My brother gets hitched!

My family says the weirdest things. I think we might be slightly dysfunctional.

On the morning of Han's wedding
Shin arrives to pick Han up as the driver. On arrival, he says, "Where's Han? Is he crying in his room?"

o_O

*  *  *

The day after the wedding
My mum is fussing around the house cleaning things. She says, "Ah, so glad to be back to my normal boring life..."

o_O

25 May 2013

Dr and Mrs Jon Tang

First church wedding I've attended since I got married! (Had to miss a couple because of work/travel duties) I always feel so immensely happy and touched seeing the bride walk down the aisle to her eager groom. Followed by the exchange of solemn and binding vows before the altar. Congrats Jon Tang and Nadine! Your wedding was so God fearing and lovely. Have a blessed marriage :)

100 days

Happy 100 days of marriage to SJ and I! 100 days since I nearly tripped and fell over my wedding dress.

Esther saving me from my deadly dress, Church wedding 25 May 2013 

Pre-wedding shoot, Sydney 2012

Since the last time I've posted, it's been a weird and wonderful 100 days. Being married brings all sorts of strange perks (and also troubles) that you would not have thought of. Cooking, cleaning, going to bed, waking up, weekends, holidays all blur into one household. The routine is simple- SJ will cook, I will clean and we will go have designated work time, share a bottle of wine, and head to bed on time. Once in a while we get to go on a holiday. In these 100 days, we've had the pleasure of having guests over in the place we call our home, and it is in these times that I've discovered my inheritance of my mum's OCDness in having the place appear well kept and clean for guests to arrive.

Post wedding, we had our honeymoon in Melbourne, where we were fined not once but twice for speeding 7km/h over the speed limit (argghhh Australians!). For some strange reason the husband loves the Down Under, and I suspect we may be heading back soon the next moment there's a cheap flight offer.

Hunnymooning, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne May 2013

Fast forward a few more weeks and we took our first drive up the highway into KL over the long national day weekend. I was post call so SJ took the wheel...he would have complained I drove too slowly anyways. No complaints there, KL always an affordable holiday on a whim.

Braving the North-South Highway, Roadtrip to KL August 2013

Marriage aside, shuttling between Mum's and the in-laws for meals means home cooked food at no expense (time, money, toil)! I always wonder why people are reluctant to go to their in-laws/mum's for dinner. It's easy and yummy :D For those who were wondering, no we don't bring laundry back home for mums to wash (with reference to SJ's wedding speech). August also brought a health scare for a loved one. In a season of too many liver lesions, it was difficult to go through those sleepless nights. Nonetheless, God has been merciful.

In these past months, I've also had the chance to go on a work-related trip to Prague for AMEE 2013. It was an unsolicited opportunity that just dropped at my doorstep and I thought, why not? Not sure why, but I certainly have an affinity with medical education. It is at these conferences that I never fail to be impressed by the hundreds of conference participants who have so much to say about education, and by interesting ideas and models of teaching. Travelling alone though, was not the fun part. I used to think that it was novel to travel alone. Definitely not when you are constantly on the look out, wondering if someone is going to rob you, and worry about your luggage in event that you need to take an emergency pee break. Don't intend to do that again anytime soon.

Charles Bridge, Prague, August 2013

In 6 days, I will be taking my first post-graduate exam. I have almost just...20% confidence in passing it. (face of horror). Oh well, fighting daily battles, counting daily blessings. :) Till next time!

Got married!

Wow! We got married! Cool beans.

Kiss the bride! Photo by Vincent Lim

Transitions

Post first day of night float as Medical Officer. 2 weeks away from becoming a Missus. Waiting for my first pay check post pay raise today. Transitions transitions. Excitement in trepidation! In God we trust. :)

New plant in the house! Beautiful orchids from the cell group.

The ever gratifying can can mian from NUS Science Canteen. Ah, those days.

Happy Mums' day at Le Bistrot, yums!

Too fast too furious

Twenty thirteen is moving way to quickly for my liking. Need to slow down. Need to reflect. Need to pray.

Home building

Building a house has certainly been no joke. Trudging along with my super efficient Fiancé planning out weekend agendas and organizing contractors and typing out refrigerators/stoves/washing machines/tiles comparison charts on Excel. In any case I was suddenly shocked when SJ reminded me that we have about 17 weekends till the wedding (OMG). On one hand I'm pretty excited about all these changes and having our new home. On the other hand I'm pretty bummed out about having to figure out dinner plans daily and wash my own clothes. Admittedly a spoilt brat at heart, can't deny that. On top of lots of work and exams and plans to endeavour into new interests...how to cope like that! 

Here are some pictures to interest you. Should anyone need any lobang for home renovation please feel free to contact myself/SJ. Our contractor is awesome possum speedy peedy. Shangjun also runs his own lobang consultancy at a minimal fee (1x good coffee). PM for more details ;)

Smashing up everything

Fixing new lights

Changing doors and pipes

Tadah!

Wedmin

Wedmin, the stuff of wedding admin, or so my good friend C puts it. Been busy hurrying about doing a multitude of things. Dresses, bands, people, cards, renovation, lights and the works. Weekends burnt finding the best bargains, looking for that perfect fit and scrimping on that last cent to get our monies worth. Thankful for a very on the ball fiance who spends copious amounts of time researching on the technology and cost effectiveness behind beds and lights and everything you can possibly research on while I sit back and relax and give unhelpful comments about how ugly a ceiling fan will look in the living room. Even as I type this, I am receiving emails about bedding and the pros and cons of having a pillow top. This is on top of about 50 odd emails about lighting, layouts and ceiling fans. Hurmph.Well, God gives us different gifts I guess! And I'm certainly not complaining :)

In this season of my life, I've been thinking about how work becomes ministry and how I am struggling to find a balance between church ministry and not being able to be around on Sundays. There are so many things going on that I find myself wanting to protect whatever little time I have outside work for myself. How easy it is to forget what it means to die to self and gain life in Christ. I can always do better.

Work...could be better. I think being busy outside work keeps me distracted from the dissatisfaction that I encounter. I remember the days of great frustration of not being able to be good enough, going home feeling dejected but yet inspired to do better the next day. I miss those days. On the bright side, we are now down to 2 digit days -weak smile.

Life in general

Been having too many pent up and frustrated posts here recently. Time for some brainless rambling to sooth the brainless soul. 

Recently met up with birthday girl W to scoot about a new coffee joint, Société Canteen, where they use a Mazzer grinder to grind beans from Papa Palheta and filtered water for Synesso. The Australian inspired coffee was definitely a level up from the last I tried Papa Palheta along Bukit Timah Road. Pass! Will definitely go back for another shot of the yummy espresso. We also splurged on a red velvet nutella cupcake which had an oozing core of nutella encased in a deep red muffin. :) 

Then there was the 32nd Council Reunion which brought back fond memories of doing crazy things in the same place with the same people 6 years ago. So much so I went home to dig up my archives of council photos, which was very embarrassing and amusing at the same time. It was really amazing how everyone hadn't changed! The girls were all in fine jobs and the guys finishing up their final year. Mrs Ang will be proud of us!

Also recently brought SJ for his birthday to try the beef cheek at Open Door Policy after having been brought there by at Meelia's birthday celebration. We also had the wild mushroom risotto with truffle crumbs. The food was certainly yummy, but the rowdy Friday night crowd and the low ceilings didn't make much for a romantic dinner out haha. In usual Singaporean fashion, it was a fast eat fast go.

In between trying to juggle work and life, I've also been trying to look for photographers, caterers, dresses and the like for the wedding. For anyone who understands how particular I am about certain things, the task is looking to be a formidable one. To quote Pooh, how bothersome! If anyone has good recommendations or lobangs to share, they would be very much appreciated!

Otherwise, I'm also looking to pick up a new hobby (like painting or something)! Anyone interested to join me or with good ideas are welcome to drop me a message!