We had planned to drive four hours up to Humboldt Redwood State Park and stay one night at Eureka over the Christmas weekend... but alas, the cold stormy weather kept us trapped inside the house and we only had one miraculous day of sunshine on Christmas eve. We took advantage of that and made an impromptu trip to Pigeon Point Lighthouse after lunch, which is about an hour's drive away.
The drive was longer than it seemed, perhaps because we were on highway 92 towards Half Moon Bay and it was a rather narrow, winding road especially when we hit the mountains. Despite that, as we neared the small town, we were greeted with sights of cute farm houses selling real Christmas trees and pumpkins (probably leftovers from Halloween). It's really new to us because Singapore almost never sell real Christmas trees... nor pumpkins that big.
Once we hit Highway 1 (Cabrillo Highway), it's a scenic drive along the Pacific Coast all the way till we reach the lighthouse. Would have loved to stop over at some of the scenic points along the way if not for the fact that we were in a race against daylight. We hoped to take photos of the lighthouse before it turns dark. We did manage that... and also walked around the place for a while before we overheard the guards saying that they were closing for the day. I'd love to come back for more photos... perhaps in the summer. The place is beautiful.
We then headed towards Mountain View to visit the Google headquarters. Mr. Jang really wanted to see the Android Jelly Bean ever since WL mentioned it to him. We got a little lost searching for the exact location but were helped by friendly Google staff on brightly-coloured bicycles. The mascots were really cute... the only turn-off was the muddy field. It was raining so consistently heavy the past few days that the soil was all soft and yucky.
Our last stop was at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (of cos we need to attend church service!) We THOUGHT we were early but lo and behold! There was already a queue forming outside the church. The first service was apparently full to the brim and we had to wait till the next available one (it's typical on Christmas eve, an attendant told us). It was cold and windy while waiting but the church was very thoughtful in providing heat packs, warm ciders and brownie/cinnamon bites, brought to us by volunteers on trolleys. It's great experiencing the Christmas atmosphere here. It also made us more appreciative and grateful for the fact that we have a proper place to worship God...
And then on Christmas day, it was back to rainy skies again. It's been so ever since so we stayed at home for two full days, with Mr. Jang working from home on Boxing Day instead of going to the empty office. I hope the sun comes out soon (it did so briefly today!) so that we can continue seeking out new places to enjoy!
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Friday, December 28, 2012
Monday, December 26, 2011
Four times Christmas at Cafe Lumiere
26 Dec, Singapore - Following its soft launch earlier in the month, Cafe Lumiere officially opened its doors to host four Christmas gathering over the long weekend. It first welcomed a care group cum pot luck dinner on Friday evening, which ended at 1.30am and broke the record of previous care groups hosted. It was mainly due to the difficult book of Isaiah, which somehow ended up into a prolonged discussion on tithing. The co-owners, Grace and Mr. Jang, had no recollection of how the topic has gone off the path.
On Christmas eve, Cafe Lumiere hosted a close group of colleagues from Grace's old office, Meeka. It was the first lunch that Grace ever prepared in the sit down western meal kind of setting. There was pork rib (from NTUC), honey baked ham (from NTUC), wine (from NTUC), and a gigantic log cake (from NTUC). The non-NTUC items were pasta, stringed pineapple and cheese hotdog, and salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing. When asked how she felt on her first attempt to prepare a meal, Grace said: "I was really excited and am just glad that there are no reports of food poisoning thus far! The only negative comment I had was from ex-colleague, Meds, who said my fireplace decor failed... But that's sort of OK coming from Meds!" She quipped.
The Christmas eve dinner session was dedicated to Mr. Jang's JC and majong friends. Interestingly, Cafe Lumiere is also known as MJC - the short form for "Majong Club". True to its name, MJC members presented a majong table as a housewarming gift to the couple. It was quickly put to good use after the members had their Christmas feast and the party ended at 3am in the morning, or so Grace heard as she has already collapsed into her four-poster bed slightly after midnight due to the long day spent in the kitchen.
As for Christmas day, it was a relief for the owners that the party only started around 7pm. Grace and Mr. Jang were exhausted from helping out at the Children Ministry in the morning. Some of the junior kids apparently ate the chocolate stars that they hid in the santuary for the older kids. The latter could not find the complete set of stars for them to piece together the words of "SAVE", "(L)AMB", "H(O)PE" and "LOV(E)". The couple spent some time trying in vain to locate the stars which had mysteriously gone missing.
At 7pm, Grace and Mr Jang welcomed their friends and family to Cafe Lumiere for the grand finale Christmas Day dinner. And what a feast the group had - it was all from a catering service! But it was all made cosy and personalised by the wonderful presents, desserts, and wine brought by their pals. The Christmas spirit was further enhanced by the fact that everyone came dressed in the theme of "Winter" albeit with various interpretations - tropical winter, temperate winter, but luckily no north-pole winter as the air-con could only go as low as 17C. Come gift exchange time, everyone had a fantastic time unwrapping the goodies brought by one another. Even Grace's brother-in-law, OSH, bought a proper gift from L'Occitane this time round. Suspiciously though, he did not know what L'Occitane is when asked. Being the good wife that she is, Est, Grace's sister, refused to comment when asked if she bought the gift on his behalf. The night ended on a high note as the group laughed their guts out watching an old movie, 唐伯虎点秋香.
We bring you some photo highlights from the dinner finale, which is not a lot as Grace was either too busy in the kitchen or at the dining area eating. For the rest of the other events, there were no photos taken from Grace's phone cam (she totally forgot).
Cafe Lumiere wishes all a Merry Christmas once again!
On Christmas eve, Cafe Lumiere hosted a close group of colleagues from Grace's old office, Meeka. It was the first lunch that Grace ever prepared in the sit down western meal kind of setting. There was pork rib (from NTUC), honey baked ham (from NTUC), wine (from NTUC), and a gigantic log cake (from NTUC). The non-NTUC items were pasta, stringed pineapple and cheese hotdog, and salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing. When asked how she felt on her first attempt to prepare a meal, Grace said: "I was really excited and am just glad that there are no reports of food poisoning thus far! The only negative comment I had was from ex-colleague, Meds, who said my fireplace decor failed... But that's sort of OK coming from Meds!" She quipped.
The Christmas eve dinner session was dedicated to Mr. Jang's JC and majong friends. Interestingly, Cafe Lumiere is also known as MJC - the short form for "Majong Club". True to its name, MJC members presented a majong table as a housewarming gift to the couple. It was quickly put to good use after the members had their Christmas feast and the party ended at 3am in the morning, or so Grace heard as she has already collapsed into her four-poster bed slightly after midnight due to the long day spent in the kitchen.
As for Christmas day, it was a relief for the owners that the party only started around 7pm. Grace and Mr. Jang were exhausted from helping out at the Children Ministry in the morning. Some of the junior kids apparently ate the chocolate stars that they hid in the santuary for the older kids. The latter could not find the complete set of stars for them to piece together the words of "SAVE", "(L)AMB", "H(O)PE" and "LOV(E)". The couple spent some time trying in vain to locate the stars which had mysteriously gone missing.
At 7pm, Grace and Mr Jang welcomed their friends and family to Cafe Lumiere for the grand finale Christmas Day dinner. And what a feast the group had - it was all from a catering service! But it was all made cosy and personalised by the wonderful presents, desserts, and wine brought by their pals. The Christmas spirit was further enhanced by the fact that everyone came dressed in the theme of "Winter" albeit with various interpretations - tropical winter, temperate winter, but luckily no north-pole winter as the air-con could only go as low as 17C. Come gift exchange time, everyone had a fantastic time unwrapping the goodies brought by one another. Even Grace's brother-in-law, OSH, bought a proper gift from L'Occitane this time round. Suspiciously though, he did not know what L'Occitane is when asked. Being the good wife that she is, Est, Grace's sister, refused to comment when asked if she bought the gift on his behalf. The night ended on a high note as the group laughed their guts out watching an old movie, 唐伯虎点秋香.
We bring you some photo highlights from the dinner finale, which is not a lot as Grace was either too busy in the kitchen or at the dining area eating. For the rest of the other events, there were no photos taken from Grace's phone cam (she totally forgot).
Cafe Lumiere wishes all a Merry Christmas once again!
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| Cafe Lumiere co-owner Grace (right) with her favourite sister Esther (left) and dog Almonn. She calls them collectively: Sismonn. |
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| Almonn was almost put up for sale, if not for his hidden ferocious character. |
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| The Crazy Trio from Sec One. From left: Grace, Chick, and Hwei. (*Grace realised that she also forgot to take a Christmas photo with cafe co-owner and husband, Mr. Jang. Oopsie!) |
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