CNY Reunion Dinner with my parents

We went back for post-reunion dinner with my parents on Saturday which happens to fall on 人日. We had steamboat and also toss yusheng together for the 1st time. I always tossed with my in-laws but never had tried with my own family. So this time round, we bought Sakae Sushi's yusheng home to celebrate CNY with my own family!

My 1st CNY as Mrs Yam

Its a different experience having to eat reunion dinner with the in-laws, having to go visiting with my hubby and his family on the 1st day of CNY, and also having to give ang pows to the kids (of cuz' receiving lesser ang pows from the relatives lah - pls note: especially mine! Not his side lor. We still get ang pows from his relatives...)

We both had a hard time cleaning and scrubbing the whole house spic n span since few weeks ago, but also find it fun to put up the cute piggy decorations in our house. Overall, I enjoyed myself very much with the new dresses I bought, the yummy goodies I have been indulging in, the few mahjong sessions to ease my itch, and also lastly, the gatherings I had with friends and relatives...

His mum bought a nian gao for us, and we pan-fried it today. We added egg, cheese and bak kwa!! Innovative, aren't we? its quite a nice combi of sweet & salty taste.

Tucked in a small corner of earth, but a beautiful place

http://jialormee.livejournal.com/

A Good Start to CNY 2007

A Good Start to CNY - Won this pink angpow from 933FM (Gege & Meimei programme) thru' a SMS game...Felt so excited hearing my name being announced over the radio! See who will be the lucky person to receive this ang pow from me in CNY la!







We celebrated my mum's birthday on last Sun, feasting on the takeaway "Peng Cai" that I have bought from Man Fu Yuan Restaurant @ Hotel Intercontinental. It was my wish to eat this full pot of delicacies - such as Abalone, Shark Fins, Oysters, Prawns, Scallops, Pig Trotters, Chicken, Duck, etc.. Altogether there are more than 16 items inside the "basin" (which is also known as "Peng"). But after eating so much good food, I actually felt sick of it...Maybe not eating it anymore. Anyway each "Basin" is not cheap lor. Costs $200+ after credit card discount. But can provide for 5-8 pax to eat la...

Valentine's Day

It was a simple V-day 2007 that we have spent with each other, no presents, no surprises, no ai xin da can...hee...
We jus spent almost the whole afternoon @ Andana Spa, using our Diners card wedding voucher, 2 days before V-day. It was a REAL treat cuz its free flow of F&B and endless steam bath after the massage...Shiok...We even watched movie after movie! Then on the actual day we had a simple dinner @ Marina's Corners Restaurant. The place was quite oldish (old-fashioned) lor, but the food quite big portion and not that bad...So funnie sitting with many other couples in the restaurant - ranging from teenagers to older couples...

Food For Thought - Did I Marry The Right Person?

This is a very interesting article for married couples to read, digest and work on it -

DID I MARRY THE RIGHT PERSON?



During one of our seminars, a woman asked a common question. She said,
"How do I know if I married the right person?" I noticed that
there was a large man sitting next to her so I said, "It depends. Is that your husband?" In all seriousness, she answered
"How do you know?"


Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's weighing
on your mind.


Here's the answer.


EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love
with your spouse. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked
their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In
fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't
have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love...Because
it's happening TO YOU.


People in love sometimes say, "I was swept off my feet." Think
about the imagery of that expression. It implies that you were just standing
there; doing nothing, and then something came along and

happened TO YOU. Falling in love is easy. It's a passive
and spontaneous experience.


But after a few years of marriage, the euphoria of love
fades.

It's the natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but
surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all) and your spouse's
idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts.



The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship, but if you think
about your marriage, you will notice a dramatic difference between the
initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent
stage.



At this point, you and/or your spouse might start asking, "Did I marry
the right person?" And as you and your spouse reflect on the euphoria
of the love you once had, you may begin to desire

that experience with someone else. This is when marriages breakdown.

People blame their spouse for their unhappiness and look outside their
marriage for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes
and sizes. Infidelity is the most obvious. But sometimes people turn to
work,a hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances.



But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your marriage. It lies
within it. I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else.
You could. And TEMPORARILY you'd feel

better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later. Because (listen
carefully to this):



THE KEY TO SUCCEEDING IN MARRIAGE IS NOT FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON; IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSON YOU FOUND.

SUSTAINING
love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. It'll NEVER just happen
to you. You can't "find" LASTING love.

You have to "make" it and day out. That's why we have the expression
"the labor of love."


Because it takes time, effort, and energy . And most importantly, it takes
WISDOM .


You have to know WHAT TO DO to make your marriage work. Make no mistake
about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with
or without your spouse) to succeed with your marriage.



Just as there are physical laws of the universe (such as gravity), there
are also laws for relationships. Just as the right diet and exercise program
makes you physically stronger, certain habits in your relationship WILL
make your marriage stronger. It's a direct cause and effect. If you know
and apply the laws, the results are predictable...you can "make"
love.



Love in marriage is indeed a "decision"... Not just a feeling.

Quite true huh? Bear that in mind, I told myself and my hubby...

These few days, I have experienced the truth of these words...Staying in love in marriage isn't easy, especially when both of us have to face each other under the same roof even when your moods have turned bad because of an arguement or a quarrel. We have to work really hard in order to solve the unhappiness between us, to cheer up the mood that has went dull, and to rekindle the love inside us...

Trust me, it isnt easy....

Past Events

Have not been blogging for awhile cuz nothin exciting to post. A recap of the previous events:

20 Jan 07 - Our 1st ROM Anniversary

We didn't do anything extraordinary on this special day of ours, except for gift exchange and to spend a night at Park Royal Hotel @ Beach Road whereby we got wedding voucher from our banquet. Had free buffet dinner and breakfast for the following day. So practically we din spend much to spend a day away from home. Went for KTV singing @ Marina Square KBox.

Liked his special gift for me - A Precious Moments figurine which I told him I was very touched by this particular on. Thou' it comes abit late as the proposal has been way over, haha...but I still like this one. And also 4 DVDs of our memories - The Proposal, The ROM, The Wedding and The Honeymoon. *Touched*

22 Jan 07 - Started new job

Managed to find a 6 months contract job in an offshore bank and hoping to learn new things and open new opportunities in this new job!

Finally feel that "I M ALIVE" after changing job cuz finally I can knock off at 6 plus. It is so amazing to see so many people actually knock off work quite promptly! I was so buried at work for the past 8 months that I can only see darkness whenever I knock off work...Now I can finally see daylight liao!! Amazingly!

Life should be in this way...It shouldnt be just working and working...One muz live ur life to the fullest. Smell the roses...Now I can have proper dinner with hubby, go shopping la, go home accompany my mum la...So nice right?

28 Jan 07 - (Ex) P-Serv Gathering @ My House

Have not met up with the group since my wedding on last Nov. So managed to gather most of them for a gathering @ my house. We had potluck whereby most of them contributed the OCK bites (OCK = Old Chang Kee). I remembered it was one of the "necessity" whenever we had our "Jia ba lan" meals/ birthday celebrations. So its sort of a reminiscence of our favourite past time in P-Serv. Amelia was the only young kid among the old ones..haha..well, as usual she's the limelight of the event!

* An Interesting Car that I saw in Bugis * LUV IT SO MUCHHIEE!!!