CNY 2017

A very full-filling Chinese New Year this year! Everywhere we went, we're sure to eat around!

On the eve of CNY, we had a great reunion dinner with DC's parents, it was sumptuous as usual. We had our first lo hei too! This year, again we're missing the brother's family again as they were in confinement with their newborn boy. It was strange that when we're back at home, A asked me why his uncle did not turn up for the dinner! I didn't know he would be bothered by his absence.

The loving chewzies:

The good food:


That night, the kiddos helped DC wash his car, and in turn we allowed them to sleep later (till midnight) watching their favorite cartoon to their hearts' delight.

Look at the diligent helpers! :)

Us in our matching outfits on CNY Day 1:

The CNY started off with the vegetarian 罗汉斋 at the in-laws, where A finally met his uncle and cousins there.

As usual, the first stop was to the uncle's place. A and B found prawn crackers there and couldn't stop eating them! :) DC and I had our fill with the fried bee hoon, yam cake and the CNY goodies like ba kwa, pineapple tarts and love letters!

Next stop was to the aunt's place. Over there, A and B kept running around and eating crispy seaweed and prawn crackers. Sensing that they were tired, we tried to force a short nap on them at the aunt's place. Well, it was better than nothing... they were refreshed enough to move to the third place of the day... and that's the cousin's place.

At the cousin's place, by then A and B already know where to find sweets - the table tray - they consumed lots of Ribina gummies and chocolates! The kiddos also found themselves a favorite spot at the place!

At 5:30pm, we went back to the aunt's place for dinner and we had Lo Hei (our second) and delightful home cooked food. DC and I were in love with the mini Buddha jumped over the wall! The kiddos love the chicken cutlets.

Us in pastel colors on CNY Day 2:

On day 2, we went to my parent's place and we had lunch there. Mum cooked the most delicious fried bee hoon and porridge! We also had the CNY must served red date tea:

Shortly after, we all proceeded to my uncle's place. Good food awaited us there! We had another round of feasting of our all-time favorite crispies! This year there were mushrooms! A was very appreciative of the food there and ate them in big bites! B loved the crispy prawn skin too! :) DC commented that the chicken wings were perfect! Food was so good we just had to pack them home. We managed to have our big group photo and family photos there too.

We took the kiddos back home for a nap, before we began our visiting at another aunt's place. This year, the cousin and his wife was around and they helped entertain the kiddos. A and B got to watch their favorite animated series - Mr Bean - while eating the strip crackers (again!). Surprisingly B was ok with the cousin's wife, and she was willing to sit on her lap while watching TV! We had A kept asking to go gai gai after the visiting, not wanting to believe that shops were all closed on CNY, haha...

Our Family Photo on CNY Day 3:

On day 3, we went to B's nanny's place and B had a wonderful time running around the place looking for new changes. :) Again, the kiddos grabbed a lot of sweets at the sweets tray. They also had milo and some cakes there.

Next was to their grandparent's place where MIL whipped up lunch for them, and after lunch we proceeded to another aunt's place. The kiddos drank coke and again had seaweed crackers there before bidding goodbye to day 3 visitation. The rest of the day was spent at home, where they had a good rest while it was pouring outside.

Tomorrow will still be a rest day for DC and me, we have taken leave as the kiddos are on school holiday. We have promised B that she could return to her nanny's... as for A, we'll have fun bonding with him! :)


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New Spectacles Collected

DC did a pair of spectacles recently and suggested I did a pair too at the same shop when he went back to adjust his new spectacles. I did just that and only managed to collect it tonight. It's been almost a month, I almost couldn't find my receipt... (I had DC rolling his eyes at me!)

At home, I showed it to the kids and was amused by their reactions towards me wearing spectacles! I wanted to tell them to take good care of their eyes... otherwise they'll end up like me. Haha, THEY, especially A, looked at my nerd look and rolled on the bed laughing! LOL!

And, it (the laughing) continued over the next few days!

[Updated: For the next few days, A constantly requested for me to wear the new specs and without forgetting to laugh at me heartily! Thanks to him, my new specs was not a white elephant! :P]


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CNY Ang Pows 2017

This year's CNY, which was on 28 Jan 2017 was way too early for any preparations to be made!

I didn't really have the time to explore new PS techniques and the creative juices didn't flow as well compared to last year (last year I had 2 designs!). So, this year's handmade ang pows was done pretty quick, with the aim to conserve time and energy for the bigger CNY to do things e.g. spring cleaning.

Introducing this year's red packet design for the Year of Rooster:

If you were to notice, the template was reused from last year's and I only had to fit in a photo in as the cover for the red packet. I made sure I chose one photo with enough gold (or red). I even removed the wordings this year!

Of course, like previous few years, I also added elements to allow the kids to participate in the making and to add their creativity strokes on the red packets. The balloons were to be turned into colorful roosters and the kiddos clothes to be tinted with sparking colors for the CNY! Each packet is still unique on its own! Haha, in the end the kiddos were more interested in watching their cartoons to help out...

Special thanks to DC who specially bought a special coated paper! He also got a new colour printer, haha come to think of it, the ink cartridge used to be replaced every year this time, it became a yearly thing to do before CNY unknowingly! Hopefully with the new colour printer, this step will not have to be repeated every year! :)


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Returned!

Returned to the art show the next day!

Not because I missed the art there, not because I wanted to buy any of the art there but because I thought I lost my cardholder there!

The organizer was very nice to hand me a return pass, however it was quite a frantic experience, trying to search for something that I didn't know where I've dropped!

And my feelings then was like this! Lol!

I also made my way to the conference and exhibition security counter to report my lost and found item. I didn't understand why the procedure was made so difficult just to report a lost item and was terribly annoyed by the poor customer service the security officers had over there! The customer service hotline and the mall security was much better!

On the way there, I cancelled my credit card... the new card will be sent to me in 3-5 working days.

It was only when I reached home that I found it! Still in my bag! Wonder why DC and I failed to find it in the first and second place! haha...

I tried to cancel the request for the new card, but was told it couldn't be done... Now I had to wait for the new card to come, and re-apply for ezlink topup. Quite a lot of work because of blunder!


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Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge

Cast:
Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Vince Vaughn

Director:
Mel Gibson

Genre:
Drama

Release:
19-01-2017

Running Time:
139 minutes

Language:
English(Sub: Chinese)

Synopsis
HACKSAW RIDGE is the extraordinary true story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who, in Okinawa during the bloodiest battle of WWII, saved 75 men without firing or carrying a gun. He was the only American soldier in WWII to fight on the front lines without a weapon, as he believed that while the war was justified, killing was nevertheless wrong. As an army medic, he single-handedly evacuated the wounded from behind enemy lines, braved fire while tending to soldiers, and was wounded by a grenade and hit by snipers. Doss was the first conscientious objector awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

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A very moving film! I didn't know it was based on a true story and thought it was a little exaggerated until towards the end they showed the interview of the true hero and his comrades! Truly deserving the Golden Globe nominations! We were also glad that we watched this in Gold Class.

I was looking at how the late man, who was a man of God, put his trust in the Lord to enable him to save 75 soldiers single-handedly without weapon during WWII!

It was a deserving medal of honor for him, and he proved that by firmly believing in God, miracle could happen!

Invited To At An Art Show

Gunthers gave me a complimentary ticket for 2 for an art show the other day. Actually we had not planned to be there but coincidentally found ourselves around the area!

Sensing that we still had some time, we decided to pop by the exhibition hall for a tour. What's more, there's complimentary drinks there!

Much to DC's amusement, the gallery wasn't boring at all, he found some of the art pieces interesting. :) There were photography exhibits too!

Much to my satisfaction, we managed to cover quite a lot of art pieces in that limited time we had!

Bonus was the free cocktail that was served!

Quite an eye opener this quick little tour, nice experience!

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The significant other's birthday

I decided for tried and tested. Also, the set lunches here were too good to miss ... $38++ for a 3 course set lunch, coffee included! So for CP's birthday, we decided to celebrate the occasion back at Gunther's.

Today, we indulged a little. Ordered wine off the menu ... a very fruity red from France, 2011 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Clos St. Jean. Priced at $35++, I doubt we will always order such. Anyway, I read later that the best vintages are 2016, 2015, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2003. (Read more at: http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/rhone-wines-cote-rotie-hermitage-chateauneuf-du-pape/chateauneuf-du-pape-wine-producer-profiles/clos-saint-jean-chateauneuf-du-pape-rhone-wine/). Probably best to drink at home or order house wines.

We have also come to order (carefully) from the tray for some of the more "exotic" options. Today, I had the conch, roasted with garlic and butter. $55++ for this. Good, fragrant and "crunchy". I dipped the bread into the butter sauce to slurp up every last bit.

Conch

CP had two Irish oysters. $12++ each.

Irish osyters

Of course, their signature cold angel hair pasta with oscietra caviar is a must. A $60 portion is good for two people to share but I relish finishing it all on my own!

Cold Angel hair pasta, Oscietra caviar

Foie Gras from the set lunch menu. Did get a bit rich towards the end.

Smoked Foie Gras, apple compote

Beetroot salad for CP, also from set menu. Slight tinge of sourness, I find it quite good, what's with all the heavy stuff coming up.

Braised beetroot, salad, orange dressing

For mains, I had meat. Grilled smoked pork belly.

Grilled smoked pork belly, forestiere

CP had black ink rice, sautéed squid.

Black ink rice, sautéed squid

Birthday celebration for CP.

Pana cotta for dessert, also from set menu.

Coffee and petit fours to finish off.

It was indeed an enjoyable lunch. Cheers to many more :)

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Passengers

Passengers

Cast:
Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Laurence Fishburne. Michael Sheen

Director:
Morten Tyldum

Genre:
Sci-Fi/ Fantasy

Release:
22-12-2016

Running Time:
116 minutes

Language:
English(Sub: Chinese)

Synopsis
On a routine journey through space to a new home, two passengers, sleeping in suspended animation, are awakened 90 years too early when their ship malfunctions. As Jim and Aurora face living the rest of their lives on board, with every luxury they could ever ask for, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction... until they discover the ship is in grave danger. With the lives of 5000 sleeping passengers at stake, only Jim and Aurora can save them all.


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There's no reason not to indulge in a movie on my birthday, right? :) And so we went for this one!

It's amazing how the film turned out, given the little cast (and budget) that they have! The actress and actor were eye-catching enough... what's more, there was also the stunning outer space for your admiration.

Despite the unfavorable rating given by the international critics, DC and I felt that the film stood on the side of our local rating (4.5 popcorns out of 5), that it was a worthy one for us!


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Tsuta

Seeing that there was no queue, my colleagues and I went in to try out this restaurant dubbed as the "World's first (and the only one) Michelin Starred Ramen Restaurant".

It had a small seating capacity of only less than 20 (18 to be exact), all counter seats. I like it that the cost of one bowl of ramen was comparable to the other common ramen restaurants outside including our favorite ramen restaurant!

There were only 2 types of ramen available - Shoyu (soya sauce) or Shio (salt). Easy choice enough for me, I chose the Shoyu - broth contained beef, veg, clams, etc.

Truffle Shoyu Ramen with egg, how about that?

PS: Did you see the black truffle in the picture above? I gulped that up first, haha..

Just look at my satisfied look! :D

The other I later found out contained chicken, seafood and salt. The former was already quite salty, I couldn't imagine how the latter would taste like with Okinawa sea salt, Mongolian rock salt and green olives (instead of truffle!)!!

My colleagues didn't seem to enjoy it very much, some were neutral about it but I thought I might want to return for another bowl! Maybe with DC? :)


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Cousin's ROM Lunch

A joyous occasion! :)

One of DC's little cousins, one whom I had known since he was only 10 years old, got married today!

B wanted to be prettier than the bride. Look what she wore:

I told her that she might or might not be the prettiest but definitely the shiniest haha... cos she was wearing a glittery silver dress, glittery headband and glittery shoes! I joined in the fun too! :P

The couple and us:

The ceremony was held at a café and we had our lunch there. Love the relaxed atmosphere and the rainbow cushions! B had her ice-cream fill there too! Big cuppa vanilla!

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