bloooopbloooop

so today, he ponned his apparently compulsory science centre trip to go out with me to SEA aquarium. it was really beautiful, and we were simply awestruck by the wide variety of fishes and the amazing array of colours. thank God for His creativity haha. my favourite fishes were the 'football fish' and of course, the sharks!! hungry shark evolution ftw!
wanted to take many photos but it was difficult to do so under the poor lighting as can be seen from some of the photos here. rawr.

managed to find a spot to sit despite the crowd heehee

colourful corals!

happy dolphin is smiling!

crazy overcrowding here

jelliesssss

more jellies

they're just too fascinating even though they are quite ugly haha

manta ray in the background! a pity the lighting was bad here.

loving the colours

reminds me of a movie scene somehow

i found dory!!

beautiful black tip shark

sharkies!

at the dock

after that, we went for some korean bbq buffet, i think it's call hyang-to-gol or something like that, located at some random part of RWS that we've never seen before. food was alright, variety wasnt there, not worth the price and wouldnt go back there. i believe there are better korean bbq buffets around with a better price and wider variety.
next up, adventure cove before the ticket expires like how the maritime museum and typhoon theatre tickets did. :P

Rockin' and surfin'

After a hectic and exhausting semester, we were in desperate need of a good break, away from busy Singapore.
So, just for fun, we decided to sneak out of the country. In approximately 15min, we made the decision, grabbed the opportunity and off we went 2 weeks later, flying to a place where every day is a holiday - Bali.
Due to our tight schedule, only 2hrs of sit-down itinerary-planning was done less than 36h before our flight. While this does not fully fit my definition of spontaneity, it was pretty spontaneous given that it was both our first time visiting Bali and had no idea how to get around etc. 

(And yes, we also just found out that the majority of Balinese are Hindus and not Muslims even though its in a Muslim country.) 

Day 1
Immediately after his school ended (also 10 weeks practicum!), he rushed home to finish up his remaining packing. In less than half an hour, I was in a cab, on my way to his house to pick him up for the flight. The adventure was just beginning and I was so excited to be taking our first ever flight together.

We've landed in Bali!

After we landed, we met with our driver-tour guide, Juli, who brought us to our hotel, apparently the best in kuta- hard rock hotel! The place was well-decorated and it made me just want to take photo of everything but knowing me, I'm not one to take photos of inanimate objects, so our photos were mostly of people, US haha (photos coming soon). In addition to great decor, there was great service from the front desk. Room was geeeeeaaat. Live band was awesomeeee. There and then, I knew it was going to be an amazing and unforgettable stay at this hotel.

Entrance of Hard Rock Hotel (:

Checked in at about 930pm, and was planning to roam kuta square but decided we were too tired so we had an early night, in preparation for our morning tour!

Day 2
Woke up to a hearty and delicious breakfast (after waking up to his morning breath kisses heehee). Yumyum. After which, Juli picked us for our tour at turtle island! We were treated like royalty, a turtle island tour guide brought us around the island and helped us cut the queue and also helped to take photos of us playing with the animals.

Giant turtles we were so tempted to ride on.

SSSSSS..

Babe and his really flappy turtle which I had to protect my baby turtle from.

The glass-bottom boat then brought us back to the island and we headed back to our hotel for our very first surf lesson!!

Quick introduction to surfing! He made it look so easy.

It was super exciting and I managed to stand on my first try, with the wrong leg hahaah beginner's luck, coz after that, I fell alot. Babers was awesome even though the waves and undercurrent really sucked. Actually felt very irritated because I couldn't bring the board out far enough without having the waves push me back to where I started from. SIGH. Most of the time was spent pushing the board out, trying to get past the waves. I guess I just don't have the patience to keep doing that.. ): 

Still, surfing was fun and we (more so, he) loved it.

First try!! Obvious mistake there haha

Ride the waves like you own em' baby!

That evening, we had a special candlelight dinner by the beach planned for us. It was simply... beautiful. Had an absolutely wonderful dinner with a romantic atmosphere which was enhanced by 4 amazing/comical musicians who were performing for the different tables (not without tips of course). They finally came to our table and performed a chinese song and then our requested song heehee.

Seafood candlelight dinner by the beach!

The 4 super talented musicians who will pwn Sg "bands" any freakin time.

Wanting to catch the soccer match after that, we changed up and headed for the sports bar where we realised after buying the drinks that the man u match was the next day and that the match showing that day was 1h later. Unfortunately, they spiked our drinks(or so we suspected) and we got so high we had to go back hahaha and fell right asleep even before the match started. oopsy.

nachos and 2 hugeass glasses of cocktails = this and worse :P

Day 3

Woke up early for brekkie before rafting! A driver picked us and brought us to the rafting place 1.5h away from our hotel. Got our rafting gear, met the guide and the two other people rafting with us. Rafting was fun because the guide made it so. He was funny and was really great at steering the raft despite the rapids. Of course, once we got used to the bumpy ride, we wanted something more crazy. So, let's go Australia where the rapids are definitely crazier! woohoo!

First rafting experience (:

 They had showers and lunch provided there so it was perfect for starving us. Went back to the hotel and immediately headed out for shopping! Of course before our shopping started, we had to have some pedicure! :D pretty nails done while he had leg massage haha.

Can't hide the gay side of him heehee.

Walked around the whole area for approximately 3 hours searching for Johnny Rockets for dinner since it was something the bf wanted to try. Realised that it was actually just a stone's throw away from our hotel. The place actually reminded us of star vista in singapore! Anyway, this was only a snack as we did not want to have burgers for dinner but just wanted to see how good it was. It was.. probably similar to carl's jr, but more expensive and no free flow drinks? Since I don't exactly fancy burgers, I only took a bite or two. Honestly, I prefer carl's jr much more. That's only my opinion, go try it for yourself if you do get a chance to! (:

Our first ever taste of Johnny Rockets burgers! Woohoo!

Then we remembered that we wanted to visit the bomb site memorial but totally had no idea where it was because we only drove past it once on the first day. Took another 2 hours walking around and getting lost searching for it (also partly because we got distracted by the huge surf shops all over the place?). Asked a police and found out that it was 1km away from where we were. So we just kept walking while enjoying the busy night scene and having random guys ask the bf, "bro, mushroom?"

Finally made it here! May the victims rest in peace.

Finally found the bomb site memorial after the long walk. So tired, we just sat down by the road side like hobos. Being random, I suggested riding the horse carriages just for fun. And ride the carriage we did, at SGD12.50 for just 15min. He wanted to charge us SGD50 for one round (which we took 3h to walk) so obviously we declined and bargained for him to just bring us back to the hotel. Yay! another new thing we did together!

Cinderella, her prince charming and the horse carriage :P

Walked till we were finally hungry and settled for dinner. It was probably the live band that attracted us there. They were actually so good, that people stood and sat by the side of the road to watch them. So here, a waiter helped us take a polaroid and asked for one to be taken of him! He and the other waiters and hostesses were so fascinated by it.

Random dinner place with a way-better-than-sg live band (again) - Sandbar

This reminded me to appreciate the things I have as did many other instances we encountered here in Bali. I felt even more blessed when right after dinner, there were fireworks which we watched for a little while before heading to get some black canyon coffee. Ah.. this is what I call living the life. By the way, never knew black canyon coffee tasted so darn good!!!
In addition, our room showed soccer woooootsss!! Watched soccer and fell asleep by the first half. Woke up to man u winning (what's new).

Day 4
Extremely sad that the 4 days in Bali passed by so quickly and that we would be heading back to Singapore, to busy days, to reality. Probably made me very moody but of course, babe was trying not to let my mood affect our holiday so thank you for being so understanding, love.
Woke up late but still tried to surf anyways, not knowing that the tide and waves were impossible to get past especially with such floaty boards like ours. After a few tries and being crazily washed by the huge, towering waves, we decided it would be safer to come back later when the tide was lower and waves were kinder.

Managed to bring his board out when there were smaller waves.

 Hung around the hotel pool and played water basketball heehee. 

Doing some tricks as usual haha

And took some pretty nice shots (:

Lunch-ed at a beef bbq place that we had to cab to. Was only alright coz it just wasn't wagyu beef! And it didn't look anything like the picture in the postcard either but it's a holiday so we just wanted to try everything new.
Checked out and then went back to continue surfing with a slightly better tide now. The undercurrents were extremely strong though, and kept sweeping me to the right which made it very difficult (knowing how small I am) to get the surf board far enough without finding myself moving more right than out. This pissed me off so much because I just felt so very powerless and wished I were stronger and bigger like the other guys who could bring their boards further out.. Was pretty disappointed at myself that I did much better on the first day and it being our last day, I was hoping to at least get the hang of it a little more. It's probably just me being me again and having too high an expectation of myself and having the if-he-can-i-can-too attitude.
Was sulky but babe was so super sweet which cheered me up tons. XOXO. Played around in the pool a little bit more before washing up and heading out for dinner. Walked to the Aussie bbq restaurant we accidentally found when we got lost haha.
Service was great. Atmosphere was pretty quiet because it was quite deep inside the street, food was yummy yummy! loved the lamb and the oh-so-juicy honey glazed pineapples!!!

Everything was going perfect in this entire trip. Never did we expect to be missing our flight. I should have double-checked when I thought the driver made a mistake about being at the airport at a later time, when we already changed to an earlier flight back. Somehow I just didn't voice it out because I thought it sounded correct. SIGH. The flight was changed to 2h earlier, so we should have been at the airport 4h earlier but because the time sounded correct/familiar, I did not really realise it even though something told me it wasn't right, but I ignored it. RAWR. In the end we had to pay an extra 300USD each to catch the later flight back. The flight we originally were supposed to take. What a joke..
Well, the only positive thing was that there were seats for us. If not, I think we might have had to stay another night. So yeah, thank God for that.

SIGH.

Overall, I still thank God for protecting us and keeping us (and our belongings) safe throughout the 4 days and bringing us back safely to Singapore. This trip was so enjoyable and I truly enjoyed myself with babe. The flight problem only brought us closer and it was just another problem that we overcame together. We didn't let this problem ruin our trip but made it part of a learning experience especially for me to double-check and voice out any doubts.
Thank you love for being positive and handling the situation well (better than previously and probably better than me this time because I was the one at fault sorry dear). Thank you for everything throughout the trip, from being the map-reader, bag carrier to money handler, I appreciate your amazing effort in making this trip turn out so so awesome. This has been an absolutely memorable trip for me. Never felt this happy in a long time. Looking forward to many more trips to come. Lots of loveeeee (:

overseas stunt #2

TWO.
MORE.
DAYS.

to the end of his practicum and the start of our crazy action-packed 4d3n in Bali.
was thinking it would be more of a relaxing and chillax trip(especially after a tiring semester for me and 10weeks practicum for him), but nooooo, once google came into the picture and having found so many things to do, we realised that there will not be enough time for us to try everything and we ended up having to choose a few out of all the exciting activities there!

only wish we didnt have to plan the trip right after his practicum coz its going to be so rushed. no matter, im sure we are going to have a great experience and a wonderful time, as usual.

cant wait! (:

let's

dont be so hard on yourself, love,
have i actually complained at all? did i whine about meeting only twice a week (and when we do, we are just doing work, or helping with your marking), or going out only to eat (and when there's more time to spare, maybe a movie)?
i dont mind all of those. i understand that you're busy and i dont expect a new thing to do everyday. let's save some for the future! dont use up all the ideas so quickly heeehee.
i just want to remind you that communication, to me, plays a very critical role in a relationship and that both of us have much to learn.




Found this on thoughtcatalogue. dates to go on with your best friend..


"1. Go to an amusement park together and try all of the rides you’re normally too scared to go on. CHECKED

2. Stay up all night when it’s nice out and drink wine under the stars, talking about all the things you’re usually too embarrassed or afraid to admit.

3. Treat yourselves to a nice dinner out at a fancy place when one of you gets a Groupon for it.
CHECKED

4. Pick a recipe that you’re almost 100 percent sure you’re not skilled enough to make, and make it together. (Feel free to have a fair amount of wine throughout the cooking process, even if it means you’re more likely to mess the recipe up.)

5. Go to an apple orchard or pumpkin patch and pick produce while wearing adorable, hand-knitted scarves. Instagram pictures of yourselves and basically make everyone else want to vomit with how adorable you are.

6. Get absurdly dressed up and go to your high school reunion together, only to get buzzed on champagne and judge everyone in the corner together. N/A

7. Watch all of your favorite movies all day curled up under blankets, drinking hot cocoa and eating popcorn.

8. Go to a bar for happy hour and eat 25-cent wings until your tummies hurt. BUFFULO WINGS?

9. Take a road trip on the weekend to a place in your area you’ve never been before. Find a place to couch surf, or sleep outdoors if the weather is nice. Bring a cooler full of snacks and drinks to share with people you meet along the way. 22HOUR DRIVE TO KENYIR LAKE, CHECKED!

10. Go to a zoo.CHECKEDCHECKED

11. Go to a petting zoo and spend an inordinate amount of time cuddling with a baby pig while you take pictures of each other and plot how you’re going to steal it. SIMILAR TO ZOO, WHEN I WANTED TO STEAL A CROCODILE.

12. Listen to a new album that you’ve both been hearing about for a long time but haven’t taken the time to listen to yet, and then talk (or possibly blog) about what you think of it.

13. Go to a really fancy store where you know the salespeople are going to be really bitchy and judgmental, and take all the time your little hearts desire looking at things/trying them on, regardless of the sideways glares you’re getting.

14. Go to a thrift store afterwards and pick up things infinitely more interesting, and for 1/100th the price.

15. Make delicious snacks such as chocolate-dipped pretzels and white cheddar popcorn, then sneak them into the movie theater with you to go watch a kid’s movie. Also consider a Powerade bottle full of rosé wine.

16. Re-watch all the episodes of your favorite TV show.

17. Read an issue of Cosmo cover-to-cover and make fun of everything (while secretly noting the things which seem like they’re going to be useful/sexy).  N/A

18. Go to a museum and pretend to understand the first thing about art.

19. Go walk around your old school grounds and see what’s different, and what’s the same. (Try not to marvel at how much older you look than everyone now.)

20. Spend all afternoon in a coffee shop, reading books next to each other and watching people come in and out.

21. Go sledding when it snows, even if the hill is pathetically small. Make a ramp out of packed snow and take videos of each other busting your asses falling off of it. N/A

22. Play Truth or Dare, and actually do everything you get dared to do. Yes, even if it’s “Run through the snow in your underwear screaming ‘penis’ at the top of your lungs.” And be honest when the truth comes, even if it’s really embarrassing.

23. Have an arts-and-crafts session where you make one another paintings to hang up in your respective apartments. And hang them up, even if they look terrible. They’ll be the best piece of wall art you’ll ever have.

24. Bake cupcakes.

25. Go for a long walk in the park, not necessarily talking, but just enjoying being in a beautiful place together when the weather is nice and the animals are out. LONG RUN/RIDE COUNTED RIGHT?

26. Go to a pet store and play with the puppies until you’re essentially in tears over the fact that you can’t have one.

27. Offer to pet-sit for someone and quench your puppy-owning thirst by taking care of one together for a few days.

28. Learn a new sport together, even if you’re both terrible at it. Even if you give up after the first tennis lesson, or ski session, or turn around the ice skating rink. Give it a try and don’t laugh at each other (too much).

29. Play board games at your house with fancy cocktails and yummy snacks and good music, and don’t worry about who wins or how late you stay up. Try to remember that having time with them is precious, and should never be taken for granted. Even if they always beat you at Monopoly. "

so, don't say we have nothing to do. we have the whole june holidays to do all these! (:
what we still have waiting for us:
- BALI (10-13may)
- phantom of the opera (26jul)
- chocolate facial
- korean bbq buffet at rws
- SEA aquarium
- Adventure cove
- Maritime museum
- River Safari
- pedicure

 cant wait, binks (:

eight

the day i finished my very last exam in my entire school life
the day he had his last pe observation for his practicum
the day we watched ironman 3 at jcube imax
the day we managed to catch an ice hockey match while having dinner

the day we celebrated our 8 months together.

the past 6 weeks have been so crazy for us. (crazier for him i believe)
for me, with assignments due, tuition, travelling and exam. for him, school, with lesson plans and marking to do every single day, 6 observations.
there was so little time to text, and meeting became a bonus when we could just barely squeeze out that little time we had to meet. even so, while eating dinner, he marked while i worked on assignment.
it was difficult for us, because it was during times like these that we need each other's support and but we couldnt give it when each of us are so busy fretting over the upcoming mountain of work. i was helping him to mark despite worrying over number theory. he was helping me with my assignment despit having lesson plans to churn and sleep to catch. it was difficult to hold meaningful conversations because it was time-consuming and not work-related. we got irratible and less patient with each other.
honestly, i was very sad and felt very neglected, with no one to turn to because i didnt want to burden him with my troubles when he had enough of his own.
i've so much to discuss with you. i dont know where to start.
for one, i know exams aren't the most important thing to you, but when i am the one taking the exam, i was hoping for a little more support before my exam. something along the lines of  'you'll do just fine' or 'study hard', 'jiayou jiayou' , 'don't worry, love you no matter what' and asking me how my exam went and being excited with me that my exam has finally ended.. i just needed some encouragement before the paper but it's ok. it's over now.
and i hope we will go back to normal soon........ 11 more days. now that i've ended school, i will give you all the support i can.
loves.

no matter what

Found this article online titled 'A Daddy's Letter to His Little Girl (About Her Future Husband)' and thought that I would put this here and take no credit for this. Felt that this is something so simple yet so important, that we find someone who truly loves us for who we are, no matter what. If and when I have a daughter one day, this is something I would really want for her and never ever let her get hurt by some idiot guy who needs to be 'kept interested'. That's just so sad for any girl who has to do that to stay with a guy.
 
Dear Cutie-Pie,
Recently, your mother and I were searching for an answer on Google. Halfway through entering the question, Google returned a list of the most popular searches in the world. Perched at the top of the list was “How to keep him interested.”
It startled me. I scanned several of the countless articles about how to be sexy and sexual, when to bring him a beer versus a sandwich, and the ways to make him feel smart and superior.
And I got angry.
Little One, it is not, has never been, and never will be your job to “keep him interested.”
Little One, your only task is to know deeply in your soul—in that unshakeable place that isn’t rattled by rejection and loss and ego—that you are worthy of interest. (If you can remember that everyone else is worthy of interest also, the battle of your life will be mostly won. But that is a letter for another day.)
If you can trust your worth in this way, you will be attractive in the most important sense of the word: you will attract a boy who is both capable of interest and who wants to spend his one life investing all of his interest in you.
Little One, I want to tell you about the boy who doesn’t need to be kept interested, because he knows you are interesting:
I don’t care if he puts his elbows on the dinner table—as long as he puts his eyes on the way your nose scrunches when you smile. And then can’t stop looking.
I don’t care if he can’t play a bit of golf with me—as long as he can play with the children you give him and revel in all the glorious and frustrating ways they are just like you.
I don’t care if he doesn’t follow his wallet—as long as he follows his heart and it always leads him back to you.
I don’t care if he is strong—as long as he gives you the space to exercise the strength that is in your heart.
I couldn’t care less how he votes—as long as he wakes up every morning and daily elects you to a place of honor in your home and a place of reverence in his heart.
I don’t care about the color of his skin—as long as he paints the canvas of your lives with brushstrokes of patience, and sacrifice, and vulnerability, and tenderness.
I don’t care if he was raised in this religion or that religion or no religion—as long as he was raised to value the sacred and to know every moment of life, and every moment of life with you, is deeply sacred.
In the end, Little One, if you stumble across a man like that and he and I have nothing else in common, we will have the most important thing in common:
You.
Because in the end, Little One, the only thing you should have to do to “keep him interested” is to be you.
Your eternally interested guy,
Daddy

Forgotten

Have we as a child, longed for a toy so bad we think about it day and night and pester our parents to buy it for us and sometimes are even tempted to steal it out of the shop?

What happens a few months later when your parents finally give in to your persistent bugging, begging etc?
We shelf it, and stop playing with it. Or, we get bored and only play with it when every other option of fun has been exhausted. Worse, we forget all about it and how much we had wanted it just a few months ago.

Why are we made to be as such?

Good

2 questions to think about:
1) Is he/she good TO you?
2) Is he/she good FOR you?

If your answer to 1 was yes, good! Because if he/she isn't good to you, get out of there asap. There are many others who wish they could be in his/her place to be good to you.
Then if you answered yes to the first qn, we now look at qn 2. If you answered no the qn 1, don't bother answering 2.
Is he/she good FOR you?
Has he/she changed you to become a better person? Are you motivated to change for him/her to become better? Are both of you improving because of each other?
If yes, stay with him/her.
If no, you could choose to stay, if you don't mind. But just note that if you happen to meet someone whom you can answer yes to for both qns, he/she will easily be displaced.
Someone who is good to you can easily be found. But someone who is both good TO and FOR you, is just the one you want.

Oh and for materialistic people, if you answered no to both qns, make sure he/she is damn effing rich. And I mean really really really rich. You may get verbally/physically/emotionally abused, but you get all the LV,prada,Gucci bags,shoes,clothes and anything you ever wanted that normal people can't ever have.
Pretty good trade off huh.

Silence

I read somewhere recently that the reason why people shout is because they are of a certain distance and the other person cant hear you so you want to make yourself heard by shouting.
When two people are near to each other, all they need to do is talk and the other can hear. When they are at an even closer distance, a whisper is all it takes to be heard.
So it is for two people in love. Why do we shout when we are angry or upset at the other person? It is coz our hearts have been distanced and we want the other person to hear us or our side. When the hearts of two people are close to each other, we whisper words of love etc and there's no need to shout. And when their hearts are even closer, they can be so close that there is no need even for words to be said for them to understand each other.
So when facing a problem, I will try my best not to shout, because it means that my heart has been distanced from yours and that's exactly what I do not want. I don't want my anger to be affecting our hearts nor distance myself from you.
I may be angry or upset but in my heart I know I always love you.

Tarzan, My Tarzan

Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand Hold it tight
I will protect you
from all around you
I will be here
Don't you cry
For one so small,
you seem so strong
My arms will hold you,
keep you safe and warm
This bond between us
Can't be broken
I will be here
Don't you cry
'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more
You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be here in my heart, always
Why can't they understand
the way we feel
They just don't trust
what they can't explain
I know we're different but,
deep inside us
We're not that different at all
And you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more
Don't listen to them
'Cause what do they know
We need each other,
to have, to hold
They'll see in time
I know
When destiny calls you
You must be strong
I may not be with you
But you've got to hold on
They'll see in time
I know
We'll show them together
'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on,
Now and forever more
Oh, you'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be in my heart, always
Always

just watched the show again after so long and realised that there were many parts i never understood when i was younger. it was sooo awesome. totally enjoyed it even though it is actually meant for kids.

i cant help feeling like jane whenever im with you. so safe, so happy and knowing that there's nth i cannot face with you by my side, or nth we cannot go through together. i still smile to myself whenever i look back at our photo album. and talking about that, we need to get a new one soon! i cant believe time passed by so quickly and in 3 months, this album would have been with me for a year! looking back at our pics, it's amazing how we got to where we are now. thank you for all the effort, love.

muacks (:

Time

He suggested for me to have a day for him. And that's so sweet. (:
I'm more than happy to free up a day to spend time with you whether its suffering on my bike, squeezing for space at disgusting public pool, chilling at the movies or out for a nice meal. I'm just thankful that you too, see the importance of spending some quality time together.
Heehee I'm actually happy that you got upset that I have too many tuitions. Thanks for caring xoxo

Don't know what to expect in the future. I don't want to be so busy that my work takes priority over my family and the people I love. So I make sacrifices to still give the same amount of attention to my top priorities. However, I don't know if I can say the same for you. And that's a very worrying thought. If it concerns our future. Or should I not be looking that far ahead yet?
Then again, how can I not when everyone around me is getting engaged or finally settling down? And here we are, with so much more to settle.