Recollections of 2009!

JANUARY

1st CNY celebration with the Japs. We gave them a taste of our culture :)

APRIL
A gift to selves for N's new job :)

An impromptu decision to get our flat. Cousin's parents in laws helped us queue from 10am that morning. N & I took over from early noon onwards :) and we spent the night there... 1st official meetups for the Chens and Lees :)

MAY
He proposed :) :) with the help of our bessie buddies :) @ batam..

Proposal pic - with compliments from bessie buds!

And I FINALLY tendered my resignation!! :)

AUGUST

New toys!!

OCTOBER

Newborn for the Lees!!

NOVEMBER

FIRST NTU girls bride to be :)

DECEMBER

Xmas dive @ dream resort and dive site :)

Heart by the beach :)

Goodbye 2009! We r gona do something meaningful TODAY! *hopefully it succeeds* :p (not telling u! cos, brag later)

Sneak Preview II !!!

A sneak preview of our fantastic sighting!! Not the great white, nor the hammerheads. But still. My life is almost complete now :) I think N's too! :)

And here's me with Sharkie! :) twas the camera angle or something... cos sharkie is even larger in real life! and with my lousy buoyancy, din dare to go toooooo close (mm close)... in case it bites :) think i was around 50cm away from it? :)

WE ARE HOME!! :)Here's us before departure, grinning like holiday fools :)

A sneak peek into where we were. Glorious sea and wonderful rays :)
And where we spent private times at. Private balcony outside our room :)

I ll blog more when I m more FREE and less TIRED! been finning LOTSA and saw ALOT of wonderful things! :)

Stay tuned!

Happiness Overdose!

GUESS WHAT?!!

It's the shell for the fuschia shuffle! :)
Met up with the D for luncheon on Fridays for some chilli fish *YUMS* and got my 'surprise'!!

What pwetty thoughtful surprise I got...
I wasnt confident enough to take the wheels, I was given his set of wheels and given alot of encouragement along the journeys...
After I got confident of holding the wheels, I wasnt familiar with the roads and was given a set of GPS to guide me around...
I said it was mentally torturous to run long distances, here's what I got to keep me going.. :)

A fuschia shuffle! :) that can clip on to the shirt while u stomp those dirty tracks! :) And I was in a fuschia top tt day!!

omg pwetty pwetty!

So I got a matching fuschia headphones in a fuschia shell :) Now this little shell follows me everywhere I go! :)

AND THEN!! On sat!!! Our beloved bride gave a gift that further BOW WOWED me away!!!

Clinique's gift set in the super chio color!

See what it contains?! The box and the pouch was already blowing me away. Now, see the contents and the WOWWY eye pallette! :)

I think I just died of LOVE and HAPPINESS over the weekend!

And here's me! In pweety fuschia top tt I got from TW :) :)

An order for a fuschia wrislet been made and is flying back after NY :) :)

LOVES!!

Naked

...in your truest form...

in any relationship, the male uses his eyes to decide whilst a female uses her feelings to decide. because men place a large amount of emphasis on the physical appearance whilst a female, although more commonly labelled as a bimbo, proves to make her choice of a boyfriend less bimbotically, by going deeper into the feeling and the security he gives.

A male fren once told me, during my teenage years, that his No. 1 girlfriend criteria is to see her sans makeup. Cos he wants to know the true form underlying the prettily made-up face he dates, less he wakes up to a ghost in the morning.
So recently when a fren said he thought he saw a ghost in the morning, I almost died laughing! It is like seeing a hypothesis introduced during my teenage years morph into reality! How true, how true :)

Apart from the made-up face, I think characteristic and personality plays a lot of importance too. That's where getting to know your other half's family, relatives and friends come in. You dont want to be dating the sweetest little thing on earth, only to find out *HORRIFIED* that he/she is mean and nasty to everyone else. Well, if my neighbours's gf bothers to come talk to me, I would swear by heaven n earth tt he is ONLY softspoken and sweet and even fake tt smile to me whenever she is around. Cos the other 4/5 of the times, he SLAMS the bloody gates and doors shut, SHOUTS knnbccb, smlj and wat nots at the top of his lungs, beats up the younger brother etc etc etc. I was surprised one day to see him bring a girl home. How sad for her.. Even my mild tempered (u can say NO TEMPER) little one, only barks at the particular family staying opp me, and especially at the sons (who are the culprits to door slammings and midnight shouting).

And then of course, is the real you beneath your socialite's mask, the way we dress and behave at our ultimate comfort zone. Dia always laughs at the ah lao-ness of my Geylang Serai NPP tee tt I don on to run the tracks with her. *hoho*

With tt, let's have a peek into the real unglamourous side of my otherwise beautiful female friends :)

A goofy candid shot vs pretty sporty babe!

I dunno what she is doing most of the times vs a dressed up babe by night!

aunty unglam in PJ and big brown bag vs *hoots* babe in low cut dress!

unglam BIG legs vs glamourous at night! with the rest of the babes!

and of course! our bride! unglam kiao kar shot in utmost comfort vs glam kiao kar shot in angel wear!

TGIF!

Here's a toast to our BRIDE tomorrow!!

OOPS!! wrong one!!

Here's another.....

OOOOOPS!! brides also can be unglam one u know??!! :p

Here's another one....

Our pretty BRIDE to be :)

CONGRATS girl!!

cya on your BIGGEST day tomorrow!!!!

TGIF everybody!

Magical weekend

Lazy entry :) they speak zillions about my weekend, dont they? :) :)

..A Magical Championship..

*ADV* anyone interested in engaging a magician for house parties/school events/corporate events etc, do let me know :) this guy (aaron) does balloon sculpting too!!
*ADV2* and! he happens to be single!! GIRLSS!!! do let me know if u wana check him out ;p he has this amazing magic of turning tissue paper into bee hoon! so u ll bu chou chi bu chou chuan for da rest of ya life! ;p or if u are just looking around for more interesting friends, like a magician, let me know too! ;p

..A House Falalalala Party..

we can see alot from this pic. of our christmas exchange, mahjong, drinks and of a wedding band :)

Lollipops!

A lolling good times!

Day 5: Bulgogi chicken with tau geis and spring onions

Day 6: steamed fish (recipe stolen from WS mummy one fine night when dear girl came back) + stir fried vege with fishcake + ketchup crabmeat/hotdogs and potatoes

As much pride and effort I put into my concoction attempts, and as much excitement I share them with thee family, these home fares are still not ready to face the world. So I was rather shy about promoting my homecooked meals when the sister's bf popped over for dinner one night *shys* twas a thumbs up too :)

One day, it'll be my turn to host a house party-ala-homefare :) like how the jappos housed us :) and how the aunty cooked for me during my tertiary days :) :) these ppl are LOVES.

Its !Lollipops! Christmas!! and see what I got for the boy!! :)

And he was prancing about like a little kid!!
An xmas card "to murphy, from mummy". A "small dog" tag. A sniffing the sweet shot resembling my little greedy boy. And goofed around with the add items features....

They say Murphy looks like Daddy. Aint the resemblence below uncanny?!

AND..... presenting! The BEST of OUR family's BEST!!

my cool (little one) dude.... "Go away....dont bother me..."

Daddy Goofball!


Mommy Goofball!

AND into the night of the merry making....

How they slept....

TGIF!

My big boy's coming home tonight! My mommy's coming home tomorrow!!!

WHEEEE~

This Christmas I celebrate with GLEE!

Nomore Jan deadlines to dread forward to! :) Happiness magnified!

A teeny get together has been lined up by the shopaholic and I while counting the numerous dresses we ve bought but haven worn yet. So we had to have an occasion to get pretty and what better an idea than a Christmas house party? Trouble is, pretty dress and Murphy are very good combination to a horrible and unglamourous sight. That of doing the pang sai squat half the times and a baby bao bao with scooty legs scrambling up the breast (and thus pulling down the cleavage). *phew* Might have to give up one of them...

The man's been invited and is, OF COURSE, coming along too!

SO, N&I (actually it was just me. cos N was late. verrrry late. His acq @ work told him it was his karma for the role switchover ;p he used to wait for me and buy those liang tehs for me. Still, he had to cheer up a blackened face.) had a lil xmas shopping done last evening for the house party this coming sat :) :) Bought 2 sets of the SAME thing! shhhhh.....

it's time the man behind the "soooo sweeeeeet!! same shoes!!" exclamation come to meet those girls. LIVE.

it's also time for us to meet the other "soooo sweeeeeet!!! always fetch u home!!!!" man and the "sooooo sweeeeeeet!!! hold a bouquet of flowers and wait for u at the DBS tower II lobby" man. And I wonder who else is coming :)

Those girls all came into the cave one by one with their bling blings. And one by one threw the resignation letters :) I think the aura of happiness just spread around one another. we hang around too much in the office. Cant wait to meet their charmings this Sat :)

I am 8 min to knock off time and a verrrrrrrry satisfactory session awaits :) :) :)
~~$$~~

LITTLEST addition!

She turns 1 month today :) And she s as snoozy as my little one...

Snoozy little one dozing off with his championship medal his Daddy got for him! :)

Dusk @ the River

It'd been some time...Tomo Izakaya @ Clarke Quay! Where Jessica Liu had her 'Ramen shop' :) And I left the cameo @ home ...

The man was invited too :)

We goofed around with my lousy 2Megapix hp camera before our dinner dates for the night appeared..tried to do a XI NU AI LE expression on the camera (mine's over in N's phone. I think he is secretly in love with me. Cos the other day, he just whipped out an old old picture of me tt he took with his old phone a looooong time ago!! heh)

And checked out the girl in SHORT SHORT SHORT skirt and was sitting on high stool, so there was a lot of peekaboo between the skirt and the thigh.WHITE! and they were soooo engrossed in their PDAs, they ignored ALL the attention the restaurant was channelling to her major peekaboo.

The bill came up to be S$160 for 4 pax!! But a good and nice place by the river to chillax and dine if u have overseas friends who heart japanese cuisine :)

Somehow, we ve been finding more Japanese hunts after the Jappos left.. haha! might be cos we MISS THEM SO MUCH! I need to get the Okonomiyaki recipe!!

LOVE IS...

the man behind the xmas tree...

when the dad stands soooo close to the glass panes @ the airport :p

AND SO, this week! I display my female prowess! :) :) Goddess unleashed. I suddenly realised I can cook!!! :)

Follow me on to see this week's YUMMY menu :)

Day 1 dinner: Stir fried Shrooms, vege and a pot of soup mom made in the morning! Stole the shrooms recipe from the aunty @ NTUC who was promoting the shrooms *keke*

Sisters gave thumbs up for the shrooms even tho it didnt taste exactly like how I had tried it @ NTUC :(

Day 2 dinner: Ketchup EEFUMEE. Lotsa items went into the prep of the broth! But forgot to take pics of the preparation process.. but it's sooo good, there ll be another time.. Sisters LOVEEEE it! Me LOVEEE it too! But the dad says it was toooo sour for him :s You cant satisfy a man's taste and a woman's taste concurrently sometimes. We just love it a little bit more sourish!

Marinated some bulgogi chicken in the fridge already! that and a bunch of taw geis plus spring onions gonna be our dinner soon! hope it ll be YUMS! :)

Stay tuned!! As I show you how Shwu can cook! :)

It's a matter of principle

so the both of us took one and a half day to decide whether the man should get his personal BCD (buoyancy control device - something like a life jacket but is inflatable and deflatable at your own fancy to control your buoyancy under water).

our first stop was along beach road. the boss there tends to talk and giggle to himself and was one lousy salesman who din even bother to try and sell his products. He quoted us S$690, subject to further negotiations if we are really keen, and told us to go back and think about the purchase 1st.

pardon me, it was a really sweet gesture and we reallllly appreciated to be given some time to think about it. because we all hate HARD SELLING tactics in the market. but well, at least as an owner of the shop, we could expect a little more effort in retaining the customer.

so off we went. without buying anything on DAY ONE. that's where we met the ladies who were shopping at Arab street :)

my man has the unusual habit that most guys have. that of checking out a few shops and then settle for the best deal. So DAY TWO was when we went to Lucky Plaza to check out the price of the same models that we were eyeing. The boss told us that all the dive shops belong to ONE FAMILY (blood ties type). And we were rather surprised he didnt want to match the S$690 of the Beach Road shop!!?? Their base price was S$700 even though we told him that his brother/brother in law over in Beach Road quoted us S$690!

So, anticipating a lower price than S$690 at Beach Road, we made a trip down (that was after an Ayam Bakar Ojolali dinner @ Lucky Plaza. this shop was featured in one of the foodie.com websites, so we HAD TO give it a try. The AYAM was reaaaaally motherliciously fantastic!!)

We managed to bargain a further discount and got a price of S$670.

Yippee yay.. BUT!!!!

on returning home, we realised that the inflator hose was not attached to the BCD! (in layman's terms, that's like ruler without the markings, or buying a pair of specs without the glasses)

SO, I called this morning and was told that we have to get the hose SEPARATELY. imagine u having to buy your ruler and pay for the markings separately??!! OF course, I was mad #$%&?~^

and there goes my man to save the day...*think the MIGHTY MOUSE song!*

HE called up and demanded for an explanation as to WHY the hose and the BCD were sold separately. Guess what was the reply he got??
"Are you sure it's not in the bag??" and he was told to make another trip down to collect the hose. For FREE.

Mother F*cking bastards!

that piece of hose would have cost me S$30+++ and it wun be of the same brand as the BCD. Sometimes it is not about the money. S$30+++ is not alot. It is about the principle. I was unhappy to have to pay for something that is supposed to come together with a BCD but had been taken out UNSCRUPULOUSLY to earn our extra $$.

If there's one thing that N has taught me in our 3 years of relationship, it is to ASK. If there is anything that defers too much from reasonable doubt, ASK. ASKING wouldnt kill. Even though he did make me irritated by asking me to help check out the prices on the internet. You know tts not a GIRL'S forte. Why dont you also go and check out Bonitochico's website to check when is the next launch?? ;p

This purchase incident just made realise i ought to pick up some bargaining skills from the man. Although I dont suck at it that badly, cos I have recently bargained for something down !!! 10x !!! its price :) that's how I know certain stuffs in a particular industry is being marked up so badly *smirks*. Don't ask me what I bought! :)

Realism

is when you realise the ring on the forth finger isnt just about your pledge of love to each other. it signifies an acceptance of the greater set responsibilities towards his and her family.

the reality of the hair pulling frustrations over a wedding prep suddenly become so real of late. what began as a romantic emblem of love between you and him suddenly becomes a challenging task of making compromises and accomodating the different expectations and cultures of two families. you might even be surprised that your parents might have some weird requests that you have never known, until the wedding preps.

we are all guilty of showering excessive concerns over the history of the ring - the proposal, song, flowers, hotel, carets and visibility. After the whole hooo and haaa over that piece of shining stone, who ever asks about the wedding preps in such meticulous details????

dear bride-to-be, hang in there!! we heard your cries! we ll be your listening ears to keep your sanity level in check :) :)

HOT bod NOT!

those health fanatics with fantastic bodies always say they do a mental count of their daily calorie intake..

So I decided to give it a try, and hopefully this will take some of my SINS.

~~~~FOOD RECOLLECTION~~~

Monday

brekkie - 1 roti prata + 3/4 plate carrot cake + coffee

luncheon - xin wang HK cafe's sweet and sour chicken with pasta + HK milk tea + 1.5 pieces of toufu skin roll

dinner - balithai's toufu & vegetable fried rice + tauhu telor + 1 stick of satay

Tuesday

brekkie - lorong ah soo's nasi lemak + 2 you tiao + coffee

luncheon - 1 curry puff + 1 papaya (light finally!! cos I had a beauty appointment squeezed in during lunch as moi therapist only works weekdays till 6pm!)

dinner - swensen's random burger + mummy's ooishi soup

Wednesday

brekkie - 2 slices bread with tuna + 2 eggs + coffee

luncheon (!!!) - a 5-course xmas lunch!!!!! :{

there goes a Sunday's run and climbing the 2 flights of stairs @ dhoby ghaut. That's what they meant when they say counting the calories right? Count in terms of the amount of workout required to burn those food off..

Gone were the days we eat without sparing any thoughts for the calories or the expanding waistline. If you ask me live to eat or eat to live, I d tell you it's the former. Food is just tooo good to be given up.

Oh dear, please take my sins...

Of a Bachelorette

Let this vid do the talking :) Moi maiden attempt.. :) Pardon the not so appropriate music. I have nothing else. ;p

CONGRATULATIONS GIRL!!