Some other pixs from our pre-wedding series. Above shots havent been edited by our photographer yet... so, these are as raw as they get. ;P More pictures are available in my Facebook account, so friends, do check them out!

As the date draws nearer, I'm getting more excited... not that I'm in a hurry to be Mrs. Tan. But I'm just curious how our actual day photos will turn out... ...

I'm so glad that I have a photographer whom I can count on. To me, he's as good as it gets.

Wisdom tooth saga

It has been almost 3 weeks since I extracted my right, lower wisdom tooth and… … … my gum around that area still hurt?!?!

Geez. This wound is really taking a LONG time to heal. Well, it doesn’t help that my wisdom tooth was actually FUSED to my lower, right jaw bone. And thus, the dentist had to drill into my jaw bone to release the tooth.

From the pix above, the blackish part of the tooth is actually the bits from my jaw bone. By the way, the pain was so bad during the extraction that I thought I would faint.

Now, I’m so obsessed with dental hygiene that I kinda rinse my mouth with Listerine at least 6 times a day and brush my teeth like 4 times a day…

I just wana be pain-free again. ;(

That's one of my pre-wedding shots. Love it.... ... ...

Conclusion: Both JW and I simply couldnt do those "lovey-dovey" shots, we either burst out laughing while trying to look loving, or we would end up looking as if we were trying to beat each other up instead of loving.

I felt that I was taking pictures with my best friend. Yup, he's my best friend.

Saw these tiffin tins in The Museum shop of the National Museum… thought that they looked really pretty. But the price tags aren’t…

Bet I can find cheaper ones from Chinatown! But what can I do with these pretty tiffin tins?

1) Use them to store salt, sugar, pepper….?? But I will then need a retro theme for my kitchen?
2) Use them as “Ang Pao” box for my wedding? But the theme of my wedding isn’t Oriental…
3) Use them as tiffin tins! Hrm… not that I pack food from home either…

End of story. No use for these tiffin tins. Argh….

Museum Day 9 Aug 2008

9 Aug is our Motherland’s National Day, and on this day, quite a number of places of interest actually offer FREE admission.

Yup. FREE. FYI: usual admission to Museums is about 8 -10 bucks per adult.

So, I dragged JW along to the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) for a quick dose of art. Wanted to take a look at Xu Bei Hong’s works, then I realized that I mistook his pieces as Feng Zheng Jie’s works. Feng is a modern art Artist, currently still alive and his signature pieces are usually faces of women painted in very bold and bright colors, such as pink face, with green hair and with the eye balls far apart.

Unfortunately, I missed the exhibition. DANG! I thought Xu Bei Hong was the artist who painted those devilish-looking girls! (1st picture above)

Anyway, it was still very enjoyable viewing Xu Bei Hong’s works (2nd pix). Well… Xu is already dead, but also a Chinese artist and his style was more towards the Chinese style of painting (water colors on scrolls), but his later works were really interesting as he stayed in India for a period of time and he painted Indians in Chinese’s “water-color” style. How often do you see Indians in Chinese watercolors? Not often at all loh….

The rest of the exhibits were pretty crappy though. Singapore really needs to feature more quality art works… and maybe more Southeast Asian artists, instead of some really try-too-hard-modern pieces from weirdo Singaporeans.

Well, won’t complain too much since it was FREE.

So, within an hour, we were done with SAM, we then took a quick walk to The National Museum instead. Also took the opportunity to check out Novus’s newly renovated dinning room, where we will be holding our wedding dinner later this year.

The dinning room turned out much better than expected! *phew* In fact, it was really nicely done up, so we don’t even have to spend much on décor or flowers… Yeay!

Anyway, back to the newly renovated National Museum, it was definitely more enjoyable. The exhibits were quite interactive and I think it can be really interesting for children from the age of 7 – 12. However, I missed out on the main exhibit, “The Singapore History” gallery as the queue was like SUPER long. So, too bad. FREE admission, so cannot complain.

After a mind boggling afternoon at museums… we headed for MengKee Seafood for dinner to celebrate National Day! Haha… another lousy excuse to pig out and once again, the crab beehoon was TO-DIE-FOR!

If I were to really get a tattoo…

I’ll get a tiger! Yeah… not some cute little Hello Kitty, but a fierce, mean tiger. In fact, I liked my fake tattoo so much that I almost didn’t want to wash it off! But I don’t think my boss will appreciate my fake tattoo as much though… …

Anyway, doubt I’ll ever get a real tattoo… too chicken to endure the pain. In any case, there are always fake ones to satisfy my longing for some prints. Heh…

Wedding bands…

Both JW and I have been looking around for our wedding bands for quite sometime… and to date, nothing really caught our eyes except rings from Tiffany…

Haiz, why must it be Tiffany? Why can’t it be Soo Kee or Goldheart or some other shops that wouldn’t burn a hold in our pockets?

I have to admit that Tiffany’s design is really unique and intricate. And now, I finally understand the reason why and how Tiffany can get away with such ridiculous pricing. Previously, I’ve always thought that it was all marketing of the little blue box with the white ribbon.

But after looking through the whole catalog of rings… Tiffany really sets a class of its own. After making a few phone calls to shops that customize/design rings, the designers also commented that complicated designs from “established brands” are very difficult to replicate and even if that were to be possible, it will cost as just much anyway.

As we didn’t want to get the normal looking wedding bands and were looking for something a bit different and fashionable. Tiffany’s rings are by far, the most interesting.

Yeah… everyone was saying that we should get a “classic” design but seriously, all the classic designs are damn boring. We really like the “mesh” design from Tiffany, aka the Signature series. In fact, the rings are really cool as they are actually stretchable (yet still made of white gold!), and that makes the ring really comfortable to wear, as compared to a solid piece. However, not all rings from the Somerset Series are stretchable, as usual, only the higher-end pieces are stretchable. Haiz…

To splurge or not to splurge…? Now, that’s the question. Gotta spend sometime to chew on it.

This is so cool!

Fuah, ok… I’m the suaku here. But I just realized that my new phone (I just got it this afternoon!), Sony-Ericsson C902 (with a 5 mg pix camera) allows me to post photos (taken by the cam-phone) directly to my blog!!!

HOW COOL IS THAT???

I love my new phone. And with its 5 meg pix cam, I don’t have to tug around my lousy, pathetic 3.2 mega pix camera anymore!

Woohoo!

So, the picture below shows the view from my desk in office. Heh… not too bad isn’t it? Technically, I can even catch some action from the F1 night-race. Just that…. the action will be real tiny though.

View from my window

From my new cam-cellphone!

Stag night… Pui!

JW (future hubby) has a group of friends, who wanted to send off his end-of-bachelor-days in a fanfare, volunteered an all-expense-paid trip to Taipei sometime in Nov, about a month before our wedding.

I am most certainly very, very, very UNHAPPY about it. So… in order to make myself feel better, I told JW that he has to pay me $XXX to “buy” the permission from me to go. Knowing that JW is a miser, I gave an exorbitant amount and, of course, upon hearing the quoted figure, JW told his friends to cancel the trip.

And there, I thought “Yay! My plan worked!”

But…. This bunch of slimy friends of his, are very, very smart… Now, they are looking all innocent and sweet and said that they would organize a trip to Taipei in early August instead of Nov, and No… this is NOT a stag night, just a eating-and-shopping trip for the guys to bond…

Yah right. MY ASS.

Same bunch of friends, same destination, still a fully-sponsored trip for JW, just that it’s being brought forward!

So now, JW has no excuse to reject his friends’ goodwill and have decided to go, regardless whether I am pissed or not.

On one hand, I know that if he were not to go… most probably he would lose all respect from his friends. On the other hand, I know that they will go and fool around in nightclubs and KTVs, surrounded by Taiwanese hot babes. Bloody hell… if only they are going to India, or somewhere like that. But no… it has to be TAIPEI.
O well, my only consolation, I get to keep my XXX amount of money. Haiz… not as if I needed it…

Singapore Dragon Boat Festival 2008 (28 Jun – 29 Jun)

After my session with the kids at the children’s home, I rushed down to Bedok Reservoir to support JW (hubby-to-be) on his virgin Dragon Boat Competition!

Heh, and my eyes had a good time “feasting” on these tanned and hunky dragon boaters! In fact, JW’s booth was just next to boaters from NewUrbanMale… fuah, these men were definitely the most stylish, muscular, hunky boaters of the lot! But unfortunately, they are the “happy” people, if you get what I mean…

Anyway, I really enjoyed the festival. The atmosphere was great, everyone was so fit, dark and … healthy-looking! Not only the men, but the girls were looking good too!

Many of them brought their dogs along and I had fun going around, petting and playing with other people’s dogs.

The races were exciting and it was just very relaxing to sit on the grass, looking at people having fun, the weather was breezy and sunny… all in all, a great experience!

Too bad that I just cannot stand to be in the sun for extended period, or else, I'll definitely consider to join one of the clubs to be a dragon boater! I'm just too vain to be one... I want to stay fair and freckle-free!

Chen Su Lan Children’s Home

Sat: 28 Jun 2008 (9am to 1 pm)

Attended a “birthday party” at 930 am (Yes, 930 freaking A.M) at Chen Su Lan Children’s home, located at Serangoon Garden and it was the most meaningful birthday party that I have ever attended.

Kel is the bday boy and this time round, he wanted to do something really special and meaningful, so he called up the children’s home and offered to organize games, “tuition session” and a Happy Meal Feast (with Kung Fu Panda toys) for the kids from 9 am to 1 pm.

Usually the kids get to go home during the weekends, but that’s provided that they have a “home” to go back to. If both of their parents, say are in jail, in rehab, or not in any capacity to take care of children, the kids will stay at the children’s home for an extended period of time…

It was really heart-breaking to see some of them… some of them are so young, only 6 yrs old. Some of them were really noisy with little attention span, some were so quiet and withdrawn, but a big proportion were just curious kids who really appreciated our presence, the Happy Meals, the toys and “goodie bags” that the Bday boy, Kel had prepared for them.

Each kid received a soft toy and a pencil case with pencils, pens, little toys, erasers and other little stationary. One of my favorite boys was so excited to finally own something of his own (instead of sharing with other children), that he kept shouting at me, jumping up and down, “Chatz (Sis), See! See! I have my own pen! See, I have my own pencil box!” He looked so happy and excited and kept touching his soft toy and pencil case.

I, on the other hand, was trying really very hard not to tear in front of him… …

Currently, I’m considering whether I wana be a long-term volunteer of this children’s home. Wanted to offer to give free tuition on Saturdays BUT the caregiver said that tuitions are only given during the weekdays and weekends are for the children to rest and play. Hmmm… thinking maybe I can offer to teach hip hop or salsa if the kids are willing to learn…

To cake or not to cake?

Ok. That is THE BIG question.

So many people have asked where we would be getting the cake for our wedding.

And I was like “cake? What cake?”

Well, for sure there will NOT be a fake cake with a silly slot for the knife.

At first we’re thinking of not getting a cake at all for both luncheon and dinner… because these are just extra cost and the guests don’t usually eat the cake (even if it’s real) anyway! The usual complaint is that they are too stuffed to eat any more cake.

So… then why order a cake if nobody is going to eat it?

Well, then people will say that it is the TRADITION to cut the wedding cake together as a newly wed couple. Ah. Some stupid Ang Moh tradition, I guess.

So, I come up with an idea of buying 2 round cheeses, stack them up, tie some ribbon and maybe put some fresh flowers as decoration… and Viola, Wedding “cheese” cake! This will be more suitable for the dinner since there will be tons of wines around and people can chew on the cheese if in event they aren’t full, which might be probable since HTB and I aren’t the sort to feed you till you stuffed to death. But it is a 6-course dinner after all… so people, please pace yourself!

As for the luncheon, I like the idea of serving cupcakes, with white and mint-green icing will be nice! Gotta find a baker to quote me a price!

This is the "feel" I wana create for the evening dinner. Very glam, very sensual, with a touch of class and old-world charm. The colour theme will be Burgundy red, white and noir (aka black)...

Just have to be careful that the effect doesnt turn out to be "ah Pek"...

My original plan was to add a little of mystery by giving away feathery masks as wedding favours, hoping that the guests will wear them. But then again, after some serious thoughts, other than MY crazy friends, I doubt any of huuby-to-be's friends will entertain me at all loh. Those boring old farts... ...

In anycase, I'll go looking around for glamerous, feathery masks and see how much does each cost... ...

I just hope this doesnt turn out to be a nightmare. Firstly, the private dinning hall that we have booked at Novus, was still under renovation when we checked in April, although the event planner of Novus previously said that the renovation should be done by MARCH.

So currently, I still have no idea how the private hall will look like... except for the blue print that was being shown to me in Feb. *cross fingers*

And I can only start planning for the decor aftr the completion of the renovation. Hopefully I can enough time for that...

I hope I can pull this off!

This is it.... the new "it" bag. After its debut in Sex And The City... almost every girl that I know wants to have it!

It's just sooo cute. OMG... now I wish I am loaded.

NO, wait... I wish my hubby-to-be is loaded.

Such a fairy-tale.. I mean, which boss in the world will buy her assistant a LV bag??? Which one? Which one?

Hmmm. I wana go LV later today and just check out the bag "live".

Finally, it’s over…

Yup, I’m finally done with my exam. Despite the fact that I really studied like crazy… I still have a sinking feeling that I am going to fail this Level 2 paper.

O well. Just gotta suck it up and retake the god-damm paper next June.

Meanwhile, I’m just going to enjoy my new found freedom for the next 7 months… so many things to do!

1) Plan my wedding, gotta get things going again! Gotta re-size my engagement ring, find a pair of wedding bands, get a florist, settle the invitation cards, decide on my sisters and brothers’ outfit, get my mum a new dress … … … etc.

2) Read up more about my condition. There are some books on alternative treatment on scoliosis and I really wana check them out.

3) Re-design my future hubby’s room. Since the property market hasn’t really crashed yet, we will be camping with the in-laws till we can afford to buy our new place in say…. Novena or something. Ha.

Woohoo. Life without exam is great!

Eh.. George (since you’re like the only person reading my blog), wana meet up for dinner anytime soon??

I havent caught the movie yet but I'll definitely will do so after my exam. I still remember the days when I watched SATC dvds back-to-back-to-back-to-back during the cold, cold winters in New York. Those 4 girls were my best friends during that period of time... ... ... Geez, that was like 5 years ago already.

So, finally Carrie is getting married to Mr. Big. *rolled eyes* To be frank, I cant stand Big... he's just such an ass... a charming, disgustingly-rich ass though.

I've always thought that Carrie looks like a man. Seriously, just take a look at her face. Yah, she has great shoes, beautiful clothes but but but but she really looks like a man! Even in her wedding gown!

Dont get me wrong, I love Carrie and the other 3 girls, the fashion, the clothes and shoes. It's such a girly-girl show and all men should watch it to understand females a little better.

But Sarah Jessica Parker simply looks like a man.

I felt left out...

SunDown Marathon - 31 May 2008. Saw the pictures, read about the event and felt absolutely left-out.

There's just no way that I'll ever participate in one...

That's how human beings are, only when it is taken away from you, then you'll treasure it. How many of us have marvelled at the mere fact that the ability to run freely without pain, is one the best joys in the world?

I can't run but I can walk.

I'm going to start walking today.

Check your Cod Liver Oil

How many of you take Cod Liver Oil as a supplement? If you do, please note the amount of Vit A and Vit D stated as per capsule or teaspoon.

I’ve been taking Cod Liver Oil for more than a year to improve on my immunity as well as, other health benefits such as better skin, hair (especially if you are prone to dry skin and hair), and also to lubricate the joints.

But to my horror, I just got to realize that MANY brands of cod liver oil that are easily available in supermarkets and pharmacies actually contain synthetic Vit A and Vit D and the proportion of Vit D is usually only 10% of Vit A, which means that:

[1] You can overdose on Vit A, especially since Vit A is fat soluble, ie: your body will retain the extra Vit A in your fat and overtime, can cause Vit A toxicity. It will take months for your body to flush out the vitamin A.

[2] Your body will react negatively to the chronic intake of Vitamin A.

And that was what happened to me. I’ve been getting rashes for the past 4 weeks and the doctors didn’t know exactly what was causing the rash and it didn’t help that I have eczema as well. So all I had was some anti-itch medication and calamine lotion, and to be fair, those did help.

Sick and tired of the itch (and the back pain!) and with a nagging feeling that it is most probably due to my diet, I did some research on the net and noticed that my symptoms were pretty close to overreaction of cod liver oil or specifically, vitamin A.

So, I stopped my daily intake of 6 capsules of cod liver oil and…

VIOLA. NO RASH for 2 days.

Might be a coincidence… so, I’ll continue to observe my body for the next few weeks to determine that my rash is actually caused by cod liver oil.

So, everyone out there… please take note of the supplements that you are taking, especially Cod Liver Oil and Fish Oil. Some brands actually contain synthetic vitamins and that can be harmful to your body instead!

Feeling very unsexy

Due to the backpain, I’ve been literally REDUCE to wearing flats to work and to everywhere else.

Ugh.

So unglam and unsexy.

Seriously, I cannot imagine how anyone can wear these ugly flats. Even though some of the flats are cute, little ballet pumps BUT they are cute, ie: ugly but adorable.

Wait. Slippers dont count ok. I mean, girls wearing flat shoes to work, or say for a dinner function or say for a date, or say ... ...

I miss my heels. Heels can make a girl feel powerful, sexy and of course, TALL. Not forgetting the perkier butt, perception of longer legs and overall, a slimmer and more elegent silhouette.

And with the added height, there’s added confidence and thus, one will feel powerful, sexy and the virtuous cycle goes on… … It doesn't have to be like 3.5 or 4 inch heels, even just a 2.5 inch slim heels can make a lot of difference and also kinder on your feet as well.

O well, health comes first. Just gotta be ugly, unsexy and unglam for the few months or so.

Some happy things

Ok, gotta blog some happy things, or else my life will just revolves around backpain, exam, backpain, therapy and more backpain.

Depressing.

So, gotta cheer myself up by looking at some pretty things and plan a little bit for my up and coming wedding.

So, about 2 weeks back, one of my bridesmaids emailed me pictures of a dress that she thought would be a good bridesmaid dress. Very sweet of her, usually many bridesmaids will just wait for the bride to decide on the style and stuff, but heh, my bridesmaids are very “on”.

Just the past weekend, another bridesmaid sms-ed me a message, asking how was my preparation for the wedding and whether do I need any help.

Very touched lah, girls. Thanks for all the concern!

Everything is more or less settled, and I’ve kinda decided on what I’ll like my bridesmaid to wear for the luncheon and solemnization.

As shown above, I'll like my bridesmaids to wear a two piece attire instead of a dress.

Of course the skirt will be green; I’m thinking of getting a green printed fabric and get the girls to design each of their skirt. It can be A-line, Pencil, Bubble, Pencil with a high slit by the side, flowy… … etc. Basically, I’ll like each bridesmaid to wear something slightly different and also to present each of their own style.

As for the top, no hard and fast rule, will request the girls to wear something white or pearly or cream. Once again, the style can be a Tube (as like in the picture above), or a Off-shoulder, or a Strappy or a Cutie-cap sleeve. As long as the top will match with the skirt and with the sash around the high waist. I’m happy.

Hmmm, o yah. SHOES. All grils will have to wear white or cream strappy heels. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem right?

OK, gotta start looking for the fabric once the exam is over!

Ok, decided to make some changes to my blog. It’s about time anyway…

Past few days haven’t been all that good. My back muscles have been hurting again… although it’s more of a kind of dull ache. Also been going for my therapy sessions rather regularly, in addition to the stretching that I’ve been doing at home.

So, apparently, my condition is rather serious. So much so that the orthopedic surgeon suggested that I should go for surgery. It’s not something urgent but if I ever want a straighter spine, my only way out is to go under the knife. Well, according to him anyway.

To me, surgery should be the last resort, if I can stabilize my curvature through exercise, therapy and yoga, isn’t that a better solution than to stick a metal piece into my spine and I could never, ever bend that section of my spine again?

So, I’m going to give myself 2 years… where I’ll totally devote my time to healing myself through stretching exercises, low impact sports like swimming, walking and biking, as well as regular therapy if required.

If all those don’t work, then go for surgery loh. At least by then my back muscles will be in a better shape, more supple and flexible. That will allow the surgeon to pull my spine straighter anyway.

Haiz. Life is kinda depressing quite now.

I miss running…
I miss putting on my sport shoes, head off early in the morning to run when most of the people are still asleep.
I miss sweating it out and hearing me breathe.
I even miss the pain of stitch although I used to curse and swear whenever I encounter stitch pain whenever I’m running.
I miss the fresh, crisp air of MacRitchie.
I miss seeing fellow runners, struggling and always pushing themselves to run faster.
I miss the feeling achievement and accomplishment whenever I finished a long run.

I’ll give anything to run again.

Last few days were really bad, especially in the mornings as the back muscles are usually dead stiff in the morning and practically EVERY SINGLE MOVEMENT hurts.

Collected my x-ray results yesterday and they weren’t pretty. Sigh. My curvature had indeed worsened and it will continue to do so. Couldn’t help but to feel sorry for myself and the “why me?” syndrome started all over again…

O well, gotta get my act together.

At least it’s not health threatening (YET!) and I’ve decided to seek treatment from a Chiropractor called, Mr. Kevin Lau who specializes in scoliosis correction. The treatment is going to cost me a bomb but what to do? Health = priceless. I gotta give it a try right? What do I have to lose except X amount of money that is equivalent of a 2-3 weeks of holiday in Europe. But if the treatment is indeed effective, I walk away with a healthier spine that I get to keep for the rest of my life!

I’ll only get to see an orthopedic surgeon next week and can finally get to listen to a specialist’s opinion. Although I already have an idea what he’s most probably going to say…

Doctors and surgeons will usually say that scoliosis has no cure except surgery, so to them, chiropractors are just like the “ang moh” version of Tui-Na. ie: ineffective.

However, I am not keen to go under the knife at all and in fact, in my current situation, it is not necessary at all… but in 10 to 20 yrs time, if I just let my back deteriorate, I’ll start looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame in my 40s or so and in that situation, I will most probably have no choice but to go through surgery to feel and look better.

However, Mr. Kevin Lau indicated that with intensive therapies and corrective exercises, one can actually improves one’s scoliosis curvature or, at the very least stop it from worsening.

So, I guess I’ll have to devote a big part of my life (at least for the next 6 mths) to combat against the worsening of the curvature and it’s going to part of me for the very rest of my life.

Thankfully after 1 session with my sinseh in the morning and the chiropractor in the afternoon, I am feeling MUCH better already. No more insane pain and for once in many days, I can kinda walk normally without pain.

Although I will not be able to run for the next 1 to 2 years….(most probably, but wana confirm with the orthopedic surgeon next week). But I can still participate in non-impact sports like swimming and cycling. And if my back muscles become supple and strong in time to come, I can still run, but of course, not a marathon… but a 10 km perhaps? So, I can still do a triathlon!

Yeah! *cheer up already*

So once my back doesn’t hurt anymore. Gotta go for therapy at least 3 to 4 times a week for the next 3-6 months. Intends to swim at least twice a week, do stretching everyday and stationary cycling twice a week.

At times like these, being healthy and pain-free are the greatest gifts in life. I must always remember that and works towards that. I hope all my friends will do likewise.

Pain management

Labour Day weekend didn’t work out well for me…

I took the Friday off to stay at home to study for my up-and-coming CFA Level 2 exam on 8 June, and somehow with a combination of bad posture, bad chair (chair with a soft cushion seat is bad for backs!) and bad luck, I ended up with a HORRIBLE backache on Saturday and for the rest of the week, I bet… …

Sigh.

I actually woke up at 7 am on Saturday, wanted to do a 7 km run and while I was putting on my sports gear, I noticed something funky was going on with my back. And before I could proceed out of the front door, the dull ache became increasing painful and while I was about to step into the lift, I had a really sharp pain shooting from my lower back, all the way to the INSIDE of my hip, I knew something was wrong.

I couldn’t believe it. How could I suffer from such a backache just from sitting on a bad chair?!!?

The pain was just getting worse and worse, until I really had difficulties walking and decided to pay Sinseh a visit AGAIN.

This is the 2nd time that I am suffering from a lower back pain w/n 6 months. The last backache was from a yoga session in Dec07, and luckily I managed to recover in about 2 weeks and that wasn’t as painful as this current episode.

Actually, I do have a confession to make; I suffer from a condition called Scoliosis, which basically means that I have a curve spine. So, one side of my hip is higher, while one side of my shoulder is lower. I got this condition ever since I was a teenager and have more or less come to terms with it. It wasn’t serious enough to go for surgery and so far, it hasn’t really given me any problem except a bad episode of a minor slipped disc in 2003 (but I fully recovered from that) and occasions of minor aches now and then.

But as I increase on my intensity of running and training, it seems to me that really BAD backaches seem to be recurring. And I am really uncomfortable with that.

Sigh. I’m going to see a doctor later to get a referral to see a specialist in Orthopedic. Cant help being a bit depressed right now, as I am really looking forward to doing a full marathon at the end of the year. I wouldn’t be surprise if the doctor were to tell me that I should quit running and try lower impact sports like swimming.

So, to all those people with beautiful, straight and healthy spines, please appreciate and take good care of your backs. You have no idea how much I wish that I can have a straight spine.

Ok, gotta talk about something else other than the wedding. Even I am sick of myself talking about the wedding. Ha.

Due to my exam in June, I’ve been slacking in my running schedule. The original plan is to run on both Saturdays and Sundays, where I’ll do a short run of about 5 km (under 30 mins if possible) and a longer one of about 8-10 km. During the weekdays, my target is to gym 3 times per week where I’ll do spinning class on Mondays, run 5 km on Weds and another 3 km on Fridays.

So far, I’ve only been 25% successful. During the weekends, either I woke up late, or bad weather, or headache/flu or just lazy. As for the weekdays, sometimes I just feel too tired/lazy/hungry to hit the gym during lunch hour.

Hnmf. Not good.

On a separate note, I’ve recently signed up for the SAFRA Bay Run 2008, which will take place in August. Yup, that’s the one where I’ll run the Sheares Bridge for the very 1st time! Yeah, my virgin Sheares Bridge run.

Will also use that to determine whether I will be in good shape to run a full marathon in Dec this year. Looking at my training schedule… cant help feeling a bit intimidated.

My target is to run 21 km in 2hr 20 mins, and hopefully to do a full marathon in 4 hrs 40 mins.

Geez, really gotta buck up! I don’t wana die as a marathon virgin!

Ok, I am turning into a green monster. More pictures of The Majestic Restaurant. I simply love the decor... In fact, I am having so much fun coming up with ideas to decorate the place. But then again, the whole place is already very well done-up. So, I cant go OTT...
Hmmm, need to settle on a florist soon!

Pink David... Heh, I like. He even has tiny pink flowers "tattooed" all over his body.

Too bad that I cant catch his feet in the picture as well. For those who are interested, Pinkie is currently staying at the National Museum and he will be here till Dec08. I bet he'll definitely appreciates if you pop by to say "Hi"!

I don't know about you, but personally I think he's much hotter than his white cousin posing in Florence.

Some pictures of the Majestic Hotel, where I'll hold my luncheon at the Majestic Restaurant.

See, even the hotel's facade is slightly green! Haha. ;p

I want to create similar "feel" for my luncheon as the pictures above. The freshness of the green will pair with the purity of white... I've yet been to a wedding which has a very strong theme. In fact, it seems to me that only Ang-mohs are particular about wedding themes...

Since we're going to have a "Green and Cream" theme for our luncheon, we're looking around for inspirations. Some ideas that we have come out with:

[1] Drinks served during reception and wedding: Sprite with limes and mint leaves, with a green stirrer. Nothing else! (Sorry, no coke, no orange Fanta, no beer, but we'll serve white wine! Haha)

[2] White and green flowers with green fruits as table decors

[3] Green apples to be given away as wedding favours.

[4] Call up everyone to wear green and white!

[5] Green and white icing on my cup cakes

Oh... the decor of the restaurant is green as well, and that is the MAIN reason why we chose Green as the main color theme. It's much easier to work with the colors of the venue than to work against it. *common sense*

The walls of the restaurant has a rich yet fresh "green silk" feel, which I really like. It has 2 beautiful, classic chandeliers and yet still deliver a chic and modern feel to the whole place.

OK, gotta upload some pictures of the restaurant!

Internal Struggle

Beloved and I were tabulating our wedding cost and horror of all horrors… the amount that we’re going to spend is WAY WAY WAY past my “ideal” budget.

Haiz, to wed in style comes at a HUGE price.

Firstly, our photographer.

In my opinion, he’s a really, really very good photographer but an extremely expensive one. Let me put it this way, he only needs to cover 3 full-day weddings (he can actually do that in a week) and he can earn 5-digit compensation already. He is really costing an arm and a leg, and I am still trying very hard to internalize his cost. On one hand, I love his pictures to death; somehow every picture seems to tell a poem (not only a story ok, but a poem), then on the other hand, I know I shouldn’t spend money like that.

The devil is saying “but this is once in a life time and the magical moments are priceless” but the angel is saying “Marriage is a lifetime but wedding day is just ONE day. Keep the money for more important things in time to come”.

Secondly, our wine-pairing dinner.

This is something that we really want to do as we are such foodies/alcoholics that we also want our friends to enjoy the specially created menu; and matching wines that Beloved took a lot of effort and time (and $$$) to buy. Each course is to match with a bottle of wine, and since we have about 6 – 7 courses, (still haggling with the chefs), this means that we are going to serve 6-7 types of wines at least. O yah, we’re also going to have a champagne reception.

Each wine that is meant to be paired has been through weeks of thought-process and weeks of tasting to finally decide upon that it will go well with the course served. We have not actually tasted the wines with the food yet, but we will be going for our food tasting this weekend and we’re still trying to figure out how to drink 6 – 7 bottles between the two of us without killing ourselves.

Then the décor of the luncheon AND dinner.

Stupid rite? Usual couples only need to deal with one wedding venue but we, itchy backside, wana do TWO venues instead. There are so many additional costs that we have to grapple with and I am left to wonder why the hell are we doing this to ourselves?

Just because we want our wedding to be special and we want our guests to enjoy themselves.

The parents and relatives are more traditional, so a Chinese restaurant with Chinese food will be something that they can relate to. Then we have the bunch of foodies, alcoholics and the free-spirited who will definitely appreciate the dinner at night.

Think I have to forgo shopping for at least 2 years in order to recoup.

I cant help feeling silly right now… …

Just a little update

OK, been kinda busy with the preparation of the wedding, but it has been more or less done. Yay!

Many people told us that we’re really efficient to have settled our wedding plans, venues, bridal studio, photographer… etc within like 2 months after proposal.

Hmmm… yah, I think we are pretty “chop-chop” too. Haha.

So, we have decided to hold our solemnization and luncheon at The Majestic Restaurant at this really chic and charming boutique hotel, The New Majestic Hotel in Chinatown. We’ll going to only invite about 90 pax and it will consist more of relatives and more of my friends.

Later in the night, we will then have an even smaller and cozier dinner at Novus, their private dinning room at The National Museum of Singapore, where we’ll have a wine pairing dinner with only 60 guests. NO parents, NO relatives. Just good food, good wines and great friends. More of Beloved’s bunch of alcoholic friends…

*beam*

Looking really forward to that. I just wana eat and drink and be merry with my friends. No dry ice during March-in, or change of 2nd gown or anything like that. Food and Wine is the focus here!

On a separate note, Beloved and I went to Valentino’s for dinner on Sunday. Wow… the food was really absolutely fantastic! This place is tucked in a little corner in Bukit Timah, very rustic but.. woah, very crowded for a Sunday night.

We were seated at about 830 pm and people were still streaming in for the 2nd or 3rd seating all the way till about 9 plus!

Highly recommended and reservation is strictly recommended. Make that at least 2 days in advance!

Sometimes, I do wish I have dogs instead of cats! But I love my cats anyway!

How the hell did he escape?

OK, this is stale news but I am utterly disgusted with the way the police and our government handled the issue.

It has been nearly a WEEK since Singapore's most-wanted alleged terrorist, Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from the detention centre and he’s still somewhere out there, most probably clapping his hand in glee.

Geez… how could the most alleged top terrorist be guarded so sloppily? Firstly, why was the detention centre situated so close to town? Orchard road is just minutes away by car! There are easily 3 schools around the area! If he’s such a dangerous man, he should have been kept far, far away … like Pulau Tekong or say, Lim Chu Kang?

Up to now, the public still did not know how the hell he managed to get away. What was meant by “physical breach”? You mean the authorities forgot to fence up the area? You mean no policeman or a guard went to the toilet with Singapore’s MOST alleged terrorist? I thought even primary 6 students get accompanied by teachers to the toilets during a PSLE exam!

And I must say that our local papers and media have been very accommodating in “helping” the authorities with the news flow to the public… No journalist questioned who should be responsible for this incident?!

Must we wait until there is a bomb attack, people die and Singapore’s economy crashed before we can start “pointing the finger”?

This is a serious breach of our country’s security and yet, we have not heard a single word from our Prime Minister. Seems that winning the Youth Olympics is a more important issue.

Terrorists are a real threat to the world and Singapore is not immune to it. This incident clearly taught us that.

Nothing much been happening except studying for the %$#@^ exam in June and hunting for suitable venues / bridal studios / photographers for the wedding…

Very proud to say that we have at least nailed down our Actual Day Photographer!

His name is Wansheng and personally, I really do love his photos. I’ve always been envious of people who can indulge in their passions AND talents to make a living. People like musicians, artists, dancers, entrepreneurs… …

Ok lah, cannot complain to much. My job isn’t too bad and I do like what I am doing too. ;P

For those who are interested, do check out his website:

http://www.feldberyl.com/

Still trying to secure venues for our solemnization and dinner. We checked out a few really fun places like Relish, New Majestic Restaurant, MingJiang @ Rochester, 1 Rochester Park, Chomp Chomp hawker center (hahahaha)…

I’ll really like to have Relish for my solemnization as the idea of treating my guests to yummy burgers with fries and kick-ass, Belgium beers appeal to me very very very much! Hrm… don’t think my mum or relatives will be so keen on the idea though… … Plus that the “minimum spend” to book the whole place is rather expensive. ;(

Ahh. Still got bridal studios. Hmmmm… been looking around and saw 3 that I like. Getting kinda tired of looking around actually.

I am a lazy bride-to-be.

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.

This bunch of people actually thrashed our boys during QH & SC's wedding!

Haha...! And the music was awesome!

I want a Scottish Fold, a British Blue Scottish Fold to be exact!

Ok… I’ve never been a firm believer of getting a pedigree pet. To me, a dog is a dog and a cat is a cat. I will love them no matter what they love like…

And thus, all my cats are “long-kang” cats and I still love them to pieces.

But… but… but, I have just seen the cutest cat that has melted my heart! The British Blue Scottish Fold is just absolutely adorable!

To start with, I simply love Scottish Fold, which is a breed of cat that has “folded” ears. It is very rare in Singapore. In fact, I have yet to seen one in Singapore yet. But when I was in Taipei for a holiday a few years back, I did see Scottish Folds in pet shops and all those little Scottish Fold kittens are really so, so, so cute. Those little folded ears just did it for me…. JUST SO CUTE LOH.

So, an idea pops up. If I were to get a pair of Scottish Folds from, let say, Taipei and breed it in Singapore. Do you think I can sell the kittens? Since not many Scottish Folds are available in Singapore….

I can be the first Scottish Fold breeder in Singapore! ;p

Any supporters???