Oh my ... 2008 is gone!

What in the world happened in 2008? It is over ... only memory and history. Let's see, can I recall what did I do in 2008? Mik: Well it's not quite a lot, but you will like it.

January - Skiing in Gala, Norway with our friends. That was our first real ski trip but Mik could already ski. She was the best skier among us! The cabin was nice, beautiful views, lots of snow and really cold.

February - Finally bought a Samsung 46" LCD TV online. My, my ... what a difference it made when we watched movies on it - feels like in a theather. Also what a good feeling to have passed the UK driving test in one try! I suppose having a very picky instructor who imposed driving methods which I thought was strange can be a good thing ...
March - My wife's mom and brother came the same time our friends from Sweeden came for a visit - it was Easter school holidays. Good reason for us to visit nearby Crathes Castle in Banchory and Dunnottar Castle in Stonehaven. Late snow makes it even more fun and we went sledding in Huntly. Mik: When we were going home, Simon almost sledded down a steep hill into a fence but luckily my mum stopped him.
April - Had to replace the windshield of my car since it cracked for no apparent reason. The crack grew since January to about one foot long ... could this be due to the cold weather? Frost on the windshield day in and day out.
May - So pleased to have dad came for a visit - his first in the UK and Scotland. We had Mik's 7th birthday party at our house. Lots of 7-year-olds girls ... it was loud! Mik: (and fun!)
June - Visited the Drum castle near our house, drove to Stonehaven and Dundee. Weekend drive to Cruden Bay and Peterhead. Wanted to get some fresh seafood in Peterhead but the market was closed on the weekend.
July - Our big summer holiday: visited Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Milan, Venice and Rome ... in 2 weeks! Fascinating cities full of histories and ancient buildings. Hot summer and lots of people. On another weekend we went to Berlin as well.
August - First time in London! We drove there to send off my dad and on the way we saw a parade in Edinburgh, ate Chinese food in Manchester, shopping in Oxford, viewing Stonehenge in the rain, admiring the boats in Southampton, and went to see the Queen (not!) in Windsor Castle. Driving in London was a nightmare ... underground is the way to go but make sure you look which way the train go. We saw change of the guard at Buckingham palace, window shopping in Herods, enjoyed the free Museums and strolling along the river Thames.

September - Met with my banker. He tried to convince me to invest in the stock ISA. I suppose this was almost the time to do it since the stock prices has dropped so much and should be close to bottom. Working visit to Stavanger, Norway. Nice small town, however, hotels are full almost all the time and hard to get taxis in the morning.
October - Our best friends relocating to London - will miss them indeed. We drove with them to the Lake District and parted ways after Manchester. Autumn is beautiful in the Lake District ... when it is not raining and you can see the view.
November - Our friends from London visited when my daughter was recovering from flu. The visit was great but we ended up sharing the flu as well. Mik: But at least we didn’t share it with Ms Ann. Long time friends from Singapore I have not seen in about 10 years show up at our door! Somehow they found my wife on facebook. We had a good time catching up.
December - Friends over for eve of Christmas eve dinner. Spent Christmas and New Year at home and started blogging. Will this last in the new year?

Christmas 2008

This year my seven year old daughter requested that we stay at home for Christmas. In the pass years our Christmases have been away "on the road" visiting places. This year she wanted to make sure that all the presents under our Christmas tree are opened on Christmas day itself rather than in the new year when we usually returned from our trips. She got her wish ... and more! Early on she made a long list of presents she would like for Christmas. One of the item on the list was an ipod upon which her uncle, who came to spent Christmas with us, decided promptly that he will get the ipod nano for her. So I decided that an ipod docking station with speakers will be the most logical gift from me. Besides, I didn't quite like the idea that she will be listening to the ipod using an earphone all the time. The hard part of getting a present is selecting which docking station is the one that she will like. I didn't want to ask her directly since I want to maintain some element of surprise when she open her present. So when we were out on our shopping I told her that we needed to get an ipod docking station as a present for mom (since mom already has an ipod) and I needed her help to pick the right one. Mom was also out shopping with us so she insisted that mom shop alone because she cannot know the presents that we will be buying for her. My daughter thought that we were buying a present for her mom and so does her mom! This turns out to be the right strategy since my daughter didn't like any of the docking station that I had picked. We picked up the one that she likes and made every efforts to hide it from mom. Early on my wife had also told me her wish for Christmas - a Nintendo Wii! Initially I was not convinced that this was a good idea until I asked my colleagues about this game console. Apparently it is not just for playing video game but also an exercise machine! I was sold to the idea and bought the console online while trying to pretend that I had not bought her any present. I had to trick both my wife and daughter so I hope she had a pleasant surprise. My daughter certainly did. She got her wish and more. So on Christmas day we were golfing, bowling and boxing away on the Wii.