Core memories
Author: merylxinjie
Tis’ the season to Marie Kondo the living lights out of my room as we prepare to build our new nest.
So far, I’ve cleared many clothes and seeing my wardrobe shrink has been so satisfying. With girls, you never really know how many clothes you actually have till you are forced to clear your wardrobe.
And then came old documents, textbooks from my school days, year books, idiotic insurance policy documents and notebooks with so many scribbles. Well… that was harder on me as it really took me on a walk down memory lane. I was looking at a version of me 5 – 15 years ago through these papers. I’ve come so far, but there’s always this part of me that would love to preserve the old me, for everything she went through shaped present me.
My heart lurched when I saw old HDB documents from the flat I gave up, marriage preparation worksheets that didn’t change anything and sweet notes scribbled in my notebooks. I paused to fish out some memories from my heart and alas, let out a little sigh. M
Many other things made me pause and think too, school textbooks from my exchange days among them. I stared at my German exercise books and it brought me back to one of the best times of my life. I can’t believe I was so diligent then!
I picked up marketing collaterals from my days in EDB and thought about my days of being a freshman in the working world, of learning the ropes from seniors, of navigating politics while building friendships and experiencing the sunset of these friendships. I’m no fresh chicken anymore, but I do miss being that naive at times.
I’m thinking of ways to store these precious items from the past without taking up too much precious space in our new house. I wonder if I can put them all in a box so I can access these memories when I’m in the mood for reminiscing. Fah is going to kill me, but he understands how sentimental I am.
Well, one thing’s for sure: the house may run out of space, but my heart’s just like the iCloud. It never runs out of space, but I’ve gotta do housekeeping from time to time to organize my memories.
“A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets”
Oh my lord!
It’s been a very long minute since I journaled. So much has happened since the last post:
- Your girl here got married whoop whoop!
- Many many changes happened in the company but I’m grateful to be safe.
- We selected our flat on 1 Feb, selected the flat, was told key collection would take 6 – 9 months, appealed, appealed and boom, got notified to collect the keys on 3 April and here we are, officially NEW HOMEOWNERS!
I’m really looking forward to the next few months as we embark on the renovation journey, head for our Turkey honeymoon in May and explore Taiwan in July. It’ll be a whirlwind till our first wedding anniversary. I’ve been stressed but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Life really does have a way of working out, and I thank God all the time for looking out for me.
More to come!
16 May 2023
Came back from our New South Wales trip yesterday and I’m still reeling from it. Will take some time to pen down my thoughts about everything another time ☺️
As for today, we’re officially TWO months away from the wedding and it’s absolutely surreal. I feel so under-prepared, even know we’ve already gotten many parts sorted. It’s a mixture of excitement and “have-i-missed-anything out” haha!
And in ten days, I’m turning 31. Damn you time, please slow downnnnnnn. I’m not ready to be a year older.
29 April 2023
We collected our wedding rings and it’s truly a mood looking at Fah adore his ring lovingly. This has been a journey for him as we’ve spent so many hours hunting for his ring, while mine literally took 2 – 3 jewelry store visits as I kinda had an idea around what I liked.
Back at his place, he couldn’t stop looking at his ring after his shower and we were practising saying “I do!” while putting the rings on each other haha.
We’re less than 3 months to go to the big day and we’re so stoked!
I said “Yes, of course!”
11 Feb 2023, 4:30pm – Gallop Extension, Botanic Gardens
We got engaged!!!!!!! And my Biskie was there too!!!
It still feels surreal, even though 50% of the wedding has already been planned 🤣
It was such a magical day, and I was telling a friend that I feel “same same, but different”. Nothing has changed but the relationship has definitely “levelled up”, if that makes sense.
I could relive the day in my head over and over again.
THE DAY BEFORE (10 FEB):
8:40pm: Little Biskie communicated to me via a chatbot he built. Apparently, he built this after our impromptu Body Jam class, in the male changing room of PURE Fitness Suntec 🤣
And at twelve midnight, a mysterious ticket dropped:
I knew his was up to something but suspected it would be a proposal or a Valentine’s Day celebration (as we’ve been talking about taking turns to plan surprise dates).
THE DAY OF 11 FEB:
11:30am: He picked me up in a GetGo rental car and told me to show him the ticket so I could board the ride. He gave me a word to unscramble so I could guess our first location. And so I did!
Lunch: Turns out the location is Kampong Bahru Road, which is where we had our first date. However, the cafe we met in (Strangers Reunion Cafe) has downsized tremendously that it wasn’t worth a visit anymore. So he planned for us to dine at Kream & Kensho instead. And to smoke me further, he brought a selfie stick, which he said will be used for us to take pictures for the wedding montage.
I was taking my time to eat before he said we have to pop off to the next place as he made an appointment. He told me to look at my ticket closely as it contains the clue to the next stop.
The appointment was at 2pm but we were late so we reached at 2:15pm.
2:15pm: WE WERE IN PUG HEAVEN OMGGGGG!
If you know me, you know I LOVE puggies and so… the man brought me to the pug cafe at Haji Lane!
We both had such a good time and the pugs were stinking cute I just wanted to bring them home sigh. Now I understand why he rushed me haha 🤣 Fah’s also rather neutral to animals so it’s been heartwarming to see him taking an interest in dogs. The owner of the cafe is also such a flamboyant person, sharing unsolicited stories about his extravagant lifestyle, dogs, ethnicity and love life. I am in awe at the fact that he’s got 16 dogs.
After being in pug heaven, it was time to to the next stop and Fah gave me another set of words to unscramble. After many unsuccessful attempts, I finally got it and we were off to the Bay Area! God was definitely on his side yesterday as we had no issues finding carpark lots at places that were notorious for lack of parking spaces.
3:15pm: We were at the Bay Area and boy was it crowded! We were there to relive the memory of him asking me to be his girlfriend on the evening of 14 August 2020, where we were surrounded by many snails because it has just rained haha.
We bumped into my director while waiting for the lift to the carpark. And then… we were back on the road! I managed to unscramble the next word really quickly and that took us to our dear RV Suites.
3:45pm: Stopped along the sides of Jalan Mutiara~
Before we went to the next stop, he told me he’d like to play a quick game. So we played what we used to play, which was Wordle and the loser was to undergo a forfeit. Turns out, I won. And turns out, this was just a smokescreen cos he deliberately lost and was using that time to coordinate the proposal haha.
And… we were off to our next and final stop. He kept missing turns deliberately as I was making wild guesses on the next location. Eventually, we ended up at Gallop Extension in Botanic Gardens. He said he wanted to bring me here as I’ve been itching for greenery and peace.
4:15pm: We strolled around the park and at the end of the road, as we were approaching the colonial building, he told me to put on his earphones and listen to an audio track while we continued our walk. In the track, he addressed our future children and told them about all the adventures we had earlier. He told them how blessed he feels with me, and how happy he has been the past 2.5 years. My cheeks were hot with emotions as I was listening to the track. We paused for abit, and played the next track.
In the next track, he made references to the text that Little Biscuit has sent me in the chatbot. I told Biskie she was too dirty to come along and she needed a bath before joining us. In the track, we hear Biskie’s voice saying “Mama! I’m here! Can you see me?”.
As I walked further down the slope towards the big tree, I saw a familiar silhouette and was in disbelief for a moment. HUH WHO IS THAT BUNNY OVER THERE THAT LOOKS LIKE MY BISKIE! And as I got closer, I saw that it was Little Biscuit and all around her laid rose petals, a letter and a bouquet of roses.
Fah stopped to place the letter in my hands. I don’t think I was processing anything in the letter as I was still in a state of shock. All I remember was Fah telling me to flip to the back of the letter and there I saw the words “It’s time, papa! – Biskie” and before I knew it, he stood in front of me, took my hands and went down on one knee to ask the question.
Everything took….. 5 seconds?? He was up before I knew it and we gave each other a tight hug after. During the hug, I moved my head and GASPED. There was a random person in the bushes taking pictures of us and I just remember saying “BABE BABE SOMEONE IS TAKING PICS OF US!” and I kept pointing at the bushes. Turns out, that was his friend and he was so smart to pick a friend I’ve not met before. He said he asked Ah Ming but she wasn’t available. Turns out this change of plan worked out better!
These pictures were actually taken by a member of the public who witnessed the proposal and was so kind them to us. The best part is, this person even took it upon himself to crop out Fah’s friend who was in the picture HAHAHA. Just take a look at the below image and you’ll see:
We took some pictures after, and oh! Did I mention, he forgot to put the ring on me! So after a few pictures, his friend went “Eh! The ring! Hello!!” and finally, the deed was done and I am officially off the shelves, babies!
We chilled on the grass after to take in everything. The weather was so nice and the sun was setting. There was a glow to the entire place and it was amazingly quiet, with very few people milling around. God was truly smiling down on us yesterday, and blessed us with amazing weather. There wasn’t a drop of rain at all and Fah joked that he would have loved to propose in the rain and it would have been a scene from The Notebook haha. He imagined us running barefooted in the storm and I would have been up for it as there’s something magical about embracing natural elements during a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
I love how he brought Biskie into this. It’s one thing to love a chou chou this much, and another thing for your partner to truly love the most child-like part of you. That was perhaps the part that moved me the most. I feel safe being myself around him all the time and he makes me feel so loved and celebrated.
6:45pm: We adjourned for a quiet dinner at Open Farm Community after that and the reason for picking OFC is because he knows I’ve been meaning to have a farm-to-table experience. It’s really the small things like that that make me appreciate him so much.
It was a lovely dinner and really what we needed after a wonderful but tiring day. He drove me home and on the way back, we rocked out to Muse and all felt so right in the world.
I’ll hold this day close to my heart, and I cannot wait to spend all my days with him ♥️♥️♥️
3 Jan 2023: Sent my love off to the airport for his business trip to the U.S. and I am missing him very badly sigh.
Went kebaya hunting two days ago!
Figured it’d be a really nice touch to pay homage to my peranakan heritage during the wedding so off to the Adelphi I went!
I kinda like the red and turquoise kebaya top. Well, no decisions have been made yet so I’ll keep my options open 😬
28 Dec: Got the good news that my Instagram account is restored after the hacking incident phew! Ah Ming and I met and she accompanied me for my appointment at TWC Bridal. I wasn’t impressed with their dresses and we both agreed the service wasn’t good. So we left and adjourned to Amoy for quick dinner before walking around Lau Pa Sat to clear our minds. We ended up at Fullerton Bay and chilled on the couch to chat.
And as if this day can’t get any more exciting, my IG got hacked last night and my gosh, it was so distressing battling the hackers, troubleshooting things and managing the flood of emotions that came out.
I was so worried that my bank accounts would be compromised and it didn’t help that so many memories are stored in IG so losing the account meant losing all these moments I hold dear. Really a hard lesson to learn to store memories in a different place so hacking incidents will not affect any archives.
But… good news is, I managed to get back my account and re-secured it with the help of friends who work in Meta. This resolution also came within 24 hours phew.
So that’s two good things happening on this sunny 28 December 2022 😂 Talk about a hat trick 😂
What a day indeed! Thank you God for hearing my prayers ♥️
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