To concerto

I've always liked Andrea Bocelli and have some of his CDs so I can sing along to his songs to brush up my italian. So when I saw an ad that says "Watch Andrea Bocelli live in Singapore at the Botanic Gardens", I was quite excited that the maestro is coming to town. What's even more exciting is that the public stands a chance to win tickets to see him in a ballot - courtesy of YTL. I urged some of my italian classmates and colleagues to join the ballot, ma alas non ci sono biglietti per me.

Dejected, I emailed the rest and was prepared to beg anyone who'd have won tickets to the concerto when A replied to say her dad sits on the board of directors and we'd get the corporate passes! Yaaaay! Better still, she said we'd attend the cocktail reception in suitably cocktail dresses before Andrea comes on the stage. Che fortuna! Now if only she can arrange for some hunky italian escorts... :)

We had a smashing time, R was going at the canapes and camped at the food station while we gawked at the tai tais and black-tie men. We feel a bit under dressed but who cares! Andrea was excellent and his soulful voice echoed through the Botanic Gardens, charming the 12,000+ fans (includg President Nathan). I shouted 'bravo' and soon everyone was shouting it.

Things got even better when A told us that we're invited to the post concerto supper in the VIP tent - in the same breathing space with Andrea, Jimmy Choo and Michelle Yeoh! We bumped into Michelle earlier and almost hopped onto the same bungy with her, had we recovered from being star struck. The tent was gorgeous and we even get to enjoy the vino from Andrea's winery in Toscana. He didn't stay long after accepting a pot of orchids that are named after him but we did get some good shots of him. Arrivederci maestro!

The next day, it was Mom's Day and we celebrated it with nanny and family. Sis and I wanted to treat her to another holiday but she's not up for it so it'd be us and our parents at Kuching - a first time for us in the cat city to celebrate mommy's birthday in May. My new travel motto is to travel to new places. I'm still toying with where I should head to for my 3-week birthday retreat in July. Decisions, decisions.