Miri Ladies' Christmas Dinner 17 Dec 2010 Somerset Hotel

It is interesting to note some of Miri's Christmas traditions can start from some very small ways. One such small tradition that has been kept alive for more than 20 years is the Ladies' Christmas Night which started at Gymkhana Club. Others to name a few are  Ladies' Christmas Bazaar and Charity Sale and Christmas Carolling. The GCM Christmas musical night continues to be strong. It is always endearing that a city or a town has some special traditions which make it so special and so deeply treasured. And I strongly believe that these beautiful traditions must be kept on.

This intriguing and outstanding Miri tradition is the group of ladies who are originally members of the Gymkhana Club getting together for a Christmas dinner and exchanging gifts. And it was always so entertaining and fun that many ladies would look forward to it - it was time for them to let their hair down and have some girlie quality time. However over the years with recession and with folks moving out of Miri the number of ladies who would come together for this special Christmas Dinner has dwindled to just a handful. In the last few years we managed to get get some 20 or 30 happy souls together. The closure of the GCM club restaurant was also another one of the reasons for the lack of quorum for the dinner. But bonds are hard to break and we have been organising the dinner in various small restaurants. The forces behind such a Christmas dinner are Florence Enau and Lesley Linggod for as long as I can remember.

Lesley Linggod. MC for the night with her twinkling reindeer earrings....

You have guessed right....Lesley's earrings....

Lovely little pieces on the table to make it very Christmassy

The traditional cone for the Christmas tree....

Mandy....our aqua aerobics expert....

Dominique - charming as always....

Florence has been tired out getting things done and having a long list of to do's.....sweet blouse from the US!!

Juliana - coming to add wisdom to the party.

Cheerful Judy with her sunshine dress - adds a lot of romance to the room.

Two good friends from school days - Joan and Madeline....

Adeline - easy with laughter and nice to be top of the world.

Hajjah Bastiah spending quality time with friends in Miri!!

Regina Teng - good spirited fighter for rights of humanity!!

Aileen - a smile good enough for Hello!!

Jackie - lovely smile from South America to brighten up the evening!!

Our ever green Liza Chai with her exquisite jacket - and a new hair style which keeps every one in a happy mood.

Donna - joining us to add some lovely and quiet charm to the atmosphere.

Lesley Tan - a great support for all - always a good one to depend on for a  memorable evening of warm friendship and good spirits...

Sweet Teresa - charming and ladylike ...she looks like a star from Hong Kong!!

The chef of the evening - doesn't he look a bit like Martin Yan - Yan can cook? I think he still owes me the stuffing for the turkey.

The whole group for a good group photo...next year we will bring along one friend and double this group....

The table setting....by Somerset Hotel - compliments to the F and B department.

Lovely menu....

My turkey came with risotto instead of the traditional stuffing...it would have been nice to have cranberry sauce too....

Jocelyn from the Hotel also gets a present from the group......

Our special mushroom soup - very nice....May I have some more please? Oliver Twist would like it too.

Steak was a little over done for some of my friends but the jacketed potato made up for it.

Creme Caramel - lovely and sweet....I believe lots of us had an overdose of sugar ....but it is just so good.

My special capuccino - compliments of the hotel....

Nice fruit cake slice - also compliments of the hotel.

Special surprise gift for everyone - Made in Australia Milo for all to take home - from our Santa who got lost from North Pole or may be Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer could not read the signboards in Miri....Santa was Paul Pui - a big round of applause for him please......

All of us brought gifts (Rm20) and Lesley got this lovely necklace - from a Beijing gift shop...Lovely...goes with her eyes.

More gifts from the management to take home.

A thoughtful gift for Juliana....a hand made cross stitched bag with a mystery gift inside...we all make sure that we bring gifts which would be valued by our friends who get them. We are watchful we don't get ours back.

All the gifts wrapped up nicely to be given away to the lovely Ladies....

So next year Miri ladies you are all welcome to join us and have a nice dinner for Christmas....

And again another round of applause for Lesley and Flor for a job well done....I can say..."It's the best so far...." Merry Christmas girls and I hope you like the photos.