once upon a time, east met west...

the husband and i are the same in some ways and very different in every other way.. personality wise, don't let me get there, but we clash in every. possible. way, except oh, we are both VERY STUBBORN. hahahaha.. interest wise, at the basic level, we both enjoy reading, TV/movies and food. but rarely do we read the same books (he reads theological books)(as I'm typing, he's reading an OT theology book)(or serious mags like Time or The Economist)(while i like my whodunits or fiction or Calvin and Hobbes); we don't download *cough* the same shows (i love animation and sitcoms, while he watches everything from Hawaii Five-O to Walking Dead BUT doesn't touch my HIMYM or Community); we do eat the same food when i cook (of course =), but i love my pasta or potatoes, while he prefers low-carb meals (or he'll say crazy things like, "let's just have vege and fruits for dinner" to which my only response is an emphatic NO. because the cave-woman in me MUST. HAVE. MEAT. rawrrr! =) on some Saturday mornings, he would up at 6 to go hiking, while i probably would have just gone to bed a few hours before that (i'm allergic to the morning sun, which explains my semi-comatose state before noon each day ;)(but i can get reeeally hyper when my adrenaline kicks in, like really =).

thankfully, another thing we have in common other than our "stiff-necks" (read that in Canto) is our love of travelling and thankfully again, we belong to the same category of travelers (there are many kinds actually, like the first-class-all-the-way type, the backpacking-and-sleeping-at-bus-stops type, the tour-group-only-else-i'd-be-lost type, i'm-allergic-to-sun-and-sea type, off-the-beaten-path-only-please type, city-lovers vs nature-lovers, and many more).. we are the free-and-easy-can't-afford-first-class-no-tour-group type. and while i'm not a big fan of Tony Fernandez, we have AirAsia to thank for enabling us to go places we have been over the years. let's see, together we have been to Singapore (of course =), Bali (Indonesia), Hatyai, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Bangkok (Thailand), Hanoi (Vietnam), Baguio (the Philippines), Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai (China), and recently Melbourne (Australia). and there's Taiwan end of this year! the wanderlust is strong in us. if only our currency is equally strong *cries*

anyways, the reason for today's post is that............... today we are ten. that's TEN YEARS as a married couple. that's (365*7 + 366*3) days (= 3,653 days)(gosh, only 3 thousand plus days? felt like it's been 10,000!)(accordingly to the traditional anniversary gift list, we're supposed to be getting TIN/ALUMINIUM this year)(ergh no thanks!)

and what a ride it has been. haha! i'm thankful for this journey. of course if i could walk it again, there are many things i would have said or done differently. but there's no looking back. we are definitely better people today than we first started, for there has been a lot "sharpening" of the iron kind haha, lotsa sparks (from the friction haha) i think we have learned (and are still learning) to accept each other for who we are (especially our bad sides!) i am very excited for what God has in store for us in the next ten years, and all the tens that follows.

Lord God, we commit ourselves to you. thank you for your faithfulness in our lives. thank you for the happiness we have known together; for the sorrows we have faced together. we ask for forgiveness for any failure on our part; for any times when we became difficult to live with; for any lack of sympathy and understanding; for our selfishness. you have brought us so far along in this journey as husband and wife, we have learned tough lessons about living as one, how to die to ourselves and to consider the other's needs above our own. and we continue to learn. thank you for blessing us with so much, help us to bless others with what we have, with who we are, in return. thank you for the love which grows more precious each day. guide us in your way everlasting. we want to know you more. we want to be sensitive and obedient to the prompting of your holy spirit in our lives. help us God. light our path. thank you for everything. we love you. in jesus' name we pray. amen!

H A P P Y T E N , H U B B Y ! !

love you so, so much! muaks muaks! ^^

two drifters, off to see the world, there's such a lot of world to see...

-moon river-

i've been looking for a song to commemorate this day, and am happy to choose this because:

1. i love derek webb and i love how much he loves his wife and i wanted something from him that reflects that and voila, this song ^^ 
2. this song is fun ["I wanna read the Bible and I wanna make out"? haha! btw this is him and his wife Sandra, if you are interested] 
3. if you asked me if i would do it all over again, i'd probably pause to think for a bit, and then smile and say "Yes!"

I wanna marry you all over again, I wanna meet you and I wanna be friends
I wanna chase you all the way to Tennessee, I’ll meet your parents at the airport bar
I’ll take you out in my rental car, I wanna court you on the record label’s dime

come on baby let’s go back to the start
take it back sugar then gimme your heart
don’t you know baby I would do it all over again

I wanna buy you an old upright, I wanna accidentally stay all night
I wanna read the Bible and I wanna make out
I wanna marry you all over again
I wanna fall in love and say we’re just friends
I wanna race you all the way to Kansas City

I wanna give you a diamond ring, and then we’ll run into my ex-girlfriend
oh, I wanna sing songs while the sun’s going down

derek webb :: i wanna marry you all over again

it's eleventeen o'clock.

it's that time of the day...
when sleep is carelessly whispering sweet nothings into my ears.

it's that time of the week...
just before a nice long weekend and all motivation to work is leaping off the forty second floor of this building.

it's that time of the month...
where i'm more emotionally vulnerable than usual and i can't decide if i'm a usually emo person who gets desensiticized during a period in a month, or if i'm a fairly apathetic person whose guard just goes down during a certain time in a month.

it's that time of the year...
when i give up wondering where the time has gone, and what i have accomplished (or not) and just resign to the fact that December is around the corner!

it's that point in my life...
where i evaluate my career choices yet again.

every moment present and accounted for... not.

life is chock-a-block of paradoxes. sometimes they are amusing, sometimes maddening, often inscrutable, rarely rational. what purpose do they serve? i don't pay them much attention these days for the sake of my well-being, but of course they don't really go away. sometimes i feel like they make fun of my denseness, my deer-in-headlights gaze, so i just pretend this is all normal, and they would fade into the background. i don't know why i brought this up. there's really nothing there. maybe it's because i feel like i owe you a blog post and have nothing to offer except for this piece of fairly nonsensical and vague thought.

mm maybe i should tell you the other things on my mind: how i can't wait for leehom's new music (and movies) coming out soon, or how i've been trying to figure out why and how david tao actually moves me deeper, and how that's perplexing given that i relate more to leehom, and with that how i also wonder about the dynamics of the single-direction virtual relationships i have with these two men, how frustrating it could be "talking" to them, one voice among thousands others, and what does any of the communication actually mean, and how sheepish i am knowing that you are reading this and you're wondering why i don't have better things to think about. *blush* well, i also think about the relationship (also virtual but thankfully two-way) i have with my one friend on weibo. and i also think about real-life relationships which i'm not good at growing, but which i suppose i should work on. i have also been thinking about my prayer life, but really, i just need to do rather than think. so many things to think about. let me sleep on them. good night folks.

david tao :: highways (instrumental)

one birthday and two byes

this is super belated and the reason why i didn't do this earlier was because..... (1) i couldn't find a nice photo and then (2) i got lazy and also because (3) i didn't do it for the husband when it was his turn last month so it might be unfair... hehe! anyways...............

as for goodbyes, i just said it to the boss and will be saying it again to the kid under my tutelage. ah, the heart's heavy.

i've been under this boss for the past 3+ years i was here, and we've become really good friends. but nothing lasts forever, especially not in the corporate world, and i think that the new opportunity that she's getting will be good for her career. so we parted as colleagues, but will happily remain friends :) will definitely miss her around here. it's going to be really quiet with her and her booming, projecting voice gone! mm i do hope such right opportunity will come my way too hehe!

as for the kid, she will be leaving to the States soon (less than a month!). it's her parents' wish that she completes her high school and then further her education there (she was born there so she will be enjoying citizen privileges). but she's only 14! and to have to leave everyone she's ever known to that strange place is just too much for someone that age. sigh. the sacrifices one has to make for the unknown future. i'm worried for her and i'm sure the parents are sad too, but they have to put on a brave front lor. what's wrong with staying in malaysia anyway? pffbt. sigh, i'm going to miss her. she's a model student: bright, eager to learn, picks up fast, timely with homework, polite... it was my honour to be her teacher! T_T

• igloo is a funny word. tee hee. igloo igloo igloo igloo igloo igloo igloo igloo igloooooooooooooo... it was the last word in my mind last night as i completed a silly rhyme with it and drifted off to sleep.

• i am reeeeeallly looking forward to the Taiwan trip end of this year. like, really really, *squeals* really. will be travelling with an eclectic bunch comprising my parents, my MIL and SIL, J and her daddy ^_^, and the husband and i. this will be interesting! 

• i hate running, but I can't wait to run every Wed.

• have you ever failed at a test so often you wonder if it's worth trying again? and despite asking for and be given one chance after another, winning remains elusive and each defeat adds to the frustration of  the one before? and you wonder if you'd ever taste victory in this lifetime. you want to just give up and give in. just brand me a loser and leave me alone. but still, the desire to overcome is strong in you. it's the right thing to do. so you humbly ask for another go at it, and pray that no one is collateral damage if and when you flunk. again. my test is that of patience. and if you've seen me lost control, you know what i'm talking about.

• i'm nervous and somewhat stressed about the events that will unfold here in the office over the next few weeks.

hello, old friend.

this song brings me back to the living room of the student house i was living in when i was a varsity student. at that time i had recently been introduced to David Tao by my housemate, and i took immediate liking to his songs. his Chinese R&B songs were a novelty then; in fact, it was David who first introduced the genre to the Chinese market, first via his earlier collaborations with other artists and later, via his albums.

David's songs are timeless. twelve years on from when his tunes first serenaded my ears, they still sound every bit just as good. over this weekend, i've been reacquainting myself with his songs, and found myself unexpectedly moved by the whole experience.

this song here isn't as popular as the others (judging from the severely limited clips available for this song on youtube)... but i love it! it was one of the first songs i looped the entire day back then on my trusty Pentium 4 (does anyone remember WinAmp??)(the mp3 audio file type was also still a toddler back then) Angeline tells of a forbidden love story between a girl sea creature and a boy (kinda like Little Mermaid), and it doesn't have a happy ending. :(

anyway, it's really late into the night, like really really late. and i spy with my little eye Monday morning embracing in its arms a zombie that looks a lot like me. you know the whole insomnia thing that i suffer from?  sometimes it's just me being stubborn and wanting to stay awake. i said sometimes. good night/morning, and have a good week ahead!


傳說從前有一段戀曲　埋藏在深海裡
貝殼潮汐　見證這段愛情
那個女孩叫做Angeline 歌聲甜得像蜜　
乎遠乎近 男孩忘了自己
according to legend, there was once a love song, now buried deep in the sea
shellfish and tides were the witnesses to this love story
the girl's name was Angeline, whose voice was sweet as honey
far and near, the boy fell madly in love

Oh-Angeline my love for you
永遠不忘記你　深藏在我心裡
Oh-Angeline my life 全給你
天荒地老要在一起　我和你
Oh-Angeline my love for you
i will never forget you, and will keep you hidden deep in my heart
Oh-Angeline i give my whole life to you
we will be together for eternity

女孩觸犯海洋的戒律 愛是她的罪名
男孩已經　墬入漆黑海底
波浪像他們碎裂的心　快相遇又分離
一句一句　在月光下嘆息
the girl committed an offence against the laws of the ocean in the name of love
the boy found himself in the pitch dark seabed
the waves are like the shattered pieces of their hearts
time flew by from when they met to when they parted
every word spoken in sighs under the moonlight

從此白天黑夜的交際 來往的水手們總會聽見
那首悲傷的歌 Angeline
from then on, be it day or night, sailors on ships that pass by
they would hear the sorrowful song
Angeline



Angeline
陶喆

傳說從前有一段戀曲　埋藏在深海裡
貝殼潮汐　見證這段愛情
那個女孩叫做Angeline 歌聲甜得像蜜　
乎遠乎近 男孩忘了自己

Oh-Angeline my love for you
永遠不忘記你　深藏在我心裡
Oh-Angeline my life 全給你
天荒地老要在一起　我和你

女孩觸犯海洋的戒律 愛是她的罪名
男孩已經　墬入漆黑海底
波浪像他們碎裂的心　快相遇又分離
一句一句　在月光下嘆息

從此白天黑夜的交際 來往的水手們總會聽見
那首悲傷的歌 Angeline