little miss may

Yes, it’s an attempt to squeeze in one last post before 2007 rolls along. Almost everyone else is doing it, might as well jump on the bandwagon. How could I make this a meaningful post, though? The usual greetings and well wishes to everyone? Create a little countdown clock to the final hour, the final minute, the final second? Set up my webcam, do a live feed, burst out in song and do the funky chicken (or duck, or goose) dance?

Nah.

Strangely all, if not most, New Year Eves and Days are just like every other day to me, for the past… I dunno, quite a number of years or so. A public holiday for most of us, time to rest, maybe do a little walkabout, and 24 hours will pass by… just like that. I don’t mind quiet dinners and reminiscences with close friends, but no need for extravagant fanfares and big hoo-hah celebrations (except for that Turn of the Century night). Not sure if I’m going to be labeled as a party-pooper because of this, not that I mind either. Sure beats a drive to the city, get stuck in traffic and do the countdown while standing outside the car with the engine running (I did that once, would you believe it? Horrors!!).

So whilst I stay home and be the pooper on New Year’s Eve with my family, Mac, iPods, and all my other worldly possessions, I thought I’d do a little countdown to my favourite “insightful” post of each month which I’ve written.

Yes, it’s the usual “reflections of the past gone by” moment. Perhaps it’s a new form of narcissism. These are the posts which reflect who I was at that point in time, which I still feel rather strongly about today. You might say that these opened the window to the so-called “real me”. Or maybe it’s the other me whom I tend to burry 6 feet under in hopes that no one will dig her up.

That’s all. What, were you expecting more for a Grand Finale? *grin* No need to read them again if you know them by heart. Or just can’t be bothered. Just wish me a Happy New Year already, will ya?

If you had to pick your favourite post for each month, what would it be? Or just one for the year? Or three?

And sincerely from the bottom-est bottom of my heart…

Merry New 2007, everyone. Thanks for making 2006 a great year, and for sharing it with me. May you have another 365 wonderful, breezy days ahead! I know it’s going to be a very busy, very interesting one for me…

My Dad’s friend has an orchard somewhere, someplace which has a lot of durian and rambutan trees. ‘Tis the season for reaping what was sowed! These past few days, Dad’s been bringing home the loot — bags and bags of pricky and hairy fruit — for our enjoyment. Such a lot of red and green, almost like Christmas! Not to mention the stink aroma of it wafting through the house…

Doesn’t the durian look divine? I’m hardly the expert at breaking the shell apart for the soft, pulpy flesh. I usually leave it up to someone else to do the “dirty job”, though I have tried it a couple of times (and ended up with punctures on my fingers, gah!). And as always, if you’re anything weird like Little Miss May©, you’d enjoy succulent bite-fuls of the fruit on a plate (or a bowl, if you don’t want it rolling around) with a spoon. Saves having to wash your hand with a whole bar of soap to get rid of the smell. Can’t do anything with the lingering taste though, except for popping lots of mints throughout the day.

Now, these I could eat without a spoon! Very tricky too, to keep them from rolling off. Best eaten with fingers, while licking off the sticky juices that flow down to the palm. Doesn’t that make you shudder with delight? Red and bushy on the outside. Sweet, firm and succulent on the inside. My favourite kind of hairy klang klang fruit.

And on other matters…

Why do people pick the last workday of the year to chat to you and play the catch-up game? I had chat windows sprouting up everywhere earlier today, from people whom I hear from once in a blue moon. I don’t mind the chats. Gives me an excuse to take a break from work. But I dislike the probing. Especially when it gets repetitive, and sometimes annoyingly personal. If it’s from someone whom I’m close with, I don’t mind answering. But if it’s from one whom I only hear from perhaps twice a year, it becomes irritatingly intrusive. And quit asking me about my plans to Oz. Hello? There’s a reason why we’re not close, yea. No need to tell you my life plans for the next 10 years. Let’s keep it at surface level, shall we?

Don’t mind me. Just needed to rant off that annoyance. Almost as bad as L B’s 4 silly things that annoys the poo outta him.

Give me a frozen grape too.
And I don’t just want an ice cube, I want a lemon popsicle.

Duh.

Warning:
Heavy loading of images and a long read ahead. Be prepared for a wee bit of wait. That’s what happens when you try to squeeze in as many photos of a 4-day trip and talk about everything in one post!

The four of us — angel, winn, sengkor and I — planned a Christmas trip down South to the neighbouring Singapore for a little festive celebration, and of course, to meet up with the ever bubbly-licious carcar, the mysterious mistipurple and almost philosophical seefei!

Accompanied by carcar and her friend, JV who was also visiting from KL, we traipsed around parts of the island armed with our cameras and appetites. The lights were twinkling, the views mesmerising, and the ambience just simply fantastic! Ok, it was actually very crowded especially on Orchard Road and at the major shopping malls, it was at a hectic and frenzied pace till we daren’t “divide and conquer”, but rather huddled closely together like a flock of lost sheep.

One of our reasons for visiting Singapore was to see the Christmas decorations, and we certainly weren’t disappointed with what the streets and malls had to offer. There were beautifully decorated trees, trees, and more trees everywhere we went! Check out the 12 Days of Christmas tree, found in front of the Tanglin Mall. We even trudged in the rain for a good 10 minutes just to see the tree and marvel at the cool figurines. Ok-lah, you could blame me, I was the one who dragged the others to the end of the world just to satisfy my childlike curiosity… Thank you for teman-ing me, girls!

We also visited the Esplanade where the “durians” were, cam-whored at the ever-famous iconic Merlion, had drinks Holland Village, shopped at Bugis Junction, and even had a peek at the Asia Bar on the 71st floor of the Swissotel The Stamford.

Our appetites weren’t the least disillusioned either with the scrumptious food we devoured. Siew loong paus and noodles at Din Tai Fung, gingerbread latte at Starbucks, rice burgers at Mos Burgers, a wonderful Chinese dinner at Intercontinental (heartfelt thanks to carcar’s friend Michael for this treat), platters full of surprises at Tao’s courtesy of mistipurple, and a smiley star-studded steamboat at carcar’s where seefei was gracious enough to give us a ride to her place from the MRT station. Xie xie for cooking a scrumptious pot of Singapore-styled hokkien mee for us too, carcar! Gracias to her landlady as well for the huge breakfast on Saturday morning and the use of her place for our little get-together!

One of the best moments — opening our presents! Thank you angel for the Mickey Mouse phone holder and glow-in-the-dark keychain, winn for the white fluffy teddy bear (it’ll always remind me of Liucas), sengkor for the Santa snowglobe on a plane, carcar for the Ritter Sport and pretty coaster, mistipurple for the sweet mobile phone lingling, and seefei for the fridge magnet!

Thank you everyone for your company, the lame jokes, the different sleeping positions, the car rides, the cam-whoring, the rush to open the windows, the jamming session, the food, the maps, the Wi-Fi, the laughter, the impromptu caroling, the desserts, the beds, the mattress, the rain, the blingblings, the sotsots, the liulius, the best Christmas ever.

Oh, and since it was raining almost every night in Singapore and we missed the Night Safari, the “animals” in the apartment decided to parade around for us to make up for the lack of four-legged friends. Special thanks to sengkor’s friends for letting us stay at their place for the duration of our visit! We aired the rooms, watered the plants and fed the fish as diligently as we could, every day. And I hope the air-freshener is still fresh when you get home…

…the end.

Related posts:
Post Christmas Holiday
And the Winner is…
2006 Christmas Tour

A year ago I didn’t make it for my family’s guo tung dinner. And because of work, I’m not going to make it this year either. No homemade tong yuen for me. I feel a little sad, but no as depressed as I was previously.

Maybe it’s because it’s not that I’d forgotten about it this time around. Maybe it’s because I’m less troubled with problems. Maybe it’s because I have all of you to keep me company this year. And I’m truly thankful for that. You, my readers and commentators, friends and family, have made a big difference in my life, and I’m glad to have you with me throughout these few months.

Christmas is just around the corner…
And a much needed break is at hand.
Will be away for a bit.
Happy holidays to you, and you, and you.

With love.

Joyeux Noël,
frohe Weihnachten,
Buon Natale,
Feliz Navidad,
Merry Christmas.

I’ve been wandering around the shops looking for a gift for my colleague. Yes, it’s the gift exchange thingy which quite a lot of small offices or departments within a big company would have, to keep the festive spirit up and give us all that warm and fuzzy feeling.

The budget is RM20, at least. Anything more is most welcome, anything less is… well, less. What would you buy? Actually, I’ve already bought the gift, but humour me anyway and let me know what your choice would’ve been. This would definitely come in handy the next time I’m at a loss about what gifts to get!

Check out the Christmas tree at our office. Quite a pretty sight, and what’s underneath it is a prettier sight, of course! See my present there? *points* I swear, I didn’t ask my gift-giver to write my name that big and put it up front for all to see! Ha-ha!

I’ve also received three early Christmas presents over the last few weeks:

A very very awesome musical snow globe, from Chen! It tinkles out “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” when wound up. I absolutely love it! Aren’t those snowpeople so very cute? Makes me want to go carolling out in the snow. Well ok, no snow here, but I could wish and daydream about it.

And here, a candy cane with a couple of Ferrero Rocher chocolates from JL, when we met for the first time last Friday. I was touched! How often do you receive little gifts from total strangers? This was one of those very rare once-in-a-blue-moon kind. And he’s no stranger anymore, of course… *wink!*

The red box is from ChristinE. What’s in it?! What? What?… She wouldn’t let me open it till Thursday, aiseh! I’ve got to wait till then to find out. It feels heavy, though. Anyone wanna guess?

Any more pressies for me? *hint!* *hint!*