Friday, August 11, 2006

Of house parties & dining out

I'm not a photography-inclined person. I'll forget all about our camera when I'm too busy... or should I say WE.... but those great moments were supposed to be captured, like during our wedding bash, after the wedding with our families, my work functions & the last 2 parties, ETC.... Hmmm... disappointed with myself....
So, there're not many fotos to see herewith.

6AUG (SUN)

Had a great lunch gathering with Vince's relatives. It's full attendance. They're ever so supportive... the 1st guest arrived as early as 11am! Also told them no need to bring anything (which's why we intentionally didn't put it as "housewarming") but all of them still got us gifts & mostly angpaos.

Hubby & I were pretty disappointed with the catered food though. Taste wise.. not up to our expectation & it's not cheap! And the quantity they gave also quite weird.... there're some leftovers for most of the food items but we ran out of fruit punch & dessert. Funny huh... those're supposed to be low value stuff & yet they gave us much lesser? Nevermind, that'd be the last time we gonna use them.

I did chocolate fondue which's meant for the kids but turned out that the adults were the ones who crowded around it! In less than an hour, the strawberries, marshmallows & (biscuit) sticks were all gone & it's the same for the 2nd replenishment. I'm surprised it's so popular... Hee...

Most of them stayed around the mulit-purpose hall catching up with 1 another while the rest had a ktv session. The children pool is just in front of the hall & the kids had lotsa fun playing there.

By the time all of them left... around 6pm.... I was sooo tired & knocked out as early as 9.30pm.

Oyes... the day before (Sat) we went to Far East Flora @ Thomson Road to get flowers for our home & the multi-purpose hall. Guess how much we paid for a bunch of 10 sunflowers + 1 lovely bouquet of exotic flowers with 2 large purple Proteas + 1 biig bundle of baby white daisy pompons + another huge bunch of I-dunno-wat flowers (u know.. those small "berries" with lotsa leaves which we usually find in bouquets)?? Total: S$21.90. The 10 stalks of sunflowers cost only $4! So cheap right?? Very worth it, somemore they're being used not only for 1 party, but 2! We've got soooo many flowers that the backyard toilet instantly became a mini florist! Guess hubby was somehow stunned by the big quantity of flowers I bought, hehe...

Realise that fresh flowers can really enliven a place & that I'm beginning to love floral arrangement! Hmmm....

At least efforts not wasted as all of the relatives noticed the pretty flowers & were full of compliments.

8AUG (TUE)

Took half day & rushed home to cook. Colleagues would be coming after work. It's gonna be a very simple dinner & ktv. As I'm not a good cook at all, it took me nearly 3 hrs to prepare a fried rice (my signature dish!), pan-fried honey chicken wings, a scramble-egg dish & a chocolate fondue. Within which more than half of the time was spent on the chopping board! Felt so hot & oily.... Good that I'd already prepared a soup & another dessert (beancurd almond) beforehand. And 1 of the colleagues brought devil curry.

Come to think of it, actually I'm quite impressed with myself lah... having prepared everything by myself including mixing the drinks & even brought some of the things down by myself. Hehe. By the time hubby returned, he only had enough time to chill the beer for me in the icebox.

The greatest consolation after all the hard work in the kitchen was praises from my colleagues. They're surprised that I could cook so well (which I don't think so). They especially liked the soup & it's the 1st to go. Of course it's tasty as I'd dumped lotsa ingredients into the slow cooker! Well... be it they're being polite or encouraging, I was so very glad to hear compliments & see that they finished up the food... hee!!

Hubby's so nice to help me entertain my colleagues like his. As part of them in the ktv room & the rest in the hall, both of us gotta take care of a group each.

Happy that 1 of my ex-colleagues, Zen, brought her "professional" Canon EOS camera! So all pix that nite were taken by her. Pic taken with another ex-colleauge, Edwin.

Theresa & Zen's handsome son, Akira, who's half Jap

Zen, Evelyn, Me

A close ex-colleague, Lee Lee & family.

Celena & Henry

All girls pic! Claris, Carmen, Lee Lee & me

Group pic w/o Zen, Henry, LeeLee & family

Guess they'd a great time singing & I'd no choice but to end it @ 11.15pm as we supposed to clear the place by 11pm. Definitely didn't want the security guards to send reminder... they're already being nice to have closed 1 eye.

It's nearly 1am after the washing & packing... then dragged my tired body to shower. It's certainly not ez to have 2 gatherings @ 1 shot. Really thanks hubby for doing most of the packing & clearing up.

9AUG, NATIONAL DAY

Woke up slightly past 12pm... mum cooked lunch. Felt sleepy again after meal... so hit the bed again! Only woke up around 6.30pm. Took some snacks & watched a lil of the NDP. Last minute arranged with sis & family & brought mum for a late dinner @ a Chinese seafood restaurant in the Bottle Tree Village, only about 5-min drive from our place.

A very refreshing place to dine out once in a while. So not Singapore! Very Batam, hee... Just when you thought it's the end of the road without any street lights, after passing through lines of trees & some scary forests, we saw a small town leading to Bottle Tree Village. The ambience was great, overlooking the sea & Malaysia (across) but food only so-so. And yes again, we didn't bring camera.

Made-do with our hp camera. The background is actually sea.

Imported Bottle Tree!!

10AUG (THUR)

Our Monsieur Soh wanted to pamper his dear wife by bringing her to Rochester Park for dinner & drinks.

The carpark was full when we arrived so we gotta park all the way at the end & walked to One Rochester. A beautiful & lushly foliaged place to chill out & agree with hubby who said it's the perfect venue to go on a date with the beloved. Cool!

Should have brought our camera wherever we go...

Our hp cam couldn't even capture me as there wasn't any light on my side.

Ha! The washroom was the brightest! Näy......

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