Just when I thought the weather change has arrived indicating Chinese New Year is around the corner, it has changed again. Global warming?
Even the birds know it. When it rains in the morning, they don’t get fed and they come right up to the terrace boldly, waiting for seeds to be put out at the table instead of in the tray on the wall. This morning I woke up to cloudy skies again. The breeze is cool and rather strong.
Another wet day ahead?
I was at the hair salon last Friday to get a haircut in preparation for Chinese New Year and there was this lady, sitting on the opposite side and being such a show off in her conversation.
Yes lady, I heard you when you bragged loudly about the gemstone you intend to purchase.
Yes, I heard you when you asked if the stone was 12 carats and gushed about the color and clarity of it.
Yes, I also heard when you praised the vendor for the quality of the gemstone yet complained that the price was exorbitant.
Gee… There was no one else besides me and my regular hairdresser, you didn’t have to speak so loudly to let me know. Unfortunately I heard you loud and clear even though I did not want to.
Any person doing something like this should just be discreet. Openly bragging would just invite trouble.
Who was she trying to impress? Certainly can’t be me? I should have plugged my earphones in to drown out the conversation. It was distracting my reading the gossip tabloid about the UK Royals.
When I was done and at the counter to pay, there she was again, at my side, talking loudly. This time it was about a 15-carats stone.
What an obvious show off.
Happy New Year world! With the new year ushered in, let there be more positive vibes, more love and more stories to share!
This New Year countdown has been different for us. Year in, year out for the last few years, we would stay home for a simple home-cooked meal, paired with a bottle of wine and just relax. By eleven, we would be in bed and by the stroke of midnight, the fireworks in the neighborhood would go off and entertained us. Then in the horizon, there would more fireworks displays and we would ooh and ahh at the bursts of colors as well.
This year, a friend invited us to her house for dinner for the New Year Countdown. And what we had was a front row view of the fireworks display within the community that she lived in. We were only two streets away from the launch site; only the tall hedges between the two streets blocked the view of the actual launch.
For a change, it was breathtaking and simply awesome to see the fireworks display so up close instead of from the bedroom window. I think we ooh-ed and aah-ed for the entire ten minutes, definitely more than all the previous years combined.
It was all good positive vibes especially with the whole place organized as a carnival with lots of people, food stalls, food trucks and even a stage for live performances. A fitting welcome for the year in and curtains down to the year out.
Happy New Year!
Today I am back to reality as I have to go in to the office. It won’t be a lot of work but just to clear things that piled up during my absence.
It has been a tumultuous year. There have been more downs than ups for me this year – injury that needed treatment, therapy and rest, work stress, death of pets and hearing/reading news of favorite singers (Prince, George Michael) and icons (Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia) gone too soon. I will go into my George Michael mode today, so move aside Michael Buble.
But trips like this to Vietnam with the family and golfing trips with friends are definitely highlights to cherish. I take heart that my 2016 is ending high with a very memorable family trip and looking forward to another occasion like this again. It may not be so soon as M1 goes back to university next week, so we will have to plan.
To all my readers, thank you for your support, reading and following my blog. Here’s wishing you a better and happier 2017!
I don’t normally post on a Sunday but since it’s a special festive occasion, I decided to… Merry Christmas people!
This Christmas we decided to travel instead of staying home like we always do, year in year out and we are definitely looking forward to it.
Last night’s family Christmas Eve dinner was sumptuous and satisfying because everything on the table (save for the drinks) was homemade – from the turkey right down to the cranberry sauce and everything in between. Everyone contributed and was very good.
Still feeling full from the dinner, we are flying off to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam this afternoon! The girls are excited, hubby’s looking forward to the break and I am eager to take them to the places that I visited six months ago when I was there for golf.
A much deserved break and time together for the family.
I don’t normally cook but I do enjoy the task occasionally. Over the weekend, we hosted a birthday dinner (for hubby) and had a dozen friends over. Normally with numbers like these, we would just have a BBQ but the constant wet weather made it impossible to have an outdoor cookout. So I cooked.
I wouldn’t say it was tiring because I had help from hubby, M2 and the maid. Everyone played a role; it was good planning and timing that resulted in the tasks going smoothly without a hitch.
And the Saturday evening turned out very enjoyable. Lots of alcohol (beer, tequila cocktails, whiskey, Riesling, Chandon Brut and more whiskey), laughter and of course food. Lots of food that was, in my opinion very balanced – covering all the basic food groups: carbo (pasta and garlic bread), fibre (salad), fruits (there were grapes and pineapples in the hor d’oeuvres), milk/cheese (ice cream and cake) and protein (ribs and chicken).
Even the weather was cooperative. It drizzled for a short while and the wind was rather strong, creating a really cool and windy night. Sitting out at the terrace was just wonderful.
The star of the night was the ribs. I searched the internet high and low and found this ‘Easy Fall-off-the-Bone Oven Baked Ribs‘ recipe from inspiredtaste.net the easiest to do. But time was of the essence when baking the ribs. I decided–to save time–to also boil a second batch of ribs (with just garlic, salt and pepper) and doused it with ready BBQ sauce to bake so that everything was ready by the time all the guests arrived. Both recipes turned out excellent, complementing the balanced basic food group menu.
We did good and had a great time playing hosts. Having said that, I wouldn’t mind hosting a party and baking some ribs again.
Top tray was first batch, bottom tray the second batch
It’s exciting knowing that a week from today, our firstborn will be home for the Christmas holidays! We can’t wait. One more week to go…
It’s occasions like these that I want to will time to hurry up. Other days, I wish time would slow down for me to enjoy the children. They grow up so fast and too fast.
M1 is finishing her sophomore year at university. How quickly time has gone by. Somehow it feels like it was only just yesterday that we sent her off and now, she will be back for her second Christmas break! This year, she will fly directly into KLIA, unlike last year where we drove down to Singapore for her.
Ooooohhh… Can’t wait.
This year’s Thanksgiving somehow made me recall the one we celebrated four year’s ago in the most coordinated fashion. It may be one celebration that we don’t do often but when in America, we have to do what the Americans do! And it was by far, the best Thanksgiving ever.
2012 was the year of our Great Adventure Road Trip in the US. And it was the year my niece and nephew – the twins, were studying in Kentucky. And I thought it would be fantastic for them to fly out to California to meet up with us. And their sibling – my niece, K1 can join us too, flying in from KL since she was old enough to travel by herself. And we would all spend Thanksgiving at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland.
It took me more than a year to plan for our impending trip because there were so many stops, friends, activities and lodging to consider. And this extra family get-together time in California needed more attention because the three parties were coming in from three different locations. Very exciting that it culminated with good timing and no delays.
During the Thanksgiving week, we were just wrapping up the Las Vegas stop. By Tuesday, we left for LAX to pick up K1 who was flying in alone from Kuala Lumpur. The great mastermind–me–had planned for her to arrive that afternoon and estimated that she would come out to the Arrival Hall by 1.00pm and we can just pick her up curbside if we started our journey at 9.00am. The timing had to be perfect and it was.
When we got her, the poor child was so zombied after the 18-hour plus journey whilst we were still fresh from our pleasant unhurried drive. We tried our best to keep her awake to adjust her to the new time zone. It wasn’t easy.
Staying close to the airport at Travelodge LAX minimized the travel time for the airport runs and was without a hitch when it was time to fetch the twins; it was most convenient and sensible especially to avoid the busy highways. The twins flew in by midnight after their last class and the next day, our fun began…
We played tourist and visited downtown Los Angeles for a day excursion to see all the famed attractions. Then by late evening, we made our way to Anaheim. It was to be our base for the next few days. On Thanksgiving morning, we were off to Disneyland and had the most memorable American Thanksgiving.
The seven of us had the best times of our lives with all the rides, sights, food and fun. And although dinner was just a simple meal at Flo’s V8 Cafe, what mattered was the experience and time spent together. The crowd was relatively small, yet there were still long queues for the more popular rides and we took it all in stride.
The Disney experience continued the next day at the main park and Universal Studios the following day. By Sunday, the Thanksgiving break was over and the twins headed back to Kentucky with K1, while we stayed on in Anaheim for three more days before heading north to San Francisco via the Pacific Coast Highway.
After that awesome Thanksgiving experience, our Road Trip continued and all other Thanksgiving was never the same again for us.
Yesterday was the last PT3 exam paper for M2 and we went out for a nice dinner to celebrate. For the past two months, we saw a new side of her that we never knew existed. Amazing trait for a 15-year old I must say.
Every day, yes, every single day for the last two months, she would sit at the dining table, with books piled up high, and prepared for this exam. And the last two weekends, we stayed around to give her support wherever possible. If anything else, physical presence for comfort and positive vibes to feel good.
There was no need to tell her to study nor was there any need to worry that she won’t do it. She was just so into it, so determined and motivated.
In fact, the last two nights, she stayed up until 2.00am in a last gasp effort to refresh her memory on topics she covered earlier. Unlike M1 who would wake up at 5.00am to study in the bathroom so that the bedroom remains dark for her sleeping sister and it feels safer (I don’t know know why) than in the living room, M2 prefers to be a night owl to do her studying. Although I disagree with M2’s method because it deprives rest and sleep, I did not want to dismiss her efforts and am thoroughly amazed at her dedication. I was never like that in high school nor college.
The desire to succeed is far greater in her than me. At this point, it doesn’t matter what the outcome of the exam would be, I am just very proud of her. I just hope there won’t be disappointment when the results come out two months later.
She had lamented once the what if scenario that all her efforts would be wasted if the results are not up to expectations. To this, we told her it is always the effort (journey) and not the result (destination) that matters and one must never feel that the effort is wasted. Along the way, one learns, grows up, sees things in a different light and ultimately, be a better person.
So M2, stand proud and be proud for what you have done the past two months. We are definitely proud of you. Totally deserving of the dinner celebration!
I thought the back-to-back three day weekend two weeks ago was the end of such breaks but no. I was surprised to learn that the coming weekend is yet another three-day weekend with Monday being a replacement holiday.
In the midst of several busy design projects, I find such things an interruption especially to the thought process and workflow. But such interruptions are actually good for the soul, to search the inner self for sanity and calm to deal with the stress that I am feeling.
So I do look forward to Monday being a holiday.
Angieneering 
Remarks