The Week before Christmas

Before I'm into the main topic, just wondering who, in Singapore, isn't affected by the breakdown of internet connection for the past 2 days?

Below was meant to be posted on 27th....

Busy week that started last Tue night… busy shopping for presents.

Wed, rushed to get the remaining presents as we knew we wouldn't have much time to do so. Within 4 hrs, we'd been to Orchard (a short visit to Justina, shopped @ NAC/Wisma & dined in @ FEP), then back to Parco to shop for another 1 hr+. Reached home near 11pm. Still had a couple of things to do before I called it a day. Sewed the crystals on my dress & did my nails (on the same day only managed to do pedi @ Parco during lunch as 3 of my toenails cracked near the base! So had to let the experts handle my problematic toenails). Slept at 2am.

Thurs evening, attended Gerald's wedding & reached home around 11.30pm. How we wished it's on a Fri night instead so we could have more rest. After shower, wrapped some presents for the next day - hubby's gift exchange during the Christmas party & for my colleague.

@ Gerald's wedding dinner

Fri evening, went to Millenia Walk to get some chocolates for the kids before going back to the same hotel (as Gerald's) for our pre-Christmas dinner. As usual, had a great time.

We thought Sat would be a more relaxing day without agenda. Last minute sis suggested lunching together. Only had about an hour after fetching mum from market & before going to Thomson Plaza of which I made use to wrap some presents.. so the whole morning was gone like this. Had a sumptuous dim sum lunch & reached home just in time for our shower set delivery. We’d ordered 1 that comes with a rain shower (yeah!).. there’s promotion in price + free installation.

After taking 2 hours+ to wrap more presents & the kids’ Christmas goodie bags, rushed to Sembawang Shopping Centre & got almost all the ingredients for the next 2 days’ potluck. Then went back to pick mum up for dinner with bro & family @ Vista Point. During lunch with sis & family, we received a call from bro inviting us for dinner (for Zoe’s birthday & 冬至 which’s the previous day). Reached home around 9pm & there went our Sat.

Early morning of Christmas Eve, got the remaining stuff from the market & back home to settle some of the preps… then went to fetch mum from church. Visited daddy before rushing home again. I made my signature fried rice (hubby’s fav) & some yasai tempura for the evening’s Christmas party at Constance’s. It’s fun & we enjoyed a generous spread as every1 tried to bring the tastiest food there. Yummy!

After we'd filled up our stomach, June & I took quite a few pix with different poses to kill time.

Constance's beautiful home.

After the gathering, we sent my inlaws home & again, went to fetch mum from church as she attended the evening’s Christmas gathering. After sending her home, we went to get some cocktails & drinks… also cooked the popiah fillings (decided to prepare this as we bought lotsa Vietnamese rice paper back during our last trip) for tomorrow.

Then it's Christmas Day! After we got up, only had time to settle the rest of food preps (incl. frying the remaining yasai tempura). Spent the day at sis’ place, indulging in lotsa good food. It’s literally food, chats, food, chats & more food! Exchanged presents & before we could unwrap (which’s the tradition), mum urged to go back. She’s totally exhausted. It’s good actually.. it’s already 9pm+ by then & we gotta work the next day.

What a hectic & 100% family-orientated Christmas holidays for us.

A funny crown! Haha!

On the 1st day back to work, we supposed to return home almost immediately after work for an early rest but on both Tue & Wed, we couldn’t resist the post-Christmas sale we saw wherever we went. Also took the chance to buy some nice winter wear. Hehe..

Dress

Was wearing this sweet turquoise empire tie-back tube dress. Quite interesting as it's like tying a piece of long shawl over the bust... I can either do a big ribbon at the back or just a knot to let it flow to the hem of the skirt. I sewed some crystals on the 'shawl' so it'll appear glittery at the back. Have also self-invented another method of wearing.. which is to wrap it around my ribcage like an obi belt with the crystals nicely spread across the front part above my waist.

Me in my turquoise dress & rocking/reclining chair.

Can't see from these 2 pix eh?

ECP last sunday

OK I shall not wait for June's pix to post this.

Last Sun, we're all @ East Coast Park. Hubby & June's husband, Kelvin, took part in the run/jog. Given that he hasn't been exercising (the week before he could only run 2km @ East Coast Park), I thought he'd not be able to complete the 5km distance. Perhaps Kelvin would be better than him as he does play tennis every now & then. But to my pleasant surprise, my honey came in 4th or 5th (we didn't check it out) by taking 16:xx mins, Kelvin not bad too.. only about 10 secs behind hubby. The 1st 3 went to 3 young NS guys. Hubby knew they're unbeatable the instant he saw them. But then I really admire my honey's will-power! Hehe.

And it's a bad bad day for any outdoor event.. in fact so are most of the days in this month. It's drizzling when we arrived, then started to rain from around 11am. Thank God we found a shelter before the rain. It rained, stopped, rained, stopped... & finally a very heavy downpour with strong wind that didn't seem to cease.

Slightly after lunch, we left 1st & returned to our home sweet home. When it's raining like this, the happiest thing to do is to stay at home & zzz. This was exactly what we did for the rest of the afternoon after a very comfy hot shower.

My honey looking good before the run

Dearest hubby,

Having said I'm happily married yesterday, it's still kind of an understatement. I'm actually thanking God everyday for having you as my husband.

It's not easy to find someone who's 100% devoted to me. But I've found one who so loves me + takes very good care of my mum too, it's more than what I've asked for. It's natural to love your partner, but to extend a huge amount of love to your parents-in-law... not every1 can do it.

I can't think of what you wouldn't do for me.
- You sew for me (especially when I'm upset over some wear & tear to my fav pieces, you'll console me by saying "honey sew back for you ok?"... & with that, all my 'heart-pains' are literally gone).
- You wholly take charge of Tubby. Only after we bought him, we realise I've sensitive skin. I can still play with him but you'll do all the clearing & washing. I feel very lousy as, in the 1st place, we bought Tubby solely because I love cats. However, you said the day you decided to bring Tubby home, you're prepared to take care of him for me no matter what. And yes, you truly treat our meow meow very well & I can see you've grown to love him too.
- Every single morning, you change & pack my handbag for me. You want me to have the optimum time to prepare. Everything is so neatly placed... ashame to say that I don't even do that myself.. I used to just dump everything in because I was always in such a rush!.

Well the above are the more extreme ones out of the many, many things you do for me every day. Not only do I feel so pampered... sometimes I think I'm too spoilt by you! But your all-time philosophy enlightens me & really melts my heart - "it's not because I can't do all these chores, just that this is your way of loving me... to make sure that I can relax & need not worry about anything when you're around."

The interesting part is, I always feel that you love me more than I love you & you, on the other hand, feel that I love you more than you love me! I guess this the reason why we both have been striving to treat each other better huh.

Of course, we do have some squabbles at times mainly because you've a bad-tempered wife. But it'll never go beyond a few hours. Even when we quarrel, you still call me "baobei" or even "baobei da ren", so how can I bear to hold my anger for long? And I gotta admit it's usually my fault especially lately I'm a lil too edgy (& yep... hormonal changes seem to be a very convincing & valid reason at all time! Hee...). Yet you've never ever got angry with me before, from the 1st day we're together! Whenever I think about how you're loving me, I'll be overwhelmed with guilt. I have to always remind myself, NOT TO TAKE MY HUBBY FOR GRANTED. Never.

And thank you honey for always having faith in me that I'll change for the better. Muakz.

With lots & lots of love,
your Baobei wife

EX

What would you do if your ex prompt you on MSN ?
(A) Chat
(B) Ignore
(C) Block him

Yesterday out of the blue, CK came online. So far I'd only seen him on MSN for.. maybe 2 or 3 times? And we didn't chat at all. But last afternoon, he sent me a pre Christmas & New Year greeting. So I replied "thanks" which triggered a chat from there. He said he's travelling to Singapore often... he's in talks with Singapore's biggest investment company (not gonna name it) about a JV ~yawn~ ... not again..... Then, there he started once more... said things like - whatever I ever told him still wowed him & stayed in his mind / he tried to forget me now that I'm happily married but sometimes can sometimes can't......

I chose to not continue with the conversation. But I'm glad at least he still knows I'm now happily married.

Last time I'd drill him for more loving words & I barely got it... now when it's unwelcome, he could be out with it so easily?! When you've it, you don't cherish. And now that it's gone, you think it's desirable? Man ......... !

Now I've an answer to my own question. Option C.

Dance

For the whole of last week, been thinking whether I should sign up for a dance class. Eh... not those in-line dancing, but those like belly-dance/salsa/ballroom/.... Had taken up hip-hop several years ago, not too bad. Very tempted to try something else.. as a form of exercise too. Few years back me & Eric nearly joined a ballroom dance class. But if now I take up, my partner must definitely be my hubby. So wait till I've successfully convinced my beloved... Hehe..

Another gift from hubby

We must have run out of items to get for our house. Know what we bought 2 days ago? A rocking chair. Ok, stop laughing.

It's never been in our shopping list & I also don't believe we've spent a couple of hundred dollars on it.

Anyway, the very comfy rocking chair + recliner will be delivered tomorrow. Looking forward to it! Hee...

Hubby said he's gonna make an official announcement: "When my baobei is around, no1 can sit on this chair!". Aww......

Changes!

It's quite final. After lotsa discussion & consideration between ourselves, hubby & I have decided to withdraw from the family holiday next Feb, to separately bring her else where. Sis & I have our own way of planning for a holiday... there'd be no problem if we join a tour group but we both prefer F&E (yes.. this the only thing in-common we've).

We look at it this way.. if we split into 2 groups, mum gets to go to 2 different places, instead of putting all eggs in 1 basket & risk having clashes (fights) & damages (to sisterhood)...

But we're worried how mum & sis would react to our suggestion. Surprisingly they took it very well. In fact sis did worry about the same thing too. We're starting to plan for our own trip with mum & I'm happy. Australia has never been in my list of countries to visit. I thought we can make use of the 2 public holidays during New Year so as to save 2 days' leave. We're now looking at Seoul or Spain. Seoul - mum's favourite. Spain - I suggested because I know she's always been interested to tour Europe, not necessarily Spain. But during this period, the temperature in Korea & Europe is way too cold for her (I'd love it tho!)... except perhaps Spain or Portugal or the South part of France. The weather there is comparatively warmer...10 over degrees?

But mum is still very hesitant... she's afraid she'd catch a cold & not in time to be ready for her Melbourne trip in Feb. But I'll have to let her know that if not in Jan, she'll most likely need to wait till after July as I'll be busy starting from April for another big mission in June.

And wait.. just had a tele-conversation with sis (while typing this). Now sis said she doesn't mind bringing mum to Seoul. So we may all end up going to Korea together? We also have to pay the $75/pax penalty for the e-tix booked for Melbourne trip.

What else in store for this month?

- A walkathon this Sunday (only my honey & also June’s hubby are taking part…but we’ll all go & support as it’s organized by my dad-in-law’s association & he’s in the committee) + picnic. Gonna cheer on for my hubby dearest too. Once upon a time, he’s 1 of the fastest runners during NS.. he’s always proud of his record – 2.4km in 8:44 8:22 (corrected by my honey)! Eh.. but now… hehehe… Hey actually me too.. also 1 of the fastest during school days.. 2.4km in 11+mins. Now? I don’t even dare to think about it… Haiz... Lazy lazy....
- Gathering @ my eldest SIL’s place on Christmas Eve
- Gathering @ my sis’ on Christmas Day
- Separate meet-ups with Victor & James
- Also another wedding dinner on 29Dec.. but for this our only mission is to accompany my parents-in-law. No choice… we’re being named by my dad-in-law to be the escorts of the night. Requests like this is difficult to siam. Just take it as a free dinner.. a super prolonged 1 though.

Have nearly forgotten still gotta shop for Christmas presents. Fortunately we’d bought some souvenirs back from HCMC, with some add-ons & voilà!

It's a month of celebration

Summoned by the groom-2b, last Fri evening was marked out for hubby's buddies.... a coffee session at J8. Except the absence of the 2 girls, it's nearly a complete reunion for the group. Just that it's a bigger crowd now with the addition of the Significant Other of some members.

That evening, only 1 in the group whom I met for the 1st time & for hubby, it's been a few years as well since he last met Jian Ming. He & his wife-2b would (also) be celebrating their solemnisation in less than 2 days (yesterday morning). We thought we could make it but was unable to change our appointment in the last minute. The newlywed Thomas & his lovely wife were the latest to arrive. He's a real funny beng who shocked every1 of us with his striking blond hair! No1 would believe that he used to be the school's Head Prefect... Haha! And what a combi.. the truly beng & the police officer Sam were sitting side by side.
Had great fun cracking loads of jokes, some real crappy ones though.

Received the "red bomb" from Gerald... his big day's on a Thurs. Ouccchh... broke big time! 1 wedding + 1 solemnisation + 2 birthdays + Christmas... All in a month!

Good for her

Last Sat, went out with cousin Ann & her boyfriend... for a ktv session @ Marina Sq, some window shopping & dinner @ Outram Rd. I'm happy for her as I can see that she's blissfully in love. When she's with her ex, I didn't get to meet him at all for she's not keen at all to introduce him to us (maybe she's afraid his boring self would affect every1... anyway they're the 2 extreme ends, my adorable cousin is talkative & playful & he, a super introvert), & not keen at all to make any future plans.

And whenever we see them, we'll be reminded of the amazing stunt on our wedding day. Had I mentioned it before? The bouquet tossing moment? What happened was - my lovely ladies (all those in our wedding entourage) were reluctantly (or rather, shyly) standing some distance behind me when I tossed my bridal bouquet. It followed by an uproar from our guests as I turned around and just in time to see the bouquet landed in Ann's hands! Every1 was greatly amused! When we got our wedding video, we managed to watch what actually happened in slow motion: The bouquet flew out from my hands, hit a slab on the ceiling & dropped straight down..... right in front of Ann who was standing like this 444 .... & by not missing an inch, it slipped nicely into her inter-locking fingers. She didn't move a step to chase nor avoid because everything was too fast for her to react. Haha! Amazing right? So, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be huh? And aren't you impressed with the thrower? Hehe....

That's Life

Last evening, hubby & I went to a wake of my colleague's friend's dad. It's a lil distant ya.. honestly I don't know her very well though met her once few years ago. Earlier this year, her dad was diagnosed as having lung cancer too... only then we MSN chatted a few times.

Saw her yesterday, I didn't know what to say.. needless to talk about hubby who only met her once, with me. Other than giving her moral support by showing up (honey, thanks for making the effort), don't think I could help much. I can identify with the pain. But she's a strong girl.. being the only child, she has to shoulder all the responsibilities.

I didn't sleep well... especially the initial part of the night. Everything about daddy re-ran in my mind. How I miss him... still dream of him very frequently. And all I can do now is to visit him as often as we're able to & take good care of mum. Whichever country hubby & I have been to, we always bring back a souvenir for him.

Friday

I wasn't in a mood to do any thing last Fri...

Supposed to meet TM for afternoon tea as he's having a lunch meeting in town & I needed to discuss some work matters with him. But I cancelled it, didn't feel like talking. Also supposed to go for the appointment with my skin doctor (rashes broke out after my Vietnam trip!). Cancelled it too, didn't feel like moving. Wondered what happened to me on a beautiful Fri.

Finally, I survived the seemingly extra loong & slow working hours & flew to meet hubby who's already waiting downstairs. Went to Great World City with the intention of catching a movie. We've 2 pairs of complimentary GV tix that'll expire end of this month. But somehow not a single show caught our eyes. So just dinner & some shopping in the agenda.

Was so happy that I could have my fav cheng-teng @ the food centre opp GWC. But very disappointingly it's closed on a Fri night! Anyway we've long suspected the cool (read: with attitude problem) cheng-teng uncle doesn't need to earn a living out of the business.. otherwise how can he be closed as & when he likes, sometimes even for a few days?

The good part was... still got to enjoy the other great food which're also in my fav list. That's why I love this food centre where we visit rather frequently. After dinner, we walked around GWC & met 1 of Vince's colleagues. Then when we're relaxing on a bench while I enjoyed my durian ice-cream cone, we saw Vince's former discipline master. There's something when the teacher whom you haven't met for more than 9 years can remember you by name... either you're so notorious that you leave a deep impression or you used to be 1 of his fav students. In this case, I believe it's the latter because Vince was his vice-head & he affectionately introduced him to his wife. We chatted for a while & he suddenly turned to me & said I looked familiar & asked whether I was from the same school as well. Upon hearing that, I nearly choked on my ice-cream. Hehe... a bit over-reacting but no, we're definitely not from the same school nor batch!

When we parted with Mr & Mrs Lim & about to get moving, hubby saw another familiar face. This time, someone from his ex church.. Evan. As it's quite a distance away, hubby decided not to approach him. Wat a night.. bumping into 3 different groups in less than 1 hr. Had every1 who knows hubby decided to go to GWC on 01.12.06?

Breeze

Had dinner with James (hubby's frd) last evening @ The Scarlet Hotel's Breeze.

Hubby & I had a tour of the hotel about a month ago & liked this rooftop Mediterranean grill. Since we're meeting James, we decided to dine in there together.

When we arrived slightly past 7pm, the place was still empty & because it's very cloudy with occasional thunder, we chose a table in the pavilion instead of the lush outdoor.

Food was good.

Bar in the pavilion

Difficult to take the night scene with my mobile phone. The circled is supposed to be a marquee.

The marquees. This & the next pix not taken by us.

By the time we left, around 9.30pm, it's still empty in the pavilion because every1's seated outdoor. So we're the only ones being conned by the thundery red sky.

Hubby suggested that we go back for a drink on 1 of these fridays.