By Bernard

One of the common questions asked by our parents is "What does the in-law need for Guo Da Li (Betrothal) & Dowry?"

This is a very difficult question for me and Huizhi to answer as we are both not familiar with all the various Chinese wedding traditions. Thank God, both our families are Christian. Hence, the requirements are not so complicated & "high".

To make matter simple, I let my mum communicate directly with Huizhi's mum. They manage to agree effortlessly on what to prepare.

Today, I saw an interesting article in Sunday Times which might be relevant to many couples if their families are non Christian. 

By Bernard

Both Huizhi & I have been busy writing our wedding cards. Thank God for  sending us helpful sisters, cousins and not forgetting our wonderful parents to help us in the writing, folding, inserting into the envelops.

Huizhi has started giving out the invitation cards to her region today. My list is not completed yet. Hence, I will have to wait to this Sunday before I have all my cards ready. Sorry to keep you all waiting.... =P

Work in Progress... 

By Bernard

Photos: Proton Wira (Left), Honda Civic (Right)

Praise God. Our new car is finally here yesterday. Eagerly, we have waited 2 months for it to arrive as Kah Motor (Honda Sole Agent in Singapore) did not have the colour, galaxy gray, in stock.

Hui Zhi took time off her busy marking schedule and accompanied me to Ubi to collect our car yesterday.

After driving my first car, a Proton wira, for the last 4 years, it feels really good to be driving a brand new Japanese car. However, I felt a bit reluctant to trade in my Proton as it has served me well all these years. In fact, for those who know me, my Proton was a miracle from God. I still remember the time I went around with Samuel to hunt for a car. It was not easy finding a car that can meet all my criteria. Budget was one of the main main factors as I was still studying in University when I bought the car. Beside budget, I was also concern about the reliability of the car. Hence, I am grateful God provided this car as it had served me well for the last 4 years. =)

Coming back to our Honda Civic. It is definitely a very good car. Very quiet, very smooth drive, very nice interior finishings, very well equipped with features, very spacious etc. In fact, Hui Zhi is so amazed by the differences between our Honda Civic and the Proton that she asked if BMW (one of my dream cars) is better than our Honda. With a big smile on my face, I replied, "Of course". =)

Anyway, to me, a better car is just  a good to have item. It can never and should never replace other more precious and important things in life such as family and friendships. Personally, I think foolish is a man who spent all his time laboring to buy more stuffs and gadgets in life at the expense of the more important things in life.

As the Bible puts it across clearly in Matthew 6: 19-21

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

=========================================================

Ps: We have test printed our invitation card. Will be printing them on Monday and Tuesday. To all our friends, sorry to keep you waiting for our invitation cards. You will be getting them very soon. =)

Our Honda Car Sales Person: Denjean (94501272)
She is very professional and helpful in arranging a good deal for us. Do kindly contact her if you are considering a Honda too. =)

By Hui Zhi

 "I love ur website! Enjoy reading every bit of it and sharing your joy with you both. Remember to keep CHRIST in the CENTER of your HOLY MATRIMONY. Just like a triangle, as both of you at ur respective end (at the base of the triangle) choose to draw nearer to HIM, the gap between both of u gets narrower and you both will united as one in CHRIST (at the peak of the triangle.)"

Here's what my 三姨 wrote to us. She's now in East Timor doing missions work. She's in this 'ulu' part of Timor that there's little communication with the outside world and the satellite phones fail at times too.

Thank God we have this blog where she can get updates about our wedding preparations and to view our wedding photos as well. She's in Dili now where she can access the Internet. Even though, she is unable to attend our wedding, we know that she is keeping us in prayer just as we are keeping her in our prayers. =)

By Hui Zhi

Time is passing real fast. The counter on my iGoogle home page says “50 days until My Wedding”. We thank our family, friends and colleagues who have been so supportive and understanding during this period of wedding preparations. We thank God for sending different ones to help us along the way.

Sat down with Donny, our photo album designer, last evening and finally finalized our layout for the album pages. They will be unveiled in time to come. We’ve also confirmed on the church invite design. Next will be the dinner invitation card. 

Right after that, we dropped by our new place for a while. The contractors were really fast with their hands. In less than a week, most of what we intended to do have been completed. The walls have been plastered and painted. Lights fixed. Carpets in the study and bedroom have been removed and waiting for the vinyl tiles to be laid. The previous kitchen top have been removed and waiting for the new one to be fixed. The new stainless steel sink has been installed.

Some photos…

Featured wall in bedroom. We planned to have paintings to adorn this wall.

Floor of study and platform of bedroom void of carpet.

Changed the lights of the kitchen and the rooms.

Our stainless steel sink. An advice from our contractor: For taps, get Damixa!

Walls newly-painted in ICI lily white.

By Bernard

Yesterday, we went for our 2nd HDB appointment. Hurray! Praise the Lord. We are now the legal owners of our flat.  The appointment was at  4:45pm and it lasted not more than 15mins only.

Following which, we went to Courts to confirm the appliances model which we want to buy at another shop (Goh Ah Bee). Many people who stays in Serangoon and Hougang for a long time will know that this particular shop, which is very near Kovan Heartland Mall, is well known for giving a very good deal for home appliances. However, as they do not have a very big showroom like Courts, they only carry the most popular models. However, if you like a particular model, they can order for you and you are rest assured that the products are original with all the warranty offered by the manufacturer and the agent in Singapore.

Today, Ikea sent the items we purchased on Saturday to our house. Was there around 1230pm to receive them. Invited Samuel, Mun and Helen to view our place. =)

When we were there, Uncle Patrick's workers were having lunch. Happy to learn that the progress is fast. In fact, they have already removed the carpet of the master bedroom and the joining study room. To my delight, it was not as difficult a task as what the other flooring suppliers said. Many of the flooring suppliers were concern that once the carpet is removed, the strong glue will cause serious damage to the wooden platform and they do not want to be responsible for the damage.

Most of the holes are already patched up and putty.

The previous kitchen top and the master bedroom toilet cabinet under the sink had been removed.  The full body length mirror in the walk-in wardrobe had been removed too.

That's all for tonight's update. Will be taking some photos on Thursday to show you our renovation in progress. =)

Have a blessed day ahead!

By Bernard

To Huizhi: Thanks dear for updating the blog =)

It has been quite a while since I last updated the blog. The main reason is not because I have nothing to write but I have been quite busy for the last two weeks.

The week before, I was in KL participating in an exhibition. It was a very interesting experience given that it is our first time participating in an exhibition in Malaysia. Personally, I felt that the exhibition was a success as we are now getting many more enquiries from Malaysia and we managed to get the distributorship for a particular range of products for Singapore market.

While we were there in Malaysia, we stayed in an above average 4-star hotel. It has a very posh lobby and check in reception counter. Bedroom was ok except that we find that the bathroom is a bit small. However, what was disappointing about this hotel is that it charges SGD60 a day for wireless internet services. Considering that we are out of the hotel most of the time, we did not feel that it was worth paying for this service. With much resourcefulness, we managed to find out that Starbucks cafes in Malaysia actually offer free wireless in all their cafes. Thank God for free internet. =)

I arrived back in Singapore on Sunday and was looking forward to see Huizhi. Due to the "limited" internet access (the Starbucks near our hotel closes early at 1030pm), I did not communicate much with Huizhi while I was in Malaysia. Our only communication was when she called me using IDD daily for a short duration of 5 to 10min.

Last week, Donny, our designer, completed almost 80% of the design for our wedding album. Honestly not boasting, I think the designs are very nice as they are not the usual wedding album designs which are mainly templates. We will upload it once we have finalized the artwork. =)

On Thursday, we met up with Uncle Patrick, our home contractor, to finalize on the paint colours for our walls and doors. We also confirmed on the colour and design for our wood flooring and the colour for our Cresto Kitchen Solid Top. Thank God for Uncle Patrick for his willing to share with us his expertise in renovation. In fact, we also had the chance to hear his life story and how he started his renovation business and the lessons he learned along the way. Both Huizhi and I felt comfortable to entrust our house renovation into his hands.

On Saturday, we met up with him at Jalan Besar Plaza whereby he brought us to choose the kitchen sink and tap. To me, a sink is a sink and a tap is a tap. However, I was wrong. There are really many grades of sink and taps in the market and it pays to get something slightly better for a very marginal difference in price as it can last for a much longer period.

After choosing the sink and the lightings for our house, we proceeded to Ikea where we bought:

1) Sofa
2) Coffe Table
3) Dinnig Table
4) Full Body Mirror
5) A lamp
6) Curtain Rods
7) Roller Blinds

Initially, we wanted to buy all the items we need at Ikea in one go. However, considering that the renovation is in placed and we do not want to move the items from one place to another, we decided to get only things which we need Uncle Patrick's men help to install. =)

Today, after service, we went past John Little Mega Sales @ Expo. Initially, we only had in mind to go in to buy a set of bedsheet. However, we end up buying beside a set of bedsheet, a set of curtains and many hangers.... =P

By the way, we are going for our 2nd HDB appointment today (7/7/08)

That's all for the update. Stay tune... More updates coming soon once the wedding album is completely designed.