Its almost time to say goodbye to 2007. This year has been great so far and to date, the most important milestone has got to be the change in my marital status. After a 4-year probation period, jeff & I decided that we can probably tolerate each other for a lifetime and got married.
It still feels surreal when I stop to think about being married..i still have to pinch myself to believe it has indeed happened. The year-long preparation leading to the big day was hectic and tiring but before you know it its over...thats the bit that makes everything surreal. I can't believe its over!
Anyway, the wedding was fantastic. Jeff & I did away with the taboo of not meeting the night before as there was too many loose ends to tie up..haha..the gatecrashing was great fun from what i can see from the video!! My personal favourite was actually the solmenisation..many had said that jeff & I must have been mad to arrange for the solemnisation just before the dinner. To be honest, it was indeed a rush. I can still remember that i rushed down to the function room as soon as my make up was done, leaving the makeup artist alone to pack her stuff.
Jeff & I are so blessed, God was definitely watching over us...cause he sent us friends who were such great help at the wedding. We areally can't ask for more.
The only regret was that I fell sick straightaway after the wedding. The fatique accumulated all these while became this mother of flu...which i brought with me on our pseudo honeymoon to Japan (which i will talk abt in my other blog)
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Proud Homeowners
We met our renovation contractor again yesterday and were told that renovations at our new place should be done in slightly more than a week. Eversince we started renovation works in early June, this was the moment that we had been looking forward to. A lot of hard work has gone into this, especially from Jeff. As we did not want to pay the interior designers money when ideas were mostly ours, we decided to go with a reputated contractor. This also meant that we had to put in a lot more effort over our end.
When we first started the process of planning the renovation for our place, we spent a significant amount of money on purchasing home & decor magazines, which we plough through laboriously to get ideas on how wanted to renovate our place. Then came the stage where we needed to communicate our ideas to the contractor..and we understand that a picture/photo says a thousand words. And so we began scanning photos and Jeff started using some programme to draw the reno plan...
Finally after every has been communicated, the renovation started. First steps were to knock down the walls that had to go to make way for greater space. Then it was the old blue tiles that simply did not match our style. When that was done, we were rushed to pick the tiles for the living room & toilets. Then it was the toilet accesories which i still feel rather sore over..u see..we were told to approach Jeff's colleagues as his family run a big business selling kitchen & toilet accesories. We ended up buying a toilet bowl costing $600 each! Think i will sleep on the toilet bowl..cos it actually cost us more than the simmons mattress that we got a fantastic deal for.
Shortly after, we started picking lighting for the house. That was a more pleasurable experience and it turned out quite nicely..we were pleased to see the end results..The next headache we had was picking the paint colours...and being new to this & not knowing how decieving catalogues are, we picked colour that were lighter than expected so it did not achieve the impact that we had wanted...It was very safe though..but we already have plans to re-paint one of the walls in 'celery green'.
We had also been shopping for the other stuff that we needed, like electrical appliances as well as furniture. What are our trophies so far? A samsung two-door fridge with ice & water dispenser (& a free 26" LCD TV), a table from ikea which we intend to use as a bar-top, some bar stools, a cabinet that doubles up as our bay-window bench.
We are also very lucky to have some sponsors for some smaller household items such as: Air pot (courtesy of Khaitze), Rice cooker (courtesy of Kai) and a 2nd hand washing machine that is still quite new from Mum. We are still looking for sponsors for other items so drop me a message if u r keen to lend a helping hand.
Next up: rectification work, toilet doors & shower screens, table tops & toilet accessories & we're done!! Then its time to move in the electrical appliances & furniture. Excited man!!
When we first started the process of planning the renovation for our place, we spent a significant amount of money on purchasing home & decor magazines, which we plough through laboriously to get ideas on how wanted to renovate our place. Then came the stage where we needed to communicate our ideas to the contractor..and we understand that a picture/photo says a thousand words. And so we began scanning photos and Jeff started using some programme to draw the reno plan...
Finally after every has been communicated, the renovation started. First steps were to knock down the walls that had to go to make way for greater space. Then it was the old blue tiles that simply did not match our style. When that was done, we were rushed to pick the tiles for the living room & toilets. Then it was the toilet accesories which i still feel rather sore over..u see..we were told to approach Jeff's colleagues as his family run a big business selling kitchen & toilet accesories. We ended up buying a toilet bowl costing $600 each! Think i will sleep on the toilet bowl..cos it actually cost us more than the simmons mattress that we got a fantastic deal for.
Shortly after, we started picking lighting for the house. That was a more pleasurable experience and it turned out quite nicely..we were pleased to see the end results..The next headache we had was picking the paint colours...and being new to this & not knowing how decieving catalogues are, we picked colour that were lighter than expected so it did not achieve the impact that we had wanted...It was very safe though..but we already have plans to re-paint one of the walls in 'celery green'.
We had also been shopping for the other stuff that we needed, like electrical appliances as well as furniture. What are our trophies so far? A samsung two-door fridge with ice & water dispenser (& a free 26" LCD TV), a table from ikea which we intend to use as a bar-top, some bar stools, a cabinet that doubles up as our bay-window bench.
We are also very lucky to have some sponsors for some smaller household items such as: Air pot (courtesy of Khaitze), Rice cooker (courtesy of Kai) and a 2nd hand washing machine that is still quite new from Mum. We are still looking for sponsors for other items so drop me a message if u r keen to lend a helping hand.
Next up: rectification work, toilet doors & shower screens, table tops & toilet accessories & we're done!! Then its time to move in the electrical appliances & furniture. Excited man!!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Counting down to the big day...
Reality sets in when I was reminded by Alan Tan that if we counted in terms of weeks, we had just 11 weeks before the wedding...given that we can't do much during the 7th Lunar Month, its gonna be a mad rush to get things done once the 7th Lunar month is over.
Things remaining to be done:
-Wedding invitation cards (writing names & collecting addresses) plus RSVP
-Guo Da Li stuff
-Food tasting
-Selecting wedding favours
-finalising ballroom table decor
-finalising event programme
-finalisng helpers and briefing them
-Sorting out seating arrangements (we've only got the names sorted)
Then there is still reno works at my new place:
-The 2 lamps we bought from Bangkok & the wardrobe room lights not up yet
that Jeff assembled himself
-The tinted glass divider between the vanity table & bed in main bedroom
-Table tops for kitchen cabinet & vanity top
-doors for toilets
-Glass panel inside common bathroom
-swing-door for toilet in main bedroom
Furniture to get:
-wardrobes
-sliding door for mahjong room
-TV console
-cushions for side bench
Electrical appliances & stuff:
-Rice cooker
-Sandwich maker
-Air Pot (Khaitze, my dear dear friend, has agreed to sponsor this item)
-Vacuum Cleaner
-Washing Machine (my mum's hand-me-down)
-Portable Air-con for living room cos the system 3 all inside rooms niah..
-Kettle
-Wok
-Saucepan
-And must remember to order a cyliner of gas
-Steamboat
Think that's abt all the essentials that I can think of. Now..wanna see some of the photos taking at the photo shoot on 6 Aug. I din think it was very nice lor but hopefully the actual photos will turn out otherwise.
Now we are waiting for call from D'sire to go down to pick some photos..getting a bit kan cheong how come they have not called us yet..is it cosits the 7th Month or issit becauseour photos are too ugly they dare not show us?
Things remaining to be done:
-Wedding invitation cards (writing names & collecting addresses) plus RSVP
-Guo Da Li stuff
-Food tasting
-Selecting wedding favours
-finalising ballroom table decor
-finalising event programme
-finalisng helpers and briefing them
-Sorting out seating arrangements (we've only got the names sorted)
Then there is still reno works at my new place:
-The 2 lamps we bought from Bangkok & the wardrobe room lights not up yet
that Jeff assembled himself
-The tinted glass divider between the vanity table & bed in main bedroom
-Table tops for kitchen cabinet & vanity top
-doors for toilets
-Glass panel inside common bathroom
-swing-door for toilet in main bedroom
Furniture to get:
-wardrobes
-sliding door for mahjong room
-TV console
-cushions for side bench
Electrical appliances & stuff:
-Rice cooker
-Sandwich maker
-Air Pot (Khaitze, my dear dear friend, has agreed to sponsor this item)
-Vacuum Cleaner
-Washing Machine (my mum's hand-me-down)
-Portable Air-con for living room cos the system 3 all inside rooms niah..
-Kettle
-Wok
-Saucepan
-And must remember to order a cyliner of gas
-Steamboat
Think that's abt all the essentials that I can think of. Now..wanna see some of the photos taking at the photo shoot on 6 Aug. I din think it was very nice lor but hopefully the actual photos will turn out otherwise.
Now we are waiting for call from D'sire to go down to pick some photos..getting a bit kan cheong how come they have not called us yet..is it cosits the 7th Month or issit becauseour photos are too ugly they dare not show us?
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Let there be Light!!
I can so understand what Adam must have felt when God first created light. Last night, I visited my new place, that is undergoing renovation and we were pleasantly surprised to see the lights fixed as the contractors told us that the lights were only going to be fixed after the house wa painted.
I hadn't been particularly impressed with the reno as everything was done pretty much according to plans. The lights, however, was something that I had been unsure of. We practically bought the lights without much research or plans. The day we bought the lights was only the second time we went around shopping for lights. The spot lights for the living room was especially tricky as we did not know whether we planned for too little or too many lighting points.
But...
When we turned on the lights last night, and the whole house lit up, we were so impressed.
I can so understand what Adam must have felt when God first created light. Last night, I visited my new place, that is undergoing renovation and we were pleasantly surprised to see the lights fixed as the contractors told us that the lights were only going to be fixed after the house wa painted.
I hadn't been particularly impressed with the reno as everything was done pretty much according to plans. The lights, however, was something that I had been unsure of. We practically bought the lights without much research or plans. The day we bought the lights was only the second time we went around shopping for lights. The spot lights for the living room was especially tricky as we did not know whether we planned for too little or too many lighting points.
But...
When we turned on the lights last night, and the whole house lit up, we were so impressed.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Its been eons since i last met up with my friends from secondary school. My friends from secondary are about the closest few friends that I keep. We knew each other since Secondary three and have been close and hanging out a lot eversince.
Anyway, the meeting last night was a combination of factors. Firstly, Kari Pok, a friend whom we got to know through JY & Phil was leaving for China today. Secondly, JY & Phil just returned from Taiwan so we had wanted to hear about their stories. At the same time, its been a while since all of us met so this meeting was timely.
Because of JY's work, we met up at almost 10pm. Really late for me since i should be in bed by 12 as i need to wake up at 6am every morning. But what to do, there are certain stuff that we'll need to make sacrifices for.
We met at Breko and Alan Tan was the first to arrived straight after work.. the rest arrived shortly after and we viewed some of Alan Tan's wedding photos. Some of them were hilarious, here's one...
Here's another...
Its so cute..all of us can't stop laughing cos we are so not use to Alan Tan in this kind of shots. What made it worst was that he had told us that he stayed up all night the day before conjuring all the poses and end up it turned out like this..ngiak ngiak..evil....
But it was good fun and I am happy for him too..everyone seemed to have moved on with their plans in life. Like Huizhen, who wsn't there..has also bought her flat. Think Phil is saving up for a proposal, that's my guess..Don got a new job which pays well and he might just propose soon too..
Anyway, the meeting last night was a combination of factors. Firstly, Kari Pok, a friend whom we got to know through JY & Phil was leaving for China today. Secondly, JY & Phil just returned from Taiwan so we had wanted to hear about their stories. At the same time, its been a while since all of us met so this meeting was timely.
Because of JY's work, we met up at almost 10pm. Really late for me since i should be in bed by 12 as i need to wake up at 6am every morning. But what to do, there are certain stuff that we'll need to make sacrifices for.
We met at Breko and Alan Tan was the first to arrived straight after work.. the rest arrived shortly after and we viewed some of Alan Tan's wedding photos. Some of them were hilarious, here's one...
Here's another...
Its so cute..all of us can't stop laughing cos we are so not use to Alan Tan in this kind of shots. What made it worst was that he had told us that he stayed up all night the day before conjuring all the poses and end up it turned out like this..ngiak ngiak..evil....
But it was good fun and I am happy for him too..everyone seemed to have moved on with their plans in life. Like Huizhen, who wsn't there..has also bought her flat. Think Phil is saving up for a proposal, that's my guess..Don got a new job which pays well and he might just propose soon too..
Monday, July 09, 2007
My life has been such a whirlwind...
Its funny that in all my old diary entries, there seem to be something in common..I always start the entry with.."how times flies". It seems that things starting moving so quickly that I hardly have time to even note them down. The last thing I want, is to suddenly realised that I am 70 years old and cannot remember a thing of the past. But I guess what i feared most was to be 70 years old and have not gone through anything that is worth remembering.
Anyway, so in a bit to at least counteract the first fear, I'm gonna try to recap as much as possible, the series of things that has happened reently..at least the note worthy stuff.
For the past few months of my life, Jeffrey and me have been pre-occupied with our preparation for the wedding but even more on the house renovation. In case, I have not mentioned this in previous entries, Jeff & I bought a 4-rm flat in Bishan. A nice little 84 sqm unit with 3 bedrooms.
We were very blessed as we bought the unit before the property market went mad. Huizhen just bought a 30-year-old 3-rm flat at Ghim flat for $73k above valuation. Imagine that! Jeff & I merely paid $6K above valuation but the remainder money has gone into the reno works. We got carried away with the reno and it still makes me sad to hear Jeff say that we might have bit off more than we can chew. But I guess thats all water under the bridge, hopefully it'd be worth every cent of our money.
Well, in case you are wondering where the money goes, here's an idea. For the hacking & laying of tiles, carpentry, windows & doors, grilles etc, it already cost me a whooping $29K. Throw in another $3k for fridge (which came with a free 26" LCD TV). Toilets bowls, basins, taps, mixers etc was another $3K, add another $1.5K for lights, switches and laying wires etc plus a customised wardrobe. My bills for the house reno came up to $40K. And this does not include furniture.
And we have not even considered expenditure for wedding..we still have the videographer to settle..any who reads this and would like to sponsor one or volunteer his service, pls leave me a comment.
On the wedding end, I've finalised the gown, which I did not really fall in love with but Jeff & the designer says it looks nice. The evening gown is also taking shape. To be honest, maybe I'm too chin chai already cause whatever the designer recommend also ok one but when I go back and see..what I had in mind is not quite the same. but i guess what i like may not be suitable for my body tyoe, thats why I always go with their recommndation. After all, they are the expert. So when i tried it on myself, I did not fall in love with it. I guess, will have to wait till the trial make-up in 2 weeks time to see.
That brings me to the next problem that I am facing. You see, two weeks ago, my fringe, came 'alive' and decided that it wanted to become a twistie. It looked gross and I went to this neighbourhood salon for a haircut in a bid to make things better. Not only did things not become better. It became worst!! The lady layered my hair so badly that it had too much volume on top and it actually made the twistie more curly!!
In the end, I went to Kim Robinson Plus recommended by my friends. I had originally intended for just a a haircut but the stylist (who is oh so boyish..my type but too bad he's not interested in gals) says only a rebonding can get rid of the twistie. so i blew $450 on my hair alone! Sob..eat grass for the rest of the month liaoz..what made it worst is that everyone says that i should not have rebonded my hair so near to the wedding but my stylist says its ok..so hopefully, it'll all work out.
Anyway, what's done cannot be undone so we'll just see how it goes. God has his plans for all of us and I have faith that my wedding will be a beautiful one with or without all these stuff..
Anyway, so in a bit to at least counteract the first fear, I'm gonna try to recap as much as possible, the series of things that has happened reently..at least the note worthy stuff.
For the past few months of my life, Jeffrey and me have been pre-occupied with our preparation for the wedding but even more on the house renovation. In case, I have not mentioned this in previous entries, Jeff & I bought a 4-rm flat in Bishan. A nice little 84 sqm unit with 3 bedrooms.
We were very blessed as we bought the unit before the property market went mad. Huizhen just bought a 30-year-old 3-rm flat at Ghim flat for $73k above valuation. Imagine that! Jeff & I merely paid $6K above valuation but the remainder money has gone into the reno works. We got carried away with the reno and it still makes me sad to hear Jeff say that we might have bit off more than we can chew. But I guess thats all water under the bridge, hopefully it'd be worth every cent of our money.
Well, in case you are wondering where the money goes, here's an idea. For the hacking & laying of tiles, carpentry, windows & doors, grilles etc, it already cost me a whooping $29K. Throw in another $3k for fridge (which came with a free 26" LCD TV). Toilets bowls, basins, taps, mixers etc was another $3K, add another $1.5K for lights, switches and laying wires etc plus a customised wardrobe. My bills for the house reno came up to $40K. And this does not include furniture.
And we have not even considered expenditure for wedding..we still have the videographer to settle..any who reads this and would like to sponsor one or volunteer his service, pls leave me a comment.
On the wedding end, I've finalised the gown, which I did not really fall in love with but Jeff & the designer says it looks nice. The evening gown is also taking shape. To be honest, maybe I'm too chin chai already cause whatever the designer recommend also ok one but when I go back and see..what I had in mind is not quite the same. but i guess what i like may not be suitable for my body tyoe, thats why I always go with their recommndation. After all, they are the expert. So when i tried it on myself, I did not fall in love with it. I guess, will have to wait till the trial make-up in 2 weeks time to see.
That brings me to the next problem that I am facing. You see, two weeks ago, my fringe, came 'alive' and decided that it wanted to become a twistie. It looked gross and I went to this neighbourhood salon for a haircut in a bid to make things better. Not only did things not become better. It became worst!! The lady layered my hair so badly that it had too much volume on top and it actually made the twistie more curly!!
In the end, I went to Kim Robinson Plus recommended by my friends. I had originally intended for just a a haircut but the stylist (who is oh so boyish..my type but too bad he's not interested in gals) says only a rebonding can get rid of the twistie. so i blew $450 on my hair alone! Sob..eat grass for the rest of the month liaoz..what made it worst is that everyone says that i should not have rebonded my hair so near to the wedding but my stylist says its ok..so hopefully, it'll all work out.
Anyway, what's done cannot be undone so we'll just see how it goes. God has his plans for all of us and I have faith that my wedding will be a beautiful one with or without all these stuff..
Friday, June 29, 2007
Mis-match expectations..
A colleague and I had a very interesting discussion..we talked about why God matched people with different expectations together..
We discovered that our partners are very similar whereas the two of us are very similar..wouldn't things have been easier if similar people pair up?
The two of us have been facing a similar problem posed by our partners for the longest time. And we find comfort in consoling each other and encouraging each other..
You see..our partners love to sleep very much..so much so, they do not have time for us...not even answer our needs..i think you probably know what i mean by now...
My partner loves to sleep, watch tv and work on his computer. To him, making out is all about mood. The tricky part is, he always has mood for a lot of things but not for making out.
Yes, we have tried talking about it, or rather, he has heard me complaining about it many a times. But his usual response will be to keep quiet. I guess his male ego takes a blow everytime i comment on the low-performing male phallus.
Recently, i implemented a record system. Everytime i got lucky, i make a mark on the calendar. I thought the record will remind him the action or the lack of action for the month. It work initially but not long after, the system failed altogether and had to be phased out. Phased out by what? I have no idea. Its still under investigation.
Someone, pls help me..
We discovered that our partners are very similar whereas the two of us are very similar..wouldn't things have been easier if similar people pair up?
The two of us have been facing a similar problem posed by our partners for the longest time. And we find comfort in consoling each other and encouraging each other..
You see..our partners love to sleep very much..so much so, they do not have time for us...not even answer our needs..i think you probably know what i mean by now...
My partner loves to sleep, watch tv and work on his computer. To him, making out is all about mood. The tricky part is, he always has mood for a lot of things but not for making out.
Yes, we have tried talking about it, or rather, he has heard me complaining about it many a times. But his usual response will be to keep quiet. I guess his male ego takes a blow everytime i comment on the low-performing male phallus.
Recently, i implemented a record system. Everytime i got lucky, i make a mark on the calendar. I thought the record will remind him the action or the lack of action for the month. It work initially but not long after, the system failed altogether and had to be phased out. Phased out by what? I have no idea. Its still under investigation.
Someone, pls help me..
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Happy Birthday
Just came back frome the movies..watched this how call "Happy Birthday"...the story is abt this couple who loved each other deeply but did not make it together because of bad timing..
Its been a while since a show made my heart ached so badly..i felt so sad for the couple because it felt so real and close to my heart..
Fate plays a cruel game on us...sometimes we just miss the chance to be together..and before you know it..its been years and we meet with other people that you care for...and we succumb to the pressure for our family, friends etc..
Is it better not to know the cruel facts in life or to come to terms with it and move on? I seriously have no idea..all i know is that i do not have the power to overcome fate and have no choice but to accept it as one of those things in life..
Congrats, my dear friend..i wish you a lifetime of happiness..we will always be the best of friends..and i will be there for you if u need me...
Its been a while since a show made my heart ached so badly..i felt so sad for the couple because it felt so real and close to my heart..
Fate plays a cruel game on us...sometimes we just miss the chance to be together..and before you know it..its been years and we meet with other people that you care for...and we succumb to the pressure for our family, friends etc..
Is it better not to know the cruel facts in life or to come to terms with it and move on? I seriously have no idea..all i know is that i do not have the power to overcome fate and have no choice but to accept it as one of those things in life..
Congrats, my dear friend..i wish you a lifetime of happiness..we will always be the best of friends..and i will be there for you if u need me...
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