long overdue...

hv officially been home-sweet-home for 5 days.. i miss shanghai. the weather, the food n most certainly, the cheap shopping!!! but having lived n worked abroad for 7 wks, i can now really appreciate sg's cleanliness, internet speed n less crowded public transport system. =P

since i nv got around to blogging abt my pre-china activities whilst in fascinating cheena, here r all the backdated photos. the china entry will hv to wait until i get all the photos (which will prob take quite a while..)



post exams celebration at jack's place before i had to rush off to check-in the spse chalet.



remind me nv to offer to book chalets again.. while the rest were out shopping, i had to sit in a boring rm, waiting for late yr 1s and folding stupid things out of sticky tape.




the first night of chalet was quite a turn-off but the second night was slightly better with the arrival of more familiar faces...



as usual, our resident clown nv fails to entertain.. >.<

paparazzi shot 1: childish darren hv to snatch liying's blankie..



paparazzi shot 2: darren getting his hair ready for someone's arrival.. =P



breakfast of soft-boiled eggs n toasted bread..



LUCKY BREAK!!! liying got twin yolks in one of her eggs! MUZ BUY TOTO!!!



gift 1: liying's mama made me pineapple tarts. yummy!!



gift 2: junhong won this frm the kiap kiap machine for me!!! *winnie salutes you*



last chalet for the full spse gang perhaps... =(



before we cld really rejoice the end of yr 2, han lih lih had to call for itp briefings which lasted over 4 hrs! well, i suppose we all needed as much info on china as possible.. dearie cheeleng n i had quite a scrumptious dinner at raffles place aft the briefing.



new yr preparations in full gear!!!



on the eve of new yr comes the annual tradition of steamboat. tis time, we were missing daddy who was probably having instant noodles faraway in dubai. *evil laughter* =P



woke up bright n early to prepare for a day of hongbao collection. hehehe..
[in our new clothes frm left: trixie, alisa, me]



first stop was the old folks hm to visit my great grandmother.. this is in the bathroom. (notice the wheelchairs??)



lunch was typical vegetarian fare which isn't v worthwhile bcoz it costs nearly as much as those full-fledge meat dinners... but the grandmother insists so we dun really hv much of a choice i guess.



dinner had meat; much to my carnivorous delight!




the v skillful waiter was juggling this fancy teapot with such a long spout! n there was hot tea inside can?!



although we did visit some other houses frm my dad's side, these ppl spent the majority of my day 1 with me. =D



the girlies!!!
[frm left: trixie, angelica, aunt clara, alisa, mommy, me, olivia]




[back row (the kids): olivia, trixie, brian, me, alisa, angelica]
[front row (the "old" ppl): aunt clara, uncle jason, mommy, 婆婆, 公公]



on the second day, i wore the silk top i bought with the topshop voucher gerald gave me during xmas. THANK YOU!!!! ^^



spent the day at 婆婆's house where we had our own DIY yusheng n i got to meet geraldine n nicholas aft like 3 yrs of non-contact???? come to think of it, we used to be so close. i wonder what happened?!



introducing my 98 year-old great grandmother.



HUAT AH!!!



at night, we headed to lai wah seafood restaurant in the boon keng area. see their claim to be the originators of yusheng?? *skeptical*



this meeting with my father-side relatives is meant to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.. dun ask me how old bcoz there wasn't a cake with candles. =X



the grown-ups.
[back row: warren, michael, richard, 3rd uncle]
[front row: suxin, 2nd aunt, karen, ah ma, mommy, 3rd aunt]

obviously for those i nv mention names is bcoz i forgot their names lah. like duh?! anyway, all the men were standing behind their wives n mommy did not hv daddy. wahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!



the kids!
[back row: derrick, darian, trixie, alisa]
[front row: xiang le, vicki, ah ma, me, brian, xiang rong]



since chinese new yr is all abt traditions, my typical 3rd day schedule is to visit yang meh meh's house with the girls since she's kinda the only one among us who theoretically speaking has her own house n a really adorable shih tzu puppy named ah dae (aft ice-cream sundaes). speaking of ice-cream, i get to eat ben n jerry's out of the tub!!



in the evening, i rushed down to raffles hotel to celebrate mommy's early birthday..



cam-whoring on the majestic grounds of this colonial looking hotel in the middle of the city.



they even hv a real bangali doormen!



i love my family to itsy bitsy pieces!!!



the dessert selection at the bar n billard room.. i can imagine xinyi's face of pure delight. =P



i stole marshmallows frm the choc fountain n bbq it over candlelight. =)



look at mommy's really contented face??



daddy ordered this flowers frm dubai which was meant to be a surprise delivery. but his credit card didn't wrk n he had to call mommy to pay for her own flowers when they arrived.. silly boy.

aft the fine dinner, i rushed down to boon keng to meet up with the spse ppl sleeping over at liying's house.



on 10th feb, junhong n i checked out the new kallang leisure park..



we went ice-skating!!!!!



this place is smaller n more expensive than jurong but the skates r waaaay more comfortable n needless to say, it is more accessible for east babies like myself.



at night, uncle jason treated us to this fortune pot thingy.. it has abalones, sharks fin, sea cucumber n all the other seafood treasures. i tot it tasted like normal stewed stuff though n i was pretty horrified when mommy told me it costs $888.. eeek!



they also surprised mommy with a bdae cake. its chocolate opera, my fav!!! =)



dear xinyu spent vday with me instead of her bf in case i emo myself to death. lol. we watched P.S I Love You which was a huge disappointment n she gave me choc pralines. i love u sweetie...



at night i headed to changi airport terminal 3 for my farewell dinner with the family.. we sat on beanbags at the newly opened sakae teppanyaki. stylo-mylo!!

my 47 letters to mommy.. one for each day i'm away. =)