Busy days and a packed schedule left little room for personal vacations, so when I signed off from work last Friday, my heart leaped for joy and I swear... I could hear heavenly choruses chiming in the air.
This trip was long overdue (The last time I was there was NINE months ago!) and this time around, I brought my two favourites along with me.
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Saturday (Dec 27th, 2014)
AM: Left our abode at 6:40am and the drive was very leisurely - sparse traffic and lovely weather.
Noon: We arrived in KL at noon, and headed for our first fill of the day.
Afterwards, we zoomed off to MV - The Gardens, and did our fair share in consumerism (read: shopping, lots of shopping). The post-Christmas sales were too good to pass on.
PM: Dinner at Madam Kwan's and dessert, times two.
Nasi Bojari. |
Banana Fritters (divided into three portions) to make way for a second helping of dessert later on. |
Soft serve ice-cream with honeycomb. |
We arrived at Rosanne's a little after 10pm, washed up and spent the rest of the night laughing and catching up on goss.
Sunday (Dec 28th, 2014)
AM: Breakfast at my favourite boulangerie in town.
Eggs Florentine - Two perfect mounds of soft-boiled eggs, over spinach and white button mushrooms, lightly seared with Gruyere cheese sauce. |
Noon: We surveyed the goods at Bangsar Village, purchased a couple of things and moved on to greener pastures, Pavilion KL.
Cold pressed juice for lunch. |
PM: Supper for four - KL skyline as our backdrop, a bottle of red (only for the adults), patisseries from (what *this* golden tongued babe dubs as) the best bakery in town, mirth of the holiday season and some of the people that I treasure most in life with me... Life doesn't get any grander than this.
Monday (Dec 29th, 2014)
AM: Dim sum with Rosanne and her family.
Noon: Pepper Lunch Express, before we left KL for Penang.
Snapped a pic of Matt's lunch instead of my own, because mine looked pathetically bare without corn and spring onions. |
PM: Sugary treat for the journey home.
The Week In Review - Quality Time + Christmas, The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
By Melissa - Friday, December 26, 2014
Monday (Dec 22nd, 2014)
AM: Breakfast bowl - Meiji's Bulgaria yoghurt and a muesli bar.
PM: Dinner, heaps of giggles and lots of life updates with one of the youths I've had the pleasure of working with. It is incredibly heartwarming to see her bloom into a wonderful young lady.
Tuesday (Dec 23rd, 2014)
AM: Work.
PM: Thai and Christmas shopping at the eleventh hour of the season with my two favourites.
On the way home, I stopped by my ex-colleague's place to pass her birthday gift to her (I couldn't attend the party last weekend because I was in so much pain) and was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had a gift waiting for me too.
Thank you for this lovely Christmas gift, Smiley. You're a true sweetheart. |
Wednesday (Dec 24th, 2014)
AM: Macca's Apple Pie for breakfast, courtesy of Strawberry Shortcake.
PM: Ushered in the most wonderful time of the year with the people who matter most to me, my family (my two uncles included).
Thursday (Dec 25th, 2014)
AM - PM: Slept in, time with my family and succumbed into a food coma.
One of the most beautiful writings about Christmas by Spurgeon:
"Infinite, and an infant - Eternal, and yet born of a woman - Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman’s breast - Supporting the universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms - King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph - Heir of all things and yet the carpenter’s despised son. Wonderful are you, Oh Jesus, and shall Your name be forever."
Friday (Dec 26th, 2014)
AM: Last day of work for the year. *throws confetti into the air*
Noon: Kissing work goodbye and I'll be off to run errands all around town before my holiday kicks off tomorrow.
PM: Belated Christmas dinner with the bestie.
Christmas gift from my bestie. |
The Weekend That Was - 3rd Christmas Party of 2014, Princess For The Day + Rotten Sunday
By Melissa - Monday, December 22, 2014
Saturday (Dec 20th, 2014)
AM: Rose up bright and early to prepare for our (with Mi-Chelle and her two very adorable bubba-s) Christmas party.
This was the menu for our luncheon:
I prepared three items - two on Saturday, and one on Friday night - for the party, Mi-Chelle made two and all of us had a pretty swell time that day.
Super cute Christmas tree (made out of broccoli and cherry tomatoes) by Mi-Chelle. |
Roast Chicken by yours truly. |
Mashed potatoes for the adults and kid-friendly (read: no seasoning) cheese-baked mash. |
My piéce de résistance - Lemon Cheesecake. |
Delectable blueberry pie by Mi-Chelle. |
For little Kyra, the mane (pun intended) attraction for the day was...
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.
.
.
.
Trying out 101 types of pins on my tresses and making me her life-sized Barbie doll.
Miniature hair maestro at work. Note the carefully perched tiara on my head. |
I decided early on that I'll be using brown paper (got uber excited when I saw a whole roll at Midvalley's Muji, rashly bought it on the spot and had to lug it with me all around the mall) as wrapping paper for Christmas presents this year.
On its' own, brown paper was slightly plain, so I jazzed it up a little by adding a couple of knick-knacks...
PM: Dinner and family time with my two uncles.
Sunday (Dec 21st, 2014)
AM - PM: Severe abdominal cramps all through the day. I could hardly get up from my bed and I had to miss church, my ex-colleague's birthday party and a family dinner. What a bummer!
My resistance finally broke and I took in a painkiller at 8pm. For the rest of the night, there it was... That blessed ease from pain.
The Week In Review - 12-Hr Work Day, Career Crossroad, Evening Date + They're Here!
By Melissa - Friday, December 19, 2014
Monday (Dec 15th, 2014)
AM - PM: Work, work, work.
Tuesday (Dec 16th, 2014)
AM: Work.
PM: Met up with one of my ex-colleagues for drinks, before we both headed back to our respective homes for dinner. She has become one of the dearest of friends.
Wednesday (Dec 17th, 2014)
AM - PM: 12-hour work day.
What should have been a 15-min leisurely drive home turned out to be a 45-min slither through traffic, in the pouring rain.
I've seen better work days, but the upside to the day was probably the arrival of the first batch of calendars, a copy of which will be given to every employee in CM in the weeks to come.
Names have been redacted for privacy purposes. |
I was musing over the effort I've put in to oversee this entire project - the hours spent researching and coordinating everything with the entire team (so. many. people... and I am so not a people person), dealing with last minute changes (while trying my utmost best to not rip anyone's head off) and most importantly, learning through it all - and that made cradling the finished product in my hands so much more precious.
Burnt skin, lack of rest, sweat and quite possibly the loss of more than a few wisps of hair... Worth it... Totally worth it.
Thursday (Dec 18th, 2014)
AM: Breakfast bowl - Sliced bananas and a muesli bar.
Burnt skin, lack of rest, sweat and quite possibly the loss of more than a few wisps of hair... Worth it... Totally worth it.
Thursday (Dec 18th, 2014)
AM: Breakfast bowl - Sliced bananas and a muesli bar.
Was offered a new position in CM, which involves a change in job scope and responsibilities. I've been asked to mull it over and return with an answer on Monday.
Looks like I need to do some soul-searching and weighing this weekend.
Noon: Double birthday celebration for my colleagues.
PM: Family time.
Friday (December 19th, 2014)
AM: Breakfast bowl - Meiji's Bulgaria yoghurt and a muesli bar.
PM: Dinner with two of my favourite people in all the land and a trip to TESCO after, to prep for tomorrow's Christmas Party with two of the cutest munchkins of all time.
Saturday (Dec 13th, 2014)
AM: Breakfast date with my one and only sibling.
Noon: Managed to catch up on some reading - two lovely and unperturbed hours - at Starbucks, while waiting for The Sister to finish her appointment.
Sunday (Dec 14th, 2014)
AM: Church.
PM: Family dinner with my godbrother. Introduced him to the best tandoori chicken in town, and he loved it!
Same pic as before, but added in to this post because of its' mouthwatering effect. |
The Week In Review - Branded Eyebags, A Trip To The Printer's, XXX Drink + CM's Christmas Party 2014
By Melissa - Friday, December 12, 2014
Monday (Dec 8th, 2014)
AM: Snailed all the way to my cubicle, hoping to shake off leftover dementia from a packed weekend.
I was lamenting about the bags under my eyes (and all the longtime sufferers of rest scarcity say...) to a friend and after
Tuesday (Dec 9th, 2014)
AM: Went to Prai with my colleagues to visit the printer's. Did a colour-check to ensure that the tones are accurate, signed off on it and finally, *this* project is going on print... *sheds tears of joy*
Snuck a photo of the fancy printer in motion. |
Wednesday (Dec 10th, 2014)
AM: Work.
Noon: Lunch plate - Mushroom soup and garlic bread (made with ciabatta).
PM: Jap fix with the bestie.
Thursday (Dec 11th, 2014)
AM: Downed my vitamin water and nearly spurted out a mouthful. The cause?
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The cheeky text on my drink bottle.
Ever been seduced by a fruit? Get ready for your first time, lover. Our three way blend of acai, blueberry and pomegranate canoodles perfectly with C and B vitamins that might even tease the teeny bits of your inner biology. We've seen you looking at us. You're already imagining what it's like to be caressed by our blend of beautiful berries, aren't you? We'll squeeze you till the pips squeak. Triple the berry means three times the seduction - So good it's xxx rated.
Creative writing, laced with witty xxx innuendos. Totally made my morning.
PM: Armed with a mug of hot sencha and plugged in to one of my favourite jazz artistes, I decided to take some time alone, not think or rationalize anything and just... be.
Friday (Dec 12th, 2014)
AM: Breakfast bowl - Fresh peach and a muesli bar.
PM: Later tonight - CM's annual Christmas Party, followed by gift exchange.
My contribution...
Handmade gift tag. |
The Weekend That Was - First Christmas Party of 2014 + Wedding Dinner
By Melissa - Monday, December 08, 2014
Saturday (Dec 6th, 2014)
AM: The first (since-I-can't-recall-when) Saturday that I'm able to sleep in without worrying about needing to handle a to-do later in the day.
Tossed and rolled around in bed till 10am, got up, took a warm shower and set off for a last-min shopping trip on my own.
PM: First Christmas party of the year, expedited by 3 weeks for my cousin.
Home-cooked dinner spread. Grainy pic because of the dimmed lighting. |
My aunt outdid herself and made THREE types of dessert...
Chocolate Hazelnut cake. |
Apple cheesecake. |
Banana cream pie. |
Sunday (Dec 7th, 2014)
AM: Church.
PM: Godbrother's wedding dinner.
Donned a cocktail dress which I managed to get on a steal just a few days before the day. Fell utterly in love with the thigh-high slit on the dress.