Our roast chicken Xmas eve dinner took a new twist as Croaky and myself decided to cook crayfish pasta. But little did we realise that supermarkets hardly sell fresh crayfishes in their seafood section. In the end, we bought whatever we could find at NTUC finest and headed home to cook a sumptuous meal.

Clockwise: Half-shell scallops, Brother lobster (our crayfish substitute!), Garlic escargots, brussel sprouts and baby carrots and linguine.

Lobster – before dissection

In halves!

And brussel sprouts – Croaky’s favourite veggie. $2.89 a packet of 13 from NTUC.

And trusted clam chowder from Campbell. Cooking soup from scratch is really too much of a hassle.

The shells sizzling in hot fruit wine…

Our candle-lit high cholesterol Xmas eve dinner – in the comfort of our own little home. It’s worth it. The sausages were a last minute add-on : Croaky said he wouldn’t be full from all those shell-fishes.

And our little durian log-cake. It tastes a bit sour though. Seems like there’s a problem…

Thoughtful little presents from Croaky. Gift exchange is a must every Xmas.

And then we washed our dishes and headed for a late-night movie.
Time spent with your loved ones is time well spent.
Merry Xmas to all

I really hate getting free freshwater pearls every time I make a purchase at OG shopping complex. Sometimes, I don’t bother to step into the escalator to go get this “freebie” because I simply have no use for these free pearls nor do I have the patience to listen to the sales pitch by the counter staff, trying to tell me I should spend another $50 – $80 to frame the pearl into different designs. You see, women are weak creatures, especially when it comes to shopping. Everytime, I will just grit my teeth, walk up to grab my pearl and zoom off.

Over the last few years, I collected so many pearls. But each time I look at them, I am filled with sadness. They are all without holes – this means I cannot string them into earrings / necklaces / whatever. Once I walked up to the counter to ask them how much it costs to drill a hole into my pearls – $18 per pearl is the answer! And I have walked up to a jeweller who would tell me to buy their pearls instead (no doubt those pearls are better quality ones but the fact is I want to make some use for the pearls which I have). This is not a matter of money, but a matter of principles! I shall not be fleeced into paying $18 to drill one pearl.

The other alternative which I have thought about is to “grind” them to make pearl powder, like those in traditional chinese medicine shops. But its such a pity to grind them, really. What else can you do with such not so expensive and not so perfect pearls?

So I did a bit of internet research on electric bead reamers, which had been rather discouraging. Nonetheless, I bought an electric bead reamer (with 3 diamond drill bits) and a hand tool. It’s not easy drilling. But it could be done – with sheer determination, some brute strength and a broken thumb.

I am finally at peace. I can now proceed to make them into earrings.

Here is the complete set