One of my favourite shots from the wedding!

After all the trouble I went to find vendors for decor and prop rental and flowers... I forgot to tell my photog to go down to the canteen in the basement to take photos of all the hard work and sweat. Argh!

Realized I didn't mention much about the wedding on this blog. Life indeed moves too fast for me to even process or sit down to write anything.

Woah has it already been 3 weeks since my last blog post? It felt so recent.

Here I am again with my first blog post as a married woman!

If you ask me what's the difference... there is no difference. Hahaha. We're still living apart and I'm still sleeping on my own comfortable single bed with Squishy and Rolly. We meet if neither of us has anything in the evenings, which is just like how it was pre-marriage!

Now that the big day is done and dusted and there is no more wedding prep to be done... I actually kinda miss doing wedding prep! LOL.

Some hiccups here and there for the wedding but overall it went smoothly and I am glad for that.

What I do have left is a very messy study room with bags and boxes of stuff to unpack and store away (mostly decor items) and 2 weeks worth of clothes to iron. Also we need to sort out our finances. Very sadly a lot of people under-bao their angbao plus my mother has buay paiseh-ly taken all the angbaos for her tables so I have a deficit of about 12 tables ++++++.

Although no money... we are still going for our honeymoon. Yah no idea how but maybe we'll just go there and eat 7-11 food every day.

I can't wait to see my photos from Pixel Musica though! I didn't get to take much photos on that day at all :(
But also good la coz it allows me to be in the moment. Instead of living the most important day of my life through a phone.

Till the next update!

Erps! Standing at less than 3 weeks to the wedding!

COMPLETED!
- mailed all invites out
- confirmed mass booklets
- found makeup artists for mothers and sisters
- finalized pre-wedding album layout, like FINALLY!
- ordered cakes and buy stuff for GDL and An Chuang
- rented bus to ferry P's mom's church friends to SVDP
- touched base with AD photog & videographer, video interview done!
- ordered flowers for church canteen decor
- bed delivered
- macaron boxes and stickers ordered

I would say we are more or less there? What's left is the nitty gritty... like the decor, selecting photos to print for reception display, the guestbook, finding an angbao box for church... oh no I need to come up with a more comprehensive list coz I'm just plucking all these to-do things out of my head :x

OH YES AND THE SPEECH.

And then hope that everyone turns up and that I can fill up all the empty gaps at my dinner banquet... I have like 2 gaps here and 3 gaps there at certain tables... ARGH! And then some people cannot separate to different tables if not very odd. But if I combine all these empty seats, I can save at least 1 table!

Do I need to hold a bridesmaids briefing? Like run through the duties and the schedule and all that? I myself don't even know what needs to be done LOL.

I have also run out of creative juices on how to give Paul a birthday surprise. Coz it's not only our wedding day, it's also his 30th birthday! Sorry Paul. Heh. :x

What I'm looking forward to the most is... RESTAURANT WEEK after the wedding! Whoop whoop! Gonna feast! :)))

It's the GDL this Sunday and An Chuang next Tues! Here are the bears with the huge Pin Jin angbao. Haha.

And the countdown says... 18 more days!

And the countdown says... 25 more days!

Wow. Not feeling the effect of it yet. But at least... half my invites have been sent out!

Wonder how life will be different (or same) after marriage! Will I get more irritated with his sensitive and sniffly nose? (I cannot stand sniffling.) Will he get even more irritated with my lateness? Will we have enough time to laze around and candy crush/instagram (for me, FB for him)?

Anyhow we will still be living apart for a while, at least till the end of the year, before invading my sister's place!

Oh and gosh our honeymoon. Have not planned anything! Accoms not booked! Itinerary not planned! Leaving alllll of that to after the wedding.

And in other news, the haze is really smelly and irritating. I keep having short bursts of coughs. Probably due to the haze. Please do not let it turn into a full fledged cough! I do not want to be hacking away and wheezing into people's faces during my wedding.

Oh yes update: my Yahoo email address is working now! :D

Let's revisit my to-do list...

- print church invites (half done, waiting to collect them hopefully by this Fri!)
- confirm with Fr on content of mass booklets (half done, a lot of back and forth with organist about hymns and stuff)
- finalize choir & organist (done!)
- book caterer for lunch reception (done!)
- send invites out after Lunar 7th month (getting to it!)
- find makeup artists for mother and sister (half done, pending Paul's mom to confirm)
- rent car to send invites in Malaysia (no need anymore! woohoo!)
- inform Pixioo about photo selection for album and canvas photo (done! but I need to chase him, he is really damn unresponsive -__-")
- think of 3 things that we want engraved on our wooden photobooth props (done!)
- trial makeup (done after rescheduling my appointment 3 times -__-")

Adding a few more things to the to-do list...

- order cakes and buy stuff for Guo Da Li and An Chuang
- select music for church entrance and dinner march-in
- look for photos of myself from age 1-29
- try and design something to slot said photos into
- figure out how to do my pinwheel backdrop
- rent bus to ferry P's mom's church friends to SVDP
- touch base with AD photographer and videographer
- come up with the schedule!
- figure out how to get flowers for church canteen decor
- book manicure/hair appointment/facial
- arrow people to do certain tasks
- finalize table cloth and chair seat cover selection with MBS florist
- order boxes for macarons
- sort out decor props and stuff and plan decor
- order stickers to stick on macaron boxes
- get bed delivered!
- design and print map to church

And the countdown says... 39 more days!

*horror face* Somehow it's only less than 2 months to the wedding!

I have so many undone things!

- print church invites
- confirm with Fr on the content of the mass booklets before sending it to print
- finalize choir & organist
- book caterer for lunch reception
- order cakes and buy stuff for Guo Da Li and An Chuang
- select music for church entrance and dinner march-in
- look for photos of myself from age 1-29
- try and design something to slot said photos into
- send invites out after Lunar 7th month!!!
- figure out how to do my pinwheel backdrop
- find makeup artists for mother and sister
- rent car to send invites in Malaysia
- rent bus to ferry P's mom's church friends to SVDP
- inform Pixioo about our photo selection for album & big canvas photo
- touch base with AD photographer and videographer
- come up with the schedule!
- figure out how to get flowers for church canteen decor
- think of 3 things that we want engraved on our wooden photobooth props
- book manicure/facial
- arrow people to do certain tasks
- finalize table cloth and chair seat cover selection with MBS florist

Sense of urgency not there yet haha. Going for my trial makeup this Saturday!

Oh yes I've finally gotten my hands on my pre-wedding shoot! Hehe some were not so nice but generally I think it's not too bad!
I can't afford the super expensive ones that I like so I think this is a good compromise.

Also I think the subjects play a very important role! If you're a natural in front of the camera and can pose well and not look awkward, all photos will turn out nice! Haha obviously not really the case for me.

Gillian says the "candid" ones are a more accurate reflection of me but then... all of them don't look glam. LOL!

Oh yup so previously I left off at my food tasting... posted about it on Dayre so copying and pasting it over!

Sands Expo & Convention Centre

7.06pm: woohoo! Food tasting day! This is prob the only thing I'm most excited abt hahaha

Food tasting!

Hehe look who is here to join us!

Posting some pics before they get too stale!

: lobster salad, Vietnamese spring roll
: roast duck (the mothers said it has a funny taste), jellyfish (too soft)
So-so: suckling pig

Double boiled chicken soup with sea whelk and dried scallops

: soup tasted not bad
: didn't really like the sea whelk. Too rubbery.

Err.... they chopped up the steamed soon hock before I could take a photo 

: everyone was ok with this, no negative comments! Fish was pretty fresh!

Stir fried scallops and asparagus with xo sauce

: I like the scallops! Big and plenty enough for each person to have 2.
No negative feedback for this too!

Braised abalone with green vegetables

The concern was that the 2 veg dishes were served right after the other. Easily rectified by switching the order of the dishes.

Taste wise not too bad, broccoli quite nice and crunchy.

Roasted chicken with prawn crackers

: think everyone liked the chicken and said it was crispy enough! Keropok also crispy as evidenced by the loud crunching sounds I heard haha

Braised e-fu noodles with enoki mushrooms

: noodles not bad
: enoki mushrooms were a little pathetic

This rather blah looking bowl of orange liquid is bird's best with mango juice and pomelo.

Hmm I think their food presentation can be improved! Forgot to feedback just now.

: tastes like 杨枝甘露
: can't really taste or see the bird's nest once it's mixed

Super full after the tasting!

And the countdown says... 54 more days!

Finally got my grubby hands on some sample photos from the pre-wed shoot last Monday! Showed them to some friends already so it's time to share them here too!

Blessed Sacarment Church

Jones the Grocer @ Dempsey

Outside Ben & Jerry's @ Dempsey

Botanic Gardens - newly minted UNESCO World Heritage Site haha

Botanic Gardens

Some field in Tuas

Photos taken by Samuel of Pixioo.

And the countdown says.... 82 more days!!!

And heelllllooooooooooooo I'm back from my 3D3N Bali escapade/hen's trip!

Was supposed to have like more people going but as usual, expectations vs reality... haha. Anyway the trip ended up with 4 of us or 0.5 of Ichee! Ok la still not too bad! And 4 is a pretty good number to travel around with since 4 people can share 1 cab and a 2 bedroom villa comfortably.

The trip was basically like this:

Arrive - eat - sleep - surf - sprained ankle - ow - eat - charades - massage - eat - bridge - charades - sleep - eat - walk - eat - walk - eat - walk - eat - massage - eat - charades - bridge - sleep - eat - walk - eat - massage - eat - depart

Ate super a lot!!! Partly because of me la haha coz I had a list of places that I want to go visit. I don't think there was actually a moment that we felt hungry? :D And we were so bloated and telling each other that we can't poop. Input was more than output!

And we went for massages every day! Body scrub, head massage, foot reflexology, Balinese massage, facial... this is the shiok life.

I also managed to stand up for like maybe 2 times of 3 seconds each for my virgin surfing experience! Pretty cool but I drank so much salt water :x and I somehow fell into the water with my foot in an awkward position and ended up spraining my left ankle :(

Charades also became our default mode of entertainment! I think we made quite a ruckus at some of the dining establishments hurhur.

A pretty good break in all. Always delightful to travel with friends! Especially with Xiaojing around who is very motherly and will take good care of us haha. Sze Hsien was exhibiting signs of grumpiness though haha. So no wild hen's party but just good old fashioned chilling and eating!

And the countdown says.... 96 more days!!!

LAZY to type out everything again so... copy and paste is the way to go. 

HOUSING WOES

8.57pm: I think no sticker can effectively show how irritated I am with my housing situation. Actually dunno if irritated is the word to use. Just very 无奈。

I am now starting to appreciate the value of a HDB proposal. It's unromantic yes, but right now and in this current day and age I think practically wins over bring romantic. Bread and butter issues (like having a roof over your head) still wins. To think i was adamant that the proposal shld come before the flat. I eat my words now!

Not like paul and I had the luxury of time like other couples who have been dating for years. We got engaged when we were only 10 months old and even if we had heng heng gotten a flat just barely 3 months into the relationship it would have been too rushed and also BTOs take at least 3 years to build.

Now we are potentially homeless after we get married because everything is so expensive. Options are:

1) stay in Paul's house 

We would save some on rental but we have to sleep in the utilities room. Which is right next to the kitchen and toilet. And the room is so tiny it can only fit a bed and nothing else.

Also there is the mother in law and daughter in law relations to consider. And not as much privacy. Travelling time to work for me would be longer.

2a) stay in the flat that Paul's parents are renting out

Pros: more privacy but yet his parents are easily accessible since they are just next door. But that would mean a loss in income for them (they are retired). Of course we would give them more allowance but I doubt we can match up to the rental that they are collecting now.

Which brings me to...

2b) share the rental flat with strangers

Paul and I take 1 bedroom, and the rest of the house gets rented out to strangers. Cons: no privacy, the whole house only has 1 toilet, which means like 5 or 6 ppl gotta share 1 toilet. I'm really not keen.
Pros: Paul's parents get their income, we save on some rental

3) stay at my house

I just proposed this idea to my mom and she's ok, except that she says there's no space and we need to create some space. The roadblock is in the form of my sister. When I proposed that she moves to the study room and 2 of us take the room we usually sleep in (makes more sense, more space there for a queen size bed), she reacted SO NEGATIVELY by screaming and shouting and crying and in tears said she doesn't like the study room. Ok lor, point taken. I can take the study room

But she makes us feel unwelcome. Like I'm an intruder in my own house, hello?! She's already 17 but why cannot be more understanding?! Im only proposing and nothing is cast in stone. Don't have to be so drama and act like I am robbing u of something pls. 

She wants ppl to see her as a young adult then she shld act like one la. I see this i already sian by half. One 5 room flat and 3 ppl staying in it, yet there's no space? Or she's waiting for this day for years and I just shattered her dreams of having her own room?

Also lifestyle issues if Paul stays at my house. I dunno if he will be comfortable. :(

4) rent room from sister and Bro in law

Pros: at least we have a room. And it's an EC so there are facilities that we can use.
Cons: very far from Paul's school and rent chargeable at 700. Looks like the best option for now.
I get conflicting opinions like sisters shld not stay tgt (they are also newly weds after all) and 谈钱伤感情 comments though.

5) rent from HDB's PPHS (?) Scheme

An old refurbished 3-room flat at tiong bahru will cost us 1000 a month. And must see if we are lucky enough to get. I mean our aim really is to reduce cost first so 1000 x 12 months x 3 years is really a sizable amount of money. But compared to 700 for a room at my sister's place in punggol then 1000 for a whole flat in tiong bahru sounds quite ok. Ultimately it's the cost.

6) rent a room from outside 

Cons: wld have to stay with strangers and cost is abt the same as renting from my sister so not likely to opt for this

So irritated la! Is there no space in this whole world for the 2 of us?!?!?! 

Enough about wedding plans and grumbling! Haha I am turning into a grouchy bride-to-be. Anyway, Paul and I embarked on a little project over the weekend! It's also related to the wedding - though it was tedious and time consuming but there was a great sense of satisfaction when we were done!

So anyway, we always had this idea to make our bears some suits but we didn't actually get around to doing it, till the bears decided to officially ask for some suits. (We have very smart and technologically inclined bears who know how to email and update their own blog.)

Hahaha LOL ok don't judge :p

Being very obliging people, we acceded to their request! Plus we thought we could have them all suited up for our photoshoot and also suited up and seated in the first pew at our wedding :D

So after sitting on it for a while more, we decided to go to Queensway to look for the uncle who made custom made their shirts! But *dum dum dum* the uncle's shop was closed.

We got a bit desperate (coz photoshoot date was drawing near) and asked my mother if she has any tailor contacts and she said my 三姨 was very good at sewing. So arrangements were made to pass their shirt sample to her and she came back with 3 white shirts for the bears.

Unfortunately the shirts were a little too big and they looked like hospital gowns on the bears :x Let me see if I have any photos of that.

It doesn't look that bad on Rolly here but we might have tightened the back a little

The shirts were rather ill-fitting and we were trying to figure out options to make the best of the situation... the original plan was to print an image of a suit on a plain white shirt but that doesn't seem as easy as it sounds coz we will need to come up with the images plus our bears are all shaped a little differently. 

Brainstorming and work in progress haha

So anyway we thought we could sew some vests for the bears coz that sounds a lot more manageable haha. Diligent Paul went to Art Friend and bought all the materials needed (including buttons that cost $1.33 per piece) and we spent Sunday afternoon after the Nila Run threading needles, measuring, cutting and sewing!

(BTW it rained super duper heavily at the Nila Run but that's another topic for another day.)

That's Slumpy and Squishy waiting patiently for their turn while Rolly gets measured :)

Putting on the finishing touches for Slumpy

Hehe the red bow ties and corsages are a nice touch! Helps to have a crafty fiance heh

Bears looking smart in their bespoke bear suits! :)

Very pleased with how they turned out! They look so smart and cute hehe. The workmanship is only so-so upon closer scrutiny due to my limited sewing abilities but from far they look quite good! And we safety pinned the back of their white shirts else it will be too big for them! 

We're going to bring the bears along for our photoshoot on 22 June! Quite excited about it! Haha :D

Oh yes and we also finished another project recently which is a painting that we've been working on for close to a year haha. Also bringing that for photoshoot! I think we'll end up with too many props haha.

And in other wedding related news, we bought our wedding bands last Friday and collected them yesterday! Chop chop! Woots!

Parent management is definitely a very important skill when planning for weddings. Feels like it is my mother getting married instead of me! I must say my sister was smart to not include my mother in the decision making for too many things for her own wedding.

And this whole wedding dinner business is just a sham to recoup losses, show off and invite 10,000 people/relatives who probably don't give two hoots about us anyway. -__- I have insufficient tables to cater to my mother and her guest list! Ballroom can fit only 30 including the spares but she thinks that I'm hoodwinking her coz my sister insisted that hers can only fit 20 and viola on that day another 5 more tables magically appeared haha.

Anyway the newest item for discussion is the day's schedule! Conflicting opinions on how the day should pan out! -_-

I am so lazy to think and plan and talk! Can I just lie down somewhere and let it plan by itself? Hah!

My mother wants 17 tables at my wedding dinner, which is frankly, ridiculous!!!

Our ballroom can fit maximum 30 tables, max maybe 32 if we squeeze. And half of the tables are going to be occupied just by her and her extensive guest list! Wah angry leh! 她在嫁女儿不是娶媳妇叻！Even Paul's relatives are not going to be 17 tables. Not paiseh one seriously.

She is demanding for 14 tables from my poor groom, i.e she will pocket all the angbaos collected from those 14 tables. That is easily $21K that we will have to be prepared to lose for sure. She thinks we print cash?!

For my sister's wedding, she got 10 tables (120 pax in total) which amounts to about $13K or $14K but I have to pay $21K? And my sis and bro-in-law earn much more than we do! I'm gonna haggle it down to 8 tables man. If you want to invite more then you pay more! That is the reality!!!

I'm so annoyed, a wedding is not a time for you to "earn" or "recoup" all the money you "invested" in raising us up! We are already struggling with finances as it is! I get it that it's tradition that the groom "gives" some tables to the brides' side for free to repay them for raising their daughter yada yada filial piety blah blah, but 做人要有分寸！Don't give one inch take one metre! That's another 50 more people she wants to invite grrrrrr and seriously I don't give a hoot if those people are present or not!

I feel very sorry to Paul for having such a mother-in-law :(

Hehe the bears are so cute! 

We gave them a bath on Sunday and now they are fluffy and fresh! :D

Looking to tailor suits for the bears so that they can wear them for our photoshoot, hope we can settle this before we leave for our holiday! :x

And our bears will be seating in the first pew witnessing our wedding in their smart little suits! Or at least that is the plan. Hurhurhur :D

Photoshoot is on 22 June / next day after we touch down after holiday so... not a lot of time left to prepare. Yikes! My body and weight is definitely not ready despite eating salad for lunch for 3 or 4 weekdays the last 2 weeks and exercising... going to McRitchie for runs... going for my own runs... yoga... swims... Corinne is away on holiday for 2 weeks so training has been suspended for the time being!

I need to go and buy some shapewear and look for my wedding shoes!!! And colour my hair before I go on holiday! And prepare my props!

In other exciting news, my sister's wedding is coming up in 10 days!

Embarking on a juice cleanse these 3 days because parents & little sis are away in HK and Paul is on a school trip to Cambodia, so I figured this would be the best time with least distractions (and no food at home)!

There are tons of juice cleanse programmes out there these days, all touting the benefits of cold-pressed juices... and honestly they are not cheap. A 3-day programme set me back by almost $300 including delivery! :O

Wanted to go with Hic'juice because of the pretty bottles (haha superficial) and their colourful juices (looks more appetizing) but they were so expensive ($300+ and that's not including delivery and GST)! Another point of consideration was that the glass bottles, while pretty, were also heavy. I didn't quite fancy lugging around 4-5 heavy glass bottles to work.

Decided to go with Beauty Cleanse in the end because it was cheaper and their juices seemed quite palatable. Plus they also provide supplements for you to take during the cleanse, which I opted for.

It's Day 1 today and I've finished about 2 bottles of juices. But I'm feeling hungry!!! Going to start on my 3rd bottle soon. Actually drinking the juices is not the tough part. The tough part was when the outgoing VP ordered pizza for the whole office and I had to give it a miss! Can see cannot eat! Wah! 痛苦!!! :( :( :( Had to sit there and lau nua while I watched my colleagues eat. Sigh!

Tomorrow the VP is going to order Casurina Curry for the KPs for lunch and I have to give it a miss again!!!! 为什么!!! *sob*

Alright will probably update more about the juice cleanse next time. Some people say they feel lighter and found that their appetite reduced, plus they actually crave healthy food after the cleanse. Me? I am attending my sister's food tasting at Sheraton on Friday, i,e. day after cleanse. FEAST TIME!!! Muahahahaha.

I mean, I have to eat a bit lighter and let my body get used to solid food and meat again... and not let the benefits of my detox go to waste. Maybe I'll just sample a bit of each dish!

Went for gown selection on Sunday and chose both the white and evening gowns for the actual day... I like the evening gown but the white one was just so-so, as in I don't hate it but I don't super love it also. They didn't have many choices to choose from either. Maybe I should have gone for made-to-measure but the problem was (back then) I didn't really know what styles I wanted for the gown. Oh well! Nvm what to do. I hope I can find nicer ones for the photoshoot!

Gonna start my fitness journey with Corinne to make sure I look fabulous in my gowns! And really also to lose all the weight I gained over the past 2 years, which is like an extra 5kg. Belly be gone! Flabby arms be gone! Thunder thighs be gone! I have done this before! (56kg --> 49kg) I can do this again!

Oh no I just walked to the pantry and like everything is screaming at me to eat them :( There's a box of opened chocolates lying on the table... the pineapple tarts... ROAR! Mind over matter, mind over matter!!! *sips on herbal tea*

Oh crap. Signed our bridal package today at BOWS coz the price offered was really not bad, but came home to do some research and found lots of negative reviews and angry brides complaining about the stuck up lady boss (who was the one who sold us the package). :(

Really need some divine intervention to ensure that our experience with the bridal shop is smooth!!! Quite worried now after reading reviews and because we already paid the bulk of the cost, we might get horrible service. Seems like that's one of the tactics listed in the reviews. Maybe we should have gone with a costlier one that offers excellent service. Bah!

Day 365 of 2014 already! 又这样过了一年。

In 2014, I...

... quit my old job
... started a new job
... got engaged to awesome Paul
... welcomed Slumpy, Squishy and Rolly

... attended my grandmother's funeral
... had a relaxing vacation in Bali
... took my first trip to Australia
... started RCIA
... took a short trip to KL
... bade farewell to Empress who was going overseas to study
... saw my sister get legally married
... obtained another ugly scar on my knees
... booked our flat!
... ate a lot in Hong Kong
... did many runs
... attended many weddings
... gained weight that I can't seem to lose

Think that more or less summarises my year. 

(this must be the shortest year-end wrap up/reflection I've done LOL)

History has shown that odd years are better than even years (for me), but I wouldn't say this year was particularly horrible. It could have been better if I didn't get that bad fall or if I didn't develop my usual allergic cough (which cost me $280!!!!) but other than that, no bad things happened and for that I should be grateful.

Next year should be a rather busy year filled with wedding prep. Preparing to get married hasn't really hit me hard (yet). Now it's just a ring on the finger and the occasional wedding prep talk. The hectic part would be the 6 months before the big day! The Engaged Encounter was a good way of easing me into what it entails to be a married person and like the slogan says, a wedding is a day but a marriage is a lifetime.

I used to think and was all prepared to remain happily single, spend my days as it comes, maybe have a hamster or two, go for adventures, try new things, jio my friends to go on holidays, and leech off my parents by staying with them till as long possible LOL. Sounds good right? And it still sounds good to me! Hahaha. Trying to find money to finance the wedding, the dinner, the house, the renovations, where to stay... blah. All these were not part of the Plan. But it's OK! Having a loved one to go through life with you gives it a little more meaning and I guess, something to look forward to each day?

I can already forseee the greatest challenge for me in the next 5 years - starting a family (GULP). I really really really really really have no affinity for kids and I don't like them much. Now the challenge is how to reconcile this mindset with the fact that I may end up with my own motley crew some day (DOUBLE GULP). HOW TO PARENT THEM YOU TELL ME. I will probably end up screaming at them till they all hate me. I still don't think I'm self-sacrifical enough to be a parent. Our Slumpy, Squishy and Rolly are good enough for me!

2015 is the year I turn the big 3-0. I can't think of anything else on my to-do list that I want to accomplish before I turn 30. Of course I still hope to continue visiting at least 1 new country each year. Oh yes! I hope to step into the European continent haha. Have never been to Europe! Even my 16-year-old sister has gone to Spain and back. Looks like skydiving will have to take a back seat till about 2016 or later (need to save money). Oh man my life gets less exciting as I grow older :(

Oh and I need to lose weight. 
297 days to the big day my app says!

Here's to a happy, fabulous, skinny and fulfilling 2015! I hope!

Oops another 2 weeks passed! Back from lovely 12-degree weather in Australia and right smack into 30-degree heat and humidity. Baahhhhhhhh.

Wedding updates: looks like I might not be able to get married on my 30th birthday after all because of church venue issues :(
Such a pity coz the date is so nice (and easy to remember)! 
So Plan B is to get married on Paul's 30th birthday! Which is just 8 days before mine heh :D

House updates: selection date was supposed to be on 10th June but we were in Oz so the plan was to ask Paul's mom to help us select. Few days before we left for our trip, we were closely monitoring the leftover flats and erps it didn't look good coz out of the 6 or 7 flats left, all of them were not ideal (think evening sun shining in directly, or in the middle of nowhere with no amenities). To forfeit means we would be penalized, so the best way out was to hope that all the flats would get selected before the 10th.

To be honest when I arrived in Australia I totally forgot that I had the all important future home to select hahahahaha. I was reminded only on the 9th night when we were at the Sydney Opera House, when Paul received an SMS from HDB saying that we need not come down for our appointment because all the flats have been taken! HENG AH! Thank you lucky stars!!!

But the bad news is of course that we still don't have a house and the wait for the next round would be another 6 months zzzzz.

And even badder news is that for this round, there are 142 units and like 1005 applicants -___-"
That's like around a 10% chance of getting. Meh.

OK gotta go sleep soon because I have to run my school's Learning Journey for the school's admin staff tomorrow! STRESS!!! Organizing stuff like this is such a pain zzzzz.

My future home lies in one of those squares... I hope.