Michael Yip | 叶志坚

Back from the MalaysianDreamGirl.tv Finale at 1Utama earlier with some shocking results of the winners. Well, it’s only shocking if you are a big supporter of Hanis. LOL…

Seems like the result isn’t that surprising to some of the people there.

Here’s how it looked.

In 3rd Place, Hanis Zalikha binti Zainal Rashid!

In 2nd Place, Adeline Lee Ying Ying!

In the 1st Place, Tey Cindy!

More photos coming soon…. So do check back for more posting later on.

It’s been a week since the World Latin Salsa Congress was over in Penang. To me, it was a huge success as tons of people came to me and say how much they enjoyed the workshops and parties we organized for them.

As for myself, this is one of the most tiring event that I’ve involved in thus far. With a grand total of 6 hours of sleep from Friday to Monday, I was actually running high only on Salsa, from attending the workshops and parties that was held throughout as well as running about making sure all the instructors’ needs are met and all the participants’ complains are dealt with. I didn’t know the word tired until Tuesday itself when I finally relaxed and slept.

One of the most cherished moments from this event is the fact that I’ve made so many new found friends through the congress, from within Malaysia as well as from all over the world, Japan, Australia, Canada as well as Venezuela.

Aside from that, the workshops that was organized throughout the weekend was amazing, things we learn in it, we don’t normally learn in classes or a the clubs. No doubt I didn’t attend much as I’ve been running around but those that I went for, man… they were exciting! How often do you get to throw a woman about and the woman enjoys it?

And then there’s the performances at the dinner parties. Everyone put on their best shows to thrill the crowd, for the first timers, the first reaction was.. GOSH! Can we actually do those things? To the experienced, it was GOSH! They have upped the ante!

And then there’s the highlight of the whole event. The Beach party, the one that everyone talks about even until today. How often do we have a beach party with LIVE Band and dancing in the sand? Name me one other Latin Dance festival in Malaysia that does it? There isn’t other than the Congress! That’s the big highlight of the whole congress!

Then there’s this other thing call late nights. The parties ends at 2am every night but does the people stop partying? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO….. We would gather the musical instruments, find a nice comfortable spot and continue partying away, when the whole hotel turns off the lights to sleep, we are still singing and dancing away near the beach. It was fantastic! To think that impromptu Jamming sessions would be this fun is just amazing.

To end this post, my camera never worked this hard before with over 3,000 photos being taken, of course, we aren’t going to put every single one on the web for all to see right? There’s always the selected ones that is more decent and so forth. You can find them all at the following links.

World Latin Salsa Congress 2008 Collection

* Partying with Gerardo Rosales @ Salsa Havana
* Congress Day 1 Workshop
* Congress Day 1 Welcome Party 1 of 3
* Congress Day 1 Welcome Party 2 of 3
* Congress Day 1 Welcome Party 3 of 3
* Congress Day 2 Workshop 1 of 2
* Congress Day 2 Workshop 2 of 2
* Congress Day 2 Beach Party 1 of 3
* Congress Day 2 Beach Party 2 of 3
* Congress Day 2 Beach Party 3 of 3
* Congress Day 3 Workshop 1 of 2
* Congress Day 3 Workshop 2 of 2
* Congress Day 3 Gala Dinner 1 of 3
* Congress Day 3 Gala Dinner 2 of 3
* Congress Day 3 Gala Dinner 3 of 3
* Partying with Pretty Boys & Girls @ Salsa Havana

I was informed by a friend via Facebook that I was shown on MHI this morning dancing salsa.

Why wasn’t I given prior warning about it so I could have recorded it down!! WHY WHY WHY ARGH!

My 5min of fame and I missed my own show. Sigh.

Gerardo Rosales & Our Latin Groove has finally arrived in town a day after Bobby Dickerson and what better way to welcome them by having a small get together to drink and dance the night away. Yes, I know it’s a Wednesday night but heck, at some places, it’s known as the Mambo Night too!

Not only do we get to have a taste of what to expect at the Congress by these guys, the lucky few even get to learn some new tricks from Bobby too earlier in the night.

And nothing speaks better about the night other than dancing the night away to the songs by band as well as some favorite songs of my own (after I took over the deejay console from Martin).

Batavia, an Indonesian Food Restaurant located in Sunway. When I first heard of the place, I thought that it sounded very Balinese not knowing the type of food they serve. Well, reaching the place only confirms my suspicion that it’s in fact an Indonesian restaurant.

After finding a nice place to seat, I manage to talk to the owner of the place and was told that this restaurant had in fact been in operational for the past year and most of the patrons are Indonesian students that stay around the area. Somehow, Malaysians staying around the area doesn’t know how to appreciate everyday Indonesian dishes still. Hopefully, that would change soon and with this little introduction to the food would help with the appreciation.

One of the first dish that was served was the Pecel Ayam. An Indonesian styled fried chicken, one of the recurring theme that you’d find here would be the sweetness of all the dishes. Starting with this dish, apart from the usual fried chicken taste, it also tasted sweet. Definitely a dish that I’d order again when I return to that restaurant.

The next dish that was served was the Ikan Balado, when it was placed in front of me, my first reaction was, GOSH! Chilies And I said that cause I can’t eat spicy food, a shame but true. But taking a bite into it changed my mind about it being spicy cause it isn’t! What it is though is sweet but the fish had that fishy smell which would turn off some people.

Pecel Lele, fried catfish that tasted amazingly good. I’m not a big fan of catfish as I find the taste odd but this catfish disappeared faster than the chicken that arrived before it. That’s how tasty it was.

A meal is never complete without some dessert right? And here, we had the Es Campur which unlike the local ice kacang, is filled with fruits and syrups. One of the main fruits that you can easily spot in this bowl of Es Campur is the Avocado. Which leads us to…

The Avocado Juice which is the signature drink in Batavia, unlike any avocado juice, this glass of juice is served with a good serving of chocolate syrup which gives it a very unique and sweet taste. Try it for yourself!

One last bit, before we end this post is that, there’s two other desserts that you should give it a try. They are the Pisang Bakar and the Roti Bakar. What’s so special about these two dish? Look at it, both covered with a good amount of butter, cheese flakes as well as rice chocolates. Weird combinations some might say but heck, it sure taste good!

The address of the place is 9, Jalan PJS 8/10, Sunway. Check it out and give it a try!