Of Wedding Bells & New Year

After the very busy Christmas, I had another busy weekend attending weddings. It was quite exhausting waking up super early almost everyday that I feel like I can doze off anytime now because of the busy weekend! Zzzzzz...

Honestly, I'm not a fan of weddings. I mean I of course I'm happy for the couple but I'm just not so gungho about attending weddings where you eat almost the same dishes and sometimes have to bare with the aunties and uncles who just couldn't get enough of singing heart-breaking songs at people's wedding. I'm not even so excited to think of games to make fun of the groom and his heng dais... But obviously there is no way for me to skip one of my best friends and cousin sister's weddings! 
Ah Fa's wedding dinner took place in Klang and it was quite a simple wedding and surprisingly cool without any karaoke session (phew~ Thank god for that)! It was especially nice to see Ah Fa's mum after so many years! I bet she is very happy now that Ah Fa is in good hands of a very good man! :)

Surprisingly, I love the deco at Ah Fa's wedding! 

Me and the lovely bride! :)

The next morning I was part of the Ji Muis group who tested the groom and heng dais' patience! Although I'm still not a fan of this 'ritual', I must admit I enjoyed seeing the 'chu men' session, especially the final part where the groom, Peng Han had to read out the 'contract' loud and sang a song before getting into the room to see Ah Fa! So touching I hope Deardo would do that to me too! :p

The ji muis and the newly-weds after the whole 'chu men' session! 

To Ah Fa, once again, CONGRATULATIONS and make sure little Ah Fas and Peng Hans come soon okay! *wink~*

Next up, cousin Sin Fei's wedding where almost the whole family gathered once again, even before CNY! :)

The Tan family photo after the morning tea ceremony.

Her wedding dinner has more programmes in the itinerary but as Deardo puts it, it was by far the only wedding that you feel very comfy because the Jazz band was really good and professional, the speeches from the newly-weds and their dads were sometimes funny and sometimes damn touching I couldn't even hold on to my tears! 

I love Sin Fei's pre-wedding photos! It just proofs that you don't need to fly overseas to have nice photos! 

Reunited with Patricia, my colleague/friend in Perth! 

Lovely family portrait with nice contrast of colours too hey! 

I can't remember when was the last time Deardo and I took such a proper photo together! 

Sin Fei's wedding also means a lot to me because it was the day I refreshed myself as an emcee after probably four years? It didn't hit me so much until I went into the ballroom for rehearsal! My hands were so freaking cold and I kept telling Deardo I'm so nervous! Good thing is Deardo is also quite good at presentations so he encouraged me a lot telling me there is nothing to be worried about. And whenever I said a line I'll look at him where he would give me a thumb-up or a nod to signal it was all good! He really made me feel better throughout the night! Of course, my family members also supported me a lot! Papo, who also does emcee for his club's events also gave me great words of encouragement; Mamo said I can go do freelance emcee-ing now and Ducum and Vivian simply gave me thumbs-up whenever I was back to the table for my break! 

Emcee Shirlexia in the house... Still loving the job a lot! :)

Because it was also my first time emcee-ing at a wedding, there are of course rooms for improvements. But luckily enough it went on pretty well, or perhaps I should say much better than what I've expected! I wasn't shivering at all, no tongue-tied moments, etc, only a slight glitch where I forgot to ask everyone to stand for the toasting session until the photographer nudged me! I've certainly gained a lot of confidence through the experience! So to future emcee jobs, bring it on!!! 
For that, I would like to thank Sin Fei and Ivan for trusting me and for the opportunity to be a better emcee. And to Deardo, Papo, Mamo, Ducum and Vivian, thanks so much for your support because I think without your encouragement and supports, I wouldn't have done so well that night! 

*My apology for not sharing more photos because these are the ones I manage to gather so far!

I've got no time to do a review post of 2012 but looking back, the highlights of the year should be: moving into our new house, bringing Deardo to Perth to see where I've lived for two years, getting engaged and going on a work trip to Russia.
I'm expecting a crazy 2013 as we prepare for our big day! This itself will definitely take up most of our time, energy and money. And I can tell you so far only the date and location are fixed, nothing else is confirm! 
For the rest of it, I wish that in the year 2013, I can:
1) Be appreciated more for what I do at work
2) Have more time for movies
3) Have more time for my blog
4) Have a slimmer body
5) Have more money
6) Have all my family members to be healthy so that they can attend my wedding! :)

So to all you guys out there, HAPPY NEW YEAR and have a great year ahead~! :D

Ha Ha Ha~ Merry Christmas~!

So how was Christmas, guys? 

Well my Christmas was crazy as I've had a super busy schedule preparing dinners on both 23rd and 24th, which is also the Christmas eve. The Christmas eve dinner was particularly special because it was the first X'mas party Deardo and I hosted in our new home. We invited all my aunties and cousins and Deardo's parent. No turkey, but whole loads of other food for a total of 12 persons! Thank god for Vivian who came earlier to help out! Phew~!

Tried to be organised with list of food to make and timeline but still screwed-up sometimes. :p

Here's a look at out dining table with all the dishes and pretty Christmas deco! :)

Spot my tiny Christmas tree! 

Should I say Vivian and I cooked up a storm in the kitchen? LOL!

Seafood Voulavent! 

Potato and Mushroom Pie

Oven Roast Chicken.

Plan B Inspired Meat Ball Pasta Sauce. Recipe here. 

Everybody's favourite of the night - Chorizo Sausage with Chick Peas. Recipe here. 

Some Stir-fry Baby French Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Mushrooms. 

Macaroons from Chef Karam!!! Yumzzz...

I've finally tried making Voulavent and it was not hard at all! I will share the recipe very soon! So stay tuned! 
Deardo also didn't want to miss the chance to show off his signature Aglio Olio and they were gone in less than 10 minutes!

Deardo's Aglio Olio! 

Love how my family members stayed so crazy like they are even when meeting Deardo's parent for the first time! Pretty sure they had great fun joking around and having (should be) nice food! :) 

I super love this photo of 2e, Uncle Mike, 4e, 3e and Uncle Thong! 

Even Deardo's parent were having fun that night! :)

Group picture of us having tea/coffee/beer/wine, minus Vivian the photographer! 

I was quite exhausted after cooking and cleaning the house whole day long but I truly enjoyed looking at them enjoying the food and the party! I must say I'm very proud of being part of the family which is cool and crazy plus loving at the same time! I mean, not many families are like us, we get together every now and then for meals or even for badminton. We joke, laugh and tease each other like nobody's business... It certainly takes a very strong bond and very open-minded family members to have such cool relationship with our aunties and cousins! 

Vivian likes to stick with me!

Cousinssssss!!!

Deardo and I forced to make some funny poses...

Well this was supposed to be James Bond and the girls... :p

So yes, I had a great Christmas celebration! Not sure if I'm going to throw another party like this any soon but I think I need some massage very badly now! Any recommendations?
As I will be super busy again the coming weekend, allow me to wish you guys in advanced...
HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!! Oh and yes, it should be a super good one since end of the world NEVER happened! :D

Plan B Inspired Meat Balls Pasta

Deardo and I love Plan B a lot and one of our recent favourites is their Moroccan Lamb Meat Balls Pasta. After a few times trying the dish, I've decided to try to make it at home, based on whatever I can taste from the dish at the restaurant. So far I've tried to make it with minced chicken and minced pork and photos below show the one that I've used minced chicken.

What you need:

Spaghetti, Tomato basil garlic paste, chopped garlic, chopped onions, minced (pork, chicken, beef or lamb), cumin, eggplant cut into rectangular shapes, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, bits of cornflour, coarse black pepper, pepper, soya sauce and salt to taste.

What you need to do:
(Meat Balls)
1. Mix the onion with the minced meat, add in pepper, black pepper and soya sauce (or salt) and stir evenly.

2. Add in some cornflour to soften the meat and to make it easier for you to roll into balls.

3. Roll into balls with both palms. Size of the meat balls is up to your own preference.

4. Now heat up a pan with some oil, then pan fry the meat balls until they are cooked. Removed and set aside on a sheet of kitchen paper.

(Vegetables)
1. You can use the same pan, heat it up with some oil, then put the eggplant in and pan fry them till they turn soft. This might take some time, perhaps about 15 minutes. 

2. Now add in the cherry tomatoes and continue to cook.

3. Until the tomatoes also turn soft, remove all the vegetables and set aside. 

(The Tomato Paste)
1. Heat up the pan with some oil, simmer the chopped garlic till they turn a little brownish.

2. Add in the cumin and continue to stir. You should be able to smell the nice fragrant from the cumin by now. In my opinion, cumin is the most important ingredient used in this dish.  

3. Now pour in generous amount of the tomato paste. Dump the fresh basil leaves in as well. 

4. Now add in the meat balls and allow the paste to boil.

5. Now add in the vegetables and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

6. Add in some salt and black pepper to taste and your paste is done. You can either add the parboiled spaghetti in to cook for a while or simply just pour the paste over the cooked spaghetti to serve. I also recently found they sprinkle some white sesame on top of the dish, so you can try that too!

The spaghetti is unique in a way that it has all the nutrition you need in a dish, both meat and vegetables. The cumin also made the dish smells and tastes very interestingly yummy! :)
My experience tells me that minced chicken isn't a good choice for the dish. The texture made it too hard to roll it into balls and taste wise also very so-so. Minced pork was way better. I'm trying to get minced lamb to make this dish for one of our Christmas dinner and I do believe that it should taste better!
Are you still thinking of what to cook for Christmas? This might be a good idea, hey?

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Our 1st X'mas Tree & My X'mas Wish List

Jingle bell~ Jingle bell~ Jingle all the way~!

Me and ma colleagues having fun with the jingle bell... Or is that what you call it? 

While I've never really celebrated Christmas in my entire life, I've always love the celebration and the songs! I mean the celebration and the music always make you feel warm and lovey dovey, don't you think so? And love it or hate it, Christmas songs are definitely nicer than CNY songs!
This year, despite the fact that people are saying the end of the world is coming before you can even think of celebrating Christmas, I'm already full-on with the Christmas mood! Okay, I know it could be simply because we are in a new house that we are super gungho about things, but well whatever lar, we have set up a Christmas tree in our house! Our first one together as a couple for Deardo and I and the very first Christmas tree of my life! Woot~!

The technical part for Deardo to take care of...

It took us less than 30 minutes to set up and decorating the tree and I had great fun decorating the tree! Oh I know how hard it would be to dismantle them but let's just keep that till later! :p The tree and most of the bells came from Deardo's parent but I also bought extra stuff to make the tree a bit more fashionable! :p

Aesthetic part is surely for Ms. Shirlexia to handle...

And ta da... (with hands waving at the side of the tree)

Top: with lights in the living room, bottom: without the lights in the living room 

I just couldn't stop admiring and smiling looking at the tree that at one point Deardo thought I've gone insane! It really feels more like home that every night when we got home there it is, the Christmas tree with LED lights blinking all over! :D

Decoration for the dining table too!

I actually bought a smaller Christmas tree for our dining table because again, out of gungho-ness of being in a new house, we have invited two gangs of family members to our house for Christmas dinners. Note: it's dinner(S) not dinner okay? I feel exhausted just by thinking about it but I know this will only happen maybe like, this year? Cos new house mah... Sure more excited to hold parties all that, right?

My Little X'mas Wish List
1) More time so that I can complete my work in the office
2) More time so that I can have time to plan for our Christmas dinners!
3) More time so that I can properly plan and practice for my emcee job at Sin Fei (my lovely cousin sister)'s wedding on Dec 31! Aaarrrhhh... Excited yet no time to do anything yet!!!
4) More time so that I can rest properly

... Looks like I'm seeking for more time and if it is not too much, end of the world better not come because I NEED MORE TIME!!!