It’s been almost more than half a year since I made my last post. Many things happened throughout these six months, some good and bad.

Passing of Cookie, and some personal events on top of a crazy workload made me only want to have a rest and have my own personal time at the end of each day. I am sorry to say that I did not really get in touch with the bunch of my closest friends for a while.

I got engaged earlier this year, although it’s not a decision widely supported by some people. But I am truly happy that this is finally happening, after a five long years of long distance dating. I’m busy with the Singapore side of things so far. We initially intend to get the civil ceremony done in Australia, a lovely little white wedding non denominational church, somewhere the Glasshouse Mountains, in Queensland. Just the two of us, and the ceremony conductor. A simple ceremony, without the cares and expectations of other people.

However, my priority is to be able to work while in Australia. I really like this job better than I was doing back as a chemical engineer. Although this company has its flaws like every company does, the core job is much suitable for me. Of course, naturally, there is always the mortgage, the renovations and furniture I need to consider. I could always just resign and go there without a care, but it’s not until 9-12 years later before the visa comes through. And it’s not wise to rely on a single income, when there are wedding costs and mortgage costs to consider.

Battling with my work arrangements had not been easy. My company as much as supported me mentally to based in Australia, it’s not easy to go through the HR side of things. The talks with them had been highly grueling and a difficult High Australian commissioner officer had made it ever more challenging to get a spouse and work visa application done. The whole go to and thro process wore me out, and we decide to drop the visa and I shall continue to work till the end of this year. And bring forward the Chinese wedding to 7 Jan 2012, and I will be making my way to Australia. Meanwhile, I will apply the prospective spouse visa, with a whole load of documents to prepare.

I am handling the Singapore side of things mostly, with Gavin assisting from Oz. We finally settled at Intercontinental Hotel, a simple lunch celebration of 60, with only close family and relatives, close friends. I browsed too much wedding blogs and I now have too high expectations of everything. From reception décor to invites to even ceiling décor, I am sourcing for vendors to quote us, but being the wedding industry, everything is highly overpriced and now looking at other options to top up the existing décor. I already more of less know which supplier to get to, what cakes I want, which wines and beer. Now, me and Gavin are planning for the photoshoot in Australia. Originally, we thought of Perth, the place we started, our university at Curtin. But budget finally brought us down to reality, and we settled for Gold coast, to the beach where he brought me there for a proposal (although its was pouring, and I could not see the beautiful view outside).

Now, my time seems to be packed fully, with all these nitty gritty stuff, not forgetting the work that needs to be done back in office. Somehow, my cries of overwork was ignored, and I am virtually staying late in the office almost everyday. I went to business trips one after and another in March. Apr and May, and as much I like to enjoy seeing some of the city sights in places I never went before, I also have very time to rest during those trips.There were also times when I was the last one to switch off the lights in the office at 12 midnight, and taxi claims were dated to the next morning. Almost every word that my $480 bazi consultation came back, highly workload this year, relationships with friends and family strained, and asks me to notice my stomach related issues.

True enough, I got some real bad times at work, and many conflicts throughout, and ultimately my health falter. I got bouts of acid reflux every now and then, and I could not digest some foods nowadays. So I went on a diet overhaul, and cut back on processed food and drinks, and making sure I watch carefully what I eat and catch my meals regularly. So far, things have been better, fortunately.

So now, is to fix up the visa application asap, get the wedding preps done too. And also the house in Australia, we are scaling back the original plans instead, to a single storey one, and smaller in size. I like it very much, especially the walk in wardrobe. Other plans also include spending more time with my family and friends, while I am still in Singapore. Suddenly this year, we have been going out for more family gatherings, like going some nearby places like JB, and parts of the west to try out good food. And we are also finally going to our first overseas trip as a family to Bangkok this year.

Hopefully, things will go out well, and I’m on the path to saying goodbye to my singlehood in 6 months time.