Family Christmas exchange!

An annual affair for the Lim family since some years ago =) Christmas doesn't feel like Christmas without any gift exchange! So this year, we each were secret Santas for someone in the family.. Haha! It was supposed to be top secret until I clumsily dropped the piece of paper which has the name of the lucky person (daddy dearest) whom I'm getting the present for on it, in the toilet =p

Which led to my detective-like sister trying to guess/find out who our respective secret Santas were.. Haha! So that aside, I proceeded to get the gift for daddy.. And small little gifts for the rest =)

Our Christmas gift exchange!

Brother is my secret Santa!

Followed by ah qi buying for brother...

My gift to daddy!

Daddy buying for mummy...

And finally mummy presenting her gift to ah qi!

Everyone started unwrapping their presents and it's such a joy to see the smiles and laughter on everyone's faces.. It's always the thought that counts!

And I received the running man tshirt from brother, with some car models from mum and dad =)

Mr Koh and I had our gift exchange separately too.. With the theme being "creating memories", I got him a digital photo frame with some preloaded photos of us, while he got me a DIY canvas painting set (knowing that I've always wanted to try that) =)

We concluded the family gift exchange with a toast of Taiwan beer.. Haha! Nice~

Counting down 2 days to 2013.. It's so fast! Sometimes, I just wished time could stop or just slow down a little =p

 

 

Santa Claus came to town!

It's still Christmas Day, so I'm not too late to wish everyone a joyful and merry Christmas! Haha..

 

Christmas this year has been great for me! =) Full of gatherings, meet ups, good food and of course a lot of good food *yums* haha..

 

Mr Koh bought me an iPad mini!! Hahaha.. Which I affectionately call 'Minnie' =) this is my Christmas + v'day and anniversary gift.. Haha.. (We still have our themed Christmas exchange which I will blog about another day) =p

I'm now a proud owner of this chic and stylish piece of gadget.. Which is totally life changing and mind blowing.. Haha.. I know I'm a laggard =p but it's really amazing! Opened my mind to the wonders of technology.. It's high time I start embracing technology.. Haha! So the Christmas weekend was spent exploring my Minnie and attending personal iPad lessons from Mr Koh.. Haha! Who is so sweet to buy me an iPad mini! *hugs*

 

Fast forward to Christmas Eve, we treated ourselves to TODAI! Omg... The crabs were sooooo good~ I've never had any other crabs that tasted sweeter than what we had there! Snow crabs, red crabs, Alaska king crabs.. I love crabs! Haha.. Such an indulgence, along with other seafood, meat dishes and desserts =p

 

Atas buffet!

Crabby overdose!

 

Cheers! *jingle bells*

I shall slowly blog about my gatherings and meet ups with friends at a later date.. For now, here's wishing everyone a merry joyful and fruitful Christmas! =)

 

2013 is just a few days away.....

 

 

My 3rd time to Taipei!

This time round, I went to Taipei with my family! Brother couldn't join us as he had exhausted his annual leaves for his honeymoon earlier =p

Knowing that Taiwan is on Daddy's 'top to go countries' list, we decided to head over to Taipei this December holidays! =) really looked forward to the 15 degrees weather~

Though it's my third time there, I still looked forward to travelling overseas.. As the trip planner/tour guide for this trip, I planned to go to a few places which I hadn't had the chance to visit during my previous trips to Taipei..

As I'm using my phone to blog, I only have a limited amount of pictures to post.. Haha!

It was an enjoyable trip nevertheless, with daddy and I snapping more than 3000 photos, where we ate non stop, mummy ah qi and I bought 19 pairs of shoes altogether, tonnes of souvenirs, bags, foodies, etc.. And of course many happy memories and fun times! It would have been better if there was no rain.. (P.s. poor ah qi lost her iPhone in Taipei, and we had a 'rare' opportunity to visit the police station and sit inside a police car) hahaha.. Really rare! =p

Unforgettable trip~ but most importantly, I'm glad the folks enjoyed themselves! When we were young, parents took care of us and brought us overseas.. so this time round, it feels extra good to bring them overseas, to relax and sightsee =)

Cosy coffee and breakfast places~

Been to a few breakfast and coffee places recently and I must say I'm loving them more~ =)

Coffee houses used to be one of my favourite haunts, and they still are!

Maybe coz I'm no longer a student (since some xx years ago), I hardly had much opportunities now, to immerse myself in the lovely aromas of coffee and to people watch as time go by slowly =p it's such a joy! So I jump at every opportunity to explore and relax at coffee houses..

So one of my new year resolutions for 2013, is to visit more unique coffee houses and to enjoy life more! =)

Back in my student days, my usual haunts were coffee bean, Starbucks, pacific coffee, coffee club and tcc.. Now more and more interesting-themed cafes and coffee houses are sprouting out by the dozens!

Recently I've been to Chye Seng Huat hardware coffee during lunch time (yes, it's not a typo), they retained the former shop name and transformed it into a coffee and breakfast place! Lovely coffee they serve, breakfast is nice too! Not going to do a review here coz I think others can do a better job =p

Mr Koh and I also visited eggs and berries at Changi city point, where they serve all day breakfast too~ not too bad, but serving was small.. The interior deco's pleasantly colourful and pretty =)

And the hunt for nice coffee and breakfast places continues~~

Rider's cafe on a rainy day~

As the title suggests, it was a wet journey and day at the rider's cafe, secretly tucked in a corner of Bukit Timah~ but it definitely felt like I was overseas.. Haha.. There were few cars, lots of trees and field patches, cafes housed along the sides of the roads and of course horses!

Heard much about the rider's cafe but always thought it was more easily accessible and visible from the main roads.. Pleasant surprise it was~ it almost felt like a little town =)

Light snacks were served at the cafe coz we missed the brunch timing, but that's fine, the cheesecake was awesome! I've never tasted nicer cheesecake, it's true =p

We had hot mocha and cappuccino to go along with the cheesecake and chicken skewers~ very comforting on a cold and wet day =)

We strolled to the nearby horse riding club to get up close with the horses and ponies~ they looked bored in their little stables, but I guess they are very well looked after.. We saw many expat children taking riding lessons there, it really felt like I wasn't in Singapore =p

My closest encounter with horses was when I visited a farm in Australia when I was very young (9 or 10?) and I remembered riding a little pony, and I was truly terrified! Haha.. These kids at the riding club are way more brave and adept =p

As with usual exploration trips around Singapore, we were armed with our slew of cameras, snapping away moments and memories of the place =)