Christmas Vacation Week 1

Christmas vacation began at 3:30pm on December 16!  I have 3 weeks off.  I am happy with my decision not to take off right away.  I have had time to relax (update this), spend time with friends and tour a little more of Singapore.

This week a colleague of mine and I ventured down near the Sultan Mosque and Arab Street and found the neatest boutiques which I know Mom and Dad will like too.  Then we went into the building some people call Batam's gothic building - it has a famous bar called Divine's.  If someone orders a wine which is on the top shelves, a "fairy" - a waitress is hooked on a cable and "flies" up to retrieve it.  Unfortunately, we didn't see any flying while I was there but they had a beautiful real Christmas tree!

I spent an afternoon at the Brownes making my annual butter cookies with royal icing - this making, cutting, cooking, decorating takes on average 3-4 hours!  But completely worth it!

Making traditional Xmas cookies

Xmas tree in a mall

me and my Xmas tree!

Today I had a great Christmas brunch with my friends and their families who are here for the holidays.  I have been hearing about these "kids" (there are in their 20s) for the past 5 months and now I can put a face to a name.  As I love to entertain, I had everyone to my house.  There were 16 of us!  I made deviled eggs for the first time - I didn't get a chance to try one so I am thinking they were good! It was finally a sunny day and I think everyone had a good time!

Eric and Janice

Dorthe and her kids

Emma and Isabel