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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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Butt-head! Bwahahahaha….

5 Dec

My little nephew recently learnt a new word. This is according to both M1 and M2 when they went to visit grandma two days ago and was playing with him and his little sister.

Looking at his little sister, he would go, “Butt-head!” for no particular reason and then break out in fits of laughter. “Bwahahahahaha…..!”

Eeeks! Is that a word? Should it be allowed? Now, which cartoon was he exposed to? M1 and M2 were both too tickled even to correct him. Grandma was definitely unaware of the situation.

Wouldn’t my brother dearest be appalled if he found out? Shh…

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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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Things to Do During the School Holidays

18 Nov

School holidays are always tough to manage when we have to work and the girls don’t have school. The year-end school holidays has started and hopefully, both M1 and M2 will find things to occupy their minds until school resumes in January. After all, they are now older and technology is at their disposal. But it will be a different story if we go on a holiday.

When they were 6 and 10 years old, we used to send them over to grandma’s daily when we did not have a lived-in maid (then) to care for them while we went to the office.

Being girls and hanging out with their cousin sisters, they did this to M2…

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M2 subjected to the new hairdo!

And got carried away and ended up with this!

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Another angle…

I don’t think they will resort to this these days though…

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A Happy Occasion

14 Nov

Traffic on the small island state was a challenge when one is rushed for time. Luckily we made it on time. The solemnization ceremony took place at Four Seasons Singapore. The bride looked very pretty and the groom, dashing.

It was a sweet moment when they exchanged vows. I choked and could feel tears coming along. Oh no… Blinking hard, I managed to suppress it. Nobody was sniffling or crying and I didn’t want to be the only one!

Dinner that followed was a jovial time. Needless to say, it was a happy occasion.

Congratulations cousin, so happy for you and to your new hubby, welcome to the family.

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Better to Rest

13 Nov

The poolside plan did not materialize as soon as we stepped into the room. The sofa was so inviting and the lull of the aircon just did us in.

Deciding to just rest in the room, maybe it was for the better.

Tonight’s function is a wedding dinner, so gotta look fresh and ready for it!

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She’s an ABC

22 Oct

The term ‘ABC’ has several meanings to us Asians. Typically, it means ‘American Born Chinese’ or ‘Australian Born Chinese’ if the person came from Australia. Depending on who you meet, the usage and situation, ‘ABC’ can also mean ‘Air Batu Campur’ as in our local dessert with shaved ice and toppings.

Many years ago, my brother had some friends visiting from Australia. They are a lovely couple and I think it was the first time my girls met them.

“This is Aunty Connie, say hello,” I introduced a shy M2 to the guest.

“She talks funny,” whispered M1, standing next to me.

Without a thought, I whispered back, “She’s an ABC, that’s why.”

Overhearing what I mentioned, M2 asked,“Aunty Connie’s an alphabet?”

Err… Not quite but in a child’s world, it means just that.

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Some Goodness in Friends

9 Aug

Thursday kicked off a long four day weekend and I had a lunch appointment with a girlfriend who came back from Singapore. The hubby decided to chauffeur me to the mall, along with M1 and M2 in tow, so that they could go have lunch at the mall too on their own while I have my catch-up girl-talk luncheon. The plan was to also go to the bookstore to buy some books so that M1 has something else to keep her occupied during the holidays other than the many seasons of ‘Friends’ that she has been watching. She’s at Season 6 now. As for M2, it is an excuse from her revision regiment.

Two hours went by quickly and all things accomplished, we came home. Then routine kicked in: M1 in front of the computer watching more ‘Friends’, M2 at the dining table back at her revision, the hubby doing forty winks and me, well, crushing candies.

That night, M1 proudly showcased her book purchases again. “Oh my God! You bought Pride and Pre-Juice?” M2 asked incredulously.

“Pre-Juice? Duh! it’s Pride and —‘Prej-uh-dis’—… Prejudice,” M1 pronouncing the word clearly for the giggling M2. Well, it is a big word for M2. There were other titles too that M1 acquired, A Tale of Two Cities and Peter Pan, to add to her collection of other classics.

I was in their room then and it made me curious why would M1, at her age, has chosen such classics to read for I did not read these until I was much older and in college. I remember we had to read and dissect ‘The Great Gatsby’ (which M1 has also read) with in-depth character analysis, storyline analysis and a whole bunch of other analysis in the Literature class. So boring!

Well, she revealed that in ‘Friends’, they talked about some of these classics and she wanted to read them. I guess being addicted to ‘Friends’ is not so bad after all! Looking at the bigger picture, it’s a good headstart to tackling Literature classes when she is college-bound. And way much better than her, occasionally mimicking Janice spouting out the trademark “Oh.. Mah… Gawd!” or breaking out the neigh “Chandler BING-G-G-G!!!” to no one in particular.

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Mummy’s Coming, Quick… Hide!

2 Aug

The girls love a prank every now and then. It was a typical night when I walked into their room, ready for the nightly ritual before bedtime; M1 was just coming out of the bathroom as I looked at the beds and asked, “Where’s your sister?”

“She’s not there?” said M1. “Maybe she went outside.” I opened the door and called out to the TV room. No reply. Hmm.

I came back into the bedroom and scanned the place again. My first automatic reaction would have my hands reaching out to slide the slightly ajar closet door closed but before it could slide close, M2 popped out from the closet. Thank goodness she didn’t scare the daylights out of me! Phew.

Whatever prank involving the closet both were conspiring pales in comparison to what I did when I was a kid.

I was a mischievous little one. My brother and I were sharing a room then and there were many a night when we would create a ruckus in the room. From pillow fights to heated arguments, this one—done over several nights—tops it all.

Thud… Thud… Muffled giggles… Thud… Thud…

My mother would come and check on us but somehow, we always managed to fool her, pretending to be asleep by the time the room door creaked open. After a quick scan, she’d leave and we would continue. It was so fun!

We were both taking turns repeatedly, climbing onto the top of my closet and jumping off it to land onto my bed, padded with extra pillows to camouflage the thudding sound.

“Geronimo!!!” I would whisper fiercely and leap off horizontally, to land flat on my face (not feet first, mind you!) and then break out in fits of giggles. My brother was equally having a ball. We continued this three feet high Acapulco stunt for several nights until one night, it had to happen.

The landing was not too smooth and there was an unusually loud crack! Oh no. We scrambled for our lives but I think we were not caught.

Weeks passed and we stopped doing this. One day, I was in the room and wanted to open the drawers beneath my bed to take out some things. The drawer just wouldn’t budge. It turned out, a cross bar plank of the bed had snapped right in the middle and had angled into the drawer, preventing it (the drawer) from opening!

I had to feign a very innocent face when my mother wondered how on Earth this could have happened! Heheh…

Subliminally, what I did then could be the reason why the girls have a closet that is built from floor to ceiling and their beds, Tatami-style, so there is no room whatsoever for them to attempt any Acapulco act on me!

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It Has Your Name on It?

28 Jun

This is about me and my only elder sibling dinosaur years ago and I still remember it until today.

I think I was ten or thereabouts and he, three years older than me. We were both having lunch at home and fighting over the last piece of chicken.

“Mine!” I said.

“No. Mine,” he countered. The little squabble went on, it was quite childish.

Then brilliantly, I said, “Can’t be yours. Doesn’t have your name on it!” and stuck my tongue out at him.

With a glint in his eyes, he smirked back at me and said, “Yes it does. C-h-i-c-K-E-N!” and triumphantly pierced the drumstick to savour in my face. I am pretty sure I was willing him to choke on some chicken skin or something.

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