St Regis

I had the good fortune to help out at an event at St Regis! Was really looking forward to seeing the newest 6-star hotel in Singapore. It was a really elegant place and I should have taken more pictures! But other than the posh surroundings, I would say their butler service is exemplary. We called for some hair pins which they were able to send up to us in 5 mins. Amazing! Try calling normal room service and see if they will do it for you so readily?!!

Saturday mornings are for....

Brunch!

and Laundry!

Maybank D&D 2008

D&D was held at Shangri-La this year and anticipation was built up over the last 2 months or so. The theme for the D&D was Hollywood and multiple emails were sent out to all staff on ideas for dressing up. There were even "roving roadshows" with characters like Wonder Woman, making their rounds to drum up excitement. In my department, we spent numerous lunches discussing who we should dress up as, ideas included The Joker, Batman, Slasher of Friday the 13th fame, Geisha, Juno, Harry Potter & friends. Nothing was firmed until we made a trip down to the costume shops at Beach Road.

It was lots of fun seeing all the costumes, yet also a headache deciding on which character to take. Frankly I had nothing concrete in mind - maybe some fairy of sorts, some gentle delicate character just like me. Haha! Anyway, my colleague was keen on Legolas and I thought yah, there's this fairy/elf character played by Liv Tyler yah? Arwen in actual fact. The staff at the costume shop passed me the outfit, it fitted pretty well and everything was good.

Later, after doing some research online, I realised my character's actually Eowyn, this lady in Lord of the Rings, who killed the witch-king. Definitely more aspirational than Arwen. Eowyn's famous line in the movie is "No living man am I. You look upon a woman!" when the witch-king proclaimed that he would not die by the hand of a man. So anyway, to look more like my character, I attempted to DIY some soft curls in my hair. The curls turned out quite nice but was kinda flat by the end of the night. I also bought a sword from Toys 'R' Us to complete the whole look. So without further ado, the pics are below!

Cooking for Two

Having conquered preparing breakfast in the morning, I am hoping to cook some simple meals and put my kitchen to good use. But it's really tough to cook during weekdays. By the time we reach home, it's 8 plus already. By the time I finish preparing the food and cooking, would be close to 10pm already... (err.. yah I take quite a while to cook!) So I think will attempt to cook more during weekends! =)

Last Wed, cooked a very simple meal but I was kinda nervous. Always have a bit of phobia when it comes to cooking cos of kitchen mishaps! Thinking back on our dating days, I dun think I have actually really cooked anything for Joe! Maybe only cookies?! Hahha! So I really wanted to cook something nice and make him very happy =)

Cooked spaghetti, steamed broccoli with honey tomatoes (btw, get cherry tomatoes instead, much sweeter) and fried a cheese and ham omelette. The spaghetti was cooked just right but the Prego traditional sauce was kind of plain, shall add some minced meat in future. The broccoli was lightly salted and really soft. The omelette was the best and tastiest!

So far think my first real attempt at cooking at home went well! Best of all, the hubby does the dishes at the end of it all! Yay!

Before and After

An excerpt from an article by Bill Buchanan entitled 'Before the Wedding'. Think it's good to know both before and after!!

1. Marriage is a lifelong commitment.

   "So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has jointed together, let man not separate." "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?" Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning." - Matthew 19:6-8

2. Your marriage will go through tough times, but remember it's a lifelong commitment.

   "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." - James 1:2

3. Be a servant to your spouse, putting her needs before your own.

   "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." - 1 Corinthians 13: 4-5

4. Learn to forgive…and forget.

   "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, you Father will not forgive your sins." - Matthew 6:14-15

5. Admit when you are wrong, and seek reconciliation with your spouse.

   "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." - Matthew 5:23-24

6. Make plans together, but don't be surprised when things do not turn out the way you planned.

   "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

7. Communicate often, but don't try to change your spouse. Instead, try to encourage and strengthen each other. You cannot change your spouse, but you can change yourself.

   "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. - Luke 6:41-42

8. Don't depend on your spouse to fill all your needs. Only God can do that.

   "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, depends on flesh for his strength whose heart turns away from the LORD." - Jeremiah 17:5

9. A husband must be willing to fill his God-given role.

   "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." - Ephesians 5:25-28

10. A wife must be willing to fill her God-given role.

    "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." - Ephesians 5:22-24

Early Saturday morning

Finally gotten down to uploading the wedding pics.. The first instalment - photos taken at Joe's place before fetching me!

Who makes the bed when the honeymoon is over?

Housework has now become a part and parcel of my life in the sense that every day I will be engaged in some form of housework. Mostly the simple tasks like making the bed, doing the dishes, tidying the house, laundry, ironing, sweeping. Thankfully we have a cleaner who comes in once a week to do the dreaded tasks like washing the toilets and cleaning the windows. She also leaves packets of biscuits for us every week =)

Housework in itself is not that bad, it's just that it can get so tedious at times and seemingly never-ending. You did the laundry yesterday and there's somemore accumulating today. You made the bed yesterday morning but it's all messy again today. Can housework ever be fun?

Anyway, shall share some funny quotes on housework for your reading pleasure:

Marrying is easy. It's housework that's hard. - Proverb

I think housework is the reason why most women go to the office. - Heloise Cruse

Mu husband and I have figured out a really good system about the housework: neither one of us does it. - Dottie Archibald

Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture. - Mario Buatta

Housework is like being caught in a revolving door. - Marcelene Cox