Blessed Christmas !

Hubby ordered this Durian ice cream log from Scoopz as he knows his wife loves durian (but I'd prefer it more if there's a lil bit of sponge cake in it, hehe).

 

Quite a bit of Christmas meals done with various groups/individuals.

Those with different colleagues were mainly done at Antoinette... Can't believe that I've been there 3 times with different people in less than a week!

  Have way over eaten & spent too much!

 

Had our office Christmas tea on 19 Dec.  It's so crowded & warm at the main reception area so we're happy that we found a cozy cooling corner & some couches there.

 

The Sat of the Christmas weekend, we went for a very nice lunch at Capella.

Weekend Exclusive 5-course Set Lunch.

 

And the usual family Christmas party. 

Only the few of us this year as sis & niece was on holidays. 

 

This year, we're done with Christmas shopping early.. all thanks to  our HK trip where we settled more than half of the presents.  So gift wrapping was also completed quite well in advance :)

A total of 42 done!  42 blessings given out! :) 

My fav wrapping goes to this! ;)

Done !

 

Completed all the wrapping on Wed! :)

A big part of the preps settled!

Now, only about half of the presents left after giving out those for our colleagues this morning. 

And The Preps Begin ...

 

Bought these from my office's mini wine fair - M&C Champagne & a sweet wine :)

 

I grabbed the Champagne when I saw it's sold @ $55!  The cheapest we could find outside was $69.

 

Can't wait for the Christmas long weekend! :D

Christmas Wish Comes True :)

The item in my wish list - Samsung Galaxy camera, has really become my Christmas present this year! :D

We first chanced upon it while browsing at Challenger on a Sunday morning in end Nov & I thought it's so cool... Android camera..  Can edit/share/email/save instantly...

Told hubby I knew what I wanted for Christmas hehe.

But the stock had not arrived yet (Samsung just brought in display sets).  We're told stock would be here in a week or 2.  Then 4 days later, on Thurs, hubby gave me a pleasant surprise!  When we returned home after work, he placed the box (with camera) on our bed.  I saw that there's a box there but I thought it's the car camera box which we got a few days ago.  Don't ask me why as both were of totally different sizes & also, there's no reason why hubby would place the car cam box there.  But I didn't take a good look of it.. didn't cross my mind at all to check it out.  I was just blurrr... or maybe, I least expected to really get it & so soon!

I think hubby was disappointed that such an obvious act was not being noticed at all.  He told me he expected screams of excitement any time from the moment he secretly placed it there.  But nope.. he heard nothing when I came out of our walk-in (to the bedroom).. nothing again from the bedroom to the bathroom walking past our bed........... still nothing when I was back to the bedroom after shower.  And I was even lying on the bed!!!  I can't believe I was so blind!  Haha.

When hubby came out of the bathroom, he couldn't take it anymore & asked me to take our lappy (that's placed on the bed, next to the box).  From the weird expression on his face, I sensed something & immediately related to the box on the bed & Galaxy camera then came to my mind (how retarded I was!!!).  Of course, I was overjoyed!

Apparently, hubby went to all the possible vendors at Vivo in search of the Camera but was told it's sold out.  And he finally got it at the last place which he least expected it - Starhub.  Hubby grabbed 1 of the remaining 3 units.

Can't wait to unwrap my present on Christmas Day!

Hope I can take some nice shots with my new toy :P

By the way, if you're wondering... SLR has never been a consideration because of the weight & bulkiness.  We still value comfort over awesome pictures taken by one... especially taking into consideration the condition of my back & hubby's elbows.

A Truly God-Blessed 1

It's exactly a month since we returned from our HK trip which was an extraordinarily wonderful one.  We brought back more than we expected... not only fats & bags (of purchases)... ;)

The start of 2nd day in HK, hubby's feet started to ache after a satisfying dim sum breakfast at our fav Chinese restaurant.  The pain became more & more intense... so much so that he'd difficulty in walking.  So a 5-min walk took like 15 mins instead....

I was pretty upset... why of all the time, hubby had to have this problem?  Every min was precious as we only had total about 4 days in HK.  
The following day, his condition didn't get better.  I was frustrated.. It's early in the morning& amp; the pain in his feet was not any lesser than the previous night when we're done with all the shopping & walking.  After another round of tantrum thrown on hubby who already had to endure the increasing pain, I was suddenly hit by a question - "Why are you here?".  It's to celebrate our wedding anniversary, of course.  But I was so fixated in wanting a jolly holiday (that's what everyone wants out of a vacation.. all the more for us since we're celebrating a special day) that I was upset with hubby as he changed the whole holiday mood.  But I have missed out on a very important point - this celebration was also for hubby who was suffering then.  Instead of sharing his pain, I only cared about not being able to catch up with our planned itinerary.  Have I forgotten our marriage vow - "... in sickness & in health ...".  I have taken honey's good health for granted.  So on our 7th Wedding Anniversary (it's so wonderful how God worked as it's exactly on the day itself that all these happened, 3 Nov, as I recalled!), I renewed my vow to my beloved honey :)

And almost instantly, my heart was freed from all the grouchiness... no longer uptight I felt... & we just took as long as hubby needed to walk from destination to destination with me holding him (it's not easy as we all know how populated HK is & there's always throngs of people walking behind you!).  Amazingly, the grumps in me vanished so fast that I could hardly believe it myself !!

Hubby didn't need to go through this "lesson" as he's been taking good care of me since Day 1 whether I'm healthy or sick.  He's no problem in doing so.. in fact he's never shown any sign of impatience no matter how troublesome I am (esp a sick person could be demanding... yet I vent it on him when he's not well... how bad a wife I am!).

But hubby's not spared too, haha.  God also dealt with hubby's issue... that is, to rely on Him & not his own understanding.  It's not easy for him as he knows what he wants since young & always prides himself as a go-getter.  But as Head of the household, being close to God is the key because he's leading his family.  And a God-fearing man will have his steps guarded.. so our trust for each other is deeply rooted with the same Faith we have in Him.    

Now back to the HK trip - in the afternoon of the same day (3 Nov), hubby's legs were mostly healed (apart from the tiredness from walking)!  God is so so wise that He can use the same matter to let both of us learn totally different things!

On the last night in HK, while soaking our tired feet in the bathtub of hot water, we shared what we experienced in this trip... the enjoyment from all the feasting & shopping, the lessons & the appreciation of how God blessed this trip & our marriage.  Indeed, we're so blessed.