I went swimming today. Hubby goes to his adult swimming class every Saturday. So today I decided to join him. Not for the class, but just to swim a few laps on my own in the pool while he had his class. It was good to feel pumped after doing a few hard laps... followed by some slow steady strokes in between. I was in the pool for about an hour. After that went I got out, there was still that familiar whoosh heavy feeling when I stepped out of the water back to the world of gravity. After showering as we were walking back to the car... "Why are you walking so slowly?" -hubby, slightly annoyed "Oooh, I'm just enjoying that feeling of gravity... and the soft feeling in my muscles" "Yeah, I think my leg muscles feel kinda wobbly too" -hubby "I'm not wobbly, I'm just schmooshy" -said I contentedly "What do you feel like doing now?" "I feel like eating pisang goreng!" "Huh? Why?" -hubby, curiously "I du...

Whoah!!! Take a look at this!!! Yes people. Brick work has started. Which means in 6 months time, we should be seeing the transformation of this mess to what we intend to call 'Our Home'. (front view of master bedroom from outside) Interestingly, they use two different kinds of brick. The clay coloured ones are the walls that will be eventually plastered up and painted, while the cream coloured ones will be left as open face brick walls. (rear view of house) For those who are interested in some details, here is a picture showing how they mark out the areas for the different rooms. And the picture below shows how they lay the double brick for the external walls. So things seem to be humming along pretty nicely in this department.

Seashells Resort, Mandurah. Pool right beside the beach... shiok! Exploring the area. Something interesting that caught my eye in the nearby market. Kinda ironic, don't ya think? Smooch! Takes an occasion like this for hubby to cook breakfast for me! Chipolatas, eggs sunny side up and toast. After breakfast... morning walk by the beach. There were plenty of other moments spent with friends in the sessions and in fellowship. But as usual when I'm having fun, I always forget to snap some photos. But here's an image from a group activity we had to do... each group needed to build a structure (rated on height, strength and aesthetics).

More activity happening on our site. The builders have already poured the concrete into the pre-slab area... yeah!!! foundations for building our house are now laid. I was a bit concerned as I found it hard to imagine all the rooms and areas in our design to be able to fit into the slab area. Perhaps it is an optical illusion. Dad suggested that the next time we go down, we can measure the whole area to see if they match the measurements in our plans. The soakwells have also been delivered and are ready to go down into the ground soon. I know of some people who have ATTEMPTED to dig their own soakwells... but I think we are happy to leave it to the experts to handle this. Especially considering the size of these huge solid concrete cylinders. We couldn't stay very long as we were heading down to Mandurah for the Young Adults' Retreat. But we did manage to snap a photo of the nearby primary school which is now currently under construction. The school will be a mere 5 minutes wal...

Well people, after a big gap in my updates on building our new home we finally have something new to report. Granted, there has been plenty happening behind the scenes... choosing colours, tiles and finishings at our pre-start, going through many rounds and rounds of edits of our house plans, working out our financing with our broker and bank, and numerous phonecalls to chase our builder to move their butt! But I share spare you the details, some of which are somewhat painful to recount. And finally, there is some real physical activity happening at our site: Tadaa!!! Our construction preslab has now begun... For those who are not sure what they are supposed to be looking at: Basically the workers have outlined the area of the house with planks, fitted the wire mesh in, and the next step will be to pour the concrete in. This will form the base slab upon which the house will be constructed. Dad advised us to note down a few key spots for taking photos throughout the construction proces...

Our cute host Sakae Sushi at Novena Dinner at Dian Xiao Er in Vivocity Mabel's little Aften... the blurry images were him waving enthusiastically at the camera Enjoying xiao long bao at the famous Din Tai Fung restaurant in Paragon Last day in Singapore breakfast: Kuay Chap, Kaya Toast and Chap Fun ~~~ But... my absolute favourite this time round was at Tiong Shian Porridge Centre nearby Sam's place. Sam brought us there for dinner. I was so mad at myself for forgetting to bring my camera. The porridge was BEEEEEST man, and the side dishes were just amazing, especially the raw fish!!! and the taufu was not bad either. Apparently they also have a branch in Chinatown... a definite MUST MUST try when you're in Singapore. Here is a photo I took the next day of the porridge centre when we happened to walk pass. Haaaai... too bad I didn't take any photos of the actual food. But like Sam said, sometimes the best moments are the ones that cannot be captured on camera, which per...

While we were in Singapore, we enjoyed the hospitality of my dear brother. Here are some pics of his humble crib. Relatively neat (he hasn't fully unpacked as he only moved in a month ago) and quite clean (I only cleaned a teeny weeny bit prior to taking these photos)

We celebrated Valentine's day at Bluewater restaurant in Heathcote... a really nice restaurant, with amazing food, but which would have burnt a considerably large hole in our pockets. Thankfully, we were able to make use of the birthday present from my boss which was a $150 dining voucher at this establishment. So we were able to go all out and splurge ourselves... Top left: Oysters (au naturel) with salmon roe, citrus vodka, sour cream and lime. Mmmmm.... delectable!!! Top right: A mixed platter of Salmon Fish Cakes, Yoghurt Bread (loved this one!), Grilled Salt & Pepper Squid, Spinach and Fetta Cheese Pasty, and a Duck and Mushroom Confit Bottom left: Hubby's dessert - Moist Chocolate Cake, with Rum & Raisin Ice Cream and candy floss Bottom right: My dessert - Cream Brulee, with Vanilla Pod Ice Cream and candy floss Sorry there are no pics of the mains, we were too excited about the food that we forgot to snap some pics of them, but you're interested I had sal...

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Feeling a teeny weeny bit nostalgic because I know I'll be missing the whole CNY ching-chong-chang festivities back in KK. I will miss the pineapple tarts I will miss the cheesy dong-dong-chiang music I will miss the numerous lou sang sessions I will miss the leftover nien gao fried in egg for breakfast I will miss gorging on mandarin oranges and bak kwa I will miss the endless nibling of kuaci and nuts I will miss drinking yeos packet drinks But most of all... I will miss those monkey-like antics of those colourful lion dancers! Here's Douglas Lim's stand-up comedy rendition of these legendary lion dances (preceded by an also funny routine on Timberlake's Sexi Back)

This is a wonderful poem to commemorate the new year. I had thrills down my spine (good thrills) and hair standing moments as I read this poem. I'd like to share it with you and I hope it thrills you too! Ring Out, Wild Bells Lord Alfred Tennyson Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light; The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more, Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the times; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood...