8TV_ULTIMATE POWER GROUP - LIVE (22/3/09)

It was our first experience watching the shooting of a LIVE TV Singing contest organised by 8TV, namely the ULTIMATE POWER GROUP at SRI PENTAS, Shah Alam tonite !!! As the name denotes, it is a singing competition that features group singing instead of individual. Each of the candidate entered the contest on a solo basis, after which those who are eligible to go for the final are then 'grouped' together to form individual group based on compatibility criterias!! So Tricia (the twins' little aunty/huby's cousin sister) was grouped together with 2 cutie pie girls & formed a group called "YA TOU" (or nga tao in cantonese)!!

all 18 - 20 years old.... " pok pok chui ahh "

Sean with the 'leng lui' ....

yeah.... that's her, the cutest lar i must say!!

The competition begins with the selection of 12 groups of finalist!!

Tricia's mom has been extremely supportive of her princess that she constantly reminded her contacts in Facebook to support her.....that was so sweet of a mom, doesn't she?? Of course we were invited to join this wonderful show & luckily my huby was keen to go. I even persuaded my mom to follow since she is a long time 'fans' of such singing show (she has attended numerous times on those organised by Astro)!! Our atmosphere became more merrier when my dad & younger sis also joined us.

sorry for the poor photography skills :(

It was only the 1st round of competition yet the number of audiences that turned up for the show was so shocking. We gathered outside the studio waiting for our group to be called for entrance. Luckily that we got the privilege as family members to enter the studio yet we were seated very far from the stage as others family members had filled up the front seats!!
I was immensedly amazed when the supporters of YA TOU were extremely large....in fact it was the 2nd largest crowd if not the 1st!! It was great feeling seeing such a big crowd of supporters!!

I must say it was pretty interesting to learn & encountered some of the "back stage" actions during a live show like this!! These were things that we don't get to see in front of the square box i.e. TV. The 2 hosts came out to interact with the audiences before the show went on live with the objectives of reaching some consensus to put up a good show together!! The hosts would tell us when are the appropriate time to applaud, shout & scream.....then they would asked us to practise putting up the respective banners to check that the judges or some important scenes were not blocked.....and they also seeked that we don't turned on our camera flash just so that the contestants' vision, hence performance were not affected !!! During commercial break, the hosts will appeared again to provide us the feedback of our behaviours & so on .....
I really enjoyed the show!!

I must agreed that my heart went bumping when YA TOU was called out as the 1st group to perform. It turned out that their performance was absolute CUTE....fantastic & excellent, i must reiterate that i did not exert any exaggeration.....as the judges instantly fell in love with their performance, thus given them a very very good & encouraging comments, phew....i even sighed a relief!! Moving on with the performance of the remaining 5 groups, it was obviously that YA TOU was ahead in the show!!

When the results were released, YA TOU was the ONLY group that gained the special "PASS" from panel of judges to proceed to the next session without having to be subjected to elimination session. All supporters of YA TOU were spared from sending any SMS.....phewwww !!! I was tremendously proud, feeling very thrilled over the victory....though there are still a long journey ahead to reach the final stage!! Can't begin to imagine the feeling of the parents.....

great job & good show YA TOU !!
after the result was released, being the winning group, they were like super 'STARs' posing for photography & being interviewed, LOL !!!

Hopefully YA TOU will continue to be consistent in their performance moving forward. We shall be back to Sri Pentas to support you !!! Keep up the good work....

Tricia on far left.



To catch them, please note:

Every Sunday, 8:30 pm on Channel 708 ~ 8TV !!
btw, if you like them....do give support ya !!

More updates on 2009 CNY

1st Day of CNY

More updates but no worries as i will also wrap things up for celebrations in A-Setar ....

The boys had gotten much more familiar with the celebrations this year ....... in other words they responded & behaved much more matured with some of the rituals / customs of this festival!!
Mumy had earlier taught the boys to remember what should be the 1st thing to say in the early morning of 1st CNY upon seeing ah kung & ah ma!!
They did not disappointed mumy, both of them willingly greeted :

" Gong Xi Fa Cai "
" Shern Thee Jien Khang " / Good Health

to both their grandparents !!!

Even to the rest of the aunties & uncles they met, they automatically 'sang' in that tune of phrases!! But they still obviously don't appreciate the red packets yet. When they were too engrossed playing, they will asked those ppl who gave them angpow to give them to their mumy instead.....slaphead !!!

Our 1st day of CNY was quite boring spending it at home doing nothing basically. Until about noon, all the sisters & the bunch of nieces & nephews started to pour in !!! That's when all the hoos & hahs were heard & some fights among the boys started !!!

The usual affairs around the household would be a series of cooking & eating non-stop with people taking turns to the dining table!! Poor MIL, maid & other women in the family had to continuously replenished the food on the dining table!!

Until about 3pm, everyone finally gotten their stomachs filled up and the next thing was to move on to huby's granny's home.......again for a quick exchanged of "angpows"!! It was getting more & more hilarious to me....the entire visit from the moment we stepped into the house (which was already fully crowded with people), exchanging 'angpows' among the married women, chit-chatting for a while until we left the place, it only took less than 1/2 an hour to complete.....what a joke!! What a hurry obligation that was???

Back home, everyone started to get busy with preparation for the party at night. I think this family gathering would be an annual event at FIL's new home starting from this year. Huby mentioned that his unc.Andrew already talked about having a whole lamb roast for the next CNY, hahaha
For myself, since there's not much help that i could offer, i volunteered to made some agar-agar & get the fruits cut. The menu for the party was 'nasi kandar'.


While the adults had a good time & spacious atmosphere to catch up on life, the kids had a wonderful time indulging in fire-crackers playing !!! It was the boys' first time playing with the spark....they both got very excited yet anxious with this 1st time encounter!!


check out some happy moments of the kids below :

For me, it was worth giving a mention here when i finally had a long & fun conversation with an uncle whom i had kept some fear towards..... all these while (why???....i don't know....probably due to the teochew egoism shown on the face, blek)...... it was as if an "iceberg has finally broken up"!!! Boy.... unc.andrew was so talkative that the wife & daughter had to come over to interrupt our conversation as it was already so late and the ladies yearn to go back home. Aunty alleged that he drank a lot but uncle claimed that he was not drunk.....arghhh, i don't know who to believe, hahaha
Our 1st CNY ended very late that night !!!

Annually, the boys' "TAR KU"/eldest SIL would get new pyjamas in similar theme respectively for all the boys & girls. And this year was Ben 10.....check out their uniform below!!

" So cute.........the nephews & nieces from the eldest at 16 years old/Form 4 to the youngest at only 1 year old "

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2nd Day of CNY

Our 2nd day of CNY was also filled with more cookings & eatings. There were so many mouths to feed yet on such days, not many restaurants are operating, so needless to say it was quite impossible to avoid cooking......poor thing !!!
I think the maid got a shock too.....after the whole morning working to get the breakfast done & the cleaning over with, there she needed to start preparing cooking for the next meal i.e. lunch 'pulak'.....scarry thought though !!! Can't imagine if i have to host such a big family, i would have die of depressing man ......
Anyway, after one of the meal, i heard that the family would be paying a visit to the 6th uncle who still happened to live in an estate house!!!

WHAT??? An estate house??? What's that suppose to mean???

Not only it was a big thing for the kids to experience, it was indeed an EYE OPENER for a city person like myself !!! I kept asking SIL & huby was it in a jungle or something....lots of mosquitos ahh.....need to bring mosquitos repellant or not???? geee....gotta admit how excited i was & how much i was in anticipation.....such a "jakun" i know!!!

When i finally reached there...... ooh boy......i knocked on myself & said:
"and for all these while i was complaining that my FIL's shophouse was very 'kampung'/rural"
"now after seeing the real estate house, i finally got hold of what a 'kampung' house should looks like"


It was even more 'HORROR' to discover that the house was actually partially surrounded by a huge "GRAVEYARD" !!! Oh my god, didn't that also sent some shiver down your spine ???
I was barely left with words.....quite speechless i must say!!!
Uncle bob even said there used to be python around the house........** faint **
Until today, it is really hard to believe that such a place still exists for living and that was a relative that i'm talking about here!!! Don't you think we are so lucky in comparison???

notice the graveyard at the back


I think many people would have expected to see some sort of 'shock' expressions from me....
yeah i saw my SIL laughing at me, then aunty janice mentioned to me that uncle andrew also said surely jaclyn would be surprised with this experience!!!!
in other words, everyone was so right in expecting the shocking reactions from the 'jakun' blogger here!!! hahaha.......what an encounter that was!!!

My boys in return seemed to enjoy running about the estate playing with some puppies, chickens & birds !!! Even the goat farm (kandang kambing) that was so stinky, they didn't mind minggling around !!! When they needed to wee-wee, huby tried to coax me to bring the boys to the toilet........of course without any success, he had to settle the boys instead. My SIL even teased me to try out their toilet as she said it will be an experience to me.........
which i replied with a big NO THANK YOU lor !!!


The wife aunty Mary was such a nice lady....forever so charming & cheerful with her smiles, cooked everyone with a late lunch with the curry 'kampung' chicken being the most popular dish!! No doubt the dishes were delicious despite the fact that we have to endure eating them with flies everywhere......now...... talking about hygiene & cleanliness, hahaha




6th uncle cracking the coconuts & the juices were so sweet


Overall, this experience left me with the MOST FRUITFUL memories of the 2009 CNY, which also painted some worthy treasures in my LIFE !!!!

We left AlorSetar on the 3rd day of CNY after another sumptuous meal at home!!!

That's the end of our wonderful celebrations back in huby's hometown !!!

more photos to share here

2009 - CNY Reunion Dinner

For the past years, MIL would usually visited the 'usual' morning market nearby alone and never asked me to follow around. If only that she asked, i would willingly obliged to follow actualy but she was just too nice to me..... some more hor, usually when i woke up, the sun was already hot burning my butt.....yea, very lousy DIL !!!

But this year with TESCO newly opened in AlorSetar, MIL 'ajak' us to go marketing together, obviously with the comfort of our own free time & under fully air-conditioning environment!! A last minute groceries shopping were done with me pushing the trolley following behind her and her occassionally asking if i like to eat this/that or if the fish/crab were fresh or not.....me of course nodding all the way (as if i'm expert....haha) !!! It was a rare things that the MIL & DIL would do together & i must admit that i appreciated the moments very much!!

After the marketing, upon my request MIL brought me to her regular hair salon for a hair treatment......it's a good thing to do back in the 'kampung' since it's so cheap there!! At the sametime, MIL also said the boys needed a hair cut. So after having their hairs snipped up, i ordered that their hair be washed before styling with hair gel, otherwise it's pointless if they need to wash their hair again at home !!! The boys were so obliging sitting quietly while indulging in their scalp being scratched & massaged much to their comforts!!! Scot even told me the other day that he enjoyed mumy scratching his head when i bathed for him at home....just like what the salon 'cheh-cheh' did to him......gosh, what a spoilt brat !!!

Then back home, i actually left the maid to help MIL with the cooking preparations & of course i also helped a bit lar. On the preparation jobs for our reunion dinner, it doesn't looked very complicated & massive to me anymore as compared to the cookings involved when all the daughters were back (more mouths to feed ma).....most probably bcoz MIL thought the DIL wasn't a good help to her so she better not tortured herself with any massive cookings. Instead, MIL ordered some special home cooked dishes from her 'kawan' around the neighbourhood. It was a decision that i would raised even my feets to agree..... no need 'susah-susah' if getting helps are pretty handy !!!

Here are the overview of our re-union dishes

The curry duck, stewed pork yam (wu tau khao yuk) & 'lobak' were purchased dishes!!

Apart from that, MIL also cooked a steamed fish & of course the SIGNATURE DISH especially for the family....

SLURPPP ....... GENG mou ???
The SIGNATURE DISH consists of
" Abalone, scallops, sea cucumber, 'fatt choy', brocollies & macademia nuts "

Here is the little family of 7.
The 2 vacant seats were one for the camera woman (obviously) & the other one for BIL !!!

I must say, it was a very memorable & enjoyable reunion dinner this year, in the comfort of the new dining area, new marble dining table, the smell of new paintings around, the brightness of the lights & cooling air in the evening !!! While the parents & sons engaged in the conversation of their mother tongue dialects i.e. teochew (which still means NUT to me), i automatically "SHUT" down my hearing system & fully enjoyed savouring all the mouth-watering dishes
**grin & wink**

The routine task after the reunion dinner was to visit the church for the CNY mass.
It was quite a pretty fast affair this year as the mass finished before 12 midnight.
Then, it was the 'angpow' packets preparation time at home before saying hello to
'chao kung'.....zzzzzzz

So, how was your re-union dinner with your family??
Here's hoping that everyone had an enjoyable one too !!!

more photos to share here :

ALL SET for the " Kung Hei Fatt Choy "

Just as i started to feel that the various year-end celebrations & greetings seasons had dimmed down a little, here we are greeted by the delightful Chinese New Year !!!

Needless to mention, another busy period!!

Yet, no matter how busy i may claimed, it is still inevitable to steal some time to do the preparation work in ushering this big festival !!!

Again lets make the photos do the talking.....life's too busy for writing lar....sigh !!!

Our pussy willow plant



surrounded by some 'fake' cherry blossom

the unavoidable festival goodies


don't worry, they were not all meant for our stomach, but as gift during CNY visit !!!!

also the boys' lion head was there for display this year (as they had outgrown playing with it since last year)



some prosperity plants that i managed to RESCUE since their dying episode last year





some OX figurines around the household so that the moo moo became happy & blessed us thru out this year !!!






This year, i brought home some beautiful cookies to further boost this JOYOUS occassion!! i'm the type that has the fondness & extra "admiration" & "treasure" over pretty & beautiful stuffs.....no matter what they are (be it food, household stuffs, display items, clothing, fashion..... etc etc)

So, the moment i saw SuYin's delectable cookies for this festival, i knew i had to own it.....i just couldn't resist getting one for my home!! To me, not only that it serves to fulfill my passion for the "exquisiteness" but i was more assured of the quality of SU's creation (in terms of taste & texture of the cookies) .....wow, what a compliment there, huh!!!

too bad if u like to have it coz order was already closed ler!!


here you go

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Simply awesome ART



Beneath each figurines, there are different types of cookies (ranging from peanut cookies, pineapple cookies, 'nga-ku'/arrow head chips & etc....)

** even the heavy white ceramic tray....i love it so much **




Since this year, my in-law will be celebrating the CNY in their NEW HOME back in A-Setar,
the GOOOOOD DIL took a little extra effort in showing our support & welcome to the new house by getting an add'nal "delectable cookies set" from SU for the new house!!


I'm glad that the house renovation could made it in time for the celebration, heard that they just finished off with the spring cleaning last Tuesday. Plus our hand-down sofa set has safely arrived AS yesterday..... gee i'm excited to 'balik kampung' this year !!!!

here is the smaller set for MIL




apart from that, it was also a norm to present the below goodies gift pack to my

in-law upon reaching home late this Friday!!

I will usually include a "health drink" (like DOM, Yomeishu or bird nest in the previous years) but this year i bought an Korean imported drink which was recommended by the chinese medicine shop's boss! Also seen are Brand's chicken essences, canned seafoods for steamboat, various favourite cookies.......arrow heads chips, prawn crackers & ....... did u see the pineapple rolls .................. ahem ahem......it was my biggest accomplishment for this festive!!! Finally was a batik long blouse for FIL....every year he got one from me, wonder if he can wear them all....hahaha

even my cherry blossom flower art was already on my toe........**grin**

Ooh ya....before i forgot, way before the arrival of CNY, we had already started with the

"LOU SANG" customs!!!!

It was during the recent 1st BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION of our GOD SON, baby kendrick at Unique Fisherman seafood restaurant!!

THE SWEETIE BIRTHDAY BOY!!!

it was another time the twins got to 'monkey' with their cousins !!!

been meeting up with relatives "very often" these few months...... where on a usual account, we would only meet during the CNY or family's wedding!!!


I bet you too would have all prepared to welcome the CNY by now!!!

The HENG Family is here wishing you an early

GONG XI FA CAI

KUNG HEI FATT CHOI

with loads of good health, good furtune & happiness !!!!

ASSORTED updates to WRAP UP 2008 !!

Life's been busy this year end !!
Pardon me for still touching on 2008 while everyone has already moved on with 2009...paiseh !!
But i think this post will be something to remember as i'd never been so much engaged during the year end with interesting events & activities. As much as i had wanted more of such excitement, i can't deny the fact that there are other areas that should not be neglected ....(eg....work & the boys' school work, grrrrr) !!

Since all the updates below were so backdated, it's better to junk them all in one post so that's gonna save up on your comments.....hahaha, so good ah me !!!

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CAMERON HIGHLANDS

24/12/2008

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We spent our X'mas eve up at the hill in Cameron Highlands. It was the boys' first visit. Previously during our trip to Genting Hightland & Bukit Tinggi, i used to tell the boys beforehand that these places tend to have cooler weather but they were disappointed only to find that there wasn't much different from the weather back home!! So this time, when i told them the same thing, the boys weren't really excited about it until they experienced it first hand.
Yes, the temperature went down to 15 degrees celsius even at broad day light much to our surprise !!! Finally the boys got really happy & excited!!

After a 4 hours + journey, everyone yearn for a stretch & release. So here was our first stop at a tea cafe ... the boys demanded for their jackets, hahaha....fun to see their new reactions !!

Once we were satisfied with the cool breeze & green view, we proceeded to check into our 3 rooms apartment at Star Regency Hotel.

It was a very spacious chinese family owned apartment, suits big crowd....quite clean & neat considering the age of the building!!

After settling down with our luggages, it was nearly 6pm so we decided to have early dinner. Our target was none other than STEAMBOAT lar....
And huby's friend who is a regular to CameronH recommended this organic steamboat rest to which we had no regret trying so much that we even long to go for another round the next day!!!

This restaurant was also featured in our local TV food program, Ah Xian's show.
According to the boss, they owned the organic farm & has been growing organic veges for 12 years!!

We ordered loads & loads of greenies......and ate like " cows " coz they were god damn cheap & fresh!!!

The happiest moment was when the bill came with a price that put you on a smile.....u know what i mean?? My super stingy mom also nodded in agreement to the reasonableness of the price that both mom & I ransacked their veggies fridge for some purchase...... as they were also available for sale.



*** Our greenies loots ***

With a bloated stomach, we decided to walk around the place. The cool air kept prompted me to recall my cooling days in Tokyo......argghhhh
Within minutes we reached our hotel and i must say the location is quite strategic, as across the street, there was an interesting night market which only operates on weekend & public holiday!!


Due to festive season, the street was quite merry with many tourists.

We did not expect to see such a wide varieties of foods & snacks at the street. For a moment, we regretted eating too full. But soon after a short stroll, we felt that our stomach could take in more food. Some of the delicacies were really worth giving a try.....like super sweet & juicy corn, both orange & purple sweet potatoes,many types of fried veggies (ala tempura style), fruits & etc etc.


First we spotted this....guess what it is??

So cheap....so the boys had one each !!! emmm.....strawberries, nice!!

Flowers were colorful & beautiful but not really fancy about it so we just pleased the eyes & walked pass!!

Next was another famous production, HONEY !!

The boys love tasting the honey & kept asking for more until we were 'forced' to buy some....

The boys got very fascinated watching the bees producing honey !!!!

Vegetables were so cheap. They were individually packed up & sold like.... for RM10, u can choose 8 packs of different veggies .....
Apart from varieties of veggies, we also brought back more snacks to our apartment barely an hour after our steamboat.....our supper that was !!! sei mou ???

As our first day was too short for any sight seeings, we had big plan on the next morning!! Unfortunately luck was not on our side, it rained cats n dogs the next morning until 11am. We were stucked in the apartment until noon & survived on our maggi instant noodles. So there wasted our half day.

Our very first stop was at the TEA Plantation Farm.

I had initially reluctant to climb up to the peak of the tea plantation, had not that the boys insisted. Anyway, i can't stop their feet.....and was in fact having a hard time chasing up to them from the back....grrrrr !!!

The 2 champions after reaching the peak !!!

Next was strawberry farm & bee farm.

The below few slightly reddish strawberries were the rare ones we could find at the place this season. The amount of big, red & fresh strawberries were very lacking....big time disappointment!!

We left CH around 2pm ish as we still need to make a stop over at Menglembu, Ipoh....my birth place to visit some relatives. Another Lai family (my dad's side) treated us to a sumptuous dinner before we headed back to KL & arrived around midnight !!!

There were still many things to explore but our time was very rush this time. Huby loves this place a lot & said he will be back more often......

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The FOO's wedding lunch at The Noble Rest.

27/12 /2008

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On the weekend after the X'mas holiday, both days were very productively utilised by us.

There was a wedding lunch attended. It was that kind of "attendance on behalf" of my FIL.
It was my FIL's cousin that hosted the dinner reception & since my FIL could not come down to KL, huby was asked to attend on behalf & since $$$ was already been paid, we tagged along to fill the tummy!! This type of luncheon can be very meaningless when we barely even know the wedding couples.... apart from just eating, ...but that's was the culture that we need to upkeep, what to do !!!??

My monster monkeying & entertaining at the same time .....

with uncle Nicholas & aunty Tricia (dady's cousins)


The wedding lunch started around 1:30 pm & lasted us until about 4pm.
We reached home before 5 only to catch a short rest before we proceeded to another party!!!


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YHsuen 4th b'day & Eve's house warming party
27/12/2008

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Yes, the same night, we attended a friend's house warming cum her daughter's birthday party!!

*** 2 princess of Eve ***
getting ready for bday song & candle blowing session

Several of my high school classmates are having only daughters ..... so my monster boys refused to join into the cake cutting session, GOSH !!!

Happy 4th B'day YH

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HIGH 5 BREADTOWN MUSEUM

28/12/08

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Very early the next morning (a Sunday), we had a VISIT arranged. It was a field trip organised by Irene Teng /phisiomom (a fellow blogger from Ipoh). Irene won 2 tickets to the High 5 Breadtown museum & offered to arrange the tour to include friends who are interested to join at a special package of course (cheaper price yet with more goodies)!!

Thanks Irene....your effort was very much appreciated!!

I had initially expected it to be an ordinary factory visit, little that i expect that the museum was so impressive & fantastic !!!

Parents out there, trust me....if you have some spare time in the future & not knowing where to go, do consider this bread museum as it is really a superb place for the kids !!!

The tour started with a multi-media show on the history of bread-making.
Then we were led to the museum in a tunnel that featured different era of bread making from centuries ago right up to the millennium era....this part was impressive to me !!!
Unfortunately, no photography was allowed!!

Then after touring the museum, we got to see the REAL thing about bread-making. Yes, it was the real production plant. The visitors walked on a sky bridge fully covered with glass to have a glimpse of the entire bread production line from making the dough, baking them in the oven right up to slicing & packaging !!

Irene has a pair of twin boys too.

Here are the sets "Dennis & Daniel" with "Sean & Scot"

Towards the end of the tour, we were led to the souvenir shop which sells ...... of course High 5 range of products.....bread, cake & etc at slightly cheaper price than outside !!
Our goodies bag also contained more of High 5 goods....bread bread & bread.....we ended up having to eat bread for the next few days!!!

Irene stood next to me .... she was so petite standing beside me.....grrrrrr !!!
The other 2 are Irene's classmates...i think

*** Here is the GROUP photo ***

Supposingly A very knowledgeable trip .... but all my "monkey boys" could care was to run & run & shout about the place....sigh !!! So i wasn't sure if they benefited from the tour but bet they enjoyed the trip very much as they had made some new friends !!!

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ELDER SIS's HOUSE WARMING PARTY

31/12/08

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We spent our new year eve at my elder sister's house as she threw a house warming party!!!

aiyo......eat eat & eat again !!!

Besides eating, it was yet another catching up with family members session !!!

That's about it at this moment.....BUT it will be continued as there were 2 more WEDDINGS we attended during this season too !!! You say our pocket badly burnt or not??

I decided to seperate the 2 wedding updates in the next post ..... eyes 'bolat' already !!

** There goes my super busy period ** wink wink