We walked to the Lippo Centre to have our brunch after the registry. Then it was just me and Adrian, the photographers and the hired cars (with the drivers of course). First we had some shots in the car and then as the car got on the high way, we took some more nice photos too(I presume they were nice – we had the roof opened and stood as the car moved slowly to the exit of Lippo Centre, standing up waving and posing and all sorts of stunts haha!).
We went to Shek O and Stanley for our photos. I climbed the rocks on my 3-inch high heels and almost got myself blown off the cliffs by strong wind – so strong that I had to take off my veil as it was just about to be “detached” from my hair by the wind…!! And as we arrived at Stanley, it started to rain. The horizon did not look a bit like HK… it was simply phenomenal! I just wish I had the photos with me now so that I can show you what I meant!
We then took a ferry from HK to Kowloon, as we got off the ferry, we took a few shots and before we knew it, the next ferry was docking already! As we were running away from it, people on that ferry cheered for us, it was unbelievable! Hehehe… Soooooooooo much fun!!
As we were making our way to our cars, we saw an accident at the taxi stand. One of the taxi just drove into the taxi in front of him in the queue! I sure hope that it wasn’t us that distracted him.
We were dropped off at Delaney’s, had a pint (yes, you guessed it, it was Guinness) and of course, some pictures taken (again!!) hehehe and then headed back to the hotel to prep for the banquet. It was just about 4:50pm when we finally made it back to the hotel. What a day what a day! And it’s not over yet!!
After a quick shower, Rosita put my face back in place, and we were ready for the tea ceremony! Yes, we have a tea ceremony, the Chinese way – where we serve tea to the family members and gifts/”Lai Si” were given to the bride & groom. We were late by the way. I made some last minute changes and that did not impress Adrian. Ooops! Ok, I make quick decisions and I know that if I waited I’d probably forget about it… but what so bad about me was that I forgot to tell Adrian about the changes!!! Me soooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaad!! Well what am I meant to do when I needed to make the decision and he wasn’t there?? Oh well, what’s done is done and I thought those were right decisions hehehehe
As the song “I was born to love you” by Queen played, we happily walked into the room in linked arms (Adrian said he was proud to be doing that but I didn’t feel proud, just overjoyed). I was sooooo touched to see all of our friends there cheering for us… man, I almost cried!! I had tears in my eyes I could hardly see!!! I know that this could be the last time I see these guys in Hong Kong and it’s probably going to be a long long time until we see them again! These thoughts just beat me. (We’re still working on our thank you emails, and, it’s not easy at all!!)
The food was fantastic, the music was good (well, songs actually, and Adrian and I chose them), the people were fantastic, the view at the Patio (we have the breath-taking view of Victoria Harbour, yes, yes, yes, it was a very clear night!!) was phenomenal, Percy and his team of waiters were great, in fact, the best I’ve come across so far!! I mean they are by far the best waiters I’ve ever been served!! They are always there but they are never there!! I mean, they are always there the second you feel like you needed them, and they are never in your way or visible when you don’t need them!! How good is that? I can’t imagine the amount of training they had to be put through… 35% more than the market price was well worth it!
The night ended early, well it was a Sunday and almost everyone had to get back to work the next day, some to Macau and some had to get back to ZhuHai before the border closes at 12am you see… we are really really happy that almost all of our guests turned up, only one thing Adrian wasn’t impressed was that this mate of his (who now works in Singapore) who didn’t reply to any of his emails/invites (hence no formal invitation was sent out), he turned up because he happened to be in town and thought he wanted to turn up in a pair of jeans… with his mistress… Well I don’t think anyone would be impressed anyway, only one positive side about them turning up -- we had a couple of uninvited guests to fill the space of the two invited guests that couldn’t make it… Ya, me bad, but I’m not thick skin enough to gate crash a wedding dinner, not with my mistress anyway! Took me some time to calm Adrian down though…
Other than that, the dinner went fantastic! There were so much divine food (although I didn’t have much >______< to eat but I was very happy that the food turned out to be delicious, well, according to our guests), tasty wines (which I had quite a lot of hehehe), beautiful tulips, and Jane even to play a song at the piano (she was too nervous and forgot most of it), got Zuzanna and I sang along. Well Rosana did suggest for Zuzanna to sing but I was distracted immediately after she said it, dunno by what though hehehehe Anyway she sang and it was great! Haha! In the end, Mark & Shirty and my mom had to take away with them one wedding cake each (the wedding cake consists of 5 heart shaped cakes 3 of which were consumed…), mom got herself a bunch of tulips to take back to the hotel… phew! What a night!! In fact, what a day! There are sooooo many people to thank for, for this wonderful day. Our families – Philip & Ann, mom & Dad, my aunt, my brother Chee Mun, his wife Chian Chian and his son Heng Heng; Jane; Mark & Shirty & Conrad; our honourable guests (Steve & Rosana, Tony & Zuzanna, Terry, Peter & family, Eric, Jason, Eddie, Paul Lee, Don, Michelle & Frank, Chin & Philip, Malcolm, Dave, Paul S., Kenneth Terry, Robert, ; John, Percy and his team (The Peninsula), Ann Choi and her team, Billy Yiu (we hired his cars and had him and his mate driving us around HK for half of the day), Rosita and her assistant, The Delaney’s, the Star ferry, the good weather, and everyone and everything!! We had a little more than 4 hours sleep in our room (2306) in The Peninsula, which was upgraded FOC by Peninsula, then we were off to our honeymoon! Wahahahahaahaa!!!
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Sunday, August 16, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Happily wedded at last - part 1
After all the hard work, it’s finally came through alright – what a relief!
Yes, we are finally married! And I’m writing this in our honeymoon suite – a jacuzzi water villa at Veligandu Island Resort in Maldives!! YES! MALDIVES!!
Adrian came back to HK on the 1st of August and that was when we got all the final bits of our wedding sorted out… including meeting with John Ho of The Peninsula, our catering manager; Ann Choi, our photographer; finalizing the guest list; hiring a suit for our Best Man, Mark, with all the help we could get from Shirty, Mark’s better half; the songs for the banquet etc. etc… And other than all these, Adrian has to find as much time as he possibly could to see the boys and show Ann & Philip (my in-laws now) around and sort out my parents, brother & sister-in-law & his son and my aunt upon their arrival in HK... Honestly, I’ve never been sooooooo busy before!
Luckily, all the hard work’s paid off in the end – it was a wonderful wedding, by my standard la of course! One down side about it was that Phil & Tom (Adrian’s boys) were both sick and couldn’t make it. One of the main reasons we have the wedding in HK was because his boys are there. It’s really a pity. However, it was afterall a happy occasion, and the show must go on hehehehe
We have no photo to show yet, well, all our photos taken by Ann and her team are still with them and I think that our guests have got more photos than I have now! We have none!!! Arrrrgh!!
The day started off me getting at 6am (after just about 3 hours’ sleep in one of the most comfy beds I’ve ever slept in… yes, that’s the Peninsula HK!!)– I had to get showered and all to get ready for the makeup artist, Rosita.
Rosita arrived at just about 7am, and she got started straight away. I hadn’t been using a lot of skincare after I got to HK since the 26th of July, no facials no masks… Only applied some Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment the night before and it was all right all the way – no problem whatsoever when the makeup was done. You see if your skin is not hydrated properly, you would struggle with applying the foundation and everything else would me more difficult to apply and will have trouble staying on for the rest of the day…
Ann Choi and her team arrived an hour later than Rosita when the makeup was just about done. Everyone else, my mom, aunt, Jane have arrived not long before the time that Adrian should arrive. Then it was 8:45, right after I got dressed, Adrian came knocking on the door. I must explain a bit here, it’s Chinese tradition that the bridegroom comes and pick up the bride in the morning, while the western culture doesn’t practice this. The bride has to make it to the church on her own… This bit, we followed the Chinese tradition hehehe… no games like what ppl would do these days, he just knocked and slipped through the “Lai Si” under the door and Jane got it and opened the door for him – simple and straight forward, just like me la~~~
He then passed the dowry to my dad, they shoke hands and then he got my hand (which forgot about the glove…) from my dad, ironically, like a business deal hehehehehe but hey, that’s because we skipped the tradition where the future son-in-law sends a set of big gifts & presents that represents good future and marriage to the bride-to-be’s house.
We took some pictures, well Ann took some pictures, then we started to head off to the Registry, in the convertible BMW we hired. Felt kinda unreal when we made our way to the car through the Peninsula’s main lobby though…
Got to the registry at Cotton Tree Drive, saw Mark half naked outside of the Gents haha! It was just too hot and he just had to cool down a bit, well Adrian had some cooling patches (you know those that were invented by the Japanese and you use them on your forehead to bring your temperature down?) on him hehehehe… Ann taught us that, yes, the one with the most wedding experience! Ha! Well, she’s a photographer and I won’t expect less. And Heng Heng, my nephew, found his best friend there, Conrad, Mark’s son, 6, who’s also a big fan of Transformers…!! That kept them busy for a long time!
We exchanged rings, my dad & Mark are the witnesses – western tradition, best man and bridesmaid are the witnesses but Chinese, the parents, so I had my dad as my witness and Adrian had Mark as his. Fair and square. Hehe!
to be continued...
Yes, we are finally married! And I’m writing this in our honeymoon suite – a jacuzzi water villa at Veligandu Island Resort in Maldives!! YES! MALDIVES!!
Adrian came back to HK on the 1st of August and that was when we got all the final bits of our wedding sorted out… including meeting with John Ho of The Peninsula, our catering manager; Ann Choi, our photographer; finalizing the guest list; hiring a suit for our Best Man, Mark, with all the help we could get from Shirty, Mark’s better half; the songs for the banquet etc. etc… And other than all these, Adrian has to find as much time as he possibly could to see the boys and show Ann & Philip (my in-laws now) around and sort out my parents, brother & sister-in-law & his son and my aunt upon their arrival in HK... Honestly, I’ve never been sooooooo busy before!
Luckily, all the hard work’s paid off in the end – it was a wonderful wedding, by my standard la of course! One down side about it was that Phil & Tom (Adrian’s boys) were both sick and couldn’t make it. One of the main reasons we have the wedding in HK was because his boys are there. It’s really a pity. However, it was afterall a happy occasion, and the show must go on hehehehe
We have no photo to show yet, well, all our photos taken by Ann and her team are still with them and I think that our guests have got more photos than I have now! We have none!!! Arrrrgh!!
The day started off me getting at 6am (after just about 3 hours’ sleep in one of the most comfy beds I’ve ever slept in… yes, that’s the Peninsula HK!!)– I had to get showered and all to get ready for the makeup artist, Rosita.
Rosita arrived at just about 7am, and she got started straight away. I hadn’t been using a lot of skincare after I got to HK since the 26th of July, no facials no masks… Only applied some Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment the night before and it was all right all the way – no problem whatsoever when the makeup was done. You see if your skin is not hydrated properly, you would struggle with applying the foundation and everything else would me more difficult to apply and will have trouble staying on for the rest of the day…
Ann Choi and her team arrived an hour later than Rosita when the makeup was just about done. Everyone else, my mom, aunt, Jane have arrived not long before the time that Adrian should arrive. Then it was 8:45, right after I got dressed, Adrian came knocking on the door. I must explain a bit here, it’s Chinese tradition that the bridegroom comes and pick up the bride in the morning, while the western culture doesn’t practice this. The bride has to make it to the church on her own… This bit, we followed the Chinese tradition hehehe… no games like what ppl would do these days, he just knocked and slipped through the “Lai Si” under the door and Jane got it and opened the door for him – simple and straight forward, just like me la~~~
He then passed the dowry to my dad, they shoke hands and then he got my hand (which forgot about the glove…) from my dad, ironically, like a business deal hehehehehe but hey, that’s because we skipped the tradition where the future son-in-law sends a set of big gifts & presents that represents good future and marriage to the bride-to-be’s house.
We took some pictures, well Ann took some pictures, then we started to head off to the Registry, in the convertible BMW we hired. Felt kinda unreal when we made our way to the car through the Peninsula’s main lobby though…
Got to the registry at Cotton Tree Drive, saw Mark half naked outside of the Gents haha! It was just too hot and he just had to cool down a bit, well Adrian had some cooling patches (you know those that were invented by the Japanese and you use them on your forehead to bring your temperature down?) on him hehehehe… Ann taught us that, yes, the one with the most wedding experience! Ha! Well, she’s a photographer and I won’t expect less. And Heng Heng, my nephew, found his best friend there, Conrad, Mark’s son, 6, who’s also a big fan of Transformers…!! That kept them busy for a long time!
We exchanged rings, my dad & Mark are the witnesses – western tradition, best man and bridesmaid are the witnesses but Chinese, the parents, so I had my dad as my witness and Adrian had Mark as his. Fair and square. Hehe!
to be continued...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Absolutely a master piece!
I couldn't stop playing it and it looks like they are having so much fun that I wish I was one of them!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Friday, June 19, 2009
I've finally done it!
Yes, I've finally tendered my resignation giving them a month's notice! Honestly, it's a relief!
I sent an email to the HR Director in HK and copied Greg, the Associate Director here in Macau. Sent it out 17:52 and gave Greg about 5 minutes to talk to me about it. Haha!
He asked, "Why? Is it personal or something else?" Gosh... since when resignation is not personal? Whatever reason it is, it is personal or I won't quit la! Ai...
I told Greg that although my last day is the 18th, I can stay until end of July if he feels that it's necessary. Sort of promised him I would give him longer notice if I ever quit. I sent the letter at 8 minutes to 6. Greg almost ran to me and insisted that we talk. I was heading to a Karaoke session and was really not in the mood and hadn't the time to do that, I gave him 5 minutes.
I've been thinking about when to do it for quite some time. They made us redundant twice -- April and May. And we were verbally... actually casually... informed that our redundancy will be withdrawn (last working day was 31st May 2009) and that we would be given the written notice on the 1st of June. I thought to myself, wait a minute, they should pay me my redundancy package because on the 1st of June, I'm officially unemployed. And if they wanted me to continue working for them, they should give me a new contract. Correct me if I'm wrong...
That's why I planned a holiday in Malaysia and then meet Adrian in UK -- I replied and said that I won't be available on the 1st of June and that I'll be abroad and that they can call me when I'm back 2 weeks later when Donna, the Sr. Administrator (what's that word Sr. for? I have no idea!) sent me a meeting invite... ha! And she even came around and asked if I've submitted my leave application... "What leave application?? today, since Saturday (30/05) and Sunday (31/05) are not working days, is officially my last day at work!" That was so easy.
I told Greg, "You know I could just walk out and you have to give me my package, it's not that difficult." He then told me he has all the soft copies of the letters for each and everyone of us but he was told that Sam, another Associate Director (??? don't ask me, I have no clue why we needed 2 of these in one team) who was relocated back to HK from Macau when they downsized the team by approx. 80%, originally played a leading role in our team, wanted to come and do it on Monday (01/06). Oh, so now someone wants to play boss... I said, "Greg, you could be screwed for this... what if none of us turns up? You are letting this happen because someone wants to play boss??" He could not argue -- at that point, everything was verbal, nothing in writing whatsoever. Then he called HK to get permission to give me the letter, changed the date and all... I signed it.He even asked, "If you have planned to quit, why did you sign the letter?"
Daft.
"Ermm... it all happened over the holiday..."
believe it or not?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Ah! Talk about over reacting... can anyone top this please!!
I got back from London on Friday, which I will talk about shortly, but this is something that you would find much much more interesting!
I had fever Sunday evening. With the current situation in Hong Kong and UK... messages were sent to my cell constantly, "WHO alert raised to phase 6, Macau, without local confirmed cases, bla bla bla..." Yup, WHO declared an H1N1 pandemic... the first global pandemic since 1968.
I knew they will at least send me to the hospital if I went to the clinic if not quarantine me for 7 days for observation. So I waited for a night hoping that the temperature would get lower or I could just recover on my own. I took Adrian's advise and took a Panadol. I went to bed but when I got up in the morning I felt like shit.
I text the Admin in the office and told her that I had a temperature and won't be reporting to work. So at just about 10, I went to the clinic. Just like I expected, "I'm sorry, but according to standard procedure, I have to call an ambulance and send you to the hospital for a quick test just in case..." Ya, right. Quick. "How quick?" "Just about 4 hours they'll have the result." Great, I'm officially a "suspected case of infected H1N1". And so the ambulance arrived in no time. Got me all "geared up" and drove me to the government hospital...
I arrived at the hospital at 10:30am or so. The paramedics told me to stay in the ambulance before the hospital could open the door to the "Special Emergency Room" (this is translated from how they call it in Cantonese) for me.
While waiting, a member of the paramedics asked, "how are you feeling?"
"Alright"
"Then why did you go to see the doctor?"
"I have fever since last night!"
He sorta shut up. I wasn't feel like dying so I said I was alright!! What did he expect anyway? Me passing out in front of him??? Strange people.
I finally got into the "Special Emergency Room". The doctor came to take my temperature (which has been taken sooooo many times in the clinic, the ambulance) and the sample for the so called Quick Test for H1N1 flu -- swine flu... oink oink!! In Malaysia, unless you're dying you don't call the ambulance... I'm not impressed by how Malaysians do it but I'm not impressed here either!
Then they left me there in the hallway... ... ... with a bottle of water... ... ...
At just about 12:30pm, they sent me lunch. Nothing fancy, just edible, with a banana and a bowl of soup with a big piece of chicken skin floating in it!!
My butt started to hurt (because it doesn't have a lot of cushioning, it's just a tiny bum unfortunately), and I was getting really tired and bored...
"Erm... Nurse, am I meant to sit here and wait for my result?"
"Ya, you have to."
"but I'm sick, you see, I'm tired, I'm sleepy and these chairs are crap to sit in..."
She had no choice but to offer me the only bed they have in the ER, you know those damn hard bed, with only 1.5" cushion and just about 2.5' x 6'L... OK better than none. I slept in it until just about 5:30pm -- I talked to Adrian again and he was just wondering if I started to snort... haha Just after we were done talking, the nurse told me that the result came back negative but they have to wait for the fax to come through before they can release me... fine. It's just been 7 hours, I'm alright. Don't worry, take your time. I'm alright.
And so I waited. The fax came in finally, at about 6... I thought that was slow. Nope the doctor was even slower. A doctor has to come and examine me for the last time and give me a proper diagnose and then release me... hmm... I thought he got seriously lost trying to come to this "Special Emergency Room" (it's obviously very new if you know what I mean). He arrived at approx. 6:30pm. Thank goodness Doc, you found your way!! Congrats!! His name if translated into English, is "Hot Spring"... and he was sweating big time when he got there I tell you... He'll lose a lot of weight doing this... I mean wearing the "protective gear" namely the coat, the mask and the shower cap not for shower" hahaha! He took my temperature again (they took it so many times I think they took it away...) prescribed me some paracetamol and let me go.
There was already a girl who returned to Macau from Canada via Japan & HK, who's been held for 2 days... she had a temperature but the first test came back negative. However, because it takes time for the virus to "surface" (before any symptom) after a person is infected, they will take her sample for another test later in the day. She wasn't a quiet girl in that room... She had rashes and it was itching like crazy, which drove her mad... it started last night but they didn't give her the cream for it until just about 3pm the next day... she was crying for it desperately... poor girl.
Also, there are a couple of other girls checking in when I was waiting for the result of the QUICK TEST. One came in, a German woman, who came to the hospital on her own, whom the nurses could hardly understand, with all the symptoms, but they have decided to send her to the normal ER because she came from Nanjing, via HK. Nowhere near USA/UK/Japan... ha!! I had to help translate when the nurses tried to find out where she came from.
And there was this girl who arrived in an ambulance without any sort of symptoms. She came because she was sat near a confirmed case in her flight to Guangzhou. She was complaining about the mask suffocating her as she was arriving and asked if she could take it off... but of course, she was advised not to. And then the nurse asked he to fill out some form, ah... there was this question, "do you have problem breathing?" she said, "well, of course, after I put this mask on!!" hahaha!! and me and the nurse laughed big time! Yup, we all suffer from that!!!
I pity the nurse though, she has to wear it all day long except lunch. No one can breath normal in these masks! Crazy!
Now, tell me if you could find a city besides HK & Macau (which basically follows everything, if possible, HK does & enforces) which would over react like this...
I had fever Sunday evening. With the current situation in Hong Kong and UK... messages were sent to my cell constantly, "WHO alert raised to phase 6, Macau, without local confirmed cases, bla bla bla..." Yup, WHO declared an H1N1 pandemic... the first global pandemic since 1968.
I knew they will at least send me to the hospital if I went to the clinic if not quarantine me for 7 days for observation. So I waited for a night hoping that the temperature would get lower or I could just recover on my own. I took Adrian's advise and took a Panadol. I went to bed but when I got up in the morning I felt like shit.
I text the Admin in the office and told her that I had a temperature and won't be reporting to work. So at just about 10, I went to the clinic. Just like I expected, "I'm sorry, but according to standard procedure, I have to call an ambulance and send you to the hospital for a quick test just in case..." Ya, right. Quick. "How quick?" "Just about 4 hours they'll have the result." Great, I'm officially a "suspected case of infected H1N1". And so the ambulance arrived in no time. Got me all "geared up" and drove me to the government hospital...
Look...
Honestly it was no fun at all. First they took samples from the back of your mouth, somewhere near the throat which was very very irritating. And then I was sat by the hallway to wait for the result. YES! THEY EXPECTED ME -- A SICK PERSON, WITHOUT GIVEN ANY FORM OF MEDICAL TREATMENT, TO SIT AT THE HALLWAY (VERY WELL CONTAINED) AND WAIT FOR THE QUICK H1N1 VIRUS TEST RESULT (WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE 4 HOURS, AND THEY CALL IT QUICK) ON SOME HARD SHELL OLD STADIUM STYLE CHAIR!!! How so very nice of them!!
I arrived at the hospital at 10:30am or so. The paramedics told me to stay in the ambulance before the hospital could open the door to the "Special Emergency Room" (this is translated from how they call it in Cantonese) for me.
While waiting, a member of the paramedics asked, "how are you feeling?"
"Alright"
"Then why did you go to see the doctor?"
"I have fever since last night!"
He sorta shut up. I wasn't feel like dying so I said I was alright!! What did he expect anyway? Me passing out in front of him??? Strange people.
I finally got into the "Special Emergency Room". The doctor came to take my temperature (which has been taken sooooo many times in the clinic, the ambulance) and the sample for the so called Quick Test for H1N1 flu -- swine flu... oink oink!! In Malaysia, unless you're dying you don't call the ambulance... I'm not impressed by how Malaysians do it but I'm not impressed here either!
Then they left me there in the hallway... ... ... with a bottle of water... ... ...
At just about 12:30pm, they sent me lunch. Nothing fancy, just edible, with a banana and a bowl of soup with a big piece of chicken skin floating in it!!
My butt started to hurt (because it doesn't have a lot of cushioning, it's just a tiny bum unfortunately), and I was getting really tired and bored...
"Erm... Nurse, am I meant to sit here and wait for my result?"
"Ya, you have to."
"but I'm sick, you see, I'm tired, I'm sleepy and these chairs are crap to sit in..."
She had no choice but to offer me the only bed they have in the ER, you know those damn hard bed, with only 1.5" cushion and just about 2.5' x 6'L... OK better than none. I slept in it until just about 5:30pm -- I talked to Adrian again and he was just wondering if I started to snort... haha Just after we were done talking, the nurse told me that the result came back negative but they have to wait for the fax to come through before they can release me... fine. It's just been 7 hours, I'm alright. Don't worry, take your time. I'm alright.
And so I waited. The fax came in finally, at about 6... I thought that was slow. Nope the doctor was even slower. A doctor has to come and examine me for the last time and give me a proper diagnose and then release me... hmm... I thought he got seriously lost trying to come to this "Special Emergency Room" (it's obviously very new if you know what I mean). He arrived at approx. 6:30pm. Thank goodness Doc, you found your way!! Congrats!! His name if translated into English, is "Hot Spring"... and he was sweating big time when he got there I tell you... He'll lose a lot of weight doing this... I mean wearing the "protective gear" namely the coat, the mask and the shower cap not for shower" hahaha! He took my temperature again (they took it so many times I think they took it away...) prescribed me some paracetamol and let me go.
There was already a girl who returned to Macau from Canada via Japan & HK, who's been held for 2 days... she had a temperature but the first test came back negative. However, because it takes time for the virus to "surface" (before any symptom) after a person is infected, they will take her sample for another test later in the day. She wasn't a quiet girl in that room... She had rashes and it was itching like crazy, which drove her mad... it started last night but they didn't give her the cream for it until just about 3pm the next day... she was crying for it desperately... poor girl.
Also, there are a couple of other girls checking in when I was waiting for the result of the QUICK TEST. One came in, a German woman, who came to the hospital on her own, whom the nurses could hardly understand, with all the symptoms, but they have decided to send her to the normal ER because she came from Nanjing, via HK. Nowhere near USA/UK/Japan... ha!! I had to help translate when the nurses tried to find out where she came from.
And there was this girl who arrived in an ambulance without any sort of symptoms. She came because she was sat near a confirmed case in her flight to Guangzhou. She was complaining about the mask suffocating her as she was arriving and asked if she could take it off... but of course, she was advised not to. And then the nurse asked he to fill out some form, ah... there was this question, "do you have problem breathing?" she said, "well, of course, after I put this mask on!!" hahaha!! and me and the nurse laughed big time! Yup, we all suffer from that!!!
I pity the nurse though, she has to wear it all day long except lunch. No one can breath normal in these masks! Crazy!
Now, tell me if you could find a city besides HK & Macau (which basically follows everything, if possible, HK does & enforces) which would over react like this...
My 34th birthday - backdate to 8 April 2009
Ahh... yes, I'm backdating this... Should have done this a long time ago...
Unlike last year, I "celebrated" my birthday this year with Adrian miles away from me. But Adrian being the sweetest fiance, he made this power point presentation about my life without him and how he's going to "upgrade" all that from now onwards... once again, he did it. The slide show brought tears to my eyes.
That's not all, he got me a Kwanpen wallet -- given to me before he left for Libya which he knew I had my eyes on... However, not long after I've looked at it with Adrian (I didn't tell him that I wanted it la!!), I returned to the shop with the girls while the shop is still giving 30% discount to all the merchandises. I placed order (they have to take it in from HK, the design and colour that I wanted) for a brown, medium size wallet that has enough compartments for my stuff... I didn't tell Adrian I bought it though -- didn't want him to think I'm a big spender la! But it's made of croc skins, it could last a lifetime la!
Honestly, the thought of Adrian buying me one has never occurred to me because he had just been made redundant at that time, also, considering the commitment that he has with the kids. Imagine how shocked I was when he took me to the Crystal Club on the 38th Floor of the 6 star hotel previously called The Crown here in Macau. He asked the waitress to hand it to me... Gosh, I was speechless. It's a black, medium size wallet, slightly different from the one that I have ordered but equally beautiful.
I didn't want to disappoint Adrian, I have decided not to tell him about the order of that other wallet. I have decided to use it on my birthday. Meanwhile, I will use the one that I ordered once it's arrived. Hehe... The plan failed when I took it out of my handbag when I was talking to Adrian on Skype. He saw!!! Awe!!! He was so disappointed and I was so sorry that I didn't tell him about this order that I made! hmm...
Adrian is a wonderful man. He tries to please me in everyway and I'm thankful for that. Sometimes I have to pinch myself just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming... hehe... He insists that I should be less independant and rely on him more. I will try but I tend to forget -- I have never been used to being dependant... well, he'll remind me anyway... hehehe
Unlike last year, I "celebrated" my birthday this year with Adrian miles away from me. But Adrian being the sweetest fiance, he made this power point presentation about my life without him and how he's going to "upgrade" all that from now onwards... once again, he did it. The slide show brought tears to my eyes.
That's not all, he got me a Kwanpen wallet -- given to me before he left for Libya which he knew I had my eyes on... However, not long after I've looked at it with Adrian (I didn't tell him that I wanted it la!!), I returned to the shop with the girls while the shop is still giving 30% discount to all the merchandises. I placed order (they have to take it in from HK, the design and colour that I wanted) for a brown, medium size wallet that has enough compartments for my stuff... I didn't tell Adrian I bought it though -- didn't want him to think I'm a big spender la! But it's made of croc skins, it could last a lifetime la!
Honestly, the thought of Adrian buying me one has never occurred to me because he had just been made redundant at that time, also, considering the commitment that he has with the kids. Imagine how shocked I was when he took me to the Crystal Club on the 38th Floor of the 6 star hotel previously called The Crown here in Macau. He asked the waitress to hand it to me... Gosh, I was speechless. It's a black, medium size wallet, slightly different from the one that I have ordered but equally beautiful.
I didn't want to disappoint Adrian, I have decided not to tell him about the order of that other wallet. I have decided to use it on my birthday. Meanwhile, I will use the one that I ordered once it's arrived. Hehe... The plan failed when I took it out of my handbag when I was talking to Adrian on Skype. He saw!!! Awe!!! He was so disappointed and I was so sorry that I didn't tell him about this order that I made! hmm...
Adrian is a wonderful man. He tries to please me in everyway and I'm thankful for that. Sometimes I have to pinch myself just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming... hehe... He insists that I should be less independant and rely on him more. I will try but I tend to forget -- I have never been used to being dependant... well, he'll remind me anyway... hehehe
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Boarding yet?
Typical AirAsia, they can delay you, you cannot delay them!
Monday, May 25, 2009
wishful thinking?
I was watching a Japanese TV programme (I do that often, so that I don't forget what I've paid to learn) about the birth of babies of different families.
Now ppl who knows me well enough would know that I have both of my fallopian tubes removed due to actopic pregnancy. I've never tried to hide it from anyone, so basically whoever brings it up I would make it clear that it takes more if I wanted a child of my own.
Adrian is well aware of it + he has 2 from his last marriage so it's not essential. However, as the day approaches, I feel the urge more... strange because I've never felt that way before, never ever have I had the desire to have a child.
However, because Adrian is such a wonderful man (you should see his interaction with the kids, it's wonderful), the idea of having a child (a girl of course) with him sounds like a good idea -- that's why I wasn't against it when Adrian asked. In fact, I thought, if I had a father like Adrian, I would be a very very happy daughter. That's why I told him we could try but I don't think we should push it... he agreed.
Tonight, after watching that TV programme. I felt something else. I imagined (I did!!! I've never done anything like that before coz I just can't...) I was the one suffering from the pain and the uncertainty and all that... some of the stories put tears to my eyes -- a blind forty year-old mom + a husband who works as a volunteer; a young wife + a husband old enough to be her father; a premature baby born at 25 weeks that weighed only 568g at birth; a young ex-gangster father confessing his pass to the in-laws before the baby was born... these ppl are courageous. They actually made me felt like a coward... hmm...
A baby girl would be perfect... wishful thinking?
Now ppl who knows me well enough would know that I have both of my fallopian tubes removed due to actopic pregnancy. I've never tried to hide it from anyone, so basically whoever brings it up I would make it clear that it takes more if I wanted a child of my own.
Adrian is well aware of it + he has 2 from his last marriage so it's not essential. However, as the day approaches, I feel the urge more... strange because I've never felt that way before, never ever have I had the desire to have a child.
However, because Adrian is such a wonderful man (you should see his interaction with the kids, it's wonderful), the idea of having a child (a girl of course) with him sounds like a good idea -- that's why I wasn't against it when Adrian asked. In fact, I thought, if I had a father like Adrian, I would be a very very happy daughter. That's why I told him we could try but I don't think we should push it... he agreed.
Tonight, after watching that TV programme. I felt something else. I imagined (I did!!! I've never done anything like that before coz I just can't...) I was the one suffering from the pain and the uncertainty and all that... some of the stories put tears to my eyes -- a blind forty year-old mom + a husband who works as a volunteer; a young wife + a husband old enough to be her father; a premature baby born at 25 weeks that weighed only 568g at birth; a young ex-gangster father confessing his pass to the in-laws before the baby was born... these ppl are courageous. They actually made me felt like a coward... hmm...
A baby girl would be perfect... wishful thinking?
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I thought it was...
I somehow thought it was our last day -- 30th April 2009. But no, they've asked us to go back to work on the 4th of May -- the next Monday, and that iPL will give us a letter for the extension of through the month of May...
I went back because it's a team thing --- all of us have got to be there somehow or there won't be a team... I don't know what it meant but for the sake of some of the teammates who have families to support, I went back.
What pissed me off big time was that iPL couldn't give us any form of confirmation on that day, nothing in writing. and still, Greg, our SPM, expected us to come back the nex day... without anything in writing. What do they think we are? NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION? I don't know who is to blame but definitely not us!
We received the letter on the 5th of May and our pay on the 6th of May, without the compensation & the annual leave pay. Ha! Great. One more month.
It was last Thursday, 21st August. Venetian's representative told us that there'll be an extension but there's no detail yet. Great.
Whatever it is, we're gonna farewell ourselves next Wednesday: Mortons for Power Hours and then Newway Karaoke!! F**k it. I have a life --- I'm not here to lick their toes! I don't give a damn -- dismiss me if they want. I thought they were professionals but no, just a bunch of professional w**kers!
I went back because it's a team thing --- all of us have got to be there somehow or there won't be a team... I don't know what it meant but for the sake of some of the teammates who have families to support, I went back.
What pissed me off big time was that iPL couldn't give us any form of confirmation on that day, nothing in writing. and still, Greg, our SPM, expected us to come back the nex day... without anything in writing. What do they think we are? NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION? I don't know who is to blame but definitely not us!
We received the letter on the 5th of May and our pay on the 6th of May, without the compensation & the annual leave pay. Ha! Great. One more month.
It was last Thursday, 21st August. Venetian's representative told us that there'll be an extension but there's no detail yet. Great.
Whatever it is, we're gonna farewell ourselves next Wednesday: Mortons for Power Hours and then Newway Karaoke!! F**k it. I have a life --- I'm not here to lick their toes! I don't give a damn -- dismiss me if they want. I thought they were professionals but no, just a bunch of professional w**kers!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Last Day!
Yes, it was our last day today and bloody hell, I had 2 meetings to attend before the end of this... Don't ask me why. I haven't a darn clue!
At 4pm, Greg gathered all of us and asked us to return for work on Monday and that Venetian and inProjects have mutually agreed to a one-month extension of the Retail Coordination Team (this name will become history pretty soon, must mention a few more times la! hahaha!) Services. Ha! I asked Greg about a formal confirmation of this instruction, nope, inProjects is working on it but we won't get it today. I was pissed off really. Greg promised a letter from inProjects HK latest by Monday and that our last payment (with the compensation & calculation of holidays taken out) will be issued the same day... Great.
We sodded off right after that (I packed half of my stuff already actually) and headed straight to Rascals. Yes, to drink and play some pool and then dinner...
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Counting Down... 2 days to go!
Yes, tomorrow is my last day with inProjects.
The team was informed that we're going to be taken on board the Venetian but nothing is happening so far, well, we've been hearing things but it's just hear say you see. As long as there's nothing on the table, no deal, that's the reality of it.
I'm just gonna pack tomorrow and then get home and the next day, get to HK and do some banking and shopping on Saturday and maybe even Sunday.
Let's just see how it goes - I'm not saying that they don't need us but at this point of time, people (Venetian) who know what we do and what we can deliver are worried... at least that's the feed back from the people who are really working, on the field. But do their concerns matter? Not really. The guy on the top can simply ask the man-in-charge here in Macau, "Can you deliver without this team?" and I'm 120% certain that he would say yes...
The team was informed that we're going to be taken on board the Venetian but nothing is happening so far, well, we've been hearing things but it's just hear say you see. As long as there's nothing on the table, no deal, that's the reality of it.
I'm just gonna pack tomorrow and then get home and the next day, get to HK and do some banking and shopping on Saturday and maybe even Sunday.
Let's just see how it goes - I'm not saying that they don't need us but at this point of time, people (Venetian) who know what we do and what we can deliver are worried... at least that's the feed back from the people who are really working, on the field. But do their concerns matter? Not really. The guy on the top can simply ask the man-in-charge here in Macau, "Can you deliver without this team?" and I'm 120% certain that he would say yes...
Friday, April 24, 2009
STRESSED OUT!!
This is about work.
We (as in the whole RCT - the ones that are kept) were made redundant end March, that makes my last working day 30th of April 2009, which is just about 6 days from now. We were told that a package is being negotiated with Venetian -- they will take us onboard and that we should get the offer (an offer with at least a 25% cut) just about mid April, which is now way overdue. And we were asked to keep it to ourselves only.
We (as in the whole RCT - the ones that are kept) were made redundant end March, that makes my last working day 30th of April 2009, which is just about 6 days from now. We were told that a package is being negotiated with Venetian -- they will take us onboard and that we should get the offer (an offer with at least a 25% cut) just about mid April, which is now way overdue. And we were asked to keep it to ourselves only.
I must admit it was a big relief the minute they gave us the notice. However, when I was told about the possibility of an opportunity with Venetian, I didn't really know what to think -- Yes, I get to keep my job at least for the next few months and No, not the painful job...
I have been working my arse off (mind the language but I just can't take this any longer!!!) last couple of weeks. Providing one forecast after another, dealing with people I have never had to deal with before, contractors & consultants all over me chasing for money that Venetian owes them, countless other tasks on the line, the uncertainty that lies ahead and Adrian being so far away... I couldn't even crochet properly, no mood for House, couldn't sleep well at night, the idea of going to work haunts me every single morning, my scull feels numb and it itches big big time and dandruff starts to fall like snow and it only happens at work -- nothing at home...
And S is given his notice as well, his will come to an end this year...
Oh gosh!! I know how people are driven mad now... I'm just about losing it, sadly... I'll get a couple of drinks tonight and get a little bit of a shopping therapy tomorrow...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
What comes after engagement...!! Part 4
This time, I'm in Hong Kong for something major -- a Makeup trial...
Me and Jane has picked out a shop in the famous Golden Plaza called Patty Styling the last time. We were received by a fun young lady named Fanny (yes, it's one of the popular names for girls in Hong Kong...) and the photos that they displayed... the "before and after" makeup photos only looked like the girls put on makeups, not just finished 5 sessions of plastic surgery... hmm... not a cheap choice but hey, I don't want to have to instruct the makeup artist what to do with my face or...
Before we started, I told her (the makeup artist I picked, Rosita is the name) that she can style all she want, I just need to look like me, before plastic surgery...
I booked for my mom and mother-in-law too... for the dinner. I'm sure they like that.
After that, we went off and booked the flowers for the big day... the hand bouquet, the corsage... I wanted white tulips and there was this one florist that was willing to accept my orders - it is summer when we're getting married, and common sense is, summer isn't exactly the right season. However, although they have accepted the order, they still advised us to choose a 2nd choice just in case.
O, I'm so anxious... one more thing is, the Peninsula can arrange white tulips for the flowers of the venue too... if it's available... fingers crossed!!
After this, Jane and I went to have Sushi (yes, again!!) and then a couple of drinks at Langham Place...
This place we went for drinks, looked good, and they looked like they had draught Guinness! See... I didn't even need to look at the menu and ordered a pint, as in, "I'd like to have a pint of Guinness please..." and the waitress said yes. Great...
Until we flipped the menu... it says "Guinness (can)"...!!!!! What!!!!! What's that draught machine for then?????????? O i called the waitress immediately and confirmed that they have only canned Guinness!!! and it's for a bloody HK$57!!! Damn blood suckers!! I changed to G&T's... bad! Two drinks are more than enough!
to be continued...
Me and Jane has picked out a shop in the famous Golden Plaza called Patty Styling the last time. We were received by a fun young lady named Fanny (yes, it's one of the popular names for girls in Hong Kong...) and the photos that they displayed... the "before and after" makeup photos only looked like the girls put on makeups, not just finished 5 sessions of plastic surgery... hmm... not a cheap choice but hey, I don't want to have to instruct the makeup artist what to do with my face or...
Before we started, I told her (the makeup artist I picked, Rosita is the name) that she can style all she want, I just need to look like me, before plastic surgery...
This is what I did at home, myself... an hour's work, didn't do the hair though...
These are what she, Rosita, the makeup artist did for me... not far off, I still look like me with makeup...?? Yes, not too powdery...
I booked for my mom and mother-in-law too... for the dinner. I'm sure they like that.
After that, we went off and booked the flowers for the big day... the hand bouquet, the corsage... I wanted white tulips and there was this one florist that was willing to accept my orders - it is summer when we're getting married, and common sense is, summer isn't exactly the right season. However, although they have accepted the order, they still advised us to choose a 2nd choice just in case.
O, I'm so anxious... one more thing is, the Peninsula can arrange white tulips for the flowers of the venue too... if it's available... fingers crossed!!
After this, Jane and I went to have Sushi (yes, again!!) and then a couple of drinks at Langham Place...
This place we went for drinks, looked good, and they looked like they had draught Guinness! See... I didn't even need to look at the menu and ordered a pint, as in, "I'd like to have a pint of Guinness please..." and the waitress said yes. Great...
Until we flipped the menu... it says "Guinness (can)"...!!!!! What!!!!! What's that draught machine for then?????????? O i called the waitress immediately and confirmed that they have only canned Guinness!!! and it's for a bloody HK$57!!! Damn blood suckers!! I changed to G&T's... bad! Two drinks are more than enough!
to be continued...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
What comes after engagement...!! Part 3
Well the shopping did not end with the red dinner dress... we did try out quite a lot of accessories that were beautiful and all but they costs too much -- one set would cost about 60% of the selling price and a set would normally cost more than HK$1200! That's at least HK$2K just to rent 3 sets of bloody accessories: necklace & earrings!!! Are they out of their minds? I could run a business like that! Bloody blood suckers!
And as we were talking about how crazy these people are, we got to a little stall that sells jewellery which she designed herself with Swarovski crystal -- some impressive work there. And so we asked about the price, guess what? HK$500 for 3 sets of necklace and matching earrings + a crown that's worth just about HK$5K for 3 days! Again, I did not hesitate! Hahaha!!
I have returned to Hong Kong 2 weeks later to deal with some other things a couple of weeks later. I arrived on Friday, it was a long weekend and Jane was so kind that she offered me a room in her place for a couple of nights so that I didn't have to be alone and that I didn't have to spend so much money on a hotel room... it would normally cost just about HK$600-HK$700 a night for a decent hotel room, tiny but decent.
Earlier of the day right after I've arrived at Hong Kong, I went straight to the Consulate General of Malaysia, handed in the Certification of Divorce for it to be translated and then notarized and also to get the translated Decree Nisi notarized notarized... It could be collected in the afternoon, right before our appointment to look at the venue.
Jane is still in her piano class and so I spent the time wondering around in a book shop, bought some books, went to Pacific Coffee, got my coffee, sat down and started reading. Until it was time to meet with Jobee, I set an alarm to the appointment. I went and met up with Jane and we proceeded to the hotel -- The Peninsula Hong Kong.
We arrived and Jobee came and showed us the venue - The Garden Suite. It's a suite with a little hall that holds just about 50pax and a large private terrace overlooking Victoria Harbour, believe me, it's stunning. The Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre is just right across the waters. It has a dedicated elevator that's just about as old as the building itself. They had a little problem with the elevator that day that we had to take another elevator to 6th floor and then access the venue on 7th floor via a private staircase. So the venue is a very private venue -- we get all the privacy we want! That's why the deposit was paid just 5 days after I've viewed the venue.
We then did a little bit of window shopping. And then!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! You might have probably realized what I have forgotten to do... yes, I forgot to collect the documents from the Consulate!!!! Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!!! >___<
The recall button failed me again! or should I blame it on the books? the coffee????
At this point, I realized how much I owe it to Jane. I know for sure, I wouldn't be able to pull this off on my own this easily. And it's almost a miracle that we have achieved so much with just a few visits to Hong Kong... Then we had dinner at the Tahi restaurant, we ordered some curry crab... the claw bit my left index finger!!!! And it started to bleed!!! With curry in it!!!! So it's... bloody Curry Crab!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
After dinner we headed off to Jane's place. It's a nice little place, I got to chat with Adrian a little bit on MSN and the blanket was warm and the water in the bathroom was hot... that was so nice. The first time I stayed in a place with people I know in the next room since I came back from Malaysia. Felt safe, so safe.
Gosh, I just miss Adrian soooo much!
to be continued...
And as we were talking about how crazy these people are, we got to a little stall that sells jewellery which she designed herself with Swarovski crystal -- some impressive work there. And so we asked about the price, guess what? HK$500 for 3 sets of necklace and matching earrings + a crown that's worth just about HK$5K for 3 days! Again, I did not hesitate! Hahaha!!
I have returned to Hong Kong 2 weeks later to deal with some other things a couple of weeks later. I arrived on Friday, it was a long weekend and Jane was so kind that she offered me a room in her place for a couple of nights so that I didn't have to be alone and that I didn't have to spend so much money on a hotel room... it would normally cost just about HK$600-HK$700 a night for a decent hotel room, tiny but decent.
Earlier of the day right after I've arrived at Hong Kong, I went straight to the Consulate General of Malaysia, handed in the Certification of Divorce for it to be translated and then notarized and also to get the translated Decree Nisi notarized notarized... It could be collected in the afternoon, right before our appointment to look at the venue.
Jane is still in her piano class and so I spent the time wondering around in a book shop, bought some books, went to Pacific Coffee, got my coffee, sat down and started reading. Until it was time to meet with Jobee, I set an alarm to the appointment. I went and met up with Jane and we proceeded to the hotel -- The Peninsula Hong Kong.
We arrived and Jobee came and showed us the venue - The Garden Suite. It's a suite with a little hall that holds just about 50pax and a large private terrace overlooking Victoria Harbour, believe me, it's stunning. The Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre is just right across the waters. It has a dedicated elevator that's just about as old as the building itself. They had a little problem with the elevator that day that we had to take another elevator to 6th floor and then access the venue on 7th floor via a private staircase. So the venue is a very private venue -- we get all the privacy we want! That's why the deposit was paid just 5 days after I've viewed the venue.
We then did a little bit of window shopping. And then!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! You might have probably realized what I have forgotten to do... yes, I forgot to collect the documents from the Consulate!!!! Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!!! >___<
The recall button failed me again! or should I blame it on the books? the coffee????
At this point, I realized how much I owe it to Jane. I know for sure, I wouldn't be able to pull this off on my own this easily. And it's almost a miracle that we have achieved so much with just a few visits to Hong Kong... Then we had dinner at the Tahi restaurant, we ordered some curry crab... the claw bit my left index finger!!!! And it started to bleed!!! With curry in it!!!! So it's... bloody Curry Crab!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
See... this is the scar it left me...
After dinner we headed off to Jane's place. It's a nice little place, I got to chat with Adrian a little bit on MSN and the blanket was warm and the water in the bathroom was hot... that was so nice. The first time I stayed in a place with people I know in the next room since I came back from Malaysia. Felt safe, so safe.
Gosh, I just miss Adrian soooo much!
to be continued...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Long Hair
I was in Hong Kong the other day, to book the venue of our banquet. This time I went alone as I didn't want to trouble Jane too much.
So I've had time to look at people or things around me like I used to when I spend time on my own. And so I got on the MTR, sat down and a long hair shadow caught my eyes -- beautiful straight hair, smooth and silky. Wow, she must have spent a lot of time caring for it or a lot of money in some saloon.
Have a look...
And then after a few stops, she decided that she needed to have a seat. She sat right in front of me... WTF!! It's not a girl!! Well, I have no problem about men having long hair. But they shouldn't look like women! Tell me what you see...
Not clear enough? See this, see the pink T-shirt? See the feet, see the hot pants? I felt so much like slapping him!
Close up... Honestly, he's quite good looking for a Chinese man. How did he manage this??
He should have a look at Jason Castro. Jason Castro, that is style; this guy here? WRONG!!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
What comes after engagement...!! Part 2
Then came the second weekend...
This weekend, we have a set of different tasks. We have received quotations from a few photographers for the day. We have decided not to do a pre-wedding photo session. Well there's no way in doing that is there? With Adrian and I being so far apart, it is just impossible. We have decided that we do it on the day of our wedding, so that will require a very skillful photographer. We have shortlisted a couple of them and got their quotations back. 1 professional and 1 amateur... The professional costs just about 2.5 times the amateur - package includes 2 photographers and a lighting assistant + an album. But there's something that the professional photographer offered in the package that the other one could not provide - our album on the web for one whole year where our friends and family can access with a login password to download the photos or the whole album. This is very important to us considering our family and friends and so far away from us.
I made an appointment with Ann Choi, the professional photographer. Jane has once again, turned into the super assistant... with a couple of phone calls, we managed to find Ann's place. Ah... I wouldn't have been able to find the place on my own in such a short time (Adrian said I should have asked him, he knows exactly where it is... ya, right, make an IDD and ask for direction... how come I'd never thought of that??) Anyway, Ann has this little workshop, well it's little for a Malaysian ok, where she works and meet some of her clients. Some may think that it's a bit messy but to me, it's just how it should be... look at my desk at work and you'll know what I mean hehehhehe OK, simple, I got into the place and thought, "mm, feels like a workshop to me!" I actually liked the place. haha! feels like we're the same type of ppl.
She showed us some of her works and some of her other works/creation which is non-photographic but very interesting. We talked for quite a lot - both Adrian and I think that we should go for somebody whom we would be comfortable talking to or be around with. One thing that I strongly believe that we did click well. I asked about her sign, she wanted me to guess. I was kinda hoping that she was a Leo (well I've always thought that it's the forces of the universe that Aries and Leos always get along... I have many close friends that are Leos... Edith, Mendy, Chloe, my mom and even my x-husband...??) but I didn't try Leo, I guessed she was either Libra or Gemini... I just didn't think I was gonna meet another Leo. She revealed the answer, she's a Leo. Ah... based on all my experience with female Leos, we'll have no problem communicating. I don't know about others but this is important.
Adrian asked me later about how I felt about talking to her and stuff like that, I gave him a pretty positive answer. Adrian likes her works a lot, but he thinks that what impressions we get from her is important too. Comparing her to the other photographer that we met later that evening, I wouldn't hesitate chosing her and so we did.
That wasn't difficult at all. That day, me and Jane accomplished a lot too -- we ordered our shoes (cost less than HK$600 for both pairs!!), bought the veil and gloves, ordered a dinner dress (tailored) and bought another dinner dress, and a pair of dinner shoes... and all these, all these cost less than HK$6K!! hahaha! we're just the best shoppers!! Honestly, after rounds of research, with HK$6K, you can only pay to hire your dresses, for only 3 days! Ain't we good or what? haha! But all those was really hard work and we couldn't feel our legs after we finished our mission that night - we had to get ourselves foot massage! I just feel like we owe Jane big big time! Thank you so much, Jane.
I got home, put on the red dinner dress, and showed Adrian. I'm just glad that he liked it too! Then I went online and showed my mom and dad... dad thought that the "deep V" is too deep and that mom needs to patch it up for me!! hahaha!
have a look, it's not that bad la~~~
This is the pair of shoes that I'm gonna wear with this red dress...
Now some may think that I should buy matching red shoes... for some strange reason, Adrian thinks it's not appropriate for a woman to wear red shoes - it's indecent/inappropriate... it means that a woman wearing red shoes means that she's not wearing a panty or she's a hooker in the olden days... so I had to choose something red but not totally read and it has to match my dress... both Jane and I thought it was quite impossible and within a few minutes of telling her how I think I want my shoes to look - two tone, then it's not all red... believe it or not, we found it right away! They had only one pair left, and it was my size and it fit perfectly! Hahaha!!
Actually the same thing happened when we were talking about the red dress back in Causewaybay that I liked so much. And we both agreed that it is unlikely that they can give us a positive reply as it's been 2 weeks and all that they told us about was that it will still cost the same even if it's tailored but they are still checking if they still have the material. As we were discussing about it, we walked into this shop. We started flipping and flipping and wow, a red dinner dress, just the colour that I like and the deep V that I like hahaha! I put it on, it fit perfectly, no alteration needed! The price? less than half of what the other one costs!! hahhaa!! I paid without hesitation! hahaha!!
to be continued...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
What comes after engagement...!! Part 1
Well, it's time to update my current status now... well, of course by now, you know that my current status is "happily engaged", but what I'm trying to tell here is what comes after that...
2 weeks after I said yes, well, I had to go back to Malaysia to spend Chinese New Year with my family, alone. Yup, leaving Adrian here to wait for his departure to another part of the world for a new job.
Adrian has decided that he wants Mark to be his best man and I want Jane to be my maid of honour. We first decided that we were going to either have our wedding on this 4th of July or 16th of August... after me looking up the Chinese calendar and decided that these two days are good enough (it's a very Chinese thing to do this, so that the couple gets married on a good day and they shall live happily ever after) and that they are in summer when it's school holiday, which is very important for Adrian because he wants the boys to attend our wedding, and so do I. So these are the two days that we're going to work on, on the venue, the photographer, the everything... but later, just about a month later, we changed that date to the 9th of August...
Believe it or not, all these were decided when we talked on Skype everyday. And this is how we are going to do this together. Difficult but we're modern people... no problemo! haha!!
We sent out request for proposal to a few good hotels in Hong Kong (yes, it will be held in Hong Kong), received responses and after careful consideration, we shortlisted 2, the Peninsula and the Excelsior. I went and see the Excelsior my first weekend on the mission, nope, although it's about almost 20K cheaper, the venue is too big and too old. The Peninsula of course, is expensive, but considering our very short guest list, the perfectly sized venue, the exclusivity, the attractive package... it's worth it. The Four Seasons wouldn't serve buffet for a guest list shorter than 50, but hey, the Peninsula does it! How would you choose? Yes, we chose the Peninsula (I sort of decided before Adrian buys it... hehehe). I went and placed the deposit last week and booked our room... hahahahaha!!
OK, I got way off... back to the beginning, after I came back to Macau from Malaysia, put work back on track, I spent a few weekends in Hong Kong with Jane sorting out everything (well, as much as possible la~~). The first weekend, Jane and I went looking around in some shops in... I'm not sure, ermm... well I can't remember actually hehe... nothing interesting so we went on to TST... Well I was actually looking for a short dress instead of the usual long ones... strange? well, it's summer when we get married, it's hot and humid in Hong Kong... Long wedding dress?? Naa~~~ and most of the shops that we went into had only one or two or none to choose from and when they have one, it cost a bomb! Put it this way, they range from at least HK$5K to more than HK$12K a piece! Bloody hell! I'm not going to spend that much on a dress that is not worth the money, the make, the design, the material, the cut... etc.
Then we went to this building where Mendy had hers tailored, where there are a lot of shops that sell wedding related stuff, it's a one-stop shopping mall for ppl who are preparing their weddings. Amazingly, I found my perfect wedding dress, for just HK$780!!! It's knee length, just over, tube top, perfect. Jane found her dress in the same shop too! Haha, both dresses cost less than HK$1.4K!! Hahahaha!!! And then we went on looking at stuff...
At just about 4pm, we met up with Michelle and her fiance, who are getting married in September, went to this shop that sells wedding and dinner dress. I saw a red dinner dress and it was very beautiful -- silk and beautifully designed, cost only HK$2.6K. BUT BUT BUT!!! It wasn't my size! I was 4 inches broader all the way! No way it can be altered to suit me, if I want one it has to be tailored... but she said she'll let us know if they still have the material in the same colour...
Then, we left the shop and went to the wedding convention/exhibition. Nothing much except they made me do a makeup trial... they put makeup on half of my face and emailed the photo back to me for reference...
2 weeks after I said yes, well, I had to go back to Malaysia to spend Chinese New Year with my family, alone. Yup, leaving Adrian here to wait for his departure to another part of the world for a new job.
Adrian has decided that he wants Mark to be his best man and I want Jane to be my maid of honour. We first decided that we were going to either have our wedding on this 4th of July or 16th of August... after me looking up the Chinese calendar and decided that these two days are good enough (it's a very Chinese thing to do this, so that the couple gets married on a good day and they shall live happily ever after) and that they are in summer when it's school holiday, which is very important for Adrian because he wants the boys to attend our wedding, and so do I. So these are the two days that we're going to work on, on the venue, the photographer, the everything... but later, just about a month later, we changed that date to the 9th of August...
Believe it or not, all these were decided when we talked on Skype everyday. And this is how we are going to do this together. Difficult but we're modern people... no problemo! haha!!
We sent out request for proposal to a few good hotels in Hong Kong (yes, it will be held in Hong Kong), received responses and after careful consideration, we shortlisted 2, the Peninsula and the Excelsior. I went and see the Excelsior my first weekend on the mission, nope, although it's about almost 20K cheaper, the venue is too big and too old. The Peninsula of course, is expensive, but considering our very short guest list, the perfectly sized venue, the exclusivity, the attractive package... it's worth it. The Four Seasons wouldn't serve buffet for a guest list shorter than 50, but hey, the Peninsula does it! How would you choose? Yes, we chose the Peninsula (I sort of decided before Adrian buys it... hehehe). I went and placed the deposit last week and booked our room... hahahahaha!!
OK, I got way off... back to the beginning, after I came back to Macau from Malaysia, put work back on track, I spent a few weekends in Hong Kong with Jane sorting out everything (well, as much as possible la~~). The first weekend, Jane and I went looking around in some shops in... I'm not sure, ermm... well I can't remember actually hehe... nothing interesting so we went on to TST... Well I was actually looking for a short dress instead of the usual long ones... strange? well, it's summer when we get married, it's hot and humid in Hong Kong... Long wedding dress?? Naa~~~ and most of the shops that we went into had only one or two or none to choose from and when they have one, it cost a bomb! Put it this way, they range from at least HK$5K to more than HK$12K a piece! Bloody hell! I'm not going to spend that much on a dress that is not worth the money, the make, the design, the material, the cut... etc.
Then we went to this building where Mendy had hers tailored, where there are a lot of shops that sell wedding related stuff, it's a one-stop shopping mall for ppl who are preparing their weddings. Amazingly, I found my perfect wedding dress, for just HK$780!!! It's knee length, just over, tube top, perfect. Jane found her dress in the same shop too! Haha, both dresses cost less than HK$1.4K!! Hahahaha!!! And then we went on looking at stuff...
At just about 4pm, we met up with Michelle and her fiance, who are getting married in September, went to this shop that sells wedding and dinner dress. I saw a red dinner dress and it was very beautiful -- silk and beautifully designed, cost only HK$2.6K. BUT BUT BUT!!! It wasn't my size! I was 4 inches broader all the way! No way it can be altered to suit me, if I want one it has to be tailored... but she said she'll let us know if they still have the material in the same colour...
Then, we left the shop and went to the wedding convention/exhibition. Nothing much except they made me do a makeup trial... they put makeup on half of my face and emailed the photo back to me for reference...
see the difference? well the only down side was that the makeup sponge that the artist was using smelled a little bad... but I let her do it anyway. However, I'm pretty certain, I won't engage them. See, it's not only the result that matters. The little details count too. But I did not tell the artist that of course. She'll have to pay more attention to excel. It takes more than skills. Oops, way off... Anyway, that night we went home totally exhausted! But I have got some tasks done! hehehe!
to be continued...
Monday, March 2, 2009
Valentine's Day 2009
O, so it was Valentine's Day again. But, unlike the last one, Adrian was here. He wasn't here. He's far far away from me. That kinda gave me the blues... hmm...
I knew he had things prepared but I didn't know what and so I was anxiously waiting for my surprise. This Valentine's Day was on a Saturday. However, some girls started receiving floweres on Friday the 13th already... at first I thought, "eh? how strange..." but then I figured it out... it was for the face! You know, the showing off? Ah ha! That explained everything. There was this one girl, who did not receive flowers, came up to me and asked me a stupid question, "So where's your flowers?" I thought I wanted to ask her the same question (I knew that was what she wanted) but I changed my mind as the words come out of my mouth... "You know what? Being such a beautiful and charming lady, gets people jealous enough, it will bring hatrate if I receive my beautiful flowers today... I'm very low profile, don't like the showing off you see..." Ha! She didn't know what to say and just sat back down! WAHAHAHAHAHA!
And then I opened the 2nd and 3rd emails and downloaded the files and there it was, the second video... while Adrian was chatting with me on Skype. hehehe (O, the video is muted because it has a song that's got copy right to it and so it's a silent one... it's Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback)
Thank you baby, I love you!
The flowers were beautiful... erm just another note, it's the most beautiful compared to all the flowers the girls in the office received! Wahaha!! I've taken some photos and sent Adrian all of them! haha! I've pinned this one on my cubicle... the most beautiful bunch of flowers I've ever received... red roses and orange tulips... 2 other types of flowers (sorry, I'm not good at remember names of flowers... you can see them in the photo yourself, you tell me if you know haha!) and a lot of leaves!
And after about 2 weeks before all of the flower rot, I made them dried flowers...
I knew he had things prepared but I didn't know what and so I was anxiously waiting for my surprise. This Valentine's Day was on a Saturday. However, some girls started receiving floweres on Friday the 13th already... at first I thought, "eh? how strange..." but then I figured it out... it was for the face! You know, the showing off? Ah ha! That explained everything. There was this one girl, who did not receive flowers, came up to me and asked me a stupid question, "So where's your flowers?" I thought I wanted to ask her the same question (I knew that was what she wanted) but I changed my mind as the words come out of my mouth... "You know what? Being such a beautiful and charming lady, gets people jealous enough, it will bring hatrate if I receive my beautiful flowers today... I'm very low profile, don't like the showing off you see..." Ha! She didn't know what to say and just sat back down! WAHAHAHAHAHA!
Adrian has asked me to wait for his surprises and that I should check the mailbox (the real mailbox, not email). On Thursday night, when I got home, I received a card, that says, "You're my sex bomb!" hehehe He's so naughty! But when I showed him later, he said that I should have waited until it was Valentine's Day! But but... but the envelope was opened! Can't help it la! hehehee I even showed him via the webcam that it was opened and I didn't even have to try! I received 3 more cards (2 small ones straight from the mailbox and 1 with a little teddy bear I had to pick up from the post office). He's so so so so so sweet!! That's my Adrian, the ultimate romantic fiance!
The next morning, I woke up and checked email... There were 4 emails from him...
This video came through first... Here, it's a video Valentine's morning greeting and I was told to stay in the house to wait for one more surprise... hmm... not leave the house... hmmm...
And then I opened the 2nd and 3rd emails and downloaded the files and there it was, the second video... while Adrian was chatting with me on Skype. hehehe (O, the video is muted because it has a song that's got copy right to it and so it's a silent one... it's Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback)
I was so touched even if I was still half asleep - it brought tears to my eyes! No one has ever done something like this for me! Tell me, how can you not love a man like Adrian? And I'm the luckiest girl, I got Adrian!
Thank you baby, I love you!
And then the third one. The subject, "Open only after the main surprise (not the card)" OK, so I got the main surprise I thought (you know, the 2nd video... I thought that was the main surprise!)... I opened the email, downloaded the file and with Adrian still on the other end of skype, I opened the video, I'm sure I heard him started screaming on the other end but it didn't stop me... Ah! The main surprise was flowers... oooooops!! only then I realized what I did... hehehe Sorry la!
We waited and waited until it was almost 5pm... no one sent me nothing... decided to call the bloke that helped Adrian arranged the flowers. He said it's been sent!! What??? Who did he send my flowers to??? I haven't received anything that looks like flowers la!!! And so he said he'd check. No reply. I chased him up again (I even pretended that I was just a friend chasing on behalf of Adrian!!) and again... at just about 5:30 or so, someone rang my bell! I thought it was the flowers but no, it was some neighbour trying to borrow a wine opener! Ya, just the right timing!!!! Arrrrrgh!!! Finally, at just about 6 the bouquet arrived.
The flowers were beautiful... erm just another note, it's the most beautiful compared to all the flowers the girls in the office received! Wahaha!! I've taken some photos and sent Adrian all of them! haha! I've pinned this one on my cubicle... the most beautiful bunch of flowers I've ever received... red roses and orange tulips... 2 other types of flowers (sorry, I'm not good at remember names of flowers... you can see them in the photo yourself, you tell me if you know haha!) and a lot of leaves!
These are all (but one card, which arrived the follwoing Monday) that I have received for my Valentine's Day from, yes, my fiance... him only...
This is how it looked when I put them into the vase...
And after about 2 weeks before all of the flower rot, I made them dried flowers...
I love you Adrian Lydiard! And thank you oh so very much!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Ah! New WebCam... Philips SPC 1300NC PC Camera!!!
I bought a new webcam earlier because Adrian's webcam is too old... well I looked like a woman in some old yellow photos. I didn't like it and so I bought this new Philips SPC 1300NC PC Camera... The one that I bought for my pc in Malaysia is an "installation-free" webcam, all I did was just plug it into the USB port, nothing technical... but, how difficult can it be?? I pulled apart a computer and put them all back together (without a manual) when I was only 16. Also a radio, a Video Cassette Player, a watch, a table fan, lights and other home appliances... not only did I pulled them apart, I them all back together and fixed whatever problems they had! And this was before I finished high school. How difficult can installing a webcam be?
Trust me, it was fatal.
This new one that I bought, well, it's expensive compared to the other available choices in the same supermarket (yes! I bought it in a supermarket in Taipa called Royal) and most of all it's a Philips, quite a reliable brand anyway. I thought... (sorry about the blurr images... I was really pissed off!)
I opened up the package, took the disc out and saw this:
This new one that I bought, well, it's expensive compared to the other available choices in the same supermarket (yes! I bought it in a supermarket in Taipa called Royal) and most of all it's a Philips, quite a reliable brand anyway. I thought... (sorry about the blurr images... I was really pissed off!)
I opened up the package, took the disc out and saw this:
It says, "STOP! FIRST run the installation CD before you plug in the camera"
Good, some dummy/picture instruction on the cover of the disc, OK, I won't plug in the camera before I run the disc. I thought.
This is the actual webcam, look at the red tag:
It says, "Stop! Install software before connecting!" good, I'll do just that. Good, very clear, I thought.
And then this appeared:
It says, "Connect the webcam to your computer before installer driver"
Now at this point, it has really started to confuse me... do I plug it in now or do I install first and plug it in??? There's this red tag on the webcam that tell me to install software before plugging it in but the installer tells me to plug it in now... hmm... I was puzzled...
I was struggling to decide which one to believe but then I convinced myself that whatever the disc says should be more accurate than the printed labels. Right I'll plug it in.
And then I was asked to select the features I want to install. It even has an option to choose Adobe Reader 6.0 but I did not choose this one because I thought I have the most updated versions of ADOBE Distiller 9 and Acrobat 9 Pro...
Right, next it gave me 2 choices... If I want to read the instructions first. I thought to myself, I might need to because I was confused by the different instructions & warnings before. And so I chose.
Ehhh???? Do you know what it says after I clicked Next?
"There is no Acrobat Reader installed on your pc..." ya ya ya but my computer can still open and read a pdf file!!! bloody software!!!
Look!!! I've got enough software to read a bloody pdf file la!!
And when I finally finished running the installer, it says, "You need to restart your computer before you can connect and start using your WebCam. when you have restarted your computer you can connect your WebCam to your computer. EHHH?????????
I looked at my USB port just to double check, and the bloody WebCam is already plugged in as instructed upon running the installer -- the first instruction I received after running the freaking installer!!!
OK, I thought to myself, let's just unplug the bloody WebCam and restart and then connect and let's see what happens...
This is what happened!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF!!! You might be able to see what it says...
Cannot install this Hardware
There was a problem installing this hardware
Philips SPC 1300NC PC Camera: Audio (Microphone)
An error occurred during the installation of the device
Fatal error during installation
Click Finish to close the WIZARD.
Yes, you're right. This is what this freaking WIZARD was telling me after having to go through all the confusions!!!!!!!
WTF
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Hmm... What I saw in Malaysia...
I spent about 2 weeks in Malaysia during Chinese New Year... Good times & great fun! I took the time to renew my passport whilst I was there because the old one is running out and I've only had it for less than 1.5yrs! It costs less and I don't have to go all the way to HK to do it. Although I had to spend just about 6 hours there, I got the renewed passport the same day. Well the process could have been faster than it was if the system did not go down. Sod's law.
Anyway, while I was queueing up, this is what I saw...
Gosh! What in the world happened here? Did he just escape from the famous fashion prison??? Ah! I know! The fashion police was on holiday!! Goodness!
The holiday went on well. And before I realize it, it was time to return to work. I was at the airport (LCCT - AirAsia's airport) waiting to board my plane. 35 minutes before the flight, they informed us that the flight that we're supposed to be on were delayed and will only land 40 minutes later. Great.
So I sat and waited... I was standing in a queue you see. As I sat, this guy was right in front of me... gearing up, MP4 player and then a PSP... what a busy man! And the gf/wife got too bored and had to sleep on his shoulder... they really didn't have anything to talk about, did they? Or the other half could not keep him entertained he has to turn to his MP3 player the get his ears busy, and the PSP to get his eyes, fingers and the whole brain full swing! How pathetic!!!
I'm so glad that Adrian and I have loads to talk about and we always try to express ourselves to each other... in many different ways... I thought this is what couples should do. You know it looks like you're leaving for a holiday but you're all geared up with your personal gadgets and bore our misses to... sleep... not very nice is it?
haha! but if you look at the woman on the left of the picture... look at how her top is designed... hahahaha!! hahahahaha! I'm sooooo mean!!!!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
I said, "Of course I will..."
It was our first anniversary. 11th January 2008 was when we first kissed. We went to Hong Kong to celebrate the ocassion. I was made aware that it would be very special... I saw him thinking hard and tried to get him to tell me what he had in mind hehehe...
It was a fine Sunday. We went ice-skating for the second time of my life. Everything was great until I landed on my bum (really hard) for the first time! Every single organ inside my body was shakened big time!! I didn't even feel like getting up when the "life guard" came and helped me up!! I thought I had a concussion on my bum and in my brain... (it took nearly 3 weeks to recover!!!)
that's me with my sour bum...
After ice-skating, I went to meet with Jane and had lunch together -- had to give Adrian and the boys time on their own. Phil is always shy, it's better that I don't stick around too much so that he can open up to his dad more... so I went window shopping with Jane for a little bit hahaha!!!
We took some photos together for Adrian to send to his parents in England after saying goodbye to Jane (she had to go back and sleep coz she only managed to go to bed at 7 that morning!!!).
We finally had time to ourselves after Adrian sent the boys back as usual. Well not exactly usual because it was half an hour earlier than usual. He's so sweet. He's got the whole night filled with surprises. Because he thought we should have a pre-dinner drinks or 2 in the Captain's Bar in Mandarin Oriental, he decided to send the boys off half an hour earlier... I was so touched...
In the Captain's Bar (I knitted the sweater for him for Xmas... and he loves it)
In the bar, I had my Guinness in a silver tanker!! That was really special. Well I wasn't unprepared like I seemed. I bought him a Kwanpen crocodile skin wallet... the colour of his eyes. I'm so happy that he loved it.
After that we proceeded to the ferry pier. When we were walking towards it, I noticed that it was a full moon and it was bright orange... I took a few shots and I thought to myself, "Ah~ what a special night... I will always remember that the moon looked so different on the night of our first anniversary~~" Look!
We boarded the old junk and started the cruise around the harbour. Cold but not freezing cold, the crew have blankets for us so that we could stay warm. Then we had our red wine and things were just so nice... and romantic... ya, Adrian is a very romantic man. And that's what makes him so special... you know non of my X's were romantic. He would just make me feel so special! How can you not love a guy like that? hehehe...
This is the junk that we went on...
Anyway, after we toasted. He popped the question that he's been asking daily for a few weeks... "Will you marry me?" as I was just about to give my usual answer (I'd normally tell him that he didn't have a ring), he, to my surprise, had a ring in his hand and wow... I didn't know what to say for a little bit. I totally did not expect that you see. He's just been laid off and only getting ready for his new job, and he has his boys to take care of and all... I actually told him to delay anything that he had planned for us (oh I'm just such a wonderful woman, how can he not as me to marry him... haha!). "Of course I will" was my answer to his question. haha! He had to double check later that night because it wasn't a "yes"... silly Billy...
Ya, he then quickly put the ring on my finger... and it fit perfectly! wowo... I cried a little bit, coz I was so touched... he's the sweetest man I've ever met la!!!
Look at this man, how happy I've made him... hahahahaha and I'm equally happy too!!
I love you too, Adrian Lydiard!
The night ended after we've had our dinner in Isola in IFC. Great service, fantastic food and stunning view of the harbour... everything was just so perfect! I had to bite myself once or twice just to make sure that it wasn't just a dream...
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