the lives of 2 ïŊTrỜv€ΓtS

Postpartum Hemorrhage

2011-04-20T14:44:00.002+08:00

never heard of this term before right? neither have i until 2 weeks back.

gory post ahead. dont read if you are about to deliver or planning for pregnancy, or just cannot tahan the thought of lots of blood...

delivery experience is a great thanksgiving. normal delivery, 4 hours with laughing gas in the last 2 hours. so cost was the lowest, just like what we prayed for. hallelujah!!! ^_^

supposed to go back to gynae on apr 6 to check on my stitches. on apr 5, i passed out a blood clot thats about 10 cm, together with blood streaming down my legs. so i told my gynae when i met her and she did an ultrasound scan on me and found a 11cm clot in my uterus still.

why? we asked. she didnt know. but she inserted medication into my uterus to make it contract so that the clot can be passed out. on the day itself, i bled like siao. felt so horrible cos i was just staining everything i sat on. but i just had to go through it. thinking about it now, i cant remember how many days the blood was streaming down my legs. i just lived day by day and was down in the dumps.

Mark 5: 25 - 34
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say 'Who touched Me?'" And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

I started meditating on the above passage since then. I want to have that kind of faith. To know that God heals and to receive His healing.

Apr 10: Vin decided not to go to church that sunday cos of my condition. I thought he could go cos he already went last sunday and my mum and I could manage. But since he thought he preferred to watch over me, I agreed. Thank God he stayed home that Sunday. At 10+am, blood flowed down my legs while I was carrying John, trying to coax him to stop crying. So I asked Vin to carry John while I took a bath.

In the middle of my bath, I felt very light-headed and knew that this was different from the past few days and that I was going to faint. I called for Vin to come and help me. Thank God my mum just arrived at that time and was able to take over John. I kept singing in my head 'Your grace is sufficient for me, Your strength is made perfect, when I am weak...'

The next thing I knew, I heard Vin shouting 'Dear, are you ok?' over and over again and my mum duno screaming what in the background. Yes I did faint but it felt like I was in dreamland, with the song in my head. We decided to go to the gynae the next day. My gynae was on leave so we went to the covering doctor.

Apr 11: 7cm clot still inside. The gynae again put medicine in me and again blood poured for the next few days. I was so weak and faint every day that I just lay in bed almost all the time, except to go to the toilet and to sit up to feed John.

Bleeding for 12 years is NO JOKE! I bleed for 12 days already so cham liao... She must have such great faith to leave her house to squeeze in the crowd just to touch Jesus' garment! Can risk fainting anytime leh!

Apr 16: My gynae wanted me to go for surgery to remove the clots asap. I was so scared that I cried. Who wants to go for operation right? And who wants to have their uterus scraped clean? But she was worried that I might even lose my life if I continue bleeding like this. Finally after some discussion, she decided to send me for a blood test and if my count is not too low, she will agree to let me continue the medication route with close monitoring. Thank God it just passed.

Apr 18: I dragged my feet to see her this time cos I felt my situation did not improve. The night before I couldn't sleep well (as if i can sleep well having to wake up every 2-3 hours to feed John anyway haha) cos I kept replaying the scene where she told me to admit myself immediately.

When I went into her room and she looked at my pale face, she asked me 'Did you fast?' My heart sank and I said no cos I was still fighting against surgery. When she was scanning me, she said she was very happy cos my body is responding to the medication and we can continue this route!!! She also thinks that we can win this without surgery!!! Praise God!!!!! but just to be sure, I had to do a blood test as well. sure! anything man!

so tomorrow I will go back for review again and I WANT THIS SAGA TO BE OVER! no more blood clots! uterus contract to how it should be! yes yes yes!

Spruce @ Tanglin Road

2011-03-22T21:36:00.004+08:00

vin brought me for a nice meal before our family expands to be a 3 member unit =)

enjoy the pictures taken by vin on our new canon EOS 550D ^_^ seems like everything we buy now is for baby goh HAHAHAHA...

spruce signature burger. super yummy!!!!!

the spruce big brekkie - we were there at 130pm but it was brunch that they were serving. duno why leh...?!

purple velvet - almond and beetroot cake. ITS TOTALLY FANTASTIC!!!!!! moist and flavorful...

My Beloved - Kari Jobe

2011-03-18T10:29:00.001+08:00

You're My Beloved
You're My Bride
To sing over you is My delight
Come away with Me My love

You're Beautiful to Me
So beautiful to Me

Under My mercy
Come and wait
Till we are standing face to face
I see no stain on you
My child

You're Beautiful to Me
So Beautiful to Me

I sing over you
My song of peace
Cast all your care down at My feet
Come and find your rest in Me

I'll breathe My life inside of you
I'll bear you up on eagle's wings
And hide you in the shadow of My strength

I'll take you to My quiet waters
I'll restore your soul
Come rest in Me and be made whole
You're My beloved
You're My Bride
To sing over you is my delight
Come away with me my love

What Is Present When Kneeling to Pray in Jesus’ Name

2011-03-03T17:18:00.000+08:00

From John Piper's Desiring God website...

Here’s what is present when we kneel to pray in Jesus’ name:

1. God the Father on his throne sovereign over the universe, with a welcoming, countenance focused on us.

2. God the Son in his high priestly role, standing as advocate before the throne as a Lamb that was slain with perfect righteousness and with all God’s promises purchased fully in his hand interceding for us.

3. God the Spirit within us, having already inclined us to pray, poised to guide our prayers, put to death our sins, awaken our faith, illumine God’s word, and produce his fruit.

4. The word of God open before us, inspired by God, alive with penetrating power for conviction of sin and indomitable hope, revealing the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to our souls, shaping and guiding our prayers after God’s will.

5. Our sin forgiven, but humbling us to need and love our merciful saving God.

6. God’s grace like a great rainbow of hope arcing from the throne to our soul.

7. Our will captured by these realities, moving words (or only groans) up out of our mind (or only heart) to God with praise and thanks and confession and requests.

5 loaves and 2 fishes - Corrinne May

2011-02-21T17:25:00.000+08:00

why?

2010-12-31T09:07:00.002+08:00

today started out great. my bus came and i was 30metres away so had to run for the bus. there was a nice guy who stood at the bay and waited for me before he boarded, so that the driver wont drive off. the driver was nice too. he waited for me to sit down before moving off.

also excited cos we are collecting our car today! yes we bought a car! dont worry, vin and jean dont make crazy financial deals... its a 2nd hand OPC, not a 40K COE new car.

the car saga is also abit strange and unsettling but lets leave that to another time. this issue im facing now is irritating enough.

when i was 2 months pregnant, the indonesian general manager requested for me to travel to indonesia to train his team. even though my boss knew that i was in my first trimester, she responded 'i dont see why not! sure!' and that was in front of the SEA&I vice president... oh sure... who would travel in their first trimester?

so i had to say that i cant travel cos im pregnant and its not safe to travel then. all of them looked at me with a look like 'huh? why you got legs cannot walk?' that kind of expression... then the VP muttered something about ..... pregnant..... like he didnt believe that pregnant women have a higher risk if they fly...

nmind i put that aside. but within the next month, the indonesian GM requested another 2 times for me to fly to indonesia!!!!! cant he get it into his head that i cant fly? one of the times, he sent an email and copied all those who were in that management meeting where i said i cant fly! he even copied more people..... so i had to again reply that i cant fly. by then i already had a letter from my gynae stating that i cant fly until my 4th month.

now im in my 3rd trimester and i receive an email from 'no prizes if you guess correctly'. and asking me to 'again no prizes if you guess correctly'

HOW IRRITATING IS THAT?????

2 months back, i already told his boss (Vietnam, Indonesia & Philippines Area General Manager) that i have a low lying placenta so cant fly already during my pregnancy. cos cannot carry heavy stuff and must limit movements. if it gets worse, can have bleeding and must bed rest and cannot deliver naturally one leh... its not like some silly thing! who would risk their child for their work?! he understood and was chatting with me about pregnancy still. and now the irritating person strikes again?!

i dont understand why people here are so unprofessional. first it was my boss who didnt allow me to see the doctor after office hours when i already couldnt walk and was breaking out in cold sweat. now i have a country GM who keeps requesting for me to fly to his country. i've been coaching his team on the phone and via emails almost every day! even doing the financial controller's work for her most of the time cos she always act blur like she duno how to do... and if she messes up, im the one who gets the scolding... so end up i always have to teach her, she act blur, then i do for her... why must i fly there just to do the same thing? if they cant get their act together, then its the quality of his staff ma!!!!! month in month out, train them on the same thing and they keep messing things up... so does it make a difference if im physically there?

sigh..... cannot let these things affect me. must be happy mummy... but sometimes just get bogged down by these things...

fingers crossed that our car collection will be smooth later! cant wait to get out of here!

suddenly realised, what a sad way to post on the last day of 2010. try to sound happier...

HAPPY 2011!!!!! ^_^ (funny how you can type something and it looks happy, but the person typing it has a sad face)

You have shown us (Micah 6:8)

2010-12-04T11:29:00.000+08:00

i stand in awe of Him

2010-11-16T16:16:00.002+08:00

as i see baby goh during the monthly gynae visits via ultrasound, and feel him moving around in my womb, i am simply amazed by how awesome God is. how he formed baby goh in my womb, how he is nuturing him each second of the day...

no wonder some people say that when we become parents, we understand another dimension of God's love for us and His magnificence.

Psalm 139: 13 - 16
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

i wonder...

2010-10-20T10:12:00.002+08:00

why is it that we cannot drink plain water on MRT trains but people can eat chicken rice and drink carbonated water on SBS buses? even the bus drivers eat biscuits on their buses... and i thought buses are more jerky than trains, so the chances of spilling the water is higher on the buses...

hmmmmm

2010-09-14T09:09:00.002+08:00

just read a news article about a female reporter that tweeted about her being harrased, which resulted in investigations being carried out. me thinks, wow the power of internet!

wonder if i blog about how horrid my boss is, will investigations be carried out on her? cos obviously my HR department has no hold on her, even after many people resigned cos of her and complained about her to HR, she is still sitting firmly on her seat, goes to show there is no 'tian li' here...

maybe i should set up a twitter account and tweet each time my boss does something ridiculous to me. like yesterday she called me. let's call her B for Boss.

B: is the meeting still on?
J: yes i called xxx but she didnt pick up. left her a message as well. still trying to locate her.

*sound of phone hanging up*

errr... am i too sensitve or is she very rude???

and remember the incident in feb when i just got back to office after my 3 week hospitalization leave? the first day i was back, i worked till 1030pm to clear my backlog and asked for her approval to go to the doctor after office hours at 6pm, cos i was limping very badly. she gave her approval that night.

but the next day at 550pm (my knock off time is 530pm), she told me that unless its a matter of life or death, i cannot go to the doctor. i was already trembling cos of the pain, breaking out in cold sweat, and for that whole day i was walking around by grabbing the surrounding tables and doors. reason being, she wanted me to stay cos she was afraid that my team mate would not know how to do something and that she would get frustrated and upset. huh?!

haha just 2 incidents out of the many that have been happening. but its enough to convict her if there was a court of law for unethical bosses haha! actually alot of people in my company know about the 'life or death' incident cos think those who were around that night went to tell others about what happened. but yet, nothing was done to her about it.

nmind i just do my best and she can do whatever she want. God will protect me.

Deuteronomy 28:7
The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

Through Christ - Generation Unleashed

2010-09-06T20:54:00.003+08:00

Verse 1:
When the darkness tries to hide my way
Your word is the light that guides my faith
I will trust in You
I will trust in You

Verse 2:
When my heart is weak and I've lost my way
I will lift up my eyes and choose to say
I will trust in You
I will trust in You

Chorus:
I can do all things through Christ
I can move a mountain if You are the strength of my life
I can do all things through Christ
If You are the strength of my life

Verse 3:
In Your presence I find strength renewed
I find courage to stand and a hope that is new
I will trust in You
I will trust in You

Bridge:
Whenever trials come my way
I will worship You always
Forever trust in Your unfailing love
Whenever there is doubt or shame
I still hear Your voice within
Forever trust in Your unfailing love

Philippians 4
10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.
11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

tough tough tough

2010-08-31T14:14:00.003+08:00

salute to all women who been through pregnancy. its not easy.

fatigue
headache
nausea
vomitting
loss of appetite

i face this every waking second for the past few weeks. its just terrible. so miserable that one night i just started crying. but i think of how everyone else can go through this and i grit my teeth and plod on.

i just want to stay home every day now but life must go on. i need to work. i have family committments. church committments. etc etc etc. only thing i can stop is to meet my friends. can meet la. only if vin is around and its those very short meetings.

support from vin is so impt. for those ladies without support from their hubbies, gosh its confirm million times worse. even though theres nothing vin can do for me but eat the remaining 70% of my meals everyday, hugging me, patting me on my back, etc... even making ginger tea for me last night, thats so much so much already...

now i know why so many ladies tell me they hate pregnancy. it is so not easy. but for baby goh, i hang on! hopefully in 4 weeks all the discomfort will go away!!!!!

came across this, ai jia's really good!!!

2010-07-27T22:45:00.001+08:00

民歌餐厅

2010-07-27T20:07:00.002+08:00

hee hee... this sat, vin and i are going to have a small taste of what it is like for people performing at cafes =)))

after many times of clashed schedules, finally vin and i could squeeze some time to serve with the alpha team! we will be singing songs for the guests for about 40min this sat, while they are having their dinner. (hope they dont lose their appetite hahaha)

only thing is that we only started selecting the songs on sunday and as of today, only practiced 4 songs out of the 8 songs that we need to sing. and when i say practice, it's only like going through it 2 or 3 times. no time no time!!! vin is in outfield tonight, so less a night of practice. pray that we'd be able to give our best on sat! at least we have the whole of sat to practice... *fingers crossed*

but i must say, its really a fun experience! vin learning different playing styles, improving on the technical aspect of playing the guitar, singing the songs he likes, and me, having fun singing and practicing how to sing better.

do you have questions like the below:
1) what is the meaning of life?
2) who is Jesus?
3) is there really eternal life?

if so, alpha is the place for you!!!!! free this sat? free dinner provided and a great environment to shoot all your questions!!! cos most of the people coming are asking the same questions, and these questions will be addressed over the term of the course. just let vin/me know if you'd like to come and we'll see you this sat!!!!! ^_^

Kajane - our villa in Ubud =)))

2010-07-15T22:47:00.005+08:00

feeling sleepy, so let the pictures do the talking. last picture was taken at our resort's restaurant ^_^ share with you all more pictures and our adventures another time!

dozo!

2010-05-29T16:18:00.003+08:00

this post is quite belated cos was waiting for vin to synch his phone so that i can show you all the pictures =)))

in japanese, dozo means please. and yes please, visit this restaurant!!! it has SUPERB service, QUALITY food and WONDERFUL ambience!!!

vin and i brought my parents to this restaurant to celebrate mothers' day. show you some of our favorites =)))

this is japanese noodles and they just keep refilling it throughout our meal! its very tasty and every noodle tastes different! there's the bee bee tasting ones, and chocolate tasting ones, etc...

this drink is to whet our appetite and it sure did! even the looks of it made me excited about the 6 course that's to come!

starter! can't remember whats on it liao and there's even a sequence to eat it, as adviced by our ever attentive and knowledgeable waiter!!!

soft shell crab! the sauce is just ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! eaten with the potato mash, aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

escargots with butter!!!!! we ate it so cleanly and must have looked like we even wanted to eat up the shells that the waiter gave us another 4!!!!! he said cos we enjoyed it alot (is that super service or what?!) ^_^

they were so sweet to even bring out a cake for my mum, with a candle on it and chocolate wordings 'Happy Mothers Day...'!!! and the waiter even sang happy mothers day!!!!! one line only but wow can see the fantastic attitude he has, to serve his customers to the max!!!!!

there are still sooo many more photos that i didnt post cos im lazy (haha)... photos of the yummy mushroom and truffle soup, tender lamb shank, and many many more!!! go check out their website and drool!!!!!

It Is Well With My Soul

2010-05-26T19:12:00.003+08:00

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this Blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall me mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

united breaks guitars

2010-05-23T16:29:00.001+08:00

remember our saga with United? dave carroll's song just sums the united experience up so well =)))

eeeeeuuuuccccckkkkkkk!!!!!

2010-05-23T16:04:00.002+08:00

staying in your own home is like having your own children. you need to clean it up, including all the yucky disgusting things that come with it.

a few days ago, when we came home, we saw a wasps nest on our main door. its made of mud and looks like 3 balls stuck together. totally gross looking i must say. the thought of this whole saga still makes me want to puke. bleah!

anyway, vin and i finally decided to get rid of it today after much procrastination cos one of the balls had a hole in it (meaning a wasps grew up and flew out). double yucks!!!

we armed ourselves with a flat metal spade and a wet cloth, not knowing what to expect. vin scraped off the nest with 1 swift motion and the mud with alot of green slimy things dropped on the floor. we were both totally grossed out.

on close inspection, those green slimy things seemed to be the larvae that was still in the worms stage. i quickly got pails of water and washed them all down the drain of the corridor and vin cleaned up the door, which had some green slimy things on it too.

vin summed it up with 'interesting experience'. me? YUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

why so expensive???

2010-04-17T11:15:00.004+08:00

looking for a villa/resort in bali/ko samui to spend our 2nd year wedding anniversary. BUT THE PRICES ARE SO EXPENSIVE!!!!! the resorts that i like in bali come up to at least SGD 2.5K for 3 nights for the 2 of us... in the midst of researching on ko samui now. show you a picture...

drool right???!!!! imagine, falling asleep looking at the vast ocean and waking up to the lovely turquoise colors... *sigh* but its at least SGD 2.1K for 2 nights for the both of us...

want cheap and want this kind of view and accomodation... go where find?! the search continues...

kate spade

2010-04-14T23:07:00.005+08:00

im a proud owner of a branded bag! my first luxury good!!!!! ^_^ diamonds are not classifed as luxury goods right? =Pp

vin was so sweet to buy me kate from US. yes, there i go, naming my stuff again =Pp last night when we were at raffles city, before meeting t jian, we decided to pop by kate spade outlet to see if SG carries the bag. vin was hoping that there wont be, so that it'll be more special, but i was hoping that there would be, so that i can check out SG's price. guess what? we saw my bag! think vin got her for SGD 200+? not sure... but surely not the SGD 500+ that we saw in the store!!! scary right... we looked at a few bags and they are like at least SGD 500+ la... i saw a lady buy a bag there and i was thinking, wow, how can i make myself spend so much on a bag? it took me a week or so to get used to the idea of owning a SGD 200+ bag. when i brought the bag out last sunday, took super extra care also loh! imagine, those LVs, guccis, SGD 1K+ leh... must wrap in bubble wrap when bringing out man...

meaningful blog post

2010-03-29T23:05:00.001+08:00

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html

~courtesy from the blog stalker, you know who you are =Pp

sinners forgiven

2010-03-28T18:43:00.004+08:00

This alabaster jar
Is all i have of worth
I break it at your feet, lord
It's less than you deserve

You're far more beautiful
More precious than the oil
The sum of my desires
And the fullness of my joy!

Like you spilled your blood,
I spill my heart as an offering
To my king

Here i am, take me
As an offering
Here i am, giving every heartbeat
For your glory take me

The time that i have left
Is all i have of worth
I lay it at your feet, lord
It's less than you deserve

And though i've little strength
And though my days are few,
You gave your life for me
So, i will live my life for you

Worthy, worthy
You are worthy
Worthy is the lord

Luke 7:36-50

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat.
37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,
38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”
44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.
45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.
46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.
47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

m1 users look here!

2010-03-24T12:39:00.002+08:00

before vin went for his business trip, he called m1 to ask if there needs to be any configuration for his iphone to use smart sms. they said, nope, just go ahead!

*smart sms enables vin to pay only 15cents per sms instead of 60cents per sms when he is in UK and USA

take one: when vin reached, he tried to sms me and received a timeout error message. strangely, he didnt spend more than the stipulated 40sec to type the sms, as it was a copy paste. m1's response was, try again but this time, type the sms.

take two: he tried again. no error message this time. but i never received the message. m1's response after checking with their engineers - iphone cannot smart sms. vin should use another phone.

wow! what a revelation since iphone's existence since 2007! how can it be that they never knew till we called about it?!

anyway, since it was their negligence, they agreed to charge vin 15cent/sms for all his smses for this trip (at a cap of 100 smses)

on the road

2010-03-19T19:46:00.005+08:00

since the accident, things have changed. not sure if its cos of the trauma or cos realistically people are driving more dangerously. but its scary each time i sit in the car now. 2 examples:

1) we were along ECP, entering from the CBD area, going towards the east. a black volkswagen behind vin's dad's car drove over the chevron straight into ECP. closely following him was a black lancer. they both sped off at an estimated speed of 120km/hr or more. i think it was around that speed cos they were cutting lanes very quickly and speeding past all the cars. most probably racing each other. usually cars on ECP go at 90-100km/hr if they are on the right most lane. but those 2 were much faster loh... scary right! i remember that it was not even 10pm loh... thought these daredevil drivers would only pull their stunts past midnight... really endangering the lives of all on the road leh!!!

2) i was in a cab along still road. on my left were HDBs and a pedestrian walkway, parallel to the road i was on. in front of me was the pedestrian crossing. basically, the junction i was at, looked like this: -
when the green man came on, pedestrians started crossing in front of me. a motorcyclist came out of the blue from the pedestrian walkway on my left, got on the pedestrian crossing and turned right onto the road in my opposite direction! the pedestrians stared at him in disbelief! there were about 10 of them on the road, and if he was careless, he might have just hit into any one of them! he was not rolling slowly loh... he was riding it quite fast loh! you know right, motorcycles can pick up their speed very fast... totally ignored traffic rules!

can people please care for the safety of those on the road? can people please cherish their lives and the lives of the innocent around? gosh... what is the world coming to? wanting thrill and excitement, ignoring the responsibilities that are given to them cos of the vehicles they own?

be safe.

general updates

2010-03-13T18:13:00.003+08:00

vin's teeth look quite normal now =) cos the surgeon did fillings for him, something like temporary fake teeth extensions for the chipped teeth. so that when vin goes for his 2 week business trip, the ang mohs wont be shocked at his broken teeth.

vin took a scan of his teeth on thurs. finally saw how the metal plates look like! there are 4 and they are L-shaped, holding the fractured bone to the strong bone. at first we thought that it is one long plate across the entire fracture. interesting...

so far, high chance that 2 out of 4 teeth can be saved! praise God! but the gums above the 2 weak teeth are shrinking cos the bone there is dead. if they do not grow out, need to do bone grafting. gosh! so serious hor? praying that the bone will grow out, so no need grafting, the gums can grow and all his teeth can be saved!

as for me, the chinese sin seh said that my recovery is slow cos im walking too much. i put too much weight on the front of my foot (near the big toe area) when i walk, cos of the pain in my ankle. this results in my bone going out of position and slows down the recovery process. the ligaments are also quite badly hurt, resulting in the constant pain in my foot. whoever would have thought that a sprained ankle can be so troublesome?

God will make a way!!!!! =)))

2010-03-03T22:45:00.003+08:00

God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me

He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh praise the Lord!!!!! a miracle happened today!!!!! i wanted to go to the tie da today right? but didnt know how to cos i was afraid my boss will stop me again. guess what? amazingly, she left the office at 530pm today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she RARELY does that!!!!!!!! she usually stays till 9 plus 10 plus!

when she switched her room lights off at 530pm, my colleague gasped and muttered under her breath. so i turned around and saw the amazing sight. she went up to my boss and there seemed to be some heated exchange of words and my colleague angrily walked back to her desk. cos my boss was chasing her for some deliverable, apparently due today. but when my colleague asked her how about the report that she was chasing after? she said 'i can't wait indefinitely for you right?' that really pissed my colleague off. she was so angry that my boss expects us to work long hours but she can just leave at 530pm and say such a irresponsible sentence to her.

i told my colleague 'sorry leh, you so angry but i very happy leh!' then i sang the above song to her. HAHAHAHAHA... but my colleague laughed with me and she started shutting down her computer. haha! she said why bother staying late when boss can just leave like that? kekekeke...

happy me could then leave at 545pm to the tie da!!!!! my wonderful dad came to fetch me there =)))))

to summarize my experience:
1) in the 3 sec that she cracked my bones, the pain was excruciating. like it was breaking and i screamed my lungs out. you know la, i talk very loud normally. and when i say i screamed really loud, i think it must be quite scary for people outside =Pp

2) then she poked holes in my foot and used a device to suck out my blood. really suck blood man!!!!! the poking of holes part was really painful that i asked her if i could give up. but she was very nice and comforting and kept chatting with me throughout the 20min ordeal.

3) need to eat medication, bathe with my foot wrapped in a plastic bag (cos its now bandaged with medical herbs), and go back once every 2-3 days.

onwards to being a catwalk model soon!!!!!!!!! ^_^

my foot

2010-03-02T22:23:00.004+08:00

finally i decided on monday that i need to go to the tie da (those chinese doctor that will massage or duno do what to sprains/fractures etc) cos my foot just didnt get any better. still swollen and purple like 1 week back. called my mum only to find out that the tie da was closed on mondays. decided then to complete my work on monday night so that i can leave office at 6pm (my official knock off time is 530pm) to make it in time before the tie da closes at 7pm.

so on monday night, i worked till almost 10pm and got my boss' approval to leave at 6pm on tues to see the tie da. actually why need to seek boss' approval, you may wonder? isn't this society now about efficiency, productivity? no longer about clocking hours? not in my cheena company. over here, if you leave at 6pm, you are deemed as a slacker and having nothing to do. that's how my boss manages her team. just too bad for my job scope, there is just too many issues in the countries that even if i work till midnight every day, also cannot clear. so no chance to leave at 6pm also =(

think my body couldnt take the long hours cos on tues morning, i woke up to a more swollen and painful foot. but i looked forward to going to the tie da cos hopefully he can help me alleviate much of the pain. but by lunch time, the right side of my back and my right leg started to have shooting pains. i knew that was the start of my back relapse. by 3 plus, it became numb, weak and i was trembling a little. but i hung on knowing that my back relapse is due to me putting my weight on my right side for too long cos of my sprained ankle. once the tie da fixes my ankle, things should be more manageable...

but at 550pm, my boss told me that i cannot go to the doctor unless it is a life and death situation. she said that we are facing a crisis now and team work is very important. the issue was that my country FC had to take off for urgent matters and my colleague needed to help load the financials into the management reporting pack. this was just a copy, paste exercise and didn't need me around. but my boss wanted me to stay in case my colleague needed to seek my advice as she felt that my colleague would not be able to handle the copy, paste alone. and that i needed to be around in case she faces with problems, else she would be too stressed when she cant resolve the issues, and wouldn't be able to complete her work...

there has to be some limit right? nobody is indispensible and i dont think that im so critical to the organization right? why cant i just go to the doctor? i am already limping so badly... if team work is very important, she can help my colleague right? or the FP&A manager can help my colleague right? why do i need to stay on just to give her moral support?

last week i thought that she was so good, cos she did the unexpected for me, let me work from home. but now she did the unexpected again, refuse to let me see the doctor unless i was dying...? how to continue working in such a place?

YEAH!

2010-02-28T14:40:00.005+08:00

happy! remember my aloe vera? i decided to name her 'Vera' for ease of reference going forward =) whoever said that plants cannot have names? =Pp

vera with her little sibling, which is now at my mum's place. somehow, her sibling is not doing very well.

individual shot of vera taken on 18 Aug 09

vera has grown so much over the past 6 months!!!

aerial view with my feet wanting some attention as well

can you spot something? stare real hard!!!!!

closer shot for you. yes!!!!! vera is now a mummy!!!!! was so excited to see baby vera!!!!! can't wait for her to grow up and i can give to my mum if vera's sibling is still not doing well =)))))

my colleague did tell me that aloe vera can have baby shoots and taught me how to harvest them to another pot when they are big enough. but i never thought that it could be so soon!!!!! and that i could even have a baby shoot grow out from my plant!!!!! i mean flowers and fruits are so common, but a whole new life?! something that can be harvested to be grown independantly?! its just so exciting!!!!! ^_^

botak jones @ marine parade!!!!! woohoo! so happy they opened a stall here! the fish and chips look so yummy right????? and its huge la!!!!! vin and i were so stuffed after eating the fish and chips and his botak burger. kept asking josh to eat our fries for us HAHAHAHAHA

Singaporeans are not so heartless after all!

2010-02-24T18:39:00.002+08:00

the stubborn mule in me decided to take a bus to work on monday. even though i was still on crutches and the walk to the bus stop from my home and from the destination bus stop to office was very long. well, i thought i could make it ma! =Pp

was quite tired out when i reached my bus stop but thank God for the long rest before my bus came. when i boarded, the driver was nice enough to wait till i hobbled to the seat beside the entrance. i managed to put one of my crutches against the wall and was trying to put the other one down and shift my butt to the seat. but i guess when he heard my first crutch hit the wall, he assumed that i sat down, so he moved off and i fell down.

in that split second while i was falling down, i was frantically trying to think of how best not to let my injured foot hit the floor and trying to manoeuvre myself to safety. but cos my original position was already slightly awkward, i didnt manage to get myself out of the tangle fast enough and my foot hit the floor, with my crutch crashing down on my right hand.

i heard alot of people screaming and 1 man ran over to me to carry me up and kept asking me if i was ok. thankfully i didnt break my foot but it hurt alot. the driver kept asking me if i was ok, but well, i had to get to work right, so i smiled with tears in my eyes cos of the pain and said yes.

when i was about to alight, the driver asked me if i was ok and wanted to find someone to help me alight! but i told him its 'ok, thanks' and assured him that i was fine. the journey to office was thankfully without any incidents, except for the occasional stopping for 3mins every 50m to catch my breath.

anyway i scraped through the day. by the time i finished work, it was 830pm so i called for a cab and hobbled down to meet him. he was real nice and walked over to open the door for me, asking me what happened. didnt chat too much. but when he dropped me home, he got out again to open the door for me and even carried my laptop for me to the bench nearby where i was to wait for vin to come and help me.

whats more, my boss was so kind to let me work from home this week, starting tues! think cos of the fall and cos i cant prop my leg up in office, my foot became more swollen and black. so this week's working from home will definitely do me alot of good. cant wait to walk normally soon!!!!! ^_^

God is good!

2010-02-20T17:34:00.006+08:00

it has been a tough 3 weeks. my parents, vin and i, got into a traffic accident on 31 jan. out of the 9 people involved in the accident, vin was the worst hit. his upper jaw was fractured and 4 of his teeth are very shaky, with 3 of them badly chipped.

during the operation, the surgeon theoretically should remove all 4 of his teeth but he wanted to help vin to save them, cos it is a great pity to lose one's natural teeth and have to do implants. in 3 weeks time, we might know if vin's teeth can be saved. do stand in agreement with us that his natural teeth can be saved! only then, can more work be done on the 4 teeth, after his jaw and teeth are stabilized.

vin's trying to smile in this picture. its just after his surgery on monday. hope we didnt scare you with this picture. he wanted to put it as his facebook profile picture but i said its way too scary as a profile picture... =Pp

my parents still have chest pains now. i still am walking with a limp and there is a lump on my upper lip cos of the bad stitching by the A&E doctor.

after the collision, my dad kept saying 'gone, gone' and my mum repeated 'die, die'. think vin and i must have looked horrible. i kept asking vin if he was ok while waiting for the ambulance to come. think i asked so often cos he finally spoke and asked me 'do i look ok?'. although he did look terrible, but i told him 'no, you look ok!' cos i didnt want to scare him with all the details of how much blood there was on his face and body.

my mind was a total blank cos of the shock and also cos of vin's bloody face and body (i mean literally bloody, but sounds like im speaking vulgarities haha)... vin's eyes couldnt focus cos he was seeing stars and feeling dizzy and he even vomitted blood. many thoughts raced through my mind but i kept casting them out and kept praying out loud. at that point in time, i forgot all the scriptures that vin and i always claimed on healing. only kept repeating to vin, 'God is with us, He will send His holy angels to watch over us and heal you. He will protect us and watch over us.'

thinking about that night, i shudder still. at times, the sound of the horn and the collision still run through my head. its something you never ever would have thought could happen to you in your entire lifetime. we are all safe drivers, but you can never control how others drive on the road.

only after we reached changi general hospital and watched vin being rushed into a room, did i realise that my whole face and body was also covered with blood. interesting how much blood can pour out from your upper lip.

too many things about that night and these 3 weeks to share with you. some thanksgivings:

1) God's protection over all of us
thank God that all of us dont have internal injuries else it would lead to complications. vin said its good that its him that suffered the broken jaw, not me. and the harder hit ones are us, not our parents. the surgeon said that if the fracture was just slightly above where it was, then the operation would not be in his mouth, but on his face. so thank God! my husband is forever handsome! =)

2) dear friends
lyn was the first to come on mon morning. shianni came all the way with kay huat to pray with us, just for that 5 min. vin's colleagues rushed over during lunch time, but couldnt come up to see vin before he went for operation, cos there was not enough passes. joyce took half day urgent leave to be with me on monday while vin was in his 3.5 hour operation. if not for joyce and francis, who comforted me, talked rubbish to me, i would just be sobbing all 3.5 hours. my mum and i were just so worried and helpless by ourselves. many dear friends also rushed over on monday and tuesday just to show their concern. it really means alot.

it was a traumatising time. on sun night, or rather mon morning (we got home around 3am), i couldnt sleep at all. ok maybe for 1 hour from 5am to 6am. thinking about how vin was suffering cos his face was super swollen and he couldnt breathe through his nose cos it was clogged with blood, and about his operation under general anesthetic. what made it worse was that i couldnt move around myself, couldnt eat cos of the 5 stitches on my lip. felt so lost.

3) Importance of family
this accident; spending 3 weeks with vin at my parents' home recuperating; vin's dad driving us to and from the hospital so frequently - these made me understand so much more that family is so very important. i want to love my family more and more each day. make more and more effort to show them concern and to love them. just before this, vin was working till 11 plus, and i was working till 10 plus quite often. yes, work is important cos we want to do our best for God, with the talents He has given us. but yet, it also drains us, such that we just fulfil our weekly routine visits to my parents' and vin's dad's homes. this got slightly tiring occasionally in our busy schedule, but there must be more!

Psalm 23:4 (NIV)
'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.'

all praise be to God!!!!!

2010-01-23T00:17:00.004+08:00

2 thanksgivings!!!!! ^_^

1) brain scan is normal!!!!! woohoo!!!!! its a great relief... although i trust in God's healing and protection, but the human part of me had abit of worry at the back of my brain. now i think, why should i worry man? God feed the sparrows, dressed the lilies up so beautifully, why would he withold anything from me? let alone ensure that my body is whole so that i can continue to do His work? lalalala so happy ^_^

2) MAMA RECEIVED CHRIST!!!!! mama is my dad's mum. i call her mama cos she nyonya so its a nyonya term. and whats more, SHE WAS BAPTIZED TODAY TOO!!!!! ^_^ let me share her testimony with you.

christians and pastors tried to share with her before. but she always tell them, you have your belief, i have mine. i cannot change to your religion so dont share with me, thank you very much. (paraphrased by me)

mama was very devout. always prepare huge feasts for the important festivals to give to the gods. had altar in her home too. also burnt alot of sacrifices for the gods regularly and i liked to help her with all of that.

many years back, the altar was taken away. think cos they renovated their place.

mama then started becoming abit blur. cos of old age. she's 83 this year btw =) sometimes she would say that she saw the 'cow head horse face' (the guards from hell i think) and she'd talk about dying and stuff about her gods and all the negative stuff.

these days she'd just sit quietly in her wheelchair with her head sunk down. a very depressing picture.

vin and i always tried to share with her about Christ. about His redemptive work on the cross. but cos our hokkien is so lousy, plus christian jargons in hokkien is even more elusive from us, we just were unable to bring the message across. but we kept praying for her. one day we sang the only 2 hokkien christian songs we knew for her! 'very good' and 'hold my hand'

on sunday, my third uncle told mama to tell me of her dream. mama dreamt that Jesus told her that He loves her. i was amazed! i asked her if she believes in Him and she said yes! then vin and i tried to share the 4SL with her but just didnt know how to share in hokkien for the most part. but she seemed to understand what we shared. we even tried to lead her in the sinner's prayer but didnt manage to say the essence.

so i asked mama and my 4th aunt if i could bring my pastor to visit mama and they said yes!

pastor, vin and i went today. pastor shared about her grandma's testimony, shared about God sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and so much more! most of which vin and i didnt understand but mama was just absorbing all of it. after more than an hour of conversation, pastor asked mama if she wanted to receive Christ and she said yes. so mama repeated the sinner's prayer after pastor! welcome to the family! all the angels and saints rejoice with God and us!!!!!!

pastor then asked mama if she would like to be baptized. she explained what baptism meant. just like vin and i decided to get married, baptism is just like that. to declare to the world that we belong to Christ. mama said 'sure, why wouldnt i want that!' praise the Lord!!!!!

mama is so alert now! she sits upright, speaks coherently, is full of energy and joy, completely different from the mama i've been seeing for the past year or so! only God can cause this transformation in just a few hours! His joy is her strength! mama hasnt been downstairs in years! today, she allowed vin and me to bring her downstairs! all glory be to God!

really left me amazed and completely in awe of Him. in His timing, God brought mama to Him. it was so easy! Hallelujah!!!!!! ^_^

its a dog eat dog world out there

2010-01-21T23:09:00.003+08:00

worked till almost 1030pm today. vin's still in office. we've been working real late the past few months...

i wonder. as we climb up the corporate ladder, get more responsibilities, we end up spending so much time at work. weekdays become work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep... only on weekends do we have time for ourselves. but we end up having to spend time with vin's dad, my parents, serve God in our church committments, do housework, etc... that we end up having so little time left. with that very little time squeezed out, we listen to sermons, do our devotions, that we have no time to just space out and rest. maybe once in a few weeks we have half or one hour to just space out in front of the tv. oh that's so shiok!

i like to space out. im a slacker as vin will say. so now i wonder, why is my life so packed?

my mum was telling me that my cousin wants to enrol her daughter into a particular pri school. she stays within the 1km radius i believe, but she needs to do volunteer work else her daughter would most probably not be able to get in. i think, what has the world come to???

i mean, if the parents are super busy at work everyday, how do they find time to volunteer at the school? im sure any extra time they have, they'd want to lavish it on their children! and im sure if every parent is so 'kiasu', volunteering wont even guarantee your child a place! so does it mean that you need to spend money to shift house so as to stay super near the school AND spend alot of time to do of volunteer work for the school, just to get your child a place in a good school? thats so tiring man...

my friend is sending her daughter to shicida class. flash cards. apparently it focuses on whole brain development. and its about $800 for 3 months! the power of a mother's love. almost $300 a month on extra-curicular activities when the child is not even 2 years old! and alot of parents are doing this.

the world is getting so competitive. thats why theres more and more work piled on our tables, actually sent to our inboxes since we live in a virtual world these days. *sigh* how man? how to strike a balance between rest and work? tough... let alone connecting with friends... tougher...

haha! before i continue sounding pessimistic, let me share some good news with you.

i went out with jean, ah lam and gina recently. ALL of them carry an iphone. im proud to say that im the unique one without an iphone. thats my good news.

today vin bought an iphone! thats his good news!

im excited actually. want to see whats the hype. why is everyone still buying the iphone despite the comments that it has super short battery life, calls cant get through, used to have some problems with sms, etc...

haha! im so chatty tonight. cos its almost midnight and vin's still working. gosh... anyway its not too bad cos we are on leave tomorrow. going to the hospital to get my brain scan results and hear the doctor's analysis, discuss next steps etc... pray with me for complete healing. that my pain and discomfort will be no more and i need not go back to the hospital anymore! =)))

old photos

2010-01-16T10:46:00.003+08:00

doing some archiving of files in my pc and came across these photos that i selected to flash before our holy matrimony, while the guests are waiting.

as we grow older, somehow our time is taken up by so many more things. work consumes us, household chores shout out to us, our parents need us more, committment in church increases, etc... as a result, we have lesser time with friends. makes us sad at times that gone were those days when we used to hang out with our friends for suppers weekly, now we dont even have time to chill together.

but that's life. not saying that we stop making any effort to keep in touch, but just continue to keep them all in prayer and show concern by an msn msg, an sms, dig out time to meet, etc... glad that finally can meet up with jean, gina and ah lam later! can't wait to see gina and ah lam's children! confirm very cute one!!!!!! ^_^

facebook!

2009-12-31T21:27:00.003+08:00

vin and i are addicted to facebook! (yes, quite retarded reaction... take so long to be addicted hahaha)

we log in almost once every week now!!!!! think you can find us there rather than here liao... hahahahaha... add us! then can see what we are up to, with the hundreds of pictures that are loaded by our friends!!! ^_^

dont have too high hopes though! we dont play games. just go in to see photos and post silly comments on photos and walls kekekekeke =Pp

how can he win?

2009-12-27T23:00:00.001+08:00

star quality, looks, stage presence, vocal prowess... he is not better loh... grrr...

dec 30

2009-12-03T22:00:00.001+08:00

my company's D&D is on dec 30. but will it ever be as fun as back in the good ol' days?

hmmm

2009-11-23T21:56:00.001+08:00

a 14 year old girl walks up to you, gesturing to another 16 year old girl about 200m away.

'Hello. I am from a single parent home and that is my sister.'

then she goes into a sales pitch about her magnolia ice-cream that costs $12.90 and how nobody has bought any from her yet.

we bought 1 from a girl on sun night.

last night, on our way home from marine terrace, (just a 7min walk), 4 more pairs approached us with the same sales pitch.

.....

HK Reflections

2009-11-07T00:53:00.004+08:00

better blog before i forget! =)

1) People are considerate! more than singaporeans!

- EVERYONE stands on the right while they are on escalators. in our 5 day trip, not once have we seen someone stand on the left, obstructing people who need to walk fast!

- each time an old person or a lady carrying a child walks into a crowded train cabin, 2 people will stand up straightaway to give their seat up to the person!

2) the food is GOOD GOOD GOOD!!!!! we drool each time we think of the char siew (which was succulent, meaty, and so yummy!) and the roast duck porridge that we had...

3) you will have toned legs staying there... HK is full of steep slopes!!!!! gosh... think i lost alot of fats there!!! but then again, we ate so much that maybe it nett off... =Pp

oh shucks... i had so much to share but its almost a month since we were there... cant remember much liao... show you photos la!!! ^_^ a picture paints a thousand words right...

and yes, we did ZERO shopping... what did you expect from us right...? but i really tried VERY HARD. just couldnt find anything to buy. we are so not shoppers... grrr...

they use the octopus card EVERYWHERE!!!!! other than bus/mtr, you can even use it at 7-eleven, entering the race cource, taking the ferry, etc... super steady leh!!!!!

the ever so famous yung kee, which people say its very over-rated but just have to go and try. even though its not very nice. i say the food we had at the small stalls were SO MUCH nicer loh!!!!!

the YUMMILICIOUS CHAR SIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ooooo just look at it... so juicy, so tasty, so tender... *drools*

vin and kaixi washing the crockery and utensils. such an interesting experience seeing the push-carts and trying to order dim sum kekekekeke...

MERLION!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!! quench my homesickness for awhile. felt like singing MAJULAH SINGAPURA in the middle of shenzhen!!!!! =)))))

Tommy Emmanuel!!!

2009-10-29T23:22:00.002+08:00

wow wow wow!!!!! jem and faye treated vin and me to watch tommy perform at DBS Auditorium earlier tonight cos they couldnt make it. quotes from people after the concert:

'Flabbergasted!'
'He is a genius!'
'wow...'

Vin and me were so impressed that we bought 2 CDs!!!!! Yes! the ever-so-thrifty Vincent and Jean!!!!! can you imagine how good he was????? he was one with his guitar, had so much passion for his art, loves God, and is SO FUNNY!!!!! in korea, he was asked what should the audience expect from his show and he said 'jokes with some songs in between'... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... aiyah maybe i didnt bring it across funnily enough, but we had a fantastic time tonight!!!!!

wee and faye, jio us with you the next time he is here in SG!!!!! ^_^

NEVER take United Airlines!

2009-10-12T20:25:00.000+08:00

Original flight was UA896 on 13 October 2009 SIN-HKG. However, the flights are now changed to MH602 and MH072. We are totally disappointed with how UA handles flight cancellations due to the below events:

1) 12 hours before time of flight, we receive an email stating 'Please note that our flight UA896 on 13 October 2009 from Singapore to Hong Kong is cancelled due to Mechanical.'
a) Due to Mechanical? What do you mean by this? Given that this has affected our plans tremendously, can more effort be made to at least explain in greater detail and in proper English?
b) Does UA have so few aeroplanes, such that there is no workaround to ensure that customers travel plans are not affected?
c) Why is the notification only 12 hours before time of flight? This gives customers no choice but to accept what you have planned, as we are unable to cancel the flight and book another flight, given the last minute notice.
d) There was no call from your SG office to personally apologize for the change, explain matters, and offer the solution. What if we did not check our email? It would be a rude shock when we arrive at the airport and realise that we would have no time to change our appointments, resulting in us missing the appointments. This not only ruins our schedules but those that were to meet us.

2) The flights that were protected for us were for Malaysia Airline.
Deciding to use United Airlines as our carrier was based on a few factors:
a) Timing
- We spend less than 4 hours travelling and it allows us to reach in the late morning. We have already planned our appointments. With just an abrupt and unclear email informing us of the delay in arrival time, how does United Airlines expect us to make up for the lost time and money?
b) Reputation
- United Airlines has a better reputation in terms of service staff, reliability of aircraft and quality. Malaysia Airline is a carrier that we would never consider nor want to travel with, thus this decision made on our behalf is rude and uncalled for.
- Our colleagues did forewarn us that UA has a bad reputation, but we chose to believe in the brand. However, this first time experience confirms the negative opinions of UA and we would not want to take our chances with UA again. This would also serve a lesson to our relatives, friends and colleagues as well.
c) Direct flight
- Changing from a direct flight to a flight that has a stop over is a bad decision. We dislike flying and it is made 2 times worse when we have to endure take off and landing 2 times in just half a day.

Why was an airline of a lower tier chosen? Furthermore, from direct flight to a flight that has a stop-over? Simple business sense says that if you are unable to meet an obligation to a customer (in this case in terms of timing), you compensate upwards instead of downwards. Changing to Singapore Airlines, which flies direct, would be the best alternative. In UA's bid to save as much costs as possible, it has caused its future revenue stream to drop drastically, due to the lack of focus on customer service.

3) No customer support
- When we read the email at 630pm, 3 mins after it was sent to us, we called UA SG office immediately and was informed by an automated response that the operating hours are till 530pm, and the office is only open from Mondays to Fridays. If we need assistance urgently, we need to call US/Canada and calling charges will be incurred. Why is there no 24 hour support when flights are happenning 24/7?
- If the office closes at 530pm, earlier notice should be given to all customers so that we can at least call to enquire what happened and what other alternatives we have. By not allowing customers to have this basic level of support (not even mentioning that calls should be initiated by UA instead of by the customers), it is a clear situation of 'take it or leave it', with no customer committment, that is stressed on UA's website.

This whole episode is a traumatising experience. Instead of preparing for our trip tomorrow, we wasted time trying to cancel the tickets and book another airline so that we can meet our appointments, trying to contact UA personnel to understand the situation with no avail, and typing this email to express our disappointment.

The basic service that we expected from United Airlines when we booked for the tickets is not rendered. We expect our fares to be fully refunded. Appreciate your response as soon as possible.

those were the days...

2009-09-26T23:37:00.003+08:00

switched to gmail today for those emails that i had to attach files. no idea why vin and i cant attach files to our outgoing yahoo emails... need to figure out how to import contacts from yahoo to gmail... wonder if it is possible that all mails to yahoo be routed to my gmail account...

anyway, came across an email that my friend from music clinic sent me in 2005. it was photos of one of our peformances back then. i was like 'wa seh!!! 4 years ago man!!!!! time flies...'

think i started singing classes with music clinic in 2004 till 2005. in that period, did a couple of performances with them and even went to join the 1st season of project superstar. haha... looking back, it really was good fun and had great experiences =))) show you the pictures that jason sent. after project superstar, he went on to act in channel 8 and host variety shows as well... glad they managed to pursue their passion... ^_^

sometimes i wonder. if i had a chance to choose my path again, would i choose to start off in audit and lead a typical life like now, or follow my passion and go into the entertainment industry...? oh well, in the end i will always conclude. we only live our lives once. most importantly is what i will do the next second, minute, day, week... how i love those around me, what i say to the next person, the choices that i make tomorrow. but to those who are still thinking about what career to choose, think wisely! and to remind us all, in all that we do, do it for MOE - the Maker of Everything! =)))

^_^

2009-09-21T21:03:00.001+08:00

Nobody

2009-09-12T14:28:00.002+08:00

Super funny MTV by Wondergirls - Nobody. Good reminder for us to always check for ENOUGH toilet paper before doing our business... (must watch right to the end)

Stong Falls Oct 14-17th, anyone? =)

2009-09-05T12:57:00.003+08:00

Stong Waterfall is located at Kelantan, Malaysia and is believed to be the tallest waterfall in South East Asia with a height of approximately 305 meters. It was ranked 5th in the list of special places for Eco-Tourism in Malaysia.

Itinerary
Day 1 Sin- Dabong
05.00 pm Meet at Tg Pagar Railway Stn for train to Dabong
06.00 pm Depart by train 2nd class sleeper

Day 2 Dabong – Stong Waterfalls (D)
06.00 am Arrive Dabong and own breakfast at local coffee shop
08.00 am Proceed for cave exploration
12.00 pm Back in train station for own lunch
1.00 pm Drive and trek to campsite along waterfall
4.00 pm Set camp & prepare dinner
8.00 pm Star gazing and rest

Day 3 Stong Waterfalls - Dabong (BL)
06.00 am Enjoy the sunrise & sea of clouds
07.30 am Breakfast & Explore the waterfalls further upstream
01.30 pm Return to campsite for lunch
02.30 pm Break camp and descend
04.30 pm Transfer to Dabong train station
06.00 pm Own dinner. Rest & relax before board train
08.00 pm Board train to Singapore

Day 4 SIN
10.00 am Arrive Singapore

Terms B/f- breakfast L-lunch, D-dinner, O/N - overnight.

Style
Trekking, nature
Grade
Easy
Accommodation
Tent

jean starts gardening!!! =)))

2009-08-29T11:25:00.003+08:00

since we shifted in, i've been telling vin that i would love to grow some plants. and always elicit the same response from him - *huh look*

later on it changed to the *exasperated look* and recently it became the *haha you say so long liao, dont believe you really will do it - look*

so when i told him one day that my colleague is giving me aloe vera so that i can plant it, he almost fell off the chair. hehehehehe... then he asked me, ' you ask or tell me? your home or our home?' (of course not in a fierce tone la) but too bad!!! i was so going to do it loh!!!!! my mum had an extra flower pot and alot of soil at her place, ready for me anytime i wanted to start on my garden project =)))

so here's introducing... my aloe vera!!!!!! ^_^

above: fresh from my colleague's garden =)

below: me digging the soil with my bare hands as i didnt have a spade =Pp

welcome to the family!!!!!! the baby one on the left, is for my mum =)

posing with my new plant (and my soiled hands)

guess what the husband was doing all along? you guessed it. taking pictures ONLY =Pp

Lights, Camera, ... ACTION!

2009-08-21T23:39:00.003+08:00

Recently, I volunteered my services to act in one of the educational videos that my company is embarking in. Interesting experience! Below is a short article that I contributed on my company intranet. :)

Audition
It was with much apprehension and doubt that I went to my first audition for the GIC videos - as far as I can remember, I've never acted before in my entire life!

As I went through the scripts during the audition, I was praying hard that someone would tell me - "Vincent, I'm sorry, you can't act. We'll be pulling you out of the video..." Unfortunately, that moment never came (even though I have ZERO acting skills to speak off. Maybe they were trying to be "nice"... )

Training
When that fateful email came in and it dawned upon me that I landed a role in one of the videos, I knew that I needed to pull up my socks. When the final scripts and castings were confirmed, I promptly printed out my lines and brought it home for my wife to review. Being the drama-mama that she is, she has acted in numerous TCS drama serials (unfortunately she's not Fann Wong - just a part-time actress) and many lead roles for musicals in church and varsity. Of course, it helped that she learnt speech and drama since young.

That one night going through the script with her was the turning point. I learnt so much! Every little movement you make has a purpose - from your body right down to your facial expression and even your eyes! I was enlightened on 2 things that night - (1) Acting is tough work (2) Acting is not for me. Nevertheless, that night of training gave me more confidence. I memorised my lines and was finally able to at least produce the expressions that the director was looking for.

And... the rubber hits the road!
On the actual day of fiming, I went to office and saw all the sophisticated fiming equipment. Cool! It actually feels quite weird with all the lights and camera (and all eyes) being focused on me as I acted out my part. And it was also at that point that I realised that making a film is all about teamwork. If any one person (the lighting guy, the camera man, the soundman, the actors/actresses etc.) screwed up, the whole scene had to be done all over again. I told myself that I needed to try my very best - if at any point I forgot any of my lines, I'll be wasting so many peoples' time and effort! (& of course, I wanted to go home early as well)

Looking back, it was actually fun to be part of a set. It was an interesting experience, and I'm glad I was a part of this and was able to learn so much from it! So, to all my fellow GIC colleagues who have (like me) never acted in their entire life, step out and take the next opportunity to be part of the cast! You'll learn incredible lessons from it!

where to go where to go???

2009-08-19T22:39:00.006+08:00

through this experience, i realised God is teaching me to give up my rights. these things dont matter. why do i cling on so tightly to things of the world? He gave me a job, which gave me leave benefits and money to spend on holidays, and here i am complaining about all these 'problems' that were actually from all the blessings that He has poured forth on my life!

so therefore, i choose to rejoice that i have leave to clear and make the best out of what i have. after thinking through all alternatives, we decided to try to take leave in oct. sept is out cos there are already so few tours and vin has to rush back for jeff's wedding. nov is out cos you know why. so that leaves us with wondering where we should go!

one idea that we are seriously pondering about: live aboard! which means we go for a dive trip while living on board a ship! ^_^ so fun right!!!!!

at first we decided on the white manta

then we saw the black manta

but for a 3 night trip, the white manta is SGD 950/pax and the black manta is SGD 1,300/pax... do we want to pay that price difference just for the luxury and 'song-ness'? then we realised that we do not need to fret so much cos the oct trips are fully booked! except for 1 last slot during my close. so we still are stuck with the white manta. hmmm should we or should we not...

maybe bali?

sad sad...

2009-08-17T21:00:00.003+08:00

this is my 200th post! haha blog for so many years but only wrote 200 posts =Pp for those who have been reading since day 1, wowww impressed at your staying power HAHAHAHA...

been quite sad these past days... in my current work place, my leave entitlement is the lowest in my career and we cannot carryforward any leave. double whammy right? dont seem to be able to accumulate leave to go for a long break right?

so i tried to accumulate as much as i can with my meagre pro-rated leave so that vin and i could bring my parents and his dad to china for a holiday in nov. but when i brought up the subject to my boss last week, she told me that i cannot take leave cos its closing period and there is no one who can do what im doing. the last time i wanted to take leave for my wedding anniversary, she also told me to take it on another day. but that i did cos i pick my battles.

this time, i felt so sad! why can other people in the regional team have people to back them up and they can take 2 weeks leave, anytime during the month, but for me? my close starts from 20th of every month to 10th of the next month... that leaves me with only 1 week per month to plan my leave...

i asked my boss if she would like to think of a contingency plan in case i have an emergency or something happens. she said if its an emergency, she sure can find people to help. but if i take leave to go for a holiday, those who she rope in will complain that they need to do someone's work while the person goes on a holiday...

the selfish me thought to myself: thats how it is in an organization ma?! someone goes on leave, there is a back up! its an ENTITLEMENT to the employee so whether the person takes leave to go on holiday, stay at home and rot, or has some emergency, nobody should complain cos that person has to clear leave... furthermore, i have so limited time to take leave, definitely there will be a time where it just will clash with my extended close?!

my boss even suggested that if i find it hard to clear leave cos of the limitations, just take leave during the period that i can and stay at home. she doesnt understand why people want to take leave to go for a holiday. she thinks that staying home is better. *sigh* why? i just want to bring my parents to china. just want them to be happy. just using my leave. but why cant i even take leave? why do i have no back up? why must i think for my boss and understand her difficulties and yet give up what i would love to do for my parents? and maybe even having to end up clearing leave by staying at home?

sorry this post is not uplifting. usually i try to blog to encourage. but im really down. i dont need anyone to understand me. i just dont need people forcing me to do what they want me to do. 3 more months and all my leave expires...

Give thanks =)))

2009-07-30T21:42:00.002+08:00

so sweet that a baby knows how to give thanks! let's continue to have this childlike faith in our great and awesome Daddy!!! ^_^

thank You Lord for bringing me home safely, for the fruitful trip to Vietnam and for the wonderful things You have done , and are continuing to do in our lives =)))

=)))

2009-07-15T21:09:00.005+08:00

spent our anniversary at pan pacific hotel ^_^ it was wonderful!!! service staff were great, food exceeded our expectations, room was big and comfortable. what more can we ask for??? =))) vin put in alot of effort to plan this surprise - great job man!!! ^_^

just have to tell you about pan pac's exceptional service - there's this lady who's in charge of the pool area. whenever ANYONE walks to the pool area, she will walk up with bottles of cold mineral water for them. why i say so? cos vin and i finished dinner and decided to go to the pool area to take a look. knowing us, we were wearing casual - tshirt and shorts. we went to the beach chairs and sat down to enjoy the view. rightaway, the lady walked up to us to offer us a drink!!! we were astounded!!!!! it's like, we can be some jokers who come up and sit around right... (ok but dont think anyone would do that if they were not staying there... but hey, there might be right?!)

the next day, we went there for a swim. each time people came to the pool, she would approach them once they showed indication of looking for a chair - either to usher them to available deck chairs, or offer them drinks, or bring beach towels to them... we are like WA SEH!!!!! a great sense of ownership and pride in her work!!!

complimentary cake from pan pacific ^_^ so nice hor??? personalized card too!!!

the view from our balcony ^_^

1 year wedding anniversary!!! ^_^

2009-07-11T23:59:00.003+08:00

time flies huh? =))) in a blink of an eye, vin and i have been married for a year =))) seems like so recent that you came to our wedding and saw vin dance to the gatsby song huh... =Pp

we are on leave on mon and tues, so LONG WEEKEND IS HERE!!!!! WOOHOOOOO... happiness man... been looking forward to this for so long!!!

many people have been warning us that marriage is not easy, will have alot of problems, etc... but thank God we are still enjoying each other and looking forward to going home to each other every day =)))

i guess the only difference about marriage is that you are stuck in the same house with your spouse. before marriage, when we had disagreements, at least im lying on my bed, with the phone stuck to my ear, and him on his. if the issue is not resolved, at least i sulk on my bed, fuming in my own anger. but now when there are disagreements, it is hard to sleep on the same bed when you are upset about an unresolved issue. quite strange why the different feeling though... so its about learning how to love each other, understand where the other person is coming from, and trusting that the other party is working hard at the relationship too.

finally downloaded our home pictures onto our pc, so can show you all some shots since the last time i posted. dont have how it is like now though, so to see the real thing, drop by our home! ^_^

welcome to our hall ^_^ we hacked the wall between the dining and kitchen area, so just behind this part is the kitchen

our tiny bathroom. trust me, it's really tiny... had the toughest time thinking of how to plan the space

my domain!!! ^_^ a little area carved out for me to whip up nutritious and (occasionally) yummy food for vin!!! haha!

work work work...

2009-05-17T21:05:00.005+08:00

this is the reason for my disappearance for a month... think you will see less of me blogging at least for the next 3-6 months... for the past 3 weeks, i've been reaching home between 9 plus to almost midnight... think only once i reached home just before 8! maybe its cos after close, we are now into forecast and plan... pray that things will get better...

really duno what to make of this. told josh tan that im like in the deep ocean, swimming for 3 weeks, struggling to even keep my head up but i just have to. almost every morning i psych myself on the way to work cos its just so draining...

however, this job is everything i asked for:
1) i wanted something that will challenge me. i came into this role with my predecessor teaching me half of what i should know. the accounts left behind are extremely messy.
2) i liked something that will keep me busy and not let me idle during office hours. im now working so late.
3) i hoped to learn something other than the financial planning and reporting role that i already knew. im now doing something that is completely different - operational finance

morale of the story: be careful what you ask for. i asked God for all those things and He gave me more than i asked for. more than i could hope or dream of! haha...

anyhow, i know that there is a purpose for my being here. whether it be to touch lives around me or to train myself to be more resilient. i believe it is both and much more! i want to press on! He has blessed me with this role in times like this, i must give thanks and continue to learn as much as i can and contribute in more ways than i can. for it is not me, but Him working through me!

HOME sweet HOME ^_^

2009-04-13T21:07:00.002+08:00

we never imagined how shiok it is to have our own home till march 27th 2009...

IT IS SUPER SHIOK LA!!!!! ^_^

we always thought that it'll be nice to have our own space, some place to call our home, but it would just be a little wow-ness, not like something that fantastic. but after shifting in, no regrets!!! thank God for this experience, for us to really have a chance to build up our marriage, be independent, learn to take care of each other...

forgot to tell you all, i've started work too! but in this job, during close period (yes, im back in finance), i need to work till around 10pm. the first time when i had to work till 10pm, just a few days into us shifting into our new place, i felt so bad for leaving vin home alone. he had to get his own dinner and be at home alone. actually he's totally ok with that, but it's just the woman thing hor? can't eat alone, not that independant, so this kind of things will make us (or is it only me?!) feel like our men also will feel the same as us.

but i so love cooking for vin!!! it feels so good to cook for your loved one, making sure they have nutritious and yummy food =))) cooked for vin's dad a few times too and going to cook for my parents when they are back from their vietnam holiday =)))

next up: start to research on herbs and chinese soups to build up our immunity and strengthen our bodies!!!

PS: it's the first day that we have internet at home since march 23rd!!!!! explains why i disappeared for so long =Pp

shopping spree!!!

2009-03-16T17:28:00.003+08:00

vin and i are buying so many things in these months that we just cant believe it!!! hahaha... over the weekend, we bought a desktop, a 32" LCD TV and confirmed our curtains!!! wow wee!!!!!

just want to rant abit about the IT show. we were one of those affected by the downtime of the phonelines and card readers!!! started queueing to pay from 550pm onwards and only left at 730pm!!! but for the great deals for our desktop and tv, it was still very much worth the wait =)))

1) Dell desktop using Intel Dual Core processor, 4GB RAM and the rest of the IT techie stuff @ $768 (including Windows and Office installed)
2) Samsung 32" LCD TV, HD Ready (and vin will rattle off the other specifications which i have no inkling what they mean) @ $699
3) 2 roman blinds and 1 curtain (to cover 1 side of our master bedroom wall) @ $550 - never knew curtains can be sooo expensive!!! another place quoted us $700 for the same quantity but of poorer quality cloth, metal and workmanship...

we are now on full force to ensure that we are shifting in next week. going to call our contractor everyday to make sure he follows up on the outstanding issues (maybe 30 of them, which he conveniently ignored for the past month)

there are still sooo many things that we need to get!!! iron, rice cooker, ironing board, standing fan, crockery, utensils, etc... waaa so many things!!!!! as each week passes, im amazed that so much goes into setting up a home. actually our home would have so few things, and is of a minimalist concept but there is already so many things that has to be done and so much thought that has to be put in already... but overall, its fun!!! ^_^

no chance to load more photos for you to see. since we are already shifting in, drop by our place to see the real thing ba!!! =)))

vin and i are 8 months married!!!

2009-03-12T12:24:00.002+08:00

wow how time flies... it seemed just a while ago that we got married and we are already into our 8 months of marriage!!! for those married for years and decades, 8 months is like a infant. but for me, sometimes i look at vin and say 'wow, we are married!' hahaha... then vin will look at me with no expression on his face... HAHAHA... (cos i say this like once every 2-3 months) maybe men are different. women are more emotional and feeling then we will go like wow and wee and lalala... but the men are task oriented. sign on the papers = married = next phase = just like that la... hee thats the fun of it all, men and women =)))

still having alot of fun living together and doing things together =))) so to those who are wondering if getting married is a no-no, i say YES YES YES YES YES!!!!! ^_^

anyway, we bought our lights 2 weeks back and it was another MAJOR project... went to about 5 shops to look at their lights. its very interesting when people walk into a lights shop cos everyone's head will tilt up rightaway. the focus is mostly on the ceiling, instead of normal shops where we are able to flick our eyes from the products to the salespeople. in a lights shop, we all talk to the ceiling most of the time... HAHAHA quite funny now that i think of it. but its also super strenous loh!!! imagine, almost an hour spent in the shop, looking at their (maybe 80-100) different lights, which have about 10-20 that look almost the same, with very subtle differences... neck and eye strain man!!!

never knew lights are sooo expensive... just like i never knew our throne in the house (the toilet bowl) is more than 100 bucks!!! when i researched on the forums, most people spent almost 2k on their lights and i was flabbergasted... never knew that our parents had to spend SO MUCH on the house man... and we take for granted all the things around us...

anyway, we managed to decide on the lights we liked and got them from 3 different shops
1) chandelier @ 300+
2) master bedroom light @ 190+
3) study bedroom light @ 80+
4) kitchen light @ 60+
5) utility & toilet light @ 60+
6) PLC lights for living @ 90+
Total cost about 800+!!! =)))

super happy cos we spent under 1k for our lights for the house, praise God!!! thank God for favor with the salespeople as well to give us discounts, and for leading us to the right places and getting great advice from the lights guys =)))

happiness... hoping to shift in 2 weeks time!!!!! later going to spot check on progress of the renovation!!!!! =))) kekeke... excited!!!

stop for just 5min to listen to this...

2009-03-02T18:31:00.003+08:00

amazing song... thank God for His reminder to me once again for His unending love and amazing grace... pray that this song will speak to you and bring you through in your time of need...

1 month ago...

2009-02-25T19:36:00.004+08:00

2 pictures of what vin and i saw the next time we went to our new place in Jan 08... be prepared!!! =)))

we changed our toilet entrance from the one on the right, to the one on the left! now you can see the BIG pipes that take up so much space in our toilet...

view from the utility room into the kitchen, dining then living room. yes!!! open concept!!! =))) things are getting exciting... even more so as we designed our home ourselves since we didnt engage an ID... hee... but no matter what, it will be great as its our love nest that God has blessed us with!!! ^_^

renovations coming along!!!

2009-02-16T14:09:00.004+08:00

we had an unforgettable valentine's day this year - shopping for toilet bowl!!!!! hee... plus many other home accessories =))) at the end of the day, vin and i took stock of what we accomplished and are very impressed with ourselves!!! this is what we bought:

1) kitchen hob and hood @ $550

2) water heater @ $120

3) toilet basin @ $90+

4) toilet bowl @ $150+

5) kitchen sink and tap @ $120+

all from 3 different places!!!!! simply amazing how God blessed us... cos for each place, there is a minimum of $400 you have to spend before they will waive the delivery charge. the heaviest item is the toilet bowl so we had to make sure that this is shipped.

wanted to buy our toilet bowl @ $170+ from sim siang choon but in order to waive the delivery charge of $40, we had to buy more items to hit the $400 mark. this meant we had to buy their toilet basin @ $110+ and some miscellaneous items on top of the kitchen sink and tap that we already intended to buy. but it was so hard to come up with the miscellaneous items and we were in a fix.

then we went to chuan heng to check out their stuff and found a cheaper toilet bowl @ $150+!!! but they too had a delivery charge but it was only $10, but that didnt substantiate us having to buy the toilet bowl from this place at only $10 cheaper (after factoring in the delivery charge). but a part of me just didnt want to pay any delivery charge at all, so vin and me walked out to think for awhile, what was the best solution. we walked a few steps away and somehow came to their other shop front, 2 shops away and this shop had kitchen hoods and hobs on display. so we decided to walk in to query just for market knowledge.

we had intended to buy a set which cost $640+ but our contractor could get it for us @ $590. we thought that only our contractor could get us such a good price cos distributors would most likely have to sell @ list price. it's really by God's direction that led us to go in to inquire and the guy told us he would sell it to us @ $550!!! wow praise the Lord! and this would be above $400 so we could buy the toilet bowl @ 150+ w/o incurring delivery charge!!!

anyway after that lengthy post (so many numbers and words hor? hope i didnt confuse you hahaha), show you pictures of our home in original condition (just after the previous tenant vacated). will post pictures of our place along the way so you can see the process!!! ^_^

our future dining room

our future living room

view of kitchen from dining room

view of kitchen from utility room

one side of our tiny toilet - our toilet is the place in our home where we spent the most time racking our brains and squeezing our creative juices on how to design it... cos of the space constraint and the huge pipes in the middle... our kitchen is a close second cos of the many huge pipes everywhere that we need to conceal...

the huge pipes and the toilet bowl squeezed in a corner

Psalm 37

2009-02-05T17:22:00.002+08:00

i love our home cell. through exploring God's Word together, vin and i learn more about God, about each other and about ourselves. last night's cell was very encouraging! we felt so lifted up by it that we are going to read it every night and meditate upon it. let me share it with you. take a read =)))

our God is a faithful God! reflect upon all His blessings upon our lives and know that He is always there for us. David wrote Psalm 34 when he was in times of trouble and yet when you go and read it, he sounds like he has already overcome and is looking back at what has happened. this is true closeness with God. when you have such a strong relationship with Him that even in the darkest hours, you can smile and know that God will deliver you and He has already won the battle for you. i desire to be so close to Him and look past all these circumstances in my life and know that in Christ, i already have the victory!

Psalm 37

Of David.

1 ^[a] Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;

2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.

11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace.

12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;

13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.

15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;

17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.

18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever.

19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

20 But the wicked will perish:
The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields,
they will vanish—vanish like smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;

22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be cut off.

23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;

24 though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.

26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.

27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.

28 For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They will be protected forever,
but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;

29 the righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.

31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.

32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
seeking their very lives;

33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

34 Wait for the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,

36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.

37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future ^[b] for the man of peace.

38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future ^[c] of the wicked will be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2009-01-27T23:10:00.004+08:00

thought i'd drop a quick update on our home for you, plus since this update would have pictures, would be visually more exciting for you all =)))

we bought our fridge and washing machine!!! both from LG hahaha... took us a few months to decide on the model and even the brand kekeke... quite fun the process of hunting and finalizing our shortlist then deciding on which is the one we are keen on. below was our decision making process, good for those who are considering getting appliances now or in the near future =)))

washing machine:
1) how often we wash our clothes and what we wash determines the washing capacity - we settled for 9kg as we only wash clothes during the weekends
2) top load or front load - we chose front load cos of the way the drum spins. it is energy and water saving, plus cares for your clothes more as it doesnt stretch it that much
3) conventional drum or direct drive - direct drive is quieter and supposedly more durable but if the drum spoils, you change the whole drum. if the conventional drum spoils, you can change either the rubber or the drum etc. we chose conventional drum

fridge:
1) 3 or 4 ticks - realised that if a fridge has a 'super cool' function, which allows the food to be chilled much faster than normal if you on that function, NEA will rate it based on that usage. but none of us will use that on a daily basis, maybe say once or twice a year when there are huge gatherings like reunion dinners at our place and we have to chill food real quick. so a fridge with energy efficiency ratings of 3 ticks, essentially is 4 ticks on a normal day. our LG fridge with 'super cool' function has 3 ticks
2) capacity - good to buy a larger size than what you are comfortable with, said all the salespeople. we couldnt buy into that idea cos we couldnt see ourselves even filling up half of the one we wanted to buy. our fridge might not be as big as your mum's
3) number of doors. the lesser the better as the more doors there are, more cold air will have the chance to escape so the fridge will have to work harder to keep cool and waste more electricity. we got a 2 door

super happy with our purchase cos it is definitely the LOWEST in singapore!!! if you know of anywhere selling even lower than what we got, please tell us cos we can get them to match it as long as it is before delivery =))) fridge @ $559 and washer @ $740!!! praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!!! ^_^

choices...

2009-01-20T18:20:00.003+08:00

it was a tough last week. i struggled sooo much with God. many questions i had were unanswered. the future looked bleak and i trembled with fear each time i thought of my home loan. but each time i worried, i reminded myself that God is in control. He has the best for me.

vin and i discussed at length on how to hear God's voice. he told me that when he was seeking God with regards to his job during his school days, he told God that he will leave it to Him as it was God who is the one to give him the job, not the interviewers. and that struck me. yes it is God who will give me the job! when i put this into perspective, then i was no longer afraid. i am not fearing when i send out my CV and when i go for interviews as if this is what God has planned for me, He will make all things good. He will grant me favor in man's eyes!

Philippians 4: 6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

the verse above also kept reminding me that in all things, talk to God and request from Him. but in doing these, also give thanks! and i thank God that even when 1 door closes, another 2 are open as of now.

thanks to everyone who have been updating me on jobs in the market and following up with me, caring about how i am. truly its in crisis that you can know who are those who are truly concerned about you and i appreciate you all for that =)))

next step for me is to think long and hard which path i want to take. and most importantly hear from God what He has to say.

Psalm 73:1-17
1Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong. ^[a]

5 They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.

7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity ^[b] ;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.

10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance. ^[c]

11 They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"

12 This is what the wicked are like—
always carefree, they increase in wealth.

13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.

16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me

this is the psalm of asaph. he was complaining about life being so unfair cos he believed in the 'law of fair returns' - you reap what you sow. so why are the bad people having it good but the good people have it bad? where is God in all these? it was all too frustrating for him and he felt that he was a good Christian for nothing. during our home cell (vin and me studying the Word every tues), a question was posed by our Bible study material - what can we learn from asaph that we can put to use?

17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.

i learnt that most importantly, i need to talk to God and seek after Him. cos when asaph entered the sanctuary of God - he must have been seeking after God, he understood it all! thats what i want... to hear God's voice and know where He is leading me in the midst of all these...

vin is very positive. he tells me that this is good. i accumulated another experience to enable me to minister to those without jobs in future. ok... never thought of that... hee... yeah! greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done here!!!!! ^_^

i've resigned!

2009-01-13T09:01:00.002+08:00

shocking right? well, guess i've been thinking about this for about half a year already. really love my job honestly, and when i first joined, i happily stayed till 7 plus or 8 cos i just couldnt stop working!

but things changed after 3-4 months from the time i joined. those who are close to me know what happened and this situation just aggravated and finally i decided that this place is turning me into a person that i dont like to be. someone bitter and i dont want to go to work having to be scared of being maligned each time i do something or not do something...

in short, im real happy now but nervous about what the future holds. seeking God for my next path. if you hear of any HR roles, let me know!!! =)))

why watchnight service?

2008-12-31T08:47:00.000+08:00

suz was asking me why we go to watchnight service and i wonder too... so i found out... and think it is useful for us to know... =))) sometimes we just do things without knowing the reason behind it =Pp but hey! now we know and it is so much more meaningful now, rather than just thinking it is just another church service on the last day of the year... ^_^

The final night of the year finds many Christians reflecting on the events of the past and looking ahead to the future. This is a night devoted to a new covenant with our Lord, to a new commitment to witness and service. The focus should be light and hopeful, not dwelling on the past, but acknowledging it and looking to the future with renewed hope and enthusiasm. The emotional tempo of the service should be relatively quiet and reflective in the beginning moving toward confident energy at the end. The service may begin at 11 p.m. and conclude slightly past midnight, or it may be held on New Year's Day. Traditionally the color for this service would be white.

the sweetest present of all...

2008-12-27T10:24:00.003+08:00

we officially got our home keys yesterday - boxing day!!! that is the day after christmas when traditionally people open up all their gifts and unveil the exciting presents wrapped in them... although now we dont have sooo many gifts to open that we cant open them on the day we receive them... =Pp

so yeah!!! it's the bestest best present we have received so far, thank God for this! ^_^

our potential contractor told us it is very possible to finish renovation before chinese new year (he finished renovating a home within 10 days) and that is extremely tempting... but we want to make wise decisions cos this is for a home, not just buying some book/shoes/etc... the materials, colors, texture, furniture, etc chosen would have to stay with us for at least 5 years or even much more, so we don't want to rush into anything...

but it is all so exciting!!!!! speaking to a few contractors/interior designers, learning from them, going through the quotations, buying interior design magazines and getting ideas, designing our own place (cos we decided not to go with the ID who would cost us 10k more), going to see the tiles... and so many many more things to do!!!!!

though we are unsure of what is ahead of us, one thing we know, God is with us and will guide us as long as we are sensitive to His voice... so excited to do up our home together!!! =))) will let you all know when we firm up the dates to start work and finally to shift in ^_^

next week is another shiok week!!!!! woohoo!!!!!~~~

.....

2008-12-19T23:16:00.003+08:00

vin bought me a book last sunday entitled...

HIDDEN FEARS - Overcoming Obsessions, Compulsions & Phobias

the part he bought it for was the section 'Phobias - What are they?' and especially the chapter 'It's a cockroach!'

shucks... now that that thing has a post dedicated indirectly to it on our blog AND i typed it's name out here... yucks...

and by the way, there was a nymph in his dad's car today and vin FORCED me to use paper to brush it out of the car and he watched... then proudly proclaimed that i am on my road towards conquering my fears!? grrr... i feel scared thinking about what more is to happen... cant imagine one day being no longer scared of it and not running at break-neck speed in its opposite direction the next time i see it... but then again, i never NEVER want to see it again!!!!!

life is full of contradictions and tough paths to follow eh? haha...

BAGS!!!!!~~~

2008-12-10T10:15:00.005+08:00

we are going crazy trying to hunt for a nice formal looking bag for me... my birthday present part 3... (vin's birthday present part 3 is also coming - belated as well hahaha)

anyway, vin and i always do targetted shopping - shop only when the need arises and for the specific item. so for the past few weeks, we have been looking for a bag and till now we still cant find one. then vin suggested for me to consider getting a branded bag so that i can carry it for years and not need to occasionally shop for a bag once in a year or two and save us all this hassle...

we had a phase a year or 2 ago when i also came to the crossroads and thought of getting an LV bag... but in the end, realised that it is not made of leather so changed my mind. haha! back to the same point again... guess their designs are just timeless and so classic that i can carry it for many many years and not get sick of it... no need to keep changing bag every year or so cos it is supposed to last for extremely long right...? love that part of it... not needing to change bags... im just so lazy...

anyone going to paris/italy????? =))))) *smiles sweetly* would like to get these 2 bags then...

what a miracle!!!

2008-12-03T21:56:00.002+08:00

some of you may know that i have a phobia of a particular pest. when i see it, dead or alive, i will scream and run as far as i can.

a few nights back, i was about to sleep and went to the toilet. had a queasy feeling and looked to my right and i saw it walking around looking like it was going to fly. i quickly finished my stuff and shut the door and ran out, hoping that it will not come out of the toilet, which it very likely could.

went back to the room and told vin. but i knew that he would not do anything when he was going to sleep, so there was nothing that could be done.

vin looked at me and said, 'just pray, tell God!'
so i said 'God, can you please get rid of that thing, if you could, if...'
and vin said 'when you pray, just believe, tell God and thank Him for doing it. simple as that!'
i looked at him with my human mind thinking that that was just too much for my small faith to accept but just decided that i was just too desperate so i said 'God, please kill that thing NOW NOW NOW! thank you very much! and well, also kill all of them around the whole world NOW! thank you Lord, amen!'

then i tried my very best to sleep...

next morning, i woke up and right away i asked vin to go and kill it, if it was still in the toilet. he got up and i heard the sound of a slipper hitting the floor repeatedly and was rejoicing in my heart that it was still there for vin to kill it =)

on the way to work, i asked vin if it was still at the same spot where i described to him. he said that amazingly it was and also it was already flipped over!!!!! so it was basically on the brink of death when vin saw it!!!!!

WOWWWWW GOD IS AMAZING!!!!! HE ANSWERS EVEN THE SIMPLEST AND MAYBE EVEN THE MOST RIDICULOUS KIND OF REQUESTS!!!!! ^_^ praise God!!!!!

reminds me of our honeymoon in maldives where we went night fishing. i asked God to allow us to get alot of fish before the trip. it was a simple innocent prayer and God answered it in a huge way! vin and i were the most amatuer fishermen. there was a man who had all the equipment and his family seemed to have gone fishing with him before. yet, vin and i caught the biggest fishes and the most as well!!! both of us combined was almost equal to the other 4-5 of them!!!

our God is an awesome God, He reigns from Heaven above. nothing is too small for our all powerful and huge God!!! ^_^

yes lyn, i did notice that i stopped blogging since vin is back HAHAHAHAHA... thanks for the reminder to post!!! =)))))

NEVER buy samsung products - No follow up after extended delay of mobile phone servicing

2008-11-08T21:26:00.002+08:00

To the in-charge:
I sent my phone for servicing at the Plaza Singapura service centre on 24 Oct 2008, S/N 17480. Was adviced that my phone will be delivered to my home within 3-5 working days. At that time, I requested for a replacement phone but was told that there was none available. It was extremely inconvenient for me, as I am in the sales line, and need a good working phone to manage my business. However, I bore with the inconvenience, hoping that Samsung could fix my phone soonest.

On 3 Nov 2008, the 5th working day since I sent my phone for repair, I called 1800-SAMSUNG to enquire about the status of my phone. Was adviced that the phone is still under service but the officer had no idea what was the exact status of my phone, and would request for the department-in-charge to ring and update me on the status. I requested that I be given an update on that day or the next, at the very least.

On 6 Nov, the 8th working day since I sent my phone for repair, still had no news from Samsung. This was 2 days without any news from Samsung, when I specifically requested for a status update. After waiting on the phone for some time, was finally adviced that the service centre needed another 2 days to service my phone but could not explain what was the cause of the delay.

This has already resulted in an impact on my business and it was totally unacceptable. My phone was sent for servicing due to a manufacturing defect caused by Samsung, as it is still under a year of usage, and this has resulted in a loss of revenue that I had to suffer, plus the incovenience that I had to go through with regards to my line of work and way of life. Yet I could not even be given a status update on my phone.

I needed a clearer explanation and was adviced that a manager would ring me. When a customer service manager rang me a few hours later, I asked her if she knew what was going on. She told me she knew nothing except that I sent my phone for servicing on 30 Oct 2008. As a customer service centre, do you not keep the trail of your customers' queries/complaints so that you can do a follow up? I sent my phone on 24 Oct 2008 and this simple fact was not even captured on your system? As a result, I had to explain the entire situation again, for the 3rd time, and she promised me that she would follow up and ask the customer service at Plaza Singapura to update me either on that day itself or latest by 7 Oct 2008.

It is 8 Oct 2008 and I have yet to hear anything from Samsung. I believed in this brand name but sadly, I have given this brand 3 chances and it has disappointed me greatly. The customer service number closes at 1230pm on Saturdays and the alternative numbers for the service centres reflected on Samsung websites all direct to a fax machine when I called at 7pm on a Saturday, when shops are still supposed to be open. How does Samsung service its customers after office hours? In this modern age, does Samsung still expect customers to physically travel to its stores to enquire about their items?

Hope to hear a favorable explanation from Samsung soonest. In addition, a favorable compensation due to my loss in revenue for 9 working days as of today (and counting), an additional 4 working days from the 3 - 5 working days wait that was promised to me.

the latest craze in my office...

2008-11-05T22:09:00.004+08:00

is about travel sets, place mats, cups, pen holders, pouches, etc... and the designs are all about...
retro right? HAHAHA...

thought to post something more light-hearted cos alot of people think im really quite down in the dumps... i was really very sad but now that im better, must update you all that i am much better thanks to all your prayers and love and friendship =))) last night slept through the night for the 1st time!!!

7 more nights to vin's home-coming!!! cant wait!!! ^_^

11 nights more... counting down!

2008-11-01T18:12:00.002+08:00

it is not easy man... first night i cried myself to sleep and woke up 4 times in the night... 2nd night same thing, except i didnt sleep from 4am to 530am cos im scared of thunderstorms and that was the period when there was a thunderstorm... 3rd night woke up about 3 times and didnt cry so much... last night was great! think only teared abit and only woke up once!!! ^_^

gerry said i sounded pathetic when i told her i was counting down but i said that i really felt very lost... but she is sweet la, always check by me whenever she sees me online... =))) thank God for good friends... He sent joyce and jem to chat with me on the 2nd night, lyn to chat with me on the 3rd night and last night chatted with daryl about worship stuff. tonight going to joyce's house to stay!!!

really amazed by how He helps me tide through this day by day. when i think of vin going away for 3 weeks, i just feel like it is a huge mountain that i cant go past. a tall mountain that reaches to the clouds and can just crush me to bits. but day by day, God just provides the manna, the daily bread, the daily dose of friendships and love to help me get by.

this period also made me remember how much family means to me. how important it is and close to my heart my parents are to me. when i went home on thurs night, i felt sooo good, sooo at home, sooo loved, sooo protected, sooo cared for. in the midst of all my loneliness, my parents are there =))) looking forward to next weekend where i'm going to stay over back home... ^_^

lyn shared with me something that really helps me alot. whenever i think of vin, thank God for him and pray for him and for God's plans and purposes in our lives. i am doing that and it really helps to shift my focus back on God. instead of missing him and translating that into worry, loneliness and sorrow, look to God and just praise Him for who He is and that He will take care of vin cos He wants the BEST for us both!!! ^_^

surrender to Him every part of my life...

im back again!

2008-10-27T11:47:00.002+08:00

have not been blogging for the longest of time ya? what was i busy with i wonder...

1) looking through websites/magazines for interior design ideas for our new home
2) finalizing our actual day wedding album - and what is finally left to confirm is the cover
3) seeking God if it is His will for me to step up in service in church (that was a huge tug of war match with God)
4) many trainings/meetings in church and stuff to do for church when im home
5) most importantly, spending alot of time with vin and helping him clean his army stuff and packing his luggage cos he is going for 3 week reservist in an australian desert

yes, i am so going to miss him... and to top it all up... i was intending to go to my parents' place to stay over, during the weekends when vin is in australia, and they forgot!?!?! and booked a trip to KL with my dad's friends over the 1st weekend when vin is away... *sigh*

but i am happy for them though. very rarely does my dad get a chance to travel and im glad that in the recent year, he went on a trip with mum and her family to china, then is going on another short trip this weekend. think it has been more than 10 years since he travelled cos he works really hard for the family, and it is not easy managing his own business singlehandedly.

so im going to have to be a big strong girl and be independant emotionally, mentally and physically. God really is teaching me the hard way. im just too dependant a person. cant travel alone, cant stay alone, cant do things alone... so now im really going to be very alone during these few weeks and come out of it a stronger and better person!!!

bear with me if i appear dazed these days or look stoned or seem down, must be cos i suddenly drift into missing vin... its tough man... to be staying alone with your father-in-law when you are 3 months newly wedded, with your husband away where the network reception might not be 100% trustworthy... God be my strength!!!

we have our own home now!!! =)))

2008-09-27T18:55:00.003+08:00

praise the Lord! we finally got our love nest!!! ^_^ after searching for more than 1.5 years!!! let me mark our hunt down...

feb07 - we balloted for jalan membina and got a queue number that was ridiculously far away
may07 - tried balloting again for mature estates and ended up having to settle for pasir ris if we wanted to purchase a flat when it was our turn. we gave up that chance as pasir ris was too far from our community in hougang, spottiswoode and our workplace
end07 - went hunting for resale flats as we gave up on hdb balloting system. searched for almost 2 months then gave up as the flats we were looking for just couldnt give us that sense of home...

last month we started again... and after a month, we finally found our home sweet home!!! =))) our criteria:
1) 6 floor and above
anything below 6 i felt would be too close to the rubbish chute at the bottom and a particular disgusting pest would be able to come up to our home too easily
--> the Lord blessed us with a 15th floor unit
2) quiet environment
i just cant stand screaming kids
--> our neighbours have no children
3) near corner unit
we valued our privacy and since we were looking for 3 room flat, it was very tough as majority of 3 room flats were along the corridor
--> our place is beside the corner unit and has only 4 units on 1 floor
4) clean environment
i like my surroundings to be clean and it is very tough for hdb area, especially if it is mainly 3 roomers, due to the people that live in the vicinity
--> our neighbours have NOTHING outside their homes. this is amazing as all the flats we have viewed (more than 40 of them) have neighbours with huge altars or many plants or a few bicycles outside their flats
5) convenient location
as we might not purchase a car, we needed a place that has alot of buses or is near a train station
--> our place is behind tao nan primary, across the road from marine parade library, thus is near parkway and has alot of buses running past our place

there are just so many other blessings that God has given us - the most obvious being that this is a lifestyle home, as it is just a 5min underpass walk to east coast. this find has just been so amazing and we are just so excited about our new home =)))

call us the next time you are at east coast or parkway and come visit!!! ^_^ estimated month to shift in might be in apr09 =)))

Exodus 16

2008-09-17T18:56:00.003+08:00

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

Israel was back again doing what Israel did well – moaning and groaning looking only at the natural, and completely forgetting, once again, the gracious and miraculous provision that God had repeatedly made for them. They were even starting to exaggerate as to how good it really was back in Egypt! Moral of the story? Always remember God’s goodness and be confident of His future grace.

This is what i so need to internalize, or rather keep being reminded. At times, i end up thinking that i wish i was not in this or that situation, that this decision i made seems to make life worse for me, on so on and so forth... but yet i forget that these are the choices i made by seeking God and having peace from Him and knowing back then that it was what He was pleased with me to go forward with. So why think that this is not the best for me in this season of my life? God is leading me towards something better - He led the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery and yet they still thought that being slaves was much better as they had food to eat. But they conveniently chose to forget the much worse situation that they were in and the much better life they were to be leading in the promised land!

Have faith, all of us! We are going towards where He has called us. Do not doubt Him but have complete faith that He will finish the good work that He started in us as long as we persevere and do not throw in the towel and call it quits.

our wedding montage ^_^ (done by josh ho)

2008-09-15T20:09:00.002+08:00

our wedding pictures (actual day) - still uploading... target completion end sept 08 =Pp

2008-08-30T23:23:00.001+08:00

http://community.webshots.com/album/565438483vhNQTx

i'm still here!!! ^_^

2008-08-23T00:03:00.002+08:00

well i guess i really havent been updating much... wanted to post in the next issue about our NDP experience then follow up with our diving pictures at maldives but been so busy this week... worked till 8 plus every day except for today when i knocked off at 645pm... finally see the sun though it was hiding behind the clouds after a shower...

guess a quick update: been real caught up at work and slightly down cos of certain things in office... tough to share with you all cos its pretty sensitive but its really affecting me alot. but vin has been a great tower of support. not only pillar but a huge tower =))) and he keeps directing me back to God which is so important cos seriously the both of us just cant think of how else i can deal with it. it is just too huge a mountain in front of me and with my human emotions and intellect and strategizing, it is just impossible to conquer. only can depend on God to pull me through this whole issue...

heh heh now you super curious to find out right? ask me in person la! but only come to me with solutions and not just to kpoh about wassup ok!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... but anyway, i was reading my last post, just glancing through, and what i said about 'God being our teacher so we so dont need any training on fishing' reminded me once again to just depend on Him. cos with God, all things are possible. He can teach me on how i should live my life. He can show me how to deal with these issues in office. He can be the neutral party, the point of what's right and what's wrong, the One that i can fix my eyes on such that i dont get swayed to the left nor to the right on which way to go, what to do, how to react.

on a side note, wish i can show you all our AD fotos but our pcs are too slow to process the 800+ fotos in the cd that our PG passed us. so cant d/l the pictures to u/l here for you all to view... even we are having difficulty viewing the pictures. so we all need to wait in anticipation =)))

other than that, yes married life is GREAT!!! FANTASTIC!!! WONDERFUL!!!

our honeymoon - part 3

2008-08-07T21:38:00.008+08:00

hee for those of my loyal supporters, sorry that i've been blogging less since i started in my new job since apr... and even lesser when i got married since last month... alot of things to do leh... wash clothes, hang clothes, iron clothes (vin does this), clean the floor, pack the room etc... HAHAHA like so busy right? but really leh... very shiong man...

anyway! share ANOTHER thanksgiving! our night fishing trip! it's my first time fishing and vin's 2nd or 3rd time... so i was super duper excited cos i totally didnt know what to expect. on the boat when we were heading out, i turned to vin and said 'let's pray! =) dear God, i pray that we will get many many fish! big big fish! and have lots lots of fun! in Jesus name, AMEN!!!!!' and i felt totally satisfied and happy... =)))

you know what happened? vin and i individually caught the BIGGEST fishes in the boat!!!!! our fishes rank #1 and #2!!! it is so amazing!!!! and i was the first person in the boat to catch a fish! ok maybe you are thinking, it is all pure luck, but hey, there was a professional fisherman on the boat (he brought his own weights and stuff) and yet we had such great achievements!!!!! PLUS... we caught the MOST fish as well!!!!! more than 10 together!!!

God answers even our tiniest prayers!!!!! i mean, seriously, we might think it is so bo liao to even ask God for this but hey! He is concerned about EVERYTHING in our life, even these tiny insignificant things! ^_^ i told vin after the trip 'hey! who needs to be super trained in stuff when we have an awesome God?!' yes we need to be trained in things to do well but seriously, with God, ALL things are possible man!!! say YEAH (echos YEAH) say OOOH (echos OOOH)... ok i am starting to sound delirious but thinking back, the feeling is so high!!!

post pictures of our night fishing trip. with the bait, the scenery, our fishermen and our fishes!!! didnt take pictures of all our fishes as there are too many and in the end, they all look almost the same HAHAHA... but all the fishes you see, are fished by vin/me (except for the last picture which shows all the edible fish that our boat trip fished up)!!! enjoy =)))

our honeymoon - part 2

2008-08-03T20:28:00.005+08:00

thanksgiving time!!! =)))

jeff was so nice to lend us his underwater camera when he knew that we were going diving in maldives. so we were so excited and wanted to take pictures of all the wonderful creatures underwater each time we dived. since we were only going for 2 dives, we had to make full use of each trip to snap snap snap as much as we could ^_^

but just when we completed our descent, i signalled to vin to take pictures of the reef and he motioned to me that he forgot to bring the camera down... oh great... so sorry jeff...

but when we came up, guess what? vin realised that when he set up the underwater casing, the string was stuck in the latch of the casing - the casing wont be air tight! thank God that he didnt bring the camera underwater then! wow... else all our pictures would be gone and jeff's camera would be gone too!

leave you all with our snorkelling trip pictures instead then HAHAHA... our 2nd dive pictures will be coming up soon... when i find time to post it hee...

ok realised that they are not fantastic, so i also post pictures of the surrounding seas outside our villa. this is when vin and i took a morning stroll out of our villa to the breakwaters which are super far out (refer to my previous post, 1st picture)

our honeymoon - introduction

2008-07-31T21:45:00.005+08:00

it was simply beautiful... the resort, the company, the sea... there are no words to describe God's beautiful creation... just enjoy the photos... this group of pictures are an introduction to the resort and the place. will share more about the exciting activities in the next few posts!!! stay tuned ^_^

our balcony overlooking the sea. below our balcony is our sun deck where we can do our tanning and enjoy the beautiful sea... =)))

vin standing on the edge of our sun deck. this is what everyone wants to do when faced with the beautiful vast sea ya?

our room!!! so beautiful right????? =)))

we have snorkels and fins in our villa!!! but what is snorkelling when we have diving waiting for us!!!!! ^_^

view of the water villas facing the sea...

check out the infinity pool... it is so amazing right!!!!! but the water is super cold cos of the winds... vin and i only managed to swim for 15min max HAHAHAHA... what is the pool when we can swim in the sea right? heh heh...

for those who came for our wedding dinner...

2008-07-14T17:35:00.003+08:00

could you send us the videos of vin advertising for gatsby????? =)))))

hee... hope you all had fun!!!!! any photos/videos of our wedding would be greatly appreciated!!!!! just email us!!!!! ^_^

just got back from a refreshing time at meritus mandarin. slept sooo much to make up for all the lost sleep for the past weeks of preparations... off to maldives tomorrow!!! more updates when we are back!!!!!

YEAH!!!!! some of our actual day photos are posted on sherman's blog!!!!! go and take a look!!!!! his link is below =))))) hee... as much as i tried, i still didnt look glam... but oh well, we are we are we... happy as can be!!!!! ^_^

http://shermanho.livejournal.com/

my stagette night @ Velvet

2008-07-03T12:06:00.005+08:00

havent been to clubs since uni days and felt so out of place when i went there with my colleagues last fri... haha... show you all the pictures michelle took of our fun and crazy night... all thanks to michelle and cynthia for organizing this!!!!! and to all who came!!!!! it was simply a night to remember for life HAHAHAHAHA...

my fashion designer and make up artist - miss michelle!!!!!!!! ^_^ the clothes that i was wearing and the make up on my face, it is ALL hers... =)))))

adnan, cynthia and i =))) we went to look at property before having dinner, then proceeding to adnan's place to play with his cats, then he drove us to michelle's place for my MAKE OVER =Pp we all look so bright and fresh here...

audrey and me!!!!! she looks so good ya!!!!! =)))) derek was so cool when audrey was being picked up by 2 guys... he told michelle 'look at my wife being picked up by those 2 men' hahaha...

the men and me... hahaha... from left to right... kam su, adnan, derek, amit... =))) michelle and cynthia got me the tiara and wings!!!!! hee... throughout the night, strangers will call me 'hi angel!' and most people know it is my hen's party hee hee =Pp

emily managed to make it!!!!! =))) adnan looking abit spaced out... hehehe

michelle and me!!!! =)))) notice that my wings are gone... the guy at the picture below took them from me for awhile... for the whole night, he just kept wanting to have my wings... guess that is his secret fetisk - to be an angel... =Pp

my task for the night - make men buy us all drinks... cowardly me never managed to do much... only 10 shots of tequilla and 2 glasses of beer... cos i didnt dare to approach anyone... hahaha... sorry adnan and kam su, you had to pay for the wine!!! =Pp

taking more pictures on the dance floor!!!!!

shivani, cynthia and me!!! somehow i look abit spaced out here... actually i cant hold my liquor well so it was sheer will power that kept me going!!! think i drank 3 glasses of wine and 2 shots of tequilla that night... quite a feat for me!!!!! hope on our wedding night, vin and i dont get sabo-ed to drink!!!! that's why we didnt get free flow beer and we are not bringing in hard liquor *evil snigger*

this lady kept saying that i look like her daughter who is 17!!!!! but she doesnt look that old leh!!!!! wow... =)))

she was also having her hen's party!!!!! think her wedding is this sun =))) congrats girl!!!!! devil and angel kekeke...

dec made it as well!!!!! =)))))

ok time to go home... *flies off*

if you have 10 min...

2008-06-21T17:40:00.003+08:00

watch the below video...

vin's dad was asking us how to translate a dance title and i started google-ing on it and started watching some latin dances on youtube... then missed ballet suddenly and searched for ballet videos on youtube. then i found this video... if you get tired of the people talking, go to the 1min 30 sec mark and start watching from there... try to watch till the end cos there are different segments to the performance...

it is simply beautiful... no other words can describe ballet... i so miss dancing...

it was while walking to meet rita...

2008-06-10T20:24:00.003+08:00

that i realized... vin and i are getting married in 1 month and 2 days time!!! time flies ya? wow...

just 7 months ago, we started our wedding preparations and our wedding seemed so far away... now the ladybirds are almost touching!!!!! its been so long since i last looked at the ladybirds and oh gosh they are now so close to each other!!!

many people have been asking me how have our preparations been? is everything done and up? are we now just waiting for the big day?

but i feel that we still have alot of things not yet done... however, am just unable to pin point what is there to be done... guess we've been just settling one thing at a time and didnt stop to write a list of what else is there outstanding... too busy 'fire-fighting' - doing whatever thats most urgent...

maybe i should just take stock of what's else to do...
1) guo da li - vin's family need to give my family the dowry then my family needs to return the gifts. then vin and i go back to his home to put my luggage there
2) food tasting
3) rsvp of guests
4) table arrangement for wedding dinner
5) buy a divan for our mattress
6) decide on the layout and design of our wedding album
7) facials/spa/manicure for me
8) change money for honeymoon
9) pack my clothes to bring to vin's place
10) pack our luggage for maldives
11) ..... im too tired to think of anything else... remind me if you think im missing out anything... hahaha...

it's been a long time...

2008-06-02T21:33:00.002+08:00

it's been so long since vin and i did nothing over the weekend... and i really mean NOTHING... haha...

its been so long since vin and i spent the whole saturday and i really mean the WHOLE saturday (from morning till almost dinner time) watching naruto... hahaha...

think we were burnt out from the deal hunting every weekend for everything on our wedding preparation list... and this time, we were too tired to even dig out our list to find out what is left on the list that we have not yet 'ticked off'... so vin decided that we should finish watching the fillers that we skipped the last time round when we wanted so eagerly to finish watching the whole naruto series (yes we cheated... but then its fillers ma!!! fillers not crucial to the storyline so no need to watch right!!! kekeke)

anyway that is all to our weekend. sunday was just sleeping all the way from after church to dinner time.

really stoned hor? hehe...

OH!!!!! MARIA IS JUST FANTASTIC!!!!! the guest book she did for vin and me is simply AMAZING!!!!! i so very much want to post the pictures of the guest book to you but i must bear with it... you also bear with the anticipation ok? wait till our wedding day then see our wedding photos and our guest book... (BEWARE: the guest book is so beautiful that you wont even know where to write or how to write on it... hehehe)

yes yes, another thing ticked off!!!

2008-05-26T18:48:00.002+08:00

cynthia mentioned before that i always come back from the weekend with something that i bought... so very true... almost every weekend, vin and i are working hard to try to tick off things from our wedding preparations list... this weekend, we finally got my '4 gold' a.k.a. si dian jing!!!

ok la actually it is not 4 and it is not gold... traditional chinese custom for 4 gold is:
1) the ring
2) the earrings
3) the necklace
4) the bracelet

in modern day culture, most people get 4 diamonds instead (a.k.a. si dian zhuan) as this is something they will wear. the purpose for the in-laws to give their daughter-in-law 4 gold is to show that they accept her into the family and also for her to have something to sell for money, in case there is a day when her husband decides to divorce her. in olden times, women have no money. they marry into the family to take care of the house and that is it. so the 4 gold is always a comfort for her that in times when she needs it, she has ready cash.

but in our context, modern women have money, so we won't sell our keepsake. neither do we marry with the intention that we might have a divorce, so diamonds are a better choice, cos we can wear them!!! gold was the fashion in the past but now diamonds are a girl's best friend!!!!! hahaha never thought i would say this actually... in fact, i used to dislike diamonds to the max in the past cos i never understood why a stone that is essentially carbon, can cost so much. i thought it was irrational behavior but after looking at diamonds for so long, i must say, they are so beautiful!!!!!

that said, i still wont spend money to buy a diamond for myself hahaha... maybe on our 25 year anniversary, vin can buy me diamond la hahaha... but think no point la. already got all that i need/want liao... =)))

oh oh and why is it not 4 - cos vin already got me a ring for engagement and chinese tradition is for things to be in even numbers, so vin's dad got me the earrings and bracelet (2 pieces) so my mum got me a necklace as a gift!!! i love them and vin and i got them at a great deal as well!!!!! praise the Lord!!!!!

now we are busy with our guest list... do rsvp to us asap k? hee... thanks so much!!!!! when we have our final numbers then can confirm the catering for church reception and banquet dinner ^_^ so looking forward to our big day!!!!! it's going to be so fun and wonderful!!!!!

we are going to maldives!!!!! =)))))

2008-05-18T23:21:00.007+08:00

this is where we are going for our honeymoon!!!!! maldives =))) super excited!!!!! yes so many people have been bugging us and saying that we are super last minute cos as of last week, we still had not booked our honeymoon trip... =Pp but hey in 1 month 3 weeks before our wedding, we managed to book it!!!! and praise the Lord it is at a SUPER GOOD DEAL!!!!! ^_^

there must be a reason for everything... one of the reasons why vin and i never got down to booking our honeymoon was that we were just not convinced by the places we were looking at. vin wanted a water villa where he can open his eyes to the ocean. i wanted to stay in a luxurious resort. our budget was SGD 4.6k.

as most of you might know, we never managed to find a place like that. luxurious resorts under SGD 4.6k were all in bali but those would not have ocean view (where vin can wake up and look right at the ocean, and sleep with the sound of waves singing him a lullaby). water villas are all in maldives and an all-inclusive package in maldives for a decent looking resort (and i say DECENT, not LUXURIOUS) cost about 5.1k for 1 night stay at a hotel in male (cos we arrive at male airport at about 11pm) and 3 nights in the water villa. somewhat around there. we ALMOST booked that resort cos we thought that was the best for us after hunting for about 3-4 months...

just the morning when vin was about to call the travel agent to book that trip, michelle said that her boyfriend told her last night about a great deal for a maldives resort that is opening in june and the prices are SUPER CHEAP!!!!! i was thinking 'wow!!!!! is that ever possible???' but once vin and i checked it out, we were awed by God's providence...

so this is why we just couldnt make the decision to go ahead... thank God that He is always with us, even in a decision just to choose our honeymoon destination and resort...

conclusion: our package is somewhat all-inclusive for FIVE nights (all at the resort as the speedboat can pick us from male once we touch down) at their water villa, which looks super luxurious (especially since it is so new and maybe we might be the 1st couple to spend the night in it considering that june/july is a low season in maldives) and which costs only SGD 4.6k!!!!!

praise God from whom ALL BLESSINGS flow ^_^

we bought our luggage!!!

2008-05-08T20:49:00.002+08:00

decided to try to make the blog more visually entertaining so in the last post about our mattress, i added the sealy picture right? now i wanted to google our luggage picture but strangely there is no such picture hahaha... actually im not too surprised... cos we bought a HUSH PUPPIES luggage!!!

haha who ever heard of hush puppies manufacturing luggages? it was my first on sunday and yes we still bought it =Pp and we love it sooo much =))))) cos...

1) it is a nice orange color
2) it is a FOUR wheel drive
3) it feels so good - it is soft case
4) it looks so nice
5) it is just over 200 bucks for a medium size luggage!!! =))) got it at about 30% discount =)))

then i wanted to find pictures from the website to show you all why we need a luggage but cant find leh suddenly... in the past, long long ago, mothers would buy wardrobes for their daughters when they got married. now it is evolved to giving luggages where the bride will put her old and new clothes in the luggage to bring over to her new place. hehehe interesting right? some traditions are pretty fun to follow so we follow. but some are very troublesome so we don't follow HAHAHA... =Pp

next up... we MUST book our honeymoon VERY soon... printing of our invites are underway!!!!! will you grace us with your presence at our wedding????? ^_^

we bought our mattress!!!!!

2008-05-03T01:19:00.002+08:00

yes!!!!! our wonderful mattress... from Sealy!!!!! it was a tough choice between Sealy and Simmons... we did some research a couple of months back and went through a long discussion with the Sealy sales guy back then but was not ready to make the huge financial commitment. then a few days back, we decided to give Simmons a chance and went to the Robinsons 150 anniversary sale and check out Simmons. but sadly, they could not convince us about their technology, on how it is actually better than any other. just kept saying that the pocketed coil is patented and nothing much about its unique selling points, about how that coil system differentiates itself from others and how it would benefit me to sleep on a pocketed coil system...

so we just ventured over to Sealy again, and there the sales guy (another one from the one we met at Taka couple of months back), introduced us all over to Sealy again. one thing about their sales people - they are extremely well presented, convey their ideas across logically and are technically very sound. i have not met an 'auntie-type' sales person for Sealy unlike other renowned brands... that speaks volumes about the brand itself.

another winning point about Sealy is they are consistent with their technology. the same technology is used in all their beds. the same coil system. only for the top of the line range, do they have an additional coil on top of their patented coil. which means that their patented technology is really what we can trust on. unlike other renowned brands which say that some models have coils that are more compressed, that is why it is more expensive, as there is more labor in compressing the coil... vin and i were like *scratch head*... if your coil system is SO GOOD, then why change it for different models? should just change the padding to suit the individual's needs for a firm-medium-soft comfort feel ma...

praise the Lord!!! we got our mattress at a 2k discount!!! it was 5k plus and we got it for 3k plus =))) it feels really good for my back and i am really happy... vin couldnt really tell the difference between the 3k plus mattress versus a 1.8k mattress (both sealy but different kind of padding) but that is a good thing cos it shows that his back is very healthy and strong. only people with weak backs are more sensitive to their mattresses.

so looking forward to sleeping on our new mattress!!!!! super shiok loh the feeling of lying on it!!!!! =))))) we also got 2 sets of bedsheets/pillow and bolster cases/quilt cover and a bolster and a quilt!!!!! all at HUGE discounts from the robinsons sale!!!!! so EVERYONE!!!!! HURRY DOWN TO THE ROBINSONS SALE AND GRAB YOUR HOUSEHOLD STUFF NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =))))))))))))))))))))))

PHOTOSHOOT!!! snap snap snap

2008-04-24T23:49:00.003+08:00

hee... thanks for all your concern... the photoshoot went FANTASTICALLY WELL!!!!! =)))))

super happy loh... ^_^ praise God praise God praise God!!!! let me count our blessings:

1) my evening gown was MIRACULOUSLY revamped on saturday - remember i said that my evening gown was done wrongly??? they amazingly managed to get another piece of cloth to redo it!!! (and my designer kept emphasizing the fact that he cant find the cloth anymore... the cloth stories are simply baffling... always comes up at the appropriate moments but when you try to link the whole story together, it simply doesnt make sense...)

2) the lace for my evening gown was the color i wanted - my designer said that 'just for you ah, i went down to the factory PERSONALLY to dye it to the color you wanted!!!' give it up to him... 3 cheers on how he manage to give me what i want just 3 days before my photoshoot... (although we still took our photos 15 days later than originally planned and promised, but oh well, thank God it went through man...)

3) NO RAIN AT ALL!!!!! in the morning, vin and i looked at the dark sky and thought to ourselves 'oh gosh...' but we believed that God had the best plan for us and would not let us get disappointed cos of all the hopes and anticipations and limitations (in terms of taking another day of leave, and ordering the flowers, and doing the manicure, and booking our designer and photographer again etc) that we had... and PRAISE THE LORD not a single drop of rain appeared on our photoshoot!!! in fact it was the best weather anyone can ever hope or dream of!!! it was a beautiful blue sky with few clouds scattered around, not hot humid and sunny but there was a cool breeze so that we could take our outdoor shots in total comfort and enjoyment =)))))

all the above was just huge blessings that God has showered upon us, showing us yet again that He is a God of all possibilities and nothing is too big that He cannot handle!!! woohoo what an awesome God we have!!!!!

vin simply loves the photos (eng howe will show us some of the photos he has taken from his camera, along the way) cos it is so us... very candid, lively, funny... it is so us... =)))

but well, being a girl, i am abit sad that vin and i just couldnt do those 'gek seh' poses... hee... you know those try to act sensual or vogue or 'posey'... HAHAHAHAHA... eng howe did try to coax us to try but after a few tries, he realised that we really cannot make it in this area so he gave up and went the other route - make us keep laughing, be natural, look hilarious!!!

so therefore, expect a wedding album like no other... ours is just us la, so don't expect a typical wedding album that is full of posed shots that you will not be able to see our characteristics and personalities from it. we will just jump out at you in every photo loh HAHAHAHAHAHAHA =)))

updates on our bridal studio

2008-04-14T21:53:00.002+08:00

for those who have fantastic experiences with their bridal studios, i am so happy for them. cos mine is really disappointing me step by step. bringing me through an emotional roller-coaster.

but i must say, i have come out strong. cos now i feel a sense of indifference. but yet i know even though i can tell myself to just forget it and go with the flow, i need to exercise my rights as a consumer who paid alot of money to get what i deserve. so i still need to insist on my rights.

are you even surprised to read the above comments i have above my bridal studio? after my previous post that vin and i are happy with him? guess a leopard cant change its spots ya? and i still naively thought that him booking the first fitting appointment with me means the start of a wonderful working relationship with him... haha guess i was wrong...

first fitting:
1) vin's tuxedo was no where in sight. the designer said that he could not get hold of the tailor so vin had to go back again on monday for his first fitting. fine. we agreed since we were at his mercy and we just wanted things to be settled faster, so whatever goes
2) my evening gown design was not what we wanted! can't elaborate more on this else there would be no more suspense to my EG design, but anyway, it is really quite different... well i told myself, nevermind, i will just have a different gown for photoshoot as for my wedding day. take it that i got an addition - good for me...
3) my evening gown was too big for me - i thought they made it according to my figure but strangely it was too big everywhere... speaking of that, my wedding gown was not extremely fitting but well it can do...

monday (vin's tuxedo first fitting):
it was just the jacket!!! and it was only the jacket without the lapels and all the frivolous stuff... just a piece of cloth roughly sewn to try to fit onto vin... i was like...??? ask us to go all the way there just to fit that??? vin and i had to pay up cos we had our first fitting already, but we decided, no matter what, we are not going to pay the next installment, which was due at the second fitting

second fitting:
1) my evening gown was still too big
2) he did not have the lace that i wanted for my evening gown and told me a whole story about how he searched but could not find the perfect lace for me. but today, thinking about it, something dawned onto me - the reason why he could not produce my gowns for first fitting much earlier was because he could not find the lace back then!!!!! so since he agreed to fix my photoshoot 2 weeks later than earlier promised, means that he should have already gotten hold of the lace. because he said that without choosing the lace i wanted, he was unable to buy the cloth to make my evening gown... a load of crap i must say it was then... and to think that vin and i have been twirled round and round his little finger
3) we did not choose the accessories as he had earlier promised. he pushed it to the night before the photoshoot, when i would have to go over to collect my gown - decided that i will make him complete everything for me on 19th cos i am not going to go to his shop on monday night and get all stressed up by him and look all haggard the next day for my photo shoot
4) we did not choose the kua and see the veil he was supposed to prepare for me - same as point 3
5) we also did not get to choose the additional gown that i can wear for the photoshoot. he said that he would have to short list for me - then why did he not do it earlier so that i could select my gown on the second fitting?

oh gosh, i can't believe it. after typing all this then i realise how much he has disappointed me. really wonder if this situation can be salvaged. but oh well, thank God that it is through this entire process that i have grown. to be more 'steady' and less emotional about such uncontrollable situations. vin has also helped me a great deal in this entire wedding preparations process.

God is good! Amen! =)))

yum yum yum!!! =)))

2008-04-09T17:37:00.004+08:00

hello!!! long time no 'see' =))) been busy at work - learning new things and trying to absorb as many banking terms as fast as i can!!! for those who know me, my finance is horrible and banking was a black hole to me... but now i can finally understand what vin is doing and converse a little with him on roles in banks and the industry etc... WAAAAA so impressed with myself HAHAHAHAHA... so happy can understand more about a part of vin's life as well ^_^

finally i can blog... but i am currently down with fever and cough... office too small so the virus travels around... mum was mentioning that i get sick quite often these days... ya loh duno why leh... just end of march, i was seriously ill with flu and now i am sick again...

decided to take a break from updating about our wedding preparations. cos firstly, you all are reading too many words and must be eager to see more pictures from me; and secondly, i cant show you the pictures we have of our wedding preparations at this stage - cos must keep you all in suspense ma!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA

so decided to show you all pictures of the more interesting food i have been eating in the past month =))) as you might know, vin and me are homely people so most of the time we will eat with our families, so rarely will we eat at restaurants etc... tell you more below hee...

this is at my 2nd farewell lunch at IMS with my 2 bosses, successor and finance manager - it was super yummy and not as expensive as i thought (cos previously a group of IMS people went there for lunch and ordered sashimi that was more than 100 bucks!!!!!) - the set meal is great value for money!!!

farewell lunch with azlinda and karen - 2 sweet girls from finance... this is thai =)))

vin and me were shopping on sunday for his wedding tie and cufflinks and decidcd to pamper ourselves after many many months to have a nice meal at sun and moon restaurant. when wee called me to ask where we were, he was totally shocked that vin and me spend so much loh HAHAHAHA... i am shocked too... kekeke... but vin and i thought we needed a nice break and time to relax and chill and connect with each other, amidst the busyness of our wedding preparations... this place's presentation and ambience is fantastic!!! but the food is so-so loh... i thought the sukiyaki at waraku cuppage was nicer... =Pp

guess what, JAPANESE AGAIN!!!!! was already quite sick last night but had to meet a dear friend of mine - joyce, our wedding coordinator, to discuss more about our wedding preparations. when it comes to food, i am very bad la, even when i am sick, i still won't stop myself from eating unhealthy food or food that might cause me to be worse. so i had the curry ramen which was nice!!! value for money but slightly too salty... the soft shell crab was totally DELICIOUS!!!!! =)))))

tomorrow is a brand new start!!!!!

2008-03-31T11:27:00.002+08:00

i will be starting on my new career tomorrow!!! yes, it is april fool's haha... super excited loh... can't wait to learn as much as i can and start to help everyone and try my best to make everyone happy =)))

so, you all might not be hearing from me in awhile cos i most probably will be working late every day... but i guess it won't be as late as some of you la... hee... you must know leh... for the past 2 years plus of my career, my average knock off time is 5 plus =Pp latest was 10 plus... not like vin, average is about 7 and latest was almost 2am hee... so i guess 7 plus every day is considerably late for me la... =Pp

anyway, many of you are very concerned for me cos of my posts about my bridal studio... yes it was a traumatic experience and vin and i thank you all for your support and concern and thank God all is well now!!!!! when we went for our trial make up 2 saturdays ago, he sat down with us and fixed our first fitting date with us!!!!! wow wow wow wow wow!!!!! vin and i exchanged surprised and pleased looks at each other loh... =)))

so yes now we are pretty happy with our bridal studio and looking forward to our first fitting =)))

but then hor, our caterer is giving us problems... hahahaha... i was asking vin one day if it is ever possible for a couple preparing for their wedding to have zero glitches. he said 'sure have! if the couple has alot of money to throw around then everything sure steady one!' true... if we engaged a very high end bridal studio, caterer, and got a famous wedding planner, everything would be flawless!!!

anyway, that is the beauty of it all ma... how we as a couple go through these hiccups and encourage each other and stand by each other and grow together. actually it is more of vin encouraging me, cos me as the female, will be upset about their screw ups and dwell on it longer than the man. vin will be very steady about the whole issue and just comfort me and take charge of the entire situation and help me deal with it. then after a few hours then i will feel more at peace, only then would i be able to take on the next challenge to continue working with the vendor...

next time then i tell you all the story of my caterers... quite ridiculous as well... anyway, now we are waiting for the caterer to respond to us. in a nutshell, they are going back on what they promised us in writing cos the sales person made an error to promise us something to us that is not their company policy... so anyway, this is what the chinese say 'one wave haven't subside, another wave rise again'... quite interesting la actually hahaha...

who says planning a wedding is very stress? not stress at all!!! hahaha... =)))

my bridal studio

2008-03-19T18:21:00.005+08:00

i am going to dedicate one post especially for my bridal studio cos i am so amazed at how they work... tell me what you think of them...

mid-nov:
1) made appointment with the designer to check them out
2) went to visit them and realised that the designer was not around cos he forgot about the appointment. we briefly chatted with the other guy in charge of the place but he couldnt help to advice much as he was not the designer. we took their package details and left
3) went back again to take a second look and this time the designer was there. vin and i were impressed with his attentiveness and friendliness but were taken aback when they told us that the promotion package will be over by end nov instead of end dec, which we were told during our first visit. so we were 'pressured' to sign on the day as we did like their gowns and package more than the other places we went.

mid-dec:
went for first design session. felt that he was not so attentive and seemed to be quite in a hurry and slightly distracted. but as long as he will produce results at the end of the day, i am fine la. so i kept my reservations to myself.

mid-jan:
went for second design session at the new shop. he had a 1 month 'break' to do up his shop. we finalized and confirmed the wedding gown design and could not confirm the evening gown design as he did not have the lace to show us so that we could visualize the effect. he told us that we could meet him by 2 weeks to confirm the design, after he has gotten hold of the lace.

early feb:
after he postponed meeting us twice, finally he had the lace to show us, after being a week late. went to find him with great expectations only to find out that he only got hold of black lace and did not have the many cloths and laces that he earlier said he would get for us to show us. in the end, we settled on a final design for my evening gown and he said that we would do our first fitting by early march as we had to go for our photoshoot on april 7

late feb:
we started following up with him on the status of the gown, if he needs us for further discussions etc but he kept saying that the cloth is not yet ready.

early mar till now:
1) at first he will tell us that it is because i changed the design of the gown late, so he cant get the cloth.
2) after saying that he will get back to me once or twice, but never called, i got irritated with that story so i told him clearly that i already confirmed the designs in early feb, so cant be cos of me... then he say actually it is a problem with the supplier of cloth. THE WHOLE OF SINGAPORE HAS A PROBLEM WITH CLOTH... especially dark colored satin... which in any case, is mine... ya so coincidental right and as if i know if he is saying the truth... any of you deal with cloth suppliers or know the industry???
3) then he says that my cloth was supposed to reach on march 7 (originally should be my first fitting period, hello!!!) then strangely is stuck at the malaysian customs. and he says that it might be due to the mas selamat incident!!!!!!!!! ok loh anything also can say... what can i say right? i am completely at his mercy anyway... =(((

as of today, 2 weeks after the early march that he promised us, after calling him about 3-4 times to 'pressure' him, he agrees to april 22 for our photoshoot. my gowns fabric just arrived yesterday after we called him to check on the status. first fitting he still cannot confirm with us, but i really hope it will be by end of this month. it will then be a 1 month delay from the early march that he had verbally told us long ago.

we need to pray for God's divine favor upon this entire situation...
1) that the designer will stop delaying on us and putting the blame on everyone else
2) that he will not do a horrible job for us and blame it on us for rushing and stressing him
3) that we will have great weather so that we can complete the shoot on april 22 so that we have one less dealing with our designer
4) that when we meet him, he will not be so evasive and tell us all we need to know and help us confirm our hand bouquets, corsages, vin's tuxedo design (yes, he has not started on vin's suit at all), and the many other things we ourselves don't know that we don't know...
5) that he will learn to follow up with us and not always forget about us and make us have to hound him and add to our already long list of to-dos...

after reading all this, what do you think of my bridal studio? leave you with his famous words...

'your wedding is in july right? alot of time la! don't stress me ok!'

ya right, so the couple is supposed to accomodate his schedule and not he accomodate our schedule? then why so many july brides can take their wedding photos in jan/feb but not me? why people can do their first fitting within 2 months of their first design appointment, and ours is 3 months and counting? all we want to do is to finish things early and not be last minute, but as customers paying so much, we are reduced to little puppies, just letting him drag us here and there on a leash...

ok after all these negativities, i want to say that we are still holding firm to God and trusting in Him that He is in control. He put us together, brought us thus far, led us on this path to prepare for our wedding on Jul 12, so He will ensure that everything falls in place!!! =))) so keep us in prayer as we continue on this exciting journey!!!

so many items ticked off!!! =)))

2008-03-10T16:54:00.002+08:00

yes although my gown is STILL in the making (hopefully it IS in the making cos when i called last thursday, my gowns were still called 'cloths') we managed to do many many other things!!!! =)))

1) caterer
we got mum's kitchen for you all!!! woohoo!!! i remember they have good food and looking at their website, their decorations are tastefully done too!!! so yippiee doodle doo!!!!! =)))

2) wedding shoes
FINALLY ordered my shoes from leapin lizard!!!!! after weeks of hunting for nice and cheap shoes since after chinese new year... we wanted to get a simple pair of shoes for $40 bucks at the post chinese new year sale but most of the shoes were open toe, with alot of blings and very high!!! all of which we didnt want!!! and it is super hard to find SILVER shoes...

i mean, if i had alot of budget to play with, i can buy a pair of cream/off-white shoes (there are alot of nice ones that i liked as well) and another pair of shoes to match my evening gown... but no la, i rather spend on other things... most of you will know that i don't like to buy stuff anyway... =Pp yes many have laughed at my shoes when i still wear them even though they are spoilt to the max...

3) found out even more things that we need to do for our wedding
thanks to mag, i learnt that my parents need to prepare quite alot of stuff for my dowry... also finally learnt from her and shu fang that 4 gold a.k.a. 'si dian jing' is made up of (A) earrings (B) necklace (C) bangle (D) ring... so helps so much in our preparation!!! at least we know now, rather than my mum finding out a month or so before my wedding then we all stress out together HAHAHA

then on sunday night, vin and i realised that we forgot about our honeymoon again HAHAHA... still the dilemma if we should go to maldives or bali... how how how...

maldives:
cos it is beautifulllllllllllllll and our dream destination but it is 3 times of bali's price and i havent got my advanced certification in diving!!!!! it is quite sad that i won't be able to dive deep into the beautiful ocean there to see the amazing underwater world there...

bali:
cos at 1/3 of maldives price, we can live more luxuriously there!!!!! but then again, vin won't be able to have his ocean view once he wakes up... (and yes, jacki was saying that the resort can place a ocean picture on the wall facing our bed... durh... hahaha)

so i guess, it will be another month before we decide... ^_^

thanksgiving!!! =)))

2008-03-05T10:38:00.002+08:00

God is good all the time!!!!! sometimes He really amazes me to the max... (my new pet phrase is 'to the max' as vin keeps telling me hahaha)

remember how i was worried that we can only have 420 guests to our wedding? on sunday, we spoke to the church manager and went to count all the chairs and pews capacity and voila!!!!! we can have 524 guests!!!!! so happy!!!!! can invite more of our dear friends to come and share in our joy!!!!! =)))))

since you have been regularly catching up on our wedding preparations progress, i am sure you have already blocked in your calendar 12 July 2008 for Vin & Jean's wedding right????? hee... so i assume there will be at least 90% turn-up rate for our wedding ah... must come when we invite you ah... HAHAHAHAHA...

so i am almost done with the confirmation of caterer cos we have a firmed up number now and just confirmed the english wordings on our wedding invites, so happy!!! next step is to translate them or write some traditional cheena words for the chinese invitation, then can show our printers liao =))) happiness...

also done up the seating plan for our church wedding!!! *leans back on chair and looks at clouds* life is good... need to call my bridal studio tomorrow to see if he has started on my gowns... ohhh need to draw charis location map as well so that you all know how to come to our church wedding... =)))

standstill

2008-02-26T12:04:00.002+08:00

now things are paused. actually this weekend vin and i realised we have alot of things to do... confirm the caterer, think of church decoration, check out wedding invites, decide on honeymoon destination, talk to pastor about order of service, talk to josh/jordan about wedding montage, etc... all these things piled up cos partly we were preoccupied with home hunting and also cos we were slightly lazy hahaha...

but now everything has come to a grinding halt cos suddenly we don't know how many people can be seated in our church sanctuary!!!!! all along i thought that we could sit 500 pax but over the weekend, our church manager told my coordinator that it can only sit 420 people at most... when i heard that, everything froze for that few minutes...

i already tentatively booked my caterer based on 500 pax... if i reduce, think they will flip... also, vin and i would need to reduce our guest list by 100??? oh gosh... we already wanted to invite almost 700 people, now we need to even further cut our list???

these are the biggest 2 things that we need to accomplish and yet we are stuck. at least only for 1 week cos this sunday we are meeting our church manager to discuss again. we so want to invite our friends and relatives to join in our celebration of love, so really really really hope that the church can sit 500 guests!!!!!

also, all thanks to gloria's timely reminder, we need to book a tentage... and it is estimated to be about $400!!! another addition to our already long expense list... holding a wedding is really quite scary if no proper financial planning and mental preparation is done prior to the proposal and preparation stage... but we trust that God will provide our every need!!!!! yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!!!!!

just 4 months plus to our wedding!!!!! it is sooooo exciting for vin and me... thanks for sharing our joy and excitement... so glad to have you all with us ^_^

going for a hair trim tonight... looking forward to it!!! =)))

property prices are rocket high (and still going higher!!!)

2008-02-18T11:39:00.002+08:00

some of our friends are commenting that i blog rarely, but actually it is cos i don't have any interesting pictures so show you all... have la but i not as on as the past to download and post for you all... hahaha... wenhui say i should blog more about our wedding preparation process, so ok tell you all more about our home-hunting process... =)))

as you can see from my title, and should have already known (if you are living in singapore), that property prices are CRAZILY high... i tell you, the market is irrational... completely irrational... you will understand why after reading about our experience...

for the past few weeks, we have been very hardworking, going to many house viewings over the weekends. last year, we were considering 4/5 room flats but this time round, we decided that we cannot afford it, due to the high cash-over-valuation (COV) amounts and the high absolute values of the flats, so we stuck to viewing only 3-room flats. you would have thought that 3 room flats are very affordable right... read on...

looking at Q407 average prices for a 3 room, the estimated Q108 COV should be about SGD 20k... imagine having to fork out SGD20k in cash on top of an already expensive 3 room of an estimated SGD 190k... 1 year back, my aunt bought a place in kallang for SGD 190k... and kallang is a very good location loh... now, even a place in far away hougang, dream on if you want a home near the mrt for SGD 190k... my aunt's place is 5min from the mrt and 3 stops from city hall. an hougang home that is 10min from mrt and *counts on fingers* ok whatever, i duno... many many stops from outram mrt and then we need to change train and take another 3 stops to city hall *takes a breather*... this home cost about SGD 215k...

*sigh* how to buy house now you tell me??? anyone out there who works in the government office? can help or not?

*silence*

yea yea i know... unless vin and i are earning a combined of SGD 3,000 then there will be help... but in this grossly inflated property market, shouldnt there be some more help given to new start-ups like us??? hahaha ok nevermind my ranting... let me continue my story...

so one of our agents suggested for us to take a look at redhill area since vin wants so much to continue being a town kid. 'go there and see then vin will stop wanting to buy a town home la' my agent recommended. so i happily agreed. 'else how to let him stop wanting to considering a place there' i thought. and i told my church friends that yesterday too. but they say what if i become the one who wants to buy the place and vin is turned off by the price? i laughed it off...

so we went to the redhill place yesterday. it is at the highest floor, 16th floor, just above the redhill market and less than 5min from redhill mrt. totally unblocked view and is very windy. it is also the corner unit and pretty big for a town 3-room flat - 68sqm... but their offer to us is SGD 270k!!!!! would you pay this amount for a 3 room flat????? but i almost wanted to get it and vin was the one who kept talking about how expensive it was, till i finally realised that oh ya hor, it sounds abit mad to buy the place leh...

imagine a conversation:
Jean: hey everyone!!!!! we finally got a home!!!!! =)))))
someone: wow congrats!!!!! where is it and how much you pay???
Jean: it is at redhill leh!!! so good right????? we paid SGD 270k!!!!!!
someone: waaaaa redhill very good leh!!!!! 4 room ah?
Jean:errrmmm it is a 3 room leh...

*silence*

someone: errr... ha ha ha... errr... good buy... *silently under breath* siao ah!!!

ya so we thought... siao ah!!!!!! but then again, we can 'rationalize' that we are paying so much for location loh... redhill is just 4 stops from tanjong pagar, so vin will only need 15 min at most to reach his office... but then again... we thought that we rather buy a place for SGD 200k and spend half hour more on the journey to and fro home ba... SGD 70k can do alot of things right... ya la... SGD 70k is alot la... ya la... SGD 70k is alot... (still trying to psycho myself until now that i should not buy the place actually...)

=Pp

irrational market = irrational me

Happy Valentine's (to all your wallets) ^_^

2008-02-14T15:34:00.004+08:00

2 of my colleagues have flowers. the first one got a small bouquet of 6 red roses with beautiful decorations of pearls etc... another got a huge bouquet of lilies which was not as nice (but hey, it is the thought that counts i guess... she like can liao hee)... so my other colleague remarked that 'wa the flowers are getting bigger and bigger!!!)

but i was really impressed with the 1st bouquet cos it looks so nice... so i asked my colleague if there was a website i can go to so that i can copy some ideas for my bridal bouquet... (everything in my mind is about the wedding hor? HAHAHA)

so i went to take a look at the pictures and the prices and MY GOODNESS!!!!! a small bouquet of 6 red roses (which are very common flowers) cost more than $250!!!!!!! is the economy booming or what????? you mean en bloc sales = high property prices and even spill over to expensive bouquets?????

ok maybe cos i am not a guy... maybe the prices has ALWAYS been like that since 5 years back... but seriously, are you serious????? my friend just got a bouquet of 6 pink roses for his friend to be delivered yesterday and it was $66 and i already thought it pretty expensive... i remember getting a bouquet of more than 10 blue roses for my mum last april and it was only more than $30?

hee anyway anyway, happy valentines to one and all... just called my mum to wish her happy valentines and tell her i love her... hee... felt weird cos my family is a very cheena kind of family where no affection is shown commonly... but i want to let God's love shine through and saturate my family!!!!! God loves you!!! ^_^

5 months to our wedding... we are so excited loh!!!!! kekeke... =)))

it's the lunar new year again!!!

2008-02-06T14:04:00.000+08:00

haha as expected, nobody will shout out these days... even when they get the 8888 number hee... oh well nevermind... =)))

it's chinese new year eve today and i am so excited!!! i love reunion dinners cos we go to my grandma's place and all my beloved relatives are there!!! i love my paternal relatives... they are a down-to-earth, sincere, honest bunch. they might not be living in condominiums and driving luxury cars, but what matters most is that they are who they are and accept everyone as who they are. you know for some families, cos they are slightly richer than others, in a higher income bracket than others, their noses tend to be slightly higher than others, and they tend to talk less to those whom are not in the same social circle as them.

furthermore, from next year onwards, i won't be able to spend the whole night with them during reunion dinner... so this year's reunion dinner and even chinese new year visitation holds a very special meaning to me... small things like that would make a difference, i realised. i used to think that marriage makes no difference to the couple cos in the first place we already are used to each other's schedules etc... but as the day draws nearer, God shows me things that i need to manage, and expectations that need to be changed, etc... cos it is not about 2 people but 2 families. 2 people is already very tough, 2 families is extremely difficult... all the nuances, the habits, the culture, the attitudes towards certain things, etc... wow totally can't do it with my strength alone...

anyway, as promised, show you the process of our wedding band hunt!!! actually only 3 pictures la... all from the same shop. we visited 4 shops (excluding the usual lee hwa, sookee etc) and short listed 2 shops. to keep you all in suspense, won't show you the proto-type of our final wedding band!!! why i say proto-type is cos our wedding bands are customized!!! =))) we decided to go with the one that vin really likes most... from fairysinc. this pair is also the one that i am most comfortable with and like the most out of the many places and pairs that we have seen... =)))

vin's first choice. my last choice

my first choice, vin's last choice

our 2nd choice... notice that all the rings have gold HAHAHA... we decided to not go for the 'traditional' silver wedding bands... ^_^

have a blessed lunar new year everyone!!! for the married, enjoy giving!!! for the singles, enjoy receiving!!! most importantly, have a great time with your family and friends!!! GONG XI FA CAI!!!!! ^_^