till then, emma for i’m sure we haven’t seen the last of each other yet

This is Emma and me.

Last Friday was her last day at work and so we had a farewell drinks with her at Little Creatures. Emma and I started work in the same division at around the same time. We didn’t hit it off immediately, more because we were working in different departments. But over the last one year, we started going on lunch dates together and ‘discovered’ each other. And we started calling ourselves ‘E-square’ – the BIG E and small e. Coincidentally, both our partners are called ‘Ben’; how funny is that?! (The two ‘Ben’s finally met over drinks last Friday.)

As her farewell gift, I gave her a ‘cloud’ brooch (see photo) to tell her that the sky is the limits wherever she goes. Unknown to me, she also bought me something – a box of inspirational notecards. (One of the things we have in common is that we are both stationery-crazy fans. Only she will understand my fascination with handmade things, animal-shaped paper clips and what-nots!)

I will miss her but something tells me we will be in touch… (Not through Facebook ‘cos the silly girl just wouldn’t get onto it!)

personal project\two people twelve times\Feb 2011

February.

This is us hanging out at a local cafe on a weekend. I’ve always loved this life-sized wallpaper of the girl flying away with a balloon and wanted to take a photo with it one day. The chance finally came one Saturday when we managed to be seated at the long table beside it. I quickly grabbed my camera and partner-in-crime and had my photo taken!

weekend: photo + words

You know the weekend is off to a good start when it begins with a breakfast on the bed…After a night out with the neighbours at an Indian restaurant and bowling afterwards on Friday, I decided to have a lie-in on Saturday morning. So CS decided to surprise me with a breakfast in bed – we had toasted crispy croissants with butter and homemade apricot jam accompanied with a hot cup of tea. And here’s hat we got up to over the weekend:

Saturday:

• Breakfast in bed
• CS watched a DVD while I made some cards and wrapped some more Christmas presents
• Went shopping for more last minute presents and hunk finally managed to get replacement blades for his helicopter (yes, he’s got one of those remote controlled helicopter which was broken when he took it out to play at his birthday party)
• Visited aunt and uncle
• Went over to Ivana’s to feed the dogs cos she’s away
• Spent the night watching the movie ‘Salt’ starring Angelina Jolie (not her best movie I think)

Sunday:

• Met Gillian for coffee at the farmers’ market before church
• Christmas service in church
• Lunch with some young adults at The Left Bank
• Home – CS watched ‘Prince of Persia’ with a young adult who came home with us and I pottered around the house and caught a short nap!
• Down to South Beach for Young Adults – had a great time and I learnt to kayak on my own for the first time, had a barbeque, watched some spectacular sunset. Then I saw this new restaurant, Pickled Fig right by the beach which I will definitely return to check it out over a sunset dinner probably.
• Home sweet home – in bed by 10pm totally exhausted!

random updates

It has been 10 days since my last blog post so here are 10 random updates:

1. We had shepherd pie which I made for dinner last night. It was delicious although CS preferred the usual mashed potato topping instead of  the sweet potato version.
2. We caught up with friends over coffee yesterday afternoon. One of them had started seeing someone recently and now wondered if the affection was mutual. It was hilarious to hear all the different interpretations that came through because of our diverse cultural background – French, Italian-Bosnian, European, American and Singaporean. Yet it was also interesting to see how dating norms and relationship rules differs.
3. I am still baking – my latest creation was a a mango pineapple and coconut cake which I baked last Saturday.
4. We had a great time of drinks with the neighbours last Friday. We met in honor of jR the neighbour’s cat who had to be put down last Wednesday because of leukemia. To a large extent, jR was the one who brought all of us closer together when he started hanging out at our house. We were happy to have him over and the neighbours were happy that jR found a second home especially since they had 2 dogs, 3 puppies and 2 amazing fish tanks to take care of as well…
5. I started a weekly aqua-aerobics class with a girlfriend 3 weeks ago and has been enjoying it. (Despite a Swedish co-worker’s initial comment: oh aqua-aerobics; that’s what the old ladies do for exercise back home… And that made me realize that was also true in my class too. But who cares as long as I get my hour of workout that doesn’t leave me feeling all sore and achy afterward!)
6. For the last 2 Sundays, we have been attending a Chinese service in a different church that we are hoping mum-in-law would settle down in. Thankfully, the initial signs are promising.
7. What I am reading currently: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert and September Songs by Maggie Scarf. Interestingly, both books were about marriage especially in its later years. I guess it’s because we’ve entered ten years of marriage and I don’t want to take things for granted.
8. I am starting to like my new car that CS bought me at an auction. Compared to my last car, this is like a luxury to me. Curious? Will post a picture here soon, I promise.
9. My herb garden is flourishing so we have been eating home-grown parsley and coriander. I bought rosemary at the farmer’s market yesterday and hope it will grow as well too. I also bought mum-in-law some strawberry seedlings because this is the season to grow them, so hopefully that turns out well too.
10. I am learning to trust God to work in His time, not mine. When nothing seems to be happening, it doesn’t mean nothing is moving. Makes sense? I guess this is when faith is called into action. Hebrews 11: 1: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (New Living Translation)

weekends: photos + words

The last couple of weekends were spent with friends who made sure I wasn’t ‘lost’ or ‘bored’ on my own. So there were lots of catching up over breakfasts and coffee. Or they would pop by for meals or even a sleepover.

I must admit that although the last couple of weeks had been tough without CS, it would have been a lot more difficult if not for good friends who took the effort to check in on me; making sure that I was coping all right and hanging out with me. Thank you all; you know who you are…

weekend: photos + words

Last weekend was our second ‘tour of duty’ with the Chew family in town for a visit before they drove down south for their family roadtrip.

At the Mundaring Weir

Posing with a WWI canon in the historical town of Guildford

Guildford Post Office

Panoramic city view from Kings Park

Church on Sunday

And with a two year old boy, there’s of course lots of goofing around like…

enjoying the Sunday afternoon at Kings Park…

chasing the ducklings…

taking lots of pictures…

exploring every bit of Guildford park…

having a “sliding” time in the playground…

going gaga over a giant poodle…

having a go at ringing the church bells

enjoying Coke for the very first time

and this expression probably sums it all up – WOAH!