the lil' cottage chalet

Fork n Spoon wrapped in red napkins, freshly cooked spagetti accompanied with tasty roasted chicken on the table, big pot of warm soup waiting to warm our stomach and lighted candles behind on the doorway warm up the heart. With this and big group gathered for dinner, it does reminds you of christmas isnt it?

Only that X'mas is half a year away...This is the OG gathering dinner, not forgetting Stella belated birthday.

Concepted weeks before amid exams, and put together in days right after the last paper, 5th of june was the day we saw the fruit of our labour. Looking at everyone happily gathered at the table for a homely dinner is the reward, and the belated birthday girl smile is the bonus. That's what that makes it worthwhile.

And the best feeling of all is knowing that you got a great team with you to make it happen. Alone you cant have brillant concepts on the theme and decoration & to actually do the deco, the knowledge of food to buy and the actual purchase and cooking, the idea on the gift and the actual making of it, and of cos, the actual clearing up and washing. And, those who willing to come down all way to the ulu ulu changi resort to make the "gathering" really like a "gathering".

The soup warms the stomach, but is the thought of all these that really warms you up. Thank you guys and girls!



(1)...the feast... (2)....the belated one.... (3)....believe it, camera was on a inverted paper cup... (4)..the wishes "enlighted".



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WISHing for the taxi?

Yes, here is the ever-present-evoxiang.blogspot-talks-about-the-car-he-drove time again.

This time, it's a toyota Wish. No intention to be a family man with a MPV; The toyota rush i booked couldnt be delivered on time in the last minute, so a discount was given for the Wish. That's what they say, unpredictability is risk but opportunity too.

And i'm glad i got the keys to it. Not only it saves the day when i got 7 passengers in the end, it was a comfortable car to cover great miles in ease. The supportive seats holds the driver in comfort, and 170Nm of torque makes expressway speed and overtaking really effortless. Not to forget that smooth and decisive 4spd auto gear. The gear stick itself, like the rest of the interior, is solid and well made in a typical toyota manner...built to last.

The car is heavy (1600kg), making it stable even at slightly above legal motorway speed. But heaviness also makes it very not nimble too; You know the acceleration is 'cos the engine got power but not 'cos the car is light. The steering is not as sharp as what we like too.

Low sitting position makes you forget you are in a 7-seater MPV, but visibility suffers; many times i have to sit up straight when driving thru tight places. A bigger side mirror is prefered, but guess that spoils the styling. 3rd row seats are not too hard to access and not too nasty to sit in, but passengers there sweated and cursed for the absent of cooling air there.

Worth a mention is that i broke my 24hours driving distance again; this time round is 340km (i slept for 1 hour only, within the 24 hr) Thankfully, the car returns 12.2km/l, which is really really good...considering that it is a MPV and 3 rows are occupied, and is a 1.8litre Automatic.

Now i understand why it was, at one time, the best selling parallel imported car in singapore...til the authorised toyota dealership cried.


But, if the fiat punto is a passion lover, then the Wish is the trustworthy business partner...When its time to say goodbye, you would hope to work with the reliable partner again but, you dont exactly miss him and feel sad.


340km...from sunset to sunrise...never felt like a Taxi as much as this before;^)

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