I was really looking forward to my class this week. We had a break for two whole weeks and I was itching to get into the studio and get some frames.

We had a lovely little girl called Holly this time and she was an absolute star! I was quite worried that she might get bored and lethargic posing for the 6 of us so I managed to be the 3rd people to get behind the lens and shoot away (which didn’t matter eventually because she posed for all 6 of us brilliantly).

It was definitely an experience working with a kid.

I had to constantly engage her in conversation yet concentrate on taking some decent shots. Therefore, there were a few shots of her in mid-sentence which weren’t exactly ideal. I couldn’t really tell her what to do so I had to move and work around her to get the right lighting and exposure. Not the best subject matter when you’re on manual focus. It was a challenge but definitely worth it.

I came out of the class feeling rather happy with my shots but wishing I had my D90 which definitely would have guaranteed a few more decent in-focus shots.

We’ll be on location next week and I’m hoping to bring J along which will be interesting. In the meantime, you can check out my gallery for the latest snaps.

Due to my photography classes once a week, J’s responsible for dinner that evening.

I’m not sure if it’s the same situation with every guy but whenever J’s cooking, he get so intense! The last time I had that same look in my eyes was when I was solving differential equations at A Levels!

No one’s allowed into the kitchen and no one’s allowed to do or say anything which might distract him from his masterpiece.

It cracks me up everytime. So you can imagine how difficult it was to get this shot of him concentrating so hard to place the potatoes perfectly into the oven dish for his signature sausage casserole dish.

Which was delicious by the way…

When we first moved into our first home last year, we knew that the garden was going to be the part of the house which would take up the most amount of our time, hardwork and money to do up – mainly due to the following reasons:

1) It slopes.

2) It’s divided into 2 tiers.

3) Only the top tier has any decent sunlight on it.

4) As a result, the bottom tier is now all muddy due to the lack of sunlight and the drainage issues due to the sloping tiers.

So really, it’s been just short of a year since we moved in and I can safely say, we’ve never really been in the garden…I mean, actually been in it and enjoying it.

However, it was an absolutely lovely day today ( brilliant actually, by British standards). The sun was shining and it felt amazingly warm and J was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to have a BBQ in our half-sunny-half-muddy-sloping garden! Needless to say, we have absolutely zero BBQ equipment or furniture.

We jumped in the car, drove to Tescos and bought some meat, some tongs and an instant BBQ kit. Once back, I quickly whipped up a potato salad while J laid the garden with blankets and got the BBQ started (it wasn’t as instant as I thought it would be).

And we had our very first barbeque in our very first garden!

I have to say…the food was brilliant and we had a really nice afternoon sitting around our little BBQ kit, eating, talking and enjoying each others’ company while feeling the warm hot sun on our backs.

I simply cannot wait to sort the garden out this summer…with a proper BBQ kit and proper garden furniture…and have many more blissful Sunday afternoons like this.

Just a quick note to say that we are back in the UK. The trip was brilliant and I have been on a hiatus over the last couple of weeks. Feeling a little jet-lagged and homesick but as always, it’ll pass.

It was so nice to watch J interact with my family (eventhough most of the time he’s trying to grasp the whole Singlish way of speaking). He did good.

View from my parents flat

The weather was better than I expected. We did catch 2 thunderstorms but nothing too serious to ruin our plans for the day. To be perfectly honest, it got so hot on some days, I was grateful for a few rainy showers to cool the temperature down!

It’s been 24 hours since I’ve landed back in the UK and I miss the food already…

A few months ago, I was speaking to one of my very good friends when I told her that J and I were going to Singapore in April and her immediate response was :

“Are you guys getting married?!?”

To her, being another Asian living in the UK, she’s cooped up in her parent’s house under strict Indian family rules. She would never dare mention anything about a boyfriend or whoever she’s seeing to them because she knows the next thing they would say is: “So…when’s the wedding?”

You see, coming from an Indian family, there is no such thing as dating. No such thing as breaking up and moving on to someone else. If you introduce him to your parents, they assume he’s The One. At the back of their minds, they will be inspecting him to imagine what kind of husband he would be, how their grandkids will look like, how smart and ambitious he is…the whole nine yards.

But I’m not marrying J…not now…not for a very long time. But I refuse to be with someone for years and not have my parents know just because I’m afraid of the constant pestering of marriage afterwards.

And if we ever do decide to get hitched, whenever that may be, it would be solely our decision.I’ve lived the first 20 years of my life living up to my parents expectations and doing everything right so that they would be happy.

I’m determined to do something for myself for the next twenty…

We went to watch Marley & Me the other day after work and I wish I brought my tissues with me instead of using J’s sleeve as a snort cloth.

I remember crying when I read the book a year ago and didn’t think I would with the movie as I knew what was coming but nope…that wasn’t the case.

Whether you have or have had a dog at some point in your life, this movie will tug at your heartstrings.

I would recommend the book though as there were a lot more “Marley moments” in the book than in the movie.

J and I will be off to Singapore in exactly 16 days! I cannot wait! Two more weeks at work and I’m off to sunny (often humid) Singapore for 12 whole days! Singapore is extremely special to me. I might be biased, seeing as I am a Singaporean living in the UK. The UK has somewhat morphed into my home away from home but nothing beats the wave of nostalgia I feel whenever the plane flies over the Merlion and prepares to land into Changi Airport. I get this instant rush of excitement, knowing that I’m only a few minutes away from touch down and…i know it’s silly (and you probably wouldn’t understand unless u’ve been to Singapore..) but pictures of every possible kinds of Singaporean food will start floating around in my head and I’ll be getting so worked up figuring which dish I fancy having first. I know…it’s crazy…but like I said, you have to have tasted Singaporean food to truly understand it.

This trip is an especially important one as it will be the first time J has ever been to Singapore. We’ve been together for 2 years and this will be the 1st time he’ll see where I’m from. And the first time he meets The Parents. Somewhat nervewrecking yet exhilirating at the same time. I really do want him to like Singapore. My home and the lifestyle I was used to back there. I want him to appreciate Singaporean food as much I do. I want him to turn to me at the end of the trip and tell me that was one of the best holidays he’s been on.

Oh well, we’ll see. In the meantime, I’ve got to get to Boots and stock up on sunscreen!!

In my office, there is  this lovely lady in her fifties who works as our receptionist. Mortgage paid off, kids all grown up and her husband close to retiring, she enjoys at least 4 holidays a year; some unpaid. I often catch her browsing the net on her next big adventure.

We all know she’s only working here just to avoid getting bored in between her annual hols.

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God…I seriously cannot wait to retire…not long now…another 40 years or so…

I had a pretty exhausting day in the office the other day.

J and I arrived home at pretty much the same time and the following conversation took place:

Me: Gawd, I’m exhausted. And I’ve got tons to do…dinner, laundry, lunches, blog…

J: oh bubba…don’t worry I’ll sort dinner out.

Me: Really? But it’s not gonna be pizza again is it?

J: No! Of course not…listen, leave it to me.

And so I did. Half and hour later, I came down and found this:

Such a cheat!