29 Dec 2006 – It’s another rainy off day. Actually I don’t mind them too much. Other than the fact that it’s not so great for photo-taking, I’d much rather rainy and cloudy weather, and just a few sunny days. Well, at least for now till May’07. Just yesterday, it was sunny and bright, not too hot in terms of temperature, nowhere near Sydney, but because there’s not much shade in a lot of places, just expanses of sand and sea, everything’s very glaring. I could hardly open my eyes. And ‘cos we are pretty much on the equator, the sun is quite direct and strong, and I’ve seen many a guest turn lobster-red. Haha, and at the spa, it’s pretty common for them to swap their hot-stone massages, heated wraps or scrubs for an “After Sun Soother”, which is a nice and cooling cucumber and aloe vera mask. So yup, this chick intends to shy away from the sun as much as possible, don’t want to be all chao-da for my wedding!

And just ‘cos it’s raining, it doesn’t mean I’m stuck indoors. In fact, one of the first things I did today was to go snorkeling!

Yay!!! Finally!!! And my god, it’s incredible! All I had to do was walk off the beach, and in waters no higher than my waist, I saw the most amazing variety of marine fishes ever! Even more amazing than the Great Barrier Reef previously in OZ, or any aquarium! Schools of them too! Swimming freely all around in their natural environment. It really is any snorkeller’s dream come true. And the best part, even though it was raining, the sea was still comfortably warm, average temperatures are around 28 degrees. I only had to wear my bikini, no wet suit required. And because the waters were less than a metre deep over a vast amount of space, it really is very safe too. Worse come to worse, if someone panics, just have to stand up. Haha!
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28 Dec 2006 — On X’mas day itself, the celebrations continued with a staff party hosted by Carsten, the GM, and his family. Apparently it’s a tradition they’ve kept up for the five years they’ve been on the island. So after work at around 8pm, all supervisors and management were all gathered at their place, starting the night with some Pol Roger bubbly and strawberries. Nice. *Hick*

The place was set up real prettily — outdoors in the garden, lots of fairy lights and paper lanterns, live music, sumptuous food with an open grill, and even their own personal Christmas tree!

I must admit I was pretty wary initially, the whole idea of these parties where you are expected to mingle and make inane conversations, pretending you’re having the time of your life when you’d much rather be back in your own room in bed, chatting to your hubby. But since I had no choice but to be there (it’s one of those events where a no-show is a real boo-boo… sekali bonus kena cut), I might as well try to enjoy myself. So yes, had myself a couple of glasses of champagne, indulged once again in the feast before me, had one too many desserts, and partook in jolly light-hearted exchanges.

I must say though that other than being all dressed up, people-wise, everyone’s pretty much the same as on usual days. Nobody seemed to be too out-of-character. Perhaps it has to do with working and living on an island, as opposed to a grey office block right smack in the middle of a concrete jungle. Seems like people have a more laid-back attitude in general, not to say that they’re not industrious when needs be, but that no one’s too uptight and stuffy on the whole. Well then again, I’ve only been here 10 days, I’m sure I still have TONS to discover about the island and its inhabitants! *wink wink* You know, I REALLY feel like a Survivor contestant, what was that? Outlast and outplay?
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26 Dec 2006 — Merry Christmas everyone! May your homes and hearts be filled with warm fuzzy love this holiday season!

Here’s us spa chicks with Carsten, our German GM.

I know I’m a day late, but there are 12 days to Chrissy, and my excuse, well, in the hospitality industry, public holidays don’t really mean that much ‘cos you’re still working. Having said that, I did experience the warmth of the season though. Yep, at first, with it being Christmas, and being far from family and friends, I did feel a pang of homesickness, and even had a little sob in the shower on Christmas eve. Wished I was with my Billie instead of a whole bunch of strangers. But as it turned out, rather than resisting it, I let myself go with the flow, and at the end, I can quite honestly say I did enjoy myself, and yes, the festivities passed most pleasantly. I remember going to bed last night with a feeling of contentment, content with the simplicity of the moment.
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22 Dec 06 — Yup, so having worked 5 long days (we work 10 hour days over here, 6 days a week), I’m having my first off day. So what’s there to do when you are stuck on an island? Actually, you might be surprised, there’s more than I originally thought. Ok, firstly, there’s the gym, which indeed I’ve already paid my first visit to today, aren’t I good?!! So in the gym, there are classes one can join, like yoga, pilates, tai chi, meditation, etc. Just have to pay token sum of about US$3 to the instructor. Then being in the Maldives, surrounded by the ocean, there’s the diving centre of course. So usually if I was to just follow the divers out on a diving excursion, it would only cost me about US$6 per trip, just for the equipment rental, yet another perk for us staff. However, I’m not certified yet, so I can’t go on open dives. I’ve wasted no time. Today I also went down to the Padi dive centre to book my name in for a discovery course. After that, I will have to take the theory, study some book and watch a video. Following which, I will start with the basic open diver course before moving on to the advance course. The basic certifies you to dive to a depth of 20m, and the advanced up to 30m. Aiyoh, can’t wait. Today Hiromi my roommate went on a dive and actually saw dolphins and whales siah! Alas for me, I’ll have to stick to snorkeling for the time being, but eh… mai xiao xiao, around these areas, even just snorkel also got TONS to see! Unfortunately today again cloudy and rainy weather, even poured for a while, so I put it off.
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17 Dec 2006 — After a harrowing flight on the seaplane, I finally arrived on the island yesterday. Was warmly greeted by Yukiko, the Jap consultant as well as members of the HR team. Sally, the current naturopath who I’ll be replacing also dropped by to say hello. Was quickly ushered to my room. When Sally leaves, I’ll take over her place in the 3-person room, but for the moment, I’m sharing one with Cynthia, Hiromi and Yukie. Hmm, accomodation was rather disappointing actually. Bunk beds with mattresses so thin you can feel the boards of the bed, wooden cupboards, no TV, no fridge, and horrors of horror, just found out today, we are expected to clean our own rooms! Yucks! I don’t mind cleaning my own space, but who wants to clean up after strangers?!! As it is, I’m still trying to accept the reality that I’ll be sharing my room with others, which I’m already finding out can be rather tricky. Hiromi and Yukie, being typical Japanese, are friendly enough, but Cynthia who I suspect is French, is rather strange. She’ll chat happily enough about the weather and her efforts to lose weight, yet the few times I tried to say goodnight, hello and morning to her, I was completely ignored. Like completely!?!! Oh well… this whole “getting to know you” shit is so tedious and tiresome, but what to do, I’m stuck on an island man, I better get used to it! On the whole, people seem friendly enough though. I just have to accept the fact that with some people, you just naturally clique, while others you don’t.
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15 Dec 2006 — The view was gorgeous that last night in Sydney. The picture above has not been manipulated in any way. I wanted to remember it just as it was. The moon shone big and bright, illuminating the earth and waters with its light. The sky was just slightly cloudy, and I loved the spooky effect it created. I only wish I could also have captured the cool summer night breeze. Nonetheless, it was perfect.

I was so sad to let go of that view, that bedroom. It’s a magical place. Just ask anyone who’s ever slept in there, Peiling, Weiling, Admund, Elbson, Adrian, my parents… I’m sure they’ll all agree. In fact, I was sad to let go of that house, that neighbourhood, Sydney and Australia itself. Never thought I’d say this, but indeed I have grown quite fond of the place, and have unknowingly become rather attached. Afterall, it has been our home for the last five and a half years. It has seen us through tough and gruelling times, and exactly because of those times, we now better appreciate the present which we have arduously carved out together. It has in many ways moulded us into the adults we are today, having given us our first real taste of freedom and the responsibilities that come with that.

Yes, as much as I whinge and gripe about it at times, I must admit that Australia has been very good to us. It had welcomed Billie and myself with open arms, provided us with education in areas that we both love, and ultimately even granted us both permanent residency status. It had in so many ways opened up our eyes and our world to things we had previously not encountered, and had we remained in Singapore, might still not have. There were those initial days where we both worked as cleaners at a clinic after opening hours, where Billie delivered Chinese takeaway, where we sold sarongs at the Glebe fleamarket, and I set up my own massage practice from home. Haha, then there were those off the beaten track adventures — full-moon party on a farm with a bunch of strangers (and no, it’s not the music and booze kind but rather the astrological signs and organic vegetarian food type), meditation in the mountains, sand-boarding in Port Stephens, ballooning in Cairns, swatting flies in Uluru, swimming in gorges, tunneling through coalmines, meeting Jose Carreras in person(!), chestnut and magic mushroom picking in the orchards, diving in the Great Barrier Reef and hugging a wombat in Victoria but to name a few. Wow, lots of memories indeed.

Of course, whilst not many, we have also made some very good friends like Clare, Hazel, Sumie, Amy, Kate, Mark, Satoko, Bill, Sean, Ivy, Alvin, Mich and for Wil, Raymond, Rudd and Nadia. And unlike kakis from back home who are typically Singaporeans, almost everyone from the list above is of a different nationality. In fact, I daresay that other than Antarctica, we’ve had friends spanning every continent. I used to think that Singapore was pretty cosmo, but coming to Sydney has really exposed us to a myriad of different cultures and peoples. Without sounding like some Miss Universe wannabe, I might add that it’s great, cause you really come to appreciate how colourful the world is, haha, especially with regards to food. 原来世界上还有这么多好吃的东西!

In big and small ways, I guess I have come to love downunder. And yep, it certainly wasn’t easy to pack up my bags and leave knowing it might well be the last time I’m there as a resident as opposed to a visitor. Sure I might return for a holiday someday, but it wouldn’t really be the same hey? That night, as William drove us around the city one last time, I couldn’t help but burst into tears several times, especially when we passed through places that triggered memories of our earliest days in Sydney. I knew I would miss the people, but geez… didn’t think I could also get so hung up on the place itself. I guess that’s a good sign.

But that was a week ago. Now I’m sitted at my desk in Bukit Batok, and yep, tonight’s also my last night here. In a few hours I’ll be headed to Maldives. I can’t say that I’m excited. Not really, not yet. But neither am I apprehensive. I feel kinda calm actually, albeit a bit irritated that I’ll be missing the repeat telecast of Sunday’s Star Awards, didn’t manage to catch the first run either. I don’t know, maybe this time I’m just a bit more cautious. Or perhaps I know I’m in for the long haul this time, so I’m just pacing myself. In any case, I’m ready. Bring it on… 141.

12 Dec 2006 — William left for the States this morning. It will be 145 days till I see him again. Over the years, it has become a habit for him to plant a kiss on my forehead at bedtime. Last night he planted 150 of them — one for every night that we’ll be apart, with some to spare. We were both reduced to a crumbling mess, tears flowing down each others’ shoulders. I want to learn to be strong, but when time comes to part, it is still hard. I will count down each of those days. For now, 145.

2 Dec 2006 — Cause it suddenly dawned on me that taking up the job in Maldives would mean I definitely won’t be back in Singapore till the beginning of May at the earliest (reminder: my wedding’s on 26 May), I flew into a mad frenzy with wedding preps. Yep, I’ve been uncharacteristically slacko about it. As I’ve said before, planning the wedding is turning out to be a monumental pain in the ass, and I’ve just been trying to put it off for as long as I can. William, needless to say, is more than happy not to have to lift a finger. There’s like a million and one things to prepare: cake design, ballroom decor, compile guest list, liase about gowns, favours, flowers, corsages, music, actual day photographer, videographer, etc, etc, etc. The list seems endless! Doesn’t help that I have to “remote control” the whole event either. And at least now, I still have broadband and cheap international calling rates. Who knows what’s gonna happen the moment I touch down on ulu dulu Maldivian soil?!? And of course, like all other girls, I crave the PERFECT wedding, one where every littlest tiny detail goes according to my infinitesimally meticulous plan which allows absolutely no room for mistakes. Hence, no wedding planner, can’t trust them. Hence endless painstaking, stress-raising, blood-boiling wedding-prep induced days and nights… As if that’s not enough of a strain on my blood pressure, there’s also my exodus to Maldives to wrestle with. ARGHHHHH!!!!!……….. Can’t. Breathe………

But enough of that depressing stuff. This was supposed to be a light entertaining blog, dunno how it turned into a major whinging session. Sorry folks.

So yes, as part of my research, I scoured through endless images of other couples’ weddings on Google and Flickr, and geez, some of the things that people come up with is nothing short of cra-zy, not to mention funny! So let down your hair, kick back your heels and take a moment to enjoy the Weird and Whimsical World of Wedding Cakes.

First, something a little tame…

Cute, very retro-chic!
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