After our trials and tribulations finally making it home from Malaysia on Christmas Eve, we were very content to spend Christmas home sweet home. Avery was very excited for Santa Claus this year- especially the cookies and carrots that were mysteriously eaten by Santa and the reindeer. Knowing space is limited, we tried to stick to functional gifts- an umbrella, pool toys, bathing suits and chocolate quickly sum up Avery's favorite gifts... and possibly our lifestyle here :) It was a really nice day, so we had an opportunity to play at the pool on Christmas day and try out the new toys. It was certainly a first to go swimming outside on Christmas!
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| green bean necklace |
While we were in Malaysia, I asked Jennifer to do our Christmas dinner shopping. Jennifer of course had off on Christmas, so the cooking of the Christmas feast was up to me... for the first time in my life. I usually have my sister to direct me in the menial non-critical tasks that are suitable for my cooking expertise... so this was truly a test. We do have an oven in our apartment, but it is the size of a microwave... mostly because it actually doubles as a microwave too! It's quite magical, but also a little disconcerting. If you happen to use the wrong button, I'm fairly certain one could quite easily start a fire or implode a turkey. For those reasons, I decided a ham would be easiest to procure and cook. Jennifer wasn't familiar with what a pre-cooked ham looked like, so I actually had to use Google images to show her pictures of honey baked hams... the hilarious part is that the ham she secured looked absolutely nothing like a delicious honey baked ham... it looked a giant hot dog- cylindrical and all! Luckily it tasted just fine, albeit a bit more geometric than we were accustomed to. I also asked Jennifer to get green beans. I've seen green beans here before, but the challenge with our grocery stores, especially when it comes to produce, is that they are very inconsistent. Sometimes there are grapes, sometimes there are not. Well, the only green beans available were Malaysian Long Beans- which were QUITE appropriately named as you can see from the picture. I am not exaggerating when I say they were 2 feet long. Avery loved helping me cook by breaking up the giant beans... and wearing them as necklaces also.
And lastly, what Christmas would be complete without Christmas cookies? My beautiful kitchen aid mixer is at home in the states (in foster care with my Mom), so my choices of what to make were limited to cookies that don't require mixing. Chocolate chip cookies of course! Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips cost $10+ per bag here, so these cookies were truly a delicacy. As you can see, the first batch didn't do so well! I finally figured out that cooking in a hot kitchen in a tropical, high humidity environment can lead to cookie baking issues if you don't keep the dough refrigerated Luckily things improved, and after 11 batches, I was a pro. 11 batches... yes that's what happens when you can only cook 7-9 cookies at a time because you are cooking in something the size of a shoe box.
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| batch 1=failure |
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| batch 2-11= success |
So we had a lovely Christmas dinner at home. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same without family. Facetime helped us keep in contact, but it just isn't the same... that's for sure.
Luckily we had some visitors from the US en route to visit just a few days later! Shannon and Ryan (or Aunt Shanny and Uncle Ryan as Avery has deemed them) arrived on New Years Eve! For those who know Shanny and Ryan, you know that I felt some angst about planning the perfect New Years Eve that was swanky enough for my favorite DINKs... (double income no kids for you laypeople out there). Luckily, I made fab choice (if I do say so myself). We had dinner at a delish French restaurant called Absinthe on Boat Quay (pronounced "key" for you westerners) followed by New Years atop the fancy Fullerton Bay Hotel at an outdoor club/bar called Lantern. The best part of Lantern is of course the spectacular views of the marina- the city of Singapore had a fantastic light show and fireworks display, and we had front row seats... with our $35 glasses of champagne. Yep. That's right. Luckily the first 2 came with our tickets... besides the fireworks, the other highlight was these two little boys dancing like wild men at the DJ booth. Of course Rob had to join them for a little while also! So happy 2013! I would never have believed that I'd be celebrating in Singapore- and I'm happy to report it was just as fantastic as I'd hoped.
After our trials and tribulations finally making it home from Malaysia on Christmas Eve, we were very content to spend Christmas home sweet home. Avery was very excited for Santa Claus this year- especially the cookies and carrots that were mysteriously eaten by Santa and the reindeer. Knowing space is limited, we tried to stick to functional gifts- an umbrella, pool toys, bathing suits and chocolate quickly sum up Avery's favorite gifts... and possibly our lifestyle here :) It was a really nice day, so we had an opportunity to play at the pool on Christmas day and try out the new toys. It was certainly a first to go swimming outside on Christmas!
While we were in Malaysia, I asked Jennifer to do our Christmas dinner shopping. Jennifer of course had off on Christmas, so the cooking of the Christmas feast was up to me... for the first time in my life. I usually have my sister to direct me in the menial non-critical tasks that are suitable for my cooking expertise... so this was truly a test. We do have an oven in our apartment, but it is the size of a microwave... mostly because it actually doubles as a microwave too! It's quite magical, but also a little disconcerting. If you happen to use the wrong button, I'm fairly certain one could quite easily start a fire or implode a turkey. For those reasons, I decided a ham would be easiest to procure and cook. Jennifer wasn't familiar with what a pre-cooked ham looked like, so I actually had to use Google images to show her pictures of honey baked hams... the hilarious part is that the ham she secured looked absolutely nothing like a delicious honey baked ham... it looked a giant hot dog- cylindrical and all! Luckily it tasted just fine, albeit a bit more geometric than we were accustomed to. I also asked Jennifer to get green beans. I've seen green beans here before, but the challenge with our grocery stores, especially when it comes to produce, is that they are very inconsistent. Sometimes there are grapes, sometimes there are not. Well, the only green beans available were Malaysian Long Beans- which were QUITE appropriately named as you can see from the picture. I am not exaggerating when I say they were 2 feet long. Avery loved helping me cook by breaking up the giant beans... and wearing them as necklaces also.
You guys are so funny. Loving this blog.
ReplyDeleteCarly, your new years eve dress was FABULOUS. Wow Wow Wow. :) Smooches. Kacey