The Great Language Challenge

In a bid to improve our standard of Chinese (plus I think we had nothing better to do), my colleagues and I are playing a game whereby we only speak to each other in pure Chinese during lunch. If a person happened to utter an English word, he/she will have to pay a penalty of 10cents per alphabet. E.G. “Oh Shit” will be charged as 60cents since there are a total of 6 alphabets.

It was absolutely hilarious the way we try to translate some phrases from English to Chinese. But I think we’ve all managed to improve our standards of spoken mandarin. This one takes the cake.

“别和我心玩游戏，
和我心 我该开始就知道”
~　后街男孩

“那牛奶路,
就在天空上,
在为世界祈祷”
~ <<在睡觉的小孩>>, 麦克学洛克

“在这个夜，　就这夜，　(让我们)　二和为一”　
~ 香料女孩

“哟，告诉你我要什么，我真的真的要
所以你告诉我你要什么，你真的真的要
我会告诉你我要什么，我真的真的要
所以你告诉我你要什么，你真的真的要
我要，我要，我要，我要，我真的要”
~ 香料女孩

18th July 2009

The day that we’ve been planning for the longest time has finally come and gone in a whirlwind.

In summary:

• my preeeetty jie-meis and hamsom mafia brothers


• a whole lot of bad dancing (told you guys to practice alr, tsk tsk)


• the transporter who drives damn fast and loves to play with polaroids


• a hiao and absolutely funny photographer who takes v nice shots, and a botak one with a shiny head


• a reluctant virgin boy who got performance anxiety


• frantic tea ceremonies (one which happened in an oven), but so glad that so many people came!


• being chased out of the bridal suite


• not being allowed into the pre-banquet checks black table linen, rose petals on the tables painstakingly placed by my friends, fuschia and pink roses


• regrets as the bride didn’t manage to go down earlier to greet the guests


• pre-first walk-in jitters, groom holding flowers instead of bride, and us walking in too fast


• a fantastic montage from my group of absolutely lovely FAGs, which threatened to ruin my makeup. it got rave reviews for being unique, special and so cute!


• i love my emcees! Professional yet friendly and not boring at all!


• rushing out to change to my 2nd outfit, then realizing that our room key doesn’t work, which resulted in even more panic… and using half a box of Hollywood tape which totally saved my modesty


• a great Actual Day montage from our photographer


• movie star 2nd walk-in


• a super loud and enthusiastic yum seng session


• thank you speeches, mildly screwed up flower presentation to mothers, surprise short speech for the groom


• I’m yours by a superstar groom. Abit out of tune but oh-so-sweet. And yes he can sing!


• not crying at groom’s song, but apparently some people did!


• mad rush to complete photo-taking at 45 tables, which wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the mafia who arranged everyone into position, and head mafia who averted a lot of drinks on behalf of the couple


• lots of hand-shaking and numerous well wishes to 早生贵子


• camwhoring sessions with my colleagues!


• wedding debrief with the FAGs and my JC classmates. I love you guys!

Thank you everyone, for all your help and well wishes, this perfect wedding of ours wouldn’t have been possible without you. I feel very touched by all the love and blessings :)

I have great friends!

From those who readily replied that they will be attending my wedding, to numerous offers of help, to noob video-maker, noob emcee, noob secret (dunno wat the secret is, must ask Yun), to hot pink ang pow box complete with feathers and birdies…

Yesterday we met up with our emcees and video maker… and it was a super huge ball of laughs… Key words of the night:
- Impregnate
- Love toast (said together with the action of spreading kaya on toast)
- 披荆斩棘

I’ve never heard “impregnate” used that many times before!

Come Sunday, my new place is going to witness it’s biggest party ever with the XDJM gathering!

Thank you everyone for making a difference!


ps: I didn't mean to leave out your name! Pure accident!

The Final Countdown!

*Cues cringe-worthy banquet first dish walk in music*

1 month to the wedding! And yes I’m starting to panic. Ok, maybe not panic, but just realized the mountain of things left to do… And on top of that work will be very busy too which means I’m not going to be able to go home early to do these wedding things. I’m beginning to sleep later, and exercise less, which may affect my prettiness on the day itself.

Be still my beating heart, and breathe!

The School Holiday

Took one week off work to clear my matrimonial leave, but since I had nowhere to go, and wanted to save money, and run my errands, I spend most of the time at home. Quite an eventful 1 week, and today, on the last day of my leave, I have this feeling of it being the last day of school holidays, and being super sian that I’ve to go back to school(work) tomorrow.
Amongst the stuff that I’ve accomplished:

1) Sought new opportunities, though it didn’t pan out in the end, it was a good learning experience

2) Contributed A LOT to the economy, i.e. a lot of money was spent on me, but thankfully, I wasn’t the one spending the money. Purchases include:
a. Jewellery
b. Automatic watch! Now I NEVER want to buy another quartz if I can afford it
c. New phone to replace my super sucky one. Sony Ericsson please don’t fail me again

3) Home Improvements:
a. New sewing machine! Thanks Mummy! And I finished sewing three sets of curtains! Now only one room is “naked”, and will stay that way for some time since I haven’t figured out what I want to do with it. And I heart sewing! I’m such an auntie.
b. Assembled one decal, and it looks GREAT! Now I have one more to go, though I’m still trying to figure out which wall to put it on.

4) Wedding:
a. First look at our wedding album layout. The photo-editing was a bit weird for some photos, but so far so good! Super excited about it
b. Erm I bought some stamps? Haha. Quite behind in wedding preps due to home improvement project, but I promise to improve on that!
c. Oh yah, accompanied Mummy to buy some wedding stuff that she has to give me, like teapot set, bedside “candles” etc.

5) Was supposed to be tuition teacher but ended up being ah tiong cos I neh smile in my photo, and had a blast of a time having dinner with Lynn, Nuf, Yun and HX.

Sisters

Picture of us three sisters from long long ago, on our first trip to the US. My mum loved this picture and framed it up, and so here it is...

Quote

I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing; kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.

~Audrey Hepburn

Sneak Preview

Managed to get the selected shots from the bridal studio. These are still unedited of course, and only form a small part of the wedding album. Enjoy!

200.

The 200th post. Quite alot I must say, but not yet enough really.

Been sieving through photos to shortlist them for the wedding, and these bring back tonnes of memories, mostly happy ones. So even though it's pretty tiring to scroll through that many photos, I'm enjoying it slowly!

Star for the day

We finally went for our wedding photoshoot last Friday, after the tons of preparatory work which included:
- Fretting over gown selections and sudden change in makeup artist
- Poring over magazines and online sites for photography locations, hairdo, makeup
- TJ having his 1 hour of fun selecting his photoshoot suits, he looked dashing I must add
- Recce for photoshoot locations: Changi Beach, Seletar Airbase/Camp area, Bishan Park, Seletar Dam... and we ended up not going to any of these locations
- Last minute cancellation by my manicurist which got me all panicky especially since I was also rushing to finish work

The shoot was tons of fun! Though my hair didn't look like anything I imagined it to be, ended up letting the makeup artist do her magic, and the makeup wasn't that bad... And the photographer was a ball of laughs and loved to suan us like mad, think: "don't smile like that, look very fake", "don't clench ur fist like this you look like you're going to punch someone", and I was called chor lor, asked to pose like a lizard etc. which I guess some people might find offensive, but somehow we could take it...

And there were two big surprises: a last minute change in indoor location to Bellini Grande at Clarke Quay where the Bridal Studio booked for the afternoon to do their own advertisement shoots with paid models (the ang moh male model is handsome!), so we got pretty cool shots which I hope will turn out nice! And the sunset at Punggol was fabulous! Streaks of orange, pinks and blacks...

Just hope the models turned out looking ok, and the photos will turn out great... now I can't wait to go through the photos! And pray that I won't be spending too much money getting additional shots...

So Nice

Someone to hold me tight

That would be very nice

Someone to love me right

That would be very nice

Someone to understand

Each little dream in me

Someone to take my hand

And be a team with me

So nice, life would be so nice

If one day I'd find

Someone who would take my hand

And samba through life with me

Someone to cling to me

Stay with me right or wrong

Someone to sing to me

Some little samba song

Someone to take my heart

And give his heart to me

Someone who's ready to

Give love a start with me

Oh yeah, that would be so nice

I could see you and me, that would be nice

Someone to hold me tight

That would be very nice

Someone to love me right

That would be very nice

Someone to understand

Each little dream in me

Someone to take my hand

To be a team with me

So nice, life would be so nice

If one day I'd find

Someone who would take my hand

And samba through life with me

Someone to cling to me

Stay with me right or wrong

Someone to sing to me

Some little samba song

Someone to take my heart

And give his heart to me

Someone who's ready to

Give love a start with me

Oh yes, that would be so nice

Shouldn't we, you and me?

I can see it will be nice...

Meow (x2)

Sister sent me this absolutely adorable picture of the two rascals...

Awwwwwww.........

Changes?

Having to work on the weekends means blasting music from my PC and invariably surfing Facebook and blogs, and I'm officially obsessed with browsing other ppl's wedding photos!

Anyway, changes that are coming up:

1) if you haven't already read the newspapers, the Company has announced a shorter work month (SWM) scheme, in which it is compulsory for us to take at least 1 day leave per month (paid or no pay leave). there was some unhappiness in relation to how the news published in the papers before being communicated to staff... but i guess all of us were kinda expecting it in some way or the other. Oh well, I don't really mind taking NPL IF and only IF i'm not expected to be working on home when i'm on NPL

2) have officially started the ball rolling with regards to my job rotation and i believe it is actually going to happen, just fingers crossed that my next posting will be reasonable...

on other news, went to select my wedding gowns last monday, i finally feel more like i'm going to be getting married!

Sunrise, Sunrise

A random collection of sunrise shots from my bedroom window.





Thankful I get to start every dreary workday with a pretty sight :)

Updates

Haven’t updated in a while, been busy at work and sick and all… so here’s a brief summary

Lots of fun in our Malacca adventure

Came back from Malacca to a Peranakan meal, and proceeded to puke it all out on Monday morning.

Two days MC, but by day 3 I was having fever, went back to office and got hit with 2 discussions scheduled to last 2 hours, got fed up, took half day leave to go home to sleep, and woke up with fever of 39deg.

Got another two days MC, but went back to work anyway ‘cos we were shifting office.

Packed up and moved office. Finally I have bright white lights in the office and decent furniture. Makes me want to decorate and call this place my own. But I miss the old place for it’s privacy and the fact that my boss used to have his own room. Now he sits in a cubicle like the rest of us, and we have to whisper when we need to bitch about him.

Planned a pretty successful surprise for Clara. Happy Birthday Clara! Yippee now we sit very near each other!

Working late, rushing to write papers. But still kena scolded: “I don’t mind if you all take long lunches or tea breaks, but the quality of work must still be there”. Hello, we go down for lunch at 12.40, coming up at 1.40 does not qualify as having a long lunch. Unlike you, I don’t leave for lunch at 12 noon and come back at 2pm.

Somehow after the puke attack, my tummy is going all weird on me, I’m getting these hunger pangs! 2 hours after my lunch and my tummy starts to be hungry all over again, Luckily it doesn’t growl.

Home alone, TJ’s away on a seminar. Realise I quite like having the house to myself.

One more birthday celebration coming up!

Thank you

For knowing exactly what you needed to do just when I say “hey dear can you please” (fill in the blanks with activities like pick up your dirty clothes, close the door)

For helping out with the relocation of the Aw family home.

For scoring high points with my parents that way… my Dad praised you!

For taking last minute leave (my fault) and being the very important driver of the car with the red scroll on it… that really touched me…

For enduring the endless teasing and jibes by my two sisters.

For cooking yummy dinners and cleaning up the stove after that.

For your little sacrifices like skipping your own activities to join me in my family activities.

For preparing sandwiches for me to bring to office for breakfast

For clearing out the trash without me asking

For selecting your clothes every night and tippy-toe around the house to avoid waking me up when you get ready for work every morning

For sending me sweet little smses

Most of all, for being you…

Happy 4.5 years darling, we somehow don’t really have time or opportunity to celebrate this, but do know that you are very important to me and your small little gestures say a lot too.

Goodbye

Goodbye Gong-gong.

My earliest memories of you were how you could hold your liquor, and how my parents always bought a bottle of cognac for you from duty free after our overseas trips. Then, we used to always have Chinese New Year dinners prepared by Ah-po complete with hainanese delicacies like mutton soup, chap chye and the deep fried prawn fritters.

When you fell ill more than 10 years ago, all these stopped, no more elaborate dinners and liquor since then. While your mental health declined, you seemed more in the pink of health than ever. And your childlike innocence was actually quite cute.

Sad to say, as I never learnt to speak the hainanese dialect, I was never able to communicate with both you or ah-po except to greet you both happy Chinese New Year. And I think that will be a regret that I will always live with.

To express my last act of filial piety, I hope the intense origami sessions of folding paper ingots in the last few days will help somehow with your journey into the unknown, and may you rest in peace and look after ah-po wherever you are. It was so heart-wrenching seeing her, and old lady of 91, wiping away tears while the Taoist priests were performing the last rites.

Goodbye...

Dilbert

Someone forwarded this to me at work and I agree with most of them!
#17 totally describes my boss. Enjoy!

Here are some of Dilbert's best one liners:
1. I say no to alcohol, it just doesn't listen.
2. Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.
3. Work is fine if it doesn't take too much of your time.
4. When everything comes in your way you're in the wrong lane.
5. The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train..
6. Born free, taxed to death.
7. Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.
8. Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.
9. Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.
10. If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you'll have trouble putting on
your pants.
11. It's not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.
12. The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the
other three, he was the genius.
13. The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.
14. In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?
15. If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one?
16. Beat the 5 O'clock rush, leave work at noon!
17. If you can't convince them, confuse them.
18. It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end.
19. I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
20. Hot glass looks same as cold glass. - Cunino's Law of Burnt Fingers.
21. The cigarette does the smoking you are just the sucker.
22. Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
23. To Err is human; to forgive is not a Company policy.
24. The road to success...... Is always under construction.
25. Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does
Milk.
26. In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don't need it .

Vrrooom…

As a lot of you may know, I got my license a very long time ago (1 day after TJ got his!), but sad to say I haven’t been driving since. I blame it on being spoilt since my dates almost always drove, and laziness, though I keep telling people that it’s very 幸福 to have people chauffer you around, and it is…

Over the CNY, TJ and I were lucky to have a car available for us to drive for 2 weeks, and it was a good two weeks with the car even though driving is really not cheap. And I decided to relearn my driving.

It was surprisingly very fun, and before long, I was driving up to like 120km/h. Before you start scolding me, I was traveling along TPE/SLE where there are hardly any cars on the road and people were still zooming past me… Normally I don't go that fast... My parking is still a problem, and I almost got TJ killed once (or so he says), but it wasn’t all that bad I think. Although my friends are all pretty amused that I’m driving again =)

And I must say, I enjoy the feeling of driving, of being in control of where I’m going, and I like also the feeling of being able to send my drunk TJ home while he is sleeping in the car… I think I got potential to become a taitai, and have the use of the car to go market in the morns, go for manicures, go for mahjong and high tea sessions, and also ferry the kids to and from schools… hahaha

Mellowing?

When I first started work I was all ready to go, work hard and everything, and didn’t react well when UM (my boss) subtly put me down, saying I must write papers with logic, must provide him solutions and not just ask him questions, criticizing my vocab and grammar, saying how I could have done things differently… and having no colleague to empathise with me, I honestly believed every single thing he said, and started feeling very bad about myself and my lack of ability

About 1.5 years into the job, I got the hang of things, got better at stuff, started to be aware of when UM is “smoking” me, and can stand my ground when my ideas are being attacked, so much so that UM accepts my suggestions over his own (very grudgingly of course). But I went through a period of being pissed off and indignant…

Now it’s almost 3 years. It’s just interesting with my new colleague fresh from Uni, who gets quite pissed off with UM’s fickle-mindedness and nitpicking even though he (my colleague) looks like the ultimate nice guy. Now when UM goes into his unreasonable phase, I just roll my eyes, and accept it with a shrug “he’s like that one”…

Hmm… Am I mellowing with age or just getting used to how working life is like?