Merry Christmas!!!

25/Dec

Finally its here!! Chrismas is here!

That will probably what i would have said if i was like 4. Know why? I dont want to sound like a grump, but it was really the most boring christmas i EVER had. Seriously. know what i did?

I woke up at 11am and found out that my sister was waiting for me on gmail chat for an hour! I said hi but she had to go cuz someone else needed to use the comp. hmmp. But she said she'll be back after few mins or something. So after washing up and without breakfast, i rushed to chat with her cuz there wasnt any internet connection back home and she was staying at a church member's place in Singapore and they were going off to a camp the next day. We chatted until about 2pm and then i had to go and eat this traditional christmas 'dinner' my fiancee's aunts husband cooked.

You know its really funny why they call anything that is major, 'dinner'. Major like alot of food?

If its just a sandwich, its lunch. But if there was pork, and chicken, and bread and carrots and brussel sprout and peas, then its dinner. Even though its eaten during lunch time.

Anyway, At about 4pm, i head upstairs and started chating with chye leng again for about 6 hours. And then she had to go. Then what do i do? I finished reading my pride and prejudice sequel book for another 4 hours. And then i went to sleep.

The End. Merry Christmas to me.

Presents you ask? well, we didnt get any cuz we were waiting for the christmas sale to start and then get it for 75% off.

Uncle pete's christmas dinner. The turkey was already carved up. See the white stuff at the end of the table with the 2 forks sticking out? thats the good stuff.

I was bored. So i made a little christmas tree out from the fridge. Can you guess what it is made of? The tree itself is actually the top part of a pineapple which i fished out of the garbage. I saw it peeking out and i had to salvage it.

The star was cut out of some root vegetable. Im not entirely sure what it was. White carrots maybe?

The red stuff are pomegranate seeds and the yellow stuff are lemon peelings!

And i dusted it with flour to give it the snow effect and voila, a genius masterpiece! hehe

Since im in a christmas-y mood, i'll put up some pics i took before we came here.

Dont really know what was doing. Look at james's expression! hehe

Visiting Auntie Geok Lin

23/Dec

We visited an old friend of my mom's in Surrey and it was particularly foggy that morning. This was taken while walking to the tube station from our place.

Auntie Geok Lin and her family took us to this Dim Sum place called Wing Yip and the restaurant was called tai tung chinese restaurant! I wonder whether its just a coincidence or that the tai tong back home has a share.

Auntie Geok Lin and her Husband.



After lunch, auntie Geok Lin took us back to her cosy house and there was this little rose bush that was just barely thriving in winter.

This was taken while walking to the shopping mall near auntie Geok Lins place.



Auntie Geok Lin and her children Daniel and Deborah were very kind to walk us all the way to the mall which in my opinion was at least 30 mins away, but they insisted that it was only 10mins.



We stayed at the mall until it closed at 4pm and walked back to their home again. And just before thinking we would never arrive, we finally did. Uncle was busy preparing roast beef and dinner was ready in minutes.





At 9pm, it was time to go. So after feeling thoroughly pai seh because not only we were exceedingly late that morning, auntie Geok lin insisted that she bought us something as a wedding gift. After threathening with money if i didnt choose anything, i finally picked out a jewellery box. And while walking back home, it just dawned to me that no one bought anything! They came all the way out here and walked everywhere just to search for a gift for us! And they cooked us dinner and bought us lunch!
So while pretending to lace up my shoes, i hid a pyrex dish (which i originally bought for myself at the mall) under a cushion, knowing that if i tried to give it to them outright, it would be completely futile.
After that, they took us directly to the tube station this time, so that we didnt have to take the train and then connect back to the tube.
Then on christmas, which was 2 days after that, i called her to wish her merry christmas. And then immediately, she started 'scolding' me by saying that i shouldnt have done that (hid the pyrex dish under her cushion). After repeating it many times, she finally insisted that daniel will pass it to us when we eventually meet him on the 31st of Dec to see the fireworks.

Well, i cant say that i didnt try.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas

Hi ya! James and i have been in london for exactly a week now. We havent done any touristy things yet but we will. soon.
Anyway, here are some interesting pictures i managed to take for the past 7 days.

15/Dec
We stopped half way at Bahrain for a connection flight (it was a matta fair promo what do you expect?) and i noticed that the terrain looks really flat and the houses look rather squarish.
We arrived in London at about 9pm and Uncle Pete picked us up.



17/Dec
I woke this morning, opened the window, and guess what i saw?! A Furry FAT Squirrel! He seemed to be eating some berries or some sort. He's quite tubby isn't he? Someone need to go on a D-i-e-t.





18/Dec
We went to this supermarket called Asda and Auntie Li Tian bought some lamb to roast. Its a Lamb leg i think. Or maybe Thigh or something. Now James and I know a new dish! Lets see now, that would bring us to a total of hmm...3 dishes. yay!



19/Dec
#Warning: The pictures below are not for the faint hearted. If you are a member of PETA or thinks that all animals should be loved and embraced, then read no further. Quietly close this window and nobody gets upset. Viewer Discretion is Advised.

Okay, so we went to this place called Oriental City, which should not be mistaken for China Town, and james came across the seafood section. And then he suddenly points out excitedly to the live lobsters sitting or shall i say, curling on a pile of chipped ice. Auntie Li Tian and uncle Leu comes along and decide that we shall have one for dinner.

So we took one home and Auntie Li Tian managed to snuff its life out and grill it in the oven. I was of course to traumatised to witness how it was done. Anyway, much trauma and praying, we all took a little bite and, well, it was GOOD. Its quite different from crab. The texture is a bit chewy i suppose because they are alot more aggresive than crabs.





20/Dec
Its quite amazing what you can get here. Recognise any of these? Look at their prices!







21/Dec
Random pics.





Its was really cold that night. James seems to think that its frost and not mist as i originally suggested.



Anyway, thats all for now. I'll update again soon.

Wedding pet peeves

There has been many weddings that one has to attend as of late, as it seems that more and more people, including yours truly, have found their life partner and decided that they want to tie themselves down spend the rest of their lives together. Having gone through all these weddings, it just occurred to me that in almost everyone of them, there would be similar "occurrences" that would happen again and again that would leave me feeling slightly irritable. Therefore, i have decided make a list of all these pet peeves that have been bothering me.


Wedding pet peeves #no1:
Karaoke during dinner.
Whoever came up with the idea that karaoke during the chinese dinner would be entertaining must really be shot. Seriously, no one wants to heard an out-of-tune rendition of "friends forever" in mandarin no matter how long it took you to practice in the shower. Children must also be kept as far away from the mike as possible because there is only one thing worse than an out-of-tune love song, is an out-of-tune SCreeching love song.


Wedding pet peeves #no2:
Seeing someone else (other than the bride) wearing white.
I actually went to this wedding recently and thought that the bridesmaid was the bride because not only was she wearing white, her hair and makeup was done is such a fashion that no one would have thought that she was just a bridesmaid. The only thing that differentiated the actual bride from the bridesmaid was her veil. I have also seen a mother of the bride unwittingly wore white to her daughter/son's wedding dinner and was ridiculed and scorned (behind her back) by other guest.


Wedding pet peeves #no3:
Having people say to "you look just like a bride" when you clear aren't.
Imagine this, you receive an invitation to attend the wedding of your best friend/close relative/childhood friend. You get quite excited cuz you have been anticipating this wedding for a pretty long time. So you rummage through your wardrobe and pick out one of your summer dresses and match it with a similar colored sandals. You walk into the reception feeling quite happy with yourself. And then guess what, someone comes up to you and say, "wow you look really nice! You look just like a Bride"
RRRiiiiight. Look, if i wanted to look like a Bride i would have worn white! (see wedding pet peeves #no2). I mean i know that you meant to compliment me, but there are many other ways to do so. And saying "you look just like the bride" isn;t one of them.


Wedding pet peeves #no4:
Inappropriately dressed wedding guest.
I just do not understand how can someone come to a wedding dressed in skinny jeans and skanky mini tank top and not think that there is anything remotely wrong in it. Whats more, in the recent wedding that i attended, that someone was actually sitting in the table of honor! She even had the nerve to stare at me like i was trying too hard in my sundress. Hel-lo.


Wedding pet peeves #no5:
Unruly children.
It is really in my opinion that parents with uncontrollable children should either leave their children at home, spank them to submission or stay at home themselves if the first two cannot be accomplished.