Nails

Check out my nails which I specially did for the fashion show:

Check out how long they are!

These superduper long nails are making it really hard to type! But here’s a secret: They’re not real.

Yep, the nails you see above are nail extensions.

My real nails were too short so I decided to check out nail extensions. It’s my first time trying them and they’re pretty cool! They feel just like real nails and feel pretty sturdy. I think the glue used is industrial strength. Heh. I got these done for $50 at Bishan J8, at a little corner shop called Nails in Vogue, and they did a pretty good job.

The question is: Do I need to head back to the shop to get it removed? Can I do it on my own at home? Will I rip out my real nails? Having such long nails is getting irritating because I cannot type fast enough, I cannot send text messages properly, heck, I cannot even unbutton my trousers or put on my earrings properly lor!

But I did spend $50 on them so me thinks I should at least keep them for about a week. Boo.

Excuse me, are you a model?

Bright and early this morning – 8.15am to be precise – I made my way to the Pan Pacific Hotel. Bridal Veil was having their ‘Up Close and Personal’ Sneak Preview Show. BV was going to showcase their 2010/2011 collection and I was asked to be one of the guest models for the show.

Yes, you read right. Miss ene was going to be a guest model, wearing her very own wedding gown for the show. It was my very first time being a model so I was a bundle of nerves as I arrived at the venue.

After a quick breakfast of muffins and tea, it was time for make-up and hair. I also realised first-hand that models – the real ones who were at least a head taller than me without shoes – actually spend a lot of time sitting around and waiting for something to happen.

Here are some photos I managed to sneak of the dressing room before I was told that cameras were banned. Heh.

There’s a (real) model touching-up her own make-up. Rows and rows of gorgeous gowns were hung by order of model, i.e. each model had 5 different outfits.

All hands on deck as everyone chips in. It’s a flurry of activity backstage!

Accessories were all laid out with labels indicating the model’s name. The top hat’s cute eh?

Photos of each model were stuck on the wall with the order of dresses. How orderly!

Our shoes – we brought and wore our own wedding shoes.

The professional models all came prepared with books and importantly, shawls/jackets to keep themselves snug and warm. Well, us (there were a total of 6 guest models, i.e. real BV brides) were of course, rookies to the situation so we all sat around and chatted while waiting for our hair and make-up to be done, all the while trying to stay warm in the freezing breakout room-turned-changing room.

Waiting….waiting….My fellow guest models playing the waiting game.

Soon, it was my turn to get my make-up and hair done. My hair’s still pretty short (just touching my shoulders) but amazingly, Cedric, the make-up artist (he did my make-up and hair for our wedding day too), managed to put up my hair as if I had long hair.

Black gown on left, white gown on right, me in the middle.

 Of course, this involved a trillion black pins and about half a can of hair spray. The entire changing room smelt of hair spray!

After all 6 of us were done, we were given a modelling crash course. It looked simple enough – walk, pose, walk somemore, pose, walk walk walk walk, pose, exit. We were wearing our heels but were still in our casual attire. Naturally, this allowed us to walk a lot more easily without worrying about tripping over our gowns. It was a whole new different ballgame when we put on our gowns!

We walked on the ‘catwalk’ twice and were done. The show was held at Zambuca, an italian restaurant and bar located on the third level.

Soon, it was time for lunch. I ate a quick lunch of a few mouthfuls of fried rice and sat around chatting with the rest of the guest models – Siow Ling, Delia, Siew Pin, Karen and Cai Ling. Everyone got along pretty well, probably because we had common interests – we were all BV brides and it was our maiden attempt at the catwalk!

The 6 of us, post-make up and hair.

The tea-time show was going to begin at 3pm so at about 2pm, it was time to change into our gowns. Thankfully, BV kindly provided a large white cloth for us to change behind so that we didn’t need to be naked in front of strangers

And yes, it’s true that models are pretty used to stripping down and nonchalently stepping into their gowns. At one stage, a couple of us were close to staring at them because they had insanely long legs and really good figures! I’m sure many men would have given up their arm (or two) to be in our place…

It has been more than 5 months since I wore my wedding gown and I forgot how heavy it was. I also found out today that the train on my gown is 2 metres long. Wow, I didn’t realise that it was that long!

3pm soon arrived and the guest models were up first. After more hairspray and quick touch-ups, it was showtime.

As I stood behind the black curtain separating me from the crowd, I could almost hear my heartbeat audibly. I suddenly felt like I was about to enter the ballroom on the day of our wedding with a mix of apprehension and nervousness except that this time round, I was alone and the boy wasn’t beside me to squeeze my hand. Gulp.

I was the first guest model to enter the room and thankfully, I did not trip over my gown and make a fool of myself. After all that waiting and preparation, we were on the ‘catwalk’ for no more than 2 minutes! It was nice to see the boy smiling at me from the audience…

After the show, we hung out at the reception area to mingle with the guests but not many people came up close to have a look. Maybe they were just shy It was also time for photo-taking:

The 6 guest models. Yes, I am the shortest of them all despite wearing 4″ heels. Tsk. See the pink gown beside me? That’s the exact design I had for my evening gown except that this is in pink.

Acting cute.

With the designer herself, Michelle HuiMin.

Definitely a fun and memorable experience but for now, I need to go get much-needed sleep and rest. The wedding gown is really heavy lor!

The 2nd time

The wedding shoe’s packed. The nails are manicured. The face has been masked.

Miss ene is going to don her wedding gown for the second time tomorrow.

Again. For the 2nd time…

Cooking up a storm

Yesterday evening, we were supposed to head back to the boy’s parents’ place for dinner but unfortunately, his parents and his younger bro are down with H1N1 so his mum warned us to stay away. Oh dear. I do hope they get well very soon…

The boy was craving for homecooked food and coincidentally, my mum asked if we’d like to head home for dinner this evening as she was going to cook. We don’t pass up on homecooked food so of course, we said yes.

Based on previous experience, we knew that she’s probably cooking up a storm. She doesn’t make dinner very often these days as she’s busy with her own business but when we head back for dinner, she goes all out!

True to form, she did not disappoint. Check out the spread!

There was chilli crab (she made everything from scratch, including the chilli!) with fried man tou, cereal prawns and crayfish (very very yum, especially with the cereal bits which I LURRRVE), grilled pork ribs, steamed fish, etc etc etc.

Naturally, we all overate. Burp.

Even though we just sat around the dinner table chatting about random bits and watched a spot of ‘Crime Watch’ together, it was very nice to just hang out.

Usually, we would try and head back to our parents’ for dinner at least once a week (at most, two). Even if my mum wasn’t cooking, we’d meet up for dinner at a nearby eating place. I think that’s one of the ‘changes’ that marriage brings. When we were single, we almost took for granted the meals we had at home. It is only when we move out and live on our own that we really FULLY appreciate all the wonderful meals that our mums whip up.

Adv: PINK Flare

My sister’s online shop PINK Flare has some new arrivals and they are pretty cool. Best of all, they’re CHEAP! I bought this pretty piece called ‘Chill Breezer’:

Can’t wait to wear it to the beach or for a Sunday brunch with girlfriends.

Oh and for those of you who are using the iPhone, check out these gorgeous bling-bling covers to erm, bling up your phone!

Bling not for you? There are Paul Frank covers as well, in pretty shades.

We saw the exact covers at a surf shop in a fancy shopping centre Phuket going for S$39! If you get them from PINK Flare, they are only – are you ready? – S$14!

Go on, start shopping!

Shoes R Us

The boy and I made a rare shopping trip into town this afternoon. Yes, we ventured into – gulp – Orchard Road, on a Saturday afternoon. According to the boy’s wise words, the Nike Human Race is on tonight so there shouldn’t be that many people in town. Something like that.

Well, it was still crowded but wasn’t horribly crowded. Phew. The strange thing is, we are supposed to be in the middle of a recession but everywhere we turned, carparks were full, the line at the cashiers were full and people were lugging HUGE shopping bags. Got recession meh?

To cut a long story short, we – or rather, I, bought quite a few things. Dresses, shoes, accessories, etc. Don’t ask me how much I spent.

I managed to even buy TWO pairs of shoes at one go. Aiyooo. They were from one of my favourite shoe shop, Mitju.

Black flats – I love flats!

Beige wedges.

The boy also managed to buy a pair of Dr Martens (I used to own their black ankle boots – they were so hot then!) slippers from a sale at Takashimaya:

It was a good day

The Palm Spa experience

Unknown to the boy, I arranged for a couple spa session upon arrival at the resort. It would be a great way to start a holiday, doncha think? I emailed the spa and in less than half an hour (!), I received a confirmation. After looking through the various packages on offer, I booked the Surin Essentials package (THB5,414.20 nett) which comprises of:

• Private Herbal Steam, 30 min
• Choice of Body Scrub, 30 min
• Surin Massage, 55 min

I ‘upgraded’ the massage to a ‘Palm Spa Herbal Luxury’, 90 mins:

Palm Spa’s ultimate massage that incorporates the relaxation technique of a Swedish massage with the application of a hot herbal compress. Once the muscles are warm, a deeper tissue massage then follows to ensure you leave supple, invigorated and totally relaxed.

In total, it would cost me THB6,591.20 nett which works out to about S$275 for THE BOTH OF US!

How insanely cheap is that?!

Our booking was for 4.30pm (Singapore is an hour ahead of Thailand) and at about 4.15pm, we arrived at the spa located on the second level of the resort.

I did not bring along our camera so these photos are from the website

The reception area where we were served a drink and asked to fill in a short form declaring any ailments, etc. The receptionist also let us select our choice of body scrub. There were a total of 4 choices and I chose the blue lavendar and camomile while the boy chose sandalwood. Soon, we were ushered into this room:

I found out from the website that it is actually the VIP treatment room. Hwah. And no, we did not get to use the big tub you see in the photo above. We were on each of the massage beds in the background though.

We started with the Herbal Steam which had us sitting in a very small steam-filled bathroom-like space. It took a bit of getting used to because it was really hot! However, I soon got used to it and quite enjoyed the experience. I guess that’s how steamed food feels like. Heh.

Once our 30 minutes was up, the therapists had us take a quick shower before lying on the massage beds. It was time for the body scrub. In Singapore, the therapists wear gloves but here, they used their bare hands. It took a bit of getting used to, especially when they scrubbed ticklish bits (i.e. the bottom of the feet). It was the first scrub experience for the boy and he said that he felt like a piece of chicken being marinated for dinner.

Tee hee hee.

After the scrub, it was time for another quick shower before the massage. However, before the actual massage, the therapists used a herbal press all over the body. Something like this:

And then came the best bit: the massage. It was, in one word, divine. Possibly one of the best massages I’ve had in a long, long time. The therapist really knew what she was doing and when she was working on my very tight and tired shoulder muscles, I couldn’t help but sigh with happiness.

At the end of the massage, the boy and I walked out feeling utterly relaxed and happy. It was definitely money well-spent and I just wished that I had booked the facial and body wrap as well.

Ahhhhhh.

To continue the spa experience, the toiletries provided in our room were all from the Palm Spa and they all smelt heavenly and resort-like! I usually do not use hotel-provided toiletries (unless I do not have a choice) but this time round, I did not touch my usual toiletries! They were just sooo good.

In fact, I have been using them since our return to ‘prolong’ our holiday, right at home. Heh.

10 years in 6 mins

8 Days regularly feature interesting videos in a section called ‘Internet Videos Of The Week’. One of the videos featured this week is of a couple re-enacting their 10 years of courtship into 6 minutes worth of video. Check it out here.

By Moomedia Pte Ltd.

I especially like the ah bengs and ah lians bit and the soundtrack. Ha. Oh, and the bit where they show how they went through the army years, the university years, etc. Simple but says so much.

Awwwww. So sweet lah.

The semi-heart attack

So I awoke bright and early on the 11th of October (8am!!) because our flight to Phuket was departing at 1.20pm. This means that if we worked backwards, we had to be at the airport at about 11.30am. The reason I awoke that early was because we haven’t packed yet! The night before, we were at Mr IB and Miss L’s wedding till late so naturally, we were too zonked out to pack.

Anyway, no biggie. It was a short getaway so in a couple of minutes, I was done. Of course, I had to forget my sunglasses (!). Yes, I forgot my sunglasses to a beach holiday. Very clever, I know.

My mum very kindly drove us to the airport together with Domo (the family dog who insists on coming along to most car rides). I had already done an internet check-in via the Silkair website so happily, we sauntered to the counter that said “Internet check-in” (no queue! Yay!).

After asking for our usual passports and stuff, the lady at the counter asked: May I please have the credit card that you booked the tickets with please?

My heart stopped and my blood ran cold.

Oh no. I forgot to remind the boy to bring the credit card that was used to book the air tickets!!!!!!

RAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!

Thankfully, she calmly told us that we can rebook the tickets at the same promotional price at the Singapore Airlines counter down the departure hall and they will reimburse us the payment for the first tickets. They even managed to get us the same seats that I pre-booked during the internet check-in.

BIG PHEW.

Side note: We’ve been having very eventful incidents with the air tickets! First this, now this forgot-credit-card incident! Aiyoooo.

Second side note: I was given the seat 11A while the boy was given 11C. Very strange! Who was between us at 11B? Friends on Facebook started to speculate, some even saying that perhaps it was Business Class (making me happy for a bit) but the truth is, 11B was taken up by a Singaporean who was previously a Myanmese. He was very kind though and changed seats with the boy so that he could sit beside me. Yay! The flipside is, he couldn’t stop talking to the boy throughout the flight, even though the boy was giving him one-word answers. Hehe.

So anyway. We trooped to almost the other end of the hallway (very long walk!) and managed to rebook our tickets, thankfully without much fanfare this time. I don’t think my heart can take another shock.

We headed to Sakae Sushi for a quick breakfast (we haven’t eaten anything since we got up!) and the service was TERRIBLE. Don’t get me started. Unless you are starving and all other restaurants are closed, don’t bother with this branch.

To cut a long story short, we managed to board the plane to Phuket without much more drama. Phew again.

Coming up: First day in Phuket!

Back and burnt!

Hello beanies! The boy and I are back from our little getaway to Phuket and yes, I am looking rather crispy now, especially around my shoulders. Urgh.

Loads to blog about but first up: Pictures of the gorgeous TwinPalms Resort in Phuket where we stayed:

I love the simplicity of their logo.

The large lobby with nice high ceiling.

The driveway.

The swimming pool in the middle of the resort.

Obviously quite a “couples” resort – just look at the poolside chairs!

Deck chairs in the pool.

Our room for the stay, #38.

It was located on the second level so we had to ascend steps to get to our room. It was actually better than a ground-level room because everyone could peek if you didn’t draw the curtains!

Long-stemmed roses greeted us when we entered our room. I told them that we were celebrating our wedding (never mind that it’s been 5 months!). We also received a complimentary bottle of champagne, completely chilled in an ice bucket.

The quiet corner of the room.

Chocolates presented in the shape of the Twin Palms logo. How cute!

The king-sized bed with 4 fluffy pillows and a skinny ‘bolster-looking’ pillow that I liked very muchg because I sleep with a bolster at home.

Check out the bathtub filled with rose petals. Ha. We didn’t get a chance to use it though!

 

The H-U-G-E bathroom with the basins on the right and the wardrobe on the left.

Another view of the room with a peek of the balcony.

Bathroom with separate basins – I LIKE!! Oh and did I mention that they had really wonderful smelling toiletries provided by the Twin Spa? I have never enjoyed hotel toiletries *this* much!

Located at the bedside table was this control panel that allowed us to control pretty much all the electrical stuff in the room. Interestingly, if I left the balcony door ajar, the “Door is OPEN” sign will light up and the aircon will automatically switch to ‘fan mode’.

Hwah. So intelligent lor.