinary secrets and artistic skills. 

Go to Terri for the night's food review as she summed it all up perfectly. For us it was an eye-opener as far as entertaining at home is concerned. Simplicity is the keyword but having a chef certainly helps. 

I felt so inadequate as I had so limited equipment and kitchen utensils for them to work with but look how far a little creativity can get you. They sourced all these from my kitchen,  store room and garden. 

And turned an ugly duckling into a swan... a beautiful table setting...

To our dear family and friends who shared with us the lovely evening, thank you for making this a truly memorable anniversary. 

We would have loved to share this occasion with all our family and friends, however the logistics and location would have made it impossible to make it the intimate, memorable and culinary experience that it was.   

We are deeply grateful to God for all these years we are permitted to be together. No words are ever adequate to express our deep gratitude.

A Gila-Gila Night @ STAR, Kota Kinabalu

Monday night saw the first ever year-end formal dinner organized by the Kangaroo Club of Seri Mengasih to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

This club is very special as its members consist of only children (many are adults already) with special-needs and a few teachers who are not members but just as supporting friends.

The main aim of this club is for the members to learn to have a united voice. At the same time, they are encouraged to voice their opinions and speak their minds. The committee members meet every month to plan and discuss the club's schedule for the month. By organising these events they learn to make decisions and compromise on different views to achieve a common goal.
Just this year alone, they have organised three successful events - a physically challenging outing at the Outward Bound School, a camping trip in Kuilu and finally the year end Gila Gila Night at Shangrila Tanjung Aru Resort.

For this event, the committee members decided on the venue, menu, dress code, games and other entertainment for the night. They did a fantastic job. Syabas! To all the members of Kangaroo Club.

Mr. Goh, the guest of honour, is a director of Seri Mengasih who has been a long-time (20+ years) supporter of the school.

Andrew, the chairman of the club and the organising committee for this event. An ex-student of Seri mengasih and is presently working in a back-packer outfit.

Fui Chin, the vice-chairperson. She is also an ex-student of Seri Mengasih and now work as a teacher's aid in the school.

Keshia, the club's secretary and the night's master of ceremony...

With her teachers, Irene and Anna.

With her sister, Leanne and her best friend, Nurminah.

A few of the teachers of Seri Mengasih, who are truly the unsung heroes. Irene, top right, has been with the school since it started (almost 30 years ago).
They were 'ordered' by the organising committee to dress up in evening gowns and fittingly so, they looked totally stunning.

Irene, teacher turned singer for the night and she brought the house down.

Cikgu Dayang, all smiles, after receiving a present from the students.

The stars on the floor - Albert and Elaine. Definitely ballroom caliber.

The best dressed lady of the night, Nursyila.

Last but not least, food... glorious food. Choices made by the committee members and amazingly, there were petai sambal and pie tee (food that are not so commonly known in Sabah).

Mussels...

... in a most beautiful arrangement - the shape of a lotus flower.

Petai and sambal.

Penang famous 'pei tee' - Leanne's favourite.

The salad counter where I spotted all the above dishes. Western - Ceasar's salad, eastern - Thai pamelo salad and local. What a spread.

Yummy mango santan jelly, with chunks of sweet mangoes.

This kuih in pandan leaf is really good with the most lovely taste of fresh santan. I took more than my share (as Leanne and Keshia didn't want their share).

Mini cheese cake, light fruit cake and chocolate cake. I tried all and they were all good, especially and rather surprisingly, the fruitcake. It was moist and just perfect without been too sweet.

I didn't post any picture of the main dishes because they didn't look good enclosed in those Huge stainless steel containers. We had beef rendang, teriyaki chicken, seafood green curry (very good), Sabah vegetable and Sabah wild rice. Excellent choices.

The evening was packed with good food, games, karaoke singing, dancing and laughter. A truly beautiful evening.

Thank you, Kangaroo Club.

Jo

A Kadazan Wedding

On Saturday, Heather's flight from KL arrived at about 2.30 pm (scheduled: 12.30 Air Asia!) together with Frank (aka lcchan) and his wife, Iris. As the wedding invitation was for 1 pm, we headed straight from the airport to the party. We arrived at Martin's residence at 3.30 pm and the wedding celebration was already in full swing.

Imelda and Robert's big day

Heather and Kesh with Bernadette (Imelda's mum) and the happy couple

The contingent headed for the buffet section to check out the food. Expecting Hinava (raw fish salad), pinasakan (pickled fish)and all the delicious kadazan cuisine...Alas it wasn't to be so... the food was chinese restaurant-catered.
The Sumazau, a traditional dance of the Kadazan, looks easy but is very hard on the heels and calves for the novice. The dancers are practically tip-toeing for the entire dance. Ceremonial sashes are worn by both male and female dancers.

The movement and rhythm of this dance is elegantly soft and slow. The dancers face each other, move their feet in small movements and move their heels up and down to the beat of the music. While dancing, the dancers will spread their hands and move it up and down just like a bird spreading their wings to fly. The Sumazau is usually performed during festive occasions like this.
The man in blue checked shirt going around the male dancers getting them to drink wine (lihing or tapai, traditional home-brewed).

Carol, the bride's sister dancing with spouse

Martin, the very happy father of the bride

The family members dancing around the newly weds

The Sumazau dance is accompanied entirely by a symphony of handcrafted bronze or brass gongs that are individually called 'tagung', a unique musical instrument. The Kadazan have a musical heritage consisting of various types of tagung ensembles - ensembles composed of large hanging knobbed gongs like those above.

And these, the kulintangan ensemble - a horizontal-type ensemble

A durian tree

The guests from across the South China Sea sat happily surrounded by durian trees in the big backyard of the house.