For you I will

This past week at work, I'm glad to have fought some tough battles with valour and escaped relatively unscathed. It's an unspoken fact among all that the going will only get tougher with each passing day, and the heat is coming on fast. Despite having all the odds against us, Le Boss never fails to find means and ways to boasts the entire team's morale, be it lunch treats out of his own pocket or little words of motivation - it all means a lot to a junior management staff like me. While it is inevitable for some of the support staff to be at odds with each other for whatever reason, I learnt that it is the management team that sets the attitude right for them to emulate.

I'm breathing a little easier now that my sis is helming the planning of my solemnisation ceremony and doing most of the liaising with the vendors and the MUA. I've thought it through and rationalised that this wouldn't be the time to splurge on a costly made-to-measure or branded gown, given the tight timeline and our budget. Instead, a huge part of the cost will go to the setup, right down to the minute details. I'm hoping to sit down with the florist to firm up plans within the next month, so that we'll be able to draw up a clearer budget sheet for the event, and hopefully be able to free up a small portion for a bridal shower. Who knows?

And it's only you who can tear down these walls of animosity I build up with your teddybear-hugs and and little laughbites throughout the week. To listen to my ranting and is actually able to fully empathise with me, to pick me up after my dance classes for a short dinner date, to send me random IMs throughout the day to sober me up from my regular mid-work stupors, to take me into your arms during those cold nights and shield me from the dark.... I'm willing to bite the bullet for all this with you.

As the sun sets on Valentine's Day

Yes I broke the rules again, because I told you our gift budget for each other is $1, when I'm obviously inept with spending within my limits. I could say the same for you, too. :)

Compared to last year's wine and dine, this year's Valentine's Day was much more laid back - all we want to do after a hectic day of phone calls and meeting demanding nutcases is to kick our shoes off our weary feet and just feed our lovelorn souls and healthy appetites. A simple meal at one of our regular hangouts, a good cuppa at Starbucks, window shopping for a handsome suit for our solemnisation and fiddling with your new camera - I'm nothing short of thankful for every single moment spent together. AND you've been a good boy by stopping at a single rose - Daddy Lee has probably scored you 99/100 points. The 1 point is for that one rose. Hahaha okay I'm just joking, because Daddy and Mummy Lee love you like their own son already.

To our first and last Valentine's Day before we bid farewell to our engaged status and welcome married life with arms and hearts open. But until then, I thank you for giving me so much more than I truly deserve...


... for you will always be the best Valentine's Day gift to me this lifetime, forever and always.

Up and away: Kaohsiung and Taipei, 2012-2013

Oh gosh I'm finally done with all the photos from our Taiwan trip.

It hasn't been an easy feat planning this trip, especially when it's all about going all out to impress the Fiancé on our 59th month together. It'd been his maiden trip to Taiwan, so I wanted to make sure we covered most of the sights and sounds Formosa Island has to offer as the tour guide. Unfortunately, the unfriendly weather heralded us with frequent bouts of showers and chilly winds half the trip, especially in the outskirts of Taipei.

I liken Kaohsiung City's beauty to that of a country girl - incredibly simple, yet so easy to fall in love with because she's got everything Singapore doesn't. I could go on and on about the impeccable service attitude, the lip-smacking street eats or the helpful passer-by, and it still wouldn't do enough justice to the city and its lights and sounds.

... though I'll like to say I'm more of a Taipei girl. It's more cosmopolitan and its brilliant, down-to-the-second MRT system is unlike anything I've seen (well, I've to say that before I go to Japan). Plus I could probably navigate around Taipei without a map and speak their local lingo flawlessly like a pro. Looks like I've found my retirement retreat.

The last time I came to Fisherman's Wharf at Danshui, Taipei in 2011, I swore to myself that I'll return with the love of my life. I'm glad I got to do just that.

I remembered silently choking back tears while leading the Fiancé across the bridge; there is something magical about this place that I've always wanted to share but haven't found the right one to do so with during my first visit in 2005. The light drizzle pelting our coats, the raging wind, the bridge that spans across the harbour in a tight embrace, the numerous couples strolling hand in hand while walking their toy poodles, the handful of couples who huddle together on the steps to keep each other warm... Every emotion hit strongly like a torrid love scene, so surreal yet so comforting. To me, the apex and its spanning arm of lights will always be the symbol of everlasting love.

And then there were the hotels I give my thumbs-up to in Kaohsiung. The hotels in Kaohsiung and Taipei bore signs of differentiation between the two cities. The hotel staff further down south stopped at nothing to make your day - we've had personalised greeting cards placed in our rooms, complimentary upgrade to a suite, complimentary minibar and fruits, staff recommending hidden foodie spots and complimentary breakfast. They sure know how to make kiasu Singaporeans like us smile. On the other hand, our Taipei hotels were sterile and boring, even though they're located at some of the busiest spots in the city. The staff treated us just as what we were - tourists who needed nothing but a bed and bathroom.

Of course, we'll be insane to miss out on the chomp spots.

It is almost impossible for a Singaporean to reject Taiwanese fare - our hawker fare is comparable to their street eats. After having visited the major night markets in Kaohsiung and Taipei, I confess to being a night market junkie - that evil place turns me into a eat-everything monster. Rao He and Shi Lin in Taipei were, without a doubt, my favourite night markets. In addition to being a good place to people-watch, they had a good variety of stalls hawking epicurean delights and clothing. Apart from the food, the Fiancé enjoyed the little game stalls as well, never forgetting to pop by a game stall to try his hand at the air guns. It got pretty out of hand when we were at Liou He Night Market that I abandoned him at the game stall to go shopping for gifts alone. Lesson learnt: now I know why men enjoy night markets as well.

Thank you, Taiwan, you've been a wonderful host to our maiden couple trip.

Movie: Hansel and Gretel

 He isn't quite the dreamboat kind of guy, but there's something about Jeremy Renner that brings the girls to the cinema.

To be entirely frank, I loved Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. The dark twist to the Grimm brothers' fairytale added a punch to the supposed box office reject (the film's release date was pushed back to after Christmas to make way for the more "marketable" films). The plot was intriguing, the lovey dovey segments peppered the film generously and the gory parts were still palatable. And then there's Jeremy Renner. I'd rather watch Hansel and Gretel a million times over than to sit through the Twilight trailer.

2012

It has been a truly beautiful year. One year ago, I subjected myself to the laborious chore of condensing 2011 into a blurb of 500 words. I don't think 500 words will suffice this time round.

Warrior at work

As a student, I yearned to step out of my readings and into the workforce. A year on, I've broken free of the pneumatic cycle of mugging and projects and accumulated fresh battle scars from this strange world I never got to know within the safe haven of a lecture hall. I am truly lucky to be flanked with fellow warriors in my line who have fought more than enough battles to nudge me through when I get into a tight corner.

I have been asked the same question over countless conversations: why didn't you pick a job with more relevance to your degree? After crafting and editing my lines from talking to so many people, the standard answer is, "I like to apply the skills I learn in the course of my study instead of living straight off the book". Most often than not, I would receive weird furrows of eyebrows and exclamations, questioning the link between what they perceive I do at the office everyday and what they perceive I study. But again, if only people truly understood what my job encompasses, perhaps they would be a tad nicer to us. One can dream, can't I?

"Yes I do."

I don't mean to misread anyone, but there are people of my age who crave no-strings-attached, non-committing relationships. This is my first relationship, one I pored over for several weeks before making the decision to delve into something entirely strange yet exciting. From school and now into the working world, we're both changed, matured and learnt to grow with each other as a permanent feature in our lives. There was no doubt that I would say yes when you got down on one knee; there's an endless stream of memories that I'm waiting to create with you in this lifetime. Yes, I do.

The love abode

And this is just the beginning. I've dreamt for so long about the day I'll move into my new home with my loved one and build everything within from scratch. The wallpaper, the lighting, the furniture, the utensils, the cutlery... Most importantly, our very own love abode. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to get it next year, so that the renovation works will be completed by the time we're ready to move in.


Graduation

Apparently I enjoy getting things done in reverse order. Found work, bought flat, got engaged, GRADUATED. The lapse between my last school day and graduation has diluted the excitement, but it was a great day to play catch up with my fellow CNM alumni. Been there, done it.