The verdict

It's April 15th and we have both made our decisions and reached an agreement.

Where New York is the concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do, we have decided to stay put.

To me, it's quite a relief as I'm not ready to move, I've got my MBA to take, and my life plan isn't going to change so soon. Uprooting myself to a completely new place 15hours flight away is exciting, but, to a larger extent, daunting. I can't even say for sure if I'd be able to make it there.

For j, it's a relief as well. He can finally settle his mind and focus on what's ahead, and not the what ifs. He is lucky to be given 2 equally good opportunities to choose from (on paper), but a lot of things can't be weighed just like that.

In fact, he didn't how to decide and as a final resort, he sought some divine intervention - his trusty WTS who gave him 2 stories to interpret for himself. The New York option didn't look so good after.

So we're staying put. :)

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On the right track

We finally had a heart to heart chat last night - in the 'still under construction' flat, amidst all the renovation frenzy. Just the 2 of us, looking at our future, being in our future together.

This 2 weeks will determine what the next 2, 3 years will be - where we will be mainly. Some heavy thoughts to think about, and some heavy decisions to be made, some real planning to do.

We are on the right track - u said (and I was staring at your harry potter Hogwarts express station 9 3/4 tshirt) - bit of a comic relief there but we both know this is serious and it is real.

April 15th - we will have our answers.

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I want my door knobs

Our contractor is killing us.

He fixed cheap door knobs when we specifically went to shop for good quality ones.

Now we have a problem. Because the size of the cheap ones don't match the ones we bought. And that may mean we either replace the doors and delay completion date further OR simply accept the cheap ones.

I know, its just door knobs. But I want my door knobs - the ones we spent days looking for, the ones which use magnetic technology instead of the conventional ones. I want my door knobs, and I don't want to fight with jason over it.

Will we be punishing ourselves or punishing the contractor if we insist on changing? When is this battle ending? :(

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The 7 days when j was gone

J is finally back from New York and that also meant my solo habitation with his parents ends.

While I'm extremely glad that he is back, it's not to say I had a bad time at home. In fact, his mum has been too kind - checking on me to see if I'd be home for dinner, and if not, she'll never forget to leave soup for me.

And what touched me the most was when I told her about my admission to HKUST and my reluctance to take it knowing that j may be posted to new York, she told me to think twice and not to give up this opportunity.

I was surprised she hadn't gone in the other direction and told me to follow Jason, education can wait. So that felt nice.

Outside of home, I had a terrible week at work. In fact most weeks at work are no good, too intense.

Work aside, I had a surprise from nespresso - again! They delivered 400 capsules to my office in 2 cartons! And j didn't order them. I am really puzzled why they keep sending me stuff, but since they come free I can't complain!

I also had a wwonderful weekend - one without having to worry about the renovation at all and I went out to have dinner / drinks / party / high tea with friends I haven't been spending time with. And I got a hair perm. :) by 2 cute stylists.

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Happy birthday - Indian style!

Celebration of the march babies, j and friends picked this Indian restaurant in Tst - Michelin starred and voted best Indian restaurant in hk called gaylord (don't ask me why).

It didnt disappoint. Definitely a place for large party and for sharing the high carbo foods.

The mango lassi is so yummy I had 2 of it.

The atmosphere is really fitting too, with a singing band.

Ken: wow. That song is really long. They sang for 30mins non-stop.

Beatrice: that's because each song tells a story, an epic.

All: oooooh.

Highlight of the day is when the band started singing happy birthday- Indian style!

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Touch a chord

Her slow love songs never fail to tug my heart strings and leave me on the brink of tears.

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Under one roof

I was especially iffy on Sunday, completely irrational and totally irritable.

To the insensitive eye, I'm moody - fullstop.

In actuality, I'm dreading to leave our nest and move in to the parent's nest. And having someone pack your stuff is a disaster - I can never find my things (my acceptance letter from hkust is misplaced, among all things).

My tolerance level is a minimum.

Doesn't help that my boy doesn't pay attention to details. He had packed my only decent looking pyjamus away, and told me to wear my nightie - what?! And he had planned for me to stay in his brother's room, on his brother's bed - completely ignoring how comfortable or uncomfortable I feel about that.

And next week he will be gone to new York (possibly extending his trip to drop by Toronto?!!) - leaving me home alone with his parents.

On the renovation end, the project manager seems to think that everything is on schedule - clearly not supported by the state of progress at the flat.

My goodness.

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The most civil fight

Last night, I witnessed the most civil fight between mother and son. In a most classic fashion, I was sitting between j and his mum, and the TV showing one of Leslie's comedies when the 'fight' broke out.

I saw how frustrated j is with all these renovation stuff, dealing with our project manager and now, with the parent's voices.

On the other hand, I understand his mum's good intentions, by sharing her renovation experience and tips with us, making sure we have all grounds covered. And I do appreciate her constructive and functional input, she didn't have to apologise to me.

We managed the creative input and that was sufficient for me.

When j asked me if I understand his frustrations, I couldn't answer.

I suppose the pressure is on the son who needs to make things right - every time.

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My first exam in years

After a gruelling 4 hours sitting in my cubicle with ear plugs on, I'm done with gmat.

The results aren't exactly what I had aimed for, but I can't complain much given the time I put into preparing for this. I've at least met the minimum requirement for hkust and scored above average. Hopefully with the written section scores, my final score will be better.

The gmat test center and its security is impeccable. They scan your palms and finger print, take your photo, and watch over each and everyone of us.

At any one time, there are only 18 candidates in the room and we are all facing the walls.

My morning passed just like that.

Now, I have to prep myself for other challenges ahead (house renovation most imminent) or maybe I'll continue with the gmat practice - just to keep my brain working.

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Mr. wong tai sin

J and I didn't make it to pray at wong Tai sin last Sunday because of J's stanchart Marathon and my severe lack of sleep on Fri / sat.

J's mum said we should go on our own this weekend and earnestly pray for a good year ahead. That we will do.

In addition, j said he wants to qiu qian and I asked him which area in life he needs directions/ answers for. This is important because you can't simply ask wong Tai sin (WTS) a broad question; it has to be specific - leading to a yes/no answer. And apparently wts is very zun/ accurate.

J said he wants to ask about yin yuan (love relations).

Is he not in one already? I asked.

And he said, what about if I ask him (WTS) is this year a good year to be married?

What if wts said yes / no, are you going to follow exactly that? I asked.

And he said yes.

And then I said - so what happens if I asked for yin Yuan too and wts qian gave us conflicting answers? Whose qian should we follow?

J said - mine of cos. Wts is my ancestor! You haven't heard of a Loh Tai sin, have you?

I rest my case. Lets see how the qian turns out this sat.

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The wrong marble

So our renovation project manager messed up.

J took a day off yesterday and went to check on the flat in the afternoon. To his horror, the window slabs were all placed with a fugly yellow marble and the worker was about to set the same fugly yellow marble in the toilet. We were completely unaware that this was done.

On Monday night, we met the project manager and he even told us we need to go select the colours and type of marble we want. Fugly yellow is most definitely not for the bathroom when the floor tiles is dark grey!! He himself had said a dark coloured marble would match most perfectly.

Hence we were puzzled at why he didn't know what his workers are doing in the flat and we had to be the ones to check on it everyday and tell him. It's ridiculous and j threw a fit at him.

J's mum threw a fit as well, and was sorry for introducing this guy to us- though it's really not her fault.

So after all the anger is released at the project manager's office and at dinner with J's mum, j said - thank goodness I didn't pick another contractor and went with this one introduced by mum. Else it will be me getting the blame for everything that went wrong.

How true.

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What a night

There was so much shit to clear for the past 2 hours. What a night

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15 days of cny

So the lunar new year if officially over, and I can finally count my 'bonus' this year. Not bad- good enough for 2 trips back to singapore. Maybe i should spend alternate cny in sg/hk.

The angpow gifting practice is slightly different from what I know in sg. In Jason's paternal family (his dad has 7 siblings - each with at least 2children and each child with at least 1 kid) - there are 4 generations gathering for cny. I still have difficulty remembering the names and faces of his relatives.
Anyway I digressed.

The practice in his family is that the most elder gives red packets (considered blessings for the new year) to everyone younger. And the second eldest gives to all but the eldest and so on. Damn Xiong being the eldest in hk man....

One couple friend even printer their own lai see feng - red packets, complete with the insignia they used during their wedding and a rabbit. Really cute. Now everyone knows who that red packet comes from. Though practically, you're printing "money" to pack money.

We always just use banks red packets, or bbg's - which are fancy and pretty. :)

Til next cny then!

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Festivities, love

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An unusual date on Valentine's

We had a date with our contractor on Valentine's day, and what an unusually cold day it was too.

Lotsa things to be finalised, colours to pick, materials to choose, designs and functionality to think of - right up to the tiniest details like how the tiles should be placed - vertically, horizontally or patterned or set. These discussions are never ending.

It didn't help that Jason's mum popped by the contractors place and joined in the discussion. Something about his mum's participation gets on Jason's nerves. Its the same - why can't she just believe in me, why is everything I'm doing not good enough kinda feeling. I understand that feeling and I'm grateful that my mum (usually) supports me.

I think the one of the greatest gifts anyone can receive or give is belief and faith in the other person.

Nothing fancy for this year's Valentine's, but the same feeling of love continues in the air.

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Tgif!

What a week it has been - though I must say I'm enjoying it. Preparing proposals and generating ideas are the best part of my job - better than trying to solve internal and external issues that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

I received a piece of news yesterday. My MBA application has been accepted! It's a conditional acceptance though - meaning I still need mid 80% gmat scores to be offered a place.

The thought of going back to school is thrilling. The thought of working AND going to school is not.

Already I'm having difficulty finding time to study for gmat. I don't know how I can manage with 4 courses a semester, or more.

I said to j, maybe I should find an easier job. He replied saying he should too. Is that a no to my suggestion then?

So I asked him, whose job do u think is more difficult - mine or yours?

To which he replied - you make it sound more difficult.

Maybe I did - well, lets see what happens. :)

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Jan'11 in Singapore

It has only been less than 3 months since my last visit when I attended Zee and ys' wedding. This is also the first year which I will not be spending cny in singapore. This arrangement seems better since my friends are not tied up with home visits (though I'm missing out on the red packets!) and I still get to spend time at home.

So I think I have become pretty good at planning my trips and I don't try to squeeze my time to meet everybody in the world. These trips are starting to tire me - maybe age is really catching up. And though many people say singapore and Hong kong are very similar, I feel the difference. I can't really put words to those feelings. I feel sad leaving both places and happy upon return. Perhaps such is double happiness (or sadness).

I must say my relationship with mum has improved by leap and bounds. As time passes, I become the adult and she the kid. Here's a picture of her having Peking duck at summer pavilion. :)

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Stressed out

Jason is so stressed out these days I caught him sleeptalking to our contractor at night.
Or I think I did.
Must have been a nightmare for both of us that night

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Stressed out

Jason is so stressed out these days I caught him sleeptalking to our contractor at night.
Must have been a nightmare for him that night

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Haircut before the new year

The first month of 2011 has zoomed past us. Time is unstoppable. This year it seems everything for cny that I must do, I have not done.

No spring cleaning, no buying of mandarin oranges, no new year goodies to snack at home and only ONE new piece of dress.

I only managed to get a haircut last night - how last minute.

Like Samson, I'm letting my hair (and believably my strength) grow. When I think of what I hope to achieve this year, it seems daunting.

Lets hope that even without all the cny preparations and must-dos, I can still make it this year. :)

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