listening to love songs have a whole new meaning.

quarrels are not worthwhile anymore.

I like the feeling now. Having a open and happy heart seems to be key to all doors.

appreciate the person that loves you. disagreement does not win anything

running downstairs in the cold seems fun.

it may be the honey-moon or cooling off period. But we started off with a 6 month contract.

i cherish everything that happened to us.

Spot On

Man Utd 3 -1. Correct score.

Appreciate to Denise for struggling through the match on TV w/o commentary.

Melbourne Storm won as well.

I can't say that I'm on a losing streak. Just bad and impulse judgement.

Remember 03 April 2010

the day that I've long waited, the day where all my plans will be executed is here. not before a trip up north for some inspections where I couldn't let my guard down. Many emails to the banker, solicitor and agent did cause some delays, but I gotta be cool about it and use some of the tactics to get us going. (btw, i sang "do you remember" every now and then)

Still remember practising my speech in the bathroom while she, my fiancee-to-be type the email away. Letty, at this moment, has already got the flowers and left it at the Tower. The Sydney Tower personnel ought to be complimented. Their organisation and communication from Day 1 has been fantastic. Questions all answered. Gave me more confidence that things will go as per normal.

Picked up Chew Wey at Central and "forgot" my phone in the car park to pick up the ring from the boot since the night before. Met up with Letty at the Tower and liaise with them to take photos at the lobby while I got the tickets (and speaking to Cathy to some last minute briefing)

6pm soon arrived after we toured through the observatory deck. got suited up and the next crucial step was to get the ring, which I've passed to the staff earlier, to attached it my wrist on a rubber wrist band. Pass through the metal detector, surprisingly, it didnt beep even though my mobile was with me. how safe is that. luckily denise didnt suspect anything and I went back regardless under Cathy's prompt to get it sorted.

i was the last one through on the deck of Sydney Tower. As planned. Enjoying the view and repeating the 2 sentences, picturing myself on one knee and proposing at the toppest point in Sydney, where we both started our careers and shared many joy, laughters and tears.

When the time came for us to do a funny pose, Denise wanted to kiss me. I rejected her and told her "remember what I promised you the next time I brought you flowers?"

Hands over mouth, tears forming, surprised 'pok pok' look. Seriously, i didnt hear a thing of what's happening around. went down on one knee, the tears came down too. "As we approach our 99months, I've got one simple question, just one simple question, Will You Marry Me." I took her hand, took the ring out and slid it into her 4th finger on the left hand which leads closest to the heart. She said Yes! Whenver I think back, I can still her surprised yet joyful expression. That expression was not easy to describe. It was like, anything in the world didnt matter, the world stood still, we were happy, we were into another chapter, another stage in our relationship. The smile, mixed with the happy tears, sums up the best moment I ever felt. That 1 min moment felt like forever, and I wish that can happened.

The flowers were a bonus. They brought it up to the deck and that made it the whole event even sweeter. The rest of the tour didnt matter. All I hear, is congratulations and thank you. All I see is her. I've passed her the card. The card opened the floodgates once again. She loves it. I love her.

That's a good summary of remembering 03 April 2010. The photos were well taken as well. the whole process. 2010 has just changed. changed for the better.

Shortlisted....

these rings were shortlisted to help me re-create custom made ring for Denise

Contents of the Card made for Denise

Remember the first time we met, you called me turkey that made me sound so fat.
The buffets we ate, so filling that we always miss out on the cakes.

Remember those times we were chatting on the phone, all we can hear is our happy tones.
We started with irc, but those are history and is facebook now we see.

Remember those times we were at the zoo, you were ecstatic at every animal while I turn blue.
Now that I’ve learnt to appreciate the nature, it is all because of you my dear.

Remember those time we quarrel, sometimes it was so bad that we forgot each other.
But we always come back stronger, defying all odds to be together.

Remember the numerous photos we took in the last 8 years, every picture tells a story.
These photos that you see, signifies each and every time you were there for me.

Remember the last time I bought you flowers, I planned to keep my promise and proposed to you sooner.
Now that I have make you my wife, the times that we are together will last forever in our lives.

Taste of Thai, Bar Bazaar

1) Taste of Thai

Always the no.1 choice for Thai food since I'm here.

Quick service and food is up to standard.

Use to be cheap but the price has been going up since its renovation.

Recommended Dishes: Pad Thai, Lamb Curry, Pad Kee Mao and the BBQ Chicken.

Located at Belmore Street, Randwick

2) Bazaar Beer Cafe

European style cafe. There for my engagement dinner.

Service pretty ok, not crowded on a Saturday night

Big servings and many varieties of beers and wines.

Recommended Dishes: Schnitzels!

Located at 1 Albany Street, St Leonards.

Photos courtesy of chew-wey and http://lettylimphotography.wordpress.com/

Diamond Ring *Bling Bling

most important thing of all. The engagement ring. I want to have a ring that represents Denise. A ring that I can see Denise, a ring that represents her. Thanks to her for dropping a few hints what kind of ring she likes. Makes my job easier, especially on the shape of the main stone.

Pear-shaped diamond are hard to locate in NSW, as I found out. Out of all the jewellers, I only saw 4, and 2 are way way above budget. All others available online are either located overseas or interstate. Btw, they all look the same to me. only the numbers on the price tag.

Just a note on the places I went

Diamond Exchange: Terry - Diamonds Wholesaler - Recommended me to David Brown who make the ring from scratch - Located at Martins Place

Larsen Jewellery - Danielle - Jeweller and Diamond Seller - Great service and the store gives you a good feel overall - a bit pricey but tip top service. - Got my stone here. - Located at The Strand Arcade

David Brown Jeweller - David - Impressed with his design work and appreciate that he could get the ring to me in such a short notice - 2 weeks. - located at Dymocks Building

Ancardia - World Square - Not recommended. Enough said.

Thanks to my Brother Polar for recommending http://www.bluenile.com/ , that's where I designed the ring and get a overall look of the ring I'm after. I wanted the ring to have coloured gems and amethyst came straight to my mind - Denise's Birth Stone and Her Favourite Colour

After advice from the people above, I decided on the design. Now I need to get the stone. To get a good deal, I've gotta run around Sydney every morning while she was asleep. Great arrangements since she starts late. =) Walking to the Sydney was great as well and it helped that both Larsen (9am) and David Brown (8am) operate early during weekdays. Kinda of able to go undercover to keep the whole process from Denise.

I still remember telling Danielle while getting the main stone from her

"this is so hard, because I gotta make the decision myself. How I wish Denise and I can make the decision together as we always do". It was pretty hard but it was fun and exciting. You want it to be good, within budget and most importantly, she has to like it!

Girls - a word of advice. To get something that you will like. Hint to the future husband the approximate design you like e.g with or without sidestones, number of claws and especially the shape of the diamond.

I also remember carrying the stone in my pocket and bringing into David Brown. Was pretty nervous because that precious little stone costs a bomb and I'm glad I only gotta travel a short distance. But still, that short distance was w/o insurance. All's good in the end.

When I got the ring from David, it put a smile on my face when I opened the box. I saw Denise. I can see Denise wearing it. I made the right choice.

Below is the final ring design. It has since been resized. That's the only error I made!

Not too bad eh! Glad you like it.. =)

What The?

Little Bambi had been orphaned, probably by amateur hunters who practise their sport legally in the Illawarra Escarpment Conservation Area.
"But there's no way you should kill a mother and leave its baby."
Under NSW Game Council guidelines hunters who kill a lactating female must "make every reasonable effort" to locate and shoot any young.
But animal welfare groups and pro-hunting advocates agree that in reality, finding an orphaned young is almost impossible.
Female deer, by nature, will hide their young at the first sense of danger and act as decoys to lead the threat away.

source: www.smh.com.au

just can't imagine there is such a law. "to make every reasonable effort" and hunt their young down. disgusted.

Clash of the Titans Review

Short Movie. Too short for my liking. Can be extended to include more details on the characters

Good introduction to the greek mythology.
3D not required. Not as good as Avatar. Cashing in on the 3D era, i guess.

Excellent cast and costumes. Credit to that.

Enjoy the trailer!

Man Utd Crashes Out

After a wonderful first half display, Manchester United crashes out of the quarter finals to Bayern Munich this morning AEST.

Stunned by their performance in the first half, well gamble with Darren Gibson (as usual for Sir Alex) and Nani, what a breathless display. Nothing seems to be able to stop him. Credits to Antonio Valencia as well. and Rooney, just being on the field already has its effects on his opponents.

3-0 up with 3 minutes to go half time break before Olic step up once again (he did it in the last minute for the first leg) to score the all important 1st half goal for Bayern Munich. I'm sure if it stood at 3-0 at half time, Man Utd will pack up their defence and there will not be enough time for the Germans to get the important away goals.

You learn from experience I guess, Rafael, too eager to impress and too eager to make an impression, got 2 yellow cards and got sent off. With a man down, there's always chances to exploit the defence. Final score was 3-2 to Man Utd. But Bayern won the first leg 2-1 means they go through on away goals.

Not sure why I'm so attached to this club. Never seen them live before, the only player I saw before was Dwight Yorke when he was in Sydney. But I kinda of feel a bit down. Haha. Silly. But I still feel a bit unjust that after such a wonderful performance, they couldn't finish the Germans off. Well, is only sport and there's always next year. There will be a winner and a loser. By the looks of it, Man Utd will only be the Carling Cup winners for this season. Fingers crossed for the league premiership.

source: www.manutd.com

Engagement 03 April 2010

She said "Yes, I will!" at the highest point in Sydney. Yes, as according to plan, I was engaged at approximately 6.30pm on a Saturday evening overlooking Sydney at its very best vantage point. Right in front of us are the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. 2 iconic landmarks that represent where we are for our last 5 years. Where is there a better place to propose to my lovely partner of 8 years. Before anything, we need a surprise and we need a plan! and I will reveal all here step by step how I, as Denise says in her blog, "He planned. He organized. He plotted. He cahoot. He skyped. He white-lied."

Date: I need a meaningful date. April will be the best month because it is our 99th month together. 8 years and 3 months. Pretty good number for the chinese. With Denise's brothers coming for a trip for the weekend, it will be a fantastic timing to do it in April.

Place: where will it be a memorable place to pop the question. Always in the plans are the Zoos because Denise love animals. My initial idea was to propose as part of the everyday elephant feeding time at Taronga Zoo. For one of the elephants to bring a huge box containing the ring in there. However, this is the response

"Hi Clement,
Unfortunately due to the impending elephant birth we are unable to allow your request with our elephant group. We have had many proposals occur during our free flight bird show which would involve a Galah flying up to your partners hand and delivering the ring. Or if you wanted to stay over as part of our roar and snore program arrangements can be made to make it an extra special night for you both.
Let me know your thoughts on this and I can follow it up."

What is a Galah? is a bird! No. No way I'm entrusting my ring to the birds which I have many bad experiences with. Send a couple of emails to the Sydney Wildlife Park and Sydney Aquarium, NO response at all. No Nothing. I was pretty pissed off with them.

2nd idea: to liaise with the staff at Tulloch Winery, Hunter Valley to hand her a special menu for the day, which will contain a card and all the times we were together before she turns back to see me on one knee. Letty will be snapping photos away while I pop the question. Denise's brothers will be with us after Port Stephens. However this will take a bit coordination as we will be travelling up to Port Stephen's first with the sand dunes and dolphin cruise before making our way down to the Hunter Valley for the event. Will be too distracted.

Sydney Tower. Whilst surfing for the best attractions in Sydney, I came across the site for Sydney Tower and the special events they hold at the top of the tower. Sydneysiders won't even give a second thought about going to the observatory deck, let alone paying extra to go for the walk. But I was thinking, this will be very special. Standing at the highest point in Sydney, where we build our careers and experience our best moments so far and to get engaged at this location will be fantastic and meaningful. Proceeded to contact the staff members and was not expecting too many high hopes as they are managed by the same company as the Sydney Wildlife Park and Sydney Aquarium and worst, the contact email on the website bounced back! *pooF! I was thinking. What the?! I rang them up, and surprisingly they were very responsive. Eoin (pronounced as "Erwin") Kennedy, tower supervisor, very prompt replies with the emails, impressive.

"Hi Clement,
How are you?
I’ve attached the Skywalk Proposal Procedures. So the cost for the five of you will still be $500. Attached is the Skywalk Proposal guide I hope it helps. The dates should be ok just need to know what time you were thinking of.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me. "

$500... hmm. thats a bit too pricey, but upon further emails, I can do it with the normal price with the public and they will be more than happy to help me out with the whole process. *Bingo!

Location: Secured!

Props: Pending.

"Cahooters": Pending.

Top 10 at the moment

1. Alejandro - Lady Gaga
2. I Like That - Static Revenger
3. Now You See It - Pitbull
4. Shut It Down - Pitbull
5. Solo - IYAZ
6. Riding Solo - Jason Derulo
7. Justin Bieber - Baby
8. Nothing On You - B.O.B
9. OMG - Usher
10. In My Head - Jason Derulo