Honeymoon... Retrospective Post

As fresh as my memories serve me... I planned the whole "backpacking" trip. We were on budget so I had to do quite a bit of research & also plan our itinerary since N is more a US-type of guy. Not really into museums, monuments & history.

We were to fly into Rome, make a day-trip to Pisa, en-route to Florence, head to Venice before chugging on a night train to Paris & lastly taking Eurostar to London, all in 15 days.

Booked hostels & budget hotels, train tickets etc all online before setting off. As is our first time in Europe, just wanted to make sure we will not go off schedule.

3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, 2 nights in Venice, Night-Train to Paris (got a glimpse of Swiss Alps in early morning of train ride), 3 nights in Paris & 2 nights in London.

In Rome, we walked alot, used very little of public transport... bad move coz feet ached badly.

Love Pisa, white & pristine building, sun shining in blue blue sky, makes pictures taken look really good & one of the best pasta we've eaten during entire trip was at a restaurant near the leaning tower :)

Florence was also one of my fave destination on the trip, quaint little town, very walkable from sights to sights. Shopping was fun as there were many small unique shops scattered all over... like little surprises popping round the corner en-route to our destination.

Loved the pink facade of the Duomo & waking up to the bells every morning.

Venice was a little under the weather, St Mark's Square was flooded on both our days there... we spent much of our last day seeking shelter in our hostel to wait for night train as rain was so heavy, you'll need boots to survive the flooding.

Night train to Paris was fun, in a bunk... though we arrived much later than expected due to strike in France.
Not very friendly Parisian at train station, as we needed coins to buy tickets to get to hotel, but no one wanted to help change our dollar notes. :( But that was the only negative experience.

Loved Paris, day & night, rather safe & clean, more urban-like, shopping along their shopping strip "Avenue des Champs-Élysées" All my fave brands lining up on both sides of the street.

Lourve was eye-opener & extremely big, could only cover a fraction of it in 1 evening.

Parisian ladies eat very little, I noticed that none of them ordered mains while we were dining in a restaurant. Maybe that is why they are so slim... all of them.

Finally to London, met Yen there :) Been talking about visiting for the longest time & I finally made it! We were covering the usual sights like Buckingham, Tower of London, London Eye, Westminster & Harrods.

We survived! with our rations of instant noodles (to save some $$ on meals), milo, cereal mix, bread & water from local supermarts. Not forgetting our maps & iPhone to guide the way.

Came home with lotsa shopping... snacks, souvenirs & most impt of all: memories of the luggage-dragging up & down trains & buses with my dear N.

Thank you for going along with me for the trip, N!

More than 1 year since last post~

More than a year has passed... it has been a busy busy 2010.
Where shall I begin?

There was a big event every month: Trip in March, hiatus in April, Weddings in May, June, galfren gave birth in July, Wedding in Aug, Sept, Long-Overdue Honeymoon in Oct, Wedding in Nov & X'mas in Dec. :)

In March 2010, N's family & I joined my bro-in-law & soon-to-be sis-in-law in Taiwan for wedding photoshoot. Lotsa fun, esp seeing my in-laws all dressed up & posing for pics.

Of course not forgetting shopping & eating... & hot spring dip on cool Spring night.

We made plans to venture out of Taipei as the rest of the group have been to Taiwan previously. Due to an unexpected earthquake somewhere up north & we daren't venture any further, and spent the rest of our time in Taipei. I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed myself.

April was my short break before the rest of the year's activities came bulldozing down on me... in a good way. I was definitely looking forward to the rest of the busy year, so many happy events were happening to those around me whom I love dearly.

I was one of the bridesmaids for my friend, Joan's wedding in the month of May, also happens to be her birthday month. To add to that, it is also N & my dating anniversary... 12 years, can u believe it?

June came & we welcomed a new member into our family, N & I gained a sis-in-law! N & I helped out with his bro's wedding.

My dear girlfriend, Von, bore the fruits of her labour, literally, in month of July. Little A was born :) She bears an uncanny resemblance to daddy.

August was the biggest day of one of my bestest friend's life... Ling got married! Bridesmaid for the 6th time. Also, it was the 1-yr wedding anniv of another friend in the group, Seahry.

Galpals got married in September... Dav & Derek (yes Derek, u r one of the girls :) ) & yes I was part of the entourage.

My long-overdue honeymoon came finally in October... that is a long story for another day.

Cin got married in November & baby L attended the wedding with her parents.

Came December & my 2010 drew to a close, with a little surprise of my own...

SURPRISE!

OMG My First!!!!!!!!!

N & I were looking at Brea PM, in Amarante. Love the contrast of the white leather with the deep purple body.

Salesperson called to say there was a new piece in store & she has picked out the one that meets our requirements. The previous new one had some pressure marks caused by handle, resting on the side of the handbag.

The 2 new ones that were in store, had obvious marks on the leather. which according to salesperson, we cannot use leather cleaner to remove as it is untreated leather, which will cause the leather to discolour unevenly. uh-oh...

Also, the leather will "age" to become honey brown colour. hmm... will it still look as good? *doubts aplenty*

Salesperson recommended Alma PM in Amarante. Saw this bag online, but didn't look nice on pic. Hmm... try it out.

Ooooh, surprise! It actually looks good, and luxurious. With the gold zip, gold lock, with the deep purple gloss body. Wow! Even N was blown away.

But WHAT?! It cost $700 more than the Brea!!!!!

*thoughts running thru my head* won't have leather aging, colour changing problem. looks more formal than Brea. erm erm everything points to the Alma!!!!!!

Breathe girl, breathe.... ok, any new piece in store? "No." Ok, please help me bring in new piece and I will come down again. Thank you! 2nd time in & out of store, no bag yet.

I had 2 days to think hard about the bags... Alma vs Brea

Phonecall came, Hi Ms, your bag is here. Oh Thank you, i will come down this evening. *panic* *anticipation* *excitement*

2 new bags, some scratch marks on 1 of the body of bag, some scratches on padlock.

Stared, Scrutinized, Surveyed... all this time, pple to my left & right are coming in and out and purchasing bags like buying fast food.

Finally... okayed by N & I, we walked out of the LV shop with my First Bag~ *bliss*

Thank you N!

Took so many pics of my bag when I got home. Love it!
Heehee...

1 Year Anniversary~

I have survived 1 year of housework!

It's our 1-year anniversary... time flies by so quickly. No one around me could believe it when I told them.

And N was so sweet to organize a short getaway for our 1-year anniversary. :)

He booked 1-day spa/stay at Spa Botanica for us!
Unfortunately, he could not keep it a surprise as I had to select the spa treatment I would like to have.
I was let in on this pleasant surprise on Thursday night.

So we packed and planned to catch a shuttle from Paragon at 8:30am... as expected, we overestimated ourselves n slept past 9am.

We took a cab down to Vivo, had breakfast at BK and headed for a shuttle to Sentosa.

After checking in, we decided to check out the new attraction wavehouse. Unfortunately the venue was booked till 6 pm for a private event.

N and I went to do the Megazip, kinda like flying fox. I did not manage to do flying fox in OBS as it rained on the day our instructor wanted to bring us to the old camp. *completed my little adventure dream*

This flying fox starts on top of hill and goes all the way across the beach, shallow waters & ends up on a platform built on top of the small little island some distance into the sea.

I was told my weight is too light, I may end up stranded near the beach n become a new attraction. *panic*
So the guys taught me to bring my knees high n try to stay "aerodynamic"

Fortunately, i managed to zip all the way to the platform on the other end, while a guy weighing 82kg next to me hung above the waters and had to be reeled in by the staff (btw i am not talking bout N, we both made the platform successfully)

Since we had time left for only 1 more activity before our relaxing afternoon at the spa, we were deciding if we should do the Luge. But we have already done the "mother-of-all" Luge in NZ twice. It is supposedly the first Luge/Luge track in the whole world. So we thought that this one at Sentosa couldnt possibly top that. Skip!

Someone banana-boating caught N's eyes. We decided to give it a go, though I have done this before in Batam like 15 yrs ago. Seems they have an alternative to the Banana Boat, called the Fly-Fish. The float literally lifts off the waters intermittently. Sounded fun, so we decided to try it out. The float looks like a big air mattress, where we lie on side by side and the entire float is towed by a speedboat.

Bad idea that N's weight & my weight cannot balance out one another. Anyway, we flew into the air so many times i lost count. I was holding on for dear life, as the impact on landing after the "flight" was quite strong. Especially when it landed on my side, and with N's weight adding to the impact from the other end.

One time, where the speedboat went real fast, we flew so high i got slammed real hard when we landed.
I could not hold on to the ropes anymore so I let go. Not such a great idea, i landed in the water rather violently.

Without me in the float, N could not balance on his own & flew off the float.
Getting up from being "capsized" was another huge problem, so i had to wait for N to get up & help pull me up.

Fun factor was really high, worth a try if you love roller-coasters.

After this adrenaline pumping activity, we got hungry, but oh no, we realized we do not have time to catch lunch. Quick drink from Coffee bean, my all-time fave ultimate ice blend, whipped cream yes please.

And off we went for our relaxing afternoon as the Spa.
Sea Salt Scrub with Vichy shower
Massage with oil of choice
All this in outdoor pavilion and the cooling breeze of the monsoon. *heavenly*

We tried out the mud pool (mud was cold..brrr) floated in the pool on pool mat. and then a invigorating jacuzzi before a nice warm shower. this is nuah-ing haven.

We then headed back to the hotel for seafood buffet dinner at the terrace. With a table overlooking the sea.
As we enjoyed our dessert before we headed back to our room.

Think we were too relaxed after the spa, that we could not even stay up to watch phantom menace. We fell asleep the moment our heads hit the pillows.

Next morning, we were hoping to play some tennis before breakfast, but the spa was truly too relaxing, we slept in, had buffet breakfast at the poolside at the hotel, and went back to our room to sleep.

Late check-out at 2pm, we caught a shuttle from hotel to Orchard.

N brought me to LV to check out the bag he intends to get for me. Excitement!!!
Love the bag, vernis is my fave. But they did not have new pieces in the store.

Left my number to wait for salesperson to call me again.

Anticipation has never been this enjoyable!

Thank you N for planning such a thoughtful & lovely anniversary celebration!

Amazing~ I'm surrounded by quirky people

My sis is very goofy... i have finally confirmed it. Since she was little, she frequently has bumps n bruises on her legs and arms. No, they were not from me! Well, she has what i would describe as poor spatial sense.

She is quite hazardous to herself in a funny way.
She kicks her own toe nail into the heel of the other foot while walking, bumps into the leg of my bed when trying to walk to the windows (mind you, my bed has been in that position for years, but she's still not gauging it right)

She also has slow reflexes too, she told me she once burnt off the hairs on her arm coz while she was cooking some noodles for herself, she felt cold, so she put her arm near the stove to "warm" herself. Then she smelt something burning, and then she realized the little hairs on her arms have "melted" into black dots. She said she did not feel any pain.

Then, when she was making pannacotta for my friends, she was looking over the pot of cream on the stove, she did not have her hair tied back and 1 chunk of the roots of her hair got burnt.

Another quirky person in my life is N. Poor at regulating his body temp, he starts going a little nutty when u bring him out on a hot n humid day. He starts to display all sorts of facial expressions he can contort his face into and he'll start to mumble to himself to (in his own words) "calm himself down". At this point, nothing you say will get thru to him, until he gets into an air-con area and has time to cool down.

Then when he gets hyperglycemic from a full meal, he becomes a little loony. Kinda like me after a snickers bar (Fiona will vouch for this)

The Difference btn a Family with Sons & a Family with Daughters

In a family of 4 with sons, dinner is a ricepot filled to the top with rice... by that I mean like 6 cups of uncooked rice. The only time I see a ricepot filled to the brim is at chap chye pung stall & chicken rice stall. In other words, only in commercial areas....

On the table will be like 4-5 plates of assorted vegetables, meat etc. All these plates are piled up to look like mini mountains.

In my family, with 3 ladies & a man, my mum only cooks 3 cups of rice in our ricepot for our dinner.
Dishes will consist of a plate of vege (not mountain-ful) , a steamed fish and soup.

When N comes for dinner, he is always amazed that we eat "that little".

I always tell N he is fed like a p*g in his home, thus accounting for his "mass". Unfortunately, I have not been able to improve his eating habits. Its still more more more, or not enough, not full yet.

Help me shrink his appetite!

House needs a system

Aim is to get our home ready for house-warming in May-June.

What a daunting task! For those who have not been to my place in the past 2 weeks, you would not know what I am talking about.

House is a mess... with things strewn all over the place. Mess from reno tools & paint cans etc; mess from post-travel purchases; mess from things brought over from both our houses... with no cupboards or wardrobes to put them into... ya i know, we need to plan to purchase some storage.

Need to have curtains n grille installed too... hopefully now, with the economy not doing so well, we can get better value for money.