Beloved and I went around checking out some of the potential venues where we could hold our small wedding dinner.

First to hit: Goodwood hotel. NOT the ballroom, but the outdoor area outside Ming Jiang restaurant. It was actually quite charming, with the white walls, white china and wooden patio. It had a slight colonial feel, but with a Chinese twist. Well, it was next to a Chinese restaurant after all. It was also situated about 300m away from the pool… which could be a blessing or curse. Blessing is when the pool is deserted and you have the pool-view to yourself. Curse is when the white, fat, hairy half-naked Ang Mohs, prance about in their swimwear while you are having your dinner. Will have to try very hard NOT to vomit.

As we were about to leave, we noticed this small but swanky-looking restaurant, called Gordon Grill, which was just opposite the concierge. The restaurant was EXACTLY what we were looking for! It was classy, in fact, it had this old-world, Hollywood appeal… a place where you can imagine Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn having dinner. It also has a small bar where our guests can mingle before dinner. Beloved and I were so excited and asked for the manager immediately. But unfortunately, the manager said that the restaurant had never been booked by an event before and had to write in for an approval from the management. AH? Hrmmm… ok, so troublesome. But as we really liked the place, we would take the trouble to follow up and see what comes up. Although I have this sinking feeling that Management is not going to approve… …

Next, we went to Halia, which was situated at the Botanical Gardens, near to the Orchid Park. Very charming as well, it was lush and tropical. It also had an outdoor patio, which would be ideal if you want a tropical theme wedding… We were there at noon and wanted to try their lunch but it was fully booked. So we took a reservation for dinner instead.

The atmosphere at Halia was really different at night. It was so much more intimate and romantic. The setting of the lush vegetation, lightings and the cool breeze just totally set the mood for love. In the day, it was like a tropical haven, with tourists, kids, dogs, runners all over the place. But at night, the place was much quieter. We were a tad early, so we hung out at their newly-constructed bar, which was really cozy as well. It was indoor, with a high ceiling, equipped with big, leather arm chairs and a pretty chandelier.

Waited for a while before we could get our table. Luckily the champagne was great and the manager was really witty and funny, or else, I would have been very grumpy to wait almost 1.5 hrs to get our table!

I had a really tasty soup. It was chunky tomato, much better than the mushroom soup that Beloved had. But he had a better main course! The lamb was excellent… better than the duck that I ordered. All in all, the food was above average although a tad pricy. A main cost will cost between 30-48 bucks.

But the ambience won hands-down. Service was polite and it seemed that the servers were well-trained to give couples their intimacy but attentive enough when you need their service.

Now, we are torn between Gordon Grill and Halia. Although the mosquito bites on my arms were a boo-boo to Halia, despite drenching myself with lemongrass essential oil, which is a natural form of repellent!

And we’ll be checking more venues this weekend! And also to check out Goodwood again at night, as we’ll like to see how is the ambience at MingJiang when night falls.

Heh. This is actually quite fun!

Planning of a wedding

Ok, so it seems that many people are more excited about my wedding than me. I am excited, but I am also a little stressed due to my CFA L2 exam in June (which I am really behind in my preparations!) and the dilemma of whether Beloved and I should get our own place/apartment in the current market conditions.

Anyway, we are now waiting for the great-old-mighty fengshui master to get back to us on the auspicious dates that we can get married and things should start moving after that. We are hoping that we can hold the wedding in this Dec!

We’ll be checking out 2 restaurants on this Saturday. Beloved and I are planning to have our dinner banquet in a “wine-tasting dinner” style, where people can and WILL enjoy the food and wine. We’ll also like to have time to interact with our guests and so we’re looking to host about 6-10 tables ONLY. And no, I don’t have the intention to change like 3 million gowns ‘cos this is my wedding dinner, not Milan fashion show. The REAL reason is because I wana EAT MY FOOD and have fun talking with my guests, and not to waste time jumping around in my stockings, while trying to wear my 50th set of earrings and changing into my 300th gown.

Many of my friends who have tied their knots recently, all said that the planning process to a wedding is enjoyable and I should immerse myself in the hair-clenching, blood-vomiting, cold-sweating wedding planning.

Hrm. There’s a reason why wedding planners are still making moolah here. And I relate to the reason… although I am just too cheapskate to hire one!

Luckily Beloved is really into planning and organization of “events”. He’s like the Asian version of David Tutera, the Party Planner. (Those who watched Discovery Travel & Living will know who I am talking about!)

Hrm. No, Beloved is not gay. At least I don’t think he is… … …

And I said Yes... ... ... ... ...

It was one of the most romantic moments ever and I was deeply touched. The cake was so beautiful (and yummy!) and the ring is utterly breathtaking.

Every part of the cake was edible. The blue "cardboard" boxes are made of white chocolate, the "white form" that the ring was held was a sponge cake. Well, except for the ring, of course.

I feel happy. *grin* ;p

Last night, I hosted a Retro Party at Wine Company@Evans Road to celebrate my belated 28th birthday! I was sooooo impressed with the decoration that Beloved prepared since previously I told him that we would just “tie some balloons” and that’s it.

But Beloved actually went through the trouble to rent some really cool, retro items, such as a red retro telephone, ice-water glasses, table cloth, hot water flask… etc. In addition to some of his personal collections of retro toys and comic books, as well as a REALLY ancient type writer that was contributed by E!

Also must give credit to my crazy friends who really took the effort (& $$$!!) to dress up to the theme! I had so much fun laughing at everyone’s costume and creativity! Geez… it was just so much fun dressing up and looking like our mums and dads in their younger days!

I have always wanted to host a retro party for the longest, longest time and I am really happy with the way it turned out last night.

Another event that really took me by surprise was Beloved’s proposal. I’ve always thought that he would do it in private between the two of us… in a romantic setting or something like that. But surprise, surprise! He actually hid the ring in the birthday cake! And all of my crazy friends were in cahoots with him!

Although I did have my suspicion when I saw that the cake was in the shape of 3 stacks of Tiffany’s light blue gift boxes. Nonetheless, I was really surprised and was really, really touched by Beloved’s creativity and effort that he had put in. (Yeah.. I cried. So cliché right. But can’t help it lah.. very touched leh)

Above were some pictures taken last night. More will come! I’m still very overwhelmed by the whole thingy…

I feel loved and blessed.