Thursday, February 12, 2004

Launch
Yesterday, I attended a launch for a community information drug guide. The day was officially known as "Vietnamese Guide to SUBUTEX launch"...or something along those lines...It was an interesting day for certain. Not what I would usually be doing but it was entertaining in some ways nevertheless.

Well, as soon as we got to the function centre, we were shown a seat at a random table. It was quite crowded when my mother and I got there. I sat down and preoccupied myself with the table setting as my mother bustled off and became a cross between a hyper schoolgirl and a social butterfly. It's rare to see her so jovial so it was good for her to have a day like yesterday. We ended up changing tables since my mother wished to sit near one of her close friends.

The emcee had the job of compering for both the English-speaking community and the Vietnamese community. I found nothing wrong with his conversation in Vietnamese, however the English version wasn't spectacular by any sense. I suppose I really paid attention when one of the doctors who worked on compiling the original guide. He was an entertaining speaker and rather effusive in his praise of the main coordinator of the event and the guide. Our illustrious host, Khoa (whom my mum knows, but I haven't the foggiest clue of who he is).

After Doctor. A's amusing little speech, I began to zone out. I didn't intend as a slight to the next speaker who just so happened to be the host for the launch. I fiddled around with my napkin/serviette. I've noticed that everytime I go to a formal restaurant for either a wedding or for any other reason, I have the utmost tendency to start using origami and make a crane or a box or some flower to stick in my glass. It's an unconscious thing I suppose, since I got into the habit when I was 9 years old.

This concluded the speeches, so the traditional entertainment and the food started. The first course was a papaya and prawn salad, which had too much sauce in it. It was practically drowning in the stuff. The entertainment was provided by the Vietnamese Association of Women or the Elderly or something like that. They started out with a few nice songs about spring which were lighthearted.

The next 2 dishes were nothing to write home about. Some sort of seafood soup and BBQ chicken. The next performance was a bit of a surprise. It was one of my favourite Vietnamese operatic singers, Thanh Hang. Now I know that it's a bit strange that I like traditional Vietnamese opera, don't worry a lot of people think it's weird too, but it was great to hear since her voice is wonderful! ^__^

After she sang a few ballads, she then graced us with one of the songs that she had recently sung in a Vietnamese opera. A bit long by modern standards but quite pleasant ot listen to wen you're trying to eat.
The fried rice dish came out next and it was a pretty poor effort as well. I mean, I may not be a gourmet cook but I do know how to make a nummy fried rice. It's sooo easy!

I left during after the rice dish, to rush over to the newsagent and the video store that I frequented quite regularly when we used to live in the area. I bought volume 10 of the Beyblade manga and my magazines...then I dropped into the vid store and hired Nightwalker and GTO.

I went back in, snuck in a serving of beef stirfry. Maybe it's just me or the fact that I'm in a generation of it's own, but there is something slightly disturbing about seeing old women dress up in bright pink skirts and doing a sort of communal dance. I can understand why they do it, since 'young' women no longer want to keep up tradition but it's still slightly disturbing.

We left after that. Me not getting any smarter, just getting a load of information, etc, and a really cool pen! I'm so easily satisfied aren't I?
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