Hello everyone! I just got back from a wedding weekend in KL, and finally can get my hands on some internet excess without the ridiculous charges! 

I just wanna say how thankful I am to all you dudes and babes for voting for me, supporting me and coming down to zouk last week! I has such a wonderful time! Am extremely grateful to Female Magazine, sponsors and the judges… thank you so much for putting me in top 10 despite the titles I have held in the past, this means alot to me especially when I just had a baby 6 months ago!!! Words can’t describe!!! I’m still over the moon! ha!

Everything was such a blur after the program ended cos while being overjoyed, I had a flight to catch at 7am… which explains the shopping I HAD to do in KL cos I forgot to bring so many things! But fortunately, Collin captured some of the wonderful moments from that night!!!

Aveline, Baey, Cara, Denise, Sherman, Iylia, Ee Han, Christine, Wee Na, Laura, Mr and Mrs Jackson Lim (heh heh), Fulin, Sim Bian, Mel, Shu Wen, Liz, thank you!!!!!!!!

And Collin, thank you so much for being so supportive! Actions speak way louder than words =)

I have been suffering from osteoarthritis since I was 21. The pain comes and goes. Last Sunday as I was getting up to go for “run for hope” I felt an excruciating pain at my lower back. Guess what, its back again.

Osteoarthritis happens when there is breakdown and eventual loss of the cartilage of one or more joints. Cartilage is a protein substance that serves as a “cushion” between the bones of the joints. So technically it can happen at any part of the body where there are joints… And very unfortunately, mine has to be at the spine… which irritates spinal nerves, causing severe pain, numbness, and tingling.

The only time I don’t feel is pain is when I’m lying in bed… But as much as I love to, I can’t be doing that all day… Guess I really just gotta be strong, tolerate the pain and go about life normally, even though the pain puts me at the edge of tears sometimes.

I think it becomes even more challenging for me now when I have to look after 2 young children and carry them (they weigh 7kg and 14 kg).

But oh well… As they say… What can’t kill you will only make you stronger… lets see how strong I can become =)

I’m trying my very best to put mind over matter… and I just wanna keep on smiling=)

At the moment, doctors have yet to find any cure for osteoarthritis.

When it comes to cooking/baking, I go through different phases… There was the Sayur Lodeh phase, the Tiramisu cake one, the Pineapple Fried Rice phase (i pity those who went through that with me, but now I know who my true friends are… hahahah!), and for those who have known me long enough, the sweet & sour chicken phase… etc etc… And recently, I’m going through this Aglio Olio Pasta phase… So last Saturday I cooked a simple dinner for my parents, aunties and little nephews and nieces…

There was also chicken…

And something for the kids…

Tip #1:

Always put in more effort when cooking for kids… Because even if the food you’ve cooked for adults isn’t tasty, the adults will still be polite and compliment your cooking… But kids! are just brutally frank… ha!

Tip #2:

And IF the food for adults is really bad… Serve it only after heaps of alcohol… HEAPS!

The picture below is highly dangerous to capture… do not try this at home.

Okay.. this is just something absolutely random about me…

Recently, or rather for the last 6 months, I have been eating heaps of Subway sandwiches… I don’t know why, I just have this contant craving for Subway… day after day… no joke.

My standard Subway Sandwich order goes like this:

Can I please have

Wheat Bread, for

Teriyaki Chicken…

Yes, toasted with cheese please…

Yes, all the vegetables and can I have extra olives and peppers please…

I’d have the regular mustard…

and pepper please? Thanks!!!

And this is what you get…

Looking at my blog… I feel like I need a Subway again…

Last Thursday was Indochine’s 10th anniversary celebration. It was held at Indochine Waterfront, dress code was “Tropical Chic”, how nice! The event was great but friendly people made it a blast!

My favourite part of the menu was the dessert (as always! and not too healthy) – chocolate fudge with tropical fruits, served in a coconut shell!

While I was dancing, my bag suddenly got hijacked!

The red fan, which Simon got from an APEC event, came in really handy!

The celebration was such a success that most of us who had to work on the next day stayed on past midnight…

These are some of the other pictures taken during my Phuket trip last weekend…

Last weekend was my birthday and I took a short trip to Phuket. I visited Child-Watch, which is one of the main children charities in Phuket. Its objective is to help children from abusive families, prevent child labour (esp. in the sex industry), children whose parents are in prison and beggars.

Elijah has also very kindly agreed to let me donate some of his old and new toys, shoes and clothing to them.

This Home is just next to the prison. It also takes in children whose parents are in the prison next door. Some of these kids live in the prison if they have no other relatives to look after them. 

Elijah made me very proud by sharing candy with the children =)

Thailand has experienced great change over the last decade or two and some have prospered but there are also others who remain in poverty, lacking the skills to profit from the opportunities presented by economic growth. Amongst this disadvantaged sector of the population lurks temptations to lure children into the market of cheap labour or sex industry.

You can find out more about their programs and how you can do your part for them at http://www.childwatchphuket.org/.

I’m sure that just a small effort from each and every person will make a big difference.

Today is certainly not one of the best days for my husband. At 9am this morning I recieved a call from him saying that he had ran over some debris on the roads and punctured a tyre. His car had to be towed away afterwards. Then it turned out that he had to get the tyres at both sides replaced in order to have the same “wear” on each side. Total damage was about $1000.

So later in the evening he was saying that if he had changed lane 2 seconds later, this might not have happened and we might not be $1000 poorer. But most of the time, things like these are hard to say. I thought that if he had switched lanes 2 seconds later, something worse could have happened, you can never tell.

It then occured to me that we often forget how blessed we are to reach our destination safely, even if you don’t drive. Everyday there are some people who, either through the misjugdement of other people or their own, never made it to their destination.

It will be nice to take this moment to be thankful, to be breathing, to be seeing, to be feeling things around you.. because we never know… really…

Ps: I will be “disappearing” from this space for a few days as I’ll be taking a short overseas trip.

Have a great weekend!

God’s Gift #2: Elyana Cody Liu

At 9 days

At 5 months

God’s Gift #1: Elijah Cody Liu

At 3 weeks

At 2 years