Any Brides whose HTB is 'Ang Mo'?

[freakyfairy]

Hi everyone!

Cuclainne, I think it's getting more common now for newly weds to have their honeymoon a year or so after the wedding. hehe we're going to Bintan next month for a little honeymoon. I heard there's fireflies to watch and the spa there are really good! Will let you know how it goes

Nikki, Welcome on board

I do remember hearing my mum said something about it's unlucky to wear two wedding gowns. Seems like there're quite a lot of taboos regarding weddings. Best to do how your mum said

Maybe one of them could be a simple tea dress sort of gown? I got mine MTM in SG for $2000 at Frederick Lee but that is just to rent. It'll be an extra $650 if I want to buy it. I believe gowns there are a bit more pricey compared to some other BS but I prefer it when the boss is the designer.

Mrs N, Sounds like you had a wonderful time in Netherlands. Liz must have been quite happy you were there for her wedding! Oh, I've got my visa hehe took just 4 days for them to process. I wonder why it cost so much though. It's pretty cool that they have a image of my photo on the visa itself!

 

[cuclainne]

Chrisl, I saw a similar video in class when I was 16. Some of my classmates actually walked out because they couldn't take it. I am hoping it would be a natural birth but if it's a long labour process, I don't know how I will handle it. Oh well .. just take it as it comes, I suppose.

Nikki, yes my baby's nickname is Peanut. At that time, we still didn't know the baby's gender or decided on the name so we just called it Peanut. Hahahaha .. the nick kind of stuck now..

Don't worry, it was the same way with the husband. I planned the wedding by myself here while he was working/ living in Stockholm. He arrived about two weeks before the ROM and everything went smoothly. We've been married since Jan this year and living in Singapore. Where will you be living after the wedding?

Mrs N, oh how wonderful that you were there for Liz ... she must be so happy to have someone familiar there yah.

Yes, the husband went to India for work on Sunday evening. We met Priscilla and Stephan at the airport - thought they were on their way to Germany but she told me that they were only leaving on Tuesday .. which is today!! No wonder haven't seen her here for a while .. she must have been busy preparing for the move. Anyways, the husband will be back tomorrow morning .. so looking forward to that.

freaky, which resort are you going to be staying at? Yes, do let me know how it goes yah .. perhaps I might want to go there too. Thanks!

 

[christie79]

Hey Hey!

Nikki~
WoW! We're kinda in the same boat! Im so excited!

Finally found someone here who's also preparing for Big Day much alone as im too! Yes im in SG while FH's in Norway now. He has his job there that's why

But actually he came to SG during June and we went looking for the BS together and we kinda like the one we chose. They're pretty friendly and not pushy, so we settled for 'Sattine Bridal Couture' at Tg Pagar and took the package of $5999 - It includes 1 gown MTM, 1 Cheongsam MTM (all to keep), Photography (indoor/outdoor)+ albums and such, make-up/hairdo, car deco, corsages and bouquet. I've kinda checked around to see if it's a little steep - was told by many that it's reasonable as the gowns are MTM and all to keep + also they are known for their photography skills.
But i gathered that the market price varies from shop to shop and the price also depends on 1)the design of the gown 2)If it's MTM or off the rack? 3)If you want to rent or buy the gown
And we have decided that our wedding in SG to be on 9th June and then in Norway sometime in July or Aug (depending on when the marriage course by the church there ends)
Yes heard about that company. No lah you're not asking too much Qs! Don't worry! Im more glad to be able to have a 'kaki' in planning! You can also email me at [email protected]

Mrs N~
Hi there! Wow sounds like you had a wonderful time

Freaky/Cuclainne~
I went Bintan last June with FH. Was in this Mayang Sari Resort (it was really nice, relaxing and service was good) The spa was really heavenlyyyyyy ;p But V.Expensive! And also got to pre-warn that the price of food(Dinner)was pretty steep too--But all in all, it a nice and romantic place to chill out and have some 'lovely dovely-time' together if you don't mind spending extra $ to pamper yourselves..

 

[cuclainne]

Chrisl, sounds like you had a good time with Gaute in Bintan. I was looking at the beach resort packages offered by Misa Travel {http://www.airfares.com.sg} and am contemplating going to Angsana Resort. It looks nice .. but yeah, I heard that it can be preeeeetty expensive there. Worse comes to worse, we can always spend a weekend in Sentosa ... hahahahahah!

 

[freakyfairy]

Chrisl, haha we're going to Mayang Sari Resort too! It was recommended by my sis' friends and they had an artist from their work who just went there last week. It sounded like she had a good time there too. I was told that food there is really expensive. Do you remember how much on average would a meal there cost?

Cuclainne, I was thinking of going to Sentosa if all theses resort holiday thingy turned out really costly. I can't remember what my husband said he paid for the holiday to Bintan but it worked out cheaper than going to Sentosa with the ferry ride all included!

 

[christie79]

Freaky~
Hee so coincidence! I think on the average it was at least $100-150 for two (dinner). We did not have lunch as we woke up rather late and had heavy breakfast at about 10+ (also to cut expenses in a way lah..hee) My FH paid for the meals but i paid for the spa and accomodation as a treat for the two of us. But if i don't remember wrongly, think when paying by credit card, it'll be charged in IndoRupia but your credit card will however show the amount in your home currency at the exchange rate used by your card issuing bank. And oh, there was a 10% service charge + 10% Gov tax. But you might want to check out on this page www.bintan-resorts.com or www.nirwanagardens.com before you go. Lastly, think your hubby have to pay a US$10 for a visa on arrival (look at the page again for more info too)

 

[christie79]

Cuclainne~
You might also want to check out if the respective resorts have any online promotions too on the links i sent to freaky just a moment ago. But as for Sentosa, Gaute and i went there just in June as i had redemption points (C.card) for the hotel so i took a 2D1N stay at Rasa Sentosa. So not too bad in terms of prices and it was nice too with all the stuffs we could do there. We personally liked the Sentosa Luge but the skyride was a little boring. But it was an eye-opener for him when we also took a trip to Fort Siloso..
As for the webpage you mentioned "airfares.com.sg" some of the places seems really nice too and the spa packages to thailand and malaysia are very tempting..

 

[cuclainne]

freaky, yah .. sentosa can be quite expensive too. i always figured that it would be better to spend your time in a place you've not been before so it'll be a totally new experience yah. i went to langkawi when i was 12 and i would love to bring the husband back there to have a weekend away ..

thanks for the heads-up, chrisl. i am still deciding on where to go - we can use the husband's frequent flyer miles to exchange for tickets, i think but we're still scratching our heads on where to go.

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Cuclainne,

I would be living in Cologne, Germany for the next 2 or 3 years as HTB's job is there! =( ...
Am flying back to Germany in a month's time or so, actually...oh well!

Congrats on the little one btw...must be really exciting to be expecting one ; ) ...

Hi Chrisl,
It's a big comfort to know that am not alone somehow....=) ...Wow! $5999 is quite a lot, isnt it??!...am still looking around but havent been too hardworking...guess i felt there's still plenty of time...lol...have you got any pics to show as yet??...if so, care to share with mich?? ; )

& a big thank you to the ladies of the board for the warm welcome...was still worried that no one's gonna answer me...lol

Have a good day lovely ladies
Cheers

 

[mrs_n]

Hi Nikki, of course we will answer you, what makes you think we won't?

Are working in Germany too?

If you can't find a gown you like in SG, maybe the other alternative is to buy one off the internet. Ever heard of Netbride? They are an American online store that sell loads of designer wedding dresses at non-designer prices. Apparently they have very good reviews. Lots of girls in the UK buy their dresses from them as they are a lot cheaper. Downside is you can't try them first and you need a fairly good idea of your body shape to know what style suits you. Apparently there's a singapore equivalent (not as big though) I think its called "WeddingFashion dot com dot sg", they do custom made ones too (I think!!!!). Hee! Hee! I know its not the usual way of doing things and you don't have to listen to my crazy ideas!

Freaky that's excellent. Yes its probably quicker and cheaper to get the visa done in S'pore. I know the picture on the visa is quite a cool feature isn't it? Maybe that's why they cost so much (over £300) for a fancy sticker on your passport. Utter craziness! And will that stop the immigration officer from asking you silly questions when you step into the UK? NO! Hahaha! I was interrogated like mad when I return from Amsterdam. I guess the reason being was that we arrived in Robinhood Airport (Doncaster/Sheffield) which is a relatively new airport and all the passengers on the flight, with the exception of yours truly here, was holding a EU passport. There queue was divided into two sections EU and Non-EU passports and I was the only one in the queue for Non-EU! It was quite embarassing b'cos they wouldn't let me approach the desk until they cleared almost everyone! Ha! Guess that's the trouble with the lesser known airports they hardly come across anyone else with a non-EU passport and our S'pore passport is a pretty rare occurance. Oh well never mind, it's all part of the fun of living in Great Britain.

Cuclainne hope you find a nice holiday for yourself soon. Maybe you just have to toss the coin and see where it falls.

Hee! Hee! Fancy you meeting Pris and Stephan at the airport unexpectedly. What a small world.

Chrisl How nice to have a summer wedding in Norway. You'll certainly going to have a very LONG wedding day, will be quite a celebration I'm sure.

Is the SG wedding just an ROM or is it in a church as well?

 

[de_luxe]

Wah.. u all reply really fast man...

Hi Nikki I dun speak much German... took abt 6 mths of lessons 2/3 yrs ago n stopped cuz i got too bz w work... would love to take it up again but i will really have to quit my current job in that case cuz my bosses wouldn't be too supportive of this. One thing abt learning German tho is that it messes with my French & i keep mixing the 2 languages up. Sometimes i speak w/out thinking n French-German gibberish comes out!! How long have u been living in Germany? Ur German must be good! A fren of my hubby also works for Bayer in Koln but he was recently transferred to HK.

BTW another solution 4 u would be to decide which party will be "the main event" n wear a proper WG for it and then wear an EG/cheongsam for the other one. I used Bridal Veil, took the package w/out photography at $3899 (their prices r a bit on the steep side) and it included MTM WG (rent), MTM EG (keep), shirt & suit for the groom, flowers & make-up. I also liked Dang Bridal at Club St. Heard that Julia Wedding News is good too. If u r not gonna be in SIN for a couple more months b4 ur AD, doing a MTM may not be the best solution cuz there'll be endless fittings (at least that was what it felt like to me!).

My hubby's frens told me b4 that there's a huge wedding shop near Hamburg, somewhat like a warehouse stocked with tons and tons of WG for OTR purchase & many pple go there to get their gowns... u know they normally dun MTM in Europe... cost of purchasing an OTR there is abt 1000-2000 euros.

If u r looking 4 a AD photographer, i would strongly recommend mine. Edmund Leong www.edmundleong.com He's super gd, skills & service wise. No pressure to upgrade or anything like that.

What kind of venue r u looking for here? How many pax r u expecting?

My email is [email protected] if u need any more info / help...

Chrisl good thing ur BS wasn't pushy... i guess we could have gotten a cheaper / better / more comprehensive package if we had gone down Tg Pagar. But i think we started on the wrong end... we started with 2 shops near the market-hawker centre n they were both so pushy & ridiculous that they spoilt our mood to check out the rest further down. So we kinda resolved to stay away from Tg Pagar n ended up choosing Bridal Veil...

cuclainne we went to bintan once & stayed at nirwana. Din remember it being particularly ex.. i guess it's ex for indonesia cuz all prices are in SGD n pricing levels are ard what u would pay in town.. How abt Koh Samui or somewhere in M'sia instead? Currency exchange much more favourable..

I have a question... did you & ur hubby do a blood test b4 getting married/pregnant? I'm told that there are some pre-natal tests that should be done to check if there's anything in the genes that could be passed on and to test for certain kinds of disorders/diseases... i'm not too sure what this is all abt n if it's really necessary...

freaky you're right that pple r taking their honeymoon like a yr later... i still have pple asking me when i'm going for my honeymoon! Hahahaha... n many r surprised when i tell them that it's over liao... Hiyah... i wouldn't mind another one.. in the mood for another holiday already!

I think that all girls prob saw the child birth video during home econs class! And they wonder why the birth rate here is dropping!! I'm kinda apprehensive abt the pain n all... came across some hydro birthing thingy recently on the net, supposed to be more relaxing and less traumatic or something like that...

Mrs N glad u enjoyed ur hols... i had the same experience w the passport while going to Budapest via Hamburg. The guy even told my hubby that he has never seen a SIN passport b4... n for some reason, the immigration guys just seem to enjoy flipping through the pages. The airline desk at Budapest also din let me check in for the return flight from Budapest until i dug out my return ticket for SIN. Apparently i had to prove that i'm not going to stay in Germany indefinately n become some illegal immigrant. Now hubby wants me to get a new passport w my married name in it cuz he thinks it will make it easier when we travel tog.

 

[cuclainne]

Nikki, wow - that is so exciting. I don't know when we'll be going back to Sweden - the husband started work here in December last year and so far, he's only mentioned that he gets homesick occasionally (a trip to Ikea's food store can easily fix this). He's not mentioned a permanent move back home yet - in fact we were thinking of applying for a PR for him here.

How is your German, btw? My Swedish is really horrible - I need to buck up. Are you going to work in Cologne? It's so difficult to find a job in Stockholm without knowing the language - that's why the husband made the decision to move here instead, but he does own an apartment in the city which is currently rented out to a friend of a friend.

Yay - another person to add on the list to visit while in Europe ... hehehehe

Mrs N, the first time I saw them was at Plaza Singapura a few months back. They were leaving the MacDonalds as me and the husband were walking in. I thought it was Priscilla so I smsed her and she said it was! Hahahahah .. so it really is a small world to meet up again at the airport, purely by coincidence.

de_luxe, the husband is being quite a fuss pot re: the holidays - he's on a mission to get a stamp from a different country in his passport every year. we've been to Bangkok/Pattaya in 2004 and JB in 2005 so he thinks we're done with Thailand and Malaysia. sigh ... anyways, he just came back from a trip to India for the office so that ought to please him for a while. hahahahaha ..

we didn't do the blood test before the wedding but a few months into my pregnancy - i think it was my second month - the doctor recommended some tests to take to find out if our child would be a carrier. we decided not to do a few tests like the one for down's syndrome because the child is a wonderful gift to us and we would accept/ love her, no matter what. but we did the blood test to find out if we have any blood disorders that might be passed on to her - thankfully both of us are in the clear.

 

[cuclainne]

de_luxe, spring cleaning in Stockholm

It begins with this, one morning ...

 

[cuclainne]

Followed by these a week later ...

 

[cuclainne]

 

[freakyfairy]

Hi Chrisl, Wow that is quite expensive meal for two in Bintan! I did a search on google and found some people posting about Pasar Olie Olie that sells local food at a much cheaper price compared to the ones near the resorts. Did you tried there? I'm thinking of trying their signature treatment which sounds yummy hehe. Yeah the visa cost US$10 for under 3 days I believe. Quite looking forward to going there now!

Mrs N, I thought it's going to take weeks and an interview before they will issue me the visa. Cost $810 after the service charge to get it here. haha I always get butterflies in my tummy whenever I have to go through the English customs with their endless questions. I was once nearly refused entry cos I couldn't prove that I have a job in Singapore and I couldn't remember when I last enter and left the country. Luckily I had a flight booked to Italy which helped convinced them that I'm not going to stay in UK forever. Such fun!

deluxe, We weren't planning to go for a honeymoon so soon actually but I heard from my sis' friends talking about seeing fireflies in Bintan haha. Actually, what counts as a honeymoon? The first holiday taken as a married couple or simply a relaxing, pampering holiday together? Hmmm...

cuclainne, That is a lot of stuff! Do you get someone to clear all the rubbish? hehe that's funny how a trip to Ikea food store solve all the homesickness. When I was staying in England a few years ago, I always crave for Singapore food more than anything else and parcel from home include things like instant porridge and other foodies hehe

 

[tootsieroll]

Hi girls,
Long time no log on - have been in the land of the in-laws for the past 10 days. Joseph was flexing his vocal cords all week long.

Nikki: Welcome to the thread! Another German influence!

Mrs N: Nice to be able to attend Liz's wedding. Must have been a wondeful day!

Deluxe: When I did my first scan, I was actually told that Joseph was at high risk of Downs/cardiac problems, but this was due to a measurement on the back of his neck. My blood tests and other statistics were fine though. They suggested that we do the amniocentesis, but we refused, as we knew we would keep Joseph regardless of whether he came out disabled or not. As it happened, Joseph was born a normal healthy baby and doing very well. We couldn't ask for a better child. I think the tests just give you the odds, but many a time, the baby comes out fine

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Mrs N,
ya, i reckon that if i pester u gals long enough, you all would hv to answer me eventually...lol ...i hv a terrible sense of humour ya see... =) ...nope, i dont work in Germany...i dont hv a work permit & besides we would only be tying the knot next year, hence i guess even if i wanna work, it would hv to wait till then.

De_leux,

thanxs for all the input...it's really nice of u to offer these many informations..merci beaucoup =) ... & thanxs for the email...i hv added u on my msn too...perhaps we can chat there sometimes as well..mine id's [email protected]

I was only in Germany for 3months...we were in Chili for another 3 before we head back to Germany this May. I hv only attended German lessons for a month hence my German is definitely not good enough to brag as yet...lol

I would check out Edmund Leong for sure...thanxs for the recommendation...i hv to say it's really a headache to get married..with all the so many details to sort out & stuff! *sigh* ..As for the wedding dinner...i might take the Copthorne King's Hotel...my parents had theirs there 30 years back... =) ...we are only expecting my side...hence about 20 tables, i think...

My HTB becoz of me, would like to relocat to SIN but it seems it's not that easy peasy to get a job in SIN juz like that...as yet...oh well, we will see....

hence Cuclainne, i really envy u that u guys are staying here in SIN after the marriage...u would really missed the Spore's food once you are away for long...i kid u not ; ) .. & yes, u are more than welcome to visit me in Cologne should u be in Germany =)

Hi Tootsieroll...thanxs for the warm welcome..it's nice to be on board with u all who are always willing to share & help =) ... when u said " anoter german influnce"...are u by chance one too?? =)

 

[christie79]

Hi everyone!

Nikki~
Yes! Felt that the package's a little steep but FH thought that it's a once a lifetime thingy so we went ahead anyway..

Wow..good for you gals! Already started learning German/French/Swedish! I have not started my Norwegian yet. Bought some books and audio stuffs but now collecting dust here as no one to practice with me

Mrs N~
Haha..yup it might be a longgg wedding day i suppose but FH and me thought that we should keep it short and simple so we could relax for the rest of that day...Hmm..thinking of it now maybe i should change my AD to be in Winter LOL ;p
The wedding in SG will be just ROM and a buffet dinner with families and close friends. And the one in Norway would be in a traditional Norwegian Stave Church and a lunch/tea reception thereafter.

Deluxe~
Actually not all BS in TG Pagar's good..depends.. Actually we went to search a few over there and there's one in particular did asked us to pay on the spot to get that 'special' package and even told us that if we don't pay on that day then we'll not get the same price anymore if we come the next time blah blah blah..all in all we had to cough up $4K on the spot! Forget it, we walked out! After a few hours, we had almost given up and thought of trying at some other places away from Tg Pagar and thinking of getting home. But as we walked down the lane past a few other BS, this guy (from one of it) invited us to go and have a look at their photos and thought their photoworks were nice. But still, we went home and after discussions, we decided on that a few days later.

Freaky~
Cos' it was our 1st time there and we did not do our 'homework' beforehand so we ended up paying more to eat in the restaurant. I suppose you're better prepared than we are! Heeee...

Tootsieroll~
Where's your baby born? I suppose you're having a much better 'baby bonus' than in SG! And not to mention the maternity leave. Standing on an early childhood educator's point of view, somehow i hope the SG government can do more to make it better and cheaper for couples to have babies here..

 

[gottliebt]

Hihi gals!

I´m in germany now, Stuttgart. Its been pretty good, love my wohnung (flat), its newly-renovated and very bright which is very good. Spend my time unpacking, going ikea and another furniture store, trying to find a place to store everything.... no internet yet, only end of next week... so will wait till then to write more...at my in laws now.... talk later!

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Chrisl,

Dont worry, u are not alone...my German is not that good as i hope to be...& besides am really lazy ...hence yr books are not the only one that's collecting dust...lol ...oh well, am sure we would be able to speak the language soon enough... =)

Hallo Priscilla,

Guten Tag...Wie gehts? Magst du Deutschland? Glad you like your Wohnung...we went to Ikea too, to do up our wohnung as well...Viel Spass =)

 

[cuclainne]

freaky, those were items that were thrown away by the other residents. the husband contributed two empty computer boxes to the pile .. hahahaha. the building committee had some people clear the stuff away one morning, and then threw a simple get-together in the evening in the basement. i didn't attend because i was an outsider and the husband just popped by for a bit to say hello - he was playing hide-and-seek a few times with the committee and some other residents because he was a deciding vote on whether they should upgrade the building or not. of course i was the convenient excuse since i was there at the time - oh, i can't attend the meeting because me and the girlfriend are going away for the weekend .. oh darn, but we've already made plans, etc.

yeah, nothing a little crispbread and cheese won't cure. hahahaha. on our last trip to ikea, he bought this salmon paste that you can squeeze out from a tube - it smells awfully fishy (naturally!) but he seems to love it. i can't get used to stuff like that .. wah, so expensive in london. we ate out at a chinese restaurant twice (different places) - the first one gave us chilli oil when we asked for sliced chillies on the side, the second one asked us for £1.50 for a very small serving. wah - next time can i bring my own? hahahahaha ...

tootsieroll, hey how was your trip to the land of the in-laws?

Nikki, the husband and i weighed the pros and cons over the relocation and decided that it was to both our benefit if he moves, instead of me. i wouldn't be able to find a job there because i don't speak/ understand the language fully. so he sent a lot of 'cold' emails and i spread the word around that he was looking for a job here - thankfully i met a lady at a midsummer party, and she said her boyfriend might be able to help. so i got the husband to email him to ask for more information and several months, interviews and tests later - he got the job!

oh what they put him through - first he was interviewed by the HR manager, then he was asked to come again to sit for a written test to check his technical skills (he was there the whole day!) and was interviewed via phone conference by a senior French guy. then he was flown to Paris to be interviewed by more people including the CEO - wah, you would think he's applying for a top-notch position yah. when he got the job, he was sent to two-weeks training in Paris and when he arrived here, he was sent for more training and tests with colleagues from offices elsewhere like Ireland and Sydney.

we were relieved because the distance was really getting to us - it just seems absurd to be apart most of the time - and this way, my family is still close to me. the husband is not as close to his family as i am with mine so he decided to take this step for me. so sweet of him ..

oh yeah - i was on msn almost every day with my family and friends when i was in stockholm for three months. thank goodness for asian specialty stores - we can even get fresh durian. we even stumbled across an authentic malaysian restaurant (which has closed down since then, unfortunately) that serves roti prata, etc. otherwise i am sure that i would miss home a lot more.

 

[de_luxe]

nikki have added u to my msn. BTW wat field is ur HTB in?

cuclainne & tootsieroll thanks for sharing abt ur scans & tests... i've bought a book called The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby. It's very detailed but also rather Americanised. We're not having any just yet, but just wanted to get an idea of what to expect etc... The husband is supposed to find out whether I can be covered under his German medical insurance. If so, they pay for practically all bills, GP, dental, hospital.. u name it... Would be a much better deal than the local insurance with all the caps and what nots...

Alright, can't post too much. M trying to work at home... way behind my submission deadline.

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Cuclainne,
You guys are really lucky...we hope we will have your kind of luck soon =) ...I definitely much prefer SIN myself...as u said, work is a problem due to the language barrier & being a bad cook myself...give me SIN anytime!...juz so i dont hv to cook...lol

Hi de luxe,

I "interviewed" him & the man said he is in Corporate Stragegy & he's open to Corporate Auditing or Corporate Consultant etc...

He's with Bayer...it's an international chemical & health care company...he has been with Bayer for 5 years now...would u by chance like to employ him?? ; )

& speaking about the German medical insurance...according to my HTB, as long as yr hubby's with the public insurance & once u guys are legally married...u are covered under his medical insurance...i hope that helps...that is if my HTB has got the facts right...lol ...

Oh, btw are u expecting??...SWEET =) ...Congrats...i hope i would be too real soon after we got married next year =)

stay well, girls

 

[gottliebt]

Hi gals!

I finally got my internet set up! Yippee hurray! Posted some pix on my blog if u wanna see... hee

Nikki and Chrisl Hey gals, both of u are with german guys? heehee. I took 1.5 years of german in singapore from university and goethe-institute. I will still need to continue in germany though, do the intensive one maybe another 6 months or so. Still pretty hard to grasp the language and honestly, I am usually the talker. Coming to germany has changed all that. I talk like 1% of the time...cos my hubby tries to talk on my behalf. Will definitely try to talk more... but very paisei also...heck lah... better paisei and learn than keep quiet and not learn.....

Oh, I like the weather here, though it was ultra cold today! 15 degrees in august! Crazy... and i was freezing, cos my winter clothes are still on the way here, i shipped them and my coats are with hubby´s cousin, 600km away. He brought it to germany on my behalf, to save luggage space. Food wise, trying to cook...but their chinese minimart is really mini! Aiyah... just try and error until my ready package comes in a box from singapore...
Are any of u in germany now? Intending to relocate to germany?

Tootsieroll Hey, i totally admire and support yr decision to keep the child regardless of anything. My fren is doing the same thing also... as in she didn´t go for the amino-test... and her baby is coming out in sept...

 

[cuclainne]

de_luxe, i don't have the book you mentioned but perhaps you might be interested in perusing this one: What to Expect when You're Expecting. It's pretty comprehensive and I have it on my bedside table - the husband is pretty sneaky, he reads the book when I have left for work so I get taken aback when it seems like all of the sudden, he has gotten so clever about the baby stuff. Hahahaha!

The other good book for reading would be the J&J picture book - I can't remember the exact title though but it makes for a good read and there are a lot of pictures so very nice visual aid.

Oh yes - that would certainly help a lot. The hospital pays for my medical benefits so I don't fork out a cent but there are caps on specialist consultations, dental check-ups, GP visits, etc. So under the husband's insurance (as given by the office), i am covered by AXA and AIA for dental and medical consultations which is pretty nice.

Nikki - hahahahha, one of the hardest thing to get used to in Stockholm or perhaps anywhere else is the lack of 24-hour hawker centres. Most of the small food joints/ restaurants close by 6-7pm and after that, you only have pub food or posh restaurants to go on. I can't deal with that - luckily I didn't get pregnant while there, otherwise it's going to be hard on the hubby if i suddenly get a craving for something local at 3am. Hahahaha. But during my pregnancy, I didn't get any crazy cravings .. the husband thinks I am strange cos I haven't made any demands for him to fetch me something at that hour yet. Other guys would probably count their blessings but no, he wants it the hard way ..

I wish the both of you luck. It takes some perseverance and 'thick skin' to get through to people, but I am sure with his experience, it won't be a problem. Has he tried asking for a transfer to the Singapore office?

priscilla, 15 degrees?? I envy you, girl - that's the kind of temperature I would like right now. I love it when it's cool and you don't perspire .. but anything less than 9 degrees, no thank you.

 

[gottliebt]

CuclainneHey girl...its freezing! Ahhh, we´ve gotten his cousin to send my warmer clothes over already, cos i´m usually in shorts and t-shirt at home and i freeze my butt out! heehee... How´s yr pregnancy coming along? Oh, I heard abt the ´what to expect when u r expecting´book. Is it good? wld u recommend it?

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Priscilla,

Your german must be pretty good by now...esp when you have already had 1.5 years of German in SIN...*green with envy* ;-p ... I juz flew back to SIN from Germany about 2weeks ago...i was in Koln for 3months...i would be flying back again in a month's time or so...Are u anywhere near Koln??..If so, maybe after am back, we all could meet up for coffee or tea =) ..

You have got pics on yr blog??...can share, can share??...bitte bitte hubsch BITTE?! (i kinda invented that German as i always say "please, pretty pretty please") lol



Hey Cuclainne,

Congrats on being a mummy-to-be =) ...Do look after yrself well esp when you are away from home...am sure yr hubby will do a good job on that though =) ... Thanxs for your well wishes & you stay well =)

 

[tootsieroll]

Hi Nikki,
No, I'm not one of the Deutsche clan, but you have clearly met Priscilla et al, so there you go

I'm one of the UK gals

so you were in chile before? what's it like there?

Chrisl, Baby was born in the UK. Yes, all free on the health system here, but the facilities maybe a bit lacking, although I must say that I was very impressed with all but 2 of the midwives

I shared a room with 3 other girls, there is no climate control in British hospitals, so I was sweating during the day and freezing during the night. The maternity leave is good (although I missed out on full pay by 1 week!) - 6 months paid, and next year, it will be 9 months paid leave! I think Singapore maternity benefits are slowly improving, from what I hear from my friends.

Cuclainne: Land of in-laws experience was mixed. I'm not too keen on my MIL, and unfortunately had to stay with her for the time and grin and bear it. It was nice seeing the other in-laws though

Priscilla: Ahh, well, because the amniocentesis itself carries a small percentage of miscarriage, we decided not to increase anymore risks for the poor baby. One of my colleagues recently gave birth, but decided to terminate a previous pregnancy, although it was already 6 months. Apparently during the scan, they discovered that the baby didn't have some fingers or toes....she had to deliver the dead baby. I don't want to judge, but when I heard her story, I felt sick to the stomach

Deluxe: I went for antenatal classes, read books to prepare myself etc....they tell you such and such, and even to the point of being in hospital, they tell you such and such....then labour progresses, and everything you had planned for simply gets thrown out of the window

Then again, lots of people have plain sailing and normal pregnancies and deliveries, only they don't tell their story Of the 10 girls in my antenatal class, I think only 1 or 2 had the classic natural birth. I hope I don't put anyone off getting pregnant and giving birth! After all the trauma, I'd probably still have another in a couple of years time (even though I swore blind that I wouldn't!)

 

[mrs_n]

Hello Girls, looks like quite a lot of activity has been going on, on here. We had quite a busy bank holiday weekend. On Sunday we helped a friend move from Leeds to London. Pretty tiring after helping to unload the 'goods' near Camden Town, the husband decided he wanted to take a photograph of some concrete job which his company did on someone's house somewhere in deep darkest London a few weeks ago and then we drove to somewhere near Heathrow to deliver something to another friend! It was a whole day spent driving and getting lost around London. Haha! I'm just glad I don't live down there. Don't think I could drive round and make my way home in one piece.

de_Luxe Haha! Don't think having my married name in my passport helped. It was included in my passport when I went to update my IC. But I guess nobody will bother to flip the page and look under notes. I was just glad that I didn't book the flight tickets under my married name! As it is, the S'pore passport already caused a problem at the check in desk as the girl didn't know what to do with me and had to call for a higher authority. I was so relief that we didn't cause the queue to be any longer than what it was. What with security alerts and all!

It was amazing that we managed to make it for Liz's wedding.

Actually apart for passports and security etc, we had a pretty exciting trip to the Netherlands which was made even more exciting when the husband discovered that he had 'lost' his wallet moments after we arrived at Schiphol. 'Lost' b'cos when we return home he found the wallet on the driver's seat of his car. Too bad he had cancelled all his cards by then and was penniless for the next few days. Oh it was an honour to be holding the purse strings for once.

Cuclainne that's certainly some spring cleaning. Reminds me of my neighbours across the lane. We have a monthly rubbish collection for big stuff and it never ceases to amaze us that every month without fail, the house across always have a HUGE pile. The only time we ever had a pile for collection was when we cleared the front garden. Anyway we must have a cheeky neighbour nearby who has been putting rubbish bags every so often in front of our driveway on the evening before collection.

Pris glad to know you are settling into life in Germany. Must be an exciting time for you to finally have a place of your own and put your own stamp on it with furnishings of your choice etc. Yes, I bet you're freezing without your 'woolies'. 15 degrees in the sunshine is pleasant but in the shade and in the wind its pretty chilly. Nevermind 15°C, I start feeling cold when its about 20°C! But I'm stubbornly refusing to turn any heating on until absolutely necessary. So I'm wearing more clothes instead, well only for the moment.

Nikki

we have great sense of humour on this thread! Anyway, hope all the planning goes well for you before you head back to Germany. What fun to have all this time to organise your wedding. Are you planning to make most of your deco and what not?

Chrisl Your wedding plans sound grand. Is your FH helping to plan the Norwegian side? Actually Winter Weddings can be quite lovely that is if it was a nice sunny Winter's day.

Tootsieroll I'm sure you'll have another soon enough.

Children are so adorable. We were weeding our garden on Monday when my BIL's younger two saw us and came running through the adjoining gate into our garden to help (which isn't unusual). Anyway, halfway through the digging, my hubby's 4 year old niece told him in a very serious tone that gardening was boring. So he told her that she needn't do it and to go and play in her garden but she said 'Oh no! But I want to help you.' Later on, she came to tell me that she hopes we will have children soon because she wants more neighbours to play with.

Children are lovely at that age, they just speak their mind.

Haha, talking about gardening. Just thought I share with you girls this joke. A while back, we tried planting some Mint seeds and when we came back from our holiday in Wales, we saw that the seedlings had flourished quite nicely. So my mum (bless her) had been faithfully watering it while she was here. Anyway, we discovered on Monday, what we thought to be the Mint plant was actually a weed! Its so hilarious to think that all this time we were caring for this giant size weed growing in our flowerpot!

 

[liz4jeroen]

Hi ladies,

Bn reading what u wrote. Just to pop by quickly to show my photos.
http://www.lyricalmoments.com/EJC/

User id: liz
password: rutten

done by Stephen Low, our friend, who is also a registered photographer here. He did a super job! Glad he came. Gtg liao! Will catch up with u again! Tata!

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Tootsieroll,
Chile has very pretty landscape & the culture's different but i definitely didnt enjoy the food for some reason! People in general are nice & warm but are relatively "kepo"...we were living in Vina del Mar for 3mths & maybe we are a mixed couple hence wherever we went, we had lotsa stares!

oh well, it's good experience afterall, i guess =)



Hi Mrs N,
Fun organizing??! ...*sigh*...sadly, not as yet!...Am not sure if i'm juz too lazy or i simply dont know where to begin!!...& the saddest part is that i would hv to do it all without my HTB, since he's in Germany...oh well, am juz gonna take 1 step at a time & see how it goes...sian ah... lol



Hi Elizabeth,
Thanxs for sharing your lovely photos...they are beautifully taken...Hope mine would turn out as great as yours ; )

 

[christie79]

Hey girls..
Im feeling the blues now *sob sob*

Maybe the stress of planning for the wedding and mostly the distance between FH and me are getting to me.
Actually, im down with a cold and feel that i need to hear his voice so we had a moment of phonecall a while ago before he got to go help pluck some apples for his mother in the garden...so he's just off and here i am

*PATIENCE*

Nikki~
Hey there! i just got my hands on the new issue of style weddings! And i can't put it down..they have lots of ideas, gowns designs etc etc. You might like to take shot at that BTW, how did you and FH met? As for me, we met online..heee..the wonders of the internet really made the world a better place to live in

Priscilla~
Nope my FH's a norwegian. Talking about this, i notice the majority of you gals here have british/german partners except for Cuclainne whose HB is swedish and elizabeth whose HB's dutch (am i right?) yes i agree that should try and be paiseh a little while then to be paiseh in the long run lah lol. Actually intented that FH to be here but no luck on the jobs though

so plan B is that i'll go over next year. But i think im pretty concerned about the weather(mostly unpredictible there as it can be a warm sunny day 20degC then snowing in the night 0degC ~all these in june!) and the standard of living there(once bought 2chicken fillet breast part which cost SGD$10! Neverless to say i cooked and ate every single bit of it) but i guess i'll take it as i comes amd pray for HIS leading..

Tootsieroll~
Yup it's slowwwwly improving but still room for improvements

thankfully we ladies here have a choice to choose from 2 countries. So any plans for the 2nd one soon?

Cuclainne~
Does the cravings set in only during the 1st trimester or early stages of pregancy? How's everything now? Going for another scan soon? Hey im really excited for you! Looking forward to see your little princess's photos a few months down the road!

Mrs N~
I hope it'll not be too grand though it sounds like it..Cos' both FH and i are not the 'Crowds' person so hope it'll be a nice cosy gathering and family celebration. Yes, he's sourcing for the little stuffs there while im here doing the 'run-abouts'. But i don't dare to think of wearing my kinda gown in Norway's winter..it's really cold...sometimes it can get down to -20DegC in some parts

Elizabeth~
Wow! You looked really radiant and so pretty in your photos! They were all so well taken i must say! Capturing the moods and emotions of all..Geez..Making me think much on my AD next year..getting a little cold feet just thinking about it now...

Okie gals till next time, gotta go have my beauty sleep and get well soon..been sneezing non-stop

 

[gottliebt]

Nikki Hey girl! Are u staying in Germany? Or are u based in Singapore? I´m in Stuttgart Area, Korntal to be precise. Sure thing. My blog is http://pristanny.blogspot.com Posted some photos there,its to keep in touch with frens and family in Singapore. My hubby says Koln is about 350 - 400 km away from my place. 3 hrs I think. Not that near but not that far also. I´m not sure if hubby and I get stares anymore. I think even if we do, I´m quite immune to it already haha.

tootsieroll Hey, yeah I think its really hard to understand the motivations behind certain actions of other people. Yikes. How´s yr motherhood coming along? Getting used to having a little one running around? Or is that too early?

Mrs N Hey! R u usually on MSN at night? I don´t see u though... talked to Liz today.... Is heating very expensive? Hubby says that we shouldn´t turn on heater in summer... but sometimes its really cold! Can´t wait for my warm clothes to arrive, plus I realized that hubby looks better in germany than in singapore haha. Cos he has more long sleeve tops and coats... looks so much more ah-moh. Haha, its possible. In Singapore he looks more asian haha.

Liz Congrats Liz! Yr ptos r v. well taken! Cheers! Yr fren flew to netherlands to take yr photos! Amazing! hey girl, sorry we couldn´t be there, mainly cos we didn´t know we were invited but also, even if we were, it would be too soon to the time when I arrived in Germany... so would have been very tight...time wise.

ChrislI know what u mean about the high prices! hahah, I went to asian provision store a few days ago and not only was it super small, the prices were exorbitant! I bought a kikoman light soya sauce for S$7! I think almost double the price that in Singapore. I think the weather will take a while to get used to. I´m glad tat I stayed in canada for 5 mths before during winter, it went down to -40 degrees including wind chill. So germany is better. But I don´t have warm clothes yet...so that´s why I´m complaining. haha.

Chrisl and Nikki Cheer up girls. I think most of us on this thread went through the same thing of having to plan wedding without our HTB. I had that too for 1 year, plus my mom was sick at that time. Looking back, I can only say that it was God´s strength and God really lead the entire preparations and planning. Commit yr plans to the Lord and He will direct your paths. I never really understood what that meant till my wedding preparations. I can do all my homework and find out everything and all, but when God provided the place for dinner for example, we just knew that it was from God. He only has the best plans for us.

Oh, plus do get a little ´committee´too. I entrusted all my dinner plans to my friends.. and I planned the church wedding. Your frens would love to be involved, involve as many ppl as possible, but get about 3 to 4 ppl to be in core team.

 

[tootsieroll]

Elizabeth,
Lovely photos....photographer did a good job!


Nikki,
What kind of food for the chileans eat? Was the weather ok? I've always wanted to visit South America just something so exotic for me

Chrisl,
Realised I didn't reply a previous question

I didn't register our baby as Singapore citizen, because he'd then be liable for NS, and we felt it wouldn't be fair to inflict that on someone who may only be Singaporean in name but spent all his life overseas. Too bad, the baby bonus would have been nice. DH promises that if the next one is a girl, we'll get her a Singaporean passport

Maybe in another couple of years

Priscilla,
Interesting blog. Haha, I think my hubby looked more asian in Singapore as well, at least his mannerisms did....wearing slippers and bermudas and all the sweat in the hawker centre while eating his chai tao kway

Over here it's shirt and trousers and shoes all the time

The baby is developing all the time. It'll be a while yet before he can walk though

 

[cuclainne]

Priscilla, 15 degrees during the day in Stockholm is considered warm enough to venture outside without a thick jacket. I remember walking two blocks, to go to the store to buy some beer for the weekend, with just a thin top and jeans. Of course the temperature drops drastically during the night and in Stockholm, it's the cold wind that will get to you - feels like it goes right through your bones. But it's nice to be able to sit outside in the courtyard and have a beer without it getting warm .. hahahaha, instant chill!

The book is quite comprehensive and I have read much of it. The J&J Mother and Baby book is quite good too .. I also bought some books re: sign language with babies, etc. Being a first time mom, I didn't know what to expect so I bought a lot of books to read .. hehehehe.

Thanks for the well wishes, Nikki.

tootsieroll, my FIL and his wife are thinking of coming down to Singapore either in late Nov or early December but they've yet to tell the kids (the husband's half-siblings). my MIL called the other day and she's planning on coming too though it'll probably be next year when she does and since she's coming without her companion, we've invited her to stay with us (it was the nice thing to do) but she turned us down because she didn't want to intrude on our privacy. The husband is already plotting to leave Peanut in her care while we go out some nights .. hahahaha! My ILs are nice but sometimes it gets a bit awkward because of the language barrier and well, i just don't get Swedish jokes, etc. But we all have got to make do, I suppose .. hehehe.

Mrs N, there is a common trash 'room' which also doubles up as a shed for all the garden tools, etc. When I recently arrived and the husband was at work, I decided to help out by removing the trash from our bin at home to the bigger trash bin in this room. You need a key to access the room from the outside and when I entered, the door closed and self-locked, leaving me in complete darkness. I must admit that I freaked out a bit - and trying to open the door from the inside is kind of hard, especially in the dark, since you have to turn the lock on it. When I finally managed to calm down and open the door, I realised that there was a light switch right next to it. Aiyah .. it was a lucky thing that no one witnessed this.

Yes, children are soooo cute. I can't help noticing all the babies around me .. have to supress this feeling of asking the parents if it's ok for me to carry their babies. Hahahaha .. every night, the husband practises how he's going to carry the baby. I think it's quite funny... especially with the look on his face when he does it. hahahaha!

Chrisl, I didn't really have cravings - initially i did have 'urges' to eat things like chili crabs, etc but they went away really quickly. I did have some food aversion - can't stand the smell and taste of fish, etc - which started off when I had my three months of severe morning sickness. Otherwise everything has been ok. Just more aches, here and there, and oh .. I have no idea where my waist (have put on about 10kgs now) and ankles have gone to - can't fit in any of my shoes. Darn!

I went for my scan last week. Baby is growing well - she now weighs about 1.5 kgs and the doctor was quite happy about that cos initially she was a tiny tiny baby. However he told us that she is now in a breech position (her head closer to my chest, her feet down at my pelvic bone) - no wonder I always feel uncomfortable sitting up. He explained to us the complications of a breech delivery but told us not to worry just yet - she's just stretching herself and would probably turn down when the time is right.

 

[mrs_n]

Liz Lovely photos, guess that's just a sampling of the 'thousands' Stephen took.

You must be busy preparing for your course. Don't see you online very often nowadays. Paul told some Franciscan nuns (Poor Clares) about your wedding and they were impressed by how you and Jeroen met. He was in the midst of doing some work at their convent before he left for amsterdam and they were wondering why he had 'disappeared' for a few days.

Pris Loved your blog! I'm in the process of writing one but not quite there yet. I'm usually online in the mornings but might switch to nights seeing that my usual 'kakis' (Liz & Pauline) are now busy in the mornings.

I'm glad you are slowing finding a 'home' in Stephan's church. It takes time to get use to a place but then God's Spirit is everywhere just expressed differently in different people.

Cuclainne you must be relief to hear that Peanut is growing nicely. Oh well, I'm sure she needs a stretch every now and then. No worries, we'll be praying for a healthy delivery for you.

Hee!Hee! I'm glad you managed to get yourself out of the locked room. I can imagine how desperate you must be to get out. Once I locked my housemates in the flat without realising it. I didn't know that for some locks if you turn the key twice, nobody from the inside could get out unless someone from the outside unlocks it for them. My poor housemates! Only heard the story when I came back in the evening. Luckily the cleaners were around that morning and managed to unlock the door for them with their keys. That's my lesson learnt, no more complicated locks for me just simple ones.

Hee! Hee! Chrisl don't mean 'grand' in that way lah! Grand as in sounds nice, pleasant. I think simple weddings are very enjoyable. We had a fairly simple one too in the village hall. In fact, ours was quite similar in many ways to Liz's. Almost had to do everything ourselves too.

I second what Pris said about praying and leaving things in God's hands. We had so much trouble at the beginning with regards to our wedding date; we were third time lucky. Realised later why the first two dates didn't work out. Simply b'cos we didn't pray about it. We only decided to pray after the second failure and it was quite funny how God works. I was looking at the Roman Catholic church's liturigical calendar on the website and somehow 8 October just sort of stared at me! It wasn't a church's feast day or anything but in some countries its an optional memorial to The Blessed Virgin Mary and somehow it just felt right. October, was afterall the month of the Rosary (for RCs). Before I could call my husband and tell him anything, he called me first and asked me if 8th October was alright? I was just stunned into silence. He told me later that he was praying that day too! And as it was, everything just fell into place. God is great.

Anyway, hope you'll be better soon.

Nikki Don't stress, I'm sure you get everything sorted out in good time. Isn't your wedding taking place in Germany? You could get your fiance to help you when you get back to Germany. Sort out the important things first.

I think weddings are fun to organise but that's probably b'cos I didn't really get to plan mine.

My hubby did almost everything. He was pretty good, but very typical man style, no fuss no bother no frills as long as the price was right! He got most things sorted out (venue, church, priest, caterer etc) within two months and spent the next eight months 'resting' and 'calming me down' as I was constantly fretting that I was never going to see the end of my thesis! I still shudder to think how stressful my life was at this time last year. Just glad that's its all over now ..... and can come here and give 'granny's' advice!

 

[freakyfairy]

Elizabeth, I like your pictures, they're very nicely taken. It's sweet of your friend to travel all the way there to take those pictures

Makes me hungry seeing those nice looking food

Chrisl, hehe I met my husband online too. Bless the online world. It was very hard when we were both stuck in two different countries especially when the computers decided they had enough of it.

Nikki, When I was planning for the wedding, the dear hubby of mine couldn't be in SG too so I had to round up a friend to go gown shopping with me. Luckily choosing the venue wasn't too hard cos we both like the idea of Botanical Garden. I took ideas from both Style Wedding and Martha Stewart's wedding magazine. Hopefully they can help to give you some inspiration.

Cuclainne, Happy to hear that Peanut is doing well. hehe have you started buying baby clothes yet?

Priscilla, hehe my hubby looks very local here in SG too. He's usually in tees and shorts cos he's too lazy to iron his shirts. He's quite proud of his ablity to order chicken rice, breast meat in Mandrian and having the hawkers smiling at him.

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Chrisl,
am really sorry to hear about the flu & the blues! Not sure if it's any encouragement at all but well, at least u are not alone...i mean, am like you too...HTB not at my side & stuff...trying to find a temp job while am here for the next 2mths but to no avail as yet...hence am having the blues too! =( ...but hey listen, perhaps we could go gown searching a tad soemtimes if u would like ...all my gfs are either busy with work or with their bf...not much time for me! *sigh* ..my handy's 91993894, give me a shout if u would like to chat a bit to chase the blues away ya ; ) ...Chrisl, chin up & get well soon (try some hot tea with lemon...might help)

As for how Danny & i met...long story short..we met in the mrt train..lol..it was 10 in the morning & the train's relatively empty..the min i stepped into the train, he being the only blond guy naturally had my attention...being strangers, we of course didnt talk...& on the very same night, i went to a club for my gf's birthday party & guess who's standing in front of me when i queued for my drinks??! I remembered the very 1st thing i said to him was "You didnt change yr clothes huh huh huh?" ..*it was already 12midnight & it was 10am when i saw him during the day, u see*

Hi Priscilla,
Danke for the blog link...i really enjoyed the pics a lot =)

I quit my job half a year ago to follow my HTB after we got engaged this Jan. We went to Chile first for 3mths & thereafter to Germany for another 3mths before i flew back to SIN, 2weeks ago. I would be flying back to Koln (Cologne) in a month or so...i came back to visit my mum & to sort out my visa before flying back to Germany.

Perhaps one of these day we could arrange some form of gathering which we could meet halfway...that would be fun ; )
& speaking about stares...sometimes when the stares get to me...i would shout "Guckst du nicht so!!" (which means: Dont stare like that!)...i mean, if they look, is quite alright but some really weird peoples' stares can get really annoying! oh well, if they thought am some china or thai girls (sorry, no offence here!)who would juz take their unculture stares in silence...they are dead wrong...dont mess with the best or u die like the rest...

...

Girls, dont shun away...i promise am usually nice & meek... i kid u not ; )



Hi Tootsieroll,
The chilena people are very much latin people..their style are pretty much like the mexican & spanish..but the problem is that for some reason, they juz cant seems to cook right!...though am not a great cook myself but hell, am not the one that's opening a restaurant..

...

With that said however, there are some nice stuff around of course...am juz saying in general it's not that great! I reckon the captial of Chile, Santiago might have better things/food to offer compare to Vina del Mar where we stayed...perhaps we juz didnt manage to go to the right place for food ba??!..Juz like in SIN & everywhere else, there are bound to be the bad apples around??!

Weather wise, it's quite alright as we were there during the summer...but then as the Pacific Ocean is near to where we were staying...the air can get really chilly most of the time...about 10degrees! ...if you are in South of Chile...the weather gets warmer...& that's during the summer, of course...taking a holiday in South America would definitely be lovely, i believe..the landscapes are awesome. The loooong flight there would be a pain though...lol ...

oh btw there are some pics on Chile, South of Chile, Valparaiso, Argentina, Mendoza if u are interested...the links are provided below:

http://babyspider.multiply.com/photos
http://danielbehnke.multiply.com/photos




Cuclainne,
You look after yourself well & we all look forward to seeing the little one soon...& dont worry too much, am sure the little princess would turn when she's ready =)...am really excited to hear ab all the the little babies onboard...i hope i will have mine by next year..lotsa baby dust to everyone

Hi Mrs N,
Yea, the wedding's taking place in Germany but we are holding the chinese bangquet in SIN as well...yr "granny's advice" sure cracks me up ...lol ...let's hope my HTB is as capable in taking care of the wedding as yr hubby =) ..oh well, am sure things will unfold by itself bah...



HiFreakyfairy,
Thanxs for the tips...will check out the magagzines that both Chrisl & you have mentioned.

You have yr wedding in the Botanical Garden??..SWEET! ...any pics that you would care to share? =)

 

[gottliebt]

Hi gals! Wow, this thread moves so fast, so hard to keep up-to-date, muz re-read threads again so as not to get mixed on who is doing what. Hahah. Anyways, I´m so happy I survived my first full week in Germany. Not used to cooking so much leh. Miss all the hawker food in Singapore. Ahhh... told my hubby feel like a maid sometimes, cos all I feel like I´m doing is wake up cook, wash, cook, wash. Ahhh! Plus so much ironing to do! Wé had to re-wash all the clothes we sent over via ship and they are all piling up. Anyways, reading what u all write always cheers me up! hee.. Had a super mega bad headache today! Dunno why also, think its the constant weather changes... it was mid-twenties today and 3 days ago it was 15 degrees. 10 degrees change in 3 days.

TootsierollYeah, I think I´m lacking clothes when I compare the amount of clothes I can wear in cold weather compared to my hubby´s. Can show more pix of yr baby? Do u have a blog too? If not, how do u keep in touch with ppl back in Singapore?

Cuclainne Congrats to hear baby is developing well and healthily! No worries about baby´s position. I think it will sort itself out. And anyways, my sister was born in a breech position, but she´s perfectly fine and so was Mom. When is yr baby due? I like cold weather too, just that I´m used to heated houses...and now, its cold without heater on, but not cold enough to turn on heater, so needs a bit of getting used to.

Mrs N Thanks so much for yr compliment about my blog. Yeah, let me know if and when u get yr blog online! heehee. I think I will be online mainly about 1 to 4pm.... Really need to adjust to Stephan´s church.... I like it a lot, but its so different from mine in Singapore... jus need to adjust.

Freaky Hey gal, are u teaching yr hubby chinese? how come he´s so good? Hahha, unless he wants to be an áuntie-killer... but impressing them with his chinese. hee

Nikki Hey gal! I looked at your photos! Wow, u and yr FH seemed like u all have travelled a lot! Wow, amazing eh! And I think both of u look very good together! Can´t wait to see your wedding photos! Heehee. Wish Koln is nearer to Singapore... would love to have some singaporean company in Germany. Its like once u are chinese, ppl start telling u how they know someone else who is chinese too and how they want to intro u... and they are always from China. So its like, I´m thinking .. Hmm, how on earth am I supposed to have anything in common with someone who is from a different country and only thing we have in common is our language? Its like I´m chinese but i´m not from china, but ppl seem to lump us together. I´m not racist either, but its tough sometimes.

However, one thing I must admit is that the chinese from the chinese restaurants here are really friendly! At least way friendlier than those from china restaurants I guess. U noe, how the stereotype of china chinese ppl is that they have bad service, but those in germany are like really nice and helpful. Hey! WHen is yr AD? Maybe my hubby and I could pop by? heehee.

 

[gottliebt]

Nikki Oh, forgot to reply your other question. Sure! If we have an opportunity, would be great to meet up together! Wat a better thing than to meet someone who´s in a similar boat as u!

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Priscilla again =)

Danke for the kind compliment *blush blush* Du bist sehr nett =) ...You and Stephan make a very good looking couple yourselves ; ) ...we traveled a lot of places?!..nah, not that much lah...juz so so ..compare to my HTB, it's peanuts bah....he himself has been to almost 30 countries liao...really wonder how he did that?!! *bash bash*

& yeap totally agreed that some people are juz weird...they tends to insist that Singaporeans & China are the same??! DUH??!...oh well, it's a waste of our breath to explain any further! ..Yea, the chinese fr the chinese restaurants in Koln are very friendly too...i reckon they cant afford not to be unless they want no business bah??! lol

We planned to have the wedding first in Germany on the 7th of July...we are still considering the venue as Danny's parents are from Hamburg but we are living in Koln...hence we have to see where's best for most of the guest...& yes, please do drop by coz you & yr hubby are definitely on the guests list now that u guys are also in Deutschland ; )

btw, do u guys hv to take a queue number for the registration of the marriage in Germnay as well??...Danny said that we could only do so from 1st Jan 2007 onwards as they dont accept application a year ahead??! We are not too sure about that actually...anyhow Danny's gonna check that out this monday...

 

[gottliebt]

Hi Nikki!

Hey dear, thanks for your compliment too! U n yr HTB look like very funky, modern hippy couple. Wah, how come your HTB can travel so much! He looks pretty young, so I would reckon either he started work really young, or he´s really rich to be travelling so often hahaha.

Yeah, I know what u mean. I try to buy some chinese ingredients from a chinese provision shop and I realized that I´m not even familiar with the stuff I see there? Its all the china, chinese stuff. But some vegetables are similar, though super super expensive!

Hee, u very farnie leh. Abt the chinese in chinese restaurants in germany. Well, I guess that once u´re the minority race, need to blend in with the service culture. I like the way most cashiers and all say bye, have a good evening and stuff like that. But I don´t like the fact that they don´t pack your groceries for u and u need to bring your bag... more environmentally-friendly though. I would say.

OH wow... 7th july. Sounds good! heehee. oh oh! I know, its the 07.07.2007 thing right? I think a lot of couples are going to tie the knot on that day. Some more its on a sat right? I think we got a wedding to attend on the 21st of july... but not sure... keep us updated abt yr wedding stuff! We would most surely love to come.

Hey, sorry can´t help u abt the registration of marriage thing. Cos we got married in singapore and went to the german embassy in singapore to settle the rest of the visa stuff. Think yr HTB wld know the best!

Wat r u going to do in germany when u come over in a few weeks time? I get pretty stiffled by the language barrier, but I´m slowly getting immune to it. Hahaha. Better able to shut off!

ok, write more! I got all the time in the world now haha.

 

[cuclainne]

Elizabeth, your photos are so marvelous! I love how it all turned out - so happy for you!!

Mrs N, yeah - have been feeling a bit uncomfortable the past few days, in pain a little as well and i wondered out loud to the husband if it meant that i might end up having an early delivery. hehehehehe.. i don't think i can ever be totally prepared for the labour process...

freaky, yes i went on a mini shopping spree at Guess Kids and Zara during the Great Singapore Sale. So cute!! But I also have some hand-me-downs from my nephew (i don't think Peanut would know the difference until she's at least 3 years old .. hahahaha!) - things like shirts, long pants, etc. Each time we walk into a department store now, and I look at dresses for Peanut, the husband just rolls his eyes and say that i can't wait for the day to be able to dress her up in frilly pink things right .. he totally hates it! hahahahah .. i just enjoy annoying him a bit.

Nikki, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that you'll be blessed with the pitter patter of tiny footsteps soon yah ... you must share the happy news with us then yah.

Priscilla, the husband was a bit freaked out about the news because a friend's nephew was born via breech delivery and ended up having some brain damage. but the doctor and i have assured him that there's still time for the baby to turn and if she doesn't, i am open to having a C-section if that means that Peanut will be safe from any distress.

 

[liz4jeroen]

Hi ladies,

Sorry bn MIA! Super busy! Trying to cope with housework, study, making pillows.... Thanks God my hubby has been helping me with the housework or else I go mad.... ha ha ha... now he is back to work...

I m a bit blur though I read the thread. can't remember who is who. Pei sey! Too many to track back. Will just ans some of the questions.

Ya, my hubby is Dutch. Thanks for the compliments of the photos! Looking at it sure brings back lots of memories, not only the wedding but the journey of our long distance relationships. To those whose other half is still on the other part of the world, don't despair. It's tough, I went through it. Feeling moody, down during those periods of time! Cried a lot too! But in the end everything works out well.

Partly reason during wedding mass I cried coz one family not there, felt sad but also thank God for His graces for helping both of us get through the long distance relationships and His love for us. Without Him, it's tough! Will write my story on the blog one day when I am free. Promised my friends to write but haven't got to it. They have bn making lots of noises! Bing bing bang bang hahahaha....

It will be nice if we can all chat on msn. I get to talk to some like Priscilla, Mrs N...

Sharon, ya, been busy, now back to study, some days I will be online in the morning or afternoon. Now that he is back at work, we have been running errands, out... hardly online... Hope to catch u again online.

Cuclainne, have u done any exercises that can help to relief during labour? I heard from my pilates teacher in singapore that it helps by exercising the pelvis muscles.

Nikki, great photos. Reminded me of how my hubby takes photos of two of us with his hand holding the camera... ha ha ha... is that how yrs is too?

Hi freaky, tootsieroll, deluxe, hope i didn't leave any names out.. peisay if i do, mind a bit disoriented. got to get back to work liao... making pillow... till then... o ya my msn id is [email protected]. Hope to chat! O those living in Germany or UK, can we pop by for hols hee hee?

 

[liz4jeroen]

Hi chrisl,

Stay strong!

O ya i remember that some of u r asking abt accomodation and i think cuclainne mentioned abt B & B. can always email them n ask abt the prices. I even held my tea ceremony there. they have super services. very cosy! Hope this helps!

 

[tootsieroll]

Hey gals!
This weekend was interesting. Went to my first Singaporean outing in years. It's strange, all these years being away, I never really bothered about the Singaporean community, but since the birth of Joseph, suddenly I'm so 'on' about joining this and that Singaporean association. Anyway, the Singapore UK Association (SUKA) had its national day celebration, in the form of a family fun day. It was held in London, and since we had nothing better to do (and had made a very good attempt at cleaning our house on Saturday), decided to go to the event and enjoy some makan. It was quite fun, about 160+ people, marquees with games and food. If you won a prize in a game, it was like a can or curry, Nissin noodles, sesame oil, chilli sauce, beehoon, so nothing big, but still close to the heart

Food was reasonable, catered in from some Malaysian restaurant (imagine, Singaporean fun day, and cater food from the Malaysians!)

We'll probably go to the next event, cos it was quite enjoyable and laid back.

Mrs N,
Talk about feeding a weed. Dunno if you watched 'Test the Nation' over the weekend on BBC1. There was a participant who recountered how someone gave her a plant, and she took really good care of it - watered it, talked to it etc....then 6 months down the line, discovered it was artificial!

Elizabeth,
Very welcome to stay with us if you're down in London area for the weekend or something. We're only 35 min by train from central London - but must wait till we move house first, then got space

Cuclainne,
How far along are you now? I wonder if it's genetic that MIL and DIL's tend to have differences? We're civil to each other, and have never had an argument, and I don't think she dislikes me, neither do I dislike her (just irritated by the comments she makes). Maybe just need to really get to know her strain of humour (if she has one!)

Nikki,
Wow, what normally happens if you do tell people not to stare at you? I think some people still look at DH and I when we're together, or at least I can 'feel' their stares. I've learnt just to ignore them, and simply not even bother anymore. I think it's worse in Singapore though, I haven't got it in the neighbourhoods, but certainly when walking down the tourist spots like Orchard Road, I swear sometimes I can hear people think 'SPG' or some equivalent stupid remark.

Pris,
My blog is http://sgmum.blogspot.com Don't mind, I've added your blog as a link

 

[tootsieroll]

Nikki,
Just went to yours and Danny's multiply....nice photos, how does it feel to be away from Singapore? How long have you been away now?

 

[spiderbaby]

Hi Pris,
Na, HTB is not rich lah...at least not that i know of...lol..He works for Bayer & he gets posted from place to place at times...& the rest, i guess his parents are nice enough to bring him along bah..lol

Danny came up with the idea 07.07.07...his only reason was that it's easier to remember! MEN!!! *roll eyes* ...no stress should u guys hv something on that day...juz pop by when free ya...it doesnt need to be only on the wedding day =)

Good question about what i'm going to do when i get back to Deutschland again!??! ...well, i guess am juz gonna ended up doing nothing since i wont be able to work until we are legally married bah??!...guess, in the meantime, i better learn how to cook

What about u, Pris??...are you working in Germany??



Cuclainne,
Thanxs for the well wishes...& yeap, would definitely keep you guys updated once i hv the good news...knowing me, am not the type to shut my mouth for long

Elizabeth,
Yeap, you are so right!...We should get both of them to shake hands soon...lol

Danny's not too big a fan of taking pics actually & i can be a real big pain in his arse if he refuses to take pics...kekeke...not too sure if Danny's the only one or most guys juz dont fancy taking pics that much ...but seriously, i might not even get to visit those places in future therefore i would wanna take as many as possible..I was even the one that created Danny's multiply...coz mine multiply run out of space at one point of time...lol ...am i the only weird one around??!

Eliz, any other pics to share as well? ; )
& yes, feel free to give me a shout should u guys come to Cologne, Germany...we dont have too big an apartment but as long as you dont expect too posh a place...we should have enough place for 2 ; )



Hi tootsieroll,
Well, when i said "dont stare like that" in German...for some reason most poeple juz laughed it off??!...My HTB said that's becoz i have a funny way of prouncing German??! *siber dulan*

...anyhow, i dont get into much "fights" with the Germans...esp the hot guys who looked...cutie pies, i dont mind but other than that, i bite!

...

Oh well, some people are juz plain dumb & unculture..& unfortunately they are everywhere!...You are right, we juz hv to ignore it! =)

I have only been away from SIN for half a year...not too long but i swear i almost broke into tears when the plane reached SIN 2 weeks ago...looks like i missed SIN more than i know...what ab u??...did you miss Singapore too or it's still bearable??

Glad you enjoyed the pics...hope you gals didnt get too sick seeing the same couple over & over again...i know my HTB sure did

 

[cuclainne]

Elizabeth, I do have a DVD at home that teaches correct postures for pregnancy .. so that it's not so painful for me at times and I do walk a lot, heard it helps.

tootsieroll, so far my MIL has not made any irritating remarks or maybe she had, but in Swedish so I wouldn't understand anyways. But the husband did tell me that she 'threatened' him into treating me well if he knows what's good for him .. hahahahaha, that was pretty funny. apparently she told him this during the first time i met her - when she invited us for lunch at her home. my mother has said before that perhaps all the civility arise from the fact that we don't see each other very often. i suppose that had we been living under the same roof, things might turn out quite differently!

peanut is expected around 3 nov but she might surprise us yet!

Nikki, yup - compared to us, our FHs/HBs seemed pretty well travelled yah. We have a lot of catching up to do ... hahahahaha