New Year’s Food for Thoughts

The holidays have always been an exciting time of the year. It means christmas shopping, house decors, gifts under the christmas tree, noche buena and greeting the new year with leaps, cheer and hopes for a wonderful year ahead.

when i was a child, i would often wonder why adults approached the holidays so differently.  i would sometimes hear them dread the “ber” months or complain about the burden of the season while i wished away on my hopes for the gifts under the christmas tree, or planned on what gifts to buy to surprise my family.  even when my family moved to another country and left my sister and i, we upheld the yearly traditions during christmas, preparing for the midnight gift opening and cooking up a feast (even if we knew we would had to eat the food for a month!) and during new year with all the fruits, dishes and noise makers to usher in the new year.

last year i realized that the past holiday festivities were all taken cared of by someone other than me.  i learned this the hard way as i sat through the 2007 holiday expecting that it would just unfold as it always did.  but of course it did not.  this year i vowed to make a difference and took matters into my own hands.  i could not cook or over decorate the house so i decided noche buena out would be the perfect plan.  that was of course before a mosquito bit me and rendered me ill!

as december 25 fast approached and i was still feeling under the weather i surrendered to the idea of spending christmas in the hospital. luckily my good attending physician saw that i was well on the way to recovery (of course he did not want to do rounds during christmas day!) and sent me home on christmas eve.  we were able to move our noche buena reservations and a couple of hours after my discharge i was at the M2M buffet tables!

the tables were full and i realized that more and more people have decided to spend their christmas worry free just like me.

the selection was satisfactory

sushi, chilli prawns and roasted duck

steak and lamb chops

oysters & prawns

custom made soups

sashimi & soba

desserts

more desserts

still a little ill and exhausted from our trip to the hospital and the buffet tables, i succumbed to the idea of put off the midnight gift opening until a few days after.

Christmas day is always spent at my hubby’s aunt’s house for the yearly family reunion.  theres lunch, kids running around and of course the exchange gift.  when the kids were smaller, they would perform on the piano or recite a poem before getting their gifts but because they are all grown up, they could not be fooled anymore!

new years eve approached and everyone was feeling much better at home.  hubby caught a bit of a flu which fortunately just stayed a couple of days.  the morning of the last day of 2008 was bright and cheery.  we went out for our last minute grocery shopping and i was surprised with the hoards of people who were grocery cramming as well.

my hurriedly bought fruits looked great on the table.

i wish i could say the same about all of the fruits’ taste!

waiting for 2009

spent playing and winning bingo (yahoo!), eating and of course taking pictures

and when 2009 finally rolled in, you could hear fireworks outside and shouts of cheer on tv while we blew trumpets and jumped (in the hopes of growing a few more inches!)  after a few seconds, the kids rushed out to light their fairy candles and the adults stepped out to view the fireworks while i sat and viewed the festivities on tv (breathing smoky air is really not my style so i was content with seeing the fireworks through the tube hehehe!).

2008 ended just as quickly and before i knew it, 2009 was ushered in!

although the new year is said to bring tough times, our family looks on to a bright and exciting future with plans of renovations, new gadgets, new achievements and of course a little bundle of joy!

HAPPY 2009 EVERYONE!

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