My sis called up excitedly last week, just as I was about to clock off and drag out my yoga mat for a spot of exercise.
“You know what! Vinnie has been shortlisted!” She gushed. I could hear her infectious joy coming down the line.
Musings
Courage for No
As I grow older, I think I am becoming what I think my parents and aunts and uncles are these days: obstinate.
Margaret at GS Gill's
I shall be away for the next few days. Have a number of important things to do… yes, will be out of Penang. 😉
Celebrating Our First Birthday
When Jo and I started our business ladies’ group last June, little did we know we would grow so fast! Five meets later, we have garnered some 28 ladies in our group and yesterday afternoon, we celebrated the first ‘birthday’ of WomenBizSENSE at the E&O Hotel. Our group comprises women running diverse businesses – real estate, graphics, Internet, education, music, food, arts and crafts, financial planning, advertising, art and more.
Old world charm…The 1885 Restaurant, E&O Hotel Penang.
We had planned this afternoon tea about a month ago and we’re glad that many of our members could make it. Plus we had a special guest at our tea – Muzlifah – who had agreed to give us ladies a short but inspiring talk on managing principles for business and family.
Muzlifah sharing with us some management principles.
A private room just for us ladies…looks just like someone’s dining room, right?
Through Harriet, one of our members, we secured for our celebration a private room within The 1885 Restaurant which is unbelievably elegant. The first thing many said upon entering the private room was “wow, so cosy!” Yes, it looks like someone’s really posh dining room complete with bone china tea cups and silverware.
English afternoon tea fit for a queen.
Everything looked so pretty and the service was definitely exquisite. The dainty tea cakes and desserts looked too good to be eaten. But soon we settled down to the tea as we started talking and reminiscing how everyone got to know each other.
Pretty tea cakes which tasted absolutely divine.
I’m most grateful and thankful to be part of a group of dynamic business women, each one as accomplished as the next. I’ve met many amazing women who have achieved success on their own terms. And all because Jo and I decided to take a risk and start a group just for women.
And it’s not just business referrals that we’ve passed to one another. We’ve made new friends and learnt more about each other – yes, even the ups and downs, the good and bad. We’ve helped each other in non-business areas too such as being a friend in times of need.
Here I am (on the left) with Susan and Siew Yean.
Happy birthday WomenBizSENSE! And thanks to Erina, Mety, Siew Yean, Regine, Susan, Madelyn, Muzlifah, Harriet, Kim, Lynn and Sheila for spending your Friday afternoon with us.
* If you’re a woman business owner in Penang and would like to be invited to our future WomenBizSENSE meetings, contact me. We’d love to meet more dynamic businesswomen!
Penang World Music Festival 2007
OK, I won’t go into a blow-by-blow account of what happened or who performed at last week’s Penang World Music Festival at Quarry Gardens (off Botanical Gardens). It’s probably blogged about by many Penang bloggers anyway. And they probably have better photos.
The main stage set up.
Madame was too lazy to go near the stage to snap photos because it was raining – hard! I was trying my best not to get wet (brought an umbrella though) but in the end, it was all in vain. The rain pelted harder as the night wore on and soon, I was soaking wet! And I was on a tikar too!
We were among the early birds at 6.40pm. Some were earlier than us! Notice that umbrellas were popped open – it had started to drizzle!
The three of us (Nic, myself and a friend who came all the way from Langkawi) huddled under 2 umbrellas, willing the rain to go away but it didn’t hear us or the bomoh in charge of making rain go away was probably not as powerful as those used for football matches.
The reason why Nic and I are highly interested in this PWMF2007 is that we’ve been to the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in Kuching for 3 consecutive years (2002, 2003 and 2004).
Part of the Quarry Gardens… it’s a rather small area for a world music festival.
Now that’s one highly charged festival – lots of good stuff happening. RWMF (which celebrated its 10th years) has a couple of pluses too – the vibes in Sarawak are totally different, the location (at the foot of Gunung Santubong) is magical and everyone who attends the RWMF flies in just for the event. So it’s truly a holiday atmosphere, and you’re really away from it all.
Now in Penang, we’re smack dab in the middle of the city. Quarry Gardens is ok but it’s no rainforest ala Gunung Santubong style.
We were there to watch some of our favourite world musicians in action, especially Huun Huur Tu & Malerija (a terribly potent combination which makes some awesome head-banging music) and Ensemble Kaboul of Afghanistan (exotic music from traditional music intruments like the tabla, harmonium, flute and more) and Inka Marka (inspirational panpipe music that’s quite resonant of the South American landscape the group is from). We have actually watched most if not all of the musicians before at RWMF but it’s good to listen to them and see them perform again.
We had bought tickets for the 3 days fest but managed to go on Friday and Saturday nights. It was raining heavily on Sunday night, and we decided not to get soaked (again) even if we did arm ourselves with ponchos this time. PWFM should be scheduled sometime in February or March as these are the hot and dry months for Penang.
I liked that the performances started punctually each evening, about 7.30pm and ended promptly too, at midnight. On the first evening, we picked a nice spot about 20 meters from the main stage and had a good view of both main stage and second stage. But the rain made the ground mushy and muddy so we were smarter the second evening – we camped out right in front of the screen, specially set up to enable those far up to see the performances.
The Narasirato Panpipers from Solomon Islands, a group of exuberant panpipers from a group of islands to the east of Australia.
PWMF is a good start to get more people interested in world music but it needs time before it can be as addictive as RWMF. Ticketcharge will start selling tickets to 2008 RWMF in January next year (they’re pretty savvy in promoting the event now, 10 years on).
Have to Have Girlfriends
Decided to take a break from clients’ work to focus on blogging a bit. It always makes me light-hearted when I start tapping on the keyboard.
I had lunch with a good pal today – despite busy days, we must take time out for friends ya? And yes, I must eat too right? All that brainwork needs some fuel!
We decided to try Bakerzin at Queensbay Mall this afternoon as both of us had yet to try their food. At first I suggested Chili’s at G Hotel (yes, people, that place is open) but both of us had already ‘been there, done that’ so no point in trying something we’ve eaten before. Plus you do need a sizeable group to makan in Chili’s – the portions are huge. American sizes, you know.
Not 2020
I was at my favourite optometrist this afternoon, albeit begrudgingly. I say begrudgingly because it’s one of those things that rank lowest on my to-do list. It’s like this: I do enjoy my visits to Mr Tan’s shop at Jalan Sg Dua, opposite USM, but I can’t stand waiting. His shop is usually full of customers! And he’s the only person I trust to give me a good eye checkup!
I’ve been his customer for a decade now. I’ve known him for so long that he’s the only person I go to, if I have any major eye problems. Touch wood, I have not had that since my last eye infection. I go to Mr Tan for all my eye needs – spectacles and contact lenses.
I was feeling quite lazy today and just wanted to pop in and get my 6-month supply of contact lenses. But I had some problems with my last pair of contact lenses so I thought I best give Mr Tan some feedback about this.
Better Late Than Never
I had planned to upload the photos after I got home on Thursday (re: my talk at KDU) but I was so bushed that it took a couple more days before I could do so.
If This Isn't Viral, I Don't Know What Is…
I got this from a good pal (who is also a fantastic marketing expert) in the Philippines just today. I subscribe to her blog using Feedblitz and I got her blog post which talked about David Poarch.
David is Fil-Am (that means kacukan lah, American and Filipino) but what’s so fantastic about this David? (Besides the fact that he’s terribly cute. With those looks, he could probably melt a couple of thousand hearts along the way…if he’s not gay.)
Stinking Satsuma
I had been hankering to buy The Body Shop’s Satsuma Perfume Oil since I tested it last Saturday at Queensbay.
As I was in Gurney Plaza yesterday, I thought I could just drop by and buy the perfume oil which was selling at half price (The Body Shop is having a sale until 10 June).
The Satsuma Perfume Oil smelled great – I am after all partial to anything citrusy! I love bergamot, lemons, limes, as long as they’re refreshingly citrusy, I’ll buy them. Of course Nic thinks I am nuts to buy everything that smells like lemon.