Mission

I went back to KL last week.. with a mission >>>> to collect my wedding dress! I was nervous, yet dying with excitement! For some of you that do not know, my wedding dress is actually made by Grumpy's mum.

While Grumpy and myself are both Malaysian Chinese... for the weirdest of reasons, we both agreed that we were going to follow the Australian (or more like Western world) rule whereby Grumpy is not allowed to see me in a wedding dress, until our wedding day. Hence, we were not going to do a pre-wedding photo shoot like everyone else back in Malaysia. Plus, we are running low on moolah.

So on Saturday, we both arrive in KL. We flew Air Asia.. because we are on a budget.. it was fine, it is not as bad as it seems. Anyways, Grumpy's parents picked us up, but after that, we went separate ways. I stayed with my parents, while he stayed with his. When Grumpy arrived home to his house from the airport, (this is also partially our fault because we did not inform them), his mum (probably equally excited as I was) had laid my wedding dress in his bedroom! OMG. When Grumpy told me, I sort of freaked out. I went "YOU WHAT?! YOU SAW THE DRESS?!?!?!?! YOU SAW THE DRESS BEFORE ME?!???!" Hahaha.. but he assured me, he quickly stepped out from the room that instant, and did not even get the opportunity to see the design of the dress. He asked for his sister's help to put the dress in a different room.

Anyways, my mum said its fine for him to see the dress. Just that he is not meant to see ME in the dress before the wedding. The next day, I make my way to his parent's house and.... I am jumping!!!! The wedding dress is gorgeous. I absolutely love it. She made it exactly as how I asked her to.. She is brilliant! No sneak peeks as yet.

Apart from the dress, I must admit that this trip was a bit sad in some ways. At some point, I felt like I was in a play called Romeo and Juliet. But thankfully, that bit is done.. and I am back here now. Phew. My mum was getting very emotional by the fact that I was growing up, and getting married, etc.. we had a fight, which Little-Miss-Drink-A-Lot said that 'no trip back to KL would be complete without the customary fight with our mothers'.

Here is how the rest of my short trip in KL went...

I got my hair done by this talented hairdresser at the Gardens in Midvalley. He has digitally permed my hair twice this year, and on both occasions, I am very pleased with the results.



Each day my parents will ask me "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
I reply "Toast Box".
"What do you want to eat for dinner?"
I reply "Toast Box".
I LOVE LOVE LOVE TOAST BOX! Ya I know, its not Malaysian...



I had bak kut teh in Klang with my grandfather, aunties and uncles..



They even have a domain name..



I got my nails done. While seated, in front of me, three young girls were also getting their nails done at the same time. They look like they were 5 years old. WHY in the world do 5 year olds need to come in for a manicure and a pedicure? I asked the nail person.. "Is this normal? Little kids getting their nails done??" She nods her head.



Here is one of my favourite places to have afternoon tea in Subang Jaya.. It is called Bawang Merah. You pretty much help yourself to the food, go back to your table.. eat your food, then before you leave, just drop by the counter and try to recall what you have already gobbled up in your stomach, and pay for it.



And of course, here are pictures of my dog back in Malaysia.. He is quite old, and his hind legs are failing him.. despite the old age, he still loves to play with his toys. A boxer trait, I think.







Seven weeks to the wedding. OMG.

melts my heart

This picture melts my heart...


Seen here

Melbourne marathon

What an awesome weekend. I have yet to post pictures of my dinner at Vue de Monde from the week before (I really have to get them from my friend).. but here are some pictures from the Melbourne marathon. It was on Sunday. I have no idea why we all signed up but many people from work participated. We even got a personal trainer to come in the Wednesday before the run, and he took us around Treasury gardens. I have never been with a PT before, but it was good fun. I signed Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch for the PT session as well, and she couldn't stop mouthing the words "I AM SO GONNA KILL YOU" through out the entire work out session. LOL.

It was a bit of a shame that the run clashed with a visit from one of my closest friends, Little-Miss-Bargain-Hunter from the Gold Coast, but the good thing is that I was able to bring her to our wedding ceremony venue at the Abbotsford Convent on Saturday. And the fact that she happens to be one of my bridesmaids too.

So here it is, on Sunday, the St George Melbourne marathon, I completed the 5km run with Little-Miss-Curtains. Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch did the 5km walk instead.

It was such a beautiful day for a run. Sunny, blue skies, a cool breeze.. and apparently, we finished in 33 minutes (from the time of the gun), or 31 minutes (my personal time). The best part? Finishing the race in the grounds of the MCG! It felt really good!

Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch and myself, with our medals after the race.

And today, we got our certificates. It is only 5 kms, as opposed to what my boss, Belgian Truffles did.. He did the full marathon and completed the run in 3 hrs 57 minutes! What an accomplishment! But this 5km run is just the baby steps I'm taking to do more serious running in the future. We aim for the 10km next.

flowers

I have not been feeling my best, I must admit. I was sick last Thursday. It was awful. I threw up six times. Yes. One, two, three, four, five,.. SIX times! No I am not pregnant. It must have been something I ate or drank. I have been careful, watching what I eat.

Believe it or not, Chapel Press took ages to get back to me. A bit disappointed there. Anyways, in my previous post, I mentioned about the other Letterpress designer, I call her Karen from W & G, even though she goes by the lovely name of Meaghan, she actually responded to me the following Monday. So today we finalised the boring bits (i.e. money, invoice, terms and conditions, payment).. in the next week, she will start working on our invites and I am already quite excited. I need to work on the wording soon. I guess it is all becoming more and more real now!

I met up with a really nice florist ages ago. She was lovely too, but a tad pricey. I will be meeting another florist in Prahran this weekend, just to get a cheaper quote. Grumpy does not give a rats ass about flowers. I found this picture on this website yesterday and I love it, aren't her flowers beautiful? I'm thinking, I'm sure I can whip this up myself? I told Grumpy the kind of look I am going for are flowers that look like I just picked them out from my garden... and he goes "What? You want to pay someone all that money, to look like you just picked them out yourself from your own backyard?"

Royal Melbourne Show

A few weeks ago my boss asked me, very casually if I was interested in doing a three day training program for some new starters here in the Melbourne office. At first I was like.. ermm.. are you serious?! :(

But after giving it some thought, I said Yes, why not?! If I said no, he might take it the wrong way. Also, as Training is included in our official job descriptions, I had to... at some point, in my role, do some form of training activity for people. I have done it in Dublin before and it was fine.

On Monday morning, I came in early, turned on my 'Out of office' for the next three days, and went into the Training Room. There were five new starters and I had to give them training in our registry system. It went really well, I must admit. It was the first time I was doing training in the Australian office. I thought I would be nervous, and when I'm nervous, I talkreallyreallyfast.. but I was quite calm. My friends would occasionally peek through the glass walls to check on me and give me a grin from the outside. Everyone else in the office, apart from the five new starters, would occasionally raise their hand when they see me walking past, saying "Miss!!! Excuse me Miss!"

My boss thought I would be exhausted on Monday being the first day. But it was only on Wednesday evening that it hit me. I felt so thirsty, even after drinking heaps of water. My throat felt sore and I was really tired by home time. I even made it to Body Jam class that Wednesday evening, but I could not help myself from yawning in class!

Friday morning, much to my surprise, my boss and I received an email from the head of the department saying thank you for the training. There were a lot of kind words about me too. Its nice to receive some positive feedback and just a simple thanks. This is a key element that appears to be missing from my colleagues in the Singapore office. And an even better part of the email was that many of my senior bosses in the Luxembourg office were copied in the email. Big smile on my face!

Okay now on a different note, the wedding preparations. I mentioned on Twitter recently, that I am experiencing symptoms of a very lazy bride to be. I really need to get my invitations sorted. A few weeks ago, I was in contact with a nice girl who owns her own letterpress business. Personally, I am more keen on helping out sole business owners as opposed to larger companies. I have seen her work, and I like it. She was so lovely over the phone, sounded like Karen from Will & Grace. Karen is my favourite W&G character, after Jack. However, after a series of unanswered emails and voice messages, I have had to resort to a different famous letterpress company here in Brighton.

So I went for my first appointment with Chapel Press yesterday, alone.. shame, I wanted Grumpy to come along but he had to work. It went really well. It was important for Grumpy to see how the letterpress invites look like, because they cost a lot more than normal digital printed invitations. Letterpress invites are definitely not the cheap route... but when I got there, and after seeing the samples, I was sold! Grumpy has no choice now.

Spoke to Mum about them. She said "Girl, why don't you make them in Malaysia? They are sooo good over here!!" I told her I could not delay it any longer. Invitations take at least six weeks. When I go back in November, its just too late to get my invites printed at that time. She said "No lahh in Malaysia you can get them sooo much faster, not six weeks lah!!" She tried hard to convince me on going the Malaysian way, but I am known for being stubborn in the family. She said "How much do they cost?" I lied, "$10 each" hahhahaha There were many OMGs after.. chill mother chill. By the way, they DO NOT HAVE LETTERPRESS wedding invites in Malaysia. Come on!

I end with some pictures from the Royal Melbourne Show last night. I had so much fun. I took these few pictures from my iPhone, more pictures to come from Mr Happy's Olympus PEN camera.

They felt nice..like a rug! Told Grumpy, the next time you eat lamb, think of this little fella here!




I am SOOO gonna take you home with me! :)

post surgery

The recovery period from my wisdom teeth surgery has been good. I had the entire last week off from work to rest. Yes, to rest, not a holiday! Everyone else thought I was on holidays. Jeez.

Days 1-4 post surgery. I eat only soft foods ie. porridge or soft boiled eggs with toast for brekkie, yoghurt or noodles for lunch, and congee for dinner. I walk around the house with ice packs wrapped around my cheeks.

Day 5 post surgery. Wednesday. The eve of my birthday. Grumpy and I decide to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner. I can only chew on one side of my mouth, but I want to celebrate! I get us dinner reservations at Tempura Hajime in South Melbourne at the last minute. Tempura Hajime can only sit 12 patrons at a time, and so you can imagine it is indeed a very intimate dining experience. Like the name of the restaurant, the chef cooks only tempura, in front of you, similar to teppanyaki.

There were 12 of us earlier that night, but because being the 'natural born slow eater' that I am, and also with only half my chewing capabilities that night, we were the last ones left in the restaurant at that time. Everyone else had finished and gone home. hehe I was very quick to receive sympathy from the chef due to my wisdom teeth. Another good thing with this restaurant is that he cooks based on how quick or slow you eat.. Overall, it was a good restaurant, absolutely delicious food, and very friendly service.

Grumpy and I, weird how I could even manage a smile. It must have hurt.

Day 6 post surgery. My birthday. I still can't chew properly, and OMG, there is visible bruising on my face! WTF. It is yellow!

Day 7 post surgery. I decide its time to go to the gym. I choose to go for a session of yoga. It is important that I keep all physical movements to a bare minimum. I get tired easily, and occasionally feel sore around the jaw. Later that night, I agree to meet the girls for dinner at TGIF in Jam Factory, South Yarra. "Will you be able to eat Jules?" they asked. "Yes, I'll try". I pick a nice salad for dinner instead of steak or ribs, ya know..

"Jules, what do you want as a birthday present?" asked Little Miss-Whats-For-Lunch. With all the spare time I had at home in recovery, I surfed a lot on Net-a-porter, mytheresa.com, and Shop Zoe Online. I replied, "Miu Miu bag".

So.. what do you know.. my friends go out and get me a Miu Miu bag..

Notice the yellow spot on the side of my jaw? :(

I read my birthday card from the wombats (we call each other wombats). It is hilarious. In the card, there is a picture of me from my previous post (face wrapped with ice packs), photoshopped into a fairy = a tooth fairy.

I also get a knitted scarf, which comes with a hood. Its really nice. I love it.

And a little note pad, in the shape of a cute bag. They also stick a Miu Miu label for me on this bag. Too funny.

I get chocolates, lollies, chewing gum, Smarties. Must be the work of Little Miss-Whats-for-Lunch.

But the main presents were two books from the Twilight series. Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I'm still half way reading New Moon.

After dinner, we head out to Little Miss Curtains new home in Cranbourne North. She's a dear little friend of mine, and I am so very happy for her that she is finally moving in to her very own home, which she bought together with her boyfriend.

Here is a picture of us together in her living area. The house is still very new, and not completely furnished as yet.

Day 10 post surgery. I return to work on Monday. My yellow bruise is now green! Everyone comes up to talk to me, asking me how it went and sharing wisdom teeth stories.

Today is Day 15 post surgery. There is still some bruising, but I am fine. Occasionally I feel tired after too much chewing.

I will see my surgeon soon in ten days.

more pics of BFF weekend

Pictures from my BFF weekend a few weeks ago.
It has been a while since I laughed that much..



Dinner at FOG Prahran

And the next day, we were all headed to the Yarra Valley


Some wine tasting


A lazy Sunday winter afternoon..






Some posed shots






My favourite picture with our reflection on the water

wisdom teeth surgery

The past couple of day have been a bit crazy. I have been busy with work. Trying to clear up as much as I can before I am off work for a week. Yes, finally the time has arrived for me to get my wisdom teeth extracted. Mum emailed me on Tuesday, saying she is planning to fly over on Friday night to look after me following my wisdom teeth surgery. OMG. No Mum! I'll be fine! I'm a big girl now!

On Thursday afternoon, Little Miss-Whats-For-Lunch took me, by tram, to the hospital because I had no idea where it was. I was getting my surgery done at the Freemasons hospital in East Melbourne. She said to me "Jules, you know right, its expensive there. Its old, but expensive. Lots of rich people go to Freemasons". I said to her "Now you tell me!!" You could have said it earlier! But the nurse told me my hospital stay was fully covered by my private health insurance, so I had nothing to pay to the hospital. Phewww! I could have done it at Cabrini hospital, which is at Malvern, closer to home, but my surgeon was not working at Cabrini on August 21. So Freemasons it was.

I have had one wisdom tooth removed before back in 2006. It was done in Malaysia. Grumpy was not with me, but my dad was. I made sure he stayed by my side. My Malaysian dentist brought in some guy, who was a lecturer at University of Malaya. It was quite expensive for just that one tooth removed. I was awake the entire time, I knew they cracked the tooth into four pieces, and slowly removed each piece. During the extraction, I was numb, so I felt nothing. But when I got home, I can still remember that I was in excruciating pain that night. Being the 'smart Julee' that I was, I refused to eat any painkillers, which was panadol mainly I think. Mum and Dad nursed me throughout the rest of the week. I could not eat any delicious Malaysian food for the rest of the week, and then I was back in Melbourne already.

Fast forward a few years later, my Aussie dentist said the remaining three wisdom teeth are all impacted and I should get them removed. All my friends here said that their wisdom teeth does not hurt and so they do not need to get them out. But guess what? Mine is not causing me any grief either, the only reason I agreed to the extraction is because food can get stuck in between my molar and wisdom teeth, and if not cleaned properly, it could ruin my molars.

So I met my oral & maxillo facial surgeon back in June. He looks like Harry (Charlotte's husband) from SATC. Consultation was only about 15 minutes. He warned me the risks, all the worst case scenarios (ie permanent damage to nerves), and made me sign a paper to say that I am fully aware of the possible complications from surgery.

The night before surgery, my silly dog kept me up all night. I have no idea what was wrong with him, but he did not sleep, and he made sure I got no sleep at all either.

Finally Friday arrived. I woke up early and ate two slices of toast and a fruit for breakfast. After 7.30am, I had to start fasting. I could have fluids up til 10am. Water mainly. But that was it for the rest of the day. Grumpy drove me to the city. We parked the car at Crown casino. Then we trammed it to the city. Passed the car keys to Dopey's girlfriend, Grumpy went back to work, and I was to make the remainder journey to the hospital all by myself. Was I nervous? Hell yeah! I was terrified. I kept saying to Grumpy "What did I get myself into??!?"

I 'checked in' at 1pm. Met my surgeon Dr Harry-from-SATC, he did a good job at comforting a very nervous Julee. He said he will only need about 30 minutes to get all three wisdom teeth out. He kept saying its always easy when I'm asleep. I also met the second doctor, who was the anaesthetist, and he explained what he would be doing to get me to sleep. Both doctors reminded me to put ice packs on my cheeks post surgery, to help reduce swelling and even pain.

It was quite bizarre, I thought Dr-Harry-from-SATC was going to be treating me, and only me, but I was wrong. There were at least eight people, all due for surgery with him! I sat there thinking, wow, he is a rich man.

Here is a bad picture of me all dressed up in hospitalwear and a shower cap.

Finally at about 3.15pm, the nurse came to me and said "Right Julee, its your turn!" Whoopeeee! NOT!

As I walked in to the operating theatre, it was all very daunting. They covered me up with a warm blanket. And I saw both doctors there. I was already so sleepy by that time, I wanted to tell them I don't need general anaesthetic anymore because my dog kept me up all night. Everyone kept talking to me in the theatre, I was not sure if they were keen to know more about me, or merely trying to keep me distracted. The last I remembered was that they were all trying to pronounce my family name 'NG' haha.. one of the nurses was malaysian chinese too, so she was telling the rest that it was pronounced "urngg". The anaesthetist injected into my hand (above my elbow), and said I will be feeling very sleepy soon, he asked me if I thought it tasted like garlic at the back of my mouth, before I could answer.. *poof* I was off to sleep.. in a matter of seconds.

I heard noises about an hour later, and then I woke up. No pain. I could not close my mouth. My face wrapped with ice packs. Dr-Harry-from-SATC put heaps of local anaesthetic into my mouth, so I was quite numb in the mouth. After about 10 minutes from one area, I was wheeled to my own recovery bay. The nurses gave me lemonade and some water, making sure I finished both. Lemonade to get my sugar levels up. Then she rang Dopey, as he was the lucky person I nominated to pick me up from the hospital.

The nurses asked if I wanted some ice cream or some jelly to eat. I said no, I was fine as I was.

A while later, both doctors came by to speak to me. Dr-Harry-from-SATC said he was very happy with my procedure, and I should be all good. I wanted to ask him for my teeth, but I could hardly talk. He said the stitches would disappear and we will meet again in a month's time.

After an hour from recovery, the nurse removed the drips from my arm, and I got dressed. I could hear some of my neighbours complaining of nausea and dizziness. But I felt fine. I was fed about three tablets, painkillers I think, before going home. Dopey came, fashionably late of course, and I'm on my way home! Pitstop to the local chemist to get my prescription. My script consists of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory tablets and painkillers.

I get home by 7pm, and I rest on the sofa for the remainder of the night. Grumpy gets back from work, and made me dried oyster and dried scallop congee. He used an immersion blender to make the congee easier for me to swallow. It is very yummy. He is the best! I used a pack of frozen peas and place them against my cheeks. I also used a pack of frozen dahl (for my roti) as it helps. This ice pack idea is brilliant. Why didn't my Malaysian dentist mentioned this back then?

There is some bleeding, but nothing excessive. All good. I slept soundly, woke up at 8am this morning.

And here is me now.

No real swelling. Not in any pain. I feel fine. This time round, I feel a lot better compared to my previous Malaysian experience.

LB fan

I have always been a hugeeeeee Little Britain fan. They are absolutely hilarious. I have actually seen David Walliams in real life.. both Grumpy and I were just walking along the famous Grafton Street in Dublin, and he walked past.. It was so cool. The only celebrity I saw in real life while in Europe. Sydney Boy and I have this thing, about spotting celebrities when travelling overseas.

Anyways, there are some funny videos from Funny or Die, by Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

My two favourites are:

1. Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow

2. Cheryl Cole and Nicola Roberts (If you have seen episodes of X Factor, you will notice how Cheryl Cole says "That was absolutely amazing")

Enjoy!

my Saturday

As most couples prepare to the lead up of their wedding, you can most certainly expect the bride and groom to encounter some bumps along the way. Some big... some not so big, yet still appear big to the struggling Bridezilla..

We have had our fair share of dramas. I don't know if it could get any worse, but coupled with the shitburgers I have been getting at work lately, you can definitely most imagine me to be sad, worked out and feeling low at the moment.

Last Friday, I was very fortunate to have my BFF Little-Miss-Drink-A-Lot come visit me from Sydney. She came with her other half, Mr-Big-Smiley-Face. It has been such a long time since we met up. But when we finally do meet up, we realise how important it is for us to catch up every so often.

Everything was rather well planned, and I organised for my make up and hair trial appointment for Saturday, so that she could come with me. Plus, she is my maid of honour, and therefore I need her here in Melbourne for me.

It was quite an interesting day. JD (make up/hair artist) is very professional. I got her contact from a friend and a cousin, who both got their make up and hair done by her, and the truth is, they both looked fantabulous on their wedding day! I was so excited about my trial. Every girl loves a good makeover session, and we even had morning tea provided at the trial.

How did the trial go? Ermm... not so good. Its partly my fault, I don't know. The make up, I was certainly happy. She used good brands and it was so comfortable. But the hair, not quite. I thought it was good to be honest about it, but JD was very defensive and all I can say is that she doesn't handle constructive criticism very well. I blame myself for not bringing pictures of what I wanted. But still?! I'm the client here, you should be reassuring me of other options, instead, I was assuring her I would 'eventually' like the hairstyle. Such a cow, I swear. Despite that, I admit that the hairstyle that she gave me was still a good piece of work, and she did a brilliant job, BUT it is just that it was not what I wanted.

I am very tempted to post some pictures of the trial here, but Grumpy is saying I will ruin a good surprise. Hel-lo.. it will still be the same face we will be seeing.. it is not like I am going for plastic surgery or anything. LOL.

But here is one of me, just after she set my hair. Note her gay assistant. Miss-Drink-A-Lot pointed out that he looked a lot like Perez Hilton, and its true. He was very entertaining.

I have still decided to go ahead with JD. If, I still have a wedding.. that is. But lets not talk about depressing things at this stage.

So after the trial, we went to a local restaurant for lunch. Then back home. Miss-Drink-A-Lot and I spent some time looking at wedding pictures of friends, exchanging thoughts and just chilling out.

Before dinner, I decided to take the dog out for a walk. And so, I carefully changed into my trackie daks, trying not to ruin my hair and make up, which cost me a lot of money already. As we walked out of the house with the dog, our neighbours looked at us, of course! And I was very close to saying "Yes, this is how I normally look when I take my dog out for a walk".

Finally we went out for dinner. I booked us a table for 8 people at FOG in Prahran. About 4 weeks in advance! I wanted to get us a table at Movida, but of course, Movida was already fully booked out. Its definitely not easy getting a table at a good restaurant here in Melbourne for a Saturday night! FOG was nice. It was packed. We ate, sipped wine and had some merry times together.

Here's a picture of my BFF and Mr-Big-Smiley-Face. He smiles a lot. We were all looking at the pictures from my hair and make up trial earlier that morning.

But of course, I still want to post a picture of Grumpy and I together .. as last Saturday was our 11 year anniversary together. ELEVEN years, yes, eleven!

So that was my Saturday.

I've just seen more pictures of the weekend from other friends now in FB. Mr-Big-Smiley-Face had some friends join us over the weekend, two of them were professional wedding photographers. They were happy snapping everyone's pictures of Saturday night and even on Sunday. We are such posers! :)

Will share more pictures soon. Off to bed now and hope to wake up to a better day!

special treats

I was on the phone to my colleague in Lux the other day. She's French, and she was telling me about her recent trip to Paris. Suddenly my very boring day at work sort of lit up, as she was said words like 'Christian Louboutins' and 'Manolo Blahniks'... From shoes, we spoke about Dyptique candles.. and she said to me "Have you heard of Nuxe?" I said no. How do you spell it? N-U-X-E. Nope. I have never heard of it. She goes "Ahhh you must try this oil! It is amazing!!! You must get Belgian Truffles (my Belgian boss here in Australia, who was back in Belgium for holidays) to get a bottle for you! Its SO nice.. everyone here in France is talking about this!"

And today, Belgian Truffles came back, and he got me a bottle! Its really nice. Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse. You can use it on your face, body or even your hair. Its an oil, but it doesn't make you feel like you just stepped out of the Shanghai dumpling restaurant here on Tattersalls Lane. Its not greasy. And it smells so nice.

Its about 25 euros for a 100ml bottle, I think.

And of course, he did not forget my customary French copy of Vogue magazine. I have plenty of these, anyone who goes to France usually brings a copy back for me. You don't need to read French to appreciate a Vogue magazine.. I subscribe to the Vogue UK and it gets delivered to me in the post each month, but these French Vogues are a special treat for me..

salad

In recent months, Grumpy has been an avid golfer. If he could, he would play every day. Boys can become quite delusional, forgetting commitments and responsibilities, all in the name of golf.

Anyway, while he occupies himself with golf related activities on weekends, I do other things like going to the gym or just spending quality time by myself at home. I have also started taking over in the kitchen, making dinner on Sunday evenings.

Last night, I was reading Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop website, and her latest post is about making roast chicken with potatoes. There is a video of her making this dish as well, which I think is brilliant. I have always loved Gwyneth Paltrow. And she is also married to the lead singer of one of my favourite bands. Many critics have said that her website is a bit 'Miss Goody Two Shoes' or.. some say its a way of her showing others how perfect her life is, blah blah blah. But I like it. She talks a lot of about eating organic. I said to Grumpy, "we should start eating organic". He says to me "No, you don't make enough money to eat organic" Hehehe its true. Organic food is very trendy and very expensive. But we should still cut down on eating processed food. Its bad for you.

Okay I'm getting a bit sidetracked here. Back to the roast chicken with potatoes. She makes dinner in 7 minutes and 40 seconds. Me? I take two hours. Yah its just me. Which is why I never cook on weekdays. I am too slow in the kitchen.

The chicken was delicious. Did not require too many ingredients, it was simple and full of flavour.

But wait, my favourite part was the Farmers Market Salad. She uses many different veggies, which is great. One of them called Arugula, which I have no idea what it is.. But I just used fresh mixed salad I got from the green grocers and some baby carrots.

Now, family and friends have always known that I make a really nice crispy noodle salad. But I can't be making the same salad over and over again. I've tried making many other types of salad, but none proving to be as popular as my crispy noodle salad. However, I think I have found a new one now. I think its all comes down to the dressing.

So here's the dressing I made today from Goop:

1. 1 small shallot, chopped
   
2. 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
3. 1 and a 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup (the most expensive ingredient from tonight's dinner)
4. 1 teaspoon of white vinegar (Goop uses champagne vinegar, but again, I probably don't make enough money to use champagne vinegar)
5. 3 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
   
6. sprinkle of salt
7. freshly ground pepper
   

I can picture myself making this salad when we have family or friends over for dinner now. It is delicious!

Remember the moment

In five days from today, it would be exactly one year from the time when Grumpy proposed. I still remember the moment vividly. It was in Venice and it was amazing.

In eight days from today, it would be exactly eleven years from the time when Grumpy and I officially started dating. I still remember the moment vividly. We were back in Malaysia, we were talking on the phone, and I could not sleep that night, I was very happy.

Over the years, there were many highs, and many lows. Many challenges. Compromise. Sacrifices. Understanding each other. Accepting each other. Learning about each other. Loving each other.

Am I terrified of marriage? A little, yes. Am I scared that it will change things? A little, yes. Am I scared that it will change us? Yes. 

No, its not cold feet. I am just preparing myself for the next chapter. I know I want to be married to him. I love him.

Six years ago..

D4

Every once in a while, I like to reflect and reminisce of my time back in Dublin. 

These are pictures of where I used to stay during my six months there. 

This is at the Grand Canal Quay in Dublin 4. On weekends, I would go for a run here, along the canal. Before I go home and make myself some pancakes for breakfast!

There were swans in the canal. They were friendly, they would come up to me as I took photos of them. There's something about swans that I absolutely love. Hmm.. I think it would be their grace. They are such graceful creatures. 

This is Dublin's O2 stadium, it would house concerts of the biggest stars. It was not completed yet during my time there. They get more rockstars, popstars over there than we normally do here in Australia. All we get is Pink over here. Seriously, she has a concert here like nearly every 3 months. Enough of Pink already...!

These are the little bridges I would normally have to cross during my runs. The big black wheel would be what you would have to turn (in circular motion) to open up the crossing to allow boats to go through. 

I will post more pictures of Dublin soon. Good night.