robbed :(

My salary came early....and the bonus was a great bonus (which i wasn't expecting really..cos i don't really expect small private companies to even give 13th month bonus...oh but my company is different...considering it is closed for 14 days(!!!) so cool rite?) ok but because it came so early i didn't expect it...and the amount i always maintain in that bank to 'avoid' monthly deduction (loong story that i don't wanna elaborate here)...is suddenly beefed up. and in 3 days my bank account surged up and got sucked out of it's life. :(

now i have to survive on less than my normal amount of money for the next 1 1/2 months. *wail*

Temporaily not blogging here

Currently my life is revolving mostly around Eliza...especially as i do my confinement...which is around 1 month. So watever i blog is mostly about Eliza...which you can find more here, her own blog...or my pregnancy blog which is now all-abt-Eliza-blog.

but...some pics... :)

Eliza when she's awake...lots and lots of expressions..maybe i'll do a whole photo series of her expressions....


Daddy bottle-feeding her...

Her fast asleep in my arms...


Me & Eliza


Ahhh~~~

Waiting

It's been a week and i have taken leave off work, so i've not been at work the whole week. It was a great time to rest and really just get bored. Maybe it's the time before the storm when i'll be really busy once baby Eliza arrives. Sometimes it gets kinda weird waiting...because i feel like i forget what i'm waiting for. I've read my stuff, prepared what i could prepare, so...what else is there? I've also gotten used to my size that i do really sleep quite well most of the time. :P so I'm just waiting for the real thing. 

Still i need to submit to God that His timing for Eliza to come out is His good timing, something i cannot predict, something i have almost no control over (unless i decide to go for a c-section..which i don't want to). still we'll see how on monday when we go to the gynae for my next appt, whether to wait out another week or to induce. it would prob drive me nuts if i have to wait another week. haaa..but at least i know Eliza's safe and growing healthy inside. honestly Eliza's really quite active, esp at night. and i'll feel my belly and watched amused at her nudging around inside me. 

you know God is so deep and mysterious that somehow man still don't really know what really starts off labour naturally. pregnancy is one beauty and mystery of life that God created to create man. from how the cells combine, how the body changes to accommodate growing a new life (all that hormones, extra blood flow, placenta, etc etc etc), and how He has created the body of a women to bring this new life in us into the world and to give food only suited for a baby. amazing! 

ok, so i'll await in patience for the time, going into labour is not something i can predict, only God knows, and it's His beautiful time. See u soon Eliza! 

Happy 2yrs to us!

It's been a long while...i've wrapped up my work stuff and somewhat ready to wait for Eliza's arrival.

And what best to do is start my maternity leave even before Eliza's here...and on our 2yr anniversary day. Not that we're doing much today, juz gonna spend our evening watching rented movies. We're tired of eating...or spending on eating too good food. Tho we had thought of going back to Club Chinois for their extravagant dinner...then again, mayb not..gotta save money.

I juz wonder what i'm gonna do the whole week if she doesn't want to come out till after sunday. gosh!!

Meanwhile...
- eat some healthy food. i love Cedele's meals but they aren't cheap...so juz an occasional indulgence. Salad: pear, celery, walnuts. Sandwich: rosemary chicken with cranberry
. and errr...ice chocolate. :P

- Ww's oldest nephew turns 5. we had fun with them while they're arnd. and Alger the youngest of the 3 is getting into character and being very cute. no.2 is still ever a chatterbox, he can't stop talking.

- we're sorting out of finances....which is quite a lot of numbers to work out. :( gets so confusing at times but Ww enjoys it.
- 2 couples got proposed this week! so excited for them. :D one exciting and elaborate proposal on thursday which i think next time such proposals, if done with the help of friends should get videoed down. oh but i'm so excited for them!!
- mum & sis is going to be back frm Atlanta tonight...yays!!! i should be able to stay awake to pick them up from the airport (with the help of Ww's dad & Ww)
- my feet are sore :( from too much walking on sunday. i dun feel like walking much anymore!!! it's carrying like 14-15kg of weight frm normal.
- i'm sick of reading up on pregnancy & babycare books. i think i read too much but i can't remem much either....oh dear....

birthdays and food

birthdays are great spending time to eat...so it was really quite an eatful 2 weeks for birthdays, weddings and our anniversary (1 yr 11 mths).
we celebrated Ww's birthday early eating at our fav fish&co, with our fav dish seafood platter for 2..and cakes after that at Cafe Cartel..this one is nice!!!

we don't usually give big stuff for birthdays...but cards and a lil stuff...so he found this lil magnet bear to add on to our fridge bears, now there's 3 of them! (our lil family)


and it's the family celebration cos Alger's birthday, (youngest of Ww's nephews), is just one day b4 his. and obviously they're not gonna get a generic cake...so both of them shares a CARs ice-cream cake...
the boys looking longingly at the cake

and me looking really fat...ooo..i've gained 12.3kg so far.


and many more other eat outs Ww has with his friends, and his lots of marshmallows he bought for his class

and last of it all yesterday had another bout of cake..this time bitter choc cake...which was a lil too sweet but he looked excited eating it anyway..time to lose more weight dear!




so i'm being slower nowadays, and reading some nov mums on the forum going to be due soon or some who has already delivered! gosh...

i'm still trying to slow down so as much as possible so i need to go home after work (no outings, extra stuff or dinners), to just rest. though rest is illusive sometimes, because it's just as difficult to get to sleep and it's not so easy to just fall asleep like how i used to. so i'll be tired but unable to figure out how to rest.
4 more weeks to go! we're praying Eliza comes out just nice around 1st week of the holidays, esp since my mum & sis will be overseas on my week 38 and not anytime after EDD (cos Ww will be very busy with courses and school stuff then). feels like the last lap of a marathon...and looking forward to our darling baby. :)

the day i felt dead tired

it could be because...
1) I didn't take my afternoon nap on sunday (rolled around in bed at my mum's place for a long time but felt more and more awake instead!)
2) I did the ironing after work on monday
3) I had tuition at Pasir Ris on tuesday
4) after tuition I couldn't sleep...i popped to bed at 1030 (immediately after bath!), talk to Ww a while, and rolled around for 1/2hr b4 deciding i should get something to eat, ate yoghurt & drank ribena, and went back to bed to try to sleep

and so i was so dead tired i dragged myself to work. i started dreaming of taking a half-day off or popping by the clinic to get mc. but i made it till lunch time, and then thru lunch, and eventually till the end of the day. i swapped my music min prac and happily hopped home for dinner and after this i'm going to sleep!! (i'm just too full to zzz now)

checking what's on my hp photos...and ah-ha! after a string of many cell bdays in this part of the year...we finally thought of taking a full cell photo on Eric's bday.

Check out Emicakes cakes.....yummilicious!! just that this time we forgot the candle...oops! sorrie Eric!


meanwhile, i'm perspiring as i write this...humid weather!
meanwhile, the clothes are piling up and calling out to us to wash them (my mil went go genting since monday). and i'm still too dead tired to do anything much. tmr no chance too...tuition again!!
meanwhile, Ww's away at BB meeting
meanwhile, i have started to waddle (= i'm growing larger and so is baby Eliza)

the only photos i took

2 days of MC, gives me time to sleep and catch up with a lil bit of
1) packing the study room which Ww says doesn't look like much has moved. but i cleared a lot of unwanted papers! and sorted out my documents drawers which i had previously chucked anything in any drawer cos i don't remember how it was to be organized. cleared one drawer of reno documents to now put baby related documents in.
2) weekend ironing that i didn't complete
3) clearing out 2 of our big drawers in the room to put baby Eliza's stuff.
4) bummed around
5) took afternoon naps. my sleeping hours was 21hrs in 2 days. good record. am quite proud of myself...cos usually i only sleep 14hrs or less in 2 days.

This was taken 2 weeks ago. Actually I made lunch (usual baked rice, that salad stick & some chicken chunk stick) for the missions committee who came for lunch & evaluation. but i guess i was so busy i forgot to take photos.
At night, i made fried fish popiah and we had dinner with mum & sis. Mum brought her nice soup which didn't really fit the dishes but was just as nice anyway. This is the spread...very easy to make cos you gotta make it on yr own....

whatever veg you wanna put in + jap mayo + the fried fish

Ww wrapping the fried fish popiah....

and the final product! it's always a skill not to overload the popiah...otherwise it disintegrates...


mmmm.....

Ww says he's gonna lose 5kg by end of the year or something...so i give him a stern glare when he wanted a 3rd serving of his mum's yummilcious noodles. ah...healthy food from now on..

Back to work tmr! and it's a long week :( cos i'll be out everyday after work.

3 mths more to go!

3 more months seems like a long long time still. and the heavier time to come too.
It has been a tiring week with all my weekday nights all out, working. Had tuitions for 2 nights (supposed to be 3 nights but i had to OT to rush for a presentation the next day). It's the school holidays you see...and one of my students is having her prelims next week...another is having it end of this month and i'm really really worried for her. We're just concentrating on maths only.. i would want to see her everyday if i could! there's too much to catch up, too little time..and as much as practice will help her, God please give her ability to understand.

Anyway it's been a tiring week. because of all the after work stuff, i'm just dying to go home early next week. home is such a great place.

Started antenatal classes at TMC which was somewhat useful although i do know some of the stuff talked about, stuff u can read in books. but the extras were helpful too and also so that Ww who has doesn't really read any pregnancy books or info (flip through is as much), will help him to know a bit more la.

Baby Eliza's gonna change our life, we know. and we can't wait to welcome her when it's her time to be born...excited to see her, hold her. no more er4 ren2 shi4 jie4, but it doesn't matter, because we know this little bundle of joy, this little gift of God will make our joy complete too.

there's this series on discovery home and health called "human stories: kids by the dozen" where they feature familes with more than a dozen children. gosh...it's unimaginable these days (tho they're all in US)....and quite unimaginable in SG tho. wonder how many children we'll eventually have, God willing.

then there's also when do i stop work. or whether i can work part-time at least. i would love to be there for Eliza as she grows, nuture for her and teach her...(and not let someone else do the job...as someone i heard said). my current job gets me out of the house 12hrs (+travelling time). so that means i can only get to see her min 4hrs only if i sleep 8 hrs a day. but if she sleeps i can't play with her. time is so precious.

yawns...time to sleep le...

Where to write post

With the baby blog somehow i dunno where to start writing this post...because so many things are about baby. I should call her Eliza now that we know baby's a girl. We decided on Eliza instead of Elizabeth cos we have a family relative who's also called Elizabeth..which is kinda weird to have the same name. Now we don't know what chinese name to give...so we're still thinking.

Meanwhile i'm enjoying this phase of my pregnancy while i still have energy and not so much weight to manage. (i've by now gained abt 6kg..and Eliza's only abt 400+ grams heavy in me only!). So this time i'm supposed to like start preparing Eliza's arrival before i get too heavy and tired to do so (and that would prob be abt Oct onwards).

Other than starting our antenatal classes end Aug, we've gotta go in search for a baby cot (which is gonna set us back about $300+ i guess). The only one big thing i think needs to be bought...otherwise we've got some baby clothes, and lil stuff like baby bath tub, sterilizers, etc, cos Ww's nephews comes over during weekends and we have some baby stuff around.

I'm still wondering whether to place baby cot in the bedroom or in the other room cos i have colleagues and friends who do up and prep their baby's room also so that they'll be used to their room. but if we put her in her room...gosh i wouldn't hear her if she cries...(i sleep like a log by the way...but i know things change). But we do have enough space in our bedroom to squeeze in the baby cot and prob a small cabinet for baby's stuff. so most likely we'll do that...

Also in search of this lullaby cd (which was a cassette tape then..) that my mum used to play for my sis to sleep when she was a baby...it's so nostalgic, really...both of us remember it so well. cos we'll still listen to it for years...until when we moved house..and all i remember seeing was the lyric book and trying to recall how the songs went. problem is still...we got no idea where the tape gone to. ww's student also gave us this really lovely cd, "I love you; Songs of love and blessing from a mother's heart" by Integrity Music..which i'll call it a lullaby cd cos the songs are so soothing and nice...much like the one my sis & i had. (thank you lots! ;) ) now i remember...time to get speakers for ipod for our room..so we can play these music.

Eliza's making movements and i'll tell Ww everyday..almost...such that he commented that i'll be giving him reports like that for the next 4 months to come...yah true. sometimes Eliza's movements feels like she's turing around inside, sometimes it feels like nudges or kicks, sometimes i wonder if it's hiccups. can't wait to see her. :D

As i feel Eliza growing i'm amazed by God...God who created us, God who made this way we rapidly grow and develop frm just cells into human beings like how we are today. Wouldn't He also have that joy of seeing us grow, just as every parent would; and wouldn't He also have that joy of his children to know Him, love Him and respond to Him...amazing how God always parallels many fundamental experiences we go through to understand Him better...no wonder we're made in His image.

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,"
Psalm 139:13-15

Life so far

We went to Sydney during the june holidays..in attempt to have our 'last' holiday on our own till we can bring our kids for holidays next time...whell i'm bringing our kid too...while he/she's in my belly.


sydney bridge...

Of course..sydney opera house

At Blue Mountain, King's tableland

and Bondi beach

and I haven't been updating here because i've been updating my baby blog and most of the time nowadays it's abt baby. Gets more exciting as the months pass and the 1st trimester's morning sickness and tiredness passes. It also gets more exciting as I and even Ww starts to feel baby (him twice so far only) moving in me.

Thank God He gives us 9 months to prepare arrival of Elijah or Elizabeth (we aren't too sure whether baby's a girl or boy yet tho my gynae said most likely a girl but can't confirm yet). Especially when baby's 'appearance' was somewhat unexpected. In the beginning when we confirmed that i was pregnant and in all the mixed feelings i had, I told Ww that i don't feel prepared and he said that we've got 9 months to prepare, which has been quite a good enough time, it gets better.

No wonder entering motherhood is such a special time of life, and you don't know until you experience it...and i'm just starting on this journey. For Ww, it's fatherhood and i guess it doesn't kick in as fast as me till baby come out..but he's excited all the same...And for all expecting mums & dads, we're waiting for the day baby pops out which is a for me a 4-5months away thing but still a scary yet exciting thing. Everytime i watch on discovery Home & Health channel on baby delivery i'll cry because i'll imagine how it is like to see my baby come then. gosh..it's such an emotional thing!

Photos

It's been a long time i've updated here..just because i'm tired. so much so i don't even take much photos nowadays. but here are some that has been around and blogger finally decides to work properly.

This was like a lil more than a month ago when my good friend gave birth to her sweet baby gal! First mum among all of us '81s. i'm gonna join her soon and our babies will be the same age..ah so qiao3.

this is taken one month later when we went for Adrienne's 1st mth celebration..she really likes having all the attention and look at her contented face after drinking her milk...in bliss.


and one fine day 2 weeks ago i managed to muster enough energy to cook whatever's left that's cookable in the fridge and so we had a cozy sunday dinner at home. it's our balcony light that's making it so orange..but there was a nice sunset as well.



meanwhile we have 2 bears lingering around at our fridge (the only qualified magnets there cos they have fur...otherwise those normal magnets will scratch our pretty fridge) so they have been looking quite like our hated lizards crawling around our house just much much cuter. and they don't shit..but we're torturing them so do all those acrobatic stunts at the fridge...they seem happy at it though.



and interestingly lots of ppl i know are getting pregnant, those in church and 2 from my ex-office...wat's with this year? i just pray baby will be healthy and well...6 more months to go! so much to read up on, so much to bear (really all those food picking, watching what i eat and throwing them out, the tiredness, the weird dreams almost every night, the aches...etc). but we're looking forward to see baby come into this world..and it's never gonna be the same for us again. suddenly we're thrown into parenthood and even though we have been talking about it but it's really here!

my other new blog

IS HERE

yah..because i think it's less confusing to comparmentalize the more dramatic events of my life in another blog. but of cos i'll still maintain and blabber here...mayb not so often? cos i'm just too tired out nowadays.

gosh i wish i'm back to normal anyway. Ww & i went to cartel for dinner today and i couldn't enjoy my food, sadly. i don't have the energy i used to have either. argghggh!

many more things...even about living overseas that we've been talking about. melbourne? we loved the place, the environment when we went there for our honeymoon. maybe. but studying there is really quite ex...then plus living costs and kids? if we do really go there, it's for Ww's education and our kids education...(we don't really want our kids to go through the education in SG...but then again i don't know enough abt education overseas either). and me? i think i'll just be happy to be housewife..haha...yah..if we can but money won't allow i guess. still it'll be a long way to go...just a thought.

i'm 8 weeks

i'm finally posting something, not after 8 weeks but cos i'm 8 weeks le. and all this while i just had no mood to do any blogging, prob because i'm just so tired out after work and after my watever activities after work (dinners, music min, talks, tuitions..) that by the time i come home it's just in time to rest and get ready to sleep. nowadays i hit the bed by 12plus...the more sleep the better. and the weekends? even better i sleep and nap with every opportunity i have. quite amazing...i had to to search for this tree near botanic gardens and i slept in the bus on my way there and back...and continued napping when i came home while Ww did the vacuuming.

oh if you dont' know what 8 weeks meant...you'll know soon. :) one fine day when i have the mood i'll start my next danielgrace blog...it's quite amazing how we do one mega event a year and always at the end of the year. and in the next 4 weeks (and i pray hard it's less and no more) i'll experience this change of hormones that's causing me to having this 'night sickness'...the wave hits once i leave my office and throughout till i reach home and before i go to sleep. i'm thankful it doesn't happen before i go to work...and so i can concentrate at work. and because i'm hate having to puke, i try not to....but when i do all that comes out is air...only once did my mashed biscuit i took as a snack came out. oh..but it always feels better after the attempts to puke. plus i'm so sensitive to smells (because some smells make me want to puke) that when going home in the packed mrt, it's crucial to stay near someone who smells good (i had to turn towards this nice perfumed smelling lady most of my journey home today because the men on my left smelt not so nice. it's not always fun having smells affect you everywhere you go...plus ppl in singapore smoke while they walk so there's not much fresh air around.

maybe i won't migrate to another blog because i'm just to lazy to start another one when i'm writing all over here. meanwhile i pray i can enjoy the rest of my weeks and months without this 'sickness' feeling that makes me feel so tired out all the time.

i'm gonna eat Mac breakfast tomorrow!! :D

after so long

i finally blog. still not in a bloggy mood lately, maybe because since i have started work i've been home late, not because of work but because i was out for some talk, tuition, mm or watever. gosh i just want to come home one day normally! and transport at my office isn't exactly the most convenient so when i'm late i try taking a cab which is $5.40 the moment i step in...and that was what happened yesterday...i was going to be late for tuition, the rain was pouring like mad and so a cab was the option...little did i know the bill came up to $25!! and i was late anyway...sheesh..i should have taking a mrt & bus instead.

still adjusting to my work, manageable so far just that my colleague is off for one week back to his hometown suddenly and i'm wondering what's going on with the project that's problematic because he just took over the project frm someone who suddenly left cos her husband's going overseas suddenly. so sudden. so i'm caught in this weird trap of hoping he comes back soon and save me from all the confusion...and the architect's whining. other than that...my colleagues are fun and funny...this is what you get with a relatively young group of ppl, with all their quirks and madness.

dinner with my buddy tonight to catch up! food is nice but not always though..despite all the cravings...it's really eating at the right time and not too much. meanwhile the fav morning bfast is the $2 mac bfast...which is quite a common bfast in office since mac is so nearby.

many other things are happening and so my ironing is piling up..oh dear.

Hello new office

This is my last 'holiday' week because next week i'm starting work! this time proper fixed timing which i'll have to get used to. yesterday after running 3 places for 3 interviews, starting from Holland Ave which i went just to take a look. honestly it's really too far..it's a ID company (japanese boss) which does niche markets ie showflats and resorts...very cool stuff, nice office but don't get quite a good vibe frm it either anyway. then it's to a landscape co where my chic pie is workin at, she's been asking if i would want to work there from since i was looking around but i still never got down to send the resume cos i was waiting for ura then. and really the boss is nice, he really is..has different views frm sg kinda aki bosses..trained in us and doesn't see qualifications as the most impt thing (which sg is so concerned abt). and i got offered on the spot. so i accepted it on the spot cos i was kinda ready to take it. it's gonna be autocad & sketchup all over again, gotta start frm scatch somewhat. hope i can catch up. but after that was another interview at a botique kitchen/bathroom/furniture co. so i thot, just go see see look look...and little did i know that they were so eager to have me (cos of my aki & id background). so that's where the complication starts. ees. it's really good place to work..quite similar to what i do, just that the clientele is more high-end cos their product is super high-end...meets my pay expectation and possibly more if i do well, 4-figure commission twice every year and they send u to italy to learn their product, and they discourage any OT work unless really necessary. so enticing! but of cos i had to reject it. another prob is that they start work on weekdays frm 11am -7pm butbutbut...gotta work on sats 11-6pm. how can? sat are precious. for tuition & cell. too bad la.
i was still like praying for doors to open and doors to close cos i was so tired of going to interviews...and was almost wondering if i'll ever find one where i can fit in. and God opens 2 doors. amazing! next is a new world again, new office, new projects, God help me to have the strength to learn and do well. tho...one thing i'm not sure...but mayb i know but don't dare to be sure...i'll know in a mth's time. still God's timing is all perfect. cos He has made all things beautiful in His time.

photo blog

I'm a lil more bloggy now in the wee hours of the morning. maybe things are moving on la...so got mood back. blogging is all about mood i think. but while i was taking a break from here many things still happened. and i cooked quite a bit these few days from after cny till last week. i usually try something new when someone comes over to eat...and so far i have varying degrees of success. oh whell..it's all experimental i say.

but one of the reasons i'm putting on weight (2kg liao!! :S ) is because i've been eating..and enjoying my eating. and my lunch buddy & I are like looking for new places to eat always..though we settle for normal stuff sometimes. wed we're going to this Café Divine
1 Coleman Street, #02-07,
The Adelphi
Singapore 179803
Tel: 6336 5836
i read at chubbyhubby...so gonna check it out..then..my last free&easy lunch with my ol' buddy.

previously we went to Ecleactic Attic at plaza sing where she treated me for lunch (as a bday gift) so we devoured our food before i could take them. but it's fun and has all the pretty china plates and quaint setting that wants me to have a corner of my house like that. i only took the dessert. really small but good things comes in small portions so u don't overeat.

and another attempt to go back to Cafe DelMar to watch the sunset backfired cos it was too cloudy to see decent sun..so we settled for Marche at Vivo instead..and the first time i'm eating this Pork Knuckle!! huge! so we shared it...it's not cheap anyway...around $18 for that block of meat.

by the time we shaved off all the meat we were hungry enough to gobble it up.

and we shared fruit smoothie with a tiramisu at Pacific Cafe...now u know why i'm gaining weight...

more food when i tried to cook for MM's GOTS...and i think this one made it well (i'll try it again next time) cos tomato is so appetizing. baked rice! (not so for the potato tortilla tho..took too long too cook)




i helped out with my first ever church wedding deco and found that it isn't easy to do such deco at all!! and we thought one afternoon and evening is enough...but we did till 11pm. (ok better than when they did my wedding deco...they did till 1230pm...cos of the pink cross but it was really beautiful).

we changed plans a few times because what we thought worked didn't look nice when we really did it. so instead of doing the ribbons streaming down we clumped the ribbons together..but i didn't take photos of those.
so u have the cala lilies (these are from taiwan..costs abt $8 for 5 stalks)

and my attempt at, according to ck, very grace, thing to do...this.


while i almost want to swear off doing any church deco (just like what ck who did my wedding deco said last last year)..there's another coming oct..but thank goodness i'm not gonna mastermind it..helping is not as stressful. oh but this is gonna be interesting..because we have a day to get the thing done and put it up in 1/2 hr on the wedding day. a wedding on a sunday, after church service.

whell..doing beautiful things is nice...like those things in martha stewart, real simple, donna hay...u know those things. look pretty, nice good things...and food.

better sleep..i've got a house to clean and mountain of clothes to send to wash

Lost City

I was lost city for quite a while...迷城 aka lost city.

check it out at lostcity.wordpress.com
it's a camp that has turned into a lost city. a camp that runs for 5 days (that i've attended as a camper and after 4 years camping, as come other roles)...and it's been like 13years in all kinds of camps! nowadays i'm usually at the keyboard...and after going past the quarter century age, staying over isn't the kind of thing i do anymore. still it's a camp where many find God, find ourselves, find each other. find different things in a land of lost. hopefully many will be found.

in-between

It's been a long while i've blogged woh. 2 weeks. long for my usual bloggieness state of being. it's my 3rd day out of my ex-job where i officially left, much to my colleagues & buddy or boss dismay. i think this whole ura thing was a start to such a change in my life, even though i believe i didn't get the offer in the end (even though they called and asked me if i was interested but never got back to me in the end...such lousy service..but you don't expect good service in gov sector either). so hello architecture back again, after a long hiatus from it. which i wonder my rustiness will allow me to get back to it after so long. is it for the money? maybe. i can't stay out of it for too long le. Ww doesn't really encourage (or like) me to be in aki firms cos of the long hours...(or will there be long hours?..some companies don't do long hours like DP does). so perplexing. so i start the different kind of wait. no longer for stupid ura. but for others to invite me to interviews. got one interview at Look Architects on thurs. and hope to start work by 1st apr.

my magnetic bear found it's partner on monday and have been hanging around in my kitchen, at my fridge like lizards.


meanwhile i have wedding deco to do, and house to pack (cos it's getting messy with my things just chucked anywhere) and then some exercise (i hope). i gained weight :(

walk in faith

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. " Hebrews 10:35-36

A line in the sand.
Stepping over the line doesn't make your circumstances any different. But the person who steps over the line can be different.
If our circumstances don't change us, and if our circumstances doesn't change...let God change us.
isn't that what God wants? not the situation he makes to change us...but our heart to change...
to walk in faith with Him, in a different attitude, in submission to Him, to trust him totally, to not depend on the world to give us the significance, to leave the old, to honour Him, to live for Him.

Seeing clearly

for many of us, we're always in search of something that satisfies us. and once you're out of school, we'll be looking for a job, a career that satisfies us. and for me, i've asked God again, and again what is it..where is this job/career that i'll be satisfied in (sometimes you never know until you're in it). and never once does he give me an answer....other than a soft whisper somewhere over my head telling me trust me, I know the plans I have for you.
so what am i to do while trusting Him and knowing that He knows the plans He has for me? waiting is an excruciating game. and when waiting is a false hope which turned out what you didn't expect, it's a bummer. just when you thought all this expectations and hoping is over, reality hits you on the face with some out-of-the-world reasons for the change in plans. now i'm in a limbo.
tho i felt cheated waiting for 1mth without much of a good reply...at least the person was sorry for the unfortunate course of events. and at least my current office is in a holiday season this 1mth so while i had a mild interest in my office going-ons, i was still able to survive being in-transition.

" People who look to God and have God-centered lives seem to have a better focus on life’s issues. They have a better understanding of their purpose in the world. They know that worldly possessions really don’t matter, and what really matters in life is having a relationship with God." Out of Focus by Josh Oliphant
gosh what will i do without God? i'll be lost so lost...even tho i feel kind lost now...but He's there to cling on to, to wonder out loud with, to seek peace, hear guidance, and find comforting presence.

Weekend triva

Chinese new year is one of the longest holidays most people seem to have...and my buddy & i went sentosa! other than the skin-burning weather, it was quite a pretty display of flowers and nursery rhyme characters. i'm amazed how much change sentosa went through in such a short time (or mayb it's because i've not been there for a long time)

and i wondered why he's so shocked seeing Y's sunglasses...so i was shocked too


after that we found trekked to Cafe Del Mar, really nice setting though the food price was a little above average...but acceptable. we shared this braised chicken for $22 and the $10 fish & chips (it's under the starters menu)

we just had to take our mocktails (which is a whopping $8!) outside to lounge by the beach with the rest of the suntanners....chatting and eventually dozing off under the shade..but oh no..the UV rays still penetrate through the blue umbrella shade. grr.. nxt time we gotta go for the sunset...when it's cooler and i don't always have to squint my eyes to enjoy the beach view.

today it was outing with my chicpie & steady. sadly The French Stall wasn't open (closed for CNY) and the vietnamese food restaurant wasn't open either (closed for CNY too!!) so we tried out Giraffe which was ok. only the space was spectacular...but eh...this was my dinner.

i thought salad would be u know...a bit more..but this is quite light & healthy anyway...the white stuff is mozzerella which is quite nice i'd say. but ex :S not worth that $14 i paid

it's fun to be with girlfriends :) talking about stuff we did what we would like to do and like to go...always. and they were so sweet to give me these books for my bday presents.


and i discovered that we could take photos using our tv. ahahhaa....think like the idea of 3G hp. so we did. mummy bought Haagen Dazs ice-cream cake that's irresistable....!


i have so much in mind i wanted to write but resorted to all these photos in the end.

i need to be inspired.

and it's irritating that i'm so sleepy on sundays...or more like sunday mornings. and i'm so effective and awake at night i can't bear to try to sleep early and try getting something done (other than housework) in the early mornings.

i'm going sentosa tmr

but i'm writing nothing about it now. because for some reason i'm blogging and ah...for some reason i'm not in a too bloggy mood these few days. either there's other things more urgent to attend to or i just got no mood. like the words leave be when i come up to blog. quite mafan trying to pick the letters back and the thoughts that have floated all around the room and swept outside through my windy house.

i love it that our house is so windy. (but oh the dust the dust!) and meanwhile we bask in the enjoyment of each other's company and privacy of our home. there's always some housework to do, the neverending washing and ironing, vacuuming, steaming, cleaning...but heh heh...the cups get left around with no one to bother them, things get messed up..and no one complains..(except me). i can lounge at the sofa and nua like no one's business at any time of the day, turn on the tv and fall asleep at any part of my house (i love naps but i have only fallen asleep on the 2 sofas and our bed so far).

and....the ura has yet to call yet such that i wonder if they are alive or not. :S or mayb they're still holidaying. gosh it's such a long wait!

quick update

i'm so slow..i think i'm not in a blogging mood with so many things to do b4 cny and all that. i can barely remember what happened other than we have watched too much movies that i got a headache...
so yes...we started the movie watching on valentine's starting with brownie ice-cream, brownies bought from this brownie shop at taka. went shopping with my mil to buy cny stuff, saw this horror customer which i hope he didn't see me (SG is so super small..), and bought new curtains...deep red (which now has made our room more like hotel room..cos it's still dark in the mornings...and that's why we've been oversleeping the past day or two).

so movie no.1 - Spanglish. Rating: **
meaningful story but so so


and for the 1st time i went to chinatown during cny season

it isn't as bad as the horror muachee packed stories i heard..but the deco really, some are like kids play.
but in attempt to inject some cny-ness to our home i bought this paper cutting i've been raving abt since i saw it at raffles city..this small one is $1 while i bought another larger one for $5...cheaper than at raffles city. not much since i can't stand those drama colourful decos. so...hmm..i wonder if i'll be too lazy to take it out..gee.



reunion dinner was the start of all the gorging and endless eating. this is like 5 times what we 9 ppl and 3 kids can eat...not forgettng the bowl of shark fin and the laoyusheng we ate before this.

and cny is great time to see the boys..esp the smallest one catching up on the walking, talking and mischief.

and they mutilated the snake while they were here...poor snake it had quite a hard time being wrapped around, twisted, rubbed at the gate (so now it's kinda blacked & dirty), and dragged all over the floor. it's interesting how they aren't too afraid of it like some of my other stuffed toys...maybe it looked too friendly.
no.2 is still so cute...
he's so drama!

some cny-ness for the next 13 days! (and i still got 2 more movies to clear watching...i borrowed 7..it's mad).
meanwhile hoping for some good news this coming week.

it's Ash Wed this wed. how timely...preparing for gd friday once the cny public holidays r over.