the year 2012

almost a year since i was last here and a lot has happened since then. here's a recap to the year 2012 in random order.

i assisted in cooking my first turkey ever.. of course with chef father-in-law and i have to say it turned out mighty fine. defrosting that 5 kilo bird was painful. it took 24 hours to defrost, marinated overnight, about 2 hours prep and another 3 hours and 45 minutes to cook. but it was definitely worth it. the meat was juicy and tasty and of course we had heaps of food. it's may not be my first home cooked christmas but it's a first traditional one with turkey and all.

after much travelling back and fro home to kl, the hubby and i managed to end up in new york this year; all in 2 weeks planning and luckily enough flew out a couple of days just before hurricane sandy hit. as expected, loved the city and everything about it - the lights, the late nights, the atmosphere... everything. i manage to catch up with friends i haven't seen in a decade and now everytime i watch a movie shot in new york, i scream "new york!!". someone's gonna get sick of me eventually >_<

the beginning of the year was a bit of a whirlwind. started with ups and downs. some downs too private to share and some downs turning into ups. there was the difficulty in selling our apartment but yet we were able to buy the house we wanted and surprisingly it all worked out. the hubby and i always grateful that although we may not be the rich, but we're lucky in what matters and that we do live comfortable lives.

i turned the big 3-0 this year with no major parties since the hubby was overseas. i did however get a very belated surprise giant birthday cupcake when he came back. and when i say surprise i mean surprise considering i starting singing along to the birthday song not realising that it was for me.

became the proud housewife when i made tong yuen (glutinous rice balls) from scratch for the winter solstice. not that i wasn't the proud housewife before ... but seeing it was so pretty and something different from the everyday house cooked dinners i couldn't help but beam in happiness. one step closer to being a stepford wife. hahahahaha .. that's never gonna happen!

i got the chance to overcome my slight fear of go-karting and now go full throttle without that thought stuck in my head that i will overturn at corners. now i just need to learn to cut the corners right. *evil grin*

dyed my hair purple... then pink. welcomed a few cute adorable babies into the world, non of which are mine of course and built more lego this year than i have ever built in my life. this year flew by so quickly i didn't even have time to blog about it. now to bring on the new year!

happy new year!

twenty twelve

twenty eleven went by really quickly and now it's already twenty twelve! it started off with me being sick on new years day which i'm guessing it was probably my own fault for not keeping myself hydrated properly while camping out the whole day to catch the fireworks. i have a pretty good excuse... the toilets were a good walk away and you should have seen the faces of people when they opened the stall and opted not to go o_O

we went to the exact same spot we camped out at last year, better prepared and a lot more supplies. we had plenty of packet drinks, food, snacks, books, magazines, softer flooring and even a tent! we were a little worried as it was raining in the morning and was looking really gloomy but it completely cleared up later in the day. there wasn't a single cloud out there. then we remembered to slap on plenty of sun screen (except one fella) before we got burnt. i also took note to ensure i don't get any funny tan lines on my shoulders completely forgetting about my watch which has now left a lovely white strip on my wrist.

it was a pretty long wait till midnight but we entertained ourselves. poor G felt the excitement half an hour before the fireworks and snuggled into a corner of the tent with my jumper and hid. the fireworks were as spectacular as i remember them last year but somehow i didn't feel as grand? amused? i can't quite explain. i reckon this would be the last year we'll be camping at this spot. also because we will no longer have someone living closeby for the convenience.

oh and did i say no one brought their SLRs this time round?? photos were taken with our iphones and my polaroid camera... unfortunately my attempt at taking fireworks with the polaroid did not quite work out. well i hope everyone had an enjoyable new year's and i'm sure there's lots of exciting things to look forward to this year!