7 Jan 2018 – After 18 Years

Sat: what are the chances that all these breakdowns happen one after another?? The advantage is that now I can justify calling Vincent, my contractor to give me a quote for all the fixtures – oh how I dread shopping. Being particular and knowing what I want can sometimes lead to frustrations.

Looking for mat-finished faucets was not that easy 18yrs ago and 18yrs later, it is still not that easy. Both the kitchen and shower faucets are leaking and have been told that they will need to be replaced. What happened to the days when a new gasket was all it needed??

IKEA does not have shower faucets but they have kitchen ones. Bought this step-stool and got some funny looks from others by taking it on the bus –  not heavy, just bulky! Have been eyeing this step-stool for a while – today it was $39.90 instead of $60, tkx to nephew for gift certificate.

Geylang Rd to shop for shower faucet and saw one@Heritage.

Always an adventure to walk down this road.

Lunched@SoonHuat/Lorong29 but my favourite HokkienMee was not opened yet. Had the Meepok which was quite good, but not sure if good enough to wait 20mins???

Tkx to Zarina for a lovely visit and for gifts. Good catching up to share some bubbles and life’s experiences. Appreciations to Lawrence for 2bottles of bubbles (1 for Christmas and the other for my Bday).

Sun: enjoy getting fresh produce@the local wet-market before the crowds. Find it amazing how resourceful the coffee-stalls are in many places. They use recycled condensed-milk cans for take-away hot-drinks but i usually bring my own cup when not drinking at the location.

Satisfied with this strong new step-stool for multi-purpose – stand for fresh-produce, stool for the kitchen-table and step to reach for the higher shelves. Was busy making a 3-course lunch, pumpkin soup, shrimp pasta+salad and chocolate sponge pudding with brandy sauce that the camera was neglected.

Tkx to niece for the chocolates.

12th night was Fri, 5Jan marking the end of Christmas and signalling households to take down their Christmas tree and decorations ahead of Epiphany. That is usually the time my Christmas things get put away. Somehow for this year, the weekend fell just after that and since family&friends were still visiting, decided to keep the decorations until Sun night when they were put away – now quite ready to jump into the shower and to bed…

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world – John Milton

5 Jan 2018 – Starting A Happy&Healthy New Year 

Mon: always good to start a year with a Mon, a public holiday to gather and reflect on if any resolutions for the new year before a new work&school year. Tkx to Gel for her home-made acar, a local veggie pickles – both acar (pix credits to Gel) and rojak, another local veggie but this one with fresh veggie (downloaded pix). These are my favourtie local veggie dishes, just minus the pineapple and or any other fruits as they do not compliment these dishes for my taste-bud.

How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them – BenjaminFranklin

A day to remind how blessed we are and these 2movies are my favourites to watch whenever I need a pick-me-up. Both give a message with  a heartwarming celebration of human possibility.

The Intouchables/2011, not sure if this is a true story, but Breathe/2017, directed by the main character’s son is a true story.

Tue: Happy Birthday to grand-nephew Darryl who is celebrating his last teen year! Visited in the hospital when he was born, where has the 19yrs gone??? Polyclinic day to check on blood tests’ results and looks like blood is in the clear to plan for another long-distant hike! the problem is that the heart might not agree!! Senior grocery shopping day@Giant/Parkway with 3% off, any savings in a saving and today it is S$2+and redeeming S$6 from PassionCard. Must learn which local fish is best for steaming.

Wed: 05.30hrs – Good Hump-Day morning to all, the first 2018 pix taken from the kitchen window where there is a full moon and from the front door where the traffic is still calm, also before the rains!

By 1530hrs, this was the pix, not much traffic of any sort and a nice afternoon to stay indoors listening to the heavy downpour.

Thu: Have you ever thought of walking the whole of Singapore Island and wondering how long you would take? How many Km you could cover? 100km hike hosted by SGTrek Expeditions&Adventures: 6Jan-15:00 to 7Jan-18:00. Tempting, but the heart tells me that it will be suicidal to attempt it now, so will have to give it a pass for this time round, not ready to go yet! Who knows, if this is still on for my 70thBday, might give it a shot then…

Fri: Good morning on this 1st 2018 TGIF. Tkx for this beautiful pop-up card from #6&his parents. Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss was the medieval name of Trondheim in Norway when it was the capital of the country’s first Christian kings.

31 Dec 2017 – Last 2017 Weekend

Fri: TGIF and tkx to #6 for his 2017 artwork, the darker colours being from 2014 to see the difference what a couple of yrs can do. Let’s hope that there will be more in the future to see the progress. Still have both L&M’s artwork from their childhood days!!

On this last 2017 Friday and the 5th Day of Christmas – what would I do with 5gold rings?? Thank you and appreciations for all the thoughtful gifts and season’s greetings – can never get enough of these lovely pop-up cards.

Enjoy your last weekend in 2017 before 2018 rings& knocks on your door.

Tkx to DaisyL for lunch@Glory. Walked down EastCoastRd to the famous Chakey’s Serangoon Salt Baked Chicken and they were already sold out by 1300hrs, but was not there to buy any chicken, just wanted to check it out! My late 4th auntie used to make the best salt-baked-chicken.

http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/famous-chakeys-serangoon-salt-baked-chicken-shops-to-close-on-dec-31

Continued with bus12 to SGH. Have tried many times to take a pix to see how good a shot I can capture in a moving bus of this house and the feet sculpture on MountbattenRd – both the colour of the house and the huge feet are eye-catchers but still have not got any decent shots yet. Will keep trying…

4th sis-in-law had surgery to replace her fractured hip. SGH has come a long way with interesting sculptures in pleasant courtyards, cheerful&colourful walls and a modern up-to-date heart centre.

Volunteers demonstrate the use of fire extinguishers.

Visited bro Steven with good-will cookies&cakes in the home, UnitedMedicare/Queensway which is located opp a church and a temple. Still hoping and praying for the best for them both as they were&are always kind to me.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow, what a ride!’ -Hunter S. Thompson 

Sat: sooo very nice to be in the comfort of my space with the pleasant cool breeze streaming in all the opened-windows. After such busy days, it really is relaxing&welcoming watching this OriolusChinensis. Have seen some of these flying outside the kitchen windows since the carpark roof-top garden was completed, but never the opportunity to see them linger like this one. Such fun seeing it playing with the palm-leaf and excited that I could get a few shots, even when the zoom is extended to the fullest and not sharp.

Yellow bird, up high in banana tree.
Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me…

Sun: last day of 2017 and an early breakfast@MT WetMarket before sunrise and before the crowds to end the year.

Off to dinner@Les&Ivy later, but will not stay up until mid-night – have to catch the last bus home and also to avoid certain routes not to get stuck with the road closures.

Edited with pix: tkx to Kat&Greg for yummy turkey dinner+all the trimmings, apple-pie+ice cream for dessert.

Appreciations to Les&Ivy for including Clem and I to their last 2017 dinner with their family. Eliot is so far the youngest in the purple generation for LAM TinYue branch.

Should old acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o’kindness yet
And days of auld lang syne

27 Dec 2017 – New Fridge for the Last 2017 Week

Mon: Merry Christmas and blessed with family in SIN, but missing Linn&famly/USA and May&family/Norway. Glad that the surface-mailed package to the US (mailed in Oct) has been received. Above pix credits of The MaGniFicant6 to Linn&May.

A thousand thanks and appreciations to bro Les&Ivy for hosting Christmas lunch@Tanglin Club.

Great time was had by young and old with the presence of 3LAM generations, Ivy’s 2cousins+their family and MeiPin, a friend of Kat.

Bon appetite and cheers to all. Yummy foods with perfect quantity this year – ie, none to doggy-bag!

Had a taste of Lucas kiddies dessert, ice-cream+cookie and this year’s best joke/riddle from the Christmas crackers/bon-bons – Why did the tomato blush???

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time ― Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Tue: Gledelig jul and Happy Boxing Day to all. The tomato blushed because it saw the salad dressing – tkx Alex. Lunched with Lawrence@T4 before he took off back to KCH. The new T4 (formally the budget terminal) is connected by free shuttle-bus to T2, if you want to go to T1-T3 from T4 – did some shopping@T3. Appreciations to Jo for home-cooked dinner.

Wed: bye-bye fridge Samsung – bought it in 2000, also@BestDenki$459 and it has served me well until a year ago when it started to act up.

After a week of fridge hunting, bought the Panasonic on promotion@BestDenki/Parkway S$388. Paid $238 total tkx to Clem’s Xmas gift-vouchers&Sue’s perks for free delivery+disposal.

Expo-RoadShow, $379+30 for delivery $409, Mustafa $425+25=$450. Prices were not that much differences, but nothing can beat the price when there are vouchers and perks. Quite annoyed with the delivery ppl, first they were late and then they scratched my fitted kitchen cabinet which I will complain about tomorrow! Too tired today!! 

Thu: Happy Birthday to my oldest friend Peggy Leung-PUDDEY – in red, family pix credit to her beautiful daughter Rachel. Have know PP since the early 1950s and have been friends thru’ thick&thin!

Also distantly related by marriage, PP father, uncle Vincent WeiSan LEUNG (with glasses) being the nephew of my mother’s bro-in-law Henry YukKwong LEUNG (with tie).

24 Dec 2017 – Welcome Back to SIN Kat&Family

Fri: TGIF – last Fri before Christmas and a safe weekend to all. Tkx to Sue for her help with baking and fridge shopping. Hope that you have most of your shopping done as the weekend will be packed with ppl. Happy Winter Solstice/Dongzhi冬至 for today and enjoy your Tangyuan/湯圓The black sesame in ginger soup are my favourites. Pix downloaded.

Winter Solstice 2015

Last mail delivery until BoxingDay. Blessed with entertaining live-music from the common area downstairs in a dark&stormy Fri night for our annual gathering in a dry-comfortable environment of my 4-walls!

Tkx to Ting&CH+Bev for good company&gifts. No mood for cooking, just cold meats+berries, cocktail-sausages, Turkey-Caesar-salad and an Irish-creamed potato. Apologies that the ham was off as I am having fridge problems.

Sat: what are the chances that the fridge and watch breaking down at the same time?? Age is certainly catching on to these items about 18yrs old! Lunched with Clement and went to see his mom, my sis-in-law who is in SGH for a fractured hip after a fall – ouch!!

Family dinner@ChangBBQ/Dempsey Hill with Les&his branch all present here in SIN for this holiday with Lawrence visiting from KCH. Did not have any of those wines and appetite still not at its best but good to see Kat&family who are visiting from the USA.

Sun: today is the last Sunday of Advent

and some humour to get us thru’ 2017 Christmas Eve. Take care and be safe.

At the local MarineTerrace wet-market joining in the holiday ambiance. Am usually there before 0600hrs if getting fresh groceries, but today was there after 0800 mainly to get the orchids.

Was lucky to get whatever was left of this orchid. Some breakfast to take away eating in the comfort&space of my own 4-walls.

Happy 19Anniversary to Patricia&Albert, tkx to Les&Ivy for food&drinks and to Kiera for entertainment on my x-Steinway…

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…

21 Dec 2017 – @Crossings Cafe

Mon: lunched@the Catholic Centre’s Crossings Cafe***decent food at affordable prices where all profits go to charity – thus eating with a good conscience, hahaha.  Blessed for lunch and Christmas gift from friend.

Tue: good company for lunch with Michelle & Gel. IrvinsSaltedEgg chips turned out to be quite good with this 2016 NZ Tahuna SauvignonBlanc.

Apprectations to Michelle for carrying back 500ml Blue Lagoon moisturizing cream from Iceland while she was visiting there recently. S$110 Christmas present to myself. Lisa claims that this tube looks like a bottle of wine 🙂

Wed: murder puts a new spin on an old favorite. Had to watch this new remake of Murder on the Orient Express****where one man race against time to find the who the murderer is. Kenneth Branagh directs and leads an all-star cast including Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad.

From Plaza SIN

To Bugis Junction

Vietnamese dinner@CAO/LiangSeahSt***too much MSG in the broth. Had to drink  many glasses of water. Good to catch up with Henry. Sorry that Andy could not join us.

Thu: appreciations to Carmel for lovely breakfast@FullertonBayHotel.

A short walk from CliffordPier to FullertonHotel.

Welcome lunch for Kat&Greg+Devon&Eliot@Paragon/Din Tai Fung, tkx to Les&Ivy.

Trips to Expo&Mustafa using the DowntownLine from Expo (interesting wall-decor!) shopping for a fridge which has decided to act up again! What a day – am going to crash for the night!

Tired minds don’t plan well. Sleep first, plan later – Walter Reisch

18 Dec 2017 – T’is The Season To Be Jolly

Thu: picking up the odd&ends to finish off the gift wrappings.

The English sure knows how to decorate for Christmas – angels flying in Regent St, my favourite theme! Might even be worth a while to take a trip to London just to see these lights!! – if only in my dreams

Fri: TGIF and getting ready with the annual fruit cocktail salad and gifts to start off the first Christmas gathering.

Sat: many thanks to Calvin&staff of Campers’ Corner for their annual Christmas get-together in good company of these fine young handsome men 🙂 kicking off my first Christmas party for this holiday season. Good to catch up with Andy.

Scrumptious menu but was too late to take any decent pix of the food!  My signature annual contribution – Fresh Fruit Cocktail Salad (with a kick !) hoping that there will be left-overs to make a fruit cake, but it has yet to happen! Balloon sculpture by Lum, I presumed but he was not there! Our youngest party-goer with the 2clowns for entertainment – hahaha!

Food pix credits to Helen – Rack of Lamb, Steamed Prawns, BrusselSprouts and PorkKnuckles. Had one bite of the variety. 2SucklingPiglets were demolished by the time I was there but was thankful to be able to take the bones of both turkey and piglets with me to make broth&stock. The stomach should be happier with less foods and more broths.

Sun: gallivanting around SuntecCity&MarinaSq as Clement claims that these locations are less crowded than Orchard Rd. Found a table with a view to have a bite@MarinaSq Foodcourt, so the crowd was not too bad.

Would not have been out during weekends if not for meeting up with family or friends.

Took bus36@the Esplanade which loops around Orchard Rd to view the lights and the traffic was still heavy on this Sunday night after 2200hrs. Somehow the lights this year are not that exciting or maybe it is just me not being in the Christmas mood yet!

Christmas time! That man must be a misanthrope indeed, in whose breast something like a jovial feeling is not roused – in whose mind some pleasant associations are not awakened – by the recurrence of Christmas – CharlesDickens

13 Dec 2017 – Back To Normal, More Or Less

Fri: a quick trip to Mustafa to buy Norwegian salmon&dill for gravlaks. Had a nice hot herbal chicken soup@SoupParadise/CitySquareMall. Quite a decent deal with 2pieces of drumsticks.

Concerns over US president Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – this is going to spark and start off much unrest in the world 🙁 Pix downloaded.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/convenes-emergency-meeting-jerusalem-decision-171208162736190.html

The Battle of Armageddon – A Prophetic View. Jerusalem will be reestablished as the capital city of the Israelites (Zechariah 1:16–17; 2:12; 12:6; 3 Nephi 20:46). (I-9) Armageddon: The End or the Beginning?

https://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-student-manual-kings-malachi/enrichment-i?lang=eng

In memory of John Lennon’s (1940-1980).

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace... 

Sat: completed the course of antiB. Oh dear! a car has crashed into my regular flower stall@MarineTerrace wet-market. Fate has it that I was just across the road putting the seasonal greetings snail-mail into the mailbox.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/car-crashes-into-market-in-marine-parade-3-taken-to-hospital

Sun: a lousy Sat night-sleep and woke with a stiff neck – seems like inflamed or muscles spasm, took 2Panodols and feeling better, tkx for medical advise from Ivy. Got a delivery service GoGoVanS$20 to deliver gravlaks to Les&Ivy – apologies for missing the dinner but still on the mend and need to rest. Good to learn that there is such a fast and efficient delivery service.

Mon: congratulations to my beautiful niece, Dika – a NY Times Fellow at NYU, who won the Bronx Writers’ Center Chapter.

http://therumpus.net/2015/09/the-sunday-rumpus-essay-im-chinese-and-sherman-alexie-chose-me/

Still good news even-though it is old news (according to Dike),  but only just got the info from Lock today.

https://thenervousbreakdown.com/tag/dika-lam/

Tue: Design Centre for Bonjour WOHAbeing – neat designs.

Tkx Aileen for lunch@Tanuki Raw Restaurant & Bar***healthy and tasty Tofu Rice Bowl set-lunch, and enough to doggy-bag for another meal.

Wed: Happy Bday Ingrid. More of less back to normal after 12days of resting. @PlazaSIN, saw this line and decided to check out the fuss. Was allowed to purchase a max of 5small packages – verdict only after tasting them and that will be next week. Fish-skin was sold-out by the time it was my turn!! Appetite not up to par yet and will not taste until there are others to help eat it!

Irvins started off with humble roots, with founder Irvin Gunawan coming up with the idea to coat potato chips with salted egg yolk sauce back in 2014. The hype for salted egg yolk everything might have died down, but Irvins Salted Egg Yolk Chips are still drawing the crowds.

http://www.asiaone.com/food/best-thing-i-ate-week-irvins-salted-egg-potato-chips

To family&friends observing Hanukkah – the Jewish eight-day, wintertime festival of lights, celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and foods.

St Lucia’s Day –  today celebrated thru’out the Scandinavian countries (more Sweden!). Originated in Italy, St Lucia, whose name comes from the Latin lux=light, links with this element and with the days growing longer after the Winter solstice. St Lucia is the patron saint of the city of Syracuse (Sicily).

7 Dec 2017 – Days Of Discomfort

Sat: and the weekend is not the kind wished for anyone!

Sun: need to get myself to the Polyclinic tomorrow. Did not even find the candles and holder for the first Sunday of Advent. Will do without them this year! At least the other lights and calendars are out.

Posting from Linn’s FB reminded me that it is hers and May’s father’s 70Bday – Happy Bday to the father of my 2 children’s  and grandfather to my 6 grandchildren.

Memories seemed to wander back to 40yrs ago in Tromsø where there was energy to paint an attic and fit a table set with 4-course dinner+wines for 12. Had white phalaenopsis flew in from the Netherlands. Marit&Henrik have passed on but do wonder the whereabouts of Matts&Agnetha. Ah yes, those were the days when youth, love and immortality conquered all 🙂

Glad to see that today the eldest John#3 (11) and the youngest Olai#6 (6) grandsons are bonding and having a blast together – adorable hair contrast! Pix credits to Linn.

Mon: if only there were some energy left from those days, would have walked or taken the bus to the MP Polyclinics, instead took a cab/S$5 there. From there was explained that it was best to go in an ambulance and to be admitted into A&E@RafflesHospital (nearest in distance to where MP Polyclinic). Spent the rest of the day there with drip, medications and blood tests – turned out to be some bad stomach infection. RH even though private, has some tie-ups with the government health services and my bill was S$116.

Early 2000s when working@H&H and we designed their first brochures and also chose the font RH which are what you still see now, strange to be a patient there now! Pix of RH downloaded.

Tue: started on the antibiotics and it is the first day since Thu night that the liquids are not coming out like a tap and feeling less dehydrated. Energy and appetite level still 0, finally losing some unwanted weight but not in a healthy way! Looks like snail-mail for this season’s greetings will be extremely late out! Nothing is out of the Christmas box yet but at least it is out of the store-room 🙂 🙂

Wed: been some days ago since food pix did not make me nauseous. Nice to be able to see one without feeling such, but just managed to struggle with a cooked-egg for breakfast, took me over an hour to eat it. Now to gather some energy and mood to open the box.

Thu: there things are out in a mess to be sorted, but first to make sure that the greeting cards get out in the mail asap. Tkx to Aileen@H&H for her help with the printing of the inserted notes. Now I have the chance to get them out latest early next week and hope that they will be received in time for the season.

1 Dec 2017 – That Time Of The Year

Mon: and so it is that time of the year to get the Christmas decorations, etc out – checking and repairing whatever needs to be repaired before they go on display.

The theme this year is White Christmas, matching Orchard Rd! as I am too lazy to get out the whole village of dolls. The host of angels stay and do feel the need for their protection now, more so than than other years. Dinner@Jo’s.

Tue: @Marina Square.

Thank you Christopher from Shanghai for meeting up despite of his busy schedule. Appreciations for the first Christmas gift. Thank you for his thoughtfulness.

Wed: Happy 11Birthday to #3, not easy to get a shot of this camera-shy grandson born in SIN. Being the middle child with 2teenage sisters and 2other younger siblings must be quite a challenge. Pix credits to Linn. 

Feeling a bit in a daze with not enough sleep last night. A throbbing toothache kept me from a goodnight sleep, but that shall pass! Belated 70Bday celebrations for Hong to coincide with Richard&Judy’s visit from Sydney who are in town to attend their niece’s wedding. Lunch@Glory and dessert& bubbles@my pad! Kuehs requested by Hong. Should have asked a younger helper@Glory to take the group pix 🙂

Thu: last night was another interrupted night-sleep and was determined to go to the dentist this morning. But the pain miraculously disappeared this morning – wonders never cease.

Appreciations for dinner to Les&Ivy@ChangKoreanBBQ Restaurant/Dempsey***with David&Judy from KL and MeiPin.

The yummy foods- first time to taste TempuraGinsen with good wines+Makgeolli 막걸리 were irresistible but my stomach did not forgive me. Another night with interrupted sleep. All these warning signs are telling me it is time for another check-up and also time to change my eating and drinking habits or I will not survive to be 70!

Fri: TGIF, first day of advent and the advent calendars are out – first thank you for the season, sukran/Arabic. A day and probably the weekend of rest to pay for all the dues of gluttony. Apologies to DaisyC for cancelling lunch today and also to Christopher for not showing him around SIN.

O gluttony, it is to thee we owe our griefs – Geoffrey Chaucer

13 Happy Bday Ingrid HUSTAD

14 Happy Bday LAM Cheng Chwab

16 Happy Bday Andy LAM

19 Happy Bday Rita Tann

21 Happy Bday Anna Tsang

23 Happy Bday Minos LAM

25 Merry Christmas

27 Happy Bday Lisa XIAO

28 Happy Bday Peggy LEUNG