Category: Marriage

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Hawaii – Day 4 (Final day!)

We booked a Morning Wildlife Cruise which starts at 7.30am! once again, it’s a super early start as the drive to the pier was 1hr!!! So we reached the place, hop on to the cruise. It was our 1st time snorkeling! I have NEVER snorkeled before! Prior to booking this tour, we asked the person if it was alright for newbies and they assured us that it’s alright as long as we know how to swim… so we trusted them

So..the snorkelling gear is not easy to get used to! boo! both of us had difficulties getting used to the gears 🙁 So we end up holding our breath and swimming to see the creatures! ok.. the water was super deep as well.. quite scary for pple who are snorkeling for the first time. My advice.. DO NOT JOIN THIS TOUR IF YOU ARE NEW TO SNORKELING – rent/buy snorkel gears and go snorkel at shark cove instead!!

Shark Cove (North Shore area):

Back to snorkeling – we were very fortunate to have very friendly crew to ‘look after’ us.. haha.. so we managed to see these creatures! It was sooooo amazing to see sea turtles, surgeonfish right before your eyes! My only regret is I can’t snorkel properly! There’s always next time.. and it’s not too late to learn!!

(Pictures taken by film waterproof camera so not very clear)

We were supposed to see dolphins but no luck 🙁

Right after the snorkeling trip, we headed to North Shore. Stopped by this sign to take a picture 🙂

then had shaved ice at Matsumoto

and fed a thirsty sea turtle .. haha

Do you know that LOST is filmed in North Shore?

Looks familiar?

We ended the day with a walk along Waikiki beach and saw the beautiful sunset…

As though it wasn’t romantic enuough… we had dinner at Hula Grill. It was beach front dinning, facing the beach! The view is spectacular and ambience is super romantic in my opinion.

Food was great, in fact BETTER ( and 1/2 the price of Alan Wong’s)!! My fave is the Pineapple Creme Brulee!! iyoh.. so sinful!!! :X On top of that, there was live music and singing. wah… it was so romantic… seriously, i think this is the MOST romantic trip BH had planned!!! 😀 If you are listening to my mixpod, 1 of the songs we heard was ‘Just the way you are’ in the slower version. I didn’t like the song initially BUT maybe it’s the slower version + the ambience, BH and I felt that the song is super nice now! (Btw, BH came home and practise the song on guitar! hahaha)

well… so that’s all about our short getaway in Hawaii – just like in LOST ” We need to go back, Kate..” 

Another beautiful picture of Honolulu from the skies

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Hawaii – Day 3 (On a diet, stay at home!)

Just when I thought Loco Moco was the most poisonous food I had eaten… Leonard’s Bakery is just as bad .. and the worst thing is… I LOVE Leonard’s Bakery 🙁 Ok.. so the bakery have hotdog bread/buns like what we see in SG bakery. To us, this is super rare! We don’t see this kinda buns in often here.. so we bought. We had nv tasted such delicious buns for 2 yrs (the time which are are away from SG)!

Besides the buns, they also have Hawaii Doughnuts = Malasadas. Super nice! When we bought them, it was still warm…yums! and now u know y there’s such a LONG Q! They are good really!

Right after the sinful breakfast, we drove to Pearl Habour

Entrance is FREE! and you get to tk a boat to see the USS Arizona memorial at the other side of the habour. It was interesting to see a piece of history right before you. I think I would have Ace my History in O-levels if I managed to visit this place then!

 That’s us with the remains of the anchor from USS Arizona

After a fast trip to Pearl Habour, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Centre (PCC), which was a long drive away. I had a quick nap in the car as BH drove… sheesh… I feel so bad but I was super tired from rushing to place to place + waking up extra early and sleeping late every night. Luckily, BH can tahan but I know he was tired too! I mean.. that’s y i hate roadtrips.. I rather us join a tour so that both of us can enjoy – let other pple do the work… oh well..

If it’s your FIRST time to Hawaii, do visit the PCC – you will learn more about the different polynesian natives and their cultures. It’s interesting! However, the pt of the PCC is the Lu’au which is a Hawaiian dinner. Lu’au is not only about food but also dance and live music. I am not a pork person BUT there was this particular Hawaiian Pork dish which mks my mouth waters, think it’s Kalau Pig (bottom left picture). It’s yums!

We were also given a Lei  – wreath of flowers draped around the neck upon arriving at the dinning hall. It’s quite cool! haha.. i felt like a VIP

AFter dinner, there was a musical entitled HA at the cultural centre. The lu’au and the musical were the main attractions of the centre. However, the songs were mostly Hawaiian ( though there’s some english narration) – which we didn’t understand. I mean.. the only 2 Hawaii words I knew was ‘Aloha’ and ‘Mahalo’ so it didn’t have much meaning to us. On top of that, we were both exhausted and the drive back to Honolulu was long. So we watched 1/2 the musical and left during their interval. However, both us felt the the production and the effects of the musical was impactful! The musical was good! If only we had more time….

Overall, the dining experience was nice BUT I won’t go back there again. It’s very touristy and things were very expensive!

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Hawaii – Day 2 (My wildest dreams came true)

6eptember ( US timing) we woke up bright and early and made our way to the airport.  Today we are heading to Hilo ( The Big Island)

As we left Honolulu, we not only saw the beautiful clear waters BUT also the Diamond Head Monument which we climbed.

Once we reached Hilo, we went for breakfast at Ken’s – it’s a Hawaiian kind of Denny’s/ IHOP

I love the coffee which I later found out that it’s Kona coffee ( Kona is in Big Island)  Nice! Bought 2 packets of coffee powder home. We had Macadamia nut pancakes and the poisonous Loco Moco .I love LOCO MOCO > super nice!! BUT super high in calories.. I only had 2 mouthfuls and I feel so guilty until NOW 🙁

AFter breakfast, we visited Akaka Falls

then drove to the Volcanoes National Park

Us in front of Pacific Ocean

Arc behind me made by the water/lava? I was holding onto my cap, fearing that it will fly away.. haha

You really see the smoke from the volcano

AND

haha.. so just as I was fooling ard and taking photos…BH and I stopped in front of Mauna Loa, world’s largest active volcano

BH set up the tripod so that we could take a picture together… then suddenly… he knelt down.. took out a box…. and……

AG: ” ehh.. u kuku ah!”
BH: ” Would you marry me again? I wish our love would be like this active volcano, always burning..”
AG: *staring at the ring and OMG in my heart* “YES YES!”

soooooooo cheesy…probably the most cheesy yet original proposal line I heard! BUT I was super happy!!! 😀 He was so sincere .. the very thought that he don’t need to do this again but he did brings a tear to my eyes! For once ( in many blue moons), I felt that I marry the right man and reconfirmed that BH is super duper nice to me!

To think that I was saying how I don’t want to rem how BH proposed to me? haha.. now I wanna rem how he re-propose to me 🙂 awww… it felt like my wildest dream just came true !!! can’t believe that BH can be this romantic!

The precious ( ring size was wrong but he didn’t have time to resize it.. how can I not forgive him.. wahaha)

Right after the romantic proposal, we needed to leave so that we could catch our flight back to Honolulu. By right, we should b able to see lava flowing from the volcano BUT it wasn’t dark enough, so we can’t see anything. Both of us were quite disapted.. So we told ourselves that we will  go back again 🙂

On the plane back to Honolulu, we saw orange lava-like glow frm the skies.. haha.. not sure if it’s lava BUT we convinced ourselves that it’s lava. haha

What a lovely day! hehe.. active volcano!! keep burning!

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Hawaii – Day 1 ( 5 Sept)

It was purely a spontaneous decision to go to Hawaii this yr – I mean our only holiday was supposed to be the Singapore-Korea trip next mth. However, there was a great deal on Hawaii flights and it coincides with our wedding anniversary + US labour day long weekend.. so we seized the opportunity and booked the tix!

Alright… so.. just when we thought everything was perfect and well-planned.. my period was coming along with us as well.. haha.. too bad for BH and me too!

*sick description ahead*

The whole plane ride from SEA > HNL was soooooooo uncomfortable.. maybe it was due to the pressurized cabin .. the moment I touched down on HNL.. I was bleeding profusely > the MOST I had ever seen since puberty. No joke!

Honolulu

While BH waited for our lugguage, I was leaking like a tap… rusty tap! 🙁 very moody and sianz… I was so angry with myself for being such a WET blanket ( literally)

We collected our rental car and drove straight to the vacation condo ( we rented direct from the owner > we will NEVER do this again because we need to clear the trash and clean up the place before we leave???!!! It’s a holiday and no housework is supposed to be done! cost wise is only abt $100 less than Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel)

At this pt.. I was very irritated as I had already stained my pants!!! grrr… so naturally I went to wash up and changed to another pair of pants. We left for lunch. Guess what? It’s only 15 mins and I stained my new pair of pants! 🙁 No choice, we needed to modify our plan for the day

I felt so sorry for BH as he needed to ‘waste’ time because of me.. BUT BH was awfully nice.. he was like “nvm.. we can go walk along the beach..”

Went back to the condo and did my laundry.. luckily, there was a dryer downstairs – so BH brought my clothes to the dryer

A pic of us waiting for my pants to dry – sianz.. forcing a smile. Not a good start to the getaway

forcing a smile

————–

Right after the ‘red sea’ episode – the coast was miracously clear!! With no time to waste, we went for Diamond Head Monument as planned

We were kinda rushing for time so we hike up real fast. This is when I felt that my gym sessions helped me a whole lot 🙂

Finally, after abt 45 mins of fast walking and climbing, we reached!

The view of Honolulu was spectacular

Would love to spend more time here BUT we are running short of time 🙁 So we made our way down reluctantly…

Honolulu was indeed love at 1st sight!

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Got back to the condo.. refreshed ourselves, got changed and headed to the much raved Alan Wong’s for dinner

We made reservation at 6pm and we reached on time!

Love the menu with our names printed – it was a HUGE ‘WOW’! even the staff signed on the menu! how cool! we requested to have window seat.. which was so awesome coz we saw a double rainbow! 😀 a good omen !

To us, the food was alright. We waited a long while for each dish to be served!! hmm… We don’t understand what’s so good abt this place except the personalised menu ( which they gift wrapped it so that we can bring home) 

BH ordered a 7 course sampler while we shared like 3 appetizers ( pictures only show some food). Don’t look at the small portion – It was a fulling dinner! ok.. the only saving grace of that night’s dinner was the coconut ice-cream dessert

Total damage: US$160 ( the price for fine dining!! Not worth it imo, I will choose Dahlia’s Lounge anytime)

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At the end of the day, BH was like ” it’s not a bad day afterall right? ” Indeed.. the day asn’t perfect BUT at least it ended well 🙂

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2nd 6eptember!

I have NEVER felt so fortunate to have BH in my life until now ( not even on my wedding day :X) and I wonder what took me sooooooo long !!??

You see , when BH and I started dating, we were very poor, I mean we are not from rich families.. so even when BH started working he was still as poor as a church mouse I was too embarrassed to have BH as my bf because he is not as ‘sucessful’ as others around his age. Oh well, many a times, I feel so sick and tired of being with such a person. However, my grandparents, my parents and my friends assured me tt he’s a good guy… I mean, what can go wrong when majority of the pple around me thinks that he’s good??? so I stayed and let time tell…. sure enough… BH proved me wrong 🙂

Looking at how much BH had achieved over the years and how we had developed mks me feel so proud of him and our r/s.. Unfortunately, we are still not rich! haha.. but we love our life now, just 2 of us – I still hope nothing will change

2 years back, I told BH “I love you .. not for what you are now BUT for who you will be in future “ Until today, I stand by this belief

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary! ( and many more to come …) 😀

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My precious….

BH asked me what I want for our wedding anniversary gift.. so I told him, I only want Chanel Classic Flap Cavier or to reset my ring!!! Decided that the later was MORE possible

I wanna change this –

 

*This pic is so unflattering of the ring.. haha.. *

BH was like…u sure u want to change? got sentimental value.. erm.. I don’t really wanna rem or talk about how he ‘propose’ to me… eeks!

So I wanna reset my ring!




I am seriously glad that I had the time to do some research. Wished I was like this when was preparing for my wedding… really regret 🙁

Anyway, I like the last 2 designs… ( I saw something similar in Love & co. a few yrs back.. ) keeping my fingers crossed… because…. we are saving up for the better good… really..

But it’s really ok… to mk ur wife VERY VERY happy once in a while… wahaha

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Maneki Japanese Resturant

We had dinner at Maneki Japanese Resturant after our Zoo excursion. It is a popular Japanese resturant, which I found on yelp.com. Reservations needed to be made EARLY , eg: a few days before BUT I didn’t mk any reservations. As a result, the earliest timing we got was 8.30pm ( although we reached the resturant at 6pm sharp) The very kind lady boss suggested that we could have our dinner at the bar area.. I was very reluctant as I did not have any intention of drinking.. BUT BH was like ‘OK!’ So we went to sit at the bar…

We had these figurines staring right at us as we sat down/ate

I had no idea what is the significance of these.

Anyway, we ordered our food and BH ordered Asashi – the bottle was HUGE! I was kinda worried that BH won’t be able to drive us home so I told the server that we are sharing the beer.

Here’s the irritating part – The server DID NOT allow me to drink the beer as I did not have my passport with me – they did don’t accept IC or SG driving license. I was super irritated and it was sooooooooooo hard to hide my anger as I was sitting at the bar  ( No choice have to face her) So I show her face colour. In the end, she made me nice non-alcoholic cranberry juice mixed with Calpico Luckily, she made me a drink else I’m so gonna write a super bad review on yelp! Ok.. so I felt better after the drink.. the drink was so nice that we also bought Calpico and mixed our own at home.. haha.. perfect summer drink!!

So – to the point… the food was great! It’s not because we haven’t had good Japanese food for sometime BUT the sashimi was fresh ! yums! food was authentic. However, for the oyster rice ( it has a japanese name , can’t recall) we felt that there were just too much rice and too little oysters. overall,  we felt like we ate a whole lot and the price was reasonable!

Total damage: US$48 with 20% tips

We’ll go again BUT i’ll rem to bring my passport and mk reservation EARLY the next time round..

Happy BH and semi-happy me … it would have been a better date!

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Woodland Park Zoo

Yay! BH and I made it to Woodland Park Zoo on Saturday. Initially, our plan was to go to San Juan for Whale-watch using our rain check BUT changed our mind at the last minute as I needed to go to the bank. Anyway, it was a bad bad idea that we didn’t go to San Juan as a whole lot of Ocras were spotted!!! 🙁 I feel so ‘gek’ … should have gone

Although we missed out on the whales, we saw a whole lot of other animals 🙂

Maybe we kinda started late, reached the zoo ard 11.30am – the parking was full. We managed to find a street parking .. heng! so parking was FREE! If you are wondering how’s the Zoo .. erm.. it’s NOTHING compared to SG – Singapore Zoological Gardens or rather San Diego Zoo is still better 🙂 There’s no animal shows or tram to bring you ard in this zoo…  However, the entrance fee for the seattle zoo is so much cheaper .

The weather was super duper hot and dry – perfect for a ZOO excursion. It was amazing that the Penguins enclosure was outdoors.. heh.. non air-conditioned!!! I think the Penguins got burnt…

See the black part? haha.. it’s so lame I know!

I also spotted this weirdo at the zoo

Looks familar?? geeez… BH insisted on wearing a shirt to the zoo?! I was like ‘ok….. ‘ iyoh…wear shirt means I need to iron 🙁 he seriously think that I’m very free at home can .. oh well… the interesting thing is …….. HE WAS NOT ALONE. Apparently, there are other men who wore shirt to the zoo too!!!

heh.. so… we needed ice-cream because of the hot weather.. ( ice-cream is yucky! total waste of my calories)

We spent about 4 hrs in the zoo… then headed for dinner 🙂

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He grills!

BH was inspired by a random grilling/bbq show on TV.. so he decided to try to grill at home!

He researched on how to care and use a grill pan… and we bought 1 at Walmart.. haha.. he also searched for a recipe to cook for us ! 🙂

The food –

Paired with wine

There’s always a reason to celebrate with good food and wine….. so….Cheers to  100 months to us!! ( too bad we can’t celebrate 100 years.. haha… he’s not Edward and I’m not Bella )

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new and shiny

Last night , I was really looking forward to dinner! It’s mid-week and we are going out for dinner!!! yayness! 😀 That’s because we are meeting our SG friend, Eileen and her “new husband” ( in Eileen’s words!) haha… It was really sweet that they made time to meet us for dinner even though they were only in Seattle for 2 short days? The feeling of meeting up with friends was GREAT!

We met at Crabpot and had a fantastic time chit-chatting and eating! Yums!!! I love the corn!!! sooooooooo sweet!! I think I can eat 10 of them at one go man! hahaha

Anyway, the group picture is on their camera 🙁 Not sure when we’ll get them.

You can tell if a couple is on their honeymoon just by looking at their rings. So Eileen and Kelvin were on their last leg of Honeymoon… ohhh… so sweet! It was nice to see the new and shiny wedding bands on their fingers…  their rings look so new compared to ours 🙂 aww… reminds me that BH and I were once ‘newly-weds’  and our rings seriously needs some polishing.. heh

After dinner, BH took me on a short ride and showed me the goats under the Alaskan Highway!! haha… it was soooooooo interesting to see goats in a city AND under the highway… I thought they were ‘fake’ BUT they were chewing hay ! haha

Pardon the bad pictures taken in the dark

The mystery of the goats –

haha… goat milk anyone??

ohh… and this little guy was ‘taking care’ of the place. “Hi Bingo!”