Escape to Vancouver, BC

The weather in Redmond or rather WA had been quite weird. It cld rain, hail, snow and become sunny all in 1 day. Just last week, I was trapped in a hail! Boo… no fun… it hurts so badly that I thought my whole face was bleeding… wah… the wind.. so so chilly & strong…I thought i cld b blown me away… scary weather…

anyhow.. as part of Alvin’s last 2nd week over here, we made a road trip to Vancouver. It’s about 2.5 hrs drive. The weather that weekend was super!


BH and I at Vancouver customs



At Vancouver, we met up with 2 more Singaporeans for dim sum.. I think that’s the BIGGEST group of Singaporeans we have ever been with by date!


Thanks Alvin for the pic! haha... think the most excited pple in the pic r BH and me? šŸ˜€



Sight-seeing at Stanley Park.. a nice pic of us šŸ™‚ so nice that I made it into a fridge magnet – oh well… just for in case I need to go back to teach.. I can put the magnet at my workplace šŸ™





Ransacked BH’s camera and spotted a nice pic of me and my sophia





Then we went sightseeing at English Bay.. WQ took a candid photo of us.. haha…quite cool I would say








Had sashimi at Sumurai SushiĀ Sashimi were generously HUGE, fresh and cheap! I felt like a polar bear after the meal.. haha

After a ‘polar bear’ dinner, we headed home…. and I spotted this….


Don't play play.... STEVE NASH fittness centre!


It’s sad that after u made friends.. u realised that your friends are going home 1 by 1 .. and the next person is gonna be me…

That’s all… I’m kinda nursing a cold now… my nose feels funny… had some Dayquil – supposed to be non-drowsy.. but I feel light headed šŸ™

Fear

Just when everything is going on well.. i fear that all these little ‘happiness’ will be taken away from me… you know… just like that *snaps fingers*

In aboutĀ 2.5 mths time, i’ll be back in SG for a short vacation.. without BH that is… oh well.. the main pt is to do slight reno of our flat.. alone šŸ™ I am looking forward and yet… afraid… don’t really like to mk decisions alone… not what I envisioned how things will be

when i’m away.. i’m also afraid that BH won’t miss/think about me .. then he might slowly realise that ” without Amanda… things is so much easier and better…” sigh…. I am not having PMS.. but sometimes.. I already feel that way… like… the only reason I’m here is to be his personal chef? other than that.. he plays his silly NBA computer games.. he doesn’t need me

or maybe… I’m the one whoĀ don’t need him anymore

101 Reasons to Get (and Stay!) Married

Chanced upon this article here

Some points are rubbish! But other points (which I BOLD are kinda true)

haha…just a few wks before.. BH and I were dining at a cafe, while waiting for our food to come and thinking about the move and to break the silence I asked BH “Do you realised that we always do stupid things together? ” then BH went ” haha.. ya!”

“What’s the MOST stupid thing we did together?” I asked ( and already knew the answer)

“The MOST stupid thing we ever did together is to GET MARRIED! ” BH replied

“BINGO!!!” I’m not surprised! heh… and we still like to do stupid things like this…

“Eh… how many of these reasons you agree with ah?”

———————————–
1. You have an excuse to throw one heck of a party.

2. You get the thrill of trying to hide gifts from your partner (and surprising them with those gifts!)
Only for the 1st yr… we don’t bother now… if there’s a gift…we are happy liaoz..

3. If you buy something yummy, you can have fun feeding it to each other.

4. You end up with twice as much awesome stuff in your house to enjoy.
That’s the prob!!! Mks moving difficult!

5. You can work on projects, arts and crafts together.
and we end up having ‘projects’ 1/2 way done and imcomplete for months!

6. You don’t have to watch movies at the theater all by yourself.
watch movie at home

7. You suddenly have an excuse to move to a bigger place.

8. You have a reason to eat healthier.

9. You have a reason to spend your nights doing something other than surfing for porn.
Playing NBA???

10. You don’t have to be bitter about Valentine’s Day anymore.

11. Your family gets bigger.
Not a good reason… esp if u don’t like the other side of the family?

12. You have someone to take roadtrips with.

13. You have someone to explore the world with.

14. You have a reason to keep from letting your messes get out of control.

15. You have someone to share your dreams and fantasies with.

16. You can listen to each other’s problems and help each other through them.

17. You have someone else to consider before you make any rash, crazy or destructive decisions.

18. You have someone to enjoy your music with.

19. Nothing cures headaches like a good orgasm.

20. There are religious benefits, if you’re into that sort of thing.

21. The group of friends you hang out with gets bigger (even if just by one person!)

22. Suddenly, you have someone who will share a pizza with you at 3am.

23. You can have a beer with someone other than your friends.

24. Your friends don’t have to listen to your complaints about being single anymore.

25. You have someone to read with (or to!)
like this silly article!

26. You have someone who will catch you if you fall.

27. You can learn to compromise.

28. You can learn to listen and be understanding.

29. You have an excuse to write love poetry (and leave it for your partner to find.)

30. You have someone you can kiss until the sun rises (and wait up for the dawn with.)

31. You have someone to talk about your past with.

32. You don’t have to sleep alone (or cuddle your pillow)

33. You can teach each other things (other than just patience)

34. You don’t have to self-shoot your profile pictures anymore.

35. That whole ā€œjust friends with benefitsā€ thing? Yeah, never worked for me.

36. You don’t have to go out or pay for massages anymore.

37. Suddenly you can get hugs pretty much whenever you need them.

38. You don’t have to worry about being called a cat lady (or a terminal bachelor!)

39. You have an excuse to cook something more healthy (and more substantial) than just a frozen burrito.

40. You have someone to celebrate your successes with.

41. You have someone rooting for you to succeed.

42. You have someone to stand by you during the hard times.

43. Suddenly you have someone other than your pet who you get to buy surprises for.

44. You have an excuse to keep yourself in shape.

45. Married people are happier on average anyway.

46. You don’t have to go into adult shops alone (or feel creepy doing it)

47. You have someone to share a nice, romantic candle-lit bath with.

48. There are no problems, only solutions.

49. You don’t have to keep your deepest secrets bottled up inside anymore.

50. You have someone (besides your mom) to make stuff for.

51. You don’t have to travel alone anymore.

52. Someone besides you actually cares how your day went.

53. You have someone to dance with.

54. Together, you can do anything.

55. Romantic songs start to make you happy (instead of sad or angry.)

56. You have someone to hold (or who will hold you) when things get really hard.

57. You have someone to protect (or who will protect you) when faced with danger.

58. You have somewhere else to be (when you can’t wait to get out of some situation or another.)

59. You get an awesome excuse to wear an awesome ring.

60. You have an excuse to celebrate holidays even when your family isn’t anywhere nearby.

61. You have an excuse to create new traditions.

62. If you learn a new language together, you have someone to practice it with.

63. You have someone you can be silly with who won’t judge you for it.

64. You have an excuse to be a lady (or a gentleman)

65. You can do cute things (like calling a radio station you know your partner is listening to and dedicate a song to them.)

66. You have someone else’s hair to play with other than your own.

67. You have a good reason to stay positive and not be a downer.

68. You have an excuse to wake someone up with kisses.

67. You have someone to remind you of all the things you have to be grateful for.

68. You have someone you can be yourself around (instead of feeling like you always have to fit in.)

69. You have someone else who believes in your dreams and your ability to succeed.

70. You don’t have to brave the dating scene anymore (or risk ending up in a relationship with someone who is totally nuts!)

71. You can throw away that tattered memo on your desk that says ā€œStay strong! Stay single as long as you can!ā€

72. You have someone who is willing to wash your back for you.

73. A good relationship is like a cushion of air that lifts you up and keeps you flying all day long.

74. You can live all the really juicy (and dangerous) stories vicariously through your single friends instead of first hand.

75. Any children you have will have more than one person to take care of them (and for them to look up to)

76. You have someone you can be eccentric or artistic with.

77. Say goodbye to heartache, dumping, and being dumped.

78. Love is a powerful armor for your self esteem.

79. You have two brains full of knowledge to draw from in a given situation (instead of just one.)

80. You have an excuse not to spend your whole life working.

81. You have someone to come home to (or who can come home to you.)

82. Happy people (i.e. people in good relationships!) are less likely to spend all their money on things they don’t need.

83. It gives your grandparents something grand to be happy about.

84. Telling someone you want to spend your life with them (and them alone) is a powerful way to say ā€œI love you.ā€

85. You don’t have to clean alone.

86. It’s easier to spot cool things in stores – – two sets of eyes!

87. Suddenly there is someone (other than your mom) who appreciates your art.

88. You get the wonderful boost of a kiss on the way out the door.

89. You have someone to call you on it (or warn you) when you make a bad judgement.

90. You have someone to try new foods with (and cook with!)

91. You get to take time off from work for your honeymoon.

92. Happiness is infectious.

93. You get to enjoy the small things, like watching how your partner dresses themselves.

94. You can experience the wonderful dualism of a partnership.

95. It is easier to see your own shortcomings through the eyes of another.

96. Suddenly, you have a reason not to walk away from it all.

97. If your work schedules are different, there’s almost always someone home (and that makes for a safer house!)

98. You can make it romantic and get remarried over and over again.

99. You have a constant companion who you can walk with, run with and enjoy life with.

100. Suddenly you have proof that happy endings really do happen (and they’re just the beginning!)

101. Suddenly, there is someone in your life who makes you really and genuinely want to be a better person.

———————

I’m blessed šŸ™‚

The qn is…. for how long????

How we spent our Vday?

Vday is such a HUGE thing in the U S of A. Ok.. not that it’s a small thing in SG.. haha… so I really wanted us to dine at a nice resturant.. just like a normal date.. BUT…. the resturant that I wanna go to is FULLY BOOKED ( about 4 days before Vday!) Boo… Blame it on bad planning on our part… Mental note to self: Make reservations for Vday dinner at least 1 week beforehand.

Just when I was going to wallow in self pity… I had to go down to the leasing office to collect my parcels.. and the really sweet and nice lady at the office asked me how BH and I gonna are celebrating Vday..

Me: we are doing nothing..
Lady: not even dinner??
Me: oh.. we had it last night ( BH cooked… that’s another story)
Lady: what about flowers?
Me: nah.. he’s not the romantic type
Lady: well… my bf sends me flowers when I’m sick but not on Vday
Me: that’s better than nothing… better than none at all!! *ouch!! hurts!*
Lady: but my bf is a nice guy…
Me: *trying to comfort us and not mk BH look so bad* haha.. maybe we’ll get a surprise later!!

Then again.. a ‘surprise’ is no ‘surprise’ when u are expecting it.. haha

Anyhow.. I was so convinced that I was gonna have a bad Vday… I kept my mouth shut.. I know that if i were to tell BH.. he try to ‘force’ something out of nothing… oh well…

seconds, minutes, hours crawled by.. it was evening time and BH was still not home at his usual time. I called him and he was like ” I’m around the corner.. reaching… alot of things to do today…” I was like…. “Ok…….”

When he walked in the door… and I realised that he bought pretty tuilips and other goodies ( desserts!) .. I was feeling very happy and relieved but acted like it was nothing…

Here’s what he got –

Tuilips! Love the colour! šŸ™‚



Love the choco dip strawberries... and the so cute tiramisu cup!





Guess what we had for Vday dinner???? Out of sianest.. I cooked spam and eggs for our Vday dinner… hahaha… :X oh well… everyday is Vday right???

———————
1 day before Vday… BH cooked dinner… phew.. he cook 1 meal… asked 18 qns! Yes.. I noted down!!


He was super upset when I told him how badly he messed up the kitchen… :X

anyhow.. the delicious food!



————————
2 day before Vday… we went to eat at Claim Jumper ( it’s an american diner… no need to mk reservations.. and they don’t have special menu for Vday…) I find the food v salty… a nice pic the server helped us take… hehe…


—————-

That’s how we spent our Vday… You?? haha… oh.. forgt to add… we played Xbox Kinect after our crappy Egg and spam dinner.. haha..

CNY Kinect Housewarming party

On the 3rd day of CNY, we had a mini potluck party to celebrate the occasion! šŸ˜€ It was kinda like a small dream come true because it’s the 1st time BH and I held a party at our home! The feeling was great! I mean… we have like 6 PURE REAL Singaporeans in the same place at the same time! How cool is that! Then again, it would have been better if we had all our Singaporean friends over. hahaha.. oh well.. I was really tired preparing food but it was satisfying to see pple enjoying the food

Photos courtesy of WQ – Thank you v much for capturing the fun times!!





Alvin, WQ,YL made chicken rice!!! super yummy can!!! šŸ˜€ thinking of it make my mouth waters!!
Julius ‘da bao’ chicken chop and waxed sauages – very touched that he came though he was not feeling well
I made Pandan cake , cupcakes and stew ( not pictured šŸ™ because it was still in the oven ) hehe… I made my stew in the LC french oven!! super nice can!!!

Here’s a picture of me and my carribbean! Very happy that I managed to buy it at craigslist for $120 NIB instead of $240 in stores!




After food.. was KINECT time!



It was super funny to see everyone dance on Dance Central and ‘compete’ in Kinect Sports! So tiring to laugh so much!!!




Thank you Julius for the wonderful ice wine!!!

Everyone who attended the mini party! Huat ah!!! šŸ˜€


Next up.. Little Big Planet Party!!! hahaha… bring your PS3 controllers!!!

New home

Some pictures of our humble placeĀ šŸ™‚ I think we can never get tired of decorating our home.. haha..

I really can’t wait for a real place we call our own… a place we know we are here for good and never need to move again..

The exterior – Picture courtesy of WQ


Cool clock which BH insisted on buying ( to replace our pathetic Ikea clock)


The lovely kitchen which we both love!


Bedroom


Workspace + Living area


Super cute decals .. mks me happy just looking at them!


Effiel Tower and BooBoo says ‘Woof!’
I’m loving this green rug.. looks like grass!


That’s all… other parts are still too messy to be pictured :X and we are still awaiting somemore cool items in the mail!

The Social Network

Yesterday was ‘chu xi’ in the US. BH and I had a simple steamboat dinner at home. We wanted to take pictures BUT can’t find the camera!!?? geez… the result of moving :X ok.. not complaining about the move coz moving = spring cleaning.. haha.. we managed to unclutter and sell some of the items we don’t need or would like to change toĀ better ones.. šŸ™‚

ok.. so we just moved and for the whole of last year… we did NOT subscribe to cable TV but use an indoor TV antenna instead. It worked very well in Seattle because we were within 5 miles from various TV stations. However, it doesn’t work in Redmond.. because… it’s quite a distance from Seattle. booo… I was super sad and disapted because the day I look forward to every week was WEDNESDAY! Wednesday is Comedy night on ABC – all my fave shows are lined up ( The middle – Better with you – Modern Family – Cougar Town) sobz.. i was super sad that I can’t even watch ABC šŸ™ Not sure how is BH gonna solve the problem… maybe we’ll need to crawl back to Cable again?

Anyway, to mk me less disapted… BH stopped by Redbox on his way homeĀ and rented The Social Network DVDĀ (luckily, it’s FREE rentalĀ as we have a discount code)Ā … so we watched the movie after dinner.. movie was quite boring at the start. I can totally understand how geeks can be so incoherent. Geez… like when BH is doing his own programming ‘projects’ He’s totally in his own space!! I can tell him a whole chunk of stuff and he’ll look at me and say ‘can say again??!!!’Ā seriously??!!

After the movie, IĀ literally walked away feeling angry !!! I feel so upset that Mark betrayed his best friend Eduardo who did nothing but helped & supported him. The feeling of being betrayed is not good… and it had happened to me 3X by my very best friends ( which includes BH!) Yes.. I forgive… but I still remember.. I watched the show and the hurt overwhelmed me so much that I went to bed sad. I know.. the whole show isn’t abt Eduardo, it’s about Mark… BUT I just can’t belief that he stepped on his friend to acquire success!

My entryĀ  is really heavy for a new year festive post BUT You know what… you got a friend in me.. I will never do what you did to me.. really..

Anyhow, I don’t think u read my blog… so to all others…. Happy 1st day of lunar new year!

New Home@Redmond

The view outside my window..

sigh.. nothing compared to the previous apartment… oh well… I wanted lots of natural light BUT I have tonnes of afternoon sun shinning right into my home… the glare from the sun ( even with the shades down) is causing a HUGE headache… booo…. let’s hope it gets better…

Still trying to unpack… shall blog more…

and…

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

ANGRIEST DAY EVER…

I consider myself very blessed because yesterday was the 1st time that I have ever felt so angry for the past 1.5 years? I was so angry that even though the weather was cold and I am in t-shirt and shorts… I find myself perspiring after the confrontation. I wish I could vent my anger and frustations at the gym right after the incident BUT I needed to cook dinner! Sigh… so I took a whole lot of deep breathes and think happy thoughts ( All about Bambi). Then I emailed BH who called me almost immediately (VERY RARE) – he said ” I WILL COME HOME NOW AND SPEAK TO HER ” You know.. I knew BH for almost 10 years and this is the FIRST time he seem confrontational!! Even if he was just humouring me… it felt good!

The story:

We are staying in a community with 2 buildings, namely A and B. Building A is the main building where the gym, leasing office and storage units are located at. We are staying at Building B

So, we are moving. As you know, moving is a P.I.T.A Though there’s only 2 of us, it’s amazing how much rubbish we have. We conveniently dump our rubbish in the storage unit ( since we paid for it!)

In order to move and ‘unclutter’ our stuff, we need to pack the things in the apartment and also the storage unit. Storage unit ( located in Building A) is not a short distance when you have to carry many things by hand and on foot. We need to drive our vehicle to the front of the storage unit to put our items in.

Problems:

1) we are staying in Building B, poor us, we do not have access to drive our car into Building A’s garage. We need the remote for the Building A’s garage! Technically, we need to borrow the remote and return to the leasing office after use.

2) Leasing office is not opened on Sunday, so we can’t borrow the remote. To add on, leasing office is only opened during normal business hours, so if we want to pack our stuff in the storage unit, it will need to be during OFFICE HOURS!

3) We only have 1 car. When BH is at work, he tks the car. Me, myself can’t possibly carry so many things. It’s crazy!

4) Saturday is our move! and we need to do the packing!! we had already wasted last weekend because the leasing office was not opened for us to grab our rubbish in the storage unit!

5) The management of our apartment is inflexible and think of anyone who wants to borrow the remote for Building A as potential crooks!

The Confrontation:

I went down and spoke with the manager in the leasing office. I told her about our issues and requested to borrow the garage remote until end of this week so that it could ease our move.

She was very persistent in saying no. She kept insisting that ” Safety is NEVER convenient! ” Bloody Hell!

I explained to her and tried to keep my cool… she was unreasonable and not understanding. She made several ridiculous comments which is sooooooooooooo ridiculous that i’m shocked that it came out of her mouth! ( Since she’s the manager!) I even asked her ” Do you think what you said make sense? ”

What she said :

“You should sit down and discuss with your husband to find a time you want to move the items out of the storage unit “ > YES – we had discussed and we want to pack after your office hours. I mean.. if u are such a smartass.. you shld just be a mover or help us to pack! Who are you to educate me about planning my move??!! Furthermore, we are moving in a few days time! Do we look like we have time to plan???!!!

“I don’t see why the storage space is quite small and you guys have so much things in there? “ > WTH!! we have our own packing style and we paid for the storage unit. Do I need to seek your permission to clutter my storage unit??? SERIOUSLY!!!

“Safety is not always convenient… “ > YES. I understand the point. However, you need to see things in a case by case basis. It’s so unreasonable to be so rigid in your rules! Since we have the keyfob to have access to building A, if anyone want to do any bad things, they can also do it. You don’t need a garage remote for that! Even if the person borrows the remote and didn’t return, you can deactivate the remote on your system , so that it doesn’t work anymore. When we lease the apartment, you have our details – IF you do not trust us, why lease the apartment?

It’s ridiculous and I just don’t understand that weird angmo. She must be the rudest person I have ever met. I think she’s not from Seattle, most of the pple in Seattle are nice!!!! BOOO!!!!

Solution:

NOTHING I kept calm and graciously thank her for her ‘HELP’

My suggestions:

1) Warn residents staying in Building B beforehand that they will not have easy vehicle-access to their storage unit
2) Build storage units in Building B itself
3) Management to trust your residents and allow the borrowing of garage remote in a case by case basis

——————-

Property: *2 years old apartments near the space needle*

Overall remarks: Do NOT stay here! Look at the no, of apartments available for lease now. This shows that many people are moving out!!! Why people are moving out??? Oh well.. for obvious reason(s)!

We are homeowners now!

BH’s sis and my sis collected keys on behalf of us! well.. I was so hoping to be there šŸ™

Some pictures which BH’s sis sent us –

Our private door


Love the place with lots of natural light!




ugly toilet


Tell me.. how can I bear to rent it out.. it’s so new… and almost perfect (except for the ugly bathroom tiles)!!