Like the title, it has been an eventful period for me and Joachim. Part of it was us getting engaged! Many friends simply commented upon his proposal : "Finally!"

The proposal took place on the eve of my 28th Birthday, totally unexpected. I actually thought he was going to pop the big question on my birthday itself. As it happened earlier than anticipated, I was clueless and totally unprepared, hence I was in my pyjamas and specs with messy hair when it all took place.

It began with my sister who is his partner in crime, telling me she was going to the car park to get some stuff while we were watching Running Man on the TV. Out of nowhere, my besties Pei Kei & Yi Cheng came into the house with a birthday cake and sang me a birthday song! I was so immersed into blowing candles and cutting the cake that I did not realize that Joachim was hiding behind the main door until he came in with a bouquet of tulips and started a solo rendition of birthday song.

Then it HIT me! OMG, this is happening now! I remembered repeating "OMG,OMG,OMG....." like a million times and then the next thing I thought was "Oh no, I look like shit", haha. Joachim then gave a full 3 minute speech and then dropped down on one knee and asked me to marry him. My reply was "Of course I will".

I seriously never suspected anything as I thought he was going to be at work till midnight and my besties simply came to celebrate my birthday eve, like how they did the year before. And of course Eunice put up a good effort to make sure that at least I'm not wearing any torn pyjamas in the process.

Anyway, Joachim and I are engaged to be married now! Thanks to my dear sister, Pei Kei, Yi Cheng and Hoe Keat for being a part of this important event. And of course also to my fiancé for making my birthday a memorable one. Love you!

The beginning of 2013 has been a busy one, with me starting work at ZLG, the arrival of CNY and also with Joachim's father being in and out of the hospital. April is the peak point where it all happened : Uncle left us to be with God on the 9th of April 2013.

Although he has been in the hospital for about 3 months, all of us at that moment was still encouraging him to fight on, as Joachim and I really hoped that he could be present at our wedding. We told him 2 weeks ago that we would be getting married on September 8th that year, hoping that it will give him something to look forward to and would try to fight off his infection. He was really weak before, but upon hearing the news, he was in high spirit. We thought it was really a good sign and had envisioned him getting well. But it seems that God loves him more than we do.

On the final Saturday where we spent the afternoon in Penang GH taking care of him, Uncle was grasping my hand tightly when told me : "I'm in suffering and so are the rest of you."I still remember telling him before leaving the hospital, "Uncle, I come and visit you again in 2 weeks ya, you will get better then." Little did I know, those words were the last from me to him. It was 3am when my phone rang, Joachim on the line, crying. I rushed back to Penang almost immediately, as I could imagine how tough and sad it would be for Joachim and his family. I knew that this is the time that I really have to be there for him.

"Dear Uncle, as sad as I am that you are no longer here with us, I'm glad that you are no longer in pain and suffering. Although I haven't had the chance to be your daughter-in-law formally, I want you to know that you have been like a father to me, taking good care of me whenever I'm in BM and buying me all the good food that you know I love. I wish I had a longer time to take care of you, but I know you are now in a better place. All I can do for you now is to take good care of Auntie, Joachim, Joann and Jolyn. You will remain forever in our heart and thank you for all the sweet memories that you have given us. Deep in my heart, I know you are still watching over us in Heaven, like how you always have."

Rest in peace, Uncle.
We miss you a lot.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

Received a devastating news early this morning at about 6am+ from my sister.

My maternal granny has passed away.

It was such a huge shock for my mum and the whole family.

A few days ago, they were just out having 'Bak Kut Teh' together, and now she is gone forever.

I feel really bad for not being able to be with my family in this moment of grief.

Thanks to Rachel + Dre for the lovely flowers and condolence card.

Really appreciate it.

R.I.P Wai Po Po

We will miss you dearly.

 So here goes the story:
1. Joachim was selected for a Secondment Programme by Atlassian.
2. I was in the midst of changing jobs, hence leave application not required.
3. It was my graduation gift, thanks darling!

Here I am in Amsterdam (with my first meal - hotdog at Dam Square), for a longer period this time.
I vividly remember my trip to Amsterdam 2 years ago with Eunice was about visiting Auntie Maureen and checking out Holland in general.
This time, I will have a extensive experience living like a Dutch.

Aunt Maureen offered to pick me up from the Schiphol Airport early in the morning and dropped me off at Haarlemmerweg, which is pretty close to Central Amsterdam.

This will be our home sweet home for the next 8 weeks.

I was also lucky to have Aunt Maureen's spare bicycle as my ride while I am here in Amsterdam.
It will be my travel companion and also my mode of working out for now.

Second convo which makes me now officially a Graduate Architect.

What a long journey of Archi-torture...

Nevertheless, I'm grateful I made it through and how it has changed me as a person, for the better of course.

This time, it is merrier because it's the same graduation year for both Eunice & I.

Yay! To commemorate this special event, we took studio family portraits a week before my convocation in Penang.

On Convo Day at UPM itself, 15th October 2012.

With my scroll and bouquet!

Much more toned down this time, probably because it's my second convo.

But still, parents will always be happy and proud of their offsprings.

And a shot with Po Po outside the hall.

No more uni live for me, time to kickstart my career.

The real learning starts now!

I proudly present, my deliciously mouth watering cheesy garlic bread!

Made in my kitchen, so tasty that we had it for 2 days straight.

It was a workless weekend, so what I did was to put my oven to work.

Trying out Apple Crumble next!

In the oven...

Straight out from the oven, piping hot...

It smelled really good!

Looked really presentable as well...

Agree or not??

But taste wise, mehhhhh.......

Ermmmm, I think I can do better next time.

haha....

With the Birthday Boy, muaks!

Happy 27th Birthday, now we are even (in age)...

You know, there's a point in life when you feel really grateful to have found your soulmate.

I am truly thankful that I have found mine.

And I'm lucky to have loved, played, fought and grew up together with him.

Now that this important day has come, we have to celebrate it!

With good food of course...

Brunch at Antipodean Bangsar.

Joa's yummy Big Breakfast with his faaaavourite bacon...

Smoked Salmon Omelette for me. 

Equally delicious!

Coffees for coffee addict (me) and non-coffee addict (Joa).

Joa trying to get me to take a photo of him looking slim...

I always complain that he looks fat in most of his photo due to poor photography skills, haha...

So, I somehow became an expert in taking good pictures of him.

As a reward, a photo taken back by him for me.

Last but not least, us together..... 9 years and counting.

Happy 9th Anniversary Darling!

I love you!

After hearing do much about this burger stall, we dragged ourselves here
 to check out the much popularized burger.

The queue was seriously long and we had to wait for about 1.5 hours.
Some said it's not too bad already as usually it takes longer than that for them
to get their hands on the burger.

As you can see it from Joachim's expression, it's a life-changing experience!
~drools~ and yes, I don't take beef... :(

It's official, I'm 27!

What could be a better way to celebrate than quality time spent with my loved ones.

Thanks to Jolyn, we had an awesome foodie time at Swensen's.

Yummy yummy food, all for us. The five of us ordered 6 mains + 2 side appetizers.....

(dieting... no no, who said that??)

Joa ordered ice cream for me as we already had a birthday cake earlier.

I actually had to visualize and blow out an imaginary candle when they sang me a birthday song!

Ok, I know I know, it's twenty-seven...

The staff heard them singing and came with a complimentary birthday treat with real candle (this time).

With my soul mate, Joa babu.

With my dear sister, thanks for the new Ipad cover.

My beloved Mummy, whom never fail to tear up every single time we take a family photo.

and Daddy, who bought me a new Ipad as my birthday cum graduation gift.

I'm so lucky! Cheers!