Gizmo the Wizmo...

I've never blogged about Gizmo.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's because he had been keeping me busy whenever I'm home.

Gizmo is a Pomeranian, a little git.  Gizmo was born on the 15th of October 2009.  His first owner took him in for a while and then left him in a pet shop for sale - he spent just about 9 months in a cage.  Then, finally, he met his previous owner, one of Adrian's South African colleagues.  The family was going back to South Africa and would not bring him with them.  Poor sod was going to end up in a pet shop again.  we took him in, as we took the apartment over.  He was their toy.  I don't doubt their love for him but the poor sod was only walked once or twice a fortnight....

We first met on the 27th of January this year when we came and looked at this apartment.   We moved into this apartment on the 28th of February.  And that was the day we first officially lived together.

At slightly more than 2 years of age, he wasn't the fittest dog in the world.  We taught him how to sit and wait to be fed.  How to run, how to climb up and down the stairs and how not to worry about the manhole covers.  We walked him at least twice a day, slightly more than an hour a day in total, sometimes more.  He looked so happy and he looked forward to each and every single walk.  I would walk him every morning, and night if Adrian  couldn't do it.  Boy, did we enjoyed our walks.

Every time we walked through that door, he would be there greeting us.  Every morning when we woke, he would be greeting us promptly as well.  he loved the little biscuit snacks, the sofa, sushi rice, pasta, dumplings, fruits and everything else that we ate in the house.  He would demand for hugs and cuddles by scratching our arms non-stop as if he was saying, "hey, hug, hey, hug hug... hey...", well he'd only stop when he got the cuddle and he would kiss us back affectionately.

We also brought him to the park and the beaches, although he didn't like the water.  We even bought him with us to Stanley when Adrian paddled in the Dragon Boat race.  There we met the biggest dog we've ever met - a Great Dan called Harley.  It was so wonderful.  How our little git was behaving among people and other dogs.  We were so proud.  As if our child has graduated from university or something.  Aside from the fact the he still ate his own shit occasionally and pissed in the house at least once a day.

Not too long after we got him, we realised that the little sod had weak tracheal rings in his windpipe.  Sometimes he would breathe as if he had asthma or something but would get better soon after.  Besides that, the common problem that the breed would have, he had - Luxating Patella, and we were planning to get that fixed by the end of the year.  Before all that, our little git had developed mange at the elbows of the fore legs after just about 6 weeks we had him.  And so the medication and solutions started.  We also needed to wipe his eyes, give him shower, take him to the groomer, etc.  Exactly like taking care of a kid.  The only difference is he didn't know how to talk and they do not grow up and become independent.  He slowly got better, the mange was gone and he was into his last week of medication and he would be spayed straight after he's off the medications.

And then, things got wrong.  he was struggling to breathe a little bit the night we got back from Stanley.  The next day, I sent him to the vet but they couldn't do much and then I had to send him to a 24-hour animal hospital.  They couldn't do much about that because whatever they do, they will have to give him anesthetic and he could stop breathing because of that.  What do we do?  It was a tough choice.  And the vet was going on holiday.  Great.

It was the 28th of June, 2012.  I was seriously doubting the hospital.  And straight after the noon visiting time.  I spent a couple of hours trying to make arrangement to get him to another hospital.  At 4pm in the afternoon, he passed.  They couldn't revive him.  Maybe it was his time.  We could never have known.  Bottom line is, he's gone.  And he was cremated today.  We said proper goodbyes to our little git.  Brought his ashes back to the apartment.  Where he spent the happiest times of his life.  Where we gave him all the love we could.

Walks down the roads in the area, lift rides in the building, coming back to the house, the kitchen, the bathroom, the dining and living area, the balcony, the parks, Stanley, Repulse Bay, bus & train & taxi rides, will never be the same, ever.  And we don't even need to leave a light on for him at night anymore... Losing him also reminded me of Lei Lei, our first family dog.  How their departure would leave a void in our hearts.

Rest in Peace, Gizmo.  You're missed dearly.

Proud wife Vernette

So Adrian has gone back into swimming lately - long distance ocean swims.  It's pretty hard core for me.  If I had to walk 5km on a Saturday afternoon (not in a shopping mall or something similar), I'd die within the first couple of km!  And my superman husband did it last Saturday, swam 5km from Stanley to Repulse Bay.  Pretty impressive, huh?

One thing I noticed about hard core swimmers in HK lately - most of them don't have a tattoo.  Well, nothing visible to be exact, even when they had only small swimming trunks on.
So when I wait for Adrian to get back ashore, I'd look out for those old fashioned dragon tattoos - all arms were clean but his, besides, it's so difficult to spot him by just looking at the splashes!  His splashes is not that distinctive.  ;-p

I posted about Adrian's successful 5km trial on FB the other day and received some funny responses by his friends...

definitely not very impressed with the hippo suit comment...

He sure did make me proud.  I'm so glad that I encouraged him to get back into swimming.  And of course, claiming to be the perfect man, he got me a new handbag to thank me for the support! wahahaha  how good is that?  It is also a form of compensation for I had 8 bug bites whilst waiting for him on the beach and they are still bloody itching!!

He's going to be swimming in the real race in less than a couple of weeks and if he sorts out the cramps, I figure he could probably slash 5 - 10 minutes off his time.  Let's see how it goes.

Pulau Tenggol - part2

Of course, you may wonder what we'd be doing spending 5 days on a tiny little island with no shopping, no TV, no spa, no internet.  Nothing much I would say.  We'd wake up, have breakfast, jump into the sea.  Most of the time Robin would ask us to tag along when he brought the divers out to the different dive sites.  Get back to the resort, have lunch, then snorkel again, and then come back, shower, dinner, take a walk on the beach or simply sit down and interact a bit with the other guests.

A lot of divers would visit this island but we think, even if you're only snorkeling, it's still phenomenal.  Although you don't get to see the many beautiful creatures in the deeper waters, you'll still be able to see some beautiful things that is just less than 30 meters away from the shore.

Some might ask about the food.  Well, the kitchen is run by a young mother (her 3-year-old is the only tiny human being on the island), the food tasted very good, and they were generously portioned.  It almost felt like home.

We don't have a professional camera, it's just a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX36, in a waterproof bag.  And these are some of the photos that we took: -

anemone - closed but we can still see the clown fish swimming in it!

another anemone, try to spot a different species of anemonefish in it.
see it? at the center top of the photo, the white stripe is on its back, the pink anemonefish

a pair of pink anemonefish, a.k.a. pink skunk clownfish, in their anemone home

look at the landscape

the amazing colours

a giant clam, just about 18" wide

the clearest photo that we have taken of a clown fish - very shallow water, approx. 1 meter deep, with the sunlight.

a beautiful giant clam - the most beautiful we've ever seen!

see the yellow, blue and white little things?  they are Christmas tree worms

this is the fish that wouldn't leave us alone, it was getting very close and even if it was so close to getting hit by our flippers it still would not leave us along!  Adrian thought it was not quite as friendly as it looked so we swam back to the boat.  However, according to Robin, they are in fact very playful fish!
Funny how 2 big persons getting scared because they were being circled by an A4 size fish... hahaha

this is Robin, the cheeky DM

a blue starfish, we've seen a few of them, spans just about 1 foot

the beautiful sunset

There you go, I don't think much needed to be said.

And we have decided, by the end of our second day, that we will return, for sure!!

Pulau Tenggol - part1

This trip, we spent 5 days on an island on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia - Pulau Tenggol.  We were completely amazed by the place and we were already talking about returning to the island the 2nd day of our stay.  It is very raw, very quite and very beautiful.  Not as superb as Maldives but not far off.  However, if you're looking at a resort like what's available in Maldives, you should not come here.  It is purely original, not decorated at all.

We took a coach at 10:30pm the previous night and arrived at the jetty at just about 5:30am, the boat arrived at 8:30am, as scheduled, to take us to the island.  There was a storm out in the sea so the water was very rough, so rough we were drenched when we arrived (so drenched that there was not a single dry spot on our clothes, including underwear!!) and it was just a one-hour boat ride!  However, one amazing thing about the sea being so rough is that I could see numerous baby rainbows by the side of the boat because of the all the splashes!  So many that I lost count!

As soon as we got off the boat, I spotted a cat.  It was a really unique experience so I will blog about it separately later.  But if you can read Chinese, this will tell you about the interaction between me and the cat.

The room was a very simple and basic room, with hot water supply all day long and electricity from 6:30pm to just about 9:30am.  Very little mobile network coverage - just one or two bars at all times, and no internet access.  It is somewhat more isolated than some of the islands in Maldives.

The resort is owned & managed by Malaysian Chinese and run by the local Malays.  The dive master, Robin, is a very friendly and funny guy.  I was, for 4 days in a roll, the only Malaysian guest in the resort, I was out numbered by Dutch, French, Aussies, Spanish and Mainland Chinese！And so, I've been called "ah moi" almost every time he saw me.  And when he asked Adrian if he knew what it meant and my lovely husband said, "cheeky little female!" and he agreed!!!

On the very first night we arrived, we saw turtle laying eggs on the beach and we also saw milky way!!  Neither one of us have ever seen soooooo many stars in our lives.  It was simply breath taking!!  Of course, this trip being the celebration of our 2nd anniversary, a kiss under the milky way was inevitable!  hehe


~ to be continued ~

2nd part of Adrian's birthday celebration

Well, the first part, I haven't blogged yet hehehehe but the 2nd part was soooooo good that I have to blog it immediately after a nap that followed hehehehe

Well, I treated him with our 2nd Champagne brunch (we had our first one in Macau, in Aurora).  I brought him to Cucina in Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel in TST.  It was on the 6th floor and we were sat by the window with Victoria Harbour in sight, bright sun light, a bit foggy but I would still class it as a good day, by HK standard hahaha

not the best but good enough by HK standard, well the sun made it up

Although I haven't been a great fan of champagnes but I like the idea of having a slow morning/afternoon out of the house and a bit of booze and a lot of good food.

There was the very popular Hokkaido long leg crab, oysters, lobsters, great salami and ham and super delicious soups.  Also, the dessert line was almost perfect, and Adrian has had 4 coffees (I had to forbid him from ordering the 5th!!)........

All in all, it was great and I was thinking that we should do this when Steve & Rosana comes over to HK the next time and when Mendy & Chris come back to HK in June.

At about 3:30, we left the restaurant (though the brunch ended at 2:30, we stayed until the afternoon tea started.... baaaaad~~) and went home for a well deserved afternoon nap -- had to get ready for the rugby game tonight! 

And, now, we're off to our rugby game!!!

Yes, a proper Valentine's Day even after we got married!

Yes, yes, yes, romance doesn't stop after the honeymoon. 

Adrian is the the sweetest husband when it comes to special occasions.  He has the best memory when it comes to special dates -- top quality RAM.  haha!  Well, to be fair, so far, he's the sweetest husband 80% of our married life.  And I hope that the percentage is only going to improve hehehee

Yes, I woke up, greeted him "happy Valentine's day" and gave him a kiss.  And then, I walked into the living room, and there was a card waiting for me.  Nope, not a credit card, just a Valentine's card. It was sweet.

And I went to work.  At just about 10:30, came a phone call from the Receptionist, there was a package for me.  I was just thinking that it was some samples that some suppliers have sent me, it just didn't occur to me because he has already bought me a sapphire pendant before Chinese New Year and there and then, he agreed that it was the Valentine's day + birthday present and that we should not spend anymore money on any other thing.  So I was definitely surprised to find that "the package" was actually 3 dozens of red roses.  And yes, I'm the less romantic one in this marriage because after being happily surprised, I thought about the money... "hmm... I wonder how much he has spent..."  and a colleague congratulated me because I was the first to receive my flowers...??  eh???  I thought flowers from husband doesn't count?

I thought I had to do something more than just getting him on a flight simulator session (got it on cheap at UbuyIbuy), so I bought him a card during lunch.  And since he calls me a sex bomb, I have bought a card that calls him a love machine hahaha well, to me, he IS indeed the ultimate love machine hahahaha!!

Anyway, there was actually a dinner arrangement at 8:30.  I got off work, and as I was walking through City Super, it was full of bodies!! There were long queues not only at the checkouts, the meat section had a queue of just about 2 dozens of people!  Wow!  That's something I've never seen before, maybe booking a table at days like this is not an easy task.

I got to the bus stop, but there was a serious traffic jam that the bus was at least half an hour behind schedule!  Gosh, I still had to go home, get dressed (shower was out of the question when I had to spend the 30-minute shower time waiting for a bloody bus!!), put on make-up and out of the door by 8:15!!

When I got home, I was surprised again by balloons arranged in heart shape stuck up on the wall where the bed is, with another card, and a diamond earring (yes, just one because I only needed one, to replace the one that I've lost, so I've got an upgrade to my earring hehehe)!  Thank you babe!

I gave him his card and he quickly hung up the love machine bit at the bedroom door hehehehe

the gifts and the cards...

And next, after an hour of getting ready, we're off to the restaurant!

the origami on the table

our super fine sake & the funky wine dispenser

Well we were only 5 minutes late when we got to the restaurant, we walked.  It was a Japanese restaurant in the Harbour Plaza Metropolis just a few minutes' walk from our place called "Senzuru", we didn't book the Valentine's set dinner, we ordered a teppanyaki set course, a sushi platter and a bottle of beautiful sake (the best and the most expensive sake we've ever had!! not gonna reveal the price though).

When we got home, there's yet another surprise!  A little one but it's cute!

A love remote!  hehe... something really handy!

dooo...

dooo...

dooo...

dooo...


doooooooo!!

相爱不难，相处才难！

老公的爸妈圣诞和新年来了香港过。 好恩爱的一对。

看着他们的相处，我很希望我们将来老了以后也可以一样恩爱 -- 不贪心，不必有他们100%的恩爱指数，有80%我就心满意足了！

很多的智慧，关怀，包容和爱，很多很多。。。　多到可以把几个大西洋填满吧？　那种互动，在传统的华人社会里，真的像稀世珍宝一样，难得啊难得！　我就没幸能在我爸妈身上看到，除非，爸被爱神附身。。。　除非，除非。。。　有一天爸爸被鬼吓到不见了两个魂吧。。。　呵呵呵。。。　我好坏哟！　可是我爸妈那两夫妇就是一对冤家！


爱把两个人放了在一起，那才是开始。。。　两个人的相处（或角力？）的开始。。。　


怎麽样的相处模式才能让一段关系无惊无险地过渡４０个年头以上呢？　
要有多少的爱才能成就这样的夫妻关系呢？　
要有多少的智慧才能成就这样的夫妻关系呢？

每天晚上看电视的时候，他们都会依偎在一起，像一对小恋人一样。。。　这简直太神奇了吧～～～？？ 　我从来没有见识过类似的事件发生在我爸妈的身上耶！　可能就像公公所说的一样吧，“因为我是完美的”　(because I'm perfect)　因为据了解婆婆的性格有一点难搞，就像所有女人一样。　
更难能可贵的是他们的幽默感，如果缺少了这个能为生活注入不少色彩的能力，恐怕英国小镇的单调生活早就把他们闷疯了吧？　如果换了是我的话，三个月，三个月我就会自己去疯人院报到了吧。　说到底疯人院会比较精彩吧？　哈哈哈！！

正能量！

看吧~ 我在发放正能量的样子哩~~ 是的！头发是会飞起来的~~ 呵呵呵呵呵呵呵~~~

我以前都不用脸书的... 那时候，离开澳门的时候，在朋友们的要求下，才决定和老公共用一个account。 也因此跟很多失联的朋友/同学从新联络上 -- 不小的收获哦！ 说实在，真的让我有一种整个人都充满着正能量一样。 超爽！！


最近，发现某一部分我认识的人，我在意的人，很奇怪地，都同时在他们的人生里遇到了一些让人烦恼的事情。  希望你们能接收到我发放给你们的正能量，变得更有勇气去面对一切挑战哦！ 像九把刀说的，"人生就是不停的戰鬥！" 


大家！ 用力地加油哦！我也会一起加油的！

我的家人朋友們, 我最親爱的你們, 我的小宇宙還有很多很多的正能量存貨哦, 有需要就别客氣哦! 來! 拿去! 喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔~~~~~~

My latest piece - 開心 (Open Heart, means Happy)

1st Anniversary!

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Yup, in a day, it's gonna be our anniversary! We celebrated it a couple of days earlier because Adrian won't be able to get home early enough to have dinner on the day itself... What to do, he's an important man... hehe

Feels strange and, what a year it has been!!  One down, a lifetime to go!!!

Another use of handouts...

On the streets of TST, just a 5-minute walk and you'll collect enough newspaper (in the morning)/flyers/name cards for your child's next "Make Your Own Recycled Paper" project.

Today, as we were making our way to our lunch, waiting for the little red man to turn green, right in front of us was a couple (a Caucasian man and a Chinese lady, although it's irrelevant to what we were about to witness, but being Chinese and having married to a gweilo, I felt like I could relate to... whatever).  The lady took a handout in the form of a name card a few steps before they stopped at the light.  It was quite sunny and the man has obviously sweat quite a bit while waiting.  Guess what happened next?  The lady wiped his sweat on the bold patch with the name card!!!  WOW!!  That's really creative!  I must admit I lack creativity when it comes to things like this... I thought only tissues/handkerchiefs/towels or even sleeves are used to do the job... or is it only me? 

But I guess wiping sweat for your better half is an act of love.  So who cares what you use?  Does it really matter if your better half gets a telephone number complete with name & company logo on his forehead?  I guess not in this case hehehe

Pity I was too shock to take a picture of it to show... ai!!

What comes first??

OK, what do you call it?  Strawberries with Whipped Cream?  Whipped Cream on Strawberries?  Whipped Cream Strawberries?  Strawberries Whipped Cream??  Which one is it???

Well, whatever it is called, we're doing it again!  Yes, it's Getting-Fat-Time again!  This time, we will have dessert first, yes, dessert first.  Then, dinner.  hehehe if we were hungry after that... So tell me, what comes first?  Health?  Good food (according to a friend, eating fantastic food could actually be almost like an orgasm -- that didn't really impress her fiance then, who's now her husband)?  or the smile on your loved ones' face?

This time, we've bought some better quality strawberries.  So it's a lot better than last time, although, it was already freaking good the last time.  Same old trick, I had to beat the cream to death, working all the calories that I'm due to consume away efficiently -- honestly, I've been beating it for 15 - 20 minutes, I can have the whole portion.  However, because I love my husband so much, and he loves me as much, I'll share it with him heehehe!

See how happy my baby is?  It means everything in the world to me ^___^  Not difficult to tell what comes first, right?

Remember Me

Nothing beats a good movie and with a couple of G&T's in the arms of your better half.  Yes, we watched Remember Me.  I must admit, it's because of Robert Pattinson, we decided that we should watch it.  And if you have watched Twilight, you should be able to understand why we made the decision.

It's started out with a homicide on a New York City Subway platform in 1991.  And then the story went on as quite an ordinary love story.  Towards the end of the movie, when I pretty much assumed that it was gonna be one of those lame romantic movies, the final twist impressed me, so much that it made the movie a million times better.  It made both Adrian and I cried.

I strongly recommend that you check it out.

Happily wedded at last! - part 2

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!!!

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...

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

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?

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...

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...