sky blue and black

  If you ever need holding 
Call my name, I'll be there 
If you ever need holding 
And no holding back, I'll see you through

wedding bands

"The circle was the symbol of eternity, with no beginning or end. The hole in the center of the ring also had significance. It wasn't just considered a space, but rather a gateway, or door; leading to things and events both known and unknown. To give a woman a ring signifies never-ending and immortal love."

travelogue '15: Malacca (14-15 feb)

This Valentine's, we went for a road (food) trip with 4 other couples. And it.was.awesome. I have never ate so much in a single day before in my life. And I'd like to believe all the walking under the unforgiving scorching sun made up for all the calories accumulated, hahaha. But here, as usual, let the photos do the talking. 

 Up on the bus and on the way to meet the other 2 couples. Split up due to full buses.

Mandatory mirror wefie after checking in.

It was a very sunny day.. hahaha.

First stop: the famous chicken rice balls. Chicken was a tad salty though.

Second stop: nyonya laksa & fruit rojak. A lil' spicy for my taste buds but overall pretty good. 

Third stop: Nadeje Patisserie's crepe cakes. We almost ordered all the flavours. One word: divine.

Last stop: Capitol Satay. Not a big fan of such sauces, but it was a good dinner. RM1 per stick.

We walked and queued and ate, and walked and queued and ate, for the entire day. Tired was an understatement at the end of the day. Too exhausted that we didn't fulfill our chill-out sesh at night, the boys finished up their drinks and we went back to our rooms. Next day, we woke up after the planned time to meet, hurried to wash up for the hotel breakfast. 

Another mandatory lift wefie, on the way down for breakfast.

The rest of our free time left, we shopped for souvenirs and food to bring home. Had A&W for lunch before leaving. And we continued on the food sesh back in Singapore, 'cos we had a fulfilling tze char dinner before going back home. Totally pigged out during the trip, but it was so much fun! 

And my love surprised me with flowers and a hand-made card on the night before the trip. Double the joy, because it was Valentine's and also our 34th month together. Thank you, baby. Anticipating as we countdown the rest of the special occasions as singles for the rest of the year. xx

wedding diary: choosing our wedding bands

Its February! Omgoodness, where has the time flown to? About 10 more months to the big day!
*running around in circles*

So here are some of the things we have ticked off for the big day so far:
✓ Wedding venue
✓ AD videographer
✓ Wedding bands
✓ Bridal Studio (Pre-wedding & AD)

Everything has been so impromptu, everything that we have confirmed were not at all decisive. Because the both of us are very indecisive and we are totally going with the flow. We do not have any clue or idea as to what we really want, so sometimes we get confused... but its okay! Because we are happy with everything so far, and still enjoying every bit of the process!

We just purchased our wedding bands yesterday and we are totally in love with 'em!!! In an attempt to console ourselves, we are reasoning out that perhaps this purchase was not totally impromptu as we did went to a few jewelry shops before making the decision. Hahaha, but oh well, this was what happened..

The process first started when we randomly went into Goldheart at Lot One when we were getting dinner one day. We were looking at their wedding bands collection and had none to our liking. Fast forward a few weeks, we made an appointment with Venus Tears (a new shop at JEM) to check out their wedding bands too. We were impressed at the wide selections and were overwhelmed with choices. Love was pretty much leaning towards gold and thick bands, while I was looking at more classic and thinner bands for my unfortunately short stubby ring finger. We left with more ideas but still not sure of what we truly wanted.

Yesterday, we made an appointment with Micheal Trio. Just the same as the last few jewelry shops, we were stumped. Even the salesperson could tell that we were unsure of what we wanted. Since Michael Trio were more well-known for their customized rings, he told us we should try as many rings and take as many pictures for ideas. So this was one of the pairs we thought was nice..

We left the shop, still undecided but we knew we had time to decide. Decided on watching a movie at Plaza Sing after dinner, and since we had time to spare, we wanted to shop around for CNY clothes. BUT, we just had to check out the Goldheart outlet there, and we got excited when we saw that there was Valentine's promotions going on!

The salesperson was really easy-going and made a lot of suggestions. We tried on many rings, and then a miracle happened. Like I said before, I was into more classic silver rings that were much thinner, the total opposite of what love had in mind. But the salesperson handed me this ring, and it totally changed my mind FOREVER. Hahahaha but no seriously, look!

Rose gold and white gold plating. (rose gold is not obvious here because of lighting)

I WAS SOLD. *heart-shaped-eyes emoticon* I can seriously understand the feeling of finally knowing what you want when you see it, the feeling of love at first sight. Hahaha, a little dramatic but true! Anyway, there was a similar pair for the man and there was a choice of a diamond or no diamond. Its pictured here, the last two rings.

Now he was pretty much sold too. But my itchy fingers had to ask to see the ring from their Celestial line, pictured as the first ring in the photo. I thought that the thick band would look nicer on his finger and it was pretty similar to the ring that I love too. And I was right! He loved it, and even mentioned that the ring was super comfortable. Oh we were so happy... until we asked for the price.

Devastated... was being overly dramatic, hahaha. But still, we were stumped. Actually, he was stumped. We did have a budget in mind and the manager of the store gave us a huge discount and met our budget for the pair of rings if we were to pick the simpler ones (2nd and 3rd rings) for the man's design. We really liked the first ring, but it was way over our budget so he tried to give us the best price too. We decided to think it through, and walked into every other jewelry stores we could find in the mall, just to see if there were other better designs. But our heart was set!

After much consideration, we went back into the store to try on the rings again. And in the end..

We decided to get this set. 

Yes, we've just gone over our budget a teeny tiny bit. But we decided that since this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and we were going to wear this for the rest of our lives, why not? Now we're so excited and we can't wait to get our rings back after re-sizing. Another headache off the list! 

wedding diary: date and venue selection

Yes! We've finally settled on our wedding date and venue. *jumps around & wave hands in the air*

The past 2 months was very tiring because we initially though we'd have ample time to choose a venue and date that we like. But hell no, we were so wrong. We engaged Master David Tong to help with our auspicious date selection process and we only managed to get hold of the dates in late November. He mentioned that we have to get a move on and book our wedding venue soon as the 'nice venues' should be getting snapped up already. We thought it was ridiculous, even though there were many others that advised us to book our wedding venue at least a year in advance. Boy, were we wrong!

Throughout the past few weeks, we were furiously emailing hotels that we are keen on with the auspicious dates that were given to us. I believe we have emailed at least more than half of the hotels that are available for wedding banquets. And all the emails that we received back, were all disappointing replies. Due to this, the both of us went back and forth on the decision to hold separate customary wedding with Sunday lunch. But I didn't quite like the idea of that as I've always expected my wedding to be a grand dinner. 

Anyway, below are the hotel ballrooms that we inspected and our reviews on them:

1. Sheraton Towers Singapore

One of the plus points for us about this hotel is that they are offering tables of 12 instead of the usual tables of 10. The wedding banquet themes were impressive and the packages offered were pretty standard. But, the ballroom was in an 'L-shaped', meaning tables from opposite ends were totally blocked off. Anyway, the wedding dates given were also not available. 

2. Orchard Hotel Singapore

Angie was the coordinator for us and I liked her warm personality, plus point for offering us solutions and ideas about our wedding. (I'm a sucker for nice people. if you seem genuinely nice, I'd buy any crap from you. Hahaha.) But unfortunately, the fiancé did not like the ballroom that our estimated guest list (25-35 tables) could hold. He said that there was an 'off feeling', like it wasn't a ballroom for a wedding. He was more interested in the bigger ballroom, but the minimum required were 40 tables, something that we were not sure we could achieve.

3. Hotel Jen Singapore (formerly known as Traders Hotel)

On the same day of inspecting Orchard Hotel, we decided to take a quick peek at Hotel Jen's ballroom on our own, even though we registered for their wedding showcase the next weekend. I was totally appalled by the ballroom! The ceiling was incredibly low and there were two giant pillars right smacked in the center that blocked off the view for some of the tables at the side. No matter how incredibly cheap and awesome their wedding packages were, I would not choose that as my wedding banquet venue.

4. Selected Hotel

Well, since the fiancé did not reveal the selected venue himself, I shall keep it a secret for now too. This hotel was perfect in my standards, we'd have the whole area for our wedding only. The environment was to our liking, and the coordinator was really helpful too. The only disadvantage was that we'd have to cut down on our guest list as the maximum number of tables the ballroom could hold was way lesser than what we had estimated. But other than that, we were pleased with the wedding package that was offered to us.

Just last night, the in-laws met for a dinner together with the rest of the family to give their blessings and confirmations for our wedding. Thus, we are so excited to finally be able to announce our wedding date to our relatives and our selected wedding entourage!

Here's a big thank-you to the greatest person of all time, to be able to withstand my stubbornness throughout the tiring process of the selection, my fiancé. You are the most forgiving person, and the most thoughtful person. Thank you for easing up this process, especially when you are juggling with studies at the same time. I cannot wait for you to graduate so we can continue on this once-in-a-lifetime journey together. xx

baby steps

25th October - Paps birthday!

Stuffed to the brim at dinner, serious food coma. Birthday cake was durian btw. :/

But anyway, another year old and another year wiser for Daddy!

(PS. Baby and daddy had a bonding session over tech-stuff that night, hehe.)

26th October - Wedding Showcase

Anyway, love and I went to a wedding showcase at Meritus on Sunday. Everything was really awkward at first 'cos I guess it was our first time going to this sort of stuff and we didn't know what to expect. There were different bridal shops, photography companies, fengshui workshop (haha) and a wedding gown showcase. Totally awed by some of the gowns. (insert heart-shaped face emoticon)

Well, when we registered for this, we only wanted to 'see see look look' at what they had to offer right. So we were invited to check out one bridal shop, the lady explained all the packages to us. And love got all interested in the overseas packages. It never occurred to me to look at those 'cos I'd expect them to be heavily over-budget (for the destinations I was actually interested in), but they actually seemed doable! Anyway, we said our thanks and we'd think over.

Had a break and listened to the feng shui workshop (hahaha again). Decided to head over to another bridal shop - My Bridal Room - because love said it seemed really crowded there. This guy (who we later found out was quite popular on Wedding Forums for his company) chatted with us and introduced us to the wedding packages. He was quite elderly, one of those who seemed really experienced and knowledgeable after being in the industry for so long. Really chatty too which was good 'cos he made us feel really relaxed. And like what the other forums said, he was a nice guy who didn't hard-sell and seemed really honest. 

Well, the main point of this is: we placed a deposit for the wedding package. Yes, I still can't believe it too, until now. I think if we actually did more of our homework and asked more questions, we would have been able to get more perks? But other than that, the package was already quite impressive too. Plus we got to see some of their gowns during the showcase, which were really nice and classic designs. So yay, plus one. Anyway, we went home and started researching on the company, and to our relief, there were really good reviews about them. (I know there was no point since we already placed a deposit but haiya, no harm right.) So yay for that too! 

So, there you go. Our first baby step. And even though there is still a long way to go, I am already bubbling with excitement. This feeling of actually having done something to make it come true, it's a feeling like no other. And throughout the entire day, I looked at the guy next to me, thinking how lucky I am to have someone who cares about all these just as much as I do. And the same feeling of happiness overwhelms me. Thank you, love. I think the next step is to finalize a date, hehe. ;) 

one life

Look to the sky
Don't ever let it pass you by
You've got to live it while you can
We only get one life

since I've been gone

Ahh, down with diarrhea so I called in sick from work today. Have been trying to catch up on my readings and got side-tracked as I cleared photos from my phone. So since I have some spare time, I'll randomly post some photos. ;)

Way back into April, a simple celebration for our 2nd year anniversary. Why? Because exams, that's why. Ugh. :(

Spent the night studying at his crib.

I can haz a card, teehee. xx

Bought us our first 'couple tees', hahaha.

Then in May, celebrated my birthday in the middle of exam period too. Bleh. Not forgetting, the folks were overseas so it was only the brother with us. Check out the cute cake though, hahaha! Thank you for making the effort, babylove. xx

Yummy, yummy, rich moist cake. 

Oh wait! The most important event that happened in May should be this..! The birth of my best friend's son! Omgod, still remember I was so anxious for them and was practically guarding my phone the entire day! Super touched bbg still called me personally even though she was having a hard time. :')

First look at cutie lil J.

 

Most heart-warming moment; proud parents. :")

And in a blink of an eye, a month passed by.. 

A day before the celebration, bbg & I spent the entire afternoon making the banner from scratch! Very proud of it, tyvm! 

Here's a recent happening! My babylove's birthday earlier this month. Spent the night at Night Safari with his mother and sister. Also, kept my promise and finally made a cake from scratch for him! I'll work harder for your future birthday cakes, love. Hope you loved it and the prezzie! 

A little spam of Maxie. This dog just keeps getting cuter and cuter each day, and dumber too. Hahaha!

London bear that I got for him during my trip. Good life right, dog also have souvenir!

Not forgetting Turbo too!

Right, suddenly feeling too lazy to blog anymore so abrupt ending! Till the next, ciao.

travelogue '14: Europe and United Kingdom #DoubleDateToEurope2014

18th June - 5th July
Milan > Venice > Rome > Vatican City > Florence > Switzerland > Paris > London > Manchester > Newcastle

Too many photos, overloaded with awesome experiences and great memories. Truly, a vacation of a lifetime.
And I still cannot believe we traveled so far together, love. Thank you for making (almost) every girl's dream come true.

"One of the most amazing things that can happen is finding someone who sees everything you are and won’t let you be anything less. They see the potential of you. They see endless possibilities. And through their eyes, you start to see yourself the same way. As someone who matters. As someone who can make a difference in this world. 

If you’re lucky enough to find this person, never let them go."

engaged!

Hello! I'm back to save this rusty space! Actually, I should damn well be cramming information into my brain right now but I just can't help it. Using up my study time to update with this piece of news is damn worth it. ;)

This won't be my normal lazy pic-blogging because years from now, I want to be able to look back at this post with tears in my eyes. Okay, let's begin, shall we?

24th April, Thursday

On this evening, we made a date to go to a pasar malam nearby my workplace because I was craving badly for some junk food. At knock-off time, he was patiently waiting outside (as the sweet him always does) for me. He didn't drive that day so we took a bus out. 

During the bus ride, we were holding hands and out of nowhere, he commented that I have really small hands. And so we started comparing our hands and he just couldn't stop talking about my hands for a good 5 minutes. Now, it was after work and I was pretty dead beat so I stopped talking after awhile and just gazed out the bus window. Here's the damn good part. My left hand was in his, and he started trying to discreetly measure my ring finger with his pinky. HAHAHA. I felt it loh, I sneaked a peek at what he was doing and wanted to laugh. But I just kept quiet and continued gazing out the window. 

That night went on as usual afterwards, we bought food back home and that was it.

25th April, Friday

It started out like any normal day, with a few messages to each other during the daytime. When I was home after work, he texted me asking if I was just going to stay home and study that night. Now usually that's how he checks if I wanted to make any plans with him, or else he'd just make other plans or stay home. So I told him yes and immediately assumed he was going out with his friends but he said no he wasn't. 

Now it was exam period so normally he would encourage me to study hard. But that night in particular, he was quite insistent about getting me to go out for dinner. And that was when it hit me, where I linked his actions the day before together with this night. (I'm sorry baby, I knew you wanted it to be surprise haha)

So I agreed to dinner that night and he came to pick me up. As usual, we were indecisive about what to eat. He finally settled on heading to Vivo City after awhile. During the car ride, he kept saying he has something to tell me and it could be the happiest or worst day of my life. Yah, so I already suspected something and he started acting like this.. but why in the world would it be the worst day of my life?! I started bugging him and he said he needed to focus on driving (bullshit haha). 

Then he suddenly changed topic and asked if I liked monkeys! I swear I really wanted to hit him (which I did) because it felt like I was being led on! Like wth right, monkeys????? So we were joking around and then...

Halfway through (while still driving tyvm), he finally started on a speech and then out came the question I've been waiting for. Now baby, you must have felt really bad because there was no dramatic tearing or whatnot from me, but I swear I was feeling just as nervous as you were. And in that moment, there really were no words to describe how happy I was when you asked the golden question. :')

He told me to look behind and sure enough, lying on the backseat was a beautiful bouquet of red roses and tied to it was... *drumroll*... A STUFFED MONKEY. He said only monkeys had fingers so he could hang the ring on it. HAHAHA. And there, on one of the fingers of the monkey was the ring.

Well, the ring wasn't my size.. he said he knew it when he 'measured' my ring finger the previous day. So I'm wearing it on my necklace now until we can get it changed. 

It may not have been the go-all-out proposal, or it might not have turned out the way you wanted it to, but nothing meant more to me than the words you said before asking me for my hand. It is definitely a story to tell still (proposing in the car while driving haha).

After this whole grandmother story, I am proud to say..

We are engaged!!! *throws confetti*

I am so excited to begin this next step into our journey together.

And I cannot wait for the rest of our lives to begin. 

I love you, so incredibly much. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥