In Motion

I had an amazing weekend with Jia Wern. Technically speaking, all my weekends are amazing because I get to spend a lot of time with him. But last weekend felt magical. I know it sounds corny, but you know how it feels like when you just have a lot of fun spending quality time together? The beautiful surroundings helped, too. ;) This post will be about our weekend because it was sooo awesome. =D On Saturday, we went to Northgate Mall and had a lot of fun shopping/window shopping. It's always fun to find pretty things at great bargains, so much so that we spent a good two hours there mostly in the same shop. Jia Wern claims that he had fun, too, but I bet I had more fun than he did since I'm...a girl. We're talking costume jewelry so yeah. =P This whole thing for only 5 dollars! Even after conversion, it's cheaper than  Malaysian prices. =P After that, we went to explore a grocery shop, which happened to be on Ninth Street. The grocery shop wasn't THAT exc...

" I like that you kiss me every morning before you leave for work. What makes you do that?" "Well...I always feel that in case something happens to me and I don't come back, at least that would've been the last thing I did. To say that I love you." Pessimistic, but oddly endearing at the same time. =)

When people find out that JW and I have been in a long-distance relationship (LDR) for 6 years, there are 2 types of reactions I usually get : 1) Wow how DID you guys do that?  My standard reply is that you just do. Like how everyone thinks cancer survivors are so strong and stuff - I think when things happen, you just go through it because you don't have any other choice but to survive. And after a while it becomes the default, the new normal. I also don't think an LDR is anywhere near an affliction like cancer, so it's not THAT hard to keep it up as long as both parties are committed. Granted, there WERE tough times and rough patches and we came close to breaking up, but I think all relationships go through that, even if due to other factors. 2) But you guys are so far apart so there must be fewer things to fight about. Okay. I know my previous paragraph makes an LDR sound simple and straightforward, and like it's nothing to marvel about. But that doesn't ...

Dear girls, Never date a man you want to rescue. Never date a man because you want to change him for the better. Never date a man who needs a mother more than a girlfriend or a wife. Mark my words, because the day will come when you realize you cannot do all of the above, and still respect him. And respect is of paramount importance to a man. Granted, no one is perfect, and we are all still in the process of growing. You may say this eliminates half of the potential candidates, and that I'm being harsh by indirectly claiming that men like that don't deserve love. I think it's more a matter of a maturity. You can't date kids, because their physical, cognitive and emotional faculties aren't fully developed yet. Same goes for men who haven't grown up or can't assume basic responsibilities. Lasting, healthy relationships where the woman plays the role of a wife and the man leads as the husband are important for a strong family unit. A relationship that ...

Today I had an interesting conversation with a guy after church. He was graduating this year and planning to marry his long-term girlfriend in four years' time. When I asked why he wanted to wait that long, he said it was because of financial reasons - he wanted children straight away and he needed to make sure that he had enough money to support a family first. I've heard this argument quite a bit, with variations here and there.Waiting for a better location, for a better job, etc. And I disagree, for the following reasons (please don't read this in my judgmental tone =P, I'm trying to be logical, and I'm speaking from experience here) : 1. Girls usually don't want to wait THAT long for a statement of commitment, especially if you've graduated and started working already. 2. There's no guarantee she's going to stick around for another four years. It might not be her problem - you may find out that you're growing in separate directions...

Today, I want to make a list of things I love about my soon-to-be husband (4 months is soon lah!), lest I forget one day when I'm mad at him. =P I love how calm and patient he is with everyone and everything. His accepting spirit makes me feel safe and assured of my worth no matter what I do wrong. I love how he's so considerate, and treats me like a gentleman would. Chivalry never gets old. <3 I love how these qualities are part of his character, and extends to people around him as well. I'm not afraid that this is just the "honeymoon" stage that will disappear soon after marriage. I love how we share the same ideas about what's sensible and practical. I love how he listens to me and supports me because he knows I need it. I love the way he adapts to my habits without complaining, and even seems glad to do it. I love how he's not possessive, and trusts me. I love that I can trust him too. I love how smart he is, and I love how it doe...

Jet lag can feel like PMS. You're tired, hungry at weird times, and trying to adjust to a proper circadian rhythm. Throw in some emotional instability at having to leave a loved one behind, and mix that up with psychological distress caused by having to cope with the demands of school and work. Not a good recipe, trust me.  It's the new year, but it's less than happy for me. I hope this phase passes quickly and I can go back to being normal, but right now all I want to do is hole up somewhere until I feel okay again, until every problem can be viewed in its correct proportion, and not be magnified by my hormones instead. Tomorrow will be our 6th and last anniversary of being boyfriend and girlfriend. A whole new stage of life awaits me this year.  Something to hang on to in the midst of this dark cloud.

The dream that I've been living in for the past 6 weeks has ended. I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll start forgetting the wonderful times we had together, that little details and precious memories will begin slipping away the further I get in terms of time and distance. Previous blog entries were vague and unspecific, because it's weird to write in detail about mundane routines, because they aren't as noteworthy as...special events. Yet the mundane is often what captures the very essence of a relationship. I will miss morning breakfasts together and cups of tea with condensed milk, stuffing our hands into our pockets because of the cold, then remembering that we want to hold hands more than that, waiting for him to come back from work and snuggling into his arms to welcome him home, cooking together and my insisting that he use less onions and mushrooms in just about everything , tub after tub of Tom and Jerry's ice-cream, his geeky quarrels with James...

"Hi" from both of us. I find Google automatically uploading photos from my phone to be a very useful thing, since I don't have to Bluetooth photos I need to the com, and THEN upload them from where they're saved. Saves me so much time and effort. :P I'll always advocate less work, less effort, less frills and more efficiency. Heheh. That aside, we DO look pretty similar, don't we? Small eyes, wide nose, oval face...even our smiles resemble each other's, just that he can't smile properly because his gums are hurting due to bratty wisdom teeth. I think we look more similar compared to me and my siblings. Really. Haha. What are we dissimilar in terms of, then? Lemme see. He gets absorbed in computer games, doesn't spend on things that aren't necessities, is super logical and analytical (which is sometimes annoying because I KNOW my point is valid even though I can't express it in such a convincing way because emotions get into the p...

"Don't you think you're still  too young to get married?" I've gotten this question a few times already, mostly from Chinese friends. Not to stereotype or anything, but I guess Chinese people usually get married around 25-30 years old, and my mere 23 (next year, that is) is rather...shocking. Granted, if I see a Chinese peer from secondary school or primary school married/getting married, I'd immediately assume it was a shotgun marriage. =P  Still.  Another acquaintance (yes, ONLY an acquaintance because "She's getting married next year" is practically my surname when introduced nowadays) was shocked when the announcement was made. He couldn't believe I was getting married "so early". Even double-checked to see if I was getting engaged or married next year, whereupon I flashed him my ring. =P A friend who asked this question said that she wouldn't marry early because felt she hadn't done enough with her lif...

I miss your fingers intertwined with mine, your sweet scent, and the contented feeling that comes with knowing you're near.

Tomorrow I'll be entering the 6th week of practicum. Right now the bug of demotivation has hit me and I don't really feel like doing anything but listen to music and blog. Sometimes I wonder if these moments hit me because I've been depriving myself of the simple pleasures of life simply due to my crazy schedule. Like birth cravings, yannoe, the mother's body recognizes a deficiency of some vitamin or something and WANTS IT. Those musings aside, I feel like after I hit the fifth week of practicum, I started getting a handle on my pupils. They know me better now, and I definitely know them better. I'm tougher on them in terms of discipline nowadays, but there is a bond of affection between me and most of them. It's still difficult to motivate them to learn (well, they've been in the last class for some 3 years or so, it's kinda hard to unlearn unhealthy attitudes), but at least now I know what they like doing and I try to let them enjoy themselves even ...

To those who are my Facebook friends, you probably already know this, so for the benefit of those who...AREN'T my Facebook friends...? Whatever. The point is, I'm ENGAGED! =D To be honest, I feel a little weird talking about it openly because somehow I feel like it shouldn't be a big deal and maybe I shouldn't sound so desperate to get married, but like a wise friend said, it's a once in a lifetime thing. So I AM going to shamelessly make a big deal out of it, because it deserves to be a big deal, and it IS a huge milestone in my life. =) To those of you who might be wondering where I conjured up this boyfriend (now fiance) from, well, his name is Jia Wern, a KL-born-Sarawak-bred guy whom I met in church back in my younger days aka teenage years. I'm not sure how much detail I should go into, because the truly accurate version is probably something like 3 pages long, but it might bore you to death. So I guess I'll spare you the minute details and just...

Over the past month, I have been flooded with references to marriage and relationships and future plans and going over to the States to see my boyfriend. All this only served to remind me of the sad reality of my relationship. I'm feeling upset because these are my best dating years, and I have to spend them Skyping or Google hangout-ing with my boyfriend. I want him nearby to be with me, to go places with me, to share life experiences together. And it saddens me that I will not have this for another good two or three more years - by which time I would have started working already. Then, things will be definitely be different with our commitment to our respective careers. I want to experience a dating life as a student, love with all my heart, and be loved in all the ways possible. Is this so unreasonable a request? I feel so happy when he's back home. So eager to see him at every opportunity and be his constant companion. I can hardly imagine dinner dates, movie dates ...

The other day, I read a devotional book for married couples. No, I'm not getting ahead of myself here, I just like to read stuff about relationships and it so happened to be in my dad's library and it had many stories of couples...now why am I getting defensive, there's really nothing wrong with reading stuff like that. =P So don't judge me. *glares* The point I was trying to make before I interrupted myself to justify my taste in books * deep breath * was that I was a bit discouraged by all the possible conflict factors that might arise after marriage. I'm a bit (okay a lot) of a pessimistic perfectionist by nature, so I like things to run smoothly, not least when it comes to my own relationship.Given a choice, I would like to make all the right decisions, meet Mr Right, be Missus Right, live a comfortable life with enough money to get by, have non-rebellious children (* sigh * this one's probably wishful thinking) and just have a happy, satisfying life in ...

This mayen't be the gospel truth, but for what it's worth, this article confirms something all of you probably already know : I've always been 55+ mentally, if not physically. =P http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2247988/The-perfect-man-DOES-exist--fact-FIVE-types-there.html