Since Sadie’s workshop starts on a Sunday, the three of us flew there on a Saturday and arrived nice and happy! We were greeted by Nancy’s husband’s friend, Johnny, who drove us to our hotel. He even swing by the workshop venue to give us an idea of the distance from our hotel and equipped us each with a map of Penang. What a thoughtful host!
Our room was on the 15th floor, a nice height and a vast difference from the hotel we stayed during our KL workshop trip! Really, the hotel lobby was posh and welcoming, the rooms so much more decent, toilets with marble sink and the service superb. We didn’t even have to wait for transport to the studio with the help of the concierge!
After we gobbled down some bah kut teh beside our hotel, we strolled down gurney strip. Gurney Drive is like just in front of the rocky beach with the latest hotels and some private condos. Farther up’s the night hawker fare and a huge shopping mall. I would say it’s a tourist strip.
On our way to Gurney shopping mall, we popped in to the latest boutique hotel, the G hotel. Next time I want to stay here, there are fish tanks in the toilet, so pretty! And the lobby’s full of avant garde furniture that it feels more like a furniture store. I happily pose for a few shots in front of the big orange ‘G’ cos it’s my hotel!!! G hotel!!! G stands for Gine. *clap hands*
When evening comes, Chantelle picked us for dinner up at Penang Hill. When it comes to this girl, I must really praise her! She went out of her way to be such a brilliant host (together with her brother); chauffeuring us from studio, bringing us out for meals & drinks, bringing us for a spin around the island and dropping us off at the airport. If not, I think we’ll be stuck with walking up and down Gurney Drive! When I come back, all I can ever blog about is Gurney Drive and nothing else! She made a trip especially to buy Penang snacks for Nancy while we were at the studio. What an angel!
The view up at Penang Hill was fantastic and we giggled our way up n down the tram ride. (Oh the tram rides are a drag!) We kept telling ourselves that we have to be up early the next day and be nice & fresh for the workshop but we still ended up partying late. Anita was absolutely crazy!!! She drank, she danced, she posed for pictures around the club and swing her cardigan up around her head!!! I have never seen her like that. The next day, she couldn’t remember what she had said or done until we reminded her. Hah hah!
Needless to say, on Sunday after the workshop, we napped all the way till evening!!! For dinner, Chantelle suggested seafood; cooked by Malays. The method of cooking’s so different and yummy and best of all, really cheap. After splitting the bill, we paid only RM25 each! This time round, we dared not stay out too late as we expected a long and grueling day on Monday. So we were back in our room around midnight.
Monday was really tiring. Not wanting to waste our last day, we woke up earlier to wash up, pack and check out. If there’s only one thing you must do in Penang, it’s eating! We ate this dry claypot noodle that’s highly recommended. Really good lor! In fact, I cannot decide which is the best food I had so far in Penang!!! Everything tastes good, from posh restaurant at Penang Hill to hawker laksa, Penang’s a food paradise. By the time we end our workshops, it’s evening and Chantelle dropped us at her house for a quick freshening session, as the three of us were sweaty and yucky! After dinner, it was time to head to the airport. I anticipated a ‘challenging’ trip back as we had to take Air Asia to Senai before cab-bing back to Singapore. But I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the whole experience was! The cab drove right to my door step… WOW!
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Okay, on to details of the workshop proper:
17th May 2009 (Sun) 10am - 12.30pm - Pops, Locks and Shimmy
18th May 2009 (Mon) 10am - 12.30pm - Drum Solo Choreography
18th May 2009 (Mon) 2.30 - 5.30pm - Bellydance Boot Camp
Sadie is part of Bellydance Superstars. Remember Bellydance Superstars? If not, go back and read this. Her workshops are really popular judging by the size of the class. 40plus pax!!! Take picture with her also must queue up!!!
When I first saw her, her boobs immediately stand out. So huge! I think two of mine doesn't even add up to one of hers!!! Hahahaha...
She's tall and her figure's classic hourglass. Other than Bellydance Superstars, she also partners Kaya. But if you put Kaya beside Sadie, then Sadie's size of boobs really pale in comparison. However, I still prefer Sadie. Kaya looks too porn-star. Check out the below clip... you would know what I mean.
Sadie's techniques are unbelievably strong and consistent. If I didn't see her with my own eyes, I would not have believed how good her stamina was!!! It's like that's her supernatural power. It was very obvious during the bellydance boot camp - throughout the three hours, she never stopped drilling all of us with techniques. Most of the girls took turns to rest at the sideline halfway through the class but I pushed myself to continue. WHICH WAS A BAD IDEA cos now my knee hurts so badly. And the pain didn't seem to go away even though it's been a week since I returned from Penang. I am so afraid that my knee would affect the competition on 6th & 7th Jun.
Well anyway, back to the topic on workshops; even when Sadie was drilling us, she herself never stopped moving her hips - up & down, up & down, up & down. She's so consistent - each movement so sharp and precise even when she's practically shimmying and on double speed with the tempo. She makes eveything looked so effortless!!!
One thing I learnt from her is that no matter how far one progresses in dancing, one must not neglect the basics. The basics must still be practised regularly and religiously on top of all the advanced movements learnt. This is how her dance appeared so clean and so fluid. And I think she's very smart! She sticks to her strength - her talent lies in her techniques and she played up on it in every of her dance.
I liked when she encouraged everyone to do free style arm movements so long as it's fluid. She also emphasized a lot on expanding our dance vocabulary by layering different basic steps. However, I think she did not do so well in trying to correct some of the wrong moves; maybe the class's too big. *shrug* Still, that didn't stop me from 'worshipping' her. Amazing muscle control lah, she.
