I must say that Hong Kong people are very creative. As I was there, I saw different creation of Christmas Trees. They must put lots of thoughts into attracting people to see these trees. Let me show you the different types of Christmas trees here. Aren’t they creative?

Chocolate Tree:

Recycle Box Tree:

Glass Tree:

Colorful Tree:

Huge Normal Tree:

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Cool, I just receive an invite to a wedding. One of my cousins is getting married. It has been a long time since I received a wedding invite. I need to take the opportunity to dress up.

One set back of working in a factory is, I don’t get to wear nice clothes. If I do, my colleagues will suspect I am going for an interview. Most of the time, I just wear casual. Now I have even less opportunity of wearing anything formal since I work from home. So I am looking forward to the wedding party.

But first I need to shop for an engagement gift ideas that couples will enjoy I am looking at some jewelry. I tell you I used to be able to get a nice gold bracelet for RM300 to RM400. Now most of the bracelets are over RM1000. I guess things are not getting any cheaper.

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I must say that there are many food varieties in Hong Kong and most of them are delicious. However it is very expensive to eat in Hong Kong because of its high standard of living. I ran out of cash mainly due to food because most of the time we pick small eating places and they only accept cash.

First day we tried the beef noodle and Tim tried the seafood noodle. I was disappointed with the wan tan noodle because it was difficult to chew and there is a kind of smell which Emily rejected. The Hong Kong Kai Lan was crunchy, it goes well with Oyster sauce.

Disneyland food was extra expensive, however the portion was big. I love the morning breakfast, the simple fried noodle, somehow is tasty with the unhealthy ham.

The “siu mei” (aka roasted) is a must try in Hong Kong. The have roasted goose, chicken, pork and duck. All of them were equally delicious. When I was there I watch a documentary on how the chef roast the delicious roasted duck or goose. The chef has to make sure that the right amount of heat and turning the goose at different period. It is done on a underground fire stove with no electronic gadget to adjust temperature. They used water to lower the temperature. That’s how they make the roasted goose or duck so tasty and delicious. You can almost get it anywhere in Hong Kong. If I stayed there long enough, I may develop high cholesterol because of this. :P

Dim Sum is one of the popular meal in Hong Kong and the variety of dim sum they have is amazing. We tried the Shanghai style Dim Sum, a little different from the local one. We had Shanghai noodle and the famous dumpling. Too bad I didn’t find the local dim sum place to eat. Sorry only 2 pictures as I was too hungry when the food is served.

The best meal so far was the street meal. I still have craving over it until today. Basically you stand on the street to eat. My kids love the bbq sausages. I tried the curry tripes, curry meatballs, squid balls and curry squid. It is fantastic and smells good too!

After the street food, we drop by Lucky Dessert place to have some delicious dessert of coz. Tim ordered the Green Tea Ice Cream. Boy it was freezing outside and he still loves the ice scraping green tea ice-cream. I had the mango sago milk dessert, the taste is superb! My hubby had the hot double boil papaya soup. You must try their desserts if you are there.

Hot Pot is also another food I like there especially during the cold weather. Somehow my entire family loves hot pot.

Their milk tea is different there but the teh tarik here is much better. Their curry is not so spicy, as Hong Kong people do not eat spicy food compare to the people here. I wished I had more time to eat more food, there are other food that I wanted to try but either too far or no time. Maybe next trip!

After this post, I am getting hungry, aren’t you?

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As I was shopping in Hong Kong, I like to look at their boots. I really like their winter boots. In fact I got one for my girl and she loved it, so much. You can find all kinds of boots from the wooly ones to the leather ones like Alpinestars Boots. I almost wanted to get one for work but I didn’t. Lazy to try on.

Boots I got for my girl:

Besides the boots, I also like their winter collection coats. I tried most of them but their sizes are way too small for me. Anyway, a sad thing here is that we do not have winter here to enjoy those clothing.

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Hong Kong is a crowded city, congested with people everywhere at anytime. I was told some do not have an office to work, they are on the street all the time. I still cannot get it how people can text using their mobile phone and walk at the same time. Hong Kong is not the same as before as I see many people from China coming into that country.

Back to my family vacation, we started with Disneyland. We check out of the hotel early morning, left the big luggage bag in the hotel’s storage facility, just took a smaller bag to check into Disneyland hotel. I bought the promo package online, 2D/1N hotel stay with 2Days park tickets.

I anticipated a crowd but there weren’t any. We could get through all the rides and some shows on the first day. We even queue to take pictures with the Disney characters. If you are going, do plan for 2 days to cover every inch and corner. You never know when the crowd will appear. My children love the Astro Blaster from Toy Story which we went more than 9 times. Emily wanted to achieve Level 5 which she did. A few times on Pooh Honey Pot, Autopedia and Small World rides.

I took my children to the Space Mountain ride. They didn’t know what they were in for. It was really fun but both were scared and didn’t want a repeat.

We went to the Stitch show but after entering, Stitch spoke in Mandarin. I had to translate some of it to my children. Emily got pick to chat with the mandarin speaking Stitch. I had to be her translator. Tim wanted to watch the English version but it was at 2pm.

The shows were superb, every one of them. I liked the 3D show and the Golden Mickeys. All shows time are listed on the brochure.

The Christmas decorations were all over Disneyland and the night lightings were very nice. They even have fake snow there at the Main Street. The best was the fireworks! I couldn’t snap any pictures because my camera ran out of battery. So sad.

Ready to view the pictures, warning lots of pictures to load..…

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I had made a booking very early in the year for a Hong Kong vacation for my family. Well my frequent flyer miles were expiring and I need to use them before it is gone. I thought about going Korea for a ski trip but I was afraid of language problem. In the end, I picked Hong Kong, more suited for the kids.
Anyway, I only have to pay tax for the air tickets to Hong Kong for my family. However HK hotels are very expensive. I am glad I got cooperate rates for the hotels too. Everything else is expensive in HK because of their standard of living.

It is the second time for my family to go to Hong Kong. We did the same trip 2 or 3 years ago but somehow I felt it was too short. This time, I planned a little longer because I anticipated a lot of walking and kids get tired.

I planned 2 days in Disneyland, 1 day Noah’s Ark, 2 days shopping and 1 day Ocean Park. I also wanted to go Sai Kung for seafood but failed to do so. It was really a bummer because I was short of cash, I didn’t change much cash there. Everything there uses cash instead of credit card. Ended up I didn’t buy much stuff except at stores which use credit card.

The hotel arrangements were to spend 2N in Disneyland, 2N is Kowloon and the rest in Hong Kong island. The Kowloon Hotel was very convenient to eatery places, shops, MTR and of coz near Victoria Harbor. It is also a short MTR station to Mongkok and Yau Ma Tei, where lot of shopping can be done. However the rooms were a little small. I like the Grand Harbor Hotel with was a little bigger but it has a very beautiful harbor view, also near the MTR station. Of coz, the usual Disneyland Hollywood hotel is also spacious. All three hotels have a bathtub which my children love. They never get tired of playing water even on a cold day.

The Kowloon Hotel:

The Disneyland Hollywood Hotel, more spacious with 2 twin bed and seaview. The seaview is a little far for me:

Harbor Grand HK Hotel:

A Beautiful Harbor View:

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Do you know where the longest night market in Kuala Lumpur is? It is the one in Taman Connaught,Cheras and only available on Wednesday. The stalls are about a half kilometer long. I tell that night market has lots of store especially food stalls. You can try out all kinds of food there. Besides food, there are also clothes, shoes, accessories and even books.

While I was there, I saw some funny t shirts. My kids love the angry birds tees. It is very cheap too. If you are around Kuala Lumpur, do pay a visit there.

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Every now and then, I will see some of my colleagues carrying their yoga mats because they attend yoga classes after work. One of the benefits in my office, the HR organized yoga classes, tai chee classes, basket ball games and other sports. It is always good to do some exercise after work to relieve work stress.

I work at home most of the time and do not get a chance to do that. The only exercise I do is to pick up the kids from school. I hope I can discipline myself to do some walking every now and then.

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Before I went for my vacation, I thought of cutting my long hair. I guess it been 1.5 years since I last cut my hair. Actually I wanted a few inches above my shoulder. I walked into the hair salon with Emily. She also wanted to cut her fringe which is almost touching her eyes.

You know how the hair dresser cut my hair. He used a rubber band, tied my hair and cut it all at one shot. That’s the end of my long hair.

I was chatting with the hair dresser and he continued snipping away my hair. As I looked up, I was shocked to see how shot he cut my hair. I really didn’t expect it to be so short.

Anyway, my hair grows very fast so not a worry. I just have to bear with it a couple of months. Now it is so much easier to manage my hair. I don’t have to blow dry and uses lesser shampoo/conditioner. It feels great!

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Have you seen the rustic decor for outdoor? I like the natural wood décor and it will look lovely in the garden. If only I have a big garden, I will definitely fill it with the rustic décor.

Doesn’t the swing look lovely and it will blend in with nature. It comes with Sunbrella awning. With this I bet I can spend the whole day in the garden enjoying nature with this. If only my garden is bigger, space is a problem here.

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I love to watch the extreme couponing, a reality TV show of how some people can use coupon to save and get lots of stuff. I always wonder how it works. How can someone gets so many things and yet only pay less than $10?

Today I went shopping and saw lots of attractive office and bedroom furniture. I know I can use the office depot coupons to get some savings. I love looking at furniture and the way the shops use little space to put so much.

By the way, my girl already chosen a bedroom set that she like. She told me to reward her that when she score straight As in her exams next year.

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Emily’s Guinea Pig is already with us for almost a month now. He is very playful and he makes sound whenever we open the store room door. That’s where his food is. Recently whenever I wake up and go downstairs, he will make noise too. Maybe he is trying to wish me good morning.

He likes to stay in his cage most of the time. My kids are trying to make his cage more enjoyable by putting in small boxes for him to hide.

Today, Emily took some cutting tools and a huge box to make a playground for him. Well, it certainly saves me money from buying toys for the guinea pig and keeps my children occupied during the holidays.

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Last week I bet lots of people in US are doing their shopping as there was a great sale on Black Friday. My friend was so crazy about buying that she bought all the gifts for her family for the entire year. She also got something for her mother for Mother’s Day. How sweet?

The other day I was shopping with my kids and I walked passed a jewelry store, looking at the window display. My sweet girl told me that she will get me a ring when she starts to work. That moment was already a gift and it is priceless.

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With my busy schedule, I seldom go to office now. However I do make a point to pop in whenever I can. The other day I went and I saw some trendy Gen Y girls. I never seen them before but they sure give me a fascinating feeling.

All of them were in their trendy clothes. I am sure one of them uses best eyelash growth products, her lashes were long and all curl up. Somehow their dress up is more suited for a party than coming to office to work. Well with the many beauty products out there, the Gen Y girls need every opportunity to use it.

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Before my blog become dusty with cob webs, I guess I should write something. As the children grow older, there are less and less things to blog about.

It started early Oct, when my children Sunday School class was preparing to do a performance at Prize Giving Day. My children came home with a script. I looked at it, 2 pages of script and almost fainted. Both my children were given the roles with most things to say. Oh how little faith I have in them or God for that matter. I am fine with Emily as she has her ways around it.

However God show me the impossible. First thing, Timothy told me that he didn’t want to do it. Maybe he too, has little faith in himself. Or he is afraid of people laughing at him when he forgets his lines. Anyhow I took some time with him, every Saturday to go through the script so that he can remember. We had 4 Sundays to rehearse.

To my surprise, he could remember his lines and he had no problem on stage. My second worry was if he got too nervous at the day itself in front of many audiences, he may forget his lines.

I liked what one of the teachers said, “If the audiences are laughing means you did a good job!” This definitely encouraged the children.

On the day itself, both gave a great performance. Timothy was Noah and Emily was Mrs Noah. Their class got 1st prize for the performance. When Timothy went out to take the prize, he pretended that the prize was too heavy to carry. What an actor?

From not a single word utter during his kindy school days to putting a good performance, he really has blossom. Praise God that he showed me that he has power to do the impossible with my children.

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How come we don’t have this here? Somebody should start one here! Yeah ok, we don’t have Thanksgiving Day like in the US. I am seeing a lot of online sale on that day. Hey if you are looking at an uppababy vista 2012, it is on sale.

Anyway, I am sure people are starting to do their Christmas shopping. I am a last minute shopper. If anyone of you sees good deals, let me know. :)

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I can hear her laughter a mile away when she came through the door after school. She ran into the study room and showed me her report book. Yes! She achieved her target that I set out for her. All smiles and grins from her. Both Tim & Emily got the same position in class which is number 10. I am happy for them. Emily scored full mark for both toughest paper that is Moral and Kefahaman.

Last exam she wasn’t happy, she scored all As but position was 10. Tim scored less As but his position was 3. My in laws rewarded according to position. Poor thing, she was upset. I did reward her.

This time around, I promised her a reward if they get more than 5A. By the way she changed her mind so many times on her reward. She wanted Lego Bionicle, later she wanted Telescope, later remote control car and finally she chose this:

At least this doesn’t require any batteries. It is a guinea pig that she named “Dash”. It is only 2 months old. It is definitely much cleaner than hamsters. Now I hope my FIL will agrees to take care of it while we go on vacation.

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Finally Emily can swim. I am proud of her and all credits go to her papa. At first, I wanted to start my children swimming lessons but the instructor said, they have to do it 10 lessons in a row. I hold it off until their school holidays.

However my hubby viewed YouTube on how to teach children how to swim. He used that to teach Emily and Timothy when they go swimming. Who would have thought that YouTube videos can succeed here? I am glad it saves us swimming lessons fee here.

Now I am waiting for Tim to do the same.

YouTube Swimming Lessons, thanks to Phillip Toriello for making these videos

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I am glad I work in an office that is supporting Green environment. We are encouraged to recycle and most of the forms are done electronically. No paper wastage too as all of us print double sided. It is a good practice for all of us. On top of that, we are taught how to recycle stuff.

For me, I need a paperless office software to help me convert all my paper documents electronically. I am sure this is possible. Then I can recycle all the papers and no physical filling is needed. Do you know you can search faster if it is in electronic format? That will certainly increase productivity.

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I have been hearing lots of news about earthquakes, storm, flood or war. Isn’t someone trying to tell you something? I remembered when I was in US, I did experience a strong siren alerting me that there is a tornado nearby. I really don’t know what to do if it hit. Maybe run to a place where there is a storm shelter.

If you are living in a place where there is frequent storm, you may want to build a storm shelter. It may save you and your family.

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