Christmas 2011

Just got back from the cottage, after a long 2 hours drive ...which was thankfully congestion-free ...feeling really tired, after spending the whole Christmas holidays and some at the cottage ...being back in Kuching is like coming back to reality ...that next Tuesday I am BACK AT WORK .....arghhhhhhhh

But, tuesday is 3 days away, so I still have time to relax ....still enjoying the Christmas mood ...

some highlights of Christmas 2011 for our family:

Unfortunately, I did not snap the whole tree ....

Our tree was decorated by my nephew, Al ...it was a bit loopsided and most of the ornaments were at the bottom half of the tree ...due to his height! Dad helped him with the lightings and his daddy helped him with the Star of David and the sparkly ropey thingy ...

Al trying to figure out the hymn book 

We had a group of carrolers from Siol Kandis at our place on 20th Dec. Al had fun singing along with them ..my uncle, who is a priest, led the team ...and they have been coming to our house since 4 christmases ago ...

a simple food spread for the carrollers ...as token of our appreciation

Al is thinking that if he stayed there long enough, one of the abangs will let him play the guitar!

22nd Dec - a visit to winter wonderland
We went to Dom's workplace as they were having this winter wonderland display ...they even have a snow machine! We were excited ...unfortunately, the machine was broken on the day we visit the winter wonderland :-(

adik, nenek and aki in front of the huge tree

But that did not deter adik from enjoying himself ...he explored the area happily ...but he was not happy to see Santa Claus ....his daddy wanted adik to take photo with Santa but he absolutely refused to do so LOL ..he is scared of the beard ...

24th Dec - we made an exodus back to the cottage ...for a quiet family celebration. The plan was to have a Christmas BBQ  on Christmas Day ...with my cousins ...they are the ones who are responsible to help dad with the gardening, planting and looking after our orchard, ponds and cottage ....

Before that, we put our presents underneath a tiny tiny christmas tree given to me by my colleagues when I was in Newcastle - for our section's desk competition) .......the boys unwrapped their presents early on Christmas day ...too much noise, especially Al's who shrieked out loud seeing his presents ...Adik was not bothered at first but soon became very involved with unwrapping his presents ...

present from Daddy ...Thomas & Friends Top Loader  ...the boys were mesmerised by this toy! They would stay put for hours playing with this toy :-)

The boys left for Kuching on 27th and are now in Betong to celebrate New Year with the other grandmother ....

It's december ALREADY!!!

Time does fly rather quickly ...very cliche but very true ...it is now the second week of December ..before long it will be Christmas ..and a week later it will be the New Year ....it is always that time of the year when I'll be asking myself (i) where did the time go?; (ii) what have i done this year; (iii) what is my plan for next year ...

Well, i guess I have been very busy this year ...both in my work and the personal front. Let see, what i have done:

(i) Holidays & mini breaks

Ciater Hot Spring, Bandung (January 2011)

Well, I did a fair bit of traveling in 2011 ..I started with a mini holiday to Jakarta and Bandung with Kiky and Tijot, which was really great - but when I come to think of it, it seems like years ago ...then I had my family holiday to Sabah - also an awesome adventure, tiring but great fun! Then comes the unexpected trip to Kuantan to visit my best buddies ...in between we had a family beach retreat at Sematan ...and here, there and everywhere weekend trips ....family bonding time!



(ii) Work related travel

My WOW trip was the Shanghai trip ...awesome, seeing a country that is very much contradictory in nature ...a very modern city with its traditional values very much intertwined ...a city of contrast ...and my usual Penang trip for conference ...as well as other research trips to various areas in Sarawak ...

(iii) PhD thingy

At long last, I am ready (both mentally and physically) to do my PhD ..so, this year was busy with proposal writing, applications and so on ....obstacles emerged, solutions and alternatives to be considered and so on ...still yet to be finalized ...fingers crossed, I'll know the outcome early in 2012 ...

(iv) financial planning (I hate this!!!!)

I managed to refrain from shopping and put up some $$$ into my future ..hahahaha when I say refrain - it does not mean all the time ....but, I am proud to say that I did refrain from excessive shopping and put a bit for my future ....enough said, it will make me want to go to the shop and BUY BUY BUY ...

(v) new office

Yes, finally moving to our permanent campus ...got a nice room with nice neighbours ..this was my 3rd move since joining the university ..and this is the last move (I'm told that even when I am going away for my PhD, the room will still be mine - waiting for me to come back!) ...


Now that I have it listed, it doesnt seem much! But I like my dad's motto in life ...it is not about the numbers, it is about quality ...if you are happy that is all that matters ....if people asked me if I am happy with what I did in 2011, i guess I am happy with it ...with how things turned out ...

Things to look forward to in 2012:

a new life as a student?
more holidays to far-away places?
more $$$ to spend?
quality time with friends and family - DEFINITELY!!!


There you go folks ....always be happy in life ...and be thankful for what you have ...

Photo taking Bolt-style

Bolt has been one of the boys' fav movies ...we have seen the movie for hundreds of times, to the point that my mom can recite the dialogues in the movie ...yup, we are fanatical about Bolt - the superdog ....When adik is throwing a tantrum, a sure way to mitigate his anger is by putting Bolt's DVD and play it for him ...will calm him down and he will be distracted by the movie ....

One of the thing that they imitate most is the way Penny (Bolt's person) and Bolt take their own picture ....here's are some examples of our pictures - Bolt's style :-)

hehehehehe ....