Christmas Cheers 2008 (Part1)

It's that time of the year again. Jingle bells, jingle bells... hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King... we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas....

I always look forward to Christmas because it's a season of giving, a season of remembering friends & catching up with them after an entire busy year, a season where the shopping malls go all out to woo customers with glittering, dazzling deco & attractive bargains. It's also a season of rainfall in Singapore, this hot humid tropical island home of mine. So to me, this change in climate is quite refreshing. Well, no snowfall, no white Christmas so to have at least some rain & cooling weather is welcomed.

When I was a kid, Christmas was a time of TV indulgence - cartoons, movies. A 'one-last-time' indulgence before the school year would begin all over again. When I entered adolescence, Christmas time was packed neck-to-neck with church activities - carolling, skits, street evangelism, services. Now that I am well into adulthood, I appreciate Christmas most for the family warmth, the coziness of eating together & the fun that the children bring. Nothing beats family warmth: the simplicity & honesty shared among family members.

I have kept this year's Christmas spread simple & used the grilling function of my oven to the fullest. I absolutely like the sweetness of grilled capsicum. And grilled bacon wrapped with golden mushrooms & asparagus are always a bigtime favourite. The veggies when grilled become quite chewy and crunchy while the bacon is crispy and aromatic. Honey-baked ham is just good old ham. One can never go wrong with that. This year, we topped our slices with strawberry jam, lots of fresh olives & a good drizzle of honey mustard. YUMS!

Of course, I gotta have my feel-good chicken soup from my FAVOURITE chef, Jamie Oliver. Bacon slices, roughly chopped carrots cooked with a whole chicken. I gave the celery a miss since I reckoned there was enough greens already. Skipped the mushrooms too. The best part is when the rosemary twigs hit the pot 10 minutes before the fire is turned off. THAT is simply heaven! The flavour of rosemary gives the soup it's signature blend while the chicken provides great nourishment. SOUP - my life is incomplete without you! Ahhhhh.........! And yes, Fred, he who swears he never likes chicken boiled in anything but each time I serve this soup, he slurps it up without complains. So - Jamie, you DID IT. Kudos to the naked chef for this magic recipe!




The other old-time favourite is none other than mummy's fried bee hoon. There is no bee hoon quite as good as my mum's, seriously. The panfried egg slices, mixed with carrot, cabbage & mushroom slices are just the right ingredients for bee hoon fried to perfection and tastiness - not a tad too savory nor sweet. I asked mum casually how she prepared such a tasty comfort food & in a no-nonsense manner, she replied: with my heart. Mmmm... important point noted.



The only dish I cheated on was this mutton satah, frozen & prepacked from Fairprice, including the sauce. They were leftovers from the recent BBQ session we hosted. I grilled them in the oven & most turned out slightly tough. The saving grace was the sauce. I actually like the peanut-rich sauce over the 'genuine' ones served from hawker satah stalls because it wasn't too oily.


This simple home-cooked meal was finished with a Christmas log-cake from Breadtalk, which was very nice. Spongy & not overly sweet. And scoops & scoops of ice cream topped with fudge, nuts & chocolate rice, which were consumed in a jolly spirit by both the young and the old and also the in-betweens.

Christmas Cheers 2008 (Part 2)

While the adults were still enjoying their food, Ashley asked me,"Is it a toy?" Knowing she was referring to her Christmas present, I replied,"No." Ah, that was her cue to open her presents. "I am bored. Can I open my presents?" Ashley persisted.


The minute the children were granted permission to open their presents, they acted as swift as lightning. The wrappers were ripped apart mercilessly, in an urgency to reveal the contents. The younger Tristan did not need much prodding either. He worked away at the wrapping paper with such speed and dexterity that both amazed and amused me. Part of the innate aggressive urges in children, I guess. It seemed children were born to do this (destroy wrappers), particularly getting lots of practice at Christmas.

Mummy helped Tris to open up his gingerbread man present.

Tris was delighted!

In the spririt of giving, he was instructed to share his gingerbread man cookies, which he was only too glad to oblige. Sweet boy! Although you could see that tinge of impatience that said - I wanna eat it now!

Gong Gong was politely offered one!

Ah! Finally, I get to chomp away at the head! Tris muttered softly the part that got chewed away - head! Proof of oral aggression in kids - Aha!

But then, they can be sweet angels too ;)

Fred's turn to open his pressie from the kids.

They gave him a superman T-shirt to boost his ego! (maybe to match... haha)

Us, showing off our pressies.

But the greatest gift of all was the children's companionship, the fun & laughter they brought us.

Ash didn't receive toys from me. But she did quickly get her hands on MY gift, a jig-saw puzzle from my colleague, Jocelyn. Not only did Ash finish fixing the pieces, she even borrowed my camera to take a couple of close-ups of the puzzle. She suggested with excitement that I could show my friend, Jocelyn. She sure knows about 'being friends' ;)

Christmas Cheers 2008 (Part 3)

Entertainment took different shapes and forms that night - to cater to different tastes. Tris never had a dull moment with his sing-a-long Christmas carols.

While my folks were contented to watch TV, the kids played with dough to keep occupied.

They ate gingerbread man but decided to create one too.

Tris made his favourite alphabets.

Proudly showing off his creation!

Ash having a time of relaxation & ice cream indulgence after completing her project of gingerbread man.

Ting & I have finally graduated!

To celebrate our graduation - me with a Masters in Applied Psychology & Ting with a Bachelor in Early Childhood Education, we decided to snap some pictures at home together. Just for fun!

We thought some of the pictures look quite like studio shots!

Asked Ash to pose as model to test the background!

The Chronicles of the Children: Sister & Brother Bonding (Episode 9)

One late afternoon, Tris woke from his afternoon nap. Ash jumped into his bed with a story book & said - Tristan, Jie-jie read you a story! And so the time of bonding between brother and sister began ... Ash read the story book in a most animated manner, raising her pitch at appropriate moments for dramatic effect. She is quite a story teller! Meanwhile, Tristan was playing with Mr Rat and attempting to grap Mr Rat's tail with his tinny toes. Ah! Successful attempt! If one wondered if he was listening at all, he was indeed! When cued by Ash, Tris promptly finished his jie-jie's sentences, without needing a glance at the book. Both brother and sister knew the story by heart! At one point when it seemed like Tris was too caught up with Mr Rat, Ash asked loudly - Tristan! Do you still want to hear the story? Tris responded immediately with a soft, obedient 'yes'. Assured that she was still sustaining her brother's interest, Ash read on, with gusto enough for an audience of 20 little boys.

This was a most interesting naturalistic observation! It so warmed my heart to witness this little 'dance' of synchrony and affection between the siblings - well, literally a dance, as both children were tossing and turning about in the bed, obviously enjoying the soft and comfy feeling; and most of all, enjoying each other's company!