Another par-tay!

Last Saturday, Nick and I hosted another party at home. It was a Krabi reunion of sorts, plus we also had the St Mary's gang over along with some cousins and childhood friends like Sham and Sherene.

We decided to go with homecooked food for this party and preparations started early. Actually, that morning we were supposed to attend a brunch at one of his friend's houses but I was feeling under the weather with a sorethroat and cough so he went ahead.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I started on some of the food preparations. I baked a batch of Brazil nut fudge brownies and chopped all the ingredients for the Shepherd's Pie and vegetarian pasta I was making for dinner. The rest of the food i.e. chicken curry and roti jala, plus mee goreng was catered from Kim's Kitchen, a.k.a mummy! The guests were raving about the curry!

Swana, Kevin, Kavi and Siva came at about 6 pm and Monica arrived with Raiden soon after. The rest of the guests started streaming in after 7.30 pm and the party was in full swing by 9 pm.

Raiden was so well-behaved and smiley and Sham practiced her babysitting skills on him, including feeding and burping...I know who to call when I need a babysitter for Nutty in future!

Coincidentally, the day before was Monica's birthday and the day after was Rachel's, so at midnight, the birthday gals cut a chocolate and banana cake that Swana had bought from Cedele.

As the night progressed, we played card games and John put in an appearance after attending a childhood friend's wedding. Us girls and him played In Between, while some of the guys played Texas Hold 'Em Poker, with chips and all, courtesy of Miguel. In the end, I made about $10 bucks...quite pleased with that!

I had a freak show moment when Nutty started swimming around violently in my stomach and everybody in the game paused to observe.

And I had a good laugh when Merianne and Monica asked for the secret recipe to my brownies...because I used an instant mix, just added my own nuts. Someone had told me not to let on that they were instant, but I couldn't take credit for something I did not make from scratch...so I kept the suspense and pulled them into my room and asked, "You really want to know?" Then I teasingly said, "The secret is....the secret is....Betty Crocker!" They were surprised instant tasted so good.

Anyways, the party finally ended about 3 am, I was pooped but it was an enjoyable evening. Me and Nick managed to take a picture with our Xmas tree, we took it down the following day.

The house is great for entertaining and I'm looking forward to many more parties although with a baby in the house, it's gonna be a challenge. All the upcoming parties will probably be for her anyway...although I hit the big 3-0 this year...any excuse to party!

Recipe: Shepherd's Pie

12 Russet Burbank potatoes, peeled and cut into half
2 tsp of salt
150 ml of milk
10 tbsp of butter
120 gm of grated tasty cheddar cheese
750 gm minced beef
1 small carrot, diced into cubes
1 packet of button mushrooms, chopped
½ a large white or yellow onion, diced
2 tbsp of green peas
1 tsp of ground black pepper
3 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of ketchup
2 tbsp of tomato paste
2 tbsp of dark soya sauce

1. Boil the potatoes in a large pot with 1 tsp of salt until tender. (Approx 20-25 mins)


2. While the potatoes are boiling, melt 4 tbsp of butter in a large frying pan and sauté onions and carrots. When the onions have softened, add the mushrooms and peas.


3. Next add the minced beef and stir until the meat is no longer pink. Add the pepper, Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, tomato paste and dark soya sauce and cook over low heat for 10 mins.


4. Drain the boiled potatoes and add 1 tsp of salt, 6 tbsp of butter and 150 ml of milk and mash until not lumpy.


5. Place cooked beef in a 9” x 13” deep baking tray and top up with the mashed potatoes.


6. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the mashed potato and bake in an oven at 200ºC for about 20 mins or until cheese has melted and browned.
   
   Makes one 9” x 13” deep tray, serves 12
   

New Year's Day 2008

Tis' the season for parties and there have been a couple at the Lim residence these last few days. Ever since we got our furniture, we've been doing mini housewarmings and gatherings, starting with Xmas eve dinner with the immediate family, and last Saturday's lunch and tea for Nick's colleagues, travel industry acquaintances and childhood friends.

New Year's Eve was a quite affair at home, we both had colds but he had to attend a Northwest CDC countdown party first so he went for a while but made it back before midnight. My folks came over before 12am, so did Baskar and his family and we watched the fireworks at Mt Faber from the balcony. I love fireworks!

Yesterday, we had both extended families over for yet another party. This time a housewarming cum birthday celebration for our two mums. Yes, isn't it freaky that my mum and his mum share the same birthday? They're two years apart though...

Lunch was catered from Angeli's, the same caterer we used for our wedding almost 5 years ago, food was still pretty good. My niece Riley was there, all of us were fawning over her, she's so adorable!!! Her hair is really spikey and stubborn, we've nicknamed her Kramer!

Cousins Nicholas and Nicole hung around till the end, and the elder cousins plus Sham played Indian Poker and Heart Attack to entertain them. Nick and Kevin are such kids at heart! It was a long and busy day, but am glad everyone enjoyed themselves... looking forward to the next 'do' this Saturday!

Bye 2007, Hello 2008

Gosh, where did the year go? Every year at this point, I always ponder the same thing. Time has really flown, can't believe we're at the last day of 2007 already. It's been a pretty eventful year for me, job-wise and home-wise.

At the beginning of the year I was still at SingTel and left in February after obtaining my degree in Communications and Media Management through APMI. In February, I tagged along on one of Nick's business trips to Bangkok, and Ben and Wendy were there too.

In March, Swana and me flew to Perth for our childhood friend Shawn's wedding to Natasha, and we had a lovely time staying with Alicia and Kieran. After the trip, I started doing corp comms at the Singapore Sports Council and was there for 5 months. It was hectic but fun and I got to be involved in several key projects including the stadium closure.

In end-June I found out I was preggers and around that time, other job offers came in and by July I had decided to leave SSC to do marcoms for a major transportation company. But plans got 'derailed' (pun intended!) when an offer to make a career switch to a PA came along. With impending motherhood looming, it was a better deal and pace for me and so here I am, four months on and enjoying every minute of my job!

We started renovating our Spottiswoode apartment in the first half of the year too and in August we finally moved in. After we moved in, we broke the news that I was preggers. It was a challenge to keep it secret from family for so long but we wanted to cross the first trimester safely before word spread. Suffice it to say, everyone was thrilled.

In November, we travelled to Ho Chi Minh and stayed with Joanne and Tarek, and in mid-December, we made a trip to Krabi with a bunch of family and friends...that was a blast!

Life at Spottiswoode has been bliss, we took our time to furnish the place and are only just starting to have mini housewarming parties after scrambling to get a proper sofa and dining set earlier this month.

It's been nice living on our own these last few months and in about 7 weeks or so, we will be joined by one more little person who's set to take over our lives. It's gonna be the adventure of a lifetime, I don't think we're quite ready for it yet but we'll get the hang of it eventually.

2007 was a pretty good year, looking forward to 2008 and life with junior...

A Spottiswoode Christmas Dinner

We hosted our first proper dinner party at Spottiswoode on Christmas Eve this year. Managed to get our dining chairs in time and had our immediate families over for dinner.

We had roast turkey, roast lamb, honey baked ham, soup, salad, chicken curry, rice, mashed potatoes, log cake and a macaroon tree! Because I'm not so mobile these days, food was mainly ordered from Bakerzin or required very little preparation. The only things I actually had to make was the lamb, ham and mashed potatoes, plus heat the soup up. The turkey and desserts were courtesy of Bakerzin, while Swana contributed the salad and my mum the curry.

Dinner went well, save for the nosebleed I suffered midway! That freaked some of the elders out until I explained it was normal in pregnancy because of increased blood flow and bursting blood vessels...my third one so far!

I opened some of my presents that night, and made Nick open some of his. My pressie from him this year was the Krabi trip, and as per my tradition, I got him 3 gifts again - a book called, "So you're gonna be a dad", some polo tees from Giordano and the top pressie was a Sony Ericsson K530i mobile phone...hope he liked it!

Krabi 2007

It's been more than a week since we came back from Krabi with the gang and what a fun trip it was. There were 14 of us and already we're planning the next holiday, possibly Bali next July! Hope it materialises!

But Krabi this year was a blast, mainly because of the size of the group and the entertainment provided along the way. We did quite a bit in the 6 days there, from island hopping, shopping, beach soccer, snorkelling, pool games, gambling etc. Here are the highlights:

Day 1 - Checked in to the BuriTara resort and headed out for supper at the open air local hawker down the road. This was the start of many Thai meals! Because we arrived late at night, most of us went back to the hotel after supper, but the singletons adjourned to a disco.

Day 2 - After breakfast, we wandered around Ao Nang and the beers started flowing at 11 am for some of the guys...it was one way to beat the heat! Decided to hit the beach at Railay for lunch, beach soccer and a spot of swimming so off we went into the longtail boats and spent a pleasant afternoon at Railay. Midway through their soccer game, the guys were joined by a female American college soccer player who ran rings around them! The rain didn't dampen our spirits and soon enough it was time to head back to the hotel to dunk in the pool and freshen up for dinner, which was another simple Thai affair, followed by a surprise fireworks display!

Day 3 - Off we went on our 4 Islands tour, which cost each person only 600 baht. John and Rhubesh could not wake up in time, so only 12 of us to the boat. First stop was Phra Nang beach which was actually much nicer than Railay and right next door. This was followed by Chicken Island and lunch but by the time we reached Poda Island, it started pouring so we called it a day and headed for the hotel pool instead. Dinner was at Burger King, they had pork burgers and triple whoppers! Some of us went for massages and manicures after dinner, and then it was back to the hotel for a spot of Blackjack and Indian Poker.

Day 4 - Boy the day was hot! Ajen, Vim, Nick and me went to explore Noppharathara beach and found a fancy restaurant that we thought we could come back with the rest to dine at. In the afternoon, the gang wanted to check out the go-go bars, but because of ongoing elections, there was a ban on liquor sales so most pubs were closed. Instead we lunched and shopped around Ao Nang, me and Nick ordered paintings and in the evening, the guys played games in the pool. We had dinner at the open air hawker centre again, followed by drinks and pool at a bar called Underground on Noppharathara. They were screening the EPL matches live and we were kept amused with Jenga.

Day 5 - Another day trip, this time to Hong Island and its sister islands. Vim was not feeling well, so she and Ajen passed on this tour. Hong Island itself was pretty scenic, water was nice and warm so we lazed on the beach while waiting for lunch. The guys had an impromptu sand animal building contest, and in no time, we were off to check out Hong's Lagoon and Paradise Island, where the guys indulged in a spot of water polo. When we got back to the hotel, we played Captain's Ball in the pool and then got ready for dinner at Pakarang, the fancy place we had spotted the day before. Food was good, but portions tiny, although drinks were 1-for-1 so that saved us quite a bit of baht. There were 2 big EPL games that night, Liverpool vs Man Utd, and Chelsea vs Arsenal and some of the guys adjourned to a bar in Ao Nang to catch the second game, while the ladies shopped around.

Day 6 - Departure day, how time flew. Our flight didn't leave till 9.25 pm so we had pretty much the whole day to kill. It was a hot, hot day so after some lunch and last minute shopping, most of us opted to chill in the hotel till our transfer. They were kind enough to extend one room till 6 pm so we just lazed about and chatted, while waiting for Merianne, Nick Ramesh and Rhubesh to come back and show off their new tattoos. 6 pm finally arrived and off we went to the airport...immigration clearance was a killer but we all managed to board on time, phew!

To all those who made the trip, thanks for a lovely holiday!

Me and the maggot

I don't seem to be having any luck with insects these past couple of weeks.

Recently, we discovered the presence of booklice on our walls at home. Though pretty much harmless, they were nonetheless a nuisance and we spent one whole night disinfecting our walls. For some reason, they like new paint or new houses, cos' Swana's colleague had a more severe infestation at his new house not long ago.

Living near the sea doesn't help, what with the damp walls that attract invisible mould...just gotta keep wiping the walls with Dettol every now and then and monitor I guess. I had fun using Post-It tape to get the little buggers off the wall though! Here is one of the little suckers...they are quite tiny!

But booklice wasn't the end of it. Last week, I was eating takeaway tow-huay from Rochor Beancurd and bit into a baby roach. I didn't freak out or anything, but wondered why my dessert was crunchy! Am not permanently put off Rochor Beancurd though...will still patronise cos' their tow-huay is the softest!

And just yesterday, I had another unpleasant dining experience when Nick pointed out maggots in the mutton soup my mum had taken away for us from Mr Teh Tarik Cartel at Tiong Bahru Plaza. She had bought it for us in case we came back hungry from our Krabi flight but we didn't eat it till the next day. I had spotted something floating in the soup, but thought they were towgay roots until Nick who was eating my leftovers scooped them aside. Gross!