One more day to 2006!!!!

One more day to 2006.......

280 more days to our wedding.......

3 more days to 2006

There are only three more days before we leap into the year of 2006. sad to say that i still haven't got myself new year resolutions yet.... hhmm... must think of some realistic resolutions....

Anyway, recap of what has happened this year.... not much actually.... the most happening one would be ken's proposal..... then we start to prepare for our wedding.... from looking out for gowns and photograhers..... it's going to be more hectic next year....

My very last wish this year is to celebrate New Year Eve with Ken and also we could spend the 1st day of 2006 together.

Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Yeah... christmas was two days ago.... it was a Great Christmas indeed. Were having dinner with Ken's family on Christmas Eve then with my family on Christmas Day.... We always feel grateful for being able to celebrate Christmas with each other... my family and his family....Luckily we have monday off or else we won't have time to rest after being busy for the past two days....

Okay, so happy to get lots of presents from all of you, ken, sis, auntie grace,auntie rachel, shanti etc etc. Thanks for all the lovely presents!

I'm super happy to receive the "cow" (will put up the pic later) from Adeline, as I had been eyeing for hers for such a long time. And Big thanks to Auntie Rachel for her charming bracelet... Wooh.... that is real real nice...... and also Auntie Grace for her Crystal Jug and Glasses..... and some tools for ken, these will come in handy for our new house later, she said =) ..... also not forgetting my nephew Brandon for his cute little present and also Shanti for the lovely Butterfly brooch.... hehehe..... i will like it as long as it's butterfly.... *o*

For my family in kch... we miss celebrating christmas with all of you.... called my mum and she's sad that we were not around.... so, I plan to get my mum to come over for the next Christmas!

Last but not least.... thanks to Ken for his Xxx Xxx...hehehe.... of coz Christmas is not all about the presents, the most blessed gift is your presence during Christmas..... and also we shall cling to each other for all the challenges we're expecting to face this coming year of 2006. Yes! We will make it happen!!!

Wish all of you have a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Shopping Again!

Yeah.. christmas presents...always the hardest part for christmas.... but this year... Ken and I managed to have them prepared one week ahead =)

yesterday we spent the whole afternoon wrapping up the presents...but the shopping itself took us at least two weeks to complete.... hehe...usually i only wrapped the presents on Christmas Eve....

For those who haven't done their shopping... better do it as early as you can if you don't want to be trapped in the crowd for next few weekends...

And I'm almost done with CNY shopping as well.... Next year CNY, i'll be back in Kch. But Ken is not coming with me, so disappinted...

However, Christmas is no longer lonely ever since i met Ken.... yeah.. sound very mushy but it's true....hehe

Christmas Shopping & Weekend

The past 2 weeks have been very hectic. We haven't had much time to ourselves since we came back from Hong Kong. Lydia was still around, and so was Vans' dad so we had to bring them around, but they left on 14/12 which means now we can do some Christmas shopping and spend some time alone.

Bearing in mind the increase in family members, and future family members, Vans & I now need a list so that we won't leave anyone out. We had to cover Ikano Power Center, The Curve and Midvalley to complete our shopping list so we spend a considerable amount, like we always do during Christmas season. (Give and you shall receive... hehe)

Cheng Han was back from London, only for about a week so I took the opportunity to catch up with him and others and got some VERY INTERESTING NEWS about his life in London now. Not feeling too lonely now I guess, eh? Suh Hong just handed me his wedding invitation on 1st Jan 2006. What a way to start a new year, getting married! His potrait photography with "Just Married" was quite impressive I have to say. But they went all the way to Ulu Yam to capture some of the nature there.

And my weekend wouldn't be complete without the customary English Premier League football match of my favourite team, Chelsea. As usual we played some great football, did our business and stuffed 2 goals pass Arsenal's keeper and their manager Mr. Arsene "Whiner" was kind enough to critisize Chelsea of not playing fairly and proceed to whine about how team was the most unfortunate team in the world. Well Chelsea is not the most popular team around, and probably will never be, but I still love them! Bring 'em on!

Happy Birthday Vanessa

Today is Vans' birthday. I was a simple but cosy affair as family members gathered to celebrate her birthday. Although someone (e.g Adeline) has forgotten her birthday, they still compensated it with a big ang pow :) Vans has always been popular with friends and colleagues and she got a surprise birthday lunch yesetrday, and 2 presents today, one in the morning and one when she was about to leave office.

A present Vans got from her colleagues

It was a joint celebration with lil Brian who turns 3 on 8th Dec. Time really flies, I remember sending Yen to hospital when she delivered Brian and it was almost like yesterday. Anyway, whenever Brian sees a cake, its always his birthday and he alone can blow the candles and cut the cake. Well Vans wasn't about to let him do it alone so they blew the candles and cut the cake together. So everyone was happy =)

Joint cake cutting - Vans & Brian

Finger-licking good mango cake

Everyone gathering round the table for the cake

This is the last birthday Vans is going to spend as a single, and she is down with gastric. So she couldn't take much of the Mango Delight I bought from Secret Recipe. Anyway, everyone enjoyed the cake especially the kids.

Mango Delight

Not forgetting some others that celebrated their birthday recently
Timothy (my lil' bro) on 7th Dec

Hong Kong

The much awaited HK trip was finally over. We left KLIA at 9:30am and reached HKIA around 12:30pm. After searching for a couple of minutes, we finally found the tour guide, and we were off to Stanford Hotel in Mongkok. Finally reached hotel and settled down at about 3pm and found a McDonald's within walking distance, so we settled for a late lunch or should I say early dinner. We walked about the nearby streets, mainly selling electricals and clothing before we returned to hotel after we felt some light drizzling. We had to abandoned our plans to visit the Peak as we thought it would rain, but the rain did not come.

Ken and Vans at Mainstreet, USA

The second day we were scheduled for a half day tour, since we were with Brandon and Lydia, the kids kept asking when the tour will finish so we can go shopping. We were treated to a Hong Kong style breakfast of dim sum and such. This is the first time we had a 8 course dim sum breakfast :) It was quite an interesting tour as we were brought to the Bauhinia Square, where the historical moment took place on 1st July 1997. I could see the Victoria harbour and the IFC (4th tallest building in the world) from here. Next we visited the "sea-facing-Buddha" near one of the beaches. We were told that the highest building on the hil beside the temple belongs to Jackie Chan. After that we hopped onto a boat and were treated to sight of the ancient Hong Kong settlers, the original fishermen that still resides in the "boat-houses". On the other extreme were among the richest people in Hong Kong, parking their boats, used mainly for fishing and weekend parties (as seen on movies). The last stop was the Jewellery City, partly owned by Jackie Chan. Its a place worth visiting as we saw how diamond pendants, rings and stuff and made and it was sold to tourist at a discounted price, with lifetime guarantee!

Vans and I taking photos with the drummers in front of Adventureland

Lydia, Brandon & Kenneth (on the boat to Tarzan Treehouse, behind us)

We were then dropped off at Tsim Sha Chui and we took the MTR to Central, and brought the kids to Toy's R Us, after getting lost in the process. The kids were lost in the world of toys and had a hard time choosing just 1 item from the thousands available. But still they managed to get hold of one each. All of us were so tired we headed straight back to the hotel but we still managed to have dinner on our way back and the kids were almost exhausted.

Brandon, Vans & Lydia at Mickey's Philharmagic

The third day was the most important as we headed to DISNEYLAND!!! We arrived close to 10am and breeze through the crowd to enter as we already have our tickets booked through the travel agency. Or else it would have been a nightmare lining up as the crowd were in the thousands. Main Street USA greeted us as we walked in and the atmosphere was just amazing. We were busy snapping away on our camera and videocam. We quickly moved on to Adventureland and checked out Tarzan's Treehouse, a treehouse built on a large tree, accessible only by boat. While others opt for a river cruise around the treehouse, we weaved through the crowd into Fantasyland. The kids found their way onto the carousel as Vans proceed to secure the Fast Pass for Mickey Philharmagic 3D cinema. After a brief Mickey-shaped ice-cream, we took our place in the Mickey Philharmagic theatre and were awed by the amazing show that really stretched our imagination. Scenes of Donald falling into the river were synced with water sprinkling to the crowd, and the flying carpet scene was coordinated by the moving chair and it triggered all our senses.

Vans & Ken at the Orbitron

Vans & Ken in Disney MTR

1pm was the time for the daily Disney parade where all the Disney characters walk through the entire park. We gathered at the side and watch procession as the kids were just awed to see before their very eyes some Disney characters passing through and it lasted for about 25 minutes. Since the queue for the rest of the rides were beginning to build up, we proceeded to Tomorrowland and tried the Astro blasters. Sitting on board space ship we blasted the evil enemies of Buzz Lightyear as we travelled along the "universe". The kids were overjoyed, although the wait was long. It was almost 3pm now, and our stomach were growling so we took the kids for our Disney lunch at the Starliner Diner. Normal service was resumed after filling our stomachs and we attacked the train ride that brought us around the entire park. We spotted Donald Duck as we alighted the train and waited patiently in line for our turn we have this photo to show for our effort. It was souveniour time and grabbed a couple Mickey ears, Buzz Lightyear straws, Disney coins, Mickey pen and a few other items before leaving the park sadly as legs were starting to give way after a gruelling 7 hours of fun in this magical park. We boarded the Disney MTR which brought us to Central, took the Tram and reached the Peak and were able to see the nightline in HK. The kids were clearly exhausted, so we grabbed dinner on our way back and put the kids to sleep.

Vans & Ken at The Peak, Hong Kong

Vans and I then went out to do some last minute shopping, hunting for stuff from cookies to sweets, clothes to lighters for our family. We too were dead tired by the time we got back to our hotel. The following day, we departed HKIA on Monday (5/12) at 14:35 and reached "Home Sweet Home" at 8pm. Overall it was a good experience, deep inside Vans and I hope that we can return to Disneyland and HK again, this time without the kids :)

Vans at The Peak, Hong Kong

Vans at The Airport, Hong Kong