Missed Me? I Missed Me Too!

My blog title says it all. I missed my blog. I missed rambling like some old nenek. I have lots of stories to tell. In fact, sometimes I think I have so much to tell that I don’t know where to start.
This blog got cranky the past few days and I got booted out. Couldn’t log in. Couldn’t do a damn thing. Nic asked me if I had backed up the blog posts. Like yeah, maybe a month ago! Don’t do this to me, oh Blog. Don’t wipe out my entries. They’re hard work. But Nic’s my husband for a good reason – he can perform some IT miracles. Finally, my Baby (Blog) is back.

And now Maya can get down to updating all and sundry about her 2 weeks!
Well, first off, I didn’t win in my Science & Tech category that night at the MWW Gala Dinner. But chill people. When I SMSed a friend, she shot back: “Woman, you are among the 18 chosen women of Malaysia! That’s a big win.” Yes, my dear. You are so right!
Another friend told me she bought MWW and showed “me” off to everyone! Hey, thanks Dot for the life-affirming gesture. I’m proud that you’re so proud of me!

Actually I’m not even disappointed (oh god, I must be aging gracefully! I was a competitive maniac when I was in school) – I was enjoying myself so much that I quite forgot that I didn’t manage to get that Royal Doulton vase (masquerading as a trophy). I invited Lisa along and she had a grand time, being made up by the Guerlain girls in black and having her hair styled.

What I loved most was meeting Jun Lin (artistic director of the Rainforest World Music Festival), Alecia (of Gorgeous Geeks, what a name for a group of IT women, love the name!), Dr Tang (Malaysia’s only pediatric rheumatologist), Cynthia (a retail consultant for One Utama), Hoong Ling (exuberant gal with such a brilliant smile), Maple Loo-Asaro (the really beautiful owner of JapaMala Resort Tioman and Samadhi Retreats), Regina (love her elegant hair do), Prof Dr Halimaton (she won in my category by the way but we had a great time chatting during dinner… she looks so much like Marina Mahathir!) and Shanti Jayaram (who was the Most Inspiring Woman of the night – she told the story of how she was nominated by her boss at Zerin Properties – what a boss, right?).

I was there with these accomplished, beautiful and fabulous women. Looking at them all, I think Malaysia’s in no way short of talent or skills. We’re all doing something fantastic in our own ways, helping the community and in a way, helping ourselves to grow.

As we were all being fussed over by hair stylists and make-up girls in a private room which gave us a stupendous view of Pavillion KL across the road, I felt a bit like an awards winner! Everyone was truly down-to-earth, especially the women team of Malaysian Women’s Weekly: Tara Barker (the editor-in-chief), Elaine Kwong (MWW editor), Melati (MWW writer with a hidden talent for designing evening gowns), Rina, Geetha, even to that sole guy graphic designer who shyly asked us to pose for a photo!

Ning Baizura sang a few Whitney Houston songs as we dined on a 3-course dinner (no photos of the food due to the subdued lighting and I had to listen attentively to my dinner companions right? Would be kind of rude to whip out my camera every 5 seconds).

My dinner companions that night included Dr Farrah-Hani Imran (remember the gymnast? She’s now a medical doc) and her cute brother, Dr Amran as they were seated at our table. Dr Amran looked like a spitting image of RPK with a deliciously wicked sense of humour.

Everyone had their five minutes of fame as we were announced by Lina Teoh (who did an amazing job emceeing that night – the right dose of wit!) to go onstage, accompanied by male models, to receive our orchid bouquet from Tara. Nominees in each category were next photographed together. Each nominee received a Guerlain Paris Orchidee Imperial, Patchi chocolates (divine!), an autographed copy of MWW by Ning, a certificate, Royal Albert silver spoons and a bouquet of white lilies and orchids.

I’ll let the photos do the talking… it was a perfect night where I felt like a princess! Thanks to a special friend who nominated me and gave me this chance to try something totally different from my usual Penang routine. Thanks to everyone who SMSed the votes. Thanks to everyone of you who believed in me. Robert even intoned me to visualise winning using the law of attraction! (We’re both serious junkies of The Secret!)

Related links:
http://mayakirana.com/blog/2008/06/a-hurricane-of-a-trip/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristagoon/sets/72157605952122481/