Just around the corner

Chinese New Year is just around the corner!

This year, the first day of Chinese New Year will fall on 14 February 2010, which is also Valentine's Day.

In the past, Valentine's Day was a popular date for couples to register their marriage at the Registry of Marriages. Given the fact that it falls on the first day of Chinese New Year this year, I wonder whether the number of Valentine's Day ROM marriages this year will be less than before? Also, the people who have been invited to a Valentine's Day ROM marriage would be undecided whether to attend the ROM marriage celebration or engage in the traditional first day of the Lunar New Year relative visiting. *grin*

My Aunt SN (my mother's second sister) has gone back to Muar, Malaysia. In the interim and pending her next visit to Singapore, I decided to use the balance jam that we had bought for her consumption in Singapore by baking a jam fruitcake.

For those of you who will be celebrating Chinese New Year this year, here's wishing you GONG XI FA CAI!

Shaloam,

See you in March 2010, Aunt SN!

Aunt SN (my mother's second sister) has been in Singapore for the past two months. She is a lady of leisure who lives in Muar, Malaysia and has been having fun catching up with my mother and the rest of my family.

Alas... she has "maxed out" the 60-day stay for Malaysians and as such, she would need to return to Malaysia.

Not to worry - Aunt SN will be back in early March 2010 (I am keeping my fingers crossed!).

In the meantime, here are some photographs taken during Aunt SN's two months in Singapore.

Aunt SN and Princess at home:

Aunt SN and Da at HDB Hub:

Aunt SN and MAT (Da's niece) at Katong Shopping Centre:

Aunt SN and FIL at Glory Catering:

Aunt SN left Singapore this evening.

See you in Singapore again in early March 2010, Aunt SN!

Love,

Pebbles

Bedok yummies

There is a coffee shop located at Bedok Interchange that MIL likes to patronise.

One of the stalls in this coffee shops sells delicious wan ton noodles. For those (like me) who are not that keen on wan ton, you can request for more char siew (barbequed pork).

For an extra charge, you can request for braised Chinese mushrooms as well.

FIL was amused when I passed the remark that the wan ton noodles are best eaten when they are not freshly made. My rationale is that if you leave the noodles alone for some time, the gravy will be absorbed into the noodles, thereby making the noodles soft and delicious.

Typical of MIL's habit, each meal will end with a lovely array of freshly cut fruits.

Shaloam,

Brunch at Qi Ji, stroll at East Coast Parkway & dinner at Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant

Delicious Jalan Tua Kong food

They are blooming

I may be developing green fingers!

Recently, the plants in the balcony of our apartment unit have been blooming. FIL (who is interested in gardening) saw the plants blooming and he commented that the Lord is showing favour on us.

Take this pot of orchid, for example. I bought it from IKEA several years ago for S$2 (if I recall correctly). At that time, there was only one stalk of orchid. After that stalk of orchid bloomed, the plant stopped blooming for several years.

Recently, I noticed with excitement that the pot of orchids was starting to bloom again. I had already given up on it blooming, thinking that the sunlight at our balcony was too hot for plants to survive. Not only did the three stalks of buds that I saw bloom beautifully, today I saw three new stalks of buds appearing!

This is so like the ways of the Lord. When we keep trying using our own effort, we often do not see results. When we "let go and let God", miracles start to happen. In fact, new life springs forth and we see the favour and grace of our Lord manifest in our lives.

Shaloam,

We are one!

Thank You, Jesus for the wonderful news.

Late dinner

I had to work late today. As I was rushing work, I did not have time to eat dinner.

By the time I left the office, it was way past dinner time. However, as my stomach was growling louder than a tiger, I decided to make a detour to Hoe Kee dim sum shop in Geylang to buy some cold chicken big pau for breakfast tomorrow. As I intend to steam the pau tomorrow morning, I decided not to buy the hot pau as I would need to wait for the pau to cool down before I store them in the refrigerator.

While I was at Hoe Kee, I ordered some assorted fried dim sum as well. If you are a fan of yam cake, I would recommend the fried yam cake from Hoe Kee. It is very delicious. Their fried spring roll is favoured by my Aunt SN (my mother's second sister).

Before I paid for my order, I also requested for one hot chicken big pau.

When Da arrived home not long after me, he ate the chicken big pau while I ate some of the fried dim sum. I could not resist snacking on some of the fried dim sum as it was piping hot when I bought them. Yummy!

Just a thought for today.... no matter what challenges we encounter in whatever we embark on, we should look beyond the trees and see the forest. When we see the bigger picture, many things in life become worthwhile and we learn to let go of the "small stuff". Jesus has carried our diseases and borne our pain. When we see the perfect sacrifice by our Lord and Saviour, whatever trials and tribulations we are going through pale in comparison. Thank You, Lord for loving me.

Shaloam,

Baby steps

I am getting the hang of using my new Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera... without referring to the instruction manual, that is!

This is the second day that I am using the camera. With the permission of my colleague (with whom I had lunch today), I took photographs of our lunch.

My colleague ordered spicy Aglio Olio spaghetti with prawns.

I ordered non-spicy Aglio Olio linguine with chicken chipolata.

I saw other colleagues seated at a neighbouring table and I could see that they were amused to see me taking photographs of our food. *grin*

When I came home from work, by the time I "dilly-dallied", Da had finished eating his dinner. I took a photograph of my sweet and sour fish with steamed white rice (accompanied by a few slices of black pepper chicken from Da's dinner that he gave me) before I settled down to enjoy my dinner.

Shaloam,

My Cyber-Shot

Here are the photographs taken today by me using my new Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera (DSC-W180) for the first time.

This camera was a birthday present to me from WC and SC in November 2009 but I have only used the camera for the first time today.

I have to confess that I have not yet read the instruction manual that came with the camera, though!

Da and I met for lunch today at an Indian Muslim cafe located at Stanley Street. Da ordered a mutton briyani.

I ordered a chicken briyani.

We shared a fish cutlet.

We also requested for some fish curry gravy.

Our delicious lunch was accompanied by lime juice and iced tea.

For dinner, we ate dry noodles.

For the side dish, we shared soon kueh.

We also shared some siew mai.

In the days to follow, I intend to use my Cyber-Shot more frequently. Hopefully I will be able to get the hang of using this lovely camera without having to read the instruction manual (because I am very lazy to read manuals!). *grin*

Shaloam,