daily musings: mom & dad

crunch crunch coco crunch

3 sets of 30 crunches on a daily basis, 2 sets of 30 push-ups on a daily basis, soon wilson will be adding 2 days of jogging on a weekly basis to my workout routines.

i've never felt so... healthy. at least not since my bras basah days.

i've lowered my body fat % and lost a kilo plus in 3 weeks and toned up my body. result is surprisingly obvious from the photos i took during gown fitting. hope i can keep it up.

i've also started eating gingko biloba + DHA supplements to improve my ailing brain cells that's as forgetful as a 60 year old.

i've finally finished my degree. that's good news i suppose. am i going for the graduation trip? i don't know. i'm trying not to think about it now.

after some googling done, i've also come to realise how my unhealthy lifestyle have contributed to my ailing metabolism and learnt about the kinda food to eat that can help burn more body fats. interesting stuff. strawberries. like wow.

so my amigurumi cows are done as well. can't wait for its photoshoot!

and since we're all stepping into 2010 right now, hope life won't be such a bitch to everyone and we can breathe alot easier and stay happy.

frankly i feel like gorging myself with japanese rice and lotsa meat right now but i think i just have to sleep my cravings away. i'll boil some brussel sprouts to distract myself tomorrow morning.

popping by

2 more days & it would've been exactly 3 mths since i last blogged.
kinda got myself so caught up in living out my daily routines that i forgot i even had a blog.

planning for my big day has been hectic and rather troublesome.
but as the day goes by with more and more decisions being made each day for the preparation of it,
it's somewhat exciting yet nerve-wrecking for me.
being such a control freak, i anticipate the end result but being paranoid as usual, i fear for hiccups. it's a rollercoaster ride for my emotions. but i'm glad somehow that no matter what it is, i have people whom i can ask advice from and friends offering their help in every possible way.

many say, wedding is about the couple. but i say, it's through the preparation of it where you'll get to see who shares your joy and every ounce of it is instilled into making things work.

i am clearly aware how a 'wedding' or 'being married' is not the 'final destination'. it's more like a milestone. a start for a new phase of my life.

as usual, instead of harping on the bad (i forgot what's bad hah!), i rather harp on the good/blessings i received.

• i had gu with me all the way altho i'm told how men usually can't be bothered
• i had iman to help me with the bridal shop scouting and wedding band scouting (lucky me!)
• ching to help with the planning & music list
• lijun offering to help me my MUA for mom/sisters but too bad our dates clashed
• Ranna with all the guo-lai-ren advises (can't say how grateful i am)
• two hansum man agreeing to help emcee
• dear couz who shares my excitement & agreed to help jaga guest list & open car door
• feng n YL agreeing to be my sisters
• Ben agreeing to help come along with me to describe what i want for my photoshoot & asking around for cheaper instax film px & imparting gu knowledge on wine choices
• HL agreeing to be bouncer for my album during AD....
• & of course not forgetting dearest mom & dad.

i'm blessed with the help from so many lah. aiyo. can't complain. :)

so far i think i have half my checklist completed:

18 mths before...

• Set wedding dates. Checked! Date is on 12 Sept 2010, Sunday
• Prepare guest list. Checked!
• Book venue. Checked!
• Keep reference folder to file away ideas. Checked!
• Keep a separate file for payments & receipts. Checked!
• Book bridal package. Checked!

12 months before...

• Place order for wedding bands. Checked!
• Select bridal attendants & assign roles. Checked!

stuff that's still pending:

9 months to go...(December 2009)

• Book JP
• Book ROM date
• Discuss menu. Set date for food tasting.
• Plan music selection (finalize song list with chingling)
• Shop for bridesmaids'/groomsmen's outfits, my bridal accessories e.g. heels & jewelleries etc
• Review guest list
• Enquire about bridal car rental
• Discuss different looks with hair & makeup artists and go for trials. Confirm looks.

6 months to go...(March 2010)

• Confirm music list, menu & liqour list
• Pre-Wedding photoshoot.
• Collection of wedding bands

3 months to go...(June 2010)

• Finalise guest list & start planning seating arrangements
• Confirm transportation
• Send reminders for venues & solemnisation officiant
• Confirm all wedding decor ideas, bouquets, centerpieces
• Send out invitations for out-of-town guests

2 months to go...(July 2010)

• Send out local invitations
• Confirm out-of-town guests have received invitations
• Choose thank you gifts for attendants
• Organise seating arrangements

1 month to go...(August 2010)

• Chase late RSVPs, finalise guest list & seating arrangements
• Confirmation of gowns & bridesmaids' gown to be ready on time
• Prepare fees / angpows where applicable, e.g. officiant, bridesmaids/groomsmen
• Start breaking in your shoes so they won't pinch on the day
• Confirm all other arrangements that has not been finalised.
• Start planning emcee script. To share schedule with them.

2 weeks to go...(late August 2010)

• Collect dresses
• Arrange for bridal flowers to be sent to my house early on the day.
• Go thro emcee's script. Prepare our own wedding speech.

1 week to go...(Early Sept 2010)

• Finalise all minor arrangements that hasn't been done.
• Arrange for a bridesmaid to accompany me and help me on the day
• Give all payments to bestman; leave him to pay the respective people.

On the day (12 Sept 2010)

• Let chief bridesmaid take charge of everything which includes reminding the other attendants of their duties.

brain has gone for a smoke break

How to know when ur brain is sorta 'dead' after working too hard?

you...walk out of the house carrying ur bag n wonders why it is so light.
you...cont to walk while wondering why ur bag is so light.
you...walk across the marketplace, the fruitstall, the dentist, the overhead bridge like a zombie.
you...sit down at the bus stop and stone.
you...then start to wonder again why ur bag is so light.
you...open ur bag and to ur horror, realise u forgot to bring ur wallet & keys out.
you...sit n stone for 5 seconds contemplating whether to fuck it and go to work as it is.

(pause)

*quite obvious here the idea that no wallet means no money haven't quite sink in. how to take bus like that??*

you...then suddenly decide to just walk back home to grab ur stuff.
you...get the wallet n keys from mom n cont to walk back the same route to take a cab.
you...get up the cab and starts stoning again.
you...stare at ur bag and to ur horror again, realise ur jacket is missing.
you...call mom to ask her trace back ur route in hope that she'll find the jacket lying somewhere while bracing urself for the worse.

today is just damn SUAY i tell u. SUAY.

matsuda shota, anytime

IKIGAMI

OMG. i randomly surfed youtube n found this trailer!



I've actually read the first few chapter of this manga. story line is interesting BUT a bit heavy so I didn't really continue it BUT omg. movie version.



what's more important is....they have two of my fav guy actors!!! alamak so yandao hahahahhaa


Shota Matsuda and Takayuki Yamada in Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit.

must..get..hold..of..the..movie... (hope it's not crap!)

rain rain... go away?

Many would associate rain with gloomy weather, hence gloomy thoughts.
How many will see it as a form of liberation?

pain in the ass

Planning for a wedding can be such a pain in the ass lol.
hotel bookings, negotiating of packages, bridal studio packages, negotiating of packages, planning of guest list (with sudden heart attacks frm parents), planning.. planning.. planning and all the incessant planning.

good gracious.

thank god, i got the first two out of the way within a month. = =
will now focus on fine-tuning the details.

sitting down with 'Sophia' gave me the bad vibes altho they have nice gowns. seriously. a major rip off. thank god i had some sanity with me to walk out AND not return the next day as well.

stepping into another bridal boutique in bugis area wasn't great either. the gown was alrite. the package was so-so but the album....a big no.

somehow, both times i had my instinct screaming inside my head. i should learn to trust my instinct. when i stepped into Sattine there was a strange good feeling. weird but anyway. all's well since i got my package there. just hope the rest is ok too.

thank goodness iman was with me when i checked out the bridal shops. don't think i can handle the search alone. sigh.

i'm starting to have some funny ideas for my wedding actual day.
let's see how it goes.

music for the soul

although i nearly went crazy trying to upload new songs into my mp3 player (Sony! urgh!) and also update my playlist... but it's amazing how listening to music can be so rejuvenating. like a battery recharge hah! kinda blew away the gloom that has been clouding my mind for quite sometime. even if it's temporary, it's good.

what doesn't break you only makes you stronger

well.. i definitely hope so.
i'm having mixed feelings, mostly negative and i'm back to the worrisome self again.
open my eyes and my worries start. open my eyes and i have to face reality again. open my eyes and the first thing i do is sigh. when will this end?

相遇不是用來生氣的

Saw this interesting email from wilson.
some food for thoughts.


○ο。°相遇不是用來生氣的°。ο○

前日往回家的公車上，
一對上班族男女吸引了我的目光，
而他們的一段對話，更讓人難忘。

每天搭乘公車上下班，來回通勤時間約莫近二小時，
有時人少，可坐在位置上欣賞窗外的風景；
人多時，也只能慢慢地擠回家，
但這時，身邊乘客的對話總會不時地傳到耳邊。

前日往回家的公車上，轉程靠站時，乘客頓時多了起來。
一對上班族男女恰巧在我身邊，吸引了我的目光。

可能因為人多，男的不時地將手臂圍住女的，
並輕聲的問:
「累不累？」
「待會想吃些什麼？」

只見女的不耐煩地回答 :
「我已經夠煩了，吃什麼都還不先決定，每次都要問我。」

男的一臉無辜的低下頭，而後說了令我印象深刻的話。

「讓妳決定是因為希望能夠陪妳吃妳喜歡的東西，
然後看到妳滿足的笑容，
把今天工作的不愉快暫時忘掉。
我的能力不足，
妳工作上所受的委屈我沒法幫妳，
我所能做的也只有這樣。」

女的聽了後，滿懷愧疚的說聲對不起。

男的這才似乎重燃信心般說：
「沒關係，只要你開心就好。」
而後親吻了女的頭髮。

下車前再回頭看看這對情侶，
男的依舊保護著心愛的人。

這樣的情景，
讓我覺得自己今天同樣在工作上有些許不愉快，
如果沒有聽到這一段對話，回家後的我，
可能也是一副全世界都對不起我的臭臉面對心愛的人，
只在乎自己的委屈，
卻忽視對方的感受，
不自覺地傷害最親密的人。

所以在踏進家門時，我問自己，
難道我要像公車上那位女孩一樣忍心
將自己的不滿委屈帶給身旁的人嗎？

不，我想我現在應該做的是...

別再把工作上的情緒發洩在心愛的人身上，
破壞了最親密的關係，
並且主動給自己一個微笑。

相遇，不是用來生氣的！說得真好！

當自己快抓不住情緒時，想想這句話，
應該會讓煩忙的生活，加些微笑的因子吧！

同樣地，在日常生活中，我們牽掛得太多，
我們太在意得失，所以我們的情緒起伏，
我們不快樂。在生氣之際，我們如能多想想︰
「我不是為了生氣而工作的。」
「我不是為了生氣而教書的。」
「我不是為了生氣而交朋友的。」
「我不是為了生氣而作夫妻的。」
「我不是為了生氣而生兒育女的。」
那麼我們會為我們煩惱的心情闢出另一番安詳

看完之後…
當你和朋友..家人爭執時…
要記得你們的相遇…
不是用來生氣的喔…

但...人非聖賢...
誰能不生氣呢…
看了這篇文章以後…
記得.....下次要生氣時…
就別生太久…
免得傷心、傷肝、傷腎又傷腸胃…

antique rings

mom suddenly 'handover' a bunch of her antique jewelleries to me.

O_O"

retro sial.

allergy

what a great way to spend my long weekend.. with a itching butt. ok not exactly THE butt, but somewhere near the butt. like.. the back of my left thigh just under my ass.. give n take an inch or two. yeah. i have 4 red swollen and itching patches that's of the sizes of 50 cents coins each. it's itching the living daylights out of me.

some allergic reaction due to insect bite.

gu found this wicked looking ant like creature crawling on my keys (which is usually in my handbag). he torched it and left the corpse behind for me to vet. he thought it was some kinda red ant but i doubt so cos it doesnt look like one. it's just some.. weird nasty looking ant like thing.

i'm not exactly sure if it's the one that bit me but...HECK IT MAN. I'VE GOT BITTEN ANYWAY DAMNIT!

my mom kinda freaked out when i showed her my patches. - -"

i probably had those bit marks on sat morn and it kinda worsened. it started off looking like mosquito bites then it escalated into swollen reddish patches.

went down to babu but i don't know why, he is not open. damn. then had to go to another clinic and the doc simply gave me some meds and cream to apply. i fished out my medic card to check if it's under the panel of docs my company has insurance for. nurse say NO but guess what!? the clinic is under my panel of doctors lor. ta ma de.

anyway, how am i feeling nowadays?
sleepy. restless. lethargic.
what else? nothing else i guess.
just not in the mood for anything much.
stuff happening at home that started off as something pretty petty is escalating to a point of being ridulous. i could almost consider it a family crisis just that the nature of the conflict is kinda stupid. but you can't just call your parents (whichever one it is) stupid right? so how? how i react to the matter is simply being rather non-chalent about it. not that i wanna appear cold and uncaring. i just don't really know how on earth to deal with it. gu n i is just trying to stay sane and help mom stay sane too. sigh.

baby jacket

baby apple in my knit wear!!!

OMG SO CUTE!!!

mad adorable right!?

MH sent me the pics of her baby girl wrapped up in the knitwear gift i made for her last month. it's deliberately made oversized so that baby can wear it longer but seriously, it's HUGE! but cute! even at 2 mths old, baby apple is tiny.

popping the big question

we went to pick a design today. :)

took a while to find something i like but i'm glad we've managed to find something we're both satisfied with.

proposal was short n sweet but it's the thoughts behind all the action that counts. that's all that matters anyway.

going retro

fulfiling my checked obsession, i now have a pair of black n white checked heels to match my checked jacket!!!

with my crazy new bangs and super big sunglasses, i'm looking v retro~



new heels~



crazy huge sunglasses. so huge it covers my cheeks!

lost and not found

Can't remember who i lent my mushishi dvds to but...WHOEVER IT IS, PLS RETURN IT TO ME ASAP!!!!! *cries*

finally!

IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE!!!

after a near 2 months of relentless knitting, my baby knitwear is finally complete!!

i made the jacket a tad bigger so that the baby can wear it for a longer period of time.

Here's some pictures during work-in-progress mode.

mini-updates

just to catch up on the fact that i havent been blogging for ages...
here's the mini-updates:



human hamsters on the loose!!!
oh well, heard frm YL this is the latest 'IN' thing going on.
putting kids in inflated balls and letting run around in a temporary pool. = =


(click pic to enlarge) is the schnauzer smiling...???

we were invited to gu's HR SVP's hse along with the rest of gu's colleagues from Discovery. her hse is HUGE! and she prepared a feast for us. we got lost a little while trying to find her house and it kinda dawns unto me how great the disparity between the rich, the middle-income grp, and the poor can be. just look at the houses! omg. i must admit for a moment there, it did inspire me to wanna just push myself to a point in my career where i could perhaps...one fine day afford all these...but then, that thought kinda float away real soon thereafter lol.



my anniversary gift from gu. :)



has recession hit us so badly...that 4 people had to share ONE cup noodle!?
.
.
.
nah. we're just trying out the one-and-only bah kut teh flavoured cup noodle haha!



gu brought me to holland v to buy bread frm my fav bakery. hee

cupcakes

I ordered cupcakes from Faridah for Sing's birthday heh.
a tad too sweet for me but it has chocolate fillings and a surprise cookie inside!!

flooded

i actually have no emails flooding my inbox when i logged in to my office email today. woo!

wad a surprise. heh.

my nose ran away today

starting work with a runny nose is not exactly the best damn feeling in the world and i'm having this crazy urge to just pack things up and go home and hide under my blanket until i feel better.

i'm wearing a tshirt with TWO layers of jacket and STILL, i'm feeling the chill in my bones. being indoors in an air-conditioned environment is not making things any better for me. *sniffs*

CNY have been rather hectic and that came as a surprise since i wasn't expecting myself to do much during this week. in fact, other than visiting my own relatives in my uncle's home (one-stop-station for all in the family), i kinda thought that marks the end of all my CNY visiting for the year but i was SO WRONG. insofar wilson n i have been invited to our friends homes and we've probably visited about 4 families so far and i had my first try in playing guitar hero and got bullied in it cos i sucked. i am supposed to go to zx's hse on fri evening and gu's friends hse later that night but there's been a change of plans. dad injured his finger pretty badly last night so i dragged him to the doctor's and we need to drag him back to the doctor's on fri night for check up. there goes my dumplings @ zx's hse. but nvm, i have another invite from jere and gang and instead of joining wilson to go to charles' place, i'll head to jere's and him to charles' instead. sat is chan's baby's full mth party followed by dinner appt with kelv kor. *wipe sweat* bz week. i sincerely hope my nose gets better by tonight.

i have this pimple on my left cheek bone that's threatening to explode. i'm mildly irritated by it.

i will post pics of my latest project soon (wad else, surely something handicraft related la, duh!) hehehehe. oh yes and some pics we took during the simple dinner+gathering with my colleagues after work last fri.

toodles~

waving lace socks

Behold! My many-months-heavy-duty project!! The Waving Lace socks!!!.............completed only one side!!! hahahahaha stupid.

Yea cos I got stuck @ the heels part since I'm not familiar with knitting socks and couldn't figure out the "knit in short rows" part of the pattern. sent out a SOS call to my knitting guru and awaits patiently.

i won't say it's hard knitting this sock. it's not. takes a bit of time but like Den said, it does make me feel smarter after completing one hahahahahaha and i liked the result altho i think it's a bit too big (i used the wrong needle size) BUT, my calf muscle..(due to my erm...active childhood...) is pretty big so my sock a bit stuck @ the calf area.

just to make sure it fits the heels right.

toes peeking through.

as you can see, the sock is ALMOST DONE! and it looks gorgeous. the sock. not my feet. *coughs*

a look at the completed sock in it's un-worn state.

i havent' block the piece. was thinking of complete the other sock before i block both of them and till then it's currently still incomplete..

tada! i'm modelling my pretty feet in my pretty socks. i'm so proud of myself i think i can explode.

MJ

was @ fiona's hse when the east side kakis were bz playing MJ.
when they took a break i entertained myself with baby Travis.
cute right? nxt time grow will be rather handsome but a bit bratty la - -" but too cute to resist @ the moment.

had to let gu practise holding babies cos he suck @ it hahahahaha


gu with baby Travis

i'm glad gu didn't 'manage' to knock Trav's head on the mj table altho i think he nearly did a few times when he couldn't control Trav.

i ended up using my knee cap to block the corner of the mj table while having Trav lie stomach dwn on my thighs. he was like swimming on it then kept wiggling and sticking his pampered butt into my stomach. - -"

popping by

realised i haven't blogged for awhile. been busy for a long time.
my two weeks of freedom passes by too quickly. watching countless dvds till 5AM in the morning and sleeping till way pass afternoon is now a thing of the past. i'm dragged back to 'real life' where my alarms starts ringing at 7am as i drag myself out of bed by 8am (yes. i giv myself 1 hr allowance..), brush my teeth, swallow my food and prepare myself for another 8 hour day at work. sigh. but all's not as boring as it sounds. it's barely a week at work and it has been somewhat enjoyable. everything's quite peaceful now. but of course, when i say peaceful, it's not exactly 'nothing to do' kind of peaceful. i have my usual heart attacks but nothing that will get me into a cardiac heart arrest or something.

besides the marine parade kakis whom i still hang out with pretty often and my occasional visits to kelv kor @ his store, i hardly get to meet up with any of the old friends nowadays. i wonder what iman is doing. yifeng is probably busy at camp but we still text each other from time to time. terry called up just before christmas. had a quick chat but i'm still wondering when's the next time we'll get to meet up. i had a splendid birthday last year. too bad for the 'memory lost' incident though. pity.

speaking of which, did i mention the fact that i've gotten a PSP for wilson as a xmas gift? i've been hogging it. lol.

i've managed to clear quite a number of dvds that i've stashed up forever but there's still plenty more waiting for me.

cleared
perfect lover [drama]
coffee prince [drama]
sugar & spice [movie] - this show kind sucked...sadly..yuya yagira didn't act too well here...
beck [anime] - made it into my top ten fav anime!
penelope [movie] - thanks to ranna for passing me this show! it's good.
akihabara deep [drama] - weird show but i like hahaha it's very otaku.
yasashii jikan [drama]
haikei, chichiue-sama [drama]
crows zero [movie]
the other boelyn girl [movie]
driving lesson [movie] - good stuff
from hell [movie]
ip man [movie] - damn good moves!
yellow tears [movie]
21 [movie]

to be cleared
macross frontier [anime]
rainbow song [movie]
kurosagi [movie]
last friends [drama]
innocent love [drama]
say hello for me [movie]
larc~en~ciel concert [dvd]
ghost whisperer [drama]
ponyo [anime]

i probably have a lot more shows to clear but off-handedly, those listed above r what i can remember - -"

i'm pretty excited about one thing for sure. lol the calendar that yoshi's helping me with. i bugged him quite a bit and he has agreed to help me create a 2009 calendar out of the anime pictures i provided him. i had one done by him last year. he wanted to 'close shop' this year cos he said he has received too much orders lol. somehow he relented to my buggings and decided to make an exception. woohoo!

on top of that, he lent me 3 comic books. super 'classic' kinds? omg la. hahahaha BERSERK and Shigurui. violence etc. tsk tsk. just my cup of tea altho erm, the drawing not really my cup of tea. -_-"

i'm still kinda mourning over the fact that CR is pulling out their anime. sigh. it's sorta a convenient one stop station for me to check out some of the latest stuff.

cny is coming and i bought two new tops. a dress (TOPSHOP) and a turtle neck pullover (MUJI). still havent had the chance to wear the pullover. the weather has been pretty warm lately. not easy doing shopping nowadays. lack of funds. sigh. how to survive sia.

anyway, i'm looking forward to the end of march. oh yes, pray hard that i can perhaps finish a baby jacket or something by then to bring to MH. or perhaps that colourful scarf for Ash. I'm still trying very hard to finish up my waving lace socks. stuck at the heels. i need help from Den! I've already sent out an SOS. sob. hope she come n save me soon.

ok will stop here for now. can't think of what else to rant about for now.

MY DREAM WALL

FYI: You see in the images below Mr. Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk's artist) painting a wall mural of his two Vagabond protagonists.




Image Source: stabbystabstab.wordpress.com

Origami - Chunky Bead Earrings

got the idea from the origami jewellery book i bought. =)

liked how my earrings turned out.
did another pair for NANA's x'mas present since I was given an Origami book by Jesz and her. =)

Update: Made a chunky bead necklace for Yeelin's birthday.

忽略

有时候，越了解就越有可能忽略对方的感觉。
反应变迟钝。
知觉变得不敏锐。
本来清晰的事物变得不明显了。

然后就在不知不觉中，
一切演变成一种“习惯”。
接着感情变“乏味”。
原本闪闪发亮的将来变“暗淡”。

平凡中的美丽，你看得到吗？
还是你也把它给遗忘了

Early Christmas Shopping

bought these stuff from Lim's Place.
Cat on sofa is for YL. =)
Anything Chii like will become my gift idea for her. lol

Chii-like -cat-anything = YL

lol



oh yea and that two frogs, mine. hohoho!

recently i'm into these comfy pumps.
no frills, no design, just..something that comfortably wraps ur feet.



and then wilson n i saw this bag while we shopped in orchard.
it's a bag using the 'zao-lor' (runaway) bag as it's exterior.
the bag itself quite solid.
i'm quite amused by the design and ended up buying it. hohoho!