Scribbles and Snapshots

On Vacation

2011-12-28T17:30:00.000+08:00

Photo by Eadwine of Plush Photography

And we're off for our first long holiday since our honeymoon.

Best wishes for the New Year, everyone!

Days in Hong Kong - Seafood in Sai Kung

2011-12-17T23:36:00.000+08:00

I like Sai Kung. It may be teeming with weekend dwellers, many of whom are daytrippers making their way to the nearby islands via the jetty, there's still a sleepy, laid-back charm about it.

Life seems to move at a slower pace in this part of Hong Kong.

And of course, the fresh seafood!

Introducing Phoebe

2011-12-17T21:45:00.002+08:00

There's a new feline addition to our household.

She's grey, with patches of ginger and she has beautiful, light green eyes.

She's a 8-9 months old stray, whom we now affectionately call Phoebe.

Adopting her, was serendipity.

My Twitter followers would know I had my eyes set on this Ragdoll male cat which was being given up for adoption on the Cat Welfare Society adoption board. But he went to someone else who contacted the owner before me. When my friend found out about my disappointment, she suggested adopting this female kitty in her neighbourhood (she knows I love dogs and thought her manja personality would suit me).

She's smart, naughty (she caused our Christmas tree to topple at least twice so far) but she's also a super sweetie.

I love the way she 'talks' to herself, her kneading actions when we pet her, the nom nom nom sounds she makes when she enjoys her food, the way she rolls on her back like a dog whenever she sees us and how she comes out of her room to sit outside the bathroom, when I take a shower.

I have always wanted a dog and never thought I could feel the same way about a cat, but Phoebe has proven me wrong

We've only had her for 10 days, but we're smitten. I can't wait to learn her other idiosyncrasies.

Now pardon this infatuated pa(w)rent, for the overdose of kitty photos below.

Days in Hong Kong - On the Dragon's Back

2011-12-05T22:55:00.001+08:00

The 3 hour trail (section 8 of the Hong Kong trail) starts off at Shek O Road and finishes at Big Wave Bay. Judging by the undulating terrain, it's not hard to guess why the trail is called Dragon's Back.

Days in Hong Kong - Caffe Habitu

2011-12-05T22:13:00.001+08:00

We had a nice coffee break at Caffe Habitu, situated right inside the Causeway Bay G.O.D (Goods of Desire), after some window shopping at the lifestyle concept store.

The cosy cafe

Nice cup of earl grey latte

Besides a wide selection of coffee, Caffe Habitu also serves food and desserts. It's a lovely place for resting those tired legs, after a day of shopping.

Caffe Habitu - The Table

G.O.D

Space No. L1, 2/F, Leighton Centre, 77 Leighton Road,

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Long time no blog

2011-12-05T21:29:00.001+08:00

Oh wow. Has it really been a month since I last blogged?

I've been really busy at work but now that we've entered the last month of the year, I hope there'll be a slight lull as people start to take their holiday breaks. Can't wait for the year end festivities and our much awaited holiday, to wrap up an eventful 2011.

But first, to finish up my Hong Kong entries!

Adele would be proud (and threatened)

2011-11-06T23:54:00.000+08:00

My jaw dropped when I saw this.

Connie Talbot is only 11. Can you imagine what she's gonna sound like when she grows up?

(Btw, if you found her familiar, she's the sweet little girl who wowed the judges with her version of Over The Rainbow during the Britain's Got Talent show in 2007).

Days in Hong Kong - Hung's Delicacies

2011-11-06T23:45:00.000+08:00

Being a fan of braised goose, I wanted to make a visit to Hung's Delicacies (阿鴻小吃), a one Michelin star eatery which specializes in braised meat when pinkgloves recommended it to me. The husband who tried it with his colleague, had nothing but praises for it and that made me more curious to want to try it for myself.

We went down on a Saturday afternoon at 2.30pm, thinking we could avoid the lunch crowd and were surprised to see a small group of people waiting outside the restaurant in North Point. We got our names added to the list and waited about 20 minutes for a table.

We ordered braised eggs as appetizers and each had a braised goose and steamed chicken noodle set. The braised eggs were tasty and I may be biased, but I still prefer my Dad's homecooked version.

Don't be deceived by the photo above. The braised goose may look bland but it was very well marinated and tasty. Indeed, there's something special about the gravy which has been used to marinate the meat. Unfortunately, the meat was a tad overcooked. The husband commented that the meat was more tender the last time he tried, so I'm probably just unlucky. The chicken was also yummy but the goose, Hung's signature dish, was still the star of the show. Oh and I liked the springy noodles which were soaked in the braised meat gravy. I would want to come back to try the braised goose again, because I believe in second chances :)

Hung's Delicacies
Shop 4, Ngan Fai Building
84-94 Wharf Road
North Point, Hong Kong
(Do note that they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays)

An American Road Trip

2011-11-02T22:08:00.000+08:00

I was in the States for work last week.

5 cities, 6 days, 21 photos. Snapped with the trusty iPhone and processed with Instagram.

My Husband, My Fashion Advisor

2011-10-09T19:40:00.000+08:00

Over WhatsApp,

Me: "I'm thinking of getting this dress, (sends link). Maybe I can wear for C's wedding? What colour should I get?"

Him: "Green will blend in with the grass."

Me: "Yah, that's true."

Him: "Black is common."

Me:"Red?"

Him:"Yah, red."

And so, I bought the red dress :)

Days in Hong Kong - Xi Yan

2011-10-09T18:02:00.001+08:00

One of my best meals in Hong Kong was at Xi Yan.

Every dish, which we enjoyed in a stylish, cosy environment, was impeccable.

Soup of The Day

Sauted Prawns with Salted Egg Yolk - These were fingerlicking good!

Dan Dan Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Wa Wa Cai (娃娃菜) in Fish Broth

The husband had matcha tang yuan with black sesame filling while I had the apple crumble ice cream dessert

Xi Yan

Shop 1, G/F

8 Wing Fung Street

Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Days in Hong Kong - Kwan Kee

2011-10-09T17:34:00.001+08:00

Kwan Kee is an old-school eatery which is famous for its claypot rice and other claypot dishes. We loved the food so much we made a return visit (will blog about it in a separate entry).

Claypot Rice with Chicken.

The rice was fragrant and the chicken was juicy and tender. The only gripe I had was - instead of dark soya sauce, you drizzle light soya sauce for the HK version. I prefer dark soya sauce because it gives the rice a stronger, caramelized taste.

Claypot Beef Brisket with Radish - this was superb!

Stirfried Kailan with Garlic

Kwan Kee
Shop 1, Wo Yick Mansion
263 Queen's Road West
Western District, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Yung Kee

2011-10-07T23:02:00.002+08:00

I've been to Yung Kee several times and it never disappoints. Can't get enough of the roast goose and the century egg. Oh so yummy! No wonder it's pertually crowded with both tourists and locals. Reservations are recommended, even on weeknights.

Yung Kee
32-40 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Lan Fong Yuen

2011-10-02T21:36:00.001+08:00

I've always preferred tea to coffee (but I'll make an exception for latte) and I loveeee Hong Kong's milk tea. It's stronger, milkier and has more oomph. It's a pity we can't find milk tea of the same standard in S'pore.

The husband brought me to the Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園) branch at Sheung Wan, to have a cup of their famous milk tea. Lan Fong Yuen is famous supposedly first invented pantyhose milk tea in the 1950s. Yes, you heard me - pantyhouse. The tea is filtered through a long stocking (which resembles a pantyhose) and the process filters out any sediments and somehow results in a silky smooth brew.

I was a little disappointed, to be honest, when I took a sip of my milk tea. The tea was smooth, but I found the tea too strong for my liking (apparently several types of tea leaves are brewed together for 13 minutes, hence the strength of the brew). Perhaps we should have visited the main branch at Gage Street, Central.

Lan Fong Yuen
Shop No. 304D, Shun Tak Centre
200 Connaught Road Central
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Che's Cantonese Restaurant

2011-09-27T21:43:00.000+08:00

Although Tim Ho Wan's dim sum is cheap and good, we weren't keen on queuing again. So we made a reservation at Che's Cantonese Restaurant, situated just a block away from the husband's residence in Wan Chai.

I'm glad Lin told me about this place or I would never have known of its existence. Thanks for the recommendation!

Some photos of our yum cha and pardon the bad lighting. Trust me, the food tasted a lot better than it looks :)

Che's Cantonese Restaurant

4th floor, The Broadway

54-62 Lockhart Rd

Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Itacho Sushi

2011-09-11T15:57:00.001+08:00

I like Itacho Sushi very much and make it a point to visit a branch in Hong Kong when I am there. (Itacho Sushi is a well known Japanese food establishment in Hong Kong which has also expanded to Singapore.)

Dinner was delish and after stuffing ourselves silly with dim sum, noodles and roast meat, it was nice to have something different from the usual Cantonese fare.

Salmon sashimi is a must

Jumbo scallops - so sweet and melt-in-your-mouth!

Miso soup

Cha soba - I love everything associated with green tea

Chawanmushi

Grilled terriyaki salmon

Foie Gras Salad - One of Itacho's best dishes in my humble opinion

Tempura Prawns

Tempura Pumpkin

Unagi Sushi - Good, but I thought the version I tried in Singapore was more marinated and tasted better

My 7 Links

2011-09-06T22:51:00.002+08:00

I first started this space last May, because I was sick of churning out paper after paper and crunching numbers at work. I've always preferred writing to numerical analysis, hence the inspiration for the blog address and title. I desperately needed an outlet somewhere to pen my frivolous thoughts. Most of my entries, as you can see, revolve around the wedding and other random aspects of my life which I adore, like food, travelling and sometimes fashion & beauty.

When Miss Ene tagged me to do up a meme on 7 links, I must admit, I was a little frazzled. This blog (my 3rd one) is less than 1.5 years old. I don't blog that regularly. I hardly open my heart and pen my thoughts, because I don't feel comfortable revealing too much here, but that's just me. How was I going to dig up the posts required to feature in the entry?

But nonetheless, I've sieved through my old entries and here're my 7 links.

1) My Most Beautiful Post - 2010, in retrospect
I don't know about you, but I get a little emotional every year around New Year's Eve when I look back on the year that has whizzed past. This was a rare post where I reflected and revealed a bit more than I normally do.

2) My Most Popular Post - (500) Days of Summer Wedding Inspiration
Thanks to Blogger's stats, I found out that this post had the most pageviews, which I'm sure is because of good old Google.

3) My Most Controversial Post - Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #14: Hey, I'm Not For Sale!
On hindsight, I could have offended some people when I wrote about my disdain for this Chinese wedding tradition.

4) My Most Helpful Post - Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #3 - The Bridal Studio Part 1
Judging by the blog stats, this entry was one of the top 5 entries with the most pageviews. I hope my two cents' worth helped (and still helps) BTBs who were/are sitting on the fence on bridal studios.

5) My Most Surprisingly Successful Post - What's In Your Bag
This entry received the 2nd highest number of pageviews. I never knew that people were so interested to know what's in my bag, hehe.

6) My Most Underrated Post - Confessions of A Bride-to-be #6: Tips for the Pre-Wedding Shoot
Like Miss Ene (who in her case had written about how to store a wedding gown), I wrote this post, thinking it might help BTBs when preparing for their pre-wedding shoot but based on the lack of comments, it seemed that nobody had found the topic useful.

7) Post I Am Most Proud Of - Our Little Modern Resort
It's no luxury beach resort. Heck, we don't even have a sea view! But it is our first home and I'm filled with happiness and pride each time I step through the door.

And now for my turn to tag the next 3 bloggers whom I hope are reading this. Have fun!

The Girl At The Traffic Light Junction
A Fresh Start
The Journey Of Becoming A Mrs

Days In Hong Kong - Wilson Trail

2011-09-02T21:57:00.003+08:00

Mention Hong Kong and most people will think of good food and shopping.

But did you know, it is also home to many beautiful hiking trails?

We were keen to see the quieter side of the country and decided to check out the Wilson Trail, a whopping 78km long trail which traverses eight of the Country Parks and is broken into 10 stages. (Only managed to complete the first stage which is 4.8km, in one afternoon!)

A word of advice to those interested in hitting stage 1 of the trail - do not underestimate it. We didn't think it would be painful cos hey, we climbed Mt Kinabalu so this should be easy peasy, right?

Not true.

We started with an ascend up 1000 steps and the rest of the undulating trail which consisted of a mix of ascends and descends, was long and challenging.

Stage 1 of the trail starts off at Stanley and finishes at Wong Nai Chung Gap

Only just the beginning!

Still cheery, but not for long

Couldn't help but sing Step By Step by NKOTB along the way

Still climbing

I desperately needed a break

The terrain changed dramatically and this section of the hike reminded us of Mt K

Deja vu

And then it was downhill

With a beautiful view of the rolling hills

My camera battery died after this photo and I had to rely on the iPhone to capture the rest of the shots.

After going downhill, it was uphill again.

And downhill, then uphill. Can you spot the trail?

Tai Tam Reservoir

Combined with the unforgiving summer heat and a lack of canopy shelter, it was a tough hike.

But as with all treks, the beautiful scenery more than made up for it. Although it kills my knees, I enjoy hiking because it's peaceful and I like being surrounded by nature (not the mosquitoes though). It's just too bad that we don't have many options when it comes to hiking in Singapore.

If you have some time to spare in Hong Kong, do hit this part of the trail to experience its tranquility and beauty.

Days In Hong Kong - Taking The Ding Ding

2011-08-24T21:17:00.001+08:00

Even though the MTR's faster, we enjoy hopping on the tram or the Ding Ding as the locals call it, to take in the sights and sounds of Hong Kong's bustling streets. (By the way did you know that trams have been running in Hong Kong Island since 1904?)

Just saw from the Hong Kong Tramways' website that you can actually book a tram for a party. Would be perfect for a birthday celebration or even a hen's night!

Days In Hong Kong - Honolulu Egg Tarts

2011-08-23T20:55:00.001+08:00

One Hong Kong food which I really love (besides dim sum, congee, roast meat and milk tea!) is the humble egg tart.

Honolulu Coffee Shop is reknowned for its multi-layered, flaky pastry tarts with soft, egg custard, which are a favourite among locals and tourists.

Hello sunshine!

I don't know about you, but I could eat this for breakfast, lunch AND dinner every day (and grow fat).

Honolulu Coffee Shop
176-178 Hennessy Road
Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Ho Hung Kee

2011-08-22T21:49:00.002+08:00

This was a recommendation by my Mom's colleague and I'm glad we gave it a try.

We ordered a bowl of congee each and a bowl of wanton dumplings to share. The congee was very tasty and the wanton dumplings were stuffed with fresh, crunchy prawn and meat. Yummyyyy. And best of all, the meal was very affordable.

Century Egg Porridge

Generous portion of wanton dumplings

By the way, why is the congee a lot better in Hong Kong? Is it the rice they use? Or the water? Anyone knows?

Ho Hung Kee Congee and Wanton Noodle Shop
2 Sharp Street East
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Lei Garden

2011-08-21T19:47:00.000+08:00

After reading yAnn's entry on her best meal, I knew we had to make a visit to Lei Garden in Hong Kong.

But what could have been an impeccable experience, was a little marred because of bad luck.

The famous crispy roast pork which I was so looking forward to having, was SOLD OUT!

Hey, I knew the roast pork was popular, but I didn't expect it to be gone by 1pm. The restaurant staff told us that many customers actually reserve the dish when they make their table reservations. Just too bad for us then. We ordered a plate of char siew instead.

We also wanted good Cantonese soup, but due to a miscommunication, we ended up with something more exotic than expected.

The soup of the day was sold out (again) and we were recommended to try either crocodile or seafood soup. We chose the latter of course.

When the soup came, we couldn't help but wonder why there were weird chunks of scaly stuff in the soup.

To make sure we weren't drinking crocodile or worse, armadillo soup, I checked with the service staff that this was indeed the 'hai xian tang' we ordered. Hai ya, hai ya, she said and pointed to the order chit on our table. I took a look at the chit and realised the order was Starfish soup (hai xing tang). Eeeewwww.

The husband thought the soup was chockful of flavour but I didn't like the bitter aftertaste. Perhaps they had added Chinese herbs? Or maybe it was just the thought of having a dead starfish in my soup. Bleah.

Nothing appetizing about the dried starfish

I'm glad the husband helped to finish most of the soup

Juicy slab of Honey Char Siew

The char siew was good, but the one we had in Maxim's Palace City Hall during our last trip, was better.

Stir Fried You Mai Cai with Salted Beans

This was delicious but my Teochew tastebuds found it a tad too oily and salty.

Stir Fried Hor Fun with Smoked Duck

You know a stir fried hor fun is the real deal when you can taste the wok hei (which according to Wikipedia, is known as the flavour, tastes, and "essence" imparted by a hot wok on food during stir frying). Loved the combination of the wok hei together with the smoked duck and we cleaned the plate, right down to the last morsel.

Despite the misses, it was still a very good meal. I hope the next time we return, we'll get to try the roast pork and a more conventional soup.

Shop No. 3007 to 3011, 3/F
International Finance Centre
Central, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Tim Ho Wan

2011-08-15T22:15:00.003+08:00

After shopping to our hearts' content at Tsim Tsa Tsui, we took the MTR to Yau Ma Tei, where we braved the queue in the sweltering summer heat for a table at Tim Ho Wan.

We were given a queue number, an order chit to pencil down our orders and sweated buckets as we stood with other hungry diners waiting patiently for our numbers to be called. Considering how we had read about people queuing for 2-3 hours, we were surprised we got a table within 40 minutes.

Tim Ho Wan recently opened a second branch at Sham Shui Po which is bigger but reviews are mixed with some netizens saying it's not as good as the flagship. Maybe we will try the other outlet the next time to see if reviews are true.

Service was fast and we didn't have to wait more than a few minutes for our dishes to arrive.

First up was Tim Ho Wan's signature dish - the Crispy Char Siew Bun, We were told to eat it immediately as it's best enjoyed piping hot.

The light, crisp crust was a perfect compliment to the piping hot, juicy char siew filling. It was SOOO good and we would have ordered a second helping if we weren't so stuffed!

The Steamed Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf was another winner.

We also ordered the Liu Sha Cheong Fun which I was misled into thinking it was Cheong Fun with Tau Sa (Bean Paste), thanks to the dish name.

It turned out to be Cheong Fun with Pork Liver, which we didn't mind eating, but we would have preferred a more common filling which we were used to, like Char Siew or Prawns. The Cheong Fun skin however was smooth and soft and one of the best i've tried. Chef Mak, owner of Tim Ho Wan and former dim sum chef at Four Seasons Hotel, indeed knows what he's doing.

A good Har Gau to me is one where the skin is soft and thin and the prawn filling is fresh and succulent. Tim Ho Wan's Har Gau definitely met my criteria.

The Fu Pi Juan (Fried Beancurd Roll with Prawn) was also excellent (I'm running out of positive adjectives to describe the food).

And our last dish was the husband's comfort food - Lo Bak Gao or Pan Fried Radish Cake. I liked how you could taste juicy strips of radish in every bite. Yummy.

Limited seating at Tim Ho Wan

And now, for the most important question - Was it worth the wait?

My answer would be a resounding yes, provided the waiting time is less than an hour.

The trick is to avoid the morning yum cha period and come at odd hours. (We had an early dinner at 5pm so our wait was manageable).

Where else will you be able to enjoy 6 dim sum dishes of Michelin Star standard for about 100 plus HKD (less than 25 Singapore Dollars)?

And that heavenly Crispy Char Siew Pau. Oh boy, sweet dreams are made of it.

Tim Ho Wan
G/F, Phase 2, Tsui Yuen Mansion
2-20 Kwong Wah Street
Mong Kok, Kowloon
Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Wing's Catering

2011-08-14T15:51:00.000+08:00

My first meal in Hong Kong last Saturday was at Wing's Catering, a hole in the wall eatery recommended by the husband's HK colleague.

There were raving reviews on the grilled chicken on OpenRice, so we knew we had to try that. The husband chose to have his with rice while I picked spaghetti in tomato sauce.

The grilled chicken did not disappoint. The meat was juicy and flavourful, while the skin was crispy. It was delightful. And it was affordable too. We paid 40 HKD (6 plus SGD) each for a set which included a drink - coffee or tea.

Wing's Catering is a small eatery which has limited seating, so do come early before the lunch or dinner peak hours, if you don't want to wait.

Wing's Catering
G/F 8 Anten Street, Wan Chai
Hong Kong

This Weekend

2011-08-02T22:37:00.002+08:00

An old photo taken some time back

There are five reasons why I can't wait for this weekend.

1) The lil sister will be back from the States

2) A much needed short respite from work

3) Lots of good food

4) Not forgetting shopping

5) And most of all, spending time with the husband whom I haven't seen in three weeks ♥

What are you looking forward to, this weekend?

The World's Cheapest Michelin-starred Restaurant

2011-07-29T23:38:00.000+08:00

There's one place I want to check out when I fly up to visit the husband next week.

Will it be worth the queue?

We'll see.

Designer Inspired Furniture

2011-07-29T23:29:00.002+08:00

Thanks to recommendations from friends, we checked out Gnee Hong Furniture and Comfort Design when we were looking for chairs for our study area. Both are in the same vicinity and good places to check out if you're looking for designer inspired ~~replica~~ furniture.

If you're after pocket friendly prices, head to Gnee Hong. If you prefer variety and don't mind paying slightly more for better quality, check out Comfort. We bought our Panton inspired ~~replica~~ chairs from Comfort because the quality seemed better than the ones we saw at Gnee Hong, although I'm not sure whether we were swayed because Comfort has a much nicer showroom.

I didn't manage to snap shots of Gnee Hong's showroom, but here's what you can expect when you check out Comfort Design. I don't think I've ever seen so many chairs under the same roof!

Our Little Modern Resort

2011-07-21T20:29:00.001+08:00

The husband and I love beach holidays.

Our first holiday as a couple was to Perhentian Island (the less commercialized cousin of Redang Island), we chose to go to the Maldives for our honeymoon and there will definitely be more beach vacays to come in the years ahead.

So really, it’s no surprise that we both wanted a resort-inspired theme for our home.

We worked with Elton and Zoey from Plus Interior Design (coincidentally also Miss Ene’s ID!) and considering how we didn’t have a large budget to work with, we’re pleased with the results.

Our best buy for the house is this teakwood one-seater bench from Wihardja, which we only paid $39 for. Great place to check out if you're sourcing for affordable resort-inspired furniture. And yes, in case you're wondering, that's our built in shoe cabinet, which provides sufficient space. For now.

It's not obvious in this photo but we placed a pot of white orchids beside the TV console. We're still looking around for items to fill up the space below the painting but now that Barang Barang's no longer what it used to be, it's hard to find resort-inspired furniture and decor. Maybe we should go on a sourcing trip to Bali :)

Inspired by the interior decor of our water villa at Cocoa Island, we chose white organza day curtains for the living room, to let more light in. Our sofa, cushions and coffee table are from Ikea. Now, if only we had a seaview.

Our dining table. I love the landscape picture of the Flatiron building, which reminds me of our days in NYC.

Our study area, constructed over our bay window to maximise space. Our Panton inspired chairs are from Comfort Design, which I'll write more about in a separate entry.

Our built in bookshelf. The wooden letters were recycled from our wedding :)

Our WIW together with our full length mirror, which gives the illusion of space (and more clothes).

Our Master Bedroom bay windows. We saw a photo of the inclined lounge area in an issue of Home and Decor and got our ID to recreate it.

The jar of sand with seashells was another idea we adapted from Cocoa Island. The sand's brought back from Maldives by the way!

Our customised bedframe comes with drawers for storing bedsheets and side drawers at the bedhead, for our knick knacks. White bed linen was deliberately chosen to recreate a hotel resort feel.

Going The Distance

2011-07-14T21:06:00.001+08:00

It's always been our dream to experience working overseas.

Well, luck is definitely on his side because he recently got offered an opportunity to work in the HK office for almost 3 months. I'm so envious!

It all happened so quickly that we were shocked when he was given less than a month's notice to start his short term stint there. I contemplated asking my boss if I could work from my company's HK office, but didn't try as I knew the proposal would only get rejected.

Well, he's leaving this Sunday and it still feels surreal. We've never gone through a long distance phase in our relationship so I don't know what to expect. I like to think that I'm a relatively independent partner but I'm sure I'll miss him. The Shire will feel emptier and I know there'll be days where it'll get lonely. Who's gonna listen to my work rants, kill the insects in the house and help me with the household chores? :(

But looking on the bright side, I look forward to catch up sesssions with girlfriends (if they have time for me!) and solitude time. It helps too that HK is in the same time zone as Singapore and he'll just be a Skype call away. Thanks to promo fares and redemption of miles, I'll also be flying up to visit him every three weeks, so it's not that bad, right?

Chai Tow Kway (Fried Raddish Cake)

2011-07-13T20:03:00.001+08:00

Over the weekend, I made Chai Tow Kway from scratch (fried radish cake or fried carrot cake as we know it locally in Singapore) for the husband who loves this hawker staple and never fails to order it, even after finishing a plate of chicken rice or Chap Cai Peng (mixed rice).

I followed this recipe from Rasa Malaysia but cut down slightly on the amount of water, based on The Pleasure Monger's advice because I didn't want my Chai Tow Kway to turn out too sticky.

Making the dish wasn't rocket science, but boy did I work up a sweat grating the radish!

And because I couldn't fit all the radish pieces into my frying pan, I split them into half and fried them differently, as you can see below. Those who frequently eat this local dish will know what I mean :)

Cooking Mama

2011-07-08T08:39:00.003+08:00

Now that I've got my own kitchen, where I can call the shots ~~mess things up~~, I've been trying to cook whenever I can find the time, after work and on weekends.

Here's what I've cooked so far in my tiny kitchen.

There's plenty of room for improvement (especially in the food styling aspect) but I can't wait to be my own Master Chef ;)

P.S I'm looking for more 30 minute meal recipes because it's simply too exhausting to cook a 3 course Chinese meal on weeknights. Any suggestions?

The Wedding Venue

2011-07-06T20:47:00.001+08:00

The husband and I knew from the very start of our wedding planning journey that we wanted a small wedding. Just close family and friends. No distant relatives whom you never knew existed or people you invite to make up the numbers.

We also wanted the wedding to be in Sentosa although it was a little inconvenient because we loved the idea of it being away from the city.

Based on these considerations, our final three choices were Amara Sanctuary, Sentosa Resort and Spa and Suburbia. We struck out Sentosa Resort and Spa after a site recce because the lawn area was too small and we didn’t want to hold the dinner reception in a function room.

It was down to Amara Sanctuary and Suburbia.

We went down to Amara Sanctuary first and were quite pleased. I liked the Glasshouse and could almost envision having our dinner reception at Shutters, the hotel’s buffet restaurant.

But it was Suburbia that stole our hearts.

Coincidentally, there was an ongoing wedding and the couple had an outdoor solemnization at the lawn in front of the restaurant. The evening sun had cast warm golden light, the bridesmaids were dressed in yellow and complimented the greenery perfectly. (That was also one of the reasons why I chose yellow for my bridesmaids).

It was beautiful.

We loved the small cosy garden, the high ceiling of the first level dining area, the Western setting with long tables, the peacocks roaming in the vicinity, and the restaurant’s quaint heritage – the building which houses Suburbia used to be a monorail station. We were worried intially that it could get rather humid and uncomfortable for guests because the first level is not air conditioned. But we loved the venue so much that we were prepared to deal with that. And so, we contacted the wedding coordinator and the rest as they say, was history.

And kudos to the Suburbia team, especially Belinda, who has been very accommodating to our requests and a real pleasure to deal with from start to end.

No prizes for guessing where we will be having our first anniversary dinner :)

Here are some photos of our venue and lovely decor (made with love by our best men/bridesmaids) from Ead.

We developed photos from our seven years together, to be hung on a tree at the garden but because it rained, our decor i/c improvised and hung them at a glass panel near the entrance, as a photo wall.

Our flowers were from Sing See Soon, who are pretty well known among the wedding forums. Gracelyn really knows her stuff and made the whole process so easy and fun.

The Wedding Parrrtayyy

2011-06-27T22:03:00.003+08:00

Now that the home broadband is up and running, I’m dusting the cobwebs off this space and starting on my backdated entries.

Let’s go way back and start with the overdue wedding recap, shall we?

What I remember most about our big day wasn’t the gatecrashing (nonexistent for us), the moment my Dad walked me down the aisle (a really mini one in our case), the solenmnisation where we both got a little emo or the first dance we shared as husband and wife.

It was clearly the post wedding party.

Even as we go through our wedding photos today, it is evident that we were relaxed and having the most fun as we we let our hair down and boogied the night away at the after party with our friends.

And thanks to Ead, we’ve got these incriminating pictorial evidence of us partayying, which we can proudly show to our kids in future and say “Seeee, we were cool!”.

All photos taken by Eadwine from Plush Photography. Please do not reproduce without permission.

Feels Like Home

2011-06-14T20:07:00.003+08:00

Hello from the Shire!

Tonight's our sixth night here and although the floor's perpetually dusty despite cleaning it every day, unpacked boxes in every corner and some minor touch ups remaining, we're nicely settled in and I'm loving every bit of the home we have put together.

New house keys with our souvenir keychains from our honeymoon

More photos to come as soon as the home broadband is up. In the meantime, I'm just glad I can tap on the iPhone's personal hotspot to do my daily Internet surfing.

(P.S Can you believe slots to set up mio Home are full for two weekends? Tsk.)

Outfits: Playing Dre$$ Up

2011-06-06T23:00:00.002+08:00

When I got tagged by The Pleasure Monger to feature my budget friendly look, I thought, considering how I buy from blogshops all the time, that doing up this post would be a breeze.

But I was wrong.

The challenge, I soon realised, was trying to take a decent shot of myself in the outfit.

Pardon the grainy photo and poor lighting but this is what I wore for a wedding dinner on Saturday night.

Maxi dress - BonitoChico (now known as Love,Bonito)
Clutch - Love, Bonito
Sandals - Charles & Keith

By the way, I don't know how they do it but kudos to the lovely ladies - The Pleasure Monger, Faerie Imp and Yann, for making self-portraits look so effortless!

Cleaning Out My Closet

2011-06-03T22:57:00.001+08:00

It's Friday night and I'm at home enjoying some me time while the husband is having a boys' night out with his bffs.

I was supposed to have dinner with the ex-colleagues at Tampopo but I turned the invite down.

With barely a week left to the big move, I have to make the most of my free time to start packing, somehow.

But before I do so, I need to do what I've been procrastinating for the longest time - clear my wardrobe, full of clothes which I haven't worn in ages (yes, I'm a hoarder) because there's no way I'm going to bring everything to the Shire.

I think my task will certainly be a lot more fun if I could do a Take or Toss session, like the one Carrie did below, complete with girlfriends and a bottle of bubbly :)

In The Middle

2011-05-29T11:30:00.001+08:00

My hairstylist convinced me to try out a centre parting during my haircut yesterday because in his words, "it is one of the hottest trends now".

As someone who's been wearing a side parting since I can't remember when, I'm still struggling to get used to the new look, but these gorgeous celebrities are definitely working the centre parting!

Pixie Lott

Scarlett Johansson

Sienna Miller

Olivia Palermo

Jessica Alba

Gwyneth Paltrow

Ashley Grenne

Photos from InStyle Uk and Cosmopolitan UK

Almost Home

2011-05-29T10:44:00.000+08:00

Since we collected our keys, our weekends have been spent shuffling from place to place, checking out on renovation progress and settling lighting, furniture, electrical appliances and other household needs.

Though our piggy banks have been emptied out, there's an immense, priceless satisfaction in seeing your home put together, like different puzzle pieces coming together, slowly but surely.

It's been a long time waiting but if all goes well, we should be moving in, in 2 weeks' time.

To say I can't wait, is an understatement. It's time to start packing, wooooooot!

P.S. I'm still on the hunt for some stuff and would appreciate any recommendations on where I can source for the following:
- A nice rug for the living room, which won't wipe out our non-existing bank accounts
- Cheap clothes hangers in black or silver. Ikea sells the black plastic at $1 for 4 pieces but those are out of stock.
- A small dark teakwood bench for us to sit down and wear our shoes

Luck - NYC Wedding Proposal

2011-05-24T21:00:00.000+08:00

Out of this world!

LUCK - NYC Wedding Proposal from Aria Melody DJ on Vimeo.

Someone Like You by Adele

2011-05-24T19:54:00.000+08:00

What a beautiful, heartbreaking song. I'd love to watch her live someday.

Healing Touch

2011-05-23T20:44:00.002+08:00

Over the weekend, the husb and I went for a much needed post Mt K massage at the Healing Touch.

It was our first time there and we both opted for the Asian Fusion massage.

What I liked:
- The therapists were experienced and did a good job soothing our aching muscles. It was probably one of the best massages I have gone for.
- Unlike most other beauty/spa establishments around, there was no hard selling of packages. What a refreshing change!
- The online process of booking your appointment was fuss free.
- Reasonable pricing. It's $50 for an hour of massage.

And what I didn't like:
- No couple room at the Tampines branch. We had our massages done in separate rooms.
- You don't get to take a shower before your massage. If you're particular about this, this probably isn't the place for you.
- Partitions/walls between the rooms are thin. I could hear my neighbour lamenting non-stop to her therapist about her chronic lower back pain while the husb heard some guy snoring.
- There's no washroom at the Tampines branch, so don't forget to make a trip to the common washroom outside before you go for your massage.

Though the above points were a turn off, the massage was very good and we're willing to close an eye and come back to try their other treatments.

We Did It!

2011-05-21T10:31:00.000+08:00

The Maldives - Above and Under The Sea

2011-05-14T14:37:00.002+08:00

I'm leaving in a bit for the airport to catch our flight to Kota Kinabalu. But before I do so, here's a wrap up on our honeymoon with a sample of snapshots from the Diana Mini and the disposable underwater camera.

The Great Escape

2011-05-10T21:08:00.045+08:00

Walking back to our accommodation, Lake George, NY

Circa 2006

Five years ago, the husb and I travelled to upstate New York to work in Six Flags The Great Escape. It was the best 4 months we've ever had.

This year, my sister is embarking on the same journey, to the same place, on the same date!

I wish we could be there to send her off at the airport on Sunday but we’ll be at Kota Kinabalu, attempting to conquer Mt K.

To my lil sis, enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity, take good care, try not to lose your valuables and don’t forget my shopping list! ;)

Stefanie Sun's Wedding Dresses

2011-05-09T20:07:00.006+08:00

It's been close to four months since the wedding and though I have put my bridezilla days behind me, I still can't help but gush over a beautiful wedding gown (and bride) when I see one.

Singapore's home-grown songbird, Stefanie Sun got hitched yesterday and her wedding photos were featured in today's papers.

I like how she went for a simple, classic gown, matched it with a chapel veil and let her hair down to avoid looking overly mature.

But really, for me, it was her second gown for the evening which stole the show.

She wore a long-sleeved lace gown. A Grace Kelly gown!

No offence to the House of McQueen, but this dress in my humble opinion is more breathtaking.

I'm so envious she got to put on this gown. Do you know how hard it is to carry off a full lace, needless to say long-sleeved gown?

I wish she wore a different hairstyle though. Her hair looks a little unstyled, don't you think?

Photos from The Straits Times

The Wedding Outfits

2011-05-03T22:19:00.001+08:00

In light of the recent Royal Wedding fever, I'm taking a break from my remaining Maldives entries to feature my wedding outfits from Dang Bridal.

For the morning, I wore a short made-to-measure lace cheongsam with scalloped sleeves and skirt hem, while the husband wore a black suit with a pale pink shirt, both from Tessuti and a silver tie from Topman.

Photo taken by the sister's bf

Dang had asked what colours I was thinking of for the cheongsam during my first appointment.

When I told her I wanted a bright cheongsam, like the red and blue, diamond cutout bareback one she made for Fiona Xie previously, she shook her head disapprovingly. "You can wear those cheongsams for other occasions. As a bride, you need to wear something more resplendent."

She then showed me a bale of pink sequinned lace, which I had reservations about. I'm not a big fan of pink and I was afraid of looking overtly sweet. I loved the blue and orange cheongsam Lin wore for her wedding (Dang is known for playing with bold, contrasting colours with her cheongsams) and I wanted a similar contrast of colours.

"Trust me. You will look good in this."

And with those words, I took a leap of faith.

I'm very glad Dang insisted I follow her advice because I received many accolades from family and friends. I can't thank her enough for the beautiful cheongsam and wedding gown.

Love the pink buttons that adorn the back of the cheongsam

Dang kept my morning bouquet simple by using a bunch of pale green roses tied with white lace.

I made an unconventional decision not to don the wedding gown for the morning part of the wedding. I thought it would be more practical to wear a lighter dress for the tea ceremony and I found it troublesome to change from the wedding gown to the cheongsam. More importantly, I wanted to save the best for the last. I wanted to reserve my gown for the special moment where I walked down the aisle towards the man I was going to marry.

My Mom and MIL didn't take well to this, naturally. They both felt a girl had to wear her wedding gown when she left her home to 出嫁 (get married). It was frustrating because while I didn't want to upset them, I couldn't see the big fuss about not wearing the gown in the morning. After all, it's not like I wasn't going to not wear the gown at all, right? In the end, I stuck to my guns and I'm glad I did because it poured non-stop (our wedding was the wettest day in January on record!) and my gown would have been dirtied had I decided to wear it that morning.

Next up, the wedding gown.

It was love at first sight, when I saw the off the rack gown at Dang's studio.

When Dang added that the gown was inspired by a similar Oscar de la Renta design, I was sold in an instant. The gown had a toga strap, made of tulle, which I asked Dang to remove, for my MTM version. For the evening, the husband wore a white shirt and a slim black tie from Zara, with his Tessuti suit. Call me biased, but I thought he looked dapper :)

The sweetheart neckline and the criss cross of tulle, over the lace bustier

Loved the details of the skirt, made of silk organza. Dang dyed the gown herself from white to off-white.

My wedding bouquet, made up of ivory roses and blush and pink eustomas, was also by the very talented Dang.

All photos, with the exception of the first, taken by Eadwine from Plush Photography. Please do not reproduce without permission.

The Royal Wedding Gown

2011-04-30T09:06:00.001+08:00

So after months of speculation, the best kept secret's finally out!

I thought Kate Middleton looked stunning in her beautiful Alexander McQueen wedding dress.

It was elegant, modern yet vintage and showed off her lithe figure.

But at the end of the day I still prefer Grace Kelly's :)

A timeless vison of beauty

The Maldives - Sunrise Outtakes

2011-04-24T09:18:00.000+08:00

The Maldives - Dolphins

2011-04-23T19:01:00.002+08:00

We woke up before dawn on our second last day to watch the sunrise and snap some photos.

We were taking some photos outside our villa when a guy ran towards us and said something animatedly in Japanese.

He must have guessed from our blank faces that we didn’t understand him and told us “Dolphins, dolphins!”, while pointing towards the direction of the jetty.

Within seconds, we grabbed our tripod and camera and ran with him towards the private jetty.

There was another family already there.

Together in quiet awe, we watched a school of dolphins swim from west to east, parallel to the jetty.

One dolphin even did a few flips, eliciting excited cheers from us.

We couldn’t take off our eyes off them until they were finally out of sight, and we walked back to our villas reluctantly.

It was a beautiful moment and one I would cherish for a long time to come.

The best photo I've got of them but I'm glad we caught them on video

The abundance of marine life at the jetty

Blake Lively - Chanel Mademoiselle

2011-04-22T11:39:00.001+08:00

There's no denying that Blake Lively is one very attractive young woman.

But her as the face of Chanel?

I don't know.

I think she looks gorgeous but I am just not feeling it.

Love the bags though. And they come in five different sizes. Wonder if they will achieve the same popularity as the 2.55?

What's In Your Bag

2011-04-18T20:34:00.002+08:00

Got tagged by Miss Ene to do a What's In Your Bag post, so here goes!

I only carry black work bags because I'm lazy and they are easy to match. I used to alternate between 2-3 bags but these days, I only carry my Kate Spade because it's such a hardy bag and I don't have to worry about it being caught in the rain. Didn't upload a pic of it because I couldn't get a good shot and well, I really don't want to pose together with the bag and a victory sign, you know?

Bad joke aside, here are my very boring essentials:

I have dry lips so Vaseline's Lip Therapy is a must-have for me. The Chanel loose powder is for touching up if I head out after work and as for lip colour, I'm currently loving Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer, recommended by MY.

Other items in my bag include slippers because I walk to the train station in them (very unglamourous I know) and change to heels when I reach the station. The slippers happened to come in handy today when I broke my left heel at work.

The iPod touch was a birthday gift from the husband in 07. I bring along a USB charger for the iPod touch/iPhone and my wallet was also a birthday present from the husb, in 08 if I'm not wrong.

I also carry a brolly because the parts of the commute to work/home are not sheltered and I never know when it might rain.

Now that I've shown you what's in my bag, I'm looking forward to seeing Hello Kyoto, Mrslimvoyage, somethingboutrenes and Chuzailiving's contributions!

The Maldives - Valentine's Day

2011-04-16T10:28:00.003+08:00

The hubs and I have never been fans of Valentine’s Day. We don’t believe in overpriced flowers or dinners at fancy restaurants. But that's just us.

We had never intended to coincide the honeymoon with V Day. The original plan was to leave the day after the wedding but the air tickets were ridiculously expensive with the Chinese New Year long weekend. In the end, we booked our trip based on dates where we could find the cheapest air tickets.

It only occurred to us that we were going to spend V Day there when we were packing for the trip.

But boy did we succumb when we were at the Maldives.

We dressed up for dinner. I blushed with joy when I was presented with a stalk of red rose by the restaurant staff. We had the Valentine’s Day Set Dinner and the specially concocted V Day cocktail (such suckers we were). What was a romantic dinner also turned out to be the most expensive one out of all our 7 nights.

Ah yes, the irrationality when you’re on honeymoon.

The 4-course set dinner was fantastic. We finished every bit of the Seafood stew.

I really liked the little touches from the resort. Nothing over the top. Thank goodness there weren't rose petals forming a heart shape on the bed!

Tea lights in the bedroom

Rose petals and tea lights in the bathtub

And this is my favourite

The Maldives - Encounters with a Titan

2011-04-13T20:14:00.004+08:00

We were warned about the Titan Triggerfish a few times during our honeymoon.

The welcome letter from the resort cautioned us from going near the fish during snorkeling or diving. A book on the marine life of Maldives, found in every villa for guests to refer to, called it the “most dangerous fish in the Maldives”.

While renting our snorkeling equipment, the staff at the Dive Centre also gave us friendly advice on how to fend one off in the event it attacked us, adding a caveat that this was however “rather rare”. That didn't exactly make us feel better.

The fish doesn’t usually attack, but during mating season, can get very territorial and guard its nest ferociously. Its strong teeth can crush rocks and coral, so imagine what this Titan can do to you, if you intrude into its territory. Yikes.

Being paranoid, I forced the husband to agree on hand signals we should give to warn each other if we were to encounter one underwater, before we went for our maiden snorkeling trip,

We only spotted the fish during our second trip.

With its large head, dark coloured lips and ghastly green tinge, it was not hard to miss.

Even though it was a good 10-15m away, we froze and kept as still as we could. Thankfully, the fish didn’t see us (or care about us I think) and we waited for it to swim away, before we continued snorkeling.

This video shows how violent the fish can be.

The Maldives - Gone Fishing

2011-04-04T20:40:00.005+08:00

I beg to differ when someone says there is nothing to do at the Maldives.

Besides snorkelling and swimming in the clear blue waters, you get to try sea activities such as diving, island hopping, deep sea fishing and bottom line fishing.

We booked ourselves a sunset fishing trip because it provided the best of both worlds - we could enjoy the sunset while at the same time try our hand at bottom line fishing. What's more, we got to enjoy our catch at dinner the next day.

Setting off from Cocoa Island's jetty

The local fishermen

We were given the opportunity to fish after a quick tutorial by the crew.

To me, the hardest part is knowing when's the right moment to tug after feeling the fish bite. Following which, you need to pull the 10-15m of fishing line back up the boat as fast you can.

Tug too early and you have no fish. Tug too late and the fish would have finished your bait. Pull too slow and the fish would have escaped.

We waited and waited.

There were many false alarms, but no fish. I was convinced that we were not going to enjoy any catch for dinner the next day.

Howevver with patience and some luck, we caught some fish.

While we took photos with our catch, an American guy whose fishing line kept getting caught on dead coral, posed with his 'catch' while his wife teased him. It was hilarious :P

One of the crew caught a garoupa with its baby in its mouth. They threw the baby back into the sea.

The catch of the day from us, the American couple and the crew

Home (Bitter)Sweet Home

2011-03-31T19:21:00.003+08:00

Like other residents who have gotten their keys, I have numerous complaints about our new place, touted as public housing with *coughs* "a private touch".

1) The corridor leading to our unit is too dark in daytime.

2) The flat turned out smaller than we had imagined. Ok, to be fair, we made the decision to buy this flat and it’s not like we didn’t have a choice.

3) The provided laundry rack hardly has enough space for more than a day’s laundry. What’s going to happen when we return from a holiday and have a suitcase of clothes to wash? I wonder what the families with kids are going to do.

4) We can only fit a combined washer/dryer in our tiny yard. Stacking the dryer on top of the washer is not an option because this would block the gas heater.

5) The workmanship and quality of the finishings is disappointing. I found a big hole in my master bedroom bathroom cabinet. My household shelter door cannot be locked fully. The pointings (just learnt this tern a week ago) on my living/dining room floor look, in my ID’s words, “like the home has been occupied for a few years”. All my bedroom doors are poorly vanished and stained. My frosted bathroom windows have scratches on them. I have holes and gaps in my parquet skirting.

6) There is a disparity between the actual flat design and the showflat design i.e At the showflat, the bathroom bay window tiles are identical to the flooring while white tiles are used in reality.

7) There is no link bridge from the second storey of the multi-storey carpark to the residential blocks.

But despite my grievances, I still love the Shire.

It’s not the biggest of apartments and it has some shortcomings, but it is our first home, one that we hope to stay in for a while.

Experimenting with different recipes in the kitchen, weekend brunches at the balcony, playing host to family and friends during festivities and chilling at the bay window at night with a book and glass of Moscato.

I look forward to all these and so much more.

Turning A Year Older

2011-03-28T19:57:00.002+08:00

My hatch day was a quiet affair yesterday.

I had a mini 'picnic' with the husband at the Shire (the new nickname I have coined for our tiny home which looks like it is built for hobbits, but more on that in another entry).

We spent the rest of the day checking for defects and adjourned for dinner at Momoya, a small Japanese buffet restaurant by the former owners of Hanabi.

Preparing the 'picnic'

At our balcony

There was no birthday cake nor fancy dinner, in fact the day was tiring and dusty. But I wouldn't have spent it any other way.

The Maldives - Waking Up To Paradise (Part II)

2011-03-24T20:13:00.001+08:00

Cocoa Island's sandbar

Can you tell how strong the wind was from this photo?

At Last

2011-03-21T19:56:00.005+08:00

For you are mine, at last

Unwavering Loyalty

2011-03-21T09:44:00.000+08:00

This video breaks my heart.

The Maldives - Waking Up In Paradise (Part I)

2011-03-21T08:42:00.002+08:00

I woke up at the break of dawn even before the alarm sounded because I was too excited to see Cocoa Island in daylight.

When I saw the morning sun light up the sky and illuminate the turquoise waters , I knew it was going to be an amazing holiday.

The Indian Ocean at our backyard

I couldn't resist dipping my feet into the crystal blue waters

The Maldives - Arriving at Cocoa Island

2011-03-19T23:16:00.004+08:00

It's been a month since we got back from the Maldives and I know I've been tardy with my honeymoon (and wedding) entries, so here goes.

We arrived in Male International Airport at 10plus pm local time (Singapore is 3 hours ahead). Depending on your resort, you either stay overnight at one of the hotels in the city before catching a sea plane the next morning or take a speedboat to your resort. Ours was the latter.

We were greeted by Zara (no I didn't ask him if he knew about the Spanish label) at the arrival terminal. I thought he would lead us to a car to take us to the jetty but it turned out that the jetty was only a few steps away from the airport!

After being given bottles of water and cold towels to freshen up, Zara gave instructions on how to inflate the life vest, in case of an emergency. We were told to expect a bumpy ride. It was extremely windy and the sea was rather choppy that night.

True enough, the first half of the journey was rough. When we neared the resort 45 minutes later, the coxswain was unable to dock the boat at the main jetty after a few attempts. Thankfully, there was another jetty on the other side of the island where the sea was calm enough for him to dock the boat safely.

And we were brought to the villa which was home for the next week :)

A welcome letter from the resort

We were given fresh coconuts as welcome drinks and a complimentary bottle of champagne for our honeymoon

In Lieu Of Wedding Favours

2011-03-17T20:24:00.005+08:00

A few months before our wedding, I chanced upon this wedding on Style Me Pretty where the couple had made a donation in lieu of favours.

I told the husband (then fiance) about it. After a quick chat, we decided it would be meaningful to do the same - make a donation instead of spending the money on wedding favours which not all our guests might appreciate.

And so we made a token sum donation of a few hundred dollars to the Community Chest. We chose this charity because it supported different causes - children with special needs, people with disabilities, the elderly and families facing difficulties.

If you are a bride-to-be, I hope you will be inspired to do the same.

One of the ways you can do so is to support the ongoing relief efforts in Japan.

Help Japan Recover - American Red Cross and Singapore Red Cross

It may sound cliche, but even a small effort will go a long way in helping those in need.

Melbourne - Photos from the Diana Mini

2011-03-10T21:13:00.004+08:00

I love shooting on film because of the element of surprise. Unlike digital cameras, you never know what you are going to get. I especially love the vignetting and lovely retro feel of the photos when you use a Lomo, Holga or Diana.

Anyway, I finally used up the remaining film from my Melbourne trip on our honeymoon in Maldives and developed my photos a few weeks back.

Here are some snapshots taken with the Diana Mini.

Part of the film got accidentally exposed when I opened the camera cover thinking the film was fully rewound, but I thought the overexposed photos turned out rather interesting from the light leaks (the two photos below the one of the license plate).

My First Birthday Present

2011-03-09T20:45:00.001+08:00

I received a nice surprise in the mail yesterday - a bottle of clover seeds all the way from Japan for my birthday, 3 weeks early!

Can't wait to grow them at our planter box soon :)

Thanks babe, I'll try to photograph the growing process!

On TOP of the world

2011-03-01T18:26:00.001+08:00

Someone from said government body might have read my previous post because guess what, our place has received TOP! (sorry about the pun in the title, I couldn't resist!)

One step closer to our cosy nest.

Whoopee!

Patience, A Virtue I Do Not Have

2011-02-25T21:27:00.002+08:00

It's been a month since we got married, but it still doesn't feel like our new journey has really started because we've been living apart (hard for some to swallow, i know), while waiting the keys to the new abode.

I've been checking the forum at least a few times a day to read updates from future residents who have been calling the developer.

From the latest update, I'm not optimistic we can hear the jingle of keys next month.

It seems the developer has only just submitted the application for TOP (Temporary Occupation Permit) yesterday. Based on some residents' estimates, we can probably only get keys earliest late March or April. This of course, is provided there are no delays from the relevant government bodies.

It's disappointing but there's nothing we can do except continue to wait.

And the wait continues.

Getting My Work Groove Back

2011-02-24T20:25:00.003+08:00

Rise and shine, breakfast, snorkelling/swimming, chill at the sundeck/beach, (skip lunch), take a siesta, hit the gym or go for a massage or evening yoga, dinner, watch telly or US tv shows on the laptop and sleep.

That was a typical day for us on honeymoon and it's been tough adjusting from vegetating to office rat mode this week.

Well, I'm sure glad the work week's almost over. Hello Friday!

Our First Dance

2011-02-22T20:03:00.003+08:00

We were chatting with some friends when the band invited us to share a first dance to Lifehouse's You and Me. Wasn't planned and it caught us off guard.

It might seem from the photo like we were indulging in the moment but really, we were more embarassed and trying our darnest not to step on each other's toes!

Still, it was nice :)

Cause it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off you

PS, thanks MY, for capturing the shot!

I've Found My Slice of Paradise

2011-02-19T18:24:00.006+08:00

We just got back from our honeymoon and what an amazing week it was.

We snorkelled, chillaxed, sank our toes in the sand and pretended like there was no tomorrow. The Maldives is beautiful beyond words and I'm still pinching myself to make sure it wasn't just a dream.

Before I continue unpacking, I'll leave you with some Instagram snapshots from the iPhone, which believe me, don't do the place justice.

View from the day bed in our living room

Just a typical afternoon from our sundeck

The inviting azure waters

Sunset

Two Is Better Than One

2011-02-11T09:48:00.001+08:00

Photo by Eadwine, Plush Photography

I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life and I thought
"Hey, you know, this could be something"
'Cause everything you do and words you say
You know that it all takes my breath away
And now I'm left with nothing

So maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
And maybe two is better than one
But there's so much time
To figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one

I remember every look upon your face
The way you roll your eyes
The way you taste
You make it hard for breathing
'Cause when I close my eyes and drift away
I think of you and everything's okay
I'm finally now believing

That maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
And maybe two is better than one
But there's so much time
To figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one

(What was supposed to have been my walk in song)

For Sale - Wedding Fans and Baskets

2011-02-06T14:25:00.002+08:00

Remember the fans which we had prepared for our guests?

We didn't get to use them because our outdoor solemnisation didn't materialise.

After some thought, I've decided to put them up for sale.

It wasn't an easy decision to make because I really adore the fans, but the husb is right when he asked what I was going to do with 40 wooden fans, now that the wedding is over.

Besides the fans, I'm also selling 8 mini baskets (brand new with tags) which I had purchased from Daiso.

The baskets were meant to hold the flower petals for our guests to shower on us after we were pronounced husband and wife but that didn't happen too.

Drop me a comment with your email address if you're keen and I'll provide more details!

To Give Is To Receive

2011-02-06T13:48:00.004+08:00

Now that I've caught up on sleep debt and have almost recovered from wedding coma (yes, it is real) and food coma from the past few days of CNY feasting and visiting, I hope to share more about the wedding in the next few weeks.

Anyway, the husb and I had joked about how broke we were going to be, when it dawned on us about a month back that we had to give out ang pows this Lunar New Year, a few days after paying off wedding bills. Although some say the first year of marriage is supposed to be a 'resting' year for a newly wed couple, we decided to prepare them nonetheless.

It's been surprisingly fun giving those ang pows out.

I love to see the little kids' faces light up when you hand them the red packets and remember, that I too was once like them and looked forward to the extra pocket money every year.

I guess this is what you call the joy of giving.

Before I forget, Happy Lunar New Year and may this be a prosperous year for all of you!

Contented

2011-02-06T13:20:00.003+08:00

When I was younger (and saw the world through rose tinted glasses), my idea of happiness was to be married at 26 and have three kids by 30.

Now, I'm on the wrong side of the 20s, married and eager to embrace the DINK (double income no kids) lifestyle for the time being, with no intention of racing with other couples for a Dragon baby.

So I'm nowhere near my naive little girl dreams but the happiness I had looked forward to is the same and that's what matters.

Saying Hi as A Missus

2011-01-31T16:47:00.002+08:00

So it rained non-stop yesterday and we couldn't have our solemnisation outdoors. But the rain didn't dampen our spirits.

And due to a miscommunication, our live band got my walk in song wrong. But I still got to walk in with my father, to another of our favourite songs.

Despite being one of the longest, most nerve-wrecking days of my life, it was also my happiest.

I'm so glad to say we're FINALLY HITCHED!

Btw, thanks for following my wedding preparation journey, for the advice and kind words!

One-Eyed Bridezilla

2011-01-27T07:26:00.002+08:00

My left eyelid has been swollen since yesterday.

This ailment isn't new to me. It's my chronic blepharitis at work again, which I can only attribute to the following factors - the stress from the upcoming wedding, dust from the springcleaning over the weekend and long hours of contact lens wearing recently (I really should have known better not to wear my contacts for my work trip to Bangkok last Thurs, from morning till midnight).

What impeccable timing.

Hot compresses, medication, drinking more fluids and staying away from 'heaty' food - I'm doing it all.

I keep my fingers and toes crossed that it will subside by this weekend, or I'd really be a one-eyed bridezilla.

RAWWRRRR!

Mad Hatter

2011-01-23T21:02:00.000+08:00

I'm all set for our honeymoon. But first, I need to get married!

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #20: Fanfare

2011-01-16T22:52:00.001+08:00

Besides the handcarved stamps, we also bought wooden fans during our Vietnam trip. Who would have thought that Hanoi would be a treasure trove for any bride-to-be!

We bought ribbons from Spotlight not too long ago, in our colour palette and tied them to the fans, to add a simple personal touch.

For our outdoor solemnisation

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #19: Bridal Survivial Kit

2011-01-15T08:44:00.001+08:00

I've been told that it's useful to prepare a survival kit for the wedding.

Here's what i've come up with so far. Have I missed out on anything?

Dental Floss
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Mints
Adhesive bandages
Sewing Kit
Straw for drinking/Bottle of water
Hair brush
Hairspray
Bobby pins
Small Mirror
Safety Pin
Tissue
Extra Contact Lenses
Eye Drops
Lipgloss/lipstick
Loose Powder
Cotton buds
Small scissors

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #18: Do Not Remove Your Shoes

2011-01-13T20:29:00.003+08:00

My Mom just told me that the bride is not supposed to remove her shoes when she steps into the groom’s place and can only do so when she returns home.

WHAT!?!

Not like I mind the extra height but wouldn’t it be weird if everyone else has their shoes off? What about the groom? Is he expected to keep his shoes on too?

Has anyone heard of/adhered to this custom?

Tempat Senang

2011-01-10T20:34:00.003+08:00

We're back from our little getaway and glad to say that Tempat Senang did not disappoint.

Loved the Balinese style of the resort and the fact that it only had 7 rooms. Service was great and the 3 hours of spa was absolute bliss. We also enjoyed the wide selection of DVDs (we watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Going The Distance). Now, if only we had more time to be coach potatoes!

Our lovely Thai Deluxe Room

The terrace with a Turkish fish spa

Felt like we were transported to Bali

View from the breakfast terrace

The resident Parrot

Dinner view at Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant

I've learnt that the bigger the fish, the more ticklish it is

Happy

It's amazing how much good a quick getaway can do for the mind and soul. It was relaxing, rejuvenating and recharging. I'm really glad we took this breather and believe it or not, I didn't think about the wedding, yes not a single bit!

Wedding Free Weekend

2011-01-08T08:32:00.000+08:00

The fiance's birthday is next week and a while back, I decided to book us both a 2D1N Batam spa getaway to celebrate his hatch day and give ourselves a rejuvenating treat.

We'll be staying at this lovely boutique resort which has less than 10 rooms. It is highly raved about on TripAdvisor so I really can't wait to experience the place for myself. Counting down to the 3 hour spa later this afternoon too, for we sure need (and deserve) a good pampering before the wedding!

More importantly, I'm looking forward to a weekend without wedding planning. I told the fiance that we're not going to talk/do/think anything wedding related. The last one's a bit hard since it's going to be at the back of our heads no matter what, but we'll try!

Enjoy your weekend folks and i'll be back with photos :)

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #17: The Wedding Shoes Part II

2011-01-02T11:46:00.000+08:00

Hello, Gorgeous

Read more about the elusive search for my shoes here.

The Lazy Song

2011-01-01T14:59:00.003+08:00

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed

This is the perfect song for this rainy first day of the new year.

Have a lazy day ahead!

Slow Food

2011-01-01T09:38:00.005+08:00

Caught an interesting documentary featuring the Slow Food movement on the Discovery Travel and Living channel recently.

If you're guessing what Slow Food is, it is in a nutshell everything that Fast Food isn't.

Slow Food is an international non-profit movement founded in 1986 to counteract fast food and the fast paced lifestyles we lead these days. It strives to protect local food traditions, people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world - people, communities, animals, plans and the environment.

Slow Food began when Carlo Petrini opposed the opening of a McDonald's near the Spanish Steps in Rome. The Slow Food organization now has over 100,000 members over 132 countries.

Anyway, the documentary was specifically on the movement in Melbourne, Australia. It featured a freerange black pig breeder, a lady who grows her own organic vegetables and a boutique vineyard owner - the work they do and their beliefs. All three share the same mission, which is to champion food that is good, clean and fair.

I really like the whole concept.

A part of it reminds me of what Jamie Oliver has pushed for through his Feed Me Better and Food Revolution programmes - to cut down on junk food and cook your own meals. I love my KFC and McDonald's (and i realise my previous post's on Fast Food too!) but I agree that our meals are too rushed these days whether in terms of preparation or consumption, no thanks to our busy lifestyles. We should all slow down and savour life, savour food.

Through the net, I found out that Singapore has its own Slow Food Convivium Society and members meet for lunch every last Saturday of the month.

There's no impetus for me to join the society (spending 4-5 hours on a lunch every month is a bit too much for me!) but I do want to, in my own little way, pledge my support for this movement.

I will start by cooking my own meals (once i get my own kitchen), going organic when I can and trying to preserve my family's Teochew and Hakka food traditions by learning to cook the signature dishes, from my parents. And of course, enjoy my food, every single bit, slowly with gratification :)

If you're keen to know more about Slow Food, you can read more about it here.

Freshness Burger

2010-12-31T17:42:00.002+08:00

I ate at Freshness Burger for the first time at Century Square and personally i think it's overrated.

Looks are deceiving

I had the Fish Burger and was expecting to bite into SUPER fresh, succulent fish fillet but it turned out to be... normal. The fillet was also rather thin and i would have really liked a more generous portion for the price I was paying. Sadly, the freshest part of the burger was the lettuce and the only unique part I could remember about the it was the chunks of egg mayo in it.

The fact that set meals are not available also does not sit well with me. You have to order your items a la carte and this adds up to be quite a bit. The fiance and I had two burgers, one portion of Hokkaido potato wedges and a cranberry lemonade. Guess how much it was in total? $18 buckaroos!

I've never tried Freshness Burger in Japan, but i know i won't be patronizing the local outlets again for sure.

2010, in retrospect

2010-12-30T21:10:00.000+08:00

Dreamweaver has done it. So has The Pleasure Monger.

As the year draws to a close (has it really been a year?!), it’s now my turn to take a step back to reflect.

I probably remember more about 2009 than 2010 though.

In 2009, the boy proposed and we commited ourselves to the biggest investment in our lives. We also experienced our first live game at the Emirates Stadium and visited the City of Lights (two items off the travel checklist!).

In 2010, on the travel front, we satisfied our backpacking or flashpacking (to be exact) itch in Vietnam (Jan), enjoyed comfort food and shopping during a quick birthday getaway in HK (Mar) and went on a road trip Down Under (June). I feel most spirited when I travel and I am grateful for every opportunity to see the world a little more.

Workwise, the bigger part of the year was rather painful. I was stuck in a role which I didn’t enjoy. But thankfully, I had two wonderful colleagues, M and S to turn to and I am grateful for their friendship. Just as we entered the last quarter of the year, I embarked on a new job in an organization which I’ve always wanted to work for, in an industry which I am passionate about. I keep my fingers crossed that I will continue to enjoy work satisfaction in the company.

Then of course, there’s the wedding prep which has unfortunately resulted in us arguing a lot more in recent months. It hasn’t been easy, preparing for the big day and a new phase in our lives. To say the stress gets to you is an understatement. Imagine having to manage this logistics of a nightmare while trying to please our families and ensuring that our decisions are not made at the expense of our happiness, all at the same time. But we're almost there and I can’t wait to let my hair down, literally, after the dinner!

And that’s about all to my 2010, really.

I guess it is what I would call a transition year, gearing up for the wedding, the new home and a life together.

Although the year wasn’t as exciting as the previous one, it was decent.

I am contented, in a good place and I can't ask for more.

Time Out

2010-12-29T22:57:00.003+08:00

I haven’t been able to write here as often because there’s just too much going on the wedding/house front.

It used to be just our weekends being used for running errands but now even weekday evenings are burnt with appointments with wedding vendors.

As maybs puts it on her blog (i’m sorry I don’t have your name nor initials!), it’s a tough life… being a bride-to-be.

Off the top of my head, these are the remaining to-dos.

* To confirm a florist for venue decorations
* To consolidate RSVPs and do up the table arrangements/seating plan
* To finalize song list with our wedding band and compile our own playlist
* To go for my make up trial
* To develop photos for our wedding
* To look for a wedding guestbook
* To book our post- tea ceremony buffet
* To go for our final gown and suit fittings
* To go for a haircut
* To brief our best men and bridesmaids
* To finish up on miscellaneous DIY décor (i.e. table number cards etc)
* To confirm our interior designer for the new place

1 more month to go.

We can do this.

Mt K in May

2010-12-26T20:11:00.002+08:00

It's confirmed.

Together with some friends, we will be climbing Mt Kinabalu in May next year. It's now or never, before we get creaky with age.

I'm excited but filled with trepidation. I'm not the fittest person around so climbing a 4,095m high mountain is very daunting.

Training at Bukit Timah starts next month but we will only be able to join the gang after the wedding.

Which leaves us with about 3.5 months to train.

Gulps.

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #16: Our Wedding Invites

2010-12-20T22:18:00.004+08:00

Because our wedding venue doesn't cater for invites, we had to customise and print our own cards.

The good - freedom to personalise our invites to our whims and fancies. The bad - designing our cards from scratch is a daunting task for two not so artistic people.

We turned to the Internet, which gave us plenty of inspiration. But our customised cards would not have been made possible, without the help of our very talented friend KH, who not only helped to design but print two designs! And not forgetting Angie, who sacrificed time to help to despite her packed schedule.

The traditional Double Happiness card for family

The floral design for friends, which in our humble opinion, suits our wedding venue/theme to a T!

Chop chop!

I love the hand-carved wooden stamps we got from our Vietnam trip in January this year. Besides choosing your own design, you can also add your own text. We decided to include our names. Cheesy, but we likey!

Tak glam!

Yours truly wrote the addresses while he stamped the back of the envelopes. After an afternoon of writing, stamping and sealing yesterday, i'm proud to say that our wedding invites are ready for mailing!

Keep a lookout for them y'all and don't dump our envelopes into the bin, just yet k?

Wedding Eye Candy: Rouge

2010-12-19T09:53:00.001+08:00

From StyleMePretty

I love how the bride looks like she walked out of an Audrey Hepburn movie.

Absolutely adore her vintage dress/hairstyle and I wish i have the aplomb to carry off red lipstick too!

Floral Dilemma

2010-12-19T00:54:00.002+08:00

Photo from here

We have been talking to some florists for our wedding and I'm just appalled by how expensive flowers can be in Singapore. And by expensive, i am talking about anything from $1000 to $2000.

I know I'm being practical and budget conscious here but I don't feel comfortable parting with this amount of money for something that only lasts a day.

It will be nice to have some basic floral decorations on our big day though.

Decisions, decisions.

Sneak Peek

2010-12-17T22:03:00.001+08:00

Photo by Eadwine from Plush Photography

What The Flea!

2010-12-16T21:51:00.000+08:00

Helping my sister to do a shout out here :)

My sister will be at Booth no. 12 at What the FLEA! this coming Saturday (18th December), 2-9pm at *Scape. Besides the usual second-hand clothes (including mine which have been washed once but never worn!), she will be selling new clothes and bags.

Booth no. 12 will be at the extreme right once you come in through the entrance to What The Flea!, right next to the entry/exit to the playground & entry/exit to the carpark :)

A preview of what you will be seeing at the flea.

For more photos & further information, do check this site out: http://someonetodress.blogspot.com/

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #15: Thinking Outside The Box

2010-12-14T19:33:00.003+08:00

Besides enjoying the relaxing lunch, there was another reason why we left Egg3 Cafe feeling mighty pleased.

We found a tissue box holder to double up as our wedding ang pow box. The icing on the cake was a 10% discount by the owner because she didn't have it in a new piece.

It was serendipity at its best :)

Egg3 Cafe

2010-12-12T11:50:00.002+08:00

In between running wedding errands yesterday, we stole time for lunch at Egg3 Cafe. I've read about this lifestyle concept cafe a while back, but us being us, we usually prefer to wait for the hype to be over before checking a new place out.

Tucked in a cosy nook in Mountbatten, the place was quite hard to find, but well, that adds to its charm, doesn't it?

I don't know if it's the norm, considering the great reviews i've read on the cafe, but there were only two tables of guests, including us. Not that we mind. I just hope business sustains because it will be a shame if the cafe doesn't survive eventually.

As you can tell from the photos i've posted, I went trigger happy snapping shots of the whimsical decor and quirky items on sale.

Mushroom soup, with a hint of truffle oil.

His - Fish & Chips

Hers - Crab Meat Spaghetti with Pink Sauce

The food was reasonably good in general but I wish the menu offered more choices. Read on Foursquare that the chocolate lava with ice cream is to die for but we didn't try that as we were too full. I would devote an entry to the Fish and Chips if i could but all i would be able to say is it's the best fish and chips we've tasted (even better than the ones we tried in London and Down Under).

We had an enjoyable, simple lunch, away from the weekend crowd, flipping through interior design magazines to get ideas for our new place. Time seems to come to a standstill at Egg3 Cafe. I could linger there all day.

It was a lovely respite from the usual wedding planning.

Weekends should be made of these.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2010-12-07T21:06:00.003+08:00

When i first embarked on this wedding preparation journey, i was so certain that being the type A personality that I am, it would be the wedding details - the decor, the theme, the invites, the dress, that would unleash the bridezilla in me.

How wrong I was.

These days, i find myself devoting more effort in managing certain relationships than fussing over our wedding details.

Fending off certain demands and expectations of the wedding/marriage are taking a toll on me.

I just want to be happy.

Why does it have to be so difficult?

Theme Song

2010-12-05T16:40:00.000+08:00

If my life had a theme song now, it'll be this.

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #14: Hey, I'm Not For Sale!

2010-12-01T21:38:00.002+08:00

If there's one Chinese wedding tradition i would like to abolish, it would be Guo Da Li.

Maybe i am too modern for my own good, but i don't believe in betrothal gifts, dowry and what nots. This tradition probably made sense in the past where matchmaking was prevalent but it just seems archaic to me in today's context.

A marriage should not be a transaction between two families. I don't want to have a value placed on me.

But as we both realised a while back, a wedding or marriage isn't always about the two of you. It also involves your families.

And that's why we decided we should arrange for our parents to meet to discuss this iffy topic. So at least both sides can come to an agreement, no matter whether they decide to do away with this. And yes, the date has been set for this Sunday.

It will be interesting to see how the talk unfolds. If our parents decide to go ahead, we will respect their wishes. But I sure won't be practising this in future when my kids get hitched.

The Final Countdown

2010-11-25T20:55:00.001+08:00

I know it may not seem like it (judging by the number of wedding vs new home entries), but i'm more excited about our new home than the wedding.

And this just came in the mail today.

If nothing goes wrong, the expected TOP would be in February/March and we should be getting our keys sometime in March.

What a splendid way to celebrate my birthday next year.

The countdown begins!

Dinner with M and S

2010-11-25T20:24:00.001+08:00

It's been more than a month since i started my new role.

Although i enjoy the new environment and job scope, I miss the company of my ex-colleagues, M and S and how we used to drive out for long lunches and go for retail therapy after work.

Ah, good times!

It's not everyday you meet colleagues whom you can bond with and I'm really thankful for their friendship.

Here are some photos from our catch up/belated b'day celebration for M last night.

I heart Ippudo's ramen and milky pork broth! *slurps*

Sugar cubes at Jones the Grocer

Strawberry Tart and Jones' Cheesecake

Photos taken by the iPhone on instagr.am