A girl's first Tiffany ...

Call me a cliché , but admittedly, I am a Tiffany that kind of gal. Some people would think that their products are way overpriced, but you know what, it's Tiffany. In another words, yeah, you're paying for the brand, just like any other branded stuffs. Just perhaps the media has successfully imparted me about the beauty of such brand, and that most girls will use Tiffany products as a metaphor of felicity. Ha. But, don't you find an elegant gift placed in the Tiffany velvet jewelry pouch, encased in the Tiffany box, then wrapped around with white satin ribbon simply irresistable?

This Christmas, I got my very first Tiffany gift from my significant other. No, it is not a ring. It is a pendant. A very elegant pendant. After a few years of wearing the 'key' that was given by my parents when I was 21, I am happy to have a change. Hey, I have been wearing that for a few years you know ... I never change it with anything else because I feel that I have yet to possess anything that is good enough for a replacement. Now, it is time ... =)

If I work in Malaysia, I will never ever dream of owning any Tiffany's products. However, since our earnings are in USD now, the price would seem somewhat more affordable now.

Thank you, Tomato. It is a thoughtful gift.
A gift that is 'true to our hearts'.

Christmas Dinner.

This is what I prepared for my Christmas dinner. As you can see, there is spanakopita (Greek spinach pie), baked Salmon fish on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes, top with special roasted onion, and baked string beans with turkey bacon.


All dishes are inspired by chefs from Food Network. The food tasted okay, but I had a depressing day because my yule log, which was designated to be the dessert of my Christmas dinner, didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be. It was supposed to be like the picture showing on your right. The cake I baked was all cracked up, I couldn't even frost it. And the frosting I made, melted. Sigh. I ended up having a sinful-but-cracked chocolate fudge cake. It tasted good, but didn't have a shape, at all.







Another depressing thing is that the spanakopita didn't turn out the shape I desired. Spanakopita, traditionally, are made in flag shapes, like the picture showing on your left. Though been forewarned before I played with the phyllo dough, I thought I would be alright. Little did I know that phyllo dough really is an ingredient that requires experience to play with. So I ended up with all sorts of shapes, from square, to irregular, to I-dunno-what shape. Oh well, as long as they're still in a parcel-like, huh? The taste of the spanakopita was alright, except I would prefer having cream cheese as filling, instead of Ricotta cheese. I will use the former instead, should I try to make this again.

The string beans, hmmm, the idea itself was kinda fun, but I think I shall boil the bean lightly in boiling water before sending them into the oven. The beans got kinda dried-up at the edges. If I could preserve the crunchiness entirely, that would be ideal.

Aiks, at least the Salmon and mash potatoes top with special roasted onion (flavoured with Balsamic Vinegar) was great. This is an attempt to cook a ristorante-level food. The overall end result? Aigh.

No, I should not be deterred by this small lil' failure, but carry on my assiduous attempts in my culinary exploration.

I hope you had a great Christmas celebration. I look forward to reading your wonderful stories in your blogs. Seeya.

Merry Christmas!

So, this is Christmas …

A week ago, I knew Christmas was indeed fast approaching, but I never knew that it would be this weekend. How non-alert. Anyhow, it’s one of the most joyous times of the year. I am sure the jolly spirit overwhelms all of you. Everyone is either busy getting gifts, or planning a grand Christmas dinner. I hope everyone will have great holiday celebrations.

Speaking of Christmas, do you believe in Santa Claus? Or were you at least once a believer of this Ho-Ho-Ho man? Oh well, because I grew up in a tropical country, I never had a chance to believe so. Not only that my parents didn’t impart me, and hence created a scenario for me to believe, I speculated that there is no chimney nor fireplace in my house, so Santa Claus wouldn’t have a way to enter my house. On top of that, Malaysia is too far away from the North Pole, even the magical reindeers wouldn’t have the special power to bring Santa to travel afar. I always thought that such character only exists in fairy tales, or simply a beautiful legend to associate with the festive season. I also thought that everyone else would hold the same belief like me, only to realize that I was so wrong when I was in Canada.

Yes, the ‘ultimate’ Santa Claus doesn’t quite exist, but there are still Santa Clauses. No, I don’t mean those who dresses-up in the red suit and white beard that you see in shopping emporiums. Nah-ah. So, whom am I referring?

Have you watched the movie ‘Polar Express’ before? The movie did a great job in illustrating the legend of Christmas. In the movie, not only that Santa Claus does exist, he resides in the North Pole together with a huge population of Christmas elves. Christmas elves spend almost entire year to make toys and wrapping gifts. On the eve of Christmas, Santa Claus will ride on his sleigh (that has sleigh bells as ornaments), which is pulled by reindeers as his mode of transport to deliver the presents to well-behaved kids nationwide. Yes, such a beautiful legend, huh? If I tell you, kids over here believe the entire story, will that shock you? Oh, I just couldn’t bring myself to believe this when I first told by my friend here. Yeah, majority of the kids here will believe the existence Santa Claus, until they find out the reality either through peers, or they deliberate the truth themselves. It is a tradition over here that parents will strive their best to bring such belief to their kids. ‘Why?’ I asked. My friend, who is a mum to a precious daughter, told me ‘this will give the kids something to look forward’. With a brief pause, she continued ‘and of course, they will endeavor to be a better kid in order to have their dreams come true/get the much-desired gifts’. ‘But, won’t you feel hurt when you grow up only to realize that it was a big white lie?’ I asked again. To my disbelief, they don’t normally feel that way. Kids would sometimes argue with their friends about their believes. Nonetheless, when they soon find out the reality, they would be more grateful, as Santa Clauses are actually wonderful parents in disguise.

My friend then further told me that most of the parents would prepare some cookies and milk on their children’s behalf, and placed them on the table (mostly) by the Christmas tree. The snack is intended as a sign of appreciation to Mr. Claus when he comes. And you know what would happen? The parents would have a bite or two on the cookies! Ha! And the best part is, the cookies would then be shown to the kids the next day when they wake up, so they would have the perception that Santa indeed did come, and left them the wonderful gifts! Needless to say, I was astounded. My friend then jokingly said, ‘Oooh yeaaahhh, we’ll go that far.’ Lolz.

At this jolly season, I will like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

May your dreams come true…
May you have tons of joyous moments with your love ones …
May you have great food and great laughs …

And most importantly,
May the Christmas spirit be with you, always …

Happy Holidays!

Stir Fry Vege with Chinese Wolfberry.

This is what I normally would do when I stir fry vege. I would add Chinese Wolfberry , or known as Chinese Matrimony Vine (枸杞，或杞子) while stir-frying. I started doing this about a year ago when I was in Canada. I was about to leave the country and there was still a packet of this Chinese herb sitting in my fridge. I did not wanna waste any of such good stuff. It is a well-known fact among the Chinese that this herb is good for one's vision. But having Chinese herbal chicken soup (most common way to use this herb) everyday didn't sound like a good idea either. Consequently, I tried to incorporate this herb to my cooking. I forgot what else I did, but to have it with stir fry vege is one of the best idea I have developed so far. I encourage you to try it out. Not only that you can have a faster turn-over rate for this item in your household, it actually tastes pretty good too together with your vege. It would bring some sweetness to your dish. On top of that, you know you're doing something beneficial to your eye.

Something to share.

King of the Kong - a movie nite out.

I had a movie night out with my sweetheart yesterday night. It was a great night. We both needed some leisure time ...

To both of us, King Kong is one of the most anticipated film of the year. Despite the rather pricey ticket price {okay, it isn't so bad, but with the price of ($8.50 x 2 tickets), it's equivalent to the monthly *NETFLIX price [3 DVDs at a time] that we are paying.}, we've decided to go for it anyhow as this is one of the largest production so far, and it's Peter Jackson's work. We figured that it won't be bad. So, a King Kong night out it is.

Warning: Possible spoiler ahead.

The movie. Hmmmm, where shall I begin. I am sure you have at least heard a little about the plot, so I am not gonna elaborate here. In brief, this is a movie that is about 'Master showman Carl Denham has fallen on hard times due to the depression, and mounts an expedition to the mysterious Skull Island to find another showpiece. He takes along adventurer Jack Driscoll and the down-on-her-luck gorgeous blonde Ann Darrow with him to spice up the show. Arriving on the island, they discover it is home to gigantic beasts like dinosaurs, and ruling over all is Kong, a 30 foot tall gorilla. The natives kidnap Ann as a sacrifice for Kong, and the other crew members head into the dangerous island interior to rescue her.' Source.

Basically, I would like to separate the movie (a 3 hrs and 07 min production) into 3 parts, each part corresponds with the hours. I like the first part. I thought the 'old New York' scenes were done brilliantly. The building, the costumes, the crowd, the broadway, the automobiles, the streets, the Time Square, the people, the lights, the high-rise-building-in-the-making etc., simply wowed me. I was astonished by their attention to details. The second part, is where all the adventures come in when they are in the Skull Island. The doovoo natives, the wild and horror primitive world, various type of prehistoric dinosaurs, etc., everything you ever wanted from an adventure-fantasy film. As for the final part, everything is back to NYC, where some of the classic scenes (like King Kong climbing the Empire State Building) would be shown.

To be honest with you, I don't enjoy the second part of the movie as much. I just think that it is unseemly long, and too elaborative. No, don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of LOTR 1-3, and I could watch the entire series over and over again; I feel that the horror part of the King Kong was a bit draggy. Chiller scenes kept coming in, up till a point that I felt so tired of it. There were too many creatures to fight, and so many crew members of the ship had to sacrifice their lives. Well, this part just isn't my cup of tea.

Having said that, King Kong is still a great movie to watch. In my dim view, Peter Jackson made everything up at the final part of the movie. Oh well, I was so moved by the exquisite interactions between the beauty and the beast, until I shed some tears. I guess inevitably everyone would end up falling in love with the beast too. And the classic dialog of Carl Denham ' Oh, no. It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.' ended the movie beautifully.

Now I am inspired to rent the 1933 and 1976 versions of King Kong. Let's see how will they turn out.


* Netflix is special DVD rental service offered in US, whereby you order your DVD online, and they'll mail the DVD to you. Once you're done with the movie, you mail it back.

Happiness. 福。

A couple of days ago I received a pleasant surprise from Malaysia. It was a mail from Twinsmom. Inside the envelope, there is a Christmas card, and this 'happiness' pendant.

I will treat it as a happiness charm.

I like it very much. Many thanks to you, Maria.

Updates:


I figured that this is the best place for the lil' happiness pendant to go. =)

Chicken Pie.

I have never made a chicken pie before. Yesterday, out of the blue, I thought of giving it a try as I thought I had most of the needed ingredients on hand.

For the flaky pastry, I used the ready-to-bake puff pastry sheets as mentioned before in my Portuguese Egg Tart post. Flaky result guaranteed. As for the filling, below is the recipe:

Filling:

200g minced chicken meat 1 Bombay onion, diced 100g button mushrooms, quartered 75g potatoes, parboiled till cooked and diced 75g carrots, diced 50g green peas 1/4 tin cream of mushroom soup, diluted with 1/2 tin of water Seasoning: Dash of white and black pepper Pinch of salt Pinch of Cajun seasoning Pinch of dried basil Pinch of Oregano leaves

To make filling: Heat 2 tbsp butter in wok, then saute onions until soft. Add chicken and button mushrooms. Stir-fry well. Add carrots, potatoes and cream of mushroom soup. Blend in seasoning. Cook for two to three minutes. Add thickening (flour or corn flour) and green peas. Dish out to cool.

Recipe adapted from Kuali.com.

p/s: if you have rosemary and thyme, that will taste even better. Sadly, I don't have this. Many other great chicken pie recipe will call for these two herbs.



Chicken pie. Before baking.


Chicken Pie. Ready to be served.


Carefully lay a layer of puff pastry on a pie baking plate. Scoop out the precooked chicken filling over the puff pastry. Instead of covering the dish entirely using the pie crust, I arranged mine into lattice work over the chicken dish. Later on bake at 375 F for around 40 minutes, or until the pie crust is golden brown in colour. My pie tasted alright. Maybe I am not a big fan of chicken pie, so I didn't go uuuuhhhh and aaarrrhhhh even if it was my own work. I had pineapple tomato and corn salad as well as canned mushroom soup to go with it.


Chicken pie with salad and soup.


I had some extra crust leftover from the pie, so I had a little fun by cutting the crust using my gingerbread cookie cutter. I wanted to dress them up, but I did not have a chance to execute my plan at all as Tomato was way to fast to grab them and munched with the soup. Oh well, better luck next time.

Just an ordinary meal, in an ordinary day.


After-note:
The leftover pie tasted better when I consumed it the next day. Maybe leftover does taste better than the fresh one. Haha.

Childhood Food Meme.

Recently I have the honour to be tagged by the hottest mama in Malaysia, if not the world. I really felt flattered at first, but then I had some hard time brainstorming/recalling my childhood food. Hey, it has been more than 2 decades (I can't believe I am now old enough to use such phrase! Sigh.), ya know? Anyhow, I am glad that I am given such opportunity to elicit some of my long forgotten memories ...

What would in my list of childhood memories food? Here goes ...

1) Milk (Adult VS Kiddy)
You might wonder what does adult milk vs kiddy milk means. Actually that's a term my mum came up with when I was 5. At the age of five, I think most of us have to attend kindergarten. Every morning, my mum would wake me up, and fed me (cause I was still really sleepy, and if I would have to drink that all by myself, it would take hours.) with kiddy milk. Essentially, kiddy milk is Milo with kids' formula milk powder (like KLIM, or Nestum, etc). The adult version = Milo + condensed milk. Needless to say, the adult milk tastes nicer. I didn't know how does adult milk tasted like, until one day I begged my mum to give me a sip. Only then I knew kiddy milk tasted so bland. Later on, I would ask for adult milk, but my mum would say 'That's for adult, okay? You would only be allowed to drink that once you grow up. Now, this is the best milk for you.'

I have grown up it is.


Kiddy milk ingredients.


Adult milk ingredients.


2) My Kindy's Fried Beehoon and Red Bean Soup











If I am not wrong, most kindergarten will provide a snack meal during the short break. For some unknown reason, I always remembered my kindy's friend beehoon and red bean soup (dessert). I think I liked it a lot back then. After school, I would happily report to my mum that I finished my plate of beehoon (and I think she would praise me for that, for I didn't waste any food [and possibly the $ she paid]), when many other friends failed to do so. I think I would tell my mum the type of meal I had in kindy, day by day. I believe the school actually offered a range of food, but I could not recall any other thing else but only this combination of food.

When it comes to noodle, I prefer beehoon (vermicelli) the most than any other type of noodles. Perhaps it all started from my kindergarten life.

3) Lok lok
Lok lok is a type of street food sells by mobile vendors primarily in the night market. A decade ago, lok lok stalls existed in great abundance next to many old-fashioned cinemas. Many people would have a skewer or two before/after catching the movie. As the cinemas get replaced by the air-conditioned mini-cineplex, previous scenario no longer holds.

For Non-Malaysian, lok lok is actually a type of hawker feast, featuring skewered veges, meatballs, seafood, fried beancurd, etc. They are raw, so you'll have to dip the skewer into boiling hot water (provided by the vendor) in order to cook your food. Once the food is cooked (you have to estimate the cooking time yourself, roughly a few minutes later), you can either eat it as it is, or further flavoured the food by adding some other sauces the vendor provides. The common sauces are sweet hoisin sauce, hot sauce (chilli), and satay sauce. Oh ya, Malaysian normally eat this standing right next to the stall. Oh yeah, that's the way to do it.

When I was young, lok lok was considered as cheap street food, at least that's how I remember it. But now, I think it's expensive. A skewer can cost between Rm1-2, or even more. I would have to have a few skewers in order to satisfy my appetite, and with that cost, I can get a decent meal elsewhere. That's how I rationalize it.

Nonetheless, I miss lok lok. I miss how my mum would bring me to the pasar malam (Malay, meaning night market), get a few skewers of squids and Kangkong (a type of oriental vege). Those were the days ...

Photo source from here and here.

3) Cotton Candy
I didn't have a lot of these, but to me, it is inevitable to associate this food with childhood. My family used to live very nearby to the Old Klang Road when I was a little girl. During that time, I remembered my father would bring us to many circus shows. There were a lot of them back them. No, not those classy one, selling pricey ticket like nowadays. They were cheap. And when I was young, there was so many fun-fair for us to go. I wonder what happen to these organizations. It was in these circus shows, and fun-fairs that I got to know about cotton candy. Isn't such candy a piece of heaven when you slowly melt them away in your mouth? I always thought that this candy is something amazing, and am still amazed by it till now.


4) Lolly Candy













My mum didn't pamper me with candy when I was a kid. I think the term 'never' would be appropriate when it comes to this matter. But occasionally, my nice aunties would tempt me with these fancy lolly candies ... Hey, I was a small lil' gal back then, I wouldn't say no. I remembered I would enjoy this candy with one of my maternal aunt. Now I wonder whether did she really wanna buy me something, or she was merely seeking accompaniment to enjoy the lollies with her. Ha! Those, were the days ...

Argh.

5) Chee Cheong Fun
No, not the Hong-Kong style Chee Cheong Fun, but the truly-Malaysian style Chee Cheong Fun is THE FOOD that constantly wins my heart. I am a big fan of such 'cate', but sadly, I don't get to savour this food nowadays, as the sweet bean sauce isn't available here. How sad. I love my chee cheong fun with stuffed tofu, tofu slabs, meatballs, bouncy fishballs, and the special sweet sauce together with some chilli sauce. If top with crisp shallots, that would be perfecto. Some people prefer having chee cheong fun with curry broth, I stay loyal to the sweet sauce nonetheless.

I had this food since young. When I was in my primary school, there was a man who would operate a motocycle with his mobile stall to sell this. Every morning, when I heard the man shouting 'chee cheong fun', I would rush to my mum and beg her to get me this as breakfast. There were times that my mum asked me to buy the food myself, i.e. to take a plate, go out, tell the uncle what I wanted, and let him prepare my meal, then my mum would come out later to pay for it. I never had the guts to go out. NEVER. I was such a coward. What was I afraid of? He wouldn't hurt me, nor kidnap me, would he? Ha.

Since the meme required FIVE types of food, I won't make any modifications here.

It really was fun to think back.
Believe it or not, I had my fun doing so. Normally, I wouldn't agree to pass the meme on to someone else if I am assigned to do so. However, I really wanna share this joy with you. So, I will tag someone ...

And the lucky readers are:

1) Dr. Vagus_N
You mentioned that you're from Melaka, didn't you? Am just curious to find out what were the stuffs Melaka offered when you were a lil' kid. With Dr. Vagus great sense of humour, I anticipate an interesting post.

2) Mr. FooDcrazEE
This chef-to-be (or chef?) sure has a lot to offer. You want scrumptious five-star level gourmet entree? Look no where else, but Mr. FooDcrazEE's blog.

3) Ms. Glutton Rabbit
This lil' Penangite rabbit always hop around seeking for great culinary inspiration. Let's see what did she has when she was younger ...

It was a pleasant journey to think about food retrospectively. Although you bear a risk of salivate in nostalgia, I can assure you, it's an worthwhile effort. Just, don't take it as an assignment by doing it for the sake of completing a task. I hope you have fun.




I am glad that I do have cheerful childhood. =)

Lite 98.

I have to tell you, I am hooked. I am hooked on this Richmond Radio station Lite 98. They only play lite Christmas songs/rhythms nowadays. Everyday when I drive to/return from work, the beautiful melodies from the radio will easily melt my heart away. When listening to the songs, I am like living in a movie, having all those heartwarming songs as soundtrack. I will look around my surroundings; the starry night, marvellous Christmas lights, awe-inspiring decor that are set up by other households, etc.

And the title of the movie? What else, but 'My Felicity Corner'.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

P/s: You can listen to this radio live from the internet too. Go check it out.

De-Lovely.

I saw the trailer of De-Lovely long before the movie was screened in cinemas. I knew I would wanna watch it in the cinema, but for some reason, I missed it. I thought this movie would make a big opening, as the trailer looked awesome to me, it didn't turn out as grand as I thought. Anyhow, I had a chance to watch this DVD a few days ago, and I have to tell you, I love it. This is a biography, a love story, and a musical (broadway) show, all in ONE package. I am amazed by the quality of the movie. Not only that the plot was well written, all the singings and dancing are genuinely good too. Basically, it's a biography of Cole Porter, one of the greatest broadway song writer in US. Kevin Kline did a wonderful job in playing the role. I never know this man can sing, and play piano! Ashley Judd is such an epic beauty! I could definitely get the 'Audrey Hepburn' kind of feeling from her. To me, no one could do a better job than her. In addition to these two leading actor/actress, you get to see some famous singers in the show. Robbie Williams, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Alanis Morissette, just to name a few. All the songs are terrific, and according to the director of the movie, there are 30 songs in it! It is so broadway!

If you're looking for a great Christmas present idea, go get this DVD. If you're looking for a great movie to watch, go rent/buy this DVD. I hope you'll enjoy the show as much as I do.

Snow.

I managed to snap some photos on the way home after work. The pictures are for your viewing pleasure. Do enjoy.

Starbuck's outdoor patio will no longer be a common spot for people.


It's all white ...

Look at those branches of the trees ...







Footprints ...






Too bad I can't send some home ... eh?

Richmond's first snow of the year.

It's snowing out there, the very first snow of the season in this city. 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected for today, and another 1 to 3 inches for tomorrow. No, snowman-making won't be possible because 1) the snow are flaky; 2) the amount of snow won't suffice the need of making a snowman.


People has been telling me that I won't get a lot of snow in Richmond. Consequently, I seriously don't know what to expect. I lived in Canada for a few years where snow is simply outrageous. With that experience, I thought I can live with any amount of snow. But things are rather different now. At present time, I drive as a way to commute. I no longer walk. Walking under the snow is so much easier than under the rain. But to drive under the snowy condition is totally different. Let's hope that I will get used to such weather condition, and be safe.



Oh well, winter is here. Confirmed.


My lil' basil farm is now gone. It's now completely covered by snow.


Silent. Serene. Soothe. Hush ...

Lazing around ...

It feels so good to laze around. Arrgh! Because I have just started working night shift lately, I had some hard time trying to get adjusted to a new lifestyle. I am alright now, getting better to a new schedule, but during the weekdays I was all burned-out. I am so in love with weekend from this day onwards.

It has been a productive morning. Since I woke up, I managed to do some blog-hopping. I finally get to catch up with my favourite bloggers' updates. I read news. I replied mails. I even had online conversations with a few ppl. My brother shared those great family stories with me; I contacted an old high-school mate of mine, it felt so good to have a rekindled friendship; I even tried to match-make two bloggers (yeah, please pardon my KPCness). I wrote 3 posts in a row, in ONE morning. Haha. I surfed my friend's FRIENDSTER site, only to find out how much I miss many of my high school mates! Wow, I shall spend some time to contact them back one by one.

Orion, if you're reading this, welcome to my felicity corner. I have not seen you after high school. You surely are one of the dear friend I miss the most. I apologise for not contacting you for so long. I am so happy that I have you back once again. Let's keep in touch much more often.

To the bloggers I am trying to match-make, well, you know who you are. I hope that I didn't create a mess, and that there will be a fruitful outcome, instead of a 'tormented aftermath'. (Argh, please don't kill me for my KPCness. I just can't stand to see people who are meant to be together, aren't together ... ) My best wishes go to you...

Oh well, lazy time will soon be over. Now, let me get back to my house chores. Let me see, what do I have on the list: laundry, sweep & mop the floor, clean the bath tub and the toilet, make sausage bun for next week's breakfast ...

I sure will have a great weekend. May yours be awesome too!

Rambutan.

A few months ago I'd written a post about the rambutan tree in my house. It is a tree planted by my mum a few years back. Despite my parents effort (removing weeds, adding tons of organic fertilizer), the tree never flowers, only until recently. Now? The once lil' tree, is now the supplier of rambutan for my family, and possibly my neighbourhood. Ha!

What a fruitful experience for my parents.

Why, why this didn't happen when I was home? Arrrgggghhh!!

Ng's Happiness (and my homesickness).

Recent days, I suffer severe homesickness. You will know why in a minute.

Ng's family (my family's surname/family name) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has been showered by uncountable laughters and joy lately. 1.5 month ago, we welcome a new member to our family. His name is Ezekiel, a baby boy to my 3rd uncle and aunt. In other words, he is my cousin (haha, with 20 over years of age difference). Ezekiel has a 6 yo sister, Eunice, who is an adorable and cute lil' gal. This is a baby my entire family longed for. The couple tried really hard to conceive a new life. They succeeded a few times after Eunice was born, but the bliss was taken away due to miscarriages. Luckily they never gave up. Finally, there is an extra male family member in my family of this generation who bears this surname, other than my 2 brothers. Although he was born as a premature baby (roughly a month before the expected due date), he is growing well, and healthy now. We are so so so happy.

In addition, Ng's family had a blast celebrating my paternal grandpa's 80th birthday yesterday, what a great milestone, eh? Needless to say, everyone was exhilarated. To my grandpa, I guess he regards Ezekiel as one of the best 80th birthday present. They had a grand dinner in a restaurant, and ALL the Ng's family members were there (except those who are residing in overseas, like me, and my aunts in Aussie). From the pictures that were shared by my brother, I knew they had great time. I am very happy indeed, despite my absense. I called my family during the dinner, and I could hear everyone's laughter. What a moment. What a moment that I wished I could be there. Sigh.

I guess I have missed out on many precious moments like the aforementioned, eh? I used to participate in Eunice's growth so much. I will visit them frequent, bring Eunice to shopping emporium, buy stuffs for her, go McD with her, go Ikea with her, etc. Now, for Ezekiel, all I can have, is his pictures ... I don't get to see him in person, carry him around, verbally tell him how much I love him ... What a bummer!

Aigh. At least, everyone is living a happy life. I am very grateful for that.

I wish Ng's family many many more great years to come!

Happy Birthday Grandpa and welcome to Ng's family, Ezekiel!

Christmas spirit ...

I see these ornaments as lil' angels that bring in the season's spirit to our house. These days, I love sitting in the living room gazing at the tree. It just makes me feel good, and serene. Too bad I don't have a fire place, that would certainly kick up a notch.

We have these plaster craft houses on another corner of the living room.


May you enjoy the month of December. =)