*Lifestyle*

Do people change their lifestyle overnight or do they change their lifestyle because of certain event or certain aim ? Or should i say "Can people change their lifestyle overnight or Can they change their lifestyle because of certain event or certain aim ?"

Not a lot of people can do that including me of course. My aim to have a constant healthy lifestyle has always been unsuccessful even up til now. Though I've achieved it before, along the way, there's always ups & downs & negative influences. When you have friends as training buddies, with that kind of bond, encouragement & motivation for one another, achieving the lifestyle is easy. However, when either one decides to quit or loses heart, the lifestyle is difficult to maintain and often goes back to square one.

Rowe has been diligent in trying to get back to her healthy lifestyle and to be in better shape for our Wedding. Constantly getting me to jog with her, clocking really good timing for long distance runs as well as clocking good mileage on a weekly basis. On top of that, she even signed up with California Fitness for 3 years and attend the gym sessions and classes provided on a regular basis. With so much effort put in, I really see that she has distinct changes in the past 1 month.  Love you baby !! How can i lose out to her myself right ?? Haha !! Well, that's not the point in this posting. With so much effort being put in by her, as her husband to be, I should be supportive !!! I've gone through so many painful experiences just to get back to shape and to maintain it alone is so difficult to do so. I will not want her to go through the cycles.

Since Rowe has gotten me entry pass to California Fitness, I will make it a point to keep her company every week to hit the centre as much as I could. This can also be another "Together" thingy that we can do weekly, in a healthy way. After my course in Feb, I will join the club and accompany her too.

Love you Baby, Thanks for all the efforts that you are putting in & I promise all these efforts will not go to waste. I will do my ulmost best to help u reach desired weight and goal that you've set !!!

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Live Band & Wedding Invitation Cards*

Finally the first week of my course is over and glad that i'm still alive & kicking !! The course is truely enriching, however tough at the same time. Foot Drills under the sun had left me with perfect tan this week. However, that will not be the case for the next 2 weeks. And my Pre-Wedding Shoot is right after my course !!! Nevertheless, preps for our Wedding still has to go on !! NO EXCUSES !!

Getting back to our preparations for the Big Day, after months of searching, we've finally engaged Lush Entertainment to provide us beautiful tunes that's music to our ears. Attending their Live Performance at Park Royal, the combination of their 3 piece (Keyboard, Saxophone & Vocal) was pretty good & they do provide a wide variety of music.

Lush Entertainment

The entire puzzle is forming soon with each piece of the puzzle falling into place slowly. With most of the preparations coordinated up til now, we can start thinking of what to do with our Wedding Invitation Cards. Should we follow the traditional Wedding Invitations provided by the Hotel or should we design our very own unique Invitations. Rowe, being a creative and hands on person, has quite a few interesting ideas. Guess I should let her decide on this, but at the same time collect the Wedding Invitation Cards provided by the Hotel as a backup. Hee..

After listening to Rowe's ideas, i just can't wait to see the final product !!

Til then...

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

 

*Can't Hardly Wait*

It's exactly 120 days to go before the big event!

Marriage is tedious and dreadful... and many a times, we question the choices we made ... but like what Mrs Tay says, the choice is yours, you chose the guy / gal.. so live with it! How true..
I believe we might in an occasion have such thoughts.. however, are we gonna avoid the problem and leave or stay put to overcome?

Like they all say, the wedding is only the beginning, what's more important is the life together after the wedding...

Once again, was very much inspired after one of my meetings, where the topic shared was on "Love and Marriage". It's just so nice and inspiring to hear seniors as well as women who have been married for many years, share their experiences and their pointers to us younger generations. Who says religious meetings have got to always talk about faith or about those cheem cheem stuff. Religion has to be practical as well, i am not belittling any religion here, but what i meant is that, it has to play a very important part in your life and the way you choose to live your life.

I will share what i feel will always be etched in my heart, and i made a resolve to really be a good wife, mother and daughter (in-law). It is only right.


1. Always look past the surface and see through a person's true essense.
Bryan is not perfect, so am i. But i believe we saw pass the imperfections and really understood the values and character we each looked for in one another to want to make such a bold step.

2. " A marriage is defined not by the mutual admiration two people have when they look into each other's eyes, but rather by the cooperative action they take as they look toward their mutual goals and strive to achieve them" Dr Daisaku Ikeda
Yes! How true! After a few years, that same face definitely will become boring and nothing new.. just a few added wrinkles and an increase in fat percentage throughout the body! However, what remains unchanged is the actions we take as a couple, and how we go about achieving the goals we set together.

3. " When two people are in love and their relationship makes them better peopl, then that is a good relationship. If, however, the relationship causes them to ruin their lives, then it is a bad relationship." -
I really believe in this statement, and i believe that we each contribute to each others' lives one way or another. And i feel that i have picked up good values from Bryan and (Hope!) vice versa.

4. Also, another point mentioned by a senior, which sounds soooo simple to do, but is actually the hardest to put into action. To always remain the "Sun" in the family, to project positive energy and happiness to the family. Always smile and never let your own personal problems affect the happiness of the entire family. As life in a marriage is not just you alone, it is a shared life with another person. Life will not longer be "Me, Myself and I".. But "We".

With that, i believe that our life together after March 27 is going to be an exciting roller coaster! Which i cannot wait!!


Till Then...

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Wonderful Weekend 3*

Time really flies !! It's already SUNDAY !! Argh !!! My last long weekend is coming to an end. =( I'll be away for the next 3 months for my courses. No more late nights, no IPhone, no internet, no tv, only discipline lifestyle & early nights in camp. Need some time to adjust myself to the new lifestyle.

Anyway, its 945am in the morning, rise and shine to the beautiful Sunday ! Rowe is going to leave me for her work later. Work has always been on her mind and whenever it comes to her meals, she'll just do away with a quick bite rather than a proper meal. That's not being healthy. Since she had been great and nice to me the entire weekend, I should do something for her in return. I've bought some ingredients from the Marketplace last night & there's some in the fridge. I believe something can be whipped up to be her lunchie !!

Starting with the Beancurd that I bought last night, season a little bit of salt on the exterior of the Beancurd to have some salty taste. Then panfried over small fire to have a crispy golden brown exterior and silky soft interior. Next is to wash the Enoki Mushrooms, and chop up some garlic. Stir fry the garlics and mix in the Enoki Mushrooms & some minced pork.

Panfried Beancurd Topped With Enoki Mushrooms, Garlic & Minced Pork

Up next is the Marinated Lemon Rosemary Chicken. I've marinated the chicken over night in a concealed container. The flavour will be infused into the meat. Starting with a hot pan, panfry the chicken over a medium fire for about 30secs & do the same for the other side. Lower down the fire and cook the chicken for another 5 - 10mins and it should be done. Lastly boil some water to cook some noodles and mix it with some basic sauces like oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sweet black soy sauce. And finally to put all of them together for Rowe to bring for lunchie !! Hope she likes it.

Rowe's Lunchie (Lemon Marinated Rosemary Chicken Noodle With Panfried Beancurd Topped With Enoki Mushroom, Garlic & Minced Pork)

Ok !! My long weekend is coming to an end. It's already passed the half day mark, I should be getting back to work, prepare my stuff for my course which starts tmw !! Wednesday is a public holiday !! I can book out in the middle of the week ! Rowe & I will be heading to the California Fitness to hit the gym !! looking forward for it !!!

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Wonderful Weekend 2*

It's time to continue the itinerary for the fanstatic long weekend, my last weekend before the courses !!! It's been such a long time since we have Roti Prata. The craving for that is overwhelming !! Yes !!! That's our breakfast to begin the day... Yum Yum !!

Egg Prata !!

Plain Prata !!

All these prata should provide us enough energy and carbs for our gyming and running at California Fitness later in the afternoon. =)

Hmmm.. Taking MRT on a saturday seems to be a wrong choice. The train is packed with people !!! People Mountain People Sea (人山人海), the entire train is like a can of sardines. Nevertheless, we reach our destination, Somerset.

Anyway, we headed to California Fitness and Rowe has gotten me a 2 weeks pass to gym with her at California Fitness. Rowe really showed me her bargaining skills ! Lucky it's not practiced on me. Haha !! She has finally gotten back into California Fitness as a Platinum Member and can carry on her crazy tonning days with her best friend, Shennie. Well, we spent a great 3 hours at the centre with Rowe attending her Step Up classes, Sliding and weights & myself as usual running a 2.5km, carrying weights & doing Abs training.

California Fitness

Since Rowe is now a memeber for the next 3 years, and to support her in her quest to keep fit, I shall consider to join the club next year after my courses & our wedding. Ok ! With the workout sessions and our fats are burned, hunger is written all over our face !!! But not to let our efforts go to the drain, something simple and greenie shall be our dinner for tonight, Subway, Cold Cut Trio Wrap & Subway Melt (our favourites) !! Everytime we eat Subway, it just brings us back memories when we're dating. NDP 2009,  we had subway during every training.

Orchard really changes a lot since the last time we visited. We're not fans of orchard as things are expensive and almost all are branded. To us, anything nice is good enough, branding is never important. As we walk down the lane to Ion, the Christmas Atmosphere can be felt !! And looks like this year's theme is purple, our favourite colour !! The feeling is great !

Finally we reach Ion and I started to hunt for this Popcorn Shop known as Cornery. Recommended by Shennie once again, the popcorn is affordable and tastes great, not losing to Garretts ! OMG !! She's right ! So much cheaper and taste great !! We bought some home to eat for the night !!

Sesame Flavour, Caramel Flavour, Cheddar Cheese Flavour & Sour Cream Flavour

Weekends always seems so fast. It's already Saturday and Rowe will be working tmw at her centre. Since she's been so nice this week, I think she deserved something nice in return from me !! We headed to Market Supermart at the top floor of Ion to pick up something simple so that i can prepare a dish or two for her to bring for lunchie. =)

Shall continue tmw with the dishes.. =)

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Wonderful Weekend & Wine*

Final long weekend before i start to be away for upgrading courses til the end of January. Rowe travelled all the way across the island from east to west to keep me company for the entire weekend !! So nice of her to do so.. Love you baby !!!

After a fanstatic home-cooked dinner by my Mum, we headed to Jurong Point for a short walk. Damn !! Its Thursday night and we can't even find any seats at Starbucks or Baker's Inn !!! No choice, we settled for 717 Trading Durian. Since my baby is so nice, bought her a nice purple hat which she like !

The start of a wonderful day always begin with a wonderful breakfast !! Hence, the fanstatic breakfast started with the compliments of POST Cereals, Almond with Milo. Since it was to be a stress free weekend, taking public transport instead of driving was the first thing that we agreed. It really had been ages since i took transport since i'm driving daily. Feeling was great as all i had to do was to tap my card and transport is at my footsteps. The experience was wonderful til we bumped into a 60s Trans, an INDIAN somemore !!! He was wearing a Spaghetti green top with PUSH UPS & a long flowery skirt ! Clothings were not an issue, but he had loads of Beard & Goatie on his chin !!! Phew !!! All eyes were on him !!!

Finally reached Outram and we're on our way to SGH for my baby's medical review on her lower back. Poor Rowe had to undergo Physio from now on & Doc asked her to strengthen her core and back muscles. Don;t worry, I'll be there with you babe !!!

We headed down to Central to meet Shennie for a lovely Japanese Ramen Lunch @ Santouka. We had the Pork Cheek Ramen. The portion was huge !! So much that we shared the bowl of ramen. The Pork Cheeks was tender & soft, though a bit saltish but went well with the ramen. Yum Yum !! Thanks to Shennie who introduced us to this ramen shop, definitely hands down Marutama.

Pork Cheek Ramen @ Santouka

We bid farewell to Shennie after the wonderful lunch and proceed down the road to High Street Plaza to meet my Polymate, Karam. Karam is a guru when comes to wine, that's why he has his own Wine Company at High Street Plaza & we're getting our wine supply from him !

http://shop.tsawines.com.sg/

Perharps I had refrained myself from alcohol for a long time.Just 2 small glasses of great Chilean wine, and I looked like a Lobster !!! Nevertheless, the wines were great & we've decided to take 80 bottles from Karam at a great affordable price !!! Thanks Bro !!!

Chilean Wine, Noblesse

Lack of certain enzymes in the body & it'll lead to this (I'm not drunk)

We finished the afternoon shopping with an ADVENTURE JOURNEY to West Coast Plaza aka former Ginza Plaza. Being a West Guy for 28 years, getting to West Coast Plaza shouldn't be a big problem but then again, we had a little hiccup. Both of us actually took the shuttle bus, 282, from Clementi Interchange & fallen asleep on the bus !!! That caused us to miss the alighting stop and headed back towards interchange !!! I woke up just in time and alighted 1 stop away from interchange, otherwise the bus driver would be laughing at 2 sleepy heads !! Reaching West Coast Plaza, we headed straight to the places that we wanted to go and bought our stuff. Rowe bought a running tights & I bought a shirt.

What's a good way to end off the day ? A nice dinner !!! And the best is to have a dinner our very own way !! We decided to dish our very own Chicken Cutlet Noodle & Fried Potato Chips !!

Panfried Orange Marinated Chicken Cutlet Noodles With Panfried Potato Chips

Ok !! After having such a delicious looking HEART ATTACK (Quoted By My Boss), something had to be done. Yup !! It's part of our Saturday Planning. Gyming & Running at Orchard California Fitness. Stay Tune for more...

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Small Hurdles*

As much as we will love to plan ahead and proceed with our plans when the day comes, but life isn't a bed of roses. Murphy's Law (Whatever can go wrong will go wrong) will always get you when least expected.

Our Pre-Wedding Plans have been sailing smoothly with all the shopping until schedule of Photo Shoot, trying of gowns and practice of our dance routine. Everything has been allocated a date in Dec and Jan. Like i sais, Murphy's Law caught up with us !!! I'm being scheduled for upgrading courses in November to December & January to Feburary, practically totalling up to 3 months !!! If you think that's all, i've gotten my new posting today !!! And it falls on the exact day of my Photo Shoot !!! Looking at it, we don't have much time left to do our things as it'll be Chinese New Year when my course ends !! And when Chinese New Year is over, it is MARCH 2011, the month of my marriage !!!

Luckily our jobs routine have prepared us well for Fire Fighting !! Why ? There're always last minute changes when someone(sitting at the top) decides on something else. We've been drilled to create miracles (actually is cannot take NO as an answer, must die die get it done) !!! Have to squeeze out time from somewhere to squeeze in the Photo Shoot, trying of gowns and practice of the dance routine.. ... ..

I've always believe to look on the bright side of light. Stay positive and things will go well. For the time being, we'll just be happy and see what happens as the days draw nearer..

~Always Look On The Bright Side Of Light ! Whistle~

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Saturday, 26th March 2011 & Sunday, 27 March 2011 Itinerary*

Attending so many traditional Chinese Weddings & being Brothers on several occasions for my friends, the events on the day itself are quite structured and similiar, only difference is whether having more superstituous traditional ceremonies due to different religion & beliefs.

Prior to the actual day, we have to go through the 过大礼。Though Rowe & me are also going through this ceremony a week before the actual day, we still know NUTS about it. Hearing from my friends who had gone through the entire package, it's simply a ceremony of bringing the gifts(品礼) over to the bride's. The gifts are requested by the bride's family according to their customs. Lucky for me, Hokkien traditional is simple and do not want anything. Hence, we'll have a very short list of items to prepare and a very short ceremony to go through. Haha !!

The big headache kicks in during the actual day. Attending so many weddings, all the brides & grooms have a similiar problem on their big day. It's like a trend, they have to keep to the timing, but they don't know the itinerary themselves. After finidng out more from them, the itinerary is actually set by the Hotel Wedding Manager (The person who sells u the banquet package). Hmm... Since it's our wedding, why can't we plan out with our very own itinerary & then discuss with the Wedding Planner and work towards what we want ?

Hence, we decided to do a first draft of itinerary for our own !!! Lucky for us, we have an experienced lady, Felicia from Park Royal Beach Road, as our Wedding Planner, she should be able to advise us more. Since our Wedding is separated into 2 days, we'll have more time !!! After more discussion with Rowe, we've came out with a rough idea on what we want and what to do.

Saturday 26 Mar 2011
TIME	EVENT
0500 - 0530	挂红
0530 - 0600	Movement to Changi Ballota Condominium
0600 - 0615	Open Car Door
0615 - 0630	Movement to her home
0630 - 0730	Gate Crashing
0730 - 0815	Fetch Bride & Pay Respects To Rowe's Parents
0815 - 0900	Movement back to home
0855 - 0900	Arrival Home
0900 - 0930	Tea Ceremony & Pay Respects To Ancestors
0930 - 1030	Ceremonies at home
1030 - 1130	Movement to SOKA
1130 - 1200	SOKA Ceremony
1200 - 1230	Movement to Sakura
1230 - 1400	Lunch at Sakura
1400 onwards	Movement to Hotel
1800 - 2030	Dinner At Park Royal
2030 onwards	Set up of area

Sunday 27 Mar 2011
TIME	EVENT
0900 - 1000	Wake Up for preparations
1000 - 1030	Set up of area
1030 - 1100	Rehearsal of Solemnization
1100 - 1200	Solemnization
1200 - 1300	Tea Ceremony & Arrival Of Guest, Livestudios Photography
1300 - 1315	Start Of Lunch
1300 - 1315	Walk In after serving of 1st dish
1315 - 1330	First Dance
1330 - 1345	Dance From Rowe's Parents
1345 - 1445	Free For All Dance
1445 - 1500	Thank You Speech & Toast
1500 - 1545	Photography
1545 - 1600	Walking Out Of Guests

Counting down til the days arrive... .... .... .... .... ....

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Looking Back At 2009/2010*

Time really flies with a blink of an eye. 2 more months and we're coming to the end of Year 2010. Looking back the calender, what have we accomplish along the entire journey of 2009/2010.

Life is really amazing and full of surprises (Both Good & Bad) !! Things don't always happen as what you have planned. Murphy's Law is the often the most frequent rule that comes to visit our life !! But of course, there're many beautiful moments that occurs without any knowledge in us !!

2009 & 2010 were fast moving years for me, so fast that I couldn't remember what had happened expect for work !!! Guess I've sunk myself into army for too long and too much, 7 years in 5SIR, Bukit Panjang Camp. Though my career is going smooth and well, but my life evolves nothing but work, work and more work !! In my 7 years stint, I've done 3 ndps and countless of outfields, courses and gotten countless awards. But nothing beats NDP 2009 !! Like what my officer said, "Bryan, no one benefits more than you do in NDP 2009 !!!" exclaimed MAJ Lim Chee Meng, S3. Why ?!!! Haha !!! That's because I've found my true love in my 3rd NDP during my 7 years stint in 5SIR (Don't think i slack at work) !!! This is definitely the best NDP I enjoyed working with. The people I work with and the people i meet along the way, it's never found in my previous 2 attempts.

The most beautiful thing that happened in 2010 to us was we never expected ourselves to be planning for marraige !!! Everything happened in an instant !! The spark started from trying out an application of a BTO at Dawson. And it was like a wild fire in a forest, we're buying rings, choosing our BTO, booking our hotel for our Wedding...etc !!! My plan was to get married in 2 years time when i'm 30, now it has been fast forward by a year !! Well, life isn't like a bed of roses, but there are certainly sweet events happening one after another. Like us, the most amazing event is we are getting MARRIED !!! Haha !! Yes !!!! We've proven to the myths tbat COUPLES WILL NEVER LAST WHEN THEY MEET IN NDP.

Now that we're near to the end of 2010, it is time to look forward to 2011. Planning for New Year resolutions 2011 is no longer what I should do, what I should aim for, what i can achieve, not as an individual but as a family !!! It's no longer me and me alone, it's a start to a new life, a life involving two hearts close together, working towards an unknown future, crafting every single details. I'm so excited about the new life !!! Hope my wife to be is excited about it too !! Haha !!

Love,

Bryan & Rowena