Random Ramblings

Happy Valentines Day

2012-02-14T23:08:00.001+08:00

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I got a beautiful bunch of red roses and the boy got Foo Fighters tickets, so happy faces all round! And we went for an amazing lunch at Gunthers. The oysters were the size of my foot!

Then in the evening I went and played netball and the boy went for a nice dinner with his boy-friends! Who says romance is dead ;)

Juggling

2012-01-31T23:47:00.001+08:00

There's a scene in the recent SJP movie - "I don't know how she does it" - where SJP gets spun around, everything goes flying and she has to juggle catching things one at a time. Its supposed to be a metaphor for her working mother life..

That's a bit how I feel at the moment.

The maid has gone back to Indonesia for a month and both sets of parents are out of the country so we suddenly have to clean and remember how to feed ourselves in the midst of a busier work schedule, a new musical theatre term and 2 netball leagues starting.... We're going back to student living - anything that doesn't need to be ironed WON'T be! On top of that I signed up for a digital media diploma which starts in a couple of weeks... I hope they don't start loading coursework on us straight away..

I haven't forgotten about my resolution to blog more. I've been trying to figure out how to play around with the html format of the blog so that I can finally set up a layout I like! If only there was a way to generate time.. A post is on its way...i'll leave a little taster...

2012-01-31T23:24:00.001+08:00

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Lets Dance!

2012-01-13T08:32:00.000+08:00

Last night Hash and I went to the Esplanade to get a dose of culture. I wasn't expecting that much - I took my mother in law to see ballet at the esplanade before and it just didn't rate after watching the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden. In fact the tickets were so difficult to get (we had to go all the way out to the stadium to pick them up..) I almost didn't bother. BOY would that have been a mistake.

But this dance company was completely different. Amazing choreography, so much passion and all performed with a live band instead of an orchestra. There was so much energy on that stage it made you itch to get up and join in.

Hash and I have decided we're going to give up the corporate life and become dancers. I'm sure the parentals will be over the moon!

Winter wishes

2012-01-03T23:40:00.000+08:00

I always seem to come back from London with an itch to buy winter clothing. Not very useful unfortunately, even with the windy weather we're having in Singapore at the moment!

I really wanted this coat from Penfield, but unfortunately they don't have my size anymore.

So instead I found this Barbour jacket, but can't justify the cost for a coat I would only wear once a year!!

And then of course, on the way out of London at Heathrow airport I stumbled across these beautiful Bally boots and now I can't stop thinking about them..

Its a disease..

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T23:24:00.000+08:00

2012 is going to be an good year. I can feel it. It definitely started well..or maybe we should say 2011 ended well!

I even managed to make some New Years Resolutions.. one of them was to blog at least once a week. Well...we'll see.

New York New York

2011-10-20T23:47:00.000+08:00

No matter how many times I go this City I always find something new to love. This time we spent a lot of our time downtown. Running around the shops in Soho. Exploring the café’s and bakery’s on Bleeker street. And then running uptown to act like big kids!

Cassie and Nick’s wedding was amazing. The best part was being surrounded by so many old friends. We ate, we drank (boy did we drink) we danced. I wish I could post all the photos here. The stories they tell make me laugh everytime I look at them. I wish every party could be like this.

But what I really wish more than anything is that all of us could be in the same place again. Its memories like these that get you through the bad days...

California Dreaming

2011-10-19T23:14:00.000+08:00

If I could move anywhere in the world. Right now. Hands down. It would be San Francisco.

I started my trip with 5 days of bliss in California. Ros & Yoshi were the most amazing hosts.

They planned my entire visit, crammed it full of activities and let me sleep like a pig in the back of the car whenever the jet lag hit! Actually, I’m not sure if it was jet lag or pure exhaustion from all the outdoor activity…

We Hiked

Boated

Cycled

And generally goofed around like good friends do

San Francisco is one of those cities that I always love going back to. I spent a lot of time walking around the different districts, exploring the little boutique shops. Ended up buying some jumpers which of course I will wear a lot in Sunny Singapore…. I couldn’t help it..they were so pretty..

I even stumbled across the boutique I bought my prom dress from 10 years ago!!

Middle child syndrome

2011-09-16T22:37:00.000+08:00

Middle child syndrome? No I don't have middle child syndrome. I'm pretty sure I'm an only child with an invisible elf who appears when I'm not at home makes a mess and steals my clothes.

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The question of kids

2011-09-16T13:36:00.001+08:00

Sometimes I look at Poops and think "I want one of those".

He's really growing up fast. Driving already

Chatting up the ladies

But who can blame him - he's such a charmer!

But then what I realise what I really want to do is to just steal Poops..

Off to spend a week with the bub in Dallas. Can't wait. 2 weeks away from the stress and mess of our life in SG.. Hooray!

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Happy Mid-Autumn festival!

2011-09-12T13:22:00.000+08:00

I used to love this festival... Until someone told me eating a mooncake is probably the equivalent in fat content of all your meals for a week..

Regardless, its still such a pretty festival. We had little kids wandering around our pool with electric lantern. What happened to the paper ones that burn as soon as a gust of wind blows the candle into the lantern??

We went halfway and got a plastic dragon

And a little black sesame snowskin mooncake - yum!

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A little bit of Wow

2011-08-31T21:56:00.000+08:00

Tonight was not a good night. It was one of those evenings that made me do this

I dragged my sorry (slightly sleepy) ass all the way to Spin only to find it was full. Again. Serves me right for moving to a country full of crazy people who actually WANT to exercise all the time. I miss my country of lazy couch potatoes....

Couldn't get hold of the boy so spent the whole hour looking for him instead of exercising (it kinda counts right? I was running around a shopping mall!)

But instead of listening to my whining I thought I'd show you something else. The boy has been using the ipad to do some sketches for a presentation he's doing for work. Check it out..

I kinda think they're pretty great. I couldn't draw these with a pencil, let alone an ipad!

Placeholder

2011-08-17T23:55:00.000+08:00

I've been drafting a catch up post for a few weeks now.

so much has been going on..but it's still all sitting up in my head.

So i'll just hold a place for now. A May to August space for all the places we went to and the things that we did. Coming soon. maybe.

Common Sense from an unexpected place.

2011-04-28T19:43:00.000+08:00

HJ: I want to buy this dress from the outnet. Can I get it?
Kelvin: OK
HX: yeah buy it

HJ: Its 260 pounds. I don't know if its worth it.
HX: It's not worth it. Don't buy it

HJ: I don't like you. Sister Reject Shop

Happy Easter!

2011-04-22T22:26:00.000+08:00

Even chocolate rabbits breed like crazy...

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Taxi talk

2011-03-27T12:58:00.001+08:00

Sitting in a jam listening to the taxi uncle rant

"Dig here dig there. One day dig. Next day cover up. Wasting money. Don't know what they are doing."

"don't no Why they always cut tree. Now every week cut tree. Last time tree fall down only then cut."

"Everyday jam here jam there. Aiyor. Singapore never control. The road is not enough for cars. See the road so small. Singapore so small island. The map also cannot see. One dot. "

"Too many traffic light. Many many. You go short distance onli u see traffic light!"

Ok... I'm egging him on a bit. It's entertaining.

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Hash in a box

2011-03-27T02:05:00.000+08:00

This is what we get up to in our spare time over this side of the world...

you know you wish you were here really

Je m'apelle (H)ai Jade

2011-03-22T22:19:00.000+08:00

On Saturday The Boy and I decided that we are going to learn how to speak French. (I also decided I am going to learn Chinese, Spanish and maybe a little Japanese. All very realistic of course)

Why French? So many reasons.

We love Paris. It was one of our first trips as a couple.

It is the home of Chanel. And Louis Vuitton. And many many beautiful things which I know the Boy wants to buy for me..

I would potentially be able to apply to Insead (at the moment I dont meet the language requirements!).

The boy will be able to understand what Gargantuan is saying to (about?) him

So we have 3 weeks to get a basic grasp of the language. Hello Rosetta Stone!

Although, I'm not sure how much French the Boy will need if all he plans to do is this!!

Closed doors

2011-03-18T10:07:00.001+08:00

I don't like closed doors. They feel so unfriendly. One day I will have a house where no closed doors are allowed until bedtime.

Except in the bathroom. Doors should always be closed when peeing. Some things are private.

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I wish

2011-03-02T09:47:00.001+08:00

I could make my mind up on what to do next...

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Geek alert

2011-02-28T14:56:00.001+08:00

I had to wear my glasses today

I hate wearing my glasses

The lenses are heavy. My nose is too small so they don't sit properly.

Glasses were not made for Chinese people. Ironic since we have the worst eyesight...

Grumpy

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Location:Orchard Spring Ln,,Singapore

Wishes do come true

2011-02-17T16:32:00.000+08:00

Especially if you scrunch up your eyes extra hard and make the wish on a public forum...

Hubby did good..

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This little piggy

2011-02-16T17:01:00.000+08:00

Sometimes Percy pig comes to work.

Yesterday he brought his pals so I left some on Hash's desk

Before

After

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Newly Weds

2011-02-16T10:07:00.001+08:00

I get asked the same question a lot now.

How is married life?

And I give the same answer. Its the same. Nothing has really changed. Our routines are the same. We already know each others bad habits. Life ticks along comfortably.

Except sometimes at night when I look across the dining room table at the boy and think...

Thats's my husband.

It makes me a little warm and fuzzy inside...

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Is it a sign?

2011-02-15T23:06:00.000+08:00

A new shop has opened on Orchard road in one of my favourite corners of Takashimaya. Just in time for my birthday.

Its like the world is trying to tell me something. It goes a little like this...2.55...2.55...2.55......

A New Maid

2011-02-15T23:03:00.000+08:00

We have a new housemate - we left her instructions on our new chalkboard.

I think they may have confused the new maid a little - especially the last instruction...

Cause and Effect

2011-02-09T23:08:00.000+08:00

Here is the effect of cooking a Sunday roast for 8 hungry friends.

I couldn't stop apologising to the maid the next day...

Too Late - you already signed!!

2011-01-31T23:30:00.000+08:00

You don't take vows in Chinese Weddings. There's a good reason why. Can you imagine? They would probably go something like this:

Do you take this man and his 1000 relatives and all that that entails to be your lawfully wedded partner?

Do you promise to smile and nod through all slightly socially inappropriate comments. Dutifully attend all family gatherings and bear him many many children as soon as possible?

I apologise. I actually really like the boy's family. It's just that time of year when the larger chinese family gathers. A lot of faces that I don't fully recognise yet asking a lot of questions I don't know how to answer. I think Mark Zuckerberg must have invented poking after attending a Chinese family gathering.

There were some real gems from the reunion dinners this weekend:

Cousin: wow this function room is quite small isn't it (the dinner was held at our condo)

me: (i don't really know how to answer that) er..yes i guess so..

random relative: oh. its only 3 bedrooms? what's the footage?

me: er..1400sqft? 1500? i'm not really sure..

relative: really? ah, they must have counted the lift and the outside areas. cannot be so big..

me: er..ok

relative 2: you could probably have 1 or 2 children here before you have to move

(how many do they think we are having??!!?)

and then of course there were the baby questions

"when are you having children?"

"miss please, enjoy the dinner. when will you be having babies? You should have children quickly"

and as a farewell

"have children quickly ok"

even my own mother turned treacherous

"when are you thinking of having children?"

"but how about some kind of time frame. roughly when exactly?"

dodge dodge duck and weave.

hubby, i hope you're ready for another 5 years of these questions.....

CNY is a coming

2011-01-24T23:24:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is almost here.

I guess its the Chinese equivalent of Christmas, but Asian style because its all about food and money. Not presents..

We went down to Chinatown to check out the preparations and take a few photos.

There were CNY decorations and cheap China junk everywhere.

And HUGE pomelos.

We found a really cool hat for the boy. Wanted to buy it for him to ski in. But it cost $25...i might have paid $10 but the guy didn't really seem interested in selling it. Amazingly he didn't kick up a fuss when we rammed it down on the boys head and started goofing around with our cameras.

A demo of how hot how you'll look in the hat

Hash show's her true hand

The boy was really upset we didn't get the hat - see how attached he is..

We also found some seriously freaky things on sale. I'm not sure I'd want this doll in my room if I were a kid. I feel like it might come alive at night. And not to sing "twinkle twinkle little star"

Feeling the blues

2011-01-24T11:38:00.001+08:00

Talking to myself and feeling old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin around, nothing to do but frown
Rainy days and mondays always get me down

What Ive got they used to call the blues
Nothing is really wrong
Feeling like I don't belong
Walking around some kind of lonely clown
Rainy days and mondays always get me down

Even as a kid, this was one of my favourite Carpenters songs.... Something about it always resonated for me.

I'm missing a lot of things recently. Im missing wedding fittings and planning. Dinners with the gang filled with banter and inappropriate innuendos (u know what I mean uncle Richie). Girlie gossips (huge rants) over a cup of tea. I miss standing out but still having a place where I belong.

Chaos

2011-01-19T00:09:00.000+08:00

We've been getting the flat ready for Hash's arrival. Re-organising. Re-shuffling. Moving furniture. Assembling new furniture. Its been pretty mad.

Went to have a look at this vintage furniture shop LikeThatOne

Its a great place to have a poke - so many things that I can remember from way back when.

I fell in love with this desk on their website...unfortunately its sold out.

They have something similar..but I can't decide.... what do you think?

The second bedroom and study look really different now. We moved the sofa into the study and it actually makes a pretty cosy place for the boy to study. I actually suspect he just wanted somewhere to catnap.

And Hash's room is finally ready too. Complete with its very own elephant.

Somewhere in the middle

Finito!

The boy has threatened to lock her in if she makes it a mess.... he hasn't seen the pictures of her packing yet..

This was the start

And this was somewhere in the middle 7 hours later after no sleep..

Hopefully some mummy intervention will help to sort things out..

Last I spoke to her she's still going... 20 hours to touch down. Counting down now!

And the Walls Came Tumbling down

2011-01-16T23:14:00.000+08:00

There's a new Condo being built next door to us. We've been watching it for a while. I even went to have a look at the show flat to see if we'd be interested in buying.

Turns out its just as well we didn't buy....

For the last couple of days there have been huge foundation blocks piled high at the front of the plot. As I walk past I occasionally wonder what would happen if they fell over. Today i found out.

Never seen anything like it. It looks a little bit like a giant Jenga game gone wrong.

Friday Shenanigans

2011-01-14T13:33:00.001+08:00

I had one of those mornings where my brain couldn't compute a decent outfit for me to wear.
I can never figure it out. My closet is rammed full but I can't find anything to wear.

Predictably I ended up going in circles which made me a little bit late...and to top it all off I can't find my camera in the re-org chaos that is going on so had to take piccys with the nokia phone!! Bah

It was really this jackets fault. I just bought it in the sales and wanted to wear it but couldn't figure out what to match it to.

Tried a white dress...but it was too *poof*

So I tried a skirt. But it didn't go

Then I squeezed myself into my skinny jeans...but it looked too casual for work. (also I could not breath... I ink those jeans are going onto the "one day when I'm skinny again" shelf)

Finally decided on a little blue skirt outfit

The guys at work have spent all morning humming "in the navy" to me....sigh..

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Knight in shining armor

2011-01-14T13:23:00.001+08:00

Have lance... Will travel

Or something like that. I never was any good at remembering movie quotes...

My iPhone died yesterday. Kaput.

It sent me into a spiral of panic. No connection to the outside world for a second day?!?! (left my phone at home the day before)...

So hubby swooped down in his black audi and delivered a spare phone.

Unfortunately it is a tiny Nokia and the speed of the email load up and lack of web browser has driven me so nutty that today I insisted on borrowing either his iPhone or his iPad.

As u can see..I won with the iPad... Loving it... Maybe too much to give back.....uh oh....

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Closet cleanout

2011-01-11T11:35:00.001+08:00

I've run out of space

Th only option left is to clear out some clothes and donate them to the salvation army

But

Wouldn't it be weird to walk down the street

And see that T-shirt you threw away

On another person

The mind boggles..

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Birthday Fears

2011-01-11T09:46:00.001+08:00

I have this re-occurring nightmare. It comes every year at my birthday.

I'm not afraid of getting older. My inner child still anticipates that wisdom will suddenly descend on me when I "become a grown up" and thus this is not really something to fear.

My fear is that no-one will come to my party. Go figure.

Maybe this year I'll let my ageing slip quietly by...

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I love this boy

2011-01-05T22:39:00.000+08:00

Hubby will just have to deal with it. Who could resist his adorable chubby cheeks?? Monogamy is overrated anyway.

I'm big. You're small.

2010-12-30T22:29:00.000+08:00

Its been good hanging out around London. Nick was right - it doesn't feel like a holiday. Just an incredibly long weekend which I love. I get to eat all my favorite food and do all my favorite things. Last night we went to IMAX theatre to watch Tron. On exiting, we realized just how big Uncle Richie is and how little Hash is.

I'm too tall to talk to you

You're TOO small!!

As we were going down the escalators at Waterloo, there was a man coming up the other side. He was waving a ticket in front of him and shouting:

Man (in a very british cockney accent): Have you seen Jesus. Have you? They f****in nailed 'im to a cross! have you seen him?

We all stare politely at our feet

Man(as he passes us) mutters: bitch

Kat looks at me and we both say: You wouldn't get that in SIngapore!!

He clearly didn't see the sign

And here's one to leave you with - Kathchard have decided that I am officially a tourist now, so they obligingly posed for an appropriate photo.

Out of the mouths of babes

2010-12-28T22:28:00.000+08:00

Children come up with the most genius quotes. Sitting in mandarin kitchen with my parents here's what the 2 small boys on the table next to us came up with

Boy 1: "i'm a laydeee. I'm a LAAAAYdeeeeee!"

10 years down the line he'll be the first of his friends to come out of the closet.

Boy 2 (screaming): "NO mummy! i can't eat that! I can't eat the duck!! i don't want to kill it in my mouth!!"

vegetarian in the making.

It's that most wonderful time of the year!

2010-12-25T23:21:00.000+08:00

Christmas is my favourite time of the year.

We always start with a Christmas dinner with friends

Food..

Secret Santa

and lots of silliness...

All warm up of course for the main meal on Christmas day.

I did quite well with the loot this year..

Thanks Santa!

xxx

Waiting...

2010-12-20T22:17:00.000+08:00

Stuck at the airport for 5 hours waiting for a flight… screaming children. irritated adults. beaten up staff..

there is one woman who has been stuck in the same yoga pose for the last 4 hours. No joke. I left to get some food, came back and she was still in the same position.

That's stamina.

On the plus side - they gave us $15 allowance for a free lunch so I went to Prima del and pigged out.

please please let me get home for Christmas… Santa, how bout letting me hitch a ride on that one horse sleigh?

oh gods.. a small child is talking to me.. anyone know what "hi fee" means?

The first day of the rest of our lives..

2010-12-01T23:59:00.000+08:00

They're here!! finally - the wedding pictures! We spent an hour with Chris today going through the "pre" (post!!) wedding photos. We went from 112 to 75... we were supposed to have 24..

I'm still in 2 minds about whether or not that shoot was worthwhile. On the one hand it was a lot of fun and we'll never get to do it again.. on the other, it was a LOT of money. And what are we going to do with so many shots of me in a wedding dress???

Here are some of the actual day shots - you'll have to wait for the shoot. They're compiling an album for us so we don't have that CD yet.

This is only a handful - i'll have to try to figure out how hubby can put the rest online.. otherwise they'll forever live on the 3 CD's that were given to us..

THE BIG DAY

Started nice and early! The girls were up till 1am planning (plotting) and got up when I did at 6am to get ready before the fun and games..

The guys were good sports. Although sometimes they seemed to enjoy themselves a little TOO much.

Yeah..they feel pretty good..

Ong seems to be enjoying his..appendages a little too much

Looks like Lester beat me to it..

But in the end the boy made it in..

And we headed off to Raffles!

Proud parents

All my sisters!

But even though the whole day was really hectic we still managed to sneak a few moments to ourselves...and the photographers..

It was an amazing day..and I still can't believe that we're now:

A new experiment

2010-12-01T10:06:00.001+08:00

I've been having trouble finding time to sit down at my desk and write in this blog... So I finally downloaded this app (uncle Richard - aren't u proud of me??) we'll see if it helps...

I know I know, there are a few thing overdue. Honeymoon posts. Wedding posts. I never even posted about cambodia or the F1!! Thought it would be quieter when we got back from SA but it's been manic with all the Christmas prep..

I love Christmas

Anyway I promise there will be an update soon. We're picking up the wedding pictures today.

Here's a sneak peek at what I spent last night doing..

My fingers are covered in glue...

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Catch up

2010-11-01T23:42:00.000+08:00

The last 6 weeks have been a blur. The month leading up to the big day just seemed to disappear.

I kept meaning to blog..but in reality, every evening was spent looking something like this.

So here's a quick catch up of everything that happened..

A week before the wedding the gang arrived! It was an action packed week. There was cake.

HaiX taking a birthday piccy with Kelvin....

And a lot of eating.

A little bit of singing.

And a flying trip to Bintan.

(that's me under the hat...)

We seemed to attract a lot of the local wildlife...

There were also a few wedding related activities... some dress fittings:

Early morning wine tasting..

and some DIY flower arranging

Here are some sneak peaks from the wedding day...i'm not going to blog about it just yet...we're still collecting the photos..

but i will say this. We both had an unforgettable day, and it was all thanks to our friends who took care of EVERYTHING on the day. I still can't believe how smoothly everything went, or what an incredible time we had - all i can say is Thank You... It makes me smile to know what great friends we have...

Cluck Cluck

2010-09-20T23:41:00.000+08:00

The girls from work decided that it was unacceptable for me not to have a debaucherous hen party..so last saturday we all got together for a night out.
In my innocence I thought it would be a simple alcohol fuelled girls night out.
I was so wrong.
First there was the dress which I was handed the day before.

And then there was the list - one task for each letter of the boy's name.

K was for Kiss a Stranger - at each place we went to

E was for End the night with a drink of our choice

L was for Lollipops!! Which I had to sell!

I made $18!! :)

V was for Voice - and the song that i had to sing at the bar

I was for Ivana Humpalot. That was my name. And the girls made sure I introduced myself to as many people as possible. I won't tell you what the reactions were - it makes me blush

N was for Netball moves - on the dance floor!! Here's the defence move..

And here are all the girls together

And that's all the photo's i'm releasing. The rest are for private consumption only!

Winter Withdrawal Symptoms

2010-09-08T23:15:00.000+08:00

Its true. I'm suffering from a lack of cold weather. Dare I say…I even miss the rain

It doesn't help that all the shops, blogs, online magzines are full of winter clothing. So much more creative than summer clothing. And designed to hide a multitude of sins.

I'm dying to buy a knitted dress.

And I'm still itching to buy those cardy uggs…

I wonder if I can justify a whole new wardrobe for a one week trip back to the UK...

Poke Poke Poke

2010-09-05T23:05:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I get so tired

Of all the preconceptions here

The constant little pokes

At how different I am

It makes it harder to shrug it all off

The other day I got bombarded at the spa:

Wah - you're so dark. Do you go sun-tanning at the beach or machine tanning?

I don't tan on purpose

Huh?? This is your natural skin colour? You're not Chinese is it?

No..i just go outside…

Hmm…you got a lot of freckles - you want to do treatment?

No I like my freckles

WAH!! Really???? Why??

Where you from?

England

So far! How come come here?

Getting married.

Ohhhh. Your husband singaporean is it? Good Good. Clever. Better marry otherwise cannot get PR - too old cannot get husband already.

SPEECHLESS

I came, I saw, I ate

2010-08-31T22:55:00.000+08:00

Spent the weekend with Ciara in Taipei. I'd love to tell you about the museums and monuments we saw. The parties we went to. The places we explored.

But the truth is we spent the whole 2 days eating.

Dumplings at Din Tai Fung

Mango pudding

Face sized chicken at the market

More dumplings

Bubble tea!

Oyster omelette

Mochi

In our defence, we tried to go to Maokong to see the tea houses but they closed the gondolas because of a thunderstorm.

We also spent about half an hour at the Chiang Kai Shek memorial. And went up the 101 building. Sightseeing - TICK!

And we went out with some of her friends but they didn't feel like clubbing so we went to a sports bar and played drinking games.

It was a good weekend - I think I gained about 10 pounds!!

Beauty and the Beast

2010-08-27T00:53:00.000+08:00

I found these photos on my iphone. They made me laugh.

Beauty

was laughing at

The Beast

No Excuses..

2010-08-26T23:57:00.000+08:00

I realised today that it has been almost a MONTH since I last blogged. So..i've cheated. I'm backdating posts to give you an update of my August.

Shocking.

There are no excuses - I hang my head in shame. Most of my free time at the moment is spent trying to figure out how many people will be coming to the wedding, writing invitations, running to the post office, liaising with the catering managers at the hotels, pulling my hair out! I really hate using spreadsheets on a mac - none of my shortcut keys work properly. I can't see the cell input. I can't flick up and down the sheet quickly. And my filter functions keep freezing.

Uncle Richie - sort - it - out.

I had this idea of buying paper parasols for the morning ceremony to help with some of the sun coverage. After hunting EVERYWHERE in singapore, I gave up and ordered 60 parasols from the US. I'm pretty sure they came from China, so they've gone on a lovely little tour of the globe. Go figure.

Anyway, when they arrived it turned out that 20" umbrellas are made for children…or very very small adults. And the handles were the length of my elbow to wrist.

Don't worry - I've shipped them back and exchanged them for a longer size so you won't all have to huddle under a tiny umbrella to keep out of the sun. I'm not sure that we saved any money exchanging them though - the shipping cost was ridiculous. And the boy and I ended up sealing up the box, taping an address on and legging it down the road to the post office, just as they were closing. Phew - go team Haivin!

Anyway, enjoy the updates. Going to Taipei this weekend so no more posts until next week!

Baby Update!

2010-08-18T00:15:00.000+08:00

Sean is 1 month today. Happy 1 month Sean!

He's getting big so quickly...

But not yet as big as this baby..

Tanjong Beach Club

2010-08-10T00:11:00.000+08:00

The boy and I have found a new hang out place. We've been spending our weekend afternoons hanging out at the beach!

Strangely, this is also a popular place for wedding photoshoots, despite the crowds! The other day I counted 3 couples doing photoshoots at the same time. I think this is the pose we'll go for:

Club Street

2010-08-09T00:04:00.000+08:00

Kelvin and I spent a lazy Saturday afternoon exploring Club street which is a hilly little area in Singapore with lots of boutique shops and cafes in old shophouse buildings.

This cute little shop made me smile.

The architecture of those buildings is so beautiful - it makes you wonder why anyone would want to build those big ugly shopping malls.

There are a lot of bars around there too, but they weren't open at 3 in the afternoon - not that we didn't check.

We also wandered around to a few junk shops. The boy went treasure hunting recently with Gargantua. They were looking for an opium pipe which Gargantua wanted to take back to Paris with him (as an ornament. NOT to smoke…). The junk shop was NOT what I expected. It wasn't really a shop, more a room so crammed with junk you couldn't even step in. The owner was nice though. We chatted to him for a while. He obviously makes a lot of money selling all this stuff nobody wants anymore - he told me he flies to Hong Kong every couple of weeks! Just goes to show - you shouldn't throw anything away..

Singfest!

2010-08-04T23:57:00.000+08:00

One of the things I really miss about the UK are the festivals. I can't believe we only managed to go to V-festival once!

You don't get a lot of concerts in Singapore - so when I saw the ads for Singfest it was a no-brainer!! It was a festival, but on a much smaller scale! We ended up at Fort Canning on a Tuesday evening chilling out to the strangest mix of bands I've seen.

The Like (never heard of them), Orianthi (pretty good), The Wonder girls (!?!?!????! Weird. Nuff said), Tokio Hotel (awesome) and finally Katy Perry - AMAZING. The best part was that Fort Canning is on a hill the stage was at the bottom, and I already have a pretty good height advantage over the other girls here, so we were about a meter away from the stage and I could see EVERYTHING. I haven't screamed that much for a while..

Miss Perry stirred things up a bit with her interview style - she was staying at the new Casino and had the interview on the roof deck in the pool. Anyone who wanted to ask her a question had to be up to their knees at least in the pool!

Bali Bali Bali!

2010-08-01T22:47:00.000+08:00

This post is long overdue! But I got a little distracted, because the boy's sister went into Labour as we were flying back, so the first txts that hit our phones were "gone to hospital to deliver!!!"

We did a quick weekend trip to Bali in July with some friends before they moved to Paris. Rented a little villa with a pool. Packed a few pairs of shorts and t-shirts, all of our swimming cossies and spent the weekend drinking, eating and monkeying around in the pool.

Strangely, despite our best intentions, we never managed to make it to Kudeta! We did find this cute little restaurant though called Sea Circus. The 4 of us managed to get through 4 or 5 bottles of wine. Luckily the food was good too, so we managed a good balance. But we were pretty happy by the time we got back to the villa - the poor deskboy had to put up with our slightly ridiculous demands at 1am.. Amazingly they still sent us more beer when we rang from the villa, despite the decrepit state we stumbled home in!!

On our last day we drove up to Ubud and walked around the monkey temples. The monkeys do this weird thing where they hold one money down and all the monkeys groom that monkey.

While we were waiting for the car to pick us up we did something similar to Kelvin. Dawn and Gargantua held the boy down and picked out his white hairs… Needless to say, the boy was not amused.

We miss Dawn and Gargantua now they've gone - they're one of the nicest couples I know - the kind that make you feel like there is a happily ever after.

It was a fantastic weekend and definitely one to be repeated, although next time I go I want to rent this villa:

My list

2010-07-29T23:14:00.000+08:00

Some people make a bucket list ( I only recently realised what that is…) but i couldn't narrow my list down to 100.

But recently an ex-colleague of mine was telling me about how she and her husband are trying to cram in holidays to more obscure place before they have kids....and there's been so much baby talk around with lil Sean being born, it got me thinking..

So here is the list of some of the things I would like to do before I have kids

Places I want to go:

Trekking in South America

Climb Kilimanjaro

Go to Bhutan

Ski-diving in Australia (and maybe diving - we'll see how persuasive Kelvin is...)

Japan in spring to see the cherry blossoms

Trans-siberian railway

Cuba!!!

Lake Tahoe

Skiing in Whistler

And things I want to do:

Live in the US for a year and/or go back to London. I thought I was done but I'm not.

Be debt free for at least 6 months.

Have a holiday/sabbatical/3 month break to go travelling

Move my family to Singapore....

Write a business plan for at least ONE of the crazy ideas floating around in my head

Learn how to take a decent photograph

Play a proper defence in a netball game...

Looks like i'll be retired before I get to have kids!!

What's on your list?

Blue...

2010-07-27T22:07:00.000+08:00

Feeling a little Blue today... no particular reason...a multitude of things really that have been building up and now come crashing down leaving me feeling a bit raw. I'll see groups of friends who have known each other since they've been at school and it makes me sad.

Its not lack of activity - we've been going out a lot. But...

Truth is...I miss all you guys in London..and I guess i'm feeling a little homesick.

NEWSFLASH!!!!

2010-07-23T20:49:00.000+08:00

I got distracted from my usual blog update this week by the arrival of this little guy

Say hello to my new little nephew - Sean Ng Kai Ze

Born 7.15am Monday 19th July. Weighing 2.8kg

Can you believe how great Mummy looked after giving birth??!! I can only dream..

The room was full of people coming to visit the two of them. I have to confess, I hogged him a little bit. There aren't that many people around who would let me hold their newborn babies… but Sean's got no choice - I'm his Auntie!

The parentals went for a walk and sat down in the garden outside. We think they were negotiating Grandparental rights. This little dude is not going to lack attention, that's for sure!

And here are my two favourite guys..

That Friday Feeling

2010-07-16T20:30:00.000+08:00

Fridays in the office are always quiet. This is the office at lunch time

It reminds me of one of those wild wild west towns, where you roll in and the whole place is deserted.

This Friday we were celebrating the end of the World Cup. Angela won the competition so she bought us all cupcakes (slightly counterintuitive - she didn't win any money. She had to buy us food….i'm not sure how conducive that is to encouraging people to win…)

We had bratwurst in honour of Germany.

Wine and Champagne to kick off that Friday feeling.

And lots and lots of cupcakes! Yum...

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2010-07-13T22:50:00.000+08:00

I'm on a bit of a mad shopping spree at the moment…. The credit card situation is starting to look dire..
Unfortunately, shopping just seems to fuel more shopping and I'm rapidly running out of space!

Last night, in a desperate attempt to remedy this situation I sat down in front of my closet and tried to spring clean. But…and I swear this is the truth… there was NOTHING in my wardrobe I could throw away!! Really. ALL essential items.

And to make full use of the items in my closet I really need a few key items to complete those ideal outfits.

Having just discovered ASOS delivers to Singapore for only 10 pounds extra, nothing could stop me getting that laptop was out and off I went!
Hopefully one of these tanks will match that zara skirt I bought in the sales and have been dying to wear.

But it didn't stop there. While looking for a black strapless dress to wear with a tshirt underneath I stumbled across this gorgeous strapless dress.

And since we seem to be going out for drinks much more often with the boys' glamorous friends, I felt it was totally justified to get this jumpsuit.

Unfortunately the online shopping itch doesn't seem to have been completed. I still haven't found that perfect little black dress.
And I really want a pair of gladiator sandals.

And these topshop clogs….

And then to make it even worse…I stumbled across this little beauty in an online blog..

I wonder if Kelvin would object to a wedding list that is full of items that are just for me…after all..if I'm happy he's happy right?

Cupcake cravings

2010-07-04T23:01:00.000+08:00

One wet rainy sunday afternoon, around the time you might sit down for tea, a girl turned to a boy and said

"I'm having a HUGE craving for cupcakes. We have to have cupcakes for tea!"

The boy, in an exceptionally obliging mood, trotted down to his car and drove around most of central london looking for cupcakes.

Unfortunately the mission was unsuccessful, and the boy and girl had to settle for Waitrose muffins instead. A poor substitute.

But from then on the boy, always a quick learner, made sure to note down the names of cupcake places whenever he came across them, in case his crazy wife-to-be should have these weird and wonderful cravings again.

In keeping with my nutty obsession with cupcakes, we've decided to have a tier of cupcakes for our morning solemenization. We went in search of our cupcake shop today and stumbled across the sweetest little shop in the middle of the financial district!

The lady running it was almost cleaned out of cupcakes by the time we got there - but she insisted on us trying everything she had... they were delicious.

The package we chose will look something like this:

And despite having stuffed ourselves with all the free samples, we still walked away with one of these for our tea!

YUM!

High Heels and Flying Balls

2010-06-26T18:42:00.000+08:00

Friday night we ditched the boys and headed down to Shangri La in short skirts and high heels

The aim?

To get the maximum amount of alcohol in us for the minimum amount of money.

NOT as dodgy as it may sound:

We actually ended up having several rounds of drinking games and ended up playing charades. Luckily the bar wasn't too busy…although I'd had enough wine that I didn't notice if people were staring!

Despite our best efforts we couldn't manage the 6 inch heels…but we did manage some respectable 4 inches!! 60 % off drinks..not too shabby.

The inevitable result was that I was not too clearheaded for my 10am netball match the next day. I showed up bright and early for warm up, only to get a few balls thrown in my face when I spaced out and didn't realise someone was passing to me.

OUCH!

Birthday boy

2010-06-22T18:41:00.001+08:00

Today is the boy's birthday.

He is old

It’s the first birthday that we've celebrated for him in Singapore so I got all his friends out for dinner.

It was supposed to be a surprise so I emailed everyone before and told him that we were going to a dinner with my work friends. The first clue should have been the fact that I MISSED netball training!! Like I would ever miss netball training!!!!

Anyway, he was suitably oblivious until 2 minutes before we left the door when one of his friends call.

Friend: are you there yet?

Boy: huh? Where? What?

Friend: oh shit.

Friend: er..

Friend: crap...pretend to be surprised ok

HJ: DOH!!

It was fine, we were the first ones there anyway, so it wouldn't have been much of a surprise…but just watching his face on that phone call made me laugh so much!!

They gave us the BEST table - right in front of the screen that was showing the world cup match.

Tonight will be fairly quiet. I've booked us a table at a good Jap restaurant. Made some cupcakes. And invited some friends over for after dinner drinks.

The boy had been bugging me for an ipad for weeks. This last week has been EXCEPTIONALLY annoying. I think he twigged to the fact that he was actually going to get one. So he's spent the last week whining at me. Seriously. There are 2 year olds that have nothing on the boy. I dread to think what he was like as a child..

Anyway…as punishment… I bought him a t-shirt and put it in an ipad shaped box…

Buahahaha

The piccys tell a good story....

I think it's my ipad...

why is it in a funny box?

Noooooooo!!

Is it under the tissue paper?...

Boo!...

Wait...there's one more..

Happy Barfday Smelly!

Me n Walter

2010-06-17T18:20:00.000+08:00

Finally found some time to go and visit Walter at the Singapore Art Museum.

It was an especially rainy day..more on that later. And I was in such a mood when I arrived...but nobody could be moody at this place!

The exhibition is geared towards children..so of course I had a whale of a time! The exhibits were so much fun. And I have no sense of shame - so I jumped right on in and played with the rest of the kids!

ok..i didn't play here...even i felt too old to hop around on the grass with the kids..

but i did explore here..

These were my favourites - projections that react to movement..amazing!

the water moves AROUND you!!

In more dramatic news..we had over 100mm of rain in one morning. Orchard road flooded.

No really. FLOODED.

Don't believe me? Check it out:

I want...

2010-06-15T17:46:00.000+08:00

The other day I thought it might be fun to find a huge noticeboard for our study wall and use it to create a collage of things we like from magazines.

Just found something similar that was done for the magazine RealSimple. It's a collage of bits and pieces from someone's travels - looks pretty cool

Now the boy just needs to find me a big noticeboard…before I start pinning things straight onto the wall!!

Mummy's are the best

2010-06-12T17:54:00.000+08:00

Last week my mother descended on Singapore. Her mission? A checklist of "things to do before the wedding". The result - one happily harassed and exhausted daughter.

Sometimes I find it difficult to live in the same space as other people. I've grown too stubborn as I get older..less patient….more set in my own ways and determined to have my own space.

but I definitely don't object to the odd week of maternal affection and spoiling.

And I always always miss living near enough to run home for a hug.

We shopped for jewellery

Red bed sheets

Went to every Chinese wedding shop we could find.

And tried on evening dresses all over Singapore before settling on this one.

I ordered my cheongsam from here. It will look something like this.

And decided on my evening dress design..Ted was amazing - although I had some doubts given my figure look nothing like what he has drawn!! I can only dream...

We even found time to meet the florist at Raffles. The quote for the bouquets and other flowers came to almost 2k..

My very own serfdom

2010-06-10T10:50:00.000+08:00

I saw this article in the times today and sent to Kelvin. He's always talking about how he would like to own his own serfdom. Maybe an island will do..

Forget about saving up for their first apartment! Buy your own island for only 50k!

Flook It

2010-06-03T10:57:00.000+08:00

It still amazes me how many social interaction sites are constantly springing up, and how popular they are. Do people spend all their time on social media sites now? How do you fit that in between work and social interaction. Don't you people like to sleep?!?!?

Anyway, I found a new one today.

http://flook.it/

It's probably not even new. I'm just slow. Twitter? Still haven't figured it out - mostly because its blocked at work…and that's where I spend the most time in front of a computer!

You basically create "flook cards" of the world around you. Places you like to go etc. The thing that impressed me is this: Over time, flook learns which cards people like most, and then shows them to you first. It's a bit like StumbleUpon for the world around you

I don't know what StumbleUpon is…but I like the fact that the app learns with you.

That's evolution for you. Sites now remember and learn what your preferences are. Facebook generates ads which are meant to fit with your profile settings. For example, ever since I announced on my profile that I am engaged, most of the ad banners are wedding related ads. Interestingly they are also mostly Singapore based, although I haven't updated that part of my profile yet.

Before that most of the ad's were IT job related…. I assume because my profile says that I went to Imperial college. Clearly I was an anomaly there. The only thing I know how to do on my laptop is facebook and online shopping! :P

Krabi

2010-05-30T22:50:00.000+08:00

We flew. We spa'd. We trekked (ok..on elephants but it's still trekking).

We swam. We snorkelled. We sailed through rain storms.

We cooked. We Kayaked. We got stung by jelly fish...

It was an eventful weekend. Unfortunately my organisational skills slipped and I failed to notice that my camera was low on battery, so you're only going to get half the trip in pictures.

But all in all, an amazing weekend. We'll definitely go back. Krabi was just the right amount of relaxation and activities. The resort and islands were beautiful and the food was fantastic. I've already booked the next trip - Cambodia in September!!

It spoke to me..

2010-05-28T22:15:00.000+08:00

In my many web wanderings, I stumbled across this blog. It shows photos of post-its left in random places around Singapore.

This one was particularly appropriate when I found the blog..

It's only words

2010-05-24T22:25:00.000+08:00

And words are all I have..

I really love the home decorations which are wooden words in cursive script. Usually things like "dream" or "home" or "bath" or "noel" (at christmas!!)

So I had the idea of creating our wall decorations - I think you can buy wooden letters to spell out pretty much anything you would like.

I've been making lists of words I think sound nice. Here are a couple which amused me.

clatterfart (KLAT-er-fart) — a chatterer; babbler

cockalorum (kok-ah-LOR-em) — 1. a little man with an unduly high opinion of himself. 2. boastful talk; braggadocio

Not really appropriate for decorative purposes…back to the drawing board!

Nesting Instincts

2010-05-22T22:12:00.000+08:00

Some of the more recent blogs I have been looking at are home renovation blogs. Looking for inspiration for the last pieces of touch up for the apartment. This is one of my favourites:

http://www.younghouselove.com/photo-gallery-2/

I love this room

They have managed to make their home look so warm, light and homely. It's not easy to make a house look so effortlessly beautiful. I speak from experience....

I also found an old town hall in east london which has been converted into a hotel

http://townhallhotel.com

They've done an amazing job of creating a contemporary space while maintaining the integrity of the building

You can really see the beauty of the old hall in their phenomonal apartment suites.

A place to check out for all you people lucky enough to still be in London!

Strange ways to earn a tip

2010-05-20T23:18:00.000+08:00

They say it takes a certain type of personality to go on a cruise and enjoy it. It takes a certain type of personality to work on one too!

Every night our room attendant would leave little folded towel animals on our bed.

It started off pretty nice

And then got slightly odder

and on the last night...well...lets just say I got quite a shock when I walked into the room to go to bed and saw this hanging from the ceiling!!!

Updating

2010-05-18T22:18:00.000+08:00

I'm updating!! I've been uploading all the blog entries I emailed to myself....and I even managed to backdate them!

Some of the entries are not so sunny. They're usually written during my lunch hour when I'm having a less than great day at work... so to balance them, here are some happy memories.

Kath came to visit this weekend - we took her wakeboarding. Here's the evidence!

It was a good weekend :)

Filling the hours

2010-05-06T21:55:00.000+08:00

I love the internet. It can fill my whole day. Google searches. Online shopping. Online articles. News. Flights. Holiday packages. Hotels. Facebook. You tube. Job searches. Blogs!

Most of all I love online retail. I love the possibilities and scope it affords. The range of products. The options. The ability to find what you are looking for and more. Compare prices. Compare styles. Compare yourself with what everyone else is buying.

Growing up we did what I'm sure a lot of families did in England at the weekend. Saturdays were spent in town wandering around the high street (ok, so a big chunk of my time was spent in the library maxing out my entire family's library cards. When they increased the limits from 6 to 18 books it was like Christmas…! People wonder where I got my monkey arms from… you try carrying home 36 books at the age of 12 and see how long it makes YOUR arms!)

As we got bigger so did the highstreets. Big shopping malls sprang up. The opening of Lakeside and Bluewater were huge events and going to one of those shopping centre was a big day out.

But as with all things in life bigger is not always better. Trawling through huge shopping centres can be fun but it can also be frustrating. Hours spent searching through shops without being able to find exactly what you're looking for or anything remotely like what you are looking for. Inevitably you end up either giving up or buying something completely useless to compensate.

The internet solves all these problems. I can find what I'm looking for within a few minutes through a simple google search and without even needing to leave the comfort of my chair. No more fighting crowds for me. One simple click and my item will be delivered within 7 working days. And nowadays websites even offer suggestions on what to buy. Gifts for him. Gifts for her. Gifts for teens. Gifts under $10. SALE...

There is an excitement in discovering a new site. Finding an item at its cheapest price. When selfridges announced they were going online I may have clapped my hands and squealed in glee. When I stumble over a new blog I can spend hours backtracking through the archives.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want the high street to disappear. I love a sunny spring day browsing through the shops on regent street or high street ken. But when you're looking for that one thing in particular nothing beats the internet. No arguments over where to go. No hair pulling when you can't find what you want. All you have to do is point and click….

Paining...

2010-04-14T22:29:00.000+08:00

I ache.

My legs ache. My head is heavy. My back aches. My calf muscles are bulging (and also burning..) and it will only get worse.

I used to think I was crazy playing 4 of 5 nights of netball a week in London. Over here its 4 or 5 hours of training. And its killing me.

On Monday we had a tropical storm just as training was due to start, so some bright spark decided we should go for a run. The run involved running up and over an overhead bridge, down the other side, back up the bridge and down to where we started - 5 times. At the end of it one of the girls remarked to me that she never wanted to see another set of stairs.

The combination of that overenergetic run, combined with an additional 2 hours of training and an hour in the gym last night mean that I'm barely able to walk now. I'm beginning to see the value of stretching.

On a happier note, I finally got round to paying my fees so now I'm broke. But I have my very own netball uniform! I modelled for Kelvin last night.

I still like my london t-shirt and netball skirt better :P