A Night of So Many Dances

Went for the KLDA Dinner and Dance last Saturday.

I never did noticed the venue when I stayed in Taman Muda Cheras 2 years ago. So, I was really surprised that KLDA is just across my old apartment.

The dance floor was nice and quite big with lots of seats still empty as we arrived at the door at 7pm.

Had crash courses on slow waltz, rumba, foxtrot and jive courtesy of Hock Siew, Steven Yap(he got us into this D&D), Joseph and Calvin(I think...STML working overtime again) .

I practically need to remind myself the basic steps when dancing the slow waltz(a bit different from Viennese waltz woh): don't use the leg that you've used earlier. Must remember: right leg used already, don't use. Left leg used already, don't use.. Ish!!

Steven was so nice to ask Joseph(the DJ that night) to play a couple of salsa songs for us cause he knew that we(Brenda & I) are still beginners in the ballroom/latin dances and we're more used to doing salsa.

Dinner was just your normal snack food, ie meehoon goreng, nasi kunyit(yellow rice), fish curry, yam cake & other stuffs. Not that we're complaining cause its quite what we've expected due to the ticket is only RM25 for that particular night.

Watched a few performances: cha cha, samba, tango and waltz and I'm quite impressed with the younger couple(below 16 only leh). They did the cha cha & samba with such finesse and they can really move their body ohh!!

Did a rumba with Joseph and before we could finish, he gotta go and change the CD again . Ish!! So potong steam loh, but as he said, no choice lar, me went back to my seat to wait for another dance-able(one that I know how to dance to lar) song.

Was pleasantly surprise when a merengue & another salsa song came on the air again. Joseph played a bachata number too. That's a big surprise. Merengue I understand, but, bachata woh?!?!? Nevertheless, its fun to hear the oh so familiar bachata song.

Party ended at around 11.30pm and me went off thinking: unable to go to SH or LH, but still can salsa, some more merengue & bachata

Had a snack/drink session at Old Town Kopitiam where we chat about dancing and stuffs.

Wonder when are they going to organize the Dinner and Dance again. Hope it won't be too long a wait.

Mission(s) Accomplished

A quiet night it was in Salsa Havana last Saturday.

Was contemplating earlier that day whether to go to SH or not, but I didn't regret making the decision to get my fix of salsa(mission # 1).

Salsa-ed to 5 songs(above my expectation) in a row, since there wasn't that many a salsera in the club for the guys to dance with.

It was almost 11ish when a few more salsero/as started to appear.

Then, I noticed a certain salsero mambo-ing away to Martin(Reyes)'s selection of moderate salsa music. I absolutely love the way he dance with another salsera too. Not a lot of fancy moves, but mostly mambos, then a brief viejo, a turn(or two) for the lady and mambos again. I kept watching him almost the whole night, hoping to have a dance with him too.

Suddenly, there was a malay(Indonesian) salsa song being played. Interesting lyrics, with a lot of sakit hati(malay for heart aches) in the lyrics. Why is the heart aching during salsa ?? Beats me. But its a nice song to dance/listen to.

Walked straight up to Martin and asked(mission # 2) him what's the name of the song, and he showed me the CD cover(can only see the Title of the album, can't find the name of the songs on it lah... ish ish). Was told that he got the CD from a friend of his(from Indonesia I guess) and I won't be able to find it in KL.

Before leaving the club, I finally braved myself to ask(mission # 3) the salsero(mentioned earlier) for a dance as I again noticed that he's dancing alone to a nice number. Its mambos, viejo(yeah, I did the 'old man walking' too) and mambos again, but I like it.

Me = during the whole dance and on the way home too .

** 2 days only to accomplish another mission(owe someone something lar )

My Daemon (a trivia from)The Golden Compass

Disclaimer: This is not a salsa nor dance related post. I just love the graphic and decided to post it here.

The Golden Compass(to be release in December 2007) - An exciting fantasy adventure, set in an alternative world, where a person’s soul lives on the outside of their body in the form of a daemon*

a daemon*,


(*) Daemon – a person’s soul in the form of a talking animal spirit that lives outside of the person’s body and which accompanies a person through life.

Reached Little Havana at 11ish yester-night. The floor wasn't that packed, but I still prefer to walk over to the DJ console area when the music stopped and everyone is not dancing(yet).

Was sitting the whole night(2 hours ++ me think) in front of the speaker enjoying the extreme bachata and salsa songs more than dancing to it.

Another extreme bachata came on air and I asked CE, how come got extreme bachatas, but no extreme merengue/s ? And we just laugh away.

Had a few(too few lar-countable) dances, most importantly to Yamulemau . Vamanos Pa Senegal and La Cumbita(here to listen to cover version of it) are another 2 songs that I wanted and did danced to that night.

After La Cumbita finished, I asked DJLee what was the title and artist's name of the song(at that time I don't know mar) and he told me its LC. Then(~ 5 minutes later), I realised, errr... I did ask him about this familiar song long time ago when he first intro it in LH. Short Term Memory Loss kicking in again!! Ishhh!!

Found myself not following the lead properly when I danced yesterday. So, just wanna apologize to all my dear salseros whom I danced with if I didn't followed your lead yeah.

Blame it on the hot weather, the oh so syiok salsa/bachata songs(me think me syiok sendiri at that time), overhaul of dancing lessons, etc etc.. Excuses, excuses, I know . Shall try very hard to avoid all this from happening again. I promised.

Update for Friday Salsa @ Little Havana in July(courtesy of DJLee):

Salsa Nights are ON for every Friday in July at Little Havana! Mark your calendars for 6/7, 13/7, 20/7 and 27/7.

Something not salsa related

8.30pm, Friday night(still in the office).

Me: Hungry lar, you guys wanna have dinner or not?

Jeff/Dom: ok.. where to ?

Me: Anywhere will do. As long as its easy for me to go LH after that.

Jeff have to fetch his girlfriend first at Jalan Raja Laut, so he suggested to have dinner at this Cotton Club - a 2-storeys Jazzaurant in Maju Junction.

Hmm.. the plate coaster had this on it. Almost wanted to ask the waiter, can I take it home ar ?

We ordered our food and were in the midst of finishing dinner when the band starts playing..

oooOO , the lead singer(nice voice) were singing lots of my favorite songs in jazzy style leh. Yummy. Ohh.. the food's yummy too

Only after we've finished dinner and started chatting do I noticed the other music motives in the jazzaurant, like the guitar on the menu and also the design of the chair

A nice place to dine in, but not so suitable for chatting(more like shouting lar) when the live band is on.

Guru Sam and Cikgu Aisha's Wedding

Its a Tuesday(got to work) night.

Thank goodness for the map drawn by TallShafiq and the oh so big sign board of the venue, we reached Dewan Perdana Felda at 8.00pm sharp.


Thought that we'll be late(working day mar, sure got traffic jam one) as Brenda only fetched me at 7.30pm.

Was ushered in by Steven(ala prom style) into the grand bright hall. Wow!! Nice lighting, nice pelamin(the stage), nice atmosphere... heck, everything is nice lar.

While waiting for the arrival of the bride and groom, a video of the Akad Nikah was shown for the guests to watch, accompanied by what I would describe as fox-trottable music . We started to chat about dancing(again!) .

Oh!! Took some pictures with few of the salsero/as too(pictures shall be posted after I grab them from the various camera owners first). Most of them were in the traditional bajus and also suits. Hard it is to find us salsa addicts in such ethnic and formal attire.

Then the hero and heroine arrived in style. O_O ... Guru Sam in 3 pc (not swim-)suit and Cikgu Aisha in a pinkish white gown, both so charming leh.

Everything(the speeches, well wishes from the VVIP, dinner, the lightning with no thunder, etc etc) went on so smoothly and in timely manner. Seems like the MRT is not applied here which is good for everyone.

Guru Sam gave a most impressive(uh-uhmm) speech about marriage and fried chicken(click here for the shorter version of the speech) which us guests giggle non-stop at.

Not to forget the Emcees too. The way they berpantun(rhyme) reminds me of the recitals and poetry readings from my sastera(malay literature) classes. Wished that they could translate them into English though to benefit some of the non-Malaysian guests.

The ceremony ended in style after the newly-weds cut the cake and the emcees gave their last poem in English with well wishes for the bride and groom.

Congratulations again to Guru Sam and Cikgu Aisha.

**hmm... am wondering: will they be checking out the salsa clubs in Bali while honeymooning?

The Viennese Ball 2007.

The debutantes were instructed to be at the waiting room at 6pm for early dinner.

Kiwi, Brenda and I reached there at around 6.20pm and was informed by Ken that all the food were totally swallowed by the other hungry debutantes.

Dropped our stuffs in the waiting room and tried our luck at the dining area. Were then told by Selma that more food are coming as they didn't expect the food to vanish before 6.30pm.

Had our (very) early dinner, mainly sausages, bread, wantan(something like that) and stew and were served coffee/tea too.

Then we promptly head back to the room at 7ish(to avoid the guests) to wait and chat.

A long wait it was until 9.45pm(where our showtime began), but we did have a nice chat with Janice(my previous (social dance)instructor). The main topic is about dance, dance and more dance.

Then, Brenda and I asked Hock Siew to teach us the samba(basics only) in preparation of our first samba class today(which was canceled at the last minute due to unforeseen & unexpected circumstances).

8.45pm.. changed into our gowns(for the girls and tux for the guys) and then were told to rehearse the polonaise and quadrille again, for a good 10 minutes or so. We took the opportunity to take a few pictures here and there after the rehearsal(pictures coming up soon).

10.10pm(me think) the show begins..1st the polonaise, then the quadrille and finally the waltz. Then come the polka.. boy did we have fun hopping and jumping to the 'marching' song..

And the ball begins... the band played lots of waltz and polkas throughout the night...

Some of us salsa addicts(and some of the guests) went to the room next door to catch a few salsa/latin beats too.

Then, when Brenda, Ken, Kiwi and I went back to the function room, we saw people dancing to rock & roll and cha cha cha. Then of course, there's Steven(Seah) heading the samba line for all to join.

Came 1am, we were again entertained with a nice ballet(danced to the sweet melody of Blue Danube Waltz) and a few operas again. No understand the language that they sang in, but still captivated by the performances very much(don't know why?!?)

After the entertainment, we did the midnight quadrille with the oh so sporting guests(with Mr Polt shouting the instructions for the guests to follow). We did the quadrille 6 three times in a row where the music keeps getting fast, faster and even more faster .

Finally ended the night(well almost) with the ever hilarious and exhausting french can-can dance.. Did we have a jolly good time with this number .

A marvelous night it was and we have no regrets for joining this event whatsoever.

You guys should try it out too next year..