Christmas has evolved from celebrating the birth of Christ (yes I’m still religious) to being something very commercial where retailers exhaust all means to squeeze that extra dollar out of consumers.
No surprises, I’m a victim too, and Christmas shopping for me is always last minute. Went down to Orchard before reunion dinner to search for presents for family members; and until today, I still am short of 3 more presents. 
Thank god I don’t plan my life like how I plan present buying; else I’d be so screwed.
While shopping along orchard, I saw this very cute tri-shaw outside Takashimaya.
Look at the backdrop… See that long queue… It’s Abercrombie and Fitch… Free men inside? 
Somehow my mom loves this Paradise Inn place and she chose this place for Christmas Dinner; and since I had member-card. We got the same table as the last time, with very nice view.
Finally I got a shot of the Menu. I have to say that they spend quite a lot of effort in the deco; making it look classy.
Various flower tea, but didn’t get any this time round since I’m going to get Gong-Cha later anyways.
No, that’s not our soup, but this looks really yummy. Shall try it the next time!
Home made peanuts as usual. I like the one here because it’s very soft and tasty.
This restaurant is a soup place, and they will always place a “soup spoon” at each table.
I really love this wall feature. I want this in my future home!!
Ambient light which felt like fusion oriental.
Ok. I was bored, because the food took some time to come, and I decided to test my “tou pai” (secret photography) skills on this couple sitting at the bench below.
At first I thought this was pig brains… Doesn’t it look like???
After asking the staff, I’m pleased that it is not.
It’s actually some clam.. Phew! I don’t eat disgusting things like pig organs… 
Christmas has always been a good time for me to reconnect with friends and this Christmas alone, I sent over 500 SMSes to all the contacts; past and present, people I like and don’t.
Somehow the SMS I borrowed from some internet site spelled Merry Christmas as “Marry Christmas” and three of my observant friends actually corrected me, with one asking if I would “marry her” (you know who you are). Of course I knew she was joking… 
I’m happy to share that I will be meeting a couple of my long lost friends in the coming year!! Seems like I will not be having dinner at home till end of January mom!
End of the year is a time when I get very broke for three simple reasons: Sis’s Birthday, Mom’s Birthday and Christmas; but I’m not complaining. There are times that I wonder, how life will be like without my lovely family, and it is this thought that reminds me of treasuring them even more.
Since I’ve been blessed with exams on Mom’s birthday, we decided to celebrate it early instead.
Mom concentrating on what to order for the night
The food and service here is really good; and there was this cute girl sitting on the table next to mine. *grins*
Unlike other joins that serves canned peanuts, Paradise Inn’s tasted like they made it themselves.
That’s my tea, which I eventually shared with my family. It is sooo pretty…
By the way, if you go to Paradise Inn, one of the key reasons is the soup. This is some chicken and pork-rib soup that kept mom really happy…
Yummy… All good things come in a line…
White rice… But the serving here for rice is actually quite small. So for big eaters, you might want to order two bowls.
Salted egg yolk prawns and tofu. These are my favorite dishes for the night
Egg plant with salted fish, sis’s favorite. Honestly, I still prefer the one at the new veg-rice stall @Kopitiam-SMU
Another of mom’s favorite, fried prawns roll
