F1 Garden Party

I shouldn't have had the coffee to end the dinner. Couldn't sleep the whole night. And when I finally did, the resident fly came to wake me up.

The fly I couldn't kill. And somehow the spiders didn't get him either. What did people say when you tell them that you have all these beasts? Oh the scorpions help eat insects, the spiders will get the flies etc. I've been to school so I do know about the natural ecosystem, but what they didn't tell you is that there is no removal of evidence after the murder. The spiders spin their webs everywhere and you get dead and dried-up flies, wasps etc caught in the middle of them. And I have to clean up the mess. So no thank you, they can "natural eco-system" outside my house.

Otherwise last evening wasn't bad at all. For those in the know, we were invited to a dinner thrown by the company's CEO. And we appreciated that the premises were just 2 minutes away from our house (same street). Left the kids home alone. We even had the time to make a detour to the communal rubbish bins to dump cardboard boxes. Wouldn't be too elegant to arrive at the CEO's house in a racy Alfa Romeo with pieces of cardboard jutting out of its back seats.

For some reason Hubby had the impression that it would be an intimate dinner with just the Board of Directors (as usual never asked questions beforehand). Imagine our shock when we arrived and saw at least 50 cars parked in the driveway. Thank God I played safe and brought my jacket along. With numbers like this we were bound to eat out in the garden.

So besides the Board, the whole F1 Team had been invited. I didn't know a soul, but it didn't bother me. There was a buffet and if you give me a buffet, I can be in the middle of a desert and wouldn't feel out of place. Only prob was how to glutton without looking like one? As you may know, Hubby is quite the face-saving kind. At one point, my glass was empty of Prosecco and I repeated what I've always heard Hubby, his friends and family say when their glasses were empty, "My glass is dry. Need to get the booze dripping..." He prompty took me aside to inform me that we NEVER say that, 'coz it's impolite, low class etc. (Me : raised eyebrows)

I was distracted for a while looking at the women in the party. One fear we always have when we attend a party is to over or under dress. And certainly never to outdress the hostess. Our hostess international star M.Y. was simply dressed in sandals, a pink cardigan and flowery skirt. Thank God I opted for a safe simple black dress from Cacharel and pink pumps from Boss. My only accessory was my flat breasts almost exposed (the way I like it) in my plunging decolleté. Some of the other women were a little overdressed though. We noticed that many of the Italian women age badly. Many husbands looked younger than their wives.

The appetisers included regional specialties known as Gnocco fritto and Tigelle. Actually Fried Pasta and some bun-like bread. Eaten with slices of dried sausage or cured ham. Well, not tempting for me at all, I way prefer youtiao and mantou any time.

I had just decided to throw myself at the fried prawns moving around in paper cones when dinner was announced. We were to eat under white tents set up in the huge garden.

The Menu

Hubby and I were starting to feel a little nervous though. We did not know many people and therefore decided to stick to one other couple (the Finance Director) in the same shoes. Except that Hubby was stopped by one of the very important F1 Directors (the guy who would replace Todt as a matter of fact) as we made our way to an empty table with the other couple, informing him that we had been programmed to sit at the CEO's table facing all the others. Thank God though that we sat next to the Hosts and not opposite them. At least I could avoid eye contact with them during the meal and get to eat.

There was this big German guy in jeans acting as buffer between us and our Hosts. He was good company, tickling us with his stories and all. And I had a good time teasing him about German food etc all evening. Though I nearly vomited the pastry swans filled with cream that I had been stuffing myself with when Hubby informed me that the guy's PUMA's Nº2. The guy doesn't have any airs at all, but do note that he has quite a few Ferraris already and is thinking of getting the latest model as well. At a few hundred thousand euros minimum apiece, you can imagine that the guy is no pauper.

On my left and opposite, 2 women (one of which was the future F1 Head's wife) spent some time admiring each other's diamond rings (they were literally exchanging rings and trying them on). Their diamonds were at least twice as big as mine (and I have a 1,05ct). Even Hubby couldn't help noticing that. I took the opportunity to tell him to stop complaining about having bought me my ring a few years ago and to actually consider himself lucky that he hadn't had to get me a bigger one. Though how am I going to show my face in future such functions with every other woman wearing a much bigger stone? (*evil grin*)

The food was Italian. Not too bad, but with M.Y. around, I was hoping to find a few Malaysian delicacies like satay as well. And I promptly told her so. And her fiancé replied in her place that she has his private jet at her disposal to fly in a cook if ever she has the craving, right, my dear? Well, since the only vehicle truly in our ownership is Hubby's old Honda Bike, I will have to contend myself with making my own satay.

Our Hostess however proved herself true-blue S.E. Asian. She had a bowl of fresh red chilli in olive oil right in front of her that she spread liberally on her food. And she kindly shared some of it with me. I must say that the fadish-tasting fish tasted suddenly much better once it had some of the chilli on it.

At the end of the evening, the CEO made a short speech and presented a gift to the German Puma boss. Something about thanking him for his support and generosity.

We left the party around midnight armed with a goodie bag. Just my kind of thing - free food and somemore got free gift. Opened it up when we reached home. Just what I've always wanted but never got round to buying (pained me a bit to pay so much for PVC) - Puma Bags for me and a pair of Ferrari Binoculars for the Hubby. Told him that he could now oogle at pretty girls without embarrassing me.

Sigh, there would be another company dinner (this time organised by the Group) in 3 weeks, but as it would be in Turin, I wouldn't be able to attend. Will have to stay at home and kill spiders. After 2 weeks away in Paris, I'm sure that the house would be colonised à nouveau by those beasts.