Love is in the air

Ok, for all my single friends out there, I'm sorry if this hit the wrong spot with you.

V-day just came and went. Unlike my younger days, I'm no longer as hyped up over this "special" day - I mean, if you're in love, everyday is special; you don't have to wait for one particular day to splurge on overly-priced roses and dinners to show your love for the other party. For me, I'm just so grateful (and constantly amazed!) at how loving Pi and I remain despite being together for nearly 7 years and tying the knot for more than half of that. :)

For the Ong Fam, V-day is also a day of double celebrations, for it is my Dad's birthday. A true Valentine he is, to be born on that day of all days.

When we were younger, we always celebrated his birthday in advance (poor Dad!), for the special day was usually reserved for that special someone. But as we grew older and got our own families, we knew how important it was to make your parents feel loved and appreciated, even if they did not ask for it (being the conservative Chinese they were brought up to be, never showing their love and emotions on the surface).

So this V-day, Pi and I surprised Daddy with a hazelnut ice-cream cake from Swensen's, followed by lunch at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Although Dad did not say it, his beaming face told me how much he appreciated everything.

Then, it was kind of a non-affair. Pi, being the true blue romantic that he is, surprised me with roses in the morning (he wanted to do it at 12.01am on the day itself but being the pig that I was, I was already fast asleep, hehe). It always beats me how he manages to smuggle such a big bunch of roses into the house, when we spend almost every waking moment together, but I suppose that's the magic of it. ;) I reciprocated with a love balloon that I begged the Swensen's staff to give me (yes, I know, so much for sincerity, but Pi knows my love for him deep in my heart).

And then we just spent the day snuggled up in bed, enjoying the idleness of the weekends and each other's company.

Of families and celebrations

It's been a hectic last week for me, hence my "disappearance" from the blog.

I've been sick all week - drats to that flu bug that started with a sore throat on Sat and progressed to a full-blown flu with blocked nose, cough and all. I think the bug is travelling around the office too - with many of my colleagues also feeling under the weather.

It didn't help that last week was earnings week, which meant that I had no respite from work. I was literally working my ass off arranging one media interview after another, at the same time having performance reviews for my staff and preparing for a global launch. It's times like this that I really wonder why I'm the only one in the office doing real work - and at a lower pay than some of my peers, no less! I'm really not in an envious position, as glamorous as the title may sound.

Ok, enough about work.

I did find time for some quality family bonding over the weekend. Sat was Nana's 1st birthday party (in advance of the actual day, which falls on a Monday), and my brother had rented a holiday chalet (more like a bungalow actually) over the weekend. The Ong Fam stayed over for the night, and I had fun playing with the two gals. The only part I didn't enjoy was the unearthly hour of 10am (ok, it was not that early :P) that we all had to wake up the next day, but breakfast with the Fam at Ah Kun saved the day - boy, that morning cup of kopi-o is really a lifesaver.

After a short nap in the afternoon to make up for our lack of sleep, Pi and I met his mum and brother (and his gf) for some crabbing time! Yes, I'm talking about my favourite Mellben crab bee hoon and chilli crab *yum* and flu or no flu, it's not going to deter me from them! Pi's brother gave us a treat to thank us for treating him so well (*blush*).

My only grouse was that the crabs that day were not at their best - they weren't really big and the meat was not that full. But it was still really delicious! Between the 5 of us, we polished off 3 crabs, 10 fried mantous and a plate of sambal veggie in no time at all.

You know you're with family (and true friends) when you can drop all pretences and dive in to good crab with both hands - finger licking and all (the same goes for KFC, by the way. I told Pi that I used to order nuggets at KFC cos I didn't want to attack the chicken with both hands, lest he thought I was not ladylike, but now that he's "fallen into the trap" - haha - there was no need for me to pretend anymore).

At the end of the day, we went back with full tummies and I, with full contentment that I had spent yet another fulfilling weekend with family.

One for the road - the Ong Fam: