元宵

Mr. Jang bought me a new iPhone case and a clutch for 元宵. Am going to have 鱼头炉 with his family around Lavender later.

What a nice way to end Chinese New Year.

(Afternote: dinner was superb. Here's a photo of my parents-in-law eating. And also of my after dinner canned coffee - which I bought cos it so reminded me of Japan.)

First solo event

Had my first solo event at the new work place this morning.

Was quite impressed with how the division had done up the place - the setting and atmosphere were really cute with cartoon cardboard cut-outs, student emcees dressed as samsui woman and coolie etc. Wasn't particularly nervous because I had done large-scale events before and knew more or less what to expect. Only trouble was when the press arrived, there was just me handling all the different requests and queries. Thank God I had time to speak to the division beforehand and they were able to accede to most of the requests. (I doubt the event next week would be as smooth-sailing because the other division seemed quite reluctant to provide information and assistance. How to facilitate media requests, draft press invite, FAQs and infosheet in a vacuum?)



Perhaps, the greatest take-away for today's event is to never trust the press completely. Got played out (twice) by the same reporter who went back on her word re the phrasing of a report and the questions allowed at the doorstop. %#(&$(#&$#. Thank God it went OK. Thank God again that my supervisor assessed that I don't have to put up additional report post-event because of that.



Spent the afternoon doing follow-ups on some work stuff, and had dinner with Sis' pals at this zichar place at Punggol. The one on the right is my future brother-in-law, who was probably deprived of Chinese zichar for the past one year while training in Perth. And likely, of cracking crappy jokes. He was going on and on about the business opportunities associated with breast feeding and human milk, cos one of Sis' friends just gave birth. It's so...... him. Hahahahaha.

Home sweet home to Almonn and Mr. Jang

Had a really hectic day at work but came home to another lovely meal cooked by Mr. Jang.

After that, it was a not-so-romantic walk at East Coast. We brought Almonn along and it was the usual tug-of-war kind of walk whenever we passed pillars, trees and lamposts.

To be fair, we also traumatised him by pretending to leave him behind at East Coast. He responded by giving us the pitiful look and endless yelps.

The happiest moment of my Wednesday

7.30pm at Parkway...


... sharing a Carl's junior meal with Mr. Jang and chit-chatting non-stop.

It's almost like back to the dating days.

Lovely Sunday

I know that I will regret choosing to go out tonight instead of working. BUT I have never felt happier just sitting there at Georges Bar, drinking ice lemon tea, munching on finger food with Mr. Jang and his friends, and listening to them talk.

Life is short. Take time to do stuff that you enjoy.

Bai Nian

Am going for another round of Bai Nian at Mr. Jang's godma's place, which coincidentally is also my sister's JC junior and good friend's place, and my primary school junior's place, and Mr. Jang's secondary school junior's place.

The complicated relationship chart goes like this:

The Mother = Mr. Jang's godma
The Brother = Sis' JC junior + good friend
The Sister = My primary school junior + Mr. Jang's secondary school junior

Here are my contributions for the pot luck dinner. Aim is not for the dishes to taste good. Aim is for everyone NOT to have stomache. But yes, I do love cooking too.

Hairy affairs

Am enjoying the cool afternoon breeze in the comforts of my living room. Technically I should be doing some work cos from next week onwards, there will be an avalanche of clashing deadlines that will keep me buried till May. But then the lazier side of me won and I've decided that today is a strictly R&R day. Plus, this year is going to be a take-it-super-easy year for me!!!! :'/

On a totally unrelated note, I have fallen in love with curling my hair ever since I bought the iron curler. I have sworn in my youth that I will NEVER curl my hair after I got married. The reason is that almost everyone curls their hair after getting married! And for some reason it always makes them look old. Either that or cut their hair short. Ok lah, it's much fresher (Mr. Jang also asked me more than a few times if I want to cut) but I want to keep it long and flowy cos I love doing stuff to my hair! Tie, twist, plait, curl, cut. Speaking of which, I still recall that I was badly caned by Grandpa in kindergarten cos I lied about cutting my own bangs. Bleah. I could have been an outstanding hairstylist, Grandpa...

Anyway, I was about to say that now I understand why people do stuff to themselves after getting married. 1) you feel like you are entitled to do anything since you've just lived past one of the more important phase in your life. 2) you really need to destress after all those heavy preparations. 3) your husband has already vowed to love you no matter what... even if you spot the most horrible hairstyle, they ain't gonna run nowhere... what fantastic news!

So, here's how the DIY curly hair looked. I wish I wasn't standing beside two of the most beautiful people I know though (chick + sis) cos that means I look even older! But what the heck... who won't grow old right? :p And just because one looks older doesn't mean that he/she is not pretty lah... hahaha...

To my husband, Mr. Jang, on Valentine's Day

To my husband on our first Valentine's Day together, as a married couple:

1. I love the way you do silly things to make me laugh whenever I feel grouchy.

2. I love the way you help me adjust the alarm clocks in the morning, when I request to sleep for 5 more minutes, then 10 more minutes, then again 5 more minutes... and when I nudge you sleepily to ask for the time, you always respond.

3. I love the way you blend in with my family, and keep my parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles entertained no matter how tired you are.

4. I love the way you take care of everything, for me AND my sis, from air ticket reservations to buying the grocery to cooking to catching insects.

5. I love the way you express concern whenever I sulk and say "我不开心!"

6. I love the way you accept my decisions to do certain things in a certain way, even though I changed my mind for the umpteenth time.

7. I love the way you pray with me, because sometimes, the things you say can be quite amusing.

8. I love the way you look when I laugh at you over some mispronunciation of Cantonese words, but also the way you keep trying no matter how many times I laugh at you.

9. I love your jovial nature, and the way you behave as if nothing is too great for you to handle, because it makes me feel safe.

10. Most of all, I love the way you make me believe that there is really unconditional love in the world, in that you don't ask for things in return (well, most of the time).

Disclaimer: The above is written as a Valentine's Day present for my husband, because I didn't buy him any present this year, and last year, I got him an eraser for Valentine's Day present (really). I love him dearly, but that does not mean that he can continue to dirty my bathroom with the remains of shower gel/shampoo.

Learning through experience...

Was watching 酒店风云, and the character played by 苗乔伟 said "没有人生下来就什么都会，都是从经验中学出来的". How encouraging to hear this, just when I am trying my best to learn the ropes as fast as I can, and feeling a little stressed in the process.

This shall be my motto for the year then.

Sigh...

Barely one week after I said that this will be a work-life balanced year, I am feeling super tired, drained and grouchy from work again.

Granted, it might be due to the fact that I'm starting work in a brand new place and hence the need to adopt a steep learning curve all over again. I recalled that when I first joined the service, I was also feeling the same level of stress.

But it could also be due to the fact that I really want to have a proper family life. To be able to cook when I get home, to relax and watch TV, and to just... enjoy life.

And hence, the question of whether I chose the wrong industry to be in. It's a stupid question, I know, because I deliberately asked for a transfer of service to specialise in this field.

But then, do I want to do comms work in the long run? I seriously don't know. I have come to realise that this is a field which requires one to be on alert 24/7. But I value personal time a lot, and I am not sure if I want my weekends to be burnt, e.g. when crisis happens, when media ask questions etc.

Or perhaps, time to re-look at moving to somewhere where the kind of issues to deal with are less major and time sensitive, but where my skills will still be recognised?

Decisions... decisions... I know clearly where my priority lies, but am bounded by obligations. Whatever the path may be, I have one year to consider. In the meantime, work beckons...

Summary for the week

1. Survived my first week at the new work place
2. Totally missing old colleagues but made friends with new ones
3. Celebrated Valentines' Day early with Mr. Jang
4. Felt absolutely loved...

I just saw my friend's entries re my wedding, and felt extremely touched and teary. God bless their lives too and may they continue to have faith in God and passion towards everything that they are striving for!! :)

Married!

I cannot believe that it has been more than a month since I last updated this blog. I mean, it has got to be the most important phase/day of my life (other than my birth and my death) and I totally didn't write anything to help me remember it in future. Argh.

Must have really been caught up in the last-min preparations. Plus, relatives and family friends streamed in during those last few days. Everything just went by in a blur. I only recalled that I was totally in my operational mode, totally NOT feeling that it was my wedding day, and while I was walking down the aisle, I kept pulling at my Dad's hand and hissing under my breathe, "Don't walk so fast! I stepped on my own gown again!" And oh, the fact that I was totally nervous right before I did my dinner march in, partly from the tightness of the gown and partly from the fact that I had to sing. I recalled Adel putting her hand on my arm, looked at me in the eye and said, "Are you going to be alright?"

And then, it was off to the HK wedding (which was completely unlike the SG one because everything was so informal and unprepared... in a nice way) In the end, I had so much fun that I wanted to do it all over again - except that I obviously can't.

Now that everything (including my Japan honeymoon) is over, and I'm at a new work place, it seemed as if I'm really starting a whole new life althogether. There is a husband in the house and I am trying to play my brand new role as a wife (e.g. making breakfast, tidying up). Am also experiencing the newbie feeling all over again in the office, although I already know a handful of people there even before I joined. I supposed things will fall into place eventually. This year is going to be an eventful year, not just for me, but for Sis and Hwei who are going to get married too.

Life is really flying by fast and soon we will hit the big 3. This year's resolution is to perhaps work towards something meaningful? If work load is not too heavy, perhaps DLTP 1? Or to at least help out more at church starting with the filos community stuff. Fai was giving me advice on office relations today... but I suddenly felt that it really didn't matter cos' work is not everything, and am just going to be a simple employee.

Yep, that will be the direction I'm taking this year. ^^