Merry Christmas!!!

♥ ♥ MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ♥ ♥





I can't believe it's X'mas Eve as I'm typing this!!


Christmas is a little different for me this time... Usually at this time of the year, I'd be away in America or Australia or somewhere far away celebrating X'mas in a foreign land while on holiday.

But this year, I've decided to stay in Singapore and have a cozy celebration with my family.



Instead of going to theme parks and doing touristy stuff in another country, what I've been doing is buying X'mas deco for to jazz up my own house - something I've never done before!!!






Can you imagine our house has NEVER had a X'mas tree in it before this???




Ever since I was a little kid, I've been dreaming about having the perfect Christmas.


Thanks to all the festive movies I've seen, I always imagine a giant Christmas tree (real tree, not a fake one) with big fat presents underneath and waking up to falling pretty snow on X'mas Eve while proceeding to have a giant home-cooked dinner with your loved ones and sipping hot chocolate at the end.



Of course the snow part isn't going to happen in Sunny ol' Singapore, but I realized I could make the rest of it happen... I am now mature and independent enough to make part of my dream come true, yay!!!


So my grand plan for Christmas Day is to stay home with family and play classic board games such as Taboo, Scrabble, Monolopy and Uno Stacko and I'd also be whipping up a royal Christmas feast together with Sam!!!!








What's cookin' on our Christmas Menu:


Baked Salmon with Mango Sauce (I like mine super tender, barely cooked)

Grilled Pork Belly with herbs (Sam's specialty!! It's supa yummeehhh)

Roasted Chicken with Mushroom Gravy (couldn't find turkey so I guess this will do)

Mashed Potato (after mashing it, I like to pop it in the oven to bake for a bit and sprinkle a lot of cheese on top. YUM)

Roasted Vegetables (brushed with butter and seasoning! cauliflower, mushrooms, sweet corn)

Minestrone Soup (self-explanatory :P)





As for desserts, we're making a Gingerbread House for good looks - after I'm done with entry I'm going to finish decorating it!!

And for good taste, we're also making a log cake!




ISN'T THAT A LOT OF FOOD FOR 6 PEOPLE!!!

Sounds like a lot of trouble but it's going to be mega fun, since I love baking and cooking :) Especially if it's for a purpose or special occasion such as Christmas - there is no satisfaction like watching hungry people dig into your food!!





I really hope my family actually appreciates the efforts I've put in this year to make our Christmas are family-oriented and homely and special as possible.


We've never really had a "Family" Christmas such as this before, since we're Buddhist and my mum doesn't think much of Christmas... but I hope it's half as special to them as it is to me.

I'm not a religious person at all, but I don't think Christmas celebrations should be limited to Christians / Catholics or other people believing in Jesus..





I believe Christmas is for anyone who's ever loved someone or been loved, because at this time of the year, all you really wanna do is spend quality time with special people!!

As much as I admire how religious faith can bring about such a glorious occasion, there's so much more to Christmas that gives everyone at least ONE reason to totally love it!!!!






Gorgeous twinkling Christmas lights and decorations,

unmistakable jolly Christmas tunes (I believe X'mas carols are among the BEST songs to have ever been made!),

sales and special Christmas offers in almost every retail outlet,

fun Christmas gatherings and parties with colleagues, friends and family,

Christmas holidays for you to take time off work to relax and enjoy the festive season...




What's not to love about it????? :)






I'm really excited about tomorrow, it will be the first and possibly the last Christmas celebration we'd be all together in a long time because I might be going to study in Australia next year, and we will all probably be leading their own lives by then... in different houses, different countries.. makes me a little sad thinking about it.




But what matters most is the amazing Christmas I know we're going to have together tomorrow, and all the fun I've had already before Christmas Day has even begun!

I've had the best time choosing presents, wrapping presents, baking X'mas cookies and cakes, blowing up balloons and getting a fright when they pop, setting up the bare Christmas tree and watching it come to life as I hang more and more ornaments on it...






Alright I gotta go back to decorating my Gingerbread house now!!!


I hope you guys have nothing short of an absolutely rocking time this Christmas.





For those of you who have been reading my blog since ages ago, thank you for staying with me for another year!

Btw - I can't believe that New Year's Even follows Christmas Eve so closely.. it's really quite a lot to take in at one go, isn't it?




Love you all!!!!


xoxo,
Jess