In The End

There was no explosion, no fireworks, no madness. All we had was a projector, shared a bottle of champagne between the odd 10 of us and resumed our positions at the foldable plastic tables to continue drinking juices and beers. 2010 did not end with a bang, and yet, the tail-end of the year proved to be quite a bang on its own - a shot to the head and a hole in the pocket.

It all began when I didn't plan my Christmas diligently. I used to be able to organize my Christmasses without much fuss. But December swooped by low and I barely had time to run for cover. Every item on my Christmas shopping list was bought two days before Christmas and I had lost all sense of navigating my way through Christmas plans. I had no idea what I was going to do, whose house I was going to be at, and lastly, an hour before Christmas eve mass, I realized I hadn't allocated time for me to wrap my gifts.

Despite the horror of it all I managed to survive Christmas with a calm heart and hefty load of activities. I rushed to bake a potato au gratin, which failed me by way of not enough salt, and then forgot to buy my Goddaughter a gift, and had to send the maid to the train station which only meant one thing - I'd be late for my boyfriend's mother's Christmas dinner.

My punishment for arriving late was that I would have to endure the entire Christmas party watch me open my gifts - all 30 of them. Yes, Christmas at the Baker residence can be very overwhelming; you're showered with gifts and there's no escaping Jackie's loving clutch.. of gifts. She had gotten me a crazy total of 17 this year, she told me, and Mike my heart's anchor had gotten me 13 gifts, divided into little bits.

Jackie got me cooking DVDs, cookbooks, a shopping trolley which cracked the entire room up, and a few other bits and bobs. My darling Mike decided he'd furnish my Hong Kong trip with a new suitcase which homed an adorable teddy bear within. He'd also gotten me a dress, Godiva chocolate truffles (my absolute favorite), a Santa's Helper Barbie doll, beauty products and a laptop! (which I have been trying to use dutifully at any chance I get, which explains this night blogpost).

To my brilliant luck, because I had arrived late, some of them had to open their gifts at the time I did. I got Mike an Xbox 360 S for Christmas, and his mum on my suggestion bought the Kinect attachment which I've been dying to watch him try out. The Kinect is revolutionary in terms of motion video games, and forget the wands for the PS3 and the Wii, the Kinect sensor is definitely the future of motion gaming. To my relief, Mike was surprised at his gift and is totally hooked onto it. He hasn't set the Kinect up yet, but we'll do it this weekend.

Phe-ewh.

The days between Christmas and New Year went by without a hitch. I was at work and enjoyed the silence since everyone was away except Gerald. The beauty about having an online bank account is that you can monitor your expenditures. Mine was scraping the bottom of the barrel. I nearly panicked because Min was in China and hadn't issued our paychecks. I eventually got it, and saw NO BONUS!!!!! Bloody drats. Well times are bad, and I think this experience is humbling. *sigh

The eve of the eve was spent at my aunt's place. It was our belated Christmas celebration with the entire Fang family. I had a great time catching up with my cousins Dan and Ben, and with the rest of the fam over dinner and desserts. Nothing to complain there.

New Year's Eve went by quickly for me. It was strange. Malaysia won their first ever football game in some Suzuki Cup, so out of pride and joy, the prime minister declared the 31st of December a holiday. So all of a sudden, we had a holiday. However, Gerald called for a meeting so I still went to work half-day anyway. After a nice lunch with my mummy, we did a bit of grocery shopping at TMC before heading home. Jean requested I make some dessert for our New Year's Eve dinner and flattered, I did.

I napped a bit longer than expected and woke up in a rush. I was done with two batches of brownies in an hour, chucked them into a carry bag and whisked them off to Dan and Jean's place. The countdown was nice and it was lovely to have Mike beside me for a New Year's kiss. After the countdown and after hanging out with the kids, I followed Mike to Vanity where Hazri and Dawn joined me. It was a mellow celebration but I was glad to have Dawn there as she's someone who has been there for me from college days. She tried her best to stay as late as she could, which I completely adore her for.

Today was a total bust for me. I couldn't get my head together and with everyone back at their desks and hearing phones ring off the hook, I simply couldn't write! Maya comes back to work tomorrow which will relieve me of my load. I am hoping for a better day tomorrow, and an even better year ahead of me.