Late Night Updates

So, I had a ton of coffee and now I realize I can't sleep. LOL. My fault, my bad, but I realized as well, that I could use this time to update my blog.

After my last blog post, I realized that I didn't really blog about updates in my own life, and it's been a while since my last actual blog post, so here goes nothing.

Personal

For those of you who didn't know, I have just recently tied the knot to my then-bf, then-fiance, now-husband, SammoBammo. We have been together for 5 years (as of May 2015) and decided to get married in August 2015. Other than the fact we are living together, nothing much has changed and I'm pretty happy with that. You know how most couples have this post-wedding-honeymoon phase? Our phase ran out within the same day of our Nikah. HAHAHA! It's actually not a bad thing (well, for us at least!) In my personal opinion, our wedding was just to make things official. I've never felt more comfortable with anyone else, so the wedding was kinda a formality. Also, being a wife is pretty fun.

Also, I've been working pretty hard on my ISTD examinations. I will be aiming (that's if I don't get preggers!) to take my ISTD Advanced 1 Tap Examinations in 2016, which is a pretty big goal for me personally. I've been attending regular classes once a week, and I hope to increase that to 2 times a week after the 2016 Chinese New Year celebrations. I really want to work hard and get at least a high Merit and then work on getting my Associate, so that I can send students in for exams under my own name. It's going to take about 3-4 years by the time this happens, but I hope it will all be worth it! My tap shoes are almost like my second pair of shoes. Lots of practice time and hard work! FIGHTING!

Career

Since I have left PR, I actually have not taken up a proper job, but I am now in the midst of starting up my own business. I can't really disclose too much at the moment, but when I can, I will. Other than that, I have been doing some freelance commercial dance gigs (actually only about 1-2 in the past year!), as well as some writing gigs. All freelance, because I am honestly dedicating my time to 2 things at the moment. My business as well as my tap exams. These are my main focuses for the rest of the year as well as the coming year.

Friendship

Since I've gotten married, my best friend got married herself and is in the midst of preparing for her own reception. One of my friends from the gang group is in the midst of having her second baby and is expected to give birth sometime end this year. Another friend of mine is taking her business to a whole new level by going all out in her marketing. All my friends are doing incredibly well and I'm so proud of all of them. We may not necessarily meet all the time, but I am glad to call them my friends and as I mentioned in my last blog post, friendship is something that I realized as something much more than just what we see on social media or even via normal messaging. Friendship is something I definitely hold a lot closer to my heart. Thank you to all my friends for being there. Love you all xoxo.

That's about it really. There's nothing much to update other than that. I hope you all have a great day and a great week ahead (as it probably will be that long before I blog again - if not longer)

Also, a special announcement: I would like to TRY (keyword: TRY) to document my very first Christmas as a married woman. Christmas has always been a crazy exciting time for me, regardless of my status. And since I don't vlog, it wouldn't make sense for me to do #vlogmas, so I will try to do #blogmas where I will TRY my best to blog every day starting from 1st December till 24th December. It may work, it may not, but I will definitely try. Also, the topics for #blogmas may vary, so please leave a comment if there are any topics that you would like my opinion on. I may or may not blog about it, so no promises, but do leave me some ideas.

Looking forward to Christmas!

Love always,
DancerGal Sheryl!

The Tests of Friendship - Marriages / Weddings

After attending at least 4 weddings post-my-own-wedding, I've come to the realization that friendship is a true test of whether or not certain people deserve to be called friends in your life.

The first thing most people must be screaming is, "Simple. If they attend your wedding, then they are your friends". In actual fact, no, it's not that simple. 

A friend, in my personal opinion, is not necessarily the person who is there physically. I've come to this realization when my own best friend could not be there for my own wedding. However, what made me realize this, wasn't so much the fact that she couldn't be there. It was more of the fact that I did not kick up a fuss and when she apologized, I scolded her for apologizing to me. 

We need to be reminded that your friend also has his/her own life. If circumstances have been placed in that way, it doesn't mean that he/she does not want to attend your wedding. It's very easy to get angry or upset at them. What makes them a friend, or let me rephrase, what makes YOU a friend, is to understand their situation. Imagine the dilemma going through their heads. Being a good friend means you help to understand what is going on. If they are not giving you trouble, why are you giving them trouble? If you don't sympathize with them, my question is why don't you? 

During the process of a wedding, the bride, groom, maid of honor(s), bridesmaids, parents and if you have one, your wedding planner, are already stressed out enough. The last thing you would need from a friend is more stress. Being a true friend means not adding on the stress. During my wedding, I would call up a few friends for coffee (they need not be named because they know who they are!) to actually vent about problems and the unnecessary stress I've already been receiving. And for that, I thank you all so much. I hope I was able to de-stress some of you during your wedding prep as well, rather than contribute to the stress. 

This doesn't just apply to friendship pre-wedding. It also applies to post-wedding. Bearing in mind that upon marriage, your friend and yourself no longer are alone. We all now have an extra person (or two, or three) in our lives now. If you honestly treasure your friendship, you can no longer view it as a two-person friendship. Every newlywed couple has to start learning how to live with one another, especially couples who are living with their in laws. Regardless of how you look at it, there's always some form of stress that comes along with it. As a true friend, would you really want to contribute to that?

To be honest, in my opinion, in times of weddings and marriages, do you really see who cares for you and who deserves to be called a true friend. Someone who loves you, someone who truly treasures your friendship.

A true friend never demands attention from you, but seeks to help behind-the-scenes. A true friend does not need to show your friendship to the world, but seeks to remind you of their value to you and you alone. A true friend does not need validation from you, but seeks to remind you of your own self-worth.

At the end of the day, to me personally, friendship is a relationship. You can drift apart, you can break up, you can realize that the friend that you have isn't the one you want. It takes work, effort and time. If you realize a certain friend isn't the right one for you, it's time to rethink your friendship.

And just like a relationship, there are times when you will have to break it up.

Friendship is one topic that is very subjective and personal. I am not here to give friendship advice. I am just merely giving my thoughts on what I have gone through myself personally. To the friends who have stuck by me, I thank you. To the friends who did not make the cut, I hold no grudges and wish you all the best. At the end of the day, our own happiness matters. I'm glad I found my friends.


Love always,
Puan Sheryl Ho. 

In the Life of DancerGal: My new hobby!

Updated 150914: List of rooms played (will update) 

Hey guys! I know it's been a super long while since my last update. I promised to blog more, but I've been so busy doing so many things (yes, at the same time!) that I haven't really found the time to blog. So anyway, here's a simple and quick update about my newfound hobby: ESCAPING from rooms!

Code Factory

Escape Zone

Traphauz

Break the Code

Mission Break

Breakout

Rush Hour

Escape Room

MissionQ

Escape Dungeon

Freeing Room

When we (and by we, I mean SammoBammo and myself) heard about this, we weren't too sure about it. And then, a few of my friends attempted it for the very first time. Now, if someone doesn't know much about me, all they have to do is play one round of Escape Room with me and then they'll know how I am. I can be insanely competitive so picking the right group was essential and I'm glad we've found an amazing team :)

Anyway, back to the story, the group of friends of mine who played it didn't really make it so we thought we'd try it out. We picked a room that was just for the two of us and suitable for two people. Our first room together was "Abandoned Factory" from Escape Room, e@Curve. We lost the room, but the person who let us out gave us three options. One, leave the room and come back again. Two, he'll give us the hint of the next puzzle and then we come back again. Three, crack the room completely. I wanted to know what was the reason we didn't make it out, so we decided to crack the room. After cracking the room, I learned a couple of things including how to keep my competitiveness in check. Once that was over, we were quite confident to play with my cousin and his partner-in-crime. They have been at this quite often and even blog about each room they play! Read their blog here: http://enigmaticescape.blogspot.com

We then moved on to our second room, "Prison Break" from Escape Room, e@Curve. We had pretty good teamwork and so, we actually managed to escape. The feeling of winning was so intense, that we just had to keep going. Since then, we have been playing rather consistently and although we've only lost one room together, we substitute that horrible disappointing feeling by ensuring that we win more rooms. Here are some of the rooms we've played thus far (and their results, cos I really enjoy gloating!) :P

1. "Abandoned Factory", Escape Room, e@Curve - Lost (2 pax) - has been replaced by The Overlook Hotel: Room 13
2. "Prison Break", Escape Room, e@Curve - Win (4 pax) 
3. "Memento", Mission Q, SS15 Subang - Win (For two players only!) 
4. "Prison Break", MissionQ, SS15 Subang - Win (4 pax) 
5. "Wonderland", Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square - Win (4 pax)
6. "The Vampire Chronicles", Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square - Lost (4 pax)
7. "Up!", Escape Room, Setiawalk Mall Puchong - Win (#3 for the week - 4 pax)
8. "Dungeons of Doom", Escape Room, Setiawalk Mall Puchong - Win (#2 for the week - 4 pax)
9. "Mummy Room", Escape Room, e@Curve - Win (#1 for the week - 4 pax) 
10. "The Treasure Era", Freeing Room, Taman Connaught Cheras - Perfect (2 pax)
11. "Art Gallery", Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square - Win (3 pax)
12. "Missing Corpse", MissionQ, SS15 Subang - Win (#1 Hall of Fame - 6 pax)
13. "Unleashing the Matrix", MissionQ, SS15 Subang - Win (5 pax) - is being replaced
14. "Haunted House", Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square - Win (6 pax)
15. "Taken", Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square - Win (8 pax - #1 for the week!) 
16. "Mysterious Room", Escape Room, e@Curve - Win (4 pax)
17. "Secret Lab", Escape Room, Setiawalk Mall, Puchong - Win (6 pax - #2 for the week!) 
18. "Crime Scene", Escape Room, Setiawalk Mall Puchong - Win (6 pax - #3 for the week!) 
19. "Saving Ms. Ryan", Escape Dungeon, SS15 Subang - Win (4 pax - #1 Hall of Fame!) 
20. "Trapped", Escape Dungeon, SS15 Subang - Win (4 pax - #3 Hall of Fame!) 
21. "Ruins of Damnation", Escape Dungeon, SS15 Subang - Lost (4 pax)
22. "Curious Murder", Escape Dungeon, SS15 Subang - Win (4 pax) 
23. "Day and Night", MissionQ, SS15 Subang - Win (4 pax) 
24. "Haunted Chamber", Escape Dungeon, SS15 Subang - Win (4 pax - I quit halfway!) 
25. "Fairy Tale", Rush Hour, Setapak - Win (4 pax - no Hall of Fame yet)
26. "Prison Break", Rush Hour, Setapak - Win (4 pax) 
27. "Murder in Crime Investigation", Rush Hour, Setapak - Lost (4 pax) 
28. "The Pyramid", Rush Hour, Setapak - Win (4 pax)
29. "The Morgue", Rush Hour, Setapak - Win (4 pax) 
30. "The World Behind the Mirror", Rush Hour, Setapak - Win (4 pax) 
31. "World War 007", Freeing Room, Taman Connaught - Perfect (6 pax) 
32. "Biohazard Lab", Freeing Room, Taman Connaught - Perfect (6 pax) 
33. "Pirate Ship", Escape Room, e@Curve - Win (5 pax) 
34. "The Slaughter House", Escape Room, e@Curve - Win (5 pax) 
35. "Saw", Mission Break, Mahkota Cheras - Win (4 pax) 
36. "Identity", Mission Break, Mahkota Cheras - Win (4 pax) 
37. "The Shahara Prison", Mission Break, Mahkota Cheras - Lost (4 pax)
38. "Escape Room x Fear Factor", Escape Room, Setiawalk Mall Puchong - Win (4 pax)
39. "Heaven and Hell", Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square - Lost (4 pax) 
40. "Project Fallout", Breakout, Avenue K - Win (6 pax) 
41. "Infinity", Breakout, Avenue K - Win (6 pax) 
42. "Chamber of Hocus", Breakout, Avenue K - Lost (5 pax) 
43. "Mr Oswald's Greatest Show", Breakout, Avenue K - Win (5 pax)
44. "The Greatest Murder of Westwood", Breakout, Avenue K - Win (5 pax)
45. "The Overlook Hotel: Room 13", Escape Room, e@Curve - Win (6 pax)
46. "Kidnapped", Break The Code, Penang - Win (4 pax - 2nd place) 
47. "Crazy Lab", Break The Code, Penang - Loss (4 pax)
48. "Pirates Ship", Break The Code, Penang - Win (4 pax - 2nd place) 
49. "Detective-X", Break The Code, Penang - Win (4 pax - 1st place) 
50. "Escape Plan: Behind the Bars", Traphauz, Sunway Mentari - Win (6 pax) 
51. "Kidnapped", Traphauz, Sunway Mentari - Win (6 pax) 
52. "Back to the Future", Traphauz, Sunway Mentari - Win (7 pax) 
53. "The Egyptian Tomb", Traphauz, Sunway Mentari - Win (7 pax)
54. "Malaysia Room", Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square - Win (8 pax - #1 for the week) 
55. "Classroom", Escape Zone, Kota Damansara - Win (5 pax - record breaking time!) 
56. "Puppet House", Escape Zone, Kota Damansara - Win (5 pax - record breaking time!)
57. "Classroom Murder", Code Factory, Jaya Shopping Centre - Win (6 pax) 
58. "Lost", Code Factory, Jaya Shopping Centre - Win (6 pax) 
59. "The Asylum", Escape Zone, Kota Damansara - Win (6 pax - #3 on the Hall of Fame) 

So, a teeny background story about the "Perfect" status. Freeing Room has this thing where instead of just escaping the room, you would have to complete a mission. This mission, should you choose to accept it, will determine on whether you just "win" or achieve the "perfect" status. If you only escape the room but don't complete the mission, then you will just "win". If you manage to escape the room and complete the mission, you will achieve the "perfect" status. When we were given the briefing, we thought it was a bit tough, but pfft! 

Playing in a consistent mode (almost two rooms per week) with my cousin and his partner, allowed us to come up with a team name. Our team is called "Team SPeeDS" which has two meanings. Firstly, the word SPeeDS spells the following: Charmaine Andrew Sam Patrick Enigmatic Escape Doro Sheryl.  Secondly, the word speeds also represents the fact that we try our best to get out as fast as we can. It's been an amazing and productive teamwork and we've been accomplishing a hell-load! All hail #TeamCASPeeDS!!!

Some people might be all judgmental and shit and wondering why the heck is this woman taking this little game so seriously?! Well, here's the thing, I don't take things lightly. I love the intensity, the competitive attitude that this "little game" brings to me. I love the satisfaction of winning and the disappointment of losing, which encourages me to understand why we lost and do better the next time around. It's almost somewhat of an addiction and I can honestly tell you, it doesn't seem to be getting lighter. There are rooms that our partners have already played and we will have to catch up, but I do believe that all is well and we will prevail! :) 

So yes, that's just a quick and simple update of me. I will be doing my best to blog a bit more, and updating you on the bits and pieces of myself. If you want to get to know me better, please do not hesitate to follow me on the following social media platforms: 

Instagram: @sherylhosulynn

Twitter: @sherylhosulynn
Team Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TeamCASPeeDS (PLEASE LIKE US!)  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherylho86

Thank you for reading! 

Love always, 

DancerGal Sheryl! 

In the Life of DancerGal: Reliving my childhood with Walt Disney!

I went to the Putrajaya International Fireworks Competition over one of the weekends with some MSS friends (Adry, Min, Dennis and Kevin) to check out some fireworks and play with my new toy! :P Little did I know, I was going to be thoroughly surprised and amazingly happy by the end of the night (before your mind starts to wonder, no, I was not proposed to and I am not engaged!)

From what I knew, the contender for that evening was from the U.S of A. We tried looking for a spot upon arriving at the Pusat Maritime, Putrajaya. There were so many people and it was so crowded. We took at least about 20 mins just looking for a good spot, which we did find in the end. Anyway, after setting up, Dennis helped me set my camera to certain settings and taught me how to use it. Once that was done, we sort of stood there waiting for about 15 to 20 mins more. Then an awesome announcement was made. They did a short profile about the contender from USA and guess what? The contender was from WALT DISNEY!

Walt Disney's signature

I was jumping with joy and super ecstatic when I heard their name! Imagine the look on a 5-year old child that just got a huge cotton candy. I knew that this competition included choreography between music and fireworks. That means, 25 minutes of Disney music, 25 mins of fireworks... wow. I was so superbly excited. Honestly speaking, I didn't take that many (good) shots, but I was proud of a few. Please note that these photos are NOT edited hence the horrible smoke around the fireworks and incomplete shots. I'm sorry I have yet to figure out how to play with Photoshop and I would rather post this sooner rather than later. So please go easy on me okay?

Here are some photos from my awesome camera-savvy friends. I honestly speaking am in awe by the beauty of their photos and I can't wait to learn more from them! :) 

Credit: Dennis Lee

Credit: Dennis Lee

Credit: Alvin Wong

It was pretty epic. We were entertained by songs from my childhood favourite cartoons like Cinderella, Tarzan, Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, etc. It was just so much fun that I couldn't stop smiling after the whole thing was over. Like I said, I was like the 5-year old child who just got her favourite cotton candy. I was quite frustrated in the beginning of it all, but by the end of it, I was just like OMG OMG OMG! (If you know me well enough, you'd probably be able to picture me saying this!) 

OH YEAH! I'm a happy girl! <3 div="" nbsp="">

Love always, 

DancerGal Sheryl!

In the Life of DancerGal: Cempaka Voices in Concert 2013!

Last Friday, I was at the annual Cempaka Voices in Concert 2013! I was pretty darn excited when I heard about the theme: Back to School! This meant that Cempakan Alumni was gonna be coming back to perform. And I really need to thank SammoBammo for allowing me to bring friends. That was really an amazing gesture. Thank you :)

So, one of my Monday Show buddies, Joyce, agreed to come along. Joyce is this really awesome sweet girl and I thank her for agreeing to come along and I hope you had a great time girl :) Please note that I am uncertain of the classes that these kids graduated from so I am guessing or based on what I heard that night. Please feel free to correct me! Thank you!

Joyce Wong, Monday Show Entertainment

So we left my office at about 6pm and it took us TWO hours to get to Cempaka Cheras. The traffic was insane thanks to stupid rain! Thank goodness when we finally got there (close to around 8pm), the show hadn't started. I felt so sorry to Joyce because the poor girl had to sit through traffic with me while eating her dinner in the car. And traffic was HORRENDOUS but this gave us the chance to chat and catch up. I'm really glad I got to know this girl better :)

So once we got there, I met SammoBammo and the rest of the Cempaka family! Always makes me so happy seeing all of them, especially my very special teacher, Dr Wong. Even as I'm typing this and thinking about them, I'm smiling. Hahaha!

Fareed Hamzah and Hisham Hamzah (SammoBammo) 

I like how because the theme of the show was "Back to School", Fareed took the initiative to wear the school tie which I thought was super awesome! Kudos! SammoBammo came dressed up pretty well, I must say. Smart casual at its best.

Joyce and I before the show!

Gabriel was the emcee for the night and started off by giving some casual greetings and then proceeded to introduce the first performer, Cheryl Tan, class of 2006 (if I'm not mistaken!) where she belted out some amazing jazz tunes. Her voice was totally amazing and I followed her immediately on Facebook just so I could find out more about her upcoming performances :)

Cheryl Tan singing - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

Shortly after was Teh Gao Jye, class of 2011 (if I'm not mistaken?) and I was blown away. He sang two songs, one about lifelong love and the other about regrets. The best part is that both songs were actually composed by him! Awesome and talented much? I really loved the first song that he wrote. Can't exactly remember the title of the song that I liked though. If someone does remember, please let me know, and do let Gao Jye know that he needs to record it! :D 

Teh Gao Jye singing original compositions - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

After that, Annatasha Saifol, class of 2010 (if I'm not mistaken?) serenaded us with a piano cover of Katy Perry's Not Like The Movies. I was totally amazed at the talents of this particular firecracker. She is a student in culinary arts, currently a young entrepreneur, the photographs were taken by her, she plays the piano, sings like an angel, AND she is also a dancer. Amazing! All thanks to the education from a great school, Cempaka Schools :) 

Annatasha Saifol on the piano and singing - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

Then, I started screaming my head off because out came 6 vocalists. Annatasha Saifol, Savira Sigit (class of 2013), Julie Chan Nuo En (class of 2011), Teoh Jun Vinh (class of 2011), Gabriel Tham (class of 2011) and Teh Gao Jye. They sang a medley of pop songs (mostly from Bruno Mars!). I was so insanely thrilled to hear Julie sing again. I used to be the house-mistress in CILC when Julie was head prefect and we got to know each other better then. I am privileged to have known someone like Julie. Don't forget me when you make it big, woman! :P Also, Savira, wow. A superstar in her own right. She has been accepted into a performing arts school in the US of A and I am just so crazily proud of her. I remember back in the day when I used to work in Cheras, she would come and greet me in the mornings with a big hug. Oh how I miss those days. *memories*

From L-R: Julie Chan, Teh Gao Jye, Annatasha Saifol, Gabriel Tham, Savira Sigit, Teoh Jun Vinh
Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

From L-R: Julie Chan, Savira Sigit, Annatasha Saifol, Teh Gao Jye, Gabriel Tham, Teoh Jun Vinh

Then out came, Jes Ebrahim who performed a couple of songs. One with his brother, Jes Ismail, and two songs with Abdul Muhaimin. Jes and Muhaimin did a guitar duet of "Getaran Jiwa" and that was just amazing. It did however, remind me of the duet that Jes once did with another Cempakan alumni, Aiman Ahmad Marzio. At this point, I still wasn't aware of what was happening and I was already in lala land thanks to all these super talents. Little did I know, I was going to be even more amazed.

Abdul Muhaimin and Jes Ebrahim - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

Jes Ebrahim and Jes Ismail - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

After their performance was a performance by alumni Farah Alya Ali, class of 2011 (if I'm not mistaken?) and she sang "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. The Miley Cyrus that was still sane and could actually produce good music. The way Farah performed it, gave the song a very elegant twist and it was so simple, yet beautiful. Nice!

Farah Alya Ali singing "The Climb" - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

Then, came my favourite Cempaka skit, directed by Mr Scott McQuaid, Private Eye. There was part 1 and 2 a couple of years back. This year, they did Private Eye 3 starring Muhammad Luqman, Savira Sigit, David Estrada, Nimeesha Chan, Farel Sigit, Cheah Yi Jane, Syakirah Md Saadon, Tengku Dayang Adeira, and Caleb Choo. This skit was pretty hilarious and clearly didn't disappoint and Farel was insanely adorable as "The Big Boss".

Luqman and Farel going head to head. - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

Farel playing "The Big Boss" - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

Soon after, Gabriel Tham gave his rendition of Josh Groban's Broken Vow. Beautiful song and even more beautiful cos you can see Gabriel's face. For those of you who don't know, Gabriel played the Beast in Cempaka's Box Office Production (CBOP) of Beauty and the Beast, followed by Kerchak in CBOP's Tarzan. It truly is a nice change seeing his face outside of make up and fake hair. His voice really does remind me of Josh Groban to be honest.

Gabriel Tham belting out "Broken Vow" - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

After Gabriel, out came Julie Chan who belted out Second Hand White Baby Grand. I nearly cried listening to her sing. As I mentioned before, Julie and I got a bit closer during my stay in CILC and I remember her telling me about how she came to know God. It was truly a memorable moment listening to her sing again. I remember when I first heard her sing "Defying Gravity" on stage through a video. To hear her sing live, is really an honour :)

Julie Chan singing Second Hand White Baby Grand - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

Then out came Lumiere, better known among his peers as Teoh Jun Vinh. Every time he steps out on stage, I will never forget his amazing stint as Lumiere (the candlestick) from CBOP's Beauty and The Beast. Beauty and The Beast was the first musical I worked on when I was in Cempaka. I watched all six shows, and all six times, I was amazed by his performances. This boy can sure sing! He belted out Michael Buble's "Haven't Met You Yet", one of my favourite songs from one of my favourite male vocalists.

Jun Vinh singing "Haven't Met You Yet" - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

Then came the land of the musicians. Andrew Ng on the violin, Abdul Muhaimin on the bass (the fella bought a new bass!), Caleb Choo on the drums and Mr Wong Shen Vee on the piano played Claude Bolling's Suite. It was pretty classical in the beginning, just violin and the piano, but when the bass and drums were added in, it sounded pretty darned awesome! There's just something about Andrew when he's on the violin that makes the whole world stop for a while and just focus on his playing. That is one talented boy right there. When Caleb is on the drums, it's like he is in a world of his own. You can watch him on YouTube where he does covers. It's pretty interesting.

Abdul Muhaimin on bass and Andrew Ng on violin - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

Savira sang her solo, "At Last" made famous by Etta James. As usual, Savira at her age, gave us a flawless Savira-ised version of the song and it was beautiful. And there was this adorable moment where the musicians backing her (Mr Wong Shen Vee on piano, Mr Lee Voon Foong on saxaphone, Abdul Muhaimin on bass and Caleb Choo on drums) were doing their thing, and she scooted to the back of the amps, took a sip of water, and then continued with her great performance. Truly an artist in the making and a superstar in my heart :)

Abdul Muhaimin on bass, while Savira belts out her tune - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

Savira Sigit singing "At Last" by Etta James.- Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

The show then led to an amazing and adorable dance performance by Abdul Muhaimin, Teoh Jun Vinh, Annatasha Saifol and Natasha Lama. Their dance was called "Hey Pachugo!", which I believed to also be the name of the song they were dancing to, and the two boys were basically trying to catch the two girls. I don't really know how, but Muhaimin ended up tapping on a table. THAT was pretty darned awesome! Annatasha also did a "trailer" to the dance which was pretty amazingly done! Natasha as always, did not disappoint when it comes to dance, and Jun Vinh was just awesome! Flawless cast!

Muhaimin tapping on the table - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

The one with purple hair is Annatasha, Natasha and Muhaimin - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

The final solo performance of the night was of course, the one and only, Razlan Saharuddin. Student of the Berklee College of Music, Razlan has performed many times in Cempaka as alumni and every time he performs, he sings his own music (well, most of the time!). On the night of CVIC 2013, he sang all original songs, but one in particular made me tear. I don't remember the name of the song, but it was about his best friend's sister who had run away from home. It was just a touching number and I really enjoyed it so so much. Also, Darren Ashley was his drummer and back-up vocalist. Awesome much? :)

Razlan explains the meaning behind every song before singing it to us. - Photo credits: Abdul Qayyum

Razlan in crooner mode - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

There was this beautiful finale, Seasons of Love, crooned by the entire cast (Julie Chan, Annatasha Saifol, Savira Sigit, Gabriel Tham, Teh Gao Jye, Teoh Jun Vinh, Razlan Saharuddin, Jes Ebrahim, Cheryl Tan, Farah Alya Ali, etc) backed by all the musicians (Abdul Muhaimin, Caleb Choo, Mr Wong Shen Vee, etc). It was truly an amazing showcase of the pool of talented alumni/students from Cempaka Schools. I am proud to call myself an alumni too (although I'm not HALF as talented as all these people are!). 

Seasons of Love Finale - Photo credits: Lau Jiaying

As most of you can see, the photos (the awesome ones!) were taken by Cempaka alumni Abdul Qayyum and Lau Jiaying. Another group of talents. These were some amazing shots and thank you for allowing me to use your photos on my blog. 

Cempaka, megah berdiri,

Tahun '83 bulan Januari, 

Bersatu, berdisiplin, dan berdikari

Melahirkan generasi yang berhemah tinggi

Kami semua, anak Cempaka, 

Berbilang kaum, bangsa dan agama, 

Bersatu, mencapai cita dalam perpaduan

Harapan ayah bonda, dan juga negara

Berkaliber, dan berdedikasi,

Itulah prinsip guru-guru kami, 

Mendidik dan membimbing, sepenuh hati

Meninggikan prestasi pengajian kami

Cempaka, oh Cempaka,

Harummu semerbak merata-rata,

Hijau dan kuning warna gemilang, 

Kejayaan diutamakan

Marilah, mari bersama, 

Mara maju ke hadapan, 

Majulah, oh Cempaka, hingga berzaman

Majulah, oh Cempaka, hingga berzaman

Love always, 

DancerGal Sheryl! 

In the Life of DancerGal: Malaysia Social Media Week '13 WelcomeCocktail!

So yesterday evening, I attended the welcome cocktail for the Malaysia Social Media Week 2013. It was super fun and I had the pleasure of meeting quite a number of people whom I've gotten to know via Twitter but never really had the opportunity of meeting in person :)

The event was held at Berjaya Hotel, located next to Berjaya Times Square. My attire for the evening was relatively simple yet elegant. I wore a black dress from Kitschen (RM 59.90) paired with my beautiful Melissa Wings heels in nude (RM 475.00) and a black clutch from H&M (RM 99.90). I thought the ensemble would be under the category of smart casual. It was simple, easy, no fuss. Although note to self, I need to start looking into designing my own name cards and carry a smaller (and thinner) wallet with me for such occasions :)

I arrived insanely early, and so I decided that I would go for a quick cuppa at the Starbucks located in the mall itself. After the cuppa, it was still pretty early so I decided to be a nerd and look around RadioShack for some nerdy loves. Got myself a chic case for my phone by Uniq. The colors are so pretty (lilac and light pink!). Anyway, this cost me RM 99, but pretty worth it considering the fact I don't buy cases very often (or at least, I'd like to think so!) :P

After the shopping, I decided to take a break from all that shopping and hang out in the lobby at the hotel. I then got in touch with Aswin (tweet handle: @aswin_tweet), from My Events as well as Social Media Chambers. We finally met for the first time and I stole this shot off him while he was busy working :P

Then, I found out that Syafique was already on the 14th floor. Syafique, as most of you may know, is the founder of MotivationMY.com and is also the official online media partner for MSMW '13. I am so proud of how far MMY has come along and I'm honored to be one of those who have been there to watch it grow :)

Also met with Cherish, Syafique's colleague from Astro Awani. Have seen her on Instagram and Twitter, but haven't actually met her in person. So happy to have finally done that.

Also met with a couple others whose names are big in the industry like Christopher Tock of EYE Project and Social Grooves, Veron of Social Grooves, etc. It was pretty awesome :) I will let my photos speak for themselves from here on out :)

I must say that on the first night, I knew that the rest of the event was going to be awesome!!! <3 blog="" care="" experiences="" my="" nbsp="" on="" other="" p="" soon="" take="" will="">

Love always, 

DancerGal Sheryl!