Merry Christmas!

I have two favourite festivals. One is the Chinese New Year and the other is Christmas! And I have enjoyed my Christmas this year to the fullest!

The first celebration was with my Enemies!

Cafe Orielo (Somerset 313)

This year, we decided to do something different. We decided not to determine who gets whose present before the celebration. We just decided on the budget and off we go to buy whatever present that falls within our budget. It was more exciting because we didn't know what we will get!

In went our ICs into a paper bag for the "lucky dip"!

I received Xiao Pang's present and Birdie got mine! I am so sorry, Birdie, that you got 2 organisers now! You are really lucky, you know! The chances of receiving my present was 1 out of 6 and you hit it! Maybe it's time to buy lottery. Or you just love me too much. Haha!







Ah Bun received a present from Huli.



Jaws received a present from Mascot, I think?



Xiao Pang received a present from Birdie.



Mascot received a present from Ah Bun.



Huli received a present from Jaws?

I had two surprises that night. When I first drawed Xiao Pang's IC, I was like, "Eh? Who is this?" Haha! Girl, you are much much prettier now! =P


The second surprise was when I saw my present. I immediately went, "WTH is this??" Haha! That is the longest present I have ever received. Don't think naughty.

It was photo frame or photo drop from IKEA! Very nice! And a passport holder which "coincidentally", has the same design as my 22nd birthday pencil box. I think I know who bought my pencil box back then! =P




Xiao Pang also managed to find the funniest Marie cat stickers for Jaws.

Marie, what happened to your eyes??



A log cake from Patissier, also from Xiao Pang! We thought that Santa was made from icing sugar and tried to behead him but failed. Santa is a tough old man.

Our 8th Christmas together. =)


Second celebration with my Straits gang!

Shaun's House (Hougang Unit 313)

First to arrive with my Vodka!


Shaun's parents had prepared soooo much food! There was another side table with vegetables not shown in this picture. And it was a non-beef lunch because of me. I was so touched. =) I was very glad that they had considered my religion beliefs and were very willing to accommodate me. I love my friends when they do this for me!


My favourite irritant, Ba Jie. =) Life would be boring without this mean Biatch.



My Straits gang! It is funny how fate works some times. I never thought I was able to make fast friends when I first started working at Straits. It is amazing that we manage to keep this friendship going despite going different paths. =)



Gwen bought sparkling juice!





POP!







I love my camera.


Maggie and me. =)



Present time! Maggie received my present and I received Maria's, I mean Ba Jie's, present! (She looks like a maid in her IC. Haha!)







Cheers!

And then, it was Mahjong time! I got to leave halfway through the game because I need to rush back for my cousin Jovy's birthday. But I won $11.50! Haha! Not enough for my cab fare back though.




The last celebration - Jovy's birthday and Xmas celebration.

Cousin's House (Sunsetway Street 13)



Pictures of my nieces and nephews!


Baby girl, Chloe, who has grown a lot this year!

Aaron, who always gives a emo look when taking pictures.

Alvin and Ethel. That is Alvin's "smiling" face that he saves for picture taking.


I had steamboat again!

This prawn was huge! But believe me, this was a midget compared to the rest in another bowl.

Caught in the act! Naughty girl, emptying her bottle of water into a bowl of corn.


The boys received their Christmas presents. More toys! Judging by the amount of toys they have, they can open a toy store. =P









My brother received an unexpected present, Oakley shades, from my cousin who claimed that the shades do not suit him. Lucky bro..



Took it for a picture!



Jovy's birthday cake from Choc a Bloc! One of the best chocolate fudge cake ever!



Birthday girl.



The kids gathered around the cake, eager to blow out the candle.

Ethel looked super comical in this picture! Makes me laugh everytime I see it.



Lawrence saw his little girl missed the chance to blow the candle and specially lit one for her to blow. Doting father...



On Christmas day, I received a card from my Bro. It was beautifully and painfully (I saw him struggled with the bits and pieces) designed with a sweet message inside. I heart my bro. =)

I love my Christmas this year. =D

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Taiwan Trip Day 15

Finally I have time to blog about my last day in Taiwan! This is a super late entry, considering that more than half a year has gone by already. Heh!

I consider the time spent in Taipei most boring. Coz all we did was shopping and I hate shopping. So there are very few photos of us but more of the food. Well, at least, that is interesting.

I had the best Kong Bah Bao ever! I think the Taiwanese call it 刈包 (yi bao/chua bao (localised name). I think the Taiwan version beats the Singapore version hands down. You can choose either fatty or lean meat and I asked for a mix of them. The chunks of meat went into the bun first. Then, the boss added a huge spoonful of preserved vegetables, another huge spoonful of crushed peanuts and finally, garnishes! Tasted heavenly! The meat simply melted and the peanuts gave it a sweet taste amidst the saltiness. Delightful!











We shopped around 五分埔 (Wu Fen Pu) for the whole afternoon. It is a packed, stuffy and confusing maze. I bought a owl pendant which becomes my current favourite accessory piece and some other pendants. That's it. The clothes in Taiwan are too floral-y, lacey-y, chiffon-y, in other words, too lady-like for me.


Around evening, we took the train to Shihlin again because PX had not shopped to her heart's content the previous day.


My interest peaked only when we started discussing what to eat for dinner. Heh! PX wanted to try Japanese sake so we searched around Shihlin for a Japanese restaurant. Surprisingly, there was no Japanese restaurant in Shihlin! There were plenty of Korean BBQ restaurants and numerous stalls selling street food but no Japanese or Western restaurants.


In the end, we decided to cab back to 五分埔 because we remembered there were two Japanese restaurant situated there.



And we managed to have our hot sake! And fresh salmon!







I cannot remember the exact price of the sake but it was super super cheap compared to Singapore's. I think one bottle cost only around S$7.





I was a happy girl!





My meal! I had the black boar set while PX had the Tempura set. Once again, Taiwan proves itself! One of the best Japanese meal I ever had! The meat and the onions blended so nicely together! I tried searching for something like this in Singapore but haven't found anything like it yet.






The confirmation that the meal was excellent!




The sake was so cheap that we decided to buy another one back to the hotel!



The meal we had was super cheap! If I didn't remember wrongly, I think we paid around S$15-20 per person.

Before going back to the hotel, we popped into one of the convenience and swept the boxes of masks off their shelves. Between us, we bought nearly 20 boxes of masks. Heh!




Day 15 ended with cold sake in bed. Bliss..


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