Sinterklaas Weekend in Eindhoven

Last weekend the Kamphuis family very warmly welcomed us into their home at Eindhoven, and we celebrated Sinterklaas (a Dutch tradition) together! It was all very exciting to consume so much sugar in one day (!!) and learn about their culture, so many cute songs to learn! Though there was quite a big hoohah over Sinterklaas being racist this year, I say that it's all in the perception, most people just celebrate it as a tradition, not linking it at all to slavery, so I say let the Dutch keep their traditions!

Plus we went to a REAL farm to buy a REAL Christmas tree, no fake plastic trees like those in Singapore hurhur. And after, we got to decorate the tree wheehoo!

Then it was time for dinner!! Traditional Sinterklaas meals are like our steamboat grill, just that everyone has an individual little pan instead of everyone cooking on the same big pan. Yummy yummy! We brought a bit of Asia with us, dressing up in our Onesies!

After dinner, it's time for the gift exchange! In Sinterklaas, there's a twist, as the presents are usually random things around the house that have never been used. There's usually a whole stack of them, and the first round we roll dice to see which presents are in our pile. After unwrapping the presents, we roll dice again to take/exchange those presents (e.g. I got a toilet brush and passed it to someone else hahaha). Real fun!

Went to sleep real early that night as we had flown the whole night before from Singapore (yawnnnnn). But the next morning we were in for a real treat with breakfast and a surprise early birthday celebration for Irene!! *Pops confetti!!*



And it's time to....go shopping!!! Papa drove us downtown to the new Primark and to Roermond outlet. Didn't buy much, but got to catch the loveliest sunset ever!

Though we were only there for 1 day, the warmth and love we felt was real and fuzzy! Hope to see you again soon Papa and Mama Kamphuis!

Office Christmas Party

Before we all fly off to -4 degrees Amsterdam (brrrrr), we had a little Christmas party in the office last night with little cute Santa hats, a 3-piece band, our very own DJ and champagne!! *pop*

 

Tis the season to be merry and jolly (and fatty) indeed. Cheers!

Insta-Updates

 Ohmeegosh it's DECEMBER. (Already???!?!)  

Having a quick pizza dinner after work. Every table had a scary 21-inch pizza whilst we munched on our little funghi pizza and caprese salad. Kids these days...scary!

While this month will just fly by again with all our travelling, we took some time out to enjoy our weekly coffee, zone out and people watch.  

Not much drama happening besides the appearance of Master Splinter (an evil wooden chopstick which entered my thumb). Managed to get it out on Saturday with a trusty pair of tweezers. I actually visited the doctor on Thursday and he scared me with 2 injections and knives, after which telling me I could just leave it in and put some antibiotic cream -_-. Luckily without any pus or pain, Master Splinter emerged to my wonder and joy.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Last night my good friend Nicole Verghese held an intimate get-together music session with herself and another band on the mics, with friends, family and colleagues surrounding her. We were all there for one purpose, to give support to her family in this trying time. Her father has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS, or Motor Neurone Disease.

It sounds like a mouthful, but it actually means that your brain has stopped communicating with your muscles and nerves. Any voluntary movement on your part will become harder and harder, including simple acts like making a fist, swallowing food, and even breathing. A person diagnosed with ALS will slowly deteriorate as his muscles get smaller and weaker, and eventually pass on due to respiratory failure.

When I told my mum about this, she said that my paternal grandfather had also suffered from the same disease. He passed away after 5 years of being bed-ridden. That was almost 25 years ago, when medical technology was no where near the stage it is now. And yet even today, there is no cure for ALS, and no way to slow down the progression of the disease.

Nicole has an indiegogo page up until the end of the month to raise funds for her dad's medical bills. As December approaches, the season of giving and receiving, please feel free to contribute to this or any other ALS/ ALS research fund-raising initiative.