25 More Days To Christmas!

The countdown to Christmas has begun and the pretty Christmas displays (which I love) are up at the shopping malls in the city. 


This year hubby and I have decided not to put up our 5-foot Christmas tree but for a change we would decorate our home with mini trees and figurines. We told our kids that their presents must fit under the little trees and they took one look at the trees and went, "Yeah, right!" with just the right amount of sarcasm and scepticism in their voices.

2 little Christmas trees and one snowman
on a side table next to the TV

A mini tree on each side of  the salt lamp

Our first Christmas wreath on the front door.
The Shalom (which means 'peace') plaque 
underneath was a gift from my sis-in-law 
many  years ago and I love 
how perfectly all the colours match.

We were shopping at Berjaya Times Square yesterday
when a group of Santas walked past.

It turned out that they were part of a larger group of Santas
who put up a dance performance a few minutes later.

These few weeks will be a fun time of shopping and picking out gifts for family and friends. 


This year the youths in our church have embarked on a project to collect a Christmas wish-list from the children in an orphanage and grant their wishes. It's quite humbling when I saw the things that the children asked for...simple necessities like clothes, and perhaps a Ben 10 or Angry Bird watch. Not a single child asked for toys or expensive items.

Let's do our part in showing kindness and doing good in this season of goodwill and joy. 

Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind. Amen.

Brain, Hand and Foot

A friend posted this picture in Facebook and when I showed it to CoolTeen, he said he could identify with what it says because he said he had 'brain-freeze' when he sat for his Bahasa Malaysia exam the other day.

There's also a fun fact that I learned about the human brain, try this for yourself and see whether you can outsmart your foot:

1. While sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number 6 in the air using your right hand. 

Your foot will automatically change direction!

Fan of Gardenia Chocolate Twiggies

My son, CoolTeen, has never liked sweet food. When he was a baby he would refuse to drink his milk to the point where I would keep changing milk powder brands until I found one that he would drink  without making a big fuss...all because baby formula tastes sweet. At that time I didn't know why he would always try to push away his milk bottle whenever I tried to feed him, unless he was very hungry of course. It was only when he was a little older that I realised he liked savoury food and had a great dislike for anything sweet - jelly, cakes, candy, ice cream....all except chocolates and chocolate flavoured food or drink.

When he was in Year 1 in primary school, his breakfast would consist of a Gardenia Twiggies chocolate sponge bar and a cup of Milo. Now he is 17 and nothing much has changed -  his breakfast still consists of a Gardenia Twiggies bar and a cup of Milo but now I add 2 half-boiled eggs as well so that he wouldn't get hungry too soon before lunch time.


We were chatting during lunch yesterday and somehow the topic went to Gardenia Twiggies. CoolTeen said that he must have eaten thousands of them over the years, so we did a quick calculation. 


He only eats them during weekdays. On the weekends we would sometimes go out for breakfast at the mamak shop nearby and he would have roti canai. My maths is not too good so I might have gone about it the long way, but this is what we figured out:


There are 52 weeks in a year, minus 11 weeks of term school holidays = 41 weeks


There are 205 weekdays in 41 weeks. Multiply that by the number of years he has been schooling : 205 X 11 years = 2255


My son has eaten approximately 2255 pieces of Gardenia Twiggies in his lifetime! (on some public holidays he may have decided not to eat Twiggies, so this figure is just an estimate). I sure hope Gardenia Malaysia will not stop producing the chocolate Twiggies anytime soon!




Hmm...I wonder if he would qualify to be in the Malaysian Guinness Book of Records for this...?

Huh?

It says "Taukeh sudah gila! Cincai cincai jual!"

I saw this rather funny banner announcing a clearance sale at a shop selling lamps and lighting fixtures for the home- it's a mix of Malay and Chinese words. 
Although I understand the meaning of it (as only a Malaysian could!), I am at a loss for words as to how to translate it into proper English.


Anyone has any ideas?