Halloween at the museum

My lovely husband surprised me with another museum visit last weekend! He brought me to Asian Civilization Museum (ACM) for the Halloween Fright night. There were a myraid of special activities organized by ACM. There were modern bomoh dances, story telling, face painting, scare trails, etc. Many museum goers were decked in their Halloween costumes for the occasion! Since this was a surprise date, I did not dress up as any special characters for the occasion. We had a great time just watching the kids got scared by various characters such as the werewolf, ghost rider, pontianak, etc.

Ghost Rider

Captain and Spidey

Werewolf

We headed for a walk along coller quay and clarke quay later that evening. Most restaurants and bars were decorated for the occasion with spider webs, fake blood stains, insects, dummy heads, etc. We did not revel with party-goers for the Halloween celebration, but headed home earlier and it was a blissful time spent together. I love Halloween! It also reminded me of the party that I organized for T a couple of years ago at Mike and Elena's place. All guests came dressed as a special character and some of our friends rented costumes for the occasion! I love dress up parties. Hopefully we'll have another one soon.

What is your love language?

Last Saturday, T planned a special date for us to visit Singapore National Museum (SNM) to view wedding dress exhibits from Albert Victoria museum. On display were gowns from 1800s and a few celebrity wedding gowns. To our disappointment, it was a pretty small collection and we finished viewing the exhbits within 30 mins. I love visiting museums! To appreciate artefacts/art pieces that are rich in culture and history. On the other hand, T would rather spend his time outdoors or cathing zombie movies. I feel blessed that he went the extra mile to plan the outing and accompany me to visit SNM though he has little interest in museums.

On Sunday, we both spent an afternoon with our own pals. He played soccer with his mates while I found time to catch up with an old friend. It rained throughout the afternoon and he waited for me to finish to give me a lift home. Last night, I casually mentioned that I love triple decker sandwiches and this morning, he woke up much earlier than I usually do (at 6am!) to prepare a triple decker for my breakfast!T's language of love is clearly 'acts of service'. Something which I am not accustomed to...yet. I express my love through words of affirmation.

Author Gary Chapman wrote a series of books about Love Languages. Personally, I can identify with the things which he wrote. Different people express their love and feel loved in different love languages. It is important to know the love language of our loved ones to be able to appreciate them and love them in a manner which they can understand. Perhaps it's time I plan and DO something special just for T.

C'est La Folie

I grew up watching Disney cartoons and my all-time favourite is Beauty and the Beast. It's amazing how cartoons can influence one's mind. That cartoon made me fall in love with France, even before I step foot in the country.

It has been my dream to visit France since I was a kid, but I never had the opportunity until 2 years ago when my boyfriend asked if I would like to join him to France to visit his family. I was completely blown away by the whole trip - taking in every morsel of the sights and sound when we were there. We visited Paris, Bretagne and Château de Chambord at the Loir-et-Cher region. When I came back, I even registered myself at Alliance Francaise for classes!

Recently, I was delighted when I chance upon Michael Wright's 'Cest La Folie' series, which is an honest biography of his life in a small French town, Jolibois in the Haute-Vienne region. Michael was from Surrey, UK before he decided to start a new life in Jolibois. I wish I could do what he did someday - to find my own ramshackle house and start a life of adventure! Here in SG, most people go through the pragmatic path of finishing our basic education, secure a job, probably start a family go on with life. There is an inner longing in me to strive for something more than a routine, a labour that I can be truly satisfied with. I'm praying that God can help me discover that and help me start my own c'est la folie story.

Insurance 101

Thought I should blog about insurance since I recently changed mine and I wish to remember this. Two years ago, I engaged a random  agent from GE to purchase a policy. It included the ususal protection coverage, accident and critical illness coverage as well as investment links. Though it seem pretty diversified, I came to realise (over time) that the coverage that I have (though diverse) was rather measly.

I am no expert in this field, but I learnt that the first "rule of thumb" for a student/young employee is to have a basic life protection insurance coverage first, before investing in other areas. Reason being, it is important to protect ourselves and our families in case of emergency or unforseen circumstances, given that it is quite likely that we have little savings as a student or when we just started out working. And how much should we fork out monthly? An approximately  guide will be 10% of our monthly income. It is also good to start a plan at a young age because the insurance premiums will be much cheaper.

I wish my parents could advise me better on financial matters at times, but I guess they would prefer otherwise. However, I am thankful that God always lead and guide me in the decisions that I make. Be it for my career, school, marriage or daily life. Even for something as trivial as insurance :)

"For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end." ~ Psalm 48:14

Birthdays

There is a growing trend of celebrating birthdays lavishly, with special programs, souvenirs and activities for guests to enjoy. I had never celebrated my birthday with such fan-fare, sans my 21st birthday, when one of my best friends organized a 'Lo-Hei' at vivo city for me. Thus, I am still very intrigued by the elaborate celebrations that people organize for their birthdays year after year.

I spent mid-autumn at a friend's kid's 1st birthday party. T did balloon twisting and I did face & hand painting for the children. It was our first 'gig' together as a couple. The party was a big family affair and we both had fun interacting with the guests. I realized that I've grown rather fond of face & hand painting, apart from painting on canvases. Perhaps we should consider converting one of our rooms into an art studio/worshop where we can practice our skills with minimum disturbance.

$600, 2-tier chocolate hazlenut cake

Honeymoon 2012

Khaolak wasn't the first place that came to mind when thinking about our honeymoon trip. We would very much prefer to visit the sunny coasts in Brisbane in the company of our good old friends, but we couldn't be away for too long and settled for a nearby location instead, and it was far from disappointing!

We took a flight to Phuket followed by an hour's drive to Khaolak, located at the Phang Nga region of Thailand. Upon arrival, we were greeted with clear skies and balmy weather. We headed to a local Bang Niang market immediately after checking-in as it only opens on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Though the market was small (by local standards) the myraid of shops and stalls were sufficient for the neighbourhood. There were local produce, fresh seafood, familiar Thai snacks, amongst other things.

Evenings in Khaolak were lovely, with dramatic sunsets and the Andaman sea coloured orange-ochre everyday. We spent most of our time gazing into the horizon from our sun-deck and soaking in the pools overlooking the sea. It has been awhile since I had a quiet holiday. We spent the rest of the week visiting the local market and twisting balloon for the kids and talking to the locals. T and I plan to return to Khaolak again to volunteer at one of the schools. Khaolak was badly afftected by the Tsunami in 2004 and the devastating disaster still leaves lingering trails everywhere we go.

We spent another 4 days in Bangkok before flying back to Singapore. We occupied most of our time shopping and exploring new places within the city.