Conversation Pieces Latest Buys!

Can't resist putting up this post. I tagged it under "IwantIwantIwant" but the great thing is these did not stay in my wishlist indefinitely! *yeah*

Always love Conversation Pieces sense of fashion and the very reasonable price tag. They got so popular I managed to spot a couple of their dresses on the street! The shipping fee is VERY reasonable at US$10 worldwide. It is so easy to fall in love with the whimsy, flirty, easy style so had to exercise ALOT of control when I am in the shopping mood. Another big plus: you can shop without moving out of your room. How great is that? Browses tens of clothes without having to travel, squeeze with the crowd, queue for the fitting room, etc.. Ya, I am that lazy. :P

Anyhow, with CNY round the corner, and absolutely NO time to shop, I jumped on their sweets for sweet promo which is a steal at US$80 for any three pieces of their dresses, tops, bottoms and accessories. But of cos, the popular pieces are already gone by the time I got to the pages. And mind you, it was only a couple hours passed the start of the promo.

Nonetheless, with furious clicks and swift typing of my credit card details, I nabbed these three pieces:

Swee boh?

Wedding preparation: Right from the start!

Okay, the supposed wedding blog is starting to feel less of a wedding blog than a random rojak anything goes one. Which is fine actually. But I really liked this to be more weddingish themed.

So I decided to go back, right from the beginning. When it all started and what & how we did all the preparation. Hopefully this can serve as a rough guide for new brides-to-be, saving you some time from trawling the Singaporebrides.com, renotalk.com, flowerpod.com.sg, cozycot.com liked websites. Though I have to say, they are really great source of information, except that you need to be prepared to invest time scrolling through many random chats to spot the useful reviews or info.

After much floating around in cloud nine after The Proposal the first thing we did was to search around for the To-do list and Budget guide. I like the ones from Extraordinary Weddings as they are downloadable in my favourite excel sheets. For to-do list, I like to carry them in hard copies contrary to my love for gadgets. All imaginable to-dos and schedules are listed and that will make any Singapore brides-to-be feel very much in control.

There are a couple more sites that offer similar stuff around the net.  Weddingonline.com.sg features online wedding planner and schedule; Singaporebrides.com though they only listed key points to look out for and lastly for more international perspective, try brides.com for their fantastic online planning tools.

I will be putting up posts following the month by month To-do Checklist by extraordinarywedding.com.sg. I hope the memoirs on my little journey can help some of you lucky gals out there plan for your big day. Keep in tune. 

Lazy sunday afternoon - peek at my new ottoman and wall decor

Was lazing around playing with the camera on Sunday trying to capture the lighting of the afternoon sun.

Well, not much success there but the picture took in both the new ottoman and wall hanging and thought I will post it up. I find the red ottoman clashes abit with the green cushion AND blue wall AND grey sofa. Yong thinks it is an interesting combi. What do you think?

The wall hanging is an old jigsaw puzzle I did years before. Painting of "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt. Love the expressions on the lovers and the rich mix of the gold and earth tones. It goes with the high stool but I find it a tat too dull for the blue wall.

Swee boh?

Food Glorious Food

Thanks to Xiaolin who quickly drew up the list of Must-Eat in Hong Kong island, my trip was saved from being totally disastrous.

I tried my hand at the digital macro function of my Canon Ixus and with abit of photo editing, I hope you get some glimpse of the reasons of my ecstasy with Hong Kong cuisine.

First dinner was at Oyster C. Came highly recommended and a quick search around the internet proves it to be a favorite among the locals. And it was the most satisfying meal I had in Hong Kong.

As per the name, it specializes on oysters and seafood. With clear instruction from XL, I took order of oysters, uni (sea urchin) sashimi, foe gras apple wrap and their truffle seafood spaghetti.

Address: 98-104 Hing Fat Street, Tin Hau (short walk from Tin Hau MTR)

Tel: 852 2834 7748 (best to make reservation)

Uni Sashimi. Freshest and creamiest I have ever eaten. DOUBLE Thumbs up!

Foie gras apple wrap. Very interesting combination as I would never think apple goes with Foe gras. It does but pity on the portion of foe gras.

The truffle elevated the dish to a whole different level from the mediocre world of spaghetti. The portion was generous and being cream based, got abit je lat and had to forego half the plate.

It is definitely not a cheap meal. Probably at S$60-S$80 per pax. But trust me, the money is well worth it.

Breakfast was at Tsui Wah restaurant (翠華餐廳) and I love their buns. We marveled at the crispness which was done just right so it was fluffy with the right crunch. Drizzled with the copious butter and condensed milk, it was the highlight of our morning breakfast. The rest of the set was moderately satisfying. Nothing spectacular.

Simple Ham and abalone macaroni. It is... well, simple.

The condensed milk and butter drenched bun. *drool*

My must have for breakfast in HK. Satay beef instant noodle. MSG laden but oh so good.

Salted vege and pork noodle. Better than we expected. But nothing to wow over.

There is a porridge place near our hotel which we had dinner the 2nd night. There is something very comforting eating hot porridge on the freezing night. Mum had century egg porridge cooked to perfection and my oyster porridge was choked full of fresh oysters. Enjoyable but nothing to shout about.

I took my mum to Hang Fa Lau (杏花楼) to try out my favorite dessert  双皮奶 Double skinned milk.

I love the rich milk fragrance and creamy texture of the pudding. You need to like dairy to love this dish.

Due to my deliberate attempt to pace out the star restaurants Xiaolin highlighted (you should see the stars in her eyes when she talk about HK food!), I missed out on Che's Cantonese Restaurant, Yung Kee Restaurant and the Fatt Kei Dessert shop. Sigh.. next time..

I love Etsy!

Etsy is a god send shopping site for those who love all things handmade. I rely alot on their Etsy Find newsletter which the editorial board selects etsy items by theme and send them to your inbox daily. It can get overwhelming scrolling through thousands of products (some rather absurd!) so lazy me would click on items I fancy and look at the other stuff their owners are selling.

Been looking out for the Etsy finds on home décor and organizing theme and bravo to Etsy editorial team, there is one just yesterday on organization nation

Been swooning over these:

Source from Etsy: FishboneDeco

 Love the vintage lines and color. Will look great by the sofa or on study table.

Source from Etsy:sewlutionsbyamo

 Leather snap coupon pouch as it is named. Had a peek at the content my day bag. I think I need it quite badly. 

 

Source from Etsy: nostalgictreasures

The oh so cute letter holder. Sure to bring a much needed smile on my face when I place all the pending bills on it. 

The down side of relying on these newsletter is that things featured get snapped up RIGHT AWAY. The newsletter reached my mailbox yesterday night, read it this morning and I am left to just fantasizing how they would look like in my life.

Henceforth, still an Etsy virgin buyer. Sigh..

Oh well, will stick to drooling over the pictures for now. 

Just 4 more months - Make up trial and getting nervous

I was kind of nervous when I did my make up trial earlier in the evening. Never had good experience with them thus far.

But thank god, Kelly possesses not only the skill but also a wonderful genuine disposition. It was easy to like and trust her. And when usually critical Mum marveled at my make up, I knew I am in good hands.

My cheong sum is finally completed and I have to give it to Dang for her bold use of colors. My cheong sum is in turquoise lace, completed with pale yellow, pink and purple applique. The fit is perfect. Just need to maintain my shape for the next.................

Four more months! I exclaimed to Yong later during dinner. He nodded in agreement. And we stared at each other for a few moments, soaking in the fact that we will soon be husband and wife in front of all our relatives and friends.

And the butterflies in my stomach flutters on.

Took the opportunity to use Photo Booth on my iMac to do some cam-whoring with Yong:

Swee boh? ;P

There is something about Hong Kong

When my boss reminded me of my last ill fated Hong Kong trip, it was then I suspected, perhaps there is something in the stars that forbid me to enjoy leisure time in this island. I have been to Hong Kong umpteen times for work and for that measly two times I was there for leisure, something bad must happen. Sigh..

I took some days off after my meetings to explore Hong Kong properly with Yong two summers ago. Not only I had to rearrangement my meetings since everything was shut down for a day due to the typhoon, my beloved grandma passed away that very weekend. And till today, my heart still aches with regrets for not being there to see her for the last time.

This time, I took my mum to HK for a 5 days 吃东西买东西 trip but turned out, it was only so for the first 3 days. The rest of the 2 days, we transformed into merlions and puked out all we ate before. I fell sick first but recovered quickly after a night rest. But my poor mummy probably caught something from me and with weaker immune system, could not stop vomiting for the rest of the trip.

When night fell, and I was still in the bathroom, patting her back as she vomited once again, I made the decision to get the doctor in. My jaw dropped when the duty manager informed me that the starting charge for a doctor call was HK2000 (S$400). !*&^*!&# But the kind DM advised me to grab a cab to the nearest hospital which was just two streets down.

And so, we ended up spending our last evening in Hong Kong at the A&E. Well.. hardly the kind of holiday we had looked forward to.

But the optimistic Yr2010 me felt that I have learned much from this. It was through this unfortunate episode I realized that I have never seen my mum so vulnerable, weak and sick before. And I have never needed to take care of her so completely. To have her rely on me solely for her well being. It was a surreal but humbling experience. And it got the neurotic side of me over-thinking of how much she has aged and how I should put in even more efforts to care for her. Likewise for Dad.

After the terrible ordeal, she slowly got better the next day, enough to endure the flight back to Singapore. And today she is her usual strong self again.

Self centered me did a not very self centered thing by calling her at least three times through the day just to make sure she is okay.

Nonetheless, I am glad I did the trip. I did spent quality time with her and learned to take care of her more than ever before.

Will follow up with photos and foodie reviews in the next post.

PS: By the way, how much do you think A&E in Singapore public hospital charge for Singaporean? $60? $100? $200? These are the answers from the little survey i did around the office today.
Guess how much I paid as a foreigner in Hong Kong A&E HK500 (S$100). Nett. Inclusive of all tests and medications. And if you are a Hong Kong citizen? HK100 (S$20).

So much for subsidized medical fee, Mr Khaw.

Movie Trailer: Babies

Documentary by Thomas Balmes, following the very 1st year of four newborns from Tokyo, Mongolia, Namibia and San fran.

And how different their lives are!

Can't wait to watch this on the big screen. Will prob OD on babies high..

Can't stop re-watching this trailer. Esp. love love love the very last scene. Can this get any cuter????

Woke up with this song in my head

Have always love songs from this era.

Renovation Photos: Before and After

Everyone love some good before and after photos. Advertisers exploit them and I am definitely one of their target audience/victims.

When we started our renovation back in Sep, I had in mind to do an entry on the before and after of our home sweet home eventually. Inspired by this pair of incredibly creative couple Sherry and John in US.

So here goes, the transformation of our 12 years old estate:

Dining room -Then

Dining room - Now

Living room - Then

Living Room - Now

Kitchen - Then

Kitchen - Now

Common bathroom - Then

Common toilet - Now

Masterbedroom

Masterbedroom - Now (hee.. pardon the messy clothes stand)

Masterbedroom Bathroom - Then

Masterbedroom Bathroom - Now

With most of the hardcore reno all done, it will be all about the WEDDING now..

Had a slight panic attack yesterday when my colleague asked on my preparation. Eh.. what preparation?? ????

Call from Dang Bridal today for scheduling of the trial make up and 2nd fitting further add on the stress. I was still staring at Feb calendar when it dawned on me that Daphne on the other line was talking about Jan.

.....................................!!

Which is just 2 weeks later.

ARGHHHHHHH............

I just recovered from a skin allergy reaction and am in not the best condition to do trial make up.

And I am still skinny and soft which according to Kerri Walsh is a major no-no..

My back is still popping small acne as I type away..

Breath......

It is only photo shoot... and I am sure Thomas can photoshop away my blemishes.. a

Hee.. in my friend's word "just be yourself, it is afterall, just a wedding day"

Will keep it in mind. :)

Babies slumber party, anyone?

Love this pix! Took it when Yong's friends came over for the xmas eve party.

Now it is officially the babies room. When they came over during new year eve party, the wives automatically retreated to the master bedroom for their chit chats, breast feeding, changing diaper, napping activities. 

I was on a high having so many babies around me. :) Can't wait to have them back at CNY.

Quilt project for little Carl Matthew De Roza

At the early morning of 1st Jan I was still frantically sewing the hems for the quilt specially made for Carl Matthew De Roza's 1st month birthday which would happened in just a few hours. It was a project which I roped in 3 other good friends to do up for Pink's 1st born.

Took about 3 weeks to finish the project which includes blood, sweat and thankfully no tears. It has been more than 10 years since I last handled a sewing machine hence it was really unnerving at first, trying to learn how to thread the machine, fill up the bobbin, control the cloth and pedal at the same time.... My teacher Rosie from Dream n Quilt was really patient and the aunties who are all advanced quilter taking classes as well, had only kind words for my nervous attempt on the baby quilt.

Rosie gave me the great idea of doing an alphabet quilt for the baby. The first stage was fun, cutting out the alphabets, ironing them the squares and blanket stitching them on. Roped in Xiaolin, Sharon and Jessica to help out on the stitching. All in their own stitching style, completed their assignment promptly in 2 weeks.

I then sewed on the squares together and next, the daunting task of selecting the borders. After much contemplating, I choose the lighter blue border to bring out the nice navy blue letters. (pix on the bottom right)

 Sewed on the border.......

Join the stuffing and cut them to the same size as the quilt.....

Make the sandwich: Quilt + Stuffing + Backing and quilt them together....

Doing the hemming was fun! Brought back memories of home economics class. And since it was the last step of the quilting project it was exhilarating to see it hide all the loose threads and how the quilt slowly formed up. Esp love doing the corners cos it looks so pro!

The must take pix with the completed quilt...

Rosie my quilting master...

Love this candid shot of De Roza family and the quilt...

And this ends the little project of the little quilt.. One of my girlfriend keeps telling me that I HAVE to do one for my kid next time cos it is only fair.. but frankly.. this project was more of a whim of the moment. Sudden inspiration to do so. Not sure if I will do that again. But the satisfaction of seeing the completed quilt and Pink's smile when she realized the quilt was handmade was in true mastercard slogan - priceless. So maybe... when inspiration strikes again, I shall embark on another quilting project. :)