Never Satisfied

It's 3.45 pm on a rainy Saturday & here I am at work. 3 hrs 45 mins more to end of my shift. How ironic when the numbers play themselves out like that. I'm so, so, so bored. I can't sleep coz it's not night shift. Nothing interesting on SPC coz everyone's out. So I watch my Roswell DVD... & fell asleep watching.

I'm starting to get better which means to say the deja vu is leaving me. It's just amazing how everytime I'm really sick with the flu, it has to be rainy or dark cloudy. But that is also the reason why I get the deja vu. 2 conditions to fulfill, that is to be sick with the flu which makes my brain all fuzzy & wet weather.

Anyway, back to the topic. I'm sure people envy what I'm doing right now. A job that's not physically demanding, I get to go home right on time unlike Jeff who can stay back a couple of hours after passing report, sleep on my night shifts, do nothing but surf the net, read my books, watch TV even when there's nothing going on & best of all, I get paid well. So why am I not happy?

I remember once again how it was like in the hospital. Scoldings from surgeons, dealing with impossible relatives & patients, overworked, on my feet all the time that by the end of the day, the pain was almost unbearable & patches of my soles became hardened. I was bringing home much less than I am now. I was miserable, I dragged myself to work everyday.

Why can't I just be happy with what I have? I'm really fortunate. Really. It touched me so reading today's special article on the Straits Times on ex-prisoners, what kind of difficulties they faced while looking for jobs. How a lot of them fall back to old ways & how some of them managed to successfully re-integrate into the society. I must find contentment.

Miscommunication

I saw the Dr for review this morning. He boarded me on 10 days of antibiotics, more flu medicine, anti-inflammatory & bisolvan. I felt worse than I did this morning. At it's worst, my sinus on both cheeks hurt, the top row of my teeth hurt & my head hurts. Whole day I've been hack hack hacking away with unproducive cough.

After work, I went back home. 12+ pm, I went to Causeway Point with Jeff to pay my monthly Courts installment for my TV. I was going to shop for a new pair of slip ons (mine are falling apart anytime soon) & perhaps some new t-shirts. I was supposed to be on morning shift tomorrow. But my supervisor smsed me, telling me not to show up tomorrow morning & work tonight instead so I can have better rest. There went my shopping intentions. We paid up, had a quick lunch & rushed home so I can rest up before going to work.

Alas, when I got to my work place, the night nurse was already there. A call to my supervisor revealed that she meant for me to work tomorrow night & she had typed wrongly on her sms. Oh well... Luckily the morning agency nurse gave me a lift to Jurong station & I took the train back.

I Wish I Believe

This was written last night but the internet had been down over the weekend at my work place & I didn't get a chance to put it up. Have you ever met someone you felt you knew even though you've never seen this person in your life before? I had. He was a teacher from my primary school. He 1st joined the school when I was in primary 5. He was to take over this female teacher who left the school to teach her class, 5CC.

After the streaming exams, you'll stick to the same class till you graduate. So the classmates from 5CC will promote with you to 6C. I was in 5BB, followed by 6B. Difference in the single & double alphabets means the session. Example, 5C is morning session, while 5CC is afternoon session. & all of us, from primary 1 will study in alternate sessions. So if you start primary 1 in afternoon session, you'll start primary 2 in morning, primary 3 in afternoon & so on.

He never taught me coz I wasn't in his class. But yet I felt that I knew him, with a strange sort of connection. So it always felt weird when his presence was near. I wonder if he's still teaching in my primary school.

So why did I bring this up? I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but whenever I'm sick, I get this strong sense of deja vu. & it never fails to bring back old memories & feelings.

Have we met before? What's this strange peculiar sort of feeling? Had we a past life, I'll say perhaps I knew you from before...

I don't know what to believe. Is there such things like karma, past lives, heaven & hell? If I believe in 1, then I have to believe in all. Nobody can prove that either of these exists.

If you ask me, then I'd rather believe in heaven & hell. It'll mean that death is not the end & makes it less scary. But that will mean that we have to repay our debts. Is this karma then?

What separates good & evil is just a thin line. The heart. Was your heart's intention evil when you make a decision? Then that also means nobody but God knows. Which in turn means I have to believe in God.

Faith is believing without seeing, without proof. God said that we can perform miracles if we have faith as tiny as a mustard seed. Now, I've never seen a mustard seed before. I don't know how small it is. But I can safely say that I have faith smaller than a quarter of a mustard seed.

I doubt. But in my heart there's this hope that God exists. Becoz if not, everything good we've all done would have been in vain & it will mean that evil triumphs.

Still Not Well

Gosh, I hate it. I'm still having runny nose & cough. It feels like the back of my throat is very dry & it makes me cough. (The feeling's as though you've been breathing through your mouth as you jog & when you try to swallow saliva to moisten the throat, you just start coughing.) Once I start coughing, I can't stop. & maybe I've been a bit too vigourous in stuffing tissues in my nostrils coz I wiped out a blood clot earlier on.

I feel very dehydrated. My skin's all dry & I can feel my face being very dry. I have oily skin so my face is never dry. Must be all the peeing from last week. I just kept peeing even though I've drank only 2 cups of water. So now been drinking more to replenish it.

I better get reviewed by the Dr tomorrow. Maybe then I don't have to work & leave my supervisor to work alone & let her have a taste of her own medicine. *Evil*

The appointment's been made! I'll be going to NAD with Serene this Sunday at 2 pm. Everyone's been raving about how good NAD is & finally I get to see it for myself. I feel that they score in the service area coz the owner Marcus smsed me himself, asking for me & Ton Ton's details & whether Ton Ton has any special needs. Grooming wise, well, I gotta see for myself. :P

Oba-san Ton Ton

Oba-san means aunty in Jap. Hehe. Ton Ton looks just like an aunty! Anyway, I guess that these will be the last few pictures before he goes for his full grooming. His last grooming was on the 7th July. Although you can't see it in the pictures, his fur has grown really long & the fur on his back is really 'pom pom'. A bit like a bichon or poodle.

Super Sick

I didn't go to the bridal studio in the end. I was really very sick. I saw the clinic doctor on Tuesday morning before I left. (The same day that I had to stay back becoz my supervisor didn't come to work.) I faithfully took all my medications & slept on & off throughout the whole day.

My supervisor smsed me at 6+ pm asking if I can work today. I was feeling better so I told her that I'm able to work, just that I was having partial voice loss. My colleague, L, called me to find out how I was at 8.30 pm. By then I was super sick again & I must have sounded horrible over the phone. L said that there's no way I can work when I'm so sick. We hung up shortly. Unknown to me, she proceeded to make arrangements for me. She called the various agency nurses to see who can come in this morning. She only managed to get D, who could stay till 1 pm. Then she called my supervisor & got her permission to execute the plan.

L then called me back & told me that I only need to report to work at 1 pm. But if I'm still unwell, I should call her so she can cover for me for the rest of the day. I'm unwilling coz she's post night & it'll be very unfair to make her come back to work. So here I am in the clinic. Just 1.5 hrs more to the end of my shift.

The moment I stepped into the clinic, my supervisor started telling me how unwell she was & she wanted to leave by 9 am. It sounded to me like she was hinting that becoz I wasn't around, she couldn't go off & leave the agency nurse (D) alone. Then she said she was thinking about getting hospitalization leave so she can rest at home. Anyway, she looked absolutely fine. If I'm on the scale of 8 with 1 being well, & 10 being very sick, I'll say she's on 1.

L called me just now at the clinic to find out how I am. Then she told me that my supervisor also told L who was passing over to her (my supervisor) that she is very sick with bad nausea. L offered to stay back so my supervisor can go off. But she didn't take up her offer.

Anyway, I'm off again tomorrow. I'm on morning shift on Friday. Hopefully I'll get much better by then. Aww man... I'm feeling terrible again. Body aches, fuzzy head. It comes & goes as my panadol wears off. Luckily I don't have a fever or I won't be able to function at all.

Outrageous!

Yesterday was my last night shift & I'm doing morning shift tomorrow. I'm officially down with URTI. My voice is partially gone & I sound horrible if I can even talk. A phone call at 6.30 am revealed that my supervisor wasn't coming to work today. Nothing new here. Everytime she doesn't come to work, the night nurse have to stay back to help the morning nurse with the clinic. Becoz you can't cope with just 1 staff nurse. So in this case, it was me who stayed back.

Over the phone, she told me to ask the doctor to refer this boy who had been staying in the clinic for 6 days to the cousellor. I went in to see the doctor to get prescribed some medicine & at the same time told him about this. But after the boy saw the doctor, he wasn't referred to the counsellor. I guess the doctor had a talk with the boy & deemed it unnecessary. We were very busy & hence didn't clarify with the doctor as well. It's up to the doctor whether he wants to refer anyway.

So the morning nurse who is an agency nurse called me just now. She wanted to clarify something & at the same time, she told me that my supervisor called. She asked the agency nurse (D) if the boy was referred to the school counsellor. D told her that he wasn't. According to D, my supervisor got upset & said things like "I specifically told (me) to get the doctor to make the referral." D stood up for me by saying that I did tell her that this boy was to be referred & perhaps I told the doctor when I was being seen. But my supervisor didn't believe D, which was also why she called to clarify with me.

Now, as a supervisor, you take frequent MCs, doesn't inform the HR so nobody can track the number of her MCs, make the night nurse stay back (I kena many times liao), don't pay her back the time (Need not be money but at least let me claim time right?) & when something isn't done, immediately point the finger at me without at least trying to find out what happened. I can't tell her this in her face. But, "You sucks! Big time!".

Maple Story

All work & no play is a horrible thing. So introducing my latest game craze, Maple Story! It's a free online game whereby you download the game client from the website, create an account & you're ready to play. The game's form of money is meso & you can buy items & equips in the game's shops in various towns. The cash shop features special items with which you can use to customise your character. This cash shop uses real money. You have to buy this Maple Card (with pictures of the game's monsters) & top up your account using the pin at the back of the card. 1 card costs $10.50 & gives you 10k maple cash. Another way is to buy credit using visa but you don't get the card though. So unless you want to buy special cash items, the game is basically FOC.

You start off as a Beginner. There're 4 job advancements available to Beginners, namely, Warrior, Magician, Bowman & Thief. Once you've chosen the job, you can't change your mind. Subsequently, you get to make your 2nd job advancement when your character is at level 30. 2nd job advancements are:

Warrior: Fighter, Page or Spearman
Magician: Fire Mage, Lightning/Ice Mage or Cleric
Bowman: Hunter (uses bow) or Crossbow Man (uses crossbow)
Thief: Assassin or Bandit

I'm currently playing as Warrior & had just recently made my 2nd job advancement as a Page. On my 3rd job advancement, I'll be a Knight & I'll be able to make use of elemental attacks. Well, that's a long way from now. I can only make the 3rd job advancement at level 70 & I'm currently at level 35. It's already a struggle as the experience points offered by monsters (or mobs) are miserable.

I believe that the players' age range from Upper Primary all the way to adults. So you can imagine the chaos. All the vulgarities & childish behaviours, picking a fight with others, getting a huge gang of players to harrass you etc. Students are the 1s spending a lot of money buying cash items. Way before I started playing Maple, I happened to be in a queue behind a Primary School kid. He bought 5 cards in total, amounting to $52.50. Of course we all know where the money comes from. Kids nowadays have it so easy. My heart aches if I were to spend even $10.50 on the game.

So there it is. My current game craze. I spend between 1 hr to the whole day playing each time. But I can only play for long if Jeff's playing with me. Otherwise it gets dreadful & boring. More updates later! Maybe when I finally reach level 70...

Under The Sea?

No lah, should be under the weather. Just a lousy attempt at being cheeky. It started with a slight sore throat yesterday afternoon. It progressed into a bad sore throat in just a few hours. By the time I reached my work place, I was starting to have runny nose. I slept at 12.30 am but I was woken up by a student who pressed the doorbell at 1.30 am.

I went back to sleep shortly & woke up at 6.15 am as usual. I drank lots of water which made me pee the whole night through. I even took vit C but I guess like cramming for exams last min, it's never effective. My pharynx was feeling raw & sensitive this morning. It still is at the moment & my runny nose is back. My body is aching all over.

Oh well, I gotta admit that this time I really am falling sick. I'll put in some rest later on but I tend to oversleep & give myself insomnia at night. Tonight's my last night shift & I'll be off tomorrow after I get off from work. I gotta head down to the bridal studio tomorrow. So no rest for me on my off day. Not to mention that Ton Ton is due for his weekly bath. :X

My Very 1st Accident

Jeff was going to meet the guys for DOTA at Bukit Timah Plaza & Thomas happened to have the car today. So he was going to give me a ride to work. At 6.55 pm, Jeff received an sms from Thomas saying that his dad was stuck in a traffic jam at the causeway & wouldn't be on time to get the car back. I start work at 7.30 pm so I had to take a cab down.

We were nearing our destination. But before the cab can turn into the school, the driver needs to make a U-Turn as we're on the other side of the road. I'm usually observant when others are driving unless I'm sleeping on the journey, of course. Coz I'm really paranoid with other people's driving skills. I may not always stick to the rules but I do most of the time.

I saw that the traffic was clear, though the light was green. The driver made the U-Turn but I think he saw something in his mirrors & he braked hard. The screeching of the brakes, followed by this motorcyclist crashing into the cab, just in front of the passenger side of the cab. I looked out of the cab & saw this guy sprawled on the ground, bike beside him. The only thing on my mind was, "Oh shit!" & I hoped that the guy wasn't injured. It was really shocking. I just froze in the cab, heart palpitating.

The Pizza Hut delivery guy got up from the road. He wasn't hurt too badly, a small cut above his lip & he tore his pants at the knees. The cab driver got out of the cab & they started the 'whose at fault' argument. The cab driver insisted that the guy ran the red light. The guy said it was the amber light. The cab driver wanted me to write a testimony for insurance claim. I wrote the facts & not in anyone's favour.

I guess it was those spilt second things. Just as the cab made the U-Turn & the light turned amber. Perhaps the guy was trying to speed past the amber & neglected the traffic in front. Or he had already crossed the stop line & was proceeding ahead just as the cab made the turn.

I'm just glad that nobody's seriously injured. Money can always be earned back. But if you lose your life, nothing can bring it back. Be patient & drive carefully.

Rainy Day Today

Cold & wet. That's how the weather is like today. The sky is a huge sheet of gray. I love such weathers. Makes me wanna curl up in bed with my comforter. Very troublesome to go out, but very nice to stay indoors. It'll be nice to have a bowl of tongue scalding hot soup. Unfortunately, I'm at work.

It's Friday. Rainy Friday. Rainy weathers produce in me the calm & peaceful mood. Sort of sad, sort of blue. But don't get me wrong. I'm happy.

Jeff told me today that he has been passing out fresh blood along with his stools for the past 1 week. I'm incensed. He should know very well of all people that he should have gone to get a colorectal referral from the very 1st episode. I insisted & demanded that he go asap. If minor, it may just be haemorrhoids. If serious, it could be some tumour along the rectum or descending colon.

Just 2 weeks ago, the doctor has already diagnosed him with erosive gastritis. I've also demanded that he brings food to work so all it'll take is 10 mins out of his working time. What's a few mins difference going to make? But of course, he refuses to listen. Becoz nobody cooks for him to bring to work. But it's actually just excuses. I've never seen someone so lazy to even take care of his own health!

Some Updates

Oh well. Maybe I'm just being a glutton for punishment. I just had to go read her blog again. I just had to go make myself miserable again.

Jeff left a comment in his sis's blog as anonymous. He said that she should try to get to know her brother (Jeff) & his gf (Me). That she shouldn't just pass judgment when she doesn't even understand what kind of a person her brother's gf is.

To which, she replied: The girl is the least of my concern. I've no comments and considerations for her. In neither way she is related to me.

OMG... This is like so cold, so unfeeling. To think I actually held respect for her in the past. But I guess congrats to her. She just lost whatever respect I have for her. FOREVER.

My 100th Post

My 1st post was in March 2005. I was still in OT, working my ass off, getting all sorts of verbal abuse from surgeons. But at the same time, it was the only time I experienced satisfaction when I knew I did well. I can't believe that it's been more than a year since. I swore to myself when I left that I'll work hard & give my family & myself a good life. We need not be rich, we need not even be 'comfortable'. My goal is never to have to worry about money, having excess for savings & hopefully trips overseas. I'm nowhere near there yet. But I'm slowly making progress. I hope that I'll get there in another 5 years or so.

Situations & priorities changes. I seriously doubt that we'll get the flat we balloted for. But in the event we do get it, we'll be looking at renovation & furnishing costs. It can easily amount to 50k. We have all these plans. It's all just slowly coming together. I don't want to have it nipped before it can even bloom.

How do you wanna live your life? With as little regrets as possible? Unfortunately, regrets are kinda inevitable. You'll never know the outcome of any decision you've made until you make them. For me, I wanna live my life while I can. You'll never know when death & sickness will strike. It doesn't mean that I proceed without caution. I've thought long & hard on the consequences of my decisions, be it to do or not to.

Yes, everyone's very right. I'm 23 years old. That's a tender age to be getting tied down. Like I said, I have my own plans. Someday I'll be a mom. I don't want to have to rush into motherhood becoz I married late & I can't afford to waste anymore time. I wanna enjoy 2 to 3 years of married life before having children. Someone (much older) told me that there can never be a perfect time to get married or have children. I thought about it & believe it to be so.

There is this 1 rule of marriage I've always believed in. Your spouse should always be the most important person in your life & should be the person you love the most. Not your children, not your other family members. I've seen so many couples make this mistake. Once children comes along, their children becomes their world. A marriage is not held together by your children. A marriage is held together by the love you have for each other.

We've had countless quarrels. Which couple doesn't? Quarrels are not to push 2 of you further apart. Their role is to help you know your partner better. I'm glad that I can say truthfully that this is the case with us.

I'm Sensitive by Jewel

I was thinking that I might fly today
Just to disprove all the things that you say
It doesn't take a talent to be mean
Your words can crush things that are unseen
So please be careful with me, I'm sensitive
And I'd like to stay that way

You always tell me that it's impossible
To be respected, and be a girl
Why's it gotta be so complicated
Why you gotta tell me if I'm hated
Oh please be careful with me, I'm sensitive
And I'd like to stay that way

I was thinking, that it might do some good
If we robbed the cynics and took all their food
That way what they believe will have taken place
And we'd give it to everybody who'll have some faith
So please be careful with me, I'm sensitive
And I'd like to stay that way

I have this theory, that if we're told we're bad
Then that's the only idea we'll ever have
But maybe if we are surrounded in beauty
Someday we will become what we see
Coz anyone can start a conflict
It's harder yet to disregard it
I'd rather see the world from another angle
We are everyday angels
Be careful with me coz I'd like to stay that way

This song was from Jewel's 1st album, Pieces of You. I bought this album back when I was in sec 1. That's like 9 years now. It has accompanied me through many rainy days, days when people just seem to be out to get me. I still hold onto the hope that 'maybe if we are surrounded in beauty, someday we will become what we see'. I hope that 1 day I'll become a person of beauty.

Am I Making A Mistake?

Was it fate that led me to this blog? I won't reveal the blog address but this is Jeff's sister's blog. I'm disheartened. She offered to help us look for a restaurant for our ROM, she offered to go with us to bargain with the bridal studio. So all along it was an act?

I believe her image of me is cast by Jeff's mom. I hardly see his sister at all. But from the beginning, his mom will tell his sister something about us & his sister will talk Jeff out of doing certain things. This was from day 1 of our relationship. So I believe strongly that his mom holds the same thoughts coz this is pass on to his sister. So I'm going to be family with such people? Am I making a mistake here? What do you do in a situation like this?

Quote:

As what mentioned in the title, someone is heading for the grave of courtship. Tat someone is my very own brother. The youngest one. The one who is supposely to be a little bit more mature, sensible and clear headed, is heading for the grave. He is getting married. To be more accurate its "ROM".

I am not against marriage, in fact, I am a staunch believer of it. But I dun think tat it shd happen to a 23year old young lad, who barely had his career stabled, to head for marriage. Not mentioning how very little savings he has for now. I had many questions in my mind. Is he ready to take up such a huge responsibility? Does he know the consequences if the marriage dun work out? Is he marrying the correct person? Is she his ultimate one? He had little chances to know other girlfriends other than this domineering woman that he current had on his hands! How to make the correct choice?

I muz talk to him again. Its not my objective to overturn his decision but he muz know where he is heading. In tis current generation, who still marries at early 20s? The people doing so are either left with little alternatives or awaiting for the arrival of a new life (in short, shot gun). I think this is the least that I can do for him.

Wallet Missing

I finally remembered what was the other thing that happened! Jeff lost his wallet. We took a taxi to my house after my night shift & the last time Jeff saw his wallet was when he took it out for payment. He remembered putting the wallet back into the front compartment of his bag but failed to close that compartment.

By the time we realised that his wallet was missing, it was already coming to 3 pm. We were on our way to Goodwood Park Hotel to try out their high tea that day. We didn't find his wallet of course since it had been missing for more than 6 hours. Immediately, he called the bank to report his ATM & debit card as missing.

We went to the Yew Tee CC neighbourhood police post next & made a police report. The police officer told us that there's about 70% to 80% chance of recovering the wallet. He suggested that we wait for 1 to 2 weeks before making a new IC & various cards. But it's been a week already & there's still no news... Though he didn't have any cash in the wallet, there were quite a few other important things. Here's the list of items.

1) UOB ATM Card
2) UOB Debit Card
3) IC
4) Driving Licence
5) Cash Card ($40+ value)
6) Ez Link Card ($20+ value)
7) SAF 11B (Required for reservice)
8) City Speed Car Rental Membership Card
9) Nursing Licence
10) Kopithiam Card (Unknown value)

On A Happier Note...

We managed to secure a solemnizer for 9th Dec already! On top of that, we've just registered our application online for our solemnization. We've also discussed & decided not to book a room with Goodwood Park Hotel for the ceremony. Instead, we'll do it directly in the Coffee Lounge (1 of the hotel's cafe). They agreed to section off an area for us. So we just have to come up with a guest list & inform them on the number of people.

The results of the ballot (for the Redhill flat) will be out in Oct. Today, Jeff was asking me what will happen to Ton Ton should we move out. I said that Ton Ton will stay with us. But he's concerned as Ton Ton is my parents' companion as well. They've taken to him & have grown very attached to him. In my mom's case, Ton Ton is her only companion when everyone leaves for work. So I said we get another dog for them. He told me he's thinking along the lines of getting another dog for me. Ton Ton is trained & will be easier to take care of, he said. But Ton Ton's my darling... :(

-_-'''

Well, I amazed at the speed of how fast the sense of contentment can leave me. On that very day after putting up my previous post, my mom was getting up from the dinning chair when she stepped on some liquid. It was some yellowish fluid in 2 puddles. It has some bubbles on top. I deduced it to be Ton Ton's vomitus. (I can't find this word in the dictionary but I swear that we use it in our line of work all the time!) Luckily, it was just an 1 off episode.

Anyway, work hasn't been too good recently. Well, it has never been good with my head nurse. Friday was my day back at work after 2 rest days. A staff needed maxolon injection. But there wasn't any left. Immediately, she turned & scolded me for not checking the stock. She said that I have to check it on my night shift. Well, she never told me this before! Even my other colleague doesn't know that we have to check it on our night shifts. In my opinion, whoever used up the last ampoule should order it. Whenever things go wrong, she's always the 1st to point the finger at someone else instead of looking at the processes & assess which part of it went wrong. I'm super pissed with her!

She took MC again on Friday, left all the work to me etc, etc, etc. So what else is new? There was this boy who came down with conjuctivitis. The Dr gave him 1 day MC. Where MCs are concern, boarding students have to stay the night in the clinic. So officially he can go off on Sat morning. But we thought that it would be better if he can stay over the weekend. He was really restless, begging & pestering for us to release him on Friday itself. So I told him that the earliest he can go off is Sat morning. But it's subjected to how his condition will be.

That very night around 10 pm, she called & the moment I answered the phone, I was hit by her demanding & accusatory tone. "Why did you tell the boy that he can leave tomorrow morning?" So I explained the whole thing. Of course I'm offended. She takes MC, goes off for the rest of the day, asked me not to key in her MC (I have to send an email to HR to inform them of all staff who are taking MCs.) & yelled at me for her own mis-information? Talking about her makes my blood boil. So I better move on to some other topics before I suffer a stroke!

A Sense of Contentment

Further changes in our plans. Yet again, the 2nd solemniser we've contacted so far isn't free on the ROM date we've chosen. We just have to keep trying & call up every single 1 of them if we have to. Hopefully luck will be on our side & let us secure a solemniser or the wedding can't proceed.

Jeff's sis found a hotel, Excelsior for us. High tea buffet is at $23+++ per pax. I was on the phone with Jeff yesterday night & we discussed about this whole thing. In summary, we just want to get it over & done with & do away with all the troublesome things like banquet & the customary wedding. So basically, it's just the ROM & that's it.

We were thinking, since we're not doing anything else, we can afford a better hotel. It has always been my wish to stay in Goodwood Park Hotel. So I suggested that we book a room there, hold the ceremony in the hotel room, then proceed downstairs for high tea. I doubt we'll have problem making reservation for the room & cafe/restaurant. It's the lack of a solemniser that's giving us a headache.

Then since we're not doing anything at all, perhaps we can bargain with the bridal studio for a reduction in price. We won't be needing the bridal car, flowers, photographer, evening gown, wedding gown for the actual day anymore. Jeff's sis offered to go with us so she can help us bargain as she used the same bridal studio when she got married 1+ year ago.

Ton Ton was lying on my laps, his head on my tummy, slowly falling asleep. I'm playing Christmas songs on my computer. A sence of peace & contentment washed over me. Christmas songs always have that effect on me for some reason. I'm in a small hut, snow is softly falling outside. A fire is burning in the fireplace, we're warm & snuggly. Voices of the choir nearby floats into the hut, encircling us...

Plans For Solemnization

We're currently making plans & working out the details for our solemnization. Our chosen date is on the 9th Dec, just slightly over 3 months away. At 1st I had wanted to hold it at Jeff's place but I could tell that his mom was kinda unwilling when she agreed to it. Shortly after, his sister contacted him, saying that she found a hotel in which to hold the ceremony.

Well, that's fine with me though I'm a bit disappointed that Ton Ton won't be sharing the occasion with me. From what his sister told us, the ceremony will be held in a function room & we'll proceed to the restaurant for high tea after that. We need to go down, have a look & possibly place deposit. Jeff's off day is on Wed & mine's on Thurs. So I'm gonna try changing my off day with my colleague.

Jeff has already contacted a solemniser & he'll be getting back to us shortly. I sure hope he's available. The 1st solemniser we contacted won't be in sg for the month of Dec. Once we've made the online registration at the ROM website, it'll be time to contact the bridal studio & get fitted for my tea dress.

Not only that, we've also tried our luck balloting for a flat in Redhill. However, I don't think we stand a chance as we don't qualify for any of the 3 priorites. 3rd child priority: Your 3rd child must be born after 1987. Newly weds staying near parents priority: Nope. Rental to flat owner priority: If you've been renting a flat & wishes to purchase 1 of your own. According to the info on the HDB balloting booklet they gave us, people with either of this 3 priorities has twice the chance of getting a flat than those without. There're only 160+ flats available, but there're close to 2000 applications now & it's still more than a week till closing date! That's like less than 10% chance, not counting the fact that we're not given priority. Oh well... I'll just take it as it comes.