Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary 结婚5周年纪念-木婚

5.3.14 (Wed)

On 28.2.14, we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. This year, Hubby arranged a special celebration and I was really touched by all his surprises.

Early morning that day, Hubby surprised me with a big bouquet of flowers! He got me my favourite flower, Gerbera. He went to work around 9am+. (By then, there was no flowers yet). Then I think about 1hr later only I realised there was a bouquet of flowers on the table. I was shocked and called Hubby to thank him, and also to ask how did the flowers appeared on the table! He told me, it was Magic! (Apparently, he went to the florist in the morning, collected the flowers, returned back to the house, came in quietly and left the flowers on the table. Surprisingly, Ian didn't make any noise, else I would have noticed that Hubby came back!) This was also the 4th bouquet of flowers I received from Hubby. (1st - 2007 Valentines, 13 roses, 2nd - 2008 Valentines, 11 roses, 3rd - 2nd Wedding Anniversary, 12 roses)

Hubby liked this picture very much. He commented that I looked so beautiful, :)

Around 5pm+, I sent the kids to Hubby's sister's house. She has agreed to help babysit them while we went for our candle night dinner in Penang.

We left Kulim at 6pm+. Without the kids, both of us could chat "peacefully" in the car.

Me: So, where are we going?
Hubby: We are going to Equatorial Hotel, to this restaurant called The View!
Me: What are we having?
Hubby: What do you feel like having? Ala carte? Buffet?
(I couldn't make up my mind)
Hubby: Then, we shall have both! (smiling)

The traffic was a lil heavy on a Friday evening. It took us 1hr+ to reach Equatorial Hotel. Hubby had earlier made a reservation with the restaurant and requested for a nice table seating, which they did! We sat at the table, at the corner of the restaurant and could see the night view perfectly, especially the two Penang bridges! There was also a professional pianist in the restaurant, playing soothing songs and this made the whole ambience even more romantic!

Menu of the night - we could order one meal from the ala carte menu, and then enjoy the semi-buffet prepared by the restaurant. 

Brief intro on the restaurant - A fine dining restaurant that showcases classic French cuisine complemented with a panoramic view of the island's magnificent coastline. The View elevates each guest's dining experience to new heights. The semi-buffet menu offers guests the best of both worlds, with selections from the luxurious appetizer and sumptuous dessert buffet and choice of main course from the lunch or dinner a la carte menu.

I ordered the assorted seafood set and Hubby took the chicken served two way set. We also had sparkling water. (later we knew that it cost RM20/bottle..imported from Italy!) The ala carte menu came with soup of the day, bread and butter and appetiser.

While waiting for our food, we went to the buffet section and I was excited to see fresh oysters! (haven't been eating fresh oyster for quite a long time) The semi-buffet menu was quite interesting, mainly more to dessert and salads..Hubby liked the fresh prawns very much!

Here came our main course.

After the dinner, it's time to open my presents, prepared by Hubby. There were altogether 3 surprises. First one, was a 2 pages of love letter written by Hubby (I think the last love letter I received from him was before our marriage). He started off with how we knew each other 7 yrs ago, then our courtship, wedding, arrival of our two precious children, our life together as husband and wife and etc..a very touching letter. 

Secondly, a small and light present. When I unwrapped the present, I saw a heart shaped wooden box. I thought there was still something inside the box and was wondering how am I going to open up the box. Then, Hubby said,"That's your present!" We both laughed!! He asked if I am expecting diamonds or something expensive, which I am not. He explained why he chose this wooden box. It's a box made by wood, which symbolises our 5th anniversary, 木婚. And it was a jewellery box, so I could keep all my jewelleries inside it. I jokingly asked him, so in future, I would get silver / gold / diamond on our 25th  / 50th / 60th wedding anniversary?? He said YES of course!!! Oh wow..can't wait!

The third surprise came in the form of a puzzle. He drew a picture on a letter size paper and cut them into pieces. I need to fix them in order to know whats the message! It took me some time to fix them and also to figure out the message till Hubby gave me hint. Indeed, this was a GREAT surprise which I can't share with you here. Hehe...but was really happy about it!

Next, the waiter presented a small surprise to us, a piece of chocolate fudge cake on a plate, nicely decorated with the wordings "Happy 5th Anniversary". And the pianist also played us a song, wishing us Happy Anniversary. 

We spent about 3hrs in the restaurant before heading back to Kulim and pick up the children. Hubby said we should do this more often - to go dating, just the two of us coz he felt it was totally different when we have some private time together, unlike with the children, all our attention are on them. It was a memorable night for  both of us and looking forward to many more 5 years in future!

p/s: As a loving wife, I also prepared 2 gifts for Hubby. It wasn't easy to get him gifts as he was a simple guy and the things that he wanted were out of my budget, so I bought a Hush Puppies shirt and belt for him. Now he has a collections of Hush Puppies items in his closet!

Special Dates

(in conjunction with our 5th wedding anniversary, I posted some of our love stories and memories in my personal blog)

 

These are some of the unforgettable special moments that we share together.

Da Special Moments

1st July, 2006: Our first meet @ Fruity Cake House, Taman Chi Liung.

15th July, 2006: Mark sms AL for the first time, requesting for AL's MSN ID.

1st October, 2006: Our "first date" @ Central Restaurant, near Klang Parade, in conjunction with celebration for AL being elected as Vice President for YM.

28th October, 2006: Having Porridge steamboat @ Chia Ba Ba together.

31st December, 2006: Mark sent AL to KLIA for her Cambodia trip. On the same night, Mark sms AL "Happy New Year! You're part of my New Year resolutions, :)"

13th January, 2007: 1st dinner and movie date @ 1-Utama. Had dinner at Chili's and watched "The Guardian" starring Kevin Costner.

16th January, 2007: Mark sang a birthday song to AL over the phone.

31st January, 2007: Mark proposed to AL - the start of our beautiful relationship.

14th February, 2007: Our 1st Valentine's and Mark surprised AL with many lovely surprises!

17th-25th February, 2007: Our 1st CNY celebration. Met each other's parents, relatives and friends. First local trip to Genting Highlands.

29th March, 2007: AL visited Mark for the first time in Kulim.

16th June, 2007: Mark shared the joy with AL for passing her CPA exam, and completing the CPA program.

28th-31st August, 2007: Our 1st overseas trip together to Bali.

31st January, 2008: The proposal @ The Revolving Restaurant, KL Tower.

12th February, 2008: Booking of Dinner Reception venue - Klang Palace @ Centro.

13th February, 2008: Booking of Wedding Photo Shoot package - StarEast Bridal Studio.

20th March, 2008: Purchased our wedding bands at D&P Queensbay Mall.

6th April, 2008: 1st marriage counseling.

1st May, 2008: 2nd marriage counseling.

5th July, 2008: 3rd marriage counseling.

3rd August, 2008: 4th marriage counseling.

16th August, 2008: Our wedding photo shooting (indoor).

29th August, 2008: Our wedding photo shooting (outdoor) @ Prai.

7th September, 2008: 5th marriage counseling.

1st October, 2008: 6th marriage counseling.

6th December, 2008: 7th marriage counseling. (final)

28th February, 2009: Our BIG day!

2nd - 10th March, 2009: Honeymoon!

Special Acts

(in conjunction with our 5th wedding anniversary, I posted some of our love stories and memories in my personal blog)

The special acts of love that have helped grow our relationship to where it is now.

Her say...

*He gave me the complete collection of McD Ty bears!

*He offered to send me to the airport for my Cambodia trip (later I knew that he wanted to take the opportunity to know me better)

*He sang me a birthday song on 16.1.2007 that melted my heart totally!

*He professed his love to me in his own 'style'...
"Dear, I've been praying to God for someone to love, and I think He has answered my prayer by sending you. 我喜欢你，也想跟你在一起，请你接受我，作我的女朋友。你是最适合我的女人，也将会使我最爱的女人。Love, Mark"

*He gave me a Swatch watch!

*Surprised me with 11 roses, sent to my office on 14.2.2007.

*Surprised me at my doorstep on 14.2.2007 (drove all the way down from Kulim for 4 hours) and had dinner @ Sheraton Hotel. (He drove back to Kulim the same night)

*He wrote me the 1st love letter on 31.3.2007

*He fulfilled my birthday wish by presenting me the iPodshuffle!

*He gave me a necklace with a beautiful pendant, in a shape of a flower on 31.1.09 (2nd year anniversary since we dated). He bought it 4 years ago during his business trip to India. He called it "The Sign" and this gift had actually helped him to realise I am 'the ONE' for him. :p

*During our 3rd Valentine's on 14.2.09, he designed a 'Love Voucher' for me. If at any time I feel that he is loving me less, I can present this voucher as a proof and reminder to him that he had pledged his never ending and eternal love for me!

*I really thank God for giving me such a wonderful life partner/soulmate who is understanding, thoughtful, caring, humorous, smart, tolerate etc...I love you, dear!

His say...

*She gave me a handmade birthday card during my 27th b-day (before we're officially together).

*She gave me a handmade 3D Christmas tree, and invited me to her CG's Christmas party.

*She bought me a shirt from Cambodia, first shirt that I've received from her. Small as it may be, this is a significant act that I interpret as a sign that I have hope and am on the right track to build a special relationship with her. =)

*She invited me to her Dale Carnegie course graduation. She was awarded the outstanding performance award during the graduation, and won a special Dale Carnegie pen; which now belongs to me, and I use it to write love letters and cards to her.

*She wrote me a love letter. Wow, I've never received one before, really treasured the words inside, and the letter itself.

*She gave me a photo frame with our valentines day picture, and an album collection of some of the nice photos that we took together during CNY and valentines.

*She spent 1.5 months to sew a cross-stitched picture, frame it up, and gave it to me for my birthday gift. I was so touched, each and every stitch in the masterpiece is sewn with sweat and love - best birthday gift that I've ever received! Love her so much! =)

*She bought me a tie, and I wore it when MC-ing for my buddy's wedding.

*She gave me a G2000 shirt for Christmas 2007!

*She bought me a nice belt for my birthday.

*She sent me so many cards that I've lost count, either handmade, bought from Memory Lane, or e-cards. I think I've received more cards from her than the total cards that I've received thus far in my life. Each of the cards is special, and I appreciate every one of them and kept them in a drawer specially allocated for her.

"She gave me a surprise birthday gift on my 29th birthday by travelling all the way from Klang to Kulim (without informing me prior) to celebrate my birthday. Imagine how surprise I was when I walked into the house, it was dark... and suddenly I saw a figure coming out from my room. I wasn't shocked (but surprised), because the figure looked very familiar to me - it was Ai Leng! She planned it since May. In addition, she also hand made some muffins and hand carry them all the way from Klang to Kulim. She used one of the muffins as a birthday cake. When I walked into my room, there's a muffin with a candle lit on top of it, and a nicely written birthday card. That was truly the first surprise birthday party that I've ever received in my life, and also the first time I've ever tasted muffins made by my dear fiance! Isn't she amazing? She planned all these since May (my birthmonth's in Nov - 6 months worth of planning!), and she actually worked with my sisters to make this happen. I think the hardest part was for her to keep it from me for 6 months, I could only imagine how difficult it must've been for her. I'm so touched by the whole experience, and I asked myself - how not to love this woman?"

"She gave me a keychain shaped like a shirt, with her picture in it for our 2nd anniversary."

"She gave me a black Hush Puppy collared T-Shirt for our 3rd Valentines."

*Finally, she gave me her love, and have always given me her best; she completes me. I cherish that more than everything combined above.

The day I said "Yes, I will!"

(backdated to 31.1.08)

A year ago, God put us together, from friends to lovers. We decided to celebrate this special day together (In fact, we had been celebrating our monthly anniversary every month-end, since 31st January, 2007). We had planned this weeks ago and plan to go back to all the places that we had been a year ago...and Mark decided to take off from his work, a long stretch of holidays, from 31/1-17/2/08. (in conjunction with Chinese New Year festival, and in between he will work from home)

On 31/1/08, we started off with KLCC..(last year, it was my Dale Carnegie graduation at Wisma UOA, just opposite KLCC..I invited Mark to be my guest for the graduation ceremony..We met up in KLCC)We walked around some shops..Mark insisted to do all the things we did last year at KLCC..for eg, eating Auntie Anne's, went to Body Shop etc..

At about 6pm, we headed to KL Tower because we are going to have dinner at the Revolving Restaurant, about 282m above ground level! One week ago, Mark suggested us to have dinner at the Revolving Restaurant and he insisted him to make the booking..I actually sensed something fishy, because usually, I will handle the 'administrative' matter..well, I let him do the booking..and when I offered to call the restaurant to confirm our booking again, he asked me not to worry about it, he had all things under his control..

We sat at Table 23..near to the window and get to see perfect view from here..The restaurant's atmosphere was pretty good..You can either have the buffet dinner or the 6 course menu..We chose the latter.

Mark had the beef set and I took the fish set. Food was pretty good, small serving but filling. I liked the soup. When I looked at the menu and noticed that we are going to have tiramisu as dessert, I wasn't excited as I don't take tiramisu..but I decided to give it a try..(later I knew from Mark that he was actually worried that if I don't eat the tiramisu, he will make sure I eat it! why? continue reading please, :p)

Here come the dessert...I took small bite, well, not that bad..so I started to eat slowly..then, I realised there was something inside the tiramisu..something hard..initially I thought it was a slice of thin chocolate bar and was about to eat it already..

"Dear, look, something inside the tiramisu!" I shouted.
"Oh really..what is that?" (what a great pretender he is!)

So I took it out slowly..and something is not right..especially when Mark slowly walked towards me..It was a small card, laminated..and it was written "Will you marry me, dear Ai Leng?".

Oh my goodness..this is surprising..Mark knelt down and expressed his love speech before ending with "will you marry me?”

"Dear, I thank God for putting us together. I enjoyed spending time with you for the past one year we're together. Would you be willing to take me as your husband, companion, and life's partner? Will you marry me? "

Next, I could hear clapping sounds..apparently, there were few waiters standing by our table (they knew the whole plot)..witnessing the whole proposal plan..hehe..because of their clapping..it drew everyone's attention to us. Alamak!

"Yes I will!" I gave him the promising answer :)

He then put on the diamond ring into my finger..a perfect fit!

Initially I thought he will propose during my birthday, if not, it would be our anniversary or Valentines..He chose today, 31.1.08, an easy date to remember and meaningful! He was telling me that he was quite worry that everything he had planned will not be successful. He called the Captain of the restaurant many times, to ensure the Captain knew his plan and work well with him..His mind was spinning during the dinner, thinking what should he say when he knelt down, did the Captain slot in the card into the dessert? Will she discover the card? etc..but thank God, everything is just so perfect! Well, another great job done by Mr Dak Dak Dei..(DDD, his nickname)

Mark also explained to me how difficult it is to get a diamond ring. He actually surf the internet for information, did a research on diamonds, and visited more than 10 jewellery shops before settling down with Diamond & Platinum. He wanted to ensure he got the right ring and the best ring..and he did..He also showed me how to appreciate the diamond ring, in terms of the 4 Cs-Colour, Cutting, Clarity & Carat..Now he is an expert on diamonds..as I always say, being an engineer himself, he always ensure everything he does, is perfectly planned, with 0% failing rate!

We are really thankful to our God, for putting us together, for all the happy moments from the past 1 year. There is still a long journey ahead of us, especially in planning our wedding..may the Lord our God continue to be our shepherd..guiding us through!

To all of you, thank you for sharing our joy!

 

You may click here for more stories.

 

Our story

(Today, 28.2.14, Hubby & I celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. And I went to browse our wedding website and thought I should "export" the stories to my personal blog!)

 

Once upon a time...

There were 2 singles - a most eligible bachelor, and an evenly eligible bachelorette. They didn't know who their significant other would be, but they're searching... Finally, on 1st July, 2006, Saturday, at the (now historical) Fruity Cake House in Taman Chi Liung, Klang, they met up with each other. It was not coincidental; it was actually an arranged lunch appointment, 相亲 (in mandarin), initiated by Mark's church members, with special permission from Ai Leng's Mom.

~*~*~*~*~

AI LENG says:
On one fine day, Auntie Lay Leng called me and asked whether I'd be free for lunch. She wanted to introduce me to a guy from her church. When I was being informed about this meeting, I did not think twice and agreed to go because there is always no harm in meeting new people :)

On that day, I went to the restaurant right after work. When I reached the restaurant, I couldn't see them there. I thought I was early so I sat at a table near to the entrance and was actually quite nervous. 10 minutes later, I could see Auntie Lay Leng, approaching the restaurant, with a middle-aged man (later I knew that Uncle Chee Beng is the Elder of Mark's church) and a young man. He looked like a Mr Nice Guy, properly dressed up.

Then, after the brief introduction by Auntie Lay Leng, we ordered lunch and started to chat. Initially, all 4 of us were chatting together, but Uncle Chee Beng & Auntie Lay Leng slowly pulled out from the 4-way chat and left both of us to chat on our own. I remembered we were chatting about ourselves-from family background, education, hobbies, work & World Cup during that time. Then, I got to know he is from Klang as well, staying in Berkeley but working in Kulim, Kedah. (I had no idea where is Kulim previously!) Actually, I was already thinking, what if we both ended up in a relationship, but he is not in Klang all the time, it might be a problem here. But I am really grateful to God for everything He has prepared for me, for blessing me with a lovely life partner. Our God will always provide the best for His children.

2 weeks after the meetup, Mark SMS'ed me, asking for my MSN Messenger ID. Thanks to the technology advancement, though we were far apart from each other, both of us chatted regularly during the night, and also sometimes during office hours. I wanted to chat with him, to get to know him better, in terms of his character, personality, interests, thinking etc, to see whether we both actually can 'click' together.

Our relationship continued to blossom. We met up several times, during his weekend trip back in Klang. We got to know each other deeper and that is where the seeds of love started to grow!

~*~*~*~*~

MARK says:
I was first informed about the possibility of meeting up with Ai Leng during a church retreat in Frasier's Hill earlier in 2006. It all started off with a casual chat between myself, Uncle Chee Beng, and Auntie Lay Leng (FYI, they're both well respected and loved members of my church - Klang Gospel Hall). As usual, I was complaining about my singlehood, and how challenging it was nowadays to find a good Christian lady who's compatible. Somewhere along the conversation, Auntie Lay Leng mentioned about her ex-baby sitter's daughter who's still single, and she's trying to introduce someone suitable to her. Naturally, she looked at me - I just smiled, and said I'm open to meeting new people. Thereafter, I didn't think much about it, and went on with my single's life.

Couple months later, much to my surprise, Auntie Lay Leng called me and asked if I'd be free on a Saturday. She wanted to introduce me to her ex-baby sitter's daughter. Being the sporting person that I am, I agreed without much hesitation.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect, and there are at least a thousand things going through my mind during the days leading towards the meeting - "How would she look like", "Would we 'click'", "Would we progress to the next level", "What are we to talk about", "Do we have common interests", "Would I be willing to give it a try if we somehow 'clicked'", etc.

On that day, the moment I entered the restaurant with Uncle Chee Beng and Auntie Lay Leng, my eyes were frantically searching the restaurant, eager to see who this lady that I was supposed to meet. There she was, sitting alone at a table, waiting patiently for us (we're actually running late that day, 'paiseh' to say), in her blue jeans and T-shirt. I thought to myself, she looked like a nice Christian lady, hopefully we'd be able to have a nice conversation later, else time would pass by in an agonizingly slow pace.

Thank God, we're able to start our conversation by finding out what each other was doing, our interests, World Cup, visits to Doulos ship (a Christian managed ship that goes around the world doing missionary works and selling books), etc. I found out that she's faithful in serving and holds many leadership positions in her Church - which is good, but I did feel a little intimidated as I wasn't serving as actively as I should've been. =P

What captivated me throughout the whole conversation was her sweet and gentle voice, though she did seem a little serious (come to think of it, I think it was probably just my own perception, because I knew that she's an active leader in church, and as such, I thought she had to be some "iron lady" who's strict, serious, and direct - guess this is what we would refer to as being bias, or looking at people through our own paradigm).

The whole meeting lasted for about 1.5 hours, we couldn't prolong it because she had to attend a church meeting. I remembered that throughout the meeting, she'd received at least 2 phone calls - this helped convinced me even more that she's an "iron lady" who's very busy with life.

Nonetheless, I thank God for giving me the courage and guidance to SMS her after the meeting to ask for her MSN ID so that I could get to know her better. I always thought that I could get to know someone better by chatting with them over a period of time. I'm really glad that I did that, because through the many hours that we chatted, I got to know her much better personally, and my perception of her being an "iron lady" was slowly dissolved.

I remembered that one night, I spent about 5 hours reading her blog, starting from the most recent entry and going back as far as 1.5 years. From the hours I spent reading her blog, I felt like I've traveled through time and got to know her in person - the things that had happened to her, her thoughts, her personality, her character, and many more. That experience really helped pull me closer to her (I may not have realized that then, but come to think of it, that's really a key turning point in our relationship).

We continued to keep in touch with one another for several months through internet chats, snail mails, cards, phone calls, face to face meetings, etc. And they say, the rest is history...

~*~*~*~*~

After about 7 months of friendship, Mark decided to confess his love for Ai Leng on 31st January, 2007 (Wednesday), and they officially became a couple. The story continues...

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

This is our 6th Valentine's Day..And on every Valentine's Day, hubby always give me a pleasant surprise and memorable day!

This morning, as I walked down the staircase, my eyes were caught by a pink rose, placed on the table,  together with a love letter..I was smiling from the bottom of my heart..one rose and a love letter are enough to melt my heart.. (yesterday, Hubby was saying that he didn't know of any florist in Kulim..apparently he asked his badminton 'kaki's and managed to get a rose for me)..actually each year, I always tell him not to buy flower for me coz 1. it's expensive & 2. flower won't last long..but to him, flower is a MUST on Valentine's and he promised me that he will get me a rose, at least, for each Valentine's; and will keep that promise for the years to come!

My memories for the past Valentine's:-

Year 2007 - our 1st Valentine's, I was surprised by 11 roses, delivered to my office..then, at night, he surprised me by traveling down from Kulim (4 hours journey) and took me for a Valentine's dinner at Sheraton Hotel, Subang Jaya..he traveled back to Kulim after dinner (another 4 hours  journey!)..he said, this was our 1st Valentine's and he wanted to make it special and memorable! Read more here & there
  

Year 2008 - Mark personally gave me the 18 roses on this special day, as it was 8th day of CNY and he was in Klang..we went for dinner and movie on that day..People always say, it is not worthwhile to buy flowers during Valentines..it is a waste of money..imagine, RM10 per roses!!!! Of course both of us knew that..however, I guessed sometimes it is not the money that matters..but the meaning behind that..Read more here

Year 2009 - We were married on this year, 28.2.2009..hence, we didn't really celebrate Valentine's that year..but Mark never failed to give me roses on this special day..If not mistaken, he gave me 3 roses and a pendant, he bought it in India years back.

Year 2010 - 1st Valentine's after marriage..guessed things changed once you got married..Valentine's is just a normal day, hehe..as usual, Mark gave me one rose to make me happy..lol

Year 2011 - This was the first time we couldn't celebrate Valentine's together as Mark was in US for business purpose..I didn't expect to receive flower until he asked his buddy, to help him bought two roses and delivered to my house. (was at my mum's house) SURPRISE!

Two weeks later, we will be celebrating our wedding anniversary..I just love February!