our "GREAT" buys on saturday!

went to get the more stuff so that we can get the contractors to drill the holes for us and before they handover the house..

we had a hard time putting up the magnetic door stopper on our own.. so we had to get everything for the contractor to put it up..

we even planned ahead for the future to get the hooks for the baby "yao lan".. how extreme! haha..



we even bought the curtain tracks and the curtains for our balcony! the uncle is super helpful!

marriage preparation course part 2

before the workshop ends today, we were told to build a house with our own hands.. it was fun! it is a process, a teamwork.. hee.. fun!

our birthday celeb!

on friday, went k to celebrate our birthdays! we bought a mini cake for the celebration.. it has been a long long time since we sing k together.. we had such a fun time!

dear dear exams is coming, with the reno and housing plans, it has taken up alot of his time.. hope he can revise and do well for the exams.. after his exams, will plan for the move and then the wedding.. hee..

our lovely house part 2

some updates on our house.. the house will be ready for handover this coming wednesday.. it is so fast! i am very extremely satisfied with our contractors who were very responsible and fast!

some photos to share..

dear dear's bar counter..

initially i wasnt very excited about the bar counter..
but after it was installed.. i love it.. have reserved the shelves for my own use.. hee..

our dry wall for our wardrobe.. (when close)

"da-ta" when the door is open, it looks like this!

our sleeping area with our tv ledge and my dressing table..

we hacked our master bedroom as the current master bedroom is very small to fit a king size bed, wardrobe, study table, dressing table and tv ledge.. so we have to hack it..

thus, the study room and our wardrobe is in my masterbedroom and my sleeping area, tv ledge and dressing table is in the other bedroom.. i simply love it! initially, had the disonnance effect but when bits and pieces of the room is slowly done up and feeling more happy and excited to see the outcome.. hee..

the cupboard to store our bathings necessities.. hee.. how nice!

i think im falling into depression..

too many things to be accountable for.. i dont know where is the cheery stephy gone..
too many unpleasant things happened.. you know, i know..

"cast my cares upon You"

my lovely house.. in the making (part one)

my reno has started 2 weeks back.. didnt manage to take pics in the 1st week because when i went over to inspect (usually after work), it is already very dark and without proper lightings, didnt take any pictures..

the 1st week of reno is also quite boring, the hacking of the walls and the removal of door frames to replace with wooden ones.. the whole house is filled with debris.. oh my! imagine the dust and all..

but in the 2nd week, the dry wall for the wardrobe is up, windows is up but not the grills, the kitchen cabinets is done, even my oven is in place, the only thing is the solid top that is not up yet.. now the reno works is halt for about a week till my aircon is up then we can complete the rest of the carpentry works for the toilet, wardrobe, dear dear fave. bar counter, painting for the whole house and the rest of the furniture to be delivered and our house is done.. oh yes, and the lightings which we have already bought!

sharing with you some pictures tha: though they were not well-taken..

am getting the white roller blinds for our study and bedroom.. hee

Marriage Preparation Course (mpc)

went to attend a mpc this afternoon.. we went in with an open mind on what to expect on marriage life.. am glad that dear dear was willing to go through the course with me as i understand not everyone will like such prep course.. at first, questions pop out when i first suggested to go for this course was, is our relationship so bad? why should we even attend? everyone goes through marriage as it is.. why should we spend to go on such courses? but, we enrolled and attended the first session and it was great! never regret on the $ spent..

we were being asked to do a focus questionnaire that consists of 164 questions and the results will be announced to us next week.. how exciting!

next, we were asked to list down the 10 reasons we want to walk down the aisle with our partner.. i will type it out and print it out nicely to put in our study room to always and remind ourselves why we want to enter in a marriage.. i think that it is really important because as what the speaker mentioned, when we go through a rough patch in our relationship, the 10 reasons serve as a reminder why we ever want to enter into a marriage..

we were also told to do some "homework" that is to list down our expectations of our partner and be as specific as possible and we shall have some discussion and evaluation next week.. the speaker shared that when she done her mpc back then, one of her husband's expectations was that his wife will make breakfast for him every morning.. but the speaker mentioned that she is a night owl so she will not wake up early in the morning to prepare breakfast.. so there were some concerns in the inital stage of the marriage.. personally, i think that is important also.. hmm.. what is my expectations... hmm..

key points that i learnt from the course are the 5 different levels of communication.. at any one point n time, these 5 levels of communication should always be part of our communcation.. something like the maslow hierachy.. haha..

indeed, it was a very enriching and fruitful session for the both of us.. by rediscovering ourselves and this journey we are going to embark on..

my convocation..

took a day's leave to attend my convocation in the morning.. dear dear, my parents, my granny & my cousin went.. after my convocation, i went to a korean food outlet with siang and my family to have lunch.. after that went with xiang to check out string curtains for my house.. went to ikea to look at their roller blinds.. not too bad and very afforable.. well, it was a fruitful day for me.. hee..

went to visit the dentist yesterday because of my wisdom toothache.. he suggested to extract my wisdom tooth who is affecting my pain.. my face was half swollen when i took these pictures..

thank you dear dear who bought my long sleeve white top in preparation for my convocation.. thanks for rushing down to school this morning to attend my convocation and had to go back to work in the afternoon.. muaks!

thanks steph for waiting for me.. i was late, she helped me wore my gown and waited for me.. thanks for the safety pins and black pins! hee..

east coast outing..

last month, my company organised a family day.. dear dear and me went together.. we went cycling too.. we spent a great day togethe cycling along the coast line.. it has been sometime since we went there..

let's find time to go there again. before that, i really would like to go hort park for a walk..

updates..

it has been some time since my last post.. initially when i set up this blog, i hope my close ones reads.. but now, i blog about it so that at least i have a diary?? i used to write one.. but that was years ago.. now am too lazy to do it..

have been busy with the reno plans.. finalising the quotes and design.. am glad that with the little budget we have, we were able to have most of the items we want.. my big masterbedroom, big wardrobe with sliding doors, dear dear bar top, my kitchen with a built in oven (thanks to my aunt & grandma) where i can make the finest and yummiest food! that is the most important part of my reno.. thanks to my aunt who became our designer for our cosy home.. giving us advice on the color theme and the things to avoid and buy..

went to ifc today.. dear dear commented that he did not like to go window shopping for furniture and come back empty handed.. so, we got ourselves a tv console and my fave. coffee table..

renotalk.com has been the regular website that i frequent now.. everytime i get my hands on the pc, all i go to is that website to check out the pictures of fellow people renovating their homes, sharing their views on renovation.. giving advice on the things to buy and not to buy etc etc.. i have signed up as a member but i am unable to start my own renoblog or even post comments.. it has been so happening.. those who stay nearby visit each other.. fellow renotalk bloggers.. i also want to be part of it.. sadly, do not know how and why i am unable to do that..

so, after having seen so many reno work and furnishings posted by fellow bloggers, i have thus decided what kind of style and what type of furniture i like.. but also it comes with a compromise between dear dear and my likings.. but so far been so good.. :) im glad that both of us do not like too many mirrors in the house, because we are not used to seeing ourselves everywhere?? haha.. though is the "in" thing..

have also decided on the color scheme.. await my blog for more photos of our lovely house.. i cant wait for the renovations to complete.. my lovely house..

the other day my colleague asked me what type of hdb i bought and what floor.. i said executive but due to budget constraint, i got level 7 because the higher the level, it increases by $2k.. he laughed! he said next time, say 7 is your favourite no. not budget constraint.. haha.. i never forget that

sharing with you our great buys today: making us happy people.. wanted to buy toilet accessories today.. thank God i called the contractor and he said that he has to give us the measurements to buy because is not exchangable.. and through the phonecall, i realised i do not need to buy dish rack..

i just love the glassy feel.. will buy a carpet or a rug to put it underneath..
though have to maintain the carpet/ rug but this is the only "housework" that i do not mind because i just love it.. do i need other reasons? hee..

i just love it! sleek and simple!

then we head off to dome for chilling session to reward ourselves for the great buys, to relax over the weekend..

ciao!

if i wander off too far.. what would take me home?

BLUES
been feeling rather blue lately.. thanks for noticing it.. for checking on my blog.. been wanting to blog.. but do not know where to start and how to start.. i lost touch with my blog!

MY THOUGHTS:
been immersing myself with reno forums looking at how people done up their houses.. wedding stuff has came to a pause.. finalising the design for the house is more important.. but im simply so stressed.. initially i thought was with work.. with the workload + D&D commitee to handle.. time for me to complete my tasks become lesser.. even my period was late..

MY RANTLINGS:
actually i have no complains for being part of the commitee for i think it is really fun & my sort of 1st time experiencing it.. previous companies do not have D&D except for jj but back then it clashes with my last lecture date so i had to give it a miss.. but the day for D&D is the day for my guo da li.. with the house renovations to cope, guo da li, wedding and work.. and now my convocation coming in october.. i seriously wonder how im going to cope.. i definitely need His Strengths to go on..

MY CONVOCATION:
now im only looking forward to my convocation.. something that im proud of.. finally! after struggling for 2.5years in unisim.. juggling between working and studying part-time is not the most stressful throughout my uni days.. it was also the financial concerns, coping with all the assignments and then exams.. it just keeps coming.. finally i can get to truly wear the square hat.. hee.. now my next inline would be enrolling into a baking school to get myself exposed to all the different types of baking and making sweets and finally cooking.. it is a different form of art which i always believe will make me happy.. especially if the end product is successful.. hee..

MY WEDDING:
i was pretty upset when someone close told me to engage a wedding planner to do my wedding so that i will not get so stressed up.. i had since gotten over it.. actually most of my stuff is done, just have to get the actual day schedule and things confirmed and the big headache which everyone mentioned, the dinner seating arrangement and the attendance.. so been procastinating it.. as it was still early to get everyone's confirmation now.. already some are saying they are going on holiday etc.. so have to wait till october till november to send out the cards..

MY NEW HOUSE:
Dear and I were pretty upset.. with the little things we are doing yet still a substantial amount.. still waiting for good quotes from contractors.. thanks to my aunt who spent most of her time, thinking and designing our house for us according to our preference, arranging for us to meet contractors to get the best quotations..

Thanks to my parents for being so supportive, to my mum for blessing us with a 32" LCD TV for our room.. Co-sponsor our system 3 aircon... & my aunt and grandma who bought me a built in oven.. so touched to see everyone so supportive and gave me more strength.. i will make good use of the oven after marriage.. and source for good recipes to bake and roast stuff.. hee.. await my new year count down invitation party at my new place!

Dear, i hope we can assume our roles and responsibilities in the new house and wedding plans.. & that we can have a smooth sailing house reno and prepare for the wedding together..

its party time!!

uploading the fun pics we had.. was laughing away at some other pics..

my happy weekend

went to see our photos designed today.. not bad.. they really kept it to the minimal and simple that i have been reminding them about.. removed some butterflies because it really looked quite fake on the picture.. i guess the designer must have find it too easy that they didnt know what to do.. because in some other designs, i spot them changing the entire background to ice mountains etc.. those are really fake and i prefer to maintain the originality..

hope that we do not have to wait for too long for the actual albums, so we told them the changes and to proceed with the printing of the album.. dear dear kept reminding them to let us have it as our birthday gift in the 3rd week of october.. hee.. usually dear dear is very quiet at the bridal shop but i guess he is quite familiar with them so now he also jokes with them and negotiate some stuff.. :) happy to see he is also getting excited about it..

tried on the kua today.. looks kinda weird on me maybe i wasnt prepared for the look.. so i still have time to think if i want to wear.. the bridal shop boss suggested that i change into it in the afternoon and change it again at night to send he guests off.. hmmm.. sounds interesting.. but i think dear dear doesnt like the idea of wearing kua.. hmm hmm...

after having settled the bridal thingy, we went to kim gary to have lunch.. had a very hearty meal.. look at what we have ordered!!! we were filled to the brim!!

my fave: red bean milk!!

my spicy pork chop noodles!! yummy!

after lunch, we went back to my aunt's house to design our flat.. though we have differing ideas but we had priorities.. cant wait for the end results.. in the meantime, have some work to do. have to do up my own list to source for quotations.. hee..

after that, we were supposed to go home to finish up our work.. my office stuff and dear dear assignments.. but we met up with peter and the rest & head down to a bistro.. i ordered a margarita but they only had lime so changed to a lychee martini.. i guess i haven had alcohol in a long time.. the alcohol gets into me and after we went party world I was totally mad!!! i jumped on the sofa and jumped on the floor.. i sang all those songs i seldom sing because want to enter into fun mode!! finally i sang ji ba ban!! but i must admit im not such a good singer compared to willy on that song.. hee.. we sang till 330am.. it has been really a long long time since we stayed out so late!!! & we managed to wait for NR1 to get home..

i simpliy love these! after a while, my hands get quite achey.. fun!
dear dear said i was crazy..

p.s: when jason send me the photos we have taken that night.. will upload it.. it has been so long since i last k-ed!! i simply love it!!!

my strawberry pinkie moonies!

been wanting to make moonies 2 weeks back but never really have the time and energy to do it.. FINALLY!! i made some today.. my granny gave me the recipe... though there are alot more steps to get it done but generally i find the dough easier to handle and very fragant due to steaming the flour with pandan leaves.. quite some prepwork to do..

but its easy and non-bake.. non-butter.. non-hassle.. just get the dough done and roll the balls.. and ta-da.. you put it in the mold.. using the "kou fen" on the dough really makes it very powdery and does not stick onto the mold!! amazing!! it was fun!!

a healthier way of de-stressing.. i must say.. hee...

p.s i love the colours of my mum's kitchen.. i hope i get my own workstation at my own kitchen with enough space for my bakes, sweets and cooks! hee...

mini weekend de-stress!!

decide to stay on at my current place.. hang around.. wait for bonus.. hee..

but am still stressed.. work till almost 7pm everyday.. know is not considered late for most of you.. but when i reach home, is really tiring because my office's so far.. hmm..

today my colleague commented that another department staff like to take advantage of me.. her taiji skills no. 1, people need to cut watermelon into different slices before passing on.. she pass the whole watermelon to me!!! haiz... she is not helping man...

besides that lousy colleague.. a trade exhibition is coming up and im rushing tonnes of stuff man.. manager commented that i should have more initiatives on my program.. haiz.. hate to be reminded that marketing has take more initiatives though another colleague said that's always the case.. hmm..

dear dear also been rather stressed these days.. manager chasing him for JD.. customers call him on saturday morning when he was still sleeping.. gosh!!

went for a drink at paulaner on fri night after dinner.. it was rather relaxing sitting on the countertop listening to live band.. the singers has a great voice!!! but their specialty is beer.. i ordered a 0.3 litre and dear dear a 0.5 litre.. i drank less than half of mine i suppose?? but i was on e verge of vomiting!! no more beers for me!!!!

4 gold..

went to get 4 gold yesterday.. walked past poh heng yesterday so decide to go in and check out the 4 gold.. dear dear mum has been asking him if he bought the 4 gold.. so decide to check it out..

we went in and asked the person about 4gold.. she showed us ala carte and set.. initially wanted to go for the set.. i told dear dear since i wont be wearing it, just get anything u tink is nice.. its just gold loh.. and my parents said must be yellow gold..

then after saw some really nice designs but still is yellow gold.. in the end, opt for something that i would wear.. i think some people would go for the value and wear once during the wedding.. since it is gold for wedding, i presume i will not sell it.. so i opted for something i would wear.. n since my future mum-in-law wasnt with me, im not sure whether she liked the idea.. but she gave dear dear the $ to buy.. so we decide! hee..

thanks dear dear for choosing a diamond bracelet for me.. :)

fay's baby shower!

last saturday was sister's baby shower.. congrats to you!!

look at the little princess.. she has long fingernails and long legs!

look how tiny she is!

last weekend at white dog cafe..

last friday had dinner at white dog cafe at vivo.. dear dear's pay day.. his treat!

food's not too bad. i love their appetizers.. they serve really huge portions that i think i wasted too much food!!

pictures to share:

more pictures..