SMILE!: February 2007

the reunion dinner

steamboat tradition!! yummy yum yum~

look at all the food!!!! haha.. machiam buffet..

daddy is cooking. trixie is tou ci (stealing food). heehee.. =P

18-20th feb '07

chinese new yr was not as lavish as the previous yrs.. a couple of extended family members passed way greatly reducing the houses we cld visit, the ppl we cld meet n most importantly, the hongbaos we cld collect. =(

the new clothes!! all tops frm esprit n all bottoms frm fox. hahaha.. coz i too lazy to browse elsewhere not forgetting the extreme shortage of time.. the 'spare' outfit was not worn in the end coz i sorta tink i look aunty in it. lolx.

us in stripes!!! =)

my darling mei meis.. but ppl say i look younger than them both.. hmpf!! how can... *whines* i'm matured ok?!

me n my mommy.. she is pretty rite??

seriously, tis yr's $$ intake fell far below usual standards n to tink i wanted to sneak out some extra spare cash. sobs sobs.. anyway, the first day started with a trip to the old folk's hm to visit my great grandmother. she's looking far more perky n refreshed tis days.. i tink the constant company of like-minded ppl did wonders for her soul n did i mention the hm looks really like a hotel only it is much more warm n inviting. n they hv bunnies in the garden!!!

we were there for quite a while.. long enough to see the cousins come n long enough for bri to get sick n puke out his pineapple tarts. lol. i wonder who was the kind-hearted fellow who cleaned up his mess though.

me n my little brother just aft he finished vomitting.. =P i love him so so so much..

the nxt stop was my paternal grandmother's house. usually, it wld be just our family n her tt early in the morn. but tis yr, 2 sets of cousins were early risers too. so ah ma's 2-rm hdb flat was much more rowdy n cramped as i rmbr it to be. anyway, her hm is where i feel the most comfortable out of all the houses we visited. the familiar company, the freedom to change tv channels, sit anywhere n touch anything made tis stop the one i look forward to most too despite the minimal red packet size.

frm left: trixie, vicki n me

vicki, the little girl we always bully is now taller than me!! gosh! =(

of course the food there is v yummy too.. like previous yrs, my aged grandmother wld climb out of bed at 4am in the morn to start cooking her famous curry chicken, beehoon, red bean soup, nuggets, taiwan sausages n fish fillets. the highlight wld always be the curry chicken which follows her own secret recipe - she doesn't use any of those prepacked curry powder n spices. alot of effort goes into tt dish as each herb is pounded/grinded individually n manually!! =)

the nxt stop is my mother's uncle's hm. here, we met the same cousins we saw at the old folk's hm.. so tt equals to NO additional hongbaos. zzzz... here has the second most delicious food. alot alot of new yr goodies, home-made logan drink (the warm sort) n PISTACHIO NUTS!! its my annual tradition to waltz in yr aft yr, say my ji xiang hua (auspicious wrds) n plunk myself down in front of the coffee table, right smack within arms-length of tt jar of pistachio nuts. we cousins always wrestle for the best spot n unfortunately, tis yr, it was olivia who gained possesion of tt desirable jar. =(

aft sitting for a considerable amt of time, the cousins n i wld leave for some vegetarian restaurant. tis yr's lunch was at lotus restaurant at quality hotel. not tt i'm against vegetarian but their prices r really exorbitant for FAKE copies of abalone, sharksfin, salmon, etc. the lunch for 12 ppl hinged at abt the 500 bucks level n honestly, i can easily get waaay better REAL food for a much lower price.

oh well, the aunties (my mother included) n the grandmother observes tis vegetarian ritual rather staunchly much to the dismay of daddy who exclaims: "fake abalone!!! all flour n sugar.. so bo hua."

aft lunch was a stopover at my hm so my mother's younger brother can bai nian. we watched a couple of rented vcds, ate the snacks we bought frm japan n slacked around till it was time for dinner.

frm left: angelica, trixie, olivia, alisa

the models: the girls

the photographer: the joy

dinner was the real deal tis time. no more fake yusheng.. we had all the real stuff n mommy was nice enough to change the menu n void it of sharksfin in consideration of me, olivia n angelica who had once solemnly sweared off tt chinese delicacy due to unnecessary brutality in the slaying of sharks. haha. noble rite? i'm proud to say i've managed to successfully abstain for 3yrs n counting le. hehehe...

aft dinner at bukit timah, we headed back to uncle jason's house for more movies. but unfortunately 'the devil wears prada' n 'scary movie 3' did not manage to make my mood better (ref. to the feb 18 entry). i was sooo angry tt i even beared to remove the ring n not wear it for the whole evening. haiz... i guess sometimes ppl do speak w/o take into acc the consequences. but all has been forgiven. =)

the second day was much more slack. we had ample time to get ready before heading to daddy's fren's house nearby - face pasir ris park. so much happened in so little time.. in this annual gathering of VS (victorians) boys the talk will inadvertably be transformed into whether their male offsprings wld follow their footsteps.. n joining the ranks of traitors tis yr is a classmate who sent his son to RI (raffles institution) just like wat another did in 2004.

the focus tis yr was on another boy n my v own lil bro. afterall, they taking the PSLE examinations tis yr will be the highlight of nxt yr's conversation. so the young, currently in VS boys did all they cld to brainwash these impressionable little ppl to join their ranks. seriously, bri had his pasta warmed up in the microwave n had great heapings of cheese. in fact, the boys personally did baked pasta specially for him. can u believe tt?!?!

i call tis propaganda.. =P

tis yr, it wasn't the usual gambling. but more so, the attn fell on the newly acquired pool table. yeap, u guessed it. the yang brothers hv their v own pool table in their v own house!!! we played pool n i hit the winning 8 ball in for my side. YAY!!! the 2 yang brothers then partnered to challenged the old birds. daddy's team won but the other team of oldies trashed out to the young n up-coming. hahaha..

ian setting the balls as ryan chooses the cue.

trixie takes her shot!!!

in it goes..

they also got a new mountain dog tt is huge! plus the oldest brother (17 yrs old) is now in canada studying astro physics.. n there is SNOW there.. how cool is tt?

BERNARD! the mountain doggy..

we left aft awhile for movies at eng wah suntec. epic movie sucks.. its a horrible waste of time n money. the plot is so sick tt it resulted in the family in front of me leaving halfway n the audience barely laughed at the crude way of expression. n to tink mega-popular pirates of the carribean, narnia, james bond 007, etc is reduced to an hr of sex thinly disguised by humour. *disgusted*

us buying snacks frm carrefour just before the movie!

anyway, tt abt summarises my all impt 2 days of the biggest chinese holiday in the yr.. it was fun-filled n love-filled. thanks to all who made it possible.. n to my family, although i appear nonchalent n unappreciative many times throughout the yr, i thank god for letting me hv u guys. ur the ppl i wun trade anything for. iloveyou-

n coz i was sooo bored, i took a pic of mommy's LV bag.. look at the no. of hong baos?? *grabs her bag n runs away*

trix attempting to scoop food, banquet-style as kim kim (aunt clara) n gu gu (uncle jason) looks on. btw, those r fake, vegetarian prawns.

our shoes.. XD

THE LOVED ONES!!! <3

day 3 was spent at daddy's big sis house with the cousins frm my daddy's side.. they hv downgraded n is now living out of a rented terrace house at the thomson area.. the house is rather historic looking with a distinctive peranakan style.

as usual, its the com n the xbox tt occupied the kids. but for me, the older ppl decided it was time to tell me abt all their dating experience n childhood stories. it was sort of a mixture between fascination n awe abt how diff life was then n its funny to hear abt the trouble daddy got into when he was younger.

guess wat, DADDY WAS TALENT SPOTTED FOR SG'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM back in his hey-day!! all the brothers n sisters cld rmbr n mommy was smiling proudly abt her then boyfriend, the talented VS sch player.. but for some reason daddy wanted to play for fun n didn't wan the stress n stuff tt came attached with national team status.. gosh, tt showed me the side of him i nv got to see..

dinner cum bdae celebration for my grandmother was at the neighbourhood seafood restaurant a short walking dist away, where i had my 3rd yusheng. as usual, the kids took a table n the grown-ups took their own table.. n the bf forgot his video call which got me all pissed up again.. haiz.. pms? or was i just being difficult again??

the chalet (14th-16th feb)

gerald, william, zest n i arrived at pool terrace 8 late on the 14th, the first nite of the chalet.. as expected, the guys (sengwang, jackie, santoso, darren n thiam hee) was playing winning eleven on the playstation but the unexpected was tt jess n th slept already.. still rmbr it was sooo diff to get jess to sleep in the first chalet. 0_o

anyway, was pretty shacked myself aft barely sleeping at all the past few nights so aft saying 'hellos', a little bit of night cycling n showering, zest n i went to slp too.. i dunno how the rest squeezed into the bottom 2 rms but me n zest got our own n so did jess n th. hahaha... shhhhhhhh...

aloha loyang was BIG, it has its own courtyard, kitchen, garden n all 4 bedrms had attached bathrooms although the toilets were kinda yucky n the curtains looked ancient.

woke up the nxt day to gerald asking us if we wanted breakfast but fussy me wanted roti prata - which i didn't get in the end - as usual, the guys was glued to the playstation, jessica was still snoozing. so being the v extra girl, i satisfied myself playing games n breaking record aft record on zest's hp while waiting for macdonald lunch delivery.

evidence of tian hock sleeping n refusing to get up!!! hahahaha...

aft lunch, i finally got the attn i wanted n craved. hehehe.. managed to get them off the playstation n we started playing card games like daidi n cheat.. i'm an excellent cheat coz everyone seemed to believe me.. its easier to cheat when u play with 2 decks of cards..

when i finally got their interest to play something tt involves more ppl..
clockwise frm me: me, zest, santoso, thiam hee, tian hock, darren n sengwang.

another session of gambling outside.. they r playing cheat or blackjack ba..
frm left to right: melvin, candy, thiam hee, jessica n tian hock

aft a while, a large part of them left for arcade so it was back to the bloody anti-social gaming machine!!! typical male species!!! rahhhh..

santoso all hooked up...

the stupid game of winning eleven tt effectively reduced me to a football widow!! *sobs*

another game to entertain the boys.. fatal frame in which u gotta kill ghosts by snapping pics of them. gosh, i didn't noe ghosts n spritual beings loved cam-whoring too. hahaha..

finally, when more ppl came n aft deciding on getting some fresh air, santoso, candy, darren, jackie, zest, melvin n i left for the soccer courts within the chalet. but sadly, it was occupied by some beng-ish looking guys..

i was the all impt valuable watcher. so sian rite? ya, i cannot agree less. zzz. n the boyfriend nv even look/smile at me while they played. even when he came over to deposit specs he barely even glaced at me. so frustrating can?! men, they just dun get it. =(

it was kinda malu-ating when our side challenged those malay guys to a game of soccer. coz the competition was sooo obviously one-sided. me n melvin shared the common view tt the oponents were bullying us. after awhile, they left due to some reason n we had the whole soccer court to ourselves n it became a bigger pleasure to watch a mess of ppl kick one ball. aft an hr or so, we went back to the chalet n i disappeared with tiff n cheeleng to the kiddy corner to sink into a pit of coloured balls n talk crap abt anything under the sun as usual.

the best frens, tiffany n cheeleng.. while we relived our childhood days in the ball pit.. =D

we came back just in time as the alcohol has just been opened n the food was just abt ready. yippee!! no labour, maximum advantage. lol. at tis time, everyone who shld be here was present le (liying, xueqin, afiq, nicholas, joel) n i had a blast gossiping with xq until her dear jack jack came n robbed me of her. wahhhhh...

everyone busy cooking food, but zest still got time to twist for the cam! bth!! hahahaha..

the new president, mr william (in white), gets down n dirty with the charcoal. ^^

secret discussion???

alcohol!!! colourful!!!

wats chalet w/o alcohol??? haha.. they look like v happy spokespersons for tis ultra nice shandy tt gerald introduced.. slurps!! sweet sweet de lor.. n its $1.50 per bottle only.. happy.

look at the empty bottles? n tis is one table only.. we're such alcoholics.. hehe.. =P

sengwang gotta pour out the shandys coz there wasn't enough.. rationing yeah?

tis is the only other drink if u dun wanna drink tap water.. sarsi sponsored by F&N during d&d.. actually hv much more de.. hahahaha.. all FREE!!

slept again at nite.. its nice to spend sooo much time with him although it wld be better if he showered more attn on me. hehehe.. tts me, nv satisfied. XD

we played risk!! pink is zest n me, santoso is green.. notice how we both wiped all the other colours out (blue, red, black, yellow)? haha.. actually zest n i had clear lead frm the beginning.. if it wasn't san who intelligently tried to weaken us, it wld be just pink soldiers left n the game wld hv ended waaay earlier then the 3 hrs.. the power of love. heee.

the nxt morning, all the early birds went hm while zest, darren, gerald n i headed to the 24-hr kopitiam for breakfast while th, jess n sw slept at the chalet. aft returning, it was massive clean-up n packing of the leftover bbq food not forgetting my mega screw-up.

ATTENTION: JOY CANNOT EVEN MICROWAVE A PIZZA W/O BLOWING UP THE OVEN!!!

my black mess of melted cheese. its all darren's fault!! he gave me wrong timing n i caused the oven to emit smoke. thank goodness zest dared to open it or the compressed air wld prob cause the microwave to blow sky-high!! n thanks to the darling who was such an absolute gem to wash my plate for me.. trust me, its not easy to scrub out tt mess!!! he had to use a metal spoon!!!!!!

so we had banana cake tt candy bought coz it was much easier n safer to consume then my disastrous attempt at creating food! bahx. thanks also to gerald who sent me n zest hm before returning to the chalet to pick up the rest.. so thoughtful of u.. aft tt, it was sleeping in my nice. comfy bed for the rest of the day. wahahaha.. lazy bum.

the transport. =) =) =)

jess n me with a flying blanket courtesy of tian hock! lol. wooosh~

tts wat happen when ppl get high on alcohol or too bored...
photo madness!!!