CNY Long Weekend

Dear All

The night before the Reunion, we visited our new fav haunt, Changi City Point next to Singapore Expo. It's still not that crowded so it was fun..i.e easy to browse and move around.

CNY deco at the atrium (below):

The cute doll at Aijisen, where we had our dinner on Sat, nite b4 reunion:

One of several dragons at Sing Expo (bel0w):

On the 1st day of CNY, we went to my parents' home to pai-nian.

Tiffy and her cousins "Pai-Nian" to their grandparents (below):

Feli's turn to wish her grandparents good wishes for the New Year (below):

The grown-ups were next to pai-nian to our parents. We start from the oldest to the youngest, similarly for the children. That's why Feli was alone in the above photo...she's the youngest of the cousins :)

That's Bert & me :)

Family photo of the cousins (2 are overseas) - below:

We normally have a photo of the grandparents with their grandchildren. This year, the size is smaller as 2 of the grandchildren are studying overseas during the CNY period.

Family photo of grandparents with their grandchildren (below):

Family photo :)

So what is the below photo doing here? Well, enroute to visit our 5th aunt, we noticed that the Singapore Flyer had a HUGE new CNY deco "Spring" at it's wheel. Don't know how they've managed to get it up there? The photo was taken by Feli :)

Love Theresa

CNY of the Water Dragon Reunion Dinner - 22 Jan 2012

Dear All

For the past few years, my mum has stopped cooking for the reunion dinner. That's because she is getting on with age.

You know my cooking isn't any where near peranankan standard though we are both Bert and I are from the Straits born background. Cooking isn't exactly my forte, and the girls hardly eat hot spicy food...just a teensy bit of chilli.

This year, I'm so glad my 2 dishes did not receive any critical remark, unlike the previous year. My family hardly gives praises, so no negative remark means it's good! Now that I know what kind of personality I am, I realise I need praises, so I probe for one from my mum, who eventually, almost reluctantly said with pride that "you passed lah".

As the custom requires us to cook sufficient amount for the reunion dinner with leftover for the next day's family gathering of the other in-laws, I was asked to cook a lot. So I really cooked A LOT, that there was enough food for my household, and for my mum's household for 3 meals -- reunion, next day's lunch plus dinner! Mum said I cooked too much. Aiyo, how to estimate when it's done only once a year? Better to err on the more than the less, otherwise, kana scolding even worse, right? My sis-in-law was smart, she only cooked 1 dish (the leek which was all finished at the reunion) and ta-pao the other 2 (yu-sheng and braised duck). My hubby said don't bother what my mum say, as only my 2 dishes were enough to bring over to the next day plus a little balance of the duck. Next time, I think I'll cook just 1 dish and order the 2nd.

So what did I cook? There's this lovely honey pork-rib recipe a friend gave me. It's easy to cook. Just marinate and then cook it in the slow cooker. Only trouble was, all my cookware are meant for a small family, so I had to cook it in 2 batches, and also marinade them in 2 batches, an cooked 1 batch whilst we went to church, and then the next after we got home.

This is one batch of the honey prime pork ribs. 2nd batch in the slow cooker (below):

The second dish was simple too. Soy sauce chicken with tau-kwa pok. I marinaded this when I got home from church (it being Sunday) and managed to squeeze everything into my usual daily sauce-pan. Had to go buy the huge caterer kind of disposal containers to hold everything, so squeezed into the crowded supermarket to buy them.

The soy sauce chicken with tau-kwa pok and wine (below):

Can't afford to try anything too complicated as there wasn't time, plus I have problem with the size of my hardware! :) I was like panicking when I realised my prime pork ribs were too HUGE!

So kia-su, I bought the biggest of 2 types of containers! (below):

My proud hubby, displaying my hard-labour of love (below):

The reunion with family tossing yu-sheng (below):

As an added bonus, I was in the mood, so I baked a fruit-cake, just for fun and to try it out. Made mum try it, and she said it was good. My I personally think it's far from it, as I have tasted far better ones. So if my mood sneaks on me again, I may try another fruit-cake recipe and let my family try it out :)

My fruit-cake, made a few days before the Reunion (below):

Doing the taste-test (below):

Hmmm...yummy fruit-cake baked for 1.5h (below):

Love Theresa

In Remembrance of Joseph Giam

Dear All

We attended my godpa's wake yesterday. Today's his funeral. He's very blessed to have 2 priests to co-celebrate his funeral Mass - Fr Greg from OLPS and Fr Jose a Spanish priest from Opus Dei. We couldn't attend his funeral Mass. I guess I was afraid to break down and cry especially when I see his children cry.

I spoke to Juliana, his daughter. She couldn't have asked for more. He had received the Holy Eucharist on last Thur when the dr said he couldn't swallow anything! And his death was brief and relatively painless and peaceful. What's more, she said the day he passed away was Wed, the day of the week dedicated to St Joseph. And St Joseph died a peaceful death in the arms of Mary and Jesus.

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes

He went into CGH on boxing day when he was breathless, and even told his children he'll take the bus there himself. His motto was "No need to bother people". Till the very end, he lived up to his motto. When the dr couldn't do anything more for him as his brain was damaged due to lack of oxygen (he could ocassionally recognise his children and his name but most of the time looked dazed) because he had a series of minor heart attacks at home actually but everyone dismissed his tiredness to old-age, and wanted to discharge him, he quickly took a turn for the worse and passed away. Why? His daughter felt it was most likely not to burden them with the long-drawn process of finding a maid, getting a hospital bed etc for him.

This close-up photo of my god-pa (below):

They were hoping he'll pull through CNY like he did for the calendar New Year. His 2nd great-grand child and his 1st great-grand son is due in mid-Feb, so they hoped he'll pull through each mile-stone.

He looked so much aged than the last time I saw him which was the photo they used for the wake. All flesh turn to dust. But what lives on is the memory of a loving man, a doting father, grand father and great grand father, and a never nagging and wonderful god-father. And yes, they have received my CNY card. I felt it was so ironical. It must have arrived on the day he passed away. I didn't know he was in the hospital. I guess, they respected his motto to the very end..."No need to bother people".

I wish to share Fr Jose (pronounced as Ho-say in Spanish, but has the same name as my god-pa, which is Joseph) little mini sermonette after he prayed for godpa.

Fr Jose was at another funeral where the grandpa had passed away and 2 or 3 little grandchildren were playing around. When Fr asked the little ones where was grandpa, they told him with child-like faith "He's in heaven with Jesus".

Fr said we should have child-like faith. There's one part of the prayer that calls on the communion of saints to pray for us. He explained that that communion of saints are those in heaven and we, the believers on earth. We on earth are obliged to pray for the souls in Purgatory and so are the saints in Heaven obliged to pray for us on earth and for those in Purgatory. When the suffering souls in Purgatory go to heaven, they in turn will be praying for us.

Fr said that we are so blessed to be catholics and believers. There are many who do not believe in heaven and are afraid of death. Death is nothing but the departure of our soul from our body to move onto eternal life in heaven or hell. Those in Purgatory are already enroute to heaven but need to be purified before entering into the presence of God. So we have nothing to fear for we know our life here is only temporary and we should be preparing ourselves for eternal life.

I like his sermonette as his strong conviction as a priest called by God for his vocation is a testimony to me...I caught a glimpse of heaven through his sharing and belief.

Just to share with you his sermonette :)

Love Theresa

Passing Away of My Godpa - 18 Jan 2012

Dear All

I had received an sms late last night from my aunt and bro informing me that my Godpa, Joseph Giam, had passed away on 18 Jan 2012. He's the same age as my dad - 95 years old.

But unlike my dad, he was still travelling by bus daily from his home in Changi to Marine Parade to have coffee with his friends at the coffee shop. He could see well and walk without aid. My mum said he espouse the importance of good diet....only fish and veg and a little rice. I must say, he had lived a high quality of life. Something I hope to aspire to in my old age, if I live that long!

He's passing away is so near the Chinese New Year. So his funeral would be held this Sat.

In the midst of the start of the new school year and the business of the preparations for the Chinese New Year, I felt a bit remorseful for not visiting him since my Godma passed away since I was a little girl. I guess with his huge gold-fish eyes that popped out further when he gets excited, and his booming loud voice, I was a bit intimidated by him. I never really talked to him, but I loved my Godma alot. I still miss her. But I am thankful that I faithfully sent him Chinese New Year cards every year since my mum commented "If you don't visit him during CNY, you must send him CNY", simply because she has stopped sending cards herself, so I had to take over it. It was nice to know he appreciates such gesture whenever we do meet at birthdays, and I always select really nice ones for him.

To think : he must have received my CNY card on the day of his death. How I know was because my god-daughter received hers on the 18th and I had sent all my cards out on the same day. It was a calendar card with the zodiac dragon with 3-D flower pattern on the cover.

I teared to think of his passing away. Maybe I should have visited him last year or the years before that. But without my mum being mobile, I really do not know what to say to him if I had visited him. What I can only do now is to pray for the repose of his soul and that my dear and beloved godma, Lian Fah, would embrace him when he goes to heaven to be with her again.

His passing away made me stand back to look at life. Our mortal life here on earth is very brief. When I nag at the children to do their revision and homework, did I take time to love them as gifts from God? When was the last time I had looked into their eyes and love that little spirit and soul inside them? What are my priorities in life? It actually all boils down to making time to build meaningful personal relationships with those who you really love and care for.

So before it is too late, take the opportunity of this CNY holiday to really spend quality time with the ones you love. Forget about the hassle of cooking the most elaborate and expensive dishes, or fretting about keeping the house spick and span, or worrying about not having enough freshly minted crisp notes for the ang pows, for if you strip away all these matters, we should remember that man is not made for rituals but rituals for man. We should be like Mary in the Gospel story of Martha and Mary, and choose to give your full attention to people rather than fuss about laying the best dishes for the occasion.

Have a blessed Chinese New Year re-building bonds and friendship with your love ones.

Love Theresa

Our 1st Visit to Chinatown as a Family - 14 Jan 2012

Dear All

This is the 1st time the girls have visited Chinatown with us. We ourselves had not been there for many years :)

As the girls had a busy school week, we decided to give them a break and just soak in the CNY atmosphere.

Below: the 108m long water dragon at Chinatown

Under the nose of the water dragon (below):

From Chinatown MRT station, there are at least 2 exits to Chinatown itself. We took the Chinatown point which brings you past OG to the entrance of Chinatown itself where the 108m long water dragon "guards" the "gate".

Entering Chinatown. This part isn't crowded (below):

Feli choosing her bracelets (below):

Tiffy drizzy with the wide and bright array of accessories (below):

We were surprised to find a gem of a shop in Chinatown...a authentic TinTin shop with expensive Tintin merchanise. We had to go in to see.

The famous Tintin characters. Everyone wanted to pose in front of it! (Below):

Back into the alleys of Chinatown. There were so many shops selling all kinds of CNY stuff. There were Bak Kuah stores, Feng Shui shops, western and CNY dresses stalls, Taiwan goodies, lanterns, paper cuttings, cushion covers and all kinds of nick-knacks. We sampled some Hongkong/Taiwan specialties...deep fried crispy fish skin and the usual crispy cuttlefish.

The crowd around the sample stalls were so jam-packed that at one point, no one was moving!!

Bert was great! He instructed me, as I was in front, to move to the corridors. I mistook it meant to the side street. At this juncture, we were at the "T" junction where I don't know why, all 4 streets of crowd were converging into this spot at the same time!!!

After we got into the so-called side street, where our little group seemed to be the only ones going against the human traffic flow, Bert took the lead and brought us literally to the shops' corridor passage. So that was what he meant. So smart. There was fresh air there and no crowd!

We were so worried there'll be pushing. Bert got brushed by a sweaty woman. I was pushed by a sweaty man, but I believe my solid structure managed to resist him!! Haha! Really, it was really crowded like crazy!

We then circled back to the 1st alley where we came from. Surprisingly, it was less crowded there. There, we managed to do some shopping!!

Below : behind Chinatown is the Hindu temple (in the background)

Seems like these monkeys were carved out of a whole coconut!

Shop where we bought the watches and bear magnet (below):

Late night supper at home. Food we ta-pao on the way home (below):

I think I may have been coaxed by the durian-stall holder to buy the "Mao Shan Wang" durian. So exp at $28 per box. As it was closing time (around 10:30pm), he made me an offer of 2 boxes at $30.

The durian is really solid! Just 1 box was satisfying! We kept the other box in the fridge. Yummy. Lots of delicious sweet flesh with really tiny crooked seeds :)

In the end, we spent only about $36 or so at Chinatown for 3 bracelets, a magnet, a pair of sunglasses, 3 watches and 3 cushion covers. No wonder people go to Chinatown to shop!

I think we spent more on our supper which we bought at the MRT station near where we parked our car. Our advice is : Park and ride. Take the MRT to Chinatown. We saw a row of cars with drivers inside waiting for the full carpark to open for them to enter! This row of cars stretch onto the main streets!

Below: Our loot from Chinatown :)

Love Theresa

Wicked - the Musical

Dear All

We had managed to catch the broadway musical Wicked last year - 8 Dec 2011, just 2 days after the opening night which was on 6 Dec.

The cast are actually from Australia. Their singing vocals are really good! The story-line is very nice. It's about keeping your integrity intact despite the social pressures about you. It also makes us reflect about ourselves...are we selling ourselves for wealth, power and popularity.

The program at $10 sold before the show (below):

It tells a version of the story of Oz before Dorothy came into the picture.

Some pages from the Program booklet (below):

It touches everyone hearts as it's about friendship, loyalty and love for family and friends.

The dialogue is really fast and witty.

An extract from the Program (below):

However, if you have seen The Lion King, also at the Marina Bay Sands, the 2 are entirely different ball game. The story of the Lion King is well-known so the show is how to make it magical through story telling in puppetry and shadow play. For wicked, there's not much theatrical effects. It's mainly the singing and great story-line.

Another extract from the Program bookelet (below):

The girls love the show, but overall, we much prefer The Lion King, perhaps because of the beautiful puppetry and other special effects.

We bought the cheapest tickets as the prices are pretty ex. Be prepared to sit right at the top of the circle seats. It's so high up that you need binoculars to watch the facial expressions of the actors and what's going on on the stage.

We bought the cheapest tixs (below):

By the way, don't bother buying the program booklet. At $10, there's nothing really much in it, unless you want to have a souvenir keepsake. It contains mainly brief write-ups of the actors playing the main characters of the show.

Love

Theresa

New Year's Day Celebration - 31 Dec 01/ 1 Jan 2012

Dear All

After so much feasting and partying in Dec 2011, Bert & I decided to take it slow and easy as we wind down 2011 and welcome in the New Year 2012 with Peace, calm expectations and renewed resolutions to become closer to God and pray for the children for their milestone year.

Instead of going out to eat when prices everywhere would be jacked up sky-high and extremely crowded, we decided to call in pizza! Luckily, they still had the christmas jingle special...yummy!

A simple pizza galore feast to welcome the New Year 2011.

I felt really bad...Feli wanted to play boardgames during the Dec hols. So, I kept my promise and we played Settlers AND Scrabble all on 31 Dec 2011, as we welcomed in the New Year. We had a brief break from Scrabble to watch the countdown on TV and after that, we continued playing into 2012...it felt like we were playing majong into the wee hours of the next morning!

Setting up Settlers (below):

The winning table...and the winner is..(blush blush)..me :)

Testing out my new camera...these pixs below were taken off the TV:

I really love my new camera...my christmas present from my dearest hubby :) He noticed how much I usually use my camera and was grousing how bad low-light picture taking resolution it had, so, he asked me for my specs and got me one. My criteria was not too expensive, and it cost less than $400:)))

Popping the non-alcoholic celebration drink to welcome the New Year!

Continuing the Scrabble game from 2011 into 2012! Cool :)

The winner of the Scrabble game was Bert. Tiffy didn't play the boardgames with us as she doesn't fancy them. But when she plays, she catches on fast and usually wins, so good to reduce the competition, ya ;P

Have a blessed, healthy and peaceful New Year 2012!

Love

Theresa