Crazy CNY Gathering

My caring boss organized a gathering for us once again to chill with him and yes, I am still on maternity leave but he did not leave me out.

Went to meet them at Wine Connection and actually, I am excited to meet them coz’ I am missing their companionship and all the dinner outings with boss. This time round, we also included Shar Shar, my temp girl whom I am very grateful to for assisting during my leave. 

As usual, boss will be in charge of wine while he left the food orders to us. We ordered some starters like ham selections with cheese, pastas, risotto and pizza to share. Though food was simple and not as fantastic as those classy Italian restaurants, it was actually the company you are dinning with that made the difference. 

We had a great time laughing at stuff in the office and they were updating me on what’s happening in the office too though I was very well informed by friends. J Apart from office matters, we also considered this dinner as our CNY gathering dinner but just a little different. We did the ‘Yu Sheng’ tossing using the Caesar Salad and though without fish, we were happy to toss our wishes.

This is the kind of gathering we love where we can be ourselves and boss allows you to order anything without stopping us due to budget… hahaahahah 

Thank you, Boss for your kind invitation once again!

ADM CNY Dinner

It’s a rare invitation by the ADM boss to host CNY dinner for staff. We believed that the only reason that he is hosting this dinner is to show GM that he is already doing something to mend the relationship with the stuff and also the recent survey results. HA! 

Anyway, Leng assisted to book Spring Court which is considered the most reasonable CNY dinner and being ‘SO BUDGETED’, he chose the cheaper set menu for 11 of us. That’s fine actually but we were pretty disappointed that he did not include the suckling pig in the menu… L

Being on maternity leave, I joined dinner to support my colleagues and we arrived early to chat and enjoy our own bonding session before the boss arrives. When he arrived, he was very proud to announce that GM gave him a bottle of white wine to share for tonight’s dinner. We ordered 2 jugs of beer but not all are drinkers.

We enjoyed the food pretty much but it was just his presence that we felt uncomfortable about. Half way through the dinner, beer was running out and wine is finished. Linda wanted to order some more beer but was rejected by boss!!! We were caught by surprise … infact, STUNNED! Just 2 jugs of beer and one pathetic bottle of white wine!!! Sighz….

I was happy that my hubby called me just at the right time to fetch me home and I was able to escape the dinner earlier than the rest… hahhahaa

Third Day CNY Visitation

We were invited to Linda’s place for CNY gathering on the third day of CNY. She invited our colleagues and some ex-colleagues so that we can catch up with each other.

As usual, she prepared lots of food for us and she has always been a great host. She also prepared food for the kiddos and many other goodies for us. It was a great gathering for everyone to relax and for the kids to know each other better. 

It was also my first time seeing Yuki’s cute baby Reika. She is really super cute!!! Wish that Emma & Reika will grow up soon so that they can become playmates… hahaahahah

Thank you Leng for the wonderful gathering and HUAT ahhh to you!

Second Day Of CNY

I am usually happy that it will be a relaxing visitation on day 2 of CNY as we only have one family to visit. We gathered at hubby’s aunt’s place today and we are happy to meet almost all his relatives.

It was really a hot day and I would love to stay in but the kiddos preferred to be out of the house as there was a playground just behind the house. Therefore, we as parents followed them to keep an eye… even Emma wanted to get involved but then again… she is too small…

It’s tradition that we will have Lo Hei when we have visitation at family’s place or even friend’s house as its CNY! I thoroughly enjoyed the tossing and the delicious Yu Sheng… besides the tossing of Yu Sheng and the delicious catered food, I enjoyed chatting and catching up with his cousins though we are not very close… J

With the playground just a stone throw away and enjoying bonding time with her cousins, it was really difficult to tell her that we are heading home. Before packing up, we finally managed to take a proper family pix together.

Will get to rest early tonight and prepare for another visitation tomorrow.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Dong Dong Dong Chiang!!! It’s the 1^st day of CNY and I would like to wish one & all a very Happy Lunar New Year!

This would be the Emma’s first CNY and we are excited to bring her out to meet her extended family members. We set off to my cousin’s place for lunch as usual and this year, my cousin BG was the main chef instead of my mum. She prepared many dishes like steam fish in Cantonese style, steam meat with egg white, vegetarian and jelly as desserts while my mum prepared curry vegetables and I made chocolate muffins for added desserts too. 

After lunch, we head down to my uncle’s place where it was only a street away from my cousin’s. Though we weren’t able to stay longer but it was great to meet up with the relatives whom I only get to meet once a year.

Our last visitation venue was at Bishan where hubby’s cousin hosted the gathering at their condo function room. There were many home-cooked dishes and of course my long waited homemade Yu Sheng by his aunt which is super delicious! While Faith was enjoying her playtime with her cousins, Emma taking her beauty sleep, hubby & I had our own time enjoying the wonderful spread of food prepared by the host. 

The first day of visitation ended early and we were all tired… will take rest and continue to another visitation tomorrow… Happy New Year once again! HUAT AHH!!!!

CNY Reunion Dinner

CNY reunion dinner is one of my favorite occasions besides Christmas! This is the best time for the family to meet and catch up over simple dinner.

It’s a yearly affair or should I say it became a tradition that we will gather at my aunt’s place for the reunion dinner where cousins & myself will prepare most of the food while the elderly take their time off.

We began the dinner with Lo Hei and hope to toss for a better year ahead! Many other families had dishes or dine out at fancy restaurants but we very preferred to have steamboat at the comfort of our aunt’s place. 

The adults will sit at the table with the elderly while the young ones will have their meal at the hall and will continue their playtime thereafter. 

After dinner, we sat at the living room to chat about the schedule for 1^st day of CNY and how things should go about.

Happy New Year in advance everyone!

A Trip to Jurong Bird Park

Faith has been requesting us to bring her to the bird park for the longest time and being parents, we are definitely guilty for not obliging to her request till today!

Seeing her happy and excited face this morning definitely made me guiltier for not being able bring her to the park earlier and we apologized for that. She brushed us off with a smile and said “It’s Okay mummy & daddy, now we are heading there right?” I was filled with awe that I have such an understanding daughter…

When we arrived at the park, we were happy to know that it wasn’t crowded on a quiet weekday morning. There were only a few tourists and some locals who took leave before CNY. Our first stop was the penguin area where they housed a few species of penguins and Faith was really happy to see them swim too.

 As we hopped on to the tram, we saw many other species of birds and we decided to stop over to check out the beautiful eagles. There were a few different kinds of eagles and man… I simply love the American eagle… super beautiful but Faith was afraid as she thought they looked really fierce!! Hashanah… there were other birds like Emu, Ostrich, peacock which we saw along the way. 

Finally, we made our trip to see the World of Darkness where they housed the owls. She really loves owls as we said she looks like them… hahaahah just the big eyes not the face. When we entered into darkness, she grabbed my hands and told me that she wants to go out coz’ it’s too dark and she is afraid. I held her hands and we walked slowly through the darkness and showed her the owls. When she saw some of the owls, she was afraid and told me that they were scary… until she saw the snow owls… she was excited and told me that they are the most beautiful breed of all the owls. Yes, I do agree as they were pretty and classy.   

We managed to end our tour by luncheon so that we can rest for the other half of the day. Trip to Bird Park was not too bad and guess we will be back again in the near future.

Lunch At Jamie’s

We have been wanting to try out this most talk about restaurant in town but somehow we can’t find the chance to do so till today. Yes, it’s our overdue date… just the two of us…

The environment was really cozy and homely and selection of food was normal. As we browsed and ordered some of the ‘safe’ dishes, it turned out to be not too bad. The baked mushroom was really good but the mushroom risotto was not as good as it looks. Overall, the food was fine but somehow I thought it was a little overpriced for the portion. 

Hubby’s opinion was somehow different from mine though… he thought the food was pretty good and price was normal for the environment and brand. The only dish that he did not enjoyed was the chicken as they had too much peas in the dish with some pinch of herbs that he did not like. Other than that, he thought the chicken was nicely baked. J

I guess we will be back to try out other dishes on the menu and hopefully I will appreciate them… J

My Wonderful Birthday Celebration

We are back at Pietro for my birthday celebration as I remembered the same day & occasion, we met Father James and I was granted a birthday blessing. This is what it meant by 'Ask & You Shall Be Answered'...

This year, I am happy to have a new addition to my family for my birthday celebration in this restaurant. Though no sign of Father James as I hope to thank him and bring him this piece of good news but I know I am still very blessed.

We ordered our favourite dishes and I simply enjoyed every bit of it. I was also given a surprise by the staff where they know that it’s my birthday (hubby wanted to get cake) but they gave it as a compliments since we were regulars.

I always believed that being able to celebrate your special occasion with your loved ones are a true blessings…. And I am indeed blessed!

 I thank you Lord for the wonderful family that you have blessed me with and I am praying that you will continue to watch over me. J

Emma Is 2 Months Old

Time passed so fast and I am already into my 3rd month of Maternity Leave... in no time, I will be returning to office and slog... :(

Happy 2 Months my little pumkin!