Lake Hawea

Lake Hawea, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

This is why i love driving in New Zealand. This is lake Hawea, one of my favourite lakes :)

I have been thinking a lot about my NZ trip of late. This is the trip that i became Weixiang's fiancee. The engagement was a surprise -- i loved it. I also love my engagement ring :)

We have been discussing about going back for honeymoon, this time spending more time at each place to capture the very best each location has to offer. Sounds good right?

Whether we're going back to NZ for honeymoon doesn't matter cos i  know we will definitely return at some point of time. I'm just hoping that we will have better luck with the weather this time :)

I'm looking fwd to helilhike at fox glacier, hot air ballooning, star gazing at St John observatory etc (Things we missed because of unfavourable weather conditions).

Hope you get to visit this lovely place, the land of LOTR!

Married to my Best Friend

It's been a while since i last posted :) It's a pity how i love this space but never quite have the time to post here. Perhaps it's cos of the existence of the convenient alternative called facebook. It's really easier to post statuses on facebook.

Quite a bit has changed since i last posted.  The biggest change is marrying my best friend :)

More about us here. I really heart our photographer who captured the wonderful moments for us.

When will i post here again?

Feather & Clover

Feather & Clover, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

Love the beauty of green and the lightness of the feather.

Taken at Tokyo Imperial Garden. I'm missing Japan, right now :)

New Template

I've been having problems standardizing the appearance of my blog on different web broswers. Countless attempts have been made to correct the html but the template inevitably does not work on one of them :(

As i got less familiar with html with time, i became increasing less efficient :(

I tried again this time for chrome, unfortnuately without success. So, i have decided to abandon the template altogether :)

Here's goodbye to my much love self created template.


.. and Hello to the new one!

I must say blogger has become more user friendly with time. Some of the readily available templates are really pretty and surprisingly they offer a lot of options for customization too!

I shall settle with this one for now till i have time again :)

Finding Love

"I’m convinced that what kept me going is I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work; and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it gets better and better as the years roll on." -Steve Jobs

♥

Droplets on Crimson Red, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

"A lifetime with you"

I ♥ Nikko, Japan

Ryuzu Falls


Mystical Dawn

Amazing Bloom

Amazing Bloom, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

I was re-organising my flickr account when i chance upon this pic i took 2 yrs ago. I am truly amazed that my good old fujifilm compact was capable of taking this shot!

I am working on a new photo blog. You're most welcome to visit it here!

Runaway

Runaway, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

When was the last time u felt that u want to run away?

Lion Series

I have decided to upload some photos today cos doing so will make me happy :) It was really nice looking at photos of animals at the Safari and laugh/smile again at some of the interesting/silly things that happened then.

Photos are taken with a 18-200mm.

Yikang, do u rmbr this lion? Haha

Follow Me, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

Family, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

Looking Left, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

Looking Back, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

Looking Right, originally uploaded by grinleaf.

I am looking fwd to see weixiang's photos!

In Transit

1 | 52 weeks - the beginning...., originally uploaded by mistybliss.

It occurred to me that we are often in transit in diff places and phases in life.

I see how diff patients occupy the same hospital bed.

Similarly, when we travel, diff people of diff backgrounds occupy the same bed/room.

Isn't it interesting?

Will i next wonder who once occupied the seat/bed/room?

Back Home

I woke up this morning it finally sank in tt i am back home.
It's back to erp-avoiding, bad traffic mornings and sleep deprived days..

Kilimanjaro Awaits

Finally, MBBS is over.
Finally, I'm going for my grad trip

Stop and Stare

MBBS is finally over! I am just hoping i can pass. PLEASE...

This is one of the songs i listened to a lot in the past month.

Enjoy :) The MV is pretty interesting.

Pretty Things

Native, originally uploaded by mistybliss.

I had such a traumatising experience at CGH today tt i teared. I really hope this will be the last and the days ahead will be alright.

I am eternally grateful to weixiang(!!!), raphael, quanyao, wenyang, yikang, ryan, ningqi etc for all the useful knowledge i have passively diffused something from over the days.

Few more days to go! :)
Shall concentrate on pretty and happy things for now :) Like this photo!

Let Go of the WHK experience

Sunrise from Mt. Kilimanjaro

Sunrise from Mt. Kilimanjaro, originally uploaded by nyctosf.

Sunrise at Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, originally uploaded by miyamiyamiyamiya.

Uhuru Peak, Mt.Kilimanjaro, originally uploaded by flimseflo.

Leaving for this place in 2 wks time :))

Pieces

“There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.”, originally uploaded by miss_blackbutterfly.

I chance upon this pic and i really like the bokeh!

Incidentally, it also reminded me of what Sandra Oh said in Grey's Anatomy. How Burke took pieces of her away bit by bit and she was shaken again when Owen took away a piece of her for the first time.

We cant always wish to selfishly and stubbornly remain whole. Sometimes a void may be better filled by somebody or something :)

And it is almost always better to compromise :)

Appreciating CNY

I am usually quite ambivalent towards CNY. On one hand, i am happy to have a break and it's a real bonus to be able to enjoy the CNY goodies and see some relatives which i only see once a year; on the other, it can be quite a nuisance when relatives ask the same questions or say the same thing every year!

Last CNY, one of my uncles had LL lymphoedema. I told him to get a thorough check cos it could be a sign of something sinister. This uncle makes one of the best teochew braised duck and i look forward to visiting him every yr.

My heart really sank just now when he told me this might be his last cny making braised duck for the family cos his dr told him tt he has an estimated 6-12mth to live :( :(

I realised that we often assume the best possible outcome for our loved ones. I told my dad to follow up on my uncle's condition last yr and he kinda assumed he should be fine since he didnt update my dad. And i, i accepted what my dad said and thot mb my uncle has filiarsis from growing up and walking ard barefooted in kampong.

I could tell my cousin is qt affected, but we were all qt comforted that my uncle is trying to live life to the fullest and doing things he enjoy most. After my mbbs, i shall hope to keep in touch more with my extended family :)

This CNY has reminded me that if not for CNY every year, i might really be totally clueless abt what goes on in my extended family.

Simple Tomatoey Pleasures

Saint Pierre tomatoes, originally uploaded by Ian-S.

Some tomato noodles made my day today. I love how simple, yet surprisingly fulfillingly good it was!

One day i shall experiment and make such soup at home :)

MBBS is coming. HOW?

Mid Week Ramblings

Jessica cabbed down to TTSH to past me this bday present. How sweet! :) It is so pretty!



Girls, i love the card ++ especially how Eliza is still living in the past. haha. So funny! I was smiling like a silly fool on the train when i read christabelle's comment :)



Thank you so much for the friendship. You are right, time flies and it's surprisingly been 7 yrs already!!!

Cheers to years of friendship ahead:) Will catch up with fun when my exams are over k :):)