I'm engaged! (with details this time)

I don't have a picture of the ring, nor can I take one right now because I don't have it on hand (pun not intended). It was too big so I took it to resize.

But I do have a pic of the box. (the box??? who cares about the box???)

Actually, the box is the power behind the shine. Impressive, but I was so busy looking at the LED light that I forgot to look into his eyes to make sure he was sincere.

To be thorough, the proposal story started a month ago. I was hyper on caffeine one night out with my boyfriend while he was looking uncharacteristically gloomy. I didn't ask him what's wrong because I was too busy being hyper. Finally, he revealed without me asking that he was anxious about getting me some sort of gift, which I quickly and easily deduced. He seemed surprised that I guessed it (oh come on, 'very expensive gift', 'don't know what style and type' gives it dead away).

Okay so I was kind of expecting it.

Then we went around looking at the rocks, because apparently, to a guy like him, jewelry was as mind boggling and exotic as shopping for lingerie.

Eventually, I refused to look at them, and told him he was on his own. (Meanwhile I was secretly in psychological turmoil at wondering when it's going to happen and getting ever so slightly disappointed after each weekend until I forgot about it a few weeks later.)

Precisely. He was waiting for me to forget about it.

My friends tried to organize a cruise outing over a weekend, but the event fell to pieces. We ended up deciding to use that time to come to my home and using the facilities in my clubhouse downstairs. That saturday, we played squash, pool and table tennis, eventually I went with some girls to steam in the sauna. Comfortable and happy, andrenaline and endorphins pumping through my blood, we returned to my house eventually to grab the rest of the crew to go eat, whom I thought was watching a movie or something. When I came upstairs, I was in shorts and t shirt (to be accurate, they were sweaty shorts and t shirt, because I forgot to bring a change of clothes). One of my friends intercepted me at the door, her head sticking out against a dark room.

I didn't have time to think because at that time my phone rang (another friend was coming up for dinner). When I got off the phone, she insisted that I had to be blindfolded because they were playing some sort of 'game'. (yeah right, I thought, it's a trick!) But once I sat down, still blindfolded, I knew somewhere in my heart that THIS MUST BE IT...!!!!!

I felt a presence in front of me and he started to tell me about our happy two years, eventually ending off with a '...so why don't you marry me. ok?' I was stunned. And the reason why is possibly be because it's not the proposal I was expecting.

All of this was in Chinese.

Never did I imagine the proposal to be in Chinese. I mean, throughout all my life, I thought it'd be "will you marry me?" (in English) so that I can simply answer "yes". Instead, I just nodded and said "ok", going cross eyed trying to make out the shininess refracting into my eyes. Not a very enthusiastic or intelligent answer, yes I know. I was like, in shock. (Apparently when I grilled him later, he had no idea what to say either and said he probably strayed from his original speech.)

He was also in a suit (also very unexpected, considering that I was in sweaty t shirt and shorts). We were in my house (I've always thought it's going to happen at night in a park somewhere or in a restaurant. Soaps are inaccurate!). There were OTHER people around, in fact, en mass hanging out somewhere. My dad was also in the house (do you think that your dad would be within a 5 meter radius of your proposal? no, I think not.)

I do not know why, but at that moment, I was really confused. Maybe it was information expectation-reality inconsistency overload as described above, or maybe it was the speed at which it happened and my brain, slowed down and relaxed from the sauna, could not handle the experience of a life-changing event, and crashed like a crappy hard drive. Before I could think, everyone spilled out from their hiding place and threw confetti, yelling a combination of 'yeaaaah!' and 'surprise!' The cameraman (his brother) approached and said "how does it feel?" and some other people said some other snarky things (that I forgot already. see, my brain really wasn't functioning!)

I hid behind my fiance. >___<

So that is the whole story!

The next day at church, people examined my ring, going wooo!!... then I opened the box with the LED light and they went WAAAHHHH!!!

Details on the wedding to come soon. : )

I'm engaged!

After high school, I've never envisioned my own engagement, not even after my bf leaked the fact that he was getting me a ring a month ago. However, envisioning probably could not have prepared me for it. Not only was it in my own house (how many engagements happen in your own house???), there were loads of people too (complete with cameramen; my dad was hanging around the house somewhere too). My bf was also wearing a suit (I don't know what he would be wearing but definitely not a suit). The ring sparkled under an LED light (the box had a fancy light). I will upload pictures later, possibly when I start a wedding blog/site.

It all felt like a dream, especially on the Monday morning after the weekend, that for some reason, felt awful.

Step 1. Get in the elevator

Step 2. Get on the first shuttle bus and fall asleep

Step 3. Get on the second bus and fall asleep

Step 4. Walk up the stairs, eyes half open
Step 5. Walk blearily down the quiet hallway to work, caffeine of some sort in hand.

Step 6. Begin daydreaming/working at desk until 5:30.

Bad translation. I don't think they know that 'enzyme' isn't very delicious sounding.

Fishy biscuits!!!! They were in a different packaging than what I was used to. Curious, I investigated and eventually realized that this one came from Morinaga, a Japanese company whereas the one I eat regularly come from Korea. Parrots outside their cage. Wonder why they don't just fly away.
Piranhas
Ocean park's new attraction.
Fishy biscuits from Japan come in more shapes than Korepab (the fishy biscuits from Korea) but doesn't taste as good.
Ugly spider. I hate spiders. I think I'd jump five feet into the air if I saw this thing outside its cage.
Diving show off from a super high platform. It was somewhat scary.
Crocheted plane

I finished the stamp card, but the day I went to claim my free drink, the original shop had already been taken over by another bubble tea shop.

Encouragement

Yay, giant salad.

I made miss meow meow a dress.

Pin the parts on the chicken (game I used when teaching sunday school)
woohoo!! successful home made kelp salad. (it came in a bag in dried form)
My classmate went to China and brought me a souvenir. He said you eat each shrimp whole, as is.
Hello kitty floral arrangements

At my low point two weeks ago, I parodied 'i will survive': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I

first i was afraid

i was petrified

kept thinking i didn't have what it takes

to keep happy on this job

but then i spent so many nights

thinking how i did it wrong

n i grew strong

n i learned how to carry on

but it's back

from out of nowhere

i returned from the loo to find it here

with that email in outlook

responding to what i should have not have copied you on

if i had known for just one second

you'd be back to come after me

go on now go be your fuming self

just keep going now

fine i'll play your dirty lil game

i know how it works around here now

you think i'd crumble

you think i'd back off and leave

oh no not i

i will survive

as long as i have severence payment

i know i will stay alive

i've got all my life to live

i've got all my life to work

and i'll survive

i will survive

The stress (work--quite the long story, and school-- I was way behind schedule in my dissertation) has taken its toll on me in the form of excessive snacking as I tend to do when stressed, and cortisol, the hormone that compounds the effects of the former…. sigh. It will take me some time to get back in shape. Hot mexican buns are attractive when you're looking for a comforting convenient and cost effective treat.

At some point last week, I was unhappy and fearful about my career, but hearing stories about other people's hardships, and also the story of Joseph (as in Joseph from the Bible or Joseph and the amazing technicoloured coat of Webber's musical), reminded me of how life has a knack of continuing whether you like it or not, and that things usually get better. And I was reminded of how things could have been worse. And how it is in bad situations that someone can mature. Joseph, even while being kicked out of his family, getting jailed for no good reason; he stuck to his principles and did not blame anyone. The story goes, God pulled through in the end for him, reduced the crap that he could have been subjected to (ie he could have been killed instead of being sold into slavery), and used those crap experiences for a final extraordinarily good result. Even if you don't believe in divine plans, I think the same principle applies. Often we wonder why bad things happen. But it shapes our character, and sometimes the bad is necessary for a greater good that you only realize later down the road. From a christian point of view, believing in God doesn't mean you are exempt from farts in life and entitled to smooth sailing; it means leaning on God, staying true to Him through thick and thin, to his principles (Joseph didn't succumb to being depressed and whiney and justifying bad habits to his bad luck in life), especially in bad times, because He will take care of you.

So during bad times, examine your conscience, and examine yourself. Use this time to prepare for the good, because soon enough, it will come as long as you do your best and be patient.

Happy New Year!

They never met. Thanks to family arrangements, he called her, long-D call to HK from India. They spoke for 5 hours and mutually fell in love. The next day, they spoke for 7 hours. The following day, he proposed. Her mother asked if he was drunk. Since then, they exchanged letters every day. 2 months later, she traveled to India to meet her fiance and talk about wedding arrangements. This march, they will have their four-day wedding, attended by 500 guests. She will get a house from her dad as a gift, and will get another one from her future-husband.

This isn't my story (obviously), but my colleagues'. I'm retelling it because I think it's the best how-we-met story ever. It's like something out of a fairytale.

Now back to me.

It's 5 degrees above zero, and it feels like one of the coldest days in my life. Like the minus 30 degree day at Waterloo, where I stood there freezing to the ground while waiting for a bus. I think I gave up and went back into the house, and missed my group meeting--only it's

It's too cold to do anything but hibernate. Or do tai chi, which heats me up real quick!

Other than perhaps the weather, and the fact that there is a pile of work I need to get done (which I can do a better job at home than in my cold cold dreary windowless box of an office), 2011 has been good to me. I'm feeling something I haven’t felt in awhile—motivation. Work is not a problem. The problem is always psychological. Last year, my problem was lack of confidence in my abilities. And for awhile, the fact that getting out of bed was such a struggle. I love sleep; what can I say?

2009 was a year of rapid, exciting yet daunting change, in which I graduated and tried to find my place in a new environment. The patterns I set in 2009 laid the foundation for 2010. 2010 was not marked by changes. It was, however, to some extent even harder. New things is easy—sticking to them is hard. I wanted to quit my job. I wondered why I started school again. I even wanted a break from my student. I wanted stretches and stretches of holiday. And to just be able to wake up late for once. I was quite stressed, in a different way than I was back in University. But most of all, I was scared. I realized how small of a potato I was, and dismayed that there wasn't anyone holding my hand through it! None of that really nice jobmine-interview co-op system. Anyway, I was scared of work and mystery future work. And the pain in childbirth. And financial pressure, saving money, mortgage.

I was scared of growing up.

I realized several things about myself.

1 My personality is still changing, which is fine.

2 I'm still half-hazard in my approach to life, and that needs to change. I need to be more mature and take everything more seriously and pay more attention to what I'm doing.

3 I need to live in the moment. A harvard study through the iphone found that people are happiest when having sex, listening to music or reading. It's because people tend to be able to concentrate when engaging in those activities. People are happiest when their minds are not wandering, thinking about the past or the future. I think too much about the future.

4 I procrastinate and become a day dreamer when I face something difficult. I run away from my problems when I really should be facing them head on. I don't even realize I'm doing it sometimes, until I catch myself reading non-work related things like recipes or looking for new amigurumi patterns.

5 I'm generally a grateful and happy person although I like to wax depressing poetry over life. And there's no reason why I shouldn't be happy! I have the most amazing friends, great family, wonderful boyfriend, and God.

6 My dreams are still as weird as ever. (I dreamt of being in a falling elevator that turned into a bird in the end last night.)

Now it’s 2011. No explosive incidents at work, no accidents, and no careless incidents yet (well actually, one really close-call. I dropped my wallet but someone noticed and gave it back to me.) So I'm optimistic for a good year!!

I hope that everyone else around me will also have a great year.

Eye surgery update: so-far-so good!! No pain, no blurriness, no rings at night. Maybe it's psychological, but sometimes I feel like there's an eyelash inside my eye. Like INSIDE.