Xmas Lights!

Charis has a thing for lights & television (Yes, television! My gosh, I hope she won't grow up to be a TV addict!) So to give her a treat, we brought her to Orchard Road on 22nd Dec to look at the Xmas lights up.

Of course, she wouldn't know how to appreciate the beauty & she won't even have the slightest memory of the experience, but nevertheless, as parents... we'll do anything to give her even 1 min of happiness :) Orchard Road was so crowded on a weekday night! James simply can't stand the crowd, but for Charis' sake, the sacrifice was worth it! :)

There was lots of beautiful Xmas trees everywhere! Charis simply adores the lights! Her eyes were lit up with curiousity & she was looking everywhere! I love the streets lit up too. I think this year's theme is nice, filling the streets with Xmas ambience in the air!

There was masquerade of Roman soldiers, 3 wise men, & folks etc. parading from ION all the way to Takashimaya Square, & we eagerly took pictures with them. I think Charis could sense my excitement because she was sleeping before the photo taking but woke up immediately when taking pictures with them, & then fell asleep almost immediately after the photo taking.

There were street performances everywhere, so it was really noisy. But trust her, she can always sleep even in the midst of a storm - typical CHC baby trademark!

Despite our tired feets & the amazing crowd, we managed to walk from ION Orchard all the way to Plaza Singapura. Our conclusion at the end of the day - bringing a baby out can be so troublesome & challenging! But it was all worth every sweat! :D

I'm going to Siem Reap!

Today the staff of Raffles City Shopping Centre called me to inform me that I am a proud winner of their lucky draw & I won a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia! It's a pair of SilkAir tickets plus a 3D2N stay in one of the top spa resorts! I can finally now visit Angkor Wat,

An image of the hotel room that I'll be staying in. Looks very cosy :)

The hotel lobby. Looks very grand.

I can finally visit Angkor Wat, the central feature of the UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the magnificent remains of the Khmer civilization.

Raffles City Shopping Mall is holding 3 fortnightly draws. Simply spend $50 to participate in the draws. The first draw was to Manado, Indonesia. I am the proud winner of the 2nd draw! :D The last draw was to Cebu, Philippines, although I wouldn't mind Cebu too :)

I believe it's all God-coincidence! :) Both of us just gave in the special offering in Rev. John Avanzini's meeting 2 weeks ago, & then we participated in the lucky draw last week. It is the first time I participated in a lucky draw held by a shopping centre. I always felt that it's impossible to be a winner among thousands of entrees, so I couldn't be bothered to join them in the past. But for some weird reason, I had this very strong feeling to enter the lucky draw this time, & we even spend at least 15 mins hunting around the shopping centre (we even went up & down the levels) looking for the customer service just to fill in the lucky draw forms. Usually, James would be grumbling that it's a waste of time & we'll end up not doing it. But somehow, amazingly, he never complained this time & even played along. It must be God's prompting.

& guess what, I was just telling James last week that how nice it would be to go for a short vacation to take a break from all the stress, but we couldn't because of the current financial situation with my brother's condition. God must have known the desire of my heart. Now James & me are just debating whether it's his offering or mine that brought the blessings! Haha!

Bart Simpsons is an ID!

Did you know that Bart Simpsons is intellectually challenged? Bart suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder. His lack of intelligence can also be attributed to the hereditary "Simpson Gene", which affects the intelligence of most male members of the Simpson family.

But don't ever depise him just because he is intellectually challenged. Bart's song, "Do the Bartman" was actually written by Michael Jackson! In 1991, it was the number 1 song in the UK for three weeks and was the 7th best-selling song of the year. It sold half a million copies then.

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1st time probably in cartoon history where reality exists in a unreal world!

Memorable Birthday with Dear :)

James took leave on my birthday (2nd Dec) to spend time together & I had a most memorable day :) We started with lunch at Yotei Japanese Restaurant at Forum Shopping Mall, followed by exploring Botanic Gardens, & finally a romantic dinner at Jewel Box at Mount Faber.

Yotei Japanese Restaurant at Forum Shopping Mall

I highly recommend this place! The restaurant's image & cozy ambience gives the impression that the prices are pricey, but if you manage to catch their promotion, it's really value for money!

Promotion:
1. Lunch hour (12-2pm) - You can actually order a set meal at only $9-11. The set meal includes main course, 2 pieces of sushi, salad, dessert (I had tiramisu), & miso soup. It's probably cheaper than a lot of food court.
2. Tea break (2-5pm) - One-for-one sushi plate.
I believe there's dinner promotion too, but I didn't really check it out.

We paid only about $24 for 2 set meals, 4 plates of sushi, & 1 glass of coke. A pic of our 2 lunch sets.

I was so impressed with their service. A customer asked for serviettes as the restaurant only serves wet hand wipes. & the manager actually got his staff to go to Watsons (one storey below) to purchase tissue so they can offer to that customer. This gesture was unnecessarily, yet he choose to go the extra mile so that his diners can have a better dining experience.

I was also trying to take a couple shot of James & me. When he saw it, he came over & offer to take a picture for us. Very attentive :)

Thumbs up for their excellent service!

Singapore Botanic Gardens

The first & last time I visited this garden was 21 years ago! My gosh, it has changed so much!

I'm not someone who really appreciate trees, flowers, etc, but I really enjoyed myself thoroughly at the garden. I love the vast space & I love soaking in nature, far away from the city noise.



There were also 150 christmas trees being decorated by different corporations, schools, & community groups. Some of them were so creatively decorated!

Theme of boy & swordfish on "redhill" fable
Ikea
IMH

Jewel Box @ Mount Faber

People had been telling me how romantic this place is & it is my dream to dine here. James brought me here because it had been more than 2 years since we had a real romantic dinner at a fine dining restaurant, & he wanted to pamper me too.

We didn't know that there was a "snow" show & Xmas lights lit up show. Of course it wasn't real snow, just bubble foam, but it was still a beautiful sight to see them falling over me & over the city view. Then, there was also Asia's tallest Xmas tree!

I believe God showed up that night & gave me a most surprising, romantic & beautiful night. There was fireworks in the sky! I think Sentosa was having some event, & we can see the fireworks right at the peak of Mount Faber. I am probably standing at the best position to watch the fireworks! The snow was falling at the same time too, so I can see the fireworks through the snow! So beautiful! Only God can make this happen!