2011 Xmas Presents

xmas is all about presents and presents and more presents.... =)... i'm always very stressed up over getting presents for people cos like what joyce said - i'm super unobservant over what ppl like or dislike...i always have a fear of what if they dun like the present??? this applies to birthday presents too... that's why i'm the kind that will always chip in but will never volunteer to buy present for anyone... oopx...

but this year, i 良心发现 abit, especially when i realised that ppl have been giving me presents whenever they go oversea as shown in (http://tangtang-land.blogspot.com/2011/12/gifts-from-babes-who-loves-me.html)

but most of the time, i will come back empty handed or with boliao stuff or food stuff to be shared but really cant blame... everything in Europe is so ex...i din even buy anything, except for a few postcards, for myself... 

then most of the other holidays are at beach resorts...also nothing unique to buy.... typical magnets and keychains which i dun really like receiving and assume that everyone else also dun like receiving them too... oopx.... dun really know what to do with them except to keep all of them in a big glass jar...

like i mention earlier on, i 良心发现 this xmas and coupled with some bits of extra cash and time since all my tutees had graduated (read : NO MORE TUITION), i went shopping in search of the best gift (in my opinion) for friends whom i have taken for granted....

this was bought with joyce in mind so was really glad and that she was the one who picked it during the exchange among laurice, me and her... =)

it's a travel organiser ...super apt pressie for joyce ... her current travel toiletries pouch is really disastrous....

specially for lene who, like me, believes in princess kisses... =)

and in return, i gotten these from her

 the price tag was still attached to prove that she hit the budget of $15.50 on the dot ... hahaha...

saw this at precious moment and though that laurice might like it... =)

it's a table calendar which can be reuse every year since the day, monday - sunday, is not printed on it... =P

why for laurice leh??? cos she is the only close girl friend of mine who goes to church every week and i associate her with the cover pix of a modern lady who knows how to live her life well and she has dogs too, although not a poodle as printed...

in exchange, i received this super duper cute penguin water dispenser that indicates the minimum amount of water to be consumed each day

and also this book

now Mr Ang is thinking of getting me a blender so that i can make him a cup every week.... hmmm.... still considering....maybe can organise a juices & smoothies gathering one day ... =P

Jappy stuff always reminds me of meixiang (mx)...

i also dun know why... and no, she's not a japanese.... and i assumed since she loves to give ppl notebook (i had received at least 2 from her b4...all with super cute designs), she must be someone who likes notebook too.... hee.... i also added a cute cute pink chick contact lens case for her which i had forgotten to take any photos of...=(

and she gave me a lovely dovy art kit... =)

 haven got the time and the mood to do it yet.... maybe can be a wedding anniversary activity or valentine day activity to do with mr ang...waahahhaha....

got this sweet weekly table planner for yuan...

 with the many many datelines we have as teachers every day, week, month...it's good to have something visual to remind us on our staffroom table.... though i wun know where she's gonna place this la... hahahahha.... and since mr ang was her santa in this year RSS xmas exchange, i had top this gift up with a pebble art kit and a contact lens case.. =)

Mab's present was the hardest to get cos she's a very practical person who dun really like cute stuff except for little twin stars so imagine my delight when i finally chance upon dslr camera strap in pretty pretty designs at plaza sing...but they were so exp...the ugly ones were $19.90 and the pretty ones were $29.90.... that's a bit ex for 1 present since i was buying so many gifts this year....

so imagine again my second delight when i chance upon it again at a reduced price at bugis junction... =).... didnt managed to get a photo of it as there was free gift wrap... heee.... had asked her to help me take a pix of it instead and is now waiting for her to upload the photo.... which i think might take a LONG while....

and she has to give me this

 silly looking pig in return... =(.... and she also has to take this photo

and caption it "an apt pressie for a piggy person"

it's really a pot calling the kettle black lo... luckily, she 自知自明, she gotten the same pig for herself too... hahaha....

 this year gift exchange with xinying and vivian is based on wishlist one... xinying wished for a charm from Thomas Sabo as she's preggy with Lucus now!!! 

i gotten kinokuniya vouchers for vivian as requested and xinying gotten me these 6 necklances... 

pals will know that i'm a person who dosen like and dosen wear accessories cos i feel uncomfortable wearing them and most of them actually give me rashes especially when i perspire... =(...

but angela convinced me that a simple necklace can improve the outlook of a very PLAIN top or dress (which i have plentiful) tremendously.... so i wished for a variety of necklaces from xinying and so far i had wore the bird cage one and the black sparkling beads one and luv them...although i will still remove them half way cos still not very comfortable with having something hanging over my neck...oopx...

an accessory rack specially chosen for ailing... she is one of those who has tons and tons of accessories... and i had made sure she dosen have one before purchasing (she told me she keeps her accessories in pouches)... although it would not be able to house all her accessories, maybe she can use it to display the top few items for each month???

that's all for xmas pressie this year... =)

of movies lately

December Movies



watched this movie with angela and realised that i had forgotten much about the story plot... =(.... completed the book again within 2 days and was caught laughing as i read by mr ang.... he just couldnt understand how i can laugh so heartily to myself when i watch funny shows or read funny books.... the same reason he dun understand why i tear when watching mtv on youtube... 

part 2 is gonna be so much nicer and funnier...provided that the dialogue is put across as they are in the book... i prefer the book to the movie although i m thankful for the movie so that i can put a face to each of the characters... =) .... still love jacob black but sad that he dont seem very prominent in this sequel... =( ... and because of this, i'm only gonna give it a 3 out of 5 stars... =P ....so looking forward to the last sequel....

went to support local movie.....upon mr ang's request.... glad to say that we went on weekdays.... really not my cup of movie.... too plain and simple and predictable plot to make the money worth....should just watch it on tv..... predict it will be out within a year lo.... gonna be very stingy and only give it a 1 star out of 5

a super cute movie....likey... =D

love theodore the most.... he has this blur blur innocent look that will make me go goo-goo-gaa-gaa over him.... and he's usually the one that creates the 笑果 in the show....

love him when he gave dave the necklace, luv him when he was watching horror movie, love him when he was floating on the donut and luv him when he ask eleanor for a dance....heee..... and because of him, this movie receive a 4 stars out of 5... =)

love the ending when he said, " protecting someone i love is not your duty...it's mine"..... totally melted....because of this one sentence, gave it a 5 out of 5....hahahha.... no la....not so biase one.... but really love the humour, actions and dangerous stuns without those damn fake and 夸张 graphics.... minimum a 4 out of 5 popcorn....

Christmas Parties

Christmas Party

from the gold theme xmas party in 2006

(i had gold fingernails)

to the hawaii theme xmas party in 2007

 

to the pyjamas theme xmas party in 2008

we gonna have a geeky/nerdy/tootoo theme xmas party this year after a 2 years break... =)

went online to do some research and gotten some inspirations.... hahahaha....

so basically, a pair of black frames, high waist bottom with belt, tucked in top, cardigan and centre parting hair will do the trick.... pens and pencils in pockets would be a bonus too... =)

so presenting mr ang and my attire for tonight.... heee...

my black frame is a hello kitty one with a cute cute pink ribbon de oh....and i purposely accessorise it with the pearl necklace which xinying gave me for xmas exchange.... =) ... it's so funny how individual okay pieces when put together wrongly will be so disastrous....hahahahha......

Operation Makan Malacca Trip

5 ppl (me, lene, ailing, chunyang and xiuting) in a car and off to malacca we went... took very little photos as i was feeling really really uncomfortable especially on the first day.... =(

meeting time was 8am at the taxi stand at cwp and for being 6 minutes late, i had to treat breakfast.... but i wasnt the only one who was late...lene had to treat lunch cos she was half an hour late....wahahahha....

anyway, there wasnt much of a jam in so we managed to have breakfast at a wantan mee store in jb at around 930am which cost me 37 ringgit.... it was the same store where we had breakfast also on our trip to redang (or was it tioman??)... maybe i wasnt feeling well....maybe it was too early as i dun have a habit of taking breakfast.... maybe the wanton mee just opposite home sweet home was alot better....maybe i prefer black wanton mee to white wanton mee... i only managed to take in less than 5 mouthfuls... =(

and the funny thing was, there was no need to fill in the white card cos there was a shortage of card.....diao..... so weird right??? how can there be a shortage of immigration 'document' ... isnt it something extremely important that must be completed for every trip into malaysia??? then just because there's a shortage then no need to fill in liao... and since it can be a 'got stock then fill in', 'no stock then no need fill in' kind of thing, why dun it just be scraped altogether...save the hassle of having to fill it up in the first place right???

anyway, here's the the happy passengers

vs

the grouchy driver

the drive from jb to malacca took us 4 hours as we had ventured into the small roads with the help of TWO GPS when we tried to avoid the jam on the main expressway near the JB premium outlet.... my bladder was on the verge of bursting when we reached macdonald, the meeting point with our 'tour guides', helen and jacqueline (lene's friends)...

who are such nice ppl as to sacrifice their weekend to show us around malacca... =)

first stop was to put our barang barang in the lodging which jacqueline gotten for us...only at 250 ringgit ....a 3 bedroom apartment which belongs to her friend....

1st makan place at around 330pm

a must try in malacca.... the 一粒粒 chicken rice....looks like raw fishballs right????..... anyway, very difficult to miss this dish cos they are sold everywhere....think is their 招牌 dish or something like that.....

had fun flattening them before popping them into my mouth.... hahahaha..... fun to 'play' with but not as 香 and tasty as our chicken rice back here....

tom yam fish .....this one is good... =) ... even the ladyfingers were good...

 mixture of white and roasted chicken..... so so only..... total cost was approx 80 ringgit.... quite cheap for a lunch for 7 ppl.... and it was lene's treat for being late....hahahhaha......

'tour guides' bought us shopping....things were really cheap, especially after the exchange rate conversion.... but din buy much as i was feeling worse as the hours passed by.... =(.... only managed to buy 6 boxes of motivation stickers that were selling at 1.50 ringgit each (i bought the exact same one in singapore at S$2.50)....=S

this is how it looks like inside.... a roll of 150 stickers.... P1 kids love them for the colours too.... cheap and easy way to get P1 kiddos to perfect their spellings and tests... =)

also bought 3 contact len cases at 5.90 ringgit each.... gave the pink chick one to mx le so left 2, the beige bear and blue kitty

gonna give the second one to mr ang's xmas exchange partner and one last one to lala bah.... =) ....

as we were abit tired from the walking, our tour guide brought us to

for a late tea break at around 6pm.... we were still full from the chicken rice earlier on but we just couldnt resist the unique cakes that they were selling.....

layered cheese cake

and layered banana chocolate cake...

this type of layered cakes are known as mille crêpe, a French cake made of many crêpe layers. “Mille” means “a thousand” in French, implying the many layers of crêpe used..... it tasted really good... not the kind that make u feel 腻 easily... they were very light and seems to vapourise in the mouth... 赞!!!


stole these photos from ailing's facebook album....
pictures were all taken at the cafe as mr and mrs teo were having fun playing with their pro camera....

looking carefully at Mr Teo's head......How come 2 colours de???? wahahahaha

Me & lene

Xiu ting caught by surprise

  then we continued with some 土产 shopping and bought 马蹄酥 for 洪家 and 榴槤糕 for 蔡家.... could have bought more but was really too weak to carry much.... chanced upon a decal pushcart and bought another dandelion decal.. =).... gotten put it up real soon so that the one in home sweet home living room wun feel so lonely.... heee....

supposed to go jonker street which is like the must go place la but 天不做美 so proceed to have dinner at 9pm.... drove through the brightly christmas lighted portuguese settlement...

couldnt take any seeable pictures as the car windows were all splitter splattered with rain.... =(.... these buildings are all houses of ppl who are descendants from the Dutch colonial days. according to tour guides, there's a competition for the best decorated house every christmas.....

as we were all really really full, we had a simple dinner of curry chicken, fritters, veg and fish before heading back to our apartment.... 

The next morning

 was feeling much much better after a night sleep.... first stop was tim sum breakfast at around 930am....

the first meal in malacca where i actually ate normally....that was how sick i was on the first day.... =S... whole table of yummy food and only cost 80+ ringgit ..... =)

went jonker street ... many many gift shops but only bought a hat for alvin at only 10 ringgit.... things are cheap and cute but not really in the mood to shop...sad... =(....

all their rickshaws are super dressed up one lo....

it started to drizzle so we headed to have 肉骨茶 for lunch.... and tourguides paid for it.... where got ppl so nice one??? help us arrange accomodation, purposely make a trip from KL back to malacca just to accompanyus around the whole weekend, paid for our tea break and lunch, plan itinery that kept us entertained throughout the trip....

so the 5 of us have also volunteer to host them when they come over.... free accomodation at home sweet sweet somemore lo....so tourguides, must come soon k???? =)......

left malacca at approx 2pm, reached custom at around 430pm, jammed all the way and reached woodlands at 730pm.... super smooth traffic at singapore custom cos all the booths were available with officers to ease the huge traffic of ppl going from malaysia to singapore so u go guess where's the jam la.... only 4 out of the 9 counters were available during sunday evening (peak hours)...really dun know what they are doing or thinking lo....haix....