[a spiritual journey]

this is gonna be a long post, so if u don't wanna get bored, navigate away..heh..

It was a unique way to celebrate our 6th month anniversay, though the date happened more by coincidence. Hubby and I took a trip to Mekkah to do our Umrah ("mini-Haj/pilgrimage"). I felt it was a little too soon to go...being religiously hopeless and all...but I guess hubby was right - do it when we have the opportunity. I was having a slight sore throat after spending a day in air con (body needed to acclimatise..haha) so was hoping and praying I wouldn't fall sick on the trip. Our bosses were pretty nice to give us 3 days off from work "just like that" (seems its a norm here). Great!

So off we go on a Tuesday afternoon, hubby being very kan chiong about being late and yet us ending up being the first ones at the bus interchange, half an hour before departure. And he calls me kiasu! The bus ride was pretty horrendous, buses here are capped at a max of 80km/h, and we were going at that speed for a freaking 10 hours, with cranky babies and loud music (albeit religious songs, which I didn't understand because they were in Urdu...gah). We stopped for dinner in the middle of nowhere and I started feeling breathless cos of the cold. I must've looked so pathetic that the lady next to us asked if I was ok, and later on another lady said something to the effect of "Oh I thought you were sick cos you were pregnant". Bleah. We arrived in Madinah about 4am, checked into our pathetic hotel and waited till it was time for morning prayers. Excites!

First destination: Prophet's Mosque. It was a chilly walk early in the morning, and as we turned the corner hubby said: Prepare to be awed. And awed I was, with the majestic mosque in front of me, the dazzling lights against the dawn sky making the building look even more astonishing. After Subuh we had breakfast and waited till it was time to see the 3 graves - the Prophet's, Sayidina Abu Bakar and Omar (the Prophet's companions). It was a solemn moment though I didn't get emo like I thought I would. I was more emo when I got to pray in the "Garden of Paradise" (Rawdatul Jannah) since well, praying there was equivalent to praying in Paradise itself, and access to women was only between 7.30-11.30 and yet I was privileged enough to do it. We then headed back to the cockroach-infested room (I kid not) for a much needed nap...did I mention the toilet stunk so badly neither of us used it till we had absolutely no choice? I am SO NOT STAYING THERE AGAIN!!! We spent the rest of the day and night praying, so much so I was wondering whether God would be bored of my prayers lol.
first glance of the Prophet's Mosque

Next morning ................Women's entrance:note the mechanical umbrellas outside..cool!!

By next morning, my stomach was feeling really queasy and was simply too nauseated to eat anything. After morning prayers, hubby suggested that I induce myself to vomit cos it's helped before when I was nauseated due to migraine. A good choice I guess...and so I left some souvenir at the Prophet's mosque toilet lol. I must've thrown up 2 days worth of food and didn't wanna eat anything further so that I wouldn't risk getting sick again. And so I was there, lying miserably in the awful room while hubby went to the mosque alone in the afternoon. I insisted on going for Asar since it was gonna be our last prayer at the mosque and I'm glad hubby let me go. We saw a doctor at the mosque itself and I was diagnosed with heartburn. Got meds for that and my now worsening cough...all for free...wow! Armed with the meds, we made our way for a 2 hour trip around Madinah to see some sites like the Quba mosque (first mosque in Islam), Uhud mountains (where the prominent Battle of Uhud took place), the mosque that had two Qiblats (prayer directions, Masjid Qiblatain), the grave of the matyrs of Islam and the remaining/rebuilt mosques that were built during the Battle of the Trench. At each mosque we did voluntary prayers and again I felt like I hadn't prayed so many prayers in a span of two hours lol. It was a good decision going for our tour without the group that night, because by the time we set off (we have notorious members in the bus who do not know the meaning of punctuality), it was dark and cold. And thank God for the meds, I could finally have dinner that night whilst on our journey to Mekkah.

Uhud mountain range

After another gruelling journey, we arrived at Mekkah at about 2.30am, ahead of schedule. We checked into a 5 star hotel which was almost paradise compared to the hotel in Madinah. Hubby was persistant about going for our Umrah (the actual ritual) right then though I felt it was better to nap first. I guess he had a valid point though, with our adrenalin pumping because of the excitement, it would be better to go now and snooze off later so that's what we did. I got more and more nervous as we set out for our Umrah. Would I do it right? Would God accept my prayers? What if I didn't do things correctly?

Hubby held my hand as we entered Masjid Al- Haram ("The Sacred Mosque"). The moment I looked up at the Ka'bah, I started tearing. Masha Allah, truly I was blessed for being given the chance to see the Ka'bah so soon. Never in my life would I have thought I would be in Mekkah at age 27, and here it was, standing in front of me. Words do not do justice to what I felt at that moment. As a matter of fact, I was so overwhelmed with emotions that hubby had to nudge me to pray (I made a long list lol). Wow wow wow - the Ka'bah, in front of me, in this breathtaking mosque - THE mosque. Allah is Great. Allah is Gracious. Allah is Merciful. We did our Umrah rituals including the Tawaf (circumambulating the Ka'bah 7 times), praying our 2 rakaats of prayers, drinking zam zam water and finally heading to Safa and Marwah for the Sa'ee. Might I add here that thanks to my hubby's wise decision, the place wasn't crowded at that time, and these two humble servants of God had the highest privilege of actually kissing the Black Stone at the corner of the Ka'bah (that too after having to wait in line only for a couple of minutes), touch the Ka'bah wall at another corner (Rukn al Yamani) and even pray between the Hijr and the Ka'bah (equivalent to praying in the Ka'bah itself). Although F had been there several times before, he said going with his wife was a blessing since this time he finally got to kiss the stone. Hee :) I must say I was so nervous the whole time, I even forgot what to say at times. Thank God for having F beside me, guiding me everytime I froze up. The 7 laps of Sa'ee wasn't as hard as I expected it to be, and we even managed to complete it before Subuh prayers. Wow, our Umrah was over. Dear Allah, please accept our prayers and forgive our sins and give us the chance to visit Your House again.

................................................................... This Is It!

We went back to our hotel and slept like we hadn't slept in days (which was partially true) and even missed Zohor..oops :P (this was why doing Umrah first thing we arrived was a brilliant idea). I didn't go for Asar because my chest wasn't feeling so good, so prayed in the room instead. And I was like - wow, talk about praying in the direction of the Ka'bah...our room was barely 200m from it. We did our last Tawaf the next day and packed for home. Oh, that was after I did a little shopping of course..hehe. The ride home was slightly shorter but just as painful, with my sore throat and bad cough to manage as well. We did reach home safely though, All Praises to Allah for providing us with a safe journey and a magnificent experience. Maybe my sickness was a way sign God was cleansing my sins. Insha Allah we will return again end of this year for the Haj. Ameen.

The pictures don't do much justice to the splendour of the place, but they will be a good reminder of our first journey the Ka'bah.

[our home]

Since I've been getting requests to see our house, here goes... (click on images to see them bigger)

As you can see, I'm very bo liao...so I have time to do these things..haha :P

We actually got the sofa, tv table and kitchen cabinets second hand...all for under $800. Cool huh..heh. Well I like how we managed to find matching sets like the sofa and the tv table, and the kitchen cabinets go really well with the wall. Love how the walls are painted in vibrant colours too. We didn't expect the bedroom furniture to be so huge but they literally scaled it up from the "queen size" one we saw...which explains our huge headboard (if u can stretch ur imagination a lil haha). Love our home!! Oh and forgot to caption: caught the Honda in its full glory, cos hubby rarely sends it for washing haha. And even this time, it was cos of my coercion hehehe. He has a point actually, there's not much point in washing it regularly cos with the amount of sand/dust here and with his car being black, it got dirty by the fourth day..bleah. I shall just admire it in this pic where it looks really sexy...haha.

[one month]

"Let's celebrate tomorrow with a dinner!"
"Why? Because I survived one month here?"
"No, to celebrate our one month together."

Ah, as you can see, we have different ideas about my one month here heh.

• I've gotten used to my monochrome scenery (black & white clothes, sandy coloured buildings) , but I still forget to put on my abaya sometimes (before leaving the house that is).

• I've gotten used to the well-conceived huge shopping malls and giant hypermarkets, but I can't come to terms that that will be my main form of entertainment outside the house for awhile.

• I've gotten used to watching movie after movie at home, and now that we have a TV & DVD player, we don't have to be in our room all the time; but as before, I still feel that I'm wasting my time away when I'm watching a movie at home.
  
  
• I like trying new recipes but I miss the taste of that particular chilli and tamarind that I use to make a really good sambal.

• I love the winter but my skin is getting really really dry.
  
  
• I know I should be making new friends, but I so so miss the ones I left.
  
  
• I love the time I spend with my husband, but beneath that, I still (literally) dream of Sg every night since I've been here. If dreams are a reflection of what you yearn for, boy is that a strong indication.

It's been a month and I miss my family and friends terribly. I hope I get used to living abroad, cos this month sure wasn't easy. But yes I shall trudge on. Thanks honey for being patient with my homesickness, and for looking after me so well.

[a new beginning]

It'll be two weeks tomorrow since I left my comfort zone. Wow. Seems longer than that..haha. Today was also the "official" day I started work, though I'm still working from home now (yeah yeah I know, I'm supposed to be WORKing right now..hehe).

How has life been? Well for starters, it was great that we got to celebrate our 5th month together, together. Like, finally. Things have been moving pretty fast. In the first few days I was here, we were busy setting up the house. And in Mr F's efficient shopping style, we managed to buy almost all the things we need for our house - from the sofa set to dining table to kitchen cabinets and stove. So efficient right? Haha. I was so drained by the end of it, by Thur that week I was like, ok, we seriously need to take a break on Fri (esp since Mr F was gonna start work on Sat). Must say the one week off for Eid was a Gbless since we finished so many things then. Now we're only left with a TV and DVD player, which upon my "nagging", F agreed to getting on his next pay. Hehe.

How's the apartment? It's a nice two bedroom apt...tho I can't say much about the living room. It's so tiny we decided to be a little creative, by making the 2nd bedroom into the living room instead, and leaving the current living room to be our dining place. Otherwise, the house is great - bedrooms are big, toilets are alright. We're proud to finally say we have a HOME. (Though not proud enough to invite people yet, that will be done once my cooking skills improve haha).

apt from outside. ours is at the 9 o'clock position

How's Riyadh? Well, to be honest the city looks better than I expected. Neat roads and housing, clean and a little green (how green can desert country get right? heh) and good buildings. But that being said, reality struck in on the very first night here - we were waiting 20 mins at a pizza place, and the waiter finally comes with 2 boxes of pizza. Why? It was a "singles restaurant" i.e. only men allowed to dine there. When F asked if we could stay and eat since there was no one there, the waiter said it wasn't a problem for them, but if the religious police came by, we were the ones who would be in trouble. And so, our first dinner was in his car. Welcome to Saudi... As if that wasn't annoying enough, the next day we tried 2 places for lunch, both were "singles" restaurants, and finally one filipino directed us to McDonald's cos "that's the only place here that has family section". I was like wow, I came all the way here to eat McD??? Bleah. To top it off, the cubicles we sat in had "curtains" so that we could get more privacy "enclosed". Even at food courts there's a cordoned off section for "families" (i.e. women/families) by high walls. Hmmmm. I shall not dwell further on this. I've just told F to make sure he knows where "family restaurants" are so that I don't have to get pissed off everytime we're rejected from some place. Brrr. It's also annoying that I can't go out without Mr F cos there is virtually no public transport here other than taxis (or I can walk of course), but right now, I don't think I dare to take taxis yet. It's not that they aren't safe, it's just cos the cabbies don't speak much English. It's a lil overwhelming knowing you have to be so dependent on someone. Sigh...

"family restaurant" cubicle with an accordian style door for more privacy


one thing i can't complain about is the excellent malls they have - here's one with a safari themed deco

my monochrome life has started....

How's work? Work's great. I've got very flexible bosses who let me work from home, partly cos they don't have a permanent office yet. As you can see, I don't think that's a very good option for me cos I get distracted...haha. They're very warm and friendly, a far cry from what I imagined them to be - big burly strict men lol. Spent the last few days at work being introduced to the 2 hospitals I will be in touch with and I must say that people here are very friendly. Never did I enter a room where people were not smiling. And Dr A is so popular that the nurses just greet him fervently as he was rushing me along corridoors bringing me place to place, promising me that I'll definitely get lose in the place when I was there on my own lol. I was apparently employed because of my high-standing coming from NUS (they look up to NUS) and cos I have experience writing manuscripts. I was like wow, in SG the few papers I wrote would've been nothing, but over here they were impressed. Good for me anyway, I can pretend that I'm super brilliant. The research prospects sounds promising, and hopefully I can get to dabble in some of the things they suggested.

And the most popular question of all...How is my REAL married life? Now that I really have one..haha. It's been great I must say. We didn't fight for a record amount of time (we seemed to fight almost every other day online for all sorts of petty reasons...I attribute the fighting to miscommunications that occur while being in a long-distance relationship). Mr F has been extremely supportive, especially when I've been feeling very homesick (I miss you all so much!!). He's also helpful around the house, which is so great since I hate doing housework (alone)! We're still getting used to each others quirks (like he has to put up with the noises I make while stretching in the morning lol, I have to put up with his running to the PC the moment he wakes up...prob a habit he inculcated when he woke up at 5am daily to chat with me heh).

Guess that's all to update for now. Hope more exciting things pop up for me to update heh. See ya!

[till we meet again]

Will be off to start my new life in approx 12 hours time. The time has finally come...wow. The past few weeks have zoomed by, with lots of things at work needed to be tied up (with my darling prof who loves to give more work when someone is leaving..gah), meeting up with friends and packing.

The goodbyes have been bittersweet. I'm really touched that so many friends wanted to meet up, even a few who haven't been in constant contact. I've also probaby put on a lot of weight cos I've been eating and eating and eating, treats or otherwise lol. Have also become a lil thick skinned: when ppl say they wanna treat I'll gladly accept instead of refusing. Haha. This is in light of the fact that I've been going out almost every single day, and dining isn't very cheap. Plus since I'm the "VIP", it doesn't hurt to be treated like one..hahaha :P

Definitely gonna miss my friends - they've been there for me a lot. Please keep in touch online, I still need you around. You guys rock my world! Can't say yet when I'll be back for hols, but hopefully we'll meet again soon.

To my darling Auntie, cousin, sis...gonna miss u lots n lots n lots. Don't be stingy with sending overseas sms k? What's 15 cents compared to lonely me right? Hehe. I shall be back in Singapore one day, with a vengeance.. ;)

This is it....

[This Is It!]

The clock is ticking fast. Can't believe 3 weeks ago I booked tix for MJ's movie, and tmr we're gonna watch it. There I was thinking, that's still a long way to go. 3 weeks have past, and the next 3 weeks will probably zoom by too. Yikes!

Things seem to be happening really smoothly. From worrying about whether MB would get the visa done on time (2 weeks all in all instead of the month we expected), to wondering whether the freaking expensive shit test results would be done on time (8 days instead of the 4 weeks they warned me about), to worrying [again] whether the Saudi embassy over here would process it fast enough since they're busy processing Haj visas now (so much for the delay, they did it within 2 days instead of 3 lol). I even found my flimsy luggage bag! Now I don't have to worry about an empty bag which in itself weighs about 5kg, taking up 1/4 of my valuable luggage allowance! The universe really wants me to go lol.

And as Auntie said, wow, it's getting more and more real...I'm leaving soon!!!

Visa - Check
Air ticket - Check
Luggage bag - Check
Packing - Pending hehe (hardworking me has already started tho :P)
Meeting up with family/friends before I leave - In process

And most exciting of all...
Apartment - Check! Can't believe we finally have a place to call our own, even if it's temporary. It's a new apartment so that's a big bonus, equidistance from both our work places...MB really put in a lot of effort into finding the perfect place *muaks*. Can't wait to start furnishing and decorating it...wee!

[lesson kept!]

I thought I learnt my lesson when I watched "The Time Traveler's Wife" after reading the book. But no, I rushed to finish "My Sister's Keeper" before watching the movie too. And boy was I disappointed again. I guess I've gotten used to little details getting changed, such as how Campbell's long lost girlfriend Julia was totally excluded from the movie. But this was like...they changed the entire ending! Gah! Wonder why they did that - perhaps so that the masses would like it, a predictable ending. I do think though that the audience would've been more surprised at the original ending in the book. At least I was. And no, not that I like the original ending anyway. So painful. I didn't cry while reading the book, nor at the movie (only teared at the scene where they went to the beach). Surprising, since I'm an emo person..haha. Or maybe I'm currently only allergic to romantic tear-jerkers, for reasons that are obvious..heh.

Told Sakura never to let me watch book-movies after reading the books again. End of!

[sunset]

yay! decided that since i have tons of photos, i should upload one of my own as my background. since i absolutely love sunsets, and this is one of the most current ones i took from kerala, decided to put it up. pretty!

p.s. silly me didn't host the previous background myself. ah well, i used to be html stupid. not that i'm that smart now...but at least i know how to change my background...haha

[resigned]

Resigned to fate?

Well I'm not exactly sure.

But it seems God has some plans for me. And it's time to move on. Literally and figuratively.

I've resigned from my job as of today, officially. In what seems as a sudden move, even to me, I'll be leaving what I've called home for the past 27 years, to a distant land, to venture into new things.

Why the sudden move? Well, I shall let reasons be known when the time is right. Right now may be a little premature to announce things. And no, I'm not pregnant.

How am I feeling?
A little pensive about leaving a great workplace where I've been showered with care that I did not expect for the past 4 years.
A little melancholic that I'll be leaving family and friends behind.
A little disappointed that my stranger of a family has expressed almost no indication of missing me, save for my sister, aunt and cousin (I guess I shouldn't be too picky).

Unfortunately I have a very realistic husband who tells me the melancholia will get worse, instead of comforting me that things will be alright. It's not exactly what I need to hear right now. Sigh.

But I am also feeling...
Happy that I've been given a new opportunity, and so soon at that InshaAllah.
Excited about things to come.
Delighted that I'll finally be able to be with my husband.

Though I haven't bought the plane ticket yet, the date should be 29 Nov. So that I can fly off after a dear friend's wedding.

Am I ready?

I guess you can never know when you're fully ready. But it feels right, taking the plunge. God please guide me.

P.S. On a totally different note, gah, my blog pic is gone! Ery, where are u when I need u? Haha. Gotta find a new skin soon. Wow, talk about changes!

[gone too soon]

First it was MJ, now him. Someone closer to heart. It was more of shock than sadness when I heard the news. 33 - so young. Somehow it makes it more real seeing the Boyz carrying his coffin. And when Ronan broke down during the eulogy...sigh... I had a few friends who said this news reminded them of me, how I used to be so crazy over him. Well I've gotten over him, but it's still sad that someone so talented, someone I grew up listening to, someone so young, will no longer be able to share his passion with the world. Truly a star who faded a way to soon. Life is fragile. You'll be missed. Stephen Patrick David Gately - 17.03.76-11.10.09 (Ha I still rem his birthdate :P)

Stephen Gately's Boyzone bandmates have paid tribute to the singer at his funeral in Dublin.

Boyzone's Ronan Keating sobbed as he told mourners at St Laurence O'Toole Church that the world had lost one of its greatest stars.

He said: "We have lost our brother and I've lost my wing man. He will live on in our songs and whenever us four are together his spirit is alive. For Stephen we'll carry on, but it will never be the same without him. A beautiful man who is now the perfect angel. Forever young and never forgotten."

Keating and the remaining bandmates Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy joined family, neighbours and celebrity friends for the emotional farewell.

Around 3,500 fans listened outside as Keating, Duffy and Graham remembered their friend before singing together in a musical tribute.

Boyzone's manager Louis Walsh said: "Stephen was one of life's positive people with a lovely nature and he was someone who always had a smile on his face.

"He loved to laugh and joke and was always the life and soul of the party and would give everyone he met his time."

Gately was found dead last Saturday after a night out with his partner Andrew Cowles and friend Georgi Dochev on the holiday island of Majorca.

A post-mortem examination found he died from natural causes, the medical report recording pulmonary oedema or fluid on the lungs.

His body was flown home on a private plane with Mr Cowles and the remaining Boyzone members, who have had tattoos in honour of Gately with the letter "S" and dates "76 09" etched on their skin. (ITN)

[stompin' stompin'!]

1 hr and 50 mins of sheer entertainment! Wow! All these years of waiting really paid of, I finally got to watch STOMP yesterday. I was amazed at the amount of energy these guys had - they were literally bouncing around on stage hammering, pounding, tap dancing every second of the show. The moves were very well choreographed and the beats were very catchy. My fave performances were when they swung from the high wall of pots and pans and started drumming...the sound was so good that it sounded like real instruments; and when they did their signature broom stick and stomping-on-garbage cans bit we see in cinemas at the start of movies. I was also impressed at how each performance ended with a punch, sometimes expected, most of the times with a nice twist. Ah and of course, the crowd's fave "fat guy" who was the comedian of the night. When I read that the show was going to be funny, I was wondering how it could be made funny, and I certainly didn't expect it to be this hilarious, so yep, a really great job done. Engaging the audience was also a nice bit since we found out how uncoordinated we are in clapping according to rhythm lol. The lead also had a LOT of stamina, rarely saw him going in for a (long) break, maybe only during one segment of the show. Was also thinking that boy, they must be really fit to do all that stomping and banging and hitting non-stop. We also discovered new "instruments" that could be banged on, including kitchen sinks and giant rubber tyres..haha (tho din really enjoy the bit with the metal chairs especially when they dragged it on the wooden floor...eeks..luckily no goosebumps :P). Oh, and we were so enthralled by it all, that we hardly noticed that 1.5 hours had passed when they tried to do their "we're done with the show" stunt. I was so much in disbelieve I even took out my phone to check the time lol. And they didn't even have any intermission! Luckily they came back out and gave us their last round of stomping. GH and I were so into the beats that we wished it lasted longer. Definitely a worthwhile show!

[phuket hunger]

For some reason, ever since returning, I've been craving for all sorts of (unhealthy) food. Mee goreng, chocolates, pizza, tapioca chips, all things spicy, etc. It's not like I didn't eat in Phuket...though we didn't have very regular meals. And now I'm hungry all the time. And guess what? Mr F feels it too! Hmmm did Phuket put a hungry spell on us? Hahaha. Strange...

[you're my saving grace]

Remember those walls I built
Well, baby they're tumbling down
And they didn't even put up a fight
They didn't even make up a sound

I found a way to let you in
But I never really had a doubt
Standing in the light of your halo
I got my angel now

It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
It's the risk that I'm takin'
I ain't never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

Hit me like a ray of sun
Burning through my darkest night
You're the only one that I want
Think I'm addicted to your light

I swore I'd never fall again
But this don't even feel like falling
Gravity can't forget
To pull me back to the ground again

Feels like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
The risk that I'm takin'
I'm never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
Halo, halo

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

- Sasha Fierce

[i hate holidays because...]

...at the end of it, you have to return to reality. Which in my case sucks.

But still, I shall cherish the wonderful week I had with my hubby in Phuket. It was a different kind of Eid for sure, prancing around in less clothes than usual and doing wild things like visiting a go-go bar (and more hehe). Was contemplating if I should spend my "last" Eid with my family but when you live with a family of strangers who doesn't bother to fetch you from the airport after being away for a month (re: my India trip) nor ask how the experience was, I decided that spending time with someone who loves me (and shows it evidently) was more worth it.

........................................................Maya Beach

Phuket is just beautiful. The beaches are amazing - clear waters and creamy sand. Maya Beach (where Leo's "The Beach" was shot) was just awesome, with the majestic cliffs and emerald waters dominating the scenery. Though I do think Phi Phi island is a little over-rated because it wasn't THAT fantastic and the snorkeling a lil disappointing. Ah but still, can't believe that I got to snorkel with my baby - point being I got to enjoy something I love with someone I love. The feeling is great. The company was also great (Mr F and friend) - was a little worried at first that Mr R would be a little "extra" but we got along great and he knew when to disappear lol. Pics of pretty Phuket can be found here.

We cheated and said we were on our honeymoon, hence the prettily decorated bed...well it was kinda honeymoon #2 anyway hehehe.

And to top of the already fantastic week I had, I got to see Beyonce in concert at the F1 Rocks concert on Sat. It was a grueling wait after Black Eyed Peas performed - Miss Diva was the last item of the day at 12am, and this was after we started queueing at 2pm for the concert that started at 5pm so that we could be near the stage! But it was all worth it when she stepped on stage - the crowd went totally wild and she was totally awesome. We were pretty close to the stage so we got to see her upclose..wee. Her performance was really impressive and I must give it to her that she not only sings well but entertains her crowd with all her dance moves every step of the way. A talent for sure. And very sexy ;)

Right now I could die happy.

My fave song of the night. Beyonce was like, ok now this is a test of my true fans...luckily I knew the lyrics lol. And she was so touched when the whole lot of us sang along. Nice!

[chronologically impaired]

Watched The Time Traveler's Wife yesterday with my fave bunch of girls. Who knew on a weekday night at 7pm there would be so many cinema goers, so my carefully thought out plan of breaking fast in the cinema went to nowhere (ah how exciting it would've been lol). Totally forgot it was school hols so I guess that made things worse...I wasn't the only one who was exclaiming after finding out there were only single seats left. And of course Auntie will not be letting me forget my mistake about not booking tix for a long time to come since she's working AM shift today, so I decided I shall only watch movies with the two girls since they know how to let things go...hahaha. At least we ended up having a decent break fast at Pastamania (mmmm) and continued our gluttony at McCafe to kill time - lots of it - since our 7.25 movie became 9.40.

[warning...may contain spoilers]
The movie was good - if you haven't read the book. I was so excited about the book becoming a movie and since Sakura has been highly recommending it even before there was news of it becoming a movie, I picked it up finally and amazingly completed it within one week, something I haven't done in a long while. Unfortunately like most novel-turned-movies [think Harry Potter..gah], the movie was less than satisfying. And since I'd just finished reading the book, I could recall little details which left me quite unsated with some of the storyline. Not only did they change several facts - like how Henry's mum died, how Clare finally managed to conceive or how Clare (did not in the book) became as frustrated as she was about her time traveling husband - they even left out a lot of other important struggles/relationships that could've made the movie much richer e.g. Henry's desperate attempt to find a cure for himself such that he even resorts to taking not-yet-existent medication or his relationship with his psycho ex-girlfriend. I also felt that the significant image where he shouted out for Clare when he got shot left out what would have been a very heartbreaking and touching and mysterious scene all at once. Frankly speaking, if Australia managed to be 3 hours long despite it being very draggy because of the lack of a very captivating and unpredictable plot, there would have been no harm extending this movie to at least 2.5 hours since the storyline itself was interesting. Even the script was a little simple and cheesy at times, and the overall feel was that the story had been made into just a romance thing.

It did however succeed in making 3 out of 4 of us girls sob especially at the end of it (one girl being someone who can't show much emotion even when sad...hahahaha...don't kill me Jam :P). Auntie and Jam didn't find it too confusing though Jam cheated and kept asking Sakura which Henry (past or future) appeared heh. So as I said, it's a great movie to watch if you haven't read the book even if it's just for eye candies Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. Told Sakura that the moral of the story is to not marry a time-traveler, and used that piece of advice for Jam too lol. Reading the book and watching the movie made me miss MB even more; though I'm grateful that for us, we don't time-travel, it's just distance-travel that's keeping us apart. Hopefully that will change soon, in 4-5 months to be exact. And we also have end of this month to look forward to...yay! =)

[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!