Despite having to cope with a “crazy” lecturer, projects and upcoming exams, Daniel planned a series of events to not only celebrate my 25th birthday but also THE SURPRISE that we have all been waiting for – THE PROPOSAL.
I didn’t ask much for my birthday as all I really wanted was an exercise band to carry around with whilst on biz trip (to ensure that I stretch myself well in the hotel room after the flight…and come to think of it, it would be a good “stress” reliever after having to have mandatory dinner meetings) and a box of Ferrero Rocher. Obvious to many, the latter most probably defeats the purpose of having an exercise band and my new exercise regime. Back to the point – Daniel was “obliged” to get me an enormous birthday card as the one I gave him was already huge. He must have been fitting in well in this Asian society where we place great importance on “saving” and “giving” face. I had an awesome treat to Betty’s Roast Chicken from Billy Bombers (American restaurant) and a movie ticket to watch “THE UGLY TRUTH”. I am no movie-goer. My friends have given up asking me out for a movie. Even Daniel had to persuade me to catch a show with him when he first came to Singapore. I prefer to be in the comfort of my own home watching DVDs. But I must admit that “THE UGLY TRUTH” is the movie that has made me laugh throughout, and no regrets. It was predictable, but I really needed that laugh. Daniel must have had a culture shock at the cinema because everyone was literally LAUGHING OUT LOUD whilst he was doing his typical “British Laughter” (I can’t think of the word for it, but Daniel claims that the “British Laughter” is different or is he just trying to be classy? =p) Most Singaporeans (75% of the population) will not have a problem understanding what the actors are saying although we are laughing out loud because we can read the subtitles in Chinese. But for Daniel, if he cannot hear the lines, he won’t have got the joke.
THE SURPRISE was meant to be a surprise but I kind of knew when it would come because Daniel has to schedule it around my biz trip. It all started on 19.09.2009 when Daniel rang me on my mobile while I was still in bed (he lives just in the next room but he had to ring me!) and told me to wash up and head to Chinese Garden. I was told to bring what I thought was necessary for the day (no make-up, no extra clothes…). I was told to climb to the peak of the pagoda (7 storey) in Chinese Garden. The scenery was awesome and the best part was seeing Daniel waving to me from a distance in the Japanese garden! He was a real teaser throughout the day but I think it made me even eager to hear him pop the question.
We then headed to Sentosa where Daniel had secretly booked a night’s stay at the prestigious Sentosa Resort and Spa (Botanica). I knew nothing of it at all – all thanks to the absolutely fabulous planning duo, Daniel and Rene. The spa retreat was awesome except for the drizzle but it made us feel very relaxed. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant by the beach and watched the sunset (ok, we didn’t notice the sun setting).
We were up bright and early, preparing ourselves for the buffet breakfast by the pool. And I thought, “When is he going to pop the question?”. I enjoyed swimming boring laps in the pool. But Daniel insisted on heading to the sandy beach despite the hot weather which I swear could have caused me a heat-stroke that morning. Whilst I was tanning, Daniel placed a ring on a Precious Moments figurine and asked if I would marry him. Before any of you go “Awwwww…”, I didn’t say yes immediately. Do you seriously think I could say yes after all the mental torture and games Daniel played with me over those 2 days? I stood up and said, “Hmm…I’m not too sure if I should say yes. Let me ask other people around. Ah, but there aren’t that many people around.”. Daniel’s expression was priceless then when he said, “Yolande Lim, this is serious. It is not time for you to fool around!” and then I said, “YES!”
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Halfway Point
It's been an eventful semester, much different from the first. Following the first semester's stress, I took more time out to relax, taking entire days off from study to spend with Yolande.
We got to see a lot of baby Andrew, first with Singapore's National Day, then with his Christening. National day was interesting to see. We swam, played tennis, and barbecued (as in food, I'm not referring to our skin in the hot weather, although that was probably true in my case). I was shocked by the level of patriotism (I couldn't tell how serious they were) displayed by some of Yolande's relatives, who unashamedly peeked through the window of a first floor apartment next to the barbecue pit in order to watch the celebrations on their TV and recite the Singapore National Pledge in unison with the rest of the nation...
We, the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,
based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.
...If you get the chance, I recommend asking Yolande for her version of this pledge, with added clauses that give a slightly more realistic depiction of Singapore!
But perhaps the biggest highlight was being rushed by Yolande's nieces to quickly down my glass of wine and take them to the playground, where I was spun on a roundabout and made to lift them onto the monkey bars. I went home feeling extremely dizzy!
The Christening was also a lot of fun - Yolande's aunt managed to smuggle baby Andrew onto the minibus after the Christening without his parents realising. We also tried to help him get to sleep later on in the day, but ended up entertaining him by singing and reading to him, which he seemed to enjoy. Although, Yolande now has a reputation for making him cry, which she is convinced he does on purpose only when she holds him in front of others.
Yolande and I also completed our walk, at last, between Orchard Road and home, this time starting from home in the morning. It took us about 5 hours to walk the roughly 20 kilometres to Orchard, including a stop at Clementi, the halfway point, for lunch. We felt very triumphant upon reaching the station, but had only enough energy left for a quick lunch at KFC and the train ride home, after which we napped away the afternoon until about 8pm.
So as you can see, I've been making more effort recently to relax, spend time with Yolande, and reboot myself. I think Yolande has also been much happier this semester as a result. It's not that I've been working any less hard, but perhaps I've been working more efficiently and managing my time better. The first semester's results were good (A for OB, A- for SMBP), but I spent too much time on additional reading that ultimately proved unnecessary when it came to taking exams. In semester two, I streamlined my efforts, reading only what was needed, and putting grades before self-enrichment. As a result, I was far less stressed, enjoyed myself more, and should have hopefully topped semester one's results by a significant margin. However, I think I can do better. Because when it came down to it, I still needed to re-read chapters and make notes for exams later on, making the long hours during term-time spent in the library keeping on top of the readings all but pointless. And I still haven't made much progress with my research projects! Semester three will be 100% streamlined - I will not study unless it will directly impact on my grades, and the rest of my time will be spent on leisure, and of course planning for a certain wedding.
Yes, that's right. Yolande and I are now officially engaged and plan to have the registration of marriage later this year, before travelling to England for our Christmas holidays. In fact, a lot planning went into what turned out to be a complex proposal plan, and I'd like to thank Yolande's friend, Rene, for discussing ideas with me without giving the game away to Yolande! If I do score high grades this semester, it will have been whilst preparing and carrying out this proposal, and whilst preparing for my family's visit to Singapore on the day of my last exam. Not to mention Yolande's birthday week (the myriad celebrations really did last a week!) falling during exam time. In fact, I believe all three of those events (birthday, proposal, family holiday) merit their own blog entry, and two of them would be better told from Yolande's point of view, so I shall conclude this entry by saying that I look forward to, if it's possible, an even more eventful third semester than the last!
We got to see a lot of baby Andrew, first with Singapore's National Day, then with his Christening. National day was interesting to see. We swam, played tennis, and barbecued (as in food, I'm not referring to our skin in the hot weather, although that was probably true in my case). I was shocked by the level of patriotism (I couldn't tell how serious they were) displayed by some of Yolande's relatives, who unashamedly peeked through the window of a first floor apartment next to the barbecue pit in order to watch the celebrations on their TV and recite the Singapore National Pledge in unison with the rest of the nation...
We, the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,
based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.
...If you get the chance, I recommend asking Yolande for her version of this pledge, with added clauses that give a slightly more realistic depiction of Singapore!
But perhaps the biggest highlight was being rushed by Yolande's nieces to quickly down my glass of wine and take them to the playground, where I was spun on a roundabout and made to lift them onto the monkey bars. I went home feeling extremely dizzy!
The Christening was also a lot of fun - Yolande's aunt managed to smuggle baby Andrew onto the minibus after the Christening without his parents realising. We also tried to help him get to sleep later on in the day, but ended up entertaining him by singing and reading to him, which he seemed to enjoy. Although, Yolande now has a reputation for making him cry, which she is convinced he does on purpose only when she holds him in front of others.
Yolande and I also completed our walk, at last, between Orchard Road and home, this time starting from home in the morning. It took us about 5 hours to walk the roughly 20 kilometres to Orchard, including a stop at Clementi, the halfway point, for lunch. We felt very triumphant upon reaching the station, but had only enough energy left for a quick lunch at KFC and the train ride home, after which we napped away the afternoon until about 8pm.
So as you can see, I've been making more effort recently to relax, spend time with Yolande, and reboot myself. I think Yolande has also been much happier this semester as a result. It's not that I've been working any less hard, but perhaps I've been working more efficiently and managing my time better. The first semester's results were good (A for OB, A- for SMBP), but I spent too much time on additional reading that ultimately proved unnecessary when it came to taking exams. In semester two, I streamlined my efforts, reading only what was needed, and putting grades before self-enrichment. As a result, I was far less stressed, enjoyed myself more, and should have hopefully topped semester one's results by a significant margin. However, I think I can do better. Because when it came down to it, I still needed to re-read chapters and make notes for exams later on, making the long hours during term-time spent in the library keeping on top of the readings all but pointless. And I still haven't made much progress with my research projects! Semester three will be 100% streamlined - I will not study unless it will directly impact on my grades, and the rest of my time will be spent on leisure, and of course planning for a certain wedding.
Yes, that's right. Yolande and I are now officially engaged and plan to have the registration of marriage later this year, before travelling to England for our Christmas holidays. In fact, a lot planning went into what turned out to be a complex proposal plan, and I'd like to thank Yolande's friend, Rene, for discussing ideas with me without giving the game away to Yolande! If I do score high grades this semester, it will have been whilst preparing and carrying out this proposal, and whilst preparing for my family's visit to Singapore on the day of my last exam. Not to mention Yolande's birthday week (the myriad celebrations really did last a week!) falling during exam time. In fact, I believe all three of those events (birthday, proposal, family holiday) merit their own blog entry, and two of them would be better told from Yolande's point of view, so I shall conclude this entry by saying that I look forward to, if it's possible, an even more eventful third semester than the last!
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