1/4 Pineapple Tart CNY Treat!

I wanted Charlotte my hamster to feel special, probably one of the few hamsters in Singapore who had a chance to taste a pineapple tart, so I gave her 1/4 of a pineapple tart as a CNY treat!

Of coz, I broke it up into smaller pieces for her. She likes it! Especially the pineapple! Me too! And her owner (i.e. me) ate up the remaining 3/4 pineapple tart... Hope she's happy! =)

Diana Degarmo - 'Reaching For Heaven'

This tune and lyrics of this song just captured my heart when I watched the VCD titled 'Ice Princess' by Walt Disney Production. The storyline is about an average school girl who is whiz at Physics, being offered a scholarship by Harvard, but she turned it down to pursue her own dream as a professional ice skating athlete.

That's the amazing thing about Walt Disney movies - They always have this theme that gives hope to the viewers! Other movies just add thrill, scare, gore, comedy or action... but Walt Disney shows appeal to the vast majority! Unless, with the possible exception of those with too abstract mind. But that's what I like about Walt Disney movies... coz it gives me hope and inspires me to want to see things differently from what we normally see as an average person.

Reaching For Heaven - by Diana Degarmo

All my life
There was just me and my dreams
And the days went ticking by
Like the beat of my heart

Spend my nights
Wondering how it would feel
When the waiting would end
And tomorrow would start

Suddenly I see a light
Out of the darkness I'm coming alive

Chorus
This how it feels reaching for heaven
Is this how it feels kissing the sky
This what it means touching forever
Like a phoenix rising from the flames
I'm reaching for heaven

All this time
I never knew I was so strong
But you made me find the fire
That was there all along

In your eyes
I can see all I can be
Suddenly I want it all
I know you'll catch me whenever I fall

Bridge
You alone have shown me
Shining new horizons
Now for all I owe you
It's my turn to show you

[Repeat Chorus]

Reaching for heaven
This how it feels kissing the sky
Is this what it means touching forever
Like a phoenix rising from the flames
I'm reaching for heaven
Reaching for heaven
Heaven

Pineapple Tarts - A Guy's Weakness?

Hahahaha... Rebecca shared with me how a number of male colleagues can't get enough of eating pineapple tarts, with some even eating up to 2 containers full!

I don't know whether it is a guy's weakness (or just a guys' attraction) but I am also tempted by pineapple tarts! I love pineapple tarts! She doesn't know many girls who are that obsessed over pineapple tarts though... Hahahaha... =)

4-5-6 Cardio Workout!

For those of us who can get tired of monotonous cardio workouts at the gym, I found this very interesting website by Gunnar Peterson, who so happened to be Sylvester Stallone's personal trainer as well as for his family! In fact, Gunnar Peterson owns a very huge house with his own private gym that is opened only to celebrities! Possibly because of the high price! But I'm sure celebrities can afford it... and they would love the privacy...

Anyway, this '4-5-6 Cardio Workout' works in this manner. Firstly, we need to select 3 different cardio workout machines. Once selected, we will do 4 min on the 1st machine, followed by 5 min on the 2nd machine and ending of with 6 min on the 3rd machine! Sounds simple? And that would complete a 15-min cardio workout for busy people!

For those who wish to do a 30 min cardio workout, simply repeat this set twice! This mix & match cardio routine will be interesting, works out the whole body and won't be boring! Hurray! =)

My Favourite Stall at SIM

It was 4th Jan 07 (Thursday) when I made a trip to SIM for lunch, before meeting the Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer to view the Mounted Spray Gun Project which I had worked with him since last year. Anyway, this Blog isn't about the project, but my favourite food stall at SIM.

I spent 3 years studying full-time at SIM back in year 2001. Back then, I had a fancy for this particular 'shui jiao mian' stall at the food court. So I went to try it that Thursday after not having tried it for 2 years!

Sadly, it didn't taste nice already... even though that same lady is still cooking it... but there is another 3 helpers in that stall, so it appears to be doing well... Hmm...

Vivocity's Prata Is Terrible!

Nothing more needs to be said.

As the subject title says - "Vivocity's Prata Is Terrible!" Don't try it!

How To Annoy Someone Over The Phone

Sometime ago, my colleague shared with us how to annoy someone who calls in to look for a particular person. Whenever the callers says something, just reply, "I'm sorry?" Soon, the caller will get irritated and put or slam down the phone in frustration! Hahahaha!

Preliminary Choosing of Wedding Tunes

It was 28th Jan 07 (Sunday) and I came over to Rebecca's house after church. We spent time with her family and later took the opportunity to choose a few nice contemporary and classical music that we would like to shortlist for our wedding ceremony! It was so refreshing to plan and do something new...

As a whole, we were looking at 3 tunes - 1 tune while the guests are seated, 1 for the bride's walk-in and 1 for the married couple's walk out and in. It would be such an exciting occasion! Listening and choosing tunes just got us into the mood! =)

Taxi Motion Sickness

Its strange... I hardly get motion sickness in my life. But since I took this job as a project executive, I am required to travel to meet companies quite often, which means lots of taxi fares! After 1 year into the job, I am beginning to feel quesy during long taxi rides of more than 20 min or journey that is above 21 km. Dunno why... but oh well... I try not to think of it during the long ride...

Rebecca gets motion sickness too, but unlike me... she gets it on land, sea and air. *Laugh*... so I am thankful that I don't get air or sea sick! Then I can take care of her... =)

Cheerful Maxicab Driver

Last Saturday, I took a Maxicab to SHRi for my Saturday lecture. I think that was my 1st time taking a Maxicab and the taxi driver laughed when I asked if I had to pay extra charges. I smiled sheepishly and said that I didn't know whether any extra charges apply for such a huge taxi. After all, it is a 6 - 8 seater Maxicab!

This driver by the name of Ang Lee Cheow was a very nice man and chatted with me throughout the 10 min ride to Tekka Mall. He told me that although Maxicab mainly focuses on advance bookings for a group of customers, there are times when Maxicab drivers may not have pre-advance bookings and still need to drive around to fetch normal customers to earn money.

As we chatted along, I saw this 'Our Daily Bread' in his Maxicab and asked if he is a Christian. He said he is and shared with me how active he is during his younger days and how close he is with his ex-church and current church members. Even though he is married, has kids, serves in church and drives a taxi for a living (normally taxi drivers need to work long hours), he still makes time to spend with his family every day!

And the most amazing thing... he doesn't work late hours unlike most taxi drivers! Unless he has a personal booking, he would go home and spend time with his wife and kids at after 8pm every day! And even more amazing... he doesn't drive his taxi on Sundays! That's an additional $106 rental which he has to cover on his other working days!

Its so amazing how a taxi driver can make such time and discipline in this sort of job. I really admire him for this aspect as a family-oriented man, as well as his 'happy-go-lucky' nature when it comes to living life. Amazing... and how God has provided for him all these years... and all he said to me was - OBEY.

I teared in front of the PC when I typed the above sentence because often I find it so difficult to obey and submit to God. Human nature is just so full of flaws that only God can love such a hurtful generation of mankind.

Yup, and that was what he encouraged me to do - OBEY GOD. And when I stepped out from his Maxicab and turned around to close the door, he showed me this encouraging thumbs-up sign that just moved my heart. Even now... I'm tearing again... I felt so encouraged... I just couldn't imagine how much joy and strength I felt in this man in his 40s... God did great in his life... Amen. =)

Buying of UK Land

About 1 month ago, Rebecca and I were walking around Bugis Junction when we came across this standing display that asks viewers if they would like to buy UK land. It also states that the value has risen by 1703% over the past 23 years.

When we first saw it, I found it very funny because why would people want to buy UK land? I mean, there are some big-time investors who would like to invest in purchase of land, but how many in Singapore would like to buy an empty plot of land and wait for developers to build something on their land before the land value increases?

I mean, come on... who is their target market? Why put this display next to the Eng Wah cinema queue area? These people who patronise this place are possibly the wrong crowd! Besides, UK is too far away... so am I supposed to fly there every once in awhile to see if some developer would like to build something on my land? Why not I buy part of the Southernmost Point of Asia at Sentosa? Weird...

Sentimental Guy

Rebecca says that I am a sentimental guy and she likes that about me! Why? Coz I recently came up with this idea about printing 100 photographs from the various collections that we had over the past 5 years!

We will paste each of the 100 photographs for each year that we have been together into each of the 5 big photo albums! This will be a nice memento when we look back after we are married in Year 2008! Hurray! =)

Agonizing Valentine's Day

I had rested as much as I could for the whole of Wednesday (Valentine's Day) but I had not recovered after taking 4 panadols by now, 2 doses of medicine, gargled with mixture for sore throat, 3 Tussils lozenges and a total of 10 hours of sleep. Just great... and I was really trying to imagine how I am going to drag myself to work the next day.

I was also feeling down because I could not spend Valentine's Day with Rebecca. We were supposed to meet for dinner on Valentine's Day Eve, but I just couldn't. Rebecca bought dinner for me on Wednesday evening, but I couldn't taste much because of my tasteless taste buds. But I am grateful for her concern in coming down to visit me after a tiring day of work. We exchanged CNY cookies too. I can still remember her worried look when she watched me brushing teeth.

All these while, my fever had not subsidied. In fact, it was slowly increasing from 37.4 - 37.7 deg. By 8pm, my fever was 38.06, 37.85, 37.95 and 38.16 deg! Oh dear... the last temperature reading confirmed that I should see the doctor again. And Rebecca accompanied me to another clinic that my Mum recommended at Crescendo Building near my house.

My body was aching and my legs felt weak, so Rebecca supported me all the way to the clinic. The walk to East Coast Road was one of the longest that I had experienced, as I slowly inched my way in laboured steps. My condition had worsened as I was getting quite bad body aches and diarrhoea. My Mum suspected that it is stomach flu.

Reaching the clinic, I was surprised in my first time there that it looked really nice! One of the lady also looked like Veronica from church! The doctor was also a nice man who smiled a lot, listened to my patiently and even checked my stomach. It wasn't stomach flu, but upper respiratory tract infection. Out of curiousity, I also checked that it wasn't because of the heaty food that I had taken (my Mum & Rebecca kept insisting that it was becoz of pineapple tarts) and the doctor confirmed that its a virus, nothing to do with food.

I was given another 2 days MC and waited for Rebecca to board her bus home. This medicine was really more effective than the earlier ones given. This time I was given Antibiotics called 'Enhancin'. In fact, the medicine given this time round had funny names! I was also given 3 more tablets - Became (Rhinapront) for runny and blocked nose; Ibuprofen (Brufen) for fever, pain and sore throat; and Cloperan (Maxalon) for nausea and vomitting. I like the names 'Enhancin' coz I sounded like a stimulated drug likes Estacy that makes people feel high... and 'Became' because it sounded like I will become something after I take this medicine! *Laugh*...

Last night, I had a good sleep... though I am not recovered yet. I still had diarrhoea this morning. That liquidity brown stuff simply blasted out of my anus! I am also feeling nauseous and with a bit of body ache. But I feel a bit better with this new doses of medicine.

Yet, with strong medicine, it could mean harmful to the body in the long run. The best is to try and stay healthy and strong. But in this polluted world... it can be really difficult... Hmm...

Sickly Valentine's Day Eve

Valentine's Day was on Wednesday (14th Feb 07), but this whole episode began on Tuesday. Then again, somehow perhaps it really did begin on Monday night.

On Monday night, I had just finished checking my e-mail, when I decided to click on the 'You Tube' website to check out what's new in there, before going to sleep at about 1am. Yeah, it was quite late... but considering that I usually sleep at about 12am, it wasn't too extreme anyway. Yet, when I logged off the PC and went to sleep, somehow I felt a strange inkling that something would happen tomorrow... but I didn't know what exactly.

I had a relatively good sleep and got up for work the next day (Tuesday). I was feeling fine during the bus journey to the office, except that there was this person who was coughing / sneezing (I can't recall) somewhere in front of me. I didn't know whether this person is the culprit, but then again, this isn't the first time that someone coughed / sneezed near me.

Upon alighting the bus, I started to have a bit of runny nose. But I brushed it off because my nose usually gets sensitive in the morning. No big deal... and I went to buy breakfast from McDonalds after putting down my bag in the office. I felt a bit nauseous while queuing up at McDonlads, but I told myself that its okay... maybe I'll rest early tonight.

After my breakfast (& my usual catching up of the daily news from the Channelnews Asia website), my runny nose started to get worse. By 10am, I had already used up 2 packets of tissue paper. At 10:30am, I went to sit in for a product demonstration by 3M at my office training room. My nose started to 'pour'... no longer runny... but literally flowing... minute by minute... I dunno why... but I felt so embarassed in front of the 3M staff as I had to keep on taking out tissue paper to blow my nose every few minutes! That 3M lady looked at me several times too... by then, I had already used up my entire 4 packets of tissue paper. Thank God that I had put 4 packets of tissue paper in my bag (seldom have that many packets!)

I have never used up 4 packets of tissue paper in just one morning! Its a record! In fact, I had begun using the tissue paper from the tissue box outside the training room, until I decided that I had enough... and decided to leave office to see a doctor. I couldn't take it anymore and I was getting a headache from the continuosly flowing nose! So I sent an e-mail to my dept colleagues, packed up and left the office. My runny nose was so bad that the temp staff had to lend me one packet of tissue paper coz I didn't have any more with me. It was so depressing and embarassing!

I left the office at about 11:30am... and the wait at the bus stop was so uncomfortable that I almost wanted to flag for a taxi to bring me home. Thankfully, just as I had made my decision to board either the bus or taxi, whichever came first, then bus 36 arrived! I boarded the bus and sunk into the seat, trying to rub away the throbbing headache. It didn't work though my fingers tips hurt from the rubbing (apparently its quite a bad headache).

As I alighted from the bus at Marine Parade Road, I trodded along the path till I reached the Siglap clinic at 12:55pm. To my shock, the lady was just about to close the clinic for her lunch break! I asked her if I could leave my name first, but she refused and just told me to come back at 2pm. Fine... I can't possible grab her by the throat and make her write down my name, right?

Survival instinct kicked in. It was a hot and sunny afternoon (its 1pm) so I decided to hide inside the VideoEzy retail shop and browse around to distract myself from the headache and still flowing runny nose. It didn't work and I wasn't in the mood to browse the VCD titles, so I decided to cross the road over to Siglap Centre to get some toilet paper from the toilet. I had run out of tissue paper already... and that last packet was my 6th packet of tissue paper belonging to the temp staff.

I felt so pathetic having to pull and pull toilet paper from that dirty toilet. Eeee... but no choice, coz I didn't want to buy tissue paper as I had just bought 3 packs for my family recently. After blowing my nose, I decided to have lunch at the nearby coffee shop. I ordered $2.50 economical rice and purposely ate slowly becoz I didn't know where else to go. I didn't want to walk back home and walk out again in the hot blazing sun. Not much point in going that distance just to only put down my bag.

After finishing my lunch, I saw that it was only 1:35pm (25 min to go, assuming that lady comes back from lunch on time; seriously I didn't like her attitude). It was also warm in the coffee shop, so I decided to get a drink from Siglap McDonalds and sit inside the air-conditioned place. I ordered an ice-lemon tea which the lady had difficulty trying to make out what I was trying to order because my voice had gotten sore...

So there I waited, drank and tried to distract myself by reading a book that I recently bought from MPH on how to improve my presentation skills. Yeah, it was pure distraction by reading. Finally, I waited till 2:05pm before deciding to walk over to the Siglap clinic. The door was open and I gave the lady my name.

I didn't have to wait long (in fact, it was only about 2 min) before I was called to go into the room to see the doctor. I was surprised to see that it was an elderly female doctor coz normally this clinic only has 2 male doctors! She didn't look very professional... and her eye contact was absolutely terrible! In that short 5 min, she only looked at me like twice and about 1 second duration for each eye contact. This elderly female doctor dismissed my condition as nose allergy which I claim that its not... but she wasn't really listening, so I dropped the subject, took the 2 days MC for Tuesday and Wednesday, and trodded home in the hot afternoon sun.

I almost literally rested for the rest of the afternoon, but I could not sleep because of the blocked nose. That's why I didn't like to take Chlorpheniramine because it stops the runny nose, but it gives me severe blocked nose for the next 1 - 2 days! I tried to take the non-drowsy Xyzal tablet (for daytime medication) but it didn't work well either.

Later that evening, I started to develop a slight fever of about 37.4 deg. I took 2 panadols and tried to sleep again. I was glad that the runny nose had stopped, but the blocked nose persisted through the night and I woke up almost every hour just to urine (I drank quite a bit of water) and try to clear my nose. So that was how that day ended...

Strategy for CP Distribution

Last Sunday, I learnt a tip from Uncle John Soh on how to distribute Chinese New Year goodies from my church to the neighbouring residents nearby.

His tip was that we should go before the 11am church service because most residents would have woken up by then (hopefully it would also be a happy morning surprise) and they may not be going out for lunch / outing yet. Thus, I figured at approximately 10am would be a good time. Must remember! =)

Fiance and Fiancee

Sunday has arrived, and it was 4th Feb 07 - Rebecca's 25th birthday. I was glad to be the first to wish her happy birthday because I guess her family was too busy getting ready to go to church and forgot to wish her early in the morning. But it feels good to be the first to wish her, especially on this added special day (and I believe she didn't expect what I was planning to do)!

It was a typical church Sunday service (as usual), except that we had an invited speaker Rev George Ong who is tremendously humourous in his jokes, yet serious in his sermon preaching. He amazes me at how he went into writing books on humour to earn a living, while working as a pastor without drawing a salary. In fact, he has already written 10 books! I wanted to buy one book to read and laugh, as well as to support his ministry... but it was a pity because I had to rush off to give out Chinese New Year peanut cookies to the neighbouring blocks of residents near my church, as part of my church Community Penetration (CP) work.

Rebecca and I were assigned to Blk 13, Level 7 & 8; whereas her parents together with Richard Berry and his daughter went to Level 9 & 10. It was an interesting time, though only 3 out of the 12 homes opened up to Rebecca and I. Nonetheless, just being able to send our greetings and regards to one particularly friendly lady and little girl made us smile.

Thereafter, I brought Rebecca to Suntec City to eat at Marche (this is our first time eating at this place coz we have never eaten there together before) and we even saw Sean at the MRT station waiting for some people. Sadly, we arrived there to discover that it has closed down! Now both the outlet at Orchard HMV and Suntec City has closed down! What's going on? Is the business really that poor? I kinda like the cripes there...

I felt a bit bad, coz both of us had to wonder around to look for a nice place to eat. In the end, I decided to bring her to Outback Steakhouse at Millenia Walk. This is also our first time eating there, so it wasn't such a bad choice after all, even though the food tasted average and the atmosphere was rather quiet without any music. Hmm... but still, I appreciated the time that we spent over my lunch treat. =)

After lunch, and buying some snacks for my planned dinner picnic by the beach, I decided that we take bus 10 to Harbourfront because we were both feeling sleepy after a heavy meaty lunch and it was a long way back to City Hall MRT station. Thank God for giving me this idea! In fact, this route turned out so much faster and we managed to reach Harbourfront in just 10-15 mins!

And so, I brought her to take the Sentosa Express Monorail, which she looked quite impressed about. Then we took the air-conditioned tram to Palawan Beach, before crossing the bridge over to the Southernmost Point of Asia Continent. There, we spent the next 2 hours just chatting at the bottom of one of the tall towers, as well as at the top and 2nd lower level of the tall tower.

Why? It was because I planned an early dinner picnic for two of us, and even brought newspapers to sit on... but it turned out that the newspapers weren't enough (forming just a 4-piece square just enough to sit on), it was very windy and the newspapers kept flying, and the spot of beach sand where I chose to sit, ended up damp for some strange reason! Thus, that's why I had to throw away the newspapers and we ended up chatting, relaxing our minds and just taking time to breathe and watch the scenery and people go by. It was a quiet way of spending time together and we both liked it. Once in awhile, at least.

As we chatted, I also took a few photos of the sunset before it seemingly disappeared due to the thick clouds at the horizon. Just before it got a little dark, I felt an urgent need to go to the toilet, so we walked back to the food centre across the bridge to use the washroom.

Surprisingly, the sky became a lot darker after I came out of the toilet. It was just 1-2 mins! Anyway, so I suggested that we walk back to the Southernmost Point to chat awhile more, before I send her home. I suggested that we stroll along the beach instead of going up to the tall tower again, and that was what we did. After a short while, I stopped and asked if she wanted to see her birthday gift and she said okay. So I told Rebecca to wait awhile, while I went to that quiet corner to prepare my surprise. Just in case anything happened, I told her to shout for me.

When I reached that spot, I took out the glass bottle with a rolled-up piece of paper inside (with a message for her), dug a hole in the soft sand, placed the bottle into the hole and covered it up with the sand. Then I took out the box containing the engagement ring and put it in my right pocket. Thereafter, I started to light the candles which I had bought and prepared for this occasion... but all of them wouldn't stay lighted for more than a few seconds!

It was such a windy day and no matter how I tried to shift the location, the wind kept the candles from being lighted for long. I prayed for a miracle from God to just stop the wind for a few minutes, but it didn't work. So, I decided to place the glass bottle back at my previously selected spot and just placed the candles in a heart shape formation on top of that sand covered area. Well, that was like the best that I could do (even though later Rebecca suggested that I could use sparklers, which I replied that candles are more romantic).

Lastly, I slotted the song sheet into my back pocket and took out my mobile phone to set the loudest volume and select the music that I wanted to play to set the mood. Once ready, I walked over to Rebecca with my black tie (to improvise as a blindfold) which apparently failed to properly cover her eyes! Hahahaha... It was so funny... It was like so many things are going wrong at the last minute! I even confessed to Rebecca that I was feeling anxious inside.

Anyway, so I covered Rebecca's eyes and slowly walked her toward that sandy spot. Upon reaching there, I started to play the MIDI tune titled 'Forever In Love' by Kenny G, before asking her to open her eyes and telling her that her birthday gift is hidden inside the sand in front of her.

Rebecca seemed rather wary as she tried to push away the sand, so I tried to help her a bit (before the music ended in 5 mins time). Finally, she found the glass bottle and had difficulty taking out the piece of paper inside because there was sand stuck at the top opening! With a little help, she managed to take out that light pink piece of paper, and I asked if I could read her birthday message to her.

I did my best to read and mean the words which I had typed and printed on this piece of paper, while Rebecca listened quietly to herself. I wasn't sure if she could guess that I was about to propose, but I carried on reading slowly. I planned my message to end with a sentence that led to my kneeling down on my left knee (I had planned to kneel on my right knee, but in my anxiousness, I forgot and ended up kneeling on my left knee). Then I took out the box containing the engagement ring, opened the box and asked Rebecca if she would marry me.

Rebecca looked stunned (Okay, so I was right that she didn't expect this coming), but she said okay. I smiled (or at least I think I did), took out the engagement ring and put it on her finger. She still looked a little surprised that I had actually proposed to her (I mean, what could we expect... it was the first time that both of us encountered this situation) and I assured her that we have gotten the blessings from the OFL leaders, the church pastor and her parents.

After that, I asked if I could sing her a song. So I played the MIDI tune titled 'Hold On Together' and invited her to sing along with me, if she wanted to. I started to sing, and awhile later, Rebecca joined in, crying at the same time because she was very touched. Its a nice and meaningful song about us holding on together through life. We ended with a hug and kiss!

The journey home was long, so we decided to wait for a taxi back to her home. The queue was rather long, but we continued chatting and even laughed at this Japanese lady who spoke to Rebecca in Japanese and Rebecca replied in Mandarin; both not understanding what each other had said. Hahahaha... =)

I was glad and thankful for God to have provided this fine weather, especially since so many things could have gone wrong and made this impossible to carry out. And I was even more glad when Rebecca messaged me that her parents are happy, especially her Mum who commented that Rebecca's engagement ring looks nicer than hers! *Laugh*... I am glad to be accepted.

Now we have 21 months before our planned wedding day. Its still quite a long wait, with our HDB flat being ready to be collect the keys at the end of this year. But its okay... we have already waited this long... might as well save up some more money at the meanwhile and continue to enjoy our remaining courtship days together! Praise God! =)

Late Night Recce at Sentosa

It was Friday night, 2nd Feb 07... and I was very tired after a long day of work. Besides that, I was also hungry (I only ate 1 Filet O-Fish burger) and having a throbbing headache. I can't remember whether this headache began in the afternoon or in the evening after I left the office, but it did last all the way till I reached home at (I think) 11:15pm that night. I was dead beat!

What was I doing out so late, all alone by myself? Well, I decided to do a recce to Sentosa by myself, as this was the place where I had laboriously planned to propose to Rebecca. Initially, I had wanted to recce the place on Tuesday, but I was just too caught up with work that I ended up only being able to recce on Friday night. Thank God that I am not working that Saturday!

After I left office at about 6:15pm, I went to the Popular Bookstore at Orchard MRT station to choose and buy coloured paper for my surprise to Rebecca. I spent like 15-20 mins trying to choose the right colour, right tone, right amount of foldability (coz my plan required me to fold this piece of paper) and I even decided to buy 4 pieces of paper instead of just 1 piece, in case I printed wrongly. It wasn't expensive, but its the amount of thought and planning that went into this concept of surprise that was tedious. Yet, thinking back, I am relieved and happy to have did that for my darling Rebecca. =)

After travelling by MRT to Harbourfront, I spent like 35-40 mins checking out the Cruise Centre, Cable Car Station, Feeder Bus Service and the newest Sentosa Express Monorail. This was tiring as I had to literally walk all over the place around Harbourfront... and I even got lost a few times trying to find my way around (I seldom go to Sentosa). But I did that, so as to give myself a good gauge of which mode of transport I would prefer on that day itself. In the end, I decided to go for the Sentosa Express Monorail because its very new and we have never travelled on it before! Its supposed to be a surprise or at least something new / fresh, isn't it? =)

Surprisingly, as I was wondering about the place, I met my JC friend Thia Jun Mun and his group of friends and volunteers. I was also surprised to see that one girl in the group was someone whom I had once teamed up with when doing the selling of charity tickets! She couldn't recognize me, until I whispered to Jun Mun to ask her if she remembered this guy who teamed up with her to sell charity tickets and also referred her to getting her current job as a social worker at Fei Yue! She was so shocked that she immediately called me on my HP! Hahaha...

Anyway, so I travelled by the Sentosa Express Monorail into Sentosa, so that I can find my way around and not get lost on that day itself. It was a short and comfortable ride. Getting off, I realised that Sentosa has changed quite a bit since I last went there like more than a year ago. Their transport system is very different, with trams that go to specific places in a roundabout loop trip. Some trams were air-conditioned and some were not. That evening, both trams that I travelled on were open-air. Very breezy and I liked it!

I alighted at Palawan Beach, did a brief recce around the Southernmost Point of Asia Continent and chose a nice spot to carry out my surprise. All through this time, my throbbing headache laboured on, and I was really feeling uncomfortable. At some point, I had to clutch my head because it was quite painful. Yet I pushed on because I knew that if I wanted to propose to Rebecca that Sunday (which so happened to be her 25th birthday; I purposely planned it that way), this was the last chance that I had to recce this important place. So I reassured myself that this is a once in a lifetime thing, and gathered my strength to carry on.

Getting to Palawan Beach was relatively easy, but getting out to Sentosa was more complicated coz I didn't take the Sentosa Express Monorail back to Harbourfront. Apparently, I had alighted at a quiet bus stop where I only had the chance to take a bus, followed by another bus, before I could get to Harbourfront. So I waited, no choice. During that time, my thoughts were also worrying because planning to propose at this outskirt location that is also open-air (without shelter) is literally almost romantic suicide!

But I prayed... and I have been praying for many days earlier... and I made a firm decision NOT to make plans for a back-up plan, because I wanted to trust God to provide a good weather, as an acknowledgement of my proposal to Rebecca. After all, this is an event that will mark a turning point in both our lives, so I wanted to make sure that I am relying on my faith in God. In fact, seriously... anything could happen to affect my plan entirely. Anything! Anything from rain, to a packed party event at Palawan Beach, to Rebecca or even myself not feeling well because of the spreading of the flu virus that was passing around. Indeed, I decided to go by pure faith and MUCH prayer.

Upon reaching Habourfront, I decided to save money and take the bus home. I reached home that night, feeling exhausted... but my heart felt warm and excited about how I was going to propose on Sunday... In fact, over the next two nights, I worked till 2am (both nights), just to make sure that my planned surprise program was well prepared. It was a very tiring week, but it was nonetheless a GREAT and meaningful experience.

First Visit to Lee Hwa

It was 31st January 2007 and that marked my first ever visit to Lee Hwa Jewellery. Kinda obvious, isn't it? Yeah, I went to the retail outlet at Plaza Singapura to buy an engagement ring for Rebecca!

Since this year started, I have been seriously planning how I intend to propose to Rebecca. Not that I have never thought about this before, coz I did... just that perhaps I haven't got to that level of intensity when this year began.

It has been quite a lot of 'bumps' for us in our relationship... from having to wait for 5 years (excluding 1 year of friendship before courtship) before her parents became open enough to acknowledge me as her boyfriend... followed by attending the pre-marital counseling course at church... then evaluated by the OFL leaders... then speaking to her parents... then assessed by our church paster & his wife... then speaking to her parents again two weeks ago... then finally reaching the stage where I proposed to Rebecca last week. So you see, it really has been a rough 5 months where all these happened!

But I am glad to have survived through this series of experiential events that mark history in my life. I will share about how I proposed to Rebecca in another Blog entry.

Anyway, even before I took my first step into a jewellery retail shop, I have been occasionally researched the Internet for various brands of diamond rings, so as to learn how to choose and buy a good one for Rebecca. In fact, there were times when I tried to quietly ask Rebecca which ring is nice, whenever we pass by jewellery shops when we are out at shopping centres.

My decision to choose Lee Hwa came as a confirmation when out-of-the-blue, I decided to send an SMS to my youth pastor on 28th Jan 07 (Sunday night), asking what I should look out for when buying an engagement ring. My first SMS led to a series of SMSes between Pastor Edwin and I... leading to a confirmation of my decision when he offered to lend me his Lee Hwa card. Both of us didn't know whether its a discount card or whatever kind of card, but I decided to arrange to meet up to borrow his card anyway.

It was 3 days later, on 31st Jan 07 when I met up with Pastor Edwin after I left my office that Wednesday. We had a short chat before I left for Plaza Singapura to check out that Lee Hwa retail outlet. Apparently, my decision was confirmed again during my conversation with Pastor Edwin because I had initially decided to check out both the Parkway Parade and Plaza Singapura retail outlets... and Pastor Edwin mentioned both retail outlets during our conversation! Wow! It was like a sign to me...

Oh, I forgot... even before all this happened that week, I have been praying that God would give me wisdom and help me to choose a ring for Rebecca (something like that, I can't exactly recall my exact words that I prayed).

So there I was, arrived at the front entrance of the Lee Hwa retail outlet at PS. I saw this female salesperson standing outside the shop, but as usual, I didn't want to appear overly enthusiastic or anxious... so I nonchalantly spoke with her when she approached me to ask if I was interested in buying jewellery. After a few sentences, I said that I was looking for an engagement ring and asked if I could see the collection available here. So she brought me into the shop and showed me a few of the engagement rings on display.

As I was acting nonchalant about this whole thing, I didn't really notice how she looked like, until we actually started talking about the variety of engagement rings that she showed to me. She has a cute face and nice smile... and I noticed that her name tag stated 'trainee'. My first thought was - "Ok, she's a trainee... but its ok... let's see how much she knows..."

It turned out that she was quite knowledgeable and after spending like 30 mins in the shop (occasionally praying in my mind), I decided to purchase this 0.38 carat round brilliant solitaire diamond ring for Rebecca. It has a 'thin to medium' girdle, classic 57 cut sides, very good polish and excellent symmetry. In other words, its a 0.38 carat round brilliant solitaire diamond that is rated 'F' for colour grade and 'WS2' for clarity grade. I shan't mention about the price here, but it was the best that I could find... I liked it... and I wanted to give Rebecca the best that I could.

Thinking back, I was surprised how detailed I was when comparing between the variety of diamond rings that she showed to me. By the method of elimination, I shortened my choice list to three... two... then finally one. I had the chance to see the diamond upclose using a 10x zoom microscope, so as to check that the laser inscription registered number tally with the registered number on the certificate card. Aiyah... what to do... this is such an costly and important thing that I am buying... and in essence, I am proposing leh!

So I went home after that, feeling relieved after finally managing to find an a nice diamond ring for Rebecca. It felt weird though, coz I have never bought a ring before in my life! And oh yes, Pastor Edwin's card is not a discount card, but rather somewhat like a loyalty card that stores points which he can offset from his next purchase at Lee Hwa. Nonetheless, I was happy!