Hitched!

We've done it!
After all that planning, everything came together without a hitch (so-to-speak).

The wedding in Brunei went really well! Far better than i had anticipated, as i hadn't planned it.
My parents-in-law took charge along with my aunts, uncles and cousins who live there.
They even had a little "meeting" the night before to sort out the games.
A big thankyou to you all for all the time and effort you've put in, it means alot.

The Perth wedding, however, stressed me out. But was all good in the end.
There was a slight problem with the flowers, the wedding car, the guest book that i hadn't yet made - all this the day prior to.

We had major help from my sisters and parents. Huge thank you, as without you guys there'd be no one to go to the taste testing for the menu, find a baker for the cake, a florist, a DJ and no one to help with the guest list! (that was quite trying). Really appreciate the help and patience.

Circus Act

A few weeks ago, a group of us from work got really interested in flying trapeze, thanks to Sarah – whose been there, done that and really recommend it. Now, I am some what scared of heights. The clammy hands start to do their thing, the legs start to weaken a little the higher I go and the mind goes “Why am I doing this to myself???? Why?” and all the while chanting “don’t look down, don’t look down…no, don’t look up either!” Having shared all this, I don’t think that I’m scared to the extent that I would chicken out. I keep wanting to challenge myself before I get too old and the old ticker carks it. So bring on the roller coasters and the flying things :p Which brings us to the flying trapeze. Having not done this before, I think we did pretty well. (except Lucie, who was more petrified of heights than me) The objective is to swing on the trapeze UP-SIDE-DOWN and in sync with the other professional trapeze person so that when u and her (or him) meet in the middle of the swing, you’d be able to let go of your bar and grab onto her arms and trapeze away with her. A la Cirque Du Soleil! We did a bit of warming up physically and mentally (me especially). And then, on with the practice run on a shorter swinging bar. The bar for the practicing was a stationary bar. So with no momentum, it’s actually quite hard to bring both the legs up to hook on to the bar and hang up-side-down.

Equipped with just that and verbal instructions as to how to do it, we were thrown into the deep end. I was freaking out!...how do I know that my mind won’t go blank when I get up there? I can tell you now, that it did…I had to ask the lady at the top “so, what am I meant to do?” just seconds before I was meant to swing off. Of coz I was harnessed, there’s nets at the bottom to catch us and its all safe (it has been done many times before). But I just looked at the flimsy piece of rope tied to me and think “fark, is that all?” So standing firmly on a 10” by 50” plank, the chick asked me to creep my feet closer to the edge “so that your toes are hanging off it” all the while I’m hanging on to a skinny pole on the side. She is standing behind me with one hand holding on to the swinging bar, and the other hand on my safety belt. She now wanted me to lean forward (whilst she, a tiny female who probably weighs the same as me, hangs on to me via my belt!) to reach and grab with both hands on to the bar which was like a meter in front! This was the part I hated most. Having to have to trust her enough to lean forward. No matter how many times I did it (with success) I always had to think twice before letting go of the pole. So then with my hands on the bar, when she saw that I was ready she’d say go and every time I would tell her “wait…I’m not ready”. I’d re-adjust my hand positions and if this time I wasn’t ready again, she’d push me off.

Having done it for and hour and a half, I still couldn’t over come the fear of letting go and swinging off. But it is amazing that once I was swinging I knew what to do. Yes, my mind was blank, but I knew at which time I had to bring my legs up and which time I had to let my hands go etc. What a thrilling experience. As with any activities, u haven’t done it properly or not done it with enough effort if u haven’t got bruises or cuts to show! And we got bruises galore!

Still Here...

Golly! It's been ages since i've typed in this thing.
I shouldn't be surprised though, i know the laziness in me.
Or was it just a phase that i was going through - the blogging phase.
I've always been one to keep a record of things...or rather just keeping things.
I like to think of myself as a sentimental person (or a sentimental fool - some would say)
Whether it'd be shopping bags or assignments/projects from as wayyy back as primary school or old old diaries (the pen and paper kind), i can't bring myself to throw any of them out.
Fang feels like our apartment is getting smaller and smaller by the day...like the walls are closing in on us..ahahhaa no honey, it's just my stuff accumulating!

Anyways, i don't see it as that big of a problem...not now.
But i do have a pile of unfinished books of diaries.
As in i start and then stop for months, then start again for maybe a year and then stop again...etc (you get the drift).
So then i got on to blogging. Its not quite the same. Intimate, intimate details are left unmentioned when making a point or two. I can deal with that. And~ its not another thing that i can pile up in the corner of my drawer. And and...i can start and stop as often as i feel like.

So what have i been up to then?
Well, wedding stuff to be honest.
A little insight : No matter how long between the engagement and the wedding day, things always get done at the "last minute"

Until the wedding day, we have a 19 months long engagement period. As a lot of people have said, thats quite a long engagement (not as a negative remark). Ya well let me tell you this...not long enough! Not long enough to do all the things that a wedding requires us to do.
I thought i was organised, only to think back to the past months (or the past year) of the things that i have done.
I did alot of "um-ing" and "ah-ing" and deciding and undeciding..thinking that i had heaps of time (which i did, if i had used it wisely and prioritised! :p)
As we did the count down from "6 months left" i got in a panic! My stomach started playing up each time someone asked "so how long til the wedding..." i would start counting and only just realise that its 6 months...5 months...4 months... ekKssS!! i would literally get butterflies in my stomach. (sign of cold feet?? nah~)

So here's what has happen since my last post.

• spent a couple of wks in Brunei to catch up with family and friends (mainly Fang's side).
• had our pre-wedding photo shoot in Brunei.
• had my first dress fitting (its almost done now).
• i opted to make the invites myself...(was a mistake - as i didnt realise there was gonna be that much work involved!) i'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
• bonbonaire sorted.
• booked our celebrant.
• have sort of organised what forms and fees need to be filled and paid for the marriage registration.
• bridesmaid attire sorted.
• booked the photographer.
• booked the flights and honeymoon!

That's all i can think of for now. There are still a few things left to do...and ive learned to delegate...so those other things have been semi taken care off. Pheww!

About As Aussie As I Can Get

A half planned Australia Day long weekend saw us doing nothing...
Half pre-planned bbq at someones house was cancelled due to some unforeseen circumstances.
Didn't even do the usual fireworks watching in the city, nor the join-the-fren-from-Perth clubbing.

We had beautiful weather through-out, so what better way than to spend the day at the beach?
And off to Manly beach we went, that Sunday, along with the millions of other aussie beach-goers.
We had booked a 2 hour surfing lesson, me and Peggy. Thinking that it was early in the morning, especially the morning after Australia Day, everyone would probably be still asleep or hungover. But noOoOoOoOoo! Seems everyone was out and about.
Manly beach was buzzing!

Even though i have had some kinda surf lessons from frens back in Perth, we never really got to the part where i'm standing on the board on a wave.
I was reminded of how hard it was to bring (drag, rather) the board to the shore. It's twice the size of me (apparently the bigger the board the easier it is - having heard that i had to pick the largest board of coz, but also without thought because i had a hard time moving the damn thing across the sand!)
We started off just getting on and off the board in the water and riding the wave lying down.
And then we did the standing up thing. And i'm proud to say that after 1 hour and a half, i was standing! Yep, that's me riding the wave all the way to the beach. But that's not without a few bruises here and there, a couple of cuts on the legs, and sand rashes on my knees.
And of coz, sunburnt - that's a given.

Will definately go again. Next time, i'd make sure there was someone there to snap up (just to prove i ain't lying!), i'd wear a long sleeved wetsuit and be more weary of ppl riding into me and vice versa.

Kiwi Land

I had no expectations of New Zealand, and boy was i pleasantly surpised! Initially Fang wanted to getaway to Hawaii and do the whole "beach whale" thing...just sun baking, relaxing and takin' it easy. But i opposed...i can't remember why i so strongly opposed...and its not that i don't want to relax and sunbake...but anyways we ended up choosing NZ.

Great choice indeed..(Well, someone got to whip out their newly bought Nikon DSLR and flexed it around abit...)

A few of my colleagues are from NZ and they did warn me about the crazy weather. So, armed with that bit of info, i packed for all season! and thankgod i did because it was sunny and hot and windy and rainy and freezing.

We jetted into Christchurch late at night and just crashed and burned til the wee hours next morning. Checked out of Holiday Inn and met up with the rest of the coach crew who have just toured the North Island and now crusing the South for 10 days.

A nice bunch of peeps...funny and thoughtful, and giving the tour guide (a kiwi), shit... the way Aussies typically are. And he was anticipating it, from a coach full of Aussies...

Day 2
We hopped on the Scenic Train and tracked through Arthur's Pass. Beautiful sights of mountains and waterfalls just a couple of metres from the train window.

We trained thru, up and around mountains, and consciously and physically felt it got colder and colder as we escalate up.

Save The Date

Perth

8th November 2008

(Another in Brunei on the 26th October 2008)

Anonymous

In the back of my mind,
The dark clouds are brewing a storm!
Darker and darker, bigger and bigger
They grow with each unpleasant thought.

What i once thought was...
Seems to be not, anymore.
I get a glimpse of this evidence,
Bit by bit, little by little.
Behaviourly, verbally and mentally.
I'm not agreeing.

I'm battling in my head.
And i'm reluctant to enter,
Anticipating the unknown.

I am trapped, simply trapped.

-Anonymous-

Lunch at Mamak's

Discovered a newly opened Malaysian style cafe called Mamak.
The first time we stopped by, the queue was right out the door!

So we said forget it. Come back another time, we were starving.

On Saturday, the line again, was past the enterance and spilled onto the pedestrian walkway. We decided to wait and try.

People strolling by wondered what the fuss was about.

As we soon found out it wasn't that big of a fuss, it was just that the confines of the cafe was tiny!

The food was good, but wasn't that good to have been waiting for 20 mins on the pavement and another 15mins for the food! Wasn't impressed by that.

With each passing minute i waited, my recommend-o-meter dropped drastically. And with each passing minute, my eyes squinted a little more as the air flow (or smoke flow - should i say) wasn't adequate enough which made way for a major headache! Not happy at all.

Maybe...just maybe we'll try again when its less crowded and stuffy.

With Much Hesitation, I Proceeded...

Fang has been nagging at me for god-knows-how-long to shave his mo'. That is, nagging at me to give him the green lights to completely chop his hair. And i've been putting it off...until now.

I know its only hair...it'll grow back etc. etc...and even i have my own moments with my hair where i just think "ah...to hell with it...chop it!" But my situation and his are different...in that when i say i don't care and ask for my mo' to be chopped, i don't NOT care to the extent where i don't look somewhat presentable/decent. Whereas when he wants it cut, he wants it all off for summer without deciding if it'll suit him etc. Having said that, i'll probably get used to it..sooner or later.

As if it wasn't bad enough having to picture his newly shaved thinker, he wanted me to participate in the event! I had to face the inevitable, as he went and bought a professional home shaving kit today. He figured it was a good investment (as his hair grows insanely fast!). Fifty bucks for the kit, in 2/3 months (equivalent to 2 haircuts in a saloon) he would have gotten back that amount. *sigh*

The both of us had no idea how to go about it...this kit came with everything...all the size settings, 2 pairs of scissors, 3-4 types of combs, brushes, the shaver plus a smaller sized shaver and an apron! So Fang just selected a #2 and #3 sized comb that attached to the shaver. We started off with the #3. Then he decided that it wasn't short enough and so i proceeded with the #2. Here's the result...

- Before and After -

He was so pleased, i think he has quietly decided for himself to keep me on so he can get a free haircut every week.

Upgrading Gadgets

- Black and white ipod nano (gen1) -

Fang upgraded his mobile phone and his black ipod nano (gen1, 4GB) to an apple iphone...so it was only fair that i did some upgrading too...though its nothing as spectacular.
My gen3 red ipod nano (8GB) replaced my gen1 white nano (4GB). I'm loving the red, which could only be bought via the net and part of it's proceeds goes to fund the AIDS champaign in Africa. Fashionable and charitable.

But it turns out that the gen3 nanos' aren't as comfortable to hold. My grip might take a while to adjust.

Speaking of grips, Fang lost his one day and the beloved iphone fell to its first (of many more to come) dents and scratches. Needless to say he was heartbroken, as he messaged me that instance to say so. From then on, he has been searching endlessly for the right glove for the phone...he's still searching...

- Apple's iphone, Red ipod nano (gen3) -

Strutting My Stuff - check me out!

Sexy Style
http://www.gardenofreinvention.com/default.aspx?userid=10115&hash=287A019D9343BD9BA2618A5230D6CA72

Funky Style
http://www.gardenofreinvention.com/default.aspx?userid=10118&hash=5581737F10C7CB1483657249A5A24736

Geeky Style
http://www.gardenofreinvention.com/default.aspx?userid=10119&hash=BECF7DD60EC013B074002C8C2DDA6F0F

My Pets

It's A Case Of Closet Break

Can't watch Prison Break the same way ever again!!!

Michael Scofield AKA Wentworth Miller is gay......noooooooooo

*breaks down on bended knees in disappointment*

Those sexy bedroom eyes won't ever look the same again.
That bad boy shaved head look won't appeal anymore.
That sly smile popping up at the corner of his mouth every now and then after some sneaky accomplishments, looked so HOT, but now...so NOT!

Instead i'm imagining those lanky limbs swing back and forth and his wrists flicking in the air.

Need i say more?

APEC Lockdown

As you know, the APEC World Leader's Summit was held in Sydney a couple of weekends ago...

And as you may know, Sydney was in a state of lockdown. Baracades going up, security was tight. Though not as tight as the world leaders would have liked (referring to "that" Chaser's War on Everything)

Fang and I joined the million-something Sydney-siders fleeing the madness and frenzy.

We headed up to Port Stephens.

Weather looked promising for water activities...but the further up we drove the darker the clouds. It did rain on and off the whole weekend, though for the most part of the day it was dry.

We got to explore the little township, fished abit, kayaked abit, ate heaps and photographed heaps.

On return, it was just as bad as driving down 2 days ago. The road back home was chocos. We inch by inched our way home. What a bad conclusion to a beautiful getaway.

Just Let Me Do My Job

Imagine someone coming into ur workplace, telling you how to do ur job...
Just imagine...
Doesn't it just make u piss beyond comprehension??

Until Dr.'s can fix their dyslexic problems, don't tell me how to freakin' do a OPG!
I'm truly offended.

And she's a young Dr. some more...with what? 2, 3 yrs of experience post intership?
What the hell do you know? If you'd have more patience, you'll see that i would have arrived at placing you in my desired position to take a GREAT x-ray of your crooked teeth!
How can you be a Dr. with no patiences? It just makes ur clients a unit in your production line...Not really health service in my book.

There's really no need to be snotty...we're all professionals.
I don't tell you how to diagnose me...
Don't tell me how to image patients...
Unless you're some specialised Dr. who knows exactly what they want, just shuddup and do as you're told!

Dr.'s really are difficult patients!

Random Night Out...

Initial plans saw us celebrating a colleague who was soon to become a first time mum...and that she was taking a few months off for maternity leave...she may also never come back to work. Well, turns out she got admitted into hospital with pains and cramps, to which the doc prescribed bed rest under obs. in hospital. So, in the last minute we made a few phone calls. Made reservations for dinner in town and a session of karaoke. We dined at Fujiya, a Korean/Japanese Fusion Restaurant and ordered a variety of side dishes and a huge hot pot with ramen. We had time to kill after dinner as the vocal exercising session was booked at 11pm, so we roamed the streets, topped up our caffine levels and ended up in a gaming arcade "Galaxy".

Gold Coast

Sick as a dawg all weekend (Sorry Spencer and Amanda for ruining initial plans)...thought i'd tough it out come Monday and braved work plus an extra half an hour...but i got punished for it didn't i?

All hell broke loose that evening when i started burning up, eyes were straining, muscular aches all over plus sensitive nerves, ouch! So i've contained myself today....at home.

This nasty cold and flu like sickness just won't go away...and it probably stemed from last weekend's trip away.

We were trying to pack all activities and then a conference into a frame of 3 days. We did and it became an unrelaxing trip - plus having to start work Monday morning. The suitcase didn't get unpacked till 7 days later! I didn't even wanna think about laundry...eek!

Having touched down in Coolangatta Airport (parallel to the coastline) ~40 mins from Surfer's Paradise, we headed straight to the Royal Woods Villa, checked in and unloaded.

Then made our way to Warner Brother's Movie World.

Reached there at about 11.30am, so we really only spent half a day there. However we did mangaed to get on alllll the rides, and then some. First up, The Lethal Weapon Ride (our big mistake to have made this the first ride...big mistake indeed). Our feet were just dangling in the air!

Hanging outside the Scooby-Doo Ride...i think the pictures speak for themselves...

We then trekked up to the Wild Wild West part of the park

YesSs, we were soaked...

Ok, the Superman ride we left till last. We'd gwak at it every time we stood infront of it...contemplating, working up the courage to ride that thing!

Imagine 0-100km/hr in a space of 2 seconds! (from A to B). It was something like 2G force, for all you rocket scientist out there.

Boy, was it thrilling...i woulda hopped back on it again, if i had the time.

We also got on the Batman Space Shot, and that was even more impressive - 4.5G force, vertically. Though it didn't last as long as the Superman ride. That night we roamed the streets, found food for dinner, and strolled into a night market by the beach.

- Sand sculpture : a fire-breathing dragon -

- some sculpted statue by the beach -

- Throne in the middle of the street -

- Surfboard in the middle of the street -

- Lifesaver's Surfboard -

It got too cold on the last day to do any water activities...

Play! A Video Game Symphony

Gosh...this takes me back to the good old days of lazying around, no fuss, no worries, play as i'm pleased....
ahhh the good old days...I can't say that i'm a gaming freak, but i've had my fair share of ass parking on the couch for hours on end eyes glued to the TV, thinking "i'll clear just one more stage" or "just....gotta...pass...this...stage............"

The Play! symphony was fantastic..
Hypnotising me through the harmonising sounds of music from various video games. The scores, written by many talented composers, were matched with visual candies of the games themselves.

It began with tunes from The Super Mario Bros/World, and ended appropriately with Final Fantasy - One Winged Angel. Others include Sonic the HedgeHog, Halo, Silent Hill, Kingdom of Hearts 1 & 2, Warcraft, Legend of Zelda and Chrono Cross and Trigger to name a few.
Fully enjoyed it even though i have never played some of the games...at those times i would sit and tentatively listen and try to pick out what instrument was making a particular sound.

Makes me wanna bring back the old gaming consoles and indulge till i get eye sores.

Cure For A Twitch?

Has anyone got a cure for twitching?

And i don't mean conscious twitching...i mean the sleeping kind, the unconscious or the sub-conscious type.

Seems i've been poked and proded and woken up from deep sleep by Fang's twitching every now and then. And it only happens when he's fallen asleep. When he twitches, that's when i know he's completely zonked out. (Sorry to bag on you, hun)

The previous night...i was elbow-jabed in the ribs....not once, not twice but three times...
He was in such a deep sleep that he didn't hear me complain the first time (i sort of pushed him to wake him up and told him that he was hitting me - though i didn't notice that he hadn't woken up). Same thing the second time. (i thought i was a little louder)
But the third time, that was it...i woke him up real good...ahaha
Think i shocked him into waking up. He did the usual head shake thing...looked left and looked right and then left again - muttering "what's going on? what's going on?"
He said the morning after, all he heard was "you're hitting me, stop it!" Didn't know what that was all about, so went straight back to sleep. Typical

Anyways, so how 'bout that cure eh? Anyone?

i Said...!

Preparation for a lumbar spine and pelvic x-rays are as follows...

Me: I'll get you to pop into this change room and get changed.

Patient: Yep, ok

Me: I need you to change out of your top and your bra as well as your pants, but leave your underpants on. Then put a blue gown on (refer to blog "..hospital gowns for dummies 101").

Patient: Er...i don't think so. (As if to say "i don't want to, make me" with a look of disgust). Aren't i only having my hips x-rayed?

Me: (Well you tell me...! You don't think so? What the hell do you know? Maybe you should find out what examination you're having done (or what YOUR Doctor has requested) before coming in, at least!)

Your Doctor has requested a lumbar spine and pelvis x-ray. I'm betting money on the fact that you are wearing an underwire bra (METAL) and that bra has a METAL clip on the back. The jacket that you are wearing clearly has a METAL zip in the front and the pants that you've got on has a METAL zip and a METALlic buckle. So, yes i do think that you need to change out of your clothes.

(Unless you want to be x-rayed in your clothes, thats fine by me. You'll only get sent back again for more diagnostic x-rays - and i don't mind...it's not my eggs getting cooked. Inhale and exhale i say to myself. I should shutup before i give her a reason to bitch about me.)

Patient: .......... She gets changed

Me: Yea! Zip it bitch.