People often wonder what a Hip Mom does at this time of year. Well, first off, we don’t celebrate Christmas but all the same, we can’t help but be drawn into the festive swing of things. Maybe it has to do with the huge, brightly lit Christmas trees or the long school holidays or the year winding down to a close.

Whatever it is, this is the best time to shop, eat out and unwind. After all, we have all year to put our noses to the grindstone! All work and no play makes us grow old faster. So, hi-ho, Prancer, Dancer, Silver … no, not you, Silver, you’re with the Lone Ranger !

This year, I sent out only 10 Christmas e-cards to close friends and family. I used to send a lot more but seeing as how many people even bother responding, I’ve slashed my list down to just that. Of the 10 I sent this time, 6 people opened their cards and only 1 person (my Scottish girl friend) bothered to reply. So much for the Christmas spirit !

On a more positive note, I’ve unfailingly received a Christmas text greeting from my car salesman every single year for the past 10 years. In fact, the dear man (bless him!) sends me greetings for every celebration including Valentine’s Day. Either he has a major crush on me or he’s nagging me to buy a new car .

Christmas Eve, we had dinner at a friend’s. There was a whole spread of homemade soup, salad, spaghetti and lasagna, turkey slices with cranberry jelly and turkey stuffing, lamb slices with mint sauce, mashed potato, and Christmas cake and pudding.

I took only 1 slice of turkey and 1 sushi roll of stuffing but ended up finishing up everything else on the girls’ plates, out of politeness. Suffice to say, my picky eaters decided the food was just a little too ‘different’ from my cooking .

Christmas morning, we had McD’s as I needed to make a quick trip to the mall to grab some last-minute fresh mushrooms, carrots and tomatoes for my Christmas dinner of chicken and shrimp linguine with roasted carrots. And that was it! Nothing too hip, just a quiet Christmas day!

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In the continuing saga of our beach vacation in Penang, we would’ve stayed in all day at the Hard Rock Hotel if we didn’t have to go look for food. The hotel is really nice, the rooms are freakin’ expensive but the food is nowhere near 5-star standard .

So we pretty much had to drive 45 minutes into town every day in search of better food. Most of the beach restaurants are too touristy and aren’t open during the day anyways.

One day, we went to Gurney Plaza which is all decked up for the season but is sadly lacking shoppers unlike our malls here in the city which are so packed you can hardly walk 2 feet before bumping into a wall of people.

At any rate, we couldn’t stay for long because the air-conditioning was pitifully lacking and I was starting to develop a headache. Maybe that’s why it’s so empty – everyone’s going “not today, dear, I have a headache”!

I still prefer Queen’s Bay Mall which is so cool – in terms of air-conditioning and location. Right across from the mall is an esplanade with palm trees and a serene stretch of sea with a small island in full view. Simply breathtaking!

Such a shame we didn’t get to spend some time at the esplanade as it was a hot afternoon and if you know me, I’m always trying to run from the sun. No, I don’t want a tan, thanks!

Unlike most folks, we didn’t make a beeline for the local street food which Penang is famous for. I love street food, my kids don’t like it much, and we have a common dislike for yucky food places .

The thing I love most about Penang are the old, historical buildings and architectural styles. Glad we drove around and saw some of those sights. Wish we could’ve stayed longer. We definitely must go back soon .

Scroll down to previous 2 posts for more photos of Day 1 and Day 2 of our beach vacation.

While we were lining up for coffee at Coffee Bean recently, I spied my two teens, Raine and Skye, eyeing this guy. Oh, he’s so cute! I want him! No, you don’t! He’s mine!

WHAT ??

Yikes, thank goodness, it’s only Mr Ginger!

I have to admit even I find gingerbread men adorable. When my kids were very little, I bought them a box of Pepperidge Farms gingerbread and ended up gobbling up the whole box myself because my picky eaters didn’t like the taste.

Anyhow, Raine and Skye looked so excited about this little gingerbread man, I asked if they would like one and their eyes lit up immediately. The beautiful thing about my 3 kids is that they rarely, if ever, ask us (or anyone else) to buy them things.

At any rate, tis the time of year when we do most of our shopping and eating out, and since we aren’t going on any expensive caribbean vacations or anything, why not a gingerbread man ?

Steev came home from class yesterday morning with the beginnings of a cough and fever. Tis the season, that’s one thing. The other is that Steev’s been having chocolates for breakfast, lunch and dinner – almost! Chocolate is very ‘heaty’ (raises internal body heat), hence the fever, or so we believe.

This is only a small portion of the goodies Hip2bDad brought home from Melbourne last weekend and most of it is already in Steev’s tummy .

As for the rest of the chocolates and nuts, my girls have split them up between my two fridges and hidden them deep in the drawers and behind all my other stuff, to be savored little by little when I’m not looking.

I’m guessing Hip2bDad and I are to blame for this bizarre behavior. Steev never tasted a candy till he was 3+! Raine and Skye started a little earlier, around age 2+, because by then, our friends and relatives had begun to notice how deprived our kids were and taken it on themselves to ensure our kids were normal well-fed with chocolates and candy whenever we visited.

Could this be why our teens find chocolates so irresistible? Have we inadvertently caused them to develop Chocolate-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ?

One week of cranking out emails and text messages, craning our necks and counting down the days and Hip2bDad is finally home from Melbourne after his flight was delayed for 3 hours. Not that we didn’t think to go along for a holiday but there’s nothing much to do in Melbourne and we’d rather go someplace like Disneyland, Anaheim.

Anyhow Hip2bDad brought home lots of goodies. I haven’t taken any pictures yet because the girls hid them all away in the fridge, afraid that Hip2bDad would distribute them all away at the office ! Yep, my chocolate-deprived group here has to depend on the generosity of our relatives and friends for their chocolate binge, and trips like this where Hip2bDad spoils them rotten. I’m strictly an anti-chocolate mom!

After one week of the food there, Hip2bDad was starved for something spicy. He put down his luggage and dragged us straight out for curry laksa . He ordered this duck noodle for me. I’ve never had this before but it tastes surprisingly good.

I say dragged because I wouldn’t voluntarily go eat in a coffee shop, hahaha. I have a thing against dirty eating places. I don’t care how good the food is supposed to be, if the place makes me lose my appetite, I ain’t goin’ there, simple!

After lunch, we went for a drive to nowhere. We had so many stories to catch up on both sides we wanted to finish them before we got home . The funniest thing was Tyson missed Hip2bDad so much he was practically leaping out of his cage. In fact, he toppled it over and ran out! Isn’t that why they say dogs are man’s best friend? Hmm.

When I get back from the gym, you’ll find one of these sticking out of my mouth like a pacifier as I unpack my gym gear and chuck my socks in the washing machine.

Yeah, best sugar fix ever, not that they’re even that sweet! Still, tell me, how to lose belly fat at the rate I’m going? I’m so totally into red bean popsicles! Red beans were never classier!

I rarely eat breakfast out. For me, breakfast is a simple meal gobbled down at home in my jammies before brushing my teeth. Not sure where I got the idea from. Anyhow there’s usually nothing fancy about my breakfasts.

But lately I’ve been having breakfast served to me on a silver platter in a basket at Otak-Otak Place which is nice and quiet in the mornings except for those ancient songs they play (those really have to go ).

You can read more about what I eat there on my food blog. No airs about this unassuming eatery either but until I learn to enjoy the luxuries of manicures, massages and walk in tubs that friends often boast about, I’ll just have to settle for brainy breakfasts that magically appear before me without me having to lift a finger .

… and eat it too.

We chanced upon King’s Confectionery offering 40% off everything in the store last weekend. Bought this plus enough sausage rolls, pizza buns, raisin bread, red bean buns and butter swiss rolls to feed a small army. It’s all gone now, you’d think I’ve been starving my kids !