On The First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me...

A heart tag charm bracelet from Tiffany!

My Christmas was off to a good start when Pen and I exchanged presents in the wee hours of Christmas Day. The sneaky husband had wrapped up the blue Tiffany box in wrapping paper (which I had bought) so I had no clue what it was. But as soon I peeked into the slit and saw that familiar blue, I yelled out in delight and gave him a huge hug. He tried to calm me down and cautioned that it might just be a box but I already knew he’d gotten me what I’ve been pining for for the past few years. Turned out he bought it for me while he was in Yokohama recently. OOooo...how sweet!

Here's a photo of us with our respective gifts. I got him a Canterbury jersey polo shirt (he's wearing it) and a pair of berms to match.

We had a lovely break over Christmas and spent some quality time with the family. On Christmas Day after church service, the Thie father and ladies made our way to the Gold Coast to visit Auntie Helen and family at Jacey’s house by the river while the Thie brothers went off to do their yearly tradition - play golf at Oxley golf course. We also met up with Uma and family at Surfers Paradise. Hui and I laid out a towel and sat on the beach with Daddy while Xiao Xiao amused herself with the sand. The boys finally tore themselves away from golf at 5 and met us at Jacey’s for dinner.

Over the next few days, Pen and I spent our time relaxing, sleeping in, Boxing-Day shopping, cleaning and gardening. We also watched heaps of movies in our home theatre. It was heavenly just being able to get out of our daily work routine and do pretty much whatever we felt like doing without having to stick to a plan.

Christmas is a true reflection of God’s love. The festive season brings with it so much joy, love and warmth and knits families and friends’ hearts together. I hope you guys had a blessed Christmas too!

More photos below:

Thie Christmas Party on 23rd - Thie newlyweds with Xiao Xiao, Jess and Nick.

EMP Christmas Drama Cast

Xiao Xiao and me at church after Christmas drama

Lights at Calamvale Neighbourhood

Thies out on a Light Adventure

Elf Yourself

Hehe, in keeping up with the Christmas spirit, I elfed my family! Take a look at the screen grabs below. I had a lot of fun laughing at our silly moves.

Wong Family

Thie newlyweds

Go check out www.elfyourself.com to make your own silly Christmas greetings.

The Sequel Party

We had our company Christmas party last Thursday at the Hilton Hotel’s pool deck and it sure was a barrel of fun and games. It was meant to be a relaxed and chilled out sort of atmosphere, where everyone was expected to be dressed in beach wear.

We were greeted at the door by a couple of Surf Life Savers, who were none other than Amy and Charmaine dressed in our clients’ outfits! The whole pool deck and patio area was set up with a variety of things to help us “relax” after a long day of work. There were the three-minute angels (mobile masseurs who give the BEST three-minute massages), a jukebox playing heaps of music from the 80s, a poker table and come-hither-sit-on-me couches.

The night continued with a yummylicious dinner - a wide spread of food ranging from anti-pestos, steak, pumpkin salad to my favourite Tiramisu. We also had our Secret Santa gift exchange followed by presents from the bosses! Woohoo! I received a bamboo plant from my Secret Santa and a box set of Clinique candy lip gloss and eye shadow from the bosses.

Here are some photos taken on the night, before my workmates turned into drunkards.

Our dinner table

Our presents

Me, Sabrina & Sian

Me, Emily & Jess

Geoff & Amy

Mel & Shari at the jukebox

Secret Santa Time

The List - Updated!

Since Christmas is quickly approaching, I thought I’d get into the wish list frenzy as well. Actually, it’s just my own shopping list which I’ve simply turned into a “wish” list.

So here I go...

1. Return to Tiffany Heart Tag Charm Bracelet
2. Return to Tiffany Heart Tag Ring
3. Jack Johnson Tickets
4. Matchbox Twenty Tickets
5. Justin Timberlake Futuresex / Loveshow Live at Madison Square Garden DVD
6. Supernatural Season 2 DVD
7. ROME DVD
8. Music & Lyrics DVD
9. The Devil Wears Prada DVD
10. Michael Buble Call Me Irresponsible (2 CD Special Edition)
11. My Steve by Terri Irwin
12. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
13. DAISY Marc Jacobs
14. Telescope

Those are what I can think of for now. They are just guidelines of course so please don’t lose sleep over it. I also accept other jewellery, bags, books, CDs and DVDS. I might update the list if I think of anything else. :P

Buble Joy

We’re going to see Michael Buble! This morning, I logged on to the Mastercard Applause website to book tickets for Pen and myself. Took me almost half an hour to finally check out but it was all worth it because we scored ourselves some pretty good seats. And not to mention we’re buying them before tickets officially go on sale at Ticket Tek. Of course, there are probably hundreds of other people who also own a Mastercard.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this and hopefully we’ll have a nice romantic evening together because the day of the concert is also the day of our wedding anniversary! It’s almost seven months away - talk about planning well ahead.

Taking a Toll on Me

Last Saturday, I drove all the way from Runcorn to Forest Lake and went through my first toll gate. It was a disaster. And quite funny too actually. We were on our way home and Pen suggested I go via the motorway to “practice” my toll skills.

As we were approaching the toll gate, Pen gave me specific instructions on what to do...

PEN: Ok, I’ve got exactly $1.90 here. Do you want to go to the manual gate or auto?
ME: Huh?
PEN: Nevermind. Just go auto. Now remember, slow down, brake first. Make sure you stop and then throw in the coins. Brake first ok? Don’t miss.
ME: Yah yah ok.

*reaches gate, brakes and winds down window*

At this point, I was rather anxious because I didn’t want to hold up the cars behind me. So as soon as I’d wound down my window, I quickly threw the coins into the basket, as hard as I could. Nothing happens.

ME: Whaa? What’s happening? It’s not opening!
PEN: You must have missed!
ME: WHAT? No, I threw everything in!
PEN: I told you to brake first!
ME: I did! Oh no! How now?!
PEN: Quick quick! Do you have a $1 coin? *frantically searches my bag*
ME: PEN! Quick! Aaaaaahhhh! Pen! Aaaaahhhh! Oh no, oh no.
PEN: Go down and get it. It’s on the floor somewhere.
ME: WHAT?! How?

Seeing that I was in pure horror and glued to my seat, Pen then got out of the car and went around looking for the coin. Once he had found it, he took it back into the car and handed it to me.

ME: Why did you bring it back? Why didn’t you just throw it in?
PEN: Because you have to do it!
ME: WHAT? Aaaagrh!

I threw it in, gate finally opened and I quickly drove away dying of embarrassment.

PEN: Hahahahaha. Should have gone to the manual counter.
ME: PEN! It’s all your fault! Why did you give me so many coins!
PEN: What? What do you mean?
ME: Why couldn’t you just give me a $1 coin and a...and a..
PEN: Well I couldn’t give you a 90 cent coin darling coz they don’t make them like that! Anyway, look! I found 20 cents on the floor just then. At least we made some money out of that! Hahahaha.
ME: Aaaaaaaarggghhh! PEN!

So yeah, wasn’t too pleasant an experience but certainly one that got me laughing after that.

Bent Pinky Worth a Thousand Laughs

Shihui tagged me on a few of her lovely wedding photos on Facebook. I came across this one and almost fell off my chair. For the longest time since Pen broke his little pinky, I've been poking fun of him and imitating his "crooked" wave. (I usually do the signature wave when he picks me up from work or when I see him coming from a distance.) A bunch of you at church may have seen me demonstrating this to you.

Anyway, this photo captures the moment and pretty much says it all. And as you can see, Ally's gotten into the act as well! I'm gonna keep it forever because it makes me laugh.

A Weekend Well Spent

This post is long overdue, I know. I meant to write about my little weekend rendezvous last week but didn't get around to doing that. However, seeing that I had such a lovely time (and how I haven't blogged for a while), I just couldn't NOT write about it.

Since we couldn't go away for our honeymoon just as yet due to unforeseen circumstances, Pen and I decided to take short holidays from now till then to tide us over. For our first weekend getaway, we had decided to live it up at the Gold Coast. None of that country-side living or quiet hinterland resort for me because this time around, I wanted a holiday in the heart of a bustling city centre. And a choice well made I must add!

Our first stop at Surfers Paradise was at King Tutt's Putt Putt, where we challenged each other to two rounds of mini golf. It was good fun and although the place looked a whole lot bigger in the photos, we had a ball laughing and calling each other names. I tried to impress Pen with my hole-in-one skills but he beat me anyway. What's new?

For lunch, we stopped by Tedder Ave at Main Beach and ate at Café Aruba. It was then that the feeling of being on a vacation finally hit us! The palm trees along the streets helped too. We had a cup of flat white each, sat down and watched the flashy cars and rich mamas go by.

By 2pm, we checked into Watermark Hotel and Spa and were delighted when they gave us a room on their top floor. We had decided to go all out and book ourselves a club room, their top of the range rooms apparently. It also gave us excluuuusive excess to the club lounge with evening drinks and canapés and a hot breakfast in the morning. Pretty cool I must say - there was champagne in our room and we even had a pillow menu! Hardly able to contain my excitement, I was tempted to request for all the pillows on the menu. In the end, I settled for a long bean buddy pillow (which was actually just a really, really long bolster) that I soon discovered, was almost twice the length of me. Too bad we forgot to take a photo...

After a few games of mastermind, we decided to hit the streets and explore Surfers Paradise Boulevard. They've developed the area quite a bit with a couple of street mall boutiques. We went into Tiffany & Co, WB store, MNG and scared ourselves silly (actually, just me) when we entered Dracula's Haunted House. And of course, Pen had an ice cream in his hand the whole time.

For dinner, we drove to George's Paragon along the Gold Coast Highway. It was highly recommended by Steph so we decided to give it a try. We went absolutely crazy with the seafood and ordered an array of oysters, garlic prawns, Morton Bay bugs, scallops and barramundi. It was all half price too since we ordered before 6:30pm. The food was divine and the restaurant was classy. We even had our own waiter standing near us as we ate. We ended our evening with some drinks at the club lounge back at our hotel.

On Sunday morning after eggs ben and strawberry pancakes, we went to the Q1. Tried to look for Steph among the 80 levels but couldn't spot her for some reason. After checking out at noon, Pen drove me to Pacific Fair for shopping! Oh bless his little heart! I ended up buying a top from Myer which also doubles as a work shirt. Oh that's what I call value for money.

We headed for home slightly after 3pm, feeling relaxed, contented and rejuvenated. We had such a lovely weekend and it was certainly refreshing to get away from our weekly routine for a while. Hopefully our next stop will be Fiji when Pen's travel benefits kick in!

Here are some photos if you're interested.

Banana Pancakes & Boardgames

I had a pretty good weekend - managed to take time off to relax, chill out with Pen, watch a DVD and even hang out with an old friend.

On Saturday morning, playing the good wife, I got up early and cooked pancakes for the sleepyhead. It was rather yummy I must say. I had mine with butter, maple syrup topped with bananas. Pen had his just like mine, except with ice cream, a lot of ice cream. Haha.

In the afternoon, we went to Garden City and bought ourselves a couple of boardgames. :) K-Mart was having a promo -20% off all boardgames. Yipee! I've wanted to get some games for the longest time. I figured it would be a good way to spice up our evenings together at home. Some of you may not know this, but my husband gets extremely excited whenever he plays boardgames. Think Monopoly. It's an incredibly adorable sight.

After much deliberation, we bought Mastermind and Cranium. Mastermind because I'd told Pen weeks ago that I wanted to challenge him at it and Cranium because it just looks like so much fun!

Needless to say, we had a go at Mastermind the moment we got home. Guess who won. :p

On Sunday, Izaeel came over to hang out. We watched Clueless on the big screen, talked about her new business idea and just lazed. It was so nice to have another girl in the house for a change. It's her birthday this coming Saturday and we're gonna go see JT together! Woohoo!

Before I end, can I just say... We now have air con!!! It makes a huge difference having air con in the house, not that the temperature is sweltering or anything. It's just not the same when you can kick back, relax, lie on the couch, watch a movie on the projector and have the AC blowing cool air on your back. Y'know?

No to Merger

I came across this piece of news while I was updating myself on the happenings in Singapore. Have a read below.

My thoughts: Oh my goodness - please no!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MM Lee speaks about idea of Singapore-Malaysia reunion once again

SINGAPORE: Some 10 years after he publicly broached the idea of a Singapore-Malaysia reunion - to raised eyebrows all around - Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has spoken about the topic once again.

In a recent interview with American journalist Tom Plate, Mr Lee said Singapore would be "happy" to go back to Malaysia should the latter practise meritocracy.

On Wednesday, transcripts of the wide-ranging interview - conducted last month in Mr Lee's office - were made available online by UCLA Asia Institute.

When Mr Plate asked Mr Lee who he thought would "come after" Singapore, the Minister Mentor said: "We are a standing indictment of all the things that they (Malaysia) can be doing differently."

"If they would just educate the Chinese and Indians, use them and treat them as their citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us and we would be happy to rejoin them."

The last time Mr Lee floated the idea in 1996, it caused ripples on both sides of the Causeway, with then-Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad replying that he did not think "it is time yet".

While much has changed since then, scepticism towards a reunion remains.

Said Dr Ooi Kee Beng, an Institute of South-east Asian Studies (ISEAS) fellow: "The chances of a re-merger in 1996 and in 2007 are the same - Zero."

While bilateral economic links would continue to increase, Malaysia is far from ditching its decades-old bumiputera policy, "where race-based affirmative action ... has disqualified efficacy as the criterion for policy correctness", Dr Ooi added.

In Parliament, Opposition leader Chiam See Tong is often a lone, but persistent, voice on the issue of an economic union with Malaysia, espousing the benefits of a common market.

Mr Chiam told TODAY: "A political union is out of the question. The Malaysians will never agree."

Dr Ooi added: "The very idea of a re-merger on Singapore's terms is appalling to most Malays (in Malaysia) and any move in that direction would be political suicide for a Malaysian politician to take."

ISEAS' Dr Terence Chong believes that Mr Lee had in mind the future - "50 to 100 years down the road" - when he talked about rejoining Malaysia.

Said Dr Chong: "If you look at historic port cities, they all enjoy their golden eras and then decline. For Singapore to flourish in perpetuity would mean defying history."

Already, Singapore is facing a fight to keep the very talent it had successfully attracted.

Mr Lee acknowledged in the interview that the Chinese students on Singapore Government scholarships were using the Republic as a stepping-stone.

Said Mr Lee: "They come in here, they get an English education ... and they're off to America. The Indians, strangely enough, more of them stay here in Singapore because they want to go home to visit their families."

Mr Lee added: "We are net gainers for how long? I think in the case of China, maybe another 20, 30 years ... India, maybe longer - 50, 60 years before their infrastructure catches up. Anyway, this is not my worry anymore!" - TODAY/ym

Addicted to Jewellery

I was in jewellery heaven yesterday when Pen took me to Thousand Island Dressing at New Farm after church. My workmates told me I could find heaps of gorgeous AND affordable jewellery there and I've been salivating ever since.

After days of anticipation, you can imagine how mesmerised I was when I finally stepped into the shop. There were shelves and shelves of earrings, necklaces and bracelets, arranged according to colour and racks with bags of all shapes and sizes. Hee hee! I lost count of how many times I "oohed" and "ahhed" as I pranced around the shop.

Needless to say, Pen was the only male "customer" there. He was really patient and quietly followed me around the shop. When he got bored, he politely excused himself - once to get money out of the ATM and once to get a drink.

After touching and trying on every other second thing in the shop, I emerged a happy customer, adding a charm bracelet, a matching necklace and two pairs of earrings to my accessories collection! Which I must add, Pen generously paid for.

Ahhh...the joys of being married... :)

Grow Wellington Grow

I am so excited! Finally, there's some action on our plot of land!

Pen and I dropped by Wellington yesterday morning before work and were thrilled to see they've put in a retaining wall, a builder sign and a portable dunny on our land. And this morning, they've flattened our land!

Pen obviously went trigger-happy. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

No, not the house behind. It's the empty land in front.

Pen approves

Yahooo!

Rendezvous

Pen took me out for dinner last night at Breakfast Creek Hotel to celebrate our 5th year anniversary. We still can't believe we've been together for that long. It still seems like yesterday that we started dating.

We had our meal in a lovely area called Spanish Garden. Pen's ribeye steak was pretty good but my barramundi was somewhat disappointing. Lesson learnt: Never order anything else when dining in a restaurant famous for its steaks. Well the good thing was, at least I didn't walk out of the restaurant feeling like I've stuffed my face with food.

Pen getting excited about his steak


Pen and me

After dinner, Pen and I went to Portside Wharf for a walk. It was really quiet as most of the shops and restaurants there are closed on Mondays. It was not as breath-taking as usual but still beautiful. I looked at the apartments situated along the river, green with envy. I told Pen that if we sold our land and half-constructed house at Wellington Place, we would be able to move into one of these luxury apartments. He didn't seem to bite. Hmm...wonder why. Must be because that would mean he won't be able to do his gardening. Hehe.

Anyway, we had a really nice and simple evening to ourselves. I'm just thankful I have someone who loves me and who laughs with me.

Grace

I received an unexpected sms from my dad last night which made me jumped for joy and reached excitedly for the phone.

My cousin Monica has given birth to baby Grace! I managed to speak to her last night and found that she had a really easy delivery and that Grace was born in just 2 hours! Hooray! I'm now officially an auntie! I'm *so* excited. I cannot wait to go back and hold her in my arms. Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!

Here she is...

Seeing Double

Oh my gosh! There's actually someone else called Huaiky!

Move Aside Summit

I'm so glad the Asia Pacific Cities Summit is finally over. I've been working and standing on my feet all of last Friday through till Monday morning. And not to mention those obscene early morning 6am starts. If there's something I've learnt the past few days, it's that Aussies have minimal problems waking up early. At least that's how it appears anyway.

I'm back in the office this week and have been really free. The hours are ticking by so slowly. Where's all the work?! In the past years at LEWIS, I've always been rushing in and out of the office and frantically meeting deadlines. It's definitely a 180 degrees switch for me now that I've moved down south. I probably shouldn't be complaining about the less stressful lifestyle, but I certainly won't mind more of a challenge at work.

Anyhoo, I got paid yesterday! So, to relax and reward myself for all the hard work I've put in over the weekend, I'm going shopping tonight at Carindale! Or I hope to anyway. I've written down a whole list of things I wanna buy - ranging from DVDs to shirts to underwear to books! And some things for our house of course. Hopefully the three extra hours of late night shopping will be sufficient for me.

And...I've just recently set my eyes on this:

Yes, my latest covet - The "Return to Tiffany" heart tag bracelet. Does anyone know how much this is? I haven't priced it yet. But I really like the classic design.

Pen, are you reading this? Someone tell him Christmas is only three months away.

Off to JT

We got tickets!

Tickets for the Justin Timberlake concert in Brisbane went on sale this morning and I’m thrilled to say that Izaeel and I managed to get pretty good seats, considering the amount of money we (actually, it’s me) were willing to pay. At 8:30am this morning, my colleagues said it would be impossible to get tickets coz’ Ticket Tek’s phone lines and website would be jammed and heaps of fans were already queuing at the booths. I thought they were joking until I logged on to the website and saw this:

But in true Singaporean spirit, I persevered and got in without too much effort. Yay!

I just want to say that although I’m going to see JT, I’m not some teeny bopper fan who drools at the mere sight of his face, or bottom, or any other body parts. I just happen to like his music and think he’s a good performer. I mean, did you see his performance at the recent Victoria’s Secret fashion show? Anyway, there - I’ve said it. And that’s precisely why I wouldn’t fork out more than $100 for the ticket.

The happiest and most relieved person would have to be Pen. He’s been so supportive of me going with Izaeel and even suggested I get the $149 ticket for a better view – all because this means he doesn’t have to grin and bear it, and go to the concert with me!

Down in the Valley

No, I have not disappeared. I am still here.

In the last two weeks or so, I've actually gone out and found myself a job! Praise God that His hand had moved so quickly in my life. I'm now working in a Public Relations agency in the Valley. I was gonna snap some photos of the office to show you but I keep forgetting. Well, the office is nice but I can't quite say the same for the Valley. It sure is a weird place. I'm still trying to get used to walking past drunks, sleazy adult shops, drug addiction recovery centres and oh, the occasional passerby who mumbles inaudibly at you. But it's really not that bad, I am thankful that I'm blessed with a job. At least it motivates me to walk quicker to the train station.

Working also means that I can't really cook dinner anymore. My travel journey is an hour and it's almost 7pm by the time I get home. But. I am blessed yet again because Pen cooks for me, eh I mean us! We made a mean pork chop with sweet potatoes, carrots and beans last night for dinner. :p Not too bad for a first attempt.

Steffy has arrived in Brissie today so over to Sentry tonight for dinner! Yay! :)

So I'm Here Now

Finally. I've pushed myself to start my blog. Now all I have to do is to maintain it. Heh. :p

So here I am, my third week in Brissie Land as a Mrs. Starting a new life hasn't been that easy, I must say. Battling homesickness is one of the hardest thing so far. But with prayer and Pen, things are getting better. I've been leading the life of a homemaker for the past two weeks or so. Cleaning, washing, ironing, grocery shopping, reading, watching dvds and just this week, cooking. I now have a newfound admiration for my mum. She is one amazing woman to be able to do all that everyday.

And now, for the benefit of all my friends back home in Singapore, here are some photos of where I'm living. It's a cozy single-storey house with four tiny bedrooms and a study. The living and dining room is a bit of a maze coz' it has two doorways cornered off by a pillar. Pen and I have experienced a bit of a "hide-and-seek" session a couple of times. I would be looking for him through one doorway, and he would be doing the same at another. Anyway, you'll know what I mean when you get here.

Here's our house at Byron Street

Our living area - Yes we'll be replacing the couch

Dining area

Our kitchen

Our bedroom

The veranda, just outside the kitchen

The backyard

And to end off, this one's for you girls back home. I miss you heaps! *hugs*