Ian & Chuey

Christmas Random

2009-12-15T21:03:00.008+08:00

Since childhood age, I love Christmas, knew nothing about God, but just somehow love the atmosphere, love the culture, love the season...

In this Christmas month, I bought some really random stuff while shopping alone ( yes, I always shop alone ^_^ )

from Metrojaya -- culpeper essential oil - lavendar, rose & orange @ 40% off... love it... totally different from cheapo one.... didn't purposely shop for it... just passing by while buying Manoj's gift..

Christmas 101 songs - total of 6 CDs, just bought today @ amcorp mall after work... I was really depressed this evening, then while going back on my own, I saw this, thought of just pampering myself. It will be a good collection that last for years..
Listening disc 2 now, feeling very starbucks... :p

pepper and salt holder! cute isn't it? forgotten when exactly it was bought.... it was a Saturday afternoon, randomly passed by a home deco shop @ taipan...

that's the skinny Christmas tree at home now... feeling very Christmas .. even the sofa at home has the Christmas look.. hehee...

not forgetting this red plant from mama! love it.. sweet of her...
I shall get a nice vase so that I can place it in door...

thinking what shall I buy for loves one this Christmas... issit too late to shop for Christmas yet?

on a special note, Jas told me that John sent us parcel of Christmas gifts from Sydney!!! oohOooo... *touched*... really miss this cool dude....

alright.. signing-off... gonna do some reading and stop thinking about sad stuff... <3 Christmas!

First Anniversary

2009-12-15T01:34:00.017+08:00

Wanted to blog about birthday earlier, waited and waited for hubby to complete his post first... Hmph... I guess I will just leave the space for him for birthday post...

Time flies... and Mr & Mrs Ian How = 1 year old...
Saujana Resort , where we had our wedding banquet, offered us complimentary stay + dinner for first anniversary...

So we picked Italian Restaurant - Senja for the dinner ( they had choice of jap, chinese, italian restaurant), mainly cos its lake side, just next to our banquet last year....
Reached there kind of late due to after work....

Bread for a start

Quite nice with dip...Fried Seafood as appetizer.. really nice...
Thin crust garlic pizza, enjoying my magarita...
Ian with his yellow bird = orange juice + vodka :D not I made up one okay... its really called yellow bird on the cocktail menu... hehee.... the name suits Ian rite? though he prefers my magarita more....

Main course

Rib Eye

seafood salad. Ian loves seafood

us

too full to finish all...

I heart the strawberry gelato! heavenly...

overall, rating 8/10 for Senja Restaurant

Next day... had breakie & enjoyed the morning by the pool....

love the morning breeze there....
checked out around noon and went gifts hunting with W11, hooi hoon's wedding at night..
yeah.. that's how we spent our anniversary... xoxo

My Memorable 26th Birthday

2009-11-23T23:30:00.018+08:00

This post is dedicated to my beloved W11 members, dear friends and amazing wife!

PRELUDE
It all started off on Thu (Oct 29) night when Chia Huey dozed off to sleep when she supposed to compile the service attendance. In her "mong cha cha"-ness, she asked for my help to do the compilation. Being a good husband, I picked up her HP, scrolling through the SMSes and started compiling the data. Then suddenly, I stopped at Clarissa's message, started wondering "Hmm... why would Cla SMS CH, they hardly SMS as far as I know." I can't help but to think my CG members must be planning something behind my back, sabo? surprise? I clicked open, it was actually a MMS, a picture of a metallic-black watch. This must be it! They're really planning something! Without much hesitation, I checked through the inbox and sent folder to see if there were other suspicious SMSes. Waalaah! I found Jeremiah's! Hahahaha (laughing evilly quietly) Suddenly... CH woke up! I burst out in laughter when she asked me did I see SMSes that I not supposed to see hahahaha... (laughing evilly loudly) I kept pesting CH to tell me more but she insisted. Nevermind, I was with very high confidence that they won't get me in, but I'll be able to prank them back! LOL!

So, it was since then we started playing mind games, Miah kept telling me to beware and watch my back, they'll get me at anytime. Tried to buy in Miah as my spy but failed, bluffed him that I actually had an undercover among them, my purpose was to create internal affair that they'll suspect one another hahaha... Leo and Cla kept telling me they've scrapped off the sabo plan due to tight budget; funny + weird messages flying around here and there... they made me confused. Anyway, I've decided to tighten my guard and be very alert of the surroundings wherever I go, not even trusting CH completely, not until Nov 19 is over, just in case they pop out of no where with crazy sabo weapons.

THE SWEET SABO
After much strategizing + planning... 2 weeks later, W11 + friends finally made their move, it was on Thu (Nov 12). I had an appointment with Joy and Andy over some discussions, Joy suggested to meet in USJ 2 field, I didn't suspect anything until receiving Andy's SMS: "Can I pray for Ian after da sabo?" and I went: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!". At the same time, I had 2nd thought thinking it may be a prank, may be Andy did that in purpose, I didn't reply him anyway.

As usual, I went with much alert, drove pass Leo's house too see if his car is there, went circles around the USJ 2 field, parked my car further away from the entrance, climbed up the hill instead of using the stairs, trying to find where were they hiding. Couldn't spot anyone, just saw Joy and Andy were already in a hut, so I went to join them. Many many thoughts came to my mind "Hmm... Why are they sitting opposite of each other? Is this place where I'm sitting planned out by them? Where are they going to appear from? From the left? Right? Back?". I kept looking here and there, I was so conscious of the surroundings even a cockroach passed by I could hear! Hahaha...

Our discussion went well then suddenly Andy checked out his handphone and said his parents needed him back home because of an exam the next day, he asked if he could pray. Just right after Andy said that, I saw a group of familiar faces (the 1st two faces I saw were Kai Boon and Phei Wen) walking uphill towards us, they walked very very casually. Without 2nd thought, this must be it! I better run for my life, so there I went! I felt someone was closely chasing after me! Who was it? I ran the fastest possible, down the hill, jumped across the drain... *huff puff* Phew! Managed to escape it. I could hear there were alot of them searching for me uphill, I started irritating them by yelling: "I felt your love, but no sabo, thanks! Bye bye!". Catching my breathe and slowly walked towards my car. Then I saw Derrick from afar, I wasn't afraid because he was alone, plus, he was far away. It was then I discovered that Derrick can run SUPER FAST! Like T-X from the movie Terminator 3! Before I knew it, he already caught up with me, the moment I saw Leo and Miah in front of me, I knew they would get me eventually, I was out of breathe. In short, they got me, all of them came (Cla, Ash, Candy, Christine, Jasmine, Derrick, Kai Boon, Billy, Leo, Miah, Elaine Jr, Jeremy, Zheng Ta, Phei Wen, Cheryl, Sharon, Vincent, Joy, Shan Yong, Andy, Hui Fen and Justin) and gave me the sweetest sabo - Coke and Pepsi attack! I was all soaked with sweetness. Kai Boon tried to hit me with an ultimate pail-of-water attack but failed, too slow lah Kai Boon hahaha...

After the Happy Birthday song and cake cutting (you guys know I like cheese cake and got me one! How thoughtful!), we went uphill where we had more pictures taken, sharing the cake and getting my birthday present! I happily unwrapped the gift thinking it was a watch, a metallic-black watch I've wanted. Layers after layers... boxes after boxes... finally! Tada! A tie!?!? (saying to myself: "This is it? Not a watch? Hmm... ok.") Although a little bit disappointed but was really happy and glad to see all of them, CG members and friends whom are dear to me, taking the effort to plan and celebrate for me, am truly touched =')

THE SWEET SURPRISE
(Work in progress...)

BIRTHDAY PEEK-A-BOO
(Work in progress...)

THE AFTERTHOUGHT
(Work in progress...)

Ian

family love

2009-09-03T23:35:00.002+08:00

haven't been blogging lately, as life has been pretty depressing due to work....

parents were in town during merdeka *happy*... i think I have the best parents & best in-law ever.. Ian's parents insisted on meeting up with them for a meal... it was at "yap chong" @ cheras, the shop looks very kampung, but served super nice homely food... Didn't take any pic, but I am just thankful that both families can click, its definitely a blessing....

bought 3 pair of crocs for ying yin, xin hui & myself! yeah.. finally... I am not a crocs lover, but given 3 RM30 coupon, so decided to get ourselves the sisters shoes... oopsss... photoz are in Ian's phone..

Ian & I watched UP together too, I cried at the part seeing the wife died without accomplishing her dream... at the end, its even more touching to see what she jotted down in the journal book after paradise falls, she actually enjoyed her life journey to the fullest with her husband, nothing to be regretted about....
it makes me ponder on the journey I have with Ian, gonna learn to treasure him more...

time never waits... treasure the journey with loves one...

Madness ~ fail.com

2009-07-28T01:42:00.003+08:00

I was super angry at Ian just now, as he kept digging back and made fun of my accident incidence few months back.... Already few months back ok..... Instead of encouraging me, dedicating his time and effort in coaching me how to drive, he laughed at me and thought it was funny! what is this.......

So we had an cold war, and I decided not to wash his stockings tonight.... In the midst of cold war which didn't last very long, he emailed me this:

oooh... after looking at this pic, how to continue to be mad at him? fail.com

Changing Tyre

2009-07-28T01:14:00.008+08:00

On the way fetching us back home from cg, we felt some imbalance of James' car... and true enough, its tyre puncture!

Adventurously, James drove up slope to my house, we had an tyre changing mission at the visitor car park:

James was busy jetting up the car....

emo Jan in the middle of the night, sitting at the car park......

Manoj was trying to help.....

in progress....

I borrowed a torch light from the security guard, and Manoj's head was accidentally hit by it.... lolz.....

2009-07-15T23:05:00.003+08:00

my freaking pricy new hair... nothing outstanding, but i like it... :D next step, gonna buy a good curler and learn how to curl... best still, train up ian to help me curl.. kekee..

Chuey's current wish list

2009-07-04T02:03:00.011+08:00

Inspired by Nat , I begin to list down my current wish list & it shall become a reality.. hehee :

Relax holidays @ bali

Well toned & fit body

A new classy handbag

A new purse

More flowery dresses & accessories

More classy shoes - yeah, I am a wedges lover :)

Driving skills

Oven

all are achieveable, just need more discipline and wisdom to prioritize :)

Random V2

2009-06-18T03:01:00.005+08:00

oooHOoo... I really feel bad for abandoning our blog for long :p

here's another random post...

Random #1

Last month, I 'accidentatlly' dropped by Isetan and 'accidentally' bought a new Anolon Frying Pan @ discounted price, its a hard anodized non-stick cookware, even if I accidentally cut through the non-stick coating, the hard anodized sub layer cannot be penetrated, eliminating the problems associated with food interaction with aluminium core.
For health reason, its really worth it? (finding excuses for my shopping again.. hahaa)
I am loving it!

Random #2

One random Saturday evening, Ian brought home my fav greentea cake from RT! yay..

Random #3

Another random Saturday evening, cooked pork chop fettucini for dinner, lovely!

Random #4

The most expensive sausages ever!!! my heart is still bleeding, that's the consequences of buying something without checking the price tag, it was too late when the promoter told me the price, never expect that...
its still in my freezer though, as I forgot Ian had to work on 2nd Sat :(

Random #5

It's little Gabriel's 1st birthday! his daddy mummy organized a birthday party for him at Buffalo Steak House.... such adorable boy... all children are cute I suppose..

Random #6

My creative hubby came out with another brilliant father's day gift idea (specially cater for his highschool cg's affordability), and hence this photo. Its a preparation for his cg this fri night... I shall not disclose what's that for here... such good life to be in his cg!

Its James & Serene's wedding this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!! these few days super busy preparing... amazed by their creativity and effort put in the preparation... its gonna be super good! can't wait...

till then.. stay tuned for more updates...

Service with Rev Dr Kong Hee

2009-05-23T04:27:00.001+08:00

(An extract from Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=10435&post=46437&uid=68390337761#/topic.php?uid=68390337761&topic=10435)

Pst Kong preached a message from the story we're all familiar, David's battle against the Philistine giant - Goliath (1 Sam 17). Goliath, a giant, a champion warrior, the best of the best among the Philistine army, dressed with full armor, shield and a javelin; who was his opponent? David, a shepherd boy with just stones and a sling as his weapon. That may be his natural/physical weapon, but what caused David defeating the giant were his heavenly weapons.

The 5 stones that David used (v40), signifies these heavenly weapons:

1. STONE OF PAST
- David REMEMBERED how GOD has been using him in the past, how GOD brought him victories after victories, and how GOD will continue to lead him to another victory!
- GOD uses our background to pour courage into our lives.
- A good memory will bring out a HERO out of you.

2. STONE OF PRAYER
- David spent time praying.
- Pray, pray, pray, pray, PRAY! Pray for GOD's strength and power to be available in our lives, in everywhere we go, in everything we do.

3. STONE OF PRIORITY
- GOD was David's highest priority in his life.
- What is GOD's priority in your life? Where does He stand? No.1? No.2? No.3? Or it changes all the time?
- GOD's position in your life will be tested again, again and again. Do you still stand firm on your priority that GOD is no.1?

4. STONE OF PASSION
- David was running towards Goliath. That shows anticipation, that shows PASSION!
- GOD always invest into the passionate.
- It is easy to be on fire for GOD after a conference, for a day, for a week, for a month. But we got to stay passionate for GOD FOR LIFE.

5. STONE OF PERSISTENCE
- There were actually somemore Philistine giants after David defeated Goliath. David wasn't complacent, he went on to destroy the enemies (2 Sam 21).
- Sometimes one time is not enough... fast once, reading the Bible once, one prayer is not enough. We got to stand up from failure and fight on again, again and again!
- Just like how the spectators are cheering Rocky to get up after a tough boxing match in the movie "Rocky 2", the Heavens are cheering for you to get up and fight on!

All 5 points spoke to my heart! In many areas of my life, in my ministry leading CG, in my work place as an employee, in my relationship with Chia Huey, parents, bro, in-laws, friends and with GOD. I'm reminded again to remember the past victories GOD has led me to and all the good things that I experienced.

I'm reminded again to stay prayerful on the things I desire, salvation of my dad, mom, bro and bro's GF. Sometimes one prayer is just not enough. The process of wait is tiring, but I got to be persistent to pray, persistent to fight for what I believe in.

I'm reminded again to realise that GOD's position in my life will be tested again and again. No matter what happens, good times, bad times, very bad times, GOD is still no.1.

I'm reminded again to inject passion in everything I do during this process, work with passion, serve with passion, lead with passion, pray with passion, love with passion... and be passionate for GOD for life!

Hope this will bless you. All in all, nothing beats the tangible presence of GOD in the servicel. So come early, come expectant! =)

Random

2009-04-14T02:28:00.004+08:00

Random 1#
self-made honey lemon before Ian's CCNA paper... slurp!

Random 2#
lots of shopping two weeks ago... for papa, mama, & sis =)

Random 3#
Home-made pancake breakfast on Sat morning, together with maple syrup and raspberry jam + tropicana 100% orange juice... yum~ how can I not love breakfast!

The Journey of Blue begins.......

2009-04-01T10:58:00.006+08:00

Early morning as I stepped into the office, surprised to see this on my desk:

close up... nope, its not an april fool joke :p , but a bottle of sparkling juice with a welcome note:

The view in the office:

Blue balloon signifies those who cross over to IBM, green balloon signifies retained Maxis staff...
Shortly the IBM managers and HRs came to our cubicle to shake our hands and welcome us to IBM....

Yeah.. it is now the reality.. my Maxis tag has become like this:
no longer Maxis staff, but "Partner"... *wink*.... the journey of blue begins..............
welcome event at one world hotel later, looking forward... :)

Columbus...

2009-02-26T21:24:00.003+08:00

Finally the Columbus project @ Maxis ISD is not just a talk, its now a reality.....
Its now packaged as the Maxis ISD Transformation

Given a chance to cross over to IBM, yet still based in Maxis at the moment... Kind of weird right? It feels like u've been divorced and given away to marry a new husband, yet still staying together with the ex-husband.... Complicated feeling...

Nonetheless, I am thankful. Change is definitely better than no change.. at least there is new hope, new things to learn, better prospect I hope, moreover we are given a sum of $$$ & increment and all... Hard to find such deal in this economy downturn...

Moving forward, don't miss call me, I shall not call back... lol

"Jia You" Adrian

2009-02-05T01:43:00.000+08:00

My wife wants me to write an entry in this blog. Well... I really don't like blogging, needing to crack my head to write. It usually takes me quite a loooooong time to get just one sentence right, what more a whole blog entry. The normal process I always go through: Type... backspace.... re-type... backspace again... type once more... think.... backspace... type... it goes on and on until it sounds good. You can imagine how long I need to spend preparing sermons, typing reports... Wen Dee definitely knows what I mean haha...

Okay, coming back to my 1^st blog here, I want to write about my brother. He is flying to China as I’m typing now. He’ll be studying and doing a 6-month internship with Motorola in Tianjin. I didn’t get to send him off, as he is flying from Singapore. Dad, mom and Nizz did, am wondering if they cried during farewell hehe...

I call my brother by his name, Adrian, he calls me “Gor”. I think I was influenced by grandma and aunties who stayed with us during our childhood days, all of them called him “Adrian”. We fought alot when we were kids; I like to snatched things from him, he cried and grandma would saying him, in other words, I like bullying him at that time haha...

We started talking less, seldom mix around when I advanced into Form 1, probably I thought I was mature already and didn’t want to be childish like him. Our relationship became colder when I got into Form 4, where I was no longer staying with him at grandma’s house, me in PJ and him in KL. We would just call each other “Gor”... “Adrian”... and there we go into our own room, doing our own things, no more exchanging words after that. It lasted for quite some time, around 4+ years until I realised the importance of the family; I envied the closeness of other brothers and wanted a change for better; it was until I know God.

Because of not talking for a long time, I became shy. I forced myself to start the conversation first, buying gifts on his birthdays, chit-chat during holidays with parents... it got better and better, praise God for that! Adrian is smart and hardworking in studies, alot better than me, he got a scholarship to study E&E in NTU, Singapore. Although we don’t meet often, we know we care for one another. And now he’ll be away to Tianjin for 6 months straight, I miss him.

Praying for him to excel in his studies and work over there, get good and friendly housemates, stay healthy, and a lasting relationship with Nizz. “Jia you” Adrian!

PS: Blogging is good because I can share things I couldn’t express in words =)

Red Day

2009-02-05T01:31:00.000+08:00

4th of Feb is first day of the year (start of spring) according to Chinese Hsia Calendar. So its claimed to be good luck if wearing red on that day, therefore the whole department is required to wear RED to work, and we had cookies & snacks as tea break @ the breakout area...

nope, I don't believe in luck, but for the fun of it why not, and for a good reason to gather before stressful works kick in. :)

CNY 2009 Chor 3

2009-01-30T01:23:00.000+08:00

Chor 3 We went Malacca 'bai nian' with Ian & family, as well as some of his uncle aunty & cousins... The traffic in Malacca was terrible during chor 3, jamming all the way towards the town. Good thing was we reached before noon, & managed to eat chicken rice ball & ice kacang + cendol... The queue after that was scary too..
Thereafter we went from house to house to visit.
Dinner time, we gave up on satay celup due to the super cramp place & the terrible crowd, newton food square was not any better, super crowded with below average food, really tasteless..
Seriously, I am thankful for KL hawker food now... lol....
Nevertheless its a fruitful day getting to know Ian's relatives & travelling around....

CNY 2009 Chor 2

2009-01-30T01:05:00.000+08:00

Chor 2 We just had a relax day hanging out at popo's place, then they went over to our house. Favourite time for baby vivian & yuen yee, as they got to swim swim swim :)

CNY 2009 Chor 1

2009-01-30T00:35:00.000+08:00

Firstly visited Jubilee old folks home with Ian & family,then headed to Chorus hotel for hitea with Ian's aunties & uncles & cousins... super full & satisfied meal.

Thereafter, we had a great time at our house.

Reunion Dinner 2009

2009-01-29T23:29:00.000+08:00

yOooooHoooo... memorable CNY eve...
This is the first time we are giving out ang pao, preparing before the reunion dinner.... it feelssss so good.....

We are so thankful for the good timing, despite the fact that we are now married, we didn't miss either side of the family reunion dinner!! We went to grandma's place earlier, helped her out with some kitchen work, wrapping some really cool "pearl rice meat ball" & also mainly ka ka cau cau there... hehee...

popo & mama busy preparing in the kitchen

rushing off for the second round of dinner @ sam yao restaurant with ian's daddy mommy & adrian & san yi & husband
super full that night, we both stayed over & counting down CNY @ usj with them.... =)

An Emo Read...

2009-01-27T03:35:00.000+08:00

Tonight I had a random visit & therefore a good read at once my fav site, a taiwanese novel writer named 'xi juan'. http://www.xijuan.com (btw, my love for chinese novels was influenced by my mom.. hahaa..)

Despite of people criticizing taiwanese novel reading is just a waste of time, I still look up to this writer's novels, as she writes a lot about human behaviours, analyzing deep thoughts of people in boy girl relationship, reflected in their actions & decisions. Put it in lay man terms, her books have the substance le,not those dream dream white horse prince type....

Tonight I read about a story of a woman pursueing her husband for many years, putting him as her center of life, changing herself to be different type of 'wife' just to suit him: from a music & arts education background girl, become a sharp & wise business woman, even asked for a divorce in order to have the space to be trained in dancing, drawing, flower deco etc to fulfill his dream girl type! (that's a bit dramatic and insane for real life) ....
Skipping all the dramatic guessing and actions due to perceiving, the end of the story during their heart to heart sharings, it was said that she kept changing herself, striving to assist him the best, to become his dream girl type, is due to her insecurity of his love, that she thinks that she is never good enough for him, she is not sure if he really loves her... The confession of her husband is saying, nope I love you for who you are, stop assuming what do I need, what do I want, involve me in part of your future planning, discuss with me....

I wept & wept while reading this... Partly many part of the stories hit my heart, that I find similarities of the struggles that I had...
Yes, I love God, I pursued Him.. but had all that I am doing, changing my behaviours, my lifestyles, my actions, all are out of the assumptions what I percieved He will love me to be, and yet never really discuss and plan out with Him?
or on the other hand will I after married, live for Ian that I totally lose the originity of myself?
I guess I really need a good balance, in some areas I definitely need to sacrifice in order to support Him/him, but the key is still communication, heart to heart discussion :)

Good night everybody, I need to catch some sleep, looking forward to visit popo, baba & mama tomorrow morning.... Love

Will update more posts on eve & chor 1 after adjusting the photo... seriously I have the best family & also best in law family.... & not forgetting the best husband. *wink*

- CHUEY

Have you changed your notes?

2009-01-23T15:39:00.000+08:00

Married people, have you changed your notes?

This is the first time we are doing that, many told us that many bank are running out of stock for new notes...
At this last minute, I discovered a good place to change notes without long queue ---> Bank Islam! yeah.. .that's right, short queue, change within a few minutes *wink*

Btw, only YOUNGER people that come our house can get ang pau k?
Those that are not eligible, don't worry we will still prepare kuih-muih for you...
LOL....

First Post of 2009

2009-01-22T09:42:00.000+08:00

Migrating the blog here, reckon that blogspot is a better place to blog blog and blog..... =)

Usually questions that can't run away this year,
"so how's married life?" In dec I still couldn't answer that as we were pretty much still in vacation... till then when we get back to mundane routine, busy works, weekly cell groups, church, only the real married life begins.....

However, its still a too wide scope to answer this question...
What can I say? generally married life is great, much better than single life (perhaps I said this too soon? *wink*)...
Ian doesn't have to rush to send me back home anymore, we can watch tv together, cook together, excersice together(yet to be a reality.. all credit to my laziness.. hehee), host friends for gathering together, share hair serum, moisturizer etc, discovering & laughing at each other's funny small habits...
On the stretching side, double laundry job, ironing clothes (seriously I hate this part :p), get used to each other small habits, bills, clean up, planning out as we now share the same schedule most of the time...

Many people ask me, how about your in-law le? Are you ok with them.
Well, people who know ian's parents will know that they are generous & caring.. After we are back to working routine, always reach home finding our fridge and kitchen cabinet refilled with drinks, food, soup, dishes... ahhh... we are just spoilt :p

Well all is good... We both enjoy the new stage of life =)
Now CNY is coming, I start to face the reality that hey I am really married, can't go back home on 30 anymore, gotta spend the night with parents in law instead , gotta prepare ang pow!!!!!! can we hide at home? hehee ....
anticipating though, its a brand new feeling at this stage of life.....

Gong Xi Fai Cai!!