Hey stranger!

Don’t chide me – I’m more than aware I’ve been gone for almost a year.

Not giving up and will at least pen a few stories before the year ends. But hey, at least you’re following me on Instagram (@imthejessicat) I hope; I didn’t go completely MIA just yet!

OOTD for the night:

Dress by Sarah Joe | Heels by Pedro | Bag by Chanel

Currently working on two blog articles and this is just one of them. The other one is taking a wee bit longer as I’m making a video for that staycation experience too.

I need way more discipline and speed to get back into my old blogging habits. 2019 Resolution maybe?

Dear readers, how I’ve missed you.

How I’ve missed writing and sharing my experiences with all of you! ❤️

There’s so much to update since my absence and so many stories & thoughts to share, but here’s one for today in the spirit of Christmas. This festive season, I had the pleasure of tasting the Christmas & New Year’s Eve Menu of Signature and took in the beautiful sights of Stratosphere – all thanks to the good folks of The Roof.

Christmas has always been one of my top few favourites in my list of annual celebrations.

I feel blessed for being able to be grow up celebrating the love, warmth & the festive spirit of Christmas.

My first Christmas dinner of the year was an intimate party thrown by GUINNESS® Malaysia!

That evening at Dirty Nelly's Pub @ KL Life Centre was a warm and cosy one. 

I was glad to gather amongst my good friends & associates (some of which whom I've not seen for a while!) for a delightful buffet spread of a Christmas dinner and of course…

unlimited pouring of a perfect, frothy pint of GUINNESS® draught.

Apart from chugging it, my favorite thing to do with my pint of GUINNESS® – the frothy moutstache! 

During dinner, we were each given a little Christmas gift from GUINNESS® Malaysia!

It was a miniature snow globe with the GUINNESS® mascot, the iconic toucan inside. 

There are three different variants altogether. Might wanna keep all three as a novelty collection, no? 

Limited edition snowglobes!

You can get yours by purchasing your GUINNESS® at participating outlets/pubs

Drinking more GUINNESS® & giving myself more moustaches!

Guess who was the special guest of the night?

It's local singer-songwriter-music producer, Vince Chong! 

Vince Chong serenading us LIVE with certain selections from his new album

Several covers of traditional, classic Christmas songs like 'Silent Night', 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus', 'Winter Wonderland', 'When A Child is Born', 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas amongst others, were performed for us.

He also included his original track, 'With You This Christmas' as well. It was co-written by himself (and legendary local jazz artist Michael Veerapen's son, Daniel Veerapen!) 

Congratulations on the release of your debut Christmas album CD, 'With You This Christmas'!

The songs were lovely. Those interested can get it via CzipLee Bangsar and CanaanLand Bookstore for RM28. It's also available on iTunes & Amazon! 

Thank you, GUINNESS® for having me. I had a great time with good company! 

***

Year in and year out, a typical, traditional Christmas celebration was something that my family & I never fail to organize with other friends, relatives & loved ones.

We used to have Christmas carolling, stuffed turkeys, home-cooked traditional Christmas fare, Christmas tree decoration, massive gift exchange, hanging Christmas stockings up for Santa, exchanging Christmas greeting cards, candy canes, wearing Santa hats and reindeer horns during our family Christmas dinners and more.

This year, we decided to do it differently 

For our Christmas eve dinner, we celebrated the countdown and gathered together for a…

Chinese Seafood dinner LOL

I know, how odd! LOLOLOLOL 

But we still did have some strain of tradition left in us! Certain things will always remain.

We blasted Christmas songs at home the whole day and had a small gift exchange – sorry for my dreadful present-wrapping skills! It's what's inside that counts, right? HAHA 

The lovely Christmas cake that mom decorated 

Our Christmas tree at home!

Here's a close up

And some of the presents under our tree!

The next afternoon, we took a trip downtown to TAO Japanese Cuisine restaurant in located in Penang Times Square for our Christmas lunch. 

Japanese cuisine to celebrate Christmas? Ummmmm… what?

I know, this is so unbecoming of us!  I really hope we don't go out on a tangent like this next year.

Surprisingly, that was all the photos I took. There were at least ten times more the amount of food on our table, but I decided to put my iPhone down to actually concentrate on my family lunch 

Ever since the advent of smartphones and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and others, I don't want our family mealtimes to end up like this –

HAHA. Guilty?

Some of us at the table! I don't know where the rest went LOL

With mom & godmom 

Best grandmother in the world! 

My series of Christmas celebrations ended with a couple of beer pints & cocktails; Killkenny, Guinness & White Russian 

BestieJoyce, Konzy, Mike and I headed to Zenzi Bar @ Upper Penang Road with a few others.

BFF and I 

With the boys Konzy & Mike

Drinkies! 

And that wraps up my unconventional Christmas this year. 

To be honest, I do miss the good ol' traditional Christmas celebrations my family and I used to hold annually without fail. Hmm… maybe I'll take over the plannings next year.

Move over. It's my turn! 

After all, I'm pretty big on Christmas.

Plus, it gives me an excuse to make a perfect roast with plenty of stuffing, bake some amazing pies, puddings & desserts as well as wrap pretty presents that my family won't ever say no to 

Here's to hoping your Christmas was well-spent with warmth around the people closest to you!

Lest you forget the real meaning of Christmas, it is the spirit of unparalleled love, great joy and togetherness.

Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas day.

So Christmas, is basically our celebrating God's love to us all – the birth of Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, DEAR READERS! 

May your days be merry & bright! And may all your Christmases be white 

(As you know, Malaysia doesn't snow… so.. fake snow will do for now)

It's Sunday again! This week was busy as usual. So much I want to blog about but so little time.

If only I spent 15 minutes to prepare an entire blog post, that would be great! JOY.

But no, I take more time that that as I not only edit ALL the photographs to perfection, I also write the article with conviction and ensure in-depth detail.

I really do, and it takes a hell lot of time! Grrr.

But sometimes I wished I didn't. Le sigh!

I think you can tell by now (after 7 years!) that I'm not the sort of blogger who posts up a few photos and several sentences and call it a blog post.

Since when has blogging ever comprised copy-pasted facts and a stock image?

Quality control has always been the key! 

But I do realize I must stop this "perfectionist" attitude from hindering my efficiency & timeliness

It may be my strength, but it can also be my weakness! 

So I just drew up a near-impossible schedule this morning to make the rest of my December even busier.

It's a challenge.

Far-fetched or not, I gave myself incredibly tigjt deadlines to meet everyday in order to clear off all my back log of 30 blog posts!  I can, I must!

In the meantime, my kitty can keep me company all curled up on my lap

while I slave away on the keyboards 

Have you noticed that we are more inclined to be productive and things actually do get done if there is a target, a goal or a dream ahead of us?

If there's none, well, instead of procrastinating, set yourself those deadlines to push yourself!

It's the same principle I apply for my gym workout routines.

If I get complacent, I'll stop taking it seriously and then there will be no point, no drive, no motivation anymore

Moral of the story? If there is no push, there will be no results 

Anyway, here's what I've been up to this week.

Attended the launch of NIVEA's Pure & Natural range at Delicious! Even Kate Middleton uses them

So glad to bump into Nadia, it's been a while  She was the MC for the afternoon too

*full blog post soon!*

Thursday night being serenaded by Vince Chong during the Merry Guinness christmas dinner

at Dirty Nelly's @ Life Centre by Guinness Malaysia

*full blog post will be published on Christmas day!*

My Friday coordinate comprised earthy and neutral shades!

Jessicat wears : Corduroy cropped jacket in brown by Voir | White Paris graphic tank top by TopShop |

Grey denims by TopShop | Metal feather necklace a gift from Konzy |

Buckled leather heels in brown by Pedro | Armbag in white by Seed

Attended the launch of the iPhone 5 in Malaysia on Friday morning

Made lunch! Organic Durum Wholewheat Spaghetti with Haricot Beans, Mushrooms

and lots of freshly chopped garlic, onions & oregano 

Grabbed some dessert at one of my favorite places – Circus KL @ Pavilion KL

Had a Lez 3 Chocolat (it's a special… off the menu!) Thanks Ralph!  It was delicious

Noms & chilltimes with Ralph, Louise & Konzy. Love yall! 

Chilling at The Pressroom Bistro @ Pavilion KL

Konzy had something called Fancy Sencha Tea while I had Bellagio Hot Chocolate

I loved my Hot Chocolate by Bellagio! None of that watered down crap or typical Cadbury sachets

This was rich, thick and the aroma was amazing  The Fancy Sencha Tea? Well, it was good but we didn't find anything too fancy about it… as its name suggested 

Had a lunchdate with Konzy at Teppanyaki Express @ Food Republic, Pavilion KL

He had a Sliced Lamb set (bottom left) with Squids for the sides

while I had Salmon Fish set (top left) with Mushrooms

I've never had teppanyaki made right in front of me with an iron griddle by our own designated chef!

Both our sets came with rice, clear raddish soup, beansprouts and green leafy vegetables 

I loved it. T'was a new experience & a hearty meal! Thanks Konzy  Definitely recommended 

Had a healthy lunch yesterday at O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bar @ The Curve!

I've recommended this joint before in previous editions of The Sunday Times.

Konzy had his usual fave Big Club Sandwich (above) while I tried something new today, the Chicken Slice, Swiss & Guacamole (below). This is one of our choices if we're feeling healthy!

Here's my current song of the week by the way 

Do take a listen to my current fave dubstep track that's been on loop on my iPod all week!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vLFnx2udp0

Might wanna check 'em out 

Before I go, I have some good news to share. I will be roadtripping and making my final drive to Penang with my trusty ol' white Kelisa to make the switch this Wednesday.

Switch? Yes, the switch to my brand new dream car.

It arrived my home in Penang last week and I'm coming for it! 

If you're following me on Twitter, you would already know what ride it will be.

A bright red 1.6CC Ford Fiesta Hatchback Sports Edition that cost a whopping RM86K!

Probably not expensive for some of you rich kids on the block but it is, to me 

Looks like I'll be eating bread and water every month when its time for me to pay the installments haha.

Oh and, I've also paid off all my credit card debts of 2012!

I'm now debt free because I'd hate to carry any debts over to another year. Woohoooooo!

This is how my bank account looks now. Depleted 

Hang in there! I'll work even harder and be more prudent to get you fat and healthy again!

So if you owe anyone anything to anyone, make sure you pay them all off before the new year! 

Wouldn't you rather start your 2013 clean? You have two weeks… The clock is ticking.

On that note, always be prudent and have a lovely week ahead, dearest readers! 

Much love,

Jessicat

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The Sunday Times is a weekly series; published every Sunday night to recap the highlights of my week, capture what piques my interest and to briefly highlight my recommendations for to-go and to-eat places!

Some of the photos in this edition are posted instantly on my Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook

Do follow to get instant updates and pretty photos of the sights & sounds all around me!