Join us for Global Cafe on the
Terrace
Tuesday 19 August 2008 from 10:00am
Did YOU Survive the
2008 Seoul Summer Survivor Party?
Aloha!
On Saturday 19 July, ANZA and the Australia New Zealand Chamber of
Commerce Korea hosted their fourth annual Seoul Summer Survivor Party.
Primarily organized for those staying through the long, hot Seoul
summer, this year's event had a Hawaiian theme and was planned for the
delightful waterfall garden area at the Grand Hyatt. Unfortunately the
weather had other ideas, and with torrential wet season rain coming down
all day, the event was moved indoors to the Regency Room next to the
Ballroom.
The Hyatt did a magnificent job decorating the function room with palm
trees, surfboards, pineapples, Hawaiian leis and a large surfboard ice
sculpture. Our 150 guests enjoyed a delicious BBQ & buffet, lots of cool
summer drinks and some fun and games after dinner.
Our entertainment included a Tug of War and limbo dancing competition
and our annual 'Jelly Bugs' game where participants had to pull three
plastic bugs out of a bowl of green jelly with their teeth! The jelly
bugs final was won by Thomas Bjornholm from Norway. Our MC, NZ Trade
Commissioner Andrew French did a terrific job commentating through all
of the games and the rest of the evening. We also featured lots of
summer music throughout the night from the Beach Boys to Hawaiian
drumming.
The barbeque dinner included delicious beef and lamb kindly donated by
Meat and Livestock Australia, and a full bar including some glamourous
cocktails, all generously provided by Diageo. Behind the bar were a
couple of Diageo barman mixing those cocktails with quite a flourish.
The Best Dressed prizes proved very hard to judge as so many guests made
a lot of effort with their outfits. In the end, Best Dressed Male went
to Dion Burns (New Zealand), Best Dressed Female to Jane
Williams-Clearly (Australia) and Best Dressed Couple to Alan and Mija
Timblick (UK / Korea).
The evening finished with some great door prizes generously donated by
the New Zealand Embassy, OK2 Restaurant Itaewon, Diageo, Venture Studio
Korea, Tupperware Korea, Jell Wines and the COEX InterContinental Seoul.
Many thanks to all of these sponsors, as well as Coca Cola who donated
most of the soft drinks, and our major sponsors Meat and Livestock
Australia and Diageo.
Our thanks also to Peter Walshaw, Cedric Klein and the whole Grand Hyatt
team for assisting us to host a fantastic 2008 Seoul Summer Survivor
Party!
Shake Your Groove Thing ... Oh, What a Night!
The annual
ANZA
/ ANZCCK Charity Ball is over for another year, and what a
great night it was!
On May 10 2008, almost 300 guests took our 1970's theme 'Shake Your Groove Thing' very seriously, and arrived at the Grand Hyatt in all manner of 70's attire from dreadlock wigs and 8-inch platforms, to smoking jackets and Farrah Fawcett-styled hair. One Ambassador who shall remain unnamed arrived resplendent in his dinner suit from the 70's, while another wore a lovely pair of trousers that were (unintentionally) an identical match with the table cloths!
The Grand Hyatt's Ballroom had been turned into a 70's nightclub for the evening, with an array of neon signage, and lava lamps centering each table. There was also plenty of disco decor to remind us all of our misspent youth. The colourful 70's sunglasses provided on each table were a huge hit and were worn all night through the dinner and dancing.
Our celebrity DJ all the way from Sydney - Scott Pullen - had people dancing between the tables before they even sat down to dinner. His fabulous music packed the dance floor until almost 3am with a great mix of 70's songs, mixed with some Aussie and Kiwi anthems.
The Grand Hyatt served an exceptional 6-course meal, complimented by premium wines from Australia and New Zealand. Dessert was a chocolate LP record, with the stylus resting gently on a piece of pineapple! The ever-popular Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc and Cape Mentelle Cabernot Merlot were also served.
Our annual Ball is ANZA's main fundraising event each year, and through our charity pledges, raffle, and live and silent Auctions, the 2008 Ball raised a total of 34.5 million won for our four selected Korean charities:
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Raphael House, a home for 12 severely disabled children in central Seoul.
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The Jeon Jin Sang Center in south-west Seoul, which plans to establish an 8-bed Palliative Care unit for inpatients and their families.
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Children from low-income families who have received a cochlear implant, and need Speech Pathology for at least two years to learn how to hear.
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Non-government funded Low Vision Centers throughout Korea who require visual magnifiers for client use in training and equipment trials.
Thanks to the generosity of our 2008 Ball sponsors, we will be able to give each charity at least 8 million won, which will make a great difference to the lives of the individuals they care for. We look forward to visiting each charity to present our donations.
We are indebted to all of our very generous Platinum, Gold, Silver and prize sponsors. In particular, we would like to thank Macquarie, Rio Tinto, Chanel, Emirates, ANZ, Mercedes Benz, KEB, Diageo, Muju, Transpack, DHL, Adidas and Campbell and Co.
Judging by how many people were still shaking and grooving the dance floor at 2am, the evening was a great success. Thanks to all who assisted in presenting our members and guests with such a memorable Ball, especially the ANZA Ball Committee led so ably by Anne Duncan and Sally Gurr (pictured above with Scott Pullen).
Visit our new Online Gallery to preview some great images from the night....and contact us if you have any images you would like to share!
See you all at next year's ANZA / ANZCCK Ball!
Diana Underwood
ANZA President
P.S. Official photographs from the Ball are still available for collection from Kukjeon Studio, Itaewon (opposite the Hamilton Hotel - look for the little baby boy in the window). Ask for the special ANZA Discount (2,000 won per print). For further information, call (02) 794 9854 or just drop in.