Tag Archives: Christmas holiday

Merry Christmas 2023

26 Dec

Merry Christmas, everyone! It has been a low-key festive time for us because of the wet rainy season. When it rains constantly, the mood is not there to do anything! Luckily, we did most of our Christmas shopping online, capitalizing on the 11.11 and 12.12 online sales blitz, and there was no need to go to the mall at all.

As usual, the family had our Christmas dinner on the Eve, and it was a good spread of choices. I baked a pork tenderloin and called it a ‘Pork Log’ because of its sheer size to feed 16 people!

The Pork Log process. I cut off a portion to fit the Pyrex!

Initially, I was fickle-minded about what to make, as recipe ideas kept popping up on my Facebook news feed. The final dish was my third choice after two earlier attempts at something different.

Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful time, and let there be peace. Merry Christmas once again!

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A Very Blessed Christmas

26 Dec

This year Christmas is a complete occasion for the family, particularly for us, with M2 having graduated and back from Ireland for good. It was a boisterous get-together, and everyone contributed a dish for our annual Family Christmas Eve dinner.

The cheese platters were so good!

And for a change, everyone participated in after-dinner games. There were non-stop screams of laughter at the performances of each individual during the games. It was wholesome fun and so much love.

I feel very blessed that this Christmas is more meaningful than ever. I hope this festive occasion is just as memorable for everyone. Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and cheers for the New Year!

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December, Oh December!

9 Dec

It just hit me that it is December already! Oh, my goodness. 2022 is coming to an end soon. With less than a month left, there is still much to do to fill up the days with memories.

December is a constant battle with the weather when it comes to doing the laundry. Will the sun peek out for a bit? Will it rain non-stop? The laundry does not have that sun-soaked smell during this time of the year.

December is also a month to get my Christmas shopping going! And so far, I’m on track. Yay. And yes, the home Christmas decorations are out, and it’s just the finishing touches here and there.

Being the last month of the year, December is also a time to wrap up things that started at the beginning of the year. Specifically, my DIY miniature, sitting at my station, collecting dust. I have not crafted so many this year, and it would be nice to finish up this last one.

December is a time for reflection on the year that passed. I am thankful for the good times and have stored away the good memories. I hope the remainder of the month will give me several more last hurrahs to cherish.

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Felting is Fun! Part 2

10 Dec

What am I felting next? These days my routine has changed, and felting is my go-to activity when I need a break. To start a new miniature – DIY project number 23 is too time-consuming, especially with the year ending, Christmas coming, and so many things to do. I can forget carving too, as there’s not enough time for this as well.

The differences I find between these hobbies are many. Crafting and carving take a lot of time, patience, and discipline. In comparison, felting and carving require more creativity and the visualization process. My only hindrance is my inability to create what I see in my mind. By this deduction, carving on Meranti wood (not balsa) is, by far, the hardest.

But for now, felting is the way to go for me because it keeps me on my toes, as far as creativity is concerned. It’s a nice variation to balance my time, and it is satisfying to create something out of nothing.

My latest felting piece. What is it?

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An Excellent Piece

28 Dec

DIY project number eight is a wrap! I must say it is an excellent piece in terms of looks, quality, and enjoyment level. I completed the project on Christmas Eve morning.

The chandelier piece stalled me towards the end of the project. From piecing it together and then installing it, it was an unexpected problem.

At the start, I kept checking the lights and wiring to ensure all the lights and connections were working. I decided to bypass two steps because an elaborate chandelier is never easy. I did not use the rubber hose for the center light. Instead, I used a black Sharpie to camouflage the white and yellow wires. I also did not clamp the three lights to the center light, leaving them protruding outwards more. I thought it looked better.

However, after gluing the chandelier to the ceiling, one of the lights did not work. I was horrified and almost in tears! All that hard work and effort to make sure the lighting and wires were okay, this happened – a day before Christmas Eve.

Painfully, I had no choice but to rip out the chandelier to trace where the problem was. Thankfully I found it. One of the connections of the light inside the rubber hose was loose!

I managed to resolve the issue and brought DIY project number eight to the Christmas Eve dinner for a proud Show and Tell session.

The very impressive DIY project #8

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Excuses! Excuses!

18 Dec

I find myself admiring and playing with project number eight instead of finishing it up. Every evening, I would place a Citizen of Gigglesville on the sofa chair and giggle at the scene before me. It’s very entertaining!

Citizens visiting the Study
Looking very contented!
Citizen #118 doing a balancing act

I am finding excuses to procrastinate and not to start on the lights. There’s the fact that I have work to do in the office this whole week, and I don’t have the time because I’m also playing golf and cooking. It’s becoming a mental block.

Honestly, I find reading instructions is not something I enjoy. But doing up the lights requires focus, and I need to be more disciplined about this if I intend to wrap up project number eight before Christmas. So, no more excuses!

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The Night Before Christmas

24 Dec

As our food trail has taken off with almost every meal eaten outside – far more and frequent than what we are accustomed to, every night when I stand on the bathroom scale, it’s with a sense of trepidation. I know it won’t be a result for the faint-hearted!

Today being Christmas Eve, a big dinner feast awaits! My discipline has slacked with all this constant eating and I find myself snacking on itty-bitty morsels of Bakwa (Bee Cheng Hiang’s gourmet bacon and sliced pork) for breakfast despite still feeling somewhat full from last night’s Nasi Kandar dinner. So for lunch, maybe something light just to lessen the guilt. Hahaha… as if this would work.

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These are so good to snack on!

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We each had a hearty plate of Nasi Kandar. Top right: a frothy ginger tea (Teh Halia)

It has become tradition for us to gather at my sibling’s home with his family for a festive dinner on this night before Christmas. This year with the exception of M2, all family members are present and it will be a boisterous gathering.

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Merry Christmas!

As always, there’s going be a lot of food and drinks to enjoy, a lot of presents to exchange, and lots of noise and laughter making the annual occasion a treasured family affair. Will I stand on the scale when we get home after the celebration? Hmm…

I thank all my readers, family and friends from near and afar for the continuous support and interest in reading my blog. Here’s wishing all a very Happy and Merry Christmas!

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A Much Needed Break

14 Dec

We go off for our much needed break today! This year, M1 is not coming back for Christmas so the year-end family trip will just be the three of us.

Hopefully traffic won’t be heavy but we’re in no hurry. And it’ll be nice if the drive is a leisurely one without stress to Penang. We will of course detour to some favorite places along the way for food before we get to the island state.

I am really looking forward to spending my time lounging by the poolside, with a cold beer and hopefully, catch some sun to get a nice tan!

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The Day After

26 Dec

Normally every year after enjoying the merry-making of the Family Christmas Dinner, we would sleep in. But this year it’s a little different, a break from tradition; firstly, dinner was hosted by us and secondly, it was on Christmas Day itself, not Christmas Eve.

Food preparation was a long process although there wasn’t much cooking. I made the salad, M1 made the mash potatoes, M2 prepared the hors d’oeuvres of smoked bacon and grape on romaine. The focaccia herb mushroom toast bites was team effort, and the turkey and dinner rolls were contributed by my sibling. We did add a couple more purchased roasted chicken to make life easier. It’s a simple spread but satisfying nonetheless.

And because dinner was on Christmas Day itself and Boxing Day is not a holiday, we have to go into the office. Not too long but necessary to wrap up some little work we have left for the year.

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Together Again

11 Dec

As one would know, coming home from the US would take over two days, and with one day having never occurred in your life when you cross the International Date Line. And depending on the flight’s origin, time and connections, it may take even longer.

M1 actually left campus on the evening of 7 December after the last exam paper. She had a ten-hour layover at LAX before the long journey began the next day. Throughout the day, I was tracking the flight path on Flightaware.com.

Everything was on track and it was reassuring. I could even carve up a Citizen to while away the time. But coming into the last stretch of the flight, the aircraft approaching HKIA went off track. It looked like a time-wasting ten minutes diversion. Maybe CX 885 was early and there’s no landing rights, nothing major. It was scheduled to arrive after 14 hours 39 minutes but in the end, it was captured at 15 hours, still an hour ahead.

This then gave the layover an additional hour to two and a half hours before the final leg to KLIA. Unlike a previous trip, she had only a 50-minute layover and she had to run the length of the airport to the gates before they closed for boarding! Nothing of that sort this time. Phew.

The flight arrived ten minutes early at 12.27am on 10 December but knowing her, she’d be the last one out. Sure enough one hour later, she strolled out from the Departure Hall. And in a blink of an eye, another year has gone by, my firstborn is back and the family unit is complete again.

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