Latest dish I mastered =D

My version of Crystal Jade Shrimp Wanton La Mian! The shrimp wanton tastes so nice!

How did you celebrate Xmas?

My sisters (Joanne & Serene), my brother-in-law (Desmond), my nephew (Zander) & my parents-in-law were at the Candlelight service at Expo on Christmas Eve. Christmas is a time when people are generally more open, but I was still surprised when so many of them turned up as per my invitation. Zander has been coming to church with me for some weeks now, & I really hope that through him, his parents will also begin to experience the love of God in church. It is their first time in a Candlelight service, hence making it more special for them. I love Candlelight service - always so magical & beautiful!

Imagine the beautiful sight when 10,000 of such candles being lit up inside a dark hall!

James & my parents-in-law

Magical moment :D

Not only did my Christmas wish come true when they joined me for Christmas service, but I was so happy when James can spend Christmas with me this year too. In all these years since we first met 7 years ago, we hardly get to spend Christmas or New Year together due to his work commitment. During this season, he's always in some other parts of the world. This coming New Year, he'll be away from Singapore too... *sob sob*, so guess I'll have to attend countdown with my sisters without him again.

On Christmas Day itself, my entire Toh clan came over to my house for a pot-luck lunch. I love my brother's prawns & chicken curry, so delicious! It is the first time my entire clan - 15 of us - came to my house together at the same time since I shifted to my new house, so it is very exciting for me. We enjoyed the time together, after all, I always do ;)

I'd been busy but enjoying myself with shopping for Christmas gifts & wrapping them up. After all, what's Christmas without giving? It's an opportunity of giving & bringing joy to others :)

On Christmas Day, my entire Toh family clan is coming over to my house for a Christmas lunch. Initially, I only wanted to make it a simple pot-luck meal, but my siblings were so excited over it, they even went grocery shopping together & spent alot of money buying lots of stuffs! My brother is cooking chicken curry & spring rolls, my sisters are cooking kebab sticks, nuggets, beehoon, jelly, etc... Hmm... I wonder what am I going to prepare... I'm lousy at this... :p making me stressed, but I'm still looking forward to spending time with them! :D

My birthday :) - 26 years young!

I just realised I have forgotten to upload some of my 26 years young pictures...

I was in Jakarta on my birthday, so the next day when I'm back in Singapore, James took leave to spend the day with me. But I fell sick on that day! :-( He wanted to bring me to a dining restuarant well-known for its steak located on the 5th floor inside Takashimaya, but as I was having diarrhea, I didn't feel like eating that. I didn't want him to spend the money on an expensive meal while I'm still having diarrhea, just doesn't makes sense. I didn't have the appetite for anything too, so I suggested having my favourite Spiced Pork Cubes Nissin Noodles at Central Cafe.

Some days later on an evening when I don't have to work or meet client, I cooked my own version with some added ingredients, but of course, it didn't taste as good... but still tasty as a home-cooked dish :)

My cell group also celebrated my birthday for me, and they bought me a dark-chocolate cake! I love dark-chocolates! Not only that, the cake was so pretty! It has "gold-dust" sprinkled over it, but its edible powder of course. & I love tasteful gold colour too!

Look, the cake even matches my gold colour bag & table sash.

Secondary School Gathering

I attended my Secondary 4 classmate reunion dinner 2 saturdays ago, & it was good to see old friends again. We kinda grew up together, some of them had even been in the same primary school & class as me too, so some of our friendship goes a long long way back. But as usual, the older we get, the busier we get, so we met lesser & lesser, till a gathering becomes an annual event. At first, I was quite reluctant to go. I was lazing around at home & I didn't feel like getting dressed to go out. What's more, I haven't seen some of them for at least 2 years since I missed last year's gathering too. So I was worried I would feel awkward as they might be so distant from me. However, there's this part of me undeniably still wanting to meet up my old friends.

Having dinner at Raffles City Shukudo.

Taking a picture while in the ladies!

I was so glad I turned up! I guessed friends whom you grow up with will always have a special place in your heart. When I reached, we immediately warmed up to each other again, & we never run out of topics to talk about. Even though we have all "grown up", have our seperate lives & thinking, yet, we still feel as comfortable among each other. Sometimes, there are some friendships that just will never change with time. It helps that Jeremy, Ivy and Jesslyn were sitting around me during dinner too, since they have always been closer to me. It's interesting how each of us have "grown up" & build our careers we never thought each other would venture into. E.g. Ivy was a bookworm, but now she's working as a purchaser in Loreal cosmestics; the cheeky Jeremy now in Air Force; & me always wanting to be a career woman, now as an insurance agent etc.

A quick snapshot as we walked past a Christmas tree.

After dinner, we drove to Dempsey Hill Ben & Jerry's. I love that place & I would love to bring James there one of these days. Jeremy sent me home in his cool cute-looking 2-seater convertible. We drove through Orchard Road, & having the Christmas lightings just right above me was amazing. They never look so beautiful before! He blazed the music loud, but thank God, he got a taste for good music. Everywhere we drove, heads turn to look at us. I used to think that people who drove a cool cute-looking 2-seater convertible are snobs & attention-seeking, but seating in one now makes me feels so "high" ;)

I'm surrounded with all guys! ;)

Now with all girls!

Pigging out at Ben & Jerry's.

Adeline used to study together with me for "O"s.

Jesslyn has been our organiser for all the gatherings.

Cheeky Jeremy, good friends ever!

Jakarta - Year End Planning

We always have our year-end agency planning at some other countries at this time of the year & my boss chose the destination to be at... Jakarta! What a surprise, discounting the pleasant though...

My buddy in the agency - Siqin - sitting just right next to me.

We stayed at Grand Hyatt Hotel, & although we stayed in a clubroom, it didn't seem as posh as I had expected, except that the rooms are larger than most hotel rooms. The breakfast was a great disappointment too. Neverthless, it's really the company that counts for this trip. We were all "entrapped" inside the hotel since venturing out of the hotel building doesn't seems to be that safe, hence it was really a good opportunity of bond building between my colleagues and me.

We had a great time playing team games in the morning under the hot sun, & I was surprised at how all of us - in our twenties & thirties - can still be so spontaneous & even crazy! We even threw water bombs at each other! & I was so surprised I still enjoy this game just as much as when I was much younger.

Red hot ladies!

At night, it was theme party dinner! The highlight of the trip :) We were to dressed up in the theme of Wild Wild West, so I decided to wear as a saloon girl just for the fun of it. Everyone was so spontaneous & not forgetting, the ladies were all so pretty! (Whistle~) & they celebrated my birthday during the dinner - so sweet of them!

All the pretty babes as Saloon Girls & Cowgirls!

Angel helping me with my hair.

The best costume goes to Jacklyn!

Children's Fun!

My agency sponsored some orphans from the Home on 27 Nov to watch the movie, Madagascar, & I brought along my favourite nephew, Zander! He's so well-behaved but extremely shy that day... Hmm... So unlike his usual bubbly self... Maybe he felt intimidated by the crowd & with so many Ah Yees crowding around him?

Then on 29 Nov, it was Rene's baby - Gillian's one month old baby shower! I carried Baby Gillian for about 15 minutes. Feels nice to have a baby in my arms :D Jean brought along her daughter, Raelyn, too, & I managed to take a quick shot of her crying for mummy to carry her. She's so adorable!

China, I love you!

I haven't been updating my blog :'( I have been in & out of the country the last few weeks, & there are so many things I wanna write but had been procastinating... Now there are so many entries I should write that I really don't know where to start anymore... :p so I shall start with where I left off previously - my China trip with my family!

I love my family!

& my mummy!

James is eating a sparrow! He's so gross! Hmm... ok... I ate too... taste like chicken meat actually. A word of advise - never look at the sparrow's head while eating it cause it'll makes you feel so much like a guilty sinner!

So many red lanterns hanging on a single tree!

Merlion in China?! Yup, at Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park!

Wuzhen Water Town.

James & me at Lei Feng Ta (where the legendery White Snake was held by Fahai the monk)

Like those Taiwan drama? Even the wind is blowing favorably at the cloth!

t At the famous Zhong Hua Gate.

Three Kingdom.

12 of my family members went to China-Jiangnan for a 9 days holidays in Nov, & surprisingly, I fell in love with China in ways I never thought I would. I used to be prejudiced against the Chinese, & I thought them to be overly patrotic & backward in their thinking & society. But I was so wrong! Many parts in China today are advancing faster than Singapore today (except the toilets definitely). The night scenery of our CBD can never be compared to those of Shanghai. The lights consumed in Shanghai alone to light up the whole city is equivalent to a year's electricity consumption of a town with a million population. That's how extravagant, but beautiful the city can be!

A glimpse of the beautiful Shanghai.

The Oriental Pearl TV Tower - we ascended to 266 stories tall!

But what touches me or impact me the most in this trip is the story behind the Yangtze-Nanjing Bridge. Jiangnan produces mainly perishables e.g. tea leaves, agriculture products. In those times, Jiangnan can only depend on ships to bring their products over to Jiangbei to trade. As Jiangnan rains heavily 2/3 of a year, hence causing no ships to set sail in the rain, & each ship journey takes at least 12 hours, many of their perishables were spoilt by the time they reached Jiangbei. The only solution is to build a bridge to facilitate trade between the 2 states.

The Yangtze-Nanjing bridge. A bridge with a story.

Nanjing had just suffered the worst crisis then - the Nanjing massacre. The rest of the states in China were also in one of the worst economies with the many years of famine. China government then was also penniless as Jiang Jianshi had just fled to Taiwan, taking with him almost all the money in the government reserve. Penniless, the government turn to foreign countries for help in building the bridge. Many countries said the bridge can't be built - the current of the Yangtze River (the 3rd longest river in the world) is simply too strong. Russian offered to build the bridge with the condition of the Chinese paying tax to them for the next 99 years. When China refused to believe the bridge cannot be built, many countries jeered at them, saying the Chinese are Asian weaklings and they can never built the bridge.

To prove that they are not Asian weaklings, the Chinese gave up many years of their salaries to contribute to the fund of building the bridge. 100,000 people worked as free labours to build the bridge for years. However, it was no simple task. The most challenging part was to hold the foundation down into the river bed as the current was simply too strong. Even before the brick could reach the bottom of the river, it was already swept away by the current. With no advance technology 50 years ago, many people chose to sacrifice and jump into the river to hold those bricks firmly into the foundation. At least 10,000 people died while building the bridge. Many more became disabled or sick. When the giant countries saw that the bridge were built, they said the bridge would collapse within 30 years. Today, the bridge is still standing tall close to 40 years later. The Chinese had proved to the world & to their future generations that they are no Asian weaklings. This is the spirit behind every Chinese.