Oh dear. The frustrations of an infrequent blogger. I was still in the midst of contemplating which event to write about! Terrence's Birthday (Feb 10), Last Sunday(17 & 18 Feb) - Chinese New YEar celebrations? Friday (22 & 23 Feb) - Jacky's bday celebrations? The stupid me on 23 feb night at the union? or the trip to london to visit victoria yesterday? In all this muddly confusion, I decided to just do it all at 1 shot. chronological-manner. *smiles*


Terrence's Birthday (Feb 10)

It's his 23rd birthday! Did I tell you what we got for him? We pondered over it so much! Mahjong set? (idea shot down by sis & ridiculously expensive price tag) Working briefcase? Shirt? Tie? Wallet?

In the end, we picked a beautiful fountain pen. *smiles* aren't fountain pens such a lovely thing to write with? I remember the times when I'm in town, I'll sneak over to Wheelock's place to gaze at the beautiful window displays, or to the men's section of Tang's just for the fountain pens.

For his birthday dinner, coz we didn't want to make it a big thing, we got some pple together, ordered a Maison Blanc St Michel Cheesecake. Wanfang got him chocolate mousse cake too! Got Kebabs catered in.. yummy british food. heheh. Got Terrence totally high on his 2 huge bottles of WKD Red & Ironbrew + a pint of Rose wine.











Terrence's 23rd Birthday!
From left: PP, Jacky, Maine, Terrence, Wanfang, Edd, Izzy & me)


(spot the bottles & cans of drinks on the left!)







*laughs* think his alcohol tolerance just went up a notch. Can probably hold his own against my sister's alcohol(wine) prowess for a lil longer! gambatte!

All in all, a really fun night! Ps: He played drinking games with each and every one of us. And i didn't lose at 'Qing Wa Wing Wa Tiao!' to him even once~ (finger-frog jump game)


CHINESE NEW YEAR EVE (17 Feb)

We had our own little steamboat, a comfy setting with 3 other dudes - Ter, PP & Jacky. Had a lil seafood, pork, beef, fishballs from leicester sq, blah blah. And our own home-made lo hei (we didn't even have the sauce packs!) Turned out quite alright.. ter chopped the carrots, I sliced (super-chef delicate sliced style!) the salmon, stir-fried our own peanuts, sesame seeds, grapefruit (to replace the missing pomelo) and plum sauce. *laughs* ok fine, i know we're missing oodles of ingredients. but so? we're students! - like that meant anything. hahaha.. at least it still tasted good! missed out on the yummy crackers though.. darn.

Played poker & mahjong. horrible night with lousy luck. know why? coz the ox clashes with the golden pig this year. Plus - no red underwear. double darn!
























My beautifully sliced salmon. Ignore the dodgy chopping board behind! Focus on the glistening fresh salmon.. mMmmmm....












Our very own 'Lo Hei' (Raw Fish Salad/ Yu Sheng)

Credits to Terrence on the flair of artistic arrangement! compliments to the hospi friends he picked it up from.






























(Left)Our little Steamboat spread! Fishballs, fishcakes, seafood mix, prawns, bean sprouts, da bai cai, mushrooms, hotdogs, seafood sticks, pork slices, beef slices, meatballs, and the salmon for lo hei!

(Right) We're actually pretty eager to start eating, don't be fooled by our less-than-excited smiles.. it's actually very tough to smile at the camera when all the food is within reach!


CHINESE NEW YEAR! (18 Feb)

Went to the union for chinese new year party. Chinese food was okay, performances were so not. Breakdance performance was great though~ actually, the only highlight of the entire show was that portion! left with maine, izzy, ter, pp and jacky to maine's place coz she was feeling tired. Played poker.. and i swear, the red top maine had on helped aLOT! she cleared us all twice, in poker. As in, all our stakes ended up with her once, we took it back for a 2nd round.. and it happened once more. She is ThAT good. PP's purple (think Barney) shirt and Izzy's maroon cheongsam helped too, coz the 3rd round went progressively well for them. Met maine's friendly housemates - azam and some pple whom I can't remember. Yikes! bad memory!


JACKY'S BIRTHDAY EVE (22 Feb)

Actually planned to cook an entire meal on my own, but decided to spare him even though he had a plethora of Bao Ji Wan (Miracle tummy-ache pills.) Did some shopping on wed, but had to stash it at ter's place first.

Had to chase him out of my place unfortunately, coz I had to pick up a little individual cake early in the morning (juz in case they run out of it) and reserve another large one for his actual day. Got him this---> Le Plaisir (Génoise sponge soaked in raspberry syrup, covered in layers of fresh cream and exotic fruit mousse, laced with wild strawberries, topped with raspberry galze and fresh berries.)
- told him it was a cake, but he just simply refuses to believe me, insisting that it's a tart. so wrong! *laughs*

Anyway, I made mushroom soup, boiled broccoli with carrots, a whole chicken roast with potato wedges, Italian white wine & for desert, chocolate dipped grapes. *burps*

Rather fancy these 2 photos.. the left one for the reflection effect of the wine and the right for a 'glass within a glass look'.



More photos to be put up when i get them from soo ling!


Actual Birthday (23 Feb)

His 25th birthday (a milestone! congrats on his successful quit-smoking campaign :P ) We catered Chinese Dinner from Bamboo Gardens, 10 yummy dishes to fill our hungry tummies. And it's pretty good! 13 people squeezed into Ter's kitchen with lotsa drinks flowing that night. 20bottles of Carlsberg, 2 Huge bottles of Magners, 1 bottle of Blossom Hill rose wine. So the night drew on with loads of drinking & games like Cai Mui (5,10,15), Qing Wa Wing Wa Tiao (frog hop), card games and such. And he got a Maison Blanc Le Cheesecake St Michel! (same as Ter's bday). Didn't want to get him a chocolate coz he doesn't really seem to fancy it as much.. plus the rest were sponge cakes.

Turned out that fiona can really drink! goodness.. amazed at her alcohol tolerance, coz she seemed so guai for a hk girl. *laughs* looks can be deceiving. Ooo.. and Maine has fantastic game skills. be it poker, cai mui, even squash.. she rocks man.

So after dinner and a bout of alcohol in our systems - Union night! turned out to be Cowboys & Indians theme.. didn't dress up though. But still had fun. Pretty alright night except for something stupid that I did. Simply didn't learn from what happened recently.. guess it had to be a painful 2nd time before it gets knocked in. So Stupid of me. Anyhow, the night ended wit

Stayover in Vic's place in London (24 Feb)

Went to London ystday afternoon to Vic's place. Met her bf, Jamie, a lawyer from Oxford. Lovely cosy home with a delightful collection of books, a huge & gorgeous toilet upstairs and a fascinating room (Jamie's) downstairs. love the place! hate the rent. heheheh. Had lo hei once in the evening before heading for a Vietnamese dinner. Back home, we sipped wine whilst chatting, playing bluff, bridge and daidee (not simultaneously of course).

This morning, had lo hei for breakfast. *giggles* i know, it's strange isn't it? We seperated the ingredients into 2 portions, hence the dual lo hei at her place! Oooh.. and found out about the history of Lo Hei from the Singapore NLB website. Terrific webbie! Singaporeans out there: Thank the 4 hotel restaurant chefs for the delicious Lo Hei you eat during Chinese New YEar!

Left: 2nd Lo Hei for the year 2007. (In the evening before dinner)

Right: Lo Hei this morning, for breakfast!


End

And so.. that wraps up my busy and fun filled 2 weeks.

And now. I'm short. Really short. (not literally for my height!) Bread, Apples & Water. At least Jacky was nice enough to offer me the apple, he'll take the core.
*laughs*

Labels: Alcohol, Chinese New Year Eve, Dinner, Jacky's Birthday, london, Maison Blanc Cake, Steamboat, Terrence's Birthday, Yu Sheng

My 1st Valentine's Day with a date. sounds pathetic, doesn't it? No.. it's more of, my 1st Valentine's Day with my boyfriend.

Aww.. don't go all sappy on me, coz i'm not gonna do that! Yes, I totally agree that V'day is such an over-commercialised event for people to earn more money through the sale of exorbitantly-priced flowers, chocolates, restaurant food, etc etc.

Still, I'm awfully touched by everything he did, the extent of it all.. simply left me buggered for words.















My new hair colour! complements to his taste in colour & his handiwork~























Movie date at Odeon. Charlotte's Web, Screen 1, Row M, Seat 21 & 22
*grins*
































Dinner at Nando's after the show. Deeeeelicious chicken, chips & Nando's speciality sauces! (Wild herb, extra hot peri peri sauce & garlic sauce) Mmmmm...


























Our 2 nicest posed photos in my room. *laughs*


























Presents from him.. a lovely rose, card, wine & cosmetic set. New hair, make-up, movies, dinner... wow. *smiles*

Hope he had fun dyeing my hair, changing my hairstyle & dolling me up with make-up. And seriously, the results weren't bad at all.

Happy Belated Vday to my dearest and thank you so much for everything!

Labels: Cosmetics, Dinner, Flower, Hair, Movie, Valentine's Day

back-dated entry: Februrary 7 2007.
important event: SNOW!!

MoRE snow than the previous time. wahhahaa~! after studying w ter, jacky & izzy til 3+, we went home. and heaven's gates opened up.. with little drifts of snowflakes. we did agree to awake and meet at 6am, but by 4+, we couldn't stand it any longer and..out we gambolled in the snow~!






















The beautiful view from my window~























Snow accumulated on my window~ and an obviously elated me!
























My footsteps in the snow.. as I head towards the hill for more snow!



























My very mild obsession with snow angels!

A successful attempt this time round *grins*























Izzy & I preparing for a snow battle with our mega-big snowballs.

Jacky & I with our lil snow angel~























Group photo with our hastily made snowman!! my 1st ever! *laughs in glee*
from left: mel, ter, snowman, jacky, me, jonathon, izzy.























Mega-snowballs 2 with a very unaware ter!

View from University Court 56, 2nd floor, Ter's kitchen.























My boots stomped into deep-crusted snow.

Plants laden with thick snow~~
























Our artwork on a well-snowed on car!

After leaving ter's place with hot choc in our tummies, we trudged back to our room, but we simply couldn't resist 1 last snapshot with our mini snowman~!












Jacky & me at the top of the hill on our way back..






























Goodbye Snow...till I see you again, next year.

Labels: 2007, Snowy Februrary 7

It's that time of the year once more. The time of the year where all Chinese add a year to their age--Chinese New Year!

How should I put it.. this is truly my 1st time celebrating Chinese New Year away from home. And the strangest thing? I don't really miss it alllll that much! I mean, sure, I crave that family warm feeling that creeps up unsuspectingly once in a while.

No family reunion dinners, no springcleaning (ok..minimal), no paying of respects to my wai po (granny) and relatives in m'sia, no major snacking of cny goodies, listening to dad blasting his cny songs, no traditional house-hopping with my 3 gorgeous babes, no visiting at jack's place for games with the rest, no ang-bao receiving.

I'm missing it all, but surprisingly, I'm doing well without it! There's hardly a breath of chinese new year festivity/ atmosphere here, so it's not really all that surprising i guess.

Last year, as I recall, cny wasn't all that fun, coz I was down with a viral fever. it was... unmemorable, simply because I was so woozy I couldn't really recall much! Still had some fun though. Had a good dinner with my family.. visited the Director's house w colleagues, got ang baos from colleagues (*YAY*!), lao yu sheng in the office, dinner at the restaurant with all my colleagues--Fatty Weng or smthg, visiting jack's place. was too sick to travel to m'sia though..

yeah, that was pretty much how i remembered last year. and this year? Tonight, we're gonna have steamboat - Terrence, PP, Jacky & me. a warm little gathering where we pig out and mahjong after. poor jacky's still down (and now, out) with the flu.. been 2 weeks? doesn't affect his appetite at all though. *laughs* Yup, and on sunday (tmr), we're gonna head to the Union for a chinese party with performances and food.

Anyhow, just doing a little reminiscing. I've got 2 back-dated posts that I really wanted to put up but it'll take awhile longer - of the very snowy day on Feb 7 (2nd time it snowed here this winter!) and of coz, my first proper valentine's day. No kidding~

Saturday, Chinese New Year's eve in Guildford, Surrey, UK. 7,000 miles away from home. Leaveless trees, quaint little houses, peaceful and a slight fog settlingly o'er the distant houses and trees. Remarkable beauty but somehow, gazing upon it alone doesn't do wonders for my soul.

Labels: Chinese New Year Eve

Haven't blogged for ages, due to the tight time schedule and the website's adamant refusal to allow me to sign in!

Anyhowww.. just wanna share some of the stuff i've been doing recently.

Last saturday, we went to Portobello Market (a flea market) and Grenwich (GMT) for some sightseeing~

According to dear old jacky, portobello market used to be pretty undeveloped with loads of hidden authentic antiques. Unfortunately, it's pretty commercialised now, and there're tons of imitations. Nonetheless, I snapped some pretty things, so here they are!

Portobello Market












Doll House & pretty lil furniture for my bestest best gf - Huiqing!





































Tons of antique cameras for the camera/ photo-loving sweetie
- Janet my bestest best sister!






Grenwich






















(Left) Went to Grenwich and saw this really cute/cool race car. pity bout the shadow from the sun though.. it really roared its way down the street!
(Right) Couldn't find this really yummalicious famous pie place - probably closed down its biz already. Had indian food instead. Mmmmm.. Indian Food!













Grenwich Meridien Time!
(Right) Digitalised timer that blinks so fast, you can't even catch with the naked eye. But my smart lil camera did!














A



















(Left) Absolutely love chained watchs. Totally salivate at the sight of gorgeous watches.. the fine mechanisms, the little ticking gears. Ain't they such a sight? Wish I could own 1!

(Right) A snapshot of the beautiful scenary, upon the top of the hill that the Grenwich museum sits.


Leicester Square (once again)





























Snapped the 1st pic but realised it's rather..RA! *giggles* For those smartie peeps out there, you're absolutely right. it's a PUBLIC URINAL. Right outside the theatre, beside the road!
Any takers? : D























The lovely day around Portobello Market & Grenwich proceeded with a Jap dinner with Wanfang at Leicester Sq. And after that? Yummy deserts at Bar Ciao.
Awww... look at how my 2 buddies enjoyed themselves? so sweet.. and so gay! (read:gay - happy) *laughs* they'll probably kill me now that i've put this photo up.

Labels: Antiques, Day out in London, dessert, food, GMT, Grenwich, Leicester Square, Portobello Market