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Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

24 Dec

I cannot believe another year has gone by so fast! Wasn’t it just yesterday the whole family was visiting the US – the adults catching up with some of our dearest friends and the children seeing what I deem as my favorite places from my college days? Wait a minute, that was last year! Dang.

The past few days I was reminiscing about this time of the year and out of the blue, the song by Band Aid (Do They Know It’s Christmas?) popped into my mind! Wow. That was dinosaur years ago. Watching the music video when John Taylor (of Duran Duran) fleetingly appeared made my heart skipped a beat even after all these years. Sigh…

It’s such a classic and oldie now, that song.

This year I decided to host the family Christmas (eve) dinner, relieving my only sibling of this annual duty. I look forward to the usual happy, fun and boisterous occasion despite the reduced head count (the twins are away in college and the younger niece, at camp). The tree is up, the presents are in place, the wine chilled and the food prepared with love. This time of sharing will no doubt be cherished.

This year has been significant for me, in many aspects of my life. For starters, I tried Candy Crush (in March) out of curiosity and look what happened? I became so addicted to it, I qualify to be called a professional candy crusher. I also started this blog (in June) and have been going strong ever since. With 4,851 views and more than 200 ‘Likes’ so far, I must be doing something right.

This year also marked my M1 turning Sweet 16 and my M2 fairing well in her UPSR exam. Children aside, Hubby and I traveled a fair bit—not to new destinations—but to near and far and enough to keep our sanity in check to balance up the work stress that we face daily.

And this year I made more new friends compared to any past given year. Pretty unusual but then again, golfing friends are a unique breed and it’s nice that it has developed into wonderful friendships over many outings and dinners beyond the fairways and greens. I also rekindled old friendships, thanks to technology for making the world smaller and reachable. For all these, I feel truly blessed and yeah, it’s been a significant year for me.

So I’d like to end this significant year by wishing all—from the bottom of my heart—a happy Christmas and a merry New Year in its truest sense! Hope your 2013 was equally significant for you to reflect back in years to come with fond memories and a smile on your face.

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Meatball Monday

10 Dec

Two weeks I decreed the girls should have meatballs for lunch on Monday and M2 whooped, “Yay! Meatball Monday!!!” But alas, plans had to change and the meatball lunch did not materialize.

Errands got in the way of routine. But finally, the highly anticipated meatballs was to be prepared for lunch on Thursday.

“We’re having meatballs tomorrow?” asked a surprised M1, on Wednesday night.

“Aww… It’s not the same. We can’t call it ‘Meatball Monday’!” M2 lamented.

Well, does it matter to have the first alphabet of each word to be the same?

So I turned things around and declared, “How about calling it ‘The meatball Thursday’? Happy?”

Two cheesy grins appeared.

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Colorful Chicken!

3 Dec

I was at the hospital several months ago visiting a loved one. And it stretched over to lunchtime and I got hungry. So I decided to visit the cafeteria for some tummy filler otherwise it would be embarrassing to have the tummy growl loudly in front of the patient whilst she had her lunch. Then she’d make me eat her lunch!

People always complain hospital food is not the most palatable. Strange coming from a place that promotes good health and good eating. I must agree with the general public on taste alone but I must say, when I got to the cafeteria, the offering was an array of colors for just one type of meat, it was blinding.

I had choices ranging from red (curry chicken), orange (more curry chicken), mustard yellow (kurma chicken), yellow (tumeric chicken), white (steamed chicken), brown (fried chicken) or dark brown (roasted chicken!) It was literally a rainbow of chicken choices save for purple and blue! Even the fish was not too far off in terms of color offerings! The only green offering was literally the greens-vegetables-with no shades at all.

Unlike M2 who thinks chicken is awesome, I thought the choices were an overkill.

So I debated between shades as it was tough to choose the right shade of chicken to eat. Should I go with something for its taste? Or should I go with the color? What if I just choose something to complement my shirt? Hmm…

In the end, I chose a red chicken and an orange fish just to blend with my Liz Clairborne shirt! Heheheh….

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Let’s Eat Something Nice!

29 Nov

Saturday nights are our eat-out nights and it is always a challenge to find something nice to eat. This has become our pattern ever since the extra music classes and busy Saturday chauffeuring duties ended several months ago. And now that the school holidays have started, it is a must to eat out.

“Let’s eat something nice!” M2 enthused.

“Have we ever been to a place that serves food that’s not nice?” Hubby asked.

“Have you ever seen places advertising that they don’t use the freshest products?” He went on.

Put it this way, well, most of our gastronomic experiences have been nice. If it wasn’t, I’d think it’s personal. After all, one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

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Hah! About Time

28 Nov

Last night when we got back from dinner at a friend’s place in the city, I found that Candy Crush finally has the long awaited update for the iPad. Hah! About time, I thought and clicked on it.

Waiting, I mused over the casual dinner, smiling over the remark of the mismatched wine we all had. But does it matter? Food was hearty and delicious, company was great and ambience delightful, one can’t have it any better. Even M1 and M2 enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I suspect both have comatosed over dinner (and dessert) as they were very quiet in the car on the journey home. All in all, it’s a nice change to routine for a weekday.

And speaking of routine, not crushing candies on the laptop was suddenly an acceptable act. Honestly, I was getting tired of waiting for the update and having been stuck at Level 480 for sometime, the lengthy period has made the game lose some of its charm. Plus the fact that I only play it before going to the office and returning home does not help matter.

But oh! They are so smart this time, updating with two chapters instead of typically one! Yay. Maybe there is hope to reignite the challenge in me. Instead of just adding Sugary Shire (which I completed), Cherry Chateau (where I am stuck) has also been included. I guess I don’t have to rely on the laptop so much now until of course, I overcome 480 and come to the end of the Cherry Chateau chapter (Level 485).

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Stuck at 480 for sometime now

So let the crushing of candies continue. About time too, don’t you think?

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No Rush? Ppfffttt!!!!!

11 Nov

As far as I can recall, Eng Seng Restaurant at Joo Chiat Place closes at nine. We should have enough time to lick the pepper off our fingers.

My cousin got there at eight and ordered ahead. Within five minutes, the food came! Oh dear. She worried that we may get there late.

We got there at about 8.20pm and the restaurant crew reminded that they are closing at 8.45pm!

Wait a minute! Why 8.45pm now? Isn’t it 9.00pm?

Gosh. After eating a plate of the noodles and some strands of veg at a decent pace with causing indigestion, I tucked into a piece of the peppery crab only to be reminded again of their closing time. The need to rush us was just so overwhelming!

Gee. How can one eat normally?

The next thing we knew, the shop shutters were coming down! And before we recovered from this, a crew came over and said we have to take away our food.

I understand if you have to close at the time stipulated but I just simply cannot comprehend that we were not even allowed to finish whatever we have ordered. They were obviously not compassionate enough to allow us to eat behind closed doors. Never in my dining experience have I encountered such a situation. The audacity of them!

Were we wrong to be late? Are they arrogant to do what they did?

Disappointment and arrogance is how I summed up the experience. It is definitely not recommended unless one wants to experience what we just did.

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No Rush

11 Nov

It was a leisurely drive from home to Singapore save for a slight congestion right after the toll gate from home.

Traffic in the city state was also smooth. We checked in by five. I love Shangrila and its Rasa Sentosa Resort is just so welcoming. There was free wifi and of course, status on Facebook had to be announced and emails checked.

After a good two hour rest and several rounds of Zookeeper Battle, we got ready to go out for dinner.

Pepper crab in mind, we will head on out to Eng Seng Restaurant at Joo Chiat Place. Mmmm….

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I Survived Shopping!

9 Nov

Amazingly, I survived three hours at Thaniya Plaza. I even bought some stuff, mostly golf related things but I must admit by 5.30pm, I was thirsty for a cold drink and joined the two gentlemen from our group for several refreshing Singha draught.

By seven, everyone had a bag or two or more in their hands. With purchases made and hearts contented, we wanted to make our way to Mango Tree. But a wrong turn led us to the Boys of Bangkok street. Mmm…

Bars and pretty boys await. Uh-huh, I think it’s not the place in mind!

Finally we found Mango Tree. Too tired and hungry, I did not take any pictures of the food.

After dinner, fueled and reenergized, the big debate was whether to have a massage before a shower or vice versa. Yes, we are all having a good time to cap the day.

In the end, I think nobody went for a massage. Too tired and contented, it’s time to pack and reset the mind to go home.

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Hello Bangkok!

7 Nov

In a blink of an eye, we arrived in Bangkok. Heavy with traffic, smog and full of people, welcome to the city!

Our hotel, Palazzo is off the beaten track. At least for me because it is not the usual place hubby and I stay whenever we come here.

But it’s a new place to explore, see and experience. After checking in, the group split into two and my group went in search for food.

Street food are always a welcome in terms of taste, smell and color. Contented we trotted back to the hotel for a quick shower and next on the agenda, massage!

The four of them in my group opted for the aromatherapy while I chose a foot and shoulder treatment. Everyone felt two hours should suffice.

So here I am, enjoying a two hour relaxing treatment on my tired legs.

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The First Day

6 Nov

First impression upon arrival at Kirimaya Resort and Spa was one of finding inner peace. The two and a half hour or so journey northeast bound was worth it although thoughts of ‘Are we there yet?’ kept popping up in my mind.

It is set in a very peaceful atmosphere, laid back and giving you a sense of having all the time in the world to lull away.

The room is thoughtful and practical. The bed, heavenly but I brought my travel pillow along (this is another story altogether).

After a warm welcome, lots of picture taking, everyone had half an hour to freshen up before we headed out for dinner.

Dinner was somewhat of a letdown. After much debate over choices, the boisterous, tired and hungry lot of us waited for the food to come.

The first dish came.

“Huh?” is that for one person, everyone lamented.

The vegetable choice was indeed a very small portion. To make light of the situation, we rationed each to have a leaf and a stem. Yes, that’s how little it was.

Soon the rest of the dishes came. I guess by then we were all hungry and ate along when the food came out. There was an oyster omelette, a tom yam soup, chicken, a glass noodle seafood salad and the last killer papaya salad that fired up everyone’s palate.

After dinner, we stopped at 7-11 to buy Singha beer and cup noodles!

The drinking and bonding session continued in one of the rooms. By 9.30pm (local time), everyone declared tiredness has kicked in and called it a night.

It’s been eventful.

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