Emotional

Things are coming along well...

2012-02-03T22:07:00.000+08:00

... I think so, at least. I've survived one week of work - aka going to the Jeweller's on Tuesday and seeing almost all my students this week; next week would be the first session for one of my students as well as IELTs marking that will keep me busy busy... I'm glad to be kept occupied in the motion of things - so that my mind will not wander away and I will not harp on sad thoughts and feelings. I am quite enjoying the daytime I have all to myself at home; busy cleaning the house (there's always something to do around the house), doing daily chores like preparing dinner and also preparing for tuition. I have yet to cuddle up with a book and just laze the whole day - should try that one day, probably possible only on Mondays when I have the mornings to myself, and maybe Tuesdays if I don't go to the Jeweller's, will see... Oh did I tell you that I won't be taking any more new students, at least for the better first half of the year, am pretty happy with my workload and really don't wanna overtire myself or feel too stressed over work, just wanna concentrate fully (hopefully it'll be possible) on the most important priority in our lives at the moment.

Singapore Galore!!!

2012-02-01T15:37:00.000+08:00

It's been almost a week since we came back to Perth after our month long stay in Singapore. As much as I was real glad for the opportunity to spend so much time with my family, it was so much more difficult to say farewell and to get into the mode of things back here in Aussie. It was like a real long hangover for me... I did not start tuition till Monday and even then fortunately, am taking my time readjusting back. Guess it's much easier for Ivan since he was working quite a bit in Singapore too and all; oh well, call me sexist if you must, but I always feel guys adapt much quicker to situations - at least in our case. Can't imagine if I was in Ivan's shoes, having to return to work the next day and get things up and about. Kudos to your wonderful adaptability my dear. :)

Here are some snippets of the great fun times in Singapore - at Universal Studios to be exact. This trip was really eventful for we all had a fantastic time and mum and dad almost didn't want to join us even; with the Chan sisters' powers combined, we managed to convince them, hahaha! Well this trip was also "eventful" in the sense that we all took turns to fall sick after that. Dad was first to complain of tight chest pains (which we later equated to possible muscle pull at the Transformers ride), Adel started her long bout of coughs and was down with fever which was later passed, so much so that I stayed in the first day of CNY and didn't manage to go visiting with Ivan's family. After we went back to Perth, it was sadly Mum's turn to be sick. How about Ivan I'm sure some of you must be asking... well, he fell sick at the start of the trip and had to rest quite a bit too so guess that's why he was spared the germs and viruses the second time round.

Universal Studios Singapore!

A pity we could not capture the entire Hollywood signage...

Cheeky Charlie Chaplin

After "surviving" the Madagascar ride... we fell for the trick of the waterfall, were preparing ourselves to get wet already...

Back to the days of our childhood... merry-go-round/ carousel; this one's with the Madagascar characters!

Happy Birthday Ivan! :)

2011-12-13T17:25:00.000+08:00

A birthday is not about adding years to your life, but rather, life to your years...

Well Ivan was blessed to have so many people at his birthday party this year! :) Excellent company I must say with wonderful friends and family present. Special thanks to the chef for the day, mummy dearest, for preparing shiok laska, yummy fried rice rice, chicken wings..., Adel for the westernised muah chee, drinks and desserts; and not forgetting Mich's mum's addition of super homemade otah and delicious sago with gula melaka! :P Here's to many more great years ahead! Cheers!:)

Bye Bye CHANS! :(

2011-12-13T17:11:00.000+08:00

My family left Perth to go back to Singapore this afternoon. The house is so much more quiet without them around... missing them lots already. Really wonder at times how I actually survive so long being apart from my dearest Mummy, Daddy and sister. Was just telling Ivan yesterday although they were only here for 2 weeks, it felt like a solid 2 months. Great times spent together indeed! We went to SupaGolf on Sunday and boy did Daddy have a good time, mummy joined us at the start and again at the end & had a wild of a time putting the balls on the green into the holes. The weather was a little muggy and the flies irritated mum so that she took a break in the shelter while we completed Holes 3 - 8. She even said she wouldn't mind coming back when the weather was much cooler, think Daddy would agree with her on this.

Poor Ivan with his tissue in his nose... he had his sinus at the start of the game. :(

Adel finishing one of her games, as the 2 guys give their nodding approval. ;)

Whoah, where did Ivan's golf ball go?

This is how you do it Baby! :P

Don't I like a typical seasoned golf player? Heehee, well I think I dress like one... ;)

Easily done - this is how you do it Ivan.... hehe!

At the end of the rewarding exercise/ game. :)

One more for the camera, great pic Daddy! Good improvement! :)

Happy Birthday to me... :)

2011-10-16T19:47:00.000+08:00

Well I'm into my last year of my 20s... not sure if I should be happy or sad... having mixed feelings I suppose. I'm grateful to our dear Lord for all the wonderful blessings He has bestowed upon me! Special thanks to my family and friends for all your love and support. I definitely would not have made it through the years without you all! :) Some pictures of the celebration in the weekend with our dear friends here in Perth. :) Missing my family lots during this time but am super duper counting down the days to their arrival here in Perth... yay!

Happy Birthday!

Successful puff pastry aka Jester pie's Morning Glory - "Ivangie's Shining Glory"... hehe

I had to quickly blow the candles off before more of Joshy's extra "toppings" get into the cake...hehe kidding!

The Navaros, Leongs and Chan :)

With our dear friends, God daughter and Joshy boy

The "Surveyors" checking out the plot that will be our home in 6months time (hopefully)

Yay, picture perfect, thanks to Ivan! :)

Check out the flowers Ivan got me for my bday and the vase which we bought especially for it... hehe!

This is something that makes teaching all worthwhile...

2011-09-21T22:58:00.000+08:00

The above was written on the board on the last day of teaching one of my tuition classes here in Perth.

I'm quite glad that I'm actively back in the field of teaching; for it's something that really makes life seem worthwhile, being able to make a difference in the life of someone... thank God for this teaching talent; I must say I get skeptical at times if I'm actually helping the students, but timely reminders and assurance like the above makes me so grateful... thanks be to God. :)

Some snapshots of Ivan's parents trip to Perth... :)

2011-09-21T22:48:00.000+08:00

It took us a while to drive there (Mundaring dam) but the serenity and tranquility that greets us is always worth it...

Ivan posing at the Mundaring dam.

At a Koffee place at Swan Valley... we din even know that place existed!

It was an interesting and educational time for them... :)

A few snapshots from our dates. :)

2011-09-19T19:50:00.000+08:00

We finally went together to CIAO ITALIA!

Glad that we didn't have to wait long but the food was worth every bit!

Look at the gorgeous pasta!

The next morning, we had yummy breakfast!

This is Ivan's Biggie Breakfast! He had the day off and I wasn't working on Thursday too.

After brekkie, we took a stroll along South Perth Esplanade.
Was nice day for a walk but the winds kept us from walking longer.

Does this place look familiar? It's at our alfresco that's why... :)

One of the Sundays when we were having lunch outside while the weather was quite good,
told Ivan to act "sey" by looking away, quite a good shot I must say...hehe

No more distribution but we are still walking...

2011-09-19T19:33:00.001+08:00

Yup, we did our last distribution of catalogues last weekend coz we felt it was tiring us out. The reason we were doing it was that it gave us a reason to go out and take a walk but the sorting of the many many flyers were driving us nuts! I assured Ivan we need not do the distribution to go for walk, we still could decide when and where we wanted to do so and go for it! Indeed, we were so "diligent" in sticking to our pact that we decided to go for a walk on Sunday after the mini hail in the afternoon; I was awaken from my nap by the pitter patter or rather what sounded like a different sort of pitter patter and when I looked outside at our alfresco; realised it was raining icicles! As I was saying, when the rain finally stopped and the sun won the battle, we took to the streets for our walk but not long after, we had to hood up and make our way home quickly as it started to drizzle again, luckily just liquid raindrops this time around. On the way back, we were met by the wonder of nature...

That's me! Had trouble uploading this the other day, better late than never! :)

I have no work today! ;)

2011-09-13T10:32:00.000+08:00

Haha, Adel even complained that I was longwinded coz I kept on telling her over Whatsapp. You see, as I'm currently working casual hours at the Jewellers, I decided to increase my hours and decrease my frequency; so my official work days are now Mon, Wed & Friday! Alleluia! I get to have my own time on Tuesdays and Thursdays! And Ivan managed to get time off this Thursday coz he worked on Saturdays so we are going on a date! :) Okay back to packing stuff around the house and just chilling... hope everyone's having a good week so far!

Part 2 for today... Splendid nature

2011-09-08T14:23:00.000+08:00

Not a very flattering picture of myself, thanks Adel, haha, but this show what a fantastic time I was having; hmmmm, not too sure about Ivan though... haha :P

Looking pretty pretty at the Bay of Islands

Awww... Daddy's girls...

The latest "band" to hit town! haha, think we can make the cut with our poses yah?

At the Twelve Apostles... you have to be there to experience the magnificence!

... and London Bridge fell down...

London Bridge

Awww.... need I say more? Pardon the messy hairdo, the wind was hard at work! ;)

I've always wanted to take such a picture with such gorgeous reflection!

Long overdue post of Melbourne trip with the CHANS. Part 1 of many to come...

2011-09-08T14:06:00.001+08:00

At the Brighton beach with the bathing boxes... it has a long history and were at one-time used by the people at the beach

Adel with her bathing box - '89! :)

Angie with her bathing box - '82!:)

Looking cool while waiting for the bus to go back to the hotel to meet my parents...

Look at the wonderfulness of nature, the awesome beauty...

I am still here... hehe

2011-07-20T20:30:00.000+08:00

Just in case you were wondering whether I disappeared for good, the answer is No. Just been busy with everyday matters, with family visiting and with our holiday back to Singapore too. No excuse I know, apologies to all my fervent readers, yes I know I have quite a few for you guys told me so.

Let me see, where should I start, maybe I should begin from the most recent and do a summary of the past happenings in my next few blogs yah?

Well, we arrived back in Perth on Sunday afternoon and hung out at Mich & Toni's place for awhile before coming home for dinner (thanks to our dear frens Mich & Toni for providing us dinner - Mich packed so much pasta for us that we could even have it for lunch the next day). Seriously, Ivan & myself are so thankful for such great pals and the wonderful generosity and love from them. Thank you lots lots again guys! God bless you lots.

Of course, not forgetting the generosity of friends back home in Singapore too, you know who you are; for the treats, yummy meals we had together and stuff for us to take back to; we really feel so loved. THANKJEWBERRYMUD! :) May our dearest Lord bless you many times over for the many blessings you all have bestowed on us.

We went to bed at 8pm on Sunday night as we were both too groggy from lack of sleep the previous night. Been feeling lethargic also these few days; must be the cold wintry days and nights that makes me so lazy. OH NO! There's so much to clear at home, things to unpack from our trip and lots of clothes to fold, all the many mundane things to be done... wish I had super powers so I could just sweep everything up and put all things in order... oh well. Till my next entry... I promise you won't have to wait too long. :)

Our next stop - Denmark

2011-04-29T22:10:00.000+08:00

Yup, that's a town in Western Australia about an hour from Albany. :) I shall let the pictures do the talking...

At the crossroad of the junction in Denmark...

Yummy pastries at Denmark bakery.

Idyllic lake just outside the aptly named "The Lake House"- a winery and cafe,
a must-see and visit should you ever go to Denmark.

At the Greens Pool.

The famous Elephant Rocks behind us, can you see the herd of them?

In the Greens Pool setting...

Ivan made me look like a giant beside the rocks in the distance...

See what a nice picture I helped him take... trying to "support" the rocks... hee!

Look at the scenery... :)

Still at Albany... more pictures

2011-04-29T20:50:00.000+08:00

At Cosy Corner Beach - near our accomodation

On our early morning walk up the trail...

The view from the top, worth every bit of the walk.

At Winson Inlet, it was so peaceful as it was a sheltered bay...

At the Dog Rock, can you see why it got named so?
There are few stories surrounding this but the most famous is that of a settler Silverthorne and his wife who left their daughter at home to meet an arriving mail ship.
When they returned, they found their daughter surrounded by tribal natives but their dog, Victor, was there and barked ferociously that the aborigines who reacted by throwing spears at it.
The Silverthornes then buried the dog on the western slope of Mt Clarence but a wild storm that night washed the grave away.
The next day however, the granite boulder in the shape of a Spaniel's head mysteriously appeared.

At Princess Royal Harbour.

Yummy salt and pepper squid with equally shiok fish and chips! :P

Near Emu Point, look at the Pelicans, they were fast heading towards a boat, for food i think...

The Brig Amity - a replica of the boat that brought the first settlers to W.A.

A group photo at the Wind farm.

Look at the expanse of the view from one of the lookouts...

Ivan was like a kid, he just had to climb up to take this pic...
even joked that the door behind him into the turbines was ajar...

Had to keep my hat from flying away... was super windy... that's why this spot was chosen for the Wind Farm,
was decided and completed after 20 years when research first started.

Look everyone, Ivan is flyyyiiiinng............

The magnificient view.

EPC's visit (aka Eunice, Peter & Christian)

2011-04-27T22:51:00.000+08:00

One of our only few group pictures... indeed it's really difficult to take pictures with kiddos...
hee, still worth the shot though...

The ladies smiling at the camera, the boys busily muching away... :P

Think this picture is so cute... look at the comparison in sizes, hee!
Dunno why but this picture is kinda nostalgic as it reminds me of when I was younger and having taken such pictures at the zoo with my family as well... :)

Awww... so cute, need I say more?

Milking the cow... part 1

Milking the cow... part 2

At London Court

The boys posing for a picture at a secluded spot we found in Swan Valley for a mini picnic of chips and drinks.

The ladies looking pretty, as usual... :)

Our adorable Godson looking stylo milo in our kitchen... hee!

Ivangie's humble home is officially open for visits to our dear friends from Singapore... let us know when you guys wanna drop by for a visit yah? We'll try our best to be good hosts to you! :)

Down South for Easter!

2011-04-27T22:29:00.000+08:00

Well, we sure went for our own mini church visitation this Easter by driving about 4 hours plus down to Albany. Yup, Mr Teo was the official driver, as expected. I really can't believe we actually drove 200-300 over kms to our destination... it sure seem like a never ending journey but it was all worth the wait, here are some testimony pictures. Oh before I show that, wanna share a beautiful experience I had at Recon on the Wednesday before Good Friday, although it was different as the priest did not talk to me after that and give me words of wisdom as per my usual confessions, this time around, I felt quite touched by the whole ceremony, for God really spoke to me in the silence of my heart; for I felt He knows that I know what He wants for me to do, so as to lead a more God centred life. There was a powerful message at Easter mass too, where the priest shared that we should all aim to be blessed with the Spirit of the Risen Lord, to grant us the amazing grace to overcome and overlook weaknesses, issues, of others and ourselves and to rise with Him and lead our lives with renewed Hope and Faith. :)

At one of our stopovers on the way to Albany, look at how well stocked up we were for our roadtrip! :)

Liked this deco at Holy Family church in Albany for the Good Friday service.
We left Perth about 8plus 9 and reached Albany in time for 3pm mass.

Ivan and dad in front of the Gap, I don't think you need me to explain how it got its name yah? :)

And here's Ivangie at the Natural Bridge...

A fellow tourist volunteered to take a picture of us when he saw us taking the previous photo
but erm, we were blocking the bridge... hee!

We managed to catch the sun set from the natural landscapes, was splendid indeed!

Ivan pondering how it would be like to travel via flying fox to the other side of the rocks...

Just had to get someone to take a picture of the landscape for us, felt it was very picturesque... don't you agree?

Can you spot the small figure at the left of the picture near a dome shaped rock, that's Ivan's dad.
Seemed quite scary to be all the way out that so near the bridge and the ocean... but he sure was brave.

Okay, tune in for more pictures of our trip, before that I would like to interrupt with pictures of Eunice, Peter and Christian's visit to Perth, just 2 weeks ago, although it sure seemed like sucha long time ago... was such fun and wonderful times, minus the fact that I was ill for most part of the week, sadly... :(

Try to discover what God wants of you...

2011-04-04T09:51:00.000+08:00

... that was the take home message Father gave at homily in the weekend. We went to St Jerome's for mass instead and I'm so glad we finally did decide to as it was a blessed and prayerful time indeed. For starters, the cantor was fabulous, for she sounded so angelic, as if they were playing a CD in the background. I know, it's not for us to judge, but we both felt so much more at home there, and hooray, there was homily, although the gospel reading was real long. It seems like a trend for priests here to make a disclaimer at the start of their homilies that they will keep it short and sweet so not to worry, I always wonder why they do that; perhaps the people here have a shorter attention span than us. Come to think of it, we should really give ourselves pats on our backs for lasting through some long homilies back home(though always very insightful and enriching I must say).

Indeed, it seems like a tough call but I believe being more aware of the happenings in your surroundings and every move you make, every breathe you take, every word you say, helps us all to be able to behave more in the image of God. Slowly but surely, God will reveal in His own time what His call holds for us. But one thing's for sure, he wants us to be happy. Yup, you and me, His children, how wonderful that is yah? :)

Okay, it seems like a great start to my Monday morning thusfar, hope it stays that way. Have yourself a good week ahead too! :)

We did it!

2011-03-29T09:21:00.001+08:00

Uh-huh, God and me! Thank God for giving me the strength to actually carry out what I wasn't very confident in doing, really wouldn't have managed without Him.

You see, I had a 2hr lesson observation yesterday where I had to teach an intermediate class of adults English, they are second language speakers. And this is part of the requirement to get my certification in Cert IV TESOL. Well, 1 class done, 2 more to go coz I gotta fulfill 6hrs in total but I know all will be well coz I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. Amen! Really felt this unexplainable confidence before and during the whole session although I must say the "dark" side of doubt and fear was equally as strong (Hee, Newton's Law even applies here yah? Every force will have an equal and opposite force).

Alritey, just dropping a quick liner here and shall get back to work. Looking forward to the weekend when we have Eunice and family here. :) More photos of our fun escapades and adventures will follow in the days to come... look out for it yah?

For once, Ivan told me to take a picture...

2011-03-14T16:26:00.001+08:00

... of... the Thai Green Curry that he made yesterday. It was using the Asian Home Gourmet spices and the following of recipe instructions that he churned out a wonderful hot & spicy dish! ;) Check it out below...

Thai Green Curry with chic, potato and some mixed beans

See, we had already tucked in to our food but he made me stop to go get my camera.
By the way, can you see our new table cloth, it has cake and tea on the blue backdrop, pretty pretty? :)

Hee, this has nothing to do with the curry but just to report Irving, we have finally used this handy toy you gave us, to make our eggs in the morning, alongside Kaya toast, pretty much like a in-house Ya Kun outlet we have here. :)

Tanzanite Launch at CEJ

2011-03-04T09:25:00.000+08:00

We had the Tanzanite Collection Launch on Wednesday evening after work. Was quite a good turnout with the Tanzanian Consulate (Perth) and his wife coming for the event; as well as the Head of Tanzanite One, the company behind the precious blue stones which have a 3 dimensional shade to it - royal blue, indigo and periwinkle, quite gorgeous I must say.

Just some background information for you if you're interested...hee! :P It is a tradition for the Masaai tribe to give the women who have just given birth vibrant blue beads and adornments to wear, so as to bestow upon the child a healthy and positive life. This custom has been preseved and in modern tradition, Tanzanite is given as a celebration of life, on the birth of a baby. It uniquely symbolizes new beginnings and pays tribute to those who have show the greatest of loves by becoming a parent. More pictures will follow this entry... :)

The ladies at Charles Edward Jewellers

Cheers! Blue Champagne! ;)

Delectable "Tanzanite" cupcakes! :P

Make the Best of Each Day!

2011-02-28T22:55:00.000+08:00

Indeed, as the Gospel for this Sunday says, Do not Worry about tomorrow for our Heavenly Father knows what's best for us. In light of all the saddening news that greet us daily, the recent NZ earthquake, Flooding in Queensland and just today in Perth, flash flooding and heavy rains in certain parts, it makes me even more certain that we should live life to the fullest - to do the things that we want to do, not to live with regrets. That's partly the spur for me to take many things on my plate, for I know I want to do the things that I enjoy and of coz still contributing to the wallet of our family.

For starters with regards to my teaching career, as mentioned in my earlier blog, I'm back on track. Shan't mention about the other teaching related stuff as yet coz mi dun wanna "jinx" it (as Adel would say - hee, the lingo of kiddos these days, gosh I'm always losing track - this only means one thing, I'm growing olddddd.... oh well, better not get me started.........)

Thank You God for keeping us safe, we know you have always been watching over us and are very grateful! We continue to pray for our loved ones back in Singapore and in Spain, keep them all close to you and us close to them in prayers and thoughts especially.

I am really very grateful today as I watched the news on TV of roofs in the Northern and Eastern suburbs being blown away or houses in slight ruins coz of the storm, for God has kept Ivan and myself safe, for we only experience a slight shower. Indeed, our God is good. Of course my heart goes out to the victims of the recent disasters and with these, it really got me reflecting on how precious life is, how we should make the best of what we have and to be appreciative of all things around us, love you lots Mummy, Daddy, Adel! :)

Signing off for now...

Kway Chap!

2011-02-26T20:24:00.000+08:00

Uh-huh, Chef Ivangie made the below, check out the pictures! Ivan did the actual cooking while Angie gave the instructions, heehee! Was quite tired after tuition today, oh did I tell you? I started giving tuition at a tuition centre here and am teaching Year 8 Maths & Science and Year 4 Maths. They didn't have any English classes available so they started me off on this vacancy at the moment. I'm quite pleased that I've finally embarked back on the teaching track, feel real happy when I'm teaching, didn't realise how much I miss the interaction with students and helping them learn something. Okay, before I start rantering off... here are the pictures of our dinner this evening!

Ivangie's Kwap Chap made with Seah's fragrant spice

We made do with Phat Thai noodles in place of the kway that we couldn't really find

The food definitely tastes as good as it looks coz we finished it all! :P

Mr Teo gives his thumbs-up! :)

I drove Bluey on my own!

2011-02-08T00:09:00.001+08:00

Uh-huh, that's my announcement!:) You see, as Mich n Toni needed more space 4 their luggages, we had to drive 2 cars to pick them fr e airport. It was a blessing as it forced me to be more gung ho with my driving. As a form of practice b4 driving on my own after that, we drove from our place to theirs to get e other car n boy was it scary driving on e expressway. Although there were not many cars this late, it was still my 1st time on an expressway aka highway, for that matter. Well I survived that ride although I m sure I scared Ivan along the way with my nerves in clutching tightly onto e steering wheel and turns at high speeds, forgot 2 slow down more... When e real deal came, Angie in Bluey alone, following closely behind Ivan, it turned out ok, not as bad as I expected but was still a lil of an ordeal I felt, but thank God for protecting us!:) but that's enough excitement for the nite, I had better hit the sacks to recuperate. Nite nite!:)

Tuan Yuan Fan!

2011-02-02T21:15:00.000+08:00

Look at the feast we had! Just the two of us... we made it when we tried... :)

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Enjoy the long break of feasting and spending time with friends and family! :)

The muffins turned out well! :)

2011-01-29T17:55:00.000+08:00

Hee, according to the official taster, Mr Teo, the raspberry muffin tastes quite good, not too sweet... hee! At first, I thought I wouldn't dare to taste my own muffins coz it took me a while to actually be okay with my own cooking; not that it was disgusting or anything but just had bad experience back in Home Econs days. I still remember how I would always bring the food home and ask my mum to try without even daring to take a bite first to see how they tasted. Mummy would more often than not, not want to have an upset stomach and would ask me to throw the food away, after all, it has been out a whole day (quite a valid excuse I must say). Well, with all the "not-properly" washed utensils and cooking pots and pans, it's no wonder that Mum did not want to take the risk, given that many a time the girls would just do a quick job of rinsing the stuff that we used for that particular cooking lesson.

Well, Angie's getting more steady these days in the kitchen... oh, the other day I tried making Mango cheesecake too, dun think I told you guys about it, coz I wasn't exactly too proud of it, think I overbaked it and was too generous with the Mango such that it tasted more like Mango slice (as mich says ;) ), rather than Mango cheesecake. Somehow, I didn't dare to eat that at all coz the whole process of making the cake just seemed too raw for me... hee! Just can't explain why... so for now, I shall stick to perfecting my muffins before moving on to something else. Oh, to satisfy my baking fetish, we actually bought a 20 over piece baking set from K mart to start me off, hee! :)

On another note, finally took some time off to continue with my reading. Started "Eat Pray Love" late last year but have yet to finish it. As I was reading it today however, really liked this phrase in the book, "Flexibility is just as essential for divinity as is discipline."Indeed it reminds us not to be too obsessed with the repitition of religious ritual for its own sake. You see, there was a cautionary fable mentioned in the book about a great saint, his loyal devotees and his cat. His cat would always be meowing and disturbing everyone during meditation such that the saint made it a point to tie the cat to a pole outside for a few hours so that everyone else could concentrate on meditation. This became such a habit that many could not meditate unless the car was tied to the pole first. Then one day, the cat died. The saint's followers were panic-stricken and it became a major religious crisis, as the only way they knew how to reach God was via the cat being tied to the pole. I guess it reminds us not to be too rigid in our mentality and thus helps me take heart with regards to how I'm feeling... well, can't and probably don't want to be too explicit here but just a quick summary below k?

You see, was reflecting some time back and these days too about Ivan and my want to be active in a community here or at least be more active in church. We've very conveniently become Sun Catholics due to the lack of activities present in the church that we are at now. Also, there are certain things I don't quite agree with or rather get disappointed with here in the churches. We've attended a handful of masses whereby the priests would not give any homily at all and just move straight to the Liturgy of the Eucharist after the Gospel. There we would be, with open ears, waiting to receive, but get disappointed so many a time. I know we can find another parish to be a part of but we have been so lazy to move in search coz the present church is the nearest to our place. Oh well... maybe we should get down to it soon. It's just become a habitual thing you know, going to that church, guess it would take a while to unlearn this "ritual" of ours.

Happy Chinese New Year my dear family and friends! Enjoy the yummy goodies! Must eat on our behalf yah? HEE! :P

1st entry of 2011

2011-01-26T23:09:00.000+08:00

Oops, I sure took my time to include this entry... sorry about that. Not to worry, all's kewl with Angie n Ivan. It's Australia Day today and the highlight is their annual Skyworks, aka Fireworks galore. We caught it on tv though, din wanna jostle with the crowd and be stuck in traffic, maybe next time we'll go for picnic and have nice family time out.

We just caught lotsa Tennis, Aus Open, on TV... witnessing the upsetting loss of World No.1 Nadal! :( Oh n not forgetting the two mini naps that I took n household chores around the house, oh plus I made some muffins too, not sure how they taste as yet, saving them for breakfast tomorrow! Will let you know again yah? Oooohh, I love mid-week holidays, just 2 more days of work then it's the weekend again.

However, the whole of Feb has no public holidays here coz they dun give holiday for CNY. The next public hol would be 7 March - Labour Day. Looking forward to that. :)

How many marks do the muffins get for Looks? Hee! I'll ask Ivan be the judge for the taste yah? :)

I din make this cupcake, hee... my lady boss ordered a dozen, I ate my share and brought one back for Ivan. :P

HaPpY bIrThDaY JeSuS...

2010-12-26T21:26:00.000+08:00

... I'm so glad it's Christmas. This time, this year, however, it conjures a different type of emotion in me, for Christmas is a time of love and miracles and time spent with family... and it's only me and Ivan this year but well, we are a small duo, aka family. :)

Was actually a little regretful coz I did want to try to make it back to Singapore for a short getaway after realising I only go back to work on the 29 Dec but didn't manage to get reasonable tics in the end; given the fact that it was last minute and also way off our budget during this festive season. We have decided however, that we are going to start planning for our getaway next year instead. :) Here are some pictures to paint the picture of how we spent our Christmas, of coz not forgetting, our families and loved ones were definitely in our prayers and thoughts...

Look at the pressies under the tree! Notice the 2 dark blue pressies, they are our gifts to each other! :)

Our first ever reasonably sized Christmas tree!

Ivan's going to pop the "Champagne", hee, it's Sparkling White Grape actually...

Our lunch - Salmon with roasted veg, were supposed to have turkey but realised too late
we had to defrost it before roasting so we decided to have it for dinner instead. :)

Posing with our first tree...

Guess what Ivan's glued too? Playing Mario on our Christmas treat to ours, WII!

Enjoying our turkey finally... :P

Glee!!!

Say Cheese!

Independent gal! :)

2010-12-16T09:04:00.000+08:00

Yup, that's me I'm talking about. :) It's been about 2 weeks plus since Ivan started on his new job and last Friday, we had our dinner at 10plus. He had to work OT to finish up a project and there we were having our supper on a late Fri night. These few days have been the same, he still has to work OT, although it's not as late. Mum and Dad are worried that it will start being the norm and asked him not to 'spoil market' but as his manager told him to tell his wife (aka me), it's only this week that they have to work late to meet some deadlines.

And so, there's Independent Angie, who has been taking the train and then bus back home. Okay, now I sound kinda like a spoilt brat yah? But seriously, the transport system is not as efficient as back home in Singapore and there's only one bus I can take home from the station. If I miss the 5.58pm bus, I would have to wait till 6.23pm - which was what happened to me the other day, my first time going home on my own.

Alritey, sneaking this in the morning before I start work coz I was a little early as usual - oh did I tell you that I go to work myself too? Hee! Steady Angie yah? :)

Some Christmas festivities to share!

2010-12-11T23:21:00.000+08:00

Happy Wedding Anniversary To Us!

2010-12-11T22:22:00.000+08:00

Yup, it's our fourth wedding anniversary today 11 Dec and 9 Dec coz we had our wedding dinner four years ago on this nite and our church wedding 2 days earlier. We just rewatched our wedding video just now and had a good laugh over some funny moments; was great fun reminiscing those beautiful times. As we look back on the many blessings we have received from our family and friends, we are so glad and thankful for the many people that God has sent our way. God bless you all! Indeed, you are all miracles in our lives for God has shown His great love for us through you all. May we be as wonderful a blessing as you are to us. AMEN! :)

TESOL

2010-11-30T21:49:00.001+08:00

I finally went ahead with what I set out to do; to continue with my teaching career here in Perth. But first, I had to have the TESOL qualification in order to teach English here in Perth. Before I even embarked on this studying journey, it seemed quite daunting but in early November, after I attended the extensive lessons from Wed - Friday (6 - 10pm) and then 9am - 5pm on the weekend that followed. On retrospect, I seriously dunno how I survived, seriously no joke to be studying and working at the same time; kudos to all those who are doing that simultaneously for a period of time... I'm glad I survived! ;)

I was actually having second thoughts halfway coz I felt I din fit in with all the other ang mohs, felt a little uncomfortable, truth be told; however, by the weekend, I was all good. There was this cute guy too... hee, no worries, Ivan knows about this...hee! He's a lawyer by profession and blushes very easily... just very boy boy cute and super easy to talk to... was fun hanging out with him. Oh, back to the main topic, we had to present a lesson to our fellow peers on Sunday morning; afterwhich we would get feedback from the class and the teacher and only then can we graduate from the in-class course.

And guess what? I was one of the best! Hee! Really, not self-praising! The trainer said I showed the excellent way of teaching grammar and commented that I'm so different in class as a student and up on the "stage" as a teacher - guess I really found my forte, feel so much more gung-ho in front of a class and not forgetting, it's always so enjoyable and a joy when my students learn something and that I'm able to help them better understand something. I really think I'm called to be a teacher... I'm looking forward to resuming that but in the meantime, I'm quite comfortable doing what I'm doing and concentrating on starting a family... that's indeed the main thing on my mind these days... just looking forward to be a mummy! looking at all our cute God children makes us want to have many many of our own... please continue to keep us in your prayers yah? Thkjew! :)

Me and other budding EL teachers, teaching EL as a 2nd lang to foreign speakers.

Oh it's Ivan's second day at his new job! Has he announced that on his blog as yet? If not, lemme help him here! ;) Indeed, our dear Lord has been merciful and we are so grateful for his providence. Although not a very high-paying job but rather an entry level one, we are glad that he's able to start somewhere in the Aus workforce, hopefully this would be a great stepping stone of more to come. ;)

Ivan's mummy came over in October for a work trip and we managed to spend a day with her and she got to stay a nite at our place too; afterwhich she upgraded to a suite in Hyatt in the city for her work conference. :)

Some random pictures...

2010-11-27T15:34:00.000+08:00

Check out the little pavillion outside our master bedroom, special thanks to Ivan's cousin and cousin-in-law for getting us the side table and chairs. :)

Did you know that I never knew how to blow a balloon, but finally, I managed to do so! ;) Coz, I was always afraid of the balloon bursting in my face...

Oh, and check out the little froggy, this one we left it alone, the last time we saw another froggie in the garage and Ivan tried to chase it out to the grass patch but in the process, it let out some shrieks, quite scary...

Yummy feasting! :P

2010-11-27T15:22:00.001+08:00

We bought a new blender and have been playing with our new toy! ;) This is our inaugural opening ceremony where we made watermelon, strawberry, yoghurt and white chrysanthem drink. Tis' the season for refreshing drinks coz the weather is getting real hot hot! :)

Yummy salad made with roasted chicken, feta cheese, semi-dried tomato and grilled mushrooms in Italian dressing... Tastes super yummy! Heehee, self-praise is international disgrace! ;)

Ivangie's House Blessing!

2010-11-17T20:39:00.001+08:00

Amen! God is good! For he has blessed us with a roof over our heads and so many blessings that we are so thankful for... :) for Ivan's family to be around when we had the House Blessing and looking forward to my family to be here next year. Oh, must give credit when it's due, thanks Irving for some real nice pics taken! :)

May only all things good enter the front door!

May we always have enough to eat and to share with our loved ones!

May all who ride in Bluey Junior be kept safe always!

May our garden bear much flower and fruit!

May God bless our dear friends and family!

May God bless the food we partake and the wonderful fellowship!:)

Ivan found a job! Alleluia! :)

2010-11-12T17:03:00.000+08:00

Just thought I'll drop a liner here. :) Ivan found a job! AMEN! Thank God that his hardwork in finding a job finally pays off with His help! However, the pay is pretty low and Ivan is in the midst of negotiation with the CEO and hopefully, things will turn out well. Please continue to pray for us yah? You're all in our thoughts and prayers too. Do drop us a liner at ivanangie@gmail.com to update us on your lives back at home! :)

Apologies all for the delay in updating my blog... I'll be more on the ball real soon, got pictures updates coming up real soon. Trying to finish unpacking our stuff from our last trip back from Singapore, haha, yup u heard it right, we haven't finish unpacking as yet, need to rearrange stuff at home for the festivities soon. :)

Oh... and we bought a Christmas tree, like FINALLY! Hee! :) Managed to convince Ivan that we needed a tree, hee! Gosh, think the homesickness is gonna get worse with the festive season approaching but indeed, Christmas isn't Christmas till it happens in your heart. In my heart, I hold my dear family and friends, close to my heart and am praying earnestly that our dear Lord will bless and keep all of you. Love you all, miss you dearly. :)

Picture updates! :)

2010-10-03T22:09:00.002+08:00

We are starting on our flower garden... Ivangie are gardeners in the making...hee!

Our Bali tree look-a-like that we kept behind... look at the fantastic cleared pathway, special thanks to Ivan and his daddy's hardwork! :)

You see the tree at the end of the pathway, we thinking of getting a small BBQ pit to put there. :P

We shifted this tree out, hope it stays rooted...haha! :)

Check out the scenery along the way to Margaret River... we went for a short weekend getaway.

Check out one of the many vineyards...

One of the pretty gardens in one of the vineyards... our dream garden look-a-like.

We checked out many places this trip that we never gone beforein Margaret River - this is Prevelly Beach. :)

Look at the boys basking in the sun, amongst the vines...

This is yummy Organic homemade pasta from Ollio Bello, shiok man!

Thank God It's Friday! :)

2010-10-01T17:35:00.000+08:00

Dear Lord,

I am so thankful for so many things today... :) The morning started with dramas, there were 2 rings for this particular customer that was due today and I checked with the relevant salesperson as there were some issues and she sort of flared up at me. To that, I tried to be assertive and said that I did my part but it was just that she was on biz trip earlier in the month and later on she was sick for a while. Thereafter, time just flew by and to cut the long story short, the job was not completed when it should be and she sort of yelled at me. I actually said the words, "It's not my fault, you weren't around..." I think she realised I was upset coz she later assured me that she was not angry with me but just with the jeweller and how things are done.

Well, God really provides coz she asked me to call the customer to explain there she was away and all and that there has been some delay in the jobs as they were supposedly coming down all the way from down South to Perth City to collect the ring. I first called her mobile phone but to no avail, was so worried that she was on her way to our shop actually, won't know what to explain. Then, I called her home number and lo and behold, she was home, aka she wasn't on her way to Perth. That means we were okay, at least for that while. Thank God that there was some changes in her plans too and she would not be coming till 18th Oct, so it gives us time to fight the "fire". PHEW! :)

Another thing that I would like to thank God for is Ivan. For his gentleness and his nature, just being who he is... and that God has brought us together and helped us stay together centered in His love thusfar. You see, I have a colleague who is actually leaving to go back to the country where she comes from so as to "keep her husband." They have been apart for awhile and he supposedly strayed. Really felt this immense sadness when I heard about her situation. I pray for her earnestly that God will make a Way for her marriage and keep her family together, she has two school-going kids too.

Oh yes, how can I forget, another thing to be grateful for is family, esp now that Irving and daddy are here. Oh and we are going Margaret river this weekend for a short trip, will flood my blog with pictures galore when we get back yah?

One last thing, am typing this quickly before leaving office, going to meet them at Freo for fish and chips and definitely yummy San Churros aka Dark Hot choc with churros!

This is my "birthday cake" that my colleagues got for me as an advanced birthday surprise coz I will be back in Singapore then celebrating with my sis, hee! It sure was a pleasant shock coz it was way too early for my celebration...heehee! Okay, gotta log off and go meet Ivan. Will write more soon. Ciao for now. :)

Gardening 102 with Ivan's daddy's help!

2010-09-26T22:11:00.000+08:00

Hee, I must take my hats off to the boys (erm, maybe should say men, hee!) for the hardwork today! They removed the old plants, uprooted others, weeded the soil etc. I know Mr Teo really worked out a sweat coz iti seemed like a laborious job trying to uproot the big plants and tough fern-like plants that had dried up. We intend to clear the pathway so that we could put stuff there, Ivan had a brilliant idea for the bbq pit to be there as well. Although we have quite a small place I must say we are indeed maximising the space and making the best of what we have. Okay, without further ado, presenting the evidence of the gardening escapade this afternoon! :)

Ivan's daddy hard at work planting some flowers that we bought
while Ivan taking a break and posing for the camera...haha

You see that empty spot behind the plants,
we are clearing the land to prepare for "growing season"

One... two... three... PULL!!!

And.... it's OUT!!! HOORAY! :)

Ivan and his dad standing on the soil in
the pathway that they cleared. Great jobs dudes! :)

Araluen botanic gardens... I shall let the pictures speak for themselves... :)

2010-09-26T21:53:00.001+08:00

Went to Araluen Botanic gardens at the Armadale region about half an hour drive from where we lived. (Michelle, Ivan's cousin, went along with us, she recommended the gardens to us one... was worth the short drive I must say). It was not too bad a drive (short drive only) although poor Mr Teo was the main driver, was trying driving up the fairly steep slopes too, poor BJ (we decided to call our car Bluey instead although it is Bluey junior, coz the original Bluey has been scrapped - for those who are not in the loop, hee!)

The Araluen Botanics is famous for its tulips in spring and we sure did managed to get some lovely shots. :) What do you think? ;P Oh yes, we have been so in the gardening and floral mood this long weekend (It's the Queen's Birthday tomorrow so it's a public holiday) that we got down and dirty to do up our garden too. Check out the nexty blog entry! Kudos to Ivan and his daddy! :)

Wildflowers in Bloom! Pretty Pretty!

2010-09-18T21:09:00.000+08:00

Just for the record, Ivan's dad is here! It's so nice having family around... I've been talking quite abit with him and I must say I have gotten to know Daddy a little better, in the short span of 2 days! He arrived on Thursday night only... looking forward to more to come. :)

We had yummy American breakfast this morning - a slice of ham steak, scrambled eggs, hash brown plus toast and cheese! :P We adjoined to King's Park after and here's the beautiful pictures to share, of the gorgeous flowers galore!

The kids were amazed by the water fountain which came on every few minutes...

On the Tree Top Walk at King's Park

Think these are Daisies... :)

Was quite challenging taking pictures with the bees, they were sure having a feast day, moving so quickly from one flower to the next, managed to capture the butt of this one. :P

Plenty more... :)

And I've saved the best for last! Love this picture! :) Quite nicely taken right? Might frame it up...heehee!

Next, we headed to Harbour Town for Kebabs, as recommended by my cousin and it sure was delicious! Ispa/ Isba Kebabs I think it's called... I highly recommend BBQ sauce with sweet chilli... yums! :P Mi bought 2 pairs of comfy shoes for work for $80. Not sure if it's true but original RRP = $220, discount = $60 but i got mine for $40 each only! KEWL! Daddy got a fleece jacket too. Oh oh, must report, Ivan also bought sthg that day, been such a long while that he actually purchased sthg... Got a pair of sneaker fr Cotton On, makes him look even younger, haha! He never grows up man!

Then we took a drive around our estate to show Daddy and went to check out some gorgeous display homes near our place... so big the houses, and the layout... WOW... well, maybe in 2 -3 years' time as Mr Teo says... we might be able to get a new place, our dream would be to buy a plot of land and get the people to build the house that we want...

Gardening 101

2010-09-12T20:01:00.000+08:00

If you think Ivangie has started to grow some vegetation, think again...haha!

It's actually weeds that is overwhelming our lawn.

This is only 1/4 of the actual mess but thanks to Ivan and a little help from Angie,

hee, we managed to weed it all, well...almost! ;)

Ivan's standing above one of the completed plot... the one that he cleared the weeds, but we discovered some green creatures, really small ones that started infesting the area after the weeds were removed.

I think we "messed" with their home grounds that's why... anyone can offer any gardening advice? Hee!

Look!We did it! :) Only the ferns/ grasses are left. We are not exactly sure what they are but they are definitely not weeds coz all the houses have them growing well.

Last but not least, the beautiful flowers growing from our tree... I just love this picture that I took, gorgeous yah? Thanks to the "macro" mode on my trusty Panasonic Lumix. :)

Sure hope you enjoyed the little updates via photos, will write more next time...

till then, take care everybody! :)

Interior design course 101

2010-09-04T20:08:00.000+08:00

On your mark, get set GO! :) Ivan the handyman... :)

With help from our Malaysian friend, he told Ivan that he was using the wrong drill bit, which he took 3 hrs prior to this to fix up a frame... this time around, he took less than 10min. :P CONGRATS!

Look how impressive Mr Teo is, even fixing up the window mesh frame, there was a small hole which Winston, the handyman that Ivan learnt a lot of stuff from, fixed up for us. :)

Hee, no money to buy wallpaper so we bought these wall decals instead...nice? :)

More decoration stuff to come! :)

New frame series from IKEA, Ivangie's ever-trusted furniture shop...

Recipes which we will try out soon...check out where this is... can you guess?

Yup, it's in the kitchen! :)

Okay, that's all the time I have for now... gotta go eat yummy dinner that we made,

beef bolognaise with penne and carrots. :)

Some picture updates...

2010-08-22T21:15:00.000+08:00

As Ivan wrote in his blog, we finally got down to exploring the church near our place, it's supposed to be our parish also... Mater Christi church = Mother of Christ. It's a fairly new church, celebrating their 10th Anniversary this Friday, but not much festivities though, surprisingly. Anyway, it is set near a lake and lotsa greenery, very serene environment. :)

Presenting our more or less ready living area... still awaiting more frames and other ornaments from Singapore but on the whole it's almost 90% furnished for now... How does it look?

From another perspective, our living area... :)

Our small kitchen where chef Ivangie cooks up a storm! :P

The view of our main corridor, note that the door is PINK! ;) And can you see the white IKEA bookshelf that we use to put our small misc items stuff...

The view from the main door, the walkway into our main living area... a small place but cosy enough... look out for more pictures of the other 2 rooms which are still 'under construction'.:)

Cook out! Fishy fishy... ;)

2010-08-11T21:39:00.000+08:00

Presenting some of our recent meals... :) First up, ORANGE FISH, yup, we baked our fillet with orange slices and a mix of olive oil, salt, pepper and the orange juices as well. Was quite yummy! A mix of tangy and salty! :P

Another fish dish, with baked veg, potatoes and beans (was trying to make it like Kenny Rogers side dish, not bad attempt I must say...haha!) Oh, we bought the smoked cod from the supermarket and baked it once again with some olive oil and wallah! :P

We thought we bought bee hoon but din realise it was tang hoon until we started cooking... haha! but it was still yummy, had it alongside chicken satay kebabs that we grilled. :P

How does it all look? :)

Not too bad for amateurs like Ivan and Angie yeah? HEE!

Welcome to Ivangie's world...

2010-08-03T23:42:00.000+08:00

Oh no, I'm feeling emo today. We were just testing out our Home Theatre System and having a kick out of hearing the surround sound that we decided to watch a movie. Out of the many that Adel passed me, we only had a feel in the avi format which the system could read. We didn't think much of the show that we chose coz we din know much abt it but it sure was a meaningful show that gently reminded me that nothing matters most in life than the people who mean the most to you, your family and loved ones. Love ya Mummy, Daddy and Adel! :)

Oh, after all that rantering, realised I din mention the title of the show; it's aptly called "In Her Shoes". Go rent or borrow it if you havent caught it, also encourages everyone to believe in others n yourself; that it is never too late or too old to do something or learn.

It really started me thinking... that there's so much more to life; how I wish I could just spend and focus every waking moment on family and things that bring joy to me...work is just so mundane, or rather, I just dun see any meaning to it. I know I have to work for now, to survive and to pay off our mortgage and simply, to live, but I'm sure there's so much more... Oh, how I miss my family so...

Sorry for the sad tone to this entry but needed to get it off my chest, dun exactly feel much better now but in retrospect, I know I'll be glad I wrote it here. Okay, enough of the unhappy thoughts, here are some pictures to cheer all of us up! :)

Thanks for giving us your extra curtains Mummy! ;) See how useful it is! :)

Our "country" theme toilet with our wedding ornaments...

Our outdoor dining set that we got for a steal! Thanks to Kmart that we got the bargain! :)

See how pretty the chair is, with the floral designs?

Ivangie's haven... need I say more?

D.I.Y

2010-07-31T22:17:00.000+08:00

Sorry I've been M.I.A. Thought I'll drop a short note on our Do-It-Yourself adventure with our house. You see, most of the furniture that we've bought - we had a hand in completing it. :) Well, Ivan has a bigger part to play of course. But I played my own small part, have a look at some of my "creations". HAHA! :P We'll be posting up more pictures of our place when we do it up more and unpack more yeah? But for now, here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure... enjoy! :)

Ivan fixing up our bedside table

What do you think this is?

It's a "rack" for my hairbands :P

Food galore :P

2010-07-21T22:52:00.000+08:00

No trip back to Singapore would be complete without yummy food treats, so here’s the gallery of pictures to feast your eyes. The 10 days in Singapore although short, gave us some time to catch up with friends too…although we were like busy bees, too many things to do and too little time, have to start planning for rendezvous in October with those we failed to meet up this last trip. Thanks for your understanding guys! :)

Yummy economical beehoon from Toa Payoh, the coffeeshop just downstairs my parents' place

Thai food, courtesy of Mummy dearest! :)

Some of the students as mentioned in "Good Morning Cher!" Thanks for the support!

A pity the whole HSS group didn't manaage to meet up, neva mind, maybe in Oct...

Oh btw pple. do check out the restaurant, Arbite, at Serangoon Gdns, just above the Guardian Pharmacy, opened by my good friend's bf, they sell some yummy delights - this picture was taken in the restaurant itself.

Not bad for a "self" portrait yeah? :P

Smelly durian! I preferred the mango with glutinous rice dessert though, check out this yummy Thai food place in Funan, hee... come to think of it, think Mummy is into Thai food these days... hee!

And we cannot forget the simple delight of Mee Pok Da!

ME turn ME turn... and authetic small char siew pao and milky rich soya bean drink.

Aiyah, just realised I forgot to get Dao Huey too... one more thing to add to my Oct list! :)

GoodBye seems to be the Hardest Word

2010-07-18T21:44:00.000+08:00

BYE BYE BLUEY! *Sobs Sobs* I watched on sadly as the Tow Contractor got into Bluey, turned his engine on, probably for the last time, and drove him up the ramp that led Bluey onto his truck and to his final destination. :(

Bluey has officially been written off by the Insurance company because of the recent hailstorm in March and they took until recently to settle and bring the matter to a close; I guess it was a blessing in disguise that they took their time as it gave us more time to spend with Bluey. If not, we would barely have driven him for a month plus before the disaster had struck!

As a result of Bluey’s departure, we had to get a replacement. In search of a new car we went… Ivan decided to let me get my dream car, on the condition that I take to the wheel more often. You see, ever since I got my license in Nov 2009, I’ve probably only driven about say a few times? Suffice to say, it can be counted with one hand, or so I think.

On that fateful Saturday, last week, we went to check out the Blue Honda Jazz advertised on www.carsales.com.au, yup that’s my dream car, a cute and funky Jazz! ;) It was love at first sight, the price was okay but we managed to bring it down a little lower too… so there you have it, we are now proud owners of Bluey Junior aka BJ (named in memory of Bluey…oh how I miss him so). Okie dokie, enough of all the talk, I shall let you see the pictures! Oh, one more thing before that… we have decided to come up with a Bluey Museum! Uh-huh, it’s our little mini-project – aimed to be completed by end 2010. It’ll be housed in our garage, with artefacts, write-ups and of course pictures galore! Hee! ;)

Ivan trying to remove as many things fr Bluey as possible...for momento...

BJ managed to meet his ancestor Bluey as the tow company delayed the "pick-up" of Bluey...

Hope we can keep at least one of the number plates as momento,
coz we have to return it to get back refund for the car registration that we paid for...

That's me driving BJ into the garage when Ivan went to pick BJ up from the caryard.

Perth --> Singapore (June/ July 2010)

2010-07-12T14:06:00.003+08:00

Apologies for the late update… please bear with me as I busy myself with our unpacking and packing about our new place, as well as recovering from a bad bout of cough. :(

S-I-N-G-A-P-O-R-E!!! It was a quite a bumpy budget flight for the surprise trip back. Was quite bad as I could even feel the air pressure against my body - felt my face contorted a little and also felt pains to my chest. It was a first such bad experience and hopefully, the last... Thank God we landed safely on an early Friday morning. Had pre-breakfast about 4plus in the morning before going back to Ivan’s to pack stuff and then over to Mum and Dad’s for the surprise! ;)

“What are you doing here?” was the phrase Mummy repeated quite a few times when she saw us at her doorstep. Hee, it made us feel a little “uninvited” but I know she was overjoyed to see us although in her sleepy stupor, she could not quite reconcile it as yet.

It sure was a magical time spent with my family and Ivan’s family. Ivan’s Gor’s family from Spain was also around. They arrived in Singapore a day after us due to flight delays. Din really go many places, found ourselves hanging out at Novena area quite a bit, dining at Hong Kong Family Street Restaurant opp Novena square, Wee Nam Kee and Vines opp Novena church, Soup Restaurant in United Square, Bakerz Inn also in United Square… Novena rocks!!! The places weren't important, what mattered was the company. :)

Thanks for taking sucha nice candid shot of us Adel, din even realise you took pictures then! ;)

YAY!Managed to eat Mummy's yummy cooking! HOORAY! :P

Ivan managed to "catch" the gals after a while of wild goose chase in Guardian,
at United Sq

Ivan still wore his Italian T-shirt even when they were kicked out from the World Cup,
but his persistence paid off when he got us discount for our ITALIAN GELATO. :P

Mummy looking for a potential dressing table in the wrong section!

Hee, see how the kids even mistook the dresser for a stove? ;)

Took this while waiting for the others to get ready to leave the house - Cheeky Anna! :)

My "baby" is here!

2010-06-08T22:07:00.000+08:00

Now, now, before you get too excited... the baby I'm referring to is my book, "Good Morning Cher!" It arrived in the mail today, finally I get my hands on my beloved! MUAKS MUAKS! What took you so long? Hee! :P

I can't say how AWESOME our God is! AMEN! :) Are you ready for another piece of good news?

Our finance loan for the house has been approved!

Praise God! Indeed, He has been leading us down this path, at times when we find it so difficult to tread. He has made my family more open and receptive to our being here in Perth and blessed us with supportive friends (although we may be miles away, we know that you are always keeping us in your prayers!). Our God is indeed "More than Enough" for me... for He has done such wondrous things for us... I really can't thank Him enough for His graciousness. AMEN AMEN AMEN! :)

Glee! :)

2010-06-07T20:45:00.000+08:00

It's a public holiday here today, Foundation Day, although I've no idea what it is...hee! ;) Ivan & I have been busy with the Glee episodes this long weekend (courtesy of Adel). It sure is a very meaningful and musical show, left 3 more episodes then must get the rest from her soon. Thanks Adel! :P For now, I'm or rather, we're hooked and very gleeful! It's back to work tomorrow but I think I should be okay, hope you all will be too. Hopefully, we will get the finance confirmation for the house by this week! :)

Faith begins when reasoning ends...

2010-06-06T16:01:00.001+08:00

Gosh, it seems like my old trusted Fujitsu laptop is back and has a new life of its own... Have been using my new pink Acer netbook for a while now but decided to switch back to this to see if it's still got its thing and just today it seemed to be resurrected, it brings me to webpages so much faster now!

Hee, I guess my blog content today definitely pales in comparison to my hubby's one... he usually gets inspiration from Fr's homily at mass and I must say they (the homily and his blog too) always speak a lot to me too... It's just that these days, am feeling a little emo, missing home quite abit and feel bored here. I guess the things that mean the world to me are in Singapore that's why and the familiar stuff too... just pray and hope, God-willing, that our finance would be approved soon so that we could busy ourselves with house stuff and move on to a new chapter of our life downunder.

Everyday I seem to just be following the flow of things, just going with the motion... however mundane and all, not that there's anything wrong but just feel something missing... maybe a some little one will help brighten our days? :P

Well, we do wanna start a family once we settle our house and all so dear Lord, I pray that you will grant us our hearts' desire. Increase in me and fill up the emptiness oh Lord. May you continue to watch over my dear family and friends and remind them that you are always with them, through it all - just as I believe Lord that you have been and are and will be with us all the Way. Amen! :)

Our New Home! (Praying hard...)

2010-05-22T22:36:00.000+08:00

We have good news to share... we have made an offer for a house! I've attached some "BEFORE" pictures for your viewing pleasure. When we officially shift in and furnish the house, will put up more pictures okay? Hopefully it would be a gorgeous change! :)

Here's the master bedroom...

The living area and the kitchenette...

The outside bathroom

The outside laundry area and the mini-garden which we need to do some work too... :)

CEJ ladies aka Alannah Hill models! ;P

2010-05-20T15:03:00.001+08:00

Hee, Alannah Hill is a rather famous Australian designer, for those who don't already know... Well, the only thing poor Angie could afford from there was their leggings! My colleague in the centre however is clad from head to toe in Alannah Hill! ;P

The other Asian lady is my Lady boss! :) Can you see the stockings that we were wearing? It's the same, with pretty white and pink diamond-like hearts. A picture that we took on one of our less busy days... it's been quiet in the shop these days so got time to "go wild!" Haha! Here's another close up shot of our leggings in case you can't see it clearly. :)

Good Morning Cher!

2010-05-18T22:21:00.002+08:00

Yup, that's the title of the book that I've written and published, which will be out in a bookstore near you, come June 2010 (In Singapore, that is). Although I'm currently in Perth, I've also been busy with the finalizing of my book that is filled with my wonderful teaching endeavours! For those who have been eagerly awaiting its release, your wait is finally over as it will be out this June! :) Other than getting it off the shelves from your local bookstores, you could also get an autographed copy from me, at a special rate too! Check out my Facebook page for more...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Good-Morning-Cher/122826231070455

Looking forward to your generous support and love! You could email me at goodmorningcher@gmail.com for further information or to place an order! So what are you waiting for? Hurry while stocks last!

Lotsa Love,

Angie

God is Good All The Time! All The Time, God is Good! :)

2010-05-18T20:58:00.003+08:00

Indeed, Ivan and I are counting our blessing everyday, for we can definitely see the hand of the Lord in all things... just a quick update, we have actually placed and confirmed an offer for a HOUSE! ;) Yup, Ivangie will soon have a NEW HOME!!! HOORAY! Please continue to keep us in your prayers... right now, we're awaiting the financial loan approval and then settlement before we can go furniture shopping and shift in! We're looking at having a new roof over our head in July! Will definitely post up more pictures when we have settled in yah? Thanks everyone who have been supporting us in you own way, love you all! :)

Here's some pictures of our good buddies and their cute little one for your viewing pleasure. :)

	Don Moen - God Is Good All The Time .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Feast your eyes... :P

2010-04-24T23:04:00.000+08:00

American breakfast made by Ivangie... successful poached eggs with 2 crumplets, baked beans, 2 beef sausages, 2 slices of ham, mushrooms and tomato! :P

Looking forward to Dim Sum with Ivan, Mich, Toni and Josh tomorrow!!! :) Will post more pics soon... ;P

Food Feast!

2010-04-19T14:24:00.000+08:00

I must say that Ivan and I have been real conservative with our eating habits before we had our family and friend visiting us few weeks back. Gosh, it seems like sucha long time ago though. We really went all out during the time they were here and I really never feasted so much in a long while. You see, prior to their arrival, we usually eat a simple bread and jam/ peanut butter breakfast - gone is the luxury of eating BreadTalk bread with fillings, but have gotten used to it and can't really eat too heavy in the early morning too. Oh, once in a while, we would have croissants and crumplets with our spreads.

For lunch, we usually pack sandwich or the previous nite's leftover to work. In the beginning, I have to say I felt a little sad, like as if we cannot even indulge in the simple pleasures of life but am quite excited about the delicious sandwich combinations and lunchbox food that we bring to work. Other than helping us save money, it's more practical too coz I've only got 1/2 hour lunch time so by the time I wait for my food to be ready, I would probably have to gobble it up.

In the past (not too long ago, a few weeks maybe), Mr Teo was always bent on cooking, on days that I feel tired after work, he will ask me to rest and take over the realm of cooking. He's often the main chef though, while I'm on the sidelines giving tips and advice! Hee! Nowadays, he's more open to eating out once in a while and we make it more of a point to plan outings although it's just the 2 of us only.

For starters, we have been going to this Fruit and Veg market & the nearby supermarket to do shopping on Sundays and eating out at least once a week, gives me something to look forward to. We wanna get involved in church too but thought should settle down with our lives first coz we'll prob go to the church near our new place (whereever it is). Okay enough of all my talk, here are some backdated pictures of the feasting we did when we had visitors. :P

I'm looking forward to another round of Dim Sum next week,

Mr Teo says he will bring me to Dragon Palace, this a little pricey but which has superb Hao Gao! :P

Realised most entries had so many pictures of Mr Teo, now my turn, hee! :)

No matter how full we are, there's always space for desserts! YAY!

At this place, we found the Best HOT CHOCOLATE we have ever drunk, it's to-die-for! :)

Grilled fish and Chilli mussels from Kailis...

A short update

2010-04-18T00:13:00.001+08:00

It's Saturday and I'm back to work again coz my other colleague is not back and I'm standing in for her again, but it's kewl coz I get to get Monday off. :) Will be keeping myself busy doing Valuations for customer's jewellery today and soon enough, the time will fly us by...talking about flying... we might check out the Air Race at Swan River later too, there's the Annual Red Bull Air race taking place this weekend.

Hopefully the weekend will recharge us, poor Ivan worked till 10pm yesterday. Can you imagine, he practically worked the entire day... The other guy he was working with, was in a hurry to finish his experiments that Ivan stayed on with him on the way, and his lunch became his dinner too... sigh...

Oh, must brag about the wonderful Thermal cooker that Mummy bought for us. It sure comes in handy when it's super cold to be cooking outside, so we start alittle of our cooking before putting it in the thermal cooker to let it cook by itself. It's quite a neat invention I must say...Thankjewberrymud Mummy for the recommendation! :)

Am posting this up now only coz had to come home and take a picture of trusty Greeny, for you all to see! :)

The mundaneness of life...

2010-04-13T21:58:00.002+08:00

Well, it's back to work today. The day went by as per normal, no dramas (Aussie slang for nothing much happened & no worries). Ivan picked me up from the city and home we headed. However, that was not before I went window shopping at 7 shops, hee! Finished work about 15min earlier but Ivan only came about 40min after as he ended late in lab. Seems like a routine for me to be waiting for him but well, good things are definitely worth waiting for. ;)

And to the South we drove, in our beloved Bluey. Oh, by the way, finally, the insurance accessor is coming tomorrow (coz we already changed the appt twice) - to decide on the fate of Bluey.

On another note, God is a great provider! We were alil worried about our dinner as there was no way we would be able to cook a dish or two in our outdoor kitchen coz it's freezing and bet the rain would be spluttering in on us too, thus... hang on a minute, you guys haven't seen our kitchen yeah? Here you go.

As I was saying, God really provides. When we came home, Ivan went to give Auntie our weekly rent money as usual and she asked us if we had our cooked our meat yet. She then gave us some chicken stew and told us to just cook the rice for our dinner. God is good indeed, AMEN! :)

We ate our dinner indoors, in front of the tv, bad habit I know but what to do, our only table is the one in front of the tv... not that I'm complaining about that though, hee! ;) Caught one of our favourite comedy shows, "Two and a half men" - it's really quite entertaining although a little crude at times, followed by Australia's Got Talent! Yup, we had 6 tixs to catch the show live when Irving, daddy and Bernie were around, so was kinda interesting seeing it on tv and also having the knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes. Here's proof that we were there!

Okay, I gotta end here now. Although it's raining outside and probably about 20 degrees here, I shall attempt to go and have a shower, a warm one of coz...wish me luck, that I won't be shivering in the cold...

Look at the wondrous marvels!

2010-04-12T10:03:00.004+08:00

I'm on leave today coz I worked on the Saturday that just passed. Gonna catch up on backlog ironing and packing of stuff around the house today, I must say I haven't been doing much about the house coz I've been working on Sat so dear Mr Teo has been doing it all, shall do my part today...as much as possible, but I do feel alittle sleepy. Woke early to yummy American bf made with TLC by Ivan, I helped with the toasting of the crossiant! ;) We had scrambled eggs with bacon, mushrooms, hashbrown, baked beans and buttery crossiant! Was a wonderful start to a cool morning, think it rained earlier in the wee hours, now it's just a cool and cloudy morning.

Do look out for my next few entries as they would include all our adventures for the past two weeks. To begin, I shall focus this entry on the beautiful scenery here in Aussieland.

This is a picture of Weir dam at Mundaring that we heard a lot about, finally went there and the scene there was just so peaceful and serene.

That's Ivan with his favourite waterbottle in the middle of the bridge across the dam.

Can you imagine living the high life in a place like this? And travelling around in a boat or rather, yacht?

This was taken at Mandurah where they have some major canals in which houses are built along...

gorgeous yeah?

And there you have, Ivan, pondering about life (as usual, hee!)
or maybe he's deciding which house along the canal we should get? (yeah rite! ;) )

Thank you Lord for the gift of life! Listen to the song, that I would always hum when I watch the sun setting.

	Various Artists - The Distance - evan and jaron .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Eat to Live or Live to Eat?

2010-04-12T00:10:00.001+08:00

I think it's more of the latter for the last two weeks. Here's some "food for thought!"

We managed to conquer this Seafood Platter meant for four at Cicerello's!

There were fried pineapples, crabsticks, fish fillets, calamari, fried dim sums and sausages too.

Check out Ivan's great expression!

Thought this was an artistic shot (taken by Bernie) of a yummilicious burger we had!

First time I tried beetroot!

Was not that bad... manageable although the aftertaste was not very pleasing, still passable.

As the Continental breakfast at New Norcia was not appetizing enough,

Ivan and I shared an aptly named, "New Norcia" breakfast... :P

Our only group picture for the whole trip, taken at New Norcia hotel,

with my trusted Panasonic Lumix,set on timer, positioned on top of our water bottle, hee!

Late updates

2010-04-11T19:19:00.000+08:00

Time really flies when you are having fun, felt like it was just yesterday that Irving, Daddy and Bernie were here in Perth. We went down to New Norcia (Benedictine monastery) two Sundays ago when they arrived and explored Swan Valley. For the rest of the days, we went to Mandurah, Fremantle, Hillary's Boat Harbour, Rockingham beach, amongst many other parks and beaches too. For starters, I shall let some pictures do the talking and let my fingers do the typing in later entries.

Special thanks to our family for the yummy beancurd tarts!

How I wish I have Jollibean pearly soya too... hee, but one cannot be greedy! :P

Thought I should upload some pics of Bluey's injuries... which are long overdue. He lasted quite okay though, bringing us safely to and fro many many places. Thankjew Bluey...

Can you see the dent marks in the front?

That's Bluey's other owner, my dear hubby, who has been tirelessly driving us everywhere in Perth. As Bernie says, we practically covered the whole of Perth and the nearby areas in two weeks alone...

Kudos to you dearie, for being the patient and perservering driver! :)

One more final picture of Bluey... the insurance assessor will be coming tomorrow to check him out.

We will know then if he will definitely be leaving us or if he will be nursed back to health.

Our Blind Sight

2010-04-11T09:48:00.003+08:00

It was our first movie in Perth and after a super duper long while, think it's like 3 months, ever since we left Singapore in January, we have been deprived of going to the movies, other than catching them on the tv, an okay substitute I must say, can't really complain. (Better not complain here ah... hee!)

I got 2 tixs for the Outdoor Cinema from work, coz the jewellers won Retailer of the month in February and we kept the tixs especially for last night as they were showing Sandra Bullock's Oscar winning, "The Blind Sight." A little aside here, she has been and still is my favourite actress! ;P

We thought we had a good deal as last night, they were actually showing two movies, "The Blind Sight" and then "Valentine's Day" - two of the movies that I really wanted to watch. However, we overlooked the fact that it was gonna be coooolllldddd. We knew it was going to be 13 degrees but we just didn't realise how chilly it was actually going to be. There we were, equipped only with our picnic chairs and a jacket each. For me, I was actually shivering as I felt quite a few cold rushes, at one point, Ivan passed me his wolly jacket to keep me warm (awww...so sweet) but it didn't really help though, I was still feeling coooollllllllldddddddd... In the end, when the wonderful, meaningful movie ended, we decided not to stay for the second movie, I sure did not want us to become frozen, it seemed like ICE AGE out there. Amidst all the negativity, the plus point has got to be, it was a real enjoyable experience, and for once, it was really "Movie under the Stars"; there was Orion's belt twinkling so brightly in the sky - oh, have I told you? I have resolved to learn more about stars so that I could appreciate the sparkly night skies that we have here.

It was indeed our overlook, our blind sight, as we looked around, many people brought their cushions, fleece blankets, thermos flask with hot drink, wine and torches, all the things you need to make your picnic at the movies complete, as well as of coz, to keep yourself warm. I must say that as this was our first time, I felt we were indeed underpacked, perhaps we would have felt much better and lasted for the second movie if we were more prepared. But oh well, we learn something new everyday.

I was defrosting a great deal in the car, even turned on the airconditioning to emit hot air instead, never realised the importance of that function till we came here too, or rather, we never needed it back in Singapore. Even when we got home, the hot green tea that Ivan made still did not help much, I was still shaking in the cold. Finally, with a quilt over me, all clad in a wolly jumper zipped to my neck (thanks Adel for the Marks and Spencer black jumper, it was my saving grace) plus a long denim jacket that Ivan bought me years ago when we were dating and wearing tights and socks, I fell sound asleep on the couch. I must have been exhausted as being a light sleeper, I did not even remember hearing Ivan waking me to go to bed. He said this morning that he knew I would not have the energy to shower so he just wanted me to be warm under the covers but eeeeeeeeekkkkkk, luckily I did not blindly follow him or I would have regretted, dirty me sleeping in my clean, comfy bed. Oh, the thought of my beauty sleep beckons, but I gotta go get ready for Mass so till the next entry... but be warned, brace yourselves for there is lots more to come - all the backdated entries while our dear family and friend was here last two weeks. :)

I've got my own namecard! :P

2010-03-23T16:35:00.000+08:00

On another brighter note, just to announce, I've finally gotten a namecard! HAHA! :P Hee, for those who dun already know, (I know it sounds a little silly) but I've always wanted to have a namecard to call my own...finally, a wish come true. YAY! This is the card that I use with the customers while I'm in the shop but in actual fact, my position is "Retail and Operations Coordinator". Troublesome to take another picture of that namecard, but you get the drift yah? HEEHEE! Angie's got a namecard....neh neh ni boo boo... ;P

Weather Wreaks Havoc! :(

2010-03-23T13:44:00.001+08:00

Have a look at what happened yesterday! Got me a little startled and am still recovering from the aftermath. Was very worried for Ivan, although he took an hour to come and get me from work, was more afraid that sthg happened along the way as there were flash floods everywhere. Not sure if the news reported but there was even a landslide near King's Park and the occupants had to evacuate their homes.

On another note, Poor bluey is hurt... and poor ivan has gotta fix up appt with the car mechanic and make necessary car insurance claims. Will post a pic of Bluey soon, but for now, suffice to say he is not feeling very well, with shattered side mirrors and his whole body seemed to suffer from "bullet" holes, many indentations galore, as a result of the icicles. :(

But thank God that he kept us safe and that we are not hurt.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=378919424445&ref=nf

Ivan, the silent supportive partner... ;)

2010-03-13T10:26:00.000+08:00

Hee, I decided to focus my blog entry on my dear hubby. Must give him credit for the wonderful things, though small (but BIG in its entirety) that he has been doing. He sure doesn't claim any credit for the many many things he has been doing.

For starters, he has been a constant reminder of the need to be reflective (his blog too is truly a very good example of daily reflections too) as I would always wake in the mornings to find him buried in his bible (okay, I'm exaggerating...), but really as I'm often the one to laze in bed, he is awake first and would always take it upon himself to make breakfast, something he does without complains. Furthermore, as he is often home earlier before me, he also starts preparing dinner first. Although I often complain how slow he is, let you in on a secret, he took an hour to fry 15 fish fingers...hee, but I am truly appreciative of how he does his things without complains whereas yours truly on the other hand, would be whining galore.

Indeed, I may be the more paranoid half as I tend to worry about the smallest of things but he has done a fantastic job in calming my nerves, minus those moments when I fail to reach him (yes, as you have properly guessed, his phone batt died or his phone was fashionably on silent). As he wrote in his entry, I realised I didn't even notice the effort he put in to inform me that he would be late to meet me and pick me on Friday - but on retrospect, indeed, it was something that he doesn't do usually. Thank you so much love for all that you do! LOVE YA LOTS! :)

Okay, Ivan just finished making breakfast! Yummy homemade breakfast made with love awaits! :)

Supermarket addiction! ;)

2010-03-11T22:58:00.001+08:00

We came back from Late Nite shopping about an hour or so ago. The shops open till about 9pm on Thursdays in the suburbs... on usual days it closes by 5plus 6. We decided to do some groceries shopping today and complete our buys on Saturday afternoon. Heard that they will sell stuff cheap cheap in the last afternoon near closing time at 5pm on Sat, so we might check it out this week.

Our original intention was just to buy some stuff, but trust me, "some" is an understatement, coz our fairly empty mini fridge is now filled to the brim. I dun even dare to open the small freezer compartment as we've max that too! ;) I finally understand what it means by "shopping therapy" as it sure felt good buying stuff from the supermarkets. Perhaps coz I felt a lil more guilt-free coz we bought stuff to be eaten, things that we need, not things that we want (although there is truly a thin line between the two I must say).

Our final conclusion when we stepped into our place, we should only go groceries shopping once a week, or seriously, we might end up buying the whole supermarket! Hee!

We are at our new place...

2010-03-04T19:53:00.000+08:00

Let's pop the..........Coca Cola!

To celebrate our first day in our new place.

This is where our guests would sleep

Our pink bed, hee!

Sorry for the late posting. It's officially Day 5 at our new place in the South. Before that, we were living in the North, so we moved from "pole to pole", hee! :) It has been real pleasant so far... the bed is so comfy that I have been having trouble waking up in the mornings. Well, we will probably be going for Saturday groceries and will go around the neighbourhood here in Leeming.

Fresh bittergourds

I must say it has been fun preparing dinner daily. The interesting part is that we have fresh vegetables from the garden. Yup, our landlord grows many plants and she harvests them regularly too. Just the other day, we had bittergourd, which we cooked in spicy bean sauce. And Mr Teo took 2 strands of spring onions for our noodles today. Ivan has also been paying the grape plant visits as we have a tupperware full of juicy seedless grapes in the fridge. ;) Here are some pictures to orientate you on our new place.

If Ivangie can cook, so can U!

2010-02-22T19:51:00.010+08:00

Our V-day cum reunion dinner...

This was a misadventure... the fish was okay...but the other mushy stuff was ivan's experimentation to make olive "carrot cake" (the chinese style)

Ivan and his eggs... $5.29 for 15 eggs.

Uh-huh, expensive right? Asked Ivan to buy the eggs on promo for $1.99 only and "high class" him went to buy Free-range eggs as compared to Caged eggs. I mean seriously, would the eggs taste any different? In Singapore, eggs are eggs right? hee!

Can you tell which is the fish and which is the garlic bread?

Crabmeat & tuna mayo sandwich w roast potatos and cheesy veg

We found a new machine that we like, which we bought at a steal, $9 only for a sandwich maker, you know those kind of stuff that you pressed down on the sandwich so that it gets nice grill lines? Hee!

Can you spot the difference?

Well, Ivan decided to try to make me poached eggs which tasted quite nice I must say. We had Mrs Macs' pies with extra helping of peas. I found Mrs Macs exceptionally yummy the first time I ate it but after that, find it so-so only.

This was taken at Riverside Drive, think it's quite obvious how it got its name yah?

Got dragged along by Mr Teo to a "Property Seminar", yeah he's into this kinda thing... free seminars galore but I was seriously very tired. I know you can't tell from the photos but I have been quite tired recently, think the routine of work is getting to me, just physically tired, not mentally tired luckily. Anyway, he just told me the other day that he thinks he probably won't go for the other seminar (yup, he signed up for another) coz there's so many such stuff around n all...Phew! Hee :P This photo was taken during the one hour break we got from the seminar last Saturday. As you can see, it was so windy that I had to hold my hair down for vanity's sake.

Look Adel, Look! :)

2010-02-22T19:46:00.005+08:00

This is sitting on the knob of our wardrobe in our room

This entry is especially for my dear sis Adel. Since you said you don't like to read words, here's pics galore esp for ya! :)

To ashes we will return...

2010-02-17T21:59:00.003+08:00

It's Ash Wednesday today and nope, we did not forget to attend mass. Surprisingly however, St Luke's was rather empty, as compared to usual Sunday mass. Sucha stark contrast to the crowded pews back in Risen Christ. It proved to be a fruitful day indeed, one of my happier ones I must admit. Father Trevor shared during homily that Lent is a good time for us to look within ourselves, be retrospective, and to see how we can deepen our relationship with God. I think I will finally be able to not let the lenten period pass by in a flash without thorough reflections.

You see, Ivan and I signed up for Reflection sessions with Father on Wednesday evenings and had our first session today. It was just a small group of 15 people with Father, Ivan and I must be the youngest there, with the oldest granny being probably 80 plus years old. An interesting mix it was but what was even more amazing was the sharings and the wonderful love for God and God's Great Love for us that I felt in the whole room.

We went through the readings and gospel for the 1st week of Lent and Father led in some reflective questions. In the beginning, it was a little quiet and odd as when Father read out the reflection question, the reaction was as usual. You guessed it right, everyone kept quiet and looked at their feet (as if to make sure their shoes were still intact). Naughty me, coz I felt Father wasn't faciliating well but got over that judgmental thinking and really focused on reflections.

We were asked first what we were thankful for and I sure was buzzing to share... (must be too long never talk to people, that's why...haha) However, the silence that filled the room made me think twice. For starters, I was actually wondering if we were meant to share aloud or to do our own personal reflections and did not want to embarrass myself. Soon however, people started sharing generic answers to the questions, but all very meaningful. Think the most poignant has got to be the fact that there are so many things that we need to be thankful for and the actual recognition of it, to begin with, is what we need to be thankful for. :)

I kept quiet for that first sharing but contributed for the next one in which it spoke about the comfort and joy in knowing that if we call on God, we will be saved. I shared about how God filled me with his warmth last Saturday at mass as He spoke to me through the communion hymn with lyrics, "Cast your burdens onto me and I will give you rest." I added that as we just migrated over, we felt a little lost, out of place and aimless...but God assured us at such a timely moment and just strengthened us to continue this journey He led us to.

The discussions just continued and some people started sharing how they grew impatient when God does not answer their prayers. I just felt that I had to share again and mentioned how our dear Lord has a great sense of humour as when we ask for something, He does not give it to us, but when we have long left it behind, He grants it to us. A reminder indeed that all things take place in His time. Also, when we pray, the need to pray for an openess to accept whatever He blesses us with. Thank you Lord for giving me the courage to share your love and providence with your people and in doing so, serving to remind myself of how I should live out my life daily, letting your Will be done.

The whole session served as a good reminder for both of us as many of the sharings from the rest of the group were things that we know and hold firmly on to but sometimes just forget. Like how God answers our prayers in His time, God is with us all the time, God will take care of our worries but we need to lift them up to Him and let Him take charge. Thanks be to God! :)

My old ailment acts up again...

2010-02-11T15:54:00.004+08:00

Dear all,

Angie is still the same old angie. For one, her old ailment of bodyaches is back to haunt her. Yup, didn't go to work today coz was very lethargic coupled with whole body of aches, think the recent changes in the temperatures here really not helping. Aiyo, I'm really an old lady trapped in a young girl's body ah... :P

Just a quick update on the routine of our days here in Perth. In the mornings, I'll wake at 7am, get ready for breakfast, while ivan helps to prep brekkie since he always gets ready way before me. In the midst of prep breakfast, I'll also be making my homemade lunch, most of the time is either sandwich or wraps. Have a few usuals - chicken sandwich with lettuce, crabmeat n tuno mayo sandwich (like Delifrance one), ham and cheese wrap/ sandwich... those are my few combinations for now. Anyone has any interesting sandwich combinations, will probably experiment others soon...have yet to do my egg mayo sandwich. :)

We will then leave the house by 815am and Ivan will give me a lift to the station in "Bluey". Then he will go for morning mass at St Luke's while I will take the 8:31 Whitfords train to the city. I usually like to wait for that train coz it starts off from Whitfords, the stop where I take the train from and there will be plenty of seats. Then the ride will take about 15-20min to Perth city. There I will walk abt 5min to the shop and then my day would start with helping put the jewellery on the window displays.

It's usually quite quiet in the early morning but as lunchtime beckons, many office workers would come in and browse and make purchases. There are times when I only get to eat my lunch at 2plus or even 3pm coz the shop was crazily busy. When I come back from my half an hour break, things are usually slowing down, with probably a handful of customers coming in to browse or just make enquiries. By 4 plus, I'll be ready for home coz the shop will close at 5pm on the dot, unless we are serving a customer and then it's time to repeat the morning's work. But this time, it's to pack up all the jewellery and to keep in the safe.

I will rush to catch the 5:30 plus train that will bring me back to Whitfords before 6pm and Ivan & Bluey will be waiting to pick me up. We will have a simple dinner at home and I usually retire to bed about 9plus 10 unless I am skyping with my family or chatting with friends.

That's how a day in the life of Angie these days will be like. Although there are a few things that I look forward to in the week! Late nite shopping in the suburbs till 9pm on Thursdays and groceries shopping on Saturday. Sundays are usually spent lazing around or doing the chores like washing of clothes and getting ready for the following week of work. We will try to meet Mich, Toni and Josh in the weekends too. Other than that, we are quite sad..have to widen our social circle...hee, well Ivan n I wanna help out in church where we can, will be getting into that soon...

Finally... I'm back...

2010-02-10T19:52:00.005+08:00

Hiyee...finally finding time to pen some thoughts for the week that has passed. How time flies, am in the middle of my 2nd week at work already. I've learned quite abit about the 4Cs (Cut, Clarity, Colour, Carat) and stuff with regards to diamonds. Every morning when I go to the shop, I would help out in putting the jewellery on the window display and boy are they gorgeous! The ones that I got my eyes set on are priced at 5 figures, so no way can I afford them, even if I'm able to get them at cost price! haha!

Truthfully, things have not been going well for us. Dunno why but we seem to be getting more on each other's nerves, having shorter fuse and all. I know we should be more patient and be there for each other, (which we definitely are) but our anxiety about stuff is overwhelming us.

Dear Lord, we thank you for the gift of our friends... we pray earnestly for their well-being and protection. Please keep us close in your embrace and remind us that we are not far from you. Indeed, He is the only unchanging in our constantly changing lives. Was actually holding back my tears at mass on Sat evening as the choir sang beautifully "Cast your burdens onto Jesus". Indeed, no yoke is too heavy for him to carry....

Amidst our roller coaster of emotions, I've been missing home dearly... I know mummy will say, "who ask you to go to Australia... you have all your friends and family here in Singapore." I definitely agree with that, but although Ivan was the initiator for the move, I wanna support my dear husband. I also do wanna explore if it will be a different and possible life for us here but trust me, the going is tough... but the tough will get going, with God's graces.

Introducing our 'baby'!

2010-02-01T20:42:00.010+08:00

Here she is...BLUEY! Okay, not a very original name, but check out our new number plate! ;)

Was really ecstatic and over the moon when we got the keys and still can't believe we have our car outside the house now. Well, Ivan's gonna send me to work in the car tom, just testing to see how it's like. Today he sent me to work too, but on the bus and train, hee!

Oh yes, speaking about work... it was quite interesting, learnt quite a lot of things abt diamonds and jewellery already, info overload... but time reali passed very fast though. Reached the shop early today and helped out to display the jewellery in the window display, was just so different from what I'm used to, but I think I'll get used to it over time. Started work official when my supervisor (Mrs Boss) came and we just did admin stuff all the way till 3pm, before I went for my half an hr lunch break! Luckily my tummy was quite friendly to me today, perhaps it knows that it's my first day of work and was quite merciful to me... if not usually, I would have gotten real terrible gastric.

Glad I had something to look forward to in the evening as we arranged with the seller to pick BLUEY up! :P The two of them, Jon & Eugenea were such wonderful people! They even gave us a bottle of wine coz they said they were so happy for us too! Thank God for sending such lovely people to us. Oh sthg else uncanny that we discovered... in Jon's words, "Freaky!" Both Ivan and the ex owner of the car, Eugenea, share the same birthday, and are only a year apart... I guess God was really making us wait for Bluey and I am sure Ivan would agree with me, it was definitely worth the wait! :) The weather's getting cooler, with tom's temp between 18-29, better wear thicker clothing, mi starting to feel chilly already, esp when the cool wind blows strongly...

We Got Bluey! ;)

2010-01-31T12:01:00.005+08:00

Congratulations! It's Celebrations! DRUMROLL PLEASE... Ivangie's got a car! A Blue Nissan Pulsar to be exact! Check it out!
Yeah, as ivan mentioned in his blog, it's kind of surreal for us both, we will be getting it from the seller tomorrow evening only so in the meantime, praying that everything will go well and that he will not be tempted to ask around for other higher prices.

You see, he advertised his car for $9200 and Mr Teo wanted to ask for $7200 starting price before bargaining. Coz we know of a few examples whereby there was such a huge drop but those are exceptions I feel. Well, Jono (aka John) told us that the lowest in his range was $8500 and if our asking price is lower than that, he's cool with just shaking our hands and thanking us for meeting up to view the car.

When I first set eyes on the car, it was "Love at first sight!" Indeed, I felt that it was the one but we still went to view another white Nissan Pulsar which was okay but both of us had our eyes set on 'Bluey'. Incidentally the no. plate is similar to the colour of the car!Hee! Will upload more pics of us and our new car when we get it yeah? ;)

Just wanted to share the good news with you all. I won't repeat what Ivan said in his entry but to sum it up, it was really a rollercoaster of emotions, felt quite overwhelmed and worried that we will let 'Bluey' slip by because we were sticking to a tight budget. In the end, their final asking price was $8200. We still went ahead to ask for 8K and finally met halfway at $8100. And there you have it, WE have a CAR! Thank You So Much Lord for Being With Us Through It All...

The Car Hunt continues...

2010-01-28T19:34:00.004+08:00

Have to tell you all about our experience with a car salesman. We met up to view a Nissan Pulsar which was quite a good drive. From the outside, the car looked ooookay too except for a few scratches here but it ends there. The interior was quite a sight (okay, it's not that bad...but just not well-maintained). The middle compartment between the front seats where u keep stuff was spoilt, the car was quite dusty and dirty, the aircon only worked barely at power 4 (the highest by the way) and wait till you find out, there were blood stains on the car door and some weird markings near the windscreen on the right.

Our first viewing was yesterday and I was quite okay with it despite all the stuff I mentioned above. However, Ivan had a nagging feeling, just felt not right. Perhaps I was in denial (maybe a little desperate to get a car of our own) but I thought it was quite a good drive. The car salesman agreed to re-gas the airconditioning and clean up the car a bit for us after the test drive. Thus, we went back to take a look today. It looked a little better, although the blood and weird stains were still there. Ivan was saying that it probably cant be wipped off but I thought a quick use of GIF will settle things. Think the guy was just not detailed enough to ensure everything was nice and dandy.

We asked to see the log book (which listed the history of servicing) - hee, a must-do on the list of many tips to look out for when purchasing a car (tips that we picked up along the way). What he gave us were two receipts for servicing done 2 and 3 years ago respectively as well as a sloppy print out report of the inavailability of full service history of the car. And then he went on to tell us that the owner of the car had passed away. Gosh, imagine how I felt when I heard that! My heart just sank! I finally understood what Ivan meant about the heavy heart and unexplainable feeling. Plus, I thought the car had a funny smell, sthg I didn't notice yesterday.

Since we were there, we decided to just drive it around the estate for a while. Oh yah, he even suggested to us that we take the car back for a day, drive it around to see if we like it! I bet he was trying to make us grow attached to the car and also feel obliged for his niceness that we will just get it. I think he was just very desperate to sell the car.

In the end, we didn't get the car and we are back to square one but m more cool about it then before coz I realise the numerous things I never knew about cars before and am learning so much along the way. Now that I feel so knowledgeable, hopefully God will present the car before us soon... ;)

Today's a brand NEW day!

2010-01-27T09:24:00.009+08:00

As promised, here's part 2. Well, not sure about you but I do complain at times about the cross that I need to bear. However, these pictures have indeed make me come to realise that it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we can't.

Our crosses to bear...

2010-01-26T15:43:00.017+08:00

Thanks Bernie for sharing the meaningful pictures... thot I will share with everyone too. I will let the pictures do the talking yah?

Sorry, haven't been in the right frame of mind to write stuff, not an excuse I know but nothing exciting has happened so far but just a quick update, I'll be starting work in next Mon, alil nervous coz been long since I last worked for someone, after I left teaching... pray for me, will you? THANKS! ;)

Tune in more tomorrow for the ending... too many pics to put in at one shot actually! ;)

The Car Hunt...

2010-01-24T18:01:00.003+08:00

I'm gonna report on the car search for the weekend. That's pretty much what we've been up to for our 2nd weekend in Perth. :)

Went to quite a few Second hand caryards (They call it "Pre-Owned" here). Makes sense dun u think, after all sometimes, the cars are sometimes third hand or even fourth hand. ;) As our budget was 10K and under, we did not have much range to choose from but there were still some. :) Didn't realise how overwhelming it can be to buy a car, it's our first time anyway, I must say it has been an eye-opener. Indeed, I am sure God wanted us to go through the whole experience and come out of it wiser, hee! Coz I was seriously looking at cutting corners, as in get cars from friend's friends that sort of thing... The sun sure wasn't too friendly yesterday too, letting us feel its presence with the strong rays.

Just a back track a little on our road thus travelled... Our 1st recommended car viewing of the Deep Purple Honda Viewing didn't go too well coz the car was old and needed major servicing. Our supposed-to-be 2nd viewing did not even happen as the car (my dream Honda Jazz) went out the garage fast! :(

What has been quite exciting actually is the calling up of private car owners and arranging for viewing of the car. We did our 1st official one today, although the car was a no-go, coz of its squeeky brakes and poor maintenance and care of the exterior, it sure was fun, arranging to meet and hoping that THAT was the ONE. I am sure we will be like, "This is it!" when we finally meet the car that is meant for us...:)

Hee, of coz it sure has been stressful on ivan's side, asking him to make all the phone calls to the pte car owners... well, I have been a good support, giving moral support and soft promptings of questions to ask by the side...:)

Where O Where is IVANGIE's car?

Come to Momma and Papa! :)

Slowing down to the weekend...

2010-01-22T13:41:00.004+08:00

Uh-huh, after sleeping for almost the whole afternoon and evening on Wednesday, it carried over to a few afternoon naps on Thursday, which brings us to today, Friday... and it's Ivan's turn to be napping away. Think the two of us are having pre-employment blues.

I'll be starting work at Charles Edward's in February which leaves me one more week to prep myself mentally, while Ivan just sent out an email to the prof at UWA re his potential PHD. As of now, from the looks of it, he will be taking it up if there's no official bond - he just wants to be sure so that he will not be tied down. Reali pray and hope the deal is that good, that there will be no bondage... other than that, he has not heard anything else from the employers.

Guess we are both psyching ourselves up for the weekend and prep to go car hunting, thus the need to recuperate and garner more energy, hee! :) Please pray that the car search wld prove fruitful... really can't wait to show off beautiful pic of our "baby" to you all.

Hee, an aside, Ivan's new blog has received raving reviews from quite a few pple so in order not to lose out, I've given my blog a facelift too, so not to worry, this is still angie writing, you havent come onto the wrong blog address. ;) Sure hope I'll be able to share good news with you all soon! :)

Congrats to my dear for the birth of his blog! :)

2010-01-21T16:38:00.004+08:00

Hee, yup yup, Mr Teo has got a blog of his own! HOORAY!!! HOORAH!!! :) Finally... haha! ;) Check it out yah?
http://www.i-thinkg.blogspot.com/
There's regularly updates from his blog on the left column of my blog too. :)

I'm back! :)

2010-01-21T16:11:00.002+08:00

Yeah, sorry I have been M.I.A. To sum it all, I have been sleeping a lot on Wednesday and today. Having fever and been under the weather...Think it's the exposure to scorching heat here in Aussieland. Can you imagine, 42 degrees? If you thought Singapore had hot weather, think again, it's even more potent here coz it's not as humid, so you dun exactly perspire that much but trust me, the sun's rays are so much more lethal!

Just a quick update on what happened on Tuesday. Went for our first car viewing but as you can see, there are no pics with this entry coz it was a no-go. Although the 1996 Metallic Blue Honda Accord with sun roof, was in pretty good condition, we were alarmed when we saw the last servicing report, seems like a lot more svsg was to be done in the next svs if we were to get the car. We even called up the mechanic and he estimated it to cost between 1K to 1100. The car was selling at $6750, which means we still had to cough out more to get it into tip-top condition! Thus, we decided not to get it and will be viewing a 2003 Honda Jazz on Sunday. For those of you who dunno, driving a Honda is actually my dream car, oh, I got my driving license converted too and I gotta put up the "P" plate till 2011! The best part on Tuesday has gotta be the test drive of the Honda Accord, it really felt great to be behind the wheels after so long...coz I havent driven since I passed in Oct 09!;)

Met up with my bosses on Wednesday afternoon, that's when I started heating up... had an Orientation and met my future colleagues, it's a pretty small family, with 10 of us so it should be good I hope. Think I'm the youngest there, yeah, get to be the baby! ;) Haha! Will be starting work on 1st Feb and thereafter, will be going for a course on 16 and 17th Feb on the MYOB software... everything seems to be going along well so far, m excited though a lil worried about starting work but I know our dear Lord's with me through it all. AMEN! :)

Car-ing friends, we have...

2010-01-18T13:02:00.003+08:00

Hee, am able to write in an early entry for today as we are staying indoors. Gonna busy ourselves with unpacking our stuff...been up and about in the weekend plus were quite dazed and zoned out that we didn't have time to really settle stuff. So that's our plan for the day.

Oh the exciting part comes tomorrow, when we are gonna have a look at a potential car purchase, of my dream Honda car somemore. It's a long story with regards to the car but suffice to say, we were blessed by Michelle, yeah it's her recommendation. The car has a sun roof even...happening yah?:P Will update more when we see it, please pray for us that we will be able to settle matters smoothly. Also prior to that, we are gonna b settling other admin stuff like converting my driver's license (yeah, cant wait to hit the roads!;) ), getting health insurance and the like. :)

Hopefully, you will be able to see a pic of our new car in the next entry. Till then...tada for now! :)

God sent Angels to us today! :)

2010-01-17T22:19:00.003+08:00

The heading caught your attention I hope,hee!:) Yup,God really has His Ways. You see, after attending mass at St Luke's this morning, we were making our way to the bus stop at the main road which was abt 5min walk...but trust me, under the scorching heat of the 41 degrees, a few metres seemed to take eternity... plus our lips were perpetually dried and we felt real dehydrated. Ok well, pple in the deserts probably have it worse but we found it unbearable... oh, hope I have not lost you in the midst of my elaborate explanation and descriptions.

The main part of the story is this. A kind soul actually wound down his window to ask if he could give us a ride somewhere when we were walking to the bus stop. Usually in normal circumstances, I would just freak out and run away... (ok, I am exaggerating!;P ) but I was overjoyed that God sent him to us. We told him we were going to take a bus to the train station and he added that it was too hot to walk in the weather and offered to give us a ride. Thanks be to God! :)

We spoke with him in the car and found he was also a migrant from Zimbawe and that he had only stayed in Perth for 2 1/2 years. It was a unique encounter, actually our second, coz we also had an elderly couple offer us a ride to King's Park, some 3 years back...in Perth too. :)

Our second nice encounter was at Whitford's train station where we enquired about purchasing of the Smart Rider (equivalent of our Ez-link). Not only did the lady tell us that we could get it from the Info kiosk in the city but she also recommended us to get the Family Rider tix for this ride as it was valid for up to 7 pple and only cost $8.80 for unlimited travel the whole day. M sure some of you must have your jaws dropping, yup public transport reali is expensive here so that is why we are gonna get a car! Will prob go car hunting this week and the first pic which we will upload for the month would be of our new car yah? (Although it will be a second-hand, but hey, new to us and you all too... :) )

In the afternoon we had yummy Asian lunch at Mich's and Toni's place. So nostalgic...reminded me of home. Oh, if you are reading this Toni, your chic stew dish was superb! Must share with us your recipe yah? ;) Oh which reminds me, thanks Eunice for the recipe book, m sure it will come in handy! Corrine, your gift came in handy in purchase of our smart rider tixs! ;)

Oh, our frens have a lil boy, josh, he's so adorable, never fails to brighten up your day, I shall post a pic of him up here soon, must get mummy's permission first, hee! ;) After lunch, we went display home browsing...made me so wanna get my own place soon so that I can make it my own...in the meantime, shall prepare myself mentally to start work on 1st Feb and settle down and get all the stuff we need... :)

Alritey, that's all the time we have for today... thank you class, hee! kidding! :) Back to looking for cars online and potential houses too... ;) Thanks again for all your love! xoxo

First official day in Perth! Floodgates open...

2010-01-16T22:16:00.004+08:00

Finally got down to writing again...for the ardent readers of my blog,miss me?;) I already miss my family, friends and Singapore liao. Especially the food. :P Our 1st meal away fr hm on board Qantas was beef w rice which wasnt very tasty. :(

Thanks to everyone who came to send us off...sorry we didn't manage to talk to everyone, thanks lots for your presence though, really glad to see so many pple who love us there.

Well, I have to say it has been tough...my tap was switched on at the departure gates and all the way onto the plane. Even before, during and after take-off, I was breaking in and out of tears. Luckily, our flight was quite okay this time around, with no major boo-boos, although I did have an encounter. I always have affinity with such... You see, the toilet was vacant and so I opened to enter and lo and behold, an old man was peeing, luckily it was back view and I closed the door shut before there's further embarrassment! ;)

Oh, have to state a disclaimer here, please give us some time to settle down before we get down to catching up with you guys individually, in the meantime, do read my blog for daily updates yah? I'll try to make it a daily affair...hee!

There was another close call at Perth airport though. We almost lost our luggage! This lady happily just removed our luggage from the luggage belt without first checking the tag. Luckily I was vigilant and went after her- she claimed she had not gotten round to checking the other side of the bag yet, utter nonsense!

To end off on a more serious note, other than my floodgates opening, Ivan was also with me. Truthfully, I was a lil taken aback when I saw him tearing too... Guess we both just feel overwhelmed. :( I even started to think of what life would be like when we resettle back in Singapore, but that's another story. For now, will pray that our dear Lord will continue to help us settle down and prepare our hearts and strengthen us for what is to come! :)

P.S: I'm sorry if I dun really make sense or if there are mistakes in this entry, m quite tired but forcing myself to type this b4 I slp...alrightey, mission accomplished, nite nite! :)

Mark the date on your calendars! 16 JAN 2010, 9am!

2009-12-17T00:10:00.002+08:00

That's the day and time we will be leaving on a jet plane, don't know when we will be back again (mainly coz we got a one-way tix). Of coz we will be back for holidays and all, esp when the airfares are cheap but have no tentative date for the moment.

Yup, for those who are wondering where we are in a blur and wondering where we are going, well we are leaving for Perth. Will start on my job in late Jan and praying that God will bless Ivan with a job soon too.

It's uncanny how I blog so much over in Perth but so little when I'm back in Singapore, perhaps it's really a reflection of the busy lifestyle here, always having something to do at every one moment... really hard to take a break, unless we are overseas on a holiday.

Okay will try to find more time to update on the happenings but just a quickie here, we have been busy clearing our stuff, had a garage sale and will be having another this weekend, will soon start packing stuff into boxes for storage and stuff to bring over. :)

We are HOME! :)

2009-12-02T17:00:00.002+08:00

Hello Hello...reporting live from Singapore. :) A little groggy from lack of sleep, woke at 430am for our morning flight at 740pm. Probably will not make much sense if I type more so pardon my short entry. See ya guys around yah? Will definitely be arranging to meet up and catch up this month! ;) Hello again Singapore... :)

And Pat called! :)

2009-12-01T11:36:00.002+08:00

Yeah, that's the name of the lady I was waiting patiently to hear from. Thank God that she managed to arrange an interview for me later this afternoon. Please keep me in your prayers at 230pm, will be doin a 1/2 hr writing and editing test before the selection panel meets me for an interview at 3pm, so excited but super anxious at the same time. :) Yup, just dropping by for a quick update, alritey, gotta get ready liao! Will update more tonight! Can feel the powerful hand of God working through all this... :)

Patience... patience...

2009-12-01T09:57:00.002+08:00

AHHHHH!!!! Well, I am typing this as I'm waiting earnestly for the admin lady from Curtin Uni to get back to me. Here's how the story goes... di da di di da di di da di da di da di.... :P

I applied for the role of Content Coordinator which involves editing and proofing, sthg that I love doing. Got a negative reply last week saying my application was not successful. Then just yesterday evening, I received a positive reply for an interview tomorrow morning at 9.40am. For those who are not in the loop, I'm due on a morning flight 7.40am back to Singapore tomorrow! So here's where the clash is! Thus this morning, bright and early abt 8am, I called the lady to see if there's possibility of arranging an interview for today...and have been waiting for her reply ever since... the anxiety is killing me, and I dun know what else to do while waiting and praying and just surrendering to God's will.

Please help me dear Lord that all will be done according to your Will... and that she will call me soon... :)

2 more days...

2009-11-29T22:49:00.005+08:00

So exciting... I am super duper looking forward to coming home in 2 days' time. :) It's been quite a happening weekend, stayed out past midnite yesterday coz Uncle & Auntie brought us to meet some friends, their house was real lovely as it was Ivan and my dream house type - country. ;) Well, they were real wonderful pple and it was nice going south of the river. Our fren's parents whom we are living with are up north of the river.

Hmmm, wonder if there are any loyal followers of my blog who are religiously tuning in, or rather logging on daily to read my updates! If there are, please make some noise! :P (In the form of comments if you dun mind!)

Well, today's gotta be the highlight of our trip. Uncle & Auntie brought us to Hillary's Boat Quay at Sorrento Quay, it was the loveliest place we have seen in a long while, the sheltered beach was so tempting, it's probably gonna be our hang out place on the weekends that I'm not working in future. :) Here are some pictures to show you what I mean... :)

3 more days and...

2009-11-28T15:19:00.005+08:00

... I got great news to share too! I've got a job! :) Yup it's the Admin and Ops position at Charles Edward Jewellers in Perth. I'm so glad to be blessed with the opportunity. M definitely very happy but having a lil anxiety about starting on a new job and new environment but I believe God will make the Way for me. :) For us too... Ivan is still actively searching for a position...

Hee, the fact that m gonna be working in a jewellers, m definitely gonna be clad from top to toe in my own personal collection of white gold jewellery too! :P More reason to dress up yeah? After all, my workplace will be within the shop's premises, so quite frontline so to speak. :)

Thanks for all your prayers dear frens and family and oh, Ivan wants me to say THANK YOU on his behalf to one and all for your birthday wishes too. Apologies if he has not replied with a text message to thank you... :)

A picture with the bus-stop that we take the bus from... Uh-huh, it's just one pillar

which demarcates the bus-stop area. :P

Ivan & I at the lobby of Sheraton, we attended an Internet seminar on his bday, hee! :)

So now next step after Ivan gets a job, other than going out for celebrations, is to get a car! Yeah! Oh, I don't think I've shared this on my blog before (or hv I?), but for those of you who do not yet know, I passed my driving! Uh-huh, on my first try! :) Back in Singapore on the 21st October! Steady pom pi pi right? :)

4 more days...

2009-11-27T23:13:00.003+08:00

Well, today's a slow moving day, took a nap in the aftern even, felt a lil dreary, think am gettin quite worried with regards to our job finding situation. Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that we met up with Ivan's cousin whose in-laws are in Perth, and she's in town for a visit and to attend a wedding. :) Ivan haven't met her in 5 years while it was my first time meeting her. It was nice juz chatting and knowing that we are not the onli ones trying to find work, and finding it difficult to do so... it was comforting listening to her sharings on her experiences and all, at one time she even resorted to being a zoo-keeper but left after a few months as she felt she could not take the long tiring hours. It's quite sad that only the very specialized occupations get cherished over here, whereas everyone else just have to rough it out first from the start, perhaps that's where we are headed too.

Well, Ivan had a meet-up with a recruitment agency today, although there was no potential work opportunity but it sure was a fruitful time as the guy, also a fellow Singaporean, shared tips and all with Ivan. As I'm typing this, Ivan is already warm and snuggled under the covers; he woke real early this morning for the meet-up.

Well, we just watched the movie, "Pursuit of Happyness" on tellie just, was quite an inspiring show of pursuing your dreams and roughing it out before enjoying the fruit of one's labour. Seems quite fitting advice for us at this point of our lives you reckon? :)

5 more days...

2009-11-26T20:44:00.003+08:00

Yup, that's the countdown to our coming back to Singapore. :)

Just a quick update, I had an interview with a jeweller in the city on Monday, thanks to a recommendation from my fren's aunt. It was for the position of Admin and Operations Coordinator, feel I'm ready to make the career switch coz seriously cannot imagine teaching the "ang mo" kiddos. For one, my accent would be difficult for them to understand, plus the fact that I still need to do a bridging course...dun think they would seriously consider my EL teaching qualification too which is shitty coz in their words, I'm not a native speaker of EL. Arrrrggghh!

Also, so far, the encounters with the students here have not been too nice. Take for instance, there was once when we were taking a bus back and it was just dismissal time. The bus was packed with rowdy students. They even shouted to the bus driver and told him not to stop the bus at the next bus stop for their school mates! No wonder the buses here have a "cage" sort of thing for the driver, so that there can be no physical contact, think there must hv been abuses before...

Well back to my story, yeah so I am ready to take up the job and am just waiting for them to reply me positively. They have not yet given their answer after the interview I had and am just waiting earnestly. Please keep me in your prayers.

Enough about me, as for Ivan, he wrote another email to the Prof at UWA in charge of the PHD prg to tell her abt our situation and to ask if it's possible to take up any work position before the PHD while I find a job and all. The prof is a real nice lady as she told him to take his time to decide and that she understands the situation and even added that the position is always there for him. Perhaps God wants me to have a "doc" husband! hee! He has had no luck with the rest of the jobs though. However, he will be meeting up with a recruitment agent tom, hopefully sthg good will blossom from that.

Whatever His will is for us, I have to admit that it has been a fruitful month here in Perth. Relaxing no doubt but stressful at times coz of negative or no replies, but we have been real thankful and grateful for the encounters, experiences and wonderful people He sent our way. (Of coz there were some not-so-nice pple but hey, we can't have the best of all worlds yah?) Many thanks to all for your concern, luv, comments and prayers, what would we do without you guys?:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IVAN! :)

2009-11-24T21:25:00.007+08:00

Yup yup, my dear is a year older, in abt 2hrs' time.:) Brought him to the C Restaurant, which is a revolving restaurant at the top of St Martin's tower, level 33. Was quite an experience, my first actually, to be eating at a revolving rest; it's ivan's 2nd time, coz he went to the Prima Tower revolving restaurant in Singapore too.:)

We had quite a gd deal too coz it was a "Pay What You Think" Lunch Special.We each had an entree, a main and a dessert! The bill came up to a whooping $90 AUD, but we only gave $30 AUD. Ssshhh! Don't tell others k? :P

Oh n I had an interview with a jeweller in the city for an admin coordinator position, it's really true how you gotta know the right pple yeah? Coz this vacancy was recommended by my fren's aunt, m praying that I made an ok impression n that they want me... quite kewl to be surrounded by gorgeous jewellery all day long you think? :)

All that happened on Monday. For Tuesday, this is what we did.

We had half price waffles from Gelare! Somehow it tasted better here than in Singapore, :P Did I tell you that we had Gelare last Tuesday too? Guess what? We are gonna have it next Tuesday too! :) Oh, plus we will go to IKEA before that (another favourite place of mine), coz they are also having half price for their food, i.e: their yummy swedish meatballs. :)

On a more serious note, we are now down to our last week in Perth, which means to say we are closer to coming home too. However, it would also mean that we would have to make decisions, decisions, decisions. Please pray that we will truly discern His call for us... :)

My body is aching as I am typing this...

2009-11-21T22:41:00.011+08:00

Haha, guess why? :P Think I overdid the exercise today... went cycling in the afternoon, was quite an adventure, tell you more later, and then went "Glow-Bowling", as I mentioned in my last entry I think. :)

Evidence of me winning Ivan!!! :)

As I was saying, cycling was real fun and cold, esp with the wind blowing against your body through your T-shirt sleeve hole (armpits lah!) esp, so chilly, and although I'm not exactly very light, I felt that I could be blown away by the strong gushes of wind at times. ;) On top of that, I was a little of a scaredy cat coz we were cycling on unknown terrains, in quite an isolated area of bushlands (although after a while, we met other cyclists and pple taking their aftern strolls along the way). On retrospect, it was quite fun actually, dun mind doin it again but prob hv to rest my aching body first... :)

A snapshot of Ivan looking real stylo milo on the bike! ;)

That's sporty angie on her bike! ;)

That's us both, at a "pit-stop!" Haha :P

Taking a break, resting at a lake with little duckies...

Yeah, i reali love bowling! Think it's real fun, of course when you "strike" or "spare" but I seriously enjoy it, think I will hang out with my family in Dec at the bowling alley more, know my dad loves it too n he's quite a good bowler... :) Okay, wanna rest my fingers now... well here are pictures galore in this entry! :)

Ivan won me by a slim margin but hey I won him in the earlier game...

That's us, contended at the end of a tiring but fruitful Saturday! :)

Going for mass tomorrow at St Luke's and probably staying in the whole afternoon, sending out job applications and all, before heading over to Steph's for yummy dinner! :)

The week thus far...

2009-11-20T21:11:00.003+08:00

Well, we haven't been doin much this week, although today we did quite a bit of shopping...hee! :P only thing we bought for ourselves was a Monopoly set at half price, the rest were gifts for family and friends.The shops were hvg big sale since last weekend n pple go crazy on saturdays since the shops dun open on sundays.

Our friend's mum, whose house who are staying at, underwent surgery for her shoulder, think there were some loose tendons or sthg, oops, not very sure though...but we hv been visiting her these few days...she should be home tom although her arm wld hv to be in a sling for 3 weeks. :(

Went for yummy burgers just now and were quite excited coming back to check email coz Ivan's supposed to receive some confirmation, were praying hard tt it's positive but in the end, did not get any reply at all. Please pray tt the guy will reply favourably on Mon, if not Ivan's gonna call him.

As for me, I've got 2 rejections out of the many applications. No favourable responses yet though... may God's will be done and may His grace strengthen me to trust and believe in His wonderful plan for us.

Sorry, haven't reali taken much pics recently, so nothing to upload this time ard. More pics will come in the wkend m sure coz we r going "Glow-Bowling" (Bowling in the dark) on Saturday... :) Till then, everyone be good. ;)