Pandemonium, then Normalcy.

Last weekend, my four sisters and their families descended on an unsuspecting me, as youngest sis, based in Melbourne, is in town......PANDEMONIUM ruled!!!! 

Look at us.... a picture of togetherness, love and closeness YOU CAN FEEL!!!! 
This is a picture of normalcy.....what it usually is...the calm before the storm! 

 The side garden being invaded by lookalikes!!!!!

As always, when relatives come together in Malaysia, the favourite pastime is eating!!! After a long drive from Singapore, and using the GPS to find my place, this dinner is the first thing that greeted them...cooked by the maid. 

Laeti is too tired to eat! 

Even though late, they just had to have a conducted tour and a spot of reflexology. 

The next morning, the luverly ladies turned the son's room into a gym 

                                              Breakie!!!! 

Primping and preening in front of "feng shui bad news" bedroom mirror!! For us, we like to defy Lillian Too.

Watching........FANN WONG's wedding. I like Fann Wong but Singaporeans adore the very ground she walks on. 

Took lots of "Four Sisters" shots in the garden.....pls see Facebook for more photos.

Not to be outdone, these girls also posed...but they have what we don't: the bloom of youth!!!

Under my weepy bush that I refuse to let them cut.... 

After taking tons of piccies under this tendrilly plant (someone tell me its name) 

it was unceremoniously chopped and lopped off!! Resistance as they say, is futile. It wept. I wept. We wept silent tears.  That's why I call it weeping bush, like weeping willow. 

In my excitement of seeing all my sisters and nieces and nephews, I slipped and fell down these stairs ( I wore the Cookie Monster slippers that I bought for the children)!!! 
 
So, Ken gallantly offered to take them out to let me stay at home to nurse my wounds. 

Pssst!!!! Note Small Ah E's Chanel Watch! 

Can you spot the very same watch here?   Ha ha ha!!!  Kebetulan! 

Petaling Street still has all the sights and sounds but not as sightly or sound as the PS of old. 

Spanking new decor of some new joint in Petaling Street (I would rather go for old rickety shops!) 

No matter, this eatery though new and refurbished, has been featured in newspapers 

Wah...look what I (and you)  missed!  

So yummy!!!!  (Dunno what is what..I didn't go mah)

Look! There's Andy Lau and Carol Chu trying to go incognito!!!! 

The they went to the Nyonya Place at the Gardens to meet up with Small Ah E's friend. 
 The marketing that Irene did at Cold Storage

She did the cooking ably and fantastically! 

Her brother chipped in 

What they concocted.... 

Beautiful presentation with a bonus: they tasted good too!!! 

I did not cook, but I made a grand entrance!!! 

 
 Sue was able to join us...I cannot believe our  side of the family is so big

Best 3 rd October 2009 Mid Autmnn Festival dinner with family and friends 

Enjoyed flower tea that was also visually pleasing, esp when the dried leaves burst into a flower! 

Jennifer's three girls brought some of their  own lanterns


 

The Three Ts........Terri, Tebbi and Talisha 

Our cousin the SIA airhostess once upon a time 

 


Silver haired daddy of mine was excitedly getting lanterns ready for the kids...he had emailed 6B Community to rally at the Linear park for a procession 
Ryan leading the procession...... 

The three Ts.....and below the two Hos... 

The younger kids were exhausted (Ryzie booked the top bunk) while the older ones went prawning

Next morning FOOD AGAIN!!! Puchong roadside street hawkers and restaurant 

Another big crowd with El joining us too! 

This is what the dining room looked like before (top) and after (bottom) 

Ryan Ryzie gives the cushion a final hug before he leaves!!!! 

This is what the sitting room looked like before(top) and after (bottom) they have left. 

 

Bye...bye....look at their sad faces....even  kitty is sad too.........Like Big Ah E said, we should do this more often!!!

Laeti the supermodel in the making.

When she was born, her mother the clairvoyant named her after the supermodel Laetitia Casta. She is growing up to be like one.

A born  natural in front of the camera...these series of shots are posed for and taken by her sister!

we did not even know until we viewed the pictures... 

Look! she achieved the perfect pose!!

Cheekily cute!!!! 

She treats the driveway like her runway

and strides confidently with those long limbs

nonchalantly she shashays like the runway is her right of way 

she coyly turns and gives a sidelong glance 

There!!!! a Mini Laetitia Casta!!!!

Four Sisters 15 years in between

Once upon a time there were 4 sisters...
one married power,
one married money,
one married country,
one married love.....
NO LAH!!!! we are not the SOONG SISTERS!!! We married ordinary men lo.

Nguk

Jade: stunning and already going to be married at 19!!

I mean here she is at 19 or 20...the following year she married and she is now grandmother of 3..backdrop is original Kluang temple before renovation..

Keun
Celery: late bloomer.....here already a mother of two ..pls forgive my fishnets...make me look slutty, tarty...oooohhhh....I hope I don't end up in Gutter!!

Lee

Beauty: never ages.... always same lustrous locks

Fong

Phoenix: Baby of the family, 15 years younger than big sis, the cutest, prettiest, tallest and most pampered  manja pot and vain pot. Pic taken by Uncle Desmond!!!

Guess who?.......so many years and kids later (pix taken by Ellie!!!)

Ha ha ha.....here we are, we've been through thick and thin, we did not have much, but we always had each other...big Ah E always mothered us, even though she is only a year older than me!!!
We never fought, even till now, we will do anything for each other!!! Thank goodness for FB, we connect and keep in touch.

Having so many girls were a bane in those days, but it is certainly a boon to us, for we treasure each other.

Thank you, Mum and Dad for having us and bringing us up, together with our dear one and only brother right smack in between us girls!!!

Presenting Beautiful Jade, Beautiful Celery, Beauty and Beautiful Phoenix........wasn't my late dad good at giving names?

All had flown the nest, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne...except one who stayed back at Batu Pahat.

Gestures that touch your Heart

The most delicious mooncake I have tasted this year is durian ice-cream mooncake from Singapore. Not just because they were creamy, yummy with real to-die-for durian taste....but because of the touching story behind the purchase of the mooncakes.

My brother-in-law tasted the mooncakes earlier and since my sister was coming to visit me, he had to get it for me.

When he got to the store, it was all sold out. "You have to wait for delivery of the next batch"

Which was what he did!!! He waited! Very patiently! He waited so long the shop assistant was so touched she even gave him her own store of mooncakes since there was only one flavour left and she said those were the most "kan tong" mooncakes she had ever despatched.

Aren't you touched? I am. Thank you, Uncle Roger, it's geatures like this that overwhelms the heart.......

The beautiful packaging that insulates and keeps the ice cream from melting
Charcoal ping pei!
White snow skin, each mooncake is packed in its own styrofoam box!!

Both Small Ah E and I (with Ryan) enjoyed it very much, because we love durians!!!

Wine Tasting at Gardens Club

At my previous post I told you about my wine talk...so here are the pcitures and story....
The entrance of the Gardens Club...I had come here earlier for a Clarins Decollette workshop.

Door gifts: a thick recipe book that was more like a coffee table book

Cute little bottle of I P Chenet....from Cold Storage, ya, and some coupons for buying wine glasses

Table was already set, I chose this table for four

Even Jeremy the facilitator commented that the food was a bit too much for a wine tasting

As if the food at the table was not enough, there are extras here, with fried chicken

This setting is for six

A touch of local food: kuah bauhulu dipped in chocolate and Indonesian layer cake

A view of the events room at Gardens Club

Wine glasses are put on paper with the wines of the names on it.

Crackers, butter and cheese-topped bread

Two types of sausages and cheese sandwiches

I was early, even though I had shopped at Queens, Peel Road, and dropped by at Midah to shower, change and freshen up before driving to Gardens at 5

When I reached there in half an hour's time, Jeremy asked me "Traffic Jam?" Absolutely not! I breezed through Loke Yew, Hang Tuah and reached Mid Valley in no time. Parking was difficult though....took me a good few minutes, but steered clear of Gardens Premier Parking...RM5.00 and hour!!!

Nothing to do so took more pictures of food...tuna sandwiches, plain crackers, cherry tomatoes and zuchinni...

Cheese and crackers, crabsticks with more cheese

Can you believe it? These Chivas Regal buckets are for pouring away the wine. The presenter used this to spit!!!! Ewww, everytime he spat, I averted my eyes!!! Gross!

You think people are off work now to attend my course? This session is from 6 - 8 to cater to career people. Jeremy is from Singapore and he is the regional representative of Distell....."in plain words, just call me a salesman!"

This woman came with her husband, wild horses wouldn't drag my husband there

The wrong way to hold the goblet!! Must hold at the stem!!

The wines that we tasted was from Nederburg, South Africa....

1. Nederburg foundation Lyrics 2009,

2. Nederburg Manor House Sauv Blanc 2009,

3. Nederburg WM Reserve Cab Shiraz 2008

4. Nederburg WM Reserve Pinotage* 2007

5. NederburgManor House Cab Sauv 2007

6. Nederburg Manor House Shiraz 2007

7.Nederburg Fifa World Cup "Limited Edition" Sauvignon Blanc 2009

8. Nederburg FIFA World Cup "Limited Edition" Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

9.Obikwa Chenin Blanc 2009 and

10. Obikwa Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.

The FIFA World Cup wines will be launched soon, when the World Cup is going to be held in South Africa.

Jeremy liked this Manor House Shiraz (red wine) most of all.

*Pinotage is a graft of Pinot Noir and Hermetage....see, now I know quite a bit about wines!!!

The washrooms here are native inspired, woody and natural.

After all that wine tasting, a visit here is a must!!! At least I did not spit.

Queens Peel Road, and Wine Talk, Cold Storage by the Gardens Club

Went to Queens At Peel Road to shop for shower curtains at Home's Harmony, but the shop has closed down! Queens is a cute enclave of walk-in designer shops which reminds me of Champs Elysees (thought not of that standard lah)...with ample, safe, cheap parking (no need to drive up and down narrow ramps with concrete culverts that threated to graze your car) paved roads and shops that you can pop in and out without traipsing through a maze of clautrophobic stores like Megamall. But alas, this kind of shopping concept does not go well with Malaysians, and many of the stalls at Queens have already packed up!!!

Then I went to Mid Valley, but Aussino's curtains were sold out!! Finally found them at Jaya Jusco, was so desperate, I nearly grabbed all that were available!!!

Then I went to the Gardens Club to attend the Wine Talk. Am I not hardworking???? Always taking the trouble to attend these things!! Why not? It's free, got door gifts, and most of all, got FREE FOOD!!
Of course I learnt a lot about red and white wine (really!) ...these are from south Africa.



Friday, September 18, 2009, 10:03 PM

DEAR MRS KAREN LOO

The Gardens Club cordially invites you for a wine tasting session on Thursday, 1st Oct 2009, from 6pm to 8pm at The Gardens Club Lounge located on Level 4, The Gardens Mall.

Kindly RSVP latest by Monday, 28th September 2009 at The Gardens Club or call us at 03-2297 0233 (Limited seat available).

Thank you




This talk was conducted by Jeremy of Singapore and organised by Distell and Cold Storage. (I have no micro-reader here, am sharing it with daughter at Midah...so will post the pictures of the wine talk soon!)