Preparing for our ‘Big Day’

It’s been quite a while since i last blogged.  Busy coping with work, with family, with love life.  Gone through some ups and downs in the past couple of months but i’m gald that i had TC wih me to pull it through.

My eldest sis fell sick and my whole family was worried for her, we were all trying very hard to help her get through it.  She had finally made it and now confidence is back with her.

Now, we’re working towards our ‘Big Day’, counting down to 27 September 2009.  With the global flu pandemic of Influenza A (H1N1), we have not decided where should our honeymoon destination be.  I thought that should be one big thing any wedding couples would be most excited about and why aren’t we? Too much uncertainty.  Hopefully everything will be fine.

My “Made-To-Measure” gown was perhaps the most satisfying and needless to say for our “flown-in” Kua and Ma Kua from Hong Kong.  Being traditional me, it had always been my dream to put on the Long Fung Kua (in cantonese or 龙凤褂) on the day i get married and it’s coming true.

We bought the set from Wing Wah Embroidery Co in Hong Kong during our last trip there.  The Kua costs HKD3980 or aproximately S$780 and the Ma Kua was HKD1500 or approximately S$290.  Renting it in Singapore for 2 days on the Photo Shoot and Actual Day will cost S$400 for the Kua and S$298 for the Ma Kua.  We find the prices quite reasonable and within what we had expected, hence we decided to purchase a brand new set. We will make full use of the gowns to make the money worth.  The Kua and Ma Kua will be kept only for my younger sisters or pass on to my children.

We had our pre-wedding photo shoot on 27 April 2009.  Seen our photos but was rather disappointed.  We thought the photographer could had done better.  Our $3,688 package came with 32 images and each additional image will cost us $95.

My friends and colleagues had adviced that we should not be influenced by the sales person to buy more.  All of them actually told me that their wedding photos ended up in their storerooms.  I thought so too and both of us discussed before the selection of photos and agreed that the maximum images we will top up to is 36.

Guess what?  The sales person’s face was super black and after persuading us for a while, she asked us to top up another $70 for 3 more images.  We thought it was quite a good deal, $450 for 7 more images and worked out to less than $65 per image.  So, my dear friends, don’t be swayed by the sales person’s words.

We’re now working out all the minor details… counting how many boxes of cakes for Guo Da Li, what are the things we need to exchange, where to buy our bed, the wines, etc etc etc.  Wow… There’s a list of things that we need to do.

I was sharing with TC that i’m in a dilema.  On one hand, i look forward to marriage life but on the other i can’t help but have a strange feeling with the thought that i had to stay apart with my parents.  Although we can still visit them every day but it’s different from staying together.

As for the time being, another 3 months to go before my Wedding Day.  Hope everything turns out well, especially on the Guest List and Table arrangement.  That’s the biggest worry i had so far.

Next Phase of Life

After today, my marital status will no longer be “Single”.  Yes, we’ll be registering our marriage tomorrow ~ 8 September 2008.  This day is the beginning of the next phase of our lives.

I’m having mixed feeling about it.  Hmm…  Not because i’m not sure whether i’m ready for marriage but rather because we’ll be facing the new challenges together as one.  I’ve still got a lot more to learn in a marriage life.  It’s no longer “i decide what i do” kind of life.  I guess it’s still the same old thing… “Understanding, Communication” and more…

Feeling rather anxious about the ceremony tomorrow.  I will upload our R.O.M. photos once it’s ready.  May we have a blissful marriage.

New experiences everyday

Ever since i’ve got my driving license 6 years ago, I have driven not more than 5 times since then.  TC had recently went for a minor surgery and i’ve taken over his car for the past one week.

I’ve never had sweaty palms or feet problems until i took over his car.  Probably i was too streesed up because i have not been driving.  I did not want to take over the car initially but was tempted by TC’s sister after constant persuation.  So, i decided to get my younger sister along and drove the car back to my place two Sundays ago.  I have been driving for more than a week.

Each day, i’m experiencing new experiences on the road and thanks to my colleague, CJ who had enlightened me on how to park the vehicle.  I’ve finally managed to grasp the skills of parking the car, though not very fantastic, but at least i now managed to get into the lot and dare to park in between two cars.  Although i’m now more confident with my driving, i still feels the stress whenever i’m on the road.  I just pray hard for his recovery, so that i can be his passenger again.

Preparing For Wedding

Although our Big Day is about one and half years later, there are really lots of things to source for.  Two very important things that cannot run away are the venue for our Wedding Banquet and the Wedding Package.

Since last weekend, we’ve started sourcing for our bridal package.  We’ve started by visiting the 3 Bridal Shops @ Jurong IMM (Briedal, Double Up & New Image Collections).

Briedal was the worst out of the three.  The person serving us was not sure of most of the things we asked and the portfolios were not impressive at all.  Double Up was much better and the portfolio was okay.  They assured us that they produce quality service and product and they are a "lao zi hao".  As for New Image Collections… the package offered was rather impressive as it includes photography for R.O.M Day.  However, i do not think i will want them as i saw one of their portfolios with the Bride’s bra pads revealed.  Somemore it’s a few photos in one album.  OMG!  I cannot imagine they actually show that to their customers.  I felt upset for the bride and I did not want to enlighten them on that.  Warning : The lady selling us the package was very "lor-soh" she talk non-stop for that half an hour we were there,  TC and me didn’t really got the chance to talk *bengz*.

As the three shops were not extremely impressive, we’ve decided to source for a few more before deciding.  On Sunday, we happended to pass by Club Street and TC saw that there were a few bridal shops along that stretch.  We decided to go back there today after our appointment @ HDB to sign the housing loan’s agreement.

We made an appontment with Dang (also at Club Street and i’ve got the contact from one of my friends) and we were early.  So, we walked up the street and went into this Bridal Shop named Bridal De Couture.  We saw a few of their portfolios and TC found that the portfolio of Bridal De Couture were somehow different from the few we’ve seen.  He said at least there were consistency in the photos.  We somehow quite like the way the pictures were taken but we thought we should visit Dang and a few more before deciding.

When we were at Dang, we found that their packages were a little expensive plus their photography was a seperate package from their bridal package.  The bridal shop and the phtographers are working partners and we have to discuss and liaise with the photographers on ourslves, seperately.

After a short discussion, we thought the bridal packages offered by the bridal shops were more or less the same.  We were very clear in our minds that the most important thing is we both like the photographer’s style and the end product.  So, we decided to go back to Bridal De Couture and futher discuss on what they can offer.  We signed their package after several rounds of bargaining.  Hmm… i now realise my husband-to-be was really good at bargaining.

I’ve also chosen the dress for my R.O.M. and the lady said i can still change my mind for the dress nearer to the day.  So… the bridal package is now settled and the next thing big decision is the venue for our Wedding Banquet.  We have started sourcing for the venue and visited a few but we can’t really do much till we’ve fix the actual day.

Now i start to understand the phases the couple have to go through before the big day.  It’s months of planning just for that one day event.  Like what Eileen and the others said to me, "Wedding is not the matter for just two persons.  It’s for our parents."  More decisions will come and this leads to more disagreements.  It’s probably a test of love.  And I know… more will come.

The Proposal @ Underwater World

We just came back from a short break to Genting during the long weekend on Good Friday.  A few of my close friends felt that I would be disappointed because TC did not proposed to me while we were a few hundred/thousand meters above sea level.  In fact, I was not because I thought he had plans to propose to me on Singapore Flyer.  Couple of days before we went for our trip, he told me he had booked tickets for two for a ride on Singapore Flyers at 7.00 p.m. on 24 March 2008.

Prior to that, I had suspected he had bought the proposal ring as he had a free Spa Package for two to be utilized by 31 March 2008 (he had explained that Lee Hwa sent it to him but I did not believe him totally).  Subsequently, we had been enjoying free parking at VivoCity and that added to my suspicion.  Couple of weeks later, I spotted the Lee Hwa bag with certificate in his car boot while loading groceries and that confirmed that I was right (he must have bought the ring).

Since we had planned to take a day’s off after coming back from Genting as it would normally be tiring, he suggested we both utilize the Spa package on that day.  He revealed his plan for a ride on Singapore Flyer fearing that my last minute leave application will not be approved.  He even told me he would strangle me if I cannot go on leave.

We had a big quarrel the night we were back from Genting.  I cannot pretend that nothing happened and we had a big fight at Paragon’s carpark (in the car) after the Spa & lunch at Swensens.  I was very tempted to say “let’s call the day off” but I couldn’t bear to spoil his day.  Luckily we managed to reconcile after blasting out.

He had quietly planned to go to Sentosa’s Underwater World on the same day.  He only told me on the day itself.  Along the way, there were actually lots of hints but I did not pick these hints since I always thought he wanted to pose the question on Singapore Flyer.  I thought I never felt so stupid before after the whole thing.

Firstly, he normally kept his handphone with me but he held on to his phone that day as he had hid the proposal ring in his handphone pouch.  When he told me that we will be going to Sentosa’s Underwater World, I did not think too much because that was where we wanted to go but had not been to all these while.  He told me he had booked the tickets through internet and I sort of believed him because there was no way I can verify since we were outside.  I even asked him if he had used our Islander for the bookings because we will enjoy some discounts on the entry tickets as members.  He instantly replied “Yes”.

When he drove past the nearest carpark, I highlighted to him.  But he said he can park at the staff carpark since he booked it through the internet.  He even said it’s the benefit we can enjoy from booking the tickets through internet and I believed him again.  But… strange thing was he stopped a distance away from the intercom machine.  I thought why he wanted to look stupid having to get down the car to speak through the intercom machine but I did not ask him why.  He actually did it purposely so that I will not overhear his conversation (if he sop nearby and wind down the window to speak through the intercom machine).

Before we went into the island, he told me that the staff said the feeding time was at 3.00 p.m. but when we walked past the signs, the feeding time was over.  My nature of complain will always be there. I even pestered him to complain about why he was given the wrong information.  Later did I realized that he had put on an act to hide his intention from me.  While we entered the Underwater World, we took separate entrance from the normal lane but again I did ask him why.  I thought that was the “previledge” he would enjoy since he “booked it through the internet”.  The fact was he had bought the divers package and paid for the tickets earlier and that was the real reason why we took a separate entrance from the others.

While we were in the tunnel, there were divers.  One of them actually posed for him.  This diver was the one he had arranged as part of the proposal plan.  After I took a shot for him, he told me to quickly come over to see the diver feed.  I walked over and felt strange because he was holding a piece of banner (folded) and I recalled food for the marine were contained in a bucket.  Before I can straighten my thoughts and voice out my queries, I saw our picture on the banner but not the words.  The first thought was…  “blood suckers… when did they took our picture and printed it on the banner.  Want us to buy something from them again?”  Then I heard an ang moh saying “so sweet” and I realized the words on the banner reading “YH, will you marry me?”  And when i turned around, I saw one of Sentosa’s staff was bringing a bouquet of flowers for him.  I was surprised, touched and at the same time embarrassed because there was a crowd then.  His proposal at the Sentosa’s Underwater World was indeed a surprise to me.

After everything, he told me he almost freaked out when he saw the crowd.  He had actually planned this some time back.  The Sentosa Staff actually wanted him to dive but he wanted to present me the bouquet of flowers and the ring so, he got their divers to do it on behalf.  The banner was with compliments from one of TC’s best friends, Kelvin.  He even printed and laminated another copy for us in case we cannot get back the banner.  He got one of his ex-students to deliver the bouquet of flowers to Sentosa on his behalf.  He had done a lot of planning without me knowing.  We have decided to solemnize on 8 Sep 2008.

Something To Look Forward

It has really been quite sometime since I really sit down and blog and there were quite a fair bit of changes in the past one year.  Although I am still who I am but I would not deny one of the biggest changes was having him being part of my life.

On 4 March 2008, we’ve made the biggest decision in our lives. We had made our ever longest commitment to purchase our dream home which costs us near to $700K.  This had made us in debt to the Government for the next 30 years and we would have to start servicing our housing loan pretty soon, even before the completion and delivery of our house in mid 2011.

Having this big debt would mean that I will not have a chance to become a potential Tai Tai, unless I strike Toto or Big Sweep and I would have to keep my job, if not look for another one which pays me better. OMG! There goes my ‘Tai Tai’ dream but I do look forward to getting the keys for my new flat.

What a coincidence!

My Company had just held it’s Annual Long Service Award two days ago.  Immediately the next day, we spotted an article (Pg 34 of TODAY on Friday, 7 March 2008) titled "$200 Gift For 10 Years of Loyalty" which appeared in TODAY.  The "rewards" for being loyal to the company as mentioned in the article was exactly the same as the company i worked for.  The writer seems to be someone from the same company or was it really a pure coincidence?

Yucks!

Last Wednesday, i bought a packet of Lakerol from Shop N Save Supermarket at Bukit Panjang.  I was astonished when i opened up the box of sweets.  I have been eating Lakerol for more than 10 years but never saw such disgusting sweets.  I have took a picture and shown it to my friends, their responses were unanimously… ‘Eeeee’ with a disgusted look. Anyway, the expiry date was 30 Mar 2008.

I immediately went back to the shop to get an exchange.  The cashier sent for one of their guy Team Leaders to attend to me. That guy took the sweet.. looked at it and innocently, smell it and said, ‘its like that one, this is passion fruit.’ As if i didn’t know it’s passion fruit flavour.  (My thoughts : Wah lau.. what an idiot.. Yes… The packet of sweet does have passion fruit smell but a normal person will not say that there’s nothing wrong with the sweet when they saw it.)   He made it sound as if i’m so stupid.  I immediately replied him "I have been eating the sweets for years, it does not look like this!" I felt like telling him to eat the whole box of sweets since it is ‘like that one’!

He shown unhappiness after hearing my responses.  He did not even offer any service recovery.  He reluctantly asked me to get another box from the shelf. But I told him I am not comfortable for an exchange as those displayed on the shelf apparently seems to be from the same batch which expires on 30 Mar 08.

(These pictures shows the differences between what’s normal and what’s not)

He hesitated for a while before getting the cashier to do a refund for me. Throughout the episode, he did not explained or offer any apology.  It was such a simple thing and there was no apology which i thought it was basic.  What makes me most annoying was his reaction… "It’s like that one."  If the sweets "were really like that", you think customers would want to go back for a change?  I strongly recommend Shop N Save to send their front line staff for service quality training. 

My Day

I had a great day on this special day of mine.  I was on Birthday off and TC was on leave.  He had planned for me a day of fun-filled activities.

We started the day by visiting The Singapore Mint as TC had some coins to change… Wow… There were two thousand over pieces amounting to $240 but he paid a fee of $6+ for the coin exchange.

We then proceeded to Singapore Science Centre which was nearby and we spent two over hours there.  My last trip to Science Centre was 13 years ago and i didn’t know there were so many changes.  We still had not cover the whole place and we swore to go back there one of these weekends.

We had to rush off at 1+ because we had made an arrangement for a make over session.  It was a complimentary from my Metro Card but i decided not to proceed after finding out that the shop had moved but they did not mentioned it to me while i made the reservation.  I was rather pissed off when they insisted that they had told me.  So…  I decided to call off the thing.  We then went to Swensens at Plaza Singapura for lunch.

TC had ordered a Lana cake for me and we went to collect it before proceeding to Sentosa.  At Sentosa, we visited the CineBlast and both of us found that it was nothing fantastic and definitely not worth money of about $12 per person.  It’s not exciting at all but i don’t understand why are those people screaming throughout the Cine ride… gosh!

I now realise that Islanders do have lots of privileges and discounted ticket prices.  We took the Islander Sky & Luge Combo @ $5 per person.  Haha… i found out something about TC during the rides =)

When the sky turns dark in the evening, we took the cable car from Sentosa to Mount Faber.  We had a cabin to ourselves and on our way there, he lighted the birthday cake and sang me a birthday song. We had a romantic dinner at The Jewel Box on Mount Faber before taking the return trip back to Sentosa.  When we were back in Sentosa, we found ourselves a seat along Imbiah Lookout to cut the cake and had a slice of it.  It was Yummy… The sponge cake was soft and covered with thick chocolate fudge.

I had a great day with my loved one and i suddenly felt so pampered by him (actually he had been pampering me all these while =p).  My world will definitely be upside down without him.  In a relationship, there will always be ups and downs, happiness and unhappiness, surprises and disappointments.  But what’s more important than having someone who will always be there for you when you are down…  And i’m gald i have found this person =)

Kusu Island

How many of you recalled when was the last time you’ve visited the island?  Or you have you ever been to this island before?  My last visit was at least 15 year’s ago or even longer.

I revisited the island just last Tuesday with TC, my parents and two kids whom my mum babysit.  The kids were having school holidays and i thought i wanted to visit the island since my mum mentioned that she had not been there for many years.

There were not much changes on this island, except that there were now proper footpath to the Chinese Temple and proper steps (152 steps) up the the Malay Shrine.  They also constructed a sheltered area for foodstalls (a simplified hawker centre).

TC and i brought along our all time favourite beach mats and the kids had fun at the seaside before we proceeded for lunch and home.  TC and me were both sun tanned at the end of the day though we did not stay long under the sun.  The weather in the morning and afternoon was burning hot but there was a down pour in the evening.

Here are some pics to share =)

Saw that picture of Kusu Island which i took from far?  It does resembles the shape of a turtle isn’t it?  Make a visit there bah… It’ll sure bring back some childhood memories (if you have been there when you are a kid).