Secret Garden

Movies Update

2010-03-19T10:48:00.012+08:00

Having been watching quite a few movies recently, movies like "Being Human", "Alice In Wonderland" & "Green Zone" are shows that I won't recommend people to watch.

However there are three movies that I strongly recommend you to watch:

THE COVE

First of all, this is a MUST watch! This show has been screening on GV Vivo exclusively for the past many many months. Why so long? I dunno. Maybe to create awareness of what's happening in Japan. Even if you are not a dolphin-lover, you will feel alot after watching this show.

Dolphins aren't just another cute mammal, but after watching this show you will know how much we need to protect them from the "hands of humans" especially when they are so innocent & trusting towards humans.

Basically this show talks about how dolphins in captivity aren't as happy as they seem to be in dolphin-performing shows. Due to the increasing need of dolphin supply worldwide for dolphin-performing shows, this lucative business has led to the massacre of 29,000 dolphins annually along a particular coastline in Japan in a town call Taiji. The fishermen go out to the sea every Sept to create alot of noise in the sea to confuse & stress-out the dolphins & "corner" them into the cove, where some good ones will be hand-picked by the local dolphin trainers & sold worldwide for about $150,000 each and the rest which are not chosen will be brutally killed on the spot and create a "red cove" suggesting the amount of blood shed. Some of the dead dolphins are packaged in the market & labelled as whale meat. Japanese generally do not eat dolphin meat, so this was shocking to them & worst still many who eat "whale meat" may be exposed to the high mercurcy toxic content found in Dolphin. Most of the dead dophins are thrown back into the sea. While watching this show, I can't help but really teared.

Many Japanese are not aware of this as the cove is prohibited for entry. Some foreigners caught footages and evidence of this happening in Japan & made this movie for worldwide awareness.

I don't think is screening anymore. But you can buy the DVD! Better still, if you can take part in the campaign to stop this killing. Visit http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/the-cove

The Book of Eli

Quite a long movie. Will take some time to understand what's happening. The beginning shows how the world is like after a battle of eliminating all bibles in the world and a catastrophe where the earth was directly exposed to the sun due to a hole in the sky. Of course, most died & few survived. Those who were borned after this incident couldn't perceive the world of abundance (which we are living in now) & the "knowledge of God" was not heard & known to anyone Very inspired by the faith & fervency this man Eli that he will accomplish the task that God has placed in his hands. Classic example of an ordinary man doing extra-ordinary thing. The highlight of the show is right at the end - Surprising ending!

HACHI

True story of a faithful dog Hachi who walks the owner to the train station every morning and returns back in the evening to "fetch" the owner outside the train station. One day, Hachi senses failing heart and tried all sorts of ways to prevent the owner from going to work. But to avail the owner took train to work as usual & collapsed at work & died. Hachi continued to wait outside the train station for his never-coming-back owner for the next 10 years!!! Before he took his last breathe, he finally got to "see" his owner coming back.

Can you imagine that? 10years!!! I think besides God, there's no one else who will stay so faithful to us.
Daniel: "Wanna keep a dog?".
Me: "Nah... I don't have the heart capacity to face the death of my dog."

I have the DVD. Ask me if you want. A must-watch!

Feb is soon over...

2010-02-23T14:41:00.008+08:00

Wow it's Feb 23rd already... It felt as though I just started Feb not too long ago.

Seriously I don't really know how I spent my Feb...

1st week - meeting a couple clients, open bank accounts, settle all the finances arrears & putting my finances into order, getting Valentines' Day present and spring cleaning.
2nd week - spring cleaning and more cleaning... and the beginning of all eating horrors!!!

Starting from 12th Fri: Daniel's maternal side reunion dinner
13th Sat: Daniel's paternal side reunion dinner
14th Sun: CNY Lunch @ my maternal side, Pai Nian @ Daniel's maternal side, CNY Dinner @ Daniel's paternal side, Meet RX & Der for coffee
15th Mon: Pai Nian @ my paternal side, meet RX, Der, KChia, Audrey for movie & coffee.
16th Tue: "Visit" Daniel's grandmother @ Mandai Crematorium, Lunch, Mahjong & Dinner @ Daniel's Yeye house.
17th Wed: Go JB for hair colour & cut, massage & dinner again
20th Sat: Feast again becos my father strikes lottery.

Man!! Been eating non-stop & I feel so sick of eating all the CNY goodies & feast... but I guess I'm not the only one who feels this way. Time to cut back on what I eat...

And then just yesterday we had our company's unit "Flying Start" which is an annual event that our individual unit will have to kick start the year. Well... this year we have it much later (usually in Jan) becos some people were overseas...however we have it at one of our familiar places Tenah Merah NSRCC...

Started with the session with a ice-breaker where everyone got to say something about themselves that our colleagues may not know....

Starting with Bernard: Father of two, Lohei for 5 times this CNY alr
Doreen: Bought egg tarts from her house downstairs
Evelyn: Mother of 2.5
Eunice: Had long hair before
Chiu Yen: Loves Cats... yEEKS!
Shannon: Acted in upcoming movie "Being Human" & will be screening on 4 march
Esther: Youngest in the family
Sherine: She's actually 28! (revelation!)
May Wu: Have cats in his house
Eddy: Love fishing
Joanna: I can't remember what she said
Valerie Kok: LOVES $$ very much!!!! (very obvious!)
Jesslin: Hates cats
Me: Fearful of cats & have 2 hamsters that stays in a "bungalow"
Derrick: Likes to wears toe socks!

Next...."Self-Revisiting" exercise....
What have I discover about myself in this revisit?

The top 3 Values that are MOST important to me:
Expertness (being good at something important)
Personal Freedom (I don't like the feeling of "being forced" to do things... or should I say "I hate" or even to the extent of "I shut down"?)
Affection (warmth, caring, giving and receiving love)

Other values that also important:
Emotional Health (Handling feelings, inner conflicts)
Family (Happy & congenial living situation)
Pleasure (Enjoyment, satisfaction, fun)
Physical Health (Attractiveness and vitality)

Am I consistently acting on these important values to get or to keep?
Do I commit my resources to these values?

Our decisions in life are based on our values.
Choice - We are what we choose.
Commit - We resemble what we revere (What we give ourselves and resources to)
Consistency - When we are uncertain, our values as the co-pilot will take over.

Ended yesterday with the managers treating us to a sumptuous meal at Jumbo Seafood.

Lohei - To kick-start our business goals and heart desires with a high note!
Words of blessings to say with the various ingredients:
Lime - Ji Xiang Ru Yi Salmon - Nian Nian You Yu Five Spice Powder - Wu Fu Lin Men Green pkt powder - Qing Chun Mei Li Red pkt powder - Hong Yun Dang Tou Plum Sauce - Ai Qing Tian Mi
Amen to all the above!!!

Derrick being very fascinated by the "brib" provided by the restaurant for eating chilli crab.

Feb really passed very fast and I have not submitted any case! Oh dear...

I can't say that I have wasted my Feb becos there's always a time and season. Well... time and season for family, fun and relaxation is over.... time to be focused again and start cracking and work towards my production & income goals for this year!

Quick Updates

2010-01-27T00:02:00.017+08:00

I guess I agree with Kenneth that blogging community kinda synchronizes with one another - either we blog alot or we dun.

Ruxin was telling me at the beginning that she wanna be very consistent in blogging this year. So far 5 entries for the whole of Jan..... not bad, although wasn't what I thought "consistent" to be. Maybe she's just to sian to blog since everyone isn't blogging.

I guess everyone's just busy. Some are in new transitions in work (Daniel, Audrey, Ruxin, Keeliang, Karen Chia, Alvin - mostly finance-related) or new transitions in life (Evelyn preparing son for Primary School, Jiaying & Serena pregnant) while some are busy with preparing their new homes to move in (Kenneth, Serena & Jiaying, Yohandi) and some are just "busy" with their everyday mundane life and have nothing much to update about (like me)... haha..I guess I just have to start somewhere.

Ok, a quick summary of Jan....

First of all... started the year with a new HP.

Samsung Omnia PRO B7320... not the latest model for this series and not the "in-est" i-phone but works perfectly for me.

Features that are very impt to me:

Makes storing and searching of contacts intelligently (very important!)
Has interface to allow me to fix, edit and track for my schedule and appoints daily (very important!)
Can sync contacts, calendar and files easily to the PC (very impt!)
Can write sermons, documents (very important!)
Light, sleek and nice-looking! (Very impt!)

PLUS points

It's Windows Mobile, operating Windows 7 which means I can open and edit my frequently-used working files via Microsoft Word and Excel.
SMS msgs are linked up via individual person's name. Which means I can always see all the past conversations I had with a person in a window, just like MSN.
Can set up email accounts. So other than checking sms-es, I can also check my gmail before I sleep.
IE
Facebook

Next, while most CGs had their thanksgiving at end of 2009, our cg had a late thanksgiving on 2 Jan, at a cafe along Tanjong Katong Road, something like Miss Clarity. The buffet offered mostly fried finger food, which in my personal opinion isn't very satisfying for dinner. And the funny thing is that during Alvin's short sharing about his vision for the year, he shared about how God sp0ke to him about building "Good Physical Health" and that we will eat more healthier and do more sports together as a cg. I was really laughing in my heart as the entire cg had just helped ourselves to the most sinful buffet dinner filled with fried food.... Heehee.... No offence Alvin. :)

Used to think that our 32" Samsung LCD is very good and cheap until we met this "LCD guru" while browsing for one. Samsung has got very good quality screen but you need a good processor as well. So we bought a bigger one - the latest Philip 7000 series - Superb processor! Always wanted my house to have a consistent style (Modern, Sophiscated, define lines) but we know how we have to slowly acquire them one by one. Have achieved that in my master bedroom and toilet, so now we work on our living hall to have that consistency as well.

Bought Sofa and Coffee Table. Love the shape of the italian-inspired sofa, slightly curvy and irregular so I can place it anyway I like for a unconventional look. And the Tata Bear that Daniel gave me many years ago sits well on the sofa.. Hehee... A nice carpet is still missing to complete the look.

A TV console.... same style as the coffee table, define lines of tampered glass.

And Daniel finally fulfills his dreams of having huge ball lamp. Always stop him from buying whenever we go shopping becos there's never a unique one plus easy to clean. Dun think you can see the surface of the ball lamp but it has a unique texture and easy to keep it white! Initially wanted to buy two or three to hang down at our staircase but it will cost us a bomb just to bring in the scaffolding. No choice Daniel can only enjoy his ball lamp in the hall... Wait till we have more $$$ ba!

And not forgetting some nice home deco items.

I love my living hall now.... except for the aircon and feature wall, which will be our next project. As for now, we shifted the previous sofa, TV console and LCD upstairs to create a Entertainment Room. So dearest friends, next time we can play mahjong, boardgames and Wii upstairs in the air-con room!

Also, our P78 team unit meeting resumes! Really not used to it yet cos we have stopped our meeting for some time. But I guess we just have to fulfill all righteousness for the MAS requirement. Sigh... But good thing that it's not always just numbers reporting but we also get to meet in a nearby cafe at the ICON Building. It's a new Korean cafe which you will probably see in Far East Shopping Centre as well. Coffee normal, not as good as my fav Starbucks, but serves toast in an interesting presentation.

Mini-toast comes in many flavours. This is Caramel with Chocolate. Cream is fresh and not "Jer-lak"

By the way this is a "mini" toast - enough for a person. Their "normal-sized" toast is giantic!!!

Mini-toast with Latte set = $4.80. Reasonably-priced. Try it if you have a chance!

Next, celebrated my brother's birthday over last weekend.

My siblings and I

My brother and his girlfriend Clarabelle.

Last of all, I also had attended two weddings, one after another in one weekend! *Burnt*
Well... no choice. Like Daniel says, while others say "Red bomb" when receiving wedding invitation, for our case it's "returning deposits" that people have placed in our wedding.

Didn't have any work appointment before attending WenKai & Ivory's wedding, so took some time to dress up.

All set and ready to go!!!

Had such a good time playing with Clarice all night. She has personality of her own, very talkative, action-packed, extroverted and active, which isn't very much like her Daddy Alvin and Mummy Andrea.

And yup had a good time with my good friend Claire as well. Looking forward to our date!!!!

And of course the pretty bride, Ivory! Congrats! And I am so happy for her.
Sharks! The photo is so dark and both of us are so small in the photo. As usual... Daniel's photography skill. Sigh...

Okie.. that's all! Hope to bring more updates soon.

P.S Don't forget to help me take part in the exercise in my previous blog entry. Thanks!

Who am I?

2010-01-21T18:38:00.003+08:00

Dear Friends,

Recently I helped my sister in one of her modules by selecting adjectives that describe her from a list of adjectives provided using a program.

I think it's very interesting as it will reveal what people think of you and whether
what you think of yourself is the same as what others think of you.

Daniel & I would love to know our results too. Can you help us by going to the following website? Will only take less than 1 min. You can also do it for yourself!

http://kevan.org/johari?name=KarenYeo
http://kevan.org/johari?name=DanielChia

Would really appreciate your help. thanks :)

Cheers
Karen & Daniel :)

It's a Boy & Girl!!!

2009-12-18T18:13:00.005+08:00

Hey we have an ANNOUNCEMENT to make!!!

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We don't have scans like Jiaying's to show all of you...

But

We have got some PICTURES!!!!

Yup... Not babies...but Hammis......

Daniel have been bugging me to buy hamsters since our wedding but I have been crushing that idea of his.. becos since the death of my house rabbit Tummy, I really didn't want to have pets anymore cos' I don't think I have a strong heart to face their death.

However I guess I gave in.... to support Daniel & his "fantasy" to be a "father". As he always try to convince me "Dear please let me buy hamsters can??? It can prepare me for fatherhood leh" Ya ya....

Anyway yesterday during lunchtime we saw this really cute cream-white hamster that keeps walking on two feet in the petshop at Suntec and the petshop says she is a "Pudding" species under the Winter White Hamster family. Pudding is said to be rare as they have rare genes that make them cream-white and Pudding mix with Pudding seldom produce Pudding. So I guess it was this "rare" verb that sparked off the compulsive buy. We name this Pudding "Citrus" because we observe that she has quite a Zesty & active personality.

This is Citrus.

To give company to Citrus, we choose a normal Winter White which is a boy and we name him "Crayon". Why? Because there were a few moments that he just sat quietly at a corner and faced the walls just like how La Bi Xiao Xin (Crayon Xiao Xin) would behave when his mum scolds him. Indeed Crayon has a very meek personality.

This is Crayon.

Daniel also bought this very impressive home for the two of them that looks like a Cyber SpaceShip. In Daniel's opinion, it looks like the Esplanade.

Cool right??? Since we can't leave them in the car, I brought them back to my office after lunchtime and my colleagues think that the hammis have upgraded from the shatters in the petshop to a bungalow now. Some of them says that this liken to boss's "771". Haha...of cos! This home costs almost $100.

Like excited parents, Daniel took alot of pictures... Enjoy!
They are really very small & tiny.. Come & see them soon!

Past Memories ....

2009-12-09T13:49:00.014+08:00

It's strange how some memories can erase themselves totally from our brain's storage space never to be remembered again while some only to disappear from the temporary storage but still remain dormant in our harddisk, waiting for the day to be retrieved again.

Sounds like a novel hor?

Ok let me continue in my novel writing mood....

Somehow this part of my memories have been forgotten for quite a long period of time...until someone in my primary school gathering reminded me of this past. Yesterday I went home and my mum asked me to clear this box in the storeroom, which I call "My Memory Box"- One that contains stuffs of my past relationships.

In a section of this box, I picked up some drawings and a huge drawing block filled with drawings, all of which were given to me by this boy James during my P6 days.

As my friends talked about this guy during our primary school friends' gathering, memories just floated back.

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James took the same school bus as me throughout the 6 years but we had never crossed conversations. Maybe for hormones reasons, somehow James caught my attention and I found out that his birthday was coming. I gave him a Bobdog mug which was his favourite cartoon character. On the same day that I gave the mug, I was caught by surprised when he got my house number from a friend and called me at home to tell me that he will be coming to my house to pass me something. As I watched him running across my carpark through my house windows my heart was pumping very loudly. The next moment I found this piece of paper slipped through my house door. Afraid that it will arouse my mum's suspicion, I ran into my room with the paper.

Wah I tell you when I saw the red heart between the Bobdog and his girlfriend, my heart was screaming on the inside like nobody business, totally elated!!!

What happened after that? Of cos at that age there was no such thing as "Can you be my girlfriend?" but he continued to do a few sweet things. There would be times when he would reserve the seat beside his on the schoolbus and signal me to sit beside him when the bus arrived at my house. Sometimes he would passed me scolls of drawings which comes with a small paper covering words like "I like you" or "Thank you!"...

Awww... thats's so sweet, so romantic right?!

Those remaining 5 months were the happiest days of my primary school life, filled with the purest happiness. Think about it, I was fat, ugly, low-profile and definitely not the sweet type.

And mind you, he wasn't ugly, in fact girls would categorize him as quite handsome and cute. Really don't know why he would like someone like me. Or is it out of sympathy? Maybe. Maybe his eyes paste stamps? Haha.. but for whatever reasons, I can say that he gave me an extra boost in my self-esteem and had made me feel that I'm someone special. It was a good feeling and no one has ever made me feel this way EVER.... and also AGAIN!!! No one. Serious. (Daniel, heard that????)

I guess this is what we call 初恋 in Korean Drama. Haha...Not too bad ah for a 不起眼 girl... at least this is an experience that not all pretty school girls can buy....

Once we went out together with my younger brother to watch a movie.. Ya ya, my brother was just a 挡剑牌... But that's about all, we didn't hold hands or anything. It was a BGR but just a mutual crush that vanished after we went to different sec schools.

During our last week of school, we exchanged some drawings which we spent weeks to finish.
He can draw very well right? Can't imagine that they came from a P6 boy...

Why do I wanna blog about this? Because all these pics are going to end up in the rubbish chute after the blogging... Don't worry Daniel, I'm not going to keep them cos they don't mean anything to me now.

Daniel's Crappy Joke

2009-12-04T13:18:00.003+08:00

If you are a faithful viewer of this recent hit drama on Channel 8 - Qi Er Pa Pa (Penguin Daddy), you probably remember this part of the show where Li Nanxing's Father-in-law almost died after a heart attack relapse caused by his unfillial son.

I don't watch this show regularly but happened to catch the scene where Li Nanxing's father-in-law was talking to his mother-in-law before his heart operation.

So while Daniel & I were cleaning up in the kitchen after a meal, we had this conversation.

Me: Daniel, I wonder on your death bed, what will you say to me? Will you say something like 'Lao Po, thank you for taking care of the house so well for the past many years'?

Daniel: Nope .... (inspired by the drama scene) ...I will say....

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Lao Po, I have left $100,000 for you and they are in the house.
I have $500 under my pillow, $500 behind the washing machine.
The Shoe Box downstairs there's another $500.
You know my underwear in the middle column, the red one? There's another $500.

Daniel: And then I will go on to say many other places where I've placed $500 individually. Just when I reach the $20,000 mark and I will say....

Lao Po, and there's one final place where I put $80,000. It's at..... it's at....at.. at... at...................

Daniel: The ECG machine beeps............................... and I'll take my last breathe.

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Crap right? Here I am trying to be serious and he just took off with his imagination like this.

And he says that I'll probably say something like: "No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Daniel please don't go!!!!!! You haven't say where you put the $80,000. Why can't you put your priority right?"

Ok, although it's crap... but we both had a good laugh while cleaning up.

How do I know? Cos I am a driver too.

2009-12-04T11:16:00.007+08:00

Hi guys, sorry for the long lapse in not updating our blog. Really busy with our work especially me in the transition in my new work and also the moving out of our tenant. (Yes, I can don need to wear my shirt in the house liao haha...)

Anyway today's chapter as suggested by the title is a conclusion to a 6 months affair to pursue the elusive title of a local car driver in Singapore. Slogging long hours just so i can make the car payments, petrol, insurance etc etc. Is it worth it? Yes! Let me elaborate...

When we came from our honeymoon in August, I became a Tampinesian after my many years as a Chua Chu Kangian...travelling to church every week became a real problem after a while as church is in wild wild west. A typical sunday would result me in a cab fare of $27... (Ya i know i BIN TUA, cannot take the journey with our dear friend Mr. T already...) Especially after driving the hot Peugeot 307 Convertible during my wedding day, my body yearns for the intial thrust of a horsepowered engine from a stopline.

So there begins my journey of becoming a driver. Intially, I would spend hours every week looking at the internet for second hand cars website working out the math. Wats COE? OMV? Depreciation etc etc... In that process I learned that second hand cars are the most economical in the long run as a car WILL always be a depreciating asset.

Here are the fruits of my research and hopefully will assist you in your pursuit for your ride...

Before I go on, let me explain COE and OMV and PARF

PARF
PARF Car
In general, all new cars come with an Open Market Value (OMV). This is the original cost of production of the vehicle. If the vehicle is de-registered within 10 years from its first registration date, the registered owner will be entitled to a Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) Rebate. This is normally a percentage of the OMV. This is how the term ‘PARF Car’ comes about. (This means how much you getting back when you scrap the car)

COE
Certificate of Entitlement (COE). Each month, a certain number of COE's are released for bidding and if successful, the vehicle entitlement is valid for 10 years from the date of registration of the vehicle.

OMV
OMV is in layman terms, simply means how much does it cost to bring your vehicle into SG WITHOUT TOUCHING THE ROAD, which means how much ur vehicle is valued.

In non layman terms, the amount dictated is based on the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the country of importation. This price is assessed by the Singapore Customs, which includes purchase price, freight, insurance and all other charges incidental to the sale and delivery of the motorcycle/car to Singapore.

With that in place let's go!!

1. All car bodies depreciate over a 5 year peroid irregardless of the make or brand. This means at the end of 5 years, the vehicle is only worth its paper value (COE + OMV). Thus, when you buy a brand new vehicle, you are actually making a huge loss in the first 3 years.

2. Lower COE may not be a good thing if you want to buy a 1st hand car. Lower COE will only be a good thing if you buy a car and you intend to drive it at least for 5 years before scrapping. The reason is because lower COE cars do not have much appeal in the second hand car market. For example if 2 cars has the same mileage, same OMV and same cost but the COE differs, I would actually choose the car with the Higher COE. This is because at the end of 5 years, a higher COE will mean a higher paper value for me. I will explain it later...so leave it as this first..

3. Off peak car (OPC) is highly recommended if you just need to drive your vehicle on the weekends and on weekdays night. The government actually gives you a rebate of $17,000 from your ride. It actually first deduct your COE, thereafter it will deduct your OMV. If your COE and OMV combined is less than $17,000, it will not deduct the value of the car body. Through my research on the internet, I saw OPC vehicles with $0 Coe and $0 OMV. This is really bad as at the end of 5 years the car is worth next to nothing....I assumed the person probably bought this OPC car during the $2 COE peroid and the total COE + OMV is less than $17,000 thus the paper value is $0. Bad move, and i anticipate this car has no resale value and its true, after 6 months its still unsold..

Now let me explain how all the numbers work out to help you choose the best buy:

For example, a brand new Hyundai Avante today cost $51,999.

Breakdown of Car price:
COE: $17,189 (10 years)
OMV: $14,999
Car Body: $20,000 (5 years)

From here, we can tell that the depreciation every year for the car is $4,000 ($20,000 divide by 5 years)

The depreciation for COE is linear too. Thus the depreciaiton for the avante is $1,719 per year. ($17,189 divide by 10 years)

The PARF value for the vehicle is as follows:

So let's assume you are interested in a 3 year old Avante, what is a fair value?

Carbody Value: $8,000 ($20,000 - $12,000 ($4,000 times 3 years))
COE Value: $12,032 ($17,189 - $5,157 ($1,719 times 3 years))
PARF: $11,714 (110% times $14,199 (OMV) times 75% (<5 years)

Total Value= $31,746
Thus, fair value of a 3 year old Avante with the stated OMV and COE would be $31,746

A fair mileage for a used vehicle is 20,000km per year.

With all this into consideration, you can now decide whether a vehicle is fairly priced or not.

Chrysler Taxi

2009-11-07T13:25:00.003+08:00

Usually after having dinner at my mum's place at Bedok Reservoir, Daniel & i wld take a cab home.

We flag for a cab and it turned out to be a Chrysler Cab!!! Too paisay to say no, and since it wasn't a long distance to our Tampines home, we decided to hop in.

As usually I was the one who has cash, so when we hopped into the Chrysler, I told Daniel: "Enjoy the ride. It's on me."

However instead of enjoying the ride, my focus was more on the meter, seeing it starts from $5 and jumping by 30cents.

The ride was nothing fantastic, other than the seats were more sturdy. Guess it's more for the driver to feel better himself...

Our ride came up to be $11 instead of the usually $6.80. 65% more!!! Thank God it was only a short ride.

Auntie Anne Not Auntie Annie!!!

2009-11-04T16:11:00.004+08:00

Haha... Seems like many of you thought that I wrote the previous entry for help from my mother-in-law.
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Ruxin: Wow I don't know that your relationship with your MIL is so good that you can ask her help so openly.
Me: What do you mean?
Ruxin: You wrote "Auntie Annie" please help me on your blog right? You still call her Auntie meh?
Me: No lah.. "Auntie Anne" not "Auntie Annie" !!!!
Auntie Anne is one of those people whomm you write to in a magazine when you have problems...

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By the way thanks for all the concern u guys have been giving me.

I am very happy to announce that I have officially talked to Lisa.

WAIT ..... Just in case you guys think that I've finally gathered my courage by talking about the issues I had with them....

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I didn't.

Just like I said I'm not a confrontational person, most of time I will just bury my feelings and grumble to myself everytime I have the same feeling about that person.

Bascially I just tell her that I'm not renting out the room anymore cos Daniel's parents may have not come over to stay.

Yup. Said a little lie here.... Feel bad.

But I must say there was a "Phew" sounded in my heart the moment I said that to her.

She'll be moving out in 1.5mths' time. I'm looking forward for that day!

As for now, whatever they want to do, I don't care anymore. But one of my colleagues told me to be prepared for a super huge utility bill by the time they leave becos they are not going to be "Ke Qi" anymore. True... I would feel some hostility when I bumped into her last night. But nvm.

I'm going to pop a champagne the day they move out.

Should I rent it out again??? Sigh....

Sign off, Confused.

Help me Auntie Anne! I'm troubled

2009-10-30T13:31:00.008+08:00

I'm very depressed.. Depressed over my tenant Lisa. In fact, I couldn't sleep well the whole night. Only managed to sleep about 3am.

Actually it's all our fault that we didn't make things clearly when Lisa came for viewing. Lisa is a SIA girl and was the one officially looking for a place. Alvin, whom Lisa claimed wasn't really her boyfriend then, came along with her during the viewing. We asked if he will be staying over and she said no cos he goes back to Malaysia everyday. The impression that we get then was that they were probably not in a staple relationship yet. Considering the fact that she's going to fly around quite often and we are renting to one person, we don't mind to downrate our rent from our previous $750 to her budget of $550. But we did one thing wrong. Daniel told her that Alvin can stay over once in a while if he has to.

So on the day when Lisa moved in, we gave her two sets of keys but she didn't want to give one set to Alvin. The contract also clearly indicates that we only rent out to one tenant, Lisa. On our set of terms and conditions, we also indicated very clearly that no bringing back and overnight staying of friends.

Things were ok initially until Alvin came over to help Lisa run some errands and he stayed overnight without Lisa around, saying that he will fetching Lisa from the airport early in the morning. So we didn't say much then. However since then, I guess their relationship has progressed and Lisa gave Alvin the keys and he started staying overnight every time Lisa is around.

There were even a couple of times when he came home suddenly when Lisa wasn't around in Singapore. I was caught by surprised because I wasn't expecting anyone to be around in the house since Daniel was in reservist too. So I quickly went back into the room to change into something more appropriate with only me & a man around.

Lisa alone is fine. At least she is a girl. But I really don't feel uncomfortable with a man at home, uncomfortable at the fact that there is a couple living in my house. I mean.. what could they be doing in the room, sometimes I can't help but wonder, especially when I'm home alone. It really torments me a lot sometimes.

And there is also another issue. Considering the fact that she's a SIA gal, we decide not to impose a "only on the aircon at night" policy on her since she may come back in the morning or afternoon. But we did tell her right from the first day, that if she around for a few days, please don't on the aircon for long hours. However from our observation, especially since Alvin (who is a free-lance Interior Designer) has been staying over, they can on the aircon for the whole day! We have been tracking our utility bill and the electricity they are using is equivalent to the usage of four of my previous tenants before we moved in. This is ridiculous since Lisa is not even in Singapore everyday. Deducting their utility usage, we are barely making $10plus a day!

With all these issues, I feel frustrated because I'm compromising too much privacy for too little $. Sometimes I can't help but to feel regrets.

I wanna stop this entire renting dinggy!!!!

But Daniel feels that it is too early to stop since he has just moved over to the bank and has not stabilized in his job. He knows my frustration and he wants me to talk to Lisa about it. But it's so difficult cos Alvin is always around.

Screaming out!!!! Can anyone understand my dilemma?

Everytime I'm frustrated, I want to talk to Daniel and I know that talking again and again won't make any changes unless we make an action -

Either to tell them we don't want to rent anymore (Not stable now) OR

To tell them about Alvin & electricity (but I'm sure there will be confrontations and I'm not courageous to tell her myself) OR

Make them pay more rental but this will give Alvin the right to stay when Lisa is not around, which is definitely not what I want.

Two nights ago just when I thought that Lisa is alone finally for a night, I wanted to go down to the kitchen in my sleeping attire. Daniel was telling me don't need to put on my bathrobe to cover my sleeping attire (nothing sneezy, just less materials) but I went ahead with my bathrobe. Just when we least expected him to be around at 1am, he was standing at the main door as I was walking down the stairs. Luckily I was in my bathrobe!!!

So I hinted him: "Hey nowadays you don't need to go back to M'sia ah?"
Alvin: "Oh no lah, cos tonight work late."

In my mind i was thinking, "Please la.. 1am leh! What a lame excuse.. you are staying here everyday!"

Man being man, although they know you are angry and sad, but they don't want to hear the same thing again & again. Daniel was tired and slept. I was left awake alone the whole night, couldn't sleep becos I can't talk to anyone. I was so depressed, I cried.

I want to work hard for the next two months and earn more $$$! But meanwhile can someone be my Auntie Anne and counsel my emotions? I'm overwhelmed...

P78 eating at my house

2009-10-29T12:51:00.000+08:00

After reading all the blogs about our attempts in cooking in Ruxin's & my blog....

Evelyn said to me one day in the office: "Hey why you gals never cook for us to eat??? Never chio us... Include us leh..."
Me: "You sure you wanna eat our food? No problem..."

So there and then, a dinner at my place was set. And that was before Evelyn set off for her Bangkok holiday. The conversation ended with Evelyn saying: "This week that I'm not around, you gals don't cook without me around ah!"

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So the day came (the Wednesday that just passed) when P78 came to my place for dinner. Audrey was also invited over since she was part of P78 before.

Having thought that since I have pre-advance prepared the Bak Ku Teh soup & marinated some stuff in the morning , it shouldn't take too long to prepare the rest of the remaining 4 dishes. So we dily darly in the office, and with the traffic jam, we only managed to start preparing dinner at 710pm.

Over-estimated myself, there were actually a lot more to prepare like cutting & chopping of ingredients. Thank God for Evelyn & Jesslin, who helped me alot in the entire preparation process. The rest wanted to help but the kitchen was tremendously hot and sticky & stressful cos everyone's so hungry & food is not ready!!! Urgh! Sorry people~~ As usual the two guys were not involved in the kitchen, only playing Wii in the living hall.

Oh ya, something funny happened. There was not enough rice grains left!!! So paiseh, and Derrick was so nice to help me go downstairs to buy rice. Thank you! Oh ya, I haven't pay you back $ fr the rice!

No pics to upload here since Derrick was the cameraman for the evening. I think I will look very "chui 3" in the pics with all the sweat, oil & serious-looking face.. sigh!
To Derrick: Quickly upload the photos in your blog.

So finally dinner was served at 830pm. Late dinner indeed.

Dishes served:
1. Bak Ku Teh soup that comes with Bak Ku & Chicken wing (Yeo family style)
2. Pork Chop with Japanese Curry gravy
3. Brocolli with Mocked Abalone
4. Brinjal with Pork Floss (Yeo Family Style)
5. Prawn on Toast (something that I've learnt from the recipe book just the day before)

Hope you guys like the food. I can share the recipe if you guys want. ;)

Think without the help of everyone, dinner would probably be ready much later. Thanks guys!!!

Not cos, that's not all. How can a wonderful night end off without a fierce fight over the game "I'M THE BOSS" and some super nice Hagen Daz Ice-cream, compliments from Evelyn?

So is Ruxin going to cook for us next time?

JB outing

2009-10-22T12:45:00.006+08:00

The last time that Daniel & I had a good hang-out with our friends was in August, celebrating Audrey's Birthday due to Daniel's 1-mth reservist.

So Daniel & Karen Chia organized a JB trip last Sat, also at the same time to "celebrate" Keeliang's birthday. Didn't really celebrate actually.. except to sing a birthday song during the dinner... Paiseh..

Although most of you probably might have read about the happenings on Ruxin's blog, I will still blog about it by uploading some photos for the benefit of Daniel's friends - Lee, Yaochang & Angela - whom might be visiting the blog..

Enjoy...

Audrey loves this photo of herself...

I was in-charged of taking pics of the food...And looking at the amount of food we ordered, you will know we had been very typically "Kiasu" Singaporeans there...

Steam Fish, Lemon Chicken (Non-spicy for Keeliang), Fried Youtiao (Fried food for Angela), Kangkong

Fried Calamari (Fried Food for Angela), Drunken Prawns (Everyone thumbs-up for this item, Yummy!), Mussels ("Big Head")

Three types of Crabs (Chilli, Black Pepper, Salted Yoke)

We waited so long for the crabs because they only have 2 chefs who specialize in cooking crabs for the entire restaurant of more than 70 tables??? And I guess becos of the crowd, the crabs didn't taste as nice as the previous time. So disappointing...

Look at this giantic crab cracker!!! Hello, are we eating a 15kg crab that we need this huge one???

Not satisfied the food, but we enjoyed the time spent.

All in all, we only spent RM30 each for the food plus RM15 for transport to & forth. Although not ex, I don't think I want to go there again because the travelling time is abt 30min plus the food is dropping in standard. Maybe next time we can go eat Durian instead.

Mrs Chia feel loved

2009-10-22T11:13:00.013+08:00

My sister's 21st birthday (Sharon) is coming up this weekend and just 1 week ago she has already listed out her birthday wishlist .. plus a list of things she prefer not to have. So smart of her by being so specific in what she wants and not want. Just hope that none of her friends will buy her a bunny.. Enough trauma the family had the previous time when Tummy died.

So we went shopping for a leather watch which is what she wanted. I picked up a few items that caught my eyes in the shop & started to make comparison.

Not bad....

The crystal too bling bling for her....

Eh... This looks similar to what Daniel has.... Too Unisex already

Most of them are white straps with big frames. One of them is a eye-striking rose-gold frame with a slightly mustard yellow strap (not too bright, & not too dull kinda yellow).

Something very uniquely contrasting & smart-looking.

Daniel didn't like the yellow watch at first glance but the more we looked it, the more we liked it. However in the end we decided not to go for that as she prefers a white one with rectangular face.

So this is a memento for Sharon's 21st birthday from Daniel, me, my bro & his girlfriend Clarabelle. Nice? I love it because it comes with a rose-gold frame.

After telling the shop assistant our decision, Daniel told her to wrap the Yellow one too and this is for me! Wow!

Over the past 3 years, personally I have bought quite a couple of watches to my loved ones, out of which 4 of them are Titus. Everytime I buy them, I wished to buy one for myself but they are just too expensive for me to make a 2nd purchase at the same time.

During xmas a couple of years ago when I bought Evelyn a watch, she also shared with me that she used to buy many watches for people with no good watch for herself. But then there came a time when she starts reaping many watches back. So I sowed patiently...

And today I get to wear one too, and it's something so unique!

Although my primary love language is not gift-giving, I really feel very loved to have received this beautiful watch fr you! Thank you Dear for your generosity!

Daniel asked me this after giving me the watch: "So is this Wife's Day?"

Haha.. Kenneth, thank you too for inspiring this wife's day. I guess anyday that the wife feels special about herself & loved, it's a WIFE'S DAY!!!

P.S. Husband, can we have it more often please??? Kekee.....

Baking Day

2009-10-21T22:58:00.007+08:00

I was rather excited when I woke up today because a few colleagues & I have booked a hands-on baking class for today. And guess who??? They are Ruxin and JOANNA (the legendary roadshow queen & richest person in NGO) !!!! Haha.. in fact, it was Joanna who jio jio us to go with her. She recommended a more ah-tas class which will cost us about $90 & only demo but I found out a cheaper place in Geylang which will cost us only $36 for a 3-hr lesson, somemore got hands-on.

In only 3 hrs, we managed to learn & produce 3 recipes today - Cheese & Nut Cookie, Chocolate Almond Cookie and Chocolate Black Berry Cake!

Although they may not be the hotel-standard pastry, we had so much fun even in learning to use the electronic weighing device, the gathering of utensils & ingredients (ingredients which are totally unfamiliar like milliac cream, gelatine powder, chicken powder???, blackberry puree etc),

the operating of huge mixing machine (Joanna almost spoil one),

Look! We look serious about what we are doing, don't we?

rolling & flattening of frozen dough, cutting of dough into equal sizes.

And after 3 hrs of serious & fun learning, these are what we have produced! Tata!

Not too bad for 1st-timers right? Can we hear some applause??
Ruxin & I were saying that maybe we can give Keeliang one cake for his birthday celebration but we have decided to eat them ourselves cos the cake is so delicious!

And what's even better, we get to bring them home!!!! Yeah! Not bad for some learning experience, fun & tasty food! Come join us the next time, we are thinking of learning log cake for the upcoming xmas season.

Start Living Like One

2009-10-15T12:31:00.012+08:00

Yes I know it's been a long time since I blogged, in fact almost one month! That's the longest break that I've taken from blogging since I started my blog this March. And Daniel has been nagging me for the past 2 weeks "Hey, quickly go & blog leh, otherwise we will lose our viewership!" SIAO! As though we were running some media business. But really... I couldn't find the mood to blog as I was pretty bothered over some of my thoughts.

IN THE PAST.....
A typical comment that I would make before marriage whenever we talk about Daniel's going-up-home to anyone:

Me: "Oh Daniel's house is like a showroom!"
Me: "Wah your wardrobe is so organized. Everything's so neatly pressed.You mean your mum iron your home tees & bedsheet?"

Having come from a house of six and always having to share rooms with my siblings since young, attaining such standards in my own house that I grow up in is never possible even though people always think that I am a very systematic and organized person. Like many typical Singaporean chinese, my room would be neat, systematic and organized only for while during Chinese New Year... before things start getting messy again in a corner of the room and then "spreading of messiness" starts and before you know it, the whole room is in a chaotic scene again. Sigh... I guess this is what we call the "broken window" theory.

So before marriage, this is what I had told Daniel: "I'm very impressed..But please hor... don't expect me to produce this kind of standard ok? You do your own ironing and folding of clothes ok?" I said that because I was doubtful if I can do it since I can't even do that in my own house. However secretly in my heart, I wished I can have a room like his.

Friends who came to my house and those who read my blog kinda know the effort I put in my current Tampines home. Very often my conversation with them whether in person or over the phone would normally start like this "Hey Karen, what are you doing ah? Cleaning the house? Cooking? Washing the toilet? Ironing the bedsheets? Ironing Daniel's socks and home tees? You very high standard leh"

I know they are teasing me but these constant remarks have caused me to start feeling that probably some people think that I do nothing else except these things...

"Do they think that I am evolving into a housewife, an auntie???"
"Do they think that I'm very EXTRA to go such great lengths to make my wardrobe so neat?"

Thoughts like these have not only bothered me, but also crippled me. I stopped cleaning my house and laundry for one whole week until things really piled up & I got even more frustrated about myself.

But thank God I cooled down in my thoughts & after pouring out to Daniel, I began to appreciate the good works that I have trained myself to do. As we talked, I began to remember what Mummy Annie had said to me once:
"Many people take great effort in personal grooming and making themselves look good. But not many people put great effort in making their house looks good & feel good. The condition of a home tells a lot about a person's character and soul."
And I totally agree with her and it was after this sentence that I have made a decision in my heart then that one day if I have a home of my own, I will do my best to upkeep my home in its best possible condition.

My cousin came to my house recently and said: "I'm sure you must have woke up very early to clean the house before we came right?"
Me: "No la.. my house is always in this condition anytime you come"
My mum: "Of cos la, now you don't know have children yet.. this should be the standard."

So finally I came to terms with myself that this is not about being "kua zhang", "EXTRA" or "overdoing". I believe anyone who's a first-time homeowner will also be equally "homeproud" right???

Just like we say in church of how we should start tithing from the 1st dollar, otherwise we will never tithe when we have our 1st million dollar.
Same thing...
One day, I want to live a good life. I want to be in the up-society. I want to have a beautiful home like those dream homes in the magazines. But where I am right now, (although without a maid and the quality of life) I will start living like one, with the cleanliness, the neatness and the excellence, I will create a beautiful home at my current level ...

Inspired by how the condition of a house reflects the character of the owner,
I want my house to be always ready for guests anytime.
I want my house to be always ready for selling tomorrow.

Yes I have high standards, and cheers to high standard. ;)

Mysterious call

2009-09-17T21:23:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I received a call....

Me: Hello?

Mysterious Caller: Hello? Are you Karen?

Me: Ya? Who is this?

MC: Hi, are you still working in the same company?

Wow... someone calling for business??? *Excited*

Me: Ya... May I know who's on the other line?

MC: Hmm... actually I have a friend who would like to know you...

Me: Do I know you?

MC: I'm Shawn.

Me: Shawn who? How did you know me?

MC: I met you somewhere before...very long ago... I can't recall where already.... and you gave me your namecard.

Me: How can I help you?

MC: Can I ask you out for a movie?

*Straight, clear and loud... into the phone*
Me: I am already married.

MC: Married also can go out together right?

Me: Hmm... I don't think I am interested.. Sorry bye..

It has been a long time since I received such calls... It was in the year 2005 & 2006 I received many such calls from my clients.. some of them even married man! Even remember that my boss Nicholas said something like "you too hot already... maybe your hair color should be less loud." That was when I had short hair with purple-highlighted hair...those were the days...

Whoever was tat Shawn.. think he must be very desperate to say something like tat...

Daniel's away

2009-09-13T23:35:00.000+08:00

Sigh.. Starting from tomorrow Daniel will be away for 3 weeks!!!

Ya.. Serving the nation by digging trench, revision training, weapon training, defence training.. so on & so forth...

3 weeks is so long & we don't even know if he can book out or not. And I'm all alone at home with the tenant. Sad...

And Daniel has brought me a box of my favourite bitter sweet chocolates from Royce (the dark blue one)!!!

Daniel: To make me feel better while u r away???

In fact, just nice there are 16 pieces. So if I eat one a day, can count down to the end of your reservist.

I will miss you Dear!

Bad Business Idea???

2009-09-09T12:58:00.003+08:00

Happened to come across this pushcart outside the Republic Foodcourt at VivoCity.

It's a 4D, Toto, Big Sweep Kiosk!!!

Look! Everything so high-tech and only payable by NETS..

This is a very good business idea. Bringing in the Lottery Business into the central area when most of them are located in residential areas. With a small cart like this, you can attract people to buy lottery after having their meals & they can buy more cos payable by NETS!!! Smart...

Maybe I can do this business too... but like not good hor... encouarging people to gamble.

Ma Ma Mia!!!

2009-09-07T00:14:00.011+08:00

Sunday.

After my appointment with a client, Daniel & I went down to Aranda Country Club for Baby Georgie's Birthday Celebration. Most of our friends went back home already since we arrived later but thank God Ruxin, Derrick, Valerie Kok, Zhanwei & Siying were still around.

Baby georgie opening presents!

The Georgie whom we see in church setting is usually quite "uptight" and "highly-alert" of scary uncles & aunties who will carry him away from mummy, happens to show his "carefree & relaxed" side of him! Caught it on a video but the resolution not very good cos I forgot to switch to higher resolution.

He's so different. I guess he's happy after a nice relaxing bath.

When we left the chalet....

While walking....

Derrick: Wait wait... There's an ant in my shoes.

So he bent down to untie and take out his shoes....
Over turn the shoes and knock it a few times
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Something came out of his shoes...

IT IS A COCKROACH!!!! And still alive!!!! Crawling!!!

Derrick: AH!!!!! (Screamed very loudly and ran towards Ruxin very fearfully)
Everyone was very scared & shocked but Derrick's reaction was very extreme.

See the cockroach?

And the liquid left by the cockroach inside Derrick's shoes. Almost crashed by Derrick's feet while it was still inside his shoes.

As we all know, Derrick is super afraid of kaka (insects)... and Derrick was so stressed after that.. he kept sweating (cold sweat)... Haha.. so funny

Don't ask me to cycle on the road again

2009-09-06T22:58:00.005+08:00

In this weekend has been an exciting one for me. After dinner at my mum's place on Friday night, Ruxin and Derrick jio Daniel & I to go night cycling.

We met 9pm at East Coast MacDonalds and Ruxin suggested Derrick to bring us to City Hall. I was thinking in my heart "Daniel & I had conquered cycling the whole east coast from tenah merah to fort road back & forth before, it shouldn't be a problem cycling a little bit more." I seriously thought that Derrick has found a way somehow to go to CityHall through a park-cycling path and so I agreed readily.

Who knows actually Derrick wanted to bring us out of East Coast Park ONTO THE ROAD!!! It really freaked the hell out of me.. terrified at every carpark entrances/exits, traffic junctions, zebra crossings, canals and even construction sites that we cycled past. And not forgetting the many cyclists who cycled passed me in the opposite directions along tight passageway. I banged so many times, had some bruises along the way that I really wanted to give up. However Derrick & Ruxin were really patient with me. So we carried on - all the way from Fort Road to Mountbatten to Nicolle Highway to City Hall to Esplanade.

Us in front of the Suntec Convention Hall big TV screen...

Makan a bit at Makan Sutra. Then all the back from Esplanade to East Coast Park. The moment when I touched down at East Coast Park Fort Road, I felt like I just came back from a death experience.. ya.. so adventurous but also so dangerous & terrifying for a non-pro and non-zai cyclist like me. People like me better stick to the park.

I must say Derrick is so zai... he can do stunts & cycle with one hand & talking on the hp with another hand. That's the fruits of all the training he did in the past, cycling Ruxin back from Sengkang to Serangoon... hor Bicycle King??!!!

Soon it was past 1am & we were back to East Coast MacDonalds. Rested and then carried on cycling all the way to Tenah Merah & back to MacDonalds again. At least this part is more mentally-relaxing, cycling in the open breeze.

Thank God we made it back in time cos it started to storm heavily the moment we returned the bikes to the kiosk at 3am.

Wow.. after 5 hours of cycling, we were aching all over.

Never will I cycle on the road again!!!!

Dinner with Ruxin & Derrick

2009-09-02T21:43:00.005+08:00

Again, this is NOT a couple dinggy.

Happened that my appointment at night was cancelled last min so I was thinking of cooking. Very sian to just cook for 2 persons only (now I understand how my mum feels when she said she dunno how to cook for few people) so I invited a few people. But only Ruxin & Derrick turned up because it was too last min for the rest. Thank you my friends for your support ah...

Cooked only four dishes - Fish fillet, steam egg and my mum's specialty
Herbal Chicken &
Brinjal with Pork Floss.

Derrick says the chicken is too hard but the herbal sauce is nice. Thank God....I guess in order to cook like my mum's standard I should be buying chicken from the wet market instead of supermarket & should use the traditional way of steaming using a huge pot instead of using my Tefal steamer. I guess sometimes the best technology may not produce the best food...Sigh..

I guess they like my Brinjal? Ya?? This way of cooking Brinjal can never be seen outside my family because it's mum's recipe! I don't really like eating Brinjal until I've tried my mum's way of cooking Brinjal with spicy sweet sauce & pork floss...Yum Yum!!!

Derrick & Ruxin were also very nice to buy a tub of Ben's & Jerry Choc Fudge Brownie Ice-cream to end our dinner on a high note. Yummy~~~ but also very sinful..

Of cos, Derrick & Daniel once again had 2 rounds of FIFA and everyone gets to play our favourite game - WarioWare on Wii.

Okie guys, stay tune for the next dinner. Ruxin says she's going to cook... We sure look forward to a hearty meal...

Annie Choo Designs

2009-09-01T21:57:00.002+08:00

Upcoming on my mother's design blog....featuring her portfolio of her current and past projects she has done so far (Including our bedroom!)...

Just a sneak preview, so stay tuned!

Day out with the in-laws

2009-08-31T21:09:00.004+08:00

Today has been a fulfilling day spent with the in-laws.

Daniel's parents came over today with his army uniform becos he's going on a 3-weeks long reservist. Bohoo~~ So long.. so sad...

Then we went for lunch followed by a "guided tour" to Mummy Annie's project site in Pasir Ris. Entering into a dusty environment once again reminded me of the renovation I had in my house 3 months ago. But I must say that the house would have been much much messier and dirtier if the house was done by another Interior Designer. Mummy Annie is a very responsible ID who always go beyond her job description. If she's personally handling a project herself, she:

Always giving clients practical advise so that they don't end up spending a lot of money over 'hard-to-maintain" fixtures or "problematic" home stuff...
Always there to supervise the workers (which most IDs don't)
Constantly cleaning up the house even in the process of renovation to keep the environment as neat & clean as possible. (How many IDs do that for their clients??)
Always protecting the clients' existing stuff such as wall or flooring etc..
Most of all, she's ID who can have good relationship with both clients and the WORKERS too!!! The workers are "afraid" of her because they know they will get scolding from her if they give less-than-perfection work or if they don't take care of home-owners' stuff. But they still love & respect because she's treat them well and she's good with scheduling of time which means they can finish their work faster. So in return, they produce good work.

The owner of this particular Pasir Ris house is "ang mo" so the things that they want are rather "out of the norm". The master toilet they wanted is totally glass right in front of the bed (0o.. OOo... the wife wanted to see his husband shit and bathe.. haha) and they wanted a lot of weird things.. but after some recommendations from Mummy Annie, the toilet really turn out to be nice! And the owner was so happy...

I am very proud to have a Mummy like her because she is an excellent ID who always goes the extra mile for her clients and most importantly she's honest. I don't think engaging her as a ID is the cheapest option because she's not the contractor (haha~ ya if you want cheap, go for a contractor). Moreover her company Vegas is a quite reputable company and she uses good quality materials. But I would say if you engage her, you can give a 101% assurance that your house will be in good hands and you will happy with her services, the quality and end results.

Okie.. too much sidetrack.. After that Mummy Annie brought us to a place at Tampines Road to shop for a good study room chair at cheaper price.

Next we went for a movie "Year One" at E!Hub (Downtown East).. Hmm.. it's a "So So" rating movie..not really funny though and they tried to bring in bibical stuff into the show such as Eating of the Tree of Knowledge, Cain killing Abel, Abraham sacrificing Isaac on the mountain, Sodom & Gomorrah etc..

After the movie, we went for dinner and have coffee talk over a lot of things, but mainly about the initial setting up of a family. I guess it's a day spent worthwhile getting to know more about the family and the work they do.

It's not a married couple dinggy

2009-08-25T22:11:00.008+08:00

After hearing some of things that Derrick, Ruxin, Karen & I have been doing together, Audrey kinda came to a conclusion that this is a "married couple" dinggy..

I guess we just enjoy doing things together in a group. In fact, we love to have more people to join us...

Last friday, we went to Tamp IKEA to have dinner together & shop for some of our home stuff...

Shopping at the Children Section to get a "feeling of parenthood"....

Then we went opposite to GIANT at about 1045pm as we still saw some crowd and to our surprise, this GIANT operates till 12mn everyday!!! So Ruxin took this chance to shop for some ingredients so that she could cook a hearty meal for Derrick. Meanwhile we took some whacky photos with the food.

CG Outing at Sentosa, Audrey's BDay

2009-08-24T15:08:00.009+08:00

Our new tenant Lisa, a SIA girl, has shifted in today. And Samuel Ang, one of my crazy colleagues, is so excited about that and was asking me if he can rent the other room from me so that he can live just next to her. (Samuel kinda has this dinggy for SIA girls!) ..Haha.. Although it's nice having someone funny in the house but I guess I'm not one of the three little pigs in the fairy tale story to invite a **** into my house... Just joking. Well.. I've my anxiety. I'm not sure how this will turn out since I'm really used to having the whole house all to myself, having the freedom to wear anything I want, do anything I want, scream anyway I want, sing as loud as I want.. but I guess these are no longer possible now.. I really hope it isn't going to be that bad living with a stranger.

Anyway after briefing our new tenant about the rules & regulations, we proceeded to Sentosa with Ruxin to join in with the rest of the CG for the lifestyle week for the month. Taken some photos..

Baby Charis came from the mould of her father, Alvin, don't u agree?

Do we have the stature of a parent with baby Charis??? Haha... Daniel says maybe buying a hamster is a beginning step to take towards parenthood. Training to be more responsible by seeing hamster run non-stop on the wheel and powder-bath themselves??? Com'on.. Ya right!

Next, we went to meet Audrey, Derrick, Keeliang & Karen to celebrate Audrey's Bday! Kenneth & Serena were not able to make it as Kenneth was commissioned to be a Lay Zone Supervisor during the weekend. Congratulation Kenneth!!!

Ate at a Thai Restaurant at Far East Plaza...

Then some shopping to digest* our food before we head down for the dessert (*excuse for the ladies.. hehee..)

Ben's & Jerry Icecream @ Dempsey Hill!!!

Ya there is no photo on the icecream but trust me.. we ate ALOT!!! (Derrick: U upload into ur blog ok?)

Played Saboteur and did a lot of crazy shots...

Ruxin mimicking Quan Yi Feng's 夸张 expression for 省钱王 variety program...if you've watched this program, you know what we are talking about.

All of us mimicking Quan Yi Feng's 夸张 expression for 省钱王 variety program

Next we head down to Dragonfly @ St James to join Audrey's Sister for round 2 of celebration.

Yup... it's a long day but Gal, we hope you enjoyed yourself. Happy Birthday Audrey!!! The princess not just in UOB but also in our group

Visit Phin's

2009-08-24T14:50:00.004+08:00

Daniel & I have been walking past this shop located on Level 4 Tampines Mall for many times but we have never set eyes on their food before.

However this particular weekday lunch, Daniel & I caught a promotion board outside their store that says "$11.90 for a Premium-cut steak set meal that comes with a Drink, Soup of the day and garlic bread" so we decided to give it a try.

They run out on the original cheddar sauce for the steak and gave us other choices instead. We chose "Wild Mushroom Sauce" and it turned out to be the best steak we have eaten!!! It was served on a super super super hot hotplate..the meat is so juicy, the sauce is just nice and the sides are so delicious that for the first time we finished everything on the hotplate! Yummy!!!

With the svc charge, comes to be $14.50 each. Affordable and good for a weekday lunch. And it's valid until 5pm!!!

Better than Jack's Place & Tony Roma's. Remember to ask for the "Wild Mushroom Sauce" if you are going to try it out.

Wedding Highlight

2009-08-15T14:06:00.007+08:00

Hi guys, I have finally uploaded my wedding highlight video. It's definitely not easy trying to convert a 500MB file into a less than 100MB file in order to upload.

This is slightly different from the Express Video played during the dinner banquet as this includes the Matrimony & Banquet parts towards the end. And they included the chinese song that I initially wanted for my Actual Day Express Video which they weren't able to do so as there were some copyright issue if they were to do it on the spot.

Yeah!!! The song added a touch of romance to the song...

Enjoy!!!!..........................................................

Healthy week

2009-08-13T12:00:00.003+08:00

Hi guys sorry for not updating my blog for quite some time.. tat's becos I really dunno wat I can blog abt.

Life has been quite routine for the past 2 weeks actually...Family time was most of it all for the past 2 weekends - Eating with the Chia's family during the Chia's Family Monthly Dinner (yes, monthly! "Rule" set by grandpa) & another weekend eating again to remember Daniel's grandma's birthday. Of cos there was more than just food.. Wii is something new in the Chia Family as well. Becos Keeliang has been away in Korea for the past 2 weeks, Karen Chia has managed to convince Daddy James to buy a Wii Console set for "family entertainment" (actually we suspect that the real intention of buying one is to keep herself occupied as Keeliang isn't there with her for 2 weeks, right Karen Chia??!! haha..). Wii has been quite a craze that even Uncle Wang & Auntie Suzie are thinking of buying one too...Wow!!!! I think Daniel's friend who's selling the Wii is so happy cos we have recommended so many people to him..

Anyway back to the topic of the entry, I have been very satisfied with myself for the past week as I managed to go for a jog in a nearby park, as well as cycling the entire stretch of East Coast Park from the Fort Road to Tanah Merah NSRCC back and forth (which means 2x length of East Coast Park) in 2.5 hrs!!! Not bad for a first time... Applause! I felt like my butt has shrunk a bit after all the sweating and non-stop cycling. However our butts were also aching after that..

Along the trail we found some nice sandcastles .....

And also the Cable Ski!!!.... which really looks like a scary thing to do individually but should be fun doing it in a group because you and your friends get to ski together in a circle around the lake at the same time...

Wii and food with Karen's Family

2009-07-25T23:59:00.000+08:00

After helping Ruxin with the Matrimony flower arrangement last friday afternoon, my family came over to my place in the evening to have a time of Wii and try my cooking.

I guess they really enjoyed themselves as I could hear all the laughing and shouts in the background while I was preparing for the dinner. My sister Peipei likes the bunny game in which she has to do silly stuffs in each stage like posing some wierd poses. I think my bro Guan Him likes GuitarHero and Wii boxing. Finally there's someone who could defeat me in boxing - Guan Him! I think my another sis Sharon likes Cooking Mama... anyway I managed to film down some funny moments while they were playing Wii boxing.

I have never seen anyone play Wii boxing as wierd and garang like my sis Sharon...So mei2 xing2 xiang4 right? Sigh...

With the additional fresh prawns that Sharon brought along from her prawning harvest, I managed to put up a pretty decent dinner for my family.

Tata!!!

Sweetcorn soup

Hashbrowns

Baked beans with MeatBalls

Vegetables with Prawns & Caipo (Own Creation after seeing this picture in a foodcourt)... I love this the most!!!

Egg with Beancurd and Prawns (Try to mimic Hotplate Tofu without the use of a Hotplate :p)

My mum likes the last 2 dishes which she herself has never cooked before and will try to cook on her own too.

Blogger Error

2009-07-25T00:02:00.002+08:00

Have been wanting to blog for the past few weeks but have been having problem with my "New Post" page as it's always blank everytime I log in for the past one week.

Found out that I am not the only one having this problem. If you are like me, a Singnet user and a blogger account user, you will experience what I mentioned above.

For Firefox user,

you need to go to Options Under the Tools.
Go to "Advanced" tab,
Go to "Network" Tab,
then click on settings under connection.
Choose "Manual Proxy Configuration"
Under HTTP Proxy, write "proxy.singnet.com.sg" and "8080" for Port
Save the change
Now, go to your blogger "New Post" page.
Press and hold "Ctrl" and then press F5

This should solve the problem. Ok, I'm going to start blogging again!

Mastering Cooking to feed "The Hungry"

2009-07-15T15:30:00.004+08:00

For the past 2 weeks after coming back from our honeymoon, I've tried to prepare some decent meals for Daniel and I'm definitely not talking about instant noodles.

I try to make an effort to make breakfast everyday for us, which sometimes can be as simple as toast bread with butter and Kaya, Melted Cheese and Ham Sandwich or slightly more preparation stuff like a Karen Yeo's version of "Big Breakfast".

Some other items that I've attempted: Porridge, Emperor Chicken (Steam Herb Chicken), Oyster Sauce Vegetables, Udon, Tempura Prawns and Beancurd, Spaghetti with Minced Pork and Enoki Mushroom, Soup with homemade Garlic Bread.

Shopping for grocery and cooking can be quite fun AS OF NOW since I'm still experimenting and trying to improve my skills. Hopefully one day I can be skilled enough to make a decent meal for the entire Chia Family, which I think will take a long long time to be as good as Auntie Suzie who has been the one cooking every Sunday for the Chia family. Unless I diligent seek for the Shi-Fu (my mum) for FastTrack training...haha...Anyway thank God that Daniel will be the one to help me wash up the dishes, saving me from the dirty job. Thank Daniel! Hmm...can you feel the love I have for you???

Well trying to be a good wife doesn't mean that I'm forgetting my parents & siblings. They will be coming over to my place this coming Friday night for a family event. Have planned for this for quite some time already.

Hey, you siblings!!! Other than looking forward to come play my Wii, be prepared to come try my cooking. (Or shd I say be my Guinea Pigs??? Haha..) Anyway you guys can look forward to a sumptuous spread -
Baked Beans with Meatballs,
Vegetables with Prawns and Cai-po,
"Hotplate" Beancurd with Egg, Hashbrowns and
Sweetcorn Carrot Soup!!!

Really looking forward to a great Friday night with my family!

Wii Madness

2009-07-13T10:51:00.004+08:00

Last saturday, I bought my first Wii console set. i bought it from a friend of mine who owns a gamestore. initally i really wanted a Xbox as the games and graphics are much better than the Wii, however i pretty much figured that even if I got a Xbox, karen won't let me play for long hours either, so in order to compromise by getting Wii i can involve her as well hopefully to get a thumbs up from her!!! Like they say "If you can't win them, join tyhem instead" It turns out its a great choice, as the Wii is really light and tiny which is great for chalets as it's really portable.

It's easy for beginners, young and old to pick up with fun games like Cooking Mama and Guitar Heroes, it's great for family and friends with games like tennis, boxing and bowling etc...So I brought the game set to my Mum's place (Whoa!! used to say my place...) and we engaged in Wii. First we created characters that looked like us and we found its REALLY easy to model our dad..
We played bowling and I scored a all time high of 259 with 9 consecutive strikes!!! (never happened before in real life) and we really enjoyed ourselves the most with the boxing game. Turns out karen yeo is still unbeatable and trashed all of us, and keeliang is the worst boxer...trashed by karen chia...xia suay..

The Skinner version of me...

Agnes Mode..

My fair mum

No prize for guessing who is this...

Look at my score!!!

Doing Household chores is hard

2009-07-10T02:16:00.003+08:00

Just finished ironing a load of clothes and it's 2.17am now. Almost fell asleep while ironing. It's really tiring having to iron almost everything including Daniel's home T-shirts and our bath towel. Well.. if you are wondering why I need to do that.. tat's becos back in Daniel's home, that's how things are... from office wear, to home wear T-shirts, curtains to even bedspread!!! They are all ironed by Daniel's mum, and folded "standardly" similar in size in his wardrobe. That's very high standard I know. And I guess being Daniel's wife, I have to upkeep this standard for him.

Yawn.. I only hope that Daniel can change less clothes... Don't do fashion show at home please... haha just joking...

Okie. Need to go ZZzzzz liao. Good night.

Honeymoon Video

2009-07-06T12:03:00.003+08:00

Hey anyway, we have made a very short video on our honeymoon trip. Check it out at the bottom right hand corner of our blog.

Be sure to stop the background music at the bottom left hand corner music player first.
Enjoy!

Honeymoon Part 2 - Bangkok

2009-07-05T23:45:00.010+08:00

Day 5

Upon reaching Bangkok Airport, we immediately took a cab to our hotel "Lebua at State Tower". The ride took us 1 hour and cost us 400 baht. The funny thing was that instead of going to the arrival hall to queue up in the hall, we decided to try our luck to go to the departure hall to get a cab as the queue in the arrival hall is quite long.

Upon stepping out of the airport, a man approached us and asked us if we need a ride and we said yes and agreed on the price. we thought its a taxi but it turns out to be a private car, which means this man is just a civilian but earning a quick buck!! So smart!!

Upon reaching the hotel, we were treated like royalties with a person opening our door and 2 others greeting us and following us. But the thing that blow us off is the feeling when you stepped into the lobby, it is fantastic!!

While we waited for the check-in, we went to their lounge for an afternoon tea.

Ordered a pot of Darjeeling Tea only cos it costs S$20 before tax. And when the tea came, we felt everything's worth it when we saw the beautiful pot, utensils and the special nuts and chocolates that came with it! Karen & I simply love the setting.. reminds us of the tea we had in Goodwood Park Hotel.

It's very contemporary and modern and definitely very classy, we fell in love with this hotel already. And guess what? They checked us in into their suite at Level 54!!! This reminds me of the time when our boss Nicholas Goh brought us to the same building level 64 for a open-air dining during our incentive trip in 2006.

"Lebua at State Tower" is considered one of the best hotel in Bangkok.

Take a look at our suite.

Bathroom...

And they provided Bvlgari Toiletries! Daniel loves them!

Paranomic View of Bangkok from our Suit Balcony

Highly recommended by one of the staff at Koh Samui, we decided to explore their Chinatown (Yaowarat).

Sharkfin, birdnest restaurants and goldsmith shops were everywhere.

We also explored their market similar to our Pa-sha.

Saw a guy selling You Tiao. Took the courage to try since it doesn't look dirty.

Conclusion?? Singapore's You Tiao tastes better.

Manage to find the only shop that's worth us spending some money on shopping - accessories!!!

And yup, we took the Tuk Tuk. Driver was a Indian who drove very crazily. Felt exactly like Mr Brosnan Tuk Tuk advertisement.

Day 6

This day happened to be Sunday so Karen & I planned to go to Chatuchak - their weekend market. This is our first time there. The place is so big and we were lost and didn't know where to start combing. While we were shopping, we came across this very big section that sells pets and we felt very sorry for the animals cos they had to squeeze in overly-crowded cages.

Dogs look very cute

For a moment Karen felt like owning of of them but she immediately told herself not to make emotional buys. Especially after the death of Tummy (the Holland Lope rabbit in her home), she really had much reserves in having a pet again. But we must say that our rabbits & dogs at home really have a very much more fortunate lives than these pitiful animals.

Day 7

Last day of our Honeymoon, we decided to head to Pratunam Platinum Mall to shop some more for the last day. We initially withdrew some baht out to buy stuff, but within in an hour I got to make another withdrawal and in another hour another withdrawal!! Cos there are so many things to buy and they are dirt cheap!! I was telling Karen "This is the first time I am scared of a shopping centre.....it feels like my stock keep dropping in value as every hour passed and the stock market haven close yet..."

I decided to cut short the shopping and go somewhere else haha!! Scary...

After which in the evening, I plan to bring Karen to the Sirocco restaurant at the 64th level of our Hotel which I have booked in advance....

Man the new menu is expensive, twice the price it used to be when Nicholas Goh brought us there 3 yrs ago!

However as it was raining cats and dogs, they brought us to another indoor location

We love the ambience along with a 5 piece orchestra playing music in the background with the soft lights and paranomic night view of Bangkok, I can't think of a better way to end our honeymoon.

But to make it better, i asked the restaurant for a surprise for Karen at the end of our meal. To my surprise too, they came to our table in a crew and shouted "Happy Honeymoon" along with a chocolate Honeymoon cake and a solo flutist playing to the tune of "Christine" of the Phantom of the opera. That swept Karen off her feet :D She said she was really very touched and it was the best way that our honeymoon trip could end. Yeah!!!
And the cake taste great too!!

A great honeymoon indeed filled with many happy memories!!

Honeymoon Part 1 - Koh Samui

2009-07-04T00:23:00.020+08:00

Halo!!! We are back after missing in action from blogging due to our honeymoon trip. While we wait for our wedding photos and videos from various sources, we shall blog about our honeymoon trip first.

We booked our tickets to Koh Samui and Bangkok only 2 days before our wedding, imagine how occupied we were! And the tickets already cost $1K my gosh!

DAY 1

Transit at Bangkok Airport, had our first Thai food at the Airport "Thai Marche". Daniel had Phad Thai and I had their "Zhai Chai Fan".. Tasty but very ex!

Took Bangkok Airways to Koh Samui. By the way this is the only airline that travels to Koh Samui. Colourful & Fanciful Planes right? They call themselves the Boutique Airline. And look! We enter the plane by land.

Checked in to Villa Lawana.

These are some of the various types of villas available at the Villa Lawana.

This is our villa called the Private Plunge Pool Villa. This villa has got a bedroom, a washroom, a "open concept" shower area and toilet, an open-air pavillion and a private plunge pool with Jacuzzi.

Daniel loves the plunge pool so much that he plunges into it at least twice a day over our four-night stay.

Next, we went to explore other parts of Villa Lawana - their common pool, beach etc.

We were glad that there were many massage palours near our resort villa and had our first relaxing massage before we headed for dinner at a local thai seafood restaurant.

And when we returned back to the Villa, we were surprised by the little cookies that they had placed by our bedside for "supper". We thought this was a welcome gift but apparently these cookies were there every night when we returned.

More than this, they also left us a bottle of cold champagne and a heart-shaped cake on our first night knowing that this was our honeymoon trip. So thoughtful of them! I guess this is why they pride themselves with their slogan - "It's in the little things"!!!

See us enjoying our complimentary gifts while we relax in our private Jacuzzi plunge pool in the set-right atmosphere .. What a way to kick start our honeymoon!

Day 2

Basically Koh Samui is an island in Thailand that comes with many beaches. Our resort is situated along Chaweng Beach where you find most happening things becos it's the main town of the island. We wanted to explore more beaches, hence on Day 2 we rented a car for about THB1000/day (S$46) and explored the island.

It takes about 45min travelling abt 40km/h to cover half the coast line of the island. Chaweng Beach is basically very much like a tourist street with many shops that start operating at night and massage palours. As we explored further up, we found more beautiful beaches that has crystal blue seas that has no ship along the sky horizon during the day (unlike Singapore's), experiencing the daily lives of the locals, group activites such as paint-balls & live gun-shooting. We even sat on elephants!!!

Got some fruits and brought back to our private pool for an afternoon swim with longans & mangosteens!

Day 3

Day 3 was a totally relaxing day where we went to a special spa. Well there are many spas in Koh Samui but this spa that we chose was totally a unique experience cos it takes place right in the forest - Yes a forest spa!!! (We were not allowed to take pictures in the spa for privacy reason so we got some online pictures to illustrate our experience)

This is a "Forest Dreaming" package where we have to first soak ourselves in a pool that contains herbs then go for a herb steam that takes place right in a cave. That's right...Cave!!! Coolest place to have a steam bath

Our next step was to go to a Jacuzzi pool that's surrounded by nature. As we sat in the pool, water was trickling down from the waterfall, cotton was falling from the cotton trees like snowflakes and colourful butterflies & dragonflies flying above us. This was the first time I saw Daniel at peace with insects cos these insects would never have survived if he had saw them in the house instead. Drinks and snacks were also served during this 2-hr period of "unwinding in the nature setting".

Finally we had our 2.5hrs of "Twice as nice" Prakop massage right in an open-air hut among the high trees. Steaming Thai herbs, tightly wrapped in cloth, gently applied along the energy lines of the body in combination with Thai massage techniques relieve all our aches and re-energize our muscles. And when the trees whistle with the wind, and you get to see this paranomic view of the forest during the entire massage, you can't help but to feel that the money spent is worth it!!! And this spa was voted the top 100 spas in Asia.

Day 4

Day 4 we went to the common pool to suntan & explore the clear waters along the beach.

Day 5
On our way to Bangkok for part 2 of our honeymoon.

Bye Koh Samui. This is a place that we would love to come back again with our family & good friends...

We shall update our Honeymoon Part 2 at Bangkok soon....

2009-06-27T11:38:00.001+08:00

Hi guys,

Still on our fourth day of our lovely honeymoon in Koh Samui. Now we are leaving Koh Samui to Bangkok for the weekend.

Alot of post we need to do I know and we will do it when we are back.

Some things to watch out for, our wedding day post, our room renovation post, our honeymoon post.

So stay tune!!

The nigh before June 20th

2009-06-19T23:41:00.005+08:00

For all those faithful readers, here is a sneak preview to a momentous event happening tml. Even as I am typing now, the countdown reads 18 mins to my Big Day!!

Today was a great day, we went into JB to pick up the gowns and in the evening my brand new Peugeot 307 is here!!! Its silver in color and it's awesome!! What's more it can be a convertible, with just a button the roof transform like transformer to be topless.

Next after getting the car, we have the task to tie up the ribbons on the car. However it's challenging and thank god my neighbour happens to be a bridal shop owner!! So we ask them to help us tie the ribbons to the car and they did a great job.

Bling Bling

And of course night has fall....and I am now Yang Guo of kung fu hustle....all dignity lost....

Zombie..

My red dancing shoe

Looking forward to my life with Karen. Goodnight!

A Funny Conversation

2009-06-12T08:10:00.005+08:00

Yesterday, Karen and I along with my parents went to JB City Square to dye and cut our hair.. While cutting a very funny conversation took place:

Mum: We want to cut our hair, 4 of us.

Hairdresser 1: Okie. Seat please.

After 5 mins, my mum sat in the chair.

Mum: I want to color my hair its for my wedding.

Hairdresser 1: Oh okie, when is your wedding?

Mum: On the 2oth.

Hairdresser: Okie congrats ah.

So the hairdresser proceed to do my mum's hair along with Karen, me and my Dad.

After about 45 mins, since my hair and my Dad'd hair was done, we went out to have a short coffee break since Mum's and karen's hair might still take a while.

While washing my Mum's hair

Hairdresser 1: Those 2 man are your friend?

Mum: What man?

Hairdresser 1: Those 2 man that did their hair and went out?

Mum: No lah. One of them is my son.

Hairdresser 1: Oh...(How come got son still marry??)

Hairdresser 1: So the woman sitting beside you?

Mum: My son's wife.

Hairdresser 1: Oh your daughter in law? (So the old man (dad) is your 2nd spring??)

So the hairdresser looked very puzzled and decided not to comment anymore. I believer the hairdresser went to share this unique family situation to another hairdresser. At the cashier the 2nd hairdresser asked.

Hairdresser 2: So who is getting married? (Just to clarify since they suspect its Karen.)

But my Mum looked at karen whoose face got no expression, thought maybe she didnt want them to know, replied.

Mum: Yah it's my wedding. 2nd Spirng.

Hairdresser 1 and 2 looked stunned for a moment before answering.

Hairdresser 1 & 2: Congrats ah....

Guo Da Li

2009-06-10T11:22:00.010+08:00

Last Sunday finally is the day to do Guo Da Li. What a stessful day cos got to bring over all the gifts and the "Bride's Price" early in the morning. I have to order 30 boxes of traditional cakes and 4 boxes of traditional teochew snacks and of course the " 4 Pieces of gold", 2 bottles of V.S.O.P 8 oranges with little "Xi" Stickers on it. Also a very important "Ping Jing" The amount is a secret cos that is what Karen is worth to my parents....later too low she will kill me..

Guo Da Li Items

Teochew pastries

Assorted wedding cakes

Perfect handwritten invitation cards...

When I was waiting below for Karen to get ready, my auntie wanted to come along to be like the Mei Por. While carrying the boxes, I was asking my auntie hoping since she is helping me maybe she can give me some tips. So I asked "Hmmmm so when I give the gifts what do i say ah?" " Gong Xi Fa Cai can?" Of course, I know I was joking. But my auntie said " Also can" I was like:"............"

Anyway I decided to shut my mouth when I open the door and just smile and shout "Guo Da Li!!" Well apparently it worked. Anyway inside as I begin to reveal the luxurious gifts, and Karen's parents being simple appreciated it. So we exchanged the oranges and in return she passed me a red plate with various small items in it with various powers...I am suppose to place it on my wedding bed for 3 days and 3 nights... also she passed me a silk pyjamas and a red pair of shoe to wear the night before my big day. OMG!! This suit reminded me of the Husband of the "Landlordess" in Kung fu Hustle....Look like right!! Oh and my favourite gift is this humongous red packet and Karen's mother said: "This is Bao luo WAN You" ang bao, for me to buy land lah etc etc"

The pyjamas that I got to wear...notice the collars...

See Its the same right!!! Cutting, collars and material too...Guess i got to wear a Hair clip the night before too...

The Ark of powers...

See how big is the "Bao Luo Wan You" Ang Bao in relative to my ring...

So after the gift exchange, both parents went into the room and check how much is the "Bride price" After 5 intense minutes, the parents came out and gave me back the remainder of the "bride price to bring back." I gave it all to my auntie to bring back for me and Karen's father gave her an ang bao. Wah so good ah!!

After which, I joined Karen's parents to start sending out the cakes to all the relatives. First we started with her relatives staying near her. Thank God all her relatives just live at the same block same section. So we cleared 18 boxes in just 20 mins. So left 12 more to go.... However this 12 will take us almost 6 hours..

Delivery Woman

We first went to a temple to give to her " dead grandparents and auntie" When I reached the temple, the parents went into the "Attributes" of the temple to buy joss paper. Inside I found rolex and many other valuables for cheap price. The great singapore items are as follow:

A Pabusonic LCD TV HD Ready for only $12!!

A Secret Agent James Bond edition set for only $2!!

A Tai Tai set with LV wallet and watch for only $2!!

A Bungalow for only $40!!

Need money? A stack of $8,000,000 dollars notes for only $2!!

10 kg of Pure 999 Pure Gold for only $1!!
(Guess streets in Hades also made of gold...)

After which we pay respect to Karen's grandparents and then to the rest of the other relatives. Its a great day even though tiring. Looking forward to the 20th!!

Actual Day Gown Selection

2009-05-27T02:14:00.005+08:00

After completing a last min presentation & kan-na roasted by the "chef" (this sentence contributed by Daniel), Daniel & I rushed down to the bridal studio at JB to select our Actual Day gowns. If you are wondering why am I still selecting my gowns when I am 25 days away from the wedding, that's because my thematic package offers me another 3 gowns and Kua (Cantonese traditional costume) for my actual day, which are not part of the 7 gowns that I had for my photoshoot. Great package right?

The bridal studio probably thought that we were eligible to promote their studio packages to our friends and hence gave us many of their new gowns to try. So I had the privilege of being the first to wear some of their gowns.

I love this dress because of the back details and train although the front is simple. But we didn't choose this in the end because there were better dresses..

Sneak preview of the dress that I'll be wearing for the last march-in....
I love the cute flowers!!! Daniel call them sunflowers which apparently isn't and he even asked the assistant if he needs to water them... Silly ~~~ well this dress is easy to carry around during phototaking cos it doesn't have a train. And most importantly, I'm the first to wear this gown!!! It's New!!!

And the Kua that I'll be wearing for the tea ceremony.. Hmm... I don't know how to comment.. either you like or you don't like. Personally I think this is the only chance that I can request to wear a Kua in my lifetime. Beside, I love the bling bling stuff on the Kua! Daniel says I look cute.. Am I supposed to look cute in Kua???

Next Monday we will collecting the album, poster, big wedding bedframe photo and photo DVD. They showed us a sneak preview today and we are going to post some of them here first....

I'm really looking forward to Monday where I can really put my hands to something real, physical and bring them home after all the hardwork of travelling down many times and the amount of $$$ paid.

After that, Daniel & I went to buy a gift for Mummy Annie for all the hard work of helping us with the renovation this while. Thank God for her! Since Mummy Annie is very into wearing hairband nowadays, we decided to buy her a very nice bling bling glamourous hairband to go with her night gown for our wedding night. I think she likes it alot when we presented to her just now.

Alright will keep you all updated again..

Family Walk

2009-05-24T03:00:00.003+08:00

Daniel & I just came back from a super long "fellowship" with my family & closest uncles, aunties & cousins.

My parents treated everyone to a dinner cos they strike lottery with "our number" and after which we went for a walk at Labrador Park which we didn't know would turn out to be an almost 1-hr plus stroll. It has been so many years since I went there.. I was telling Daniel the last time I went there was probably 10yrs ago with my first boyfriend..hehee... and Labrador Park has changed so much. It is so much brighter cleaner and much conducive place for family to picnic and fish or simple stroll or jog.

Just when we thought that it's almost over, my cousin's husband Sam suggested to go "limb teh" -> drink tea at 12 midnight??? And guess what, the entire "fellowship" ended around 130am after tea session. OMG!!! I guess this kinda scare Daniel off cos this is his first "walk" with my family after a dinner and I think he will have reserve in going for another stroll with them again.

But I must say that this is a good & simple way to bond with our loved ones, catching up with each other lives through chit-chatting, strolling & "limb teh" since we seldom spend time with each other.. Moreover our wedding is coming... haha... Anyway it has been an enjoyable time ... but we pray it will not happen too often ;)

Dowry

2009-05-23T12:16:00.008+08:00

In the midst of all the dust & dirty reno works, Daniel's family and I still managed to take some time off to shop for my dowry. As a Teochew Bride, part of the dowry that Daniel & his parents have to "deliver " to my place during the 过大礼 weekend would be the 四点金. This is what Mummy Annie has bought for me..
四点金 - A set of gold with four items.
We chose a set of gold pieces with White Gold details so that they look more contemporary - A Necklace, Bracelet, A pair of Earrings and A Ring

These are too glamorous and heavy looking for everyday wear, don't you think so? Perhaps for functions?

Daniel's grandma also got us to choose a pair of rings that she would be giving to us during the tea ceremony on the Actual Day & we chose this pair:
Nice right??? We didn't know that gold ring can look this nice.. And they are cheaper and have more value than our ROM white gold diamond ring. We decided to use this pair of ring for exchange during our Holy Matrimony.

For those of you who are not yet married, 过大礼 weekend is a weekend (usually 2 weeks before wedding) where the Groom-to-be and parents are to bring some stuff over to the bride-to-be's house and in exchange the Bride-to-be's parents will give some stuff back to the Groom-to-be's parents. This is a tradition and the stuff for exchange vary according ethnic group.
In our case since I'm a Teochew Bride, there's no 烧猪 like Jiaying's but these are the following items that Daniel has to bring over:

四点金
Two bottles of Brandy
Eight oranges
Eight boxes of cakes
Two pairs of Dragon & Pheonix Candles 龙凤烛
Bride's Price in a Red Packet 聘金

Yup that's right, Bride's Price 聘金!!! Hmm.. let me think... Daniel, how much am I worth ah????

Little Sleep for the week

2009-05-18T00:31:00.002+08:00

What have I have busy with the past one week? Hmm.. Fell sick, sending tenants away, consolidating ideas (nice vs practical) & shopping for my master bedroom and toilet makeover, and preparing the game "Don't Forget The Lyrics" for CHC Live House over the weekend.

Initially Daniel & I just wanted to do some simple touch up and reno to our rooms after our tenants' checkout but Mummy Annie suggested that we should do up our bedroom and personal toilet to "set the atmosphere right" for our marriage life. Eh-erm.. it's not wat you are thinking right now...Basically we will still be re-leasing our two common rooms out for the next 1 yr or so.. Hence Mummy Annie wants us to have a comfortable place that we can return home to everyday... so we decided to "Makeover" instead..

Looking for a totally different look and feel to our room and toilet, Daniel and I went through the design and feel with Mummy Annie again and again over the week. Thank God for a Interior Designer Mummy who can help us save time by bringing us to the right contractor, hacker, plumber, electrician etc. and to the right places to purchase our materials. I must say making choices & shopping for the house interior design is stressful becos everything is so expensive and they are going to be there for a long time so there can be no room for mistake!!! The colour theme for our toilet is black white and we love the basin we have chosen.. For those of you who are or who will be looking for toilet accessories, maybe you can consider "Lookz".. According to Mummy, their prices are cheaper than Sim Siang Choon. The MakeOver will start from tomorrow onwards so I guess Daniel & I will be busy for the next 3 weeks at least.

Another thing that caused me to sleep at almost 5-6 am for three days is the game preparation for CHC Live House. Although I had an existing template, there was so much more to do... putting more song selections, finding the 70 songs and converting them to wma. file etc.. But thank God it turned out to be good at Expo over the last two days. You should see how crazy and funny our CHC members were.. The response was simply overwhelming and we had to stop the people from queuing to play the game. JW people, don't worry.. I think the church will bringing the CHC Live House program to JW as well.. so you guys will not miss out the fun.

Ok. enough blogging. I need to Zzzz liao... Gotta go replenish my beauty sleep for the week.

Happy 1st Anniversary Kenneth & Serena!!!

2009-05-11T22:29:00.002+08:00

May your love for each other be the envy of many forever....

Blessing, Karen & Daniel

Tithing with Anticipation and Joy

2009-05-11T03:09:00.005+08:00

About a week ago after one of the cg meetings, Pastor came to meet a few of us in Alvin's cg to fellowship. He was sharing with us about his Housing Agent's unwavering faith on the power of tithing and walking under open heaven, that no matter how busy he is and may not have the time to attend services due to house viewing, he will doubtlessly drop his tithe personally every week at his church office, and always with great anticipation that good things are going to happen to him soon. And many times God will just bring a lot of financial blessing into his life. So after hearing this, I can't help but to agree with Pastor that sometimes tithing can become so routine for us that over time we can lose that "joy" in being a cheerful giver; that "anticipation" that after tithing we will continue to live under open heavens and experience many blessings. And I believe this is not how God wants us to tithe even though tithing is obedience to God's commandment.

Hence quickly last weekend after the sharing by Pastor, I told myself to fulfill my Building Fund Pledge with joy and gladness and today as I tithed, I told God in my heart what I'm anticipating in this phase of my life by writing them on my tithing envelope - of cos "Abundance, No lack, financial blessings" are part of the list that I've written down.

And guess what??? BOTH my parents won 2nd prize in their 4D lottery this evening with my ROM Certificate number!!! Ok.. I know this doesn't sound very spiritual but I'm still glad that my parents got a good amount of $$$ from the prize money which will help them quite a bit with many big expenses coming up.

Not only that, tonight my parents gave me a hongbao for my wedding! Super advance I know.. and I was very surprised too. Maybe you are thinking what came to my mind then. I was thinking "Maybe becos they strike 4D using my number, so they wanna bless me"... but when they told me how much was in the red packet, I knew it wasn't so cos they are not the type who would keep too much cash in the house. So there and then I knew that the 4D winning and the red packet blessing are two separate issues and God have brought about 2 blessings into my life in one night after I tithed with anticipation this afternoon! Thank you Jesus!

They say that this red packet is for me to prepare for the wedding and even if I don't have need of it now, this is their gift for me in my marriage. I was truly very touched in my heart....
Nope Ruxin, I didn't cry. Just touched.

Becos I had this thought in my heart sometime ago and I shared with Daniel too.
"Dear... there are so many expenses.. and our parents have been asking for this and that.. but how come they have never ask us about how we are coping with the preparations and the expenses etc? Whether we have enough or not? How come they never discuss with us about the pin jin (Bride's Prize for the Guo Da Li)? How ah? Are we supposed to come out with our own pin jin during the Guo Da Li?" As much as we want to be independent from our parents, I sometimes felt we were on our own in this area.

But after sometime we come to a point believing that our parents just didn't want to meddle too much with our wedding and that they knew when to give us a helping hand.

Thank you Father and Mother for the big hongbao!

I'm so excited about renewing my attitude in bringing my tithe to the House of God! Thank you Pastor for sharing this with us that night.
With Great Anticipation and Joy I will Bring! Amen!

Results of the Fiona Xie look alike!!

2009-05-10T01:07:00.005+08:00

(CLICK ON PIC TO SEE RESULTS)

Hi guys, as promised this are the results for the competition. And the results are.....50% thinks karen looks like fiona xie at first glance!!! I wonder what karen looks like from the second glance...

And not too bad 31.3% thinks Fiona looks like Karen!! Wohoo guess i got the real stuff huh?

And 12.5% percent of you says if you just woke up....i think you go back and sleep bah...

and finally 6.3% or only one of you voted that " Its like Obama and bush are brothers"...

i think you are color blind... and from all the people i know...only Kee Liang is color blind....

Anyway thanks for all the voting!!! Until next time of our competition stay tuned!!

Introducing Libera

2009-05-09T03:27:00.002+08:00

Today Daniel & I went to finalize our wedding photo album layout. Daddy & Mummy came along as well, and I was a bit worried initally about how they will think especially since the photos were not very conventional type... So when Mummy saw the photos, some comments she made are "Like Ming2 Xin1 (Superstar) hor", "Wau.. so seducive ah", "Nowadays wedding photos don't feel like wedding anymore hor, more like personal makeover portfolio.. so different!"... hmmm...I'm going to take these words positively and I guess she's impressed with the photos.. & so I also hope it will impress everyone else as well...Really excited & looking forward to 1 June when we will receive everything in our package that we have been paying and making countless trips for!!!

Anyway, I wanna introduce this boy band Libera to all of you.

Libera is a non-profit all-boy vocal group directed by Robert Prizeman. Their name comes from their signature song "Libera," which is based on the Libera Me portion of the Requiem Mass. "Libera" is the Latin word for "free". Most of the boys in Libera come from the parish choir of St. Philips, Norbury, in South London. The albums, tours and TV appearances the boys do as Libera are in addition to their regular singing as part of the full choir of men and boys at parish choral services.

These boys have such angelic voices and I will be using one of their songs as my march-in song for my Holy Matrimony but I'm going to keep it suspense except for a few who already knew which song. "Far away" is also very nice and I'm going to use the Piano Version of this song during the Ceremony Procession, which is the song that you are hearing now on my blog. Enjoy!

You can also hear the full song with lyrics in Youtube.

Whereever I go
Far away and anywhere

Time after time you always shine
through dark of night calling after me

And whereever I climb
Far away and anywhere

You raise me high beyond the sky
through stormy night lifting me above

Venite Spiritu et emitte caelitus
Venite Spiritu et emitte caelitus
Venite Spiritu Venite Spiri tus

Whenever I cry
Far away and anywhere

You hear me call when shadows fall
your light of hope showing me the way

Steve Munsey Rocks!!

2009-05-03T15:25:00.005+08:00

To all who enjoyed Steve Munsey over the weekend, here is more from Presence Conference!!

Cab Driver Trying to Be Funny

2009-04-28T23:17:00.003+08:00

This morning on my way to work, I took a cab and about 1 min into the cab, the driver suddenly asked in Mandarin:

Cab Driver: Do you know that Singapore has many KTV Supermarket?
Me: KTV Supermarket?
Cab Driver: Yup, do you where's are some of these location?
Me: What you mean KTV supermarket? Can sing song & shop at the same time?
Cab Driver: Norh... Sing Song Supermarket (Sheng Siong Supermarket) loh!

I was like ... duh!!! ... this cab driver so power. Don't even know that he was trying to tell me joke until this point.

And he went on another one...

Cab Driver: Do y0u go pub?
Me: Seldom. Why?
Cab Driver: What's the biggest pub in Singapore?
Me: (Trying to flow with his style of joke)...Jurong bird park?
Cab Driver: No. Somewhere in orchard. Near CineLeisure
Me: Youth Park
Cab Driver: No.. it's P.U.B (Utilities) & this "pub" only open in the day

Cab Driver: Which ethnic group has the toughest stomach?
Me: Indian
Cab Driver: You are right! How you know?
Me: Becos Ying4 (Hard) Du4 (Stomach) Ren ma

Finally I caught his style and was right!

Cab Driver: Among Sun, Moon and Star, which is the hardest planet?
Me: Hmm.. Dunno
Cab Driver: Which Service Provider are you using for your mobile?
Me: StarHub....
Cab Driver: The ans is Star
Me: why?
Cab Driver: Becos it's Star Hard (Hub...broken english)

Cab Driver: You know ah.. all these jokes I think myself. Sometimes I even call in to radio station to tell them my jokes!
Sigh.. i think this old uncle must be too bored driving around to think of such jokes.

What a day!

2009-04-25T00:47:00.010+08:00

Daniel & I woke up to some great excitement because we were full of anticipation to our photo-viewing and selection day! What will we look like? Will we look fat? Will we look great? These were some of the questions we kept asking other each other on our journey there. As we were expecting some typical up-selling from the bridal during the selection, we also discussed about the additional budget that we would like to set aside for the additional photos. S$300? I suggested since we don't wanna overspend with many other expenses coming up. However we knew in our hearts that's a bit impossible. $300?? At most another 3-5 photos?

Well.. there were quite few weird things that happened as well.

First of all, there was a super angry Indian Money Changer at the 4th floor of CCK Lot 1 who was scolding his employee loudly behind the counter, & was sterned to almost every customer. But I guess becos the rate is 2.395, that's why there was a queue. Shall we go back again? He was sterned to Daniel & shortchanged Daniel of RM5! Wa lau!

Next, it was the teksi uncle who drove us from the Malaysia Immigration Centre to our Bridal. He was a super old man who drove all the way at 50kmph. Imagine that in Malaysia!!! And he almost fell asleep a few times. Sigh! Next time must choose a younger driver.

Daniel & I had lunch at Pontian Wanton Noodle near the bridal. Cheap and Nice.

Next, our photoselection. As much as I hope the process will be simple and short, it was really tough making decisions to eliminate as many photos as possible from 300 shots. Just when we thot that we are merciless in the elimination, we only managed to sheave away about 200 photos. That means we have to top up money for another 46 photos!!! After much negotiation for 3.5 hrs, we top up our photos from 30 to 57. Additional damage: RM2,012 :(
Btw, while I was talking to the coordinator, Daniel secretly took some snap shoots of the unedited photos.. quite blurr though. Sneak Preview...

As we are sick of City Square, we decided to drop by Tebrau City Jusco nearby to check things out. Had dinner at Manhattan. It's cheap!!!

Fish & Chip RM16
5 Prawns with Lobster Sauce RM19
Total Damage Rm62

Lastly, there were a few home deco shops and we had some good shopping there for our Tamp home.

Bedside lamps (Useful for Chinese Wedding Customary as well)

Floor Lamp

2 Ducks to place on my staircase

Pup (Daniel insisted on buying this)

Well, not only Daniel is excited about this Pup, Aries is also equally excited as she somehow thought that this is her new toy.

Aries inspecting a new intrusion in the house

Aries is excited about her new friend

Right now as I am typing, Aries is still waiting outside the room as Daniel has snatched away "her friend' from her & placed in his bedroom instead. Oh no!!!!

Does Karen Look Like Fiona Xie?? Please Vote!!

2009-04-23T00:30:00.004+08:00

Hi, Ever since I met Karen Yeo, I always thought she looks like Fiona Xie!!! Even Ruxin said that, well today Let's find out is this a truth or a myth..... let the voting begins!!! Voting ends 10th of May 2009 and we will reveal the answer.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE !!!! PLEASE VOTE PEEPS !!!

Pedicure 101 "Ah Chia Pedicure Pte Ltd"

2009-04-22T00:32:00.009+08:00

Today I want to introduce a new form of Pedicure for gentlemen and ladies alike!!

Ah Chia Pedicure Express Pte Ltd offers the special designs and french nails.

OPEN LOTUS FRENCH NAIL

Express- $12
Classic-$20

WINTER SONATA SNOWING NAIL

Express- $15
Classic- $25

And Of course our AH CHIA Specialty!!!

VICTORIAN HALF CUP !!!

Express-$5,000
Classic-$7,000

Do visit us at the basement carpark of Block 431 Tampines, beside Express Shine Car Wash...

So Remember At AH CHIA: "Your Nail Will Be Like My Nail!!"

Our outdoor photoshoot

2009-04-21T23:46:00.005+08:00

On thursday 16th April 2009, we rushed to a balloon DIY shop at a very Wulu part of JB in the morning even though we were late for our photoshoot schedule. What were we doing there???
Buy my all time favourite helium balloons! We didn't have a chance to take picture of it but you will definitely catch its snapshot in our outdoor photoshoot and live video during our dinner banquet.

Actually wanted to film a romantic scene whereby Daniel and I holding hands and releasing the helium baloons into the air but unfortunately our dear photographer "Tian Ling Ling" didn't secure the balloons tight enough. So when I was in my best cinderella pose, our videographer Ah Yeo shouted "Zhao1 Gao1 le4 !! (In malaysian slang)" and there goes our RM30 helium balloons flying into the air. Thank God we still managed to take some shots with the balloons before that. A touch of romance to our shots...

Anyway, I was really pleased with my outdoor outfit & hairstyle as my gown comes with a super elaborated and long train. Something very unusual and unique for a outdoor shoot. Cos usually Bridal Studio will try to give the shortest and simpliest design to minimise damage to the gown. Nice??? I guess many other brides from other studio who saw me in the shooting venue were full of envy. Well.. it requires some sacrifices too to be pretty as the train were super heavy and Daniel had to help me carry the train along the way as well. Not forgetting some moments where I had to run in my heavy train for live videoing. Our Videographer Ah Yeo gave us some super challenging moves as the song that we have chosen for our MTV is a rather fast song "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. Moves like swinging each other, running across the field in heels & heavy train, Daniel carrying me & spin, Daniel doing star-victory jump after proposing to me etc... It was really tough but more fun compared to the sophiscated mood of our indoor shoot.
(From Daniel point of view) Daniel: Like how karen easily say it was fun...fun for her cos she was the joyride and I was the big ferris wheel.... While spinning I got to "Ren" and bear her weight and start to spin and when Ah Yeo says " Zhang Kai Ni De Shou", Karen continues to smile and enjoy the ride while i was whispering through my teeth" Opennn...your arrrrmmmssss....huff huff" and I have to do it while smiling...can you imagin my agony...best of all, Ah Yeo Said: " Xin Lang, ni the nian hen ku, wo men zhai lai bah"... faint.

As it was raining prior to the shoot, we had some "Quality Time" with our photographer and videographer. After talking more to Tian Ling Ling, I guess he's not such a difficult person after all, like how we felt intially during the indoor shoot. He's just different (like how SMU students call themselves - We are just different! Duh~)

Ok back to the topic. Anyway, though it was not shining hot, it was a very humid weather after the rain to take pictures in Kota Tingi Rainforest Resort. The entire crew were seriously attacked by hungry mosquitoes who took us to be their free-flow buffet. I was the most seriously attacked. Got 30 big bites all over my arms and lower legs. Imagine them flying beneath my train. See??? Poor me! Father pls let my arms & legs heal quickly without leaving any scars! Tolong, Tolong...

Daniel: After the tiring day, we decided to go and eat our favourite meal at City Square...Sushi King!!! Took some shoots even though we are tired but look at Karen, She looks just like Fiona Xie!!! Don't you agree yeah??
Thats all folks...my hand pain...

This is my life Memory Lane

2009-04-14T14:09:00.022+08:00

Hi guys, looking through my old hard drive I went through a lot of old pictures when I was 21 years old and above. Those were the times...one can't help but wonder how fast times pass us by. SO I Decided to do a memory lane for my pictures for you guys.

Karen baptisim in 2003!!! Back then we were already separated but I still am an ardent fan of Karen so I went to rally for her baptisim :D It's kinda of significant because It was my baptisim in 1999 that karen and I started dating :D

Haha and Karen and I also went bowling at cineleisure level 9 (Closed down). Look at my hair!!! OMG!! Looks like an Effiel tower replica...

Also I bought my dog Aries in 2003 I think. It's a beautiful dog and very friendly too. She is currently 6 years old I think and is a proud member of the CHIA family: Aries Chia.

This is our CK zone first youth day camp. See ruxin in this picture...looks annoited..also Pastor with his Centre parting look suave too.

Oh a picture of my sister before she went to pluck her eyebrows (Which in my opinion is the only similarity between us...)

For those who didn't know my 2nd cellgroup after Bro Andrew was none other than our dear Audrey!!!! It was under her leadership that I moved into cellgroup leadership in 2004

Oh....I posted this because i am appreciating my slim body (=.=") Time to photoshop my Wedding pictures haha..

V Day 2005

V Day 2006

This is our Valentine's day year 2005 when I bring karen out for a valentine dinner at boat quay. We are still seperated then...haha but we got together one year later on Valentine 2006.

A picture of me and my sister with our favorite SUN!!

Our Taiwan trip!! See our loving Kenneth and Serena is!!

My loving grandparents!! My grandmother joined our Lord Jesus on the new year of 2007.

That's all for today. Watch out for my Memory Lane part 2. Ciao

Indoor PhotoShoot

2009-04-08T19:32:00.000+08:00

What a day it has been for Daniel & I at our Pre-Wedding Indoor PhotoShoot yesterday!
Really very Siong man! From 11am to 8pm, we didn't stop at all.

For 9 hrs, we had 6 different makeup, hairdo and gowns/suits, shifting from one background setup to another. The makeup artist Angeline and Photoshoot assistance Ah-Wei were very patience and nice people. However the cameraman aka Tian Ling Ling was a skinny, impatient perfectionist. He was asking me, especially, to do a lot of difficult poses like those models appear in magazines such as entreme bending of waist, lifting of leg, standing on one leg, seducive posture, staring into the camera with attitude.....and the list goes on. I think our album will not have more than 30% of our shots contain our smiles because most of the times we were supposed to carry some "character".

Although it was not fun being criticized by that Tian Ling Ling many times for too stiff, I must say that he really helped us alot in guiding us in various poses and he's really professional & experienced in taking magazine-style shots. By the time Daniel & I got to the 3rd suit/gown, we more or less were able to catch the 'magazine" mood, and enjoy the feeling of being a model. Haha.. Once in a lifetime.

Really hope that when we go back on 16th April for our outdoor photoshoot, we can be more seasoned by then.

Getting Ready for Photoshoot

2009-04-06T21:05:00.000+08:00

Karen writes:

Tomorrow is our Indoor Photoshoot. So today I went to pamper myself with facial & manicure/pedicure. Went for a 2.5 hrs treatment facial that supposedly is to make my face glow for the photoshoot. Cost me a $100!!! Want to see my glowing face after the facial?

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You really think that I will let you see my after-facial horrible face meh???? Although some of you might have seen that before already. Haha~

Anyway after that I went to do manicure and pedicure at City Plaza. Ok, this is cheap. $35 for full classic manicure with nail art and $30 for full classic pedicure with glitter.

Nice??? Well, for those of you who knows that my nails are super small and short, manicure and pedicure are really not my cup of tea since my fingers can't bring out the best in them. So I'm actually very satisfied with the pretty nails that are sitting on my fingers now.

I must say that wedding comes with a lot of miscellaneous costs. And I'm really glad to have a generous hubby who's sponsoring my facial and nail art, and the expensive white heels too!!! Thank you Daniel for your love!!!

Goodwood Park Durian

2009-04-06T13:00:00.000+08:00

Daniel says that I dressed very nice today for service and would like to bring me to a nice place. So he brought me to Goodwood Park Hotel to eat durian pastry! Secret: Daniel has always been upset over the fact that he wasn't the first guy to bring me to Goodwood Park.

Anyway while waiting for Karen Chia to finish her pedicure, Daniel & I enjoyed a nice pot of hot tea on a rainy day (The name of the tea is Prince Something), together with their famous durian roll & moose cake. Yummy!

Look at how beautiful the pot and the cups are!!! Daniel & I think that maybe we should buy one of these so that we can enjoy the same atmosphere under our new roof on a rainy day too!

Welcome to Our New Blog!!!!

2009-04-05T17:15:00.000+08:00

Hi Guys,
Finally Karen has persuaded me to move over to her blog....I said yes because I watched the movie "Yesman" by Jim Carrey. Its about Jim Carrey learning how to say "Yes" to life opportunities and guess after watching the show on my return trip from Macau, Karen asked me again..

Karen: " Oei can move over to my blog or not please???"

Daniel: "......."

Daniel: (Inner man= Say Yes to life opportunities!!)

Daniel:" Sigh...Yes Dear..."

Karen: " YEAH!!!!!!!!" (Runs around like a mad woman)

Yeah so I redid the the blog and here I am as a co author on this blog. Of course Karen allowed me to bring some inhabitants over from my previous blogs over. thank god..

Oh yes Macau!!

I went to Macau from the 1st April to 3rd april and i stayed at the Venetian Hotel, Macao 5 star Hotel!! Oh it's one of the finest hotels so far i Stayed in, it has a sleeping area which leads to a living room. It has vintage venetian era furniture and a bath room finished with marble and gold plating!!

Well the main highlight of the Hotel is the casino!!! Wohoo!! The Hotel has a shopping Arcade and it has a river running in the centre of the shopping mall

It has real Gondola with the boatman floating down the river singing opera songs with their theatrical voices that can cover the entire mall! I wonder how do they do it, not only that the sky on the ceiling is fake but it looks so real that you would though its the real sky. Not only that, it also changes color according to the time of the day. Amazing.

One of the harvest from my shopping: La Maschera Dek Galeone (Mask , Handmade in Italy)
It is a fun trip but I do look forward to visiting China and Hongkong instead. So till then watch out for my post soon. :D

The Movie - Knowing

2009-04-04T02:29:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes...

Daniel and I just came back from a great movie - Knowing starred by Nicholas Cage. This is a gripping action-thriller about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions on the future and sets out to prevent them from happening.Not a typical end-times movie, but rather intriguing to see how the character witnessed unexpected events just happened like that around him in a flash. Cinematography & sound effect is good. The series of events and the ending will leave you in deep thoughts.
Daniel and I give a A- rating for this movie. If you have time for one, watch this! (2hr)

Time with Mum

2009-04-03T02:27:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

My mum has been consulting me what kind of hairstyle she should cut for my wedding so today I treated my mum to the Tom Yam Chicken Ban Mian at Amara, followed by a haircut at HairGraphic near my office. The bill isn't cheap cos she permed her hair. But I guess everything is worth it cos she likes the Ban Mian and new haircut very much. This is the first time that she goes for a better hair salon like this since most of the time she cuts her hair at neighbouring shops to save $. 伟大的妈妈

I really enjoy times like this when I get to spend personal time with my mum.. Mum & Daughter Bonding. So seldom hence very precious. The last time I brought her out was last year! oh my gosh - for fish therapy, massage and a nice Jap meal.

The thought that I'll not be staying with my family soon caused me to treasure my times with them as much as possible. My siblings are very happy about the fact that I'm moving out cos less one person to squeeze with them in the house. Urgh So 沒良心! So for the past few months, I tried spending more time with my mum every now & then like accompanying her to the market, eat breakfast with her, learn cooking from her, chit chatting etc... things that I may not have the luxury of doing so often next time. Or rather things that I seldom do with her since we are so busy with our lives...

My mum said one thing that makes me feels that she's very 伟大 is that:
When you marry with Daniel, you must not make your Mum-in-law feel that she lost a son, but make her feel that she has gained another daughter.
Wow! What a word of wisdom and so self-less!

I guess we must constantly make consciencious effort to spend time with our parents so that they will feel assured that they are well-loved and that we still remember them despite our busy-ness.

Daniel is not around

2009-04-01T21:48:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

Daniel is away in QC Elite Macau until weekend. I'm bored so I decided to make my family my first experiment of Warm Choc Muffin!

Based on my memory while watching this program "Every Day Food" this morning, I came out with this!

Tada!

Warm Choc Muffin with Icing and Ice-cream!
Imagine Warm & Cold Sensation in your mouth! Ooo.......

To make 4 of these:

Spread some butter and sprinkle some sugar onto the baking mould tray
Melt 125gm of Bitter Choc
Mixture:

Beat 3 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of sugar
Add in 2 eggs
Add in 1/3 cup of All-Purpose Flour
Add in a pinch of salt

Then pour in the melted choc while it's hot to mix well with the rest of the mixture.
Pour mixture equally into mould
Bake for about 25-30 mins at 160 degrees.

Visit Serena & Jordan

2009-03-31T01:47:00.001+08:00

Karen Writes:

This afternoon Audrey, Ruxin & I went to visit Serena & Jordan. It's been only a week since the delivery and Serena is already very pro with taking care of her baby. Serena I believe you are doing a great job in taking care of Jordan. Power!!! Continue to take good care of yourself while busy taking care of Jordan ok?

After that we went to City Plaza to shop for heels for our wedding shoots and actual day. Ruxin bought a silver pair and I bought a white pair with crystal heels. As you guys know, I'm not tall enough so we need at least 3-4inches heels. Don't be deceived by the looks. It's actually very comfortable to walk in cos it's cushioned & has a platform in front. Suitable armour to walk thru 50 tables during the banquet dinner. Damage: $120.

By the way, the Auntie who sold us the heels is too agressive & pushy in her selling skills. She was not willing to let us try the different sizes until we are more or less confirmed with the design. If not for the design, we would not have bought from that shop. Boycot!

Preview of Wedding Photoshoot

2009-03-31T01:10:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

Last Friday Daniel & I went for our Gown & Suit Selection at Graceful Creation, JB.

We were prepared to spend a long time at the Bridal Studio since Ruxin spent about 5hrs settling her gown selection. Well.. I guess since our photoshoot is a theme package, it's much easier for us since we only need to choose 7 gowns from their 20 gowns in the theme package. And the girl who helped me with the changing, Vivian, was really efficient. In the end we only took about two hours to settle our selections. But we need to go back another time in May to choose our Actual Day Wedding Gown & Suit, as they will have more new arrivals by then.

My 7 gowns for PhotoShoot include:

A pure white gown with sweetheart neckline and Taffeta Silhouette
A Victorian style white gown with lacey high neckline & long sleeve with ballgown Silhouette
A black shimmery tube neckline gown with A-line Silhouette
A yellow-green Mermaid gown with long & widespread train of black trimmings & flowers
A white tube neckline gown with train of red trimmings & flowers
A purple gown with tube neckline and Taffeta Silhouette
A white layered gown for outdoor shoots

Prelude to my PhotoShoot

Poor Daniel didn't have a choice over what he will wear as they already have a matching suit for each gown. So whatever I choose, he wears the corresponding suit. Sorry!

Indoor Photoshoot is scheduled coming 7th April. I believe we will have a fun time then.

Tummy's Gallery

2009-03-30T23:32:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

For those who have not seen Tummy before... Welcome to his gallery

Tummy in 2007 - Still an adolescent and tiny

Tummy in 2007 - Grown into a Kid (On Potty), Make friend with Sponge (Lying down)

Tummy Grooming Himself

Tummy Escaped into the house - He loves digging this mat

Tummy totally relaxed - Sleeps like he's dead
Often deceived by him

Tummy eating hay & carrot - always greedy

Tummy is toilet trained

Tummy playing & looking at me

Comforts My Heart To Know...

2009-03-28T13:59:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

In the book "Heaven is So Real" by Thomas Choo, the author writes in Chapter 6 & 7 about her experience of how God led her into a garden, a paradise of beauty, love, joy and peace. This is what she writes in Chapter 7:

.... and returned to a place I had started to call "animal mountain". This is a wonderful place I briefly described in the previous chapter - a place of peace and joy where all animals coexist in delightful delightful harmony.

The Bible depicts this peaceful place for animals in the book of Isaiah, where the prophet proclaims:

"It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD."
- Isaiah 65:24-25

.....The Lord's "animal mountain" is a place of eternal joy & happiness. It is reassuring to know that animals will live with us in paradise. So many people wonder if their pets will be in Heaven, and I am happy to let them know that heaven is a place of beautiful flowers, peaceful animals and glorious radiance where people and animals alike will never experience pain, hardship, death or suffering ever again.

My last moments with Tummy keep coming back to me and I kept thinking to myself that maybe Tummy would still be around if we had noticed him earlier. Until Daniel read me this verse from the Bible and this passage from the book…

To Chai Luang & all those who lost their pets:
I hope this brings comfort to your heart as much as it does for me. Our pets are in a better place where they have great company and their needs are all well taken are of. And we know that we have given them the best provision, attention and love when they are still around. They will always live in our hearts.

Tummy pass away ... 26 Mar 09, 6:50pm

2009-03-26T23:36:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

Dear friends,

Tonight has been a devastating night for me as I witnessed Tummy's Death.

Tummy, together with Sponge, are both Netherlands breed and have been part of our family since the day my sister brought them home. They even carry our family name - Tummy Yeo and Sponge Yeo, that's how close they are to us.

Tummy has been sick for the past few days & have not been eating. We brought him to the vet and was expecting him to recover soon after the vaccination like the previous time. I was even playing with his tail and patting him this afternoon even though he wasn't eating yet after the vet's visit. Who knows the last time I saw him was when my mum noticed that he wasn't able to lift up his head anymore. He was lying straight in front of me. I stroked his head and he tried to lift up his head and dropped again. i thought he was fine and was responding to me. But he kept doing it a couple of times as though he couldn't stop himself knocking his head. And the next moment he stopped breathing.

Tummy's death came too sudden & unexpected. Everyone in the family was very sad and cried. When I saw my mum's unbelieving & crying face, it reminded me of the time when my white local rabbits passed away when I was still in secondary school. My mum was so devastated as she took care of them & their 10 babies everyday when she herself was pregnant too.

Tears couldn't stop dropping even as I write now. Tummy & Sponge have been my company in good & bad times. There are some mornings that I was awaken by Tummy becos he "escaped" from the balcony and always likes to visit my bedroom in particular. There are times when he will come "begging" for rabbit treats. There are times when I was sad & lonely & would cry with him. And every night just before I sleep, I would check on them to give them a Good Night stroke on their cheeks *They love it! & make sure there is enough water. They have brought so much joy in my life. I was even thinking to myself that I would definitely want to take a picture with them in my wedding gown on my day. But I will never have the chance to do it with Tummy again.

Daniel says we will meet our pets when we go heaven because the Bible says that in heaven, lion lie beside sheeps. I don't know if that's true but Tummy, I'm sad to see you pass away before my eyes. I love you and I will always remember you my friend... ...

My "first time" experience over the weekend

2009-03-24T16:14:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

Sat night Keeliang arranged a surprised bday party for Karen Chia by getting Daniel & I to join them after their dinner at the Pump Room tog with 3 other Karen Chia's colleagues. Pump Room is a nice pub in Clarke Quay with a nice entertaining band, that serves their own brewed beer "Pump Room Lager" - Pretty crisp & light, & you don't get drunk even after drinking a tower. Karen Chia can testify to that. She's a good drinker. I guess she will be the one to "da" the alcohol on her wedding banquet. She has indeed inherited this trait from her mum (my Mum-In-Law)...Haha...

For so many years Daniel has been requesting me to dance with him whenever there is an opportunity & my ans has been No, No & No! However last night I gave in & yup...I had my first dance with Daniel, Keelaing, Karen Chia & her colleagues. I must say that although I had my portion of silly & unglam moments on the dance floor, it was even more amusing looking at Keeliang dance (or rather stamping his feet on the floor "_")

Sunday after Church Service, CK zone held their 1st event of the KingKong vs Godzilla Bowling Competition. This is my first time playing bowling with Javier. After failing to hit the pins a few times, the gals tried to teach Javier the "Angel Style" which is to place the ball on the floor and pushed it forward. Of cos our image-conscious Javier wouldn't fall for such "Angelic" name & adopt such unglam & Gu Niang style. It's really funny to see him blush whenever the crowd cheered for him each time his ball hit the pins. This is also my first time witnessing Miss Cool (Jewel) outside her usual cool & indifferent look - She actually clapped her hands when Audrey had a strike and boo-ed me when I hit nothing. Imagine her expression! Urgh! How dare you! Haha.. Children are funny.

Anyway I had another first time with our very own Javier Tan! oh my gosh, this sounds so scandalous but it's nothing close to that. The story goes like this... ... ...

Audrey & I were about to leave the Ladies when we heard Javier from outside.

Javier: I need the toilet

So we showed him the way to the Gents but we realised he was all by himself.

Audrey: Can you manage by yourself?

Javier didn't ans our qns, went into the Gents, browsed a bit (wondering what was he browsing for?) and he came out saying:

Javier: I don't think I can

And off he went, straight into the Ladies as if he knew we would follow him in. He chose a cubicle, went in & put down the cover... wait a min.. put down the cover??? Don't tell me he wanna poo poo?
After about a min, there was still no noise inside the cubicle.

Audrey: Are you ok? Can you manage by yourself?

There was no reply... ... ... ... Long silent ... ... ... ... ... ...

Javier: I don't think I can

Audrey & I suspected that he poo-pooed and needed help in cleaning. And this Audrey looked at me as if her face was saying "ok you do it"
There & then, I braved myself to the occasion. But the door was still locked. I was thinking in my heart "Why hasn't he opened the door? Is he having second thoughts after asking our help since we have not helped him before?"

Me: Can you manage? Do you really want us to come in?

Audrey: Aiya, this Karen ah... ask so many questions.. Just go in la!!!

And the door was opened.

Javier: Wait ah... he sat & pooed some more.

Ok.. He wasn't paiseh for not opening the door. He just wasn't done with his business. I was thinking too much.

Yup, it was't difficult cleaning anyway. But I do have difficulty buttoning up Javier's pants. It was a bit tight & poor Javier had to breathe in so much to get it done.

Javier, time to learn to button up & clean up yourself and get ready for Primary School!

Sneak Preview of our Gal's day out

2009-03-20T00:46:00.000+08:00

Daniel Writes:

Family Celebration for Karen Chia's Bday

2009-03-19T15:19:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

Karen Chia's Bday is this coming Sun, 22 Mar. That's right!~

So last night we went back to Haven's Grill & introduce my future family to this proven restaurant. Thinking back, it's seems like I'm always the one who got pin-pointed to suggest places to eat. Do I look like a Food Guru or something?? Some good places we have been are like hmm....Five Star Chicken Restaurant (East Coast Road), Waraku (Cuppage), Hua Yu Wee Seafood Restaurant (Upper East Coast Road), Boss Restaurant (VivoCity), Haven's Grill (Joo Chiat)...ya?

This time round we ordered:
A bottle of House Red Wine
Soup - French Onion Soup (same as previous)

Appretizer - Meatball

After visiting for the 2nd time, I feel that the appretizer portion can be bigger. Only enough to share between 2-3 people.

Main Course - Sirloin Steak, PorkChop, Baby Ribs, Creamy Mushroom Linguine & Pizza.

The Linguine is super worth for it's price. Nice but perhaps can try requesting for it to be more "wet" the next time round. Pizza is 10" & is super thin & nice! That's right.. it's a must try. Good to share in a group.

Audrey mentioned in her blog about a few people who's good at mimicking. Let me tell you who's good at mimicking Indians & Filipino & Hokkien Aunties - Karen Chia! We really had a good laugh in the car hearing her mimicking them. That's right~We have a hidden talent in the church. In fact, we suggest that she should join our church drama team. She's super good!

Gals Night Out

2009-03-17T10:55:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

It has been ages since the gals in our click hanged out tog. Oophs, in fact it's our 1st time since we normally hang out tog with the guys. Anyway RuRu, Audrey & I went to this restaurant at 191 Joo Chiat Road, Haven's Grill.

We had a great time enjoying

French Onion Soup;
Cheese & Ham Portobello (Big Mushroom) as appetizer;
Baby Ribs, Sirloin Steak, Chicken Stew as main course;
A glass of red wine each.

The executive chef, Thomas Lam, says his style of cooking is much like Jamie Oliver. Although he doesn't use salt & msg on his food, his food is delicious as much of the natural taste is preserved with good use of herbs. He shared that he's currently teaching delinquents & school drop-outs cook & set up small businesses. He also desires to be able to design a kitchen environment that is conducive for the hearing-impaired one day. Wow! We are talking about a man who desires to change lives & be a blessing to the society more than just his passion in cooking!

It sets me thinking that me being a Financial Consultant, we are more than just giving quality advice in investments & savings - We play a very important role in the society by protecting our clients adequately with life insurance, personal accident & hospitalization needs. We play a very important role in assisting our clients to preserve & enhance their finances. That's what make us different from a Property agent or a Car Dealer.

Eerie Story

2009-03-16T17:05:00.001+08:00

Karen Writes:

My mum & I had a conversation about undertakers and we kinda agree that undertakers earn good money and you can't bargain with them regarding the funeral wake expenses.

True hor... who dares to bargain for such things... like very bu siao (unfillial) if we do that.

Anyway the conversation went on to a funeral that my mum attended last year. She mentioned about one of the deceased's daughters who was not a giving person by nature, & did not give much money to her parents. Just before he passed on, he "scolded" her daughter for being stingy with her parents & took them for granted for many things. So during the funeral, my mum says for the first time the daughter decides to buy a good coffin with gold trimmings for her father. Right now, this daughter has moved out of her father's house as she felt uneasy staying there.

The spooky-ness starts here...
It was said that they kept hearing "sounds" within 100 days of the funeral. And the daughter's husband saw "her dad" walking around in the house during the funeral wake!!! Creepy right? Haha.. don't read this at night. Anyway, my hair was standing given the eerie atmosphere and all the sound effects that came from TV at the background.. The Taoists believe the soul of the dead will come back to visit the family within 100 days of death. So I began to explain to my mum that when we die, my spirit will go to heaven or hell. Usually such incidents are done by evil spirits sent by the devil to imitate the deceased so as to impose fear within man's heart, and not done by the spirit of the deceased.

Dumpling Day

2009-03-14T12:59:00.001+08:00

Karen Writes:

My mum taught me how to make dumpling today. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients to make 55-60 Dumplings:
300gm minced pork
300gm prawns
10 fresh waterchessnut
250gm of Gu Cai (Those long thin stripes of green vegetables that look like chong)
300gm Dumpling skin
Seasoning
Salt
little MSG
Sesame Oil
Pepper

That's it! Easy!

Cooking: Boil (for healthier choice) or Shallow Fry (to make guo tie)

Night out with Mum

2009-03-14T11:51:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

Last night my mum & I managed to catch 2 horror movies over TV.

12 midnight @ Channel U - a Thai ghost movie about a pregnant woman who was harassed by a female ghost looking for her baby. Apparently this ghost needed this pregnant woman to help her investigate her mysterious death cause and the location of her baby. It turned out that actually this ghost (known as A mei when alive) had an affair with her teacher who is already a family man & got pregnant. The teacher obviously didn't want the existence of the baby to destroy his teaching career & family so he got people to drown her in a swamp. And Thai being the superstitious type, felt very uneasy about the fact that there is a foetus still in the dead corpse so the undertaker operated on the dead woman to take out the foetus. The following day, the undertaker sold the foetus to a rich man who believed that keeping foetus in the house can continue to bring prosperity to the house. So much so for feng shui...So the show ended with A mei taking revenge at the teacher & those who caused the separation of her foetus and her.

130am @ Channel 8 - a Hongkong ghost story which comprises of 3 parts and revolves around a team of undertakers and corpse make-up artists. The first part is about one corpse make-up artist's love for his beautiful girlfriend whom had an accident and had half of her face broken. She appeared to him & tell him that she wants to look pretty on her wake. So he makeup himself to look like her & guess wat? That's right, he laid himself onto of his girfriend in the coffin beneath the glass top & nobody actually realised that it's him. So yup.. he was buried alive with his girlfriend. The last 2 parts are very typical & not worth mentioning.

Actually I don't think I would have stayed up till 3plus to watch these ghostly movies if I was watching alone. Kinda scary to watch ghostly shows with all that scary sound effects when everyone else has fallen asleep right? But wat kept me going was my mum.. she actually stayed up to watch with me. To add to the eerie atmosphere, we had some spooky conversations too. She said "Next time when you are pregnant, better not watch this kinda scary shows, not good for the baby. Dun go zoo & see animals otherwise your baby will become like monkeys. Don't nail into walls. Don't use scissors on the bed..." Talking about foetus education tai jiao
..hehee.. And the list went on....

Understand the pain of Jesus???

2009-03-13T22:26:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

I was in the train today with Daniel & his leather shoes kept knocking onto my toes & finally on the 3rd time, my biggest toe nail couldn't take it anymore and break! Painful sia~ & blood oozed out immediately.. see the pic below.. gross right?
And you know what Daniel says? "You know what? Karen, Easter is coming & this is to let you understand the pain that Jesus went through on the cross. Also this can prepare you for the days of Tribulation"... Diao~~??? Feel like boxing him at the moment.

Forever Grasshopper In Concert

2009-03-13T00:13:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

Oh man, I just saw this advertisement on the TV. One of the most popular boybands during our teenager years is back in action!

Of cos I am not their fan but when I saw this advertisement, I recalled the first time when I went KTV with Audrey and Ruxin and they shocked me with their enthusiasm in Grasshopper's songs as they grabbed the mic and jumped onto the sofa and danced along with the songs coupled with actions. It was a cultural shock!!! Songs like yi qi san ba wu & ai bu pa, are the usual hightlights of the night. But of cos it is always so entertaining to sing with them even though they may sing the same songs each time we K. Gals, it has been so long since we last K, when's next?

Ruxin, Audrey: Don't miss this concert ya?

Relatives vs Friends

2009-03-11T23:53:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

My family is asking for 10 tables as part of our wedding "Guo Da Li" items. These tables will be mainly relatives on my side. On top of that they will be paying for another 2-3 tables on their own to invite their own friends.

Daniel's mum just told me that they may need to have around 16 tables for their relatives, church friends & business partners.

Wow!! That's like 29 tables on relatives alone! Since we have booked about 45 tables in order to use the columnless, high ceiling Crystal Ballroom, that means that we only have an approximate 16 tables for our personal friends. Anymore would kill our legs and smile muscles as we take pics from table to table.

Imagine 29 tables relatives : 16 tables friends

Man, I was like thinking in my heart.. Wouldn't I need to entertain a lot of people on my wedding night whom I dun really know? How to cover 10 tables on my family side and all other expenses with only 16 tables of friends??? How I wish the ratio is the other way round... No wonder I used to hear couples complain about how their wedding banquets turn out to be a family event & how they had to shake hands with so many "unknown" people on their day.

I know we have to respect & please our parents especially since we are the first in the family to get married. But I believe that there should be a good balance in the ratio in order for us to really enjoy our day by sharing our joy with people who are close to us. Not forgetting a good ratio can help to cover costs as well. Maybe a good ratio would be 25 tables relatives : 20 tables friends??? How to put across to our parents so that they can understand our concerns?

Weird dreams

2009-03-11T02:50:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

As the wedding date draws nearer, I can't help but start having wierd dreams...

dreams where anything can go wrong went wrong..

Dreams where my MakeUp Artist disappear without finishing my hairdo

Dreams where the ring bearer was missing

Dreams where I was standing outside the ballroom and without any preparation and prior notice, the door opened for me to march in as the MCee said "Let's stand up to welcome the Bride in!" As I looked in my hands, there was no bouquet. Worse still.. the MCee was asking over the mic "Er-herm~.. Bride? Where's your bouquet?" Every eyes looked at me with astonishment. (Feel like killing the MCee)

Dreams where my father was not beside me to walk me down the aisle & I did not know what to do.

Dreams where a good fren walked me down to save me from all the embarrassment. (Wanna guess who's that person?) As I walked down the aisle with my messy hair (Imagine the comb still stuck in my hair) I really feel like digging a hole to bury my face right away.

Nope this is not a novel. It happened in my dream. Probably at this moment if Audrey (left) is reading this, she might be saying "What a SILLY BILLY dream! This gal ah..." Yup.. this is how she talks.. usually.. i find it amusing too...Pre-wedding blues? Perhaps...but I am going to REBUKE this silly billy dream!!!

Credits to my good fren - Ruxin

2009-03-07T23:50:00.000+08:00

Karen Writes:

This afternoon my sister Sharon was helping me to publicize the "birth" of my blog to my siblings and cousins, and they all had almost the same response -
"What? You mean you only start blogging at this age? Why all of a sudden?"
Well..that's becos I was kinda inspired by all my good frens' blog entries, especially those from Serena's - so pretty....and Evelyn's - never fails to spark curiousity in me in finding out what's happening in my manager's life! Well...so I do have the desire to blog but...never motivated to bcos I'm not IT-savy enough to create a captivating blog for my entries.

So I guess God knows my limitation and send this saviour to my life, my good fren RuRu!One evening, Daniel, RuRu and I were debating about who held their wedding banquets at Centrepoint Teochew Restaurant (Well.. you know we had so many frens who held theirs at this location). Ruxin was so certain that our colleague Gina was one of them, however I was also very sure that Gina had hers at Clarke Quay Tong Lok Restaurant. We eventually got into a verbal *fight* where Ruxin got so agitated and banged the table and said
"I tell you ah.. I am very very sure..wanna bet?"
Of cos, with my 100% confidence I took on the challenge & warned her by saying
"You know, whenever Daniel is very sure about something & I am very certain about something else, 99% of the times I win... you sure you wanna bet?"
Of cos, at this moment Daniel being reminded of all the cases he had lost to me, he couldn't agree with me less & was grinning at a corner, knowing more or less, Ruxin is gonna lose this time. And guess what??..... that's right, I won!!! And the prize? Ruxin is going to help me set up my blog!!! And she really did it ... and real fast....Thank you my fren.. if it isn't becos of that silly billy bet, I wouldn't have started my first entry!

Of cos, this page that you see now is created by Daniel as I have chosen a quite ugly blogskin for Ruxin to create.. My fault.. Sorry Ruxin for wasting your hours. Really appreciate the hardwork that you have put in....

Thanks to Daniel for creating a blog that is so me.....I love it! It's always my dream to have my blog contain memories of my life over the years even though I may not be able to blog about them anymore... so you get to see a flash of pictures of all my family & frens.. and you guys can also see how I have changed over the years.. from young to long hair, perm hair, short hair and back to long hair again...Daniel is so motivated by my blog that he also decides to create a new blog for himself... and it's so cute...Seems like one that belongs to a lady... do link up at Daniel Chia

Well... so much for my first entry.. tune in again for the next one...

QC NIGHT

2009-03-05T18:10:00.000+08:00

Hi peeps,
I just returned from an awards night with Prudential. This is my 2nd time to QC awards night at Swissotel Convention Hall. However, it's my 1st time together with my own unit P78 under our beloved Evelyn.

As usual, no luck with the lucky draw...3 laptops were given out each worth more than $3,400 per set. $3,400....I wonder what laptops they are giving out. Counting my chances, which is 1 ticket among 300 other tickets, my chance of getting the laptop is around....0.03333333%. Well, I don't feel so bad now....just 99.9777777% unlucky that's all... (=.=")

Anyway the dinner is alright. Great music, but sub-standard food. Worse of all for the 2nd dish instead of shark's fin soup....our dear 5 star hotel decided to serve fish maw soup... enough said, dinner failed me at the 2nd dish.

For next year Prudential has awards to send us to New Zealand and Korea. fantastic!! Both places I never been before.

Wohoo!! I will be eating, sleeping, hugging and maybe grazing grass with the residents of New Zealand

Come Dine with me

And of course Korea!!

Hey You!!

Opps...wrong Korea...let me try that again.... And of course KOREA!!

Soul of ASIA

Well, P78 let's go for it!! Ah well all in all, its a fine event. I will be flying off to Macau this April though and many more other events coming up in my life. Do tune in. Ciao!!