So after that first day, it was 6 straight days of madness! The first 3 days with Alan Dunn was the worst (best?)! We were too ambitious and aimed for 9 flowers over 3 days. Alan said that in UK, he only teaches one flower a day! So we ended up 'working' from 9am till 6pm most of the time and on the last day of his class, we were there till 7pm! In the end we only made 7 flowers/foliage/butterfly and he had to just demonstrate the last two. He was too generous in agreeing with the principal of the school to teach so many flowers in such a short span of time.
SIL and I both have never been to a proper workshop, so we never thought it would be so much hard work! By the end of the first day of rushing about and stressing, we were aching all over and so tired!! This is where the salon hair wash comes in handy!! :)
Before heading to KL, we had so many plans to go clothes and shoe shopping and cake supplies shopping and even to visit a huge book fair which was happening while we were there! In the end we only managed to go cake supplies shopping around the vicinity of the cake school... the book fair trip was scrapped... and we amazingly managed to squeeze in two nights of shopping at One Utama (after Lorraine Mc Kay's class, not Alan's)!
Oh yes, we also went to the nearby supermarket one night to buy yoghurt cause we decided to have a light dinner, after eating too many wonderful dishes which you can't get, or is crappy back home. Like nasi lemak, Penang char kueh tiaw, Maggi mee goreng mamak, O chien, thosai, banana leaf rice, Penang assam laksa....!!!!
Okay back to the yoghurt... Well, the intention was genuine, we honestly intended to get yoghurt, but when we saw all the wonderful stuff at the supermarket (you must excuse these China ladies from small kampungs) we ended up having for dinner: sushi, herbed/spiced cheese pieces and nachos with guacamole dip!! So much for yoghurt...
Furthermore... you know how women get at supermarkets... we spotted lotsa stuff which we just had to buy cause we couldn't get it back home! This included a bottle of rose water each just because we might need it one day!! hahahaha...
In the end we had a whole trolley full of stuff and no idea how we were going to haul it all back to the hotel!! SIL came up with a great idea and 'coerced' me into kidnapping a trolley!! hahahaa
So there we were pushing a trolley down and across a highway, pretending it was totally normal and laughing our heads off all the way back to the hotel!!! Thank goodness nobody we knew spotted us!! hahahaha We ditched the trolley on the roadside near our hotel, between some bushes and by the next day it was gone! When can two mums have the opportunity to act like delinquent teens except in the rare absence of our children eh??!! :D
Anyway, SIL and I are both more experienced in fondant figurines, so sugar flowers were pretty new to both of us. I think the workshop with Alan Dunn was the best, as we learned a whole lot of new things. Alan is very talented and gracious and very chatty.
There was a 'mature' lady from New Zealand who was like an infatuated teen in the presence of Justin Bieber!! lol... SIL and I had loads of fun laughing at her whenever she was up at the "teacher's table" chatting with Alan, which was all the time!! We were running around like headless chickens; rolling and dusting and wiring, and there she was so relaxed... (she's a veteran with sugar flowers)
Well, I think we accomplished a lot in the workshop with Alan, and we are very proud of the amazing flowers we produced!
The next workshop was with Lorraine McKay, a wee Scottish lass who is so funny, in a sarcastic way at times and also feisty; not to be messed with! She started off the class with her ground rules of no photography or video taking of her work during the creating and even after completion. She is more strict and punctual and did not entertain nonsense! But she is a nice and friendly person as well, just more disciplined I guess. This was why we had more time to shop, cause she made sure the classes finished on time!
She does amazing figurines with such detail that they even have teeth and smile lines! They way she put life into flat, robotic figurine hands made everyone gasp!
So on the last day, SIL and I basically rushed to finish our work and get all our precious fragile works of art packed, ours was the last flight out that night. Then we had to haul all our creations and luggage and boxes of shopping! We got a taxi with a smart ass cabbie who was quite funny and managed to get to cousin Julie's in time and in one piece. She brought us out to have heavenly banana leaf rice and it was off to LCCT.
At the airport, our luggage was still overweight, even though I had purchased extra weight online the night before!! They wanted to charge a ridiculous RM30/kg!! So SIL and I dug out our stuff right there on the floor and shifted them into our knapsacks!!
At the screening of hand luggage, I didn't even have to scan my bag of flowers and figurines cause SIL and I kicked up a big fuss about how fragile they were! In the end the customs officers were ogling at our creations and even asked for our name card!! hahahaha...
On the plane, we were seated at the first row and had our precious works of art on the floor. The steward also left us alone when SIL said he had to pay for damages if we had to put them in the overhead compartment!! *Rowrrr pppfffttt*!!! lol...
Well, that was it, an amazing, educational, fun, crazy trip! Let's plan the next one!!! ;)
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