0 Getting My Priorities Right For Christmas Dinner

"Baaahh! Everyone does it!" Still, that uncomfortable feeling that there is some truth to it refuses to leave my sensible heart. It would seem that it is impolite to leave your guests unattended for long periods  while you slave away in the kitchen for that magnificent meal. I read this from an article years ago while searching for dinner party tips. Why host a party if it's not to mingle and catch up with friends and family? You cannot treat your home like a restaurant where communication is coldly an "I serve, you eat" thing. Stop, I say! Just some of the mental bashing that went on in my mind. Over time, I strove to do things...

0 Merry Christmas ♥

May your hearts be warmed with peace, love and joy this Christmas...

0 In The Spirit Of Things

I love getting into the spirit of things although I'm not religiously pious. It's an excuse for get-togethers that are out of the norm. The norm, that is, a meal outside at some restaurant, with plain old chit-chat. Festivals on the other hand adds a little splendour to it all with decorations and little fun activities done together. It reminds us to love, forgive and forget. The Winter Solstice Festival fell on the 21st December this year - a date synonymous with the Mayan prophesied doomsday..Booyah! We're still here!.  In our family, having tangyuan is a must because it symbolizes family togetherness. I cooked some store bought ones...

4 A New Look For My Guest Room

This is a follow-up from my previous post. I'd been toying with the idea of having a crisscross design on one side of the wall. I knew I was going to use masking tape to help me achieve the look I had in mind. I just wasn't sure if it would turn out well. The last thing I want is for it to turn out too webby. No offense there, Spidey. The project of crisscrossing was carried out at night. My partner and I went back and forth the room to get a better view of where we were going to cross the lines next. It wouldn't look too good if the lines were all concentrated in one area. After that was done, we painted the entire wall, over the...

6 My Little Paint Project

I'd been thinking about re-painting the guest room for ages. I've always felt that it needed to be a little brighter and in more cheerful colours, but I've never made the move to do it. Perhaps I didn't think it was THAT important. Who knew that these thoughts would become a reality one day.. After encouraging response from people at home, I placed an order with Nippon, the paint specialist. Yesterday, I started on my little paint project. Little? < ---- understatement of the year. I would have covered myself with some sort of protection if I wasn't feeling overly gung ho about it. My judgement was clouded for a moment there. It didn't...

2 Christmas Meal : Roast Chicken with Grapes

It is just a week and a half away. The big question has always been, "What shall I cook for Christmas?", but what really excites me is the activity of pouring through a ton of recipe books. It used to be a challenge cooking up a meal for a group of people. I remember the panic, the mad rush and hair-pulling antics. I have my share of festive cooking disasters which I love to reminisce about, like the time I turned up at a pot-bless gathering with deep fried potato balls which had flattened because it was hollow inside. I could have sworn I filled it to the brim! These days I'm a cool cucumber. I don't know if it's the age or I've just mastered...

0 Fringe Stages - 9th Penang Island Jazz Festival

A week has passed since the 9th Penang Island Jazz Festival (PIJF) concert but the immense impression it left on me has yet to subside. I came home with an adrenalin rush that no one could understand, gushing about all the amazing local talents I saw. I even promised myself that I would attend next year's festival...to the "uhuh" looks on my friends' faces. I was there for six days just to catch the entirety of the event, including the sideshows. How I landed here is thanks to my cousin Gen, who has a love affair with music. I never expected it to be this good. You're hearing this from someone who doesn't have a deep appreciation for music....

2 Oh, my God..a Facebook status opportunity!

Gen and I were in queue to check our luggage in at Air Asia's baggage drop off counter when something caught our eye in the next line."Gen, are you seeing what I'm seeing?""Whoaa..you have to take pictures! Can you zoom in?" "It's too small. My camera's not that canggih-lah." - canggih, meaning "advanced". We were a little disappointed with the photo results and that spurred us to gear up for a better shot. So once we got to the front and checked our luggage in, we took a couple of huge strides to the other line, I flipped my camera out and snapped a photo. Flash! Christ was caught by surprise. He looked just about to get up from the counter...

4 A Plant Casualty..

May you rest in peace, old girl... I just got back from a week-long holiday to find one of my plants in a devastating state of shriveled mess. "Miss Plant? Miss Plant?... Speak to me!" I ran for water of course, to try resuscitating it. It was all a bit dramatic with my heart skipping a beat in between and g-r-e-a-t concern plastered across my face. Four long days later, with no signs of life, I guess it's time to move on. It is not that my home is void of people. It's just that we each have our own opinion of what's "important". I cannot imagine having to babysit a friend's collection of football paraphernalia either so I guess it...