[Happy Ramadan]

How can I not feel touched by this simple message from my FIL. I take comfort in the fact that even tho my MIL is cold towards me for no reason (or at least reasons reflecting her own insecurities and nothing on my doing), I have a terrific FIL who not only makes me feel welcomed in my new family, but also showers so much love on me/both of us as an item. Thanks Abbah :)

[oh sweet honey(moon)]

I initially wanted to paste my honeymoon "review" which I wrote for MB here but since it's 6 pages long, here's the summary heh.

It's a perfect honeymoon when you're with the person you love and the sights are lovely. And that's exactly what I got on our trip to Kerala. All the rooms were fantastic, quaint and pretty in their own ways. The sightseeing started out a lil rough in Cochin but it got better and better. The peak point, thanks to my hubby's careful planning, was the drive to the mountains in Munnar where we saw acres and acres of lush forested slopes. I had told him before the trip that I wanted 3 things - waterfalls, houseboat, treehouse and true to his word, in no time we came to the first and best waterfall along the way to our mountain top resort. Natural scenery just fascinates me so I was staring and staring and staring into the horizon.

Next came the ultimate best part of the trip - Munnar. Not only was our beside-the-waterfall resort brilliant, the sightseeing to the national park which was up in the clouds made the trip perfect. I was thanking God for giving me so much blessing to be able to enjoy such a lovely place with my darling. And I truly truly truly appreciated it because in my recent adventures abroad I've been thinking - if only I were here with the one, and here I was, staring at the majestic mountains with my hubby beside me. It was almost paradise.

The next promise my hubby kept was about the houseboat. That was a different adventure in itself, with us covering the vastness of the lagoon around Kerala and trying to sleep in a boat. Water seemed to be the theme of our honeymoon, with the waterfalls n lake n such. And to add to that, we stayed on an island resort the second last nite, which needed a little boat to get us there. We couldn't do the treehouse because it was monsoon seasons and we didn't wanna risk breaking our limbs on our honeymoon, so F made up for it with a beach resort at our last stop. Not that there was much of a beach, cos the monsoon tides practically covered all the sand at our resort's beach lol. We did manage to find a beach nearby too, so that completed our water adventure. Oh and might I add to that the food in Kerala is yummyyyyy, especially the one served in Munnar.


So all in all, I must admit that I initially did not think much of a honeymoon "just" in Kerala, I was very pleasantly surprised and do not regret a single moment of it. Thank you honey for planning such a great trip for us. I really felt like a princess that week especially since you took care of everything, from planning right down to the execution of the littlest details. Looking forward to our time in Greece next year =)

Of course my adventures are never complete with lots of photographs so enjoy them here!

[On the wedding and such]

I'm back! It's been slightly more than a month now and since things have finally began to settle down, just thought I'd pen down a few thoughts about the wedding.

Before:
Had an amazing one week with F when he came. Although it was chop-chop do this and that since we had last minute things to do for the wedding, we were pretty efficient with things. The biggest hurdle was the marriage registration statutory declaration and thank God everything went smoothly there. Next came our wedding course which was really a good thing because we not only learned about the roles of husband/wife in Islam, but also got our personality typed by the psychologist who then gave us an insight to each other's characters and where we had strengths being together and where we have to be mindful/compromise when the need arises. Expensive course since it was intensive and private, but definitely worth it. We went off beaming after that :). We had a very well-deserved break in JB and I'm glad we did that cos the week of running errands had been very hectic.

The wedding:
F & PIL came over to our house the night before the wedding for Henna Nite and thankfully again everything went smoothly (almost). I must say I wasn't planning for a big occasion but mum invited my uncle and auntie's families so in the end dad even catered food for 30 people. The wedding morning I was really excited, started doing my room up as I'd planned. Point to note, won't do everything myself next time..tiring! Not that there'll be a next time...maybe next time there's another party..haha. Haha. Even Uncle Aziz who came early to help us with odds and ends was saying I should've called my bridesmaids over earlier to help out. But I didn't wanna trouble u girls since you were helping me out so much already. Things started getting livelier around 2 when Yatee (make-up) artist started doing her stuff, people started coming, etc. They asked me if I was nervous, I was like nah...just excited heh.

About the actual thing, everything happened pretty fast (except my driver's 10km/h drive to the mosque (gasp!)...and 30km/h subsequent drives to the CC etc...he was worried about ruining prof's car lol). The moment we went into the mosque, someone was like..come up come up, kadi (solemniser) is ready. Within minutes the process started. He didn't even ask me if I consented to the wedding before asking me to sign...maybe he knew how eager we were lol (did I mention he conducted our marriage prep course...and was of course impressed by us..hahaha...that was a nice coincidence and a great honour bcos he is such a sweet and knowledgable guy...very likeable). Then it was Farooq's turn to say his statement that he accepts the nikah (marriage)... At that moment i was like..wow, finally, and not surprisingly I got a lil emo. Jam noticed and Yatee came to my rescue with a tissue lol.


The reception was the fun part of course. I felt like a princess when Uncle Aziz came to open the car door for me. When I stepped out, Uncle Latiff was like saying to F, wow now u really have a Hyderabadi wife cos of the outfit I was wearing lol. Walking in the 4kg sharara was bloody tough, and I was clinging on to F really tightly. I might've stepped on the skirt a few times, but luckily I didn't trip (very noticably at least :P). My fave part of weddings is usually the kompang (drums) so when they were ushering me up the stairs, I was like wow, this is my turn heh. Felt really good seeing familiar faces, and faces whom I hadn't seen in awhile. It's a great feeling to know that such friends and family bothered to come to grace the occasion. I was honoured really. Ah and I should mention too that I was very happy and excited when ppl started throwing petals at us...exactly how I imagined it to be...if not more fun heh.

There were of course lots and lots of photos to take, our own and with guests who were like soooo reluctant about coming on stage to take them (initially at least...DJ had to prompt some ppl to come up). F was complaining about the funny positions Bro Ismail made us do, but I think we look good in the final product heh.

The highlight to me (then again everything was a highlight to me lol) was the 2nd march in, where I was finally wearing my gorgeous purple princess gown. Tho it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to be, it was brilliantly dazzling nevertheless. Seeing the smiling faces and hearing the praises about how good we looked really made my day (or evening), and seeing the bubbles plus petals effect completed my perfect idea of a march in. Again, both of us were grinning big time as we marched down the isle. I should add my ex-colleague's description of my outfits here, which sounds really sweet (I love the last line...nice way of describing things):

"...So of course it brought me great happiness to see her wedding pulled off so successfully without a glitch. And she was so gorgeous, her gowns each bringing out a different feel to her grand entrances. From sweet and demure, to breath-takingly stunning, to majestically princessy."


Everyone was so excited about the purple dress that I had to postpone the cake-cutting a little till we finished taking photos with them. The cake was as gorgeous as I imagined it to be too, and the swarovski-studded toppers added the perfect touch of glamour to it (unfortunately my mum didn't save them after cutting the cake for the guests...gah).

My overall feelings: Alhamdulillah it was a pretty successful event. There was a minor glitch which I didn't even know about till after the wedding, which I'm grateful to those concerned for holding it back from me as I'd requested so that I could enjoy the moment. Though some plans were changed or didn't turn out as I had planned (like my darling parents didn't wear the outfits I had made for them..bleah; my bridesmaids didn't turn up in baby blue/lilac..small matter since they were such dolls heh; F didn't get to sit on the pretty mat for the nikah cos they were so chop chop about starting it; the unexpected silat performance which my uncle thought I wanted...hope the guy wasn't too unprepared for that impromptu request; the dais which was more elaborate than I wanted it to be...stubborn decor person lol but anyway the deco received lots of compliments; the favours were given out by hand even tho I didn't wanna trouble anyone with that tedious job; our post-march in song (Heaven) had a glitch...later found out there were some problems with the sound system at first) - it didn't really matter cos I'm not a bridezilla and at the end of the day, like F said, what was important was that we got married. What was also important was that I was blessed that so many of my dear friends, especially all my bridesmaids [Hello Panda girls: you rawk!, Is & GH: I know I can really count on u!, CY & Ruth: loved the bubbles and petals!!, and of course my darling sister who altho was hardly present pre-wedding, really stood by me on that day] and everyone else who helped us one way or another. Thanks so much to Auntie for your help wayyyyyy before the wedding...I couldn't have done it without u! Some pleasant surprises came such as when Prof Chia lent me his Volvo AND paid for the driver...making my ideal bridal car dream come true at a fraction of the price albeit at the last minute when I was about to settle for something else after my hopes were dashed so many times (of course I have "thick-skinned" GH to thank for that heh), Uncle Aziz (whom I don't think I've had much interaction with before this) offered us lots of help (especially with his vehicles) just one week before the wedding, which turned out to be a great great help. And of course, most importantly, thank you Allah for blessing the day, and blessing me with such a loving, understanding and responsible husband.

As if all that weren't great enough, another bonus came when we checked into Amara Sanctuary @ Sentosa at the end of the day. We had booked a basic room but were pleasantly surprised when they upgraded us to a Courtyard Suite (only realised it when they gave us a form to sign about "conditions on staying in a suite/villa lol). The room had my favourite poster bed with the mosquito net thingy, and after some exploration, F found a semi-open air private jacuzzi in a little garden at the back of our room. Ahhhh, talk about the perfect setting to our perfect start ;). Worth every penny. Even our transport to the room was a bridal buggie, complete with floral decorations heh.

I shall relish in these moments before I think about what to write about our next great moments - our honeymoon. =)

[our wedding website]

Check back here for more updates! [princessbear.com]

[love you anyway]

I'm a bit late...Boyzone had their reunion last year in Ireland, and are still touring UK (I wanna go!!) and I only discovered their return a couple of months ago. They went to Taiwan but they didn't come here hmpf. They look..well..they've got receding hairlines now haha, but must say, they still look fit. Their singing has improved, with Ronan's voice training and Stephen's dabbling in musicals. Am still a bit disappointed that Ronan is leading so much in the latest single (give Steve a chance!!)...hope the rest of the album doesn't go that way. And maybe I'm not drooling as much as before, but I still find them cute haha. Once a fan, always a fan...I love you anyway! ;)

Here's the first single of their latest album...hope it comes to Singapore! Poor quality vid tho..sigh (ignore the first minute of chatter heh).





For some reason, can't find a non-sped up version of the music video..so I'll put this up for the time being..gah. They look cute dancing haha...tho erm..this sped up version makes them look..well..like they're doing funny things lol.




Can I start asking for b'day prezzies? I want this!

[July's schedule]

The things I have to do to get my family's involvement. Hopefully after this, they won't ask me for the 101th time what is happening on which day.

[angels & demons]

I was drooling. And I was excited. So yep, it was a good movie and I didn't regret watching it. It was even better than Da Vinci Code, and although I only vaguely remembered the storyline (I've supposedly read the book...but my memory sucks haha), I was suddenly jolted at who the "bad guy" really was. Some of the scenes were a bit gross...but ya...I guess...seeing images is gross-er than reading a book and imagining things (well at least, good thing I didn't imagine things so vividly...especially how the first cardinal died..yikes...). I still think Tom Hanks doesn't suit the role of Robert Langdon...but oh well.

I had forgotten that Ewan McGregor was acting in it as the Camerlengo so it was a pleasant re-surprise. Haha. Haven't watched him in ages, I think the last one I saw him in was The Island a really really long time ago. Had wanted to catch him in Miss Potter but didn't get a chance. He looked hot in the erm..robe (?) thing he was wearing...ah but he looks hot anytime. That coupled with his accent...mmmm. Even GH was drooling at the end of it. Looks like I was drooling even in the last post of him....which got me thinking....

I don't want male strippers at my hen party, but if you girls can get me either him or Johnny Depp, I think I'll be the happiest hen-ee ever..hahaha :P

[extraordinary!]

We won! We won! We took part in some random bridal contest and got the consolation prize...under the category for 30 Most Interesting Couple Photos. We were aiming for the grand prize of under the "Win an ExtraOrdinary Wedding" where we had to write what our dream wedding was. Guess ours was too far-fetched so they were afraid they couldn't sponsor it lol (or so we consoled ourselves into thinking..haha). The story was what I posted previously. Ahh..still dreaming of that perfect wedding heh. We had come close to winning in some other competition - they even called me to verify details etc, and told me the judges liked our love story (woohoo!) and we were one of the top finalists but unfortunately they wanted both partners to be at least physically in Singapore (even if non-PR)..shucks. Still remember...cos I received the call at Ruth's wedding and I was like trying to convince them my fiance really exists, we just got engaged, I can send photos etc lol. Talk about disappointing..heh.

So anyway, MB said this is the first big thing he's won, so I'm happy for him (us too..haha). He did afterall, write up most of the dream wedding, even sourced for that lovely chateau pic, and suggested what pic to submit for the interesting couple pic contest. Thank u baby! Though seriously, I think since most of my planning is done, with the wedding being 1 month and 29 days away (closssse), don't think I have use for most of the vouchers. Only eyeing the SellHerOnline.com voucher (don't u think the webbie name sounds a bit scary??) Guess I'll give it away to a friend (Min u need? hehe) or sell it away online...hahaha.

Happy happy! =)

[an artsy weekend]

From a tragic tale of love to a bunch of sensual cats prancing around on stage.

On Thur night, Sakura was my date to Romeo and Juliet by TNT Theatre Britain. If you haven't already guessed, I'm a sucker for British (stage) productions. It was shown in Jubi/lee hall at Raffles Hotel, and getting to that place alone was a wow-er. Being the suaku Singaporeans we are, we were awed when we stepped into one of our biggest national icons. Although we've seen the building from outside, the architecture was even more striking inside. That and the majestic chandeliers and facade made us feel we were in another century. As if that weren't amazing enough, the more we walked towards the hall, the more enthralled we got. No wonder MJ loved staying there lol. The theatre matched the atmosphere of the colonial building, with its perennial wooden interiors and imposing tall columns. We felt like we were instantly transported into a distant past, glorius nobles being entertained with a play at our own leisure.

The play itself was engaging, with a touch of humour and austere backdrops/props. The only part I didn't like was that it was in old English (talk about being transported back in time!) so I had a hard time understanding everything. I guess as long as I know Romeo & Juliet are from warring families and got married secretly so that they don't face the wrath of their families. Haha. I must say that Leo Dicaprio's version did ruin my image of how R&J should classically be. Sakura also mentioned she pictured Leo in several scenes. Heh. Juliet was really pretty I must say, although Romeo was ahem..disappointing. Haha. I told Sakura that moral of the story was: good thing we have handphones today, so that misunderstandings such as that wouldn't happen. She rolled her eyes of course. Lol.

Today's musical was a stark contrast with yesterday's - with the grand backdrop which Jam, being the *pro* (theatre student), said was very elaborate. Initially we thought our seats were too close in front (3rd row even though on the online plan it showed 5th row "E") , but as the show started, we were glad we were sitting there. We had upclose coverage of their expressions and I think that added to the grandeur of it. Once again, another Andrew Ll/oyd Web/ber musical has not failed to enthral me heh. Yes true, the plot content was almost absent (tho Jam pointed out the old cat and her "Memory" could be some sort of plot). But the brilliant orchestra, perfect delivery of skillful dance steps and humourous lines definitely made up for it. We were really impressed with the different genres of dance that were incorporated into the show, from disco to ballet to tap dancing...dancing was definitely a requirement to be in the show. There were interesting characters like the Magical Cat and erm the one we called "MJ" cat (dunno his real name lol), and the cats looked really sexy in their skin tight costumes. Well, the ladies at least; men in..ahem..skin tight spandex doesn't do very positively with me lol.

Ahh, I could really live the life of a tai-tai watching musicals every weekend lol (that's a bit much lah..maybe every month? haha). Defintely money well spent....too bad Sakura couldn't join us for CATS. Now GH and I are waiting for Mamma Mia to return. We've already "choped" each other to watch it. Haha.

[when hope gets crushed]

I've given up hope, that things would be normal. I have a dysfunctional family, and I'm comforted in the fact that I'm not alone. Just that I haven't met many families as dysfunctional as mine perhaps.

You have shown me how involved you want to be with the wedding. Fine, I accept. I'd rather plan things myself actually, I'm independent.
You have shown me how you want to exert power over us. Monetary power according to you. So be it. Live in your own delusional world. I swear, if I didn't need to depend on you, you'd be the last person I'd ask for help, especially with this attitude of yours.
You have shown me how quick your attitude changes. How you flip flop your moods. At least now I know your true colours. I shall be nice, but I shall not let my guard down.
You, of all people, cut me deep when you said it's not all about me. If my lifeline tells me that, what hope do I have left that I'm not alone?

I've learnt from this experience that it's best to depend on yourself. You may be your worst critic, but you're also your best friend. When you let yourself down, at least you can do something to change things. That's not something you can do with others. For things to change, it must start with you.

I can only pray that the next phase of my life goes better. Hope. Should I still hope?

[we can but dream]

***********

Picture a dreamy village in the south of France overlooking the Mediterranean sea. The morning sea mist is fading away slowly as the sun shines out brightly over a clear sky. The chateau overlooking the sea from its majestic cliff stands out from the green valley floor. And as far as the eye can see, it is greeted with a vista of unparalleled beauty and serenity. The well-manicured garden walls of the chateau overlooking the sea are bedecked in banners of alternate blue and lilac. The guests are seated in two rows of white chairs over which white colored pergola trained with green grapevines provides shade, leaving a narrow pathway in the middle for us to pass through. The bridesmaids dressed in lilac are standing on the right while the groomsmen dressed in sky blue are on the left. The groom comes in on a horse bedecked in blue, looking intoxicatingly charming in his dark blue intricately embroidered sherwani. The bride comes in on a single horse drawn carriage trailing with lilac streamers, dressed in the finest silk ivory gown, trails overflowing gracefully, fine hand-sewn crystals glistening under the gentle sun. her father takes her hand as she steps gracefully off the carriage, and they both walk arm in arm to the elegantly decorated white dais where he places her hand in the groom's. The ceremony then takes place while the sun shines cheerfully over the joyous day. As the solemnization finishes, the groom lifts up the bride's veil and kisses her. The guests cheer and at the same instant a dozen white doves are freed which creating a dreamy atmosphere. He then carries her into the chateau where the feast begins.

***********

[what kind of person?]

what kind of person...

...is so insecure

• no one knows her real age, tho she claims she's young
• she flounces herself (and her cleavage) around her (male) supervisor(s)
• flirts with every single men in sight, even if they're less than half her age
• goes all out making her colleagues miserable by complaining to their respective supervisors and/or dumping more work on them
• is only happy when someone is as "miserable" as her
• get jealous when those younger than her (i.e. less than ~45) have good things going in their life e.g. doing their PhDs/getting married, etc
• compares a colleague getting an engagement ring/married to her buying herself a ring/being propositioned by a married guy respectively
• gets upset when colleagues from the preceeding two points above join her "gang" for tea since they're probably seen as "competitors" to her

...is so conceited

• she thinks the whole world revolves around her
• she thinks she is right all the time
• thinks her junior staff is her PA, making her run errands like collecting faxes and buying lunch for her
• complains to the whole world how her boss is unfairly not promoting her (financially)
• shouts at the very boss who has kept her in the job all these years while letting others go unfairly
• asks her superiors to do things for her like throwing away her rubbish

...is so dishonest

• she takes other people's hard work, deletes "done by: XX" and replaces it with her name
• in doing the above, makes her superiors think "oh i'm so stomped with work yet i'm so capable since i did ALL this myself"
• she spends half her office time on the phone complaining how life is so unfair, yet continues on with the above two points
• she says different things in front of your face and behind your back

It's also sad that someone can be so...well...insecure. Obliviously self-destructive. So much so till everyone new who interacts with her sooner or later figures her out and realises what a "nice" person she really is.

It almost seems an undeserved honour that I'm blogging about her. All sorts of people exist in this world huh?

[Happiness Is Only Ever Now]

"Few of us ever live in the present, we are forever anticipatingwhat is to come or remembering what has gone." - Louis L'Armor

Many pubs in the United Kingdom have an infamous sign hanging above the bar:

"Free Beer Tomorrow!"

It's funny because, of course, "tomorrow" never comes.

But when you think about it, how many of us truly live our lives like that?

We spend so much time thinking about the past, or contemplating the future, that we forget to live in the moment. We fail to realize that happiness can only EVER be now.

Let me give you an example.

You're driving through the city and your favourite song hits the radio. You're stuck in traffic, but loving the music - and you start to crazily sing along. You really get into it. You're in the moment. But then you catch a few jealous faces in nearby cars, and go all shy and timid.

Suddenly you're no longer living in the moment. You're wondering what they'll think about you. You're concerned they'll disapprove. You freeze up. Your happiness has gone, and your inhibition has arrived.

You're no longer in the moment, in the NOW - you're stuck thinking about wanting approval from these people, worried what they'll think of you outside that moment.

Try to catch yourself at some random point today - and just check what's on your mind. If you're like most people, you'll be somewhere other than here and now.

You'll be thinking about whether you made a good impression with that guy earlier today. You might be thinking the holiday you have planned for next September. Or how all of your problems will be solved this time next year.

You'll be anywhere but in the MOMENT. In fact, we each spend 95% of our time in the past or the future.

But here's the thing: Life is transient. The past has gone. The future is just a dream. The only time that truly exists ever is RIGHT NOW.

In other words, RIGHT NOW is the ONLY time you can do or change ANYTHING in your life.

You are only ever what exists in THIS MOMENT.So, are you HAPPY right now? Are you doing EVERYTHING you'd like to - and feeling THRILLED with life, as you read these words? If you're not, then make the decision to be happy.

NOW.

And if you'd like, put down this book, and go fly a kite. Or tell your partner that you love them. Or get your groovy flares on and head out to the nearby disco.

NOW is the only time you can change anything. And NOW is the only time you have.

So, make that simple decision - to be happy NOW.

Karl Moore - The 18 Rules of Happiness

[show me red]

I've been quiet. I've been thinking. I've been worrying.

Suddenly 3 months seems so close. 3 months till I marry the love of my life. 3 months till my month away from work (note: NOT a vacation..haha). 3 months till...

I can't help but feel a certain emptiness. The looming thought that I'll be away from the people that made me happy throughout my years of turmoil at home. The people who kept me going, who kept me laughing. My friends. I've seen friendships disappearing once people get married. New commitments, juggling a new home, family and in laws. What more if I'm gonna move away. Will the friends I counted on still be there when I'm back? Will things be like they always were?

It's a part of life my auntie says. True. Everyone's gonna go through it. In her blunt-but-tyring-to-cheer-me-up words: Better be the dumper than the dumpee. Not that I'm dumping anyone, but true, friends aren't gonna wait for you when it's their turn to live their life; so why give up my future for them.

But as much as I'm looking forward to carrying on with my life, it is gonna be sad leaving my friends behind. So to my dear friends, please keep in touch, now and in time to come. I have to say that some of my friends have really been taking time to spend more time with me after I "warned" them last year that I'll only be here for only a year or so longer. Thank you.

For now, I shall comfort myself with God's blessings of the 1) Internet i.e. facebook, blogging, etc 2) sms-ing and 3) easier travel (let's hope hyderabad or wherever I land up becomes SIA's fave routes i.e. more discounts lol).

Maybe it's more than just missing my friends. Maybe it's the fear of the unknown. Moving into a more conservative, male-dominated society. Maybe things would be different if I had been moving to a more modern society (Sweden..woo! haha). Maybe...

I just have to remind myself that, at the end of the day, it's worth it.

[mastery]

I talk to myself so much with ideas on what to write when I get home, but when I'm sitting here in front of the PC my mind goes blank. Maybe I have short term memory. Possibly. Haha.

So well I guess I'll just blog whatever comes to mind right now, which is not in the same calm, collected beautiful language that I construct while on the bus. Gah. That's why I need a PDA haha (MB: hint hint lol).

Well off the top of my mind...YAY My thesis has been accepted! Heh. Am really glad. Looks like things will go as planned and I can graduate on 8 July. Wee! And MB will be able to attend my graduation! Double happy! Was quite surprised when prof told me thesis was given the go ahead. But since I hadn't received official news, I thought maybe things wldn't be finalised so soon. Plus it's been only slightly more than a month....not anywhere near the minimum 2 months which it usually takes for theses to be examined (usually students start bugging registrar's office after 2nd month as to why no news yet lol). But well, last weekend, got the letter, and after some minor ammendments which don't even need to be re-marked, I've done the final submission. Woohoo. Yes, I'm euphoric. Haha. I didn't wanna be too happy yet although I'd submitted it, cos being the erm not-so-confident person that I am, was telling MB that the thesis might be rejected if it's not well written etc etc. And even now I'm like..ok, I'll celebrate only when I get the final letter that I've been conferred my degree. Haha. I guess I can save up till then to treat my prof n a few colleagues (now now..how to shortlist who are the privileged ones...haha) :P

[see no evil, hear no evil, touch no evil]

For the benefit of those who would like to know what kind of learners/communicators they are, am attaching some notes from the NLP course I attended several weeks ago. Must say, it has helped me to understand myself and people around me better. We're each a mixed of about 2 of the types.

I'm visual btw, and perhaps my less dominant one is kinesthetic. Maybe that's why Ruth commented that I like to put pics up on my blog heh. =) I liked the example my instructor gave: A visual husband can give his auditory wife all the diamonds in the world, but she might still go "but u never SAY you love me". Simple example yet to the point. So I told MB, for my case, it'd be "you tell me you love me but u never buy me any diamonds". Hahahaha :P

I also have a summarised version of the MB/TI Personality Type System, so if anyone is interested, do contact me directly.

[of hedonism]

The planning was astute. The execution was precise. It was a surprise that was really surprising. Pats on our back for a job well done!

My auntie had been not so much hinting that she wanted to go for a short trip for her bday - to stay in a hotel and go for a spa. So the main masterminds, Jam and I planned a lil trip to JB two weekends ago. It started with me "kidnapping" Auntie on Friday, on the pretext of wanting to go to the (pathetic) bridal exhibition at expo. Oh, but we did run some errands tho, I booked the mosque for my solemnisation venue..yay!

So anyway, after our sad trip to the fair (there were only 10 booths...after a 1 hr ride to expo..gah! talk abt economic crisis), told Auntie that we were having dinner at Kranji. She did wonder whether there was anything to eat there but she trusted I knew this "new" restaurant afterall. Sakura, Jam and even Uncle Dolah met us there and we hopped onto Causeway Link to head to JB. I changed story to we're having dinner at JB, and though auntie was worried whether her passport was around, she trusted us again.

The best part was when we reached the hotel. Even after filling the hotel's name on the white immigration card, auntie was still clueless abt our plan. I was like "Surprise!!" but she still thought we were having dinner at the restaurant. It was only when Jam literally spelt out that we were CHECKING in, did she react - tearfully might I add. Heh.

The second surprise came the next day, where we said we'd go shopping then lunch, but first we stopped by Puteri Pacific (JB's Pan Pac) and treated auntie to a yummy 105 mins "marine spa" massage. We asked her again if she was surprised/happy/etc, and she was like...u don't want too much emotions to flow out so let's avoid that qs. Needless to say, she was extremely touched.

It was the perfect holiday for us as well, cos we spent the weekend basically eating, sleeping, watching tv, playing cards, the works. The only exercise we got was shopping at City Square and boy was it tough for me cos the damn soft sofa in the hotel room ruined my back. But all in all it was a great trip - good food, great prices, cheap and good hotel room (tropical inn), and awesome company. A few details need to be kept secret tho, like the forfeits the "donkey"'s had to do when they lost. Wahahaha.

It really helped that auntie was blur, and that (she said) she trusted me with her life, so she'd have followed wherever we kidnapped her anyway. We're already thinking of our next bumming trip soon. It was a blast!!

[thesis submitted]

I finally submitted my Masters thesis on Monday 2/2/09, after 3 years of reading, research, lab work, more reading, writing, editing and more editing, and agonising. How does it feel? Really good! I feel like I have more breathing space now, not having to come home to open the same file over and over again, wondering how many more pages to go before it finally ends. I now have a couple of months (I hope!) before the examiners come back with the results, so at least I have more time to myself.

For the moment, I shall concentrate on having FUN! I'm almost done with wedding preparations, just have to commit who I want my vendors to be (I'm fickle) so not much work to be done in that area. Maybe I should work on non-procrastination lol.

Anyway, wanted to include some excerpts from my acknowledgements, those really heartfelt ones. To my baby, thank you for motivating me each day to complete what seemed like a daunting task to me and thank you for helping me every step of the way right down to editing 100 pages filled with text of what would seem like greek to you. =)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my supervisor Prof C SE...has not
only been an invaluable guiding and motivational source in my academic pursuit, but
also an important source of support for my personal development. His kindness and
dedication to his career as an occupational health physician and a researcher have
inspired me greatly in the field of public health.

I express my thanks to Prof C KS... giving me the
opportunity to attend the modules that were conducted in Sweden.

...

I also deeply appreciate the technical help from Mr O Y B for brainstorming and
optimising enzymatic assays with me. He has always been ready to lend a hand
whenever I needed help in the laboratory.

My sincere thanks are due to Ms L G H for her assistance and
advice in the statistical analysis of this thesis and of our published original article.
The numerous scientific and less scientific discussions with her have created a
pleasant working atmosphere and a wonderful friendship.

Warm thanks go to my parents, sister, and the rest of my family for their
understanding, support and comfort not only during this project, but throughout my
previous studies. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my dear fiancé Far.ooq; his
love and support has kept me going especially on days where everything seemed to be
going wrong. Because of him, I had the strength and motivation to complete this
thesis. Finally and most importantly, all praises be to God who granted me the
opportunity and strength to undertake my Masters studies.

[partial solar eclipse on lunar new year]

I guess the title describes it all haha. Well, I'm really happy I finally got to watch an eclipse, even it was just partial. 80% is good enough for a beginner like me heh. I shall not go into details about how 2 years ago I thought I would see the sky darken, and the eclipse with my naked eye hahaha. Hey we learn right? ;)

It was a great way to spend the holiday with my two fave sistaz. And I'm glad I chose going to N.US (organised by NU.S As.tro) as opposed to the Scie.nce Ce.ntre or one of the mosques at Ke.at Ho.ng, cos I guess it wld've been much more chaotic there (picture lil kids running ard and being chased by their parents at these more "family friendly" places). And since I just recently ended a 2 day phot.oshop workshop, I decided to try my hands at some editing of the awesomely cool pics we took thru the telescope. Uploaded more pics of our eclipse outing at my photo page. Enjoy!

P.S. To Chinese readers, Gong Xi Fa Cai. Ang Pao Na Lai! Haha. According to Chinese tradition, this shall be the last time I get ang paos on CNY. Not that I've ever gotten any...okay, maybe once. Lol.

the power of photoshop

the power of Allah

[no more earthquake]

Lying in bed the whole day on the first day of work in 2009. Well not exactly, since last fri was the first day, but that doesn't count cos I was on leave..haha. Wouldn't say I was partying that much over the long weekend, but I guess one thing led to another. See what happened was, I shared earthquake after dinner with the girls at swen.son's. Lil did I know, but only half way through the bowl, they kindly offered the info that all 3 of them were sick/just recovering from a bad flu. Great. I was like...nvm...positive thinking...I won't get sick....

New Year's Day was when I should've been resting to combat the effect of deadly germs haha. But instead I exerted myself. Rushed to IKEA in the morning to get my friend a voucher for her housewarming (didn't have time to shop hehe), then went to her place where I ate lots of good (and not so healthy) food, then went to auntie's place. I should have rested at auntie's place, but no, I went hopping on a trampoline (don't gasp lol). As if I hadn't done enough damage, ate loads and loads of apple pie which jam so kindly made for me in exchange for me coming over. Sweet lil girl she can be. Slept in air con the whole night (which even on 'normal' days is a recipe for disaster), woke up at 5.30am next morning to accompany her to school, met auntie for breakfast after that, and voila, by that evening was feeling signs of disaster.

So now I've got 4 different pills to take, 1 cough mixture, lozenges, and a very heavy head (and chest). Guess my positive thinking didn't work in this instance tsk tsk. But who am I kidding, no way no more earthquake. Just no more earthquake till I've clarified everyone sharing it has been in the pink of health lol.

update: as of tues 5 jan, i have 7 pills to pop, not including my 2 vitamins which I'm wondering if I shld add to my poor liver's load. Talk abt needing a detox, not just from junk food, but meds as well. Back to work tmr...yikes..after 7 days of care-free bumming at home....