A New Chapter

So it's been over 4 months since our big wedding day. Some people ask us hows married life like are there any big changes since moving in together?  I'm pleased to announce that the Q1-2013 has turned out with very positive results. heehee jokes aside it's been good and we've also been cooking more healthy meals than before. In the past we used to be ordering subway/ebeneezers/tsui wah all the time but now we definitely try to eat healthy meals wherever possible.

After coming back from the US in Jan/Feb, Taco Bell has truly inspired us to make our own crunchy hard shell tacos. So darn good especially the carne asada beef with our own mix of herbs (i.e. cumin, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, salt, pepper etc)

Trying to make healthy salads and persian rice most days of the week. It might seem like we're health nuts but I have to admit we still have our occasional jee pao dan go and haagen dazs ice cream cups. Got to have that after a long week. ;)

Oo we also got 3 new goldfishes from Tung Choi Street in Hong Kong. We were having trouble getting the cycle going during the first week which unfortunately led to the death of 2 goldfishes.. The third one had a rough 8th day (he started floating upside down) but we nursed him back to health and he's looking good now! Abit lonely I'm sure but it's been a few weeks and the ammonia levels are down to a safe level. yay!

And spending alot of quality time together. Although J has to travel to GZ quite often, I try to keep busy with errands or exercise after work. Can't believe it's almost May which means summer is just around the corner!

Emo elmo

Less than 2 months to go.. you know what this means (for the bride)? Time to get really nice toned arms and start running again for Unicef at the end of November. hehe I've started working out my arms by doing a whole lot of repetitive light 5 lb weights because I simply drool every time I see Kate from Lost / Evangeline Lilly's arms. On the downside, not much progress has been made on my side.  Guess I'll need to boost it up a notch and lift 8-10 lbs.. :P *Roar! It's funny when I tell Asians that I want nice toned arms and they give me an aghast expression like 'why would you want to do such a thing and look muscular like a man?' haha Obviously my objective is not to look bulky with terminator guns but having that bit of definition is really nice. :)

So, this week my bridesmaid dresses arrived and I almost melted into a puddle of unhappiness because my eyes were playing tricks with me and/or the lighting was really dim when I took a photo of the dress. Basically I ordered champagne color and somehow I felt like it was reaaally pale and totally lacking in color. I was upset for the large part of the day and even sent an email to the store telling them off sort of.  I asked them why the original swatch sample differed so much with the final outcome. Fast forward a few hours, I'm at home and taking the dress out from the plastic bag and to my relief the color is fine.  Just a teeny bit lighter than the dye lot sample but no need to go on a emo-eating rampage by eating a bag of nachos, croissant and more chips right BEFORE dinner out with Michael and Jan. :P  Stupid girl worrying over some slight color variation on a dress? *psh rolls eyes* I think I have the potential to be a real uptight fuss but luckily I'm pretty good at controlling my EQ..   Poor J has to deal with all of this..having to hear me out and trying his best to stop me from shoving munchies down whenever I have massive craving attack but also trying to be empathetic and letting me do what I gotta do.. Heh love you hun!! :P

Random thought of the day. You know how people joke around after you've been dating for a while and they say you have 'fu chai serng' (aka look more like hubby and wifey?) It's funny cuz we get that alot and I do think we have the same smile sometimes :] hehe J's off to Macau this weekend and I've packed alot of outdoorsy activities with biking on Saturday and hiking on Sunday followed by a mani/pedi right after to sooth any nasties. Okies time to head out and hope it doesn't rain!

Happy-go-lucky

Wow, it's been over 4 months since I've last touched this blog. *sheepish grin. Pretty crazy how fast time flies. At first everything was humming happily along but the past 2 months have buzzed by like a blink of an eye. Where even to start... How about some photo-updates taken during my favorite month? :)

J's sketch before his big master piece. I have no idea why I have a yellow chick or lil duck fetish but everytime I see rilakkuma my heart melts... Makes me feel so happy. :P 

Icing the chocolate and vanilla cake. Baking truly is therapeutic. 

Hard at work :P

Looking good? haha Trying to work fast because the icing wasn't quite right. 

Wow good job with decorating and didn't hurt that it tasted good! Good old Betty Crocker can't go wrong :D *omnomnom

So ever since Ms B's opened at Pacific Place (cafe called C'est la B) I've been loving all their cakes! Cake on the left is the: OMG - gluten free chocolate cake smothered in layers of chocolate mousse and fresh whipped cream. In between the layers there's meringue with cocoa nibs. It's sugar free too can you believe it? Then on the right side there's Be Gaga'd with thee lightest chocolate chiffon with grape jelly and blueberries. Outer coating of oreo crisps and adorned with marshmellows and silver lolly pearls. One word sums it up: YUM.

Okay, after all that cake eating..time to burn off some calories. A gorgeous October day on the Violet Hills.

Dragging my friends out for a hike on a Sunday morning. <3 y'all.

Almost there! Lunch is just around the corner.

At long last it's complete. ^^ Getting more excited for our big day as things are slowly coming together.  Although there were some frustrating moments with the card revisions as some people were not working on the correct versions..in the end the outcome was exactly how we wanted it to be. 

Annnd...just sixty some days to go. :) About a month ago we took our engagement photos at J's grandparent's home. Beautiful house & backyard..something not commonly seen in HK.  We took the entire Saturday taking some fun shots and grabbing some Indian food for lunch (super happy pegz). Originally we were going to take all outdoor shots like go to the park, somewhere green and carefree but in the end we listened to our photographer and wore some long gowns and took some indoor shots and the photos came out really nice. Was my first time with full make up and doing photo shoots like a model. I used to think models had it easy but dang was I wrong. After that one day of posing, I was sick for the whole week. Boss almost kicked me out of the office because I was sniffling so much. 

My gun's name is Munchkins and you better not mess with me. >:)

Wedding gown - Alterations on Nov 5
Wedding Veil - Purchased, arriving in mid Oct
Qua - Done
Cheong Sam - Fittings done yesterday, completion in Nov
Bridesmaid dresses - Arrived today. Fitting & alternations needed.
Shoes, Make-up artist, Hair Confirmed
Put together a schedule rundown - drafted
Pick and scan photos for slide show - In progress
Pick songs - In progress
Learn first dance - In progress (share more next time heehee)
Menu tasting - This Friday

The first time I realized.

This photograph was taken in the early morning of April 4th, 2010, the first time we saw the sunrise together in Inner Mongolia. The night before, we all had a late night playing Kings with a bottle of Jack Daniels and Absolut (haha remember what happened to the Korean guy the next day?), no one slept well in the freezing yurts, we all wore close to 3-4 layers of clothes but man it was still so darn cold. So on the day of, the gung-ho spirited gal that I am decided to try waking everyone up but people were still pretty grumpy or unresponsive to leave their sleeping bags. As I was already up and knew that I probably would not be able to fall asleep again, I decided to venture out by myself despite the fact that the barren plains were pitch dark at the time. Knocked on our neighbors yurt where J was sleeping in and similarly he mumbled a incoherent 'no thanks' as well. As no one wanted to come with me at 5:30AM in the morning I decided that an amazing photograph would be worth it. Headed out and saw a low glow of light towards my left and headed off in that direction.. About 3 minutes later, my cell phone rang (yes, China mobile is amazing to cover even the northern reaches) and J was calling to ask me where I was because he wanted to catch up with me! As I stood there waiting for him, I remember feeling really warm and fuzzy inside because to me I knew that this was a very special moment that I've never experienced. For a guy who enjoys sleeping in and opts to take afternoon classes, I knew that normal friend just wouldn't go through this much trouble. :)

Flash forward in time... April 23rd, 2012 definitely not the last time we'll be watching the sunset together.

Photo taken in Palau during our scuba diving excursion. Snorkeling is really fun but diving is just going to a whole new level. It's an experience that defies gravity and even pushes you to the limit, beyond what a normal human being can accomplish. One thing that I loved whilst diving is letting go of everything and just focusing on breathing. As a beginner, I think that's pretty important. heh duh. Probably best not to mess around with taking photos/videos but just focus on what's ahead with a clear mind. Felt like a big fish and wondered what it would be like swimming and living in the Ocean. :P Guess if that were the case, life would be a lot more simple than it is now, focusing on pure survival.

So now that things have settled down bait following J's sweet proposal ;) we've started our wedding planning. With the venue and date confirmed it's going to a whole lot of work before the special day. On my immediate list of to dos:

Wedding gown - Purchased, pending alterations :D
Wedding Veil
Qi Pao - Purchased, pending alterations
Cheong Sam
Bridesmaid dresses - Chose style and color, pending measurements and order
Shoes - First ever Jimmy Choos
Reserve make-up artist
Test trial with make-up artist
Decide on what to do for the hair
Accessories (earrings/necklace)
Put together a schedule rundown for the day
Pick and scan photos for slideshow
Organize fun bridesmaid getogether in Dec! :D

Countdown: 206 Days

Shape of things to come.

It was raining cats and dogs yesterday. Wishing I could be at home drinking tea and watching LOST! Ah wouldn't it be nice with some ginger bread cookies or palmiers to munch on.


Do you hang out a lot at a certain place and then all of a sudden look at things differently around you? When you have more time on your hands it's like you're in a different frame of mind with things becoming more meaningful. Maybe it's also got to do with the colors of spring :)


If animals could talk what wisdom would they share.


Old buildings on Hollywood Road and upside down umbrellas.


These display of flowers and lights makes me feel happy :)




I love this mini!!


Gough street has changed so much..with so many new retail stores and restaurants than before.






Really want to learn ballroom dancing..I think I'll put it down as one of my to do's for 2012. :P


er? Cute but also kinda weird. This store hung a whole bunch of fluffy looking tiger heads all over the wall.


So much orderly randomness.

:) Pretty nice afternoon with just myself. - PC -

Lovely long weekend

Biking with yves on my day off as I had to use the remaining 2011 leaves within Q1. We haven't biked in so long and it was a great day to go - sunny but not too hot. We rented our bikes at Tai Wai and snapped this photo when we took a break at Tai Mei Tuk before heading back. Curry fish balls and siu mai never tasted so good. My thighs were hurting that evening so I sprayed on salonspas which was a REALLY bad idea. Perhaps it would have been smart to spray it on in the afternoon but NOT right before you go to sleep. Dang I woke up in the middle of the night in agony. I think my muscles were in shock from the cooling effect and I even had to call J up in the middle of the night to complain. But the weirdest thing is that the next day my thighs were good as new. I could walk/climb stairs without feeling any discomfort. *sheepish grin.


During Ching Ming Festival, J & I went for a hike at Violet Hills. Tai Tam reservoir looking abit foggy and mysterious.


Going on the path less travelled :P


hehee Someone having a good time..


<3


Super windy with Parkview in the background. No offense to anyone who calls this place as their home but..do you get the goosebumps when you go there? There's so many random artworks and scary life-size statues all around the premise the last time we explored the area. :S


Good Friday. Before shopping at Yau Ma Tei and Sham Shui Po for J's tools, we had a pretty good lunch at Loyal Restaurant. I love sandwiches and the club sandwich here was pretty good. I know traditional versions usually have turkey and bacon but the one at Loyal Restaurant only had ham. Mm love the perfect layers of thin buttered toast unlike other ones where you feel like you're just eating mouthfuls dry bread.


C'est J's fav baked pork chop rice. One of the other tables ordered the beef wellington on a sizzling plate. omg it smelled so good want to try it next time.


Yea..it's impossible not to have a bite. :) I have come to the conclusion that I cannot be vegetarian.

Love how I've accomplished so much but it's only Saturday. Weee counting down to our Palau scuba diving trip but before that I'll need to successfully complete our work area recovery test on April 21. Ho gun jerng ahh :T