precious memories: What has happened since I last blogged

Okay so here I am writing again after a Very LOOOONG Hiatus.

Just thought it'll be nice to have a couple of important events, thoughts and just anything really archived on this great invention - the worldwideweb. So that I can read it again anytime and anywhere.

In the last post, I was going to go to Kota Kinabalu to visit Charlaine.

Sheyna and Kristie went too. Funny enough, all 3 of us took different flights. It was such an enjoyable trip. KK welcomed us with open arms. Everyone was so friendly. A lovely couple from the covenant community even volunteered to take us up to Kundasang despite not knowing us.

Just to list some of the unforgettable things we did in KK (just in case I forget), buying lots of handicraft stuff, playing a prank on Kristie (sorry Kristie, you know we love you), making pavlova (twice!), Manukan Island, getting bitten by little fishes in the sea, Charlaine's malay looking kampung house, Pakcik Din, kaki gajah...

I could go on forever but this is just suppose to be a quick update, remember?

Sheyna, Charlaine, Kristie and I at Manukan Island
one of the five islands just off Kota Kinabalu

A couple of months later ( January 2008, i think), my bestie Shireen left for the States and left Kristie and I behind.

I was pretty upset. I lost a kaki roti bakar, kaki dim sum, kaki waffles.

The 3 musketeers having a sleepover. Not much sleep involved though. Baked cupcakes and talked and talked and talked all night (:

For my 21st, my family, extended family (uncles,aunties and cousins) and a couple of close friends(who surprised me by coming) went to Avillion Port Dickson.

It was so nice to have all my loved ones with me on my birthday.

26 of us all up. I'm so blessed!!

And Avillion was the perfect place for it. Such a beautiful resort that has something for everyone of all ages. The kids absolutely loved it.

** The reason why I typed surprised in italic was because I kinda figured out that Kristie and Shireen were gonna give me a surprise for various reasons (the main one is because they're ABSOLUTELY BAD LIARS). Thats why I had to act surprised when I saw them. I think I sucked at that too. I feel so bad. Penny was probably more surprised than I was.

cupcakes specially made for ME by khei and penny x

my brothers, little cousins and i. vicky, natalie and ryan missing in action

my little cousins even made me a card. sho-shweet!!

kristie, penny, me, shireen, noel and cletus.

cletus is like my very FIRST friend who's born just 2 weeks before me. we like to think that our mom's actually planned to get pregnant around the same time so that we could be friends.

I'm not sure why I don't have any pictures with the adults. hmmm..

Before I left for Perth to further my studies, my family and I went to Kuching.

Penny joined us too (:

As usual, we always have a good time in Kuching.

Made new friends (okay maybe just one. hehe.. Michelle Teo) and built stronger bonds with old friends.

us being silly.

our little make-shift studio is made out of two rattan mats

noel the 'head hunter' killing suh 'the prey' with a blow pipe

impromptu campfire at Santubong beach.

had to climb the fence to get to the beach.

oh and was bitten quite badly by sandflies

we had heineken, sausages and nuggets 'seasoned with sand'

L-R from the top: Cletus, Sam, Gloria, yours truly, Penny, Chelle, Ignatius and Noel

I left for Perth on the 20th of July 2008.

Unfortunately for me, I flew off from Changi Airport. So I only had family to send me off.

Yang followed us to Singapore. But he's practically family anyways. So yea, not counted.

Check-in luggage was overweight. So I literally hand carried 30kg, I swear!

Both my hands, shoulders and back felt like it was going to give way.

Thankfully, the officers let me through.

I think cause they saw that I was crying my eyes out and they pitied me.

I met some really lovely people in uni. Most of whom have left Perth to pursue their dreams.

Those who are still here (Ian, Christine, Jalong, Eva, Eric and Willy), sad to say I'm guilty of not making enough effort to keep in touch.

**This year, I'm going to put in more effort to keeping in touch with them (:

clockwise from 6 o'clock: Sharon, Me, Eva, Adrian, Jerome, Nicole, James, Andy, Ian, Angeline and Caroline.

picture taken at Kings Park

I lived at Erica Underwood House for 1.5 years.

Eventhough we were not suppose to have any visitors stay over, my flat had many visitors.

My room in particular had 10 different guests.

Charlene, LiShen and a few others visiting, girly sleepovers with Sharon and Nicole..fun times..

We did so many things together as a group.

movie nights, potluck, gelare nights, cycling, lotsa food and getting together in general.

When Andy was around, he would borrow his bosses van to pick us up and take us around.

Chris, Ivan and I

Erica Underwood House

My room is on the first floor, second window from the left

waiting for our transport to go to Little Caesars, Mundaring

we had surprised birthday parties for everyone.

till it was kinda expected that you'll be getting a surprise at midnight. haha

Believe it or not, I was turning 22 when I learnt how to ride a bike.

I successfully learnt how to cycle in Curtin Uni's architecture building.

Above is a picture of me and my first and hopefully only bicycle bruises.

I was cycling down a steep hill and lost balance while I was trying to change the gears.
**Adrian, I can still remember you laughing at me even when I felt like I couldn't breathe. I must have been in an awkward position.

They also organised a surprise birthday party for me.

It was the best birthday party I've ever had!

Exactly how I wanted it to be.

**nicole baked me the cake. thats two years in a row that i got home baked cakes/cupcakes for my birthday (: (: (:

when I was still a student, Chrissy holidays were always spent back home.

pic above: Jacq, Mae, Joanna and I with the awesome view of KL

**best venue we've had for our caroling parties

Sheyna, Mae, Megan, Me, Jacq and Laila

** our little m-club sleepover.

In 2009, Shal joined us in Perth!!

We requested to be in the same flat but she ended up getting the room above mine.

Oh well.. close enough...

Shal and I at the Waterford Tav.

just 2 minutes walk from erica. imagine that!

Shal and I had to sneak the jug out because Nick couldn't get into the tav.

**Metro-nites reunited

picture of me and two random dudes.
or rather, one random dude and one not so random dude.

little did I know, this picture would change my life forever in the next year. you'll see..

**taken at the Beach Bash, Curtin Uni.

if you know me well, i'm not really the type to go to this kind of events.

but somehow, shal managed to persuade me.

at one of erica's parties. Night of the Oscars

**daym i look fat

June 2009 - Angeline came to visit us.

a whole bunch of us went for a short roadtrip to margaret river.

picture taken at busselton's famous jetty

July 2009 - Shal and I went to melbourne for 2 weeks.

fun night out with boombox (charlene) and shal

**boombox was such an amazing hostess!!

3 of us together with Toefl and Aivee on a roadtrip to the Great Ocean Road.

** i'm feeling car sick

September 2009 - Charlene and LiShen came to Perth

8 of us (Charlene, Nicole, Aivee, Alex, Ian, Toefl, Ding and I) went on a roadtrip up north for 4 days.

We rented an 8 seater Hyundai van. Its really spacious and super comfy.

the girls

nicole and i at seashell beach (i think thats the name of the beach)

We arrived at Kalbarri after 9pm absolutely starving and feeling cold. And as you would expect, all kitchens in this remote town were close. 'kesian'... we settled for cereal, milk, biscuits, instant soup, a can of oysters, tuna and an instant noodle in a cup. Yup, weird combo.

there was no night entertainment in Kalbarri. so what do we do?
we go to the beach with a guitar and start singing and dancing.

charlene teaching us some basic salsa steps.

and did i not mention that we're all students living on a tight budget?
This was a real budget trip with little planning.
we slept in the car for 3 nights!

one of the spots we parked at for the night.

Shark Bay?

Because our accommodation was our trusty rented van from Hertz, we spent alot of time driving.
Probably 16 hours or more a day driving.
We took turns to drive because the drive was very long and boring.
The roads are so straight, you can't even see the end of it.
There was no radio signal for most of the way and we only had 2 cd's.
Sad to say, they're my all time favourite childhood pop groups Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys (you can only play the cd so many times. like 13432693212 times and there's still time to kill when you're on the road).
What to do? No one else brought any cd's.
Apart from that, we just sang every single song that came to our mind. Nursery rhymes included. Heck, we even recorded ourselves.

ahh... it was so long ago, i can't remember the name of the places.
but i think this may be where 'the nature's window' is.

pic below: we got sick of sitting in the van, so we stopped and started jumping in the middle of the road.
we looked silly, but ahh who cares. no one there knows us and no one is around to see us anyway.

For my parents 25th Anniversary (27th October 2009), I surprised them by going back for the weekend and also organising a Surprise Silver Anniversary Party.

I had lots of fun organising it from Perth.

Did most of the invites through email and got alot of help from my parents friends with food and everything.

Someone even contributed a 3 tier cake!

My dad's bestman gave a speech and others shared their experiences with my parents and our family and prayed a blessing on us. It was really touching.

We're truly blessed to have each and everyone of them in our lives.

The night was a huge success! I couldn't have done it on my own. xx

My Family <3 - Inigo, Daddy, Noel, Mama, Mummy, Me and Francisco

check out the food!! i'm not even sure if my kakak prepared any of it.

Group Pic-Cha

Almost everyone. I think we're missing Uncle Eddie, Aunty Marie and Little Mary

Noel and I bought some cloth from Kamdar and made our own little make-shift studio.

my family and i

24th November 2009 was when I said goodbye to Erica.

**its funny how i can remember these kinda dates

We had our last meal together as flatmates a couple of days before at PastaCup.

top L-R: Ding, Jed, Ivan

bottom L-R: Kathryn, Edee and I

Look at all those stuff!!

I'm ashamed to say, they're all mine.

Can you believe most of it was in my little room?

Anyways, i'm proud to say i only started packing on the day i had to return my keys and it only took me 3-4 hours. Cleaning time included.

Goodbye flat 18 of Erica Underwood House.

I still miss you.

2010 - My second brother Inigo, just finished highschool and decided to serve in a missionary in Turkana, Kenya for a year. Which turned out to be 2 and a half years.

**inigo, i really salute you for giving up your intermission between teenage and young adult years to serve. its something very few people are willing to give up (but knowing you, you wouldn't call it giving up or sacrificing. you get what i'm trying to say right?).

Remember that 'not so random dude' in the picture taken at the Beach Bash?

the picture is up there somewhere..

His name is Sean.

and he turned out to be my Mr.Right!

hmm.. how weird is that?

I've got Shal to thank for 'dragging' me to the Beach Bash and taking out her camera to snap some pictures of us. Thankfully she did. Cause none of us really remember what happened that night. And of course there's Becky to thank for inviting Sean.

Sean and I always talk about how we met and got together.

How so many things had to happen for us to meet.
And how amazing it is that everything just fell into place.

us on our first anniversary

I've never felt so happy and free to live before till Sean came around.

I get to be my complete self with him and he doesn't mind it.

I never thought it was even possible to feel this way.

We're two opposites but we're perfect for each other.

He drives me up the wall some of the time.

But I just don't know how to stay mad at him for long.

Seriously, just look at his face la. Tell me how..

I've also been introduced to the family dog, Flynn.

Some of you may know that I've never been a big fan of furry animals.
And I don't even know why. Even my pet dogs I've had before know not to come to me.

But Flynny is different.

He's simply the best!

and because of Sean, I'm also part of a beautiful family in Perth.

His parents are one of the most loving couples I've ever met. They're like teenagers in love. If you know what I mean. Their love for each other always seems fresh and new.

July 2010 - My bestie Kristie, came to Perth to study. And we became housemates.
Its like a dream come true.
We didn't have to plan sleepovers anymore.
Not only did we live together, we cooked, shop, eat, clean, garden, steal mulch (: , go to church, blablabla everything.. and even worked together.

So anyways, before Kristie came, natually I was over the moon and excited.
I slowly got stuff together to make a care package to help her settle in.

us at Bar'chetta, Cottesloe

September 2010 - I became a graduate!! Yay!!!!

My family and grandma (mama) came down under for my graduation.

Except for Inigo (he was still in Kenya then).

It didn't feel complete without him, so I didn't get any professional photos taken.

**3 years down the line, i still haven't taken my grad pics yet. now francisco (kiko) looks too grown up.
i don't know how to make the pictures look like it was taken in 2010

I'm currently still living in Perth.

Some people ask why I want to live in such a 'boring' place.

Hmmm.. Well, it is what it is. Perth is quite boring but its a great place to live in.

Its close to home (so my flight tickets are cheaper), there's no time difference with Malaysia (yup even two hours makes alot of difference), its clean, not so congested, winter is not as cold as elsewhere, beautiful beaches are closeby. Give it a couple of years and it'll be just nice.

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When I was back in Malaysia, I never had to cook or do any laundry. All I did was a little cleaning when my Kakak went back for her holidays. Damn spoilt right..

Imagine how I was when I first arrived in Perth. I had to have alot of clothes because I didn't know how to operate the washing machine. Or rather, I didn't even attempt trying. After a month or so, I finally ran out of clean clothes and was forced to try out the washing machine. The outcome, my light pink and white towel, turned blue.

Some skills I've picked up since I left home..

1) Cooking!!! I still suck at cooking asian food though. Pasta is still the easiest.

**before kristie came to Perth, i can count the number of times i cooked. i practically lived on the food i took home from work for 2 years. in case you're wondering, its a healthy little lunch cafe in the city, called Granary. so no, it wasn't greasy and fatty food.

2) I developed a liking for flower arrangement.

Here's what I did for my Mummy and Daddy Collins' 30th wedding anniversary.

3) I shop like crazy!!

Alot of the time, I have tend to buy many pieces of clothing in one day's shopping.
Otherwise, I won't be satisfied. But of course, I only do that when its a bargain.

4) I fall asleep real easy

Just let me sit on something comfy and put the telly on. I'll be asleep in no time.

**okay fine, its not really a skill. its quite unfortunate actually. makes me so lazy and unproductive.

5) I can sew!!

There was phase where I was so into sewing, that I sewed a table runner, upholstered my study chair and made many cushion covers.

I want to start sewing clothes, but I've not come across any nice material.

Plus, its probably better to just buy ready made ones anyways.

cushion covers i made for sean's chrissy present in 2010.

Mid 2011 - Noel did his final semester at Curtin Uni.

Thats him on his first day, in his tiny new room.

He bought a bicycle almost straight away and was cycling everywhere!!

Such an independent individual. He worked and paid for his own rent and expenses.

Good Boy la you, Noel. Not many can do what you do.

**sigh.. i miss you.. wish you're still living 40 minutes drive away from me. come back!!

Jan 2012 - My childhood friend Gloria and her long time boyfriend, Bobby tied the knot!!

Like FINALLY!!!

We've been waiting for this day for as long as I can remember.

Suh and I flew to Melbourne to be Gloria's bridesmaids (:
It was such a beautiful wedding. The father of the bride's speech was really funny and touching. Its so nice to see how much bigger (in terms of number) the Wong family has grown.

It was also my first time away from home on CNY.
We spent the eve with the Yang family and chinese new year day itself with the Wong family.

My parents came to visit me in February 2012 because they miss me.

I didn't get to go back for Christmas because Noel was in Perth and Gloria got hitched just before CNY.

Truth is, they came not to visit me but to see their FIRST BORN SON GRADUATE!

Cheh, in the end, he was just too busy to entertain them.

So I got them all to myself pretty much.

We also went on a little roadtrip down to Albany for a couple of days to chill.

mummy and daddy at little creatures

noel's graduation

I finally got myself a fulltime job!

Thats me and some of my colleagues with one of our big projects.

Since I got myself a fulltime job, I quickly booked tickets to go home for Mama's 80th Birthday. We had a BIG do and the whole extended family was there.

Except for Liza and Ben.Sadly, I don't have any pictures of it.

The usual KAYM kaki's also took this opportunity to organise a reunion get together.

Most of us haven't seen each other for quite some time.

Everyone's still their crazy old self. We did what we do best together as a group - carol.

A little rusty here and there but still not bad.

our little gathering for old times sake. xx

My extended family on my mom's side has stopped expanding the family for quite sometime.

All my Aunties closed their factories = No more baby cousins.

But thankfully, Uncle Paul got married last year.

And after 9 years of no new cousins, we've got a new addition to the family!!

Introducing, Ethan Ignacio Yeo !!

Damn cute right!

December 2012 - Jed and Edee finally have their Indian wedding reception.

Over the years, I've seen how much they've grown as a couple and I'm really happy for them for believing in their Love for each other and going all out for it.

bride and her bridesmaids (marine, kristie and i)

the bridal party

My little brother is not so little anymore. He's lost all his baby fat. I use to go to his room when he's sleeping and play with his fat tummy. But now, theres nothing to pinch anymore..
NOOoooOoo

This hairstyle of his drives my mom crazy. I received a call from my mom one day about how upset she is and.. oh..i can't really remember. My mom can be a real drama queen sometimes. Basically, I had to call him and ask 'why did you cut your hair like that?', 'please don't do it again because....yadayadayadayada'

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I can't believe how last minute my travel plans have become.

I was back for Jed and Edee's wedding followed by a little getaway with my family from 7-16Dec2012. During that time, I found out that Sean was going to be stuck offshore working over Christmas. So I decided, I'll just go back to KL for Christmas. The tickets were sky high but I justified paying for it by telling myself 'Its okay Belle. You deserve it. Plus you've not been back for Christmas for 2 years'. So off I went to KL again on 23Dec2012 with a one way ticket.

I only told Noel, my dad and a couple of friends that I'll be back.

Early 24Dec morning, Noel drove us up to Cameron Highlands.

And I got to Surprise my mom!

Remember she's a drama queen - or rather, I should say she's very expressive. Unlike me, I can be quite an expressionless person. But I'm a very emotional person too.

Just SOMETIMES, it looks like I'm expressionless. Weird I know.

Ok ya so, my mom was SUPER SURPRISED and SO DAMN HAPPY!!!

I felt like crying (tears of joy) just watching her.

Till I left, just anyone she was talking to, she would proudly say, 'My daughter gave a BIG surprise by coming home for Christmas'.

anna, natalie, me and joanne at my favourite place to get scones and cream at Ye Old Smokehouse

**don't bother trying the scones anywhere else. i tried so many and they tasted like crap.

Noel's a Christmas Baby. So he gets to have the whole family around for his birthday all the time. Damn unfair right.

the adults are obsessed with roast pork. they ordered this 40kg pig. quite 'jelak' after a while.

I couldn't decide whether to fly back to Perth on NYE or New Years Day. Even on the evening of 30Dec, I still haven't decided.
That night, I finally decided that I might as well just stay for New Years cause Sean will probably be jet legged when he gets back to Perth on NYE.

Early on NYE morning, I had dim sum breakfast with Shireen at 6am I think?

Hannah picked me up at 7:30am and we headed Cameron Highlands.

Yup, I went up to Cameron's again. Twice in this trip. And thats not normal for me cause I've been avoiding going up to Cameron's for the past 15+ years. Francisco was just a baby then and I remember being car sick and vomiting.

It was my first time going away with the DU'rians (primary and secondary school friends) for NYE. I had the best time ever!

my fave part: pillow talk with the girls (hannah, chiewmei and cynthia)

10 Jan 2013 - Baby Alexandea came into the world!!

I didn't get to see her till she was 3 weeks old because right after KL, I had a bad cough that went on for weeks.

She's absolutely precious and is the first baby I've seen that insists she sleeps in a box. haha so cute!

Sean and I spent chinese new year (CNY) with my family in KL.

As usual, the house was filled to the brim with my family and extended family.

There's no place to hide even. Absolutely love it! I just don't like the part when everyone leaves and its all quiet again. And you can hear that 'eeeEEeeEEe' sound.

CNY is the best time to be back. Alot of gatherings and open houses and family get togethers. Apart from Christmas, its truly one of the most wonderful time of the year IF you spend it with family and friends.

Sean also got his hands on Little Ethan. The first baby he's carried in a long time.

He's the most adorable baby. Always smiling and laughing. Such a happy baby.

I want my baby to be like him too!!

Baby Ethan showing a 'OMG is that me in the screen' face

he'll probably be walking the next time i see him.

mweh... don't grow to fast please..

Everytime we go back to KL, we make it a point to go on another trip in between.

This time, we went to Siem Reap, Cambodia with the girls (Shal, Sheyna and Megan). Cambodia is absolutely amazing. The people are so friendly. Its rich in history and everything is cheap!! We also had a really good tour guide (Sam Pho). Very knowledgeable, has good english, friendly and helpful. He also has an amazing memory for remembering peoples names. My mom and aunts went there over a year ago and he could name every single one of them. If anyone wants his contact, let me know.

on the Ton Le Sap lake

Bayon Temple

For a couple of years now, the DU'rians have been having their CNY Reunion Dinner. This year, we decided we'll have the reunion on Valentine's Day so that we can celebrate it together. Worked out pretty well actually, because the guys didn't have plan romantic dinners and what nots.

This was the first year Sean joined us and it was held at 'The Royal Flush'. I must say, its one of the nicest chinese restaurants I've been too.

The dress code was Chinese Attire.

I borrowed a cheongsam for Hannah the day before but ended up wearing this cheongsam I've had but never worn since I was 16.

Sean's wearing two shirts because I wanted him to wear the blue silky one and he wanted to wear the white linen one.
**its quite clear who won in the end. ME!! Duh!