Sweet Surprise

He's a sneaky one...
Called me to tell me he'd left work and was almost home, but appeared at my door, bearing the cheeriest orange buds. *beam*
(gee.... they even match my sheets... heh)

I feel better already!

On a separate note, it's the end of XJ's first week at the new job,
and I'm really glad he's settling in well.
It's a big change for him but he's taking it all in his stride! *proud*

Ill...

Again.

Sigh... Throat infection seems to back. What a pain. Literally too.

Sitting and waiting to see the doc. Bleah...

35 minutes of pain

I ran my first ever "road race" today - the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge.

It was a dreary day, storming for hours just before the race, letting up for only less than an hour before it started drizzling again at the startline. It was so crowded by the time CY and I reached the venue (just in front of the Esplanade), we only managed to jostle for a place around 80m from the actual start. Nevermind... I was thinking... me = social runner, no need to fight with the Gurkhas (these speed devils run the race in under 20mins! yikes!).. Heh.

Check out the hordes!

It was terribly hot and humid standing amidst 11,000 people. Was glad to go at the sound of the horn. But I found the hardest part of the race finding a clear route to run. It was tricky manouvreing between so many bodies and there were lotsa tall, huge people around me. So intimidating. Got nudged by sweaty bodies too.. yech.. then again, I was just as sweaty and sticky. =X

Anyways, the route took us past the Esplanade, down Republic Avenue, looping around and along the river, then back to the Padang - a total of 5.6km. The first 2 km went by quickly, but from 2 to 4, it was total agony. I slowed to a walk several times <----- so weak of mind!.. very disgusted with meself. sigh... Then I saw the 5km marker and thought.. hey, cannot be so loser lah, better run the last 600m properly! Picked up the pace a little, couldn't wait to get it over and done with, and just managed to slip under the finish line at a pathetic 35:50mins. *phew* The Padang was used as the reception area - free drinks, bananas, giant T-shirts. The field was really muddy from a whole afternoon of rain and all the gook went into my shoes through the air vents on the sides. Very gross. Squelched my way back to the office.

Dirty Shoos... Most of the mud can't be seen cos it all seeped into the shoe through the numerous ventilation slits!!! urgh...

My race tag

It was pretty fun (tho rather masochistic, huh?), and I think I'll do it again next year. :) But right now, I'm tired, my knees hurt a little and my muscles are fatigued and sore.

Need. To. Sleep.

No-Work Friday... Woohoo!!!

Took the day off today, cos it's XJ's last weekend before he starts work again. Yepz, he's moving on to a new job after 2 weeks of bumming around. (Oh, alright... apart from sleeping in till noon and glueing himself to the xbox, he WAS also planning the honeymoon...).

We spent a lazy day just hanging around, not doing much. And it was great to have some alone time. Had a leisurely lunch, curled up in a sofa at Coffee Bean and read for a couple of hours, caught a movie (Eight Below), then met up with my folks for dinner, before heading to Aunty Dawn's place, where we spent hours playing with Shenn.

This little tot has boundless energy! We could barely keep up with him. Barely two minutes after we arrived, Shenn was showing off that he knew his animals - "wabbee" (rabbit), "pik" (pig) and "ah-meh" (camel), ...

... decided he wanted to build a train track ("make twain twack!"),

... and demanded that we play ball with him ("...bat up!...")

He also has an amazing range of vocabulary for an 18-month old. ("beeeetle bug dead - gorgor catch, gone!").

It cracked me up when he got especially excited with his toy train. He'd point and say "up!" and "Vroommmmm..." when the train climbed up and down the inclines, wring his hands and shout "gone!" when the train ran under the table, and this was the funniest: he'd wait eagerly for it on the other side and squealed "ai!" and gave a little wiggle when the train re-emerged on the other side. We did this for a full half hour - little people don't ever seem to get bored looking at a train go round and round.

Shenn's also learning to speak in third-person - "Shenn-shenn drink..."

"shenn-shenn - more cake"

What a cutie... XJ just adores him... heh...

Wedding Update

Finally settled on the design for the EG tonight - it will be a cheongsam-inspired backless number, with some bling-bling details which I am leaving the designer to come up with. Should be interesting to see how it turns out at the first fitting in July. *excited*

My Dream Wedding

XJ and I got married last evening. It was all I’d ever wanted – a small, intimate do in a villa, with close friends and relatives, lovely canapés, amazing wines. Everything was crisp and fresh and white – I was real pleased we managed to create a resort feel, exactly the way we wanted, with our shoestring budget! :)

The ceremony went by in a haze, as if I was hallucinating, the euphoria must have gotten to my head. Ah... to be in love... I vaguely remember Benny, our photographer, somewhere in the background, snapping pictures of happy faces. I remember the warm embraces of my loved ones, the buzz in the air as our guests mingled. I changed into my cocktail/party clothes and was heading back to the reception. I spotted XJ in the far corner, chatting with his friends, looking dashing as always – he’d changed into his comfy white linen shirt and berms, leaning indolently against the wall, a frosted champagne flute raised to his smiling lips. My husband! *beam* Everything was just perfect!

That is, until I saw that the caterers were clearing up the food trays, a thought raced through my head – they’re done so soon? There wasn’t enough food?! The crowd had dissipated somewhat, I think some people had left. I whispered to XJ “I told you we should’ve gotten the dessert buffet! Look, it’s only 7.30pm and people are bored, and we haven’t got enough booze to entertain them!...” XJ: “It’s ok, sweetie, we’ll just zip out now to the patisserie and get some stuff.” Ever the calm, collected, resourceful one. :)

We hurried to the car, and drove off, and that’s when it hit me, how could I not have noticed?! I wailed, “Everything that could go wrong, went wrong!:

1. Daddy didn’t walk me down the aisle, XJ wasn’t waiting at the altar – we strolled in together, no choir, no fanfare
2. We didn’t recite our vows correctly – I don’t remember the “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health”
3. Pastor didn’t even bless our rings!
4. Oh no. We forgot to tell the officiant we wanted a Christian ceremony and not a civil solemnisation! *panic* Do we now go back to church to get our marriage blessed instead?
5. My bouquet was a bundle of five pathetic 10-inch stalks of freesia bound in satin ivory ribbon. I only noticed when I’d stuck them in a glass of water to refresh them.
6. Where were my flowergirls?
7. No shower of confetti. Didn't XW remember to hand out the lacy cones of rose petals to the guests?
8. Benny was giving us all directions to stand in line, taking staid portrait shots. Hey, we paid good money for photojournalism, ok!?!?!? And then he disappears and is nowhere to be found halfway through the reception.
9. Why didn't the jazz band turn up?
10. …
11. …”

… the list goes on. By this time I was sobbing uncontrollably…

I woke up in cold sweat. All I could think of was, “It was a dream. It was a dream, right? Thank God! It really was only a dream wedding!” It was a very bad night. And I’m still shaken. It felt too vivid, too real. I think I'm going mad. :(

Good Friday Weekend

So after a drought of 3 months, we finally get another long weekend. Took the opportunity to arrange for a makeup trial with Kenneth Lee on Friday morning. Yes yes... it's long overdue (wedding is only 4 months away)... It was a fairly quick session and with a few whisks of his brushes it was done. I think i look kinda odd - not very me... XJ decided to do some test shots and I left the makeup on for the rest of the day to see how long it would last. Don't usually wear much makeup and it took a gargantuan effort not to scratch my face, rub my eyes, lick my lips... bleah.

(L-R, top to bottom): Kenneth is done in less than an hour, Checking it out in the mirror - doubtful, so weird... so not-me, hmm..., ok, let's try a smile; XJ guest stars

Trooped down to Arab Street on Saturday cos after all my gushing about my lace wedding gown, Mum was inspired to check out some lace too. It was back breaking, going from one Royal Brothers to the next (there are at least 3 on the same street!), popping in and out of Mahaco, then final stop at Alta Moda - where the guy remembered XJ and I from the last time... He showed us a S$470/m piece of gorgeous double-scalloped alencon lace, and I said I would come back to get it another time after checking with my designer. Of course, I never did... =X

this pale gold chantilly caught mum's eye, as did the pastel floral Emmanuel Ungaro silk satin on the right

she didn't buy 'em though. tease...

In line with our get-healthy-get-some-sun campaign, we decided to go play some beach volleyball at Sentosa with XL, Get & Kay. Excuse to try out my new bimbo bikini too (with cute pink ribbons)... heh! But the blazing hot weather gave way to ominous dark clouds and streaks of lightning by the time we got to the island. We got tired tossing the frisbee between the two of us while waiting for the rest to arrive and indulged - Blue Chips! My fav... :)

Attempted a round of 2-on-2 Ultimate with XL & Get - I was pooped after only 10 minutes with all the non-stop running. The volleyball bit of the evening was slightly better, but it soon started to drizzle and got too dark to see. Perfect reason to call it a day and makan (again!). I confess - succumbed to temptation and had a double scoop of chocolate-chocolate and macademia ice cream. So much for healthy living. Well, at least I think it didn't contain trans fat!?!?!

Busy Bee

It was another activity-filled weekend. No more complaining about weekends going by pointlessly, boringly, and wondering how countless hours just whizz by while you were doing nothing - read: sleeping/vegging.

Friday night, met up with Eddy from ET Music. He owns one of the companies that manages bands for events. We're thinking of either a 3-piece piano/doublebass/drums or 4-piece (add sax) jazz band for our wedding. Also looking at Striiiings - a string quartet - which specialises in classical music and jazz. Then caught up with XL, Kay and BB at WineBar for a couple of drinks.

Saturday was a busy day! Woke up early to 扫墓 at Bishan. Then popped by RI with XJ for him to reminisce abit before rushing to Seletar Hills (?!?) to meet up with Naleeza. She used to be a lawyer, but has since left the profession to bake pretty wedding cakes! She also hosts interviews on CNA, the most recent being that feature on Asian millionaires. Just in one session, she has ingrained in us the dangers of trans-fat. That got XJ and I reading food labels like crazy since. Haha. Incidentally, Today had a write-up on Nestle and how their products have less than 1% trans fatty acids. Here's what it says:

"...Trans fat is formed when liquid vegetable oils go through a chemical process called hydrogenation. In it, hydrogen is used to add density to the oils. Hydrogenated vegetable fats are used by food processors because they allow longer shelf life and give food desirable taste, shape and texture. Evidence suggests that consumption of trans fat raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol levels and lowers high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or "good" cholesterol levels, causing the arteries to become clogged and increasing the risk of developing heart disease and stroke..."

*shudder*

Drove home from Seletar Hills to rest a bit before trekking right across the country to Hume Ave for Dons' and Iky's marriage blessing ceremony. Check out the pics:

Ok, sorry, the only shot we got was one with the exit sign.. =X

With Dons, Iky and XJ

Getting cuddly with baby Naomi

Naomi wonders where that big head popped out from. Heh.

Naomi demos her rubber-face

Naomi tries to get me rubber-faced too

Meet our flowergirls: Phoebe and Audrey - Ain't they sweet?

You thought we were done for the day? Not quite! After Dons' and Iky's do, we headed down to XL & Get's place at Robertson for drinks. Gee.. it was really 环岛追追追 for us today.

Sunday was 环岛追追追 round 2! Dragged myself out of bed after only 3-odd hours of sleep to go to church, did speed shopping and bought yummy Royce chocolate in Orchard, then hitting Serene Centre for Teh Tarik ice cream before heading to Choa Chu Kang for lunch at Uncle Ray's newly renovated apartment. *pant pant*

Maybe it's all that running around the whole weekend - but now I'm down with a bad throat infection. Doc gave me 2 days' MC. Felt awful this morning, all woozy and weak from the fever, but slept it all off. Other than the slight discomfort which is kept under control with all the meds, and the fact that I'll be missing out on all my exercise for the next week or so (nearly died doing weights last night!), these couple of days' rest are more than welcome. It's given me the opportunity to catch up on much needed sleep, I got to do some reading (legal docs and floozy magazinees don't count), sorted out some thoughts on wedding preps/admin, and I've updated my blog!

Looking forward to another day of rest and recuperation, and by the time I make it back to work, it's past the mid-week mark. And then it's the weekend again. Yippeee!!

Wedding Stuff

Here are some pics of my various visits to Margaret Brides - my wedding gown designer. She specialises in lace *swoon*. :)

I've decided on a duchesse satin mermaid gown with a chapel train and french alencon lace on the bodice and all around the hem, finished off with a row of satin covered buttons right down the back. Still looking for the perfect piece of lace but finding something I like and within budget is tough. Margaret has reserved a batch of lace as the "minimum" standard, pending new stocks which will arrive from her suppliers in June. If we find nothing more suitable, that's the one we'll use for my gown. Was bowled over by this pure silk duchesse satin I saw at Arab St the other day. It had a gorgeous honey sheen to it and felt heavenly. But it was too much to pay for after the top-ups I'd added to get french alencon on my gown. *sniff*

The day we signed up with her. Margaret's sketching the dress of my dreams, as I look eagarly on.

Artist at work...

Margaret's studio. Love it! Soft, ivory tones,plush carpets, dreamy romantic drapes, little lacey touches - lampshades, cushion covers, table runners...

...and the circular dais on which you model all her lovely creations in front of a large mirror. I feel like royalty! ;p

My "reserve" lace

And how it'll look on the bodice:

A Lovely Weekend

One of the best weekends I've had for some time. Now that the bid we were working so hard on has officially fallen through (quite a waste, considering all those hours we put into it, and that it could've potentially been one of the biggest M&A deals to have happened this year), and a couple of my other transactions are winding down, I've been having a pretty good week at work. Took the opportunity to plan an activity-filled weekend.

Woke up bright and early on Saturday morning. SY came by to my place and we cabbed down (up?) to Punggol Marina where we'd booked a boat for our 4-hr wakeboarding session. It was overcast and looked like it would pour at anytime. Thankfully, by the time XL and Kay arrived and we set out to sea, the sun began to peek out of the clouds and by 11am it was scorching hot.



It took some persuading to get XJ to go with us, cos he has bad memories from the last time he wakeboarded. But a day out in the sun is just too tempting to resist. ;p Thankfully, this time around, it was less traumatic than his first time. Nonetheless, he has concluded that wakeboarding is not his cup of tea and will henceforth gracefully decline any further invitations... ...

Being out at sea always puts me in a good mood. The vast expanse of space and water, the sun on my face and the wind in my hair... mmmm... no cares in this world. Shiraz (our friendly powerboat driver/wakeboard coach) was blasting cheesy retro music from his stereo. The lucky guy just got married and will be flying to Hawaii for a 2-month honeymoon! *envious*

Four hours went by quickly and soon we had to head back to the marina. Perfect timing too, I'd add, for it started to storm not long after. I had a really enjoyable time chatting, catching up with my pals and just chilling and suntanning on deck. Must do this more often. :)

XJ gets ready for his turn...

... taking instructions ...

... and shows us his brilliant boarding skills... hyuk...

My turn!

Whee!

It got way too hot after more than 3 hours and we had to jump in to cool off. Trying to look 可怜 here.

* * * * *

A little indulgence for me after church on Sunday. I went for my regular facial at Clarins, but this month, I decided to throw in a massage. It was bliss! So relaxing the session, I was soundly asleep for most part of it. Eeesh.. what a pig... Nevermind, I tell myself. Wedding is barely 5 months away. I'm entitled to some luxury.... need to prep for the big day, must look every bit the radiant bride, right? :)

Ended off the evening with dinner at the Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro in honour of Dons and Iky. Hidden behind the non-descript "supermarket" store front, was a cosy little dining area. The food was pretty yummy - we shared a large seafood platter and I thoroughly enjoyed my entree of pan-fried foie gras and grilled wild prawns. *slurp* We also managed to get away without paying corkage for our 2 bottles of bubbly and lingered over the rich chocolate cake we brought for our little celebration.

Am truly happy for Dons and Iky. I think they make a lovely couple, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside, seeing how sweet they are with each other. :)

Also got a coupla books while browsing at Borders late Fri night. What No-one Tells The Bride and Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. Can't wait to get started.

A-Blading We Went

So we decided to have a healthy weekend and get some exercise instead of sleeping the whole Saturday away...

... and ruined it all by gorging ourselves silly on satay, bbq-ed chicken wings, orh luah (蚝煎), prawn noodles, coconut juice....

I'm back!

It's been a really crazy time at work, hence the 2-month long hiatus (...t.i.r.e.d.... doesn't count!). If I wasn't working the weekend, I'd be concussed at home, totally drained and exhausted, trying to recover from the week before. Yes, sleeping the whole day(weekend) away is such a waste of time, but I just couldn't bring myself to do anything else before Monday hit me again.

There's a whole bunch of stuff that I've been meaning to write about and post pictures of but had no time to, so I'll be slowly back-posting all these below and they'll appear with the correct timestamp. Do check them out as and when...

Some notable events:

• The second half of December saw us celebrating Christmas, welcoming Smang's new baby and attending Nicholas and Hwee Lin's wedding.
• The New Year opened with a bang - we had a party to sort-of celebrate our engagement and all our friends who will be helping out at The Wedding attended, it also marked XJ's last birthday in his 20s... heh
• Then it was one wild night at BM's hen party, followed by a string of CNY gatherings leading up to February when...
• ... Wei left to Brisbane for her post-grad studies. She may not be back for The Wedding.... :(
• I also finally made it to MOS for the very 1st time last weekend to celebrate Hils' birthday

Stories and pics to follow....

Goodbye (doesn't mean forever)

This is a week of farewells.

Weis left for Brisbane on Thursday and Alex will be flying off to Sydney mid-next week.

Here we are at the airport, catching last few minutes with Weis at BK. Sitting around at fast food restaurants with these besties reminds me of our secondary school days at Pizza Hut/McDees. Yech to the food but the company was (and still is!) great.

Kay, Xuanli, Weis & Siyun

Weis & I

Another night of nostalgia - yesterday, we went to the teppenyaki restuarant that Dad used to take us to when I was a kid. Nothing much has changed - the winding drive up Jurong Hill, the spiral walkway down the tower to the restaurant, the waiting area and the smell of fried garlic. It's not a stylish place, rather old and slightly grimey and grubby from the oil, and the decor is less than inspiring. But it serves hearty portions of fresh, quality food at prices way below those you find in town - to make up for the long drive there! And it holds many fond memories for me. Seeing the chef whip up a meal in front of my very eyes always thrilled me when I was just little girl and when the orange bib they made you wear was too large and reached my knees. I used to get especially excited when the chef did a flambe... Some things never change! *grin*

The bib fits now:)

Happy Birthday Hils!

Hils turns xx! No celebration is complete without alcohol and more alcohol. We started early at 5.30pm with our regular BYM (bring-your-mug) sessions in office before heading to Brewerkz for pub grub and beer. Only the brave ventured on to MOS where 4 bottles of the strong stuff was waiting...

Late dinner at Brewerkz

Our inebriated three-some: Hils, Len and Kwok Aun stumbling to MOS

It was crowded! But ha-ha, we're on the VIP list, so we whizz right past. *smug*

My poison...

...his poison

Part of our stash. There's still half a bottle of gin left behind in MOS with Len's name on it I think.

Tequila shots - no one is spared!!

Retro at 54 - brings back memories of MAMBO nite

Hed Kandi playing at the Arena so they put up some fancy schmancy hologram. Didn't think the music was too hot though.

*glug-lug-lug-lug*

With Pauline and Weems

So there... suaku me finally made it to MOS. Demographics were kinda weird - you get teeny-bopper wannabes and middle-aged half-balding ah bengs all under one roof. Not cute either...

Methinks Zouk's much better.