Mangaloreans Welcome 2009 in Spectacular Fashion
Report by Nina Rai - Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Mangalore, Jan 1: With the city’s top most hotels, restaurants and elite clubs all busy organizing various parties and bashes to usher in the New Year, not to be left behind this year too a grand bash entitled “09 New Year Eve’s Ball” was held by the Hotel Goldfinch management, ably led by Sumanth Shetty, on the forth floor of their hotel at Bunts Hostel Road, here on 31st Dec, 08. Goldfinch is a boutique hotel and part of the famous Bangalore based MRG group. The media partner for the event was Big FM 92.7.
With the venue filled to capacity with all tickets totally sold out, the grand bash with the theme “Roll on 2 the New Year 2009” began at around 7.30 pm. The venue was the poolside which had been covered for a make-shift red carpeted stage. The band known as the “Wonder Band” belted out assorted bunch of songs led by a musically inspired troupe. They began by first singing old English numbers such as “Lady in Red.” After which the repertoire of songs consisted of slow romantic numbers like Lionel Richie’s famous song “Hello, is it me you are looking for” followed by Rock N Roll, Jiving, Salsa and other fast numbers.
Speaking exclusively to Daijiworld Felix, the Chief Engineer at Goldfinch described the hotel as a boutique hotel named after the Australian fishing bird Goldfinch. He invited all to visit the rooms stating that the interior and décor of each room was uniquely different from the other. Moreover, he also proudly informed that the hotel had received the much valued FSMS certificate due to which each and every dish is certified as per its quality before it reaches the guest’s table. In-fact the food here, he said, is prepared with natural ingredients only with no artificial flavors added like ‘Ajinomoto’. When specifically asked if there was any threat perception here in view of the terror attacks recently at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, he stated they had taken all necessary security measures to ensure the safety of the guests.
It turned out to be indeed a fun-filled night for patrons, with a live band playing right up to 12 am. There were games both for adults and children. The games included “Paper dancing in an island” which consisted of couples dancing on sheets of newspapers and the Balloon dance for couples. For the children there were games for kids below 15 and special dancing numbers for them on stage. There was a fire act put up by a young guy throwing off fire from his mouth. Another interesting act was an aerobatic floor dance by youngsters with knives in their hands. At sharp 12 amidst much screaming from the enthusiastic crowd the Year 2009 was ushered in with a burst of crackers and fire works which lit up the entire night sky in myriad colors. Everyone was seen wishing and hugging their near and dear ones, friends and strangers alike. After which there were all night dancing in the inner room with the DJ playing the latest numbers.
The food display was indeed a feast for the eyes. There were mouth wateringly sumptuous buffet laid out and welcome drinks made available. There was the fish in Oyster sauce, red masala mutton curry, chicken curry of various types, assorted variety of salads, varied cold cuts, variety of vegetarian and non-veg Biryani. In the desert section there were Plum cakes in brandy sauce, Gajjar Halwa, Malpua, New Year cup cake, pastries. The list seemed endless.
Winners of the various events carried home a bonanza of sorts. The prizes included complimentary stay at various hotels across India, free Air tickets for a couple courtesy Jet Airways. Moreover, other exciting prizes were given every hour for winners of spot events. The spot prizes announced included ones such as the best dancing couple and couple with the best dancing moves, etc. The major co-sponsors of the event were Smirnoff, Fosters, PSR and Coca-Cola.
Also see: Celebrations at Deepa Comforts, Moti Mahal and Bharat Mall