The Day Before The Big Day - Melvin

10 Nov 08 - This was my day before the big day. Some years back, I spied my brother staying up in bed to memorise his speech during his day-before-the-big-day. My brother usually puts on an impassive countenance, but that night, there was an almost tangible air of nervous energy around him. I didn't have to ask him to know for a fact that butterflies must be churning in his belly.

I finally understood why he felt that way. It's the feeling of being on the verge of making one of the most (if not the most) important decisions in your life. That night was the last night that the world would recognise him as being a single individual. From the next day onwards, his entire world will be shared and melded with that of another person's. Also, relatives and friends will now mention this other person's name in the same breath whenever they enquire about his well-being.

I thought that I would not feel as anxious since Her Royal Majesty and I had already been living together for more than a year since our wedding solemnisation at Mandai Orchid Garden. Yet somehow, it still felt every bit just as momentous.

I had taken leave for the day so as to take care of any remaining tasks for the wedding. The day started feeling like any other. I even woke up at the same time so that I could escort Her Royal Majesty to the MRT station in the morning. Later in the afternoon, I would be left stranded outside her office for 45 min when I went to pick her up from work.

We went home and continued packing the items needed for tomorrow. Initially, we had wanted to start packing for our honeymoon too, but there just wasn't enough time to do so. In the evening, Her Royal Majesty left for her manicure session while I took my stuff over to my mum's place. Since we were already living together, this was the self-imposed day of separation when both of us returned to our parents' homes, in accordance with customs that mandated the fetching of the bride.

I then went to collect the bridal car, a Mercedes SLK. In preparation for this moment, I had gone on several refresher driving lessons, and rented a car on numerous occasions to familiarise myself with the routes. I'm now reasonably confident that I should be able to make it through the day in one piece, even though that may mean driving the supercharged sports car at 50km/h.

The bridal car was rented through Weddingcars.sg, a car rental company specialising in bridal car rentals. We had originally selected the TD 2000, a replica of a vintage car:



Unfortunately, the TD 2000 broke down a week before the wedding, and we had to quickly pick another vehicle from the company's stable. We were not left with many options since we wanted a 2-seater convertible for our wedding. In the end, we picked the Mercedes SLK as it seemed the most stylish among the rest.

Like most sports cars, the car was built much lower to the ground, and packed full of electronic gadgetry. Even the rear view mirror was designed to automatically dim the glare from passing headlights. It was with some trepidation that I clambered into the driver's seat and slowly maneuvered the $200,000 mechanical beast out of the multi-storey carpark.

The machine was built for speed, but with me at the helm, it bounced at the slightest bump and watched helplessly as uncles in Toyota Corollas zoomed past it. Throughout the drive home, I kept reassuring myself that, at the very least, I was a safe driver.

Back home, I busied myself checking the stuff for the wedding and shifting some of it into the car. I'm still not very sure what it was that I was busy with, but I managed to keep myself engaged until about 1.30am. As I forced myself to shut the lights, I remember thinking that I should really get some sleep since I had to wake up at about 5am the next day. Perhaps my brother had gone to bed with the same thoughts during his time. And just perhaps, he also had the image of his wife firmly etched on his mind before he finally fell asleep.

The Day Before the Big Day - Phebe

The day (10th Nov 2008) was a flurry of activities. Thinking back, I can't help but feel amused of how the day before the wedding went. In order to save my precious leave, I only took half a day off instead of a full day. I spent the morning finishing up my work stuff and left at 1.30pm. The Cat (aka Meowvin) had been waiting at the lobby for 45 mins as I came out late, lol.

We went home and finished packing up all the wedding required items, then in the evening, he went to pick up the wedding car and I went for my mani-pedi session at Fingerworks. Note: I still have not finished packing my stuff even then!

It was 8pm by the time I finished my mani-pedi session and I hurriedly took a cab to my mum's place. Didn't want to take the risk of having some blur bloke stepping on my toes by taking the train.

9pm. I reached mum's place, pick up the car and went back to my house (it was only a stone's throw away, about 5 mins walk?) to finish packing up my stuff. I didn't even have time for dinner!

11pm. I left my house and sped to Meanie's house at Toh Guan. She was supposed to stay overnight at my mum's place and we were to finish up preparing the "torture the cat" gate crash items. Liew, it was so difficult to get to her block and by the time I reached, it was 11.25pm!!!

I then realised that Kitty had forgotten to bring with him his precious nose spray, and thus had to drop by one of his bros' house to get him pass the spray to Kitty the next morning before he comes up to be tortured. Liew... almost midnight by the time Meanie and I got to my mum's place! Liew.. people always say that a bride should sleep before 11pm so as to look pretty the next day, me leh??

I had to finish up preparing the "Agreement Letter" and other stuff... by the time we went to bed it was 2.45am!!!! My make-up artiste and photographer were supposed to report at 5.15am.... there goes my beauty sleep...

I woke up late the next morning, lol... I will blog about that in our website soon under "Our Customary Wedding". Stay tuned!

2 Doors and 4 Wheels

I have never been fond of driving. Unlike most other males, the thought of speeding down the highways in a petrol propelled, steel and glass encased machine does not send me into dizzying heights of ecstasy.

Nevertheless, it has always been one of Her Royal Majesty's wishes to arrive at her wedding, chauffered by her groom, in a carriage that makes onlookers go wow. Perhaps she is trying to fulfill the fairytale equivalent of prince charming entering on a white stallion to sweep her off her feet. Although I'm not sure of her exact motivations, I do know that I will try my best to grant her wishes whenever possible.

With that in mind, we did some research and found WeddingCars.sg, a company specialising in car rentals for weddings. Although our package with the bridal studio already includes the usual chauffered-driven Mercedes Benz, we were willing to trade that for a more exclusive and personal ride. Though WeddingCars.sg, we booked a quaint vehicle called the TD2000, which is essentially a replica of an automobile as it appeared in the Industrial Age. Underneath the hood, however, the manufacturers had placed an entirely modern engine with automatic gear transmission for newbies like me.

Next, it was necessary for me to sharpen whatever driving skills I possessed. At a cost of $45 per lesson, I booked and went for about 5 refresher lessons with a private driving instructor. It was nerve-wrecking to get behind the wheel after such a long period of abstinence, and thankfully, I managed to avoid killing myself and my instructor.

Just as I was all set to be the appointed driver for the day, I received an email from WeddingCars.sg to say that the TD2000 was under repair. This was only a week away from the wedding, and without any hesitation, I picked up the phone and gave the company an earful for pulling such a nasty surprise. They were sent scrambling to look for other TD2000s, even if they had to get replacements from other rental companies.

Unfortunately, nothing else came up, and the few other providers either had the car in the wrong colour or had already rented it out. We had no choice but to settle for a silver Mercedes SLK, a 2-door convertible sports car.

Having only driven Toyota and the like, I was pleasantly surprised at the wealth of features in the SLK, from headlights that turned themselves on, to the Transformers-like movements of the roof when it was sliding down. Driving the machine was not entirely positive though - the ride was hard and seat too low for my liking. For everyday driving, I'll stick to Toyotas, thank you very much.

During the big day, the car, surprisingly, was not the subject of much attention from me. While it provided a good photo opportunity, and grunts of approval from my "brothers", it was merely a means of transportation to me. I could have been driving a SBS bus and I probably won't be able to tell the difference. After all, I had more pressing matters to attend to, such as getting married to the most beautiful bride whom I have ever known.

- Melvin

Goodbye, my Beloved TD2000

3 Nov 2008 - It was one week, one freaking week to our actual day and the company we booked our bridal car from informed us that the car we booked kana repair and won't be available on our wedding day!!! Liew!!! Kitty was more pissed than I was, I suppose, as it was one of the rare times he called up the other party to give them a good dressing down without me asking him to.

Liew, to think that we had actually cancelled the Mercedes (the usual 4 door series with the 2 big headlights) that was included in our bridal package and paid a lot more just to book the vintage TD2000 and now this had to happen!!! And 1 week to our wedding day somemore!!! They think we are very free to go car hunting or what??

Kitty managed to get the company, WeddingCars.sg to compensate our loss by paying for any extra cost (if any) if we book another car from another car rental company. Over the next 3 days, we made countless calls to other car rental companies to search for the TD2000 but luck was not on our side. Of the whole of Singapore, there were only 2 other companies that rent out the car.

1) J&J Auto

2) Funcar Auto

J&J Auto only had the TD2000 in GREEN as they had sent all the white ones for scraping. Of all times to scrape the cars!!!!! The green is UGLY. So thats out of the question.

Funcar Auto had the exact model but we came across a rather negative comment on the forum about the vendor who was said to be quite unreliable. We decided not to take the risk of ending up with no car on our wedding day.

We then decided to book the BMW Z4 series, but WeddingCars.sg only managed to find a Z3 in grey colour.... sianz.

Bye bye. my beloved...

In the end, we booked one of the very few choices left available - the Mercedes SLK. Still feeling bummed about not getting my beloved TD2000, I asked Kitty to demand compensation. As we didn't really like the bridal car decor (from photos that we have seen) that was included in our bridal package, I asked him to get the company to provide free decor for the SLK. Haha, after much debating over the phone, he managed to get WeddingCars.sg to do the car decor at no additional cost! We thus cancelled the car decor service from our bridal package and got them to provide us with 7 sets of following car ribbons instead, haha!

Every cloud has a silver lining. At the very least, we won't be car-less on our wedding day afterall.

- Phebe

Rehearsal at The Regent

3rd Nov 2008 - To ensure that things run smoothly on our wedding day, we arranged for a rehearsal at the hotel with our flower girls and emcees. As the ballroom was only available on 3rd Nov, we had no choice but to hold our rehearsal on a weekday after work.

Thankfully, everyone was able to make it even though it was a Monday. Anyway, guess what? We were late by 10mins, and by the time we arrived everyone was already there! So paiseh. Much to our surprise, we had "guests": Anna, Paul, Jessica and Danny who came to watch the fun. Overall, the rehearsal went quite well and our 2 emcees, Gene (Kitty's oldie) and Angelia (Jcoc)were able to coordinate quite well. It was good to have the flower girls practice walking down the aisle as well so that they wouldn't be confused on the actual day. They were really cute. Three of them paraded on stage and started "performing"! Wahahahahhaa!

Anyway, a big thank you to all of you, Gene, Angelia, and especially the mums of our 4 flower girls, who had to bring their kids all the way down to Orchard for the rehearsal. It was not easy, especially since each of the mums have 2 children! Imagine the hassle! As we had no idea how to explain the procedure to the girls, the mothers served as communicators too. Being the experts in childcare, the mothers explained the procedure to their charges very patiently and efficiently, haha! Thank you for your hardwork and for being so supportive!

Guo Da Li

27 Oct 08 - In Chinese period dramas, whenever there was a wedding, there would be great fanfare and celebrations, even prior to the wedding when the groom and matchmaker deliver the betrothal gifts and bride price. There would be bales of silk and treasure boxes overflowing with gems and gold, all lined up neatly for the bride's family to inspect.

Today, it was my turn to deliver the goods to the royal family. My aunt had agreed to help out, and although it was never explicitly mentioned, we all had an unspoken agreement that she would be the official matchmaker. My brother was the official chauffeur, and he was in charge of transporting said goods together with the official matchmaker and my mum (who was really there just for the heck of it) to the royal palace.

First stop for my entourage was at my place, which they reached slightly after 9am. After chit chatting for a while, I passed my aunt her ang pow and was about to hand my brother his, when he refused and literally ran away! For the next 5 minutes, I chased him around the dining table in the living room while he kept shaking his head and made little noises of objection. I eventually gave up.

We then headed to the royal palace, and my mum and brother stayed in the car while I ventured forth with my aunt. According to custom, only matchmaker and groom are supposed to deliver the gifts, and thus, my mum and brother were left to patrol the car park at the foot of the block.

This was the second time my aunt was meeting the royal family, with the first taking place during "negotiations" at the food tasting session at Regent Hotel. She got down to business quickly, and explained to them what each item was for, and even clarified what the royal family were supposed to return. Yes, for those of you who do not know, the bride's family is supposed to return part of the gifts to show that 1) they are not greedy 2) the groom's family is overly generous.

With the serious business over, we settled down for more chit chat and decided to invite my mum and brother up too. Surprisingly, my mum refused, citing tradition and all that baggage. I never realised that she could be such a stickler for customs, but then again, she is female, and we all know how they can be full of surprises. After staying for a while more, we bid our farewells and my brother sent my aunt and mum home.

The guo da li is just one of the many aspects of a Chinese wedding that is still widely practised by many couples today. Although this custom may not be as meaningful as it used to be, it nevertheless indicates that Her Royal Majesty and I are one step closer to our customary wedding date. One step closer to gaining "proper" recognition of our marriage, and that's probably all that matters.


Melvin

Wrist Corsages

Wrist corsages from Lovely Lacey for the Jie meis:

Honeymoon: Aegean Airlines

Guess what? Just when we thought we have settled everything for our honeymoon, Aegean Airlines sent an email notification that our flight from Santorini to Athens will be delayed!!!! We were due to fly from Santorini to Athens on 1 Dec before taking a connecting flight on Emirates back to Singapore.

The departure time for our Emirates flight is at 15:50, and according to the revised flight schedule for Aegean Airlines, we will only arrive at Athens at 15:35!!!! It is impossible to catch our flight back to Singapore lor! Arrrgh...

Anyway, Aegean Airlines proposed that they give us a refund, but thats beside the point!

1) The only other airline that flies from Santorini to Athens is Olympic Airlines, and the departure time is at 07:00. What an unearthly hour!!! We have to rot for 7.5 hrs before the Emirates flight!

2) Air ticket prices have soared over the past few months. We are lucky we booked our flight early. Our round-trip flight on Aegean Airlines costed only EUR 152.78 for 2 pax but now, it costs EUR 228.96! This price increase applies to Olympic Airlines as well, and the fare for a one-way flight from Santorini to Athens cost EUR 101 PER PAX!!!! So even if Aegean Airlines were to cancel and refund us our fare for one-way flight, the refund of EUR 76 is not enough to cover the cost of the Olympic Airlines ticket which amounts to EUR 202 and we have to fork out the additional EUR 126 from our own pockets!!!!!

3) It is highly possible we may NOT be able to claim back the additional EUR 126 from our insurance agency.

4) We have to check out super early in order to catch the Olympic Airlines flight! Super early as in at 5.15am!!! So early also don't know got cab or not??

Kitty (aka Meowvin) emailed Aegeans Airlines to request for a refund PLUS compensation for the additional EUR 126 but they refused to pay us the compensation amount. Undeterred, the old cat called them up personally and hounded the other party for a good 30 mins over the phone. No choice, since we have to settle this quickly and book our Olympic Airlines flight. According to him, it was hard to converse with them as their foreign accent was pretty strong. He had to speak very, very slowly. Boy I am so glad I didn't have to do the dirty job. I think I would have given up after 15 mins at most, lol. Anyway, the other party was stubborn and refused to budge, but so was the old cat.

The old cat managed to speak with a higher level staff and guess what? Aegean Airlines agreed to refund us EUR 76 (for one-way) plus compensate us the additional EUR 126 we had to pay for the Olympic Airlines tickets!! Wahahahahaha we won!! Yay!! I bet Aegean Airlines must be feeling rather peeved, since the total amount (EUR 202) they have to pay us is even more than our round trip ticket (EUR 152.78)!

Anyway, we have booked our Olympic Airlines flight... hopefully there will be no more flight schedule changes!

-Phebe

Wedding Prep - 14 Oct 2008

Its about 1 month until our AD and now we are trying to settle all the nitty gritty details of our wedding prep.

Wedding invitations: Meowvin and I stayed up till 2am almost everyday during the past week printing out wedding invitations. I thought it was an easy task, until Mdm Poh showed us her list...and told us we have to use the Chinese formal way of addressing the relatives! e.g. To invite Meowvin's aunt who is his father's elder sister, we have to write it as so-and-so 胞姐阖府统请台升instead of a simple so-and-so 夫妇! Biang... we had a hard time figuring out how to write and worse... we didn't have their names and had to waste more time sourcing. Then Mdm Yik (my mum), who initially wanted to write in the "normal and simple" way, decided to "standardise" and wanted to do it the same way! *faint* The funny thing was... she also didn't know how and ended up I had to edit some of them for her, wahahhahahaa! Imagine... elder brother became 胞哥 instead of 胞兄 wahahahhahaa! Luckily Regent provided us with more cards than we needed, cos there was a lot of wastage and we had to reprint many times! Thankfully, our poor printer was good... it dutifully completed its task of printing out the names and addresses even though the black ink cartridge was near empty! Heng ar! We finally managed to mail out our cards last Friday.

Surprisingly, some of my friends received their cards on Saturday, so fast! Pleasantly surprised when they told me the card was very nice (haha, free one somemore) and unique. And... they noticed the customised stamp, wahahahha! Maybe this design is more eye catching? Last year for our ROM invitation we used a slightly darker photo for the stamps, so maybe that's why not as many people feedback about it? Regent supplied us with one whole stack of "How to get to Regent Hotel" maps to include with our invitations but we ended up re-designing the map by adding in more details and surrounding landmarks as the existing one was not as detailed, lol.

Items for AD: We went shopping with Mdm Yik last Saturday. Finally got around to buying those "traditional items". We went to Far East Plaza and I showed her the set of BLACK bedside lamps that we liked. Luckily she also agreed it is very modern, unlike those typical red colour plastic battery operated lamps like the one below.

The one we eyed has a black wooden rectangle frame with the word "喜", which is part of the black frame. It has a pink curvy small plate at the top of the black frame (it is removeable) which you can put little dried flowers, haha. Very nice piece of oriental yet modern display ornament! You have to connect it to power and it lights up when you touch the black frame. 1st touch, small brightness. 2nd touch, medium brightness. 3rd touch, brightest, and the 4th touch switches it off. Cool right?? It costed more than $40 compared to the red ugly ones above which costs about $8. Sounds silly, but Mdm Yik also said that instead of buying the ugly old fashioned lamp only to keep and collect dust after the wedding, might as well get something that looks modern and can be used after that. True, cos the black "喜" isn't obvious since it is part of the wooden black frame, whahahahhahaa! And we have found the perfect place to place it, on our dresser table, since its got the "woody" look as well and is dark brown, wahahhhaa!

Saw a very cute tea set where the shape of the tea pot is those curvy kind instead of the usual straight standing pots. The tea pot and the 4 cups that came along are red, without those traditional dragon and phoenix image on them, with the "喜" on each in black, very modern. Unfortunately, the cover of the tea pot is quite loose and prone to drop out. Mdm Yik was afraid that Meowvin's family (can be quite pandang) may say it is bad luck if sweh sweh it really drops out and so we had to choose another design.

Thankfully there was another design that looked traditional yet quite modern (looks good in photos too haha). it is white and red without the dragon and phoenix images as well, haha! Hard to explain and I don't have a pic. Quite cute cos the shape of the tea pot is quite fat, haha. So she got us that set, and the matching bowl set too! I really like the bowl set, very cute sia! The matching soup spoon has a hole at the top, and the shop assistant helped us to hook a red ribbon through it and created a flower-like design with it instead of the typical ribbon knot. Really beautifully done!

Bought some "喜" stickers as well and that settled our "AD to-buy" items! Went shopping with Mdm Yik for her accessories to match her outfit for that night. Sad to say, till now I still can't guess how her dress looks like, so mysterious, die die don't want to tell us. Even my dad also don't know! The only information I managed to squeeze out of her - 1) more than $400, branded 2) a lil bit of sleeve and quite possibly... korean style???? I don't know, but she did mention she doesn't want the MUA to doll her up until very red, she prefer korean style... so who knows perhaps her dress is also korean style?? Liew... she sure is good at keeping us in suspense!

Haiz sianz... this weekend we got to tag along with Mdm Poh to hand deliver the cards to their relatives... cannot post... :(

- Phebe

Our Ang Pow Box Completed!!!!!!!!!!

After months of toiling over the weekends, our AP box is finally completed!!!!

Despite saying a year ago "aiya AP box simple one can liao lah just anyhow buy one will do", we sang a different tune a few months ago when we chanced upon the mini version of our cat plushie - "lets get someone to customise our AP box with the cat and rat plushies!". Haha our idea was to create an AP box with the mini versions of the cat and rat plushies we used for our ring pillow.

So the massive hunt for the rat began. We wanted to get the mini version of our rat plushie but unfortunately, TY replied our email saying they don't produce mini Cheezers (that's the name of our white rat). We tried finding toy manufacturers to produce a mini replica of our rat but the cost was too high, so we dropped the idea. Not willing to give up our idea "just like that", I started searching online, and after a week, hola! I managed to find a rat finger puppet that looked almost alike to our original Cheezer!! To make sure it is the one and only one, I browsed through another 78 pages of soft toys on the same website. Yes, it is the only one!!!! Wahahahahahhaa so we had it shipped over from the States!

We started finding suppliers to customise an AP box with our mini soft toys but the cost was simply not worth it. Imagine charging more than $30 just to dress up our soft toys?? In the end, we decided to DIY, adding on yet another DIY item on our to-do list!

For those who are interested to DIY your own AP boxes, here is a brief account of each step of the process. It ain't that difficult, just tedious. LOL

Materials: Soft toys, A4 copier box, wrapping paper, name cushions, lace, chain of crystals, beads, rose buds, white glue, scissors, pen knife/cutter...etc

Vendors: theweddingthoughts.com, Mdm Yik aka Mrs Low my mum, Melvin & Phebe

1) Wrap up the ugly A4 copier paper box with 3 sheets of silvery-white wrapping paper. Take note that double-sided tape should secure the edges fully without any gaps in between so as to minimise possible tearing. Decide on the size of the hole on the cover, measure equal dimensions from the sides, make markings and cut out the shape with a cutter.

Wrap the cover of the box with the wrapping paper. Draw a divider line where the hole is.

Make a slit and fold it upwards so that it wraps up the ugly edges of the hole.

This is what you should see:

Use double-sided tape to secure the "flaps" to the underside of the box.

Tada!

Wrap up done!

2) Bought lace, a mini top hat and small rose buds and together with the soft toys, we passed them to Mdm Yik - this kind of sewing is too chim for me, haha!

Before:

After: Version 1

A bit plain, so asked Mdm Yik to add flowers with leaves for the rat to hold, and to sew the cat's left hand, errm, I mean PAW, onto the rat, just like the original pair. :) Oh, and asked her to sew tiny rose buds onto the rat's tail as well, haha!

After: Version 2

I thought the mini rat should wear a similar necklace like the original one, so we bought beads and I chained them together to form a necklace!

After: Version 3

To view the original plushies, read "A Special Ring Pillow" under June 2008.

3) We wanted to have our names sewn onto mini heart cushions but as both of us are not good at sewing, we outsoured the job to theweddingthoughts.com. Mdm Yik then helped us to sew the cushions onto the box.

4) Finally the time to decor the rest of the box!

Here are the materials used:

Wrap the lace around the border of the cover.

Paste flower buds around the border on top of the lace.

Finally, paste the chain of crystals all around the border of the box just below the cover as well as around the hole on the cover. Stick 3 white rosettes on the top right corner.

Tada! COMPLETED!!!

Total cost: About $100

1st Wedding Anniversary - 9th Sep 2008

Unknowingly, a year has passed since the day we walked down the aisle at Mandai Orchid Garden amidst cheers and claps from family, friends and relatives. Perhaps both of us have been busy with work plus preparing for our customary wedding this coming November, so much so that I exclaimed to him sometime during mid August, “wah! 3 more weeks and it would be our very first wedding anniversary!”

It’s been at least 2 weeks since 9 Sep and to date, I am still not done with the blogging, lol. So be prepared. It’s gonna be a long post, haha.

We had agreed to take half day leave on 9 Sep to celebrate the occasion, but who knows Old Cat (aka Melvin) took a whole day off without my knowledge! Feeling pretty bummed that he can go back to sleep after preparing breakfast while I had to go to work, I got him to accompany me to the MRT station, haha~!

Perhaps he knew that I would expect a bouquet of flowers to be sent to the office (that was what he always did), so well, there was nothing for me, lol. He smsed me at 12.50pm saying he was waiting for me downstairs. By the time I went down, it was already 1.30pm. The grumpy Old Cat grumbled about how he waited under the hot sun for 40 mins until I shot him with “Didn’t you see there are sofas at the lobby?” Wahahhahhaa~! He has only himself to blame for being so short-sighted.

Anyway, he had the day’s plan mapped out already. We went to Bugis for a really quick lunch at NYDC and then watched the movie Wall-E. Pretty silly movie though it was kinda funny. It felt pretty weird to be watching a movie on a weekday afternoon. The cinema was near empty and so was the shopping mall. What a big difference from weekends! After the movie, we shopped for a while before heading to Clarke Quay – he had planned for us to take the river cruise to “reminisce the proposal day”, haha!

while waiting to board...

We were the only ones on the boat again, and after 5-10 mins of trying to introduce us the Singapore River, the host decided to stop yakking and instead, helped us to take photos, haha~! Its amazing how much has changed since 20 Sep 2006. That night, when the boat stopped in front of the Esplanade and The Oriental, the opposite side was the open waters. The construction works for the integrated resorts have not started. The surrounding area was calm, peaceful and quiet, perfect for a romantic night out. Now, almost 2 years down the road, the very same area is very different, with all the construction work going on and the noise. We stopped the boat at the same location as it was 2 years back and stood with our backs to the Esplanade just like before though this time, the photographer was a young man in his mid 20s while 2 years back, it was an old man, haha.


stopped the boat at the same location as 2 years ago haha~

After the entertaining river cruise, we made our way to Mandai Orchid Garden, the very place we got wedded a year back. Nothing much has changed. Couldn’t see much of the Mokara Hall where we held our solemnization since it was quite dark. We made a beeline for the Vanilla Pod restaurant. There were few diners on a weekday night, but it was ok, we enjoyed the privacy. Although the Vanilla Pod restaurant was very small, the ambience was good. Very wedding-like in a way, and elegant. Very cosy setting with music playing in the background. The last time we were here was during our solemnization rehearsal with Bro Eddy, Bro Ullas and The Low Clan. The service provided by the waiter was excellent.

at the Vanilla Pod restaurant


Cheers~!

The Old Cat made some lame excuse of going to the gents and returned with a large bouquet of flowers. There were 99 stalks of pink and white roses. It was very heavy, luckily I didn’t have to carry it around Bugis had it been delivered to my office! This time, he was smarter. Instead of ordering flowers from Bloomdale or other florists, he opted for Far East Flora. More expensive, but at least the delivery didn’t cock up unlike the previous 2 times from Bloomdale! For those who do not know, he actually had flowers delivered to my office twice this year and both times, the deliveries cocked up, lol. It was a good thing we sort of have the whole restaurant to ourselves, at least we didn’t have to bother about curious stares from other diners, haha. Another couple came in shortly after that, but we were already done with the photo taking by then.


Us~


Heavy bunch of flowers



Me, myself, and flowers~

My present for him: A set of cufflinks from Hugo Boss and a card I bought earlier in the day (and hid in the washroom to write. SHHH!!!).

His present for me: A DKNY watch.



At home~

Top-down view



99 stalks of roses in a tiny vase haha



Look at how squashed they are~!

Its amazing how quickly time flies. Throughout the one year as husband and wife, I have learned to close my eye (sometimes both eyes, lol) on many things. As both of us were brought up differently, there are certain things we both don’t see eye to eye. I guess I am the fussier of the two and I cannot stand untidiness. I like things to be organised and I am very detailed oriented. Now, one year down the road, I don’t bother to make noise anymore whenever he mops each part of the house once instead of twice (cleaner mah)…. I don’t care anymore… why bother getting pissed when I am not the one doing it anyway, lol. I didn’t think I would get married until 27, but God has other plans for me.

Indeed, being married means that I lose my freedom in certain aspects, like how we both have to make time to visit the folks once in a while. It doesn’t help that my in-laws live so freaking far away and I hate the especially hot weather in the East. Being married also means that we forsake the comfort and advantages of living with the folks (e.g. no need to pay bills, mother to do the chores.. etc), which makes me wonder sometimes… get married for what huh???? LOL.

But having said all that, marriage is not THAT bad too. It has its own set of pros. In a nutshell, getting married has its pros and cons, and marriage is not a bed of roses. There is a lot of getting used to in terms of living habits and more often than not, I find myself feeling very frustrated during the first 2 months when things are not done the way I am used to. I have to remind myself that not everyone is like Wonder Woman like my mum, haha!

Couples often plan for their wedding thinking that they will live happily ever after with the one they love. More often than not, they enter into marriage with unrealistic expectations, only to struggle after that when things go wrong. By then, they will be too caught up with fighting than remember the vows they made, hard work they have spent in setting up their home…etc. Marriage is a lifelong commitment. Rome was not built overnight. Likewise, it takes time to build a happy and fulfilling marriage.

This is only our 1st wedding anniversary. God willing, I hope we’ll be able to celebrate our golden anniversary one day.

“…………What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” Matt 19:6

Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary to you OLD CAT!

- Phebe

Our First Wedding Anniversary

9 Sept 08 - It's been a year since Her Royal Majesty and I were married, or to put it more accurately, it's been a year since our wedding solemnisation. In Singapore, some couples don't really consider themselves as being "officially" wedded until they complete the customary rites. In our case, we threw caution (along with a whole load of well-meaning advice) to the wind, and just latched on to our government-awarded licence to set up home together.

They say that the first time is always the best. I say it really depends on first time for what, how you measure "best", and who are "they" anyway?? Mindless comments aside, Her Royal Majesty and I both took special pains to ensure that our first wedding anniversary was a memorable one. Both of us had taken leave so that we could slowly savour the significance of the occasion, and schedule appropriately dim-lit activities.

The "celebrations" opened with a surprisingly quick lunch at the NYDC outlet at Bugis Junction. We had planned to watch WALL.E, but there was a slight delay getting to Bugis Junction, so we ended up wolfing down our pasta in record time. We probably took about 20min from the time we entered the restaurant to the time we left.

The movie was funny, smart and, I hate to admit this, touching at times. It was also the only movie that I know where the main characters only have 1 line each which they repeat again and again.

WALL.E: Eeeee....vaaaa!
EVE: Walll...eeee!
WALL.E: Eeeee....vaaaa!
EVE: Walll...eeee!
WALL.E: Eeeee....vaaaa!
EVE: Walll...eeee!

After the movie, we had originally planned to take a ride on the DHL balloon, but it was shut down for maintenance. Instead, we headed over to Clarke Quay, where we did a partial restaging of the events on the day of our proposal! Haha, yes, very tacky, but also very sweet. We went for a river cruise, but this time, the ferry was one of those modern types, not the original bumboat that we took on that fateful evening. Amazingly, we were, once again, the only people on board except for the crew. At first, the host started his usual touristy spiel, but gave up about 10min later when he saw that we were not interested in what he was saying at all. Instead, he volunteered himself to be our photographer and came over to chat with us.

Next, we took a cab down to Mandai Orchid Gardens, where we had held our wedding solemnisation ceremony last year. Unfortunately, we were caught in rush hour traffic, and the cab ride ended up costing a hefty $30!

Mandai Orchid Gardens was quiet and still. Except for the restaurant, Vanilla Pod, the rest of the place was pitch black. The smell of pollen was omnipresent and compensated for the fact that we could not see much of the flowers. There was only one other party in the small restaurant, and we were quickly seated by the attentive waiters. The restaurant looked rather much like a glass house, and with the lush greenery all around us, seemed to be situated in the middle of a forest.

Both of us had the cream of mushroom, while for the main course, Her Royal Majesty had the rack of lamb and I had the seafood platter. The food was passable, but we didn't really mind since that wasn't the main reason why we were dining at Mandai Orchid Gardens.

Halfway through dinner, I hastily excused myself and went out of the restaurant. Just outside the door, my accomplice, the head waiter, was waiting for me with the bunch of flowers that I had sent to the restaurant earlier today. Her Royal Majesty was all smiles as I handed her the 99 stalks of roses and wished her "happy first anniversary". We had also prepared gifts for each other. I received a pair of stylish cufflinks from Hugo Boss, and I gave Her Royal Majesty a silver DKNY watch.

This was our first wedding anniversary. There were no grand fireworks or marching bands, just a special day out for the both of us. In essence, the day was time for us to reminisce about the events on 9 Sept 07, to enjoy each other's company, and most importantly, to be grateful for having each other as we explore further adventures in our lives ahead.

Wedding Prep Updates - 4 September 2008

THE WONDERS OF ARAB STREET

I always knew that Arab Street has lots of shops selling cloth, beads... nothing special, until the need for BEADS surfaced.

Guestbook & AP Box: We have been trying to find materials to decorate our guestbook, but sad to say, they always amount to quite a lot when we get them from Spotlight or Made with Love. Finally, I decided to give Arab Street a go; no desire to spend more than $20 just on beads, lol. So on Saturday, we went from shop to shop to check out the prices and designs. So happy, managed to find packets of shiny decor bits for only $3 each! We bought 2 for testing first, if nice then go back and buy more. Haha, will go there again this Saturday! Also thought of an alternative idea to decorate the mouth of the AP box. Too pricey to stick flowers around it, they will cost more than $20! So, we decided to use crystals, haha, 1m only $8! Looks so nice! Can't wait for Mrs Low (aka my mum) to finish with the toys, cos we can only start the decor once the toys are attached onto the box. Sianz... till now we still have no idea how to attach the toys on. Reckon we better leave that task to Mrs Low... mums always have a way with everything, anything!

We managed to find a shop selling loose petals too, and ended up buying 7 packets. I hope they are enough... Can't stand the man at the shop. Kept following us at very very close distance, like right behind! We take one step, he also takes one step. Liew, really bueh tahan. Told Meowvin to faster get it over and done with, I feel very uncomfortable and irritated!

Jazz: Went to Jazz Bridal to view our album layout. Thankfully, it was much, much better than Focus Bridal! I still remember the first time Meowvin and I went to view our album layout at Focus... we rejected the whole thing...the design was simply too "cheena" and kiddish. You tell me, what's the point of taking outdoor shoots if they replace the original, natural backgrounds with artificial ones? Might we well take indoor shoots lor! Anyway, I'm glad Jazz is better, perhaps its because we did tell them we prefer the design to be simple and original. Sianz. Ended up topping up yet another $400 for seamless binding. Liew they really know how to squeeze money out of wedding couples!

Honeymoon: Haiz. We seem to have little bits and pieces here and there not settled. Always got things we need to buy just when we thought we are finally through with all the purchases, lol. Went to the Winter Time at Suntec on Saturday after the Arab Street "tour" and got myself a wool cap. Supposedly to keep your ears from the wind and prevent you from getting headaches easily since it keeps the head warm. On Sunday, went to Suntec again and bought a cute travel kettle (more like a jug). Very cute manz, so compact, the capacity is only 0.5L, haha! Side track - went to Comex with the intention not to buy my much wanted Canon Ixus 85 IS. Nearly succeeded until Meowvin said,"Dear! Pay by UOB and get one more extra 4GB SD card leh! Got 3 altogether leh!" LOL, so I got a new toy. :) We then made our way to Taka to shop for thermal bottle/flask aka water bottle, haha~! Taka has a larger variety of such things, and we bought a La Gourmet one. Haiz, haven't fly already spent more than $1K buying travel stuff. Worse.. still got at least 6 more items to shop for! Heartpain manz.

Yay! We got our Eurail partial refund yesterday (Monday)! Wahahahhaha luckily got check through the tickets manz, we got a refund of $196 cos of the promotional rates for the tickets!! :D


- Phebe

Wedding Prep Updates - 25 August

Flower girl: Wahahahhaa after so many weeks of endless searching for reasonably priced flower girl baskets and headbands, we have finally bought them! I am so glad we didn't buy them at Kiddy Palace, where the EXACT SAME (yes, exactly the same right down to the details!) flower girl basket costs $15.90 each and similar headbands cost $10 or more!



The total cost for the above items: SGD 28!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Manz!!!! It is so unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I got them at Jakarta, haha, and I suspect Kiddy Palace might have gotten their supplies from there, cos its exactly the same! Imagine... each basket costs only SGD 4~!!! Its like buy-1-get-3 free!! The headbands only cost SGD 3 each!!!!!

Muaahahahahhahaa! Had been prepared to splurge (reluctantly) $100 on these 8 items but now we only spent $28! I think, its time to think of making a business out of this. Buy more from Jakarta and then sell it here for double the price! Wahahahahhaa!

Honeymoon: As mentioned in one of my previous posts, we have finally purchased our Eurostar and Eurail tickets. When collecting the tickets last week, I noticed that the prices stated on the Eurostar tickets were wrong. They were much, much cheaper. Checked with the Pricebreaker staff and the girl was also surprised to see the difference in price from what we paid. So she said she would check and get back to me. LUCKILY GOT CHECK AR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently, there was some kind of promotion going on and the Eurostar company booked our tickets at the promotional rates which means we are gonna get a refund of $190~!!!!!!!! Wahahahhahaa I think luck is really on our side with all these savings here and there!

- Phebe

My Soup is Too Salty!!

11 Aug 08 - Today marks 3 years 9 months since the day when Her Royal Majesty and I officially, "went steady", as most 13-year-olds would put it. However, instead of celebrating the occasion at some dimly-lit romantic Italian restaurant, we were having a 8-course dinner with both our parents, my brother and my aunt at a dimly-lit Chinese restaurant.

We were sampling the menu that was selected for our wedding banquet, and the whole gang was roped in to provide expert commentary and critics. Images of us shrieking, "My soup is too salty!" amidst flying crockery, à la Zhang Ziyi, came to mind.

At the same time, my aunt was tasked with an additional mission --- to facilitate talks between both families on the betrothal gift, dowry and other details. Our parents were unclear about what each family was supposed to present to the other, when they were supposed to do so, and which other traditions they had to follow. As such, my mum had suggested enlisting my aunt's help, since she has experience handling such matters, including my brother's.

Instead of advocating a strict adherence to tradition, my aunt recommended that we keep things as simple as possible. Our parents must have been relieved to hear that and eventually decided to give each other an ang pow in place of the various traditional items.

Throughout the discussion, we were also busy tasting and commenting on the various dishes. The hotel even provided a little card where you could write your remarks next to a list of all the dishes on the menu. The hotel's restaurant, Summer Palace, was supposed to be rather famous (or at least that's what the restaurant says about itself), but we felt that while some dishes were really good, others were just ho-hum and ordinary.

After dessert, the chef came out to discuss about the food, and we took the chance to air our very honest opinions. Thankfully, he took them calmly, and even wrote down our comments and suggested alternatives. Based on his advice, we made some changes to the menu, and hopefully, our guests would be happy with our choice of dishes.

All in all, this was indeed a very different anniversary, though I'm sure I would not live beyond the next one if I even had any thoughts of repeating this again. Happy 3 years 9 months!

- Melvin

Wedding Prep Updates - 12 August

Regent Hotel: The time has finally come for us to select our invitation cards, wedding favours and dinner theme. We managed to select the cards and favours quite quickly, but sad to say, still can't make up our minds on which theme to select. Went down on 2 Aug to view one of the themes and it was really nice, though Kitty (Melvin) was saying that the stage looks quite plain? And the black theme is definitely out, don't want to hear the folks making more noise, lol. So now we are waiting for 31 Aug, when there is another wedding dinner using one of the themes that we are considering. I wonder if can mix and match?

Photo Selection at Jazz: Our Photoshoot pics are finally ready for selection. Made our way down to Jazz on 7 Aug to select the shots for our album. Haha, we got a shock when we saw the 2 huge piles of photos on the table. Yes, all were ours, lol. Bet our coordinator was hoping that we would spend another few K topping up on photos but we proved them wrong. The photos were much better than the ones we took at Focus last year. Interestingly though, we took a few days to select our photos last year, whereas this time round, we took only 2.5 hours to make our selection, which was at least 3-4 times more in quantity! I guess perhaps I was in a rush to go home to catch the 9pm drama, haha! Anyway, we ended up $1K poorer. Topped up for 7 photos, but at the same time, managed to bargain extra stuff into our package and extra 1 more pic for the album, so its a total of extra 8 pics! The moment we stepped out of Jazz, I turned to Kitty and said,"Shut up... don't say anything else about the extra money... I don't want to suffer from post purchase dissonance". LOL.

Flower girl dress: I realise that the collection of flower girl dresses in Singapore is really pathetically limited. Saw so many lovely dresses in those US websites and had initially wanted to order them, until I found out that they don't ship internationally, what a shame. I think Kitty and I made at least 6 trips to Kiddy Palace... I am so sick of Kiddy Palace now. Finally managed to buy a nice dress for Charlene and brought it to church to let her try. Wow, she looks so cute! The dress was a size too big though, luckily Kiddy Palace still had stock for the smaller sizes!

Still can't find nice hair accessories and flower girl baskets though. Sianz... sometimes I really wish I am good at sewing or craft works.... I will gladly DIY! DIY is so much better... you get to call the shots for everything ranging from material to colour to...whatever. Anyway, I shall try my luck next week when I am in Jakarta.... my colleagues said JKT sells a lot of such things.... *keeping my fingers crossed*

Ang Pao Box: After looking around for so long... we have decided to DIY again, creating yet more trouble for ourselves, haha. To be exact, we outsource half the work, the parts that require SEWING, lol. I think end up the total cost might even exceed the market rate of $70 per AP box, lol, but well...we are trying to console ourselves that at least we get exactly what we want instead of being restricted by the various vendors who sell AP boxes. Spent our last weekend wrapping up the box... and now feeling super satisfied, haha! Hopefully the outsourced work will turn out well... we're counting on Mdm Yik (my mum), lol. Will blog about the process with pics once it is completed!

Guestbook: Another hassle... decided to DIY AGAIN after failing to find anything that we like. Ultimately, it must fit into our memory book. The other ideas that we had initially, interesting though they were... had their limitations... either you spend a lot on printing, or you waste a lot of time sourcing for materials and vendors. So after one big round, our original idea is still the best! Went shopping at Made with Love on Saturday (9 Aug)... burnt a hole just buying PAPER, only to find out that we still have some leftovers from the previous time we did our memory book!!!! Arrrghh.....

Memory Book: I really look forward to the day we come back from our Europe honeymoon and then we can finally work on COMPLETING our wedding memory book! Spent our Sunday afternoon updating the contents of our memory book and thankfully we managed to finish what we set out to do heheh, happie!! Can't wait for its full completion, then we'll finally be trouble-free! Yay!

Honeymoon: Finally got to purchasing our Eurail and Eurostar tickets. Haiz... one would have thought that only plane travel would be expensive... you'll be surprised that train tickets can cost as much, if not more! This is getting more and more exciting!

Time flies... and its about 3 months before our AD! As we get more in-depth into our wedding prep, the reality of "AD is approaching real fast" finally starts to sink into my head. Now, I FINALLY start to feel some excitement... previously, whenever people ask me if I feel excited, I always say,"Ok lor, nothing much leh, still long".... until one fine day last week a friend retorted,"Still long?? xiao jie its 3 more months leh!!"

Now, that really made me wake up.


- Phebe

Photoshoot - Phebe's version

20th July 2008 - Our PS is finally over. It was fun but very tiring. Sandy did my make-up and I took the chance to book her for my AD. Luckily I did, cos she said another couple was going to confirm her services for the same day! Since its on a first come first serve basis (no MUA can be at 2 hotel venues at any one time), kiasu me quickly confirmed on the spot, wahahahhaa! Sandy is so much better than the MUA who did my make-up last year (Focus photoshoot). I like the way she did my hair and her choice of hair accessories!

Told Xiaoyan to come at 2pm but he arrived much earlier and had to wait for more than 2 hours before we were ready to leave for outdoor shooting. While waiting for us, both Sandy and Xiaoyan played their PSP games... something I can never understand what is so fun about. Quite funny to see 2 people bending over their PSPs in deep concentration, lol.

We got back on relatively good terms with David. I personally think he is better than Steward (our PG for the Focus photoshoot). He has more ideas of posing, though some poses were more or less quite standard. If there is one pose I hate, its the one where he made Kitty and I pose with our noses touching and eyes closed. I find it kinda unnatural... and its tough trying not to burst out laughing!

The outdoor shooting was fun and we went to all the places we planned. Feel pretty satisfied. Got to thank Xiaoyan who not only drove fast such that we didn't get caught in the peak hour jam, but also suggested nice photo spots when we got to each of the locations.

I have always liked the idea of couples drawing hearts on sand and scribbling their names inside. However, I never thought of doing something like that cos 1) its so common and 2) I don't like to get my feet and gown wet and dirty. Anyway, we were at Changi Boardwalk and I had changed into my Rom gown. Took a look at the water and was surprised to see clean and clear sea water! Since I was in a short gown and slippers, I didn't mind stepping in, haha, so I psycho-ed Kitty to remove his socks and shoes, roll up his pants and step into the water, all the while repeating that we shouldn't waste the wet tissues we have bought, wahahahhaa! It started drizzling... slight drizzle, but since David heck care, we also heck care, lol. Thankfully the rain stopped after 10 mins!

It was 10pm by the time we got back to Jazz Bridal... super tired. Quickly changed back into our casual wear and Xiaoyan helped me to remove the many hairpins from my head. Sweetie old pie even helped me with my gown during the outdoor shooting, saving me from tripping and falling flat on my face lol. Bu kui shi wo de hao "jie mei"!

My 2 fave hair accessories:





Can't see the side view for the first pic as Sandy haven't pin them on, haha!


- Phebe

Jazz Bridal Photo Shoot

18 Jul 08 - We had our wedding photo shoot by Jazz Bridal today.

Looking back, it's been more than 2 years since that fateful day at Suntec City, when we chanced about French Bridal's wedding roadshow and signed up for their package after some fierce haggling by Her Royal Majesty's good friend, Liyan, and her boyfriend, Joshua.

Subsequently, we switched over to Jazz Bridal, which is under the same management as French Bridal. Our coordinator had been posted to Jazz, and we felt that the staff at French didn't really give 2 hoots about us since we were not signed up by any of them. In addition, the gowns at Jazz were also more impressive than those at French.

For our photo shoot, we had shortlisted a total of 10 outdoor locations, which was much more than the usual norm of 2 - 3. As expected, our coordinator and photographer kicked up a big fuss and stated plainly that it was impossible to go to all 10 locations. We eventually cut the list down to 6 locations, and even roped in another of Her Royal Majesty's friends, Xiaoyan, who generously agreed to be our chauffeur for the day.

The indoor portion of the photoshoot ended at about 2.45pm, and we managed to go through 4 outfits --- kwa, wedding gown and 2 evening gowns. After lunch, at about 3.20pm, we left the studio for the outdoor shoot. We had originally targeted to leave the studio at 2pm, and were now rather worried that we may not have time to go to all 6 locations.

Our first destination was the Regent Hotel, where we would also be holding our wedding dinner in November. While the hotel's exterior was unexceptional, the interior was resplendent with chandeliers, plush armchairs, framed oil paintings, glass bubble lifts and even a grand piano.

The next stop was Dempsey Road, at the Ben & Jerry's outlet right at the top of Dempsey Hill. We purchased a waffle bowl with 3 scoops of ice-cream, and proceeded to eat it while the photographer snapped away. I'm not sure how the pictures would turn out, since I was too busy tucking in to bother about looking refined or even elegant. We also took some pictures in the quirkily painted van parked outside the outlet, which was a refreshing change from the usual grand restaurant interiors of most wedding photos.

From Ben & Jerry's, we went on to the Botanic Gardens, one of the must-go locations for wedding photo shoots. However, we only took pictures at the waterfall as we didn't want to spend too much time at any one location. There were also a few other couples doing their photo shoot too, and I'm sure we must have provided much amusement for the many tourists there.

Next, we headed for the east, to Changi boardwalk. Along the way, Her Royal Majesty made a quick change into her short gown, which was also the same gown that she wore for our wedding solemnisation ceremony. Changi boardwalk was one of the most interesting locations that we went to, and not just because of the beautiful seaview. At one point, I actually took off my socks and shoes, rolled up my pants and waded into the water together with Her Royal Majesty. The things we do for vanity! The mosquitoes were also out in full force, and Her Royal Majesty ended providing dinner for at least 4 of them, who left her with angry red welts on her arms and legs.

By this time, it was already evening. We then headed for the Singapore Flyer to take some pictures of the ferris wheel with its pretty lights. As we walked around, we attracted quite a fair bit of attention in our outfits, although it didn't go beyond just staring and whispers.

The final destination was the Henderson waves, and to reach the bridge, we had to hike up a slope. Luckily, Her Royal Majesty had brought along a pair of slippers, or she would have been forced to climb uphill in her 4-inch heels. The Henderson Waves were beautifully lighted in the night, and hopefully our pictures will be able to capture this beauty accurately.

After returning the gown at the photo studio, we went for dinner with Xiaoyan, and reached home at about 11+ at night. It had been a long and tiring day, and hopefully, the pictures will justify all the hard work put in.

- Melvin

Photoshoot Prep

17 July 2008 - With our photoshoot tmr, it has been a rather hectic week.

On Monday, Hb and I went to Jazz Bridal for my final fitting. My MTM evening gown is finally completed and I love it! I'm so glad I didn't choose something off the rack during gown selection! Both of us were in a pretty good mood until we spoke to our photographer about the outdoor locations. He made me soooooooooooo freaking pissed! According to him, we could only choose to go to 2 outdoor locations. However, no one told us about this before and we had spent so much time and effort just searching for PS locations, not to mention actually going down to the shortlisted places to check out the surroundings! Anyway, David (our PG) said that if we wanted to go to so many places, we have to use our own transport, which we don't have. The discussion went on for at least 20 mins, at the end of which I was so pissed I stood up and walked out of the shop, determined that in no way am I going to let him spoil our plans.

We were very lucky. Xiaoyan (aka Yanwei) happened to be on leave and he agreed to help us out!! Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Tuesday, I went to pluck my eyebrows at inouvi. I am so glad Jurong Point has a inouvi counter, its so convenient to get home! Had a good time chatting with Zilah (the inouvi staff who did my brows) as usual despite the pain I had to endure. Plucking eyebrows is one of those activities I term as "waste money to torture yourself", lol. Went to shop for nail art stuff after that.

Collected my ROM gown at Bridal Zone on Wednesday. Xiaoyan came over to our place after that to discuss the route we were going to take during our photoshoot. Very nice of him to help us do the planning!

Thursday. The day before our photoshoot. Went over to The Low Clan's for dinner, afterwhich Mdm Yik did mani and pedi for me. Back at home, we went about packing the stuff we need to bring the next day.

Oh, and I dyed my hair last week. Booked an appt at SandStorm and spent most of my 2.15hrs there sleeping while the stylist fiddled around with my hair. Haha, end of story~

- Phebe

Our Wedding Website is Ready!

13 July 08 - It is finally ready. After months of struggling with HTML codes, free-but-notoriously-unreliable web hosts, and scrounging around forums for bits and pieces of tips and advice, our website is finally ready.

Our wedding website is titled "Embracing Eternity" --- a reference to the commitment that we have made to each other. In its pages, we have recorded, for posterity, the history of our relationship, right from how we met to setting up home together.

Some highlights include the story of how we met and got together (hint: it involves a visit to a polyclinic), the inside scoop on my marriage proposal to Her Royal Majesty (and how things almost went awry), and how we set up our home in the western part of this island (featuring errant contractors and other deviants).

If you would like to find out more, simply visit www.embraceeternity.com today!

- Melvin

~ End of blatant plug ~

Wedding Prep Updates - 5th July

5th July 2008 - Some quick updates on our wedding prep...

Went to Bridal Zone for my fitting in the afternoon. Haiz, I really don't understand why it is located so far, all the way at Boon Keng! Somehow the dress was not altered to the correct size, so it was rather tight at the front, haha. Will be going down for the final fitting and collection next Wednesday (16th July).

Our wedding website is near completion! Meowvin is now working on the last webpage and hopefully, if all things go well, it will be completed by this weekend! Will work on refining it, then it should be up and running by middle of July, 2 weeks earlier than what we expected, yay! Hope to settle this ASAP, then we can start working on 2 more other "projects", haha! *Winkz*

Our wedding memory book is only left with 6 empty pockets ever since we added in the section on our Japan honeymoon. Been popping in and out of 'Made with Love' every now and then since last Sep to check for the availability of the pocket slots but each time we were told the usual "sorry, we are not sure when the stock will come in". Liew. Anyway, somehow, I just had this impulse to go to Plaza Sing and when we got there, I immediately pulled him towards the shop. Guess what?? The stock has come in!!!!!!!!!!! Our 9 months of waiting has paid off! So happy, now we won't have to worry about not having enough pockets to put our artworks!


- Phebe

Coffee & Tea?

3 July 2008 - Recently, DreamzCoffee sent us the first draft of our video. Naturally, I had lots of comments and demanded to see the designer/producer. Kitty (Meowvin) and I spent a couple of nights typing a whole list of changes that we want them to make. Who would have thought that mere editing of a video can be so tedious, right down to the little details like dialogue, the feel, the expression etc.

We finally got to meet the designer yesterday and went through with him point by point of the changes that we want him to make. It was then I realised that it really takes a lot of skill to be able to be a designer... not only do you have to be good at IT, you also have to be good at drawing, good at exercising your brain to churn out creative storylines, and really good knowledge of the software you are working with.

Seriously, I really hope the 2nd draft turns out well... we have no desire to incur additional charges for subsequent changes! *keeping our fingers crossed*

- Phebe

An idea for our Ang Pao Box!

28th June 2008 - All along, both Meowvin and I had thought that the Ang Pao box is one of the most easily settled items in our list of wedding preparations. But as our wedding date draws nearer.... troublesome me thought it would be more meaningful to DIY/custom make our Ang Pao box. Probably its because our to-do list for our wedding preparation gets shorter as time goes by, subconsciously I try to think of things that will keep us busy???? Wahahahha siao huh?

Anyway, I casually brought up my idea to Meowvin, bracing for the "ni xian wo men bu gou mang ar, zuo website yi jing gou headache liao, xian zai you yao jia duo yi ge??" nag that I expected.

Translation: "you feel we are not busy enough is it, do website already headache enough, now still want to add one more item??"

Haha~!

Surprisingly, not only was he game for it, he even thought of a very cool idea! A very funny idea, I would say, something different definitely, but... the oldies may think it is kinda improper, I think. But then, what's the fun if we're gonna follow what other couples use - a boring old box? Heheh....

Anyway, we have decided on the plushies that must be part of our Ang Pao box decoration, haha! Got a lil problem with one of the plushies though, cos its not available. Gotta find ways and means to get hold of it. I love challenges~ :p

Recognise this?

now...

Look at this~! :p

Wahahahahahhahaa!

Look out for a major change over the next few months!


- Phebe

1st Fittting for my Evening gown~!

28th June 2008 - It's amazing to see how 2 big slabs of cloth transform into a beautiful evening gown. Yesterday, I went for my first fitting at Jazz in the afternoon after collecting Meowvin's suit from Suntec. After waiting with much anticipation, I finally got to see my evening gown!!!

I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Jovy has not sewed on the beadings and lace yet, but the rest of the gown is beautiful!!! All my hard work of researching European gown designs has paid off! Initially, I had been a lil worried whether it would turn out ok, since I sort of mixed and matched the whole thing. Meaning to say, I like the hem of Gown 1, the beadings of Gown 2, the neckline of Gown 3, the cutting of Gown 4, the style of Gown 5... so on and so forth, then I printed and passed all my research items to Jovy who exclaimed a "Wah! So many?????", haha. Based on those, she sketched out a gown that incorporates bits and pieces of Gowns 1 to 5. Errm, something like that, if you get what I mean.

Anyway, it turned out better than what I had expected. I love the neckline!!!!!!!!!!! In a way, I got to thank Meowvin's tailor for this. If he had not lent me his magazine, I would not have stumbled upon a dress that I liked, and persistent me went into that designer's website and stumbled upon more pics, one of which displayed a neckline design that I really like!!!!!!!!

WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait for my 2nd fitting in 2 weeks time to try on the final product!!!!!!!!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I want a new diamond ring.


- Phebe