So when I heard all that crackling, I figured I might as well tried to take some pictures of the fireworks from my bedroom window. And then this is what the view from my room window looked like.

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Nyeh.. so much for Fireworks! So I just took a short video to record the “sounds” of the fireworks instead.

Probably can’t hear the much of the sounds of the fireworks from the video, but yeah, it sounds like some popping sort of. ah well, the best i could do with compressed video.

I haven’t thought of any New Year’s resolution yet, does it make me seem pathetic? Hmm.. I hope not.

Well, I do wish to continue with my resolution last year, which is to aim to be “healthier” and of course, continue to watch my food intake. Other than that, probably to try and spend less on MOVIES like I normally would :-p

Next thing to look forward to in this new year is the company’s annual dinner. I’ll be sure to blog about that!

Then there’s the thing I am obliged to do well, which is MORE WORK.

Ugh.

Well, good luck in the coming year guys.. even if you don’t need it, it would be nice to have some (luck)

Boy did I have a lesson of a lifetime. Its been awhile since I’ve personally been involved in a party that needs so much of my effort and attention, that I told myself that I must note this down so I’d remember it for the rest of my life (whenever I DO organize parties).

1) Food Choices – Caterers

My mom told me she was aiming for the same caterer that she got last year, but she only made the first call to that caterer 3 days before the party! And the inevitable happened, the cook couldn’t make it this year cos he was away for holidays this time. So my mom frantically looked for caterers at the very LAST MINUTE! So remember, make reservations for your choice of caterer WAAAAY beyond time. Especially in the holiday seasons, you should know that they have many other parties to cater to during the time. In addition to making the right choices for your food provider, you should also consider the variety of food or food choices that you make when making your order. For example, this year, my mom made a very “wise” choice to get shrimp as 1 of the dishes. Then when the guests started halfway through the course, my mom started to panic because it seemed as if we did not have enough food! But finally it was enough (and we even had leftovers) but only because everyone favored specific dishes over the others. The shrimp was gone in seconds! So obviously, try to balance out the type of food you would be serving in the party so you won’t have too much of ‘something’ left over.

2) Paper Plates – utilities

You can never have enough paper plates. Any excess can be kept for future use! Just a day before the party, I passed by some paper plates and asked my mom, would we be needing paper plates? Shall we get some? And she confidently told me that the caterer has prepared plates for us. So off we went and how I regretted it. We were serving cheese cake for dessert and all the plates from the caterer was already used up for the main entree. Tsk! So ALWAYS prepare paper plates, cups and plastic utilities, just in case

3) Insects – candles and natural repellants

Being in a country that is warm, it is THE place for insects to hover around party food! They wanna crash the party too. So remember to have repellents ready, like lemongrass and scented candles. But bear in mind, you need to have the candles in a glass case or something so the wind doesn’t blow it out. That was a problem I was facing at my mom’s party. Luckily I have really dedicated candle handlers like my nieces who kept re-lighting those blown out candles.

3) Ventilation – Cool air

If you have a small home like mine, and space is limited, some of your guests might need to be hangin’ and chillin’ on the outdoor space. So with the weather in Borneo, you gotta have a fan outside. My cousin was sweating to the max being outside. Poor dude.

4) Trash disposals

I didn’t realize about the trash disposals until a guest asked me where she could dump some snack wrappers. How could we forget that?? So this has got to be in my list of things to remember !

5) Appetizers

You know how guests like to be “fashionably” late, while others are really nice people who honors the discipline of being on time when attending a party? So we had guests who were there on the dot, and those who were like, an hour late! Poor guests were already hungry and I kept telling my mom that we should start ahead and not let our guests wait. She insisted we wait. Tsk. Then my sister told me we should have served some snacks or appetizers first, and though we did placed some food around but nobody touched it! Duh! My sister was right, how could I not thought about it?? We didn’t even have serving trays!! Ish!! I was getting so annoyed at myself for being so dumb. Next time, REMEMBER TO SERVE YOUR GUESTS!!!

6) Seating Arrangements

In addition to serving trays, another problem we faced at our party was the way the tables and seats were arranged. My mom arranged the seats in front of a serving table where we had placed the snacks and fruits. No wonder no one touched them cos they were not easily accessible! Tsk!! I have got lots to learn in organizing a party! And this was only for 30 pax >.<

7) Entertainment – Magazines, TV, Music

One thing I did manage to pull off on this party was providing some mini entertainment for those guests who were not much into “Socializing” but were there “just because”. I placed all my celebrity news magazines and fashion mags on the table where they could easily see it and grab it for a temporary distraction from their boredom. Am proud to say, it was a hit! I do think I could have improved more on the TV Channel or perhaps played some background music just to sort of “lift up” the atmosphere a bit. That’s pretty much what I could think of, do share if you readers have other entertainment medias you could suggest?

I couldn’t think of any other items I could add on to this list, but I probably will once I try out the “manual” above on my next party (not sure when, and it might take a while, which is why I decided to put my notes in written documents to make sure I REMEMBER IT!).

So the party went well (I suppose in my opinion), some cousins weren’t able to make it to the party and those that did, I think they had a good time too  Here’s a group photo we took with some relatives left a lil earlier (mind you, it is NOT EASY to gather everyone for a photo! Guess I should add that to the list to note too huh?).

It’s gatherings like these that just helps us to keep in touch with each other and remind one another that “We’re blood”!! And of course, just to gossip and ask each other the same questions we ask each other every year when we meet up, “how’s life?” XD

I couldn’t even remember my younger cousin’s names! I think there was Genevieve, Edna, Edwin, and some of them even have kids that I can’t even recall their names anymore

Thats why these gatherings are important!! We gots to know their names !!

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So what’s everybody up to in the new year’s eve eh?

Now who’s gonna eat such a cute Krispy Creme Snowman??

So I usually do not attend events organized by my company like Bdays, outings, etc etc mostly cos I’m either at work or I am just too plain lazy to get my big ass butt off the comfort of my TV or PC screens. Anyway, this time, I figured I should make the effort to attend after my colleagues invited me to join them as well. There were few a us from our unit that were celebrating birthdays from October to December. So despite having to work the graveyard shift, I woke up earlier than my usual schedule, got ready and because traffic was CRAZEE, I just “walked” all the way to the venue. (Of course, it took about 20minutes walk to reach the destination, good workout before food if you ask me).

And now, for the pictures to do the talking~

Spongebob and Patrick themed banners ! I’m a happy 29-er!

Oh btw, I was already late because I had to walk to the event, and when I got there about 20 mins late, the event organizers were not even there yet! Duh~~

So the event started with some games, I was TOTALLY EXCITED!!! (Am being sarcastic in case you thought I was REALLY excited. Really.)

The first game was an active game where 2 groups had to race to do some “stuff”, and the second game I was asked to join, was a game where we had to arrange ourselves in a straight line according to for example shoe size, height, our age.. you get the gist of it (no pictures of me in the game though! boohoo). The last game was where we had to bring a “specific” item or “person” (like, the most good looking guy at the event, or a guy carrying a girl, a guy who can dance… yada yada yada) to the host and the fastest to do it would get a goodie bag. The goodie bag consisted of a notepad and stationary with Spongebob designs of course.

And finally after 3 games, the main event…. FOOD!!!! It’s the main reason everyone is there anyway. They served us the “Fully Loaded” meal comprising of fried chicken and rice, spaghetti, mushroom soup, mash potatoes, and a brownie.

Of course, its not a Bday party without the Resto’s Mascot there right??? Mr Chuckee was there!!!

He did a dance number for us, and we wrapped it up with a photo session… and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL~~~ THE END…

XD

So here’s a happy birthday to the coolest colleagues!

with Sheilla & Sherlyn

with Dahlia

here’s one with Ella!

Again with Sherlyn, who on that day insisted she really is a shy person (and no one believed her)

XD

Breakfast with Mi Mi on the last day of November 2011.

Indulge Indulge~!!

So this year is prolly the dullest bday ever. I was already expecting it though cos I didn’t have any plans, I didn’t have any friends to celebrate it with me, and the worse thing about it was that I had to work on my birthday.
How dull.

So I gave my self 1 indulgence allowance and got myself a birthday present for mua..yehehehehehe.. here’s my 29 year old look.

I did however, got surprising bday wishes from people I thought had forgotten about me. Truly appreciate them for that. Since I been away from Facebook, I have lost touch with most people around me (even my colleagues despite seeing them everyday in the office). But I really don’t miss it, truly!! More about my exit from FB next time.

So days before my bday, I made the decision to take up a baking class at a nearby Culinary Institute, MICHA, check out their site here. Chanced upon their short programs which they call “Lifestyle” programs, and the words “Sugar Free Desserts” caught my attention. So I figured instead of wasting my bday with retail therapy, I thought I should go gain some knowledge instead. I was thankful that there was such programs for me to take up, I think I would have otherwise spent a lot of money unnecessarily, or prolly went to see a shrink instead!

The program was scheduled at 10am on Saturday, 19-Nov. But because I just got off graveyard shift, I didn’t get any rest or sleep, and went on ahead to the class after work. Disappointing thing was that they organizers were not professional. They should start at 10am, but they just STARTED PREPARATIONS at 10am! Well, since I was there to learn, I just patiently waited.

They handed us a free apron and a kitchen hat. Together with a handbook which is 3 recipes that we were suppose to learn about that day. It was my first time attending such baking classes, so I was really curious to know how it was gonna run. Then it started with the Chef giving us a lecture, even using a slide presentation (just like in an actual culinary class!) and explaining the science about “Yeast”. Then on to the demonstration on how the 3 recipes should be done.

After all 3 presentation was done, the next program was a lecture about “Coffee”. The guy who gave us the “Coffee” lecture was charming and interesting, he was really knowledgeable about “Coffee”, and had a lot of jokes and stories to share about it too. He sure knows his “coffee”. If I didn’t go to his lecture that day, I would’ve never known what “Mocha” really is when we always order “Cafe Mocha”. (Mocha is really a name of a place). The coffee lecture took quite a while, and even after we were called to the kitchen to start, the coffee lecture was not done yet.

While in the kitchen, we were separated into groups of max 3 or 4 pax. There were only 15 participants, and so I was grouped with 2 girls and a guy who were also there on their own. Well, it started very awkward since we didn’t know each other and we just went on and about, taking turns to have a hand in the effort. The ingredients were all prepared for us, we just needed to be aware of what ingredients to put in, and how it should be mixed or combined together. Managed to take a picture of my teammates, the guy was taking the picture for us.

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Here’s a shot of the chef teaching us how to roll the wholewheat dough. And the pictures that follow are the end product of the recipes we learned that day, with the exception of the wholewheat bread cos it was the last thing that was done and by the time I got my hands on them I was in too much of a hurry to grab a picture before packing them in my bags and rushing home.

Sugar Free Banana Cup Cakes

Sugar Free Chocolate Sour Cream Fudge Cookies

Sugar Free Potato Whole Wheat Rolls (not baked yet!)

I had to bail halfway through the coffee lecture, cos the whole program was suppose to end at 2pm, but it was dragged until 3:30pm and still not done yet! But still glad I managed to grab the certificate, which was my main goal really.

So the day after, on Sunday 20-Nov, I went on the actual retail therapy much needed and thanks to my really sweet colleague Mimi. We were both tired and exhausted from our shift on Saturday night, but we still managed to go to Chinatown and did some shopping, and ended the day with a nice lunch at Holy Cow. Had steak and the pumpkin soup was surprisingly nice too! Not salty as I thought it was gonna be. We were both pretty worn out by 12pm as seen in this shot, but oh well, we rarely do this kind of outing and it was nice. I was so tired I forgot to take pictures of the food we had too. =.=

with sweet Mimi

HOLY COW!! There goes my 29. I swear I need to go for an adventure on my 30th next year!!!

Took the time to make this today. The combination of ingredients in this recipe made me curious enough to actually make the effort to get all the things I need to create this “healthy” soup.

Learned about the recipe from the recipe book “The South Beach Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook”. I must say, this will definitely be a book to keep for life. Go for it if you like Asparagus and Cheese ! =)

Here’s what you need :-

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Small Onion
Garlic Clove
Asparagus
Chicken Broth
Parmesan Cheese
Salt & White Pepper for seasoning.

Sautee Asparagus (remember not to brown the garlic & onions – cos I think this would just add “bitterness” into the formula), all ingredients should be put in to the pan at the same time.

Then put in the broth, cook another 10mins, then puree with a blender. Put in Cheese, Salt & Pepper just before serving.

The one thing I didn’t enjoy about this recipe was preparing the Asparagus “stick by stick”. =.=
So be prepared to spend a bit more time on that particular item when considering to try this recipe out.

Till next procrastination. adios.

Oh well, moving on. =.=

So the last thing I remember about October which I wanted to share about was that I managed to watch Justin Timberlake’s new flick with Amanda Seyfried. “IN TIME”.

I must say, the idea of the story is cool and something fresh, but still the script and lines are pretty corny here and there. Like “your money or your life”… >.<

All in all, I think its not too bad. My personal rating would be a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Next to look forward to, Kristen Stewart in "Snow White & the Huntsman". Sooo frickin kewl~~~ (my dorky nerdy side coming out)

And yes, couldn’t think of any other title

I need to find my muse.