Wishing everyone a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!

Winter has been cold, this year unlike last year, it is indeed a WHITE Xmas (we had a GREEN Xmas last year)..This year Xmas was celebrated in the office as well as with "the One" cousins.


We had an early company Xmas dinner on the 15th Dec at "The Fish house" where we were given a treat by our boss for the year's hard work. The food was delicious (sorry no pics, forgot to charge my battery, went dead before I can take pics of those nice food). It was fun having a great dinner just talking with each other rather than work stuff...


I had the Southwest Parchment Tilapia - which is Ancho spice marinated tilapia, veggies, fresh lime, cilantro roasted corn & whiteskin potatoes baked in a parchment pouch. Healthy and the sweetness of the vegs all contained in that parch, yumyum! (the pic below is from the net, not the actual one but something similar to what is there ;)) For dessert, I had their signature "After eight cheesecake", of course that comes with the 'after eight" chocolate at the bottom and the cheesecake was baked around a crispy wafer..that was yummmyyy...



We even had a pot luck lunch in the office, everyone of us made a dish and had a hearty lunch! That's when I realised EVERYONE in the office can cook really really well! There's stewed beef, sushi, stuffed baked bell pepper, fried rice, broccoli fried with prawns and mango, chicken n vegetable curry and I? I made sweet lemon chicken. We had a vote for the 'best presentation', "best effort" and "best taste" awards.."best presentation" went to the sushi, "best effort" went to the stuffed baked bell pepper, I was at a tie with the no. of votes for "best taste", the colleague who made vegetable curry won over my sweet lemon chicken hehehe At the end of the day, we left the leftovers in the fridge and everyone had a second round of feast the next day :)

Just last Friday, 21st Dec, we had a 'Secret Santa' event..which is..everyone of us draw a name out from the box and we are supposed to buy gifts for that particular person. coincidentally, the colleague that I brought the present for, she was my 'Secret Santa' too! hahaha..

"The One" colleague has been really nice too..some of them gave him chocolates, liquor and the company had a Xmas buffet too..so over all, we both had a good Xmas..

Okie, so here, we'll like to take the chance to wish everyone a Merry Xmas and a wonderful new year!


Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear & "The One"

Winter 2007

This year winter came earlier than last year...I remembered last year, it didnt snow till late Jan and we had a Green Xmas. This year, it started to snow on the 22nd Nov and few days later, there was a winter storm alert..Gee, how different one year can be!

I remembered the nite when we were alerted of the winter storm, it started to snow heavily as well as freezing rain!

Snow plougers hard at work and look at the amount of snow accumulated on our balcony

Next morning, those freezing rain that landed on the pavement with the freezing wind had turn into ice (thats what I think people has been telling me, Beware of those '"Black ice")

Those red arrowed areas are the "Black Ice"

Have to be REALLY CAREFUL as if u step on those "Black ice", u can be doing some pretty 'ice skating' moves @~@!! I wonder how the old folks cope with this kind of winter, if i fall, ok, at least i can still get up with sore bums might be, if they fall..gee. they might not be able to get up and might get bone fracture or whatever! *shaking head at that tot*

That morning, I had to go to work myself..from my place to the bus stop, I had to walk along a pavement which usually took me like 3 mins, that day it took me more than TEN minutes! yupp, TEN minutes to walk that same pavement and almost a few time I nearly slipped and did some ice skating move! All those who knew me, will know i'm one with the WORST BALANCING ability! almost feel like crying and kept praying, assuring myself , "winnie, u will be ok, walk slowly, see carefully, ure getting there to the bus stop, just dont fall!!" That was an agonizing 10 mins and not forgetting when I reached the workplace, I had to walk another 3 mins from the bus stop and yup, u can imagine that will be another agonizing TEN minutes!

I feel totally like a turtle walking on ice

People always tell me, "ah, ure so good, can enjoy 4 seasons"..I admit, i do miss the 4 seasons when I'm in Sg. HOWEVER, that is if i'm in Australia! I did my studies in Melbourne, Australia, I DO LOVE the 4 seasons coz it doesnt snow in the city during winter (only up on the moutain tops)..Now, that is what i love! 4 seasons without the hazard hahaha

Now that I'm in the northern hemisphere (where its not too far from where Santa is), i hd to struggle with the FREEZING winter and the TERROR of wondering when I'll ever need to do figure skating on those "Black Ice"...

I still love being in Sg coz its always summer all year round, whenever I feel like hving a 'taste' of winter, just jet off to a country thats cold during the chinese new year break..enjoy that 2 weeks of snow and then i'm back to my tropical short sleeve, shorts attire..now that is one of the many reasons I LOVE Sg :)

Beach volleying and biking watching at Sentosa Beach, Singapore

Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

Stop Notification

This is to inform my blogging friends that I have decided not to blog anymore for now. I'll still leave this blog here till I decide at a later date what to do with it. However, I will still be doing the blog hopping (some of ur blogs are my daily readings! I think I read blogs more than I do for newspapers! ;))

thank you for the visits to my blog and for all the kind words, comments and fun we shared during this one year of my blogging.

Take care all and it has been a pleasure sharing knowing all of u...perhaps one day when I feel that itch to blog again (I hope I wont need to wait 7 years for that itch hehehe), I shall return ;)

Cheerios and keep smiling!

With love from PoohBear

Sweet pressie from L'abeille and X-T

L'abeille mentioned that X-T and her has a belated hatchday pressie for me..so i hopped over to their blog and was greeted with a very sweet pressie....





Thanks L'abeille and X-T!

I have to say thank you for all the friendships that I hv found along my journey of blogging (some who have went on to bond more than just on the blogs), but more importantly, these 2 bloggers: yenjai and kiddo who introduced me to blogging which open up another new world to me.

so in turn, i'll like to pass this award to

Yenjai, Mr. Whacko, Ruby, Daphne, Pearly, j.t., Firehorse, PiBani and CatCat

Thanks for just being you and for allowing me to be a part of ur world of friends....


Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

Happy Birthday Kiddo!!

Kiddo's birthday is exactly 2 weeks after mine (different year though :P) Today's my kiddo bro's birthday (but ure no longer a kiddo and is now taller than me) hehe..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDO!

Your Birthdate: November 20

You are a virtual roller coaster of emotions, and most people enjoy the ride.Your mood tends to set the tone of the room, and when you're happy, this is a good thing.When you get in a dark mood, watch out - it's very hard to get you out of it.It's sometimes hard for you to cheer up, and your gloom can be contagious. Your strength: Your warm heart Your weakness: Trouble controlling your emotions Your power color: Black Your power symbol: Musical note Your power month: February

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

my kiddo bro is one who's good with his comp stuffs (actually he's a smart kid, when he puts his mind to doing something, usually he will achieve whatever he sets out to do), he has been teaching me lots including internet, blogging, making movies with softwares and alot of other stuffs; I just wanna say, kiddo, thank you for sharing and teaching me along the way...although we do fight at times, sometimes ur blood pressure will rise beyond the roof (and you feel like throwing me out of the window ;P)but we always find peace after that, dont we? :P well, put it simply, thanks for being a fantastic bro :)

hv a happy happy birthday..many happy returns of the day!


Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from Jie and "The One"

p/s: we are very proud of u for all that u hv achieved in life so far :)

the 'loves' i received on my hatchday

The last post I mentioned about my birthday...these are the really sweet and wonderful presents I received 'across the miles..with lots of love, hugs, kisses, misses...' hehehe

Thank you for all the phone calls I received at different time of the day from around the world..from Singapore (family, gfs), from Australia (kiddo bro), from USA (sis-in-law), from Pakistan (mom and dad)...

These are a part of a BIG parcel that I received from home, I have "dissect" the parcel that comes with lots of love..in there there are lots of tshirts for me, one for "The One", lots of goodies, snacks for us..birthday red packet from mommy and daddy, thank you..a birthday card from jie and bro-in-law and the 3 little nephews (the 3 angels on the card represented my 3 little nephews)...and guess what that little pink figurine is for?

.............


.............


.............


yup..thats for my ipod ear piece..cheeky huh!! hahahaha..



other than the parcel from home, I received another cutey beary parcel from my close gfs and colleagues in Sg too (u ladies know who u are, i wont say too much in case i expose ur privacy hehehe) thank you for the forever friend bear bear with pic of u all, the snacks and especially those warm wishes hand written on the cards..miss u all too



last but not least, someone close to my heart, my "The One". As my birthday falls on a weekday, we did an earlier weekend celebration. We had a wonderful buffet and he got me a really nice winter jacket) :)

On my birthday, he didnt mention a word about my birthday in the morning... until the time when he came to fetch me at work and I mentioned to him the long distance phone calls I received wishing me happy birthday, he suddenly mentioned he forgot! Im sure u guys can imagine my face..hahahaha..i say 'ah, no cake one huh?'

It was raining that nite, although he did offer to go and get a cake, I figured, aiya raining and its getting late, I told him, "lets go home"..he looked so apologetic and said he will get one tomorrow to make up for it..

when we reached home, I was getting ready to prepare dinner..when i opened the fridge..there it is a CAKE hahaha my face lit up :P and beside the table was a card that reads, "To the woman I'm so glad I married....." hehe..i gave him a huggie and he gave me a cheeky smile n said "happy birthday!"

so to my Oscar award winner "The One"...Thank you for ur surprise :)

Thank you everyone for making me feel really 'special' on my special hatch day


Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

sorry for the interuption....

sorry that I hvent been updating my the blog as frequently as I should hv as there were some changes going around in my life at the moment and I'm still trying to figure my way around...

Just want to thank my family and girlfriends from sg who send me parcel and called on my birthday (6th Nov)...thank you for all those well wishes, greatly appreciated..thank you for taking the time, the effort to make me feel special on my 'hatchday', not forgetting my "The One" too :) I'll blog about that at a later date okie

meanwhile, take care all...

Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

my cravings....again...

The other day I was craving for something..I know, I know..I'm always craving this and that but what to do right? When you can't just buy it from the hawker centre like how we used to do it, we just have to cook it ourselves :P I'm sure alot of us who are away from home must share my cravings for those comfort food once a while, isnt it? ;)

So what do I crave again?....



...Something white,



...something with coconut,




...something with sambal chili...




but its actually something VERY SIMPLE...




YUP, its NASI LEMAK! (the pic was taken quite a while back) hehehe..

the rice is the key thing that i missed :P hehehe..i know the traditional call for pandan leaves but cant find those here, so I just skip that.

Coconut Rice

Ingredients
2 cups of rice
salt (to taste, about 1 tsp)
ginger (1 inch, cut into one whole slice about 7/8 pieces)
1 can (440ml) Coconut milk

Method
1.Wash rice, pour off all water
2.Add coconut milk, salt, ginger
3.Cook rice as per normal

with some chili season anchovies we got from the asian gorceries..some sambal chili left over from the Asia Prima pack hehe with some cucumber and omeletes..there done :P

cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

CartridgeFinder.com

Hubby and I recently bought a new Canon printer and have been printing lots of digital photos, I just realised that we will soon be running out of ink from all those printings. Jackie told me about this great cartridge finder website



They have a whole range of major brands such as Brother, Canon, HP, Epson and a Pricegrabber.com price comparison from different websites that offer the cartridges that we need; that really saves me all the trouble of having to view different website to compare prices to get me the best deal! I’m off to get some ink cartridges so that I’ll have enough ink to start printing my Christmas cards too!




*This is a PPP sponsored post

Happy Birthday Zander & Caden!!

happy 1st birthday to our little twin nephews

Zander & Caden!

Your Birthdate: October 25

You excel at anything difficult or high tech. In other words, you're a total (brilliant) geek. It's difficult for you to find people worth spending time with. Which is probably why you'll take over the world with your evil robots! Your strength: Your unfailing logic Your weakness: Loving machines more than people Your power color: Tan Your power symbol: Pi Your power month: July

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

I have only seen the both of you in mummy's tummy (scan pictures) but didnt get to see both of you when ure born..however, both of you are just as handsome and cute as your kor kor :)




This little leapfrog toy (little leap grow-with-me learning system) can be used from 9 months till ure 3 years old..good huh! kor kor can share oso hehe you can experience stories and songs via chunky Slide and Toggle buttons in Baby mode, when u outgrow this, u can play independently using the joystick in Toddler mode..learning numbers, letter names and sounds, and cause-and-effect. With the different dvd disc, you can even learn multi-langugages! ;P German, French, Spanish! wow..might be next time can grow up to be translator? hehe

they have different softwares like these:

u can string sounds, imitating familiar words. When ure a little bigger, u will progressively build vocabulary and begin to learn the principles of word order (red ball, not ball red). Matching objects, shapes, patterns, pictures and stories, letters to sounds and pictures to words, numbers and even learn them in Spanish, French and german too! ;P

kor kor can use this...The Backyardigans Learning Rhythm & Movement features five activities that teach key concepts. Move and dance with Uniqua, Tyrone, Pablo, and Tasha to explore animals, parts of the body, letters, names, and more! Play and learn in English, Spanish or French!

nice toys huh? might be juju can find these toys for u at the end of the year before he comes home from Australia...;P okie, here's yiyi and uncle wishing you both, lots of joy, happiness and blessings. Grow up healthy, strong and happy :)Love you

Lots of hugs, kisses,
With Love from Yiyi and Uncle

like this, like that and...

The other day "The One" and I was walking along and saw something like this...



ARGHHHHHH..how can the dog owners let their dogs (or cats or whatever pets) drink the water from the public water fountain that we human used to drink water too! (This picture is pretty modest, the actual act we saw was the owner carrying the pet up onto the fountain, and the dog actually lick the tap where the water came out from) ALAMAK, want to faint when I saw that..we told ourselves, never ever are we going to drink from public water fountain in parks!

I don't know if this happens everywhere else in Canada or in any other countries too but i do know that in USA (perhaps not all, but some states) they have a pet fountain like that....



Right at the bottom, a small water fountain for the animal, isn't this more logical and hygienic?

now don't say i didn't warn you...this might be what you might see next.....(click on link to view pic)

http://www.rumorguru.com/pics/fountain.jpg


hahaha now u better not drink from public water fountain huh!


Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

NCNatural.com Online Coupons Site

Now that Falls have arrived and the weather has turned chilly, I simply dislike the thought of going out shopping. What better way to shop than online in the comfort of home! With a cup of hot chocolate, typed in ncnatural.com, I’m on my way to shopping! Not having to go out in the cold, plus there are discount coupons for the merchandises on the website, wow, how good can that get! The merchants are categorized alphabetically it is so easy to find what I want.

Let’s see, my skin care product is just about to finish, time to replenish. Avon has a special offer to purchase the renewing eye cream for just $20 with either the Day or Night cream, sounds like just the right deal for me. Hubby has mentioned that the inks for the printer is getting low, the canon BJC-3 compatible ink cartridges on 123Inkjets is at a saving of 66%, dear will be very happy to know that. Oh yeah, not forgetting, Carrie mentioned that Sandy’s birthday is coming up. What should I get for her? How about some nice flowers? Any ladies will be delighted to receive bouquets on her special day. Will show Carrie what I picked from 1-800-flowers, a bouquet of beautiful exotic breeze orchids with a box of Godiva Chocolates. How sweet! I hope Sandy will be overjoyed when she received these beauties!


*This is a PPP sponsored post*

want to think younger?? ;)

We always heard or seen people going for plastic surgery just to look years younger..the other day I was reading the articles on realage.com and guess what..now there is more benefit to eating salmons and those healthy omega 3 fatty acids! :))

the article mentions that omega 3 fatty acids not only keep the heart healthy (as they help to keep arteries clear of fats), it also LOWERS THE RISK OF KIDNEY CANCER! Not only that fatty fishes are full of Vit D (Vit D is essential esp in helping the absorption of calcium that makes ur bone strong)...the good news? Eating only healthful fat can make your RealAge 3.4 years younger!! Hurray!! hehehe

this is the link if you want to read more okie..
http://www.realage.com/news_features/tip.aspx?cid=18352

if you're like me, who like to watch Oprah shows..then u will be familiar with Dr Oz whos always on her show..this is one of the articles that he co wrote with another Dr, Dr. Roizen

6 Foods to Keep Your Mind Young
http://www.realage.com/doctorCenter/Articles.aspx?aid=10442

yup, ure right on...

NUTS - makes men look 3.3 years younger, women 4.4 years younger!!)



FISHES - makes you look 2.8 years younger



SOYBEANS - 0.4 years younger



TOMATO JUICE AND SPHAGETTI SAUCE - at least 1 year younger



OLIVE OIL, NUT OILS, FISH OILS, FLAXSEED, AVOCADOS -
3.4 years younger!



REAL CHOCOLATE (AT LEAST 70% COCOA) - 1.2 year younger





wow..so now, can ask hubby for more gorcery money ( this is 'cheap' huh, if he wants to save more so that I'll spend less on medication when i get older! hahaha)

Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

A nice surprise from Holland....

Received this in the post....




it is always a wonderful feeling to receive something in the mail isn't it? what so special receiving a post card you asked? well, because this post card is from Pearly!

yup, our Pearly in UK; the great chef, wonderful mom and wife to her 3 beautiful children and her Derek :) Thank you Pearly, that is very sweet and thoughtful of you to take the time to select and write nice wordings on this 3D postcard and send it to Canada...it is a nice surprise :)

if you have been wondering where Pearly has been missing in action to..now you got your answer. Yup, shes in Holland with Derek :) I wont tell you more, I'm sure Pearly will be filling you guys in on her trip!


once again, Thanks Pearly :) have a great time in Holland, will be waiting to hear more wonderful stories of your trip! Meanwhile, relax and enjoy!



Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear

Garages

I always like to keep my things neat and tidy to avoid having to dig out everything just to find a single item. Yesterday I was looking around our garage and decided that we needed some nice metal cabinets to store all our working tools. Hubby and I have been looking at some nice garages cabinets on this website


We found these beautiful 10 piece garage organization set, what do you think of our choice?




*this is a PPP sponsored post

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Happy birthday to my DADDY!

yeah its daddy's birthday today..knew that he has gone on a business trip to China and wont be back until the weekend.. wanted to give him a call just now, realised that my phone call expired! ARGHHH... never mind, weekend will give him a call when he's back home from China.

Your Birthdate: October 4

You have an extraordinary character - moral, responsible, and disciplined. Your sincerely and honesty shine through in almost every situation. Driven and focused, you rarely let your emotions get the better of you. You're level headed and rational. People count on your to look at things objectively. Your strength: Your unwavering loyalty and ethics Your weakness: Your rock solid stubbornness Your power color: Navy blue Your power symbol: Shield Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

hahaha, now i know where my stubborn gene comes from! :P

I know daddy always wanted a ......

yeah u got it right..the "5 matchstick" watch hehehe...hmm..wonder which one he will hv like?



have to wait for a while okie daddy...u take a pick first :P

Wishing you a happy birthday, many many more birthdays to come. Good health, lots of joy, happiness, lots of money, and anything that you wish for, will come true for you!

With lots of love from across the miles,
Poohbear and "The One"

Schools, Colleges and Universities Overview

Going to University and getting that degree is one big step towards getting that dream job that I have been hoping for. When the time comes for me to select one ideal school, I will hope to look for a school that can offer me the best in terms of student loans, programs, flexibility and many other factors that I will need to consider. How can I go about looking for one without having to go into all the individual website address of all the universities in cities and states throughout USA? With the online directory provided on PremierStudentLoan.com, now I just need go to one site, click on the links to the universities that I am keen in and I am on my way to find out more! Information such as Business profile, Universities details, quotes for the student loans and lots of other information that I need! How great is that! Have a good time searching for that ideal school!

*this is a PPP sponsored post

And I huff and I puff...

After making samosa the other day, another craving..hahaha..what's wrong with me huh? crave this, crave that..no, I'm not eating for two..no wild, nottie guesses huh :P

SO what do I crave this time? Curry Puff! yeah the old Chang Kee Curry Puff that I like to have once a while..no curry puff here, so what to do? Make my own! :) Never did any pastry stuffs before, first try...I do know curry puffs are fried but I dont really like frying stuffs, so I decided to do baked curry puffs instead.

Search high, search low, found a link from Chef Pearly's blog, so hop to RasaMalaysia.com (ya ya! found my curry puff recipe!) happy me..

While making the dough, suddenly realised..gee..I dont hv a rolling pin! arghh, ok now what, hmm, I'll use a cup to roll the dough flat hahaha (when "The One" saw me rolling, seems like such hard work, so difficult with that cup he asked so sweetly, "should I go and buy you a rolling pin?" (he asked me twice even) I was like, "no need, will make do for now" :P so sweet huh hehehe I know the signature 'wave' of curry puffs look really nice, but I dont have nimble fingers, so after few tries, they look really ugly. Went the 'cheating' way (that's what my mummy said when I told her :P), I just used the fork to make patterns hehehe

End result..

Before Baking

After Baking

yummy, although I have to agree frying does taste better, but I'm happy with my baked version. "The One" is happy with it (coz I put alot of fillings) and I'm happy not having to fry and get all greasy hahaha I had a fun time making these curry puffs. When I told my jie I made Curry Puffs, she was like "Can eat or not?" hehehe so see jie, how is it? good enough or not? :P

If you like to try this out, this is the link to the curry puff recipe from rasamalaysia.com. Rasa malaysia sure can cook very well!

Cheerios and keep smiling!

With Love from PoohBear

Digital Cameras

Technology has progressed so fast that almost everything is going digital. Remembered those days when we will take photos using our big bulky camera, having to purchase rolls of films, always cautious about exposing the film.

Our first digital Camera is a Canon Powershot A70.We always loved Canon Cameras, always reliable, always producing high quality products. For many years, we have captured countless wonderful moments such as birthdays, weddings, birth of our nephews, holidays and graduations all with this baby. As technology advances, I’ll definitely love to own a camcorder that can be use as a digital camera too. Which one? A small, compact, nice sleek designed model such as Sanyo VPC-HD1A High definition camcorder will be nice. It has a 10X optical zoom, build in image stabilization, superfast frame rate and what I love most? It is able to simultaneously captures 5.1-megapixal images and HD movie clips, both at the same time! How cool is that? I think I should start dropping hints to my dear hubby! Happy photo takings!


*this is a PPP sponsored Post

You Make Me Smile...

Tonite's the nite! when the moon is at its roundest and brightest (look hard to see if u can see a lady with her rabbit ok!) hehe Happy Mooncake Festival! :)

Was told by my lovely Pearly to hop to her blog and when I got there, i had a really nice surprise! :) ta ta ta ta...


nice or not! :) so sweet of pearly, not only to share mooncake and green tea with us, even this nice award. Thank you Pearly! *hugs hugs*

Nice things are meant to share around, I love to give this to some really nice people, (however, most of them Pearly has already given (like j.t., nyonyapenang, Uncle Lee) and Pearly, I will give it to u too! :)) so in turn, i'll like to present this to a lady who always make me smile with her infectious sense of humor...dear Firehorse :)

Hope I put a smile on your faces today! :)

Cheerios and keep smiling!
With Love from PoohBear