Chinese New Year Open House

Organizer : Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)

Venue : Grand Ballroom, Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel

Date : 20 February 2010

Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel

I was invited to the HSBC Chinese New Year Open House this year held at the Grand Ballroom of Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel on 20 February 2010 (Saturday). Admission was free but only invited guests may attend the function. So you see ? It's not a true open house event. They might want to change the title next time ...

Invited guests may bring their children or spouses to the dinner. Since i have neither, i decided to ask my cousin to go with me instead.

This was my second time attending such function. The first time being a small tea-party held inside the HSBC Kota Kinabalu branch just a few days before the Mooncake Festival last year.

The newly appointed CEO of HSBC Malaysia, Mr. Mukhtar Hussain was present. So was Sabah Chief Minister, Musa Aman and the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Richard Malanjun.

The guy giving speech on stage in the picture above is the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Malaysia

The foods weren't great but were thousands times better than what i had at the Upper Sixth Form Prom Dinner at Shangri-la Beach Hotel & Resort Tanjung Aru. And no, they never ran out of desserts like what happened in my Upper Sixth Form Prom Dinner. But then, it'd be a joke if it happens in a party thrown by the largest European bank. Yes, despite its full name which screams Chinese and Asia all over, HSBC is actually British with its global headquarter based in London.

There were more than 300 people attending the function and i was sitting on Table 8.

Some of the foods served that night. Deep-friend spring rolls, black pepper lamb, fish and chicken are visible in the picture above. Also included are coconut pudding (scrumptious !!!), a glass of red wine, a glass of plain water and a glass of coke. I was very full by the time i took this picture and it was my fifth round actually. Should have taken pictures of the foods starting from the first round but i completely forgot !

Halfway through the dinner, they had Yik Nam to perform a lion dance for us. The Aussie sitting on my table liked the lion dance show very much !

That's it ! 恭 喜 发 财 ！