Year of the Dragon Celebrations

Flower of this CNY.
I was captivated by the bright orangey lil flowers at Far East Flora. There're only 2 or 3 pots there as the rest were in red or pink. On the left was when we first bought it & only a few days later, we saw the pretty blossoms all over (right)!

Like any other year, CNY celebration started early with the reunion dinner with extended family.

Lo Hei the Sat before CNY (14 Jan) @ Toa Payoh's Swatow Seafood Restaurant. That's quite a different reunion dinner as everyone was so into drinking & got a lil too loud.. haha.

Before CNY, not a night we could sleep before 12.... just too many errands (I actually did up a daily checklist for the 1 month right till CNY eve!).

Foie Gras @ sis' just 4 days before CNY!
Had a tiny bit on NYE (as shared with the other 3 - hubby, June & EY) & been craving for it. So when we went to collect a carton of mandarin oranges from sis, we took the chance to have dinner there. Hee.
The feasting had never stopped since Christmas.. Tsk tsk...

年除夕 was a rush for us. After Sunday service, we packed breakfast from Uncle Ong in Middle Road (his homecooked 面粉粿 is superb.. so as his chee cheong fun with special hay bee topping) before going to my manicurist at FEP to add crystals to my gel nails. we spent almost an hour for my nails & had our breakfast there. Also bought for the manicurists as previously promised.

My deep purple French nails with crystals :)

Thereafter we rushed to 2 Crystal Jades - (1) Bishan & joined the long Q to collect our roast meat for reunion lunch (2) Causeway Point, our carrot cake. It sounds silly but we first ordered carrot cake weeks ago & we, of course, chose the closest outlet to us. Then days before CNY we ordered roast meat but could only collect at one of their restaurants (not My Bread) & we couldn't change the collection venue for our carrot cake as well. Anyway, after chain of errands in the morning, we reach bro's just before 1pm for the lunch. Phew!

Reunion lunch @bro's. Sis-in-law cooked all the dishes by herself!

Then steamboat reunion dinner @ AMK.
Thought we could sleep earlier that night as we'd had our car washed & polished a coupla days before & I didn't have to DIY my nails. But still, we slept only @ approx 2am.

This year's 初一 was different because my MIL changed plans. So we visited bro instead (at least to get 1 visiting settled), then had dinner with the siblings before a 9pm show.

Dinner @ Cineleisure's Xing Wang Hong Kong Cafe which was one of the very few restaurants/cafe opened on the 1st day. Planned nicely so we could proceed to watch the show in the same premise.
And it's to celebrate Ben's birthday :)

On the 2nd day, it's the 开年饭 at home that we can't miss. Dear mum prepared everything by herself. **In HK everyone's talking about 开年饭 but in Spore, seems like my aunt and ours are the only families having it, haha.
After lunch, we went back to AMK & the yearly photo-taking. We took much lesser this year & there's no family pic! My MIL was so disoriented this year & made all of us confused as well :( In the evening we caught another movie.

Were glad that the CNY holiday hadn't ended for us as we took leave on the 3rd & 4th day.

On the 3rd day, got to take some pictures before we went to 5th aunt's with mum for lunch. This year only needed to visit 1 aunt as the other started work.
In the afternoon, hubby & I had a relaxing afternoon at City Square, having tea & did a bit of unplanned shopping.

That night, finally got the chance to have our carrot cake for dinner, with shark's fin soup which mum specially kept for us from the previous day's 开年饭 :)

So that week we only worked for a day on Friday. Fri night, we went to 3 supermarkets trying to buy all needed ingredients for next day's lunch as hubby's siblings visiting & we last minute decided to prepare a simple meal for them instead of potluck. Hubby was a great 'assistant' so cooking that day was quite a relaxing task than I expected though I hadn't been cooking for almost 2 years :)

Lunch menu: Sweet sour pork (咕噜肉), scrambled eggs with chinese sausage (腊肠煎蛋), spinach with garlic (波菜清炒蒜茸) & lotus root soup (莲藕汤). Most rewarding for a cook is to see every bit of the food being finished up ;)

After lunch:
Beer tasting! La Trappe beer - different bottles contained different alcohol level. From left to right - Quadrupel 10%, Tripel 8%, Dubbel 7% & Blond 6.5%.
Monopoly time! Looks like it has become our yearly tradition to play this game during CNY. Hahah.

The gang stayed till 8pm & some of us had dinner together @ Kungfu Paradise in Sembawang Shopping Centre. Hubby & I then went for CNY drinks with my cousins whom we haven't been meeting.. First at MBS' CBTL then we adjourned to One Fullerton's OverEasy (yes... it's our recommendation:P).

In fact it's the first time we had a reunion like this. Not all were present though and we hope to be able to gather more in future ;)

The following Sat.. we reached Orchard early at 10.30am. Had our fav Hans breakfast at FEP & then ran banking errands in the vicinity. Did a bit of shopping at ION/Ngee Ann City & then had lunch at sis' as we've arranged to visit dad's in the afternoon.

After that, had tea with sis at Dome in Bishan & had a good catch-up.

After sending sis back to her restaurant, we dropped by at AMK to pick June & EY for dinner. The timing was just right!

Dinner @ Hotpot Culture! As I was craving for some simple steamboat food.

Drinks at Level 33, MBFC. We'd a very good chat there with great view.



Surprise! It didn't occur to us at all that there'd be fireworks at the end of Chingay till we suddenly heard noises & saw the beautiful fireworks from one of the best angles.

We still went Lau Pat Sat for supper after drinks & reached home nearly 2am, again.

Celebrations usually mean unhealthy lifestyle - lots of food, alcohol and late nights. That's indeed very bad...
We're starting a healthier diet program right after CNY because we didn't wanna look so bloated on Con's Big Day. But it'll be so hard to follow, ha...

Wedding Dinner @ Mandarin

At hubby's cousin's wedding dinner @ Mandarin Hotel on the last Fri of July

We all were pretty impressed with the special layout of this ballroom on the 35th floor...

We're sitting in the heart of the ballroom.. surrounded by 2 tiers of tables

A clearer look at the ballroom (pic from Mandarin's website)

On 12.12.10

Our 5-year old wedding bears were on their second assignment! :)


It's (Vince's) Uncle CH's Big Day.......

The gatecrash. As expected, the groom & his brothers didn't really get good treatments. Most of the tricks were too déjà vu but still, who on earth will want to experience them? Haha.
Clockwise (from top left):
The guys were fed with a generous serving of wasabi sandwich.
Passing the seaweed, from mouth-to-mouth. Yeeks!
Picking the cherry tomatoes, bare feet, from a bucketful of ice cubes.
Hubby doing the hula while Uncle CH struggling with the Mandrin version of Amazing Grace. Poor hubby... got bruises around his waist after a few takes as that's not an ordinary hula! Tsk tsk...

Finally fetched the bride & having lunch in Bishan, before the tea ceremony

As we're responsible for decorating the wedding dinner venue, we rushed home to get all the flowers & ourselves ready before arriving at the hotel @3pm. Took us more than 2 hours to get everything done. Then went to the bridal suite to get changed, did my hair & touched up on my makeup. Whew..!

Got all ready well before the guests arrived! ;)

Quite a long night with Praise & Worship, Solemnisation & thank-you speech.

Had a group pic before we left

Wedding . Reunion .

Last Sat was cousin SM's wedding and it's a good catchup for all the cousins. On cousin Kelvin's (SM's bro) wedding exactly 1 year ago, we talked about a reunion in Mar 10 but it didn't happen. Last Sat, we talked about having a get-together for all the cousins again this Dec. Only the cousins.. no parents (our uncles/aunties).. hehe.

Really look forward to the gathering... :)

70% of the cousins here :)

3 Weddings in 1 Month

3 Oct, Cousin Kelvin's (Daddy's youngest bro's son) wedding banquet @ Hyatt.

30 Oct, J's (ex-colleague from PwC) wedding banquet @ Furama River Front. All pictures are with another ex-colleague, who's taking ages to circulate.

1 Nov, Cousin Ann's (Mum's 5th younger sis' eldest daughter) wedding banquet @ M Hotel.

Our wallet has gone on a "crash diet".. 3 ang paos in a month. Hmmmm.

After The Move. I.

So we moved out of our 1st home end of Aug. The handover of keys was on 3 Sept, took place @ the lawyer's office.

Shifted in to Aunt GS' on the same day we moved out.

Then exactly 2 weeks after we stayed @ Aunt GS', we're on the move gain. I wasn't very comfortable there mainly due to the location. It's sure near town, in Upper Thomson, but there's a shelterless walk of about 10mins from their house to the bus-stop. And the room was a lil small for the both of us & our belongings.

Which means before we could get settled down, next move was in the plan. And it's no joke to have to carry 10 boxes of belongings amongst others (yes, TEN boxes along with a big luggage & many other loose items. We've underestimated ourselves as initially I thought we could do with just 5-6 boxes during these 4-5 months) up the long flight of stairs & then down within 2 weeks especially we didn't wanna cause any damage to their wood flooring.

But we did gain something during those 2 weeks. We got to know Aunt GS better as there're nights we chatted till past midnight. Wouldn't have the chance if we weren't staying with them.

Where we're staying now is an interesting place. It houses Uncle CH's China girlfriend, Con who's moved out of her place & us, who're homeless for a few months. Ivan onced joked "Welcome to the 避风港!". Haha.

But it wasn't that easy for us to move in. It's a flat passed down by Vincent's late grandparents which is now under the care of their children (Vince's uncles & aunts). For the last couple of years, the flat was like a dumping ground, keeping all kinds of big & small items by everyone. Which was why we didn't take it into consideration when we're looking for a temporary place to stay. Then recently, Uncle CH spent some money to renovate & refurnish the place for his girlfriend, who's just moved to Spore, to stay. Con took the 2nd room. The 3rd room naturally became a 2nd storage including an old divan set previously used by Vince's grandpa, 2 drawer chests, a wardrobe & many miscellaneous stuff. So firstly, with the agreement of all uncles & aunties, we made arrangement to donate the mattress to a halfway home & the town council to dispose the divan. Then we cleared the store room so we could shift as many items from the room to the store as possible. But obviously the 5-door wardrobe & the 2 chests couldn't be accomodated & they're all stuffed with things & also, they're in very old condition. Thankfully, the walls were painted, windows were changed & there's air-con. So we just gotta think of some DIY ways to try to make it more livable yet being able to keep our loads of stuff with a smaller area due to the old furniture.

After clearing the room except these 3 'antiques'

The new look after a small scale makeover.
The white 3-drawer chest was quite a catch from Ikea @ only $89 for short term storage.

Tis our cozy lil room for 4-5 months.

The favourite item in this room is this piece of cloth I bought from Spotlight. It conceals a small wooden & cloth drawers we took with us from our old home. Wanted to dispose it after transporting our stuff but glad that we didn't. It serves a good purpose now to store the miscellaneous items that we use regularly.
But I'm so over the yellow wood kind of furniture, this cloth was hence bought.

And we retrieved our mattress & TV from the warehouse

Situation like this, we'll go to Ikea for some fast & cheap solutions.
Spent a few hundreds & just 3 days in getting the room ready:
- curtains from Ikea $57
- fabrics from Spotlight (to conceal the old furniture) $80
- clothes hangers (with rollers) $70
- drawer chest from Ikea $90
- table lamp from Ikea $20
- toyogo boxes $50
- retrieval & delivery of mattress & tv $50

We really thank God that we got helping hands along the way.. most primarily, we're thankful that the place was revamped just in time. Then Con volunteered to help us with the move from Aunt GS. And when hubby's overwhelmed by all the assembling of racks & cabinet, Ben came to our rescue & he's really good at it.

So now, we're like staying in a hostel with a few housemates & it's the very first time for me. Besides some getting used to, it's certainly a better place to stay for the next few months.

What an experience..

Last Sat's wedding dinner @ Hyatt

Was a nice one... a rare get-together for us all @ the youngest counsin's wedding dinner.

A pic with the cousins & sis :)

Group pic. This crowd is only less than one-third of the complete family.

Hubby was actually on standby for recall that day but thank God that it's not activated. So glad that hubby could attend the first wedding dinner with me (my side of relatives). 1 Nov will be another first with my maternal relatives :)

Packed Weekend

@ Sheraton. Attending the Solemnisation & Wedding Lunch of PY & Brian :)

The Bride & Groom.
The Solemnisation venue was a nice lil outdoor area with waterfall & pavalion, in front of The Dining Room.

The pavilion was too small to accomodate all the guests. So many, including us, witnessed the Solemnisation across the bridge.
The JP is from hubby's ex church.

A pic with them. PY was beautiful!

There's a lil interlude though that panicked the bride & me. I was even soaked with cold sweat! After the tea ceremony, PY wanted to change into a tea dress (in pic above). But we'd serious problems with the uncooperative zipper. It took us nearly half an hour & 2 blisters on my right index finger to get PY in that dress. Phew!! While waiting for us, hubby's chatting with Brian & his cousin & they joked that Brian might have a runaway bride (as half an hour was too long for changing outfit without touchup of makeup & toilet trip... & the room was only a level above). Haha.

We left Sheraton around 4pm & went home to get changed. We're attending the 21st birthday party of one of hubby's cousins.

@ Somerset Grand Cairnhill's poolside buffet & BBQ party

The night's theme was Hawaiian but most of them were not participative.
So if there're a best dress award, the winner should have come from our family.. hehe.

On Sun, we'd breakfast @ Hans, National Library. Then went to West Coast Plaza. Sure I haven't been there for long... the place's undergone quite a successful facelift. I couldn't imagine that it's right next to where I previously stayed & was then an everyday pass-through for me, when it's still known as Ginza Plaza. It's so nice revisiting the place which I'd stayed for more than 10 years since school days.

Before noon, we reached IMM & only left at around 6pm. Next stop was Toa Payoh to run some errands.

The weekend was tiring but definitely a fruitful one :)

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:)