Dear friends, i will be away for 8 days at Taiwan to meet a dear dear friend as well as gorge myself on the beautiful scenery and yummy Taiwanese snacks. See ya all next year!

*Flying kisses* 

And there goes my favourite festive season of the year. Christmas. Christmas has been a quiet affair this year. I had been busy meeting up with dear friends before the holidays and after but on X'mas eve, i was home when the clock strikes 12. It was quiet but i have an old friend for company so i guess that's at least something.

According to my dear old friend, we may have tried too many X'mas celebrations in different ways and now that we are older, we no longer feel the excitement. In short: been there, done that. What a sad theory huh? Unfortunately, i hardly doubt that theory.

 X'mas cake from Chan. It's really lovely, aint it? Mummy could not bear to cut it. Beautiful cake, great efforts (by a dear friend). (20/12/06)

 At Hyatt with 3 dearies after our first-ever X'mas dinner at Mezza9. I got a new toy named Wilbur! A real cutie courtesy of Julie dear. (22/12/06)

 Lyn n me at the esplanade after Qian Hui's solemnization/engagement party. (23/12/06) Eve of X'mas Eve~

I got a b'day present that i was supposed to show here so that Phoebe dearie is able to see the present that she gave me. Kekeke.. thanks, Julie and Phoebe.

This is how the soundboxes look like. :)

I have 3 very dear friends, of whom, most reading this blog would have known who they are. Well, last week, the 4 of us finally got together (even if its for a short while) and it was just great meeting you guys! Below are some pics courtesy of Julie dear.

PS: Looking forward to the 22Dec06!

 Changing Rooms Fever *According to Julie, this outfit is the "X'mas-tree" outfit. We were amusing ourselves crazy, by putting it on but one have to admit we don't look that bad. Right? :P

 *Induced to get a fab dress for the 22nd. Hee, i do like this dress alot and there we were amusing ourselves with the wide variety of dresses. i remember Yin once saying that the best way to choose an outfit is to take a pic of you wearing the outfit and seeing if it turns out nice anot. Good idea indeed~

 *In greys --- that's me (no color)*

 *Cutest cuties*

 *Dearie Jules is so so so slim! Envy u, my dear!

Julie dearie, Me, Yilin dearie and Phoebe dearie~

 *Make a wish*

 *The angels' display are really pretty*

 *The Angels within the Glass*

 *It seems tat we always end up here*

 *Pretties*

*Pretties2*

After shopping around for a couple of weeks, enduring long hours of walking and jostling with huge crowds and constantly getting royally pissed off by people who pushes you like you are invisible, here i am, finally having a quiet moment to myself. X'mas is coming very soon and one significant custom of Christmas is the X'mas tree. Does anyone know of the origin of the X'mas tree and how it came about to be part of this festive season? 

Well, I was looking for more information and according to the web searches, there are various stories to it. My favourite one will probably be the one connected to Adam and Eve.

"Research into customs of various cultures shows that greenery was often brought into homes at the time of the winter solstice. It symbolized life in the midst of death in many cultures. The Romans were known to deck their homes with evergreens during of Kalends of January 15. Living trees were also brought into homes during the old Germany feast of Yule, which originally was a two month feast beginning in November. The Yule tree was planted in a tub and brought into the home. But there is no evidence that the Christmas tree is a direct descendent of the Yule tree. Evidence does point to the Paradise tree however. This story goes back to the 11th century religious plays. One of the most popular was the Paradise Play. The play depicted the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin, and their banishment from Paradise. The only prop on the stage was the Paradise tree, a fir tree adorned with apples. The play would end with the promise of the coming Savior and His Incarnation. The people had grown so accustomed to the Paradise tree, that they began putting their own Paradise tree up in their homes on December 24."

The below are pictures of 3 different type of X'mas tree taken while i was out with friends the past couple of weeks. So which is your favourite? 

 *This shot is courtesy of Eetat!* At present, it is my favourite X'mas tree around town. Tall, pink and glittery stars peeks from within. Ain't it sweet?!

 *My 2nd favourite X'mas tree is this shiny glass-lit tree situated at Bugis Junction. At night, it lits up the place with its glamour and shine~

 *Last but not least, we should never forget the tradtional X'mas tree. This one has been at Taka for the longest time ever. Every year, it is this same old tree that attract uncountable shoppers to take a pic infront of it. Amazing~

After a wrong click that erased all that i have typed + what seems like forever trying to load up a slideshow image, i decided to give up and do it the usual way. *sighs* if anyone knows how i can link my images which is in a slideshow format (courtesy of Photobucket), please, please, please do advise me!

Well, i was lamenting on how i havent been blogging recently, and that is not due to the fact that i have nothing better to say (on the contrary! human always thinks what they have to say is important) Well, the thing was i let my laziness gets the better of me and besides, i have been busy after the exams just meeting friends and catching up on good old times. I am so very happy to be meeting you old fellows, really.

Anyway, last weekend found me at Gemas, Malaysia with my dear cousins and aunties, on a mission to visit relatives. It was really an interesting weekend and as the saying goes, it's not where you are or what you do, it's the company that matters most. Indeed, that's the understatement of the century. I had a wonderful time with my dear cousins and i get to meet uncles and distant cousins, of whom i have never met before in my 22 years of age. They are really nice people, seems really knowledgeable, down-to-earth and the best thing? Im really impressed by their musical talents. Aint that like so cool?

Well then, Gemas is a small town/village somewhere near to Malacca and the easiest way to access it is via a train ride from Tanjong Pagar station. The place is absolutely wonderful! Being "city-dwellers" like us who have never had to "rough-it-out" in "kampong-nic" area such as Gemas, one may be bored by its lack of entertainment and the greatly irritating swarms of mosquitos that seems to be everywhere. Nonetheless, we LOVE the place! It is quaint and charming in its own ways. The convenience stall around the corner looks like something out of a Singapore village shop in the 50s/60s. Children runs around (sorry to say, shouting profanities but are really friendly) and some rides up and down the dirtpath in their scooters. The air is fresh (with the ocassion whiff of smelly rubber tapping smell.) and the cow share the road with us! The wanton mee is definitely the most delicious of its kind. I think i must have been gobblering up the mee with such great gumption that the locals were grinning at me and saying "delicio us, huh?"

Well then, our little adventure consisted of Natalie (my pretty cousin gal) finding a toad in the toilet, chasing the chicken round the coop such that it ran into our toilet to hide! (one could relate to the movie "Chicken Run"), finding puppies and being chased by papa-dog, having ice-cream on the street while it drizzles away, driving around the village to search for cows and much more!

I believed now, more than ever, i really am suited for a countryside life.

Click on view slide show for the pictures i took at Gemas! Enjoy~