New sartorial fun hits Ipoh. “Dong Bei Hua” floral style for Echo Foodies’ birthday celebration.

By Lingli Tan

It was a riot of colours, styles and festive fun when a group of ladies  celebrated Ipoh Echo’s ‘foodies’  SeeFoon and Margarita Lee’s birthday earlier this month.  Margarita, who came up with the idea of a “Dong Bei Hua” (or East Beijing floral) theme for the event, took on the task of curation for the evening.

Dong Bei floral was the flamboyant Chinese New Year outfit trend which went viral all over the world this year.

Ipoh Echo wanted to know what inspired the theme.

“I thought the big floral print fabric would go well with the “Ke Mu San” dance which went viral around the world.

“The print quickly became available in a variety of designs and I thought it would be fun to showcase this fabric in all sorts of designs as the ladies would wear a design of their personal choice,” Margarita explains.

As it turned out, no two outfits were the same, all unplanned, bearing testimony to the spirit of individualism among the ladies.

On the menu was a range of the best home made dishes lovingly prepared by skilled chefs in the midst. These delicious offerings included “dong bor rou” (a popular Taiwanese pork dish), Thai dishes and Laksa.

Of course, it is not a “dong bei” party without dancing to the viral “Ke Mu San” dance.  To this end, Datin Caroline Wong gamely led the spirited ladies in some funky dance moves based on the viral video. All had fun trying to do the moves!

“This is definitely a birthday to remember,” says a very happy SeeFoon. “I’m thankful for all my friends who came along to celebrate my birthday with me.

“I’m especially grateful to Puan Sri Sandra Lee for kindly hosting the party in her beautiful home, to Margarita Lee for curating the theme, to Datin Caroline Wong for leading the dance, and to the chefs who prepared the food,” she adds.

Ipoh Echo wishes SeeFoon Chan-Koppen and Margarita Lee a very Happy Birthday.