I felt like Oliver....

Prologue 1:
Oliver as in Oliver Twist. The orphan in a story about how someone without family can still find one in the old world...Something like that. Made famous with the musical with lyrics, " Food, glorious food!" At least that what I think...haha.

Prologue 2:
My company is going through restructuring and thus to pacify those affected, we had an Annual Dinner last Friday. We haven't really been having Annual Dinners as one-big-happy company, so this obviously had quite a positive response from my collegues.

Venue:
Mandarin Oriental...The venue already indicated that the company decided it was worth splashing money to their employees (I've since stopped using the word 'staff' because I am dirty minded..So sue me). But don't trust my word for it, visit the hotel yourself and make up your own opinion..

Theme:
Black Tie - Optional. Yup, that's what's written, printed and dead set. Black Tie - Optional..I wonder what that really meant. I mean, if you don't want to pressure attendees to wear expensive Tux and dresses, just have a fine print that says compliance to theme not mandatory for attendance...Trust me, if you know where I work, you'd expect them to be able to use big words like that...So much for expectations. Now, focusing literally on the theme, I wonder if it was to get people to turn up in colours other than black, i.e. orange, green, pink, purple, etc...Unfortunately, it was mostly (boring) blakc that night...

The Whole Damn Show (Reference to Rob Van Dam, haha!):
We had Sarimah Ibrahim (I think that's her name) as host, and for some reason she mentioned her marital status as part of her introduction. Must have gotten word that people in my company don't hold their beer well and will...You can guess the rest..Though I don't think that's true. Most of the people who drink in my company do hold thier beer..Just not when combo'ed with hard liquor....And heavy smoking...I was originally (spelled ORIGINALLY, under no circumstance forget to type the I after the R) expecting some can can dance when I sneak peek the agenda a couple of hours before. To my dissapointment was just several scantilly-clad ladies and 2 men strutting their stuff on old Moulin Rouge...I mean on stage. They danced to Lady Marmalade, which really, Black Tie? No wonder they mentioed optional. It was only black tie in attire, not in nature. I mean, Black Tie means official, professional, serious stuff, no??

There rest was your standard stuff, Country Manager attempting to inspire with speech, standard employee performance, one karaoke session gone bad (they really couldn't sing, but since they were leaving, everyone gave face) some Malaysia Idol reject (a bit harsh, but if you didn't win...) and lastly Ferhad with his gropes and boring sexist performance. Yes, I don't like Ferhad. so sue me. (erm, one day that might just come back to haunt me..haha) Not to mention a jury selected best dressed male and female that the crowd had no influence on. They just annoucned the winners..Boring.....

At the end there was no final speech, no big hoo hah, no sea of tears....Just another Annual Dinner

Sight for sore eyes?:
Ok. No prizes for guessing I didn't turn up dressed ot theme. I went collar T & slacks, extremely pale in comparison with the host of Tux's, Blazers, Jackets and such, but who cares? I wasn't winning best dressed anyway.. (Ok, the first 10 minutes was tough, because I now understand the feeling of being out of place. But after that, everyone is more interested in everyone else, and I dived into the crowd like I didn't exist..Fine with me, haha!)

Ok, the girls weren't hot wearing less than bikinis (can't say much about the dancers though...) but the obvious choice for an evening wear, If Ya Have It, Flaunt It! If Ya Don't, Flaunt It Anyway!! Despite the 'colder' environment, ladies seem HellBent (I'm impressed with the number of cards and card mechanics I have in this post) to show skin, at the very least those above the...breast. Not too much legs though...

Last but not least, Food, Glorious Food!:
It was an eight course dinner, which really was just 6 course with 2 dessert. The food was so-so, with one issue; The decided it to be more 'service oriented' by serving us our portions, and each person onlu got one. Eventually I had to Ask For More (no, I'm not advertising for Pepsi here) if I wanted seconds. Sound like Oliver? At one point they messed up one course when they put old dishes onto an unfinished portion (those wasteful punks!), when I did an Oliver they had to find some other table's portion for me.

Epilogue:
I didn't stay for the second round because I don't. I didn't even take a single photo because, well, I just chose not to. Not somethnig I need visual aids to remember.....