The JoyFoo Life!~

Wow I just realized that you can backdate your blog posts now to the date and time you want. It must be really long since i last blogged!
Today, i shall touch on the above topics.. how life have been after marriage, and some of my innermost resolutions that have been threatening to manifest. :)

Marriage life
Hmm..how is life after marriage? Asking how marriage life is at this point of time, is equivalent to asking a one year old baby how she feels after being on Earth for a year. There are insufficient data analysis to make a proper conclusion yet of how things are and will turn out. But we are learning new things about each other for sure, and that's quite interesting~ I have heard of many stories of how the different habits can make you want to kill each other, but thankfully, it has not reach that point.



Maybe that's also because i am quite a "chin chai" person, meaning "anything also ok", so i am not so particular about things like jumping onto the bed without bathing (Hmm cos i also do that and will be upset if i am so tired after work, and someone scolds me for doing that), eating in the bedroom while watching tv(i think that's fun! like watching movies but FREE).

One thing i mind (or not really) is being asked to play BOARD GAMES at 1.30am in the morning cos my cute hubby feels like playing? One vs one somemore. HAHA. That's abit stretching my patience, but well i have learnt to be adaptable after being with him, so *breathes in, breathes out*. Let's play just one round.

him after one round: Let's play one more round! :)
me: But i am tired..><
him: one more one more!
me:aWWWW...okok...
*after 15 mins*
me:yay i win!!
him:one more one more?
*faints*

This guy has no limits.. hahahaha..=D



Living with my in laws is also a new experience, and i am just depending on His grace to bring me through it well.:) I have heard 1000 horror stories about it, before getting married, about how i should just get my own house, as living together is not easy. Some advices are useful, like a friend of mine who lived with the in laws for 10 years? She say everything just orh orh orh, and be guai can already. HAHA.

I asked her what i should do if i don't feel like orh orh, she say never mind just orh lo. Ok that's a useful tip! X) Think that's how she manage to do it, and the parents in law lovessss her. =D Another tip is how i should help to wash up the dishes in the sink too, not only wash my own. Waaa think that's really an important advice! i would have just missed that if not for her. HAHA. Sometimes a bit buay zi dong one. LOL.

On whether we will get a house, maybe not at the moment. There are many logical reasons that tells me i SHOULD get my own flat (privacy, financial investment, to leave and cleave, etc etc). and i WANT to. But sometimes, circumstances don't allow you to. I have come to terms since young that we don't always get what we want. and life is unfair. We just have to make the best out of it ourselves, and no one owes us anything. If we want to keep on whining and complaining about how our life pales in comparison to others, then really, nothing good will come out of it even after 10 years.

This brings me to a story that my pastor shared with us the other day. *drumrolls*



There are two shops competing with each other selling goods. They are always comparing with each other. Every time a customer walked into the opposite shop, another shop keeper will be upset and try to make sure he also get one customer. Let's call them shopkeeper A and B. One day, an angel appeared to shopkeeper B. The angel told him that he could grant him any wish he wants. BUT there is one condition. Shopkeeper A will always get twice of what B wish for.

So if shopkeeper B chooses money, he can get lots of money, but shopkeeper A will have twice as much as him. If he chooses health, he will have good health, but shopkeeper A will have even better health than him. Shopkeeper B thought long and hard, he just could not get over the fact that A can get more than him.

Finally, he told the angel. I have decide on what i want.

Please..please make my one eye blind.



-------------------------------------------------------------THE END---------------------------------------------------------------------

Isn't this a story we can all relate to? Maybe, we are blessed. It may not be as grand as what your friends are having, and it may just be very simple things - a roof over your head, a job (maybe it don't have as high a pay), a parent who loves you? or good health? But we are might be filled with envy of what other people have. Just like what Shopkeeper B could have done. He could have been blessed, yet he chose his one eye to be blind, so that Shopkeeper A can have both eyes blind. Isn't this kind of jealousy and envious attitude so harmful that it can make us lose sight of the little things we could be thankful about?

Anyway, just some thoughts. I was suppose to write about marriage life. HAHA. yes so despite what people are saying (and scaring me hahaha), i am trying to see positivism in living together and not purchasing a flat yet. Thank God for caring in laws! Yes we don't have privacy, but at least we have someone to look after us. We can't do anything or say anything we want loudly in the house, but maybe that means a more peaceful house and less quarreling? (very possible since me and daniel are so different) =) And we can always learn things from the elders who have eaten more salt than we eat rice in life too! HEEHEE.

Now let's go on to the next topic:

2017 New Year Resolutions!



During one of the service, pastor shared and mentioned that instead of planning for normal things like save more money, lose weight, more healthy that kind of goals, we should plan to achieve inner change!

In summary, he listed five. *ERM let me try to remember*.

1) Make a resolution to be less fearful and bolder this year?
2) Make a resolution to be less angry this year? (if you are constantly feeling upset about things, try to find out why you are reacting this way all the time!)
3) Make a resolution to be less greedy?
4) to not be lustful?
5) ???

OK i can't remember the last point. I am a bad girl..boo hoo. lol, i think i am guilty of some here, so here is MY list of resolutions! =D

1. Maintain my weight~
2. TRYYYYY not to eat so much fast food as my cholestrol is borderline high already X.X
3. Drink lots of plain water!! (Try to cut down on those sweet drinks which are so... tempting, cold and seem to trickle down my dry throat so well ><)
4. Make a resolution to be less fearful and bolder this year
5. Save $12,000
6. Blog 22-30 posts for 2017! Record down all the life events so that i can look back when i am 80 years old at what has happened in my life~ (because my memory is really quite short haha)
7. Learn one dish a month (my goals with mil)
8. Work towards my dream =D
9. BE HEALTHY AND SPEND MORE TIME WITH FAMILY~

May 2017 be the best year yet for all! =))

Dan and me have started another blog - still new at the moment, but we will add in more posts when we are free =)
i wrote a long post there on my personal wedding experience and honeymoon (work in progress). Like always, my post is super loooong. haha. here's the link~ Enjoy!
CLICK HERE to see! :)
P.S: It's all pinky and fairy like, i am sure he loves it as much as i do (muhahaha..)

As the title suggest, i took one week leave to go settle some important things in my life! That's like the first long leave i took in my new workplace, and it's so long!

For those who follow my Facebook, i took 2 weeks break from Facebook, and wow.. for the first time..i felt free! Felt that i am no longer living in the virtual world and i could immerse and soak fully in what is happening around me. Not only did i stopped looking at other people's posts which took up a ridiculous amount of my free time at home, i also stopped thinking of what to post on fb~ And it's such a wonderful feeling to live for yourself~ :) Maybe i shall continue my break, and just randomly go to post. Hmmmm!

Pre-wedding shoot

First day of leave was spent on taking our pre-wedding photoshoot. =) I searched many bridal shops in Singapore, but most of them offer bridal packages which include giving you 30-38 hardcopy photos, and soft copy photos, etc. As i am someone who is in love with photos, i knew that it will not be enough for me, and paying an extra $60-80 per photo is an absolute NOOOO! It's too expensive to spend so much money on a photo, seriously!

As such, when i chanced across "Yikeshu Bridal and Photography Studio" (named after the boss Eagles Su i suppose), I was delighted to see that their pre-wedding shoot includes returning of ALL soft copies to you, on top of 30 hardcopy photos. This is awesome! If you go and check out their whole bridal package (pre-wedding and actual), it is priced at a really affordable rate.

However, because i am such a detail-oriented person, i sent several emails before deciding to engage them. (dozens of emails in fact, asking them questions after questions)..Haha, you can say i really irritated the hell out of them. HAHAHA. But oh well, we got to be careful right?? :)

Was wondering if it was a scam when we went down to pay for their services in Jan 16, especially when they ask us to pay by NETS/CASH only. They explained that as this was a smaller business compared to the huge ones outside, they do not have the credit card facilites available. hahah cautious cautious.

So on 1 June 2016, Dan and me went down to take photos, and WOW..it was awesome! The photographer (Eagles) was professional and took awesome shots, the make up artist Ivy was responsible with the make up, and they turned me into a princess, one that you would not have expect, from just looking at me HAHAA! :) i was so pleasantly surprised and excited the whole trip.

Can't wait to go and collect the photos in the near future and i shall update whether they charge me more, LOL. However, for all brides to be, please do remember that ampoule for both the bride and groom, eyelashes, make-up artist to follow you around to change gowns cost $$$$$$$$$$ as well! =D

And for the girl, please don't drink too much water the day before the wedding shoot! Aside the fun part, i must admit it was tiring too! by the time i reach home, ate dinner at 10pm, drank loads of water like a cow because i couldn't do it the whole day, and wash my gel-filled hair and make up, i just flopped onto the bed and fainted. HAHA. Thank you Aston for availing yourself and driving us around to the outdoor places for shoots! :)







1st Ipoh Mission Trip

Reached Golden Mile Complex at 8.30am, one day after the wedding shoot. I dragged myself out of bed and like Pastor Bobby says, i could almost feel the bed shouting me to go back to her. :P We caught the 9am bus to Ipoh, and though i was tired.. i was really excited too!

What will happen during the trip? How will God use me? Will i be able to contribute? I prayed a silent prayer, and ask God to use me with whatever abilities i have~ :)

We then took an 8-hour bus ride to Ipoh. However, due to some delay, the ride was 10 hours long~ When we reached Ipoh, Jeremy and Angeline brought us around to try their famous Ipoh hor fan, chicken, bean sprouts, curry mee, etc and omg their food is SUPER AWESOME!! =D

We then went off to our bunk, and i was shocked beyond words at how beautiful it was! Different from what was expected. in the positive way! The next two days past by very fast as we were busy preparing as facilitators, till 3am daily for two days. We woke up at around 630am, and i was so physically tired on the day back from Ipoh! God showed up in a powerful way to me personally :)..Enjoyed it so much although it was so tiring. Will definitely go back to see my little friends, if i can in 2017~:D

Shall not type longer in case you get bored, let the pics do the work!! =DD (P.S: I was from the blue team: CARMEL!)




me and aston!


my lovely blue team!


trying to do a falling down pose for one of the games! (i really did fell down and injured my thumb=()


funny pose! :P


go CARMEL!:)

Please pardon my following photos which has the hp frame as i am abit lazy to cut out atm. :P oops just realise it look abit lame, but nm! muhahaha.











Penang Visitation

Took a two-hour bus ride, and reached Penang at 1pm. My auntie brought us to have lunch and i was already feeling quite sick. When we reached her place, Daniel (who usually has alot of energy) and me just fainted and slept for 4hours. After which, i woke up with a high fever of 38.6 degree. It was so horrible, maybe due to over-exhaustion as i am quite weak physically, and i just lie there like a dead fish><...our plans of giving out invitation cards to my relatives was dashed, and postponed to the next day. =(

Thankfully, under the care of my mum, auntie and Dan, my fever gradually subsided.. and we were able to go out the next day. Went to visit my aunts and had a great time..though by the time night came, the fever started again! Popped two panadol..and went to sleep..Woke up at 630am the next day to catch the 8am bus.

Due to a big accident on the expressway, the 10hour bus ride was extended to 13hour bus rides!! =X but thank God we were safe!!

Home at 10pm and ate a late dinner, fever and sore throat started again and popped more panadol.

Decided to take MC the next day as i felt unwell still..

So here i am, blogging before i go sleep. AWWW got to take care of my health le and start exercising for better immune system!! =D

Last photos of the day, my school's sports day & gathering!


yellow team:)


one of the admin gatherings! =D

So what happened after the bff proposed on 26Dec15? Hehe..



life has been so busy in the first half of 2016..with many things to plan for, new job..wedding..Jun 16 mission trip..

Firstly, just want to thank TheWeddingWaltz for publishing my proposal story on their website.. CLICK HERE to see..
http://theweddingwaltz.com/2016/04/29/dinner-atas-restaurant-turned-fairytale-isaidyessg

it will be something i can look back on in future! (not to forget to thank my htb for his hardwork :))

Jan 16 flew by with me wanting to settle all the important things of planning a wedding, such as settling the budget, booking of venue for solemization, guest list (draft), dinner venue, bridal shops for actual day and pre wedding shoots. I must say it's quite an achievement to settle all these in one month, by God's grace. It was abit stressful researching till late into the night, but i wanted to do it asap, as i was going to start my 2nd permanent job in Feb 16, and did not want to cope with so many things at one time. Hehe although i think i irritated Daniel alot chasing him to do things lol.

Thank God for His wisdom and strength, many of the important things was done in a month! :)

The months followed from Feb 16 to Apr 16 was filled with adjusting to my work when my colleague quit, learning the ropes, and also going for marriage classes.

It is awesome that the Ministry of Social and Family Development provides a free one time 12 hours marriage class - spread over two Saturdays. In the 2-day class, we learnt so much, about communication, the power of listening, and about one another. We realised that we have to work more on our communication and this helped us to compromise on many things, which is so vital! The additional incentive is the delicious lunch provided which consist of different types of western food and drinks which we can choose from. (our favourite time of the day:P)

Below is the link for more information:
CLICK HERE to see: http://app.msf.gov.sg/Policies/Marriages/Preparing-for-Marriage

After which, we went to our CHC Wedding Preparation class, which taught us biblical values of a marriage:) The CHC class was spread over four weeks, on Wednesday. One of the hardest things is to go for the class from 8-1030pm, after a whole day of exhausting work. Many a times, we felt so physically tired during the lesson, and by the time we reached home, we were soooo burnt out for the next day. However, it is the wonderful pastors who made the class so entertaining and fun that kept us going. They are really passionate, and shared with us honestly about their own marriage experiences.

It prepared me mentally for life after marriage, not as Cinderella princess-y happily ever after as i envisioned. A lot of hardwork is required to keep the initial love burning, and quarrels and fights will happen. Especially when we live together and see each other's worse habits. We just got to work as a team, and try to make it work. *shudders at thought* :P

May 16 - Auditor came, and left! Busy with work, but looking forward to June holidays, where the school will be much quieter, and less busy i hope! :) Did i mentioned i got a new sweet colleague working side by side with me? Thank God for my manager and her, it makes me look forward to work even though at times, work is soooo freaking busy with only the three of us in a team! ><

We had our food tasting with both our parents and some friends on 7 May, which is a first too! As my parent-in-laws were slightly late, we did not manage to capture them in the photos! ><









Dan and i also went to try the wedding gowns/suits on 14May16, and it was SOOOooO memorable and fun!:)..

Will be going for photoshoot next week! All prepared, hopefully the nails can last till then! This will be followed by mission trip, and a trip to penang to settle some stuffs.





I am experiencing so many firsts this year!! :) Looking forward to more! *WINKS*=D Thank God for all the strength, joy and grace in my career and wedding preparations so far! :)

4 months left to the big day!! Trying not to overthink and depend on Him for sanity! :) Not to forget to spend as much time as possible with my family since i will be moving out very soon..='(!!! Will miss my mama papa and my irriating sister + brothers!! Hehe.

Adios for now!!

Realised that i haven't post about my super enjoyable China trip with parents and sister..:)

Decided that it is important to share my experiences about different shops/services provided..as it will really help many people on the net when they search for reviews online. Got this revealation after researching for my wedding preparations and find it so hard when there are lack of reviews from customers who had used their service. Vice versa, when there are a lot of reviews about a company. So, from now on, i am going to blog about my own personal experiences!

At first, we booked our tickets from Dynasty Travel at a travel fair. This is the second year in a row we tried to go China using their agency, because in 2014, the money was refunded to us due to not finding enough people to start the tour. This year, once again, the same thing happened. Paid the money, and they told us there wasn't enough people to go. Money refunded back to us. Felt abit disappointed, but quickly searched for other travel agencies.

Found Neway Travel Services Pte Ltd, a small shop in Chinatown. My dad was quite worried initially, because a small shop means that it may be a fraud company, and since there are so many cases of companies closing down after receiving your hard earned money, it is a valid concern. Researched online for reviews, and found SOO little reviews about them! Finally found one good review on them in 2012 for a taiwan family trip, so i decided to take a risk, and booked 4 packages to China! This is also one of the reasons which motivated me to write this post. More customers reviews are needed on the net!! haha. :)

The package i booked was a shopping tour. So, for those who have not went to China before, there are basically two types of tours. Shopping tours, and non shopping tours. Shopping tours, as the name suggest, brings you to places to shop, and also to sceneric places. It is generally much cheaper than non-shopping tours, as i guess commissions are earned. I got a $628 package, including return China Eastern Air tickets, 46kg luggage check in, free food and accomodation for 6days?, so it was a really good deal. IF, AND I REALLY MEAN IF, you are firm and not easily convinced to buy the things they recommend you.

Lu Yan from Neway Services was very friendly and helpful, and answered all my queries patiently. The tour guides in China were awesome, humourous and made us laugh throughout the trip. The hotels exceeded expectations too. Even the China Eastern airline, where i read so many horror stories about, was punctual, no delay, no baggage lost, etc. Everything went smoothly! I really thank God for His grace as i prayed for everything to go well, especially the flight where so many of our friends and online community complained about.

We went to places like Su Zhou (famous for silk and teapot), Hangzhou (famous for tea), Nanjing(Jade), Wuxi(Pearl), Shanghai(Chinese medicine). The reason why i can tell you so easily what they are famous for, is because..unfortunately, we are not firm, and bought EVERYTHING. =(

They were SOOO good at convincing us, and this is the downside of the trip. At some instances, i felt there was a large scale scam involved, where the boss/shi fu will "accidentally" walk in when the salesgirl was explaining, and say that he was in good mood and reduced the price to about 10% of the original price. The salesgirls will look slightly uncomfortable and say "you sure? it cost RMB20000" etc. Everyone will then go crazy and buy the jades, pearls, etc.

Another case happened when we were in this shopping centre. My dad won a "LUCKY SCRATCH AND WIN --- PAY 10% of original price", out of alot of people, and the salesgirl who was serving us, (a very innocent looking and gentle lady) gave a very uncomfortable look, and pleaded us to choose a jade which is not so expensive. Her expression made our greed grew, as we thought we had strike jackpot, and we could invest in it.(RMB80000 become RMB8000), how good was that?!!

So we bought some jades. :( Have not went to check for its authenticity yet, because it will cost another $150++ to check in singapore..and our pockets were already burnt.

All in all, we bought a ridiculous amount of tea (but that's the only thing which i felt was worth it. Long Jing Cha..I am selling it at $33/125grams). The rest were things like silk pillows, jades, pearls, and a stupid teapot which cost $250) My mum bought some medicine for 6 months costing $1100.

OK you are right, we really lost our senses. =(

Seriously, what was i thinking?!! I am such a thrifty person but after going there..i just lost it. (Although i spent the least out of 4 of us who went to China :) but still..i should not have bought the teapot...why would i need a teapot, and such an expensive one!! and i don't drink tea somemore -.-".. seriously, i feel so lame when i see that green teapot. )

So after coming back, we laughed at our sillyness..and also have to face the consequences of paying the $5000+ we chalked up in our credit card. SIGH!!!! WHAT A CHEAP TRIP IF WE DID NOT BUY ANYTHING!!

LOL, so conclusion is... if you want to go China, this is a good deal, but don't buy anything!!! just get the tea from Hangzhou will do(In my opinion)..but don't buy 3kg of tea leaves. like us. *faints*

Pictures time!!



Will definitely remember this trip:)

ok, shall stop blogging, and go back to drink my tea. X.X