Last night Louis Vuitton China World Shopping Mall store in Beijing, China graciously hosted my going-away party in their VIP room. I invited my closest friends I met in Beijing to my party, and I am glad that all of them could make it! I share a great deal of my China’s memories with these people, and my China experience would not have been as great as it is without them. So thank you guys for being my good friends, and I hope our friendship will continue post-Beijing.
The attendees from last night party were: Me, Candra (my bro), Nariste (Candra’s girlfriend), Nolan (my SA), Jason (the nicest Customer Relation Manager!), Sentono, Maria (Sentono’s girlfriend), Vivi, Heru (Vivi’s boyfriend), Hokky, Devi, Rachel, and Oliver.
It came to my attention on the night that yesterday was also Vivi’s birthday! So I definitely have picked the right date for my party. Vivi also received a small gift from Louis Vuitton on the night. I also hope that she had a great night as much as I do!
Before I continue talking about the party, firstly I would like to thank Louis Vuitton China World Shopping Mall store, in particularly Lilian – the store’s general manager, for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to have my going-away party inside their store. Words cannot describe how much I appreciate their kind gestures during my time here in Beijing. You guys have brought so much joys into my Beijing’s life and it definitely has been one of the most amazing years of my life! Thank you for that!
Although the dress code for last night’s party was casual, but there were few people who went out their ways and dressed really nice which was very nice of them! I myself came to the store with my casual attire, but when I arrived at the store, Nolan quietly sneak me away from my friends so that I could change into my Spring/Summer 2008 Ready-To-Wear collections that I picked yesterday.
The day before the party, they asked me whether I would like to wear their new Spring/Summer 2008 Ready-To-Wear collections or not. I was really shocked when they asked me. I have been wanting to try Louis Vuitton Ready-To-Wear products but I always scared of trying if I didn’t end up buying them. There I was last night wearing a Louis Vuitton T-shirt (from look no.3 on pre-Spring/Summer 2008), a pair of dark blue Louis Vuitton jeans with yellow Monogram Flower at the back pocket, a black Louis Vuitton hoodie with LV written on the left breast side, a pair of white sneakers with perforated Louis Vuitton writing on their sides, and a “helicopter” necklace. All those items could easily reached up to AUD$2500-ish and I was there wearing them!
Andri wears Spring/Summer 2008 Louis Vuitton Ready-To-Wear
Louis Vuitton jeans and Damier Porte-Valuers Organiser
I am glad that everyone liked what I picked for my outfit too!
We kicked off the party by playing photos slideshow which I made using iDVD (Mac OSX rocks!), then we took some photos before we had our toast.
Jason and Nolan had done such a wonderful job in organising the party, and the decoration of the rooms with the products that I wanted was perfect!
Jason asked a famous Chinese calligrapher to write me a Chinese couplet (the ones those Chinese people hang on their doors), which was very thoughtful of him. I brought the couplet home to hang during the Chinese New Year in Indonesia.
The couplets say: (Order of reading: Right banner, Left banner, Top banner)
Right: 嘉节号长春 (Jia Jie Hao Chang Chun) – Still unknown, need to ask someone else to read it for me. :S
Left: 新年纳余庆 (Xin Nian Na Yu Qing) – To celebrate and receive surpluses in the New Year
Top: 物富年丰 (Wu Fu Nian Feng) – Have an abundant/weathly/rich year
Andri explains the meaning behind the couplet
I like seeing the Louis Vuitton trunks, therefore Jason offered me to stack up some of them to resemble a mini Eiffel Tower. All of us took heaps of photos next to the tower!
Andri with mini Eiffel Tower
I also asked them to display LV iconic bags in the room as well. Not just because I think these bags are important part of Louis Vuitton, but more importantly it’s because I really like the look of a Steamer Bag. It reminds me of a big soft pillow for some reasons. For a long time I had been wanting to hug one and took a pic with it, and my dream came true last night!
Andri hugs Steamer Bag
Another Louis Vuitton fantasy of mine was a photo of me relaxing with Keepalls which also came true last night!
Andri loves Keepalls
I even tried to run away with them, but alas… Nolan caught me in the act!
Andri get caught by Nolan
I also received a small gift last night from Louis Vuitton, a copy of my photos taken during the Christmas Cocktail Party back in December 2007! I really like the photo of me and Nolan as shown in the photo below.
Andri shows off his gift
I am going to scan those Christmas Cocktail Party photos when I am back in Indonesia, and post them here. 
I think that we took like at least 400 photos last night, we had a total of 6 cameras with us LOL! For the moment, enjoy a couple more of photos taken using my camera..
Hokky & Andri love Steamer Bag
Oliver, Andri, and Sentono on their business trip
Oliver, Andri, and Hokky talk business
More photos can be found here.