A Royal Surprise

Yesterday 'bee gave me a surprise - actually surpriseS - that rekindled my royalty mania.

Her 2 surprises ended up being 3 (yay!)
because of the special wedding issue

When they promise "photos you've never seen before", they really deliver. The mystery of who lifted her veil was solved!

The TV cameras missed this shot of her dad lifting her veil.
They probably thought William would do it later on in the service.

Thanks 'bee.

Delectable Tea-time Treats

Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon trying to level a mountain of clothes. After all that drudgery I decided to reward myself with a hot cuppa peppermint tea and cupcakes!

Delectable for the best cupcakes ever!

The contents of the first box featuring a 3-D orange duck

Close-up of the sugar paste duck

Box no. 2 featuring a 3-D lamb

I think the lamb looks more like a baby than a lamb

US Visa Approved

We went down to KL for my US visa interview that was scheduled on Monday morning.

1st miracle. God provided us with free accommodation for two nights at Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur with breakfast and a dinner. Go here for full story on what impressed us most at the hotel.

2nd miracle. The hotel was only 15 minutes' walk away from the embassy.

3rd miracle. I dreaded the long wait for the interview so I was delighted to meet an old friend and his wife who were also at the embassy for their interview. We had a lovely time catching up while waiting for our interviews.

The interview was a breeze and, thank God, we weren't interviewed by the nasty ABC.

Mother's Day Lunch 2011

I am more adventurous when it comes to food but it's very hard to get the rest of the family to try out new places for our meals. Since it was Mother's Day, and I was given the choice to choose where we go to for lunch, I decided on lunch at the newly opened Sri Malaya Heritage Restaurant at Rope Walk.

The restaurant is located just round the corner, on the left hand side, when you turn into Rope Walk from Chulia Street.

You cannot miss its bright yellow facade

Cream of Spinach Soup to start off our set meal

Beef Bolognese for me

Fish 'n Chips for hubby

Herbal Soup with Rice for 'bee

We concluded that:
1. I cook better Bolognese
2. The fish 'n chips were soggy
3. The herbal Soup does not have enough flavour

We were so disappointed that we did not bother to take photos of the brownie, which turned out to be the best of the dishes.

But this is the icing on the cake for me.

Mother's Day is only really Mother's Day
when you get to spend it with the one
who makes me a Mother!

Saturday With Sis

After attending the SGGSEPA Exco meeting, Sis and I decided to have early lunch at Amelie.

Amelie is a quaint little place located at Armenian Street

Interesting plant-holders adorned the walls beside our table

Orange Ginger for me and Orange Mint for Sis

We shared a Portobello Mushroom & Pesto Sandwich and...

...a Pesto with Sausage Pasta

A lot of stuff inside Amelie to take you down memory lane but menu choice is limited, which is usually the case with these small boutique eateries, and the owners are not friendly.

Next we had our hair done and then it's tea-time at Muntri Mews at (where else?) Muntri Street.

Muntri Mews sounds so "ye olde English"

Sis looking good with curls fresh from the hair stylist

Someone I knew mistook Sis for me (this is me)
when we walked into Mews Cafe

The view from where we were seated

We shared an Affogato and...

...a Pulut Mango served with coconut ice-cream. Yums!

Banyak sharing today. I like! Allows us to try out more food without bursting out of our clothes.

Lovely surprise! Kuih Ketayap on the house

Hmmm, we were taking many photos. Maybe they thought we were famous bloggers. Were they trying to butter us up?

Muntri Mews from outside

We resolve to do more "girly" Saturdays on a regular basis. Next time with 'bee and her future mother-in-law.

Best Mother's Day Ever

'Bee was around to celebrate the day with me and on top of that we had a beautiful Mother's Day service yesterday.

It all began with the baby dedication of Chloe Tan. Alvin and Eunice could not have chosen a more suitable day to dedicate their baby but the thing that elevated this baby dedication to new heights was what Pastor Gideon did after he gave his charge to the parents.

He then turned to the congregation and requested that all those who wished to partner with the parents in the raising up of the child in the ways of God to stand up. We all rose to our feet and extended our hands as he led us in prayer for baby Chloe.

I was overcome by an awesome sense of community and I love it! I hope this standing together with the parents will continue to be a permanent fixture in all baby dedications.

The happy family with grandparents at the back

After two princes, the Tans finally have their Princess!

Then Pastor Gideon gave out flowers. First of all to his lovely wife to wish her "Happy Mother's Day" and then to the mom with the most number of children (6!) and the youngest grandmother who is only 48 years young!

Sis Sim Bin also received flowers. She deserves them for the many sacrificial hours she puts in at the church office.

Before his message Pastor Gideon gave husbands 5 tips on what NOT to buy their wives on Mother's Day. After the service I heard one husband telling his wife that she will not be getting her iPad2 'cos that comes under the something useful category!

After Pastor's simple but heart-warming message, Oliver sang "You Raise Me Up." The song brought many a tear to the moms gathered at the altar.

Normally we would expect Pastor to pray for the moms but he asked his wife to pray. At first I thought that it was not very appropriate since she herself is a mom and would covet prayers on Mother's Day. When she started praying I realized that it was a Spirit-led decision on Pastor Gideon's part. She accurately discerned the heart's cry of the women she was praying for. Not only did she pray for us, she also prayed with us.

The service concluded with the youth giving out gifts to the moms.

Royal Wedding Fever

Don't know about you but I succumbed to the Royal Wedding fever on Friday afternoon and it lasted over the weekend.

I have always been a royalist. My fascination with the royal family started from my primary school days and I remember reading an old, dusty commemorative issue of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II which I found amongst my aunt's old books.

Part of the massive crowd who turned up to celebrate the wedding

If I live in London, would I be crazy enough to join the crowds on Friday?
Maybe not. I hate the jostling and crush of the crowd.

Here are my favourite pictures of the wedding.

Kate's simple and elegant wedding gown is a classic
but it was the bridesmaid's gorgeous, figure hugging gown
that stole the limelight.

English field Maple trees transform Westminster Abbey into
a fairytale/enchanted forest

The newly weds riding the carriage back to Buckingham Palace
after the wedding

My favourite of all the official wedding photos

No royal wedding is complete without the kiss!

May the wheely happy couple live happily ever after