Elaine is married!

So a bunch of people traveled down to Singapore to witness (and join in the joyous occasion, as weddings usually are). It was a beautiful wedding where, as my uncle puts it, the bride and groom are very fortunate to have good friends being their kulis and doing all the 'running around' for them to prepare for this day. We all need such good friends who would take the time out and risk their necks and sacrifice having panda eyes for you. And this they did have.

So my cousin sister is married. Congrats to both Cyrus and Elaine and may God bless your marriage greatly as He has blessed your lives and studies and experiences.

Happy CNY!

It's that season again... where uncles and aunties ask me the important question in their mind... "when?" I guess it's a 'right' for an aunt and uncle. And I've learnt to say "soon" to stop them short of pursuing to ask why or give some kind of advise about what I should do about it. This year tho, one uncle tried a different comment, "you girls need to hurry up, it's getting expensive". Hmm...

I actually enjoy entertaining... I'd like to think I'm a decent hostess most of the time. You wouldn't guess that I'm actually an introvert. But this year I went overboard thinking I was some heroine... young one. With camp around the corner and plenty of family obligations on my hand, I was driven to exhaustion. I didn't get to really hang out with friends as I would have prefered. I barely even left my house. =( sigh. my brains were screaming that I stop.
Oh and I have to record our Tan family's first ever CNY get-together. We decided that our generation had to do something to keep the family together. And so we had our first our BBQ session at my place. Master Chef Kwok, Asst Chet Cat and Asst Chef Ming were hard at work making sure we were not short on food to fill our tummy. Although I almost fainted from exhaustion, I think this was a good start to something big. Some things are worth fighting for. Some things are worth exhausting yourself over, right?


Updates: (on 28th Feb - chap goh meh)
After returning for camp, we hear that our family has decided to take a trip up to Genting to watch the fireworks for Chap Goh Meh. Without mentioning the delay and the crowd and getting lost... we did manage to catch a glimpse of the fireworks... And I tested my camera power on it.

Happy Chinese New Year people and have a roaring year ahead!

My first 3D movie

I was all excited to watch Avatar 3D - my first 3D movie outside of an entertainment park. Yea well I've even seen 4D in Disneyland. But this was different. It's an actual movie in perspective. And it was dad's birthday.

But 90+% through the movie, it hanged! 3 times! What a cliffhanger, what a spoiler! Fortunately for me I've already seen it a few days before that on normal screen. But imagined that! How can that happen? I was amazed that everyone was so civilized. No one complained more than necessary and no one made a scene or cursed. But we were all refunded for the problem, which was expected. So my family got to watch the 3D movie (almost all of it) for free. What a delight after all!

The latest family game

A family that plays Cluedo together, have loads of fun together! There, my new slogan for the family.

The host is missing and we gotta find out who did it and where and how!

It was Lynne that had convinced me to buy it. And I had to find out what I spent money on. So we played it. And I loved it. It's like that game where you had to guess what's the secret code and at every guess you make, you will find out how many wrongs or rights you got but not which one. It's frustrating yet fun at the same time. I grew up reading detective stories like Sherlock Holmes. But yea we love it. This is what we did through Christmas and the adjacent weekend.

Come to my house one day and I'll show you why.

1Malaysia Wedding

You know our Malaysian theme '1Malaysia'? Well, its not such a strange or new thing. It's something we've come to understand growing up in this country. In our lifestyle, our food we are 1. Or is it a facade?

Last week my cousin had a multicultural wedding of which I was very much intrigued. Weddings are a time to break barriers and put aside differences to celebrate with the happy couple. It is a time when people are reunited and love can be found. And in a multicultural setting, it is fitting for us to put aside prejudices and differences and find that we can truly live together.

This picture does not do the statement justice though.
It does not bring about the full impact of the 1Malaysia as it was truly.

CNY dinner

I'm totally missing Aspirers first ever Digging in session (a.k.a. discussion session) for a CNY dinner in Klang. No matter how expensive or big or important it is, Aspirers always have its first priority in my heart.

Now that that's settled, my mom's side CNY dinner was held in Crystal Crown Klang. Once a year I get to indulge in expensive food *yum yum* and wine... This is the plus of the dinner for me. I only wish I knew my cousins better then the whole dinner experience might have been better. Nevertheless, we made some awesome progress this year. As everyone grows up (marry, kids, paktoh) people have become more obliging and accomodating (I think).

I pray that doors will be opened. They are still my family. Regardless. And I know one truth: they too are lost without Him.

Family Destination: Bangkok

Our very first family trip in (I think) 15years. So this is the first that Lynne knows off (the last one was to Singapore and she was 4 I think). But that was history!

Winne and I are actual adults now and have decided we HAVE to push this family trip through. My parents need the break! And we need to spend some quality time with just each other before we actually start going our separate ways even more than we already have... It was such an urgent need that we felt inside that Winne and I refuse to let Bangkok bombings, our hungry dogs, or the recent break-in at my dad's office to be a hindrance! (Thank God Air Asia doesn't refund tickets) And to make it more certain, Winne and I did all the planning. Dad you take a break and stop worrying! We've got this under control. (Which he finally admitted AFTER we came back from Bangkok) tehee...

Winne's first overseas flight (Train ride to Singapore doesn't count), Lynne's first plane ride and overseas trip (going to Singapore when she's not even conscious yet doesn't count), Mom and Dad's first non-tour-package-or-planned-by-some-company trip. And my first.... erm.. what ah? Cheh... not my first anything. *swt*

Btw, Bangkok is quite advanced and hi-tech in many ways. And there was no sign of any terrorist or bombings. Perhaps the only notable measures were that there were no dustbins to be found anywhere and that your bags were check at the subways and no photos are allowed to be taken at any "hotspots" such as subway stations and Siam Paragon. But we managed to sneak a few.


Winne already blogged and posted our entire experience. So now it's my version of the story. Pictures tell a thousand words rite? And the grand total number of pics on Winne and my camera is 695! I suspected that I only took 100+ and the rest is Winne's trigger-happy doing. LOL.



























Note: click on the picture for a closer view.

For more pictures, visit Winne's blog or her multiply as mentioned earlier. I'm too lazy to compile that myself.



We had a GREAT family time. Of course there were tempers flared, grumblings, and stuff like that. But since there is no where to stomp off to, we had to work off our difference and work WITH our differences or rather irritating similiarities and move on. I'm so proud to say that we've been supportive, understanding, and there for each other the entire 3 days. No one blamed or complained when I got the insect bite and couldn't walk one night. Dad actually patiently waited (and worried) while we ran off shopping. Lynne was responsible enough to not loose anything, spoil anything, or forget anything. I can only one thing: God you've been SO good to my family! What more can I do but thank You and praise You.

Testimony:
Some insect managed to crawl into my sport shoe and bite my toe :( The pain started increasing and soon I could not even walk. Limping through my evenings and nights. The pain even hindered me from sleeping, so while Winne and Lynne slept soundly (for 4 hrs) the 2nd evening (and mom & dad go Robinson on their own), I was stucked watching Mummy Returns and some Discovery Channel programme on the chinese guy that travelled the world before Columbus did (the name of which escapes me but I remember learning in Sejarah before). Anyway the pain became excrutiating at night that I just cried and prayed that God will take it away. Likewise in the morning, I didn't want to spoil my family trip and I just told God that. Trusting He will heal I got ready and told my family I could make it even though I was limping badly. Ouch ouch ouch... But praise God! He is full of grace and compassion and He hears our cries. As I walked, the pain slowly faded away and by afternoon I was walking normally again. I'm so glad God doesn't go on holidays!

Genting Short Trip

This is probably the most spontan thing my family has ever done. Yea if you know my family, we are a group of planners. Spontaneity is not an everyday affair.

But there we were, zipping our way to Genting in the evening. Along with Perry, my family went to visit Winne who brought us to this super high class and expensive restaurant (whose name escapes me at this moment) but they have good food. This is one of the advantages of having a sister working in Genting.
Ok the highlight of this trip was to buy cheongsam. Some of the most gorgeous cheongsam under the discounted prices winne got was so worth while. I've been looking for a cheongsam for so long. I adore my cheongsam. Gonna wear it for CNY. Pic only available during CNY. muahahah!~
But all in all, I found this trip somewhat refreshing and good for my family. Though it is a short one and I'm terribly sunburnt and tired, it's something us sisters know to give our best. I guess it was a good pre-trip of Bangkok.

Click here for more PHOTOS

God is good to my family!