Christmas 2015

This year, I am totally guilty of being an ill-prepared amateur.  Unlike previous years, I didn't prepare any presents for others except my two little kiddos.  I felt so terrible when little children came to me with expectancy yet I have nothing to offer them.  I guess all the packing and unpacking have drained up all my energy.  I remembered those few weeks my feet was in pain whenever I walk that I could hardly shop around in malls.  And waking up on Christmas Eve with severe backache that I couldn't bend down for a few days.  Signs of old age???  Oh please.... I refuse to admit.

But this year in the midst of festive mood we missed Ah Gong very much.  This is our first year without Ah Gong.  I used to help Ah Gong to wrap up all the presents for my children.  Life is precious.  Take time to be with your loved one while you may.

We are so thankful to so many people for blessing us with the countless presents.  Our Christmas tree looks so small compared to all the presents we received.  Perhaps it's time to buy a bigger tree?

It has always been my desire to have a big Christmas tree.  Guess what?  That's one of the presents I received this year!!!  We shall put that up next year, ya?!

The children eagerly waited to open up their presents after the Christmas Day Service.  It's such a joy to see the smile on their faces. 

The greatest present is found in the heart of the present itself: The love of someone who carefully selected the gift, wrapped them up and presented it to us.  Thank you!  We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Whilst all the gifts are special and unique and my kids love each of them, there's one particular present I would like to highlight it here.  This present was bestowed by none other than my dear hubby to my little princess - VOUCHERS!!!

The vouchers entitled my girl to severals benefits/advantages such as:

- This voucher entitled Lim Elyse to have an extra 30 minutes before bedtime.
- This voucher entitled Lim Elyse to choose what she wants for dinner.
- This voucher entitled Lim Elyse to eat another three spoonful of her lunch/dinner.

Isn't it cool?  Only my notorious, sly hubby could think of such gift.  But at the same time, don't you think it's kind of...... LOL  

Yay holiday!

Finally, time to take a break and go for a well deserved holiday.  We made a last minute plan to visit my sis in JB after Christmas, for the kids missed their cousins dearly.

It's been quite awhile for hubby to travel back to JB with me.  I am so glad he managed to come this time.

The best of all is meeting up with my primary school friends.  After Standard 6, my family shifted and I have lost touch with most of them.  It was until recent years, we are re-connected via FB. Twenty-seven years of friendship... wow, isn't that amazing!

Another reunion with a sis-in-Christ.  We used to work together under one roof, enduring all the 'hardship' and 'persecution'.  Thank you for being my support and listening ears those days.

And finally, my sis was so incredible.  She prepared a barbecue feast for us all.  The children were excited to play with fire whereas the adults had some fun time getting ourselves 'on fire' under the rain.

How else to burn those calories away without a little exercise?  Enjoying the cold breeze as it was still drizzling.  Children are not allowed to but apparently the mother broke the rule.  shhh.... don't tell them, ok?

That concludes the highlight of our JB trip.  See you in a couple of month's time, JB!

Carolling

Back in my younger days, I used to join carolling every year without fail.  Life was much simpler then.  We only practiced the carols for one or two rounds before we were sent forth.  The lack of skill and talent did not stop our enthusiasm or passion.  We were a bunch of crazy youngsters ever ready to bring the carols to every home that invited us.

A Carolling Night during my youth.  Can anyone spot me?

 
I used to dream of inviting carollers to my house.  And this year, this dream finally came into reality.
Perhaps my only disappointment was, it was still bright and early when the carollers arrived.  The idea of carollers holding candles, singing carols and walking towards my house remain a dream after all.  These youth + children were definitely more professional, with a conductor and a few guitarists.  There were around 30 of them cramped into my tiny living room.  I was surprised to see Brennice and Clark amongst the group as they are of the same age as my daughter.

We prepared some snacks for these awesome group of carollers.  Glad that some of the utensils that I brought back from Subang were put to good use.  The carollers lingered for a while before they moved on to the next house.  We literally sent them off by walking together with them all the way to ACS (where the bus was waiting).  My kids really enjoyed the fellowship of all the gor gor and jie jie.  Whereas their parents were a bit exhausted as both of them are the typical introvert.  The night was still young.  We cleaned up the mess and left quickly to Mei Ling's house for another round of chaos.

This year, Koon Roy and Mei Ling had graciously opened up their house not only for the carollers, but also as a gesture of thanksgiving to the organising committee of the church camp for the past two years.  After the dinner, we waited patiently for the guests of honor (the carollers) to arrive.

Dressed in red and black, the carollers broke the silent of the night with their beautiful voices.  I love Shearn's solo on 'O Holy Night', one of my favourite carols. 

Thank you for blessing us with your angelic voices.  Thank you for all the hardwork prior to this.  Perhaps I should be part of these sweet voices next year!  Wait a minute: Am I too old for this?

Carolling rocks!!!

Cleaned up; Packed up

Our days in Subang were dull and monotonous.  Andrew looked through most of the stuff while I concentrated on the kitchen utensils.  My mom-in-law was an excellent cook and baker.  How shameful am I that I picked up none of her culinary skills.

We also left a number of personal stuff in Subang as we have been on the move.  I am glad to discover some of the precious things that I have long forgotten.  Thanks to technology, we are now able to snap pictures of those precious momentos.  However, with a heavy heart we had to discard them as we could not take everything with us.

Andrew's painting back then... with a little help from his art teacher

Interesting artefact - a ticket to the zoo with only 15 cents entry fee

some of Andrew's trophies

So happy to find this picture of my car with all the soft toys... yup, I used to arrange my soft toys at the back of my car but not anymore

This was handmade by ..... yours sincerely!!!  Attended a children's conference at DUMC years ago and this was my price possession

Finally, we arranged for a lorry to transport all the stuff down to Melaka.  To our amazement, the driver advised us to take a three-tonned lorry instead of the initial one-tonned.  Seriously?!?  Now Andrew's part is over and I'm left to organise a three-tonned lorry load of goods into my already-cramped-house in Melaka.  Do I possess any migical power to make it possible?

Trust me, we threw away a lot a lot more than this

It took us another one week to unpack and put things in place in Melaka.  And yes, looks like my organising skill is apparently not too bad.  I re-arranged the storage place and in fact, the house looks better than before with all the additional shelves.

Andrew and I have always been living at bare minimum.  We made use of whatever that is given to us wherever we are posted to.  For eg: we have been sleeping on mattresses for the past one year plus.  Only recently, we got a bed for ourselves once we were more certain we would be here for a while.  The few furnitures from Subang enhanced our home.  The TV rack, dining table, piano and finally we hanged our wedding picture up. 

Well, I could have take my own sweet time to tidy up the house.  However, this year we have decided to invite the carrollers over and I would never, ever present a messy home to anyone.  Hence, the stress!

Back to hometown

Just when I thought this year's school holiday would be a less eventful time as compared to last year; how wrong am I!!! 

After the passing away of my father-in-law, the house back in Subang was left vacant and we haven't had time to go back since.  Andrew thought of renting out the house though.  As much as we love to visit Subang more often, time is not in our favour.  Hence, it is better to have a good tenant taking care of the house than to leave it as it is.  Besides, the extra income certainly helps.  Just when we were at a loss of how to get a good tenant (well, a good tenant is hard to come by), we found one via Andrew's previous contacts!!!  What's more exciting is: The tenant has requested to move in during the school holiday as she's a school teacher.  She intends to paint the whole house and fix the auto-gate on her own expenses.  See, I told you she's good right?

So, Andrew checked his schedule, made some adjustments and we went back to Subang for 2 weeks.  In between, children and I went back to Melaka for the weekend while Andrew attended a conference in PD for a couple of days.  So, what did we do in Subang?  We looked through every shelves, every drawers and every corner of the house.  This house has a history of 35 years + easily another 50 years of precious memories when my parents-in-law moved their parents' belonging over after their parents' passing.

My mom is so gracious.  Hearing that a huge task was before us, she voluntereed to help us out.  As for my children, they spent most of their time playing with each other whilst the adults were occupied.  How wonderful are they!  We also took some time off to visit a few family friends as we know that it would be months later for us to step foot and breathe the Subang air again.

A visit to Cassandra's house

Children enjoyed the company of this little one

Thank you, Cassandra, for your hospitality

Cookie welcomed me with her kiss

A visit to Vic Cern & Yieng Yin's new home

Didn't realise how big my boy has grown until he stood besides baby Faith

Showing off your muscle, young lady?

She must be wondering why this gor gor is so weird

Until today this guy is still boasting about how baby Faith allowed herself to be carried by him and not me

Ahem.... time to sharpen your camera skill, my dear hubby

Finally the two 'brothers' with the children

Special thanks to Grace for the lovely dinner.  We need to fast for a week to clear off our stomach for the sinful indulgence of a presumptious meal.

Not to forget Aunty Jeannie and Uncle Naden.  With only one-day-notice they managed to prepare wonderful gifts for the kids.

Surrounded by so many wonderful people, don't you think we are loved by many?