A Blessed Christmas

I am trully blessed and surrounded with nice people, great friends and family members.
This Christmas indeed was so much greater than I expected. I thought I couldn't enjoy at all, but I did (although inside I still feel a lil' heavy n stressed with my job).

Went to mom's place before meeting bro.

I had a great time with my bro, Sis-In-Law, nephew Wilfred together with Meow at Ingolf's Kneipe. Initiallly, we went to Vintage Bulgaria. We were early (6pm), it was unplanned as my bro called me last minute to meet up at Island Plaza. So, we thought of having something before I meet up my dance gang for Shawn's Farewell (to US for 6 months - job training) cum Christmas celebration.

The place look cozy, I mean... Vintage Bulgaria, unfortunately, for Christmas, they only have set meals of 2 choices. And we cannot order ala-carte. So, we apologised to the waiter and went next door to Ingolf instead. We had to sit at the counter and all tables were reserved. No problem. Meow and I shared a cream soup and Fruits Salad.

Shared with Koko on our job challenges and stress. Am surprised and glad that Wilfred talked more matured now. He's very active in badminton and wished for a branded Racket....cost from 3 figures, up to 4 figures...good luck to his dad, hahaha.

7pm, we meet at 'No Eyed Deer' - another nice, warm and cozy restaurant. Food is great too.
I ordered Seafood Platter while Meow had the Jumbo Vienna Sausage Set. Nice. Pao Siang ordered British Fish Pie Set, taste good too. I tried Peter's Char-grilled Aromatic Duck Fillet Set nice also. Liana ordered Lamb but I didn't try. Susu, Shawn, Tracy and her daughter seated further, so a bit difficult to communicate as we were seated with few tables joined. Mel and Joshua shared Jumbo Vienna Sausage. There are a lot more yummy sets to choose from the menu.

Peter entertained her boy with his new sophisticated 'gasing' while the rest of us were busy with either the cameras or conversations.

We took some photos. Tracy's daughter also chipped in as the nite's photographer. So cute of her to snap individual's photo. We had group photo with our cute and delicious Gingerbread man made by Mel (Mei Shya) and again with our presents after the gift exchange session.

After dinner, we adjourned to Straits Quay (10pm) - a new shopping mall with long stretch of shop lots at Tanjong Tokong. More photos again... Meow and I then proceed to his friend's house for BBQ gathering, reached there slightly after 11pm. Had more food....not much la, I had 1 burnt chicken wing, few meatballss and short sausages. The guys played card while Meow watched them. I watched Astro and then stared at an interesting art piece on the wall...a modern abstract. Very captivating...at first glance, I saw an office overlooking a big glass pane, however...when I look longer....I see a woman waiting for someone at a harbour, a bottle of wine, a glass and a cigarette to indicate the long waiting moment. Too bad I didn't snap the photo. I could stare at it all day.

We left at 2am, I was getting tired as I slept late the nite before, or should I say morning (5am till 11am).

I am glad I had quite an interesting and full day of Christmas, full of events and friends around me.

So blessed and Praised the Lord.

Fun Holiday and Happy New Year 2008

Just came back from 1 week vacation in KL, stayed at Meow's sister's place in Damansara...10 mins walk to The Curve. Had a great time there with close friends, old friends, swimming with dogs, shopping, eating like 4 times a day, so much walking....jwatching fireworks from her house, great view, everything's just great !! I should do this at least once a year.

However, payback stress - 400 mails in 2 days, I checked every 2 days, and today back at work lots of issues...never mind, I am still glad I took the leave. I had fun. I enjoy and no regret :)

Thanks to colleague who backed me up, thanks to friends who made effort to meet up and spent time with us, especially Master who drove us around and intro us, so smart, 3 months there already can drive here n there. Also to Tan Sri who fetched me to SSum's wedding on X'mas eve.

Ok, here are some pictures...no need to write so much...

Happy New Year to all....many blessings of happiness, great health, success and wealth.

Cheers !!



X'mas decor at Pavillion

Candies from Ken / William / Rachel

Biggest Teddy Bear (Chloe's X'mas present)

Baby Chloe (meow's sis' girl)

Sunway Lagoon with Meow, Yiyi and Chuen

At Sunway Pyramid

Mia kept jumping in the pool with us

Mia & Bobo with Meow


Popeye enjoying pat on his tummy

Best pal Siew Ping at KLCC Starbucks

Meow proudly presenting his newly assembled Bull

Master presenting his Cock (Ooops!)

Tired faces after too much walking and shopping

Ken & I at his place (small party konon, more than 20 ppl!! They played cards, mahjong while I worked on my 400 mails)

3 Mahjong Kakis, 1 spectator and 1 hardworking employee ;)

Holiday with Cheaperthanhotels

Year end is round the corner. I am thinking of visiting my relatives and friends in Australia.

I am still contemplating whether to stay at my second aunt’s place or rent a hotel. Sometimes it might not be that convenient to stay with your relatives for long.

Was searching the web and found this great site. I can actually choose affordable hotel at Cheaperthanhotels. So many Sydney Hotels to choose from. I need to check first, some provide breakfast, free meal and even use of amenities.

Should I visit Brisbane as well ? There is this great promotion at 4 Star Astor Best Western Hotel. It is situated at or near the City area. Affordable with rate as low as AUD 79, it is simply convenient to walk and shop around.

Maybe I can go to Melbourne to visit my friend too. So excited, I need to plan now !

Affordable Hotels in Spain

The other day, my colleague was asking me where to go for her honeymoon. I remember browsing around the internet and saw this great deal with cheap hotels. I was even thinking of saving some money for my own holiday in Spain. Best part of this website, you can book your accommodation with CheaperthanHotels even at last minute. Yes, the very same day itself. Cool, huh !

If you plan to travel in groups or have smaller budgets, don't worry, they have apartments and hostels with free inclusions and facilities as well.

I am interested to visit either Barcelona or Madrid. I did a quick check at Wikipedia to find out more about Spain or more officially known as Kingdom of Spain. With approximately 45 million people, the country is rich with history, literature, art, music and culture.
I plan to visit the famous Agbar Tower in Barcelona; 21st century skyscraper with 144.4 m in height and consists of 38 stories, including four underground levels.

Agbar Tower in Barcelona (from Wikipedia)

Barcelona, second largest city in Spain, has Mediterranean climate. Ranging from mild, dry winters to warm or humid summers are said to have hottest climate in July and August, averaging temperatures of 30 °C (86 °F).

If you love beaches, it's the perfect place to visit. Barcelona has seven beaches, totalling 4.5km of coastline.

Where to stay in Barcelona? Take your pick here :

Hotels in Barcelona or in Spanish Hoteles en Barcelona

Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona (Picture from Wikipedia)

If you wish to stay in Madrid, you can find out year round promotions for Hotels in Madrid at affordable prices.

There is so many places to visit, beautiful night scene, lovely beaches, I need to start planning already ! I would definitely include The Teatro Real Madrid Opera House in my list :)

Teatro Real Madrid Opera House (Picture from Wikipedia)