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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Jelliriffic! Prize Presentation

Hi I'm back! Don't you just love this time of the year when everyone is in a holiday mood? The kids are on holidays and there're no school or tuition runs. Bliss. Lots of dinner parties and catching up with friends and family from now until Chinese New Year, which is on 23rd Jan. One of my nieces got married on 15/12, the first in her generation, and I am hoping to eat some roasted suckling pig tonight.

As you know, my whole family was in Kuala Lumpur for the Royal Selangor Jelliriffic! Challenge (see October posts) prize presentation 12th and 13th Dec. If I were to write about it, I'll need to do a whole week of posts but instead of that, I'll let the photos do the talking. The photos are from several sources because I made the most horrifying mistake of forgetting to load my camera with the battery that day and the RS' factory and head quarters were an inconvenient 20 minutes' drive away from the hotel. Not far, when I think of it now, but with so many things going on, and seeing how the whole family (except Wey, who was sulking as usual and also down with flu) was enjoying the factory tour and everything, it was hard for me to insist that anyone go back to the hotel to get the battery. I kick myself still, and I hope that this is the last time I forget memory cards and camera battery. If any of you have any photos of the event, please send them to me.

We started the day with a tour of the Gallery, which houses beautiful RS products from the time RS was founded in 1885 to their latest collections. The Gallery brings you through the history of how tin and pewter developed into important business for the country, and  also tells the story of how the founder of RS, Yong Koon, grew a small business into the largest and best-known pewter company in the world. What amazes me is that RS is running stronger than ever under the management of the 4th generation, making RS the oldest privately owned company in Malaysia.

RS' School of Hard Knocks was where we got to hammer pieces of pewter sheets into bowls to bring home. It was fun. Pewter is a very easy metal to work with because it is soft. The RS Visitor's Center where RS' products are for sale was filled with tourists and shoppers but unfortunately we didn't have time for a visit. The Center is open to the public 9 am to 5 pm daily and is truly worth visiting because the collection of products is extensive. RS' products are famous for their craftsmenship, design and quality so do check out their online site when shopping for Christmas presents.

The guests and press started arriving at 2 pm. After the prize presentation, the audience were asked to join Team Billy and Team Terri in making jellies (each team had 8 people making a jelly each) with the theme "Love, Life and Humour"--the tagline for the Nick Munro mould used for RS' yearly fund raising for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association. That was followed by Olympus' workshop on how to take photos of food using the new PEN Lite micro four thirds DSLR cameras. We were having such a fun time that nobody took much notice of the storm that was raging outside. The storm resulted in Jalan Tun Razak, a major road in the city, being flooded and impassable for a couple of hours.

Besides promoting breast cancer awareness and aiding the Breast Cancer Welfare Association, RS is also involved in a drive to protect the environment and conserve nature and these efforts are totally characteristic of RS now that I've met and spent some time with its management and staff. It was an honor for me to be part of RS' yearly fund-raising event for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association. Hats off to RS' management and staff!

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Did you know that no two RS hammered products are the same because the little dents on RS' hammered products are all hammered by hand, mostly by this lady who has worked in RS for over 40 years? I had a go at hammering and it was a difficult task because you have to hammer each dent twice at the same spot and with even pressure.

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At RS' School Of Hard Knocks, we hammered our own pewter bowls (Billy's bowl was the best, deep and round) from a thin sheet of pewter. Pewter is a soft metal made of tin, antimony and copper and has a low melting point of 250 C, which is why the Jelliriffic! moulds were not to be baked. 

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RS' cafe serves a large selection of dishes and desserts. The vertical surface of the counter is made of pewter tiles, giving a contemporary and classy look to the cafe.

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Curry laksa was the special of the day and it was very good but I only ate half a bowl because I had put on 1 kg in 3 days in Singapore.

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These delicious cakes (L to R: cheesecake, Guinness cake, tart and choc fudge cake) were all made by the gorgeous wife of RS's GM. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of them but we were totally taken by this charming, easy-going and friendly couple who epitomizes RS' elegance and class.

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This is a replica of the famous melon tea pot made by the founder of RS, Yong Koon. The original is displayed in RS' gallery and it just makes sense that Yong Koon became a tinsmith rather than a tin miner because he obviously was very artistic and skillful.(Hint: I covet the melon teapot and the lidi basket.)

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Here's evidence of what I've been accused of constantly--I laugh and gesture too much. Here's a link to an online article  about the Challenge.

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Jelllies by Team Billy in the top and bottom horizontal rows while jellies made by my team are in the middle rows.

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Practising their new photo skills.

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With the beautiful RS ladies who organised the competition.

13 comments:

  1. Great job with the jellies :) Congrats again.

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  2. Wow.. Agree with Michelle, you look hot!

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  3. Felt so proud to have a friend, now internationally known. You looked terrific and beautiful. Nice hairdo with simple dress yet elegant.

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  4. Hi Terri!
    Congratulations!
    It seems you had lot of fun, too!!

    Hugs!
    Laura

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  5. michelle: photos lie. but thnx:D!

    baby: thnk u:))

    anon: hmm. who are you?

    ivy: wah...i'm flying:D!

    laura: yes we did, everything went well except for the camera but i've moved on lol.

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  6. Indeed. You look so elegant! You're such a cool lady!

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  7. Looking good Terri and the whole family too. What's in store next?!

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  8. blur,anon, nate: next time you're in kk, dinner's on me!

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  9. What do you do for a living, Terri? Are you a journalist or author? Your English is outstanding! Very eloquent.

    Apple does fall far ..

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  10. Correction, .. Apple doesn't fall far... :-))

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  11. Your hard work paid off. I guess hubby must be thrilled that 1) he got his wife back 2) you won

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