o v e r f l u o

Today at this point in time my iPhone tells me I have walked 10,001 steps. This is higher than my daily average, thanks to a lunch time walk to e's office at one end of the city. I bought baguettes for us and as usual, we tried both but he let me have the one I liked better. The sun was out and the breeze was not too cold. It was nice. We also walked to and from the train station. This probably ought to be daily fare.

Soooo yesterday, e got the chance to test drive the Mazda MX5 – which won Wheels Magazine 2016 Car of the Year – and we made the most of it!  We planned a date all the way to Mornington Peninsula. About an hour from home, it's not actually that far, but for a weekday evening , it's considered pretty far. For the drive there in the convertible, we had the top down which was pretty cool (and a little cold, heh), plus we let some jazz tunes ring to match the feel. E was gushing about the specs and the way the car handled.  At Mornington Peninsular we had dinner at The Rocks, which was a little fancy. We aren't ones to make something special about 14th February but since we had that car and were driving all the way there, we thought we'd dinner at a nice place. Loved the view there, on the second storey overlooking the ocean and it's colourful boats. As it turned dark, the pier lit up and the houses across the water were really pretty with their orange ligh...

"Oh, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out ... knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away." –George Eliot

These were made on different days.  The pie was on a day we had leftover stew. I popped it in a bowl with some store-bought pastry layered around it, and baked it. Decided to have some fun with it and do a "F < 3 I". Easy and fun! The dark brown parts are where the egg yolk sunk in more.  The red velvet cupcakes were on a day I came home later and Ian had dinner all ready, plus pretty cupcakes to boot! There was some oozy yummy custard in the middle. We had cupcakes for dessert for three nights after that.  People think it's usually the girl who bakes. But hah! Not in our house.

The view since we were atop a hill,  the sunlight streaming in,  the familiarity of seeing it and knowing you're home.  These were a few of my favourite things.

I genuinely love it when my husband cooks. He's a better cook than me! And it means even more when I know he's had a longer, harder day, but he still chooses to be the one to cook.

I never set out to have all of these. All the goals people say we must set – I never had those. I could have been single for a long time, willingly. I was focussed on my honours thesis, serving in OCF, just loving God. Then He interrupted me. God interrupted me. Though it took time, my heart was opened up to this idea – the idea of a romantic relationship, the idea of having someone to lean on,  and He gave me someone good . So yea, I never set out to have all that I have. But God has given to me. And I am grateful. --- Shot on film by Mei and Mingyao.

Flowers were never quite my thing. It was a – you spend so much then they die so um why? But when it was time to consider flowers for my wedding, my interest and liking for flowers grew (though in the end I just went with the "usual" roses). Spring has probably sparked something too, probably because they are such a refreshing sight after winter and a sign of good weather to come. Two weeks back, Ian bought lilies for my birthday, enough to fill two vases, and the house has been smelling lovely since then. Sometimes I light a scented candle for the fragrance, but the fragrance this time is natural and quite full. Every time we enter the house, a whiff gets into our noses. They are waning now, but they've lasted quite awhile in decently cool weather. And they brighten up the house with their pop of colour. Mm mm. ^ Afternoon sunlight streaming in through the kitchen blinds. ^  After trimming the stem ends, some leaves wouldn't fit in the v...

^ Happy mail is on its way! ^ 6 months later, we will be having round 2. Yes, round 2 of a wedding. Not the actual saying of vows because once you say those, it's a promise for life. Rather, a wedding dinner.  Don't be too surprised. It's actually quite common when people from two different countries marry, at least for Chinese. I know of someone who had 3 wedding dinners – one in their current place of residence, one in the groom's country of origin, and one in the bride's – spaced out in two years. Reasons for the time lag include budget, and not being able to take so much leave off work at a time. Anyway, we're happy to be having a second wedding dinner because our celebrations in Australia were small (by Chinese standards), so we're glad to be able to have more family and friends celebrate with us this time round.

I love weekends. Weekends mean more time to have with the Mr. Today we visited  Scarvelli along Whitehorse Road in Balwyn. The mushrooms were tasttty. And the hot chocolate was Lindt, with honey flavoured biscuit bears. Mm mm. The little things. Like honey. And biscuit bears.

Dark night Outside our walls Pattering rain Rousing from sleep "It's raining", she says He replies, "But we have each other"

I was washing the dishes when this well-known phrase popped into my mind – life is the sum of your choices . The entrance of that thought was completely random, but it got me thinking. Is life the sum of the decisions I make, of the things I chose? Because really, I hope it isn't. Because I make silly decisions sometimes, or maybe, a lot of the time. It's true that in some ways, we "choose our own destiny" by deciding to work hard, eat healthily, be positive, study arts instead of science, believe in a God or not, start a friendship, marry someone, and more. These decisions affect the outcome. But they are not the only things affecting the outcome. More important than my choices, are the people. You may think we choose the people in our life, but actually, we don't always. There are some we choose, but there are many others whom we don't. Like our parents, for one. We didn't choose them, but they chose to have us. Teachers...

^ Happy birthday husband! Thank you for being my best. And thank you for being my husband ;) ^ We celebrated at  Movida Aqui . ^ Anchovy and sorbet ^ ^ Calamari sandwich ^ ^ Wagyu beef ^ ^ Lamb ^ Other dishes we had were cured meats, wild boar, and a little potato bomb. It was pretty good, but we were too stuffed to finish the lamb at the end. We actually didn't want to order it, but were told it wouldn't be enough if we only ordered the previous dishes. So we ordered the lamb. But what we've learnt is that we shouldn't listen to the waitress always.  The other time we went to The Black Toro at the Glen, the food was great, but again, we were ill-advised to order the lamb which turned out to be huge and we stuffed ourselves and still couldn't finish it yet again. Not sure if it was just the waitress, or what our asian-sized bellies can fit vs what locals usually eat.  But anyway, good meal. ...

I'm an average cook. In three years of university life away from home, my cooking philosophy was – as long as its edible. So I lived on three years of stir-fry. Anything is stir-fry-able. Just start with chopped garlic and/or onion, add the harder ingredients then softer ones, season with salt, pepper, maybe some light/dark soya sauce or oyster sauce, and ta-dah! An edible dish. Those were the days I discovered the amazing Korean bulgogi sauce – just mix it in with any meat and it will taste oh-so-good. Also, seaweed seasoning. If your food is a tad tasteless, add some seaweed seasoning which is good on its own. Now that I am a wife, that cooking philosophy has changed. After all, they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right? Ha ha. Okay but really – I can't feed my husband stir-fry all the time! By the way, I'm cooking most days now more because I'm not working so it's not some male chauvinist thing alright. It...

My Nord is here! Megathanks to my man :) We ordered one a month back and the store guy said it'd take a month or so to arrive. It's a popular keyboard, so they get snapped up really quickly. So we were waiting, waiting, waiting for it. One day Ian got a call but decided not to tell me, and just picked it up himself.  So, tadah! I have a new keyboard. So happy :)  Grateful to my parents for sending me for piano classes, and Mrs Chia who decided to give my brother and I free lessons when my parents thought of stopping those classes.  The keyboard arrived in good time too. It was the day I met someone who teaches piano and asked if I was interested to teach too. So for a start, last Wednesday, I taught my first piano class in Australia.

25 March 2013 So yes, you might have heard the news that Ian Loh  and I are engaged! Following that, I will be migrating to Australia permanently from 7 April 2013, to the city of four seasons in a day (where Ian is based). Bye Singapore and Singaporeans . I'm grateful for the friendships, community, and memories you've given me. I appreciate your public transport system, safe streets, crazy number of malls, and tropical weather to some extent, just to name a few. Guess where this photo was taken! It's near the church which I go to every week, and near where I went for art supplies as a design student. Apologies that I can't meet many of you before leaving as I'm reserving time mostly for family and major packing. But, we'll keep in touch! I love Singapore enough to retain my citizenship, haha! And I do so appreciate whizzing through customs at Changi Airport – times when I am extra glad for our efficiency. And, helloooo Melbournians! See ya soon! ...

It's been a month since the big move to Melbourne, for good this time. And so far, thank God, it has been mostly smiles. What have I been up to? Meeting people, wedding prep, walking around the neighbourhood and getting to know it, volunteering at a soup kitchen once, sleeping in too much, getting to know Ian's friends, cooking, reading and watching dramas. Yups. Not too bad. In a way, itching to get back to work; but also enjoying this long break that I probably won't get so soon again after I start work. And in case you don't already know why I migrated, it was to join my favourite boy in the world!

Ian was here for a month. It was good to not just communicate via Skype, but be able to see each other and speak face-to-face. I feel refreshed :) While I do wish we didn't have to do the distance, all I'm thinking of is: 2 months!!! 2 months and I'll be in Melbourne again! With Ian!!! (Yay - a post that ends and begins with Ian , literally) \m/

Volunteered at Focus on the Family today and had fun! Stuck double-sided tape on some material (I actually like cutting and pasting whatnots har har) for a later workshop, found and keyed in some resource descriptions and did some content editing. I also borrowed a No Apologies facilitator's guidebook to refresh my memory as I will be doing a workshop soon. Funnily, the copy passed to me was a raw copy with some edits in my handwriting - it was one I helped edit three years back! Met Miss Lynetto after, and did some sort of Bible Study with Ian over Skype. Here's Ian, my brother-in-law, Mark, and nephew, Ern, at Lower Pierce Reservoir earlier this year when Ian was in Singapore :) - A short something from some time back which I can't remember what for, but would like to share: Thank You for chances to try. And fall. And try again. And yet I am not mocked or judged. I really appreciate You Lord. Thank You.