3.1 Phillip Lim X Target

I love it when a high-end fashion label collaborates with a discount retailer to produce their designs at much more affordable prices. 
Most of the designs sold out within minutes of the launch, but here are four looks that I especially like.


I guess I'll have to wait around for the next big collaboration!
Love, Trish

Of aliens and ninjas

Andrew and I share a lot of silly moments together.

Like the time we were on on a shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and we both happened to look up from our seats at the same time. There was a group of boys travelling together, and I promise we weren't being mean but one of them had what we thought was the most cartoon face we had even seen. Nobody else in the train even noticed or found it funny, but we couldn't stop giggling like schoolchildren for the rest of the ride.

Or the time we were taking engagement shots in Paris and the photographer kept urging us to "look natural" while we were acting like the most awkward couple in the world. He eventually told us to put our foreheads together and look lovingly into each other's eyes but it was freezing cold and my nose was running. "You look like Cyclops from this angle," Andrew declared and we couldn't keep a straight face for the next few minutes. The photo actually turned out pretty good, but now and again we like to do the pose in public just because.

And the time we found ourselves at Changi Airport at 4 in the morning sending my father-in-law back to New York. We were sleep-deprived and both looking at the glass display of contraband items. Andrew suddenly turned to me and said, "What, you mean I can't bring my nunchucks along?" and before we knew it the two of us were mock kungfu-fighting like 8 year-old boys and held each other laughing until our bellies ached.

I know, I know.

Love,  Trish

Happy birthday Supadrew

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14

Today you turn 30.
I am amazed by how far God has brought you and am excited about the greater things that lie ahead. Thank you for being such a blessing in my life and for your unconditional love and unquestioned devotion.  You are my partner, my best friend and my soul mate and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you!
P/S: We have so many brilliant memories together.
Love,  Tricia 

Bamboo River

Living in a concrete jungle, it's nice to sometimes escape to the tranquility of nature.
For the longest time I've been meaning to visit Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (and it's only 2 stops away from where I live, shame shame!) but now that I am relocating to New York I finally have a legitimate reason to go. So I dragged Rie-chan along with me early Saturday morning for a little road trip to the wild wild west.

There are 3 different routes you can take, ranging from 1 hour to 5 hours but we decided to go on a 1.5 hour guided walk along the Mangrove Boardwalk to learn about the flora, fauna and biodiversity of the mangrove. Amongst other things, we saw ginger flowers, bamboo clusters, monitor lizards, lobster mounds, horseshoe crabs, giant mudskippers and an elusive crocodile. 
And this is how much of a dodo that I am. Ten minutes into the tour I declare that there is a distinctive scent of nature. No response from the guide. Five minutes later I repeat myself and still no response. When I assert myself a third time, he turns to me and tells me with a smile on his face that what I am smelling is the insect repellent that everyone has on. *facepalm* And of course this city girl has forgotten to armour herself and goes home with a dozen mosquito bites on each leg.

It started drizzling after our guided walk ended, so we decided to head to Bollywood Veggies for lunch. It is an organic farming collective and their bistro only uses herbs and vegetables from their farm and poultry hunted from the surrounding kampong. The food was divine and left us feeling very satiated for the rest of the day!


P/S: If you don't drive, the best way to get to the Reserve is to take the Kranji Countryside Express Bus from Kranji train station. It is a hop-on-hop-off bus and costs just $3 for a day ticket. 
Love, 
Trish

Uncle go big round

On our first date, Andrew and I hopped into a taxi to get to Marina Bay Sands, in what I thought would be a quick ride from his hotel lobby in City Hall. The driver seemed to be taking us in a big loop, so I leaned forward and asked, "Uncle, why must go one big round leh?". Andrew turned to me with the most puzzled expression, because he was wondering a) if I was related to the driver and b) why I was stringing English words together in a way that made no sense to him.

I quickly explained that in Singapore we call everyone older than us 'Uncle' and 'Aunty' as a term of respect and that we spoke a colloquial form of English called Singlish with its own unique syntax and vocabulary. He was fascinated by how easily I could code-switch from speaking Standard English to him and Singlish to everyone else, but it was (and still is) the most normal thing for me to do.

During Chinese New Year, Andrew was really excited to meet my extended family for the first time and wanted to make a good impression. However, he was extremely jetlagged and it did not help that everyone was rapidly jumping between Singlish and Mandarin and left the poor guy lost in translation. He would unconsciously switch off early into the conversation and wouldn't even know if someone had directed a question or comment at him.

The thing is, I don't speak Singlish to Andrew. I haven't made it a priority in our relationship and Singlish is something you need to be in Singapore long enough to pick up. I have been wondering how I am going to teach our kids Singlish so they don't just grow up American... but we'll cross the bridge when we get there!

P/S: I have seen this YouTube video at least a dozen times... My favourite part is when the girl picks up the phone and goes, "Ah? Mummy ah?!" because I do the exact same thing and it cracks Andrew up every time it happens!

Little you and I

I made a little slideshow of our growing up photos to show at the wedding, but I want to share a few that did not make it into the montage... It's really hard to condense both our lives together in five minutes!

Because I have moved around so much, I seem to have lost most of the photos from when I entered high school to when I graduated from university. I used to keep them into little plastic albums and tin boxes, but I have no idea where they are now. (I am not sure if I want to be reminded either!)

Facebook makes it so much easier to chronicle your life!

Love,

Trish

Good morning and good night

After two short dates in Singapore, Andrew and I continued to keep in touch when he returned to New York. What started as random Whatsapp messages soon evolved into a routine. We found ourselves texting for an hour or two every day and eventually moved on to Skype.

Because I worked mostly evenings and weekends, it was easy for us to sync our schedules. I would wake up early to talk to him after he finished work, and the 12-hour time difference played to our advantage. His going to bed signalled the start of my day.

We kept this up for four whole months before I was able to take time off to see him in New York. While our excitement was palpable, we were careful not to build each other up too much for fear of being disenchanted by reality. We agreed to be exclusive but settled on 'no labels' until we could figure things out.

Andrew took the week off work and played tourist with me. We were having an amazing time, but the 10,000 miles between us loomed over our heads. How is it going to work? How long can we keep this up for? 

I was afraid to ask and convinced myself to just live in the moment. And so he surprised me when midway into the trip, while we were out dancing in a Salsa club with his co-workers, he asked me in all earnestness if I would be his girlfriend. I couldn't say yes quickly enough, and he enveloped me in a hug and lifted me into the air. We were the happiest people in the ballroom that night.

I have asked Andrew many times when he knew that he wanted to marry me. "In March, Trish," he would say, the trip we officially became a couple. "When I asked you to be my girlfriend, it was also because I knew we were going to work very hard to make things happen."

It makes me smile every time I hear that, because I know how incredibly blessed I am to have found a man who has been so consistent and devoted to me from the start. And while the distance has proven challenging on many occasions, it has simply become part of our story.

P/S: When we started video chatting, I would wake up earlier to doll myself up, treating every conversation as a real date. Now I let him see me in my dorky glasses sans makeup and he doesn't mind at all! 
Love, Tricia

Patricia Chang

Having to coordinate top and bottom stresses me out, so I wear a lot of what Andrew calls "Tricia dresses". I love the ease of throwing on a dress with some simple accessories and then heading out. 
I died a little when I discovered Patricia Chang, a Korean-American designer born and raised in New York.

This is how she describes the girl wearing her designs-

She is charming, delightful, recklessly fun loving... She’s adventurous, and sometimes over the top, but always keeps her cool. She’s spontaneous, has a sense of humor, and not one is the same.

If only I had an unlimited wardrobe budget!

New York, New York

The first time I visited Andrew in New York, he took the entire week off work to show me around. We walked a lot. We talked a lot. We laughed a lot. I pretended to be Carrie Bradshaw and he was Mr. Big. It was pretty perfect. I was an unabashed tourist and brought my camera everywhere with me. 

From top to bottom: Central Park, Central Park, MET, SoHo, Random street, MoMA,  Brooklyn Bridge,  Columbus Circle, High Line, High Line
I was too shy to ask to take a photo together, but I took a lot of shots of him. (He joked that it was like he was travelling around New York on his own!)
I miss the boy so, so much! Can't wait to see him in less than two weeks.

Love, Tricia