Househunting - HDB Oct 2007 BTO

So the latest BTO was released yesterday, this time around, there were 2 projects; Punggol Lodge and Telok Blangah Towers. The moment I received the email alert about it, I called E and told him about it.

We came to a decision really quickly, we were putting in our application for Telok Blangah even though we were quite concerned about the EDD which is 31 July 2013, that's like 6 years away and even though we're targetting to get married in 2009, that still means we'll be homeless for quite a number of years :( But I thot we should do it, coz the location of the flats is really very attractive. The thot of being so near to sentosa and vivocity is quite cool. Haha!

But we've been pretty unlucky in our last few applications so we're not putting much hope into this one either. Will just keep our fingers crossed until Dec when the results are out.

BTW this particular BTO is HOT! Demand already exceeded supply by yesterday afternoon and that was just the first day, the number of applications went into four-figures by this morning. What a sense of dejavu. We saw the same thing happening when we applied for the last bi-monthly exercise *sigh*

Fast Forward...

Based on the last entry, I'm sure you'ld realised that there has been a bit of a time lag from our engagement till now, so I'm going to try and get things up to date in this entry.

From July - Sept, we basically just enjoyed our new status as fiance and fiancee. Attempts to apply for a HDB flat have been unsuccessful so far. We've been trying since the beginning of this year so it's quite a bummer. We're now considering resale instead but the crazy property boom is making things quite difficult for us. I've also had to get used to wearing a ring practically all the time. Some horrible friend commented that it's not my style to wear fancy jewellery all the time and that I shouldn't go against my style. Guess whether I heeded her advice? :P

29 Sept
We attended our first bridal show at the Regent and made a deposit for a BS, Ritz Couture. There has been a bit of fuss about whether we've been too hasty about it. Perhaps, but it was a small deposit and we liked the photographer's work and the gown designs, plus the staff seem nice enough and market survey has shown that people have been quite happy with their service. So we'll see how it goes. *keeps fingers crossed*

Oh rite, we also like the Regent so it could be a potential AD venue for us.

14 Oct
Our parents met up officially for the first time. We had lunch at Tung Lok Signature, everything went well. Everyone was friendly to each other, but it was quite strange sitting next to E and having to make a conscious effort to behave extremely appropriately (in conservative chinese terms). Not that we'll jump on each other or smooch passionately in public. Just in case your mind starts a-wandering.

And now, having done a spot of time travelling, it's back to present time and what have we done this weekend? I've come up with some potential ROM dates for next year, all of which fall within the mid to quarter-end period, so you roughly get an idea of when the next big event is gonna happen. But as usual, nothing is fixed and we'll just go with the flow, at least until I'm free to turn into bridezilla.

We have also started contributing to the bridal magazines market. And I have to say, OMG bridal mags are heavy! I weighed one of them and it turned out to be 1.6kg. Just for 1 mag! So that's my bedtime reading for a while.

Our Engagement

We have been together for 10 years and E chose to propose on a major milestone in our lives. It was during our first overseas trip together and E proposed on the evening of 7 July this year during a romantic stroll on the beaches of Phuket.

I can't say that I was totally surprised. It was a nice date, 070707, it was our first holiday together and it was our anniversary. But I was still overwhelmed with emotions at that moment.

I realised that 2 questions are staple favourites whenever proposals are mentioned. For the ladies, it's 'Did he kneel down?' and for the guys, it's 'Did she cry?'. So let me answer the questions once and for all.

Did he kneel? No, he wanted to, but I was too embarassed and I've always seen us as equals in this relationship. I didn't need him to kneel down for me to know that he's sincere about it.

Did I cry? I didn't wail, I didn't weep but yes the tears did flow. Having spent a whole decade with him, this signifies the next step in our relationship. I was scared of the future, but also excited about it. It suddenly hit me. With this step, we're moving towards growing up. It also represents a cumulation of the ups and downs we've been through together. If I didn't cry, I must have been made of stone.

So that marks our engagement. It's no fancy proposal, no fireworks, no fanfare, but what's important is that we're on a lifelong journey together.