Married Life

Many people whom I have met have been asking me "How's married life?" My standard reply would be "Like that lor, busy". Both of us hold demanding jobs which requires us to work overtime and over the weekend. We dedicate almost the entire day of the weekend to doing housework, and go back to our parents' place for dinner every weekend, one day each. Whatever free time was spent on working for me, and working or reading engineering books for him. This left us no time to date when we used to - exploring new places, new eateries. I can't even recall when we last caught a movie together.

But upon deeper reflection of how we have come for 2 years after marriage, my answer now is "It's not easy".

It's not easy for 2 persons with different living habits to stay together, and see each other every day. For me especially, I begun to take him for granted very soon. I soon forgot the reasons why I married him and chose to spend the rest of my life with him.

I began to lose sight of myself and of who I used to be. Slowly, I morphed into another person whom I wasn't before - naggy, irritable, picky, someone much worser than my already bad character.

I became self-absorbed, much ironic as it may seem, that we are seeing each other every day. But that's precisely the case that I became to turn a blind eye from seeing the goodness in him. Every little actions that I couldn't see eye to eye to disturbed me.

Such damages to the heart and soul are permanent. And by the time you have realised it, which is usually after a big fight, it would be too late.

Much as you would like to reverse the time, the damage has been done, the soul beaten.

There's a saying that goes "time will heal all wounds". Or will it? Only time can tell.

In the meantime, I can only constantly remind myself to be a bigger and better me, and put aside more time for such important self-reflections so that I can ever be so often reminded, like today, the reason why I got married, and how I should view myself as us instead of me, myself and I.

PR Agency to Avoid

I know I haven't been writing for a long time since my Goddess has moved out of the house. There's just so much to update - the Taiwan trip which happened early this year (it's already July now!!), the Europe trip aka 2nd Honeymoon just in May/June. I promise I'll write something on them.

But today is a warning post to all PR people out there - do not engage the agency P***PR. (not the full length of the agency name).

The experience with one of the staff was horrible. As a Director, she's not living up to her title.

1. She's totally insistent on her first proposed theme even though we had the campaign changed entirely and the originally proposed theme is no longer relevant.

2. She doesn't communicate with her team or check her emails. Even when she's in the copy, she will still call you and ask about things that you have already communicated in the email to her team member.

3. She's clueless about the correct name of your products and creates her own names when writing to media/bloggers.

4. She forwards requests from media to us late, if not, never at all.

5. During the event day, she turns up at the same time when all the guests come in, like she's the guest!

Path to a HDB Tai-tai: Fans & Song Cho

I know I haven't been blogging much about my Goddess and the Horny Devil's home and their renovations. That's not because the reno is done and they have happily shifted in. They are actually far from it!

That's the problem with getting your contacts in for the reno at a friendship price - you can't rush or 'gan' (aka scold) them when things are delayed or not done properly.

They are now at the carpentry stage. The carpenter is their FIL's contact and from Malaysia. And so you can imagine the 'bargain price' that they get for the massive amount of carpentry work. But I'll save this for another post when all the carpentry works are done. Anyway, a 2-weeks job took them almost a month now, either because laminates are OOS, the cupboards not done according to their FIL's design and need rectifications, or the workers need to rush other projects elsewhere in Malaysia.

After a 2-weeks halt and not doing any reno works over the weekend, they finally managed to arrange for something this Sat - the installations of fans.

The Horny Devil is a big fan of ceiling fans as he grew up from a family that uses ceiling fans. To him, ceiling fans create maximum air flow around the house with minimum obstruction as compared to standing fans. But to my Goddess who never grew up with such an item in the house, she views ceiling fans as a visual obstruction to the whole house, making it look smaller.

And so, the two of them compromised - the house will have ceiling fans, but provided the designs are something chosen by my Goddess. And to add on to the problem, their fans need to have lights that match with their intended Scandinavian theme since there isn't much lights in the house, especially in the rooms.

And my Goddess' criteria - white, slim and with simple lights. To try to get cheap and good bargains, they went in to JB to search for the fans. In total, they went in about 3 times to look but my Goddess found nothing that caught her eye. They were either too big for the house, if not too fat and bulky looking. Malaysia is especially popular with KDK fans which according to my Goddess, have a 'fat' neck. Also, they can't customise lights with the fans that have remote control functions.

So in the end, my Goddess combed through Bukit Merah (opposite Queensway Shopping Centre) and almost the whole stretch of Balestier Road in search of the ideal fans. And she found such designs in Crestar and Fanco. And only in Singapore are they able to find such small fans of 42".

And the installations begin! 

Take a Leap of Faith

The Horny Devil once made a very meaningful analogy.

Life is like taking a bus. You flagged it down, knowing that it will bring you to where you want to go. But along the way, the bus may break down. When that happens, you just have to get down and take another bus to your destination. The alternative route may be longer and bumpier.

But given another chance another day, you will still take the same bus if you are going to the same destination, knowing very well that the bus may break down on you again.

Atrocious Service at MPH

Didn't want to write about this initially, but MPH's lousy service is really driving my Goddess up the wall.

A while back. My Goddess wanted to buy a book for the Horny Devil, but wasn't sure if they carry it in their stores. So she found their Raffles City outlet number online and wanted to call and check first so that she won't make a wasted trip.

And so she called for 15 minutes and no one picked up. Her mobile phone was on auto-redial mode, so there was no moment in which she stopped dialing and the phone stopped ringing. She was irritated after 15 minutes, and so she stopped the auto-redial for 1 minute before trying to call again. And when she called this time, the phone line was dead.

Irritated, she travelled to the store. And she went to the counter to check on the book and found the phone hung up at the counter!

Why does others' permed short hair look so chic but mine looks like shit?

So in love with this Korean fashion blogger from NYC. She's got so much style - all her get-up looks so good! Plus she's Asian, so I could relate to her better and picture myself in the items she's wearing and learn from her style!

For more pictures of her blog, read here.

Anyway, Ms Pouty had her hair cut and perm recently. She looked damn chic and good no matter how messy the wind may blow it. It was so inspiring to my Goddess.

One year as Mrs Koo in the Making

It's going to my Goddess and the Horny Devil's first wedding anniversary soon!! How time flies! This also means that my Goddess has had short hair for a year - time for a change!

My Goddess can never stay in one hair style for long, she will either change her colour or the texture (straight or perm) or her hair length in one point of her life or another.

So to mark her one year as Mrs Koo, my Goddess has decided to change her look, first beginning with a different hair colour!

Instead of the usual havoc brown after so many years since uni, she went for the traditional black-brown, which is almost black if you see her indoors. 

Anyway, this was done at Exchange Hair Plus at Plaza Singapura. She bought the voucher from GroupOn since the location is near her office and it's cheap, $45 for colour + cut + blow. Luckily the hairstylist didn't take a close look at her voucher and swapped her cut for treatment. I'm sure the cut will turn out disastrous given the 'treatment' she was given.

First, upon reaching the place, she was asked to do a Lucky Dip. She picked up some $400 off hair treatment. 

New Glasses

My Goddess has long wanted to change her specs since she has been having this pair for the longest time - as long as she has been with the Horny Devil or even longer! However each time she would remind herself that she hardly wears them out, her old pair is still working, why waste the money.

And the opportunity finally came one morning, when she woke up to find this! She has the habit of placing her specs on their queen-sized bed at night before she sleeps and has been doing so for the past almost one year, and nothing has happened.

If you still can't figure out what's wrong with the specs, look closer.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

A new year always brings about a new hope. You may consider this a self-deceit or positivism but many like my Goddess like to make use of this opportunity to make some changes to their lives, be it a new haircut, a new wardrobe, so as to start the new year on a literally fresh note. Whether things will change for the better? Only time will tell.

And me & my Goddess' wishes for the new year? That we can 随心所欲!

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My Life Begins Today

A year is almost gone. It's been a really crazy year for my Goddess with loads of ups and downs - getting hitched, switching jobs - worse than the Battlestar Galatica Cyclon ride! Think the only thing that is keeping her sane now is positivity. And this song by Bruno Mars really helped a lot! She's like listening to it a few time every day now to get her daily dose of positivism to keep on going!

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Peace & Quiet

It's been a week since they've left. It's been a long time since we had full freedom and privacy in our own house, more than one year in fact. The house is clean and quiet once more!

Time after Time

It was supposed to be today. The day that my Goddess and I were waiting was supposed to be today. But the day never came. We will have to wait another month. And I am doubting if that month will again turn into many more months. Just like what we were told a year ago that it will only be a month, just bear with it.

So we waited. One month turned into a few months. And we waited. A few months soon became a year. And we waited.

And the day hasn't come.

Boring Long Weekend

This weekend was supposed to be exciting for my Goddess. Her family wanted to go Bkk for a short getaway.

Unfortunately the flights were mostly booked and they had to postpone the idea.

So they tweaked their holiday getaway to a 3day Malaysia Cameron Highlands trip. But the car was used and they had to go rent a car instead.

Then comes an even worse news - three walkers at the cafe refused to work on Sunday. So my Goddess' parents had to go back to work on Sunday, which means no more stayover trip.

And the ultimatum - cars cannot be rented for 1 day only. And so the parents will take public transport over. Why must life be so 狼狈 for them? Live in big house, own 2 businesses and 3 vehicles but have to take bus and queue the super long holiday queue with everyone else?

No more holiday for my Goddess and the Horny Devil is mad at her. What a great start to the long weekend!!

So this is birthday

Do you remember the song 'So this is Christmas'? Well, I'm singing it in the version of 'So this is my Birthday'.

So this is my birthday
And what have I done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
So this is my birthday
And did I have fun?
With more responsibilities
And problems just begun

The Disapointment from Promises

What happened to "The case will settle in November. They will sell their house, find their own appartment and move away"?

What happened to these words?

Where have they all gone?

Why are they still here?

What can I look forward to?

Another promise that cannot be fulfilled? Another hope that is only false?

Do not promise something that you cannot fulfill. Do not give any false hopes. You may think that you are giving someone reassurance and optimism, you are only bringing more disappointment and misery when that promise never comes.

Do not promise if you cannot fulfill it. Do not even breathe a word if you are uncertain.

No Place to Call My Own

I think age is catching up on me. I am so not active now. I have problems standing on my two hind legs. This morning, I thought I could not walk anymore and was left barking in my mom's room alone. And because of this, my Goddess feels very sad for me even though she has enough problems of her own.

And adding to both our problems, the rubbish in my home which my Dad has picked up, is sent back to my home again. We thought we can have some peace and quiet for at least a week.

Our whole house is stinking now. Can I even call it 'our house'? It seems to be a communal rubbish dump now. When will the rubbish be cleared? Or will it ever be?

A Break in Between the Stories of My Life

This is a super overdue post. When you scroll down and realise the number of pictures, you will understand why it's overdue.

Anyway, my Goddess went on a short trip to Penang from 26 to 28 Jul. Thanks to the Horny Devil who made the suggestion, my Goddess would never have thought of taking good, fun break before another few years of logging away.

Why Penang, you may ask.

The last two getaways that they had were at beach resorts - one at Batam and one at Bintan. They have figured out that they were not a resort kind of person as they were real bored from the two trips. So a city it shall be. My Goddess was craving for Peranakan food, and it has got to be somewhere near and cheap for they only have a few days to travel. So it was a tie between Malacca and Penang. My Goddess has been to Malacca before so they decided to explore Penang together.

Excited, all raving to go!

They left on a Sunday as the air tix were much cheaper. The flight in total, without taxes cost them $20 each!

So hungry he could eat a cow!

Terminal 3 had very little choices of breakfast. So they ended up having mac breakfast.

And he thought he looked like Beckham

My Goddess and the Horny Devil has not been taking the plane for quite a while. Furthermore, all along, their liquid items like shower foam, facial cleanser etc. are all kept in the check-in luggage. As this time round they want to save money by not checking in, plus their bags are small and easy to carry, they opted for hands carry luggage, forgetting all about the restrictions in liquid on airplane ruling!

They were stopped at the baggage screening counter. Luckily the officer was nice enough to let them buy the little bottles to transfer the liquid. If not, there goes my Goddess' Bath & Body Works shower foam and her expensive makeup remover. And they will have to end up buying all their toiletries in Penang! Luckily too that some of her items are already in small packaging. The Horny Devil, on the other hand, had to have his name taken down for bringing in a pair of scissors. Terrorist!

They had to stand aside beside the rubbish bin transferring all their liquid items. Luckily too that they checked in early. So much for always getting into trouble for not doing 'homework' whenever they are at the airport.

And it cost a bloody $15 per pack!

Anyway, all the blunder has been thrown aside, and it is time to enjoy!

They reached Penang

Waiting for the bus to go to War Museum

On the bus

Will shopping in Happy Mart make one happy?

Waiting at the bus stop - like a blind man

The Horny Devil's very happy cos they created some confusion on the bus and in the end, they didn't have to pay for their tickets and saved $3

And they found the war Musuem via public transport!

Along the way, they saw cow dung and a dead snake.

The Horny Devil almost stepped on it!

And they finally reached the museum

And they had fun exploring the dark tunnels

The tunnel was 3 storeys high

Scary poster

The latrine

Cooking area

The bunks

And they thought the notice was written for fun - like how can there be bats in a tunnel of a shelter. And they were so wrong, there were indeed bats deep inside the tunnel and the both of them were so scared to proceed that they u-turned in the end.

Booby trap

They better believe this this time round

There was a well checkpoint at the bottom of the hill but it was too rocky and dangerous for my Goddess to climb down

An interesting tree

Exploring the museum again

The gallow that the Japanese dictator supposedly was executed at

There was a very interesting place that my Goddess didn't take picture of - it was the torture chamber. She didn't want to take anything that wasn't meant for her eyes.

On the bus back to their hotel

They had a bit of difficulty finding their hotel as it was a small hotel located in the middle of the street.

And they finally found it!

Inside the hotel, at the concierge

This is where they are staying

The boutique hotel that they were staying at, PP Island was very affordable. It costs only RM78 per night. There was aircon, an attached bathroom, flatscreen TV and a big comfy bed. Room service was also available. They only didn't have carpeted floor and complimentary breakfast, which was fine with them both as Penang has too much good and cheap food around that they won't take the free breakfast even if they have gotten one.

Inside the hotel room

The view from their room

A coconut shop not too far away from their hotel

A scary abandoned house opposite the bus stop. There were a lot of such scary houses around.

They headed to a famous eating place at Gurney Drive. There were a lot of yummy food to eat! *slurps*

And how can they be at Penang but not try their famous Penang Laksa?

An interesting fried chicken stall - McTucky Fried Chicken

They just couldn't stop trying the food at Gurney Drive until they were bloated. The food they tried in order were:

They decided to digest their food by shopping at the mall at Gurney Drive.

The mall is owned by Capitaland and it's super huge at 7 storeys. The top floor was a cinema that sold tickets at only RM10! They wanted to watch a movie there but unfortunately there weren't anymore seats and they were dead tired too.

And so without the movie, they headed back to the hawker centre to try the seafood that the Horny Devil was fascinated with and wanted to try earlier.

It's called 'ci luo' in Chinese due to its spikes and spiral shape

To eat it, you will have to take the stick and poke the meat out from its shell. The seafood was only boiled but it tasted especially sweet and tasty with the special chilli sauce.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the seawater being washed up and down the shore!

Having lots of difficulty with the shells with small meat

'Making use' of each other at the end of the night

The next morning, my Goddess thought she don't have to go work anymore but...

Breakfast at a dim sum below Red Rock Hotel, just beside PP Island

Look at the variety and quantity of food that the two of them are having!

All gone!

After breakfast, they walked over to the famous tau sa piah place in Penang - Ghee Hiang, which was not too far away from where they were staying.

Ghee Hiang not only has delicious handmade tau sa piah, it also sells aromatic white coffee!

Then, they headed to visit the famous temple Wat Chayamangkalaram, which has a big reclining buddha.

The reclining buddha at Thailand seems to be much bigger

Every side of the wall is intricately made of mini buddha images

And each door has a story to tell

And they popped across the road to the Burmese temple.

The Horny Devil has attained enlightment!

Praying for a happy marriage

After the temple visits, it is up to the Komtar, Penang's tallest building to take a look at Penang from high above.

Unfortunately, the dedicated viewing platform was closed for renovation. Fortunately, they could go up to Penang Tourism Board's office which is at a very high level to take a look. Luckily they went to Komtar on a weekday!

View from above

The Penang Tourism Board office was really nice! At that time, my Goddess secretly wished her office will be as nice as this, and her wishes came true!

Their discussion/dining area

My Goddess and the Horny Devil planned to visit George Town, the town with all the major historical buildings and clan houses.

They wanted to take a bus there, but ended up waiting for quite a while. A 'taxi' driver offered to drive them there instead, saying that it is lunch time now so the bus won't run till 2pm. I hope they certainly weren't duped.

(Taxi is written with inverted commas as it was not an official taxi but a car which the owner used it as a taxi.)

The famous St George's Church

And they visited the Penang Museum

Lunch at a hawker centre nearby

They walked past Fort Cornwallis

One of the Clan Houses

The famous House of Yeap Chor Ee Museum/ restuarant

Another clan house

Next stop, Pinang Peranakan Museum.

If you are a follower of the popular Channel 8 drama, "Little Nyonya", you would have realised this is one of the character, Chen Xi's house.

Yes, Little Nyonya was filmed here, no kidding

The main entrance

The oil lamp in the main living room

The door that separated the rest of the house from the living room, as Nyonyas were not supposed to meet the Babas, but peek from behind this door

The inside of the house, upon stepping out of the main living room. Recognised the staircase that Zhen Zhu will take and eavesdrop on Chen Xi?

In the Nyonya's living room in which they will play 'zhap ji ki'

Playing like a true Nyonya and Baba

The Peranakans has this culture to put two mirrors to face each other

Ancestral tablet stand

The place is so nice that there were 3 couples taking their pre-wedding shots there at that time

Dining table

Tok panjang table which has now been nicely decorated to cater to functions

Look at the glass stained doors!

Their cupboards are not put together by nails, but by fitting each other nicely together, which is why they never rust nor collapse

Food carrier that you bring along to the market with

A western vase made of bronze

The owner of the family






Jewellery won by the Nyona - buttons, necklaces, brooches and hair pins

More brooches


An old camera


Notice that this is not embroided by hand painted

A real tiger, or so the museum guide claims

'Wu Song da hu'

The Nyonya fashion

Their wardrobe, girls on the left and men on the right. It has transparent doors as the maids will plan the clothes for the owners what to wear for each day, and fold them onto each rack. The owner can also see clearer if their maids have been doing work, keeping their wardrobe neat

Their tiny bed as Peranakans were very small-sized back then

The mirror that can be shifted to fit the petite Nyonya's height

Beaded shoes

The bed during wedding

Wedding basin and 'tan pui'

Normal day wash basin and 'tan pui'

The servant's yard

Air-blown glassware

Wedding dress for the petite

Wedding gown

Cooking at the kitchen. The wok is really heavy and it doesn't cause food to burn even without oil as it is made of copper. The laddle is made of coconut so that it doesn't get hot with all the cooking.

Meal time!

The baby pram which has springs at the bottom so that it will serve as a rocking bed to rock the crying baby to sleep - such innovative inventions!

Moulds for cake making like the rice cake

Merlion shaped ones some more!

Having their tea break

Look at how intricately made this 3D art piece is

The beautiful chandelier lights

The guest room

Their bookshelf which is embedded inside the wall to save space, and looks nice too! Maybe my Goddesss' house should have this too.

A baby chair

Which can be turned into an adult's stool, literally!

The whole Peranakan Museum tour took really long - an hour plus. This was the last day that they will be spending in Penang and they really wanted to visit the Penang Hill. They were hoping that they can rush to Kek Lok Si Temple, near Penang Hill before 6pm by bus.

Clock Tower

Weld Quay

In the end, while they were figuring out what bus to take, they ended up being persuaded by another fake taxi to bring them there as it is far, and if they take the 'taxi', they may still make it to Kek Lok Si in time, as it was then the evening peak hour.

Kek Lok Si Temple

The temple was located on a hill top, and hence has a wonderful view too

Unfortunately they reached too late and they couldn't ride on the first inclined lift in Malaysia to see the Kuan Yin statue.

After Kek Lo Si, it was Penang Hill.

By a very cramped and pooly ventilated tram that doesn't have a passenger number limit.



They saw some crocodiles along the way

There were people living on the slopes of the steep hill

And they still haven't reached yet

Not yet

And finally, 30 minutes later..

There was an Indian temple..

a mosque..

and a scary abandoned building that has a 'do not enter sign'. Funny thing is there are houses behind this building. Now how do the people get home?

The pretty view from above

By then, my Goddess was stinking from one whole day of hot sun, and they still have to squeeze in back to the pram to get down to the bottom

A kid couldn't take it and had to wear a mask

The night view, taken while they are still on the pram

The first proper road crossing that they saw

The bus ride back to the hotel took very long. In the end, they were tired and famished. So they settled for a hawker centre near their hotel for dinner.

Penang Kway Teow

And claypot bak kut teh

Their bus tickets collected by the end of two days

The next morning

Last look at the street in Penang

Breakfast at this super crowded place which my Goddess and the Horny Devil came across the day before while walking to Ghee Hiang. It is apparently a very famous dim sum place, according to one of their Penang friends

They took a real taxi, this time round, to the airport. As the Snake temple was very near the airport, the driver kindly acceded to their request to stop by the Snake temple first before going to the airport.

A reptile gallery


Back to the airport

And this marks the end of their short getaway in Penang. Penang really had a lot of things to see, do and eat. It's a pity they didn't get to do the following:

1. Visit Batu Ferringhi night market

2. Catch a cheap movie

3. Do more shopping

4. Visit the toy museum

5. Finish exploring the whole of George Town

6. And eat the famous Nasi Kandar

Otherwise, they have visited almost all the must-visits and ate all the must-eats. If you don't believe, go check out their tourism website or check out 14 August My Paper.

Till then, chaos~