Grandpa...

RH's grandfather is going home today. Hurray! Cos it means that he is well and that me and RH do not have to visit him at the hospital everyday. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I think that it is our duty to visit him everyday and I even feel guilty if I don't but it is quite taxing to do it everyday and especially now when we are busy with house renovation and wedding.

But its GREAT that he is feeling so much better. It was a torture looking at him suffering each day. Oops, I forgot to explain how he got to be in Singapore.

Well, RH's grandfather, maternal that is, actually resides in Surabaya. (nope, thank goodness, its not affected by the earthquake). He was a healthy 83 year old who swims 3 times a week adn drives his grandchildren to school. One day, he had difficulty walking and had a minor fall while trying to go to the toilet.

So, he was admitted to the hospital to treat his illness. The doctors discovered that his nerves were caught between his spinal bone due to the 4th and 5th discs fracturing due to Osteoperosis (so, please drink your milk). The doctors in Indonesia decided to give him some medication for that and instructed him not to walk or sit, fearing that the nerves will get worse.

Aiya, big big mistake cos Grandpa ended up getting worse. He got intestine infections from the medicine and he could not get his bowels to work. The spinal doctor then referred him to the intestine doctor who could not cure him as well. He was in the hospital for 45 days with no treatment and ended up with severe lung infections, heart problems, minor strokes and heart problems.

Luckily, his daughter decided to take leave from work to accompany Grandfather (GF) to Singapore. Thank God and bless her heart. After just 5 days in the hospital, GF got better. And now after 10 days, he is able to recognize people, eat on his own and sit up. All these, he was unable to do before he came to Singapore, thus he had to be brought to NUH with an ambulance and an accompanying doctor from Indonesia.

The doctor in Singapore explained that his lung and heart problems were chronic and should have been detected in Indonesia. The MRI that was supposedly GF's are not his actually.

WOW, I am amazed at the inefficiency of Indonesian Hospitals once again. Its no wonder that the highest revenue Singapore earns from Indonesians are medical related followed by properties, of course.

This is really really mad because now, when we visit an Indonesian Doctor, can we really trust him? GF's doctor in Indonesia was recognized as the best doctor in Surabaya......dear dear......

So beware, anyone reading this should really NOt visit Indonesian doctors........

Meanwhile, I am going to send GF to the airport later and shopping for lights. Hee Hee

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Had Turkish food the other day after collecting pictures. I have always wanted to try the Turkish food in Bussaroh Street. It was not bad but just a tad too much olive oil for me. It was a tad too much eggplants for RH. He does not like eggplants. Not many people do actually but the Turks apparently love them to bits.

{Turkish Bread....it was delicious....crunchy with garlic flavor}

{Our appetizer, cold eggplant dip}

{Kebab, lamb kebab.......it was quite delicious too}

Except the cold eggplant dip, I think in general, Turkish food suits me fine. RH has complains about the coffee though. Although sweet enough, the milk had a funny taste.......RH thinks they use goat's milk.....hahahaha......

MOMO

I dunno if I have ever told that we had engaged Momo as our interior designer. Was attracted to their signature vintage styling. Went to their office and signed with them even without looking at their other portfolios. Big Mistake.

They are not so good. For one thing, they do not know have their own contractors or even regular contractors. They only design and do project coordination, or so they claim. However, I feel that they only design and leave the coordination part to the contractor. And, they do not measure the apartment before they start the design.

How on earth do they design then? Many of you must be wondering. Well, they took the floor plan from the condo's catalogue and blow up the measurement from there despite our repeated warnings that the measurements there are wrong.

I was very disappointed at that. Also, their designs are nothing to brag about. Certain areas are done quite well but most of their designs are very simple. Straight line wardrobes with not much designs.

Anyways, thought to show you all some of our apartment designs and some pictures of the apt till now.

{Floorplan}

{Living room cabinets.....full height and TV console}

{Mirrored cabinet in the living room}

{Study room....... }

{Master Bedroom.......with cushioned bedhead!}

My wall with the cornices is up already. Love it to bits. The cornices is really a cheap and efficient way of making your apartment look ancient european.

False ceilings are up.

Pictures by Kuang

Got my solemnization pictures from Kuang today. Yeah, Kuang is the photographer I hired to shoot my wedding. Had a hard time looking for photographers because I only started planning my wedding one month before the AD (actual day). Thus, all good photographers were taken but thank goodness, the cream of the crop was still available and that is Kuang.

He was with Pentaserve Photography until he decided to venture out on his own. I love his western photojournalism style and I can assure you that he is the best photojournalism photographer in Singapore currently and I could not believe my luck when he told me he was still available. His company is called 39 East and you can view his portfolio at his website http://www.39eastimages.com/

He is not cheap, of course, but his good and friendly personality more than makes up for it. I just wish that my pictures in Indonesia turns out as nice. Only one regret, I should have smiled more that day........ Well, below are some of my favorite shots....

{Me doing make-up}

{Sharing a joke}

{Me, walking to the elevator.....}

{One of the guests, actually my parents' friend}

{Me and Dad walking down the aisle}

{Us, praying with the Pastor}

{My best friend, Jayne}

{Touching moment}

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Did my motivational gifts test yesterday during small group. Turns out, what they deem as spiritual gifts are actually split up into spiritual gifts and motivational gifts. There are 7 types of motivational gifts and it is given by God, our Father. 1. Prophesying 2. Giving 3. Exaltation 4. Teaching 5. Mercy 6. Leading 7. Serving It is no surprise that my gift is serving and mercy. I am soooooo good at behind the scenes work but if you want me to take up responsibility, I cringe, I stress and I breakdown......

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God bless SL's heart. SL was my facilitator when I first attended the Alpha Course as a participant. She was also the one who mentored me as I started small group and on Tuesday, I was telling her about RH's grandpa who was sick in the hospital. I shall talk about why he was in hospital later. So, wonderful SL suggested that she and another sister in Christ, DA, go visit RH's grandpa at the hospital the next day to pray for him.

DA, also happens to be in the prayer ministry at church and I just jumped at the idea. So, the next day, armed with SL and DA, both who are dear sisters in Christ, I went to visit Grandpa. the next thing I knew, DA asked Grandpa whether he was willing to accept Christ into his life and he said yes.......

WOW WOW WOW, was what I was thinking. Dear God, you are wonderful indeed. I really did not expect that to happen and I know that God placed these two ladies in my life for something.
So now, I just have to continue praying and trusting that God will heal his physical wounds cos spritually, he is whole.

Honeymoon

I think my nickname is gonna stay "Mrs Halim". Everyone is still calling me that. I guess it is technically not a nickname cos that is probably the correct way to address me formally.

Anyways, I am confirmed going to Koh Chang, Thailand for my honeymoon. Yeah! At least can relax before starting work. The place is suppose to be really romantic and the prices are quite cheap too. I am going to bangkok on the 24 June and probably to Koh Chang on 26 June and will be there for 3 nights.

I really do feel a little cheated because we were suppose to go to Europe for our honeymoon but RH has a project which will start in July. I think he did this on purpose so he can get out of taking me to Europe. Mr. Scrooge......

Anyways, I am glad that we are at least going to thailand.

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Its funny that my whole apartment's electronic stuff costs us about SGD $300. This is the breakdown:

1. Living room TV Free (new Lim Siew Leong gift for my sister)
2. Bedroom TV $50 (2nd hand from RH's old apt)
3. Home Theatre $100 (2nd hand from RH's old apt)
4. Home Theatre for bedroom Free (new given by Uncle)
5. Fridge Free (new given by Lim Siew Leong wedding gift)
6. Washer Free (new, use Best denki coucher to buy)
7. Dryer $150 (2nd hand from RH's old apt)
8. Microwave RH's
9. Iron RH's
10. Telephone RH's
11. Rice Cooker RH's

Hahaha, I feel like its really amazing.....thank God......

Life of Mrs. Halim

I can't believe that my last blog was in April.......

Anyways, my usual excuse comes to play. Remember that my solemnization was moved forward to the 13th May? I was so utterly busy planning for that. I was a single warrior with no one to help me. Ended up losing 2 kg and 1 inch off my waist and thigh. It was a blessing in disguise after all. I think stress is definitely more effective than any exercise I have ever done.

Anyways, all that is done and gone and everything went really nicely....not perfect but good enough. I wished that I had delegated more work though so I could really enjoy myself but alas, I was so worried about everything and I think it shows on my face.

Pictures are not out yet but the first batch will be done before the 1st of June which is soon.

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So, what has me (new Mrs. Halim) been up to after the wedding. Yeah, people have been calling me Mrs. Halim.......yucks. Sorry dear, its just that I am used to my old name and Mrs. Halim just reminds me of your mom. Hee hee.

Anyways, I have been busy with......what else........renovations. Yup, my renovations are finally on the way. Bad news is that my carpentar, being in Indonesia, will only get my furnitures done 2 months after I give them the final design drawings and I have not even done that yet.

Anyways, decided to hack a wall from my Master Bedroom and took some pictures of the messy house on Saturday. Here they are. Hope that the house will be good.

Have I told you about the forum I started for Starville (name of my condo). Well, there are more and more neighbours joining in so I am really happy. Cos I started the forum thread and I really am glad to see so many neighbours. However, so far, we have just been complaining about how bad the design and workmanship is for Starville.......

Oh well.....it is Koh Brothers' first condominium project so considering that, I suppose it is not so bad. Hope that they improve in future. :0

RH pretending to inspect the renovations. My living room is pretty much the same. The contractors have placed cardboards to protect my marble flooring.

On the left are remnants of my shoe cabinet. The shoe cabinet came with my apt but it is not enough to contain 1/4 of RH and my shoes. It had to go.

Corridor....nothing yet.

The door leads to the master bedroom. I am so glad that Dad chose the unit facing the housing estates instead of the one facing the pool cos the units facing the pool happens to face PIE too and it is really very very noisy. Our apart also happens to be a corner apartment which faces the east on one side, our master bathroom....hehehe....I am glad that although our place is blocked by another condo, it is still bright and breezy. Mind you, we only bought the 2nd floor.

Bedroom 2, where most of the action is right now. I am hacking the wall between bedroom 2 and master bedroom. Its really messy!

My lovely wall is gone. there use to be a wall there and now I can see my master bedroom from Bedroom 2. My apartment actually feels like a third floor rather than a secong floor because our block is built on higher grounds therefore, our apartment is at the same level as the third floor of other blocks. Hurray!

View from master bedroom! Tot of getting something like this for my dresser. What do you think?

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What else have I been up to? RH's grandfather is in Singapore after being critically ill for some time in Indonesia. Yep, he is currently admitted to NUH, brought here by ambulance, plane, ambulance. Me and RH have been spending considerable time in the hospital.

Partly cos I would feel really guilty if not. Cos I kinda persuaded RH's mom to let his grandfather be treated here explaining that RH and I could take turns to look after him, not realizing that it is indeed hard work and virtually impossible for any employed person to look after him. Luckily, RH's aunt has taken leave to come to singapore to take care of him so I am more relieved.

His situation worsened the first 2 days he was in Singapore but I am truly glad to say that his palor has improved and he seems to be much better now. Thank you all for praying for him.