Mystical Steppes

i went to KL Convention Centre to watch "Mystical Steppes - Along the Silk Road" with my sweetie on last Sunday night. it was a cultural show, mainly of dances from the Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar Theatre Dance Troupe from China. the 2 hour extravaganza of songs and dances, performed nightly in Urumqi and twice nightly during summer, has given nearly a million tourists a glimpse of the colourful Xinjiang folk culture.

the show has been a runaway success, showcasing the diverse cultures of the Uyghur, Kazakh, Mongolian, Tajik, Uzbek and Tartar peoples living in the vast region bordering Asia Minor.

to maintain the highest of standards, the performers are handpicked for their talent, height, size and exquisite beauty.

the women exude mystical charm and grace as they twirl and swirl in their dazzling and shimmering ethnic costumes to the vibrant tempo of tribal music.

the men contrast with their power-packed leg work and together they bring out the essence of an exuberant lifestyle.

the show itself is a feast for the senses, with high energy scenes of the traditional grape harvesting festival and fascinating wedding celebrations, performed to the background music of hand drums, tambourines, high-pitched sonas and other melodious indigenous string instruments.

i dare say that those who've missed this show should not miss it again if the troupe ever come to Malaysia again...

*part of text adapted from the booklet i received at KLCC

My 19th Birthday!!!

~12.00am~ the day started when i was busy replying to SMSes from friends and family in my room, standing... i didn't notice that my cheeky roomate - Huai Lin quietly opened the door... then, a group of my coursemates barged into my room and yelled, "Happy birthday!!!", which gave me such a big fright that i actually jumped and fell on the floor! *Ouch! oh, my butt :'( one of my close friends in UM - Leni a.k.a. Meng Yit bought me a very cute blouse, which i wore to class and out for celebration with my sweetie later in the day... Huai Lin bought me a cute bracelet too :) thanks, girls! and my buddies gave me a very cute Fila cap too :) thanks a lot, buddies!
suddenly, my sweetie called when i was chatting to my friends (he called earlier to wish me Happy Birthday as he was in a meeting)
"hey, dear... can you please come over to the window now?" he was supposed to be in a meeting?!
before i saw anything outside the window, i heard my friends screaming beside me, "wow, look at that! fireworks!"
indeed, he was hiding behind one of the trees at the carpark near my hostel block... and i saw fireworks shooting from behind the tree... it's not the type of big big fireworks which we always see during major celebrations and countdown parties... it's just a medium-sized one, but it's good enough to touched me :)

~3.30pm~
we went to IMAX Theatre at Times Square to watch a 3D movie - Open Season. although we're 15 minutes late, we still enjoyed the movie very much :)
dinner was at a Japanese Ramen restaurant... and we went window shopping after that... bought nothing in the end :(
after we left Times Square, my sweetie told me that that's all for the celebration and we're then heading back to uni... i was quite sad as i wasn't satisfied yet!
now, one good thing of giving me a surprise in downtown KL is that i'm not familiar with the roads there... so eventually we stopped behind KL Tower at the roadside... before he got out of the car to get something from the bonnet behind, he told me to search for my birthday present in the car, if i found it, it's mine; if not, then i'd have no present at all!
huh huh... it's for sure that i found nothing as the present was in the bonnet, together with my birthday cake! he came back into the car with the cake, present and a cardboard with 19 lighted candles on top, arranged in a heart-shape... and he sang a song which touched me so much... to tears, along with the playing CD... my birthday present from my sweetie - a cute brown + golden handbag from MNG...
and we headed to Luna Bar on the 34th floor of Pan Pacific building, overviewing the KLCC Twin Towers...
a very romantic and beautiful place, open-air, and we sat beside a swimming pool... chatted to each other... ate the cake... took photographs... how sweet! :)
thank you very much, sweetie... for giving me such a memorable birthday :) and thanks a lot to all the birthday wishes from all of you guys :)

Projects...

Happy New Year 2007!!!
have been really busy recently... i've 3 projects in January... finished off 2, one more to go on this Saturday...

Avicenna Festival 2006/2007: Singing Competition
this is one of the project under the festival of my residential college. i was one of the committee members, in-charge of prizes... my roommate - Huai Lin and my 4th year senior - Kiat Lin took part in the competition. Huai Lin got the consolation prize, and Kiat Lin emerged as the champion and got the most popular contestant prize. Congrats! :)

Avicenna Awards 2006
this award nite was held at Mariott Hotel, IOI Resort, Putrajaya. i was one of the committee members under my sweetie's group, in-charge of protocol. that was the 1st time in my lifetime that i wore contact lenses :) had asked for a pair of trial pair from an optical shop... everyone dressed up very nicely on that night.. girls look different (prettier, of course!)... guys look more handsome... and we were really busy in carrying out our duties and taking photographs! :) check them out in my friendster page!

the last project is the Health Awareness Campaign, which is going to be held on this Saturday at Sungai Tengi, Ulu Klang, Selangor...

Exams coming soon! it's only a month away! oh no...
i'll be going home for Chinese New Year...