Ian's 4th Birthday

Abigail's 5th Birthday Celebration

11.12.14 (Thurs)

Last Sat (6/12), we organised a mini thanksgiving lunch to celebrate Abby's upcoming 5th birthday. We only invited three families to join us. Unfortunately, one of the family couldn't make it. Nonetheless, we thanked God for a good fellowship with our guests.

Abby knew about this thanksgiving lunch few weeks ago and she was really excited about it. She even made a mark on her calendar on the important event and counting down each day.

On Fri (5/12), I started preparing some of the things for the party, especially baking her birthday cake. This year, I decided to bake her a Barbie doll cake. I googled some ideas on youtube and hopefully with my baking skills, I am able to bake the cake. Besides the Barbie doll cake, I also baked some carrot walnut cake in muffin cup and also the cake in the egg shell. You may click here for the Barbie doll cake recipe.

Then, on Sat itself, I woke up around 6am for another round of cooking  marathon.  I have prepared:
Fried meehun

Rice with salmon fish, green peas and egg

Japanese curry chicken

Chicken mushroom soup

Mixed vegetables

Thanked God that it rained in the morning and stopped before the guests arrived. We had a good time chatting with each other, laughing together over silly jokes and the kids, happily playing around the house. Food were too much to finish. 

Highlight of the day - the Barbie doll cake. Glad that the cake turned out to be beautiful and I was proud of myself. Abby liked the cake very much. In fact, after blowing the candle, I put back the cake into the fridge so that I can admired my 'masterpiece' a lil longer before 'crashing' it! Haha.

Abby received some presents. We told her to open the presents on her actual birth date and she agreed. 

On 12.12.14, we had another birthday party for Abby - just the 4 of us. I baked a mini rainbow cake for her and Ian sang a lovely birthday song for JieJie. Finally, Abby can unwrap all her presents!

 

Hubby's 35th Birthday

26.11.14 (Wed)

Today is my Hubby's 35th birthday! As always, I will bake a cake for him. This year, I baked a Mango Cheese Cake with a layer of sponge cake inside and lots of sweet juicy mangoes cubes. (It's mango season now) Glad that the cake turned out to be yummy and nice. 

Abby & Ian gave PaPa a box of Guylian chocolate. We bought it few weeks ago.
Me: Abby, what do you want to give PaPa for birthday?
Abby: Hmm..chocolate?
Me: Do you have money to buy?
Abby: I can use my money in my piggy bank.

So, we bought the box of chocolate and kept it in a secret place. I reminded Abby to keep it as a secret and do not reveal to PaPa. But you know kids, they can't keep secret well. Haha...
Abby: PaPa, I bought a present for you!
Hubby: Oh, that's so sweet of you. What is it?
Abby: I can't tell you. It's a secret!

But that was one day Abby accidentally revealed out the answer over the dinner and Hubby heard it. Hubby pretended that he didn't hear what she said coz he knew, she will burst into tears if he found out what the present was.

So today when Abby handed him the present, he acted so happy and surprise. So funny! I gave Hubby a massage voucher - neck, shoulder and foot massage. (coz I knew I am not good at massaging) Then, we sang birthday song and cut the cake. I specially prepared one cupcake each for Abby & Ian, with candle on it. So that they won't fight with Hubby when blowing candle.

Later in the noon, we brought the kids to the dentist for check up. (subsidized by the government). The doctor praised them for having beautiful and healthy tooth and gave them each a toothbrush as reward. Ian was very brave until he saw the doctor taking his tool, he burst into tears. Ian thought the doctor was going to do something to his teeth and he was scared. Actually, the doctor wanted to apply some fluoride onto his teeth for strengthening purposes.

After the check up, we went to visit a friend. Then went to Hakataya for dinner because Hubby got a free bowl of noodle on his birthday! However, we missed out the free Boost juice as the shop was closed when we went there! Gotta wait for another year then!

And today Abby received her birthday present from 阿姨, ie my sister. Earlier, I asked my sis to help buy the Mr Men Little Miss toys from Mcd and she was very thoughtful to ship it over. (initially I told her we will go back and collect next CNY) Abby was very happy and excited.

Next event will be Abby's 5th birthday in about 2 weeks time. I plan to bake a special cake for her and have 2 celebrations, one at home and the other in Sunday School. Looking forward!

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...

2014 Chinese New Year - Year of Horse

29.1.14 (Wed)

This year CNY, we went back to Klang one day earlier. (Usually we go back on the CNY eve) Since we were traveling from North to South, hence, we had no problem with facing traffic jam as we were against the traffic. We reached Klang around 6.30pm. After unloading all the stuffs, we quickly washed up and ready to go for a family dinner (my side of relatives) - first CNY meal!

30.1.14 (Thurs) CNY eve

I considered myself a lucky daughter in-law, as I was not required to help my mum in-law (MIL) to cook CNY reunion dishes..but of course, I will help out as and when is needed..so Hubby, the kids and I went for karaoke session with my sister and cousin..It has been a year+ since I last sang in the karaoke..we all had fun and Abby got to sing some of her favorite songs too..(Frozen "Let it go", 我的歌声里 by Wanting Qu, "BFF" by 颜慧萍&赵洁莹 )

At night, we enjoyed our reunion dinner. My MIL was a good cook..Although this year she didn't prepare much dishes (only 4 adults 2 kids), but we still have problem finishing all the dishes..After dinner, the kids had fun playing fire crackers with Hubby and GrandPa.

31.1.14 (Fri) CNY Day 1

Happy Chinese New Year - The Year of Horse 马力全开庆丰年! As usual, on the first day of CNY, we will 拜年 with our parents/in-laws. I was happy that every year, I got Angpow from my father in-law (FIL) and my mum. But this year, I was even happier coz Hubby gave me a BIG Angpow which I didn't exect him to do so..Muaks!

Then, we went to Klang Chinese Methodist Church to attend the CNY service. Everyone dressed up nicely in church. I got to meet some of my "old" church friends too.

After church, we went over to my Aunt's house for CNY open house. This year, the house was pretty crowded as my Uncle and his family came back from Melb to celeb CNY. And, there were 4 toddlers and 3 babies in the house too! Very happening and joyful! We also went to Uncle Chee Beng's mum's house too!

Abby & Ian had a fruitful day, and thank God, number of Angpows collected on the first day was pretty good!

1.2.14 (Sat) CNY Day 2

Every year on the CNY Day 2, we always go to Kapar area to visit Mark's relatives. This year, only we (4 of us) accompanied my FIL for visitation. We managed to go to 3 houses before returning home to meet up with Mark's sister and family from Kulim.

Later in the noon, we went to Mark's baby sitter's house. They were already in their late 80s but both were very healthy and strong. They used to babysit Mark and sisters when they were young. So every year during CNY, Mark will definitely pay them a visit.

Dinner at home tonight.

2.2.14 (Sun) CNY Day 3

It's Sunday, which meant we went to church again for service. This time, we went to SAGA to meet up with Mark's church members whom we haven't seen for couple of months!  Abby and Ian got some Angpows in church too.

Next, we went to Mark's ex-schoolmate's house in Eng Ann, another must-visit friend each year. Usually we spent an hour+ at her house, catching up with each other stories.

Thereafter, we went over to my mum's house, coz there were guests there that we knew too. We had a good fellowship with one another. Around 3pm+, we droved to KL Cheras to visit my relatives before heading for dinner in KL as well. 

Today was a busy day coz we were out from the house since 9am, and all the way to 10pm++. Glad that Abby & Ian didn't make much noise and were enjoying themselves.

3.2.14 (Mon) CNY Day 4

Today was an easy day..didn't really make any visitation plan. But, we visited Mark's aunt and spent 3 hrs there.

At night, I went out with my sister for dinner and also watched the MUST WATCHED CNY movie - The Journey. This was a local Msian movie and it was good.

4.2.14 (Tues) CNY Day 5

Today we went to three houses - Damansara Damai (EW's hse), Kajang (CS's hse) and Klang. It was our first time visiting EW & CS new house..We had a great time catching up with one another.. 

After dinner at home, together with my FIL, we went to watch Robocop. Initially Hubby wanted to watch The Monkey King but from all the comments we read on Facebook, it was a lousy movie. Not sure how true was it.

5.2.14 (Wed) CNY Day 6

Another rest and relax day. I suggested that we should have Baskin Robbins since it was BR Pink Day..and Hubby agreed. The kids were so happy. I was telling my Hubby..it was such a privilege being a child, no worries, no tensions etc..Hubby corrected me, it should be - being a child in a loving family is much more privilege.. :)

During noon time, Hubby's ex-classmates came to visit him.

At night, we had dinner at my mum's place before going to visit Hubby's ex-teacher in Botanic Garden.

And, I was not feeling too well after the dinner..Just ME and I don't know why. I vomited basically all my dinner and had diarrhea. Gosh!

6.2.14 (Thurs) CNY Day 7

Today, we went to Morib to visit Hubby's relative. It was Hubby's idea to go Morib coz he felt we should visit his uncle again to pay respect. (We were there 5 yrs ago to invite him to our wedding dinner)

Since we were already at Morib, we traveled further up to Tanjung Sepat for lunch. I wasn't feeling well but thank God, I still have the energy to meet up with my church friend at night for yumcha session. And what a small world, I bumped into my ex-collegemate whom I haven't seen for more than 6 yrs+ (I think)..it was great!

7.2.14 (Fri) CNY Day 8

I requested Hubby to go shopping today. We went to MidValley and The Gardens. Luckily, the traffic was quite smooth. And we had chance to see the Lion Dance performance in the mall. When Ian saw the Lion Dance, he shouted, " Mummy, looked! Dinosaur!" Funny boy! We also met a church friend from Butterworth in MidValley..oh wow..what an unexpected bumped-into..The CNY decorations at The Gardens was very nice!

After shopping, we went to visit my cousin at Kelana Jaya before heading home. At night, my friend, Rita and family came to visit us.

8.2.14 (Sat) CNY Day 9 - Traveled back to Kulim and house cleaning.

9.2.14 (Sun) CNY Day 10

Today, we didn't go church. Instead, both of us went to the JPJ to renew our driving licence. We managed to do so after 1.5hrs of waiting but glad that we got our new licence.

At night, we went to our church friends' daughter fullmoon party.

10.2.14 - 12.2.14 (Mon-Wed) CNY Day 11-13

Back to normal days

13.2.14 (Thurs) CNY Day 14

At night, we went to Hubby's friend's house for dinner and also chit chatting. After that, we went to a florist shop to buy rose. Initially hubby wanted to go alone and surprised me the next day. But since we were out together tonight, so he couldn't do so. Haha..and this round, he bought 2 roses, one for me and one for Abby..Abby was so happy!

14.2.14 (Fri) CNY Day 15

Today was the last day of CNY and also Valentine's Day. (it happened once in every 19 yrs)

We went to Hubby's sister's house for steamboat dinner. I also baked a heart shaped strawberry cake to celebrate Valentine's day. The children were having fun.

For this year CNY, we enjoyed ourselves very much. We managed to visit lots of our relatives and friends. And this year Angpows collections hit a higher record! Hubby also said, he has been driving from CNY eve to Day 9!! Looking forward to next year CNY!

Abby's 4th Birthday

16.12.13 (Mon)

4 days ago, Abby celebrated her 4th birthday. This year, she had four birthday celebrations and blown 4 cakes! As a baker, I baked her 40 cupcakes (for bday celebration in Sunday School) and 2 cakes (for Kindy & home bday celebration)

 

We were back in Klang on 27/11-30/11. So happened on 28/11 was Abby's lunar's birthday so we had one celebration for her, with her grandma, grand aunt, aunt & my cousin. We had dinner at Klang Club and my aunt, ie her grand aunt, bought her a strawberry cake. Abby was so happy to blow her first cake of the year and she was so thoughtful to ask Ian, to cut the cake together with her..so sweet!

Next, her birthday celebration in Sunday School on 8/12. Because it was school holidays, many children were away for holiday, so instead of baking a cake, I baked cupcakes. (easier to eat, and not much cleaning up after that) I went to the bakery shop and bought the princess "sticker", to place on top of the cupcake. And the cupcakes turned out to be so cute, the children liked it! Abby also helped to pack her own goodies bags the day before and she was so excited. Abby received some presents from her friends.

On her actual day, 12/12, she had two birthday celebrations, one in school and the other at home. I baked two cakes - fruit cake & strawberry yoghurt cake. I was very happy with both cakes, especially trying out the mini santa claus using strawberry and whipping cream.

I brought the cake and goodies bags to her school around 10am, during their snack time. I took out the "Birthday girl" shirt that hubby bought in US 4 years ago and surprisingly, Abby could still wear it. And, she wanted to wear her princess crown to school.
Abby: Mummy, I want to wear my princess crown to school.
Me: Why?
Abby: So that my friends know I am a Princess!

Her School Principal was very thoughtful that she asked the kitchen lady to prepare birthday "red eggs" for Abby's party. Everyone was happy especially Abby.

At night, we invited Hubby's sister and family over for simple dinner. After dinner, it was time for cake cutting, Abby's last birthday celebration. Ian also wanted to blow the candles and cut the cake with Abby. Abby received two big presents tonight, all were her favourite toys!

Finally, all celebrations were over and Mummy get to rest. Happy Birthday my dear Princess Abigail.