The ball last night was a smash! It was held at the Tower Ballroom of Shangri-La hotel, and we were put in a table full of old couples. Masks were provided, but wine was not, so if we wanted to have wine, we would have to buy it. And if we wanted fancy masks, we would have to buy them too. Hmmm... makes me wonder why we spent so much on the entrance tickets if everything was not provided!
Anyway, the start of the dinner was speeches by the organising committee and chairman, then dinner commenced. It was a buffet spread outside the ballroom. In true Eurasian (European) tradition, ladies went first. The men went later.
It was a big spread, there were nine courses, plus carving station, plus soup and roll, plus dessert. So all in all, everyone had a feast!
Then there were lucky draws, which were not so lucky for us. The dance floor opened around ten and dancing started. I must say, the two differences between a typical Chinese dinner and an Eurasian dinner are that :
One, people are more dressed up in an Eurasian dinner. If we go to any Chinese dinners, especially wedding banquets, somehow people deem shirt and jeans as appropriate wear. Even when the dress code indicates "Formal", people would somehow still come in shirt and jeans. Or shirt and pants.
But for an Eurasian dinner, everyone was dressed up. Ladies in elegant evening gowns and bling blings, men in suits. As in long-sleeve shirt, tailored pants, jacket and tie. Nothing less. There was even one in a bow tie!
Two, people like to dance after the dinner. I heard that in an Eurasian wedding, dancing is a norm. Whether they are young and old, everyone would dance after dinner. But for a Chinese dinner, everyone is just there for the food. They would leave after the food, without participating in anything.
Just like the dinner and dance of companies, I always wondered after the sumptuous dinner, where is the dancing? Nobody would bother to stay back to dance, everyone would just leave after dinner. So whenever I wanted to stay back and dance, in the end because no one else would be dancing, everything ended just after the dinner.
So I really enjoyed myself last night. Since it was a ball and the dress code indicates "Formal", I wore a black strappy evening gown with straps down the back, which was bought from Macy's in Los Angeles, paired with a crystal necklace and matching earrings, and a gold silk shawl.
When we reached the ballroom, we chose our own masks. So I got a red one with feathers on top, and he got a silver one which I remarked made him look like the Phantom. I even saw one that looked like Zorro!
Anyway, the start of the dinner was speeches by the organising committee and chairman, then dinner commenced. It was a buffet spread outside the ballroom. In true Eurasian (European) tradition, ladies went first. The men went later.
It was a big spread, there were nine courses, plus carving station, plus soup and roll, plus dessert. So all in all, everyone had a feast!
Then there were lucky draws, which were not so lucky for us. The dance floor opened around ten and dancing started. I must say, the two differences between a typical Chinese dinner and an Eurasian dinner are that :
One, people are more dressed up in an Eurasian dinner. If we go to any Chinese dinners, especially wedding banquets, somehow people deem shirt and jeans as appropriate wear. Even when the dress code indicates "Formal", people would somehow still come in shirt and jeans. Or shirt and pants.
But for an Eurasian dinner, everyone was dressed up. Ladies in elegant evening gowns and bling blings, men in suits. As in long-sleeve shirt, tailored pants, jacket and tie. Nothing less. There was even one in a bow tie!
Two, people like to dance after the dinner. I heard that in an Eurasian wedding, dancing is a norm. Whether they are young and old, everyone would dance after dinner. But for a Chinese dinner, everyone is just there for the food. They would leave after the food, without participating in anything.
Just like the dinner and dance of companies, I always wondered after the sumptuous dinner, where is the dancing? Nobody would bother to stay back to dance, everyone would just leave after dinner. So whenever I wanted to stay back and dance, in the end because no one else would be dancing, everything ended just after the dinner.
So I really enjoyed myself last night. Since it was a ball and the dress code indicates "Formal", I wore a black strappy evening gown with straps down the back, which was bought from Macy's in Los Angeles, paired with a crystal necklace and matching earrings, and a gold silk shawl.
When we reached the ballroom, we chose our own masks. So I got a red one with feathers on top, and he got a silver one which I remarked made him look like the Phantom. I even saw one that looked like Zorro!
Me in my new hair (he said I kind of look like Cleopatra here)
Me with the maskMy apologies if the photos look blurry, as they were taken with the iPhone in dim lighting. We started dancing after dinner. A variety of songs were being played, so we did the salsa and the cha-cha-cha.
Then the countdown started. Everyone popped the party poopers and blew whistles the minute 0000 was reached. Then ballads started playing and slow dancing started.
I have never had so much fun on New Year's Eve before. All the accounts I read of balls, dancing and partying, now I got to experience it for myself! If only more locals are interested in things like that, life would not be boring after a while!
Then the countdown started. Everyone popped the party poopers and blew whistles the minute 0000 was reached. Then ballads started playing and slow dancing started.
I have never had so much fun on New Year's Eve before. All the accounts I read of balls, dancing and partying, now I got to experience it for myself! If only more locals are interested in things like that, life would not be boring after a while!
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