On the Grand Gala Dinner

So here it is, I'm going to write about the Grand Gala Dinner of the convention after all.

It cost 150RM when I first saw about it earlier. Not that I needed to pay for it myself, but that was the price one has to pay to attend the dinner. But on the day when the dinner would be held, it cost 100RM, as seen at the notice in the registration booth. Funny.

But anyways, I left Times Square and decided to drive over to the restaurant myself. After all, I'm not staying in KL and would need to travel back to Klang for the night anyways. Traffic jams was denerving. Who wouldn't expect it to be? Friday evening, 5p.m..

But if you're suggesting that I leave later, I doubt I'd be able to reach in time as well. It took me about 1 hour to reach the restaurant when you could actually reach the place in like 20 minutes by walking. Quoting the emcee, as much as you're enjoying all the famous places of interest in KL, you definitely don't want to miss the notorious jams of the city.

I reached one hour before the start of the dinner. Spent some time walking around and take photos. Can't really cam-whore by myself. It'd be so embarrassing if any of the delegates saw me.

Some of the committee members were already at the entrance to the ballroom, but I guess it was still too early to enter. After all, I'm the first amongst the delegates to arrive.

Perfect view of the twin towers. After all, the restaurant is just within walking distance from the towers.

I couldn't help but to enjoy the scenery in awe. It was actually drizzling that evening, but not too heavy to the extend of stopping my from walking around the restaurant. So yeah, if you haven't already guessed... We were here.

Saloma Bistro & Theatre Restaurant at the Malaysian Tourism Board in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

Spent some time talking to the committee member at the reception counter. Talked to her about our poster and things like that. Fine lady she was. Helped me overcome my nervousness too.

The first batch of delegates arrive some time 15 minutes after the time as to when the dinner was to start. And within 15 minutes, the hall was filled up with delegates.

Food was awesome really. Buffet dinner. Everything from eastern to western. Including the local delicacies such as satay and lemang.

First round, carnivourous. Chicken, sweet & sour fish fillet, beef and lamb stew. Yummm...

Second round, some salads, peppered chicken salad, lemang with rendang and satay. (Yeaps, the satay is as good and juicy as the one along the road towards Banting.)

Third round, spaghetti, mushroom soup. And the chicken and the peppered chicken, can't help it, they very nice.

Dr. Neurologist the supervisor jokingly asked how many rounds had I had when he saw me at the satay stall. I'm sure he had quite some himself. I mean, come on, everyone had more than one servings. Buffet like this, it'd be a lost if you don't try out all the various dishes. What's more when they're finger lickin' good!

I saw my anatomy proffesor at the dinner. Was actually in a dilema as to whether or not should I say hi. I'm not one who is very close to any of my teachers or lecturers. The few that I'm pretty sure I would be remembered by, are those whom I've been trained under. For debate and public speaking, things like that. So when he's someone who taught me in class, and there's nothing significant happening between me and him, I doubt he'll remember me. And most of the time, I just walked past with a smile.

But amazingly, I talked to him.

Me: Hello Prof.
Prof: Hi hi... How're you? Where are you now?
Me: Fine here. You taught me anatomy when I was in my first year last time.
Prof: Yes yes, I have so many students, so it's hard for me to put the faces together. So where are you practicing now?
Me: Me? Haha. Still in my third year. In Klang this year.
Prof: Owh, still studying.
Me: Yeah... Am here with a poster presentation actually.
Prof: Good. Good start! At an early age like yours.
Me: Hopefully.

Hopefully too.

The rest of the night was basically spent watching the neurologists performing on stage. Delegates from each country performed something, but most just sang.

The Malaysians sang some Malay song, can't really recall what's the title. It was quite bad so to speak. Tune was out, synchrony was a mess. But I guess they still deserve the credit for putting up a great conference and being a wonderful organizer. Oh, I didn't go up the stage by the way. I think I was the only Malaysian delegate at the dining table. Shy. I'm shy!

I'm embedding 2 clips on the performance by the Philipinos and the Singaporeans. The Singaporeans came prepared so it seemed, one of them played flute too!

But all in all, I enjoyed the live performance by the jazz singer, Ms Elvira Arul. Her voice was captivating. I'm sure she's quite a pleasant lady in person too.

Leaving on a jet plane, everyone. Always have been in love with this song really. And Ms. Arul did an amazing job covering it that night.