I have to admit that I’ve been quite lazy with the blogging routine lately and I guess the Christmas festivities is a valid excuse! So without further ado, here is what I got up to over Xmas and Boxing day!
First thing Christmas morning the family opened their Christmas presents and we all got stuck in preparing our Christmas lunch.
We all wore our obligatory party hats from the Christmas crackers which are as ever, full of bad jokes and useless plastic surprises (but we wouldn’t be without them!).
Grandma needed no persuading to don her party hat…
After lunch we chilled out in our living room. I’ve always liked how our house is a mixture of traditional Chinese and festive!
We all had our fill of Irish Coffee. We were gifted SO many bottles of Baileys this year!
Just looking at all the boxes of chocolate we were given makes me feel fatter!
My nails were a sparkly turquoise for the day.
Barry M (Cyan Blue) and Butter nail (Henley Regatta) polish.
We received my aunts’ Christmas parcel in time and my sister and I were really excited to find Shiseido Maquillage Rouge Enamel Glamour (lip colour/gloss) among their gifts. I love this brand and really do think their lipglosses are the best as they are super moisturising. It’s a shame the younger Maquillage line is only available in Asia. I will definitely be stocking up when I visit next Summer.
However there was barely any time for resting as my parents, sisters and grandma all had to prepare for our hot pot on the evening when more hungry family members would arrive! So off to make lots of won tons…
Peeling the ‘thousand year old eggs’ which look gross, smell gross but actually taste pretty good. I like them best in congee (rice porridge).
Hot Pot is always so much fun and once the soup is flavoured, everyone cooks whatever they like. Some of the foods we had were skewered prawns, tofu, beef, squid, noodles, beancurd skins, salmon, halibut and fish balls. Oh and plenty of my dad’s special satay sauce. Nom!
After plenty of food and drink, we were pretty thankful for the dishwasher. There were so many bowls!
After hot pot we all chilled out in the living room where we all took turns playing with the Wii.
Christmas day was definitely tiring but it was so much fun! The following day was Boxing day and we hit the shops pretty late in the day but still managed to buy a few things.
Sadly no bargains for me. I bought a YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in Caress Pink that I’ve wanted for a while and the RMK Recovery gel which smells like oranges. My skin loves the stuff.
Me and my sisters…
I still have some outfit photos that I’ve taken of Hailey that I need to share in future posts!
Hailey- Blazer (Zara) Snood (House of Fraser) Top, Jeans (Topshop)
Me- Shirt, Jacket (Topshop), Grey Tee, Jeggings (UO) and Ribbon
Later on in the evening we returned to the restaurant that my family has been visiting since before I was born! It’s the same place that I took Kristabel in her post here. All 14 of us had our fill of yummy Cantonese food.
The night was pretty much identical to the night before. We all drove back to our house where we had traditional chinese soup (tong) made by my grandma. We played on the Wii and stuffed our faces with more chocolate!
Before the night was over, I got one of my cousins to take a photo of me, my parents and my sisters.
Thanks Cuz for the lovely family photo!
The final photo literally marks the end of my Christmas due to the fact my parents only get 2 days off a year. It sounds crazy I know, but it’s definitely the norm for most Chinese families, especially first generation Chinese like me whose parents own their own businesses. I definitely had one of the best ones this year as our house was bustling with so many family members. Even though Christmas day was tiring, it was worth it and I can’t wait for next year to come along already! However, with 3 huge meals in the space of two days, it’s time to think about the post-xmas diet haha. Although that’s rather difficult with so many boxes of chocolate everywhere.
I hope everyone had a fab Christmas and hope you all have a fantastic new years!
