Posted in Funnies with tags car, tomi on February 5, 2010 by miss ene
Hi everyone, meet Tomi.
Tomi, meet everyone.
Tomi is the new addition to our car. He sits at the dashboard and is most happy when the sun is shining brightly (or the street lamps are particularly bright). We bought adopted him at a random shop at Liang Court because the girl was extremely amused by his “dancing”. For some strange reason, the girl finds it really funny and cracks up everytime Tomi does his “dance”. She is also tempted to dance along…
Attended the wedding of a dear cousin J to her lovely hubby H last evening at the Rasa Shangri-La Sentosa. Of course, this meant that we had to travel ‘overseas’. The sister was out of town on a shopping spree in Bangkok for her online shop PINK Flare so it was down to me and the parents. The boy had another wedding to attend so he couldn’t make it as well.
Side note: 23 January 2010 seems to be a very hot date for weddings! Anyone knows why? Is it very auspicious according to the lunar calendar or something?
Popped round to my parents’ to pick them up at 6 pm before heading down south to Sentosa. They were worried that there would be a jam because of the IR and although I didn’t think that it’d be crowded, I wanted to head there early as well because I understand that the carpark situation at the hotel is pretty bad (i.e. many cars, very little lots).
Indeed, the carpark was full but thankfully, we managed to slot the car into a little corner space without blocking anyone (i.e. illegally). It was only my second time to the hotel so wasn’t quite sure where the wedding dinner was held. We almost walked into the wrong wedding because there was another wedding dinner held at the Ballroom located on the ground level. Heh. Saw the couple’s name and realised that oops, wrong wedding.
Took the lift to the 5th level where the wedding was held – The Pavilion. I like it that the reception area is non-airconditioned.
If you stood still for a bit, you could almost smell the salty beach air. Ahhhh….
We hung around the reception area for a bit and caught up with another cousin, J and his lovely wife A. They recently became parents to this super cute-as-a-button little girl, K. Check her out – HOW CUTE IS SHE??! She even has a lil’ oretty hair clip to hold up her hair.
Such big and lovely eyes! Such chubby cheeks! Aiyooooo *gush gush*. She was also very well behaved amidst the noisy crowd of strangers. All she did was to look around and take in all the new strange surrounding. Awwwww.
Another cousin Little Mint was manning the reception table. Did I mention that she’s got a little bun in the oven? We attended her wedding in September and now, she’s preggers! Can’t wait to meet my little nephew.
She informed me that we’d be sitting at the VIP table. Wow, the honour
By the way, the table number was supposed to be “9″ but apparently, the set-up crew placed it as “6″. Doh. We figured it out because we noticed that the table behind us was “10″. Heh. As we were at the VIP table, we had our food individually plated.
It was the usual chinese wedding dinner with appetizer, shark’s fin soup (the bride, J, is an avid diver and I’m pretty sure she didn’t play a part in wanting the shark’s fin soup!), ending with my favourite yam paste (or nee). Woots.
Guess what the little box contained?
At about 8.30pm, the dinner started with the first march-in of the happy couple. Even though they were walking pretty slowly, I couldn’t get a good picture of them! RAAH! This was the best I did:
Oh well, at least I got a picture, never mind that it’s pretty blur! BUT! I got a good picture of the…back of her gown. Lalalalalalala.
She had a really L-O-N-G train! She looked like a princess
I also managed to snap this picture of the bride’s parents waiting to welcome the couple into the room. My uncle (who’s actually a twin of my dad – yes, my dad is part of a twin!) was fiddling with the camera and trying to get it all down on record.
Awwww, I thought that was so sweet. My aunty (the bride’s mum) was ‘complaining’ to us about how her hair is too ‘pong’ (springy), how there was too much hair spray in it and that her make-up was too thick. We had to reassure her that she looked fine and looked very pretty.
J’s brother, T gave her a wedding band as a wedding present and I must say, it was money well-spent!
It was a 3-piece “band” with one guitarist and a male and female singer. The male singer in the middle is a lawyer. Yes, he’s a singing lawyer and he’s only doing this on a request basis. Apparently, T met him at another friend’s wedding and thought he was pretty good so invited him to sing at his sister’s wedding.
Their repertoire ranged from Michael Buble’s “All of me” to Teresa Teng’s 月亮代表我心. Of course, my uncles and aunties were really excited when they heard a familiar old chinese tune and quite a few of them (including my dad) was swaying and humming along to the music. Very sweet.
Here’s a short vid I took of them performing ‘All of me’. The video quality’s not great so you’d have to trust me that they sounded waaaay better live.
Dedications started to pour in and one of the songs requested was Jason Mraz’s ‘I’m Yours’. They didn’t have the lyrics to the song so Mr Singing Lawyer googled the lyrics on iPhone and sang it while holding the phone. Heh. This explains the picture above.
Halfway through, it was the usual ‘yum sengs’. I love ‘yum sengs’! I think it’s very important to have it at a wedding dinner! The louder, the better!
Did I mention that T went around making everyone drink wine? That was quite a good move because alcohol relaxes people and at the end of the dinner, there were many very happy guests
Wishing you a lifetime of happiness and may the journey ahead be filled with lots of happy memories and joy, H & J!
Posted in Adventures on January 21, 2010 by miss ene
I was at The Central yesterday noon for a meeting. As I work in the east, it is rare for me to be in town on a weekday. Met the boy for lunch (he took me to this little shop that sold rice sets consisting of a small slice of sambal sting ray, sweet and sour pork and a fried egg – it was soooo good!) and as I was heading back to the meeting venue, I stumbled across one of my favourite clothes shop, Lizzie. They have a couple of branches all around Singapore and what I like about their clothes is, they fit me to a T!
To cut a long story short, I ended up buying 6 pieces (!) of new clothes in less than 30 minutes. This is not very typical behaviour, mind you. However, they had a 50% off rack where I found a couple of pieces in size S that fitted me (woohooo!!). They also had a buy-2-get-1-free promotion for the new items.
So yes, I am all set for Chinese New Year. I’ve already decided what I’m going to wear for Day 1. Lalalalala. It just hit me that it is actually less than a month away! Wow.
And you know what? This will be the very first year where we actually stop receiving ang baos and have to give them out. RAH!!!
Bridal Veil had another fashion show yesterday and this time, it was held in-house, i.e. at their boutique at Orchard Delphi. I was involved in their show at the Pan Pacific previously and was invited again to guest-model my wedding gown.
Thankfully, the ‘call time’ wasn’t as early this time round. Got there at about 11am and met the rest of the guest models – Cheryl, Grace and Ming Wei (they’re a real couple getting married next Saturday!). Cheryl’s a (yummy) mummy of a little girl Kayla.
Here’s us waiting to get changed after we got our hair and make-up done:
Cheryl, me, Grace and Ming Wei
I have since learnt, since my last ‘experience’, that the best thing to wear when you are ‘modelling’ is a tube dress because it’s the easiest and fastest to get on and off. I mean, when you are changing in a limited space in front of strangers, you don’t want to be struggling with jeans and button-front shirts! Heh.
Again, I started the show. I wasn’t as nervous this time round, probably because it was a smaller room and I’ve already done it once. Heh. After making our rounds, we had to stand for about 50 minutes (!) in our gowns and high-heel shoes while the rest of the real models strutted their stuff. At some point, my legs were getting really tired so I was shifting my weight from one to the other. I was half-tempted to take off my shoes and stand barefoot – I mean, no one’s going to notice since my feet was hidden by my long gown! – but decided against it because there would be an obvious height difference.
After the show, the guests mingled while we went around taking photos.
The make-up artist managed to make my rather short hair look like long hair. Amazing!
That’s the male model from the fashion show in the background. He looked pretty hungover throughout the show. Heh.
Me and Grace. She’s wearing her actual evening gown. I love how red it looks!
The guest models for the day with Michelle HuiMin.
Post-show, I noticed that many couples were whipping out their credit cards to sign up with Bridal Veil. Woots. The boy also met two of his friends at the show – what a small world.
The boutique was filled with couples!
That evening, I was feeling really exhausted, probably from wearing my wedding gown and standing in high-heel shoes. Tried to watch some tv but my eyes were heavy so decided to turn it. It was only 9pm.
Instead of getting better, I fell even more sick over the weekend. This means that almost my entire weekend was spent sleeping or in a hazy state of mind. It’s been a long time since I fell this ill and suffice to say, it’s horrible. Despite sleeping more than 10 hours a night, I wake up, eat a little (my appetite is pretty non-existent now), try and watch a bit of tv (i.e. some random C-grade zombie, flesh-eating show on Star Movie) but eventually give up and collapse into bed again.
This flu bug is pretty intense, man.
Went to the doctor first thing Monday morning and was given 2 days of medical leave from work. TWO! This must be a record of sorts because my doctor very rarely gives more than a day’s medical leave unless you’re dying or something.
And heck, I’m so sick, I haven’t really been online! I just don’t. have. the. energy. And for all who know me, that is a sure sign that I’m pretty ill because more often than not, I’m on the internet a lot *chuckle*
And to top it all off? The boy told me that he caught my flu bug and is now down with a sore throat. RAAAH!
The boy and my flu bugs.
I’m on the road to recovery so hopefully, after tomorrow’s full day of rest at home, I’d be good as gold again. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the boy will get well soon too, in time for the weekend.
So there I was, lying horizontal on our sofa and feeling ill. There’s a flu bug going around the office and I must have caught it from a colleague. My head was also pounding so I decided that I really should just go lie in bed and sleep.
I looked at the boy and said: “Can you carry me to bed?” *eyes wide*
And he did.
He picked me up easily and walked carefully towards the bedroom. If I may add, I am paranoid that he’d hit my head on the bedroom wall but I reached our bed unscathed and in one piece. Phew.
After he placed me safely in bed, he proceeded to draw the curtain (making sure that no light could peek in because there’s nothing more that I hate than a sliver of light peeking in!) and turn on the aircon (and checking that the temperature was ok for me and not too cold because at this point, I was getting feverish).
“Do you want a panadol?” he asked gently.
“Okay“.
A couple of seconds later, a Panadol Extra was placed in my hand along with a glass of water.
“Finish all the water and then go sleep”, he cajoled.
“Okay…..Oh, but I haven’t moisturised my face yet.”
“Which is the bottle? I’d get it for you”.
I then proceeded to half-sit in bed and applied my face moisturiser and my other bits of before-bed routine. He even placed the bottle back into the shelves “because they are made of glass and you may knock them over tomorrow”.
After I was suitably moisturised and tucked into bed (with comforter pulled right up to my chin along with my baby pillow safely in my right arm), he came round, kissed me good night and said “Rest well ok?”
The lights were then shut and the door closed quietly behind him.
***
And the sick cat went to sleep with a warm fuzz in her heart, feeling thoroughly loved by the man she married last May.
So 2009 came and went. As cliche as it sounds, I need to say it: Where did all that time go? I distinctly remember this time last year. The boy popped the question in September ‘08 and we already had our own place.
Early 2009 was spent learning how to be a good partner (not wife yet mah) by attempting to cook and bake. As with all learning journeys, some turned out better than others. Heh. For that, I will always be grateful to the boy for putting up (and surviving) the less-than-stellar food outcomes. He would always finish all that I make, regardless of taste, look or smell.
I know, he’s quite the sweetheart
The first quarter of 2009 was also spent planning and preparing for the big day. I still remember wondering if the big day will ever come so that we can stop spending all our waking hours thinking and planning it! In a blink of an eye, 7 months have flown by. And no, I do not miss the wedding day although I wished I had the time to actually savour the day properly. Then again, that’s what photos are for eh?
During this time, I get asked these 2 questions the most:
1) So how’s married life?
2) So when are you going to try for a baby? (or something along those lines)
For #1, I always say “the same as before” because really, I think the initial period of living together was the real testing ground! Two different persons coming together under one (small) roof means that there was a lot of give-and-take to be practised.
I am not going to say that it’s all rainbows and unicorns everyday because it isn’t. There have been times when I was close to tearing my hair out and crying out in frustration. It became 10x more difficult on days when I was (1) tired (2) in a bad mood (3) both, but learning how to cope with the differences was something I learnt. Fast.
I also learnt that constantly focussing on the GOOD bits is a big help. Also, having a BGF who always puts things into perspective helps a great deal so I’d like to put it down here in words:
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Miss BGF. I am thankful that I haven’t received that big fat bill in the post yet (she always jokes that she dishes out free relationship advice to me and should start charging for it).
As for #2, my answer ranges from the joke-y (“I’d check out the supermarket tomorrow to see if they have one in stock”) to the mundane (“we’re working on it”). I mean, really, how do you seriously answer a question like that? I know friends mean well when they ask but along with questions such as “So when you getting married?”, it’s a bit difficult to answer, no?
The truth is, we would both love to start a little family of our own and I have been reading up on related matters but you know what? I have learnt that to actually get a pea in the pod isn’t that easy afterall! I know of friends who get a bun in the oven really easily (i.e. on their honeymoon) but I also know of friends who have been trying for many years and nothing has happened. I can only imagine the disappointment and sadness that come with each non-success so the boy and I have agreed that we are just going to let nature take its course and if it happens, it happens. But if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I always subscribe to the ‘things happen for a reason’ bit so we’re just going to keep our options open and hope for the best!
I have always loved kids, right from a very young age and it would be awesome to have one of my own but really, this kind of things cannot rush one lor. If only we can really pick one out from the supermarket shelves…
Right. Where was I? Yes, I was trying to tell you about my 2009.
The last quarter of 2009 was pretty much spent enjoying each other’s company and…being a married couple. I also realised that I’m getting lazier as the days go by. Previously, I used to enjoy hanging out till late, meeting new people, etc. These days, the thought of going to a party where I will need to actually make small talk to strangers tire me out before I even step out of the house. Is this what we call the ‘married life’?
Contrary to popular belief, I actually like staying home and doing ‘boring’ things like shopping at the supermarket (my fav!) and having a quiet dinner. Even though we live under the same roof, sometimes, we are both too tired post-work to actualy have a conversation. Thus, the weekend is spent chatting idly and pretty much just doing mundane stuff.
So what does 2010 hold for me? I really don’t know but come what may, I know the boy will be there beside me holding my hand and that, in itself, is a glorious blessing.
Happy New Year, everyone. And thanks for still reading even though the wedding’s long over! Heh.
This post took forever because of the sheer number of photos. Phew!
On Friday evening, the boy and I headed across the causeway for his friend’s wedding in Johor Bahru. It was our first ‘overseas’s wedding so we were both quite excited about it. The wedding couple chartered a coach from Sans Tours to pick up the guests from Singapore at Beach Centre at 5.30pm and we took the 2nd Link into Malaysia. It was the first time I had to carry a proper bag (instead of a dainty small clutch) because I had to fit both our passports into it!
Motorcyclists paying toll.
After about 2.5 hours (!), we arrived at the dinner venue – Restoran Grand Straits Garden. Yes, they have a website!
The entrance.
Rows and rows of live seafood!
As we turned the corner to enter the Grand Ballroom, I spotted this sign:
How cute! I didn’t spot the wedding car though.
We found the entrance and joined the queue to enter the ballrooom.
Finally, it was our turn to deposit our angbao and sign the guest book.
Shook hands with the happy couple.
And yes, their suit and gowns are from Bridal Veil! Apparently, they were at our wedding, saw our suit/gowns, checked out BV and signed with them!
The ballroom was HUGE! And check out the size of the stage!
The 5 people you see on stage are, from left: the host, the 3 singers and the guitarist. Yes, a FIVE-piece singing emsemble.
There must have been at least 50+ tables in the ballroom. We found our table (#17) and spotted these cute boxes. It’s been a long time since I received cakes at a wedding!
The lil’ cake boxes were filled with a sponge-like cake with pandan paste within. It was extremely sweet though!
As with all wedding dinners, it doesn’t start on time so I kept myself entertained by looking at the couple’s pre-wedding photos (also from Utopia!) projected on the 4 screens (FOUR!) around the ballroom as well as singing along to some of the songs belted out by the singers on stage.
At about 8.30pm, it was time for the couple to make their first entrance. There was a videocam projecting live images onto the screens so it actually felt like I was at a celebrity wedding
Halfway through dinner, a couple of ladies (I think they were the bride’s jie meis) came round to give us a little gift:
It was a ‘rose’ and within it contained a Ferrero Roche chocolate. How sweet.
Check out the lovely backview of the bride’s deep purple evening gown. Lovely!
Soon, it was time for the cake-cutting, champagne-pouring and yam sengs…
Yes, the chinese emcee was dressed – strangely – like a magician! In fact, when he appeared on stage, I whispered to the boy that there might be a magic show. No kidding.
Compare the size of the wedding couple to the stage. Yes, it was a very grand and huge stage!
Here’s the groom (left, in tux) toasting our table of boys. I was the only girl at the table so I got to eat every dish first. Heh.
Speaking of food, here are some pictures of the various courses. I did not manage to take photos of all the dishes because I was busy eating. Lalalalalala.
The first dish. Really fresh seafood!
Soft shell crab with pork floss. YUM!
Steamed fish Hong Kong-style. I took a double take when the fish was placed in front of me. Have you seen a fish with this much flesh?! AMAZING!
Noodles.
Red bean pastry (I like!) and little cheesecake cups.
The food was pretty good and we ate till we were pretty full. Soon, it was time to say goodbye.
It reminded me of people leaving the cinema after a movie. Heh. We then headed back to the same coach that took us into JB and headed back to Singapore, this time through the usual Causeway. In all, the travelling time was about 4 hours (2.5hours up, 1.5hours back).
Phew.
Reached home at about 1am and fell promptly into bed after our adventure across the causeway.
