Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Countdown to the parties
The past few days has seen me busily finalising stuff for the two parties on Friday and Sunday. Yesterday, I received the bulk of gifts and stuff contributed by parents for the children's hampers for Children's Day at school. The small bag for each child that I got using part of the PTA's sponsorship allocation was too small to contain the generous contributions, so luckily E brought home some freebie non-woven bags (the recyclable type that's so popular these days as corporate giveaways) for me and last night, we packed all the things into the bags. I'm expecting a few more packages today and on that day itself. The kids will be so happy to get them I'm sure. They'll be getting a lunch bag (with Ben 10 design for boys and Princess ones for girls), an activity puzzle book, a Rubik's cube, some stationery, toys and assorted snacks. The day will start off with entertainment (organised by the school) for the kids in the school hall. After that, we'll have the class party with food and games contributed and organised by parents.
As for Sunday's birthday party, we're expecting a very good turnout from Caitlin's classmates. Almost all of them (20+) will be coming based on the RSVPs. That will add up to about 30 kids (including cousins and friends) dancing and jumping around!I've also finished packing all the party packs and have just to finalise the food for that day. I should get it done by tomorrow as whoever I decide to get the food from will definitely need some notice. It shouldn't be too difficult as I'm not planning a large spread since it's around teatime. Some finger food for the adults and children alike plus drinks should do. Anyway, the venue is a dance studio and does not cater for proper sit-down functions.
As for Sunday's birthday party, we're expecting a very good turnout from Caitlin's classmates. Almost all of them (20+) will be coming based on the RSVPs. That will add up to about 30 kids (including cousins and friends) dancing and jumping around!I've also finished packing all the party packs and have just to finalise the food for that day. I should get it done by tomorrow as whoever I decide to get the food from will definitely need some notice. It shouldn't be too difficult as I'm not planning a large spread since it's around teatime. Some finger food for the adults and children alike plus drinks should do. Anyway, the venue is a dance studio and does not cater for proper sit-down functions.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Wedding mini 'vacation'
I am currently sitting in a room in Cyberview Lodge. I think this is my first time staying in a hotel room that comes equipped with a desktop computer with internet access. Other hotel rooms I've stayed in have internet access but no computer. I'm sure there are many hotel rooms that provide computer these days, it's just that I seldom stay in hotel rooms....
We're spending the night here just for a one-night weekend break. E's ex-colleague had her wedding here tonight so we took the opportunity (to spend money we didn't budget for!) to take a weekend break from the routine. Caitlin's school exams ended on Thursday, and we needed a break. After checking in, I went for a massage and facial at the spa while E and C waited for the rain to stop before going swimming.
I was hoping for the wedding to be a garden one. I've dreamt of garden weddings, (even for mine!) but this wedding wasn't one. They had it in the ballroom, a typical Chinese wedding dinner, although the garden area leading to the ballroom was decorated with flower arches and cocktail tables and chairs. As usual, dinner started late. That's one thing I never ever will understand and accept about typical Chinese wedding dinners. That's one of the reasons why E and I didn't have one.
The food is nothing to shout about, being typical hotel wedding fare. Although I don't mean any offence to the bridal couple (they seem like a wonderful, lively pair), the dinner was like any other i.e. start late, show slides of couple from baby, childhood, schooldays to adulthood and when they got together, slides of professionally-taken wedding photos, then the 'champagne' pouring, cake cutting and yam seng. And oh, they had live singers using minus-one accompaniment. One lady was frequently off-key....The decor, however, was nice.
C and I left after the fifth course. C was very tired and sleepy (after the swimming and feeling bored waiting, slow pace of the programme, actually I was bored too, the small talk was not stimulating enough). She was getting grouchy despite occupying herself with two brand new paperbacks. So we left E and took a short buggy ride back to our room. We could have walked but the buggy ride was a better way to get C back into better spirits to get her ready and cooperative for bed. She's now in dreamland and I'm still waiting for E to return. Finally got him after 3 calls. He got carried away catching up with ex-colleagues, didn't hear the phone ring and forgot to inform me....(what's new-lah,right?)
Anyway, sitting here in front of the computer is not making this one-night holiday any different from being at home and the effects of the massage I got this afternoon is wearing off by sitting here, so I'm shutting down the pc now and going to bed.
Hopefully breakfast and maybe a swim in the pool tomorrow will make up for the boring evening.
Poor Rusty, however, is spending tonight boarded at a pet shop where he's getting groomed tomorrow before we pick him up.
Now E is back with one flower arrangement from the wedding which the bride told him to take since she had paid for it. The florist bill amounted to RM12K.
We're spending the night here just for a one-night weekend break. E's ex-colleague had her wedding here tonight so we took the opportunity (to spend money we didn't budget for!) to take a weekend break from the routine. Caitlin's school exams ended on Thursday, and we needed a break. After checking in, I went for a massage and facial at the spa while E and C waited for the rain to stop before going swimming.
I was hoping for the wedding to be a garden one. I've dreamt of garden weddings, (even for mine!) but this wedding wasn't one. They had it in the ballroom, a typical Chinese wedding dinner, although the garden area leading to the ballroom was decorated with flower arches and cocktail tables and chairs. As usual, dinner started late. That's one thing I never ever will understand and accept about typical Chinese wedding dinners. That's one of the reasons why E and I didn't have one.
The food is nothing to shout about, being typical hotel wedding fare. Although I don't mean any offence to the bridal couple (they seem like a wonderful, lively pair), the dinner was like any other i.e. start late, show slides of couple from baby, childhood, schooldays to adulthood and when they got together, slides of professionally-taken wedding photos, then the 'champagne' pouring, cake cutting and yam seng. And oh, they had live singers using minus-one accompaniment. One lady was frequently off-key....The decor, however, was nice.
C and I left after the fifth course. C was very tired and sleepy (after the swimming and feeling bored waiting, slow pace of the programme, actually I was bored too, the small talk was not stimulating enough). She was getting grouchy despite occupying herself with two brand new paperbacks. So we left E and took a short buggy ride back to our room. We could have walked but the buggy ride was a better way to get C back into better spirits to get her ready and cooperative for bed. She's now in dreamland and I'm still waiting for E to return. Finally got him after 3 calls. He got carried away catching up with ex-colleagues, didn't hear the phone ring and forgot to inform me....(what's new-lah,right?)
Anyway, sitting here in front of the computer is not making this one-night holiday any different from being at home and the effects of the massage I got this afternoon is wearing off by sitting here, so I'm shutting down the pc now and going to bed.
Hopefully breakfast and maybe a swim in the pool tomorrow will make up for the boring evening.
Poor Rusty, however, is spending tonight boarded at a pet shop where he's getting groomed tomorrow before we pick him up.
Now E is back with one flower arrangement from the wedding which the bride told him to take since she had paid for it. The florist bill amounted to RM12K.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Interesting
Chanced upon this when I went into Yahoo!
A Halo Over Moscow
by Mike Krumboltz
And you thought rainbows were cool. A few days ago, a mysterious cloud shaped like a halo appeared over Moscow, and the buzz has yet to break.
We're the first to admit that a photograph of the heavenly cloud appears to be photoshopped. It's just so...perfect. But meterologists have spoken up and said the cloud wasn't digitally altered. However, it wasn't exactly what it appeared to be, either.
When the cloud initially formed, some UFO enthusiasts declared it to be a "true mystery." Some even compared it to the giant spaceship hovering over Earth in the movie "Independence Day." Reality quickly dashed any predictions of an alien invasion. An article from the Daily Mail explains that the "luminous ring-shaped cloud" was simply an optical effect.
An official spokesperson for Moscow's weather department said, "Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west — this is how the effect was produced."
The cloud loomed last week, but the searches are still soaring. Lookups on "halo cloud" and "moscow cloud" are both booming, and a video clip has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. You can check it out for yourself below...
A Halo Over Moscow
by Mike Krumboltz
And you thought rainbows were cool. A few days ago, a mysterious cloud shaped like a halo appeared over Moscow, and the buzz has yet to break.
We're the first to admit that a photograph of the heavenly cloud appears to be photoshopped. It's just so...perfect. But meterologists have spoken up and said the cloud wasn't digitally altered. However, it wasn't exactly what it appeared to be, either.
When the cloud initially formed, some UFO enthusiasts declared it to be a "true mystery." Some even compared it to the giant spaceship hovering over Earth in the movie "Independence Day." Reality quickly dashed any predictions of an alien invasion. An article from the Daily Mail explains that the "luminous ring-shaped cloud" was simply an optical effect.
An official spokesperson for Moscow's weather department said, "Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west — this is how the effect was produced."
The cloud loomed last week, but the searches are still soaring. Lookups on "halo cloud" and "moscow cloud" are both booming, and a video clip has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. You can check it out for yourself below...
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