Long week

After 5 days of off days (Good Friday til Tuesday), I went straight to long hours in office. Apparently we have quarterly financial schedules to complete by Friday. Most of the stuff are related to my product but everybody is helping all they can. So I stayed til 10pm on Wed, 10.30 on Thurs and an early one at 8.30pm on Friday.

I was supposed to meet a group of ex-colleagues (from Westpac) that Friday for dinner at 6pm. I got there around 9pm where everybody had finished their dinner. So I ordered Dragon Roll and boy, they were good. Even though I managed to chat with them for an hour only, it was fun and full of laughter, updating myself with the latest news from my old team. I'd take Bruno to eat there again, since we keep going back to MISO restaurant (at World Square) all the time for Japanese. This "NAZIMI" restaurant (opposite QVB) is another option now as my friends and I found the food to be very good.

Today, Bruno, Jason and I went to Newtown for lunch and we decided to try this simple Thai restaurant called Thai La-Ong. There were many Thai food along King Street in Newtown and we didn't know which one is good. We decide on Thai La-Ong only because it opened another one almost next to it, called Thai La-Ong 2 (duh!), so it must be good, right? Well, the lunch special is cheap at $6, so we ordered 4 of them plus fishcake. Not bad, I don't mind going back there again. Next time we go Newtown, we'd try another restaurant that had opened a 2nd shop too, Newtown Thai xxx (can't remember the full name). We found another restaurant that sells Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Indochinese food called Kammadhenu that boast 50 types of dosai. Our first thought is "Dad is gonna be a happy man here". So we may reserve this place for his birthday next month.

First appointment

Our first appointment with our IVF doctor today. Nothing interesting though, we just explained our situation and past results and the doctor asked a few questions and explained the options we have. We are asked to do a few mre tests and come back again next month to review the test.

So it's going to be only in June that we'll start our IUI/IVF program. Feels like a long wait, but it can't be any faster than that I guess.

I think it'll be fun to try each method (I could say 'fun' coz I haven't gone through one), so I plan to try IUI, IVF, ICSI and maybe TCM.

Now, I just need to arrange time and date for each appointment. Hopefully I don't need to take too much off-day from work and maybe a couple of hours in the morning. Still, I can't help feeling excited about it.

Cooking - my first

We are relaxing the last few days and I decided to learn to cook 2 dishes from a Detox cooking guide I bought last week. So we went to Woolies and tried to figure out how to find the ingredients. We didn't know that 'green onion' is shallots until we ask help from Woolies staff. Bruno checked each of the vegetables that I picked and he put them back mostly and chose another bundle/pack that he thought was of better shape/colour etc etc. I have to admit that I have a habit of picking up the first pack in front of me.

I got straight to cutting all the vegetables once we reached home. Bruno showed me how to do some of them, though I doubt he has done any cooking himself hhehee... Internet was quite useful too, I looked up on how to clean mushroom.

Making the soup was quite easy, but cooking the stir-fry was a bit challenging. First of all, I'm not comfortable with frying and the pan was too small for amount of vegetables I put. Again, I asked Bruno to show me how to stir and I just continued from there.

As a safety net, we bought roasted half-chicken but in the end all of the dishes was too much for 2 persons so we had to throw a bit of the stir-fry. My lovely hubby helped me cleaned up afterwards :) while I watched TV. Sigh, how am I going to live without him?

My hands felt a bit wierd, a bit over-used hehee.... And my stomach felt wierd, I hope I cleaned the mushrooms properly!

1 year in Sydney

Soon, it'll be one year since we arrived Sydney. I can't really say it has past in a blink of an eye. Well, in general I always feel time is too slow, and wishing I'm in my retirement age by now.

Looking back, we're thankful for the good timing we arrived in Sydney. I'm not sure if we could still get a job if we arrived today instead of last year. We are grateful (to God) for the jobs we have (especially since we each changed to another job within a year). We are thankful for having my in-laws here and that they are sharing and enjoying the adventure of living a new country.

There are still a few more things that are still in progress though. We are not yet to have a baby even though we thought that moving to a less-stressed country would help. I still work the same long hours (if not, more) here compared to Singapore. I was about to quit my current work as I want to concentrate in IVF, but my wonderful boss allowed me to take days off if I need to so I'm staying put for now.

I still need to learn how to drive and maybe, just maybe, how to cook. Both of us plan to learn how to swim, so that's something we could do together.

We initially plan to buy a house but we couldn't find a suitable one. So, we plan to rent a new place (with indoor heated pool, tennis and library) for another 6 months wihile continuing to look for a suitable permanent house.

I tried reading up on adoption but it seems one of us has to be an Australian citizen. It would mean that we need to wait a couple more years. But the good thing is, if we decide to adopt from China, Hongkong or Taiwan, we may be given a priority since I am Chinese and Bruno is half-Chinese. I don't understand why adoption from China cost so much more compared to other countries. Other countries we could consider is Phillippines, Thailand or India (since Bruno is half Indian). I would prefer adopting from Chinese countries though as it would be closer to our culture so it would take less effort when trying to get the adopted one connect to his/her original culture (and giving me more reason to learn Mandarin, I guess).

So, we thank God for everything He has given us the last one year and we put up prayers to Him for everything that we plan for the next 1 year. Exciting year ahead with plan to move, buy furniture, buy house, IVF, getting car license, learning how to swim and, maybe, citizenship.

For Unto Us a Child is Born

Christmas time is here. This time last year I would be busy with church choir practices. I feel something's missing this year as I realised churches here mostly do not have choirs. I remember whenever we sing a new piece each month, I would always struggle with the notes as most of them are not familiar songs to me. And I was always amazed at how some of the choir members would recognize the song and I marvelled when Pak Lin (choir conductor) told the background behind song(the composer, why it was created, etc etc).

Yesterday, I was reading ODB and the bible phrase is taken from Isaiah 9:1-7 and the main bible verse is taken from Job 19:25" I know that my Redeemer lives". Well, I soon began singing a song "I know that my redeemer liveth" (Handel version) which was a song I would never have heard if I had not joined choir before. As I began reading the Isaiah chapter, I just realised I quoted one of the verses for my Christmas card this year:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace

And I remember us trying to sing the song "For Unto Us a Child is Born" but we didn't proceed with it as it is a difficult piece requiring a minimum number of SATB (Christmas is the time when the choir members go back to Indonesia for holiday so there were only a few of us left). Also, it requires a strong choir to sing the song and we were not one hehehe..

So this Christmas we went to the mall and were surprised to see Santa Clause taking picture with kids (for a fee) which I don't remember we have one back in Singapore (or I seldom go to the mall during that period coz of choir practices). My friends brought us to Sutherland to see nice houses decorated in Christmas lightings, and I thought it was all only in the Christmas movies I have seen on TV hahahaa...

My MIL watched the Christmas Carols in domain on TV and she said "So sad that your father would miss this". Oh well, there would be many Christmas-es ahead for him to enjoy here. I think this feels like Chinese New Year in Singapore, where people would go out and shop and shops/offices close down during the period and time would be spent with family.

As for us, it would be filled with gatherings with friends (YumCha, children's birthday party and Boxing day dinner with Singaporean friends). Looking forward to all of them...

Now, I just enjoy the Choral songs from youtube so I don't miss my choir and church so much :)

I'll walk with God

This morning I was glancing at my homepage of internet page, which is the Our Daily Bread page. So I read the article, skipping the bible reading (very bad of me) . Thee bible phrase was "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. —Genesis 5:24" and the story was about walking with God. I was reading it and humming a song I sang in choir "I'll walk with God". I miss choir!!

I look it up in the internet for the lyrics, and they are beautiful:

I'll walk with God

I'll walk with God from this day on.
His helping hand I'll lean upon.
This is my prayer, my humble plea,
May the Lord be ever with me.

There is no death, tho' eyes grow dim.
There is no fear when I'm near to Him.
I'll lean on Him forever
And He'll forsake me never.

He will not fail me
As long as my faith is strong,
Whatever road I may walk along.

I'll walk with God, I'll take His hand.
I'll talk with God, He'll understand.
I'll pray to Him, each day to Him
And He'll hear the words that I say.

His hand will guide my throne and rod
And I'll never walk alone
While I walk with God.

Not sure how to upload video from Youtube, if it's even possible but I found several videos by different singers for the song, the original one probably from Mario Lanza though I prefer Jon Christos' or Russell Watson only because it's less opera-like. I think I remember Pak Lin singing this song at one of our Eklesia gathering or when we were practising this song.

It's a good song to memorize (I have yet to), it will help me whenever I feel lost or down or sick. I think the song was sung at a funeral in the movie "Student Prince". Hubby, if you're reading this, I want to request this song at my funeral.

Again, I miss Eklesia :)

New contract role

Since my last entry, I was just into my 2 weeks of break and I got a call from my recruitment agent that the interview I had earlier was successful but pending approval from head office with regards to head count. I was asked if I could start the next day if all went well, so I said ok.

It's been 2 weeks now with my new role, another 6-month contract til May09. The role was a permanent role previously, but due to pending merger there is a headcount freeze. Talking about headcount freeze, my ex-employer (DBS) announced it's going to retrench 900 staff. One of church friends sms-ed me about it (I seldom read news nowadays) and she said I was lucky that I left DBS. Well, now i'm in another bank that is bought over by another bank so I'm not sure if there'll be any job cuts later.

I really enjoyed this role as I'm going back to the role I did in Singapore. The people are nice, friendly, and they joke a lot (though I understand only half of what they are saying most of the time). There are fruits in the kitchen 3 times a week and kitchen is well stocked with variety of tea (I usually have 3 different cup of tea every day). One minus point is that the building is about 10-minute walk from train station, but it is a good morning walk I guess.

For now, I need to learn how to drive and plan to sit for the written exam by end of the month. Hopefully by December, I could start learning how to drive a car. For the first half of next year, I would be busy with studying for an exam (in June, 3rd attempt) and I may start on IVF program. Hopefully IVF will affect my study plan coz I really need to pass this exam. Each year I fail, I would need to register for next year's exam and they'd send me another pack of 6 textbook for reading! I have 2 sets of books already (2008 and 2009).