Daph's Journey...

Tea Ceremony

2011-05-24T22:57:00.006+08:00

Typically, a chinese wedding would not be complete without the tea ceremony. This ritual is an ancient custom intended to demonstrate respect & honor for family. We made the decision to do the tea ceremony without any family pressure simply because we knew it would mean alot to them & we wanted to give our parents that respect.

My favourite part of the ceremony was actually the outfit! Hahahaha...

Okay lah, the ceremony was also very meaningful. I'm actually really glad we did it!

Hilton reserved a function room for us to have our tea ceremony.

Ivy came to Hilton early evening to do up my hair & make-up again.

Love the qua so so much!

My sweet mother-in-law got my dragon-phoenix bangles customised by hand, in 3D with rubies for eyes. Cool huh?

Love the threading on the qua!

Dunno why I'm standing with my legs so far apart here!!!!

The tea set that my darling chose.

Nice picture of Caitlin & me. She loves to take photos!!!

My darling bros!
They have been such a great support to me over the years & it all just keep getting better. Love them so so so much!!!!

Serving tea to my FIL & MIL.

Tea for Pa & Mom

I think this is the look of extreme happiness!

And this too!

By the way, I love how my hair was done for the evening. Simple & classy. Not too everdone.

Getting abit bored with the ceremonial stuff.

My eldest sis-in-law.

Thanks for your big ang pow!!!!! Hahaha...

My youngest sis-in-law & her husband. Thanks for your big ang pow too!!!!!

My darling bros serving us tea. Was a really special moment even though I kept laughing.

Then serving us our sweet dessert.

So nice to have my bros play such an active role in the happiest day of my life.

And then we fed each other! I only had one tang yuan. Was so good I wished they kept the rest for me to eat after the dinner!!!

Darling's best friend - Soe, his wife & her parents. They have been so supportive throughout the wedding. They came for church & dinner, beautifully dressed & all jolly happy to share our joy. That's what friends are all about!!!!
Darling refused to ask Soe to help out in his wedding because he has two kids & we felt we shouldn't hassle him too much but he was on standby ever ready to be there for my us.

Thank you so much guys for the love & support! We love you too!!!!

Pa & Uncle Val

Mom & Aunty Lilian

To everyone that came for the tea ceremony, thank you so much for making the effort. It meant so much to us!

"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."

The Church Wedding

2011-05-22T23:15:00.002+08:00

"Going to the chapel & we're gonna get married.

Going to the chapel & we're gonna get married.

Gee, I really love you & we're gonna get married.

Going to the chapel of love."

My "An Chuang" the night before the wedding. Darling's mom went over to our new place to put on our new bedsheets etc.

Our lovely mass booklet. Designed by my darling bro. Not sure if he realises how talented he is.

My darling getting dressed in our new home.

The gorgeous tux designed & customised by Bridal Veil. We had plenty of compliments on his suit!

Darling's best friends. Sai & Latt.

My wedding gown. Beautifully done by Bridal Veil.

Our wedding bands.

Ivy doing up my hair & make-up. This was where reality started to hit me. And HARD!

Ivy did such a wonderful job. No complaints!

OMG! Super expensive wedding shoes man!!!

My daddy & mommy covering up the veil for me.

All set to go!

Mom & I

What's so funny was that Pa, in his excitement forgot that he was supposed to shelter me with the red umbrella. Until Glen our photographer said, "Er Uncle, you are supposed to shelter the bride & not yourself leh!" Hahaha...

Heading off to church!

Pa & I

My flower girls! They were equally excited as me to be in a pretty dress! And boy did they step up & play their roles. So so proud of them!!!! Really wished Megan could have been part of the wedding though.

Us getting ready to walk down the isle. Last one as a single!

My nervous groom & my bro waiting & waiting...

And the music starts! Look how cute!!!!

So nice to see my Pa smiling like that. Wish he smiled at me like that more often!!!

Darling nervously reading his vows.

Okay, I know we're reading from the book & I also know how everyone keeps saying, "You must memorise your vows!!! Recite from your heart then its meaningful!" Ya right! Try memorising WEDDING vows, reciting infront of so many people, knowing well you CANNOT screw up, see whether you can remember anot lah! Talk cock sia!

Our first kiss as a married couple! Sweet!

Only after this hug then he cried lah! I waited sooo long to see the tears!!!

My darling MIL. She played such a wonderful role in making it all work out. I love you May!!!

Awww.....mother & son moment...

The signing!

Right at that moment, I asked myself, "WTF? I thought you swore never to sign this???" But I knew it was all so worth it & I was doing the right thing. I signed away HAPPILY! Hahaha...

Our witnesses & sponsors, Uncle Val & Aunty Lilian.

My In-Laws

My Family

One Happy Family

Our bestmen & bridesmaids.

I threw the flowers at Ade! Hahaha...so happy she caught it! I hope the next wedding I attend is hers!

Darling giving mom the "diaper" ang pow.

Mom's side of the family.

My youngest sister-in-law's husband & his bro.

My God-Family. Thank you Godma for all the support. Money could not buy what you did for us. You will always be a very dear part of our lives. I love you so so much!!!!

My bestie & her sis's family.

My sister-in-laws & a family friend.
*Get well soon Choo! We are all praying for you!"

The guys. Thank you all for the unconditional help & support.

My bridal party. Who did almost everything to make the wedding a success.

Thank you so so so much guys!
Thank you for putting up with all my breakdowns, tantrum throwing & tears. Thank you for doing so much for this special day. You guys mean the world to us & we really appreciate everything.

Oh! And thank you for the awesome surprise Bridal Shower in MBS. It rocked balls man!!!!

The Wedding In A Nutshell

2011-05-22T22:12:00.001+08:00

First up, the wedding.

My opinion is, if your relationship can survive elaborate wedding planning in 2 countries, 3 languages and a whole set of dos and don'ts, your marriage WILL last. I really cannot think of anything more stressful than planning a wedding. No wonder most people only get married once!

Thank God for Bridal Veil. They really did EVERYTHING for us in terms of outfits. I didn't even have to think about the outfits as long as I wasn't in Bridal Veil. Even then, Michelle, Colin & Cedric did such wonderful planning & designing that there really wasn't much for us to do.

Also, Kelvin from Avenue 8 did a fabulous job with our photoshoot.

Our tiffany blue theme didn't work out as well as I wanted it to & the church choir was a bloody screw up! Jeremy Fernandez from CTK was a bloody fraud! First he promised us his choir would be able to sing ALL the songs. Then he told me there would be at least 10 members singing for the wedding mass.

Ya right!

3 choir members turned up (including the organist). And out of the other 2 people, one was a little boy. To be honest, if I had a gun, I would have shot him in the church. To think I even had to pay $150 for that crap? When I texted him after the wedding to ask what had happened, he brushed me off. What a bastard!!!

I hope when he gets married, the priest doesn't show up!

Okay, enough of anger.

Our bridal party however was a real blessing. They took charge of EVERYTHING! I didn't even have to check if certain things had been done. And they did nothing but make me smile all day.

Hilton did a fabulous job too. Thanks to June.

But you know, in the midst of all the mini screw-ups, we had a blast. When it came to the crunch, suddenly it all didn't matter because we have been waiting for this day. We love each other & could not wait to take our vows.

In the end, it was all so beautiful because I have married the most wonderful man on this earth.

Thank you God because I know I do not deserve all these blessings but yet you give it to me anyway.

Time

2011-05-20T15:29:00.001+08:00

Time seems to be flying by like crazy. It’s almost mid year & soon the monsoon season will fade off into the winter in Yangon.

Apologies if I seem to confuse because I have left my heart in Burma since our last trip. More on that later.

So much has changed in our lives.

We got engaged, married in two countries in three languages & bought our first home all in less than a year! *phew* Just saying all that in once sentence tires me out! I have no idea how we got thru all the stresses.

All is know is we are settled in & extremely happy with our new life.

God has been good. He has blessed us with much more than we deserve. Let us always be grateful for that my love & never lose sight of the right path.

"My heart will be your shelter & my arms will be your home."

I'm Back!

2011-05-19T15:00:00.000+08:00

Finally back to blogging & my url has now been changed to

http://www.daphsjourney.com/

You guys must be wondering what I've been up to these looong months huh? Updates to come but first, here's one of my favourite wedding pics....

WTF?

2011-01-14T18:35:00.000+08:00

I can't seem to upload photos into my blog! It keeps saying that I have exceeded my quota & I have to BUY extra storage space. BUY???? WTF???

Should I move my blog elsewhere???? Suggestions anyone? :(

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

2011-01-10T23:52:00.002+08:00

A thousand apologies for the loooooooong absence. You will not believe all that I have had to deal with in 2010. Those will come up in later posts I guess.

Anyway, 2010 has come & gone. It flew by so super fast that I completely lost track of time.

Just a brief update before I get into lengthy posts...

2010 saw me getting engaged & married. I had a wedding in 2 countries with 5 events in total. *phew*

We also viewed tons of houses & finally bought our first house, renovated it & moved in. (You will not believe the amount of work & effort that went into our renovation!)

It was a massively life changing year for us. We have also switched focus to giving more priority to family. :) About time anyway. :)

In all, it's been a pretty good year. We've learnt so much & grown in new directions.

I am in a happy place right now. :)

Am back to blogging & will be back real soon for more posts...stay tuned my loves! :)

Keys!

2010-10-11T08:42:00.000+08:00

We're collecting the keys to our new home today!

Super excited!!!! Our very first home!!! :) :) :)

The very very sweet contractor is meeting us straight after that to finalise reno works & submit the permit for all the hacking.

Can hardly wait! :)

Bet & Aussino

2010-10-07T22:49:00.006+08:00

Bet & I finally managed to find the time to do some wedding / new home shopping. If you know her work schedule, you'd see how that is a real challenge.

The last bulk shopping we did was at La Senza & we continued buying till the entire of Paragon had closed. No different this time!!!! Hahaha... (I think this time it's even worse!)

We sat down for a nice heartwarming dinner first & shared the usuals. There's just something about our relationship that is so unspoken. The trust & bonding we share is so hard to describe but we know it's there. It's nice to have a girlfriend like that. :)

It's also really strange how we always end up embarking on the different aspects of life at the same time! Right to the extend where we can't attend each other's wedding because of the clash in dates. Oh well, no loss cos I have a feeling we'd be a part of each other's life no matter where life takes us.

Back to the shopping!

As usual, it's grab, grab, grab!

She filled the counter with so much stuff that other customers had trouble paying at the cashier! Hahaha...the exact scenario is somewhat like running around like a headless chicken. :P

In just an hour, we ended up having to drag these to the car....

Yes, most of the bags are HERS!!!! Hahaha...(This is not it because she's not done yet!)

Next up is our massage & wedding pyjama shopping. Soooo exciting!!!! Hee...

P.S. Bet, if you're reading this, Daph lurvvveeees you & can't wait for the next round!!!

May you always have walls for the wind,

a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,

laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,

and all your heart might desire.

Simplicity

2010-10-05T08:20:00.000+08:00

A life of simplicity is all we seek. No complication, no drama. Just calmness & peacefulness with the ones we love. Slight excitement here & there for the little pleasures that life gives us.

Simplicity needs no reminders. Just looking into each other's eyes & we know, that this is the life we both seek. And so, it does not matter if we move into an empty house with no fancy furniture, no walk-in wardrobe & no riches to call our own. It is okay.

We have found our peace & we are contented with the life that God gave us.

Thank you God for opening our eyes.

"As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simplier; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness, weakness."

Reunited

2010-10-04T23:51:00.003+08:00

"I returned, & saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time & chance happeneth to them all - Ecclesiastes 9:11"

Reunited with my second family after years of separation. My life is really complete now. The mising links no longer leave a gaping wound in the heart. It has been long enough & the fact that we are back together as a family, it makes all the past sufferings & pain worth it.

It is now time to really move along with the wedding smiling.

I am really blessed & the heart has been revived.

Thank you God.

P.S. Salted fish curry, here I come! :)))))

"If one dream should fall & break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up & begin again."

My Never Forgotten Love

2010-09-29T23:18:00.000+08:00

Images of the past have been in my mind for the past couple of days. It seems so long ago, like a distant hazy memory. Yet on the other hand, it feels like that part of my life happened just yesterday.

It feels as if so much has happened in my life before I got here. I dreamt of you the past two days. So painful & it brought about all the overwhelming feelings of missing you that I've kept hidden. I wish I could just hold you once more but it'd be so wrong. I cannot do that to you. I'm sorry I did you more harm than good.

I left a huge piece of my heart with you & I never took it back. Don't ever intend to because no one could ever hold it the way you did.

I never left you. I really never did & I never for once forgot you. Never have & never will. I pray one day you'd understand that. When my time is up, my last prayer will still be for you. Take care my sweetheart & be safe. I love you more each day & I know that one day, I'll be able to tell you that myself. Till then, I pray you'd never ever be lonely inside.

P.S. I still hold your star whenever I miss you. That one tiny star you stuck on my hand & whispered to me, "look at this whenever you miss me."

Cool stuff

2010-09-28T22:20:00.004+08:00

There are a couple of things that we just have to get before the renovation works start. The fridge & washing machine are one of the items. I know it is still alright to not have a base done but being my good ole anal self, I want it to be done right. :P

This was our final pick after hours of choosing...

Darling & I agreed to choosing everything together & take into consideration what each other likes & does not like. Since I didn't have much preference with the colour, I told him to go ahead & pick it. He chose black.

The more I look at it, the more I love it!

Also comes with a water dispenser. It does not use the old kind of mechanism where pipes are involved in the fixing up. This dispenser is linked to a 4 litre bottle at the side of the fridge door. What it does is pump the water up from the bottle. No complicated pipe linking to do.

Nice huge interior. We want to make sure that when darling's parents come down for a visit, the fridge is about to hold groceries for a couple of days cooking. No stress with this one!

The freezer also has the front jet freezing. What that means is, should you stack hell of alot of stuff in your freezer & the freezing jet behind gets blocked by all your stuff, stuff stored in front will still get even freezing because there are jets infront too.

Never ever thought about this but now that I know, I think it's kinda cool!!

The sales guy was super nice & patient. He never once tried to hard sell or pressurise us into buying anything. On top of that, we also got the latest Hitachi rice-cooker thrown in with our purchase. Cool or what? :)

The coolest part is still that we are setting up our first home together as husband & wife. The rest pale in comparison & I pray that in our attempt to create a beautiful, cosy home together, that we might never lose sight of that.

Tiles

2010-09-25T08:22:00.013+08:00

We are at the peak of our multi-tasking. Dealing with the wedding planning, our Yangon trip where the other parts of our wedding are held, the coming of the new house & work! Super duper stressful & sometimes, I don't even know which of the categories to focus on! Work is definitely a priority because it pays for everything! Hahaha....

Thank God we have a wonderful contractor, Uncle Yong, who is super patient & has great design sense too.

Last weekend, he brought us to Soon Bee Huat to get a feel of the tiles we could pick from. No decisions to be made yet but he just wanted us to have a rough idea of what our choices were. God! There are like a zillion tiles to choose from!!!!!!

The people at Soon Bee Huat were so nice. They even gave us sample of the tiles that we quite liked. Our choice is more or less set on homogeneous tiles for the living room and kitchen. We initially wanted marble but Pa & Mom strongly advised us against it because not only is it super duper expensive (at about $11 per square foot compared to $3.50 per square foot for homogeneous), it is also difficult to maintain.

So anyway, we are kind of fixed on a neutral coloured shiny homegenous tile for the living room.

This is it! Can't really see the colour properly in the photograph because I was kinda pai seh to take the picture so I did a quick one. But it is like a beigey light colour. When darling & I saw this, we immediately looked at each other & said, "this one?" Hahaha....talk about chemistry!!!! So yes, it is most likely going to be this for the living room!

Yay!!! One decision off the list!

We kinda like this one for the kitchen. It is actually homogeneous with a woody look & has a some light woodgrains across the tiles in a pretty subtle way. Looks so woody. We just need to double check with out IDs if it'd go with our dark wood kitchen cabinets.

The good thing about this tile is that it's not entirely smooth. It's very slightly textured so it won't be slippery if the floor is wet. Safety comes first!

Darling & I are very into the neutral woody feel. We knew from the start that we didn't want our house to have that modern shiny feel or anything retro. That kind of made things alot easier since we already knew which direction we were headed design wise.

We fell in love with this textured homogeneous tiles for the bathrooms. The colour is amazingly soothing & it's not overly textured. We kind of hate the idea of over textured tiles as it is really an invitation for dirt to accummulate.

For a nice classy feel, we decided to go with shiny wall tiles for the bathrooms. The wow factor is there but we're slightly hesitant. It looks great like this but we're just not sure how it'd turn out if it covered an entire wall. Thank goodness we have 2 fabulous IDs that are super excited in brainstorming with us. Allowing us to be control freaks in choosing stuff but at the same time, be around to give us the final opinion on our choices.

This is how the floor & wall tiles of the bathrooms with look together. We kind of like it but we'll make our final decision later. We are also considering doing both bathrooms differently. Just for some variety but within the same theme.

Bedrooms we are definitely going for parquet (pictures will be up once we go check out the parquet). We loves the feel of wood flooring against our feet. But we decided to only restrict that to the bedrooms as it would be so much harder to maintain the parquet in the living room.

Balcony, we want wood, wood, wood!!!! Hahaha....

We'll see. We're still weighing our options. Thank God I have a husband that is super practical because for me, it's all about how it looks & feels. :P

This afternoon, we're headed to Hoe Kee to check out kitchen & bathroom fixtures. Hopefully all goes well! I'm super excited!

Our dream home is slowly coming together!!! :)

Enjoy the weekend everyone! :)

Love alot & laugh heartily!

mmmuuuaaaakkkkk

"The light is what guides you home, the warmth is what keeps you there."

Getting Going!

2010-09-24T23:42:00.002+08:00

It's been a crazy busy month for us with the wedding drawing near & making decisions for our house. There is still tons to do for the wedding but I seem to have lost the excitement for all that. Oh well, that's another story for another post.

Just to get it straight, there's nothing going wrong in our relationship. On the contrary, we are happy as hell together! The thought of spending our lives together till we grow old is such a heartwarming feeling. It's just the stress of the wedding planning that is getting to me.

Invitation cards were finally ready last week. The only thing is, the printer didn't glue the pages for us!!!! She thought we wanted to do it ourselves. Why would we?????????????

God! So much sticking to do!!!!!!

So anyway, to avoid more delays, we took the cards back & resolved to finish the sticking within a week. Thank God I planned in some buffer timing when it came to the printing.

My darling Levonne came over to help us. She is really amazing! In just a mere 2 hours, she finished almost half of the sticking! And she was still smiling after that. Hahaha...

Check it out! Levonne's work of art. Thanks!!!! :)

Aren't the tabs so cool? The card is my darling bro's design. Everything was hand picked by him. From the fonts to the alignments to the colours. The card is so so so beautiful because of him. :)

I know, everyone is asking, "Why put so much effort in something that people are most likely to throw away?" Well, because it's my darling bro's work of art done especially for my big day. That means a hell lot to me. It is sentimental for us & it creates a nice remembrance of the occassion. Everytime I look at it, it brings about a nice warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. :)

It's just a card. But to me, it's family love. :)

Special thanks to my darling bro who put so much effort in the details because he knew exactly how I would like it. I would have loved it in any other way too just because it had his special touch.

P.S. You had me at "I'll do your cards." Love you bro! Hugs...

"I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,

A church filled with family & friends.

I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for,

He said one that would make me his wife."

Morning Thoughts

2010-09-15T08:30:00.000+08:00

Woke up to a massive headache this morning but nevertheless, I am still feeling positively happy about everything. I am so blessed. I have a wonderful family. A loving Godma & cousins I can call siblings, I have a wonderfully loving husband-to-be, I have great friends & most importantly, I am well & alive to enjoy all of the above. God is really good.

Thinking of the past hurts the head & heart alot though. Reg & I had a conversation about it last night. As much as I have forgiven, forgetting is impossible. How do you forget 2 people that have shared a good half of your life with you? To say anyone is entirely in the wrong is not fair. We have all dealt a hand in the outcome of the friendships. We have all done each other wrong. A part of me still misses them so very much but like I told Reg, you can't make someone stay if they really want to leave. No point. We just have to accept it & try to move on. I've moved on but the forgetting is near impossible.

Oh well, I guess we learn from the past. Life still has to go on.

Thank you God for the wonderful life you have given me. Thank you for all the beautiful people & things you have bestowed upon me of which I am so undeserving of. I will forgive the way you have forgiven me.

Pending Invitations

2010-09-14T23:47:00.003+08:00

Damn...spent the whole day trying to get the printer only to find out in the evening that the invitation cards were not ready as they were planned to be.

Just as well though, cos we still haven't resolved the exploding guest list issue....sigh. And to think we wanted to book a hotel with a maximum capacity of 30 tables. What were we thinking???? Now 40 also not enough sia....

The evening was not wasted though. I have a fabulous chat with Reg & we're scheduled for a dinner date next week. Darling & I also had a wonderfully peaceful candle-light dinner. :)

Dinner

2010-09-08T08:34:00.000+08:00

It's been a pretty tiring week at work & both Hein & I are already totally drained out already!

Neverthless, we still have some reserve energy for fun stuff. Especially when it involves family.

We're heading off to dinner with Cliff & Claire after work this evening. Am sooo excited because it is really a much different warm fuzzy feeling inside when you hangout with family. :)

Can't wait!

Enjoy the evening everyone....hugs

P.S. I'm already missing my cupcake so so much. She's been off to KL for work since Monday & will be back tomorrow night. Come back already!!!!!!

Photoshoot Nails

2010-09-07T23:54:00.005+08:00

Air-tickets booked! Finally! :)

And it's really heartwarming to know that not only the immediate family is making the trip with us, so many from the extended family are coming along too for the other wedding. :)

Things are progressing really well & we're so touched by the many friends & family members that have unconditionally offered their help. The excitement is building up! But not as much as the excitement of starting a new life together. :)

Speaking of progress, we had our photoshoot done last Friday. It was fabulous! The outfits were a wow (special thanks to Bridal Veil) & we had an awesome photographer that went all out for us! :) We had great fun & we are on edge waiting to check out the photos!!!!!

I took a half day off work on Thursday to get my nails done for the photoshoot. I headed to Junying's place straight from the office. She did for me an acrylic overlay with acrylic nail art done from scratch.

Aren't these the most awesome nail art you've ever seen????

Every petal carefully hand crafted with lots of love! :)

7 days later, they still look like I just had them done.

Thanks so much babe for the beautiful nails. I couldn't stop staring at them!!! (Actually I still can't stop lah..)

If you are able to appreciate nail art like how mine are done, you need to visit her at Thistlebelle Nails.

More exciting wedding stuff coming up!

Oh! On top of all that, we are also collecting the keys to our house real soon! Yipeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIL's Suit

2010-09-06T08:17:00.000+08:00

After a nice tim sum lunch on Sunday, Pa, Mom, darling & I accompanied FIL to the tailor for the fitting of his suit. Usually it takes quite a number of weeks till you get to have a fitting but the sweet tailor rushed it for us in a week as FIL was scheduled to fly back to Yangon the next day. My poor MIL, had to hold the fort of the business alone for the entire week! Must sayang her when she gets here! :)

Serious stuff goes into the tailoring of a formal suit.

It is amazing how straight cut pants with no pleats in front flatter one's legs. FIL looked awesome in just the raw, unfinished version.

Looks like he's happy with his suit!

Some slight adjustments to be made.

The tailor even explained the layout of the suit & when to buttom or unbuttom the jacket. Cool anot?

A little nip & tuck...

A slight folding at the shoulder blade...

Almost there...

It all took about just 15 minutes. Which is good cos most men generally don't have much patience when it comes to clothes.

FIL's suit will be nicely ready for him when he next comes for the Singapore wedding. Cool!!!

Moving On

2010-09-01T23:23:00.000+08:00

I learnt something from a recent painful experience. That people are really not what they seem to be.

When will I ever learn????

The bottom line is, you may not be as important to someone as they are to you. Before you know it, it hurts & you wonder what you ever did wrong to them.

I won't elaborate much because it is just not worth my time or effort.

I'll just take it as time & energy wasted on someone I thought could be a friend I could journey with. Someone I treated like a little sister.

I guess no one likes the feeling of betrayal but well, that's life. You meet all sorts of people. Irresponsible ones, ungrateful ones & those that take you for a ride. People that screw up so bad, leave shit for you to clear & walk out on you with tons to answer for.

Life is about taking responsibility for your actions. You don't just screw up, mess up & walk away. We would all love to do that but we don't. Simply because it's not right. The reality is we do not live in this world alone. There will always be people affected by our actions & irresponsibility. Facing up to our responsibilities & fixing them allows us to walk away in the end with our heads held up high & not lowered in shame. I hope one day you'll learn the importance of that.

I started out angry & I still am. But I'm mostly sad because I had already treated you as a friend. What you did, felt like a slap across the face. I blame no one but myself because I made that choice to care for you. Wrong choice but I can't turn back. It hurts because I opened up my heart to you. Let you into my world & shared my past, present & future with you. I trusted you & so I gave you that free rein to hold my heart. Painful & still painful but it's all over now. I just need to move on & forget you ever walked into my life.

I hope I never see you or hear your voice again.

Thank you Uncle & Aunty for all the wonderful heartwarming meals you cooked for me. I really appreciate it & I will never forget the kindness & love you shared with me.

Tiffany Blue

2010-08-25T08:49:00.000+08:00

Finally!

The material for the bridesmaids have been bought! Arab Street is really the place that has every sort of material & for a really reasonable price.

We also managed to get some organza in tiffany blue plus other tiffany blue stuff for the church deco. I'm starting to get excited!!!!

Invitation cards have also finally been confirmed (after making changes like ten times :P). They're ready for printing this week & we should be able to collect them within the next 2 - 3 weeks.

Yes, you guessed it right. The cards are in tiffany blue too. :)

Can't wait to get that out though. The only headache is finalising the guest list. We seem to be running short of tables & the guest list keeps bursting at the seams!!! *sigh* Oh well, I guess all that will be worked out in the end. *keeping fingers crossed*

In the meantime, have a great week everyone & remember to love lots & laugh plenty! :)

First Gown Fitting

2010-08-24T23:39:00.001+08:00

My gowns have finally been designed & completed. Did my first fitting last week & the final one before the photoshoot will be this Friday. Crystals will be sewn on at the last minute to cater for any adjustments.

I must say I look better in it than I expected. Thanks to Michelle's wonderful recommendations & designing. :)

The evening gown in the midnight blue of my choice is really gorgeous! Am loving both outfits so much already & I can't imagine how beautiful they're gonna look when they're fully done.

All the many months of fittings, discussions, planning for the outfits were totally worth it!!!

Okay, but just for the record, the reason why I'm so satisfied is because I ventured into Bridal Veil with a full willingness to trust the designer more than myself. It is not easy trusting & giving that control to someone when it comes to your wedding gown but I went in with full faith & I'm glad I did.

Here's a sneak preview....

Wedding Realisations

2010-08-02T22:52:00.004+08:00

It's been awhile since I've blogged about the wedding. It's mainly because there's sooo much going on that I don't know where to start. From church preparations, to invitation card wordings, to sticking to the theme, to the outfits & so on. You get the drift.

Anyway, it has been a busy but really happy time for us. We're not so much looking forward to the wedding itself than to spending the rest of our lives together. Of course all the glittery stuff is also making me smile.

For a moment, I found myself caught up with all the glitz & sparkles of the wedding. The diamonds, rubies & even right down to the crystals on the gown. Hell, it was even starting to become sooo important that the exact shade of tiffany blue was used throughout the wedding. But as things started to unfold & not turn out exactly the way I planned them to, I realised something so much more important - it isn't about how beautifully decorated the church will be, the colour of the wedding favours box or the exact cutting of the bridesmaids dresses.

It's about standing infront of God, with Him & our loved ones as our witnesses & making an eternal promise to each other. It is about marrying the love of my life & embarking on a new journey with him.

Together as one & never alone again, till death do us part.

It is simply that.

Nothing else really matters & the celebrations pale in comparision with the vows we are going to take.

It's just about us.

Coming to that realisation has actually taken a load of stress off my shoulders. I no longer hate my bridesmaids for not offering to help or showing more excitement for the wedding. They afterall also have to deal with their own stresses in life. I no longer resent my parents for inviting people that I really would like to see run down by a truck instead. I no longer feel like punching the church secretary in the face & setting her on fire. It has now become such a light hearted happy occassion that I'm looking forward to & I just know the rest of the planning is going to be a breeze because it just does not matter that much anymore.

"Never lose sight of what it's really meant to be - a sacred union of 2 souls."

Barbecued Chicken Wings

2010-08-01T23:08:00.004+08:00

Given the fact that I'm about to become someone's wife, I reckon it is about time that I start taking cooking a little more seriously. Anyway, I do kinda enjoy cooking lah so no big issue.

Couple of weeks ago, I decided to try out mom's recipe & make some barbecued chicken wings.

Nicely marinated overnight!

Almost done!

My darling requested for the wings to be a little more burnt. According to him, it's more 'shiok' to eat slightly burnt wings. I didn't quite like the idea of him eating burnt stuff so here's the compromise! Hee...

Turned out pretty good! Ha..

Home & Deco.

2010-07-31T20:18:00.001+08:00

Now that we've put down the deposit for our first home, it's time to indulge in a different type of magazine.

Whoooopieeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I lurvvvvveeee reading magazines!!!!

Dragon & Phoenix

2010-07-30T23:58:00.004+08:00

The dragon in the Chinese culture represents the male while the phoenix represents the female. Having them side by side symbolizes the perfect balance of yin & yang of the bride & the groom.

In the Hokkien tradition, as part of the dowry, the groom's family has to give the bride a pair of dragon & phoenix bracelets.

Since it is more of a symbolic gesture than anything else, I did tell the boyfriend that it is alright to just give 2 thin gold bracelets to symbolise. No need for the frilly stuff. I also didn't want his mom to be spending so much. The Yangon wedding is already costing hell of alot. But being the sweet mother-in-law that she is, she insisted on nothing short of the best.

And so with his jeweller Aunty in tow, darling's mom went in search for an old man who apparently is a traditional goldsmith that hand crafts all his gold. Given her persistence, it was no surprise that she eventually found him. After countless re-melting & moulding, the goldsmith finally crafted the 2 bracelets to his mom's satisfaction.

The glistering dragon with eyes made from rubies.

This is the back of the bracelet. I couldn't take a proper clear picture lah but will do so during the Guo Da Li. I must say I am really touched by the immense amount of effort that darling's parents are putting in to make the wedding a beautiful one. They really do make me feel like a princess.

Speaking of phoenix, the phoenix is actually a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet. It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest & bird burn fiercely & are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. (taken from Wikipedia)

The phoenix is therefore known to be a symbol of rebirth, immortality & renewal. As I was finally letting go of the past & starting my life afresh, I decided to get a symbol of that too. And so, I also have my own phoenix mah!!!! Hahaha....not really related to the bracelets but writing about them reminded me of the one thing I love so much!!!!

Ta-daaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Angel of the Morning

2010-07-28T23:15:00.000+08:00

As the wedding approaches, I have been having some quiet time to think about things. The past, present & future. I have come a long way & I have so much now to be grateful for. I must have done some things wonderfully right somewhere in my life to deserve all I have now.

God gave me a second chance to be happy. And I am thankful for that. Nevertheless, I still do have my insecure moments. That if God could take away the love of my life once, he could do it for the second time. On insecure nights, I still do get nightmares of sudden partings & death. But a little voice at the back of my head prompts me to have faith. I am holding on to that because I know I cannot go through it all a second time.

The future beckons me with bright lights & lots of happy feelings. I am looking forward to that & everyday that I awake to that feeling, I thank God for making it possible for me to finally see the light at the end of the very dark tunnel I was trapped in.

I still sometimes do get brief short dreams of you. But I no longer feel afraid because I know I am safe in someone's arms. The someone who is a very special gift from God to me. I know you're watching me from above & smiling because you have waited so patiently for me to smile this way again. Rest in peace & I will never forget you.

There'll be no strings to bind your hands

Not if my love can find your heart

And there's no need to take a stand

For it was i who choose to start

I see no need to take me home

I'm old enough to face the dawn

Just call me angel of the morning, angel

Just touch my cheek before you leave me

Just call me angel of the morning, angel

Then slowly turn away from me

Maybe the sunlight will be dim

But it won't matter anyhow

If morning's echoes say we've sinned

Then it was what i wanted now

And if we're victims of the night

I won't be blinded by the light

Just call me angel of the morning, angel

Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby

Just call me angel of the morning

Then slowly turn away from me

Find Your Wings

2010-07-24T10:38:00.004+08:00

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you
I want you to know
As I watch you grow

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

May passion be the wind
That leads you through your days
And may conviction keep you strong
Guide you on your way
May there be many moments
That make your life so sweet
Oh, but more than memories

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky
I'll have tears as you take off
But I'll cheer as you fly

I love you sweetheart & you are always in my heart & mind. Don't ever forget that. Be brave.

I Love You

2010-07-15T08:38:00.001+08:00

Mom's Ba Zhang

2010-06-30T21:04:00.002+08:00

With the 'ba zhang' festival just over, I am proud to say I did not over indulge in the carbo! :) Probably my first year ever that I was able to restrain myself. Not because it isn't as yummy as before but because age has taught me a little more about *erhem* self control lah....

I offered to help mom out with the 'ba zhang' making which proved fruitless. In the end, all I really managed to do was take pictures & taste the 'zhangs'. Hahaha...

Mom as usual very well prepared. She sections off rice, ingredients, leaves etc so the actual wrapping is alot easier. Making 'ba zhang' is not as easy as eating it. There is soooo much work involed & everything has to be prepared separately & then combined later. *sweat*

Mom is a real pro at the wrapping. Whilst I was struggling with my first wrap, tearing the leaf in the process, spilling the rice everywhere, she was already at like her fifth one. In the end, I gave up so as not to waste anymore leaves & rice. :(

Check out the first batch! It was super yummy! The right amount of flavour in both the rice & the meat. Mom made them smaller than usual so it wouldn't be that sinful to eat two. :P The Nonya zhang was also really fantastic!!!!

The one on the left is the red bean zhang & the one on the right is the bean zhang. One is sweet & the other is slightly salted. The yellow bean zhang is one of my favourites now!!!!

When will I ever be able to make 'ba zhang'????? sob sob....

Sis-In-Law's Birthday

2010-06-14T08:34:00.009+08:00

My beloved future sis-in-law just celebrated her...erhem....birthday. We decided to buy her a nice little something that she normally would not spend on. Just because she deserves it for being such a wonderful sis-in-law!
As usual we had to take pictures for darling's parents cos they couldn't be there.

It was a good hour plus at Coach before Darling & I made the final choice. It was well worth it!

And it came in a nice pretty box too!

Look at Mar Te, our domestic help, standing behind smiling on like a proud momma. Hahaha....She's so cute & motherly. (And she makes the best Mohinga by the way!)

Getting all excited, wondering what could be in the pretty box.

We were super excited to see her reaction!!! :)
A cute little bag that doubles as a wristlet. But honestly, I think it's too big to be used as a wristlet lah. She loved it & that alone is enough to make us really happy. :)

Happy Birthday darling sis-in-law!

We may not say it often enough but we love you so so much!!!! Thank you for being so wonderfully protective & loving towards all of us. Your patience is also a real inspiration to me. :) You make me want to be a better person than I am now. :)

Oh I am really really looking forward to our trip!!!!

P.S. No matter what anyone says, you are ONLY 25 years old ok? Don't ever let anyone make you think otherwise!!!! Hee...
"Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family."

Invitation Cards

2010-06-12T17:31:00.003+08:00

We are STILL stressing over the invitation cards!!! I know, time is running out but thank goodness we left plenty of buffer time. My darling bro is incharge of the overall designing which I didn't realise involved sooo much work.

The evening at the printer's was fun for me at least but boy is it tough just choosing paper!!!!

From matt to gloss to textured, then different thickness plus zillions of colours!!!!

We had to create a mess because there were sooo many types of papers to choose from!!!

Found the tiffany blue yet??? Hee...What is the card going to look like? Well, IF you get an invitation, you'll know! ;)

After all the hard work, how could we not buy them a good dinner? We headed off to a nice Burmese restaurant for some fabulous food!

This dish is something like deep fried yong tau foo. The only difference is the beancurd is handmade & is super yummy!!! Topped up with fresh greens.

Bro's favourite - pig intestines!

Fried Burmese Kway Teow

The all time famous Mohinga. My must have!!!!!

Black Bean Paste Fried Rice. Let's just say this is an acquired taste lah. For me, I love it.

It was a marvelous evening not just because we had great food but because we were in the company of wonderful people. Those that warm our hearts & those that we know will ride the storms with us.

Thank you bro, you're the best a sister can have. In the meantime, when you get back from your holiday, we need to get cracking!!!!! Haha...

New Blog Skin

2010-06-11T13:00:00.005+08:00

As I am about to embark on a new phase of my life, I decided a new blog skin would also fit in nicely. Afterall, I have to admit the previous skin was not that erm...appealing. Took me awhile to get this one sorted out & adjustments are still pending but for now, I think I'm liking the looks.

The weekend is going to be fun. We're helping mom out with the making of 'ba zhang'. Will be quite a challenge though given that for years I have not been able to master the art of wrapping it neatly. Hopefully this year would be a good one with me having nicely shaped one! Will try to take some pictures.

In the meantime, you guys have a great weekend!

Laugh loudly, love plenty & most importantly, forgive easily. :) (I'm still trying!)

It's Your Love

2010-06-11T11:32:00.001+08:00

Dancin' in the dark, middle of the night

Takin' your heart & holdin' it tight

Emotional touch, touchin' my skin

& asking you to do

What you've been doin' all over again

Oh its a beautiful thing, don't think I can keep it all in

I just gotta let you know what it is that won't let me go

It's your love it just does something to me

It sends a shock right through me

I can't get enough

& if you wonder about the spell I'm under,

Oh it's your love

Better than I was, more than I am

& all of this happen by taking your hand

& who I am now is who I wanted to be

& now that we're together

I'm stronger than ever I'm happy & free

Oh it's a beautiful thing, don't think I can keep it all in

If you asked me why I've changed,

all I gotta do is say your sweet name

It's your love it just does something to me

It sends a shock right through me

I can't get enough

& if you wonder about the spell I'm under,

It’s your love

A Moment To Remember

2010-06-10T08:40:00.009+08:00

A magic moment I remember:
I raised my eyes and you were there.
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of all that's beautiful and rare.

I pray to mute despair and anguish
To vain pursuits the world esteems,
Long did I near your soothing accents,
Long did your features haunt my dreams.

Time passed- A rebel storm-blast scattered
The reveries that once were mine
And I forgot your soothing accents,
Your features gracefully divine.

In dark days of enforced retirement
I gazed upon grey skies above
With no ideals to inspire me,
No one to cry for, live for, love.

Then came a moment of renaissance,
I looked up- you again are there,
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of all that's beautiful and rare.

- Alexander Pushkin -

Thank you for the wonderful times. I'm sorry if I've ever hurt you. Take care & I will always remember you & the sweet romance we once shared. Those magic moments will never be forgotten.

The Chinese Wedding Shop

2010-06-09T08:04:00.003+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Mom, darling & myself spent an entire Saturday shopping for the traditional Guo Da Li stuff. Mom wanted to go check stuff out at Chinatown which we were alright with since we had already reserved the entire day for her.

Needless to say, Chinatown didn't work out as most of the shops selling traditional stuff, had only Chinese speaking staff. Mom can manage Hokkien but Mandarin is way off for her.

We settled down at Yum Cha for a tim sum lunch before deciding to head to The Chinese Wedding Shop in Ang Mo Kio. Darling & I had ealier discovered this shop hidden off the Hub & we were so pleased that the owners not only could speak perfect English, they could also explain everything in great details according to the different dialect groups.

Tim Sum lunch at Yum Cha. Was good after all the walking we did in Chinatown.

My favourite century egg porridge. I MUST have this if we eat tim sum. It just completes the meal.

The Chinese Wedding Shop

A very cool place, neatly organised & you really can get EVERYTHING settled here when it comes to chinese wedding tradition. Heck they even picked a good date for us to have the Guo Da Li. How cool is that?

Michelle took the time to patiently explain the meaning of all the items to mom & make recommendations. They even have packages according to the different dialects. The packages were flexible. Like for example, being Catholics, it won't be necessary for us to light up the dragon & phoenix candles & so she took those out of our package & reduced the cost for us.

We added on the bedsetting set which comprises of a tray of sweet stuff & ang pows. That symbolises many offsprings for the couple.

The basic package is more or less like the above. For the baby bathtub set, we replaced the life sized ones for miniature ones. According to Michelle, they symbolise the same thing & is alright to use. We didn't even have to pay extra for that!

The items for the groom to bring over will be nicely packed in baskets (apparently, there's a certain order to arranging the items). The baskets are for rental at no extra cost so we just have to return them within the next couple of days. Everything else will either be packed in nice Double Happiness bags or have the Double Happiness stickers pasted on them.

What we found remarkably impressive was the focus & patience that Michelle had in answering ALL our questions & also in making good suggestions when it came to deciding what to buy & what to leave out. She was a fantastic help & we all left happy. There isn't even any left over stuff to do for the Guo Da Li. All we need to do now is to pick up the stuff from the shop two days before Guo Da Li. Nice! :)

To round up the day, we headed a few doors down to the Hong Kong dessert place. Gosh, it was such a good choice!!!! The desserts were yummy!!!

Darling's milk pudding with some boiled pear thingy. It's supposed to cool down the body temperature.

For me, I headed straight for the mango with pamelo bits in it. Never goes wrong. Mom had a mango smoothie. Wish we had more days like these. Great feeling of satisfaction after getting something done for the wedding with minimal stress & plenty of fun.

* Some of the pictures above are taken from The Wedding Shop. Thanks Michelle! :)

On a side note, Nan & Ah Ma would have been so happy for us. It would have been such a special moment for them to participate in our wedding. At the same time, they would have been beaming with pride to know that we are doing all the traditional chinese wedding customs & also not forgetting to keep a little of the Eurasian customs. A pity they are no longer with us but I'm sure they are smiling at us from above & nodding their heads in approval. :)

A baby cradled in your arms
Teaching me your gentle charms.
Growing up with you by my side
Learning from you never to hide.
To understand & not to judge.
To practice love & kindness you did impart.
Through the years you've watched me grow
Teaching me everything I'd need to know.
Listening to every word I've said
And every word I've written you read.
You've been there for me till the end.
Until the day for you, God did send.
Now you watch me from up above
Shining down on me your heavenly love.
I will miss you with all my heart
Thank you for being there from the start.

Taking A Moment

2010-06-08T08:18:00.000+08:00

Today is the 6th day of my absolute no carbo diet. Michelle put me on a no carb diet from 1pm onwards. So far, I think I'm doing okay. :)

Having been so horribly tied up with the wedding planning, I haven't had much time to visit Beth & Godma like I used to. And so, I made it a point on Monday to spend some quality time with them. Boy has Beth grown!!!

She chatters non-stop in such a cute way!

This is what life is all about. The simple things. The simple pleasures in life that make us feel wholesome.

Taking a break from running around. The break only lasted for thirty seconds though.

Dancing away! Beth is so spontaneous. If you ask her to dance or sing a song, she'll do it no matter how many people are sitting around watching her.

I said, "Smile for me Beth!". And she did this!

And continues doing it for awhile cos she found it sooo funny.

Here she is showing her "pretty eyes" to Grandma. Blinking away!

Awww....she's feeding me blueberries here.

This was the start of us throwing stuff around & making ALOT of noise.

After she completely drained me out, I tried to get her to do something a little less crazy. So we played with lego. Isn't she so cute???

While stacking this, she is saying to herself, "Must balance, must balance." Hahaha...

And the amazing thing about her is that she keeps all her toys after she's done with them. Cool huh? Next time must train my kids to do the same & also train them how to fold clothes. Ha!

As I sit in the peaceful surroundings of my godma's warmth, I think to myself, "Why must life be so complicated? Why do we make life so complicated?"

Life basically turns out how we steer it to.

Things need to be done & decisions have to be made.

The hectic-ness of life brings about some excitement from our daily routines but every once in a while, we need to stop & enjoy the scenery.

To pause for a moment & take in the calm & the simplicity that we leave behind ever so often.

Because in those moments of reflection, we'll come to see that life isn't about how much power you have or how many friends you have.

Life is about trying to find what makes you happy. It isn't about caught up in the everyday nonsense.

This field put everything into perspective.

If you rush through life & never stop to look around.

Have you ever really lived?

"In the Midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you."

Customised Jewellery

2010-06-07T23:22:00.006+08:00

Darling's aunt in Yangon is a jeweller which explains the massive amount of bling his sisters have at home. His eldest sis has only one great love - jewellery. The more sparkly & colourful, the better. I guess that is one of her only indulges.

I have never been much of a jewellery person. Heck! I don't even know how to accessorise properly!!! Friends have complained of my lack of "decoration" but I've always choosen to remain a plain jane.

Ermm...I guess now that has changed! Hahaha....

It all started when darling mom's first gift to me was a really pretty sparkly pendant. Then followed by me realising that I can customise my own jewellery!!!!

And so the hunt for pretty designs started. I have to be all set when we head back to Yangon for the wedding!!!! Hee...

As we all know, diamonds & gemstones don't come cheap. And so I have to choose. Not all but just a few that I really like.

Here's some of my favourites....

The first one with a row of heat-shaped sapphires with diamonds around them are so super gorgeous!!! But I can't even think of where I'd get to use that.

Okay now rings I love.

I seem to have developed a strange love for rings ever since darling got me my solitaire.

I always wanted a tennis bracelet!!!!!

Earrings?

For sure, I HAVE TO come back with the last design. I love how the onyx looks with the diamonds & according to darling's sis, Onyx is not expensive in Yangon so I'm definitely customising the last one!

How to choose like that???????

I still have so many more designs saved in my pc. Any suggestions anyone? :)

The Bridges of Madison county

2010-06-06T08:09:00.001+08:00

"It's clear to me now that I have been moving toward you and you toward me for a long time. Though neither of us was aware of the other before we met, there was a kind of mindless certainty bumming blithely along beneath our ignorance that ensured we would come together. Like two solitary birds flying the great prairies by celestial reckoning, all of these years and lifetimes we have been moving toward one another."

- Robert James Waller -

"Analysis destroys wholes.Some things, magic things, are meant to stay whole. If you look at their pieces, they go away."

1st Appointment At Bridal Veil

2010-06-05T08:56:00.002+08:00

Ahhh....finally some proper wedding updates with pictures!

Darling & I took half day yesterday for our first appointment at Bridal Veil. The first appointment has to be on a weekday because it's alot longer than the other sessions. Was a good break for us too!

Mom came along for some moral support. We decided to include her in every session just so she can be a part of the entire wedding process & join in the fun. Boy was she excited!!!

My make-up artist, Ivy, was already there waiting for us to do the trial hair & make-up. She is amazing!!!!

Freshly slapped on base. I actually like how I look with less.

Ivy is really an artist. It's amazing how she managed to make me look so different. She was also very encouraging & took the time to explain to me what she was doing & offered some suggestions.

Okay, I know. I need to shrink the face. Working on it!!!!

I love how the false eyelashes look. Wish I could be bothered to put it on everyday.

This is just a preview of the actual day, church wedding make-up. Alot more work goes on for the day itself but on the whole, I really love it!

Next up was the hair. Ivy did a brief explanation of what might suit me, what she recommends etc. Then she did up a sample but we are amending it for the actual day.

Not going to show you guys too much though. Hang in there for the actual day!!! Hee....
Later, I had a solo discussion with Michelle - the designer. She is really awesome!!! She took the time to listen & was concerned about what makes me feel not too confident. She even put me on a very strict diet!!!! No more carbo for me after lunch from today onwards & I'm supposed to show her some results in a month's time for our next session. I'm so nervous but she has done a fabulous job in motivating me.
Most importantly, I can still eat CHOCOLATES!!!! Hahahaha....

I am really looking forward to the next session where we get to discuss more on the gown. In the meantime, it's hard work!!!

Mom & darling wanted to bring me for a nice "last" dinner BUT Michelle said NO. Haha...& so, we ended up having a no carbo Korean dinner near our massage place. I really didn't eat much because I was so afraid of throwing up during the massage.

Kimchi soup with lots of vegetables & some beef. As we all know, I have a super weak stomach AND irritable bowel syndrome so I didn't drink much of the soup.

Some egg cakey stuff. Darling's order by the way. I just nibbled on a piece or two then it was more kimchi & vegetables for me!

Levonne & Andrew met up with us after that for the much awaited massage. The cruel bunch then headed for a char kway teow, carrot cake & western food supper. I am sooooooo proud to say that not only did I NOT eat anything, I also only drank a bottle of mineral water. Cool anot??????? Hee....I can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Am now stuck at work, fighting to keep the eyelids open & sooo not looking forward to the dentist later. But anyhow, it is going to be another wonderful weekend with my darling.

Enjoy the weekend guys & I'll try to blog again tonight.

Kisses!
Dear God,
Please control my uncontrollable appetite for dessert. And thank you for blessing me with the love of my life.
I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true
Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
Now I'm just rollin' home into my lover's arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you

Peace

2010-06-04T08:44:00.000+08:00

"Peace begins with me. The peace of God fills my mind; The spirit of goodwill goes forth from me to all mankind. God is everywhere and fills the hearts of all men. In absolute truth all men are now spiritually perfect; they are expressing God’s qualities and attributes. These qualities and attributes are Love, Light , Truth and Beauty.

There are no separate nations. All men belong to the One Country- the One nation which is God’s Country. A country is a dwelling place; I dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High; I walk and talk with God – so do all men everywhere. There is only One Divine Family, and that is humanity.

There are no frontiers or barriers between nations, because God is One; God is indivisible. God cannot be divided against Himself. The Love of God permeates the hearts of all men everywhere. His wisdom rules and guides the nations : He inspires our leaders and the leaders of all nations to do His will, and His will only. The peace of God which passeth all understanding fills my mind and the minds of all men throughout the cosmos. Thank you ,Father, for Thy Peace; it is done."

Excerpt from – Special Meditation for Health, Wealth, Love and Expression by Dr Joseph Murphy

Don't Forget Tonight, Tomorrow

2010-06-03T08:33:00.000+08:00

Don't forget tonight tomorrow
though we may be far apart,
If you forget tonight tomorrow,
You'll leave me with a broken heart.
Are your kisses only mine tomorrow,
Say you love me & you will be true.
And don't forget tonight tomorrow,
Don't forget that I'm love with you.

- Frank Sinatra -

"Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare & perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may for it will not always be."

What Else?

2010-06-02T08:55:00.004+08:00

It just dawned on me that we only have about six months to the wedding! *gasp*

How time flies!!!!

Seems like only yesterday that Hein proposed. I remember telling myself at that time that I don't have to get all frenzied up cos we do have quite abit of time.

I WAS KIDDING MYSELF!

There are tons of things to be done! Plenty of nitty gritty stuff, budgets to set, time-lines to work with & not forgetting we are having two wedding - one in Singapore & the other in Burma.

That being said, MOST things have gone as we have planned for. Major stuff has also already been booked. Let's go through the checklist again...

1. Hotel Dinner Venue - booked
2. Church - booked
3. Church function hall for buffet lunch - booked
4. Bridal package - booked
5. Actual day photography & videography - booked
6. Indoor & outdoor photoshoot - booked
7. Wedding bands - booked
8. Guo Da Li stuff - All bought!
9. Bridal Car - booked

You have no idea what a weight has been lifted off our shoulders after getting all of the above done. It is really not easy planning a wedding. There is so much to take into consideration. Ted's first piece of wedding advice for me was, "Settle your venue. Till then, you don't even need to bother thinking about the rest."

That was exactly what we did & it worked out marvelously well. Thanks Ted! Hugs.

Of course in the midst of all the planning, there have been things not turning out the way we expect them to. Oh well, God's plans may not necessarily be our plans & everything that he allows to happen to us, happens for a reason. And so we'll just trust him.

Next up, to settle by this week...

1. Invitation cards - We're heading to the printers' today. My darling bro is coming along to pick out the paper for us. Design wise we have more or less made a decision. Once the paper has been picked & the text confirmed, the printer will then send us a sample to approve.

2. Bridesmaids dresses - I have narrowed down our choice to 3 designs. Hein has requested that our bridesmaids be in a long dress cos he feels it's more formal for the church wedding that way. After surfing the next for months & flipping through tons of magazines, I think I have made my choice. I am kinda steering towards the third dress. The one with the white sash. For my bridesmaids, the sash will be tied into a ribbon behind. Here's the dresses...

Given at how difficult it is to find Tiffany Blue stuff here & how most vendors don't even know what Tiffany Blue is, I am not taking the risk of getting the colour wrong. And so, I have decided to buy the material myself from either Spotlight or Arab Street & get a good seamstress to sew up the dresses. Hopefully the bridesmaids all love how it looks! *keeping fingers crossed!*

Speaking of Tiffany Blue, I am still sourcing for Tiffany Blue stuff for the church wedding. So if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations, they are more than welcome!

Dear God, in the meantime, please give me the strength to get things done. Help me to be patient with the things I have to do & the people around me. For I know you allow certain things to NOT go my way so as to teach me tolerance & wisdom. Help me to see that in all I do. Oh & please also create some time & energy for Betty to get her wedding stuff done.

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

Tiffany Blue

2010-05-23T12:01:00.003+08:00

I spent weeks & weeks trying to think of a theme for the church wedding. I didn't want anything too girly nor too bright. But doing without a theme was a no-no for me. I am an extremely themed based party person.

Browsing through different websites one day, I chanced upon a Tiffany Blue themed wedding. I was sold in two seconds!

Tiffany Blue is such a nice calming colour. It gives that gentle, serene feel. I love all there is about it!

That started me off on coming up with ways to bring out the theme for the church wedding.

As we all know by now, the church is being extremely anal about us doing stuff on our own. EVERYTHING has to be done through them & paid to them. Because I'm fighting a losing battle with them, I decided that I have to work around them instead. We'll go with everything white & I'll touch up with Tiffany Blue stuff to bring out the theme. PERFECT!

First was the invitations.

The invitations are a little complicated because we had to slot in the church invites together with the hotel invites & I didn't want it falling out when the card was opened. And so, my darling bro is designing the invites for us with nice slots for the church invites & the maps. Cool!

I hope it looks something like this...

Okay, I know it won't look like that lah...it'd looks ten times BETTER!!!!! :) :) :) Can't wait to check out his design later today!

My other smart aleck idea was to have Tiffany Blue cupcakes as dessert for the lunch buffet. It'd be a great snack, I wouldn't need to have another cake-cutting (we're already having one in the hotel dinner the same day) & I can use that to bring out the theme too. Kill 3 birds with 1 stone!

The only thing is customised cupcakes ain't cheap but I don't believe that I can't work this one out! Hee...

This is my idea of how it'd look. Simple, classic & really pretty!

I have also always wanted customised serviettes.

Yes, I know. People wipe their mouths & throw them away. But I don't care. I think it's really pretty to have customised serviettes in Tiffany Blue. Something like this...

It is apparently pretty hard to find someone here to print on your serviettes. At the same time, I realise that there are so many people that have no idea what Tiffany Blue is. If you're a florist & you have no idea, it's time to quit your job cos YOU SUCK! (Yes, I'm referring to the church florist. Haha...will continue shaming you after the wedding lah. No time for you now.)

So anyway, I am determined to have my customised Tiffany Blue serviettes. I will order them online if I have to.

I am also trying to get Tiffany Blue M&Ms. For what? Wait for the wedding to find out! Hee...

The next really beautiful thing is the church mass booklet. Again, my darling bro is designing this. I found this online...

But I didn't want to show it to him cos I wanted him to have that freedom to play around with the designing as long as he sticks to the Tiffany Blue theme.

I haven't seen any of the designs yet but I'm darn sure it will turn out really impressive.

I do know that some of the above may not get to happen since I am having to handle all this alone. Sigh...thank God for my darling Levonne. She seems to be the only one that really cares about this & is really excited about it for me.

More on themes later! Gotta go watch a bridal show.....adios!

P.S. The rest of the "all talk, no action", people, please shut up. Don't make empty promises & don't pretend to care when you actually don't.

Healthy Lunches

2010-05-13T23:19:00.001+08:00

With the up & coming wedding, it is really no secret that I have a pretty large amount of weight to lose. Besides the yoga & morning brisk walking I've been doing, I know it all cannot work without maintaining a healthy diet.

And so, I have started on a healthy meals regime!

My wholemeal sandwich which I packed for lunch at work. Just a slice of ham & loads of vegetables in between. It was really nice so it didn't take much effort to have this healthy meal.

Salad with no dressing, brown rice & steamed chicken.

The reason for the rice is that I have to be realistic. I am a carbo person. I don't see the point in a complete cut-off from carbo only to rebound 2 weeks later & gain weight instead of losing it. So I've switched to brown rice (where only half the carbo is absorbed by the body due to it's unpolished nature) & I've also cut down the portion of my rice intake by half.

Wish me luck guys as I embark on a stricter diet in time to come! :)

Birthday With My Loves... :)

2010-05-11T23:01:00.006+08:00

Every year, my birthday is a little different from the previous one. Maybe it's how everyone changes & our wants & needs change too. Darling & I took the day off to just spend some quiet time together. There's just something about being out on weekdays that is so calm & peaceful. No rushing people, no crowds & the streets are so much more peaceful.

We headed for a foot massage first at the House of Javanese Massage. Being a member, I get 20% off all their services & I can bring along 2 people to enjoy the same discount. They are a no-frills place but they work up really good massages. I fell asleep within 5 minutes so no photos. :(

The place is done up Balinese style. Reminds us of our wonderful Bali trip!

Me, all set for my foot massage. I was sooo ready to take pictures of Darling having his foot massage but I fell asleep after this!!! Can't believe myself!

After the massage, we headed to Paragon's Bakerzin for an early dinner & shopping.

I love the pastas at Bakerzin!

I have no idea why but I am so turned off by lousily cooked pasta. Normally I'm so 'qin cai' when it comes to food but with pasta, it just has to be good.

Darling had the seafood pasta with white wine. It was so yummy! The sauce tasted like really thick, happening, concentrated soup. I'm sooo going to order this the next round!

Now this is my all time favourite at Bakerzin!

The warm chocolate cake. I love how the chocolate oozes out of the cake!

Being one of the only customers there at that time, we had such wonderfully attentive service! The staff even took the initiative to do up the plate for my cake & we didn't even tell them it was my birthday! What a nice surprise!!! :)

Then we also ordered this gelatin, raspberry dessert. Not too bad but must be eaten cold. I still prefer my chocolate cake though.

Decided not to put on make-up & have a really casual day so excuse the dull sleepy look. Hee...but I really had an awesome time with my love. :) :) :)

We also had a nice seafood birthday dinner the day before with my family. It was nice. I love when we all gather for a meal. That cosy feeling is just so precious. The bros, Estee & Marissa gave me a birthday ang pow. So pai seh man!!!! Hahaha...but thanks guys! :)

Darling bought me jewellery! My latest craze!!!!!!

Darling's sisters & bro-in-law bought me jewellery too & a perfume.

Two days later.....my bro decides to buy me a birthday cake from Coffee Bean. :) Love my bros!

How could I forget my loves? We had a fun night out over dinner, dessert & coffee. Wonderful time but couldn't help feeling a little sad about everyone slowly moving in different directions....sigh

After the hundredth try! We ended up asking a passerby to help us snap a picture.

My precious darlings.

Yes. I HAD TO round up the night with dessert! Hahaha...

This birthday, I pray for my 61 babies. That God protects them, keeps them safe & warm. That he fills their hearts with love & hope for a better future. And most importantly, that by my next birthday, I will be able to celebrate it with them & start bring them home one by one.

Now with birthday celebrations over, it is time to really get cracking on the wedding details!

"I am grounded once again by what I love - the ordinary."

Birthday Nails!

2010-05-09T13:38:00.003+08:00

A nice treat for my birthday! Wanted something french & girly. The flowers are created on my nails using acrylic. They are not the typical 3D pasted on stuff. Cool huh?

Loved my birthday nails so much that I couldn't stop looking at them!!!

Many thanks to Junying from Thistlebelle Nails who did such a fabulous job with my nails. :)
Thanks babe! There is really none like you!!!! :) :) :)

Law or No Law?

2010-05-03T08:27:00.001+08:00

The reason for my long bouts of absence lately is because I errr....am feeling stuck.

When more people start reading your blog, that is when one becomes a little more conscious of what one writes. That being said, I refuse to write what is untrue to myself. I will not write what does not speak of me or write to please the eyes.

I am who I am. Love me or simply fark off.

The only thing is, I am no longer 18. Gone are the days where I can say & write as I wish not caring a world about anyone else. I am already in my adulthood & the fact of the matter is, I have a responsibility towards the ones I love. Which leads me to write with more caution.

Don't get me wrong. I am not afraid of being who I am but more of not wanting to hurt the ones I love.

I come from a conservative family. They have grown to accept me the way I am together with all my bad habits, my wrong use of language etc.

My in-laws however are even more conservative than my own family.

They hold on tightly to their sense of culture & are very tight on morals. So tight that the boyfriend frowns when I run around the house trying to KILL a bug. To him, it's a case of, "just let it go, don't kill any living things." To me, it's "see a bug, kill a bug."

This more or less explains why I feel stuck.

I am okay with the in-laws seeing me for who I am. God only knows they already have!

But there are still a couple of deep, dark secrets / bad habits that I would like to take to my grave. So yah, I need to exercise some discretion when writing.

No more sex, smoking & drugs talk....just kiddin...hahaha

P.S. I will still blog about me. The good, the bad, the hopes, dreams, fears & frights. That's what this is all about anyway right? :)

Reflections

2010-04-30T08:58:00.000+08:00

Apologies for the long absence.

This has been a time of reflection for me. With so much to do, so many happenings & so much to think about.

Somehow just when I start to fret about the small things, God hands me something greater to think about that makes my worries pale in comparison. Maybe I worry too much. Maybe I have too much on my mind always.

Not in much of a mood to elaborate but will do so in due course.

In spite of all the life changing moments that surround me, I am only sure of one thing. That is to hold my loved ones tight & close to me.

They keep me going & they are my everything.

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all okay
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these

I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear

My hands are small, I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken

Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after

We'll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
I am never broken

In the end only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
We are never broken

We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's mind
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's heart

We are God's hands

I am looking forward to the wedding not just because I am beginning the rest of my life with my love but also because it will be a reunion for us with our 61 children. I have not once started a new day without them on my mind. They are always in my thoughts & I suspect they will be for the longest time.

Yes loves, Daddy & Mommy are coming for you. We have not forgotten about you & we never will. Hang in there & wait for us.

Almost 2!

2010-04-09T08:30:00.004+08:00

I spent a nice evening at Godma's place this week. Ta-paoed dinner for the two of us as usual & went over as fast as I could. Got there just in time when Beth was almost done with her dinner.

Our dear little Beth is turning two in about 2 weeks time. How time flies!!!!

It feels like just not too long ago when we had to wrap her up in a nappy. :)

Now, she's all bouncy, full of energy & talks non-stop!!! So cuteeee!!!!!!

She wanted to play with the flashcards in my iphone so I told her if she smiled without moving, I'd let her play....hahaha

Holding on to the chicken biscuit I brought for her. I think she was too full from dinner to think about snacks yet.

Cute huh?

Everytime you hum the wedding song & give her some flowers to hold, she seriously walks in a straight line like as if she's walking down the aisle! Haha....& if I say, "Flowergirls! Put up your hand!" She immediately puts up both hands really fast. Hee.... :) My cutesy flower girl!!!!

Patience running low with me cos I kept taking her photo & stopped playing with her. :)

Next weekend we're celebrating her 2nd birthday. She is currently into Mickey & Friends so that's gonna be the theme for the party. It's gonna be so fun!!! Look out for the pictures!!! :)

Have a great weekend everyone cos I know I will!!!

Help or No Help?

2010-04-07T23:26:00.003+08:00

I have taken on the task of planning the wedding myself. Of course with some help & support from my darling.

Yes. You heard me right.

I'm planning the entire wedding myself. (Planning meaning the major stuff. I am still getting help from family with some stuff.)

I don't think any task is too impossible to undertake if you set on mind on getting it done. I do have people offering to help here & there but I am not relying on anyway to get things done for me with regards to the wedding.

Simple reason being, I only get to have this once. There will only be ONE wedding in my lifetime & I want to do it right. It will most definitely not turn out perfect but at least I know the progress of my planning & things will get done in the end.

Maybe it's just not in our culture to hire wedding planners as our venues more or less do provide us with most of the basic layout. At the same time, wedding planners are pretty expensive here.

Yet, the good thing about a wedding planner is because you are paying them to do a job, you can be pretty sure it will get done & they will reserve a certain amount of commitment towards your wedding.

That being said, having people around you help out is a build up for a disaster. They don't have any obligation towards you & they do have their own lives to lead which will also end with plenty of empty promises made & you ending up angry & upset.

I am not willing to put myself through that sort of stress.

I kind of much rather stress over getting things done than stress over people not getting things done for me.

So yes, I am handling the wedding all on my own.

Things are pretty detailed & with some advice Ted gave me before, I think I have it all on track.

This entire wedding, from the part where we decided to have one to date, has been disappointing in a couple of ways. First was the church drama, then it was the realisation of people making empty promises in the heat of the excitement for you & then leaving you high & dry.

I am upset but I will make myself get over it.

I refuse to let anyone spoil this for us & I will depend on no one. So please, if you are reading this & are thinking of offering your help in anyway, please rethink your offer first.

Mean it if you want to say it.

If you're not sure, don't even offer at all.

Thanks.

P.S. I am just speaking in a general context. People who are really helping me out with minor stuff or on the actual day itself, please do not go all sensitive on me just because of my post.

Not A Priority

2010-04-06T23:11:00.001+08:00

Sometimes things just aren't the way we think they are.

Just when you think you're important to someone & that you're in the "priority" group section of their lives, you get a rude awakening, much like a slap across the face with the reality that you are not a priority to them in any way.

And then you realise - you are not that important to them.

When you place certain people on your list of priorities, it does not mean that they are doing the same for you.

It can hurt, you can feel upset, but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it because they have no obligation towards you.

It is really in times of adversity or stress that you'll really see who are the ones that love you & will be right beside you no matter what.

Oh well, disappointed but this is just one of the realities of life.

That's why my darling is my only priority now (besides the parents & brothers) because only they do not disappoint the faith I have in them.

My darling & I share an unspoken bond. We trust little (or sometimes we don't trust at all) & we don't unnecessarily build up faith in people simply because there are very few that are deserving of it. Darling was right. Take it with a pinch of salt when people make promises & don't set expectations as they are most likely to disappoint you in some way or another.

It's just us my darling & we'll stay this way.

Wedding Pains

2010-04-05T17:34:00.004+08:00

There are just some relatives that are complete isolates. (I just would like to begin this post on a polite note. Language gets nastier later so stop reading if you're likely to take offence)

Why isolates?

Well, they have done the family wrong, they don't ever think they are wrong & they continue to cause damage whenever they have a chance to. They don't deserve to be forgiven because they are not sorry.

The ultimate pain in the ass is that my dear parents think that ALL relatives should be invited to MY wedding.

By all means, I welcome all. EXCEPT that ONE godforsaken family that I wish dead every day of my life.

Now my dad sends me an email to tell me, "Don't be rude. They have to be invited."

Just that simple one liner got me all furied up.

It is soooo easy for him to say that.

He wasn't around when they were cursing & swearing at MY mother.
He wasn't around when they told her to FUCK OFF.
He wasn't around when they hurt her so bad & we kids had to watch.

For the rest of the folks that are saying to me (or want to say to me), "Don't worry lah they won't come."

Give me a break!

Firstly, I am NOT worried. I have been ready all my life to take them on. I would love to have the opportunity to call the cops on them & watch them get arrested.

Secondly, they will sooo come. Because every opportunity to create trouble, they will & this is like PERFECT for them!

I don't want to see anyone hurt my mom anymore. I know she is not perfect & I know she has made some bad choices too but she is afterall MY mother & I will not have anyone upsetting her on MY wedding.

I am NOT sorry for being rude to them & I never will be.

And yes, I still wish them dead.

Everyday of my life.

I can't wait for the moment when I flip open the morning Straits Times to read that they have all died in a fire / accident / robbery or whatever other vicious cause of death. Because then I have a great excuse for popping champagne at 7am in the morning.

So please. If anyone of them are reading this (which I doubt so), please save yourself some face & DON'T come to my wedding. I will NOT be shaking your hand nor acknowledging your presence. Please save yourself the embarrassement. I am not hard up for your ang pow & I will not be touching your ang pow. You can actually shove your dirty ang pow up your farking ass.

And the hotel will be arranging for people on standby to have you removed the moment you even flick an eyelash.

Believe me.

I am NOT as forgiving as my mother.

I am NOT fucking kidding & I absolutely will be nasty.

I will be a complete bitch & it does not matter what everyone else thinks of me.

P.S. People who want to give me talks on forgiveness after reading this, SAVE IT.

Perfecting Cupcakes

2010-04-02T08:37:00.003+08:00

Beth's birthday party is coming up this month & I promised to bake the party favours for Ade. The plan is pretty cupcakes with nice fondant & icing sugar decorations. Initially, we were all set for a Barney theme but Beth has suddenly had a change of heart & decides she wants Mickey Mouse instead!

Good thing I haven't bought any stuff yet for the decorations yet. Am spending a couple of weeks perfecting the taste of the cupcakes first. Here's my first trial...

Van Houten Chocolate Chips

Who doesn't like chocolate anyway??? But for the trial, I decided to buy Van Houten instead. For the actual party cupcakes, I will get Hersheys!!!! Hee...

Plain cups. It is still better to go for plain. That way, it won't clash or get in the way of the Mickey Mouse designs on top of the cupcakes.

Had a little help with the mixing from the maid! Hee...

Looking good!

And it slowly becomes light & fluffy....

Then my darling decides to help with the mixing. He was doing it with so much strength that I was so worried he was going to whip the entire mixture out of the bowl!

Happy to be a baker!

All set for baking with lots of chocolate chips!!!

It is so cool to watch your own cupcakes rise. It's like this nice feeling of satisfaction.

Check it out!!!! :) :) :)

Tadaaaa!!!!

Okay, taste & all was perfect (didn't expect it to be on the first try.) but I think I baked it for slightly too long cos the top was kinda dry. But the mix was really good!!!

P.S. Baked cupcakes again the following week, reduced the baking time & they turned out fabulous!!!! Now, I just need to work on my fondant! :)

P.P.S. Will post the recipe online once I have totally perfected it okie? I swear it is really super easy to make!

Kate Spade

2010-04-01T08:49:00.001+08:00

Many thanks to Linda for ordering a couple of Kate Spade items for me from the States. With the outlet sale, prices were really really low & so I got 3 items. All in red! Hahaha....

Kate Spade Pearl Street Wristlet

Kate Spade Pearl Street Coin Purse

I also got the red Kate Spade Rainy Day Blakely bag which comes in a fury beautiful red. Don't have a picture with me now though but all 3 items cost me like only SGD200! Cool huh? Ordinarily, the bag alone would have cost like SGD500? :)

Am happy & I love Kate Spade!!!

P.S. Apparently, there were more outlet sales to follow & I actually have a few more items on the way. Yipeeeee!!!!!

Time With Mom & Darling

2010-03-31T08:48:00.002+08:00

Been stressing so much about wedding plans that I haven't had the time nor energy to blog about other stuff. Life is ALL about wedding plans now. Can't help it when we have weddings in 2 countries will hell of alot of coordination to do. Kinda feeling like a bridezilla now!!!

Anyway, three weeks ago, Darling, Mum & I headed to the bridal shop to check out their packages & also to get a feel of what they are like. I would say the trip was more for the two of them because I had already done extensive research & I kinda knew they were the bridal shop I was looking for! :)

That being said, we made sure we had a good Japanese lunch before going!

Tuna salad. Super yums! I love raw fish!!!!

All went well at the bridal shop & being physically there did get me alot more excited about the wedding! :)

Diet has been in progress for awile & is moving on good, skin has always been fantastic so I just kinda need to maintain it. Thanks to mom who bought me the LARGEST bottle of skin refinisher from Estee Lauder during her New Zealand trip!!!

100ml of goodness for the face!

We still have tons to do but in the meantime, if you guys would like to help, I am currently sourcing for a supplier that can do customised printing on serviettes & ribbons. Recommendations would be good! :)

Will be back soon with more updates. (I promise!) Tata!

Start of the Weekend!

2010-03-20T11:35:00.003+08:00

After a round of massive cramps yesterday & a ton of work to clear, I crashed into bed & fell asleep pretty early. Went to bed praying the weekend will be good. It always is anyway. :)

The rain is so tempting today. To cosy up in bed & not be in the midst of any weekend crowds. But since we've already made plans, I think we'll head out anyway.

Am leaving the office at one, meeting my darling at Toa Payoh then heading to Orchard to have lunch with mom. After lunch is our appointment at the bridal shop, shoe shopping for mom & then more viewing to round up the day.

Seems like we're going to have a pretty hectic day today but it's okay. Especially when you're busy doing fun stuff with your loved ones. :)

I still haven't gotten round to baking yet. Will see if I can get ingredients so I can try out baking Beth's birthday cupcakes with Barney themed decorations on them.

In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend everyone, stay safe & warm. Hugs....

What's with Cowards???

2010-03-19T22:16:00.002+08:00

I am so annoyed.

What is with people who want to say things but yet hide behind a false identity??? If you want to leave comments in my blog about me or my past,

SAY IT WITH A NAME!

Yes, YOU! I'm referring to YOU!

Be a man, have some balls & put your name as you are if you have something to say to me.

But of course, in order to NOT encourage cowardly bahaviour on my blog, I have changed my settings & now you can only comment with a google account.

And for crying out loud, the past is the past, people MOVE ON. I have taken years to move on. Now I finally have & I'm happy. Truely happy from within with my life. So for goodness sake, move on already! You are not even part of my past & you are still hanging on to it???

Get a FUCKING LIFE & LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

P.S. If you are in some ways unhappy with you own life & make it your job to spread your unhappiness & misery, please go spread it in your fucking family among your own fucking family members. Oh & by the way, I have deleted your stupid comments just because I can & because I don't like the sight of spineless pricks around my blog.

Our First Viewing

2010-03-14T15:51:00.001+08:00

We viewed our first house on Saturday.

We always knew we were going to get our own place but after physically viewing the first house, the reality of it sets it.

We are REALLY going to have our own home! Yayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

Many thanks to Jaeger who is so dedicated in helping us find our first home despite the fact that we are pretty picky.

So anyway, we viewed a 5 room flat in Hougang. Pretty near to the MRT station, mall & wet market. The great thing about this unit is that the bus-stop near it, has buses that go literally anywhere. And the coolest part, I have a straight bus to Bishan which will make it so much easier for all of us to go home. ;)

The house is huge. So huge that we can build an extra room for the maid & yet still have plenty of space for a living & dining area & possibly a baby play area. Hee... Massively huge plus we love the fact that the windows are aplenty in this house.

The other thing I love about it is that the kitchen comes with a yard. I always wanted a separate laundry area in my home. A partitioned area to dry clothes, mend clothes, iron clothes etc. Away from the other parts of the house. I find it a real eyesore to have an ironing board "sitting" in a living room.

For me in a home, there is a place for everything. Simple as that. I hate clutter & I fear becoming a horder! Ha...

Master bedroom is slightly small but I am pretty sure with a good interior designer & good planning, we can fully utilise the space & make it work out.

Price wise is pretty good. They are asking for just $15K cash over valuation. It seems alot but it actually is pretty low compared to other resale flats at the moment. The only thing is, the unit is on the 4th floor.

This being our first house, we don't want to be too impulsive. Therefore, as much as my heart says to go for it, what my darling says does make sense. He feels that we should view more houses first before coming to a decision. Afterall, we are probably going to stay there for a good number of years.

In the meantime, Jaeger is trying to arrange for us as many other viewings as possible within the week. That way, if we decide that we still like that unit, it may not be too late to go back for it. So sweet huh?

And so, we are keeping our fingers crossed & hopefully we find our dream home within the next month or so.

Wish us luck!

Family Dinner

2010-03-13T23:36:00.003+08:00

My dear darling got promoted last week & so we headed for a nice steamboat dinner to celebrate. I can't remember the name of the place. I only know it's located at Lim Tua Tow Road. Dad used to bring us there all the time. Cheap & damn good!

Our favourite fish head steamboat!!! Yummy!!! The soup is nice & thick, really tasty & the fish is super fresh. We added extra fish slices too!!!

Everytime we go for fish steamboat, we always order the prawn roll. I think maybe it's because it's everyone's favourite dish? Hmmm....must learn how to make this!

Sambal kangkong with cuttlefish....love this one sooo much!

Cereal prawns. My darling's favourite & so we ordered the king prawns. Super huge man!!!

Chilli crayfish...yums!

I didn't know that darling's eldest sis had never tried crayfish before & so she was giving this dish a shady look. But thank goodness she likes it. :)

Darling & I, busy eating. Who cares that we look messy & sloppy???

Darling's eldest sis & our maid - Mar Te. We take hell ofalot of photos of her whenever we bring her out so that she can show her family what her life is like here. :)

Darling's youngest sis & her husband Win. So cute huh? One day guys, one day, we will be able to catch up with you while jogging!

Good food but great company makes it a wonderful dinner.

I think I'm so blessed. To have wonderful in-laws that love me so much. Makes any meal feel like the best meal ever. :)

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."

After dinner, we headed a couple of shops down the lane to buy durians! Although we were all already kind of full. We ended up buy 2 big boxes of some super D24 durians & the guy gave us a box of cut up mangoes free. Cool!

To digest the dinner, we took a nice slow walk home. Kind of a long walk but it felt nice. Walking home with you family after a nice meal. Feels so warm & fuzzy inside. :) It should always be like this & no other way. :)

"The family is a haven in a heartless world."

ROM

2010-03-07T23:25:00.003+08:00

We initially planned for a simple no-frills ROM at the ROM itself. No-frills as in we make a trip down with our witnesses in t-shirt & jeans. Reason being (as I mentioned before), the real "marriage" only happens in church. That is when we are truely considered married. What we sign at the ROM is only legal by law.

Doing it early instead of signing the cert. in church was to enable us to buy our house the moment we saw "the one". Saves the hassle of us having to rush to the ROM within 3 months.

Darling mom's consulted her fortune-teller & we were advised to sign our marriage cert. at 11.58am. With that sort of timing, there was no way we could so our solominisation at the ROM. Therefore, we ended up doing it at home.

I specifically requested for SIMPLE & NO-FRILLS, but knowing mom, that was not going to happen. Well, I'm just glad that day is over. *phew*

Dunno whether she was preparing for CNY or was this meant for the solomonisation. Okay, it was meant for the solomonisation. I got home one day to be greated by that deco. & I was like WTFFFFFF?????????????

Bro printed that out. Nice huh? Good thing to have a designer for a brother. Hee...

Of course I kept the card. My darling bro did it leh!!! It will go into our wedding scrapbook when I eventually start on it.

Mom, getting all super excited.

Pa & Uncle Val. Uncle Val & Aunty Lilian were our witnesses.

I was sweating buckets! The solominiser advised us to go through the vows first, just slightly before 11.58am, then wait that couple of minutes for 11.58am to arrive just so we don't miss the timing. In the end, we waited nearly ten minutes which felt like ten days.

Still sweating buckets! I could feel the sweat dripping down my back. Was so super nervous!!!!

My baby bro taking a video of the entire thing which I haven't really watched yet.

See! Sweat, sweat, sweat....

And then we waited...

And waited...

While waiting....

After soooo long, we STILL had to wait!!!

Bro got sooo bored that he HAD to take some funky shot of mom WHICH I think she hasn't seen yet. Hahaha...

Yes, still waiting....

FINALLY!!!!

Darling was so excited when it was 11.58am that he quickly signed so I don't have a picture of him signing. This is me, signing my freedom/ life/ soul away....Hahaha...okay okay I've thought about it CAREFULLY. I am okay signing & I am not signing away anything lah... ;)

Serious witness signing...hee...thanks to Aunty Lilian for some good advice that she gave us. :)

Mr & Mrs Hein Zaw Win :)

*Legally & not recognised by religion.

The family. :) Darling's mom couldn't fly down as she had work to deal with.

Us with pa, mom, Uncle Val & Aunty Lilian, whom especially took leave on that day to be our witnesses.

Finally done so everyone starts taking pictures of themselves. Hahaha...Love you guys.

And then, LUNCH TIME!!!

Mom cooked a fine spread of Nasi Lemak. HER version with grilled tiger prawns wor!!!!

My 2 new sister-in-laws. :)

Thanks for being there for me for ALL my occassions guys! :) Love you both hell of alot!!!! :)))

The next day, we were off to Bali. On the whole, it all went really well for the ROM & now that we are starting a new life together, it feels as if things are so different when in fact they are not. I guess now it's not about ME, ME, ME anymore. It's about us. :) That's the only difference & I'm loving it. :)

"Love is a butterfly, which when pursued is just beyond your grasp, but if you will sit down quietly, it may alight upon you."

Singapore Flyer

2010-03-05T08:44:00.002+08:00

Probably EVERYONE has already been on the Singapore Flyer except for us. We kept wanting to wait for a special occassion to go on the flyer together for the first time but we never got round to it.

And so, when darling's dad came to Singapore for a trip & brought his cousin who has never been here, we decided to make our first trip with them.

We had a wonderful time not because the flyer was crazy fun but simply because we were with the ones we love. :) Check out our ride...

Amazingly huge for a "ferris Wheel" huh? I remember when I was a kid, I used to love going on the ferris wheel!!!!

Super hot day, so we decided to have coffee first while waiting nicely for the sun to set.

On the way up!!!
That's darling's cousin behind him. She helps in the family business alot because all the siblings are working in Singapore. Plus she also takes great care of darling's parents. She's awfully quiet but I figured it was because of the language difference. But she's nice & I really like her! :)

That's like a toaster! Must be super hot in there even with air-con!

Cool how ferris wheels have evolved into something so much bigger & greater.

You can even dine in the flyer. I've read some not so good reviews about the food & service though but I would STILL like to try it one day. Maybe when they improve on everything.

Nice huh? But I think the rotations are pretty short. Don't quite like the idea of having my dinner within a time frame. Like I have to rush through it or something.

It's really amazing how they built it.

Darling explaining the technicalities of the flyer....yawn...

Darling's dad was really excited that his niece was making her first trip to Singapore & he kept snapping pictures of her.

I wonder what was on his mind.....

Pretty cool view huh?

Almost at the top!

This was when our capsule was at the top of the flyer.

Cool huh? But I did kinda get abit panicky to see THAT much water below us...

A forced picture! Hahaha...

Actually he hates taking photos especially if he knows it's going to be up in my blog but I forced him to take this one by saying, "This is for your mom!!!!" Hahahaha...

Just after collecting our marriage cert. from ROM. I thought I was paranoid but darling beat me to it that day. He INSISTED we put it in a paper bag BEFORE putting it into my bag just to make sure it's safe & not crumpled/wet (if it rains). Luckily I brought a big bag!! So sweet of him huh? :)

Just us, spending a quiet moment together.... :)

Life is so good now. :)

Letting Go

2010-03-04T21:32:00.001+08:00

When you surrender & let go of the past,
You allow yourself to be fully alive in the moment.
Letting go of the past means that you can enjoy
The dream that is happening right now.

- Don Miguel Ruiz -

Burma Wedding Updates

2010-03-02T08:11:00.001+08:00

Just realised that I have TWO weddings to update!!! Hahaha...

Okay, the stress & pressure from it all have kind of turned into excitement & alot of joy!!! I have no idea why too but maybe it's the next phase of emotions. Hopefully it stays this way till the wedding! :) :) :)

Burma wedding is a little hard for us to plan directly simply because we are not there. Which is why we have to depend alot on darling's parents to do the foot work for us. That being said, I think I should give them some credit for it.

Darling's dad is a super detailed person. He is so detailed & organised that I am totally not worried at all about things going wrong for the wedding there.

Darling's mom on the other hand is a real darling. She is taking care of all the femine stuff for the wedding.

I feel so relaxed knowing they are handling it for us because I know they are perfectionist in their own little ways but at the same time, we'd like to do our part to help too because it is still our wedding afterall. Kind of pai seh mah....

Anyway, the tailor, material selection & design selection for my traditional Burmese wedding gown is in progress now. I am also getting another traditional outfit customised for the monastry ceremony as the monastry ceremony requires the outfits to be a little more toned down & less elaborate. Darling's mom is being extremely fussy on my behalf. :) :) :)

She has also already choosen the rubies for customising my wedding jewellery too. On top of that, she & darling's dad make frequent calls to us to update us on the progress & stuff for the wedding. So sweet huh?

But of course with such a large scale wedding & so many overseas guest to & fro to see to, we still have tons to do but we are optimistic of things working out well.

Next thing to work out is the wordings for the invitations here & for Burma. Easy peasy compared to everything else...hahaha

Wedding Updates

2010-03-01T23:00:00.001+08:00

Wedding plans seem to be moving on pretty smoothly.

Dates all fixed & venues have all be confirmed. Deposits paid. Now we're just slowly settling into the smaller stuff.

First thing we'd like to do is to get all the church stuff over & done with & out of the way. It is so disappointing to know that the church is not flexible & not helpful in anyway.

We are still in the midst of completing our natural family planning course which was made compulsory by the church. WTF right? With all due respect, I don't see why I need to be FORCED to learn about natural family planning. Give me the information & I will learn as I deem fit.

Anyway, we are just trying to get that over & done with lah.

Next up, we are visiting a couple of bridal studios. We have narrowed down 3 studios that we really like. All that's left is to visit them, discuss the package & then make our final decision.

I must say I'm getting pretty excited & I'm really proud of myself!!! I didn't think I could handle all the planning on my own! *beams* Okay, my darling did help abit here & there lah & he is super supportive so that helps loads.

This evening, I am due to meet with the wedding planner at our hotel for dinner & to discuss details of our deco., wedding favours etc. I think it's gonna be fun!!!

But before that, I am definitely stopping by Borders to pick up more bridal magazines...hee.....Why not anyway? After the wedding, I am never gonna get to buy bridal magazines again unless I have a daughter that is getting married but by then it will just feel so different lah.

Take care guys, survive the rest of the work week & will be back soon!

Hugs...

* I haven't updated on the Bali trip yet BECAUSE, blogger took mighty long to upload pictures last weekend. Am trying to get it done by this week. *fingers crossed*