Our Love for Traveling – Part 6

Alvan’s company organises incentive trips every year and for the past two years, I did not join him. The trip this year is to Korea, Seoul! Haven’t been there myself and intrigued by their culture, scenery and the locals (too much Korean drama serials!), I was eager to put my name down when they did the registration almost a year in advance :P

Nearer to the date, I came to realise that it would be organised as a group tour, unlike what Alvan told me earlier that it would be very much ‘free and easy’. It was quite a put-off and my interest level dropped drastically. It was one of the rare moments that I hardly looked forward to a holiday. Itinery was planned for, accommodation and meals were settled, activities were arranged. I felt so ‘not in control’. I had a bad feeling about Seoul.

Grudgingly, I packed my bag and took off to Seoul with the whole gin gang. Even before getting onto the plane, it was chaotic at the check-in terminal. We were all divided into groups and each group had a guide. So every guide was trying to check in for the people under their care. I wished I could have done my own internet check-in, instead of waiting around for everyone in the group to be ready. Little did I know that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Subsequently, for every single destination and activity, it was wait and wait and wait. I was made to go with the groups to the jewellery shops, ginseng shops, cosmetics shops and kimchi-making classes. Time that I would rather spend sight-seeing or just exploring the streets on my own.

Alrite, just in case I complained too much, I did enjoy some parts of the holiday. We went skiing at the skiing resort where we spent our first night in. It was a first time experience for both of us and I was proud to share that I did not fall even once when I was down the slope, unlike my counterpart :) For the subsequent few days, we stayed at the Lotte World Hotel, which was the place where one of the famous Korean dramas was filmed. It was my favourite Korean drama serial and it was a pleasant surprise to see that it looked exactly the same as you would in the drama. It felt surreal.

Overlooking the ski slopes from our room balcony

The ski resort where we stayed for the first night.

Does this look familiar? This is the meeting place where the lead actor and actress always meet in the Korean drama serial.

At Lotte World

Can you spot us?

Glad that we had a day to ourselves where we took the subway on our own. It helped that our hotel was directly linked to the subway so we did not have too much of a trouble getting around. We did some shopping and by 10+ we nearly dropped dead from exhaustion. Stuff at The Face Shop was cheap and we bought nearly a year’s supply of face and eye masks :P

I swear that this will be the last group tour that we will take. And I am glad that our next trip will be our honeymoon at Bali come this November.

Our Love for Traveling – Part 5

Going on holidays with just the two of us seems boring at times as we only have each other to share our experiences. Hence, for our much awaited trip to New Zealand, we invited many friends to join us. We sent out invitations to more than 10 people but in the end only two eventually followed us on the journey to the kiwi land. Joey and Mike even went to the extent of booking the air tickets but had to change plans due to work commitments. What slave workers they are!

So each of our role was as follow:

Alvan: Driver

Guang: Chef

Von: Photographer/Videographer

Grace: Travel Planner cum commentator in the video

It was a 16-day road trip in Oct 2008 where we traveled all the way from the North (Auckland) to the South (Christchurch). Indeed New Zealand is a place where one will not have problems finding adrenalin-pumping activities. We went for black water rafting at Waitomo, white water rafting at Tongariro (to replace our Tongariro Crossing due to bad weather conditions), glacier walking at Franz Josef and not forgetting skydiving at Queenstown. Tramping is a popular activity in New Zealand and we totally understand why when we were there. It is so scenic that you need to be on foot to take in every single moment.

This is black water rafting, where each of us has a float and we move along with the mild underwater current. As it is pitch dark, the scary part is that you don't know where you're moving to. Guang nearly 'drowned'.

White water rafting. Can you spot us?

Yes. No doubt about it. That is me.

Glacier walking. It was terribly cold, it even started hailing at one point!

One of the walks that we took at Mount Cook.

It snowed at Te Anau. Since it was approaching Spring, snow was unexpected. Furthermore, it was my first time encountering a snowy weather.

Our Love for Traveling – Part 4

Being beach lovers (read: laze on the beach and do nothing), we planned for short getaway trips to Angsana Bintan in August 2007 and Phuket in January 2008. Angsana Bintan was a complimentary one night stay in a one-bedroom suite (courtesy of my company). It was a nice getaway to celebrate my birthday there.

In January 2008, we decided that we NEEDED another getaway trip as we found that we had been TOO busy and TOO hard on ourselves for the year of 2007 :P The weather then was not ideal as it would rain without fail every night, especially after our dinner. It spoilt much of our fun roaming the small streets of Patong Beach. Nonetheless, it was all sunny and hot during the day for our sun tanning.

Patong Beach

Does this place look familiar?

Me in a tuk-tuk

Our Love for Traveling - Part 3

In May 2007, I suggested going for a trekking trip to Nepal. As we did not really train for it, we decided to take the ‘easiest’ trek, Jomsom Trek, with tea-houses along the way to spend our nights. It was a 10-day trip, spending 6 days on the trek itself. We had to change flight at Bangkok to reach the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. We spent our first night there and had a great Nepalese dinner with our guide. The next day, we took a 6 hour coach to Pokhara. The traffic was heavy in Kathmandu and it was too dusty for my liking. After the long and rickety ride, we had a nice dinner and walked along the streets of Pokhara. The weather was cool and it was not as crowded as in Kathmandu. It was yet another wonderful day in the Nepal.

The next day we took an internal flight (yet another rickety ride, it’s unlike the ones that one usually takes) to reach Jomsom. From there we started on our ‘long journey’ on foot. From then on, we seemed cut off from all forms of civilisation. We were thrown back to the nature, where even electricity was a luxury. For the six days, we started our day early at 6am and by 5pm, we would have reached another village and would probably fall asleep by 8pm due to exhaustion.

The children were fascinated with our digital camera and posed gamely for us :)


The road seemed to go on and on.... never ending :P

We woke up to such beautiful scenery every morning :)

Taking a short break at one of the houses.

In all, this is a trip that has left me with a deep impression. We spent 10 ‘intimate’ days together with our guide and sherpa. Most parts of the journey were tough, walking on uneven grounds, trudging up the slopes and crossing the streams. Alvan was extremely patient with me, helping me along the way and giving me mental support to push on. It might not be the luxurious holiday that one would love to take, but I walked away with beautiful memories of the place and people. The living conditions were harsh (by our standards) but we saw beautiful smiles on the faces of the locals. Many a times along the trek, one had to depend on candle lights and torches at night. Heated showers were a luxury. Fans and air conditioners were nearly non-existent. One had to walk miles and cross rivers to reach another destination. It was hard for me then to imagine how one could possibly live in such environments.

At the end of our 6-day trek, as we took the vehicle back to Pokhara, leaving the mountains behind us, tears welled up in my eyes. It was indeed a journey that both Alvan and I would always remember.

Our Love for Traveling - Part 2

In April 2006, we went to Phuket. It was not exactly planned as the air ticket that I originally bought was for a live-on-board diving trip. I had to forgo my diving trip due to work commitments. Hence, Alvan bought another air ticket so that mine would not have to go to waste. We enjoyed the sun, sea and sand.

We stayed at the popular Patong Beach, where most of the crowd would be. Although it was my second trip to Phuket, it was a different experience going there with Alvan :) After the trip, we were already looking forward to our next beach holiday!

Our room

Chilling out at Starbucks

Check out the clear water

Our Love for Traveling – Part 1

Since we both enjoy traveling, thought it will be a good idea to jot down our travel ‘adventures’. Looking back, we went holidaying at least once every year except 2005. That was when I went for my one-month Europe trip and ‘abandoned’ Alvan. He was mad at me for leaving him behind in Singapore but eventually he gave in. That is exactly what I like about him! He respects my decision.

We went on our first short trip in October 2004 to Bintan Lagoon Resort.



Think we both looked quite 'toot toot' back then :) It was memorable although it was just a short trip.

Verbalising our thoughts

With the advice of friends and Felice (Alvan's sister), we signed up for pre-marital counseling. Well, we thought there is no harm doing so. Hence, we took up 4 private sessions. The first session was to complete a set of questionaire. Something akin to MCQ questions that one would do during "O" level exams. There were over 100 questions to complete and that was it.

The second session was when partial analysis of the results was shared. Firstly we were asked to verbalise the reasons why we chose each other as our life partner. This came as a surprise as we really didn't say that to each other before.

Alvan's reasons:
1) Grace makes up for Alvan's shortcomings eg. meticulous and organised
2) Grace stands up for Alvan when he gets taken advantage of
3) Grace's easy-going character complements Alvan's character as he is equally easy-going
-> Although these reasons do not seem really 'critical', hearing that coming out from his mouth melts my heart. For a while, I feel deeply appreciated :)

Grace's reasons:
1) Alvan gives me complete trust
2) Alvan gives in to my nonsense and pampers me (but with moderation)
-> Now does it seem like my reasons are much stronger?

The second part of the session talked about one major problem that both of us have. We didn't really need this to know the problem. Not surprising, it is about procreation. We deliberated on this before marriage came into the picture. I believe till today, both parties are still trying to convince each other the merits of having (or not having) children. I feel that I am fighting a losing battle. I will need more convincing. So, Alvan, you have to try harder.

Our next session will be on this Friday. We have to do some homework. Each of us has to list down three wishes that we would like our partner to do. I foresee difficulties in completing this piece of homework as I definitely need more than three wishes :P

101 things to accomplish

Let me try to list down the 101 things that we have to do in preparation for our Halloween Party:

- Dinner banquet: Swissotel Merchant Court Ballroom
- Bridal boutique: Divine Couture (done)
- Bridal Accessories: Courtesy of Joycelyn Chan
- Wedding shoes: The Leaping Lizard
- Make-up artist: Joanne (Tie up with Divine Couture)
- Florist: Fleurlicious (Tie up with Divine Couture)
- Pre-wedding photography: Eugene Goh from Chris Ling (Done. 34 photos chosen, burnt another hole in the pocket. Album will be ready 2 weeks before actual day.)
- Actual Day photography: The Peepshow Machine (Booked)
- Actual Day videography: The Peepshow Machine (Booked)
- Wedding Band: Love & Co. (Needs to resize mine again)
- Invite Cards: Lil’art cards (Collection on 1 Aug. To send out before 20 Aug)
- Justice of Peace: Dr Ho
- Love Nest: still in the search
- Pre-marital counseling: still in progress (yes we need counseling haha)

And the list goes on....

Surprise!

Alrite so I have finally decided to start a blog on us. It has been something that I wanted to do for a long time. Well, it is always better late than never :) Hope I can sustain this.

Alvan and I have come a long way since our love journey started on 6 September 2004. Till today, we are still debating if the day is on 5 or 6 September 2004. Nonetheless, it is close to five years. Yes, we have come thus far. But I believe that this is just the beginning.

We are entering into another major milestone in our lives. That is something called marriage. Or what some people name as doomsday. I used to see it as the latter. Alvan made me come to realise that marriage is more than just two persons walking down the aisle together.

I will be updating more on our marriage preparations. Keep a look out! And hope Alvan likes this pleasant little virtual space that is shared by both of us.