Malacca/ KL 2008

As far as I can remember, there's always a wedding to attend in Malacca during the Christmas season. It was no exception this year. We were in Malacca for one night to attend the wedding of Mervin's cousin then proceeded to KL. Alison & Zac generously hosted us for 3 nights at their new home in USJ. Zac was determined to feed us 5 meals a day but we were of course more interested in shopping. On our last night there, Alison arranged for Santa to visit during our dinner at Elena's house. The kids were looking forward to it but were rather suspicious of Santa. Poor Santa was prodded and poked and eventually stripped.... confirming that it was actually Uncle Jonathan under that suit. We had a fabulous time. Wonderful company!

I told you it was Uncle Jonathan!

The next generation - Mitchell, Ariel, Arlene, Raphael, Tim & Erica

Anne, Mitchell & Alison

Erica and Uncle Zac

Apparently that's how you keep your car cool - KL style

We visited Aunty Jeannie in Malacca

Singapore 2008 - Sentosa with the Stewarts

We spent the day with Andre, Hui Ping and their children, Julian, Megan and my god-daughter Nadine. Tim & Erica enjoyed swimming in the warm sea as it's always too cold to swim in the sea in Auckland, even when the sun is real hot in summer. Mervin and Andre went looking for fish but found a pair of mating crayfish instead.

Singapore 2009 - Titanic poses

You can't go for a cruise and not do the titanic pose so off we went one afternoon looking for the tip of the ship but were told we could not get up there until the ship was anchored. So these are the best shots we got - back in Singapore with Sentosa in the background. Sigh! Would have been so much nicer in the open sea.

Singapore 2009 (not a mistake) - Dinner at A&A's

Dinner at Adrienne & Adrian's home is always a highlight of our trip to Singapore. Our favourite Eurasian devil curry and feng are always on menu, amongst Adrienne's other scrumptuous dishes. It's always one of those dinners where you keep eating and eating and eating then when it's time to get up from your seat, you feel umm, like you can't lift yourself up.

This is the first time we're visiting A&A's new home in Pasir Ris. It's so beautifully put together. I particularly like the full height showcase custom made for all the lovely miniature ornaments that Adrienne has collected over the years.

We were also meeting babies Caitlin, Erik and Natalie for the first time and it was most interesting watching the different personalities of the littlies. They are all so gorgeous. Wai Ling & Phil, Nick and Sus - watching you guys running after them, I'm glad mine are the age they are at... as you can tell, no more babies for me.

It was great to catch up with Marilyn again after such a long time. She's off to another new mammoth challenge. I've always admired Marilyn's drive and energy.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to come along and Adrienne and Adrian for hosting us, though for fewer hours than I expected to stay :) Till we next meet, God bless.

Singapore 2008 - Erica's godparents

Erica was very excited to see her godparents and their family again. She was convinced they would not recognise her (although I tried to tell her they had seen recent photos of her)

This is Erica's recount:

I went to my Godparent's house and I did Wii at their house. We had lots of fun playing Wii. We played Wii tennis, Wii bowling and Wii baseball.

My godparents have glasses, they are always happy and they were very kind.

My godsister Rachael is tall. I made beads with Rachael. We had her birthday in Singapore.