Rested, relaxed and now... rejuvenated!

There are 12 days of Christmas and technically, its alright to wish people "Merry christmas". City folks however tends to be more politically correct, after the 25th its "Compliments of the season" whilst Kampung folks are more gay, (no, not that!) and don't care nuts if everybody just wish everyone "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year", all 12 days of Christmas.....

Though we're not giving nor getting presents for all the 12 days of Christmas, folks at home are happy with whatever they got. Many thanks for all the gifts to my girls especially to Leonard and Andrew for the "angpows", auntie Flo for the anklets; and also to grandma, Audrey, Jerry, Amelia, Genevieve and Glen for all the wonderfully thought lovely gifts. This Christmas Alfred finally decided that our daughter Alex is 'old' enough to have contact lenses. It was all good and dandy until the day she had to put it on. It took us almost two hours with the optometrist getting Alex to learn how to put on the lens and to remove it. The following day when she had to put it on by herself, it was hilarious that almost turned into a nightmare!!... and we haven't covered removing it yet!! She's taking it in stride though, getting the hang of it... and soon I might not have to nominate her for the "longest time taken putting on contact lenses"...

On Christmas day, we had our usual Sinhalese breakfast at Alf's mum's place. She had kiribath, sodhi, seeni sambol, string hoppers and chicken curry prepared. After breakfast and the exchange of Christmas gifts, we left for our annual Christmas getaway at the Avillion Resort, Port Dickson.

Some of the food served at the dinner

The theme for this year's annual Christmas dinner was casual. It was a gathering of the Fernandos with the Siberts and friends, at a private beach within the hotel premise. There were plenty of food, drinking, dancing and an hour of Christmas carols from the hotel Filipino singers. Children enjoyed themselves the most, one for obvious reason; being barefooted. Halfway through dinner, the rain came down heavily and everyone ran helter-skelter. Gratefully, there were some huts nearby where we could wait till the rain ceased. After that, it was back to the party!!


This year is also special for us because after a long time, Alf's mum is happy to come along and not stay home during the Christmas week holding 'open house'. This is also a very special Christmas that my mum-in-law spends with her grandchildren Genevieve and Glen prior to them moving to Melbourne with their parents at the end of the year.

On boxing day, whilst the kids and the dads were busy at the pool, I quietly got myself a treat at the Avi spa.... a full body scrub! It was a first for me (honest!) and the therapeutic smell of juniper oil and roses.......... sigh.... My 'spa therapist', Junnah is a bajau lady from Likas who used to work at "Jari-jari", Tg Beach hotel. Now, wouldn't it be nice to have a personal 'spa therapist'?.....

The party setting prior to the dinner

... then came the rain

Some of us taking shelter from the rain

Guinea pigs and 'one ear' rabbit at the animal farm

hotel guests are allowed to pet and feed the animals only during the feeding session

traditional foot wash at every corner for the comfort of hotel guests

the newly constructed Avi spa centre

Festive season

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la... Its that time of the year again where we Christians celebrate the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is also a time of gathering of the clan (for most) and merriment with family and friends . We had the annual Christmas dinner and dance party with our Church parishioners on 14 December.

The gathering was partly sponsored by Church of Our Lady of Fatima (OLF) which saw some 50 tables fully taken. Unlike previous years, this time the gathering is meant only for the OLF parishioners. The usual entertainment includes carollers, stand up comedians, singers, lucky draws and of course plenty of food.





This wonderful fellowship and togetherness is what we look forward to always. Outside the church, the shopping malls are pretty much decked with colourful decorations which never fails to entice one to purchase more ornaments than needed. At home, the gifts purchased, wrapped and left under the christmas tree...

And now I wish everyone a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!!

What???? You want to be a teacher?

Teacher: Helen Keller Famous Quotes
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

The other day at a dinner party, someone asked my 15 and 14 year old daughters about their ambitions. Alex the 15 year old said something vague whilst without hesitation, Ashley said that she would like to be a teacher. The lady who had asked said in the most condescending manner that teaching job is so very appropriate for women. I must say that I was flabbergasted at her patronizing air but then again perhaps not as she has three sons! Having three strapping boys must have made her lose her marbles. I have plenty to say about that to her but diplomacy calls for tact being that it was her party we were at....

Isn't it true then that people tend to make a lot of assumptions where the young ones are concerned? Common sense tells us that children cannot know for sure what their ambition is prior to finishing high school. Many times I have casually asked the young ones what they want to be when they grow up; most likely answers, they all want to be like mummy or daddy!

My lady friend didn't bother to find out why Ashley said she wanted to be a teacher. Otherwise she would have found out that earlier that day, my daughters and I had been discussing about teachers in general. Lately, the local papers have been highlighting a lot of issues concerning the teaching profession which portrays many local teachers being somewhat incompetent. Perhaps still feeling passionate about the subject made Ashley say that she wanted to be a teacher.


Anyway, which parents wouldn't want to see their children becoming top class surgeon or world class lawyer or genius mathematician etc. etc.... As for my daughters, they are still young and yet to know what they really want to be when they grow up..........

Click Here For More Funny Pictures