Last Saturday Lady Patsy and I attended the 233rd United States Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the JW Marriot in Bukit Bintang. The ball was hosted by the Marine Security Guard Detachment of the American Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.After watching lots of NCIS and A Few Good Men, we're finally gonna see the men in uniform in the flesh!
Our preparation for the ball started in the afternoon when Lady Patsy met up with me at the YMCA in Brickfields after my French class. We then drove back to my apartment to get dressed up. But before that we stopped at Sonali's to get matching bangles and earrings for Lady Patsy's blue lengha.
By the time we reached my apartment, some bloody driver had parked their car in my lot. I complained to Security and they clamped the car. But before that, I sent my 'love' to the driver on a piece of paper and stuck it on to the windscreen. The message read: "Please don't park here anymore, stupid!" That was me being nice, I could have used more 'colourful' words ...
Cocktails began at 6.00pm and dinner at 7.00pm. By the time we did our hair and make-up, it was already 8.00pm!!!
I was hoping they would follow Malaysian timing, but these are military guys, so I guess they would be military precised in their timing.
By the time we got to the Marriot, the second course was about to be served. This means we missed the salad and the opening ceremony which was some flag procession, I heard.
But before we could enter the ballroom, we had to pass through a metal detector like the ones at the airport. Expect this at most events that involves the Americans, what more a Marine ball!
Luckily they didn't ask us to remove our shoes, otherwise I would have been pretty pissed having to tie my shoes back and already late for the ball.
Red and white wine supplied by the Embassy ran out during the second course. Only beer was available throughout the night. So those who wanted more wine had to purchase from the hotel. What a rip-off for those who paid to attend the ball!
After the last course was served, most of the guests started hitting the dance floor. After dancing for a bit, we went to snap pics outside the Grand Ballroom.
Lovely ice sculpture.
L to R: Lady Patsy, Tini Sharman and I.
This is GySgt Shaun Washausen. He is the Detachment Commander of the Marines in Kuala Lumpur. I think he looks like Robbie Williams.
Cpl Juan Machuca and I.
There were two of this on each table, and I took two sets home as souvenir.
4 comments:
Forgive me for straying here, and I plead that you blame Jacqui.
The post title piqued my interest, and I had hoped to read some insight on the USMC mind. Seeing that naught was forthcoming, I wonder if you have hung around military circles long enough to know what regular forces say about these leathernecks.
Hope you had a good time nonetheless.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for dropping by :-)
I've not hung around the military circle long enough to give insights into the USMC mind, or share about what regular forces are saying about the Marines.
Even if I did, I wouldn't want to blog about it for the world to read, because I’m in no position to do so.
And yes, I did enjoy myself at the ball :-)
I happened to come across your posting about the Marine Corps Birthday Ball when I was searching for a birthday ball to attend in Malaysia. I was a Penang-born Malaysian, but currently serving on active duty in the USMC. I think I might be back in KL for vacation around the Marine Corps birthday, so I want to see if there is a ball sponsored by Marine Security Guard detachment at the US Embassy in KL. Do you know how to get tickets by the way? Sounds like a great time.
Hi Anonymous,
I would love to assist you but unfortunately I've lost contact with my friends at the US Embassy in KL. Neither do I have the contact number of the embassy itself. Sorry ...
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