The Water Dragon

I really believe that this year's Chinese New Year will be a little different.

My mom decided to spend reunion dinner with my grandmother who isn't feeling very well.
LeeMei flew to Jakarta yesterday afternoon for a 1 week workshop sponsored by the government.
I'll be spending time with my in-laws until the 2nd day of Chinese New Year.
My youngest sister is still in France feeding her pet goose =.= (OK, it was a joke. She's spending her exchange year there until September)
And Leeli was so upset that nobody will be in KL for reunion dinner, she canceled her plans and bought a ticket to Hawaii =.=
My dad, of course, is so upset that my mom would not be here in KL with him for all that.

AND, on a lighter note, Darling and I bought a huge pot of orchids for my mom-in-law!
I hope she loves it :)
More photos when it is delivered home!

I wish for good health and peace this Dragon Year.

Toodles!

XOXO,
theRascal

Cultural Exchange

It was an eventful week so far.

On a sad note, my Japanese host sister completed her 1 year stay with us (most of the time with my mom back in KB) and went back to Japan last Wednesday. I'll miss her :(

Isn't that boy cute?
My host-sister loves him to bits!

Secondly, I got a parcel! Darling went, "who sent something to you?"



Oh well, a surprise gift from my host-family in Spain.


I knew it was from them right away when I spotted the Spanish post :)

They made an album using photos from our honeymoon in Europe mid last year. What a sweet thought :)

My family have been involved with this student exchange body called AFS (American Field Service) for so many years now. I was the first to go on the programme and spent 3 months in Spain. I learned so much you wouldn't even believe it.

Seeing the positive changes in me when I came back, my mom made it a point to send all my younger sisters after they completed high school. They all went for the year long programme as I find that it is more effective. You have more friends, learn the culture and language better.

These are just the basics. As a student exchange, we learn so much more about being more independent, patience (as you're staying with an entire new family), tolerance, understanding, etc. We learn so much more and we think differently when we return. In a positive manner. I saw how all my sisters mature and grew up when they return from the Programme.

Just last year in September, we sent my youngest sister to France. She's having a blast now, living in South of France together with a host-family of 4 in a countryside. Oh and also not forgetting that the family owns many geese (like 20 of them?! wtf) and dogs and cats and ... a bird.

Year 2011 marked the 10th year since I came back from the exchange programme. Even though I've lost touch with some of my Spanish friends but I still have friends who went on the Programme to Spain together with me. It's amazing.


Oh on another note, my neighbour at work returned from England and brought me something that got me so excited!



Chocolate Cornflakes Mini Bites from Marks & Spencers.

It's the best. You just have to try.


Have a good week ahead!


XOXO,
theRascal

Happy 2012!

Happy twenty twelve!

Every year, my group of ex-housemates would always gather during any of our birthdays to celebrate our love for each other and never fail to have plans for Christmas or New Year. This year though, is different. We all spent the festive season with our families.

And we found that a little boring and started questioning ourselves.

Is age catching up?!?!?!?


A discussion then started on our Line group chat on our phones and we concluded that yes, when age is catching up, we party less and tend to appreciate our families more. Which is a good thing.

This year, I spent Christmas by having a warm family dinner with both my family and Darling's family combined. It was very meaningful.

On New Year's day, we attended Darling's boss' house warming (gorgeous house by the way) and went home to spend time with our families. And then, I spent the long weekend baking away with my mom-in-law. *man, age is really catching up*

Before I shower you with some pictures, here's the latest picture of our niece.



My mom-in-law dressed her up in so many outfits and she just refused to obliged. Ended up with choosing her own blouse to fit with a pair of jeans. She's not even 2 years old yet!

Kids nowadays. Amazing.

So, we went for a pre-New Year dinner in The Gardens Midvalley. Bumped into Lee Chong Wei there. He's really skinny for real.

Darling ordered a dinner set:

The longer chopstick for the yee sang

Yee Sang
Less than 1 month to CNY - Lunar New Year!

also contributed to shark killing :(

It wasn't my first time baking with my mom-in-law. She's really good at it and make the best pineapple tart!

She bought a new recipe book and wanted to try something more cartoon-ish this year.

It was a lot more work as everything is handmade and designed carefully.

I was the Creative Designer while my mom-in-law was the Quality Control Director. She's really good to the fact that she rejected many of my biscuits when it turns out a little smaller or not the exact same design to the rest of the biscuits. For example, all the eyes have to be at the exact same spot. All the biscuits have to look the same and at the same size.

Tadaa!

We're going to continue doing this every weekend until CNY. Hopefully the kids will love it :)


Happy new year 2012 everyone!

This year, I wish for a health and peace. Enough with the floods and war. We have to face this economic crisis for real and embrace our family moments more.

p/s: and also hope that 2012 is not our last year on Earth.



XOXO
theRascal