Fun times

Last Sat, Con, June & I planned to have picnic & kite flying at Marina Barrage. But the weather was bad... Fri no rain, Sun no rain (scotching hot in fact) & it'd to rain on Sat!

Anyway our contingent plan was to have it @ ours if it's a wet day. So we met later, for dinner instead. Since the rain had stopped & it's a cool evening, we had it in a pavillion downstairs.

Lil Rye

Dress code for the evening (without discussing) - racer back tee & shorts. Guys - round neck tee. :)

After dinner, we played monopoly & it's fun. :D

Con, the banker

The Danger Zone! I preferred hiding in jail actually haha.

Nope.. I was not the ultimate loser. But because of my soft-heartedness, I let hubby off twice. Hmm!

Enjoyed it so much that we still chatted on FB after that ;)

We agreed to play another round soon that include Ben who's working that day & complained we went ahead sans him. Hehe.

Our CNY celebrations

Reunion lunch with my family was on the eve. This year we had the 'Fortune Pot' (Poon Choy in cantonese). Ordered from this new Chinese restaurant in Sembawang Shopping Centre - Prosperous Kitchen. It's good & we all enjoyed all the choice sea products stewed in a clay pot.

What's in the pot:
Abalone, Shark's Fin, Fish Maw, Dried Scallop, Prawns, Mushroom, Chicken Drumstick, Cuttlefish Ball, Broccoli, Lotus Root, Cabbage, Beancurd Skin.

We had more than our own portion as what we ordered was meant for more persons. Yummy... :)

Reunion dinner with inlaws & family was steamboat, as usual. Guess I've grown to enjoy it together with everyone in the family. Left AMK slightly past 10pm & we brought our car for a wash. Back home, got the ang paos ready & prepared the goodies.... what we always do on CNY Eve.

CNY Day 1:

Reached AMK at noon. We're getting later & later every year... tsk tsk... Idled around & also had some small chats here & there. And of course the annual photo taking session! ;)

Hubby played a few sessions of card games with the siblings & uncle.
See, fat uncle's showing off his cards!

Can't do without the family pic every year

About 4pm, we left AMK & visited daddy, then had an early dinner in Northpoint's Xing Wang Hong Kong Cafe... the only restaurant that was opened on 初一 and served a very decent meal. Thereafter we returned home, had just enough time to take a shower & redo my makeup. We're meeting again at 8.30pm for a movie at J8. Hubby & I would rate the movie 1.5/5. We didn't think highly of it even before watching but it's all for the family get-together.

CNY Day 2:

We stayed at home for the whole day. Sis & bro came back for lunch (as Cantonese, we've this tradition of having '开年饭' on the 2nd day). Aunts & their family came in the afternoon so we stayed around to catch up with the cousins. In the evening, hubby & I played mahjong with sis & mum.

CNY Day 3:

Went to 5th aunt's (mum's 5th younger sis) in Toa Payoh for lunch.

Took some shots after lunch & while waiting for aunt no.6

6th aunt & hubby finally arrived after being late for nearly an hour. We went on to another aunt's (mum's late brother's) in Kim Tian together. Hubby & I left 3-ish & went to Vivo for a movie. Right after, we rushed to attend my ex-secondary classmates reunion at one of the guys' place in Pasir Panjang. Was interesting to see quite a few familiar faces after a long long time.

CNY Day 4:

We took pleasure in lazing at home, with a few short trips to the neighbourhood for meals. Nice :)

CNY Day 5:

Left home before noon to catch a movie at Tampines Mall. Last week was the week that I watched the most movies in a week. That's because hubby was offered a GV VIP Pass which means we're getting a pair of complimentary tickets per movie for a year. So we'll see ourselves watching many movies this year ;)

Headed back home after the show. After a short rest, we went out for dinner with mum before going to bro's.

CNY Day 6:

It was a busy day packed with consecutive visits. The first was June's at noon in Sengkang.

"Back to the Basic" pose with June's very oriental vase.. haha

Then to one of Vince's colleague's in Punggol for a late lunch. Had a very interesting chat with the wife of hubby's boss... exchanged beauty tips;) Stayed there for 2 hours & we left for the third destination - Gina's (da jie) in Bukit Batok. Supposed to be a poolside affair but the other girls arrived too late so we just stayed indoor, at her place.

Been such a long time since we last took a picture together...

The gals stayed for dinner but we had to go. Meeting hubby's family for dinner. We'd booked a table at Swa Garden in MacPherson only to realise they only served limited variety during CNY period. This very old restaurant is hubby's & my most fav teochew restaurant, thanks to the good recommendation of one of hubby's colleagues. You've to make a reservation especially on weekends otherwise chance of getting a table as walk-in is very slim. Anyway we planned to revisit when the normal ala carte menu's back. Ended up having "zhi cha" at a coffee shop nearby. The food was not too bad.

The night didn't just end there. After sending MIL & BIL back, hubby & I went for a beer at this chill-out place near our home, called Flamingg Mango in Sembawang. A pint of Hoegaarden costs only $10! And they're so generous to always give much above the 50cl mark.

It's a lovely night. We chatted about those days before, when & after we knew each other... our past relationships... how things started between us... It never fails to tingle my heart & set a blissful smile on my face whenever we talk about how he first noticed me & tried to gain my attention. We left home after about 1.5hr, feeling so loved & contented. We're very glad that the night ended on a lovey-dovey note.

CNY Day 6:

After fetching mum from church, had lunch with sis at Suntec's Crystal Jade. Sis' treat! Hee. We'd yu sheng too. After lunch, we visited daddy. It's so fast, it's been 3 years.

For the entire afternoon, we stayed around... feeling a lil depressed that our holiday was ending very soon.

The first 2 days of work were really tough, getting the mood tuned back & catching up with work.

Our company's CNY Lo Hei on my first day of work.
Next to me was the Deputy Chairman.

And yesterday, my colleagues visited our place after work. Hubby came & fetched us.

Lo Hei!
My 4th this year and the 6th for hubby!

Singing time

Jazz felt bad that we'd taken care of everything, from travelling, drinks, dinner to the ktv session & volunteered to treat us the next time round. To us, the most important was that everyone enjoyed the night:)

Marathon

On New Year's Day, we met L for dinner and continued the chat over drinks... for a record-breaking 9hours. Well I'm not sure about L but that's the longest for me, as well as for hubby.

Dinner started around 6.45pm opposite our place, at this very popular 'Taste of Thailand'. Around 8pm, we moved to our place downstairs. A bottle of red wine, some left over bottles of liquor and chips.

Our drinks of the night + Alizé Bleu (not in pic)

Close to 1am, we adjourned to our place. During this marathon conversation, we'd some conflicting viewpoints. I didn't mean to go against him... not at all.. I'm sure he knew we meant well. I could imagine his pain & shock... afterall it came like an unexpected tsunami that flooded his life & all. But I tried to tell him from a girl's perception. I can't say I totally know her well but there's some knowledge through the past few interactions with her. And I think I can gauge a person pretty accurately most of the time, after some observation through a few conversations & behaviour.

I'm not taking sides, anyway we're not in a position to do so. As we all know, neither of them can say he/she is acquitted, though one might have to shoulder a larger portion of faults for making such move. But there're just too many pre-existing problems that contributed to today's situation which seriously I don't think are negligible issues. Not nitpicking or trying to condemn but I feel that it's important to dissect the problems to know what've actually gone wrong. This is essential for communication & reconciliation, though I'm not sure whether it's too late now. Been there before... if the other party only has the intention to salvage but doesn't realise there're serious problems fatal to the relationship, how can things be worked out? Worse is, what's being focused on is my wrongdoings that have resulted in the current situation & his are considered small matters. To say it crudely, I'll even be more convinced of my decision because things won't change, and he won't change.
I miss M, this sweet friend.

L only left few minutes before 4am. By the time we went to bed, it was nearly 5am. Thank God we didn't have to work the next day.

We know we can't help much... just hope for the best for L, who is a very nice & dear friend to us, in 2009.

Tis the season...

... to have gatherings ....

One for the family (my inlaws & members) a week ago, then one with the sisters last Thurs and last Sat, with all the good friends from my previous church at our place & now with their families too. There should be another one coming up with the secondary school classmates and one with the cousins from daddy's side. But I'm trying to push the next two to as late as possible (both supposed to be beginning of Dec)... kind of busy & it's tiring to have all within a month. Yet I was the one who called for all these gatherings.. mm...

Last Thurs, met the sisters for dinner at Picotin. The chicken & pizza were pretty good but I didn't really fancy the rest that we ordered (we shared 3 mains & 3 desserts). Ambience was quite good though. So all in all, we'd a great get-together.

Then It's a busy Sat. We're out till 3pm-ish and started preparing at 4. We'd lotus root soup, honeyed chicken wings, nuggets, fried bee hoon & beancurd almond. Our friends began to arrive from 6.30pm and we're glad that everyone came, even those who initially said they wouldn't be joining. Food wise, there were too much... before that I still worried we didn't have enough, that's why I prepared 4 dishes (& a dessert). We ended up having fried chicken wings, pan fried honeyed chicken wings & steam chicken (白斩鸡) among the other food. That's the consequence of not revealing what we're bringing.

Total 23 of us. It's nice mingling around and the kids had fun at the pool too. Very importantly, thanks hubby for entertaining the guests like his own friends. It's something I should never take for granted. :)

Family affair

Last Sat we'd BBQ at our place. With my inlaws and the family plus mum.

All of them loved the chicken wings I marinated... hubby should share the credit too as we did it together :)

It's the first time mum alone joined in & initially I was a lil worried. I didn't want to be the sandwich. But thankfully my MIL was very friendly and she kinda kept mum company.

Surprisingly, during school holidays, we're the only group there so it's more like a private function and we'd the luxury of using all the tables & chairs. Maybe it's rainy season being end of the year so everybody's not keen to do BBQ. Like that evening, we'd a lil rain initially but thank God it stopped soon after we started. And the cool air actually did help to keep the heat down.

By the way, City Satay's pork satays are delicious; we purposely made a trip to their shop in the east which's near hubby's office on Sat morning.

Candid

Had Thomas & Lynn over for KTV some weeks ago. From the size of their mouths you should know what kinda song they're challenging.. haha. It's one of Jacky Cheung's.

After the session, @11pm, they stayed for about an hour more & we caught up on things. We had fun & a nice chat.

Sat nite

6 - 7pm: Dinner at the popular Taste of Thailand just opposite our place. It's ALWAYS full on weekends so hubby & I had to go & "chop" a big table for 9.

7 - 10pm : KTV @ our place.

We're the first batch to enjoy after a 10-day renovation which ended just the day before.
Changed to LCD projector & big screen on the wall.

A pic with hubby

We all like the new wallpaper :)

Balanced

The week after my trip was a reasonably well mix.

Friends:
- Monday4 had a short drink with C at Cuppage before dinner with hubby.
- Tuesday4 dinner with Gina & Gin (Sara had last minute fire-fighting @work) at Prego.

Work:
- Wednesday & Thursday4 hubby & I stayed back in our respective offices to meet some deadlines.

Shopping:
- Friday4 bought a nice short casual dress from Bugis. And hubby, who took over the S500i after I got my K810i, has had enough of the sickly phone (keypad cracked for the 3rd time in 2 months & M2 cardslot not functioning again) & got himself a new hp. Another good deal... we paid $0 for a slim, 3G SE K530i.

Errands:
- Saturday
4 bought our fav Macadamia nuts mooncakes from Amara Hotel's Silk Road.
4 sent S500i for repair (keypad replacement)... made a wasted trip to Wisma's as it's closed for renovation. So had to go to the Eastpoint service centre instead.
4 got all the stuff needed @ Parkway's Giant for next day's BBQ.
4 went Far East Plaza to sell our S500i. Can't believe it could be sold for $250... we'd been asking around & the resale value was S$150 to S$180. That was the shop which bought our E65 at a very high price too.
4 bought raw satay at Tiong Bahru hawker centre.

Family:
- had a very small scale BBQ at our place as the yearly mid-autumn gathering. Though just the few of us this year (mum, sis, Rachel, Vince & I), we had a great time. Invevitably I felt sad for mum.. it's only less than 2 years without dad around & the family has shrunk so much... but mum has become much stronger than we expected her to be.
At times like this I appreciate hubby even more. From the very day we got together, he has been by my side during all the good & bad times... he's my only support who helps to keep my feet firmly on the ground through stormy weathers (& I truly thank God for such a very precious gift).
And mum is so fond of him. That evening, we ran out of fire starters so hubby had to go & get more. While waiting, I made a slight comment that we would have had enough if not for his insistance on the smaller box. But mum immediately defended him "thrifty is good.. I like! He's a very good boy.....". Hmm.. I admit that's very soothing to my ears. Hee.
To think that nearly 4 years ago she made totally opposite remarks about him. :))

Honey & his charcoaled hands!

Like it this way once in a while

Invited hubby's boss & some colleagues over last Sat. Had a simple dinner & KTV session.

What seemed like a simple dinner actually involved quite a few rounds of marketing & lotsa preps. And I'm not an experienced cook.

The menu was :

Curry chicken

Fried bee boon

Panfried honey coated chicken wings

Sweet sour pork

Brocoli fried with dried scallops

Nuggets

Beancurd almond

Notice it's a poulty night? Hee.

Hubby had been of great help... he offered strong support in both the cooking & washing.

As for the food, I was particularly disappointed with my sweet sour pork. We had them off the boiling oil a lil too early & it's a far cry from those I prepared for hubby few months ago :(
Lesson learnt - never be impatient when cooking.

Had tried to use disposables so less washing needed after the session. But still pretty much cleaning up & packing to do. It's a relief that we didn't need to clean our place as we had the gathering at the multi-purpose hall.

It's nice of his colleagues & boss to travel the distance to our place. From what I know, none of them stay in the north. And some brought red wine & liqueur (Alizé Bleu... quite good but think I prefer it with a bit of soda & lots of ice) as gifts. It's a pity we didn't have the chance to share all bottles with everyone.

Slept @ 1am-ish & dragged ourselves out of the bed the next morning @ 7.30am with our head still swirling. We sent mum to church & the best part was we're celebrating mum's birthday (lunch)... meaning a pretty long day to go huh.

Hubby, who couldn't bear to see his blackie baby covered with multi-layers of dirt, sent the car for a wash in Raffles City before going for our Jap lunch at CitiLink (mum chose Sakae Sushi over Thai buffet @ Inter-Continental Hotel). After lunch we shopped around for another hour as our car's still not ready. By the time we reached home, it's already past 3.

Hubby slept for 3 hrs+ while I sacrificed my zzz for the new Korean serial "Snow Queen" on cable tv. After "Goong", this is the only one that I like... we're very selective especially on Korean drama, as after watching a few sets, you'll realise they say the same thing with the same expression. But somehow I find this show different... perhaps it's because I like Hyun Bin :) Hubby suggested to get the DVD for me! Yeah!

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......

The week ahead

Into organising some gatherings of late.

Should have 1 coming up this Sat with the sisters but 1 of them can't make it. And for the subsequent weeks in this month our da-jie's weekends are totally occupied. She's all the valid reasons... she's just gotten keys of her Hilltop apartment & is busy with reno & furnishing matters.

Then this Sun, a lunch+ktv session in store for hubby's relatives... both my FIL's & MIL's... shouldn't be that bz as we're catering for the group. I'll still prepare something small... a chocolate fondue maybe.

Another 1 will be next Tue, eve of National Day. Having a dinner + ktv for my present & ex colleagues after work. For this I'll be cooking... too few pax to cater. The menu is tentatively up but will be simple food. They better not expect much from some1 who rarely cooks.. hehe.. Initially we (me & the 2 close colleagues) expected the response will be very poor as we're quite a bunch of passives in the office when it comes to company functions (ehh.. I'm guilty too!). It turned out that most of them are quite responsive & some will be bringing their families as well. Hope it'll be a good 1 though I foresee some no-show on the day itself.

Family Sunday

Was a busy weekend...

SAT. We went to Chong Pang market early in the morning (ha! 1st time stepped into a wet market after, say 10 over years?!) with my parents. Got almost all the ingredients needed for the next day. Had a stroll back which gave them a chance to explore the neighborhood. After lunch @ home, hubby & I went to central to buy the remaining stuff. Returned after an hour for a rest. My original intention was to take a rest on our ottoman while my honey did laundry but without myself knowing I fell asleep. Only woke up 1 hour later & we’re running late for Vince’s haircut appointment @ Tg Pagar. But my sweet hubby still brought me to enjoy my fav peanut ice kacang before going to the salon. Yum yum!!
His haircut didn’t take long though & he’s done in less than half an hour. Wanted to go to Toa Payoh for our 1st month celebration but we’re blur enough to take the train of opposite direction. So we ended up in Tiong Bahru & you know what? We shopped there & ended up with a few shopping bags! Amazed by ourselves and we’re so glad that both of us love shopping & browsing which always makes it such a fun time together… be it in Spore's big shopping malls, Bkk, KL, JB…… & now even in Tiong Bahru. Honestly, we wouldn’t consider making an intentional trip there to shop but voilà! Bought 2 cushions, 2 cushion cases, 1 A4 photo frame & 1 skirt in an hour. We’re planning to go Europe next year… if not possible, perhaps to Korea… guess we better try saving more for shopping as it seems like we can shop anywhere & anytime! Hehe…
Ok back to the prev topic, we then proceeded on to Toa Payoh for dinner & the highlight’s sharks fin soup which each of us had more than 3 servings (oopz.. not for those animal-friendly 1s!) as that’s the minimum pot size to order.
Was already past 9 when we reached home. Started to make our curry chicken for the following day. We’re giggling so hard while trying to use our remaining strength to twist the coffee bags filled with grated coconut so as to get its juice… My hubby’s really great… always so participative & happy with doing the prepping & washing job. The cooking part was not a problem & I was relieved that my 1st curry smelled good after nearly an hour of simmering. Also made a beancurd almond longan as dessert before calling it a day.

SUN. Woke up very early @ 7+ to fry bee hoon. Then went for a shower & get ready to meet my in-laws in their AMK home. We’re going to the studio for my hubby’s graduation shoots!! And I took fotos with him as his wife! Hehee!!
Had my in-laws & his family over @ our new place for a family house-warming lunch thereafter. Very glad they all complimented my curry & appreciated the food though it’s such a limited spread.
They met my brother & family later who came for a swim. The whole family left after another hour. Well… it’s a cozy gathering… great!
Joined my brother’s & sis’ who arrived later at the pool & all of us including my parents just relaxed there with newspapers/gameboy/tidbits..
In the evening, went opp Sembawang Shopping Centre for dinner together with my SIL’s sis & family.
All in all, it’s a FAMILY day!