Belatedly... Christmas 09 / New Year's '10

Took a few days off over Christmas... Cheng was in town, courtesy of Air Asia specials... so we arranged for Daniel and me to stay in Melbourne - so I could catch up with her. Saw Wai Hoong too ... but he left after brekkie ... he really wasn't in to going "window shopping" at the artsy fartsy shops around Brunswick St. It was a bit rushed as we were trying to cover a lot of areas in less than a day - including Smith St and Lygon St. and we did a quick lap around the CBD. Took Cheng to Koko Black, which I think completely chocolated her out - and she gave up on the Lindt Cafe altogether. :( I've always been meaning to try Lindt Cafe ... but I guess, that will be on another occasion.

Went to Paul and Kylie's place for Christmas Eve. Kris Kringle (sort of like random gift exchange) was fun... I picked up a serving dish thing with two little dishes for sauce. Am slowly starting to accumulate household stuff... :) Unfortunately though, before arriving at the party - I got some really, really, really bad news. :( My aunt passed away of cancer. :( :( :( She was only diagnosed less than 3 weeks earlier ... and it was really, really, sudden. :( :( :( She will be terribly missed during Chinese New Year this year as well as in the future. :( :( :( I thought some of my other cousins (one in London, and the other in Adelaide) that sent flowers did a good job of making people laugh and feel better. In their message, they asked... "Do you know where auntie kept the recipe for Curry Prawns?" :) And my brother was even better - he asked my cousin if she knew how to make "Tamingung". It's a Foo Chow dish ... that my aunt made every year during Chinese New Year when the family got together... my cousin told him to google it ... but I don't think no one really knows how to spell "Tamingung". :P I miss my aunt. And I really missed my family during the period.

Daniel and I had made bookings to go to Mornington Peninsula for a few days after Christmas, so we went ahead with our plans - just to get away and try to relax - and recharge the batteries. Still, felt really, really bummed out about my aunt. We went back to the Peninsula Hot Springs... (I've written about them before a few years ago). They have renovated and the bathrooms are really nice and new and somewhat hi-tech - magnetized lockers! It was really nice to soak in the hot pools... and thanks to the Entertainment Book - it was buy one get one free.

Hmm... what else did we do? Nothing much for New Year's. Oh - I got a lot of Chocolate for Christmas. This Santa Bear dark chocolate teddy is from my cousin - and it is a Koko Black chocolate teddy. It was yummy... and very decadent! The little hamper on the right - is from Heritage Chocolates. I rang a radio station (old habits die hard!) and won it. The downside was - I had to drive about half an hour to Rowville to collect it! I'm still not sure if it was worth the long drive ... but anyway - it was free! :)